More Related Content More from Realty411 Magazine for Real Estate Investors (20) REI Wealth issue 56 Digital - Ladies Who Rock REI9. 9
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REIWealth
PUBLISHER
Linda Pliagas
Pliagas Enterprises, Inc.
VICE PRESIDENT
Nikolaos K. Pliagas
BUSINESS ADVISORS
John Dutson, CPA
Teresa R. Martin, Esq.
ADVERTISING
Walt Adams
Jason Burke
Lori Peebles
Veronica Lynn Jones
DESIGN DIRECTOR
D.A. Soriano
EDITORIAL STAFF
Tim Houghten
Stephanie Mojica
Karen A. Walker
COPY EDITOR
Bruce Kellogg
Stephanie Mojica
PHOTOGRAPHER
John DeCindis
CONTRIBUTORS
Rick Tobin
Phil Bradford
Linda Pliagas
Bruce Kellogg
Gene Guarino
Edward Brown
Ross Hamilton
Randy Hughes
Victoria Kennedy
Stephanie Mojica
Kathy Kennebrook
WEB MASTER
Maria Landicho
MARKETING
Rosa Houghten
Lawrence Ruano
EVENTS & EXPOS
Holly Lynn
Lawrence Ruano
Michael Ringwald
LEGAL COUNSEL
Philip W. Boesch, Jr.
Boesch Law Group.
CONTACT US:
805.693.1497
www.REIWealthmag.com
info@Realty411.com
Published in California
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trusted attorney, broker, CPA and/or financial
advisor before taking action as an investor.
14. 14
37
Buying Vacant Land...No
Way! Yes...Way!
Kathy Kennebrook
46
What Does the Future Hold
for Residential Assisted Living?
Gene Guarino
55
The Pitfalls of Fractionalized
Deeds of Trust
Edward Brown
64
Trust Deeds: The Investment
You May Be Missing
Special Submission
to REI Wealth magazine
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Real Estate Investing Tips
REIWealth
Photo by Erik Mclean from Pexels
22
Our Industry Improves &
Grows When Women
Fully Participate
Linda Pliagas
29
The Money Multiplier
Bruce Kellogg
15. 15
72
Three Pieces of Advice to Overcome
Limiting Beliefs in Business
Victoria Kennedy
82
VA and FHA Mortgages
and the Housing Boom
Rick Tobin
91
Connected Investors Forms
Nation's Largest iBuyer
Tim Houghten
99
Is REIT a Good Option
for Earning Passive Income?
Phil Bradford
107
50 Years of Investing
in Real Estate
Randy Hughes
110
Sponsored Section
Special REI Wealth Resources
FEATURED
22. 22
LINDA'S LETTER
Dear Friends,
I hope everyone is doing well.
Now that things are opening up again,
it feels fantastic to know that soon we
will be able to meet our thousands of
readers in person again. The past year
has been an adjustment, as we quickly
tried to transform our business into a
virtual platform.
We've had spectacular results in
doing so. In fact, since the pandemic
began, we've added over 6,000 new
investors to our database. These new
additions were the result of our dynamic
events, which have united top
investors across the country. The last
online data showed we attracted expo
guests from 26 cities and 12 states.
Besides hosting our traditional
conferences, recently we have added
a new twist. Our special "Ladies Who
Rock Real Estate" online events have
united amazing professional women
willing to share their knowledge. So
far, we've hosted professional
rehabbers, capital lenders, real estate
agents and brokers, service
professionals, and more dynamic
ladies who mean business.
It's such a pleasure to be able to
elevate women who are
accomplishing extraordinary feats in
our industry. They are making
headlines and changing lives. They
are working hard daily and caring for
their family nightly. Many of the
women we've had on our virtual
events are balancing it all: career,
family, education, charity, and more!
I applaud them. I admire them
and I encourage you to learn from
them directly. You can do so easily
By Linda Pliagas,
Publisher/Editor
Photo by John De Cindis
by visiting our website
https://Realty411.com/ladieswhorock
to watch past videos of live events.
Real estate has been a welcoming
career choice for women, at least in
residential sales. In fact, according to
Real Estate Express, there have been
women in real estate almost since the
industry’s inception in 1794.
When the National Association of
Realtors (NAR) began in 1908
membership was entirely male. The
first woman joined NAR in 1910.
Her name was Corrine Simpson, a
broker from Seattle, Washington.
Our Industry Improves & Grows
When Women Fully Participate
23. 23
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
Yet, women struggled for nearly
four decades to serve on real estate
boards.
In 1938, female agents started
their own Women's Council of
Realtors as a parallel organization to
NAR due to a lack of inclusion. Most
real estate boards dropped gender
restrictions by the early 1950s, NAR
reports.
Today, the majority of REALTORS®
— 63 percent —are women, according
to a NAR 2017member profile.
Yes, we've come a long way in
real estate, at least in residential real
estate. Unfortunately, it seems vast
room for improvement is needed in
commercial investment real estate.
In fact, according to an eye
opening report by Commercial Real
Estate Women Network (CREW),
the salary gap between men and
women in commercial real estate has
actually widened over the past five
years!
A survey of 2,930 industry
professionals from across all CRE
sectors found that for fixed base
salaries, women make an average
10% less than men. For lucrative
commissions and bonuses, women
take home a whopping 56% less on
average than their male counterparts.
When average fixed salaries,
bonuses and commissions are
combined, women make a total of
34% less than men in 2020, an
increase of nearly 11 percentage
points from 2015, CREW found.
CREW Network’s fourth
benchmark study measures the
progress (or lack of) for women over
the last 15 years. The study also
serves as a benchmark for diversity,
equity and inclusion in the industry.
While I have personally seen an
increase in female participation in our
investment community over the past
14 years in business, undoubtedly,
more needs to be done to increase
opportunities for women in the
investment side of real estate.
Our company, which is led and
operated by numerous women, wants
to do our part by spotlighting
amazing ladies in our magazines,
webinars, podcasts, virtual
conferences, and soon at our live
events as well.
Women are masters at multitasking,
excellent negotiators, and have spot
on intuition all important traits in
business.
Join me and our company in
elevating women in the real estate
investing industry. It's time to come
together in our REI community to
encourage, uplift, and motivate them.
Be sure to check our website
regularly to learn about our upcoming
events showcasing ladies who rock
real estate.
Thanks for joining us for another
edition of REI Wealth magazine, we
hope you find fantastic resources in
this edition. If we can ever assist you
directly, please feel free to contact
our office: 805.693.1497.
Stay blessed,
Linda Pliagas
Publisher
While I have personally seen an
increase in female participation in
our investment community over the
past 14 years business; undoubtedly,
more needs to be done to increase
opportunities for women in the
investment side of real estate.
31. 31
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BRUCE KELLOGG
Bruce Kellogg has been a Realtor®
and investor for 38 years. He has
transacted about 800 properties in 12
California counties. These include
14 units, 5+ apartments, offices,
mixeduse buildings, land, lots,
mobile homes, cabins, and churches.
Mr. Kellogg is a contributor and
copy editor for two national real
estate wealthbuilding magazines:
Realty411, and REI Wealth Magazine.
He is a recipient of the Albert Nelson
Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award,
listed in Who’s Who in America –
2019.
He is available for consulting with
syndication, turnkey, jointventure,
and other property purchasers and
note investors nationally, and other
consulting assignments. Reach him at
brucekellogg10@gmail.com,
37. 37
Buying Vacant Land . . .
