Lex Levinrad Real Estate Investor, Speaker, Author & Mentor

On this podcast episode I talk about driving for dollars and how driving for dollars has one of the highest Return on Investment (ROI) of any of our marketing methods that we use. I discuss the old school method of using a notepad and pen to jot down the addresses of vacant and boarded up properties and how to use the property appraiser web site to locate the property owner (to mail them a postcard or letter). I compare that to the new technology methods of using smart phone apps like Deal Machine (www.dealmachine.com) and Send Fuse (www.getsendfuse.com) to market with postcards to motivated sellers. If you are not driving for dollars and using these apps then you should be. I also discuss your "investor toolkit" and what tools you should have in the trunk of your car when you are out looking for deals by driving for dollars (including bandit signs). Incorporate driving for dollars and utilize bird dogs by giving them access to your apps to make sure you are maximizing your opportunity to find wholesale deals

On this podcast episode I talk about how to get started as a property locator or bird dog for other real estate investors. I share my story of how I got started as a bird dog working for my mentor Ben, and why being a property locator for another real estate investor is one of the best ways to learn about investing in real estate. Learning how to find and evaluate deals is the most important piece of the real estate business. And it is the one piece that eludes most new real estate investors since they never put the time into learning how to do this. If you can find good wholesale deals then you can wholesale these houses to other investors, you can fix and flip these houses, or you can keep them as rental properties. The most important thing is learning how to find good wholesale deals at wholesale prices. And one of the best ways to learn this is by being a bird dog or property locator for another real estate investor. That way you risk their money and not yours. And you don't need to risk your cash (or you

On this podcast episode I talk about financial freedom and how to structure your life in a way that you can slowly move towards being financially free. Financial freedom means having the time and financial resources to be able to do what you want and whenever you want to do it. That means by definition that you will not achieve financial freedom by working hard at your job. You will achieve financial freedom by learning how to invest in real estate. And one of the easiest ways to do this is by buying rental properties at 80% or less of their fair market value since you are effectively buying these properties with no money down. If you are brand new to real estate and want to learn more about how to wholesale real estate and flip houses then please register for the free wholesaling real estate training at this link below: FREE WHOLESALING TRAINING https://www.lexlevinrad.com/webinar FIXING AND FLIPPING TRAINING If you want to learn how to fix and flip houses I have a fix and flip training webinar at this link:

On this podcast episode I talk about how you don't know what you don't know. If you are new to real estate investing or if you are just starting out, and trying to learn how to wholesale real estate and flip houses then it is important for you to know what you don't know. If you don't, you will tend to jump to conclusions based on your existing knowledge (which is very limited). This will cause you to make the wrong decisions. Making the wrong decisions when it comes to your income and your net worth can be the difference between being broke or having a life of financial freedom. How you deal with money and the financial decisions that you make will have the biggest impact on your net worth and income. Make sure you invest in your education and learn what you don't know so that you can make the right financial decisions. I use some real life examples of two houses that I purchased yesterday. One is a deal that was brought to me by a wholesaler which we had been marketing for around a week which I purchased fo

On this podcast episode I talk about how to build your cash buyers list. If you are wholesaling, you need cash buyers to buy your wholesale deals, and you need to know how to find these cash buyers. That's where learning how to build your cash buyer's list becomes crucial. Topics that I cover on this podcast episode about building your cash buyers list include: Websites Lead Capture Pages Syndicating Your Deals Craigslist Screening Your Buyers Pay Per Click Search Engine Optimization Landlords Finding Cash Buyers Online Finding Cash Buyers Offline Real Estate Investment Clubs If you are brand new to real estate and want to learn more about how to wholesale real estate and flip houses then please register for the free wholesaling real estate training at this link below: FREE WHOLESALING TRAINING https://www.lexlevinrad.com/webinar FIXING AND FLIPPING TRAINING If you want to learn how to fix and flip houses I have a fix and flip training webinar at this link: https://www.lexlevinrad.com/fixandflipwebinar DON'T

