Real Estate Opportunities in Popular Vacation DestinationsIt is common knowledge that tourism impacts real estate markets, and Orlando Florida is no exception to this rule. Fun and sun seekers from all over the world fly into central Florida everyday to visit Disney World, Universal Studios, Busch Gardens, or the many other, world renowned, central Florida attraction. So many people visit Orlando each year the city's economy is visibly impacted by the influx of capital from tourism. Luckily high-end tourism or VIP travel is one of the few recession proof markets and the Orlando Florida real estate market is fueled to a large degree by tourism. Droves of affluent tourists the world over come to Orlando Florida yearly to enjoy all that is offered, and some like it so much they want permanency in the region. With the resources available buying a home in the central Florida area is attractive. "We are seeing more and more homes being purchased by out of the area buyers and fully furnished as a vacation home," say Brad Fletcher, founding owner of a successful real estate marketing and home staging firm in Orlando Florida. Brad goes on to say "The trend is undeniable as the dollar weakens against other currencies and property values decline in the United State. People from all over the world are buying their little piece of paradise. Many real estate professionals around the Orlando area do well marketing to international clientele, most notably English speaking tourists. Whether they are looking to buy pre-construction investment townhouses, condos, vacation homes, or condominiums in our many new luxury high rises - now is the time to do it. Bottom line is real estate in Orlando Florida is looking more and more attractive to the foreign investor as the dollar weakens, other currencies increase in value and the American housing market declines. Foreign investors that jump on now are the ones that are going to profit. Investment real estate in popular tourist destinations in the USA is very attractive to affluent foreign nationals. They know real estate values in popular tourist destinations are insulated to some degree holding their value during down times. This could be the next booming market over the next several years. Wealthy foreign and domestic travelers realize real estate in the USA is at rock bottom prices. Do they want to miss out on one of the biggest real estate opportunities of our time in the United States? Of course not, that's why real estate professionals should explore advertising to the global market place, specifically English speaking tourists. "Why English speaking tourists: Simply because the language doesn't present a problem when it comes to communicating marketing messages", explains Brad, "luckily for Americans the international language of business is English." Labels: Real Estate Opportunities in Popular Vacation Destinations Marketing is the Key to Your Real Estate SuccessThere are literally dozens of ways of marketing your real estate investing business. Some are time intensive, while others require you to open your wallet and spend a few bucks. In order for you to see maximum impact from your marketing efforts, you need to sit down and develop a comprehensive marketing plan for your fledgling business. It's not hard, but it does require some thought and the ability to get the best return possible from your investment of time and money. If you master your marketing efforts, real estate investing will always provide you with more than enough money for your needs, wants, and desires. Initially, you may have more time on your hands than cash in the bank, so I'll start with a number of techniques that will cost you next to nothing. Keep in mind, though, that your best results will come from cluster bombing your chosen investment area with a combination of marketing techniques. Classic money advice has always held that you should never put all your eggs in one basket; the same advice holds true for your marketing efforts. I advocate a marketing technique I call Real-Time Investing. Your investment here will primarily be time and gasoline, but what is involved is simply driving around areas in which you would like to invest looking for signs of distress. The signs of distress that I'm referring to here are things like overgrown lawns, newspapers piled up on front porches, and deferred maintenance on houses. By combining Real-Time Investing with certain guerrilla marketing techniques, you can get really good results without breaking the bank. Some of the different techniques you can utilize that don't cost much money are things like bandits sign, flyers, and canvassing the area looking for motivated sellers. Marketing efforts that require a little bit more money can generally be broken down into two basic categories: shotgun marketing and target marketing. Shotgun marketing is considerably less expensive than target marketing, but the results you get won't be nearly as good. However, it's still a good idea to utilize both techniques because you will get some results from shotgun marketing at very low cost. Shotgun marketing is a general technique that is the marketing equivalent of carpet bombing. Instead of honing in on specific targets, you shoot at everything that moves. For example, in a direct mail campaign you could send a postcard out to every home in a particular ZIP code looking for motivated buyers or sellers. However, you can improve your results by targeting only specific properties or addresses. Instead, you might consider sending a postcard to people who are 30, 60 or 90 days past due on their home loans. In addition, if you're looking for people that might be interested in buying