Categories
Wholesaling

5 High-Volume Influential Real Estate Investors to Learn From

There is no better way to become a successful real estate investor than by learning from those who’ve already done it. One of the greatest investors in this world, Warren Buffett, gave the same piece of advice when he said, “In the business world, the rearview mirror is always clearer than the windshield!”

Luckily, many real estate investors are more than willing to share their rearview mirrors with you.

Here are five of the most influential, high-volume real estate investors in the industry today. These real estate icons generously share their thoughts and experiences on social media, making it easy for you to follow and learn from them on a daily basis.

Max Maxwell

At the ripe age of 21, Max acquired his real estate broker’s license and began selling properties. He experienced the 2008 bubble burst and continued on this journey through real estate wholesaling. Years later, Max set up his first real estate investment company, Cash Homes Triad. He set a personal goal to earn six figures—which he did by December of 2017. 

In two years, he generated over $2 million in wholesaling fees alone.

Today, Max Maxwell is known as one of the top real estate investors in the country. He hosts annual Wholesaling Elite Live events—where one of them garnered over 1,200 attendees—dubbed the biggest wholesaling event in history.

Quoting from his website, “It is my strong desire to help others achieve financial freedom. By using my social media presence and hosting meetups and events, I hope to directly impact the lives of millions. Remember, you’re only one deal away!”

Here are the links for you to follow Max Maxwell online:

Max Maxwell constantly posts entrepreneurial tips on his Instagram and in-depth real estate advice on his YouTube channel. 

Raul Bolufe

Raul Bolufe is a CEO, investor, and coach in the real estate community. By his 23rd birthday, he famously flipped a total value of $15 million and made $355k off the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). 

Today, he is the president of the growing company Capital Rise Investments LLC and has done over 200 wholesale deals since his first one in 2014. He is passionate about sharing entrepreneurial advice and wholesaling-specific tips for real estate beginners looking to scale their businesses.

Raul Bolufe hosts the Flipping Miami podcast, where he talks about the following topics:

  • His average and highest monthly profit
  • His experience with real estate investing
  • His unique technique that grew his business
  • His tips on Section 8 and why it matters in investing
  • His best tips on how to search and land the best deals on MLS

Here are some of his other profiles online that you can follow:

Raul Bolufe posts generic advice for all entrepreneurs on his Instagram account and shares real estate wholesaling how-to videos on YouTube.

Tom Cafarella

Tom Cafarella is a real estate investor and broker-owner. He is considered to be one of the most successful real estate investors in Boston, Massachusetts. He lives by the motto “If you’re not happy with the work that you do, you’re never going to be great at it” and encourages all aspiring real estate investors to chase their dreams—just like he did. 

Today, Tom Cafarella is an expert at building and scaling real estate businesses. He has acquired the company Ocean City Development LLC. In addition, he passionately teaches other people how to increase deals, scale their return on investment (ROI), and how to gear their mindset towards investment success.

Follow and learn from his story and company here:

Tom Cafarella regularly shares valuable and practical tips across multiple channels—YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and his podcast “Massachusetts Real Estate Careers with Tom Cafarella.”

Joe McCall

Joe McCall is the host of Real Estate Investing Mastery Podcast (ranked 4.8 out of 5.0 by 559 reviews on Apple Podcasts), where he shares the secrets of wholesaling and lease options to earn full-income figures. He helps people “escape the 9-5” by holding valuable conversations with successful real estate investors, discovering new strategies to implement in your real estate investment and business.

He is also the author of four real estate investing books, including one about wholesaling lease options (a fast and easy way to make money from real estate) and another about how to make extra money flipping houses while on vacation.

Here are some of his social media profiles that you can visit and follow:

Joe McCall posts practical how-to content on both YouTube and Twitter.

Additionally, he also speaks at conferences and workshops nationwide. His talks give all investors the necessary information on marketing, automation, and delegation in the real estate industry. 

He’s the guy Raul Bolufe learned his business growth hacks from!

Graham Stephan

If you’ve been watching real estate videos on YouTube, you’ve come across Graham Stephan.

Graham Stephan is a real estate agent that has gained a significant following online due to his real estate accomplishments and valuable lessons for investors. His content centers around financial independence and the importance of investing correctly. 

Graham Stephan is his own testimony, as he famously skipped college to jump into the real estate scene immediately. He got his real estate license at the age of 18 and earned $500 on his first commission. By the time he was 27, he had sold a total of $120 million worth of real estate and has earned up to $1.6 million a year—being praised by Kevin O’Leary for his impressive accomplishment.

Now that he’s 30 years old, he has reached a staggering net worth of around $6.5 million. He has served celebrity clients such as Orlando Bloom, Chloe Grace Moretz, and Wale. In addition, he works as a realtor associate for the luxury property brokerage, The Oppenheim Group. 