On this podcast episode I talk about how to complete a purchase contract. You will need to have a standard purchase and sale agreement in order to be able to purchase houses. If you have sent out postcards, made an appointment with the seller and gone on the appointment then the next step is to agree on a price. If you and the seller have agreed on a price, then your next step is to have them sign a purchase contract and sales contract. You can use any standard purchase and sale agreement for your State. You can Google the search term "Purchase and Sale Agreement" and you can also purchase them online from legal web sites or you could have your attorney prepare one for you. The 14 main variables that are components of this contract are: 1. contract date 2. name of seller 3. name of buyer 4. address of property 5. legal description 6. property ID 7. purchase price 8. deposit 9. balance to close 10. closing date 11. Title company (or attorney) 12. Inspection period 13. date signed 14. signature Some of the abov

On this podcast episode I am talking about motivated sellers and why they sell their house at a discount to market value. Motivated sellers are willing to exchange price for convenience, meaning that they would rather just sell and have the cash in hand now, than wait for a few months to see if they can get a higher price by selling with a realtor. Why would someone be willing to sell their house for less than full market value? There could be many answers. They may not know what full market value is. Their house could be damaged and they may not be able to live in the house. Or they may have inherited the property from their parents and live in another State and may need to get cash fast to pay off bills or other obligations. Or they may be in foreclosure and are about to lose their home and want to save their credit. There could be many reasons why someone is motivated to sell. This is why we call them motivated sellers. Remember this one thing: If you want to wholesale, or fix and flip or buy rentals at a

On this podcast episode I talk about turn key section 8 rental properties. I walk you through a case study of a rental property that we currently have listed on the MLS for sale for $60,000 to show you the numbers and the returns that are possible by investing in turn key section 8 rentals. In this case study the property can be purchased for $60,000 and would only require a down payment of $12,000 to purchase. After closing costs, the initial cash investment would be only $13,000 and the property would be managed and turn key (meaning you as an investor would not need to do anything). The Gross Annual Rental Income on this property is $8,400 and after factoring in mortgage payments property taxes, insurance, repairs, vacancy and property management this property would return $2,252 on the investment of $13,000 which is a 17.3% return. I have all of the numbers and the breakdown at this link: http://www.lexlevinrad.com/section8 If you are brand new to real estate and want to learn more about how to wholesale

On this podcast episode I talk about financial freedom and how real estate can help you achieve financial freedom. I also discuss why financial freedom is so difficult for most people. It starts with how we are raised, when our parents tell us to go to school, get good grades, and get a good job. And we listen to them. Fast forward twenty years, and you may find yourself feeling overworked, underpaid and at a job that you can't stand. Even worse, if you are like most Americans, you can't quit your job because you have bills to pay, credit card debt and almost no savings. You have fixed expenses that won't go away. Does this sound familiar? You need that job in order to pay those bills so you feel stuck. You are in what Robert Kiyosaki calls the "rat race" in his book "Rich Dad Poor Dad" (which you should read). So the first step towards financial freedom is to understand that your focus should be on INCREASING YOUR INCOME, not on decreasing your expenses. Focus your energy (and time) on increasing your income

This is the fourth and final podcast episode in the "Flipping Your First House" Podcast Series. If you have not already done so, please listen to Flipping Your First House Parts 1 through 3 before you listen to this podcast episode. On the previous podcast episode (Flipping Your First House Part 3) I spoke about the types of mail pieces that you can use to mail out which were: 1. White Letters 2. Yellow Letters 3. Postcards On this podcast episode I am talking about mailing lists, types of mailing lists and how to obtain mailing lists. You need to have a list of homeowners in order to be able to implement direct mail. The first part of the direct mail process is to create a list. On this podcast episode I talk about the types of lists that you can get by using sites like: http://www.listsource.com and http://www.listability.com You can create lists of absentee homeowners, probate, tax delinquent, code enforcement violations, evictions foreclosures etc. Some of these lists can be created by registering with th