NO WAY! YES . . . WAY!
Images by naobim & Bruno /Germany from Pixabay
By Kathy Kennebrook
(The Marketing Magic Lady)
38. 38
D
o you realize that you can
build your fortune through
buying vacant land?
You are saying: “No way!!”
I am saying: “Yes…WAY!”
There are lots of great ways to make a lot of money in
real estate, not the least of which is buying and selling
vacant land. This is an effective way to do real estate deals
with no hassle, no rehab, no insurance and no worries of
vandalism and theft. Plus, there is virtually no competition
for these properties since many investors are simply not
going after this incredibly lucrative portion of the market
place. I was actually in the real estate business for several
years before I discovered this very profitable part of the
market. In addition, in this current market, buying and
selling vacant land is another good strategy to continue
making money in the real estate business.
If you live in an area that is particularly rural, then
buying and selling vacant land is a more lucrative means of
doing real estate deals. Since it can be more difficult to find
homes to purchase in more rural areas, vacant land is
definitely the way to go. There are several different ways
to find vacant land deals.
One is to simply drive around and look for them.
However, since it can be kind of difficult to find addresses
for properties this way, it is probably a much better idea to
create a direct mail campaign to the owners of vacant land.
Some of the parameters I use for this list are outofstate
owners of vacant land, especially those with past due tax
bills or people who have inherited vacant land. These are
some of the most lucrative deals out there. Be especially
aware of those properties that front main highways since
these will create even more valuable deals for you.
In many cases, these owners have inherited these
properties and they are not interested in doing anything
with them. They are usually tired of paying tax bills, so
they stop paying them altogether. They are usually highly
motivated sellers and fairly easy to deal with. In fact, in
many cases, they may have never even seen the property
and are unable to give you directions to it.
This is when it becomes really important for you to be
able to work with your tax assessor’s office and get a
mapping program so you can locate these properties with
just the parcel identification number. There are also some
national companies that can provide information such as
mapping programs for you for a monthly fee. This tool
alone has saved us hundreds of man hours and hassles in
locating properties. In the case of vacant land, unless you
know exactly where it is, one piece pretty much looks like
another.
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39. 39
Make sure you take the time to develop a relationship
with a title agent or real estate attorney in your area and
make sure you have title work done before purchasing
these properties. Sometimes there are probate issues or
liens to handle before you close which may also include
past due tax bills. Some of these sellers will try to work
directly with you without having a title search done on the
property. Don’t do it!
I find that vacant land deals are very profitable for me
personally. I live in Florida and here in Florida we have
hurricanes. It is so much easier to work with vacant land
because you still have the same big profits without the
worries of damage, insurance, vandalism and rehab. In fact,
some of the properties we have purchased were so
inexpensive that we paid cash for them and put them into
our portfolio to hold on to for retirement income when we
sell them later on. They are already worth a lot more than
we paid for them, so we figure the pay check will be huge
later on as property values go up even more. And some, we
will simply wholesale for a good profit. You can also
purchase land into your Roth IRA.
In addition, with the current market being what it is
today, purchasing land at huge discounts gives you the
advantage to be able to sell it at “bargain basement prices”
and still make excellent profits. Since you are selling the
property at a lower price, it usually sells very quickly.
Once you purchase these properties there are several
ways to resell them at huge profits. One way you can sell
these lots is to list them with a local Realtor® who is
familiar with selling vacant land without touching them.
Whether or not you are able to sell your properties this way
will depend a lot on how motivated the Realtor® is. You
also need to make sure that these local Realtors® are part
of the MLS system. Surprisingly, we have found that in
many rural areas they are not. You want to have as much
exposure as you can for the properties you are looking to
sell right away. Some of the best buyers for these lots are
folks from out of town looking for a vacation get away. So
they will purchase vacant land and build a home on it.
Another thing that some of my students have done is to
buy some acreage, split it into pieces, sell off some of the
pieces and keep part of the land for themselves. They will
make enough money off the sale of the split that the pieces
they keep for themselves end up being free.
The other thing you can do is to list these properties on
your propertyforsale web site where people, just like you
and me, who may want to build vacation homes in the area
where your vacant land is, will see them. You will be able
to get attention from many parts of the country. You may
also want to put a “For Sale by Owner” sign on your land
or run an ad in the local newspaper and the newspaper in
the next largest city near you. I have done this and it has
produced many buyers for me.
If you want to take the time, and you have your team in
place to take care of these matters, you can also partially
clear the land and add water or electricity, and then raise
your asking price. The more ready the land is for
development or home placement, the more quickly it will
sell and the more money you can make!
Depending on where the vacant land is located and how
much there is, there are also opportunities to develop these
pieces of land and resell them at really huge profits. One
way to develop your land would be to get involved with a
builder and have homes built on these pieces of land and
then resell them with the land and the home already on it.
Personally, this is not my favorite way to deal with vacant
land because it’s time consuming, and the more hands on
and the profits are made later as opposed to sooner.
Image by joakant from Pixabay
Image by Nattanan Kanchanaprat from Pixabay
40. 40
A better technique would be to hire an engineer to take a
look at the property, determine its best use, possibly change
the zoning, and then do the other things necessary to get the
property ready for development, such as splitting the land
into smaller parcels and then reselling it. This is one of the
best ways I know to build in huge profit margins without
ever touching the property yourself. I find this to be a really
lucrative way to handle properties especially when you are
buying in an area that is an hour or more from where you
live. In my case, my vacant land business is about three and
a half hours from where I live most of the time.
Another technique you can employ to make vacant
land work for you is to explore the possibility of leasing
land you own. This way you make cash flow on the
property on a monthly basis and you still own the land.
For example, you could lease a piece of land for RV
storage. We have leased land to someone who needed
extra room to expand a worm farm business. On another
occasion we leased property we had with many pine trees
to a company that harvests pine straw. A billboard
company leases a property for a billboard that we own on
a main highway. The possibilities are endless with a little
ingenuity.
Another real advantage to working with out of state
owners of vacant land is that you will run across investors
who purchased groups of properties a long time ago so they
have several properties with a lot of equity in them to sell.
This creates wonderful scenarios where you can purchase
multiple lots at well below current retail. The seller still
makes money on the deal, creating a winwin solution for
both parties. That’s what the real estate business is all
about, creating winwin solutions for all of the parties
involved.
If you live in an area where there is a lot of vacant land,
these techniques are definitely worthy of looking into
MEET KATHY KENNEBROOK
Kathy Kennebrook is the
ultimate success story. She
spent over 20 years in the
banking industry before
discovering the world of real
estate. After attending some
real estate seminars this 4
foot 11 mother of two got
really excited and before you
know it she’d bought and
sold hundreds of properties
using none of her own money or credit.
Kathy holds a degree in finance and has coauthored
the books The Venus Approach to Real Estate Investing,
Walking With the Wise Real Estate Investor, and Walking
With the Wise Entrepreneur which also includes real estate
experts Suze Orman, Robert Kiyosaki, and Dr. Wayne Dyer.
She is the nation’s leading expert at finding highly
qualified, motivated sellers, buyers and lenders using many
types of direct mail marketing. She is known throughout
the United States and Canada as the Marketing Magic
Lady. She has put together a simple stepbystep system
that anyone can follow to duplicate her success.