properties that you have available, you might send postcards to apartment dwellers or people who have recently been turned down on home loan applications. Remember, there a dozens of ways to market yourself and your real estate investing business. You may not have the resources to spend much money on highly targeted radio or television ads, but the results you get can very quickly pay for the cost of the ad. The key here is to target the right demographic groups with the correct media. Talk radio stations and certain cable television channel will yield you tremendous results. Do your due diligence and research your options before spending your hard-earned money and you'll get astonishing results. Labels: Marketing is the Key to Your Real Estate Success Mastering the Market in Turbulent TimesIn turbulent times, real estate professionals have a unique opportunity to step up and successfully guide buyers. You will be ahead of the game if you help clients separate the facts from the hype and clarify how national real conditions affect local markets. Buying a home can be stressful under the best of conditions. When you add in general anxiety and confusion about the housing market, you're bound to have buyers waiting on the sidelines for a better day. Go local. The Internet puts today's consumers a click away from a world of real estate information. You can't know all the news that's available to your clients, but you can maintain the information advantage by becoming the expert on local markets. Focus on information your clients don't have. Local market information gathered from your experience, your MLS, and your network of local contacts is unique and provides value to your clients that other sources can't match. Do the math. You don't need to be an expert in statistics, but you should know what the key numbers mean and how to explain them clearly. Numbers like days on market, units closed, list-to-sales price and pending sales can provide great insight on where your local market is headed. It's also impressive to clients when real estate pros know how local trends stack up against national numbers. Show and tell. Using your MLS and marketing tools such as eNeighborhoods, you can provide personalized reports that show current neighborhood information and local demographic information such as schools, crime, employment and education. Provide branded leave-behind reports and materials homebuyers can reference later. When you become the local source who can explain market conditions with current statistics and visual summaries, you gain an advantage over less-prepared agents. Bring the bad news. Yes, prices are falling through the floor in many areas, particularly where activities like sub-prime lending, overbuilding and investor speculation occurred. The media tends to focus on areas where these abuses occur, bringing the bad news into sharp focus. You can help clients understand that falling prices in these areas are part of a natural - and necessary - market correction. As prices continue to fall, the real estate market will begin to recover as part of its normal cyclical process. Be sure to keep your prospects and clients engaged throughout the recovery process. Changes in local sales, home prices and inventory are good indicators of your local market's health. The national real estate market will inevitably recover, and those buyers who are on the fence now may be ready to purchase in the near future as some sunlight begins to emerge from the market's dark clouds. Labels: Mastering the Market in Turbulent Times How It's Actually Possible to Start Selling Income Property TodayIf you're a real estate agent that does not sell multifamily or other investment real estate at least some portion of the time, then you're missing out on a great opportunity to build your real estate business. Moreover, I believe that any real estate agent can sell multifamily property just by learning a few basics, whether they're a novice to real estate investing or not. Hey, when I started in real estate, I moved from residential real estate to income property sales almost overnight. Just six months into my real estate career I sold a shopping center and made a $24,000 commission...and I knew less about real estate investing then what you're about to discover in this article. But I digress. The point is that you don't have to become a commercial real estate specialist to sell rental property. Yes, commercial expertise is necessary to service some properties, e.g., leasing, but ordinary real estate agents can typically handle multifamily property transactions quite successfully, and generally do when they want to. That's how I did it, and so can you. Moreover, don't sell yourself short. If you're a real estate agent, then you are certainly in a great position to work with income property sellers and buyers. Remember what we learned about real estate, that it's a "contact sport". Think about it. Investors walk and call in to real estate offices, are previous customers, relatives, friends, and neighbors. In truth, we're surrounded by potential real estate investment customers. Finally, strike the thought that any effort you make to sell rental property won't be worth it. The untold secret about investment property, what others would not want you to discover, is that real estate investors typically purchase more than one property over time. Moreover, unlike home buyers (who purchase one house), real estate investors are known to purchase multiple properties plus, are often willing to sell for the "right price" because there's no emotional attachment like with a home. In other words, when you get the opportunity to work with one investor on one transaction, you potentially are setting the stage for multiple transactions. Okay, now let's go down the list. 1) Make the Decision Foremost, decide to make some portion of your real estate business investment business. You don't have to sacrifice residential. If you want to keep selling houses, great, just don't get started with rental property half-heartedly. If you need an incentive, bear in mind that investment properties can easily generate multi-million dollar transactions equal to three or four residential transactions; therefore, a golden opportunity to bolster your annual earnings in this troubled housing market. 