This is the third podcast episode in the "Flipping Your First House" Series. Please make sure that you listen to the "Flipping Your First House" Parts 1 and 2 podcast episodes BEFORE you listen to this episode (which is part 3). On the previous two podcast episodes I spoke about direct mail and marketing to motivated sellers. I discussed action steps to get started and how to incorporate a direct mail campaign into your real estate marketing. I also spoke about your marketing budget, tracking your performance, call tracking and key performance indicators (KPI's) you should be keeping track of. On this podcast episode I am talking about the types of direct mail that you can mail out to motivated sellers. I break this down into three major categories: 1. White Letters 2. Yellow Letters 3. Postcards I speak about the pros and cons of each method including the mailing costs associated with each method and the results. Direct mail works. Don't let anyone tell you that it doesn't. I can tell you for a fact that the

Flipping Your First House Part Two On this podcast episode I talk about direct mail marketing to motivated sellers. Make sure you listen to the previous podcast (Flipping Your First House - How To Get Started) before you listen to this one, since it follows up on the previous episode. On this podcast I drill down into the details of direct mail results and what the typical results would look like from mailing to a list of 8,000 absentee owners over a period of 8 weeks (mailing 1,000 postcards a week). I broke down the mailing costs and showed a real example of mailing $500 a week for 4 weeks and spending $2,000 before my student got a house that he flipped for a profit of $12,000. I talk about getting out of the trading your time for a paycheck mindset and how the key to generating motivated seller leads is to be marketing. You cannot afford to skip this step - especially if you have a full time job. I also speak about scripts, talking to motivated sellers and knowing what to say. The ultimate goal is to go o

On this podcast episode, I talk about the action steps that you would need to take in order to flip your first house. I start out by introducing wholesaling and talking about assignments of contract compared to double closings and the pros and cons of each method. I also talk about the difference between wholesaling and flipping versus fixing and flipping and the difference between wholesaling and "wholetailing". Finally I talk about the action steps that you would need to take to move closer towards your goal of flipping your first house. I use an example of mailing out postcards to a list of absentee homeowners, and discuss the type of list, postage costs and returns on investment. I also talk about why so many beginners quit because they have a mindset of trading their time for a paycheck. Enjoy the podcast! If you are brand new to real estate and want to learn more about how to wholesale real estate and flip houses then please register for the free wholesaling real estate training at this link below: FREE

On this podcast episode, I talk about investing in section 8 rental properties. Section 8 is a government backed housing program which offers rental assistance for low income families. There are a lot of myths and stigmas associated with investing in section 8 rental properties. A question I am often asked by investors is which properties are eligible for section 8? The answer is that almost ANY property can be a section 8 rental since section 8 is determined by the tenant NOT by the property. As long as the tenant qualifies for housing assistance and they can find a landlord willing to rent to a section 8 tenant then that property can be a section 8 rental. In order to qualify for section 8, tenants have to apply with their local Housing Authority. In most cities there is a backlog of tenants looking for housing and only a limited number of vouchers are released each year (based on need). Tenants have to show that their annual income is below a certain level and this amount is adjusted depending on many fact

On this podcast episode I talk about private lenders and hard money loans. If you want to fix and flip properties, there is a good chance that you will need a loan from a private lender or a hard money lender. Hard Money Loans are meant to be short term bridge loans and because they have high interest rates, they are NOT meant to be a long term financing option. For this reason, most hard money loans are short term interest only loans for a period of 1 year. I discuss using hard money loans and borrowed money from private lenders, and why this is the perfect instrument for fixing and flipping houses. When you use borrowed money to finance the purchase of a fix and flip your goal is to buy, borrow, fix and flip the house within 6 months or less. Private lenders and hard money loans are a very useful tool for rehabbers that fix and flip houses for a living. Every professional rehabber that I know (including myself) uses borrowed money to finance their fix and flips. The reason is that borrowing money will allow