Follow Graham Stephan via these links:

Since 2017, Graham Stephan has decided to pursue YouTube as a full-time job. All his videos are for teaching real estate investors just like him.

Conclusion: You Can Be Next

It’s never been easier to learn from other investors today. With the rise of the internet and the generosity of successful real estate investors, the world of information and inspiration is literally at our fingertips!

Follow Max Maxwell, Raul Bolufe, Tom Cafarella, Joe McCall, and Graham Stephan for daily lessons and tips on becoming successful in the real estate scene. Their experience defines our future success.

Who knows… You just might be featured in an article like these in the future!

There are way too many influential people in the real estate industry we can all learn from. Anybody else you’d like to add to our list?

Disclaimer: We are not endorsing any of these investors or their advice. Always exercise caution when taking investment advice from people on the internet! 

Image courtesy of Rodnae Production

Categories
Landlords

How to Find Good Contractors for Your Rental Property

There are many shady contractors out there! Finding a trustworthy contractor to work on your rental property can be tough. You want to make sure that you find one who will do good quality work, is licensed, and won’t rip you off.

To ensure you get the best contractor for the job, here are 5 steps you should follow.

1. Gather Your Options

There are several places you can go to look for contractors that can serve your area:

  • Ask for referrals: Ask your friends, family, and colleagues who have had the same kind of work done for any recommendations. Many contractors rely on word-of-mouth advertising to build their client base and reputation, which makes it easy for landlords to ask around.
  • Read neighborhood review websites: Popular sites like Nextdoor give you several leads, all with contact information and recommendations for your area. You can also check Angie’s List (now Angi) or Yelp for more client reviews.
  • Post on social media or advertising sites: Posting on your social media platform may get you connections and recommendations from people outside your circles.
  • Ask hardware and supply centers: Your local hardware store or building supply center will likely have a list of plumbers, carpenters, electricians, and more. You can ask the customer service representative for their details. 

Our pro tip? Seek out the hustlers. Visit Home Depot at 6 AM on Saturday to find hard-working contractors. 

While others are sleeping in on the weekend, these hustlers will be wide awake and ready to work. You want contractors like this, who work beyond the usual 9-5 on weekdays, as your tenants are usually available for repairs only when they’re not at work themselves. You don’t want to pay contractors “overtime pay” for coming in on weekends! A good contractor will be greedy—grabbing opportunities to work even on odd hours, and some of them won’t even charge more for doing it. 

2. Research Them Online

If you’ve done your research, you’ll likely end up with a long list of contractors. Shorten your list by doing an initial sweep online—conduct your own background research for any shady activity or active disputes by certain contractors. 

Pull up Google and type in their name, their company’s name, and your city. Add keywords such as “scam,” “complaints,” or “court” to reveal negative information against the contractor.

3. Initial Interview

After the initial screening, choose the ones you’re comfortable with and schedule an interview. You’d want to ask questions about their services, such as:

  • How long have you been a contractor?
  • How long has the company been in business?
  • Is the team familiar with this kind of work before? How often?
  • Does the team have references that I could see?

Narrow it down to a handful of contractors. The next step will determine who’ll make the cut.

4. Verify with References

By this point, you’ve talked to the contractors themselves. This is the time to talk to the client references to verify service quality and performance.

Call former clients and ask the following:

  • Was the work done in a complete and timely manner?
  • Was the work done according to the agreement?
  • Was the contractor well-organized and professional?
  • Did the contractor charge fairly? Were there additional costs?

After this, you should have a shortlist of contractors that you want to proceed with. 

5. Screen Them Thoroughly

Schedule a meeting with each contractor to discuss the work in more detail. See how they feel about the proposal, and get a sense of their work ethic as well.

It’s important that they are experienced, knowledgeable, and officially licensed to carry out the work. Clearly outline your expectations, as you’ll be relying on them for both basic and emergency property maintenance.

The key questions you need to ask are:

  • When are you available and what locations do you serve?
  • What type of work would you say your team is most capable and skilled at doing?
  • Can you walk us through a typical job and the communication you provide?
  • How often do you send pictures and videos of the work? Are they clear and detailed?
  • What are your licenses and insurance to complete this particular project?
  • Can you pull permits, or would I have to?
  • How are your estimates and invoices created and delivered?
  • What is your preferred payment schedule?

Then, get into the details of how you want them to serve you by asking the following:

  • Will you add us as “Additionally insured”?
  • Will you agree to estimating and quoting by the job instead of hourly?
  • Will you allow payment within seven days to allow time for inspection?
  • Will you sign waivers for all payments?
  • Will you agree to a background check?
  • Will you sign a W-9?