2) Learn the Basics Unlike residential property, where amenities like kitchen size and school district are important to buyers, other than how they impact rents, amenities generally mean little to those who buy investment property. Real estate investing is about the numbers. As such, investors are less impressed by an agent's style and panache than they are with the agent's ability to discuss investment property and provide timely numbers and reports. It's not about Armani and Mercedes. Listen. When an investor asks, "What's the property's cap rate?" and you have the answer, that's all you need to start making the right kind of favorable impression that will keep the investor from dumping you for your competition. At the very least know how to compute capitalization rate and gross rent multiplier and be able to create an APOD. There are numerous websites devoted to real estate investment definitions and formulas where you can learn what you need easily, including my website. 3) Tool Up Investing a few dollars for quality real estate investment software that enables you to create cash flow, rates of return, and profitability presentations is one of the best tools you can procure for real estate investing, bar none. Here's why. Foremost, it makes a statement to investors that you work with rental income property. Presenting quality reports with concise financial data suggests to investors that you're serious about investment property, can assist in a sound buying decision, and might genuinely care about how the investor spends his or her money. It's about winning investor confidence. Secondly, it tells your colleagues that you work with rental income property. This benefits your business because it gives you income property credibility and in turn can lead to additional referral business. Thirdly, you can learn about rental income property. Almost by default, the formulas, returns, and reports generated in real estate investment software tend to rub off. It's as a customer of mine remarked, that my software contains everything about real estate investing it took him 15 years to learn. You get the idea. 4) Prepare You're making a crucial mistake if you wait until you're confronted by an investor to learn the terms or buy the software. Urgency is always an issue when investors make the decision to buy or sell investment property, and if they see you pause or scramble for answers, they're not going to have qualms about calling someone else. Winning or losing a sale often rests solely on the perception a customer develops within seconds during the first encounter. Don't blow it. 5) Promote Finally, let people know that you work with multifamily property. Foremost, call your residential customers and ask whether they've considered investing in real estate. Remember, investors are homeowners. Tell your relatives and friends. Obviously, the more people that know you're prepared and equipped to do a real estate analysis and run rates of return for them, the better. I'm preaching to the choir, here, of course, but I can't emphasize enough the impact your preparation for investment real estate will have on others. Labels: How It's Actually Possible to Start Selling Income Property Today Determining Your Preferred Marketing Cost Per DealWhat is your target marketing cost per investment property you buy? What is your maximum marketing cost per deal? And, why should you care? Here's why. For the most part, real estate deals cost money to find. Spending less to get the same results is better than spending more. Therefore, it makes sense to seek out ways to find as many deals as you can with the least amount of money spent. If you're doing one deal per month and are spending $2,000 on ads each month, imagine if you only had to spend $1,000 per month to do the same number of deals instead. What would you do with an extra $1,000 every 30 days ($12,000/yr)? Pay yourself? Pay down debt? Or, maybe you'd spend that $1,000 on more advertising and find one more deal every month. Now we're cooking with gas. Of course, you can and should find deals through marketing methods that cost little or nothing, like networking, publicity, etc. But if you're in a hurry (and considering the time value of money, I would be), you will have to spend money to find deals to do now. This is a business, after all, and businesses need to tell the world they exist-even the huge ones, and especially the small ones. So what are you willing to spend to find one deal? $1,000? $2,000? $5,000? Heck, I'd spend $100,000 to find a deal (assuming, of course, that I had 1) that kind of cash laying around, and 2) 100% assurance that it would result in a no-money-down transaction resulting in a $2,000,000 cash profit with no risk. Until this pipe dream becomes a reality, though, I'll stick with smaller numbers). Only you can determine what the maximum is that you're willing to spend to find one deal. It will depend on the following factors, which I will cover in order in the 4 articles to come: 1) How dedicated you are to testing and tweaking new