Kathy has been speaking throughout the country and
across Canada for over 14 years and has shared the stage
with Ron LeGrand, Dr. Phil, Dan Kennedy, Mark Victor
Hansen, Ted Thomas and Suze Orman to name a few.
Kathy is going to share with you how she generates a
seven figure income by mailing a handful of letters
throughout the year to highly selected targets by knowing
exactly what to send them, who to send them to and exactly
how to deliver her message. She will teach you the secrets
of prescreening and automating your marketing and
follow up systems to put your entire Real Estate business
on autopilot.
because many of your competitors are simply not thinking
about purchasing vacant properties. They are missing a
huge opportunity since these properties are usually easy to
purchase and reasonably easy to resell at huge profits.
Vacant properties can be a big “bonanza” for you!
For more information on marketing to the owners of
vacant properties as well as all kinds of sellers and lenders,
visit my website at www.vacantlandgold.com.
Image by RAEng_Publications from Pixabay
46. 46
By Gene Guarino
What Does The Future Hold for
Residential Assisted Living?
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
47. 47
Where is the Assisted Living
industry headed?
T
here are 77 million baby boomers in
America alone. That is 4,000 people
turning 85 every day, 120,000 every
month, and 1.4 million this year alone.
And this is happening all over the world. The average
person living in assisted living is 82 years old, and
they will live there for an average of two to three
years, maybe even longer. So when we are talking
about 1.4 million baby boomers, not all of them will
check into assisted living, but a percentage will. The
fact is that 70 percent of us are going to need help
with our "Activities of Daily Living", ADL, for an
average of three and a half years. Whether they live at
home and have someone come in and help them, or
they go to a Residential Assisted Living home, they
are going to need that help. So we are talking about 30
percent of 1.4 million people, not including the ones
who are turning 86, 87, 88, and so on. That is
potentially hundreds of thousands of people who are
going to need help. Currently there are 1.4 million
people living in assisted living, and there will be that
much more need each year, which is why you see big
box facilities being built. There is a need, but when I
needed help with my own mom, I didn’t want to send
her to a big complex. She wanted to stay at home. But
when you do need to send them someplace, you want it
to be a home, which is what Residential Assisted
Living is.
What is going to happen in the future?
More and more people are going to need this help,
and you want to be the alternative to the big box
complex in their own neighborhood. A lot of people are
going to want this option. We only need 10 to 12 who
want this option over the big complex of 200 or more
beds. We may charge more if we have better amenities,
or less if we want the business more than the big
facility does. We don’t want to charge too little or too
much. However there is a sweet spot that we charge,
and this works all over the country.
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
56. 56
M
any
investors
like the
alternative
lending
space
where they can invest in mortgages,
otherwise known as, Trust Deed
investing, whereby they become the
lender on real estate. The two major
ways to invest in these mortgages is
either in some kind of pooled
investment [a Fund], similar to a
mutual fund or owning the deed of
trust on a specific piece of real
estate, similar to owning an
individual stock.
In the case of investing in a Fund,
the investor invests in the Fund, and
the manager chooses which loans to
make to borrowers. In the situation
of owning an individual deed of
trust, the investor chooses which
specific loan to invest in and is
recorded on title. It is the latter that
is the focus of this article, and
specifically fractionalized deeds of
trust where the investor shares
ownership in the investment with
one or more other parties.
Most note brokers [in California;
other states may vary] are licensed to
fractionalize a deed of trust [notes]
with up to 10 owners [beneficiaries].
Other brokers have licenses from the
Department of Corporations to have
more than 10 beneficiaries. The
reason brokers fractionalize notes is
usually because they are too big for
one investor. A $40,000 note may be
able to find a home with one
investor, but a $700,000 note may
need more than one investor in order
to be funded. Each investor receives
a recorded deed of trust [for their
protection as evidence for their
loan]. When the borrower pays the
loan off, each investor is required to
reconvey their interest in the loan
[notarized signature] in a timely
manner [California requires this be
done within 21 days of the request].
The reconveyances are deposited in
escrow, and each lender is paid off in
escrow as well.
If everything goes smoothly, no
one complains; however, what
happens if things don’t go according
to plan? What if a lender is
unavailable to sign off in a timely
manner? What if a lender refuses to
sign? What happens if the borrower
defaults on a fractionalized loan?
What happens if you have a minority
interest [less than 50% ownership] in
a fractionalized loan? These are just a
few instances where a fractionalized
lender faces challenges, and these
challenges can be monumental.
Image by 3D Animation Production Company from Pixabay
57. 57
First, let’s look at a simple situation
where a $900,000 loan has been
fractionalized into 9 different lenders
[each having $100,000 ownership in
the loan] and 8 of the 9 lenders signs
the reconveyance paperwork in a
timely manner but one chooses not
to sign [in time, or not at all]. Why
would the lone lender choose not
sign? What if the loan was very well
secured and the note was yielding a
higher than market rate of interest?
A naïve lender may think that they
can enjoy the higher interest for
longer than allowed [not signing in a
timely manner]. This situation is not
as far fetched as one might think. In
the 1990s, first deed of trust notes
yielding 12% were not uncommon.
When rates dropped dramatically,
borrowers were quick to refinance.
One investor tells the story of how a
12%, $1.2M loan was trying to be
refinanced by the borrower at 9%
with a new lender. The fractionalized
note had 5 owners. Four of the 5 had
their reconveyances notarized and
delivered to the escrow company in a
timely manner. The last investor had
$500,000 in the note and did not
want to lose his 12% rate; he was
under the misconception that he could
just keep coming up with excuses as
to why he was not able to get to a
notary [he was a busy surgeon]. After
more than a month went by, the
borrower sued all of the lenders for
the difference in the rates [3%] plus
attorney fees. Although the lone
holdout was ultimately responsible,
all of the other lenders had to defend
themselves, which put undue burdens
upon the innocent 4 lenders.
Next, let’s look at a situation
where a majority [over 50%] lender
chooses to extend a loan when it
matures, and a minority lender does
not. Unless the minority lender
requests a partition action so as to
separate himself from the majority
lender, the majority lender is in
control of the fate of that loan.
Dealing with foreclosures by the
lenders introduces an entirely new set
of challenges; first, who is going to
front the money to pay the trustee
fees for the filing and publishing of
the foreclosure notices? What if there
are no majority owners of the note?
Even where there is a majority
owner, most title companies are not
only requiring every beneficiary to
sign; powers of attorneys [POAs]
may not be useful, as many title
companies are stating that POAs are
not valid unless they are signed
within a small window of time that
the reconveyance is to be signed [you
might as well have the beneficiary
sign the reconveyances in front of a
notary if you can get them to sign a
POA in front of a notary]. In fact,
many title companies are not accepting
service agreements that were set up at
the time of issuing the note and deed
of trust. Too many title companies
have been sued by beneficiaries and,
the only way to protect themselves, in
their opinion, is to have beneficiaries
sign their reconveyances; even to the
extent that the title companies will
choose which notaries are acceptable
for signatory verification.
Thus, foreclosing may not even be
possible if the note holders cannot
agree to their destiny or come up with
the funds needed to file the paperwork
to foreclose [which can be many
thousands, depending on the size of
the loan].
Dealing with
foreclosures by the
lenders introduces
an entirely new set
of challenges; first,
who is going to
front the money to
pay the trustee fees
for the filing and
publishing of the
foreclosure notices?