Once you’re confident with a contractor, draw up the contract and close the deal. The document should include all the important information, including the start and end dates, payment schedule, materials required, description of the work, and specific instructions on how to handle any changes to the project plan.

Conclusion

With a good selection process, you’ll have a whole roster of trustworthy contractors in your arsenal, ready to meet the quality you expect from the best of contractors.

Gradually build your list of contractors you’re happy with, and keep their details easily accessible. You’ll never know when you’ll need to call them!

Image courtesy Tima Miroshnichenko

Categories
Landlords

Eco-Friendly Tips to Maintain Lawn and Garden

As a landlord, there are several reasons you need to take care of your lawn and garden:

  • Good landscaping is a great way to increase your property’s curb appeal.
  • Allowing weeds to thrive or leaving soil exposed might lead to flooding and pipe damage.
  • Large weeds can even destroy foundations, fences, and outbuildings.

For all these reasons, it’s actually more cost-effective to do preventative outdoor maintenance (and make sure your tenants do, too).

One of the ways to make the task easier, cheaper, and healthier is by using sustainable, eco-friendly methods. Taking care of plants and greeneries without harmful pesticides isn’t as hard as many would think! And, depending on the type of tenants you’re aiming to attract, your eco-friendly garden could be a major selling feature.

Even if you don’t have a green thumb, these quick and easy tips will help you maintain a healthy lawn and garden while being environmentally friendly! 

Leave grass cuttings on the lawn.

Grass cuttings act as natural fertilizers, providing essential nutrients to the lawn and garden. They decompose quickly into the soil, adding nitrogen and acting as a moisture barrier. They also eliminate the need for commercial chemicals that pollute the atmosphere, taint the groundwater, and add unnecessary maintenance costs to your property.

After mowing the grass, skip the rakes and leaf blowers! Just leave the cuttings on the ground—you’ll save time and money, without compromising your garden’s lushness. 

Use yard waste and kitchen compost as fertilizers.

Composting is a great way to reuse resources and create high-quality fertilizer that’s completely free. It’s achievable even in apartment buildings that don’t have garden space—you can use countertop compost containers or a technique called Bokashi composting.

In most cases, you can simply have a compost bin where tenants can throw in their food scraps, then add them to an outdoor compost pile. If they’re not interested in doing so, you can also maintain your own compost and bring it to the rental property during the turnover period to fertilize the lawn and garden.

Avoid gas-powered equipment.

Using electric or battery-powered lawn care equipment will cut down your fossil fuel consumption and emissions—especially if you use manual push mowers (which are also free to run). The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reports that a gas-powered lawn mower produces as much air pollutants as 11 cars, and that’s if the equipment is brand new!

If the old-school push mower isn’t quite your style, you can take advantage of electric technology with the many options available in the market. A corded electric mower will also cost you less than a gas-powered one, running anywhere from $150 to $250 on average.

Water deeply, but less frequently.

Your lawn and garden obviously need water, but not all methods will contribute to healthy growth. Here are a couple of techniques to water them properly:

  • Water the area three times a week instead of every day.
  • Program your sprinkler system to go off at midnight for minimal water evaporation.
  • Keep the sprinkler system on for an extra 10 minutes to have the roots absorb enough water.
  • Use smart watering systems to operate them remotely.
  • Devote a few sprinklers to drip systems for water efficiency.

Additionally, consider turning the system off when rain is forecasted. Not only do you get free water, but you also avoid over-watering the lawn and garden.

Create a buffer zone between lawn and waterways.

This last tip is simple yet crucial, especially for homes in locations that are prone to natural disasters.

If your property is near a lake, river, or stream, try to leave a 10-foot buffer zone between the waterway and your lawn or garden. Allow the zone to thrive naturally with vegetation and plants, binding the soil underneath into a strong barrier. 

The area will serve as a physical barrier to prevent fertilizers from entering the body of water, protecting your area from erosion and keeping your property safe during storms, floods, and more.

Conclusion

There are many ways to implement eco-friendly maintenance of your lawn and garden. Most of them are completely free and only require a bit more effort in setting up. 

Pass these tips along to your tenants if you want them to maintain your garden perfectly during their tenancy, and you can hopefully prevent your outdoor areas from getting overgrown while the property is rented out.

By simply leaving grass cuttings, maintaining a compost pile, using electric equipment, controlling the water system, and having a buffer zone for waterways, your rental investment will have a thriving, beautiful lawn and garden designed to last for a long time. Plus, prospective tenants might love the idea of living in an eco-friendly property.

Any other tips that we’ve missed? How are you currently maintaining your lawn and garden?

Image courtesy of Pixabay

x  Powerful Protection for WordPress, from Shield Security
This Site Is Protected By
Shield Security