This podcast episode follows up on the Wholesaling Real Estate Podcasts Parts 1, 2 and 3. Please make sure you listen to those 3 episodes before listening to this podcast. On the previous podcast I spoke about making your first offer, knowing how much to offer, and how your exit strategy is important when determining your offer price. On this podcast episode I talk about constructing and submitting your offer. Remember that submitting your offer assumes that you know what the After Repair Value is, and how much it will cost to repair the house. You cannot determine an offer price if you don't know the ARV and what it would cost to fix the house (repair estimate). On this episode, I talk about the type of purchase contract you should use and why you want to use a "wholesaling contract" for direct to seller purchases and a standard contract for bank owned properties. I also talk about inspection periods, deposits, cancelling your contract and how important those numbers can be if it comes to wanting to cancel y

This is part three of the How To Get Started Wholesaling Real Estate Series. Please make sure you listen to Wholesaling Real Estate Part One and Part Two before you listen to this episode since this podcast builds up on the information contained in the previous two podcast episodes. On episode one, we spoke about how you need to have a property to flip, a cash investor to flip the house to, and the money to fund the deal. On episode two, we spoke about After Repair Value, Estimating what the property is worth, comparable sales and repair estimates. On this episode I talk about making your first offer, submitting bids, knowing how much to offer, exit strategies and why you should get your real estate license. If you are brand new to real estate and want to learn more about how to wholesale real estate and flip houses then please register for the free wholesaling real estate training at this link below: FREE WHOLESALING TRAINING https://www.lexlevinrad.com/webinar FIXING AND FLIPPING TRAINING If you want to lea

On the previous podcast episode (Wholesaling Real Estate Part 1) I spoke about the three things that you need in order to wholesale a property which were: 1. having a property to flip 2. having a cash buyer to flip the house to 3. having the money to fund the flip On this podcast episode (part 2) I am following up on part 1 and digging deeper into the first item in the list above which is learning how to find a property and evaluate a property in order to have a house to flip to another investor. This is the essence of wholesaling. You can have the best web site and tons of leads but if you don't know how to evaluate what a property is worth and how much you can flip it for then you will be constantly facing an uphill battle. In my opinion this is what happens to the majority of new wholesalers who focus on lead generation and websites before understanding the basic fundamentals. In order to flip a property to a cash investor, you will need to know what the house is worth retail, completely fixed up for sale

On this podcast episode I discuss how to get started wholesaling real estate. This is part one which is basically an introduction to wholesaling. I talk about the 3 main components of wholesaling which are: 1. Finding Houses To Flip To Investors 2. Finding Cash Buyers To Buy These Houses 3. Finding The Money To Fund These Flips The above 3 items are the essence of the foundation of wholesaling real estate. I find that far too many beginners that are new to wholesaling, spend way too much time focusing on things that don't make them any money. For example: setting up their business, opening LLC's, setting up checking accounts, creating web sites and business cards, mailing postcards, setting up CRM's and phone systems etc. While you will need all of the above in order to be a full time real estate investor, if you are a beginner, spending money without making money is a recipe for disaster. The number one most important criteria for a business to succeed is cash flow. If you spend 6 months or a year and have o

We have a lot of questions coming in asking about rental properties and turn key rental properties. Today's podcast episode talks about Turn Key Rental properties in Florida. On this episode I discuss a typical turn key rental property that we sell to our investors with property management included. The example that I used on this podcast is a 3 bedroom 2 bathroom house in Port St Lucie, Florida. This house can be purchased for $175,000 and would rent for $1,350 per month. At this price assuming a 20% down mortgage and an interest rate of 5.25 percent, the annual total return on investment would be a little over 10%. This includes cash flow, tax savings and principal pay down. If you would like to see pictures of this property you can them on my web site at: https://www.lexlevinrad.com/turnkeyrentalproperty