What if there are no
majority owners of
the note?
Image by Credit Commerce from Pixabay
58. 58
Other issues arise even if foreclosure
has been started; one lender tells the
story of how the borrower stopped
making payments to both the 1st and
2nd mortgage. This particular lender
was one of many in the 2nd
mortgage. The 1st started the
foreclosure process. Nobody in the
2nd mortgage wanted to cure the 1st.
There was an offer by an independent
3rd party to purchase the property for
the $100,000 over the1st mortgage,
which would have been given to the
2nd [which would have paid its loan
down but not off]. There were 25
beneficiaries on the 2nd DOT.
Twentyfour of them chose to allow
the sale and take the $100,000, which
would have amounted to a short sale;
however, the one lone holdout, who
represented only 4% of the 2nd,
refused to sign off on the sale. His
reasoning? He stated that he believed
that, at the foreclosure sale, someone
would bid the property up more than
$100,000 over the 1st. Not only was
this illogical [based upon the value of
the property], but it went against his
previously signed documents stating
that he would go along with the
majority, opening himself up to a
lawsuit by the other lenders. The title
company refused to give title
insurance to the potential buyer, and
the sale never went through. At the
trustee sale, one bidder bid just over
the 1st’s credit bid, and the 2nd
walked away with zero.
Many individual trust deed
investors believe they are protected
from many perils if they own over
50% of the note, as most states have
a rule that the majority holder makes
the rules; however, title companies are
not bound by such laws. If they refuse
to give title insurance, any prudent
wouldbe buyer of the property will
walk away.
Another issue is that an investor in
a note does not have to come up with
his fair share of the money it takes to
file foreclosure, and there is no
provision that states that other investors
who come up with more money get a
preference, so it is difficult to maneuver
a foreclosure unless each person comes
up with his percentage required.
Other not infrequent situations
come up where the borrower wants to
do a loan workout or rewrite the note.
Unless all parties agree, everything is
at a standstill. Some unethical
fractionalize note holders will
sometimes hold this over on the rest of
the note holders by demanding a larger
share than they are entitled to or
demand that the other investors buy
them out.
For these reasons, many investors
have turned to Funds where the Fund
manager handles the foreclosure
paperwork, pays the fees, and sees the
entire process through.
The takeaway here is that one needs
to be extremely careful if one wants to
invest in a fractionalized note – not
only do you want to own more than
50% of the note, but make sure you
know every other owner and have like
minds, which, in today’s world, is
more than a daunting task.
MEET EDWARD BROWN
Edward Brown
currently hosts
two radio shows,
The Best of
Investing and
Sports Econ 101.
He is also in the
Investor
Relations
department for
Pacific Private Money, a private real
estate lending company. Edward has
published many articles in various
financial magazines as well as been
an expert on CNN, in addition to
appearing as an expert witness and
consultant in cases involving
investments and analysis of financial
statements and tax returns
Edward Brown, Host
The Best of Investing on KDOW
AM1220 on Saturdays at noon
21 Pepper Way
San Rafael, CA 94901
ebrown1111@aol.com
Image by Jens Neumann from Pixabay
65. 65
Deeds with a company like Ignite
Funding can help you break down
those barriers to real estate investing,
and help you earn the returns you
deserve.
What is Trust Deed
Investing?
Investing in Trust Deeds
essentially means you are loaning
your money against real collateral.
The collateral is real estate, in this
case, which serves to protect the
lender’s investment. This leads us to
one of the most important
considerations in Trust Deed
investing: the true value of the
collateral. It’s very important that
Trust Deed investors consider the
size of the loan they are making in
relationship to the real estate
collateralizing the loan. This is one
reason why Ignite Funding uses a
detailed underwriting process to help
justify the value of the property,
evaluate each piece of collateral at
hand and ensure the borrower is
accountable for what they are
borrowing.
Who is Ignite Funding?
Founded in 1995, Ignite Funding
has evolved with the changing real
estate landscape. Our original
business model began as a traditional
home mortgage lender providing
lending to home buyers. The demand
for lending from homebuilders and
developers reshaped our business in
2011. Since that time, Ignite Funding
has funded over half a billion dollars
in loans with investor capital.
Ignite Funding is wellrespected
throughout the western United States
as a reliable resource for lending.
When banks are not lending, Ignite
Funding is. We pride ourselves in
working with a handful of borrowers
with a proven track record. We
follow a strict underwriting process
when evaluating our loans before
they are presented to our investors
on a matrix that includes, but is not
limited to; location, market
conditions, various valuation
methodologies, borrower track
record and financial condition, and
exit strategy. These projects can
include the acquisition of land,
development, construction of
residential and commercial
properties, and the refinancing of the
aforementioned.
At Ignite Funding, we work as a
team to ensure you experience the
same level of professionalism
throughout the entire process. We do
not believe in outsourcing. The loan
underwriting and origination, capital
fundraising, loan servicing, investor
relations, tax reporting and
statements, foreclosure process (if
required), property management and
sale of property are all conducted by
us. You will never be passed on to
someone else.
Image by Alexander Stein from Pixabay
A
s an investor,
having many
different
investment
opportunities at
your fingertips
is both a blessing and a curse. It
means more opportunities to make
money but can make choosing which
one to pursue tedious and difficult.
With the stock market so often
erratic and unpredictable, now more
than ever people are looking for
other ways to intelligently invest
their money and diversify their
investment portfolio. Real estate is
one of those investment vehicles that
investors are turning to for those
high returns. You may be thinking to
yourself that real estate is not a
realistic investment for you. Rental
properties and fixandflips are time
intensive and require a hefty amount
of available cash, and many real
estate “crowdfunders” have high
minimums and financial
requirements you have to meet to
invest with them. If this is you, then
you may want to consider investing
in Trust Deeds. Investing in Trust
66. 66
Do I Qualify to Be an Investor?
You do not have to be an
accredited investor to invest with
Ignite Funding. Ignite Funding is
licensed with the Mortgage Lending
Division of Nevada, which requires
investors to meet the following
suitability requirements; the
investor’s household net worth is
more than $250,000, excluding their
primary residence; and/or their
household net annual income was
more than $70,000 for the previous
two years with the expectation they
will continue to earn that income.
How Are the Projects Funded?
Companies like ours (Ignite Funding)
use a type of “crowdfunding” method
to aggregate capital from multiple
smaller investors and pool the
investor’s capital to directly fund
real estate projects. This allows
Ignite Funding to implement a
minimum of $10,000 to invest on a
single loan. The loans are also short
term, ranging from 6 to 18 months in
duration. During that time, you are
earning a monthly fixed income of
10% to 12% annualized interest.
What’s the Risk?
Depending on which company
you invest with and the structure of
the investment, the risk you take on
as an investor can be crucial to your
capital investment. For example, if
the borrower defaults on the loan,
the servicer could pass the loss
directly to you as an investor. At
Ignite Funding, that is NOT the case.
Ignite Funding will work on the
behalf of the investor with the
borrower to resolve any default
issues that may occur. In some cases,
a foreclosure may be the best option
in order to help mitigate the loss of
capital to investors. To learn more
about how Ignite Funding handles
default situations, click here.
I’m Ready to Invest, How Do
I Become an Investor?
The first step to make real estate
investing a reality is by contacting
one of our Investment Representatives.
Our expert staff will fill you in on
our investment options, the type of
projects our borrowers need financing
for, on our rigorous underwriting
standards, and how we mitigate risk.
Our Investment Representatives can
be contacted via phone, email or in
person at our office.
The next step is to fill out an
application online to create your free
account. Without an account to
facilitate transactions and paperwork,
you cannot make any investments.
After your account application is
submitted, our Loan Processing
Department will ensure all required
paperwork is completed. Lastly, you
will be provided with the information
necessary to make a confident
decision about which one of our
many available investment projects
best suits you.
Now that you have
decided which project to
invest in, you're probably
thinking, "When will I start
to see a return on my
investment and how often
will I receive payments?”
You start accruing interest
on your investment the day
the loan is funded. Interest
payments are paid in the
arrears and disbursed
directly to you on the 15th of each
month. Once the loan is paid off, your
capital is returned to you. It's
common to see an annual double digit
return on your investment.
For investors who want control
over their own real estate portfolio,
Trust Deeds are a great option.
Investors can browse and pick
individual opportunities based on
location (including across state lines),
project type, risk and return profiles.
They can manage and track
investments through an online client
portal on the Ignite Funding website,
automate incoming or monthly
income and access investment
financial records.
For more information about Trust
Deed investments or if you wish to
schedule a FREE consultation with an
Investment Representative, please
click here.
Ignite Funding, LLC | 2140 E. Pebble
Road, Suite 160, Las Vegas, NV
89123 | P 702.739.9053 | T
877.739.9094 | F 702.922.6700 |
NVMBL #311 | AZ CMB0932150 |
Money invested through a mortgage
broker is not guaranteed to earn any
interest and is not insured. Prior to
investing, investors must be provided
applicable disclosure documents.
Image by Willi Heidelbach from Pixabay
72. 72
Three Pieces of Advice
to Overcome Limiting Beliefs
in Business
By Victoria Kennedy
Image by Fernando Latorre from Pixabay
73. 73
R
unning a business is not a full
time job, it’s a lifestyle.
Business owners face loads of
challenges and obstacles that
test not only their professional
skills but also their character.
Being nimble and flexible is essential for a business to
stay on top of the game, and ahead of the competition.
However, constantly shifting from one idea to another and
changing strategies can be counterproductive. This means
entrepreneurs have to also be persistent with their initial
ideas and stay in a single lane longer than they might like.
Combining these two opposites might seem like an
impossible task, but it isn’t. That fine line between the two
is where all the successful entrepreneurs and moguls are:
flexible, but never straying from their core principles and
ideas.
A fine example of how to harmonize these two is the
story of Rohan Attravanam, CEO of Phodun Real Estate.
Rohan’s Story:
As an young entrepreneur, Rohan started his journey by
getting a highquality education. He enrolled in one of the
most prestigious universities in India BITS Pilani, and
has an MBA degree from one of the best marketing
colleges in the US Kelley School of Business, Indiana
University.
Packed with knowledge, he dived into the world of
business, working with Alisters like Samsung, Whirlpool,
and Walmart. Rohan acquired 13 years of experience in
marketing, with the last five in real estate.
In January 2020, he left behind a plum job in the Bay
Area, and started Phodun Real Estate from scratch a
company that provides quality leads to Realtors®, helping
them find prospective homebuyers that fit their customer
profile.
So, here are the three pieces of advice Rohan
Attravanam can give to all business owners based on his
experience as a successful business owner:
Business is like yinyang, says Rohan Attravanam,
the CEO of Phodun Real Estate. The secret to more
closings is to stop focusing on closings. You tend to be
emotional but have to be a rational and pragmatic
business owner in order to succeed. Which beliefs
influence success or failure in business?
Image by 18121281 from Pixabay
74. 74
Quality Leads are found,
when searched in quantity
We all want better leads and better prospects. We
frantically try various marketing tactics and try to optimize
one over the other. But the reality is no matter which
channel or medium you choose, you need to focus on
generating a lot of leads.
The first step in achieving a flow of quality leads is to
achieve a flow of quantity of leads. You need to generate a
lot of leads and vet each of the leads against constraints as
defined by your definition of quality. The more leads you
have, the better the chances are that you’ll find a good
quality lead. In any random 100 leads you tend to find
about 10 quality leads. When you go searching only for
quality leads, they are hard to come by.
Its basic economics Quality leads are not easy to come
by and so they are expensive. Everyone knows it’s a
numbers game, but rarely do we step back to evaluate what
numbers are needed to get to our objectives.
You start closing more
when you stop focusing on closings
We as a society are hyper resultoriented, goaloriented
and it's good to strive for those results. What’s lost in
translation is the process that is needed to achieve those
results and the urge to take shortcuts to get there.
You’ve heard this a thousand times “It’s all about the
journey and not the destination”. Think about how you
want your career to pan out. You can easily retire on the
beach watching sunsets with your family, but the journey
to get there need not be obsessed over closings. Instead
obsess over process.
When you obsess over the process, you are controlling
the inputs which you can. When you obsess over
closings, you try to control the output which is rarely in
your hands. Obsess over client experience, understanding
their problems, and earning their trust. The issues your
clients face can all be documented and addressed the same
way over and over again.
This helps you gain control over your process and the
confidence rubs off to your clients who’ll enjoy working
with you and you’ll have more closings eventually!
Image by Hebi B. from Pixabay
75. 75
MEET VICTORIA KENNEDY
Nominated as a 2020 Brand
Ambassador for Inman, Victoria
Kennedy is a wellrespected
authority in Real Estate marketing.
She is the CEO of Atman Real
Estate, a lead generation agency
that is committed to providing more
leads and closings for real estate
professionals.
She is a highly in demand speaker on all things digital
marketing, and has helped many clients boost their visibility
and revenue. Because of her expertise in real estate, she has
been a trusted speaker and contributor to such organizations
as the National Association of Real Estate Brokers, Inman
News, and Yahoo Finance.
In addition to running a successful marketing agency, she
also has given talks, workshops, and has worked as a trusted
consultant for Realties, Title Companies, Investors, and top
producing agents. She has been featured in over 175
publications and podcasts both nationally and internationally.
In addition to her marketing expertise, Victoria is a #1
selling classicalcrossover singer and has sung with the
likes of Andrea Bocelli, as well as toured all over Europe
with her music.
She is excited to share with you the power of her Closing
Maximization Method and how it can exponentially grow
your business.
Find out more here: atmanrealestate.com
People who get most approval
care about it the least
Think about all the people in your life that you consider
successful, wealthy and see in a place you potentially want
to be one day. They have your approval. The thing is
They are not seeking your approval. They are grateful for
it, but they don’t care for it.
When you start needing money, fame, approval for your
life to be meaningful, you are blinded by what’s possible.
The minute you stop needing them and instead start
providing approval to people around you is when you will
see that your self esteem starts to build up. Building other’s
confidence, caring about their insecurities and giving them
strength gives you a new way of living life that brings you
abundance and joy.
Helping others live the lives of their dreams is THE
FASTEST WAY to get rich, achieve fame and receive the
highest approval.
Rohan Attravanam is the CEO of Phodun Real Estate, an
agency that is helping Realtors® by giving them more and
better leads with their new, special program”1015 Live
Transfers Guaranteed”. Click here to learn more:
https://phodundigital.com/
Photo by Pixabay from Pexels
Helping others
live the lives of
their dreams is
THE FASTEST
WAY to get rich,
achieve fame and
receive the
highest approval.
82. 82
VA and FHA Mortgages
& the Housing Boom
By Rick Tobin
Image by congerdesign from Pixabay
83. 83
Image by Harry Strauss from Pixabay
T
he most flexible and
easiest qualifying
mortgage loan
product in America is
the VA (US
Department of Veteran Affairs)
mortgage loan. Between 1944 and
1966, approximately 20% of all
singlefamily homes built or
purchased were financed by the VA
home loan program for active
military or retired veterans of World
War II (1939 1945) or the Korean
War (1950 1953). From 1944
through 1993, the VA mortgage loan
program guaranteed almost 14
million home loans. By 2013, the
VA had guaranteed over 20 million
loans. As of 2019 in the VA’s 75th
anniversary year, VA had surpassed
24 million loan guarantees for
borrowers.
Did you know that there are
100% LTV (loantovalue) mortgage
loans available to qualifying active
or retired military personnel up to
$1.5 million dollars for owner
occupied homes as of 2020? Yes, a
qualifying VA mortgage applicant
has the option to purchase a home
priced as high as $1.5 million with
no money down. These 100% LTV
loans have no additional monthly
mortgage insurance payment
requirements like required for most
other mortgages with a loantovalue
range above 80% of the purchase
price or appraised value.
VA Loan Guidelines
Purchase
Mortgage loan underwriting
guidelines are subject to change and
may have some exception allowances
for mortgage borrower applicants due
to factors such as credit scores,
income, job history, debttoincome
ratios, and property types. However,
these are common VA loan terms or
guidelines that were available as of
June 2020:
● No money down up to $1.5
million for owneroccupied
borrowers (not second homes or
investment properties)
● Historically, a debttoincome
ratio of up to 41% DTI* was
typical for VA borrowers.
However, some VA loan programs
allow up to 60% DTI or higher
● No monthly mortgage insurance
premium requirements
● FICO credit scores as low as 620
* Debttoincome ratio (DTI) =
Borrower’s proposed mortgage
payment plus monthly consumer debt
obligations that are divided by
monthly income. A borrower with
$2,500 in monthly debt payments and
$5,000 in monthly gross income
(before taxes) will have a 50% debt
toincome ratio ($2,500 / $5,000 =
50%).
VA Loan Refinance
For existing VA mortgage
borrowers under newer 2020 rules,
VA borrowers can pull cash out of
their property up to 100% of their
property value. For example, a
homeowner with an existing
$250,000 mortgage loan secured by
a property valued at $500,000 could
apply for a new $500,000 cashout
loan that gets them upwards of
$250,000 additional cashout that
they could use to pay off credit
cards, student loans, automobile
loans, business debts, or use the
funds to make new property or stock
investments.
A mortgage borrower in a non
VA loan can refinance from a
conventional bank loan or an FHA
loan with costly monthly insurance
premium (MIP) payments into a new
VA loan if one or more of the
borrowers has VA eligibility.
G
GU
UI
ID
DE
EL
LI
IN
NE
ES
S
Image by Tumisu from Pixabay
84. 84
Another easier qualifying VA
refinance loan option is generally
referred to as a “VA Streamline”
(IRRRL Interest Rate Reduction
Refinance Loan). With some non
credit qualifying VA Streamline loan
programs (subject to change), the
borrower’s application process
includes:
● No minimum credit score
● No appraisal required
● Primary and nonowner occupied
properties may be allowed
● Must be current on existing
mortgage loan about to be
paid off
● Manufactured homes attached to
the foundation may be eligible
To learn more details about
qualifying for VA refinance loans,
here is a link to VA Pamphlet 267,
Revised, Chapter 6: Refinancing
Loans
https://www.benefits.va.gov/WARMS/
docs/admin26/pamphlet/pam26_7/Chg
_17_ch_5.pdf
Military Experience Eligibility for VA Loans
How does an active or military personnel member qualify for a VA loan based upon their military experience?
Date of Service Minimum ActiveDuty Service Time Period
Between 9/16/40 and 7/25/47 (WWII) 90 continuous days*
Between 7/26/47 and 6/26/50 (postWWII) 181 continuous days
Between 6/27/50 and 1/31/55 (Korean War) 90 total days
Between 2/01/55 and 8/04/64 (postKorean War) 181 continuous days
Between 8/05/64 and 5/07/75 (Vietnam War) 90 total days
Between 5/08/75 and 9/07/80 (postVietnam War) 181 continuous days
Between 9/08/80 and 8/01/90 24 continuous months
Between 8/02/90 and the present (Gulf War) 24 continuous months
You separated from service after 9/07/80** 24 continuous months
You are on active duty now 90 continuous days
* An earlier discharge date for a serviceconnected disability may still qualify you.
** Officers who separated from service after 10/16/81 may be eligible.
For more details, please visit The U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs’ website to learn about VA mortgage loan eligibility
benefits: https://www.va.gov/housingassistance/homeloans/eligibility/
Once an active or retired military person meets the minimum qualifying guidelines, he or she will be given a Certificate of
Eligibility that’s issued by the Department of Veteran Affairs. The VA mortgage loan applicant will then send a copy of the VA
Certificate of Eligibility (VA Form 261880) to their mortgage broker or banker. For VA loan applicants who do not have a
copy, they may complete a form entitled Request for a Certificate of Eligibility (Fillable) that’s linked here:
https://www.vba.va.gov/pubs/forms/VBA261880ARE.pdf
Image by DefenceImagery from Pixabay
85. 85
The Evolution of VA and
FHA Loans
Near the end of World War II, the
VA home loan program was created
in 1944 as part of the original
Servicemen’s Readjustment Act
that’s also referred to as the GI Bill
of Rights. The VA loan benefits
were signed into law by President
Franklin D. Roosevelt. A portion of
each funded VA mortgage loan was
guaranteed by the federal government
in the event that the VA borrower
later defaulted on the loan and lost
the home in foreclosure. This way,
each bank that funded the 100% loan
for qualifying VA borrowers had
much less financial risk.
Specifically, there were two types
of governmentbacked or insured
mortgage loans that stimulated the
housing market and helped the U.S.
economy prosper and rise up out of
the previous negative Great
Depression (1929 1939) years VA
and FHA (Federal Housing
Administration) loans. These more
flexible residential mortgage loans
were part of President Roosevelt’s
New Deal plan and the National
Housing Act of 1934 that were
designed to create more jobs and
boost home values and the economy
once again.
Since 1934, FHA has insured
over 34 million home mortgages
nationwide. As per the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban
Development (HUD), FHA has
active insurance on over 8 million
singlefamily mortgages. In total for
both residential and commercial real
estate properties, FHA’s insurance
portfolio exceeds $1.3 trillion.
To learn more about the Federal
Housing Administration (FHA),
please visit HUD’s website:
https://www.hud.gov/program_office
s/housing/fhahistory#:~:text=Congre
ss%20created%20the%20Federal%2
0Housing,workers%20had%20lost%
20their%20jobs.
VA and FHA Loans for
Buyers, Sellers, and Owners
The main difference between
FHA and VA is that the government
insures a portion of the FHA loan
while guaranteeing a portion of a
funded VA loan. The vast majority of
home loans funded nationwide over
the past 10 years, directly or
indirectly, were either government
backed (VA) or insured (FHA) and/or
purchased in the secondary markets
by other governmentsponsored or
federal entities named Fannie Mae,
Freddie Mac, or Ginnie Mae.
FHA loans allow borrowers to
qualify with 3.5% down on average
(96.5% LTV) with lower FICO credit
score options near 580 and easier
overall underwriting allowances.
FHA also allows seller credits and
gifts from family members toward
down payments that can effectively
make a purchase loan become near
100% LTV also. However, borrowers
will have to pay an additional
monthly insurance premium along
with their mortgage payment that can
reach a few hundred dollars per
month, depending upon the
borrower’s FICO credit score, loan
amount, debttoincome (DTI) ratios,
and LTV (loantovalue). There are
more flexible FHA Streamline
refinance programs available as well
that are similar to the VA
Streamline.
For qualified VA borrowers, there
is perhaps no better mortgage loan
option available while FHA loans
might be the second best option for
high LTV loans. This is especially
true as 30year fixed mortgage rates
continue to hover at or near alltime
record lows while making many
mortgage payments more affordable
than rent even when the home is
financed up to 100% of the purchase
price.
To date, VA and FHA have
guaranteed or insured over 58 million
mortgages for homeowners. Home
sellers should welcome any VA or
FHA buyer prospect who has a pre
approval letter from a mortgage
lender. This is because the lender is
prepared to provide up to 96.5% LTV
for FHA or up to 100% LTV for a
VA loan. Amazingly, both FHA and
VA loans can close in a few weeks or
less due to expedited online
application processing options.
MEET RICK TOBIN
Rick Tobin has a
diversified background
in both the real estate
and securities fields
for the past 30+ years.
He has held seven (7)
different real estate and securities
brokerage licenses to date, and is a
graduate of the University of
Southern California. Rick has an
extensive background in the financing
of residential and commercial
properties around the U.S with debt,
equity, and mezzanine money. His
funding sources have included banks,
life insurance companies, REITs (Real
Estate Investment Trusts), equity
funds, and foreign money sources.
You can visit Rick Tobin at
RealLoans.com for more details.
Image by Mirolim Mirsolixov from Pixabay
92. 92
R
eal estate
investor
and
finance
platform
Connected
Investors has created America’s
largest iBuyer.
Destined to become the most
significant acquirer of
residential real estate in the US,
CiBuyers is poised to become
the goto buyer of homes and
mortgage notes for banks,
lenders and funds. Moreover, it's
becoming the number one
source for discounted real estate
assets for those looking to feed their
own funds, income portfolios, and
house flipping businesses with
inventory.
We caught up with Connected
Investors’ founder Ross Hamilton for
the scoop on their new iBuyer
division which is being headed up by
Kevin Hearst.
The Evolution Of Big iBuyers
iBuyers have been popping up on
the market for the past couple of
years. Most of the smaller internet
buyer attempts have gone unnoticed
or remained very small scale. Then
there have been very big attempts by
the likes of Zillow, which seemed to
grind to a halt on its staple of real
estate data reporting and threw
everything it had at buying and
flipping houses online.
Startup iBuyer OpenDoor has
announced that it plans to go public,
with a recent valuation just shy of
$5B. This is despite OpenDoor being
the subject of a FTC investigation
into its advertising practices,
reporting over $100M in losses in
early 2020, and partner Redfin being
the subject of fair housing lawsuits. At
last count, OpenDoor had still only
managed to open in 21 markets out of
the 100 US markets it hopes to
eventually grow into.
Unfortunately, while the industry is
certainly evolving toward a much
more technologydriven and far faster
moving transaction, up until now
iBuyers don’t seem to have brought
enough buying power, geographical
coverage, and handson industry
expertise and investment knowledge
to the table to be able to reach tipping
point or achieve any sizable market
share.
Connected Investors could be
exactly what the world has been
waiting for. Ross Hamilton, who says
he started out in real estate as a
wholesaler and made his first million
by building his buyers list many
years ago, has since built one of the
largest and most active real estate
investment platforms on the web.
Today, Connected Investors already
facilitates $5B a month in real estate
financing requests, as well as
providing a variety of software
solutions, and other mobilefirst
features, plus the booming social
network for investors.
In our exclusive interview, Ross
told us that the CiBuyer program had
already blown through its milestone
goal of amasssing $1B in buying
power months ahead of schedule and
is still growing fast.
His big vision is not just buying
and facilitating the sale of billions of
dollars in property and real estate
debt, but to effectively decentralize
this system, change the playing field
for both sides of the equation, and
through swiftly going nationwide,
even in small property markets, to
create more liquidity in this asset
class. It is creating the ability for
sellers to immediately liquidate these
assets, or acquire them, just as easy as
stocks. Also, it brings back confidence
and security to the real estate industry,
with verified qualified buyers.
Destined to become the most significant acquirer of residential
real estate in the US, CiBuyers is poised to become the goto
buyer of homes and mortgage notes for banks, lenders and funds.
93. 93
Massive Opportunity
The opportunity to transform this
industry is probably the largest in
history. Consider that mortgage loan
originations were expected to hit a
new record of $4T in 2020. The
value of all the homes in America,
not including vacant land or
commercial buildings is over $33T,
more than the entire GDP of both
China and the USA.
At the same time, the events of
2020 are likely to put in motion one
of the most active periods for
selling real estate and related assets
in American history. The pandemic
added to this, and with most
creditor and government aid ending,
but the worst financial side effects
only now hitting homeowners as
they run out of savings, a wave of
distressed sales lasting for years is
virtually inevitable. According to
mortgage data monitor Black
Knight, 13% more home loans were
30 days delinquent at the peak of
COVID crisis in 2020 than the peak
of the last Great Recession. 83%
more loans were 60 days or more
delinquent than at the peak of the
Great Recession. As a result, big
banks like Wells Fargo have already
been selling off and trading pools of
distressed mortgages worth billions
and tens of billions of dollars.
Ross acknowledges that there is a
good chance the government will
step in to provide more relief in this
area, and some lenders will provide
workouts for borrowers. Yet, many
are demonstrating that they still
didn’t learn their lessons from 2008,
and are preferring to foreclose and
sell the debt and assets rather than
to try to help homeowners stay in
place.
Become a CiBuyer
What is most unique about this
big announcement from Connected
Investors is that they are enabling
other investors to participate in this
opportunity as CiBuyers.
Ross and his team, which have
the highestlevel relationships with
those holding large pools of
properties and notes, are able to
negotiate deeply discounted deals on
properties in bulk, and offer those
directly to their qualified CiBuyer
members. They have access to
exclusive deals and pools of 1,000
plus properties at a time, which are
traditionally only reserved for buyers
with strong resumes of managing
millions of dollars in property, and
with plenty of reserves.
Becoming a CiBuyer provides
access to these deals, a few at a time,
or several hundred at a time,
depending on the investor’s appetite
for volume. As a CiBuyer investors
can skip all of the trial and error of
marketing directly to distressed
homeowners, access CI’s extensive
data to evaluate properties, and just
buy, based on their own ‘Buy Box’
criteria.
A big part of this development is
ensuring participants are qualified and
vetted buyers who are ready and able
to close on deals, with none of those
notorious broker chains or failed
closings wholesalers are infamous for.
Those who have already been
approved to join as CiBuyers are
active investors with at least three
verified deals under their belt in the
past few months, and seven figures or
more in buying power each.
If you fit this description and are
looking to acquire more deals, grow
your business efficiently, and be a
part of this big transition, Ross invites
you to apply to become a part of this
at CiBuyers.com.
Real estate agents can also register
their qualified clients and get credit
for their transactions. Lenders looking
to put their capital to work in this
space, or who are looking to sell
pools of REOs or note assets, should
also connect with the platform.
Get more details on how CiBuyers
works, the assets you can access
through the programs and to apply at
CiBuyers.com.
99. 99
Is a REIT a Good Option
for Earning Passive Income?
By Phil Bradford
Image by Megan Rexazin from Pixabay
102. 102
Can you depend on REIT amid this uncertain
time?
In this devastating 2020, where everything is uncertain,
people are almost dependent on stimulus packages, the
question will come to mind that is it a good time actually to
invest in REITs?
Well, financial experts are saying that if you have
money in hand now then the better option for you is to
invest in REITs than the stock market.
With REITs, your investment will grow in lessvolatile
conditions and in a stable and balanced way. It is only
REIT investment that is providing you an opportunity like
you can deduct up to $3000 from your taxable income if
you suffer any loss.
But REIT experts are saying that you can avoid three
types of REIT investment now and they are the hotel,
hospitality, and retail. The hotel and hospitality business
is in its bottom level currently due to tour and travel is at its
lowest strata.
The same thing happened with the retail stores. Due to
lockdown, nearly all the retail stores are closed so retail
REITs are not much profitable now.
So, if you keep these points in mind even in this uncertain
time, you can depend on REITs to earn passive income.
Can you depend on REITs during an
emergency?
Average Americans tend to use the ‘quickmoneyway’
for fulfilling any emergency. For Americans, quickmoney
means either highinterest credit card loan or a payday
loan. But both are not good for your financial health. The
minimum interest rate of a payday loan is 391%. For a
small loan amount, you have to pay off a ballooning
interest rate.
Rather than this option, during any emergency, if you
sell your REIT stock, you can get a lump sum amount
most safely.
However, if you are already entrapped in payday loans
then you can choose the consolidate payday loans option
for now. Eventually, REIT is more dependable to you as
an option to get out of any financial emergency.
Final words,
After reading the article,
you may have understood
that to earn passive
income and for your
emergencymoney
requirement, there is no
substitute for REITs. To
invest in REITs means you
will gain some tax
advantages. Due to the
reason of avoiding
corporate tax, REITs
distribute 90% of their
income to the
shareholders. The net
result of this is higher earnings for REITs investors.
In brief, if you want to earn a passive income without
taking much hassle or risk, you can depend on REITs. That
is why REITs are the dependable income avenue for you
even for your afterretirementphase or if you are a
rookie investor.
MEET PHIL BRADFORD
Phil Bradford is a financial content writer and an
enthusiast. He has expert knowledge about personal finance
issues and he is a regular contributor of Debt Consolidation
Care. His passion for helping people who are stuck in
financial problems has earned him recognition and honor in
the industry. Besides writing, he loves to travel and read
books.
Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay
108. 108
T
his is my 50th
year of investing
in real estate. It
seems impossible,
but it is true. I
have invested in
almost every type of real estate, but I
have concentrated primarily on the
SingleFamily Home as a longterm
store of value. I bought my first
rental house in 1969. It was a two
bedroom, onebath ranch with a one
car detached garage. I was in college
and rented the house to other college
students. Four of them lived in an
800 square foot box.
It took my life’s savings, $800 as
the down payment. I assumed a
Veteran’s fixedrate, 30year loan
with 26 years left on the amortization.
Back in that day, anyone could
assume a VA loan for a $35 fee.
By the time I graduated from
college, I owned three rental houses.
Upon graduation, I went to work for
an insurance company that needed a
small office to rent. I used the equity
in the rental houses to fund the down
payment for a small office building
and rented it to the insurance
company for which I worked.
My wife and I married right out of
college. We both had jobs to pay for
our living expenses. This freed up the
positive cash flow from the rental
houses to accumulate another down
payment to buy another rental house.
We did this for 20 years before
ever taking a dime out of our
investments. Every dollar of positive
cash flow was reinvested in more
houses. Was that easy to do? NO!
There were many temptations along
the way. A new car would have been
nice, maybe a motorcycle, or how
about an expensive vacation?
We lived well and enjoyed those 20
years, raising two daughters. But we did
not live beyond our means. We lived
BELOW OUR MEANS.
Who does this in America today?
Not many. It is a foreign concept to
most Americans, but it really is true that
if you live below your means and invest
for the long term, your future will be
bright. You do not have to be brilliant,
cunning, dishonest, or a trust fund baby
to be successful. All you must do is
work hard, uphold your commitments,
build an honest reputation, and keep
your “nose to the grindstone.”
Image by StockSnap from Pixabay
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
"We lived well and enjoyed
those 20 years, raising two
daughters. But we did not live
beyond our means. We lived
BELOW OUR MEANS."
109. 109
Think about it this way, when you
are born you have three to four
twentyfiveyear amortizations ahead
of you in your life. In a perfect
world, you could borrow one million
dollars on the day you are born and
buy 5 to 10 rental houses (depending
on where you live). When you turn
25 years old, you will be a
millionaire! Your tenants paid the
loans off for you!
You could then borrow another
one million dollars and do it again
by age 50. And, upon retiring at 75,
you would have another million
dollars. So, set your goals! How
many millions of dollars do you
want in your future?
Yes, I have seen booms and busts
along the way, but I never ran scared
and sold everything because of fear
of “losing it all.” I reasoned that even
if the houses did not appreciate, people
would always need a place to live
and many would pay rent to have a
roof over their heads. Cash flow was
my ultimate goal. After all, who
wants to EVER sell a cashcow?
So, does it matter what the cash
cow is worth? Not really, if the cow
is producing. That is all that you
should be concerned about. And,
from a tax standpoint, you don’t
EVER want to sell. The capital gains
tax will kill you and deplete your
earning power. The best tax plan is to
die! Yes, you read that correctly . . .
die! Your heirs will get a “stepupin
basis” when they inherit your
properties, and they will get to
depreciate them all over again!!
OMG, life doesn’t get any better!!!
I could go on and on about the
wonderful world of real estate, but
this article is supposed to be short and
tothepoint. (You have better things
to do than read too much and not be
out looking for “Killer Deals.”)
Therefore, I shall end this article
with a few of my golden nuggets:
1. Always use a trust when buying
ANY kind of real estate.
2. Do not own anything in your
name personally.
3. Learn how to use options on
real estate, they are almost
riskfree.
4. Concentrate on getting Cash
Flow FREE, not rich.
5. If it is not against the law, it
must be legal.
6. Live a corporate “lifestyle.”
7. Avoid government employees at
all costs.
8. Build a team with which to work
(Lawyer, Title Co., Accountant,
Insurance Agent, Banker)
9. Always use a P.O. Box address.
(Or the street address of your
Post Office.)
10. Best asset protection plan?
Don’t get divorced!
RANDY HUGHES
I encourage you to learn more by
going to my FREE online training at
www.landtrustwebinar.com/411 and
text “reasons” to 2062032005 for
my free booklet, Reasons to Use a
Land Trust. You can also reach me
the oldfashioned way by calling me
at 2173551281. (I actually answer
my own phone unlike most other
businesses in America today!)
Image by StockSnap from Pixabay
"So, does it matter what the
cashcow is worth? Not really,
if the cow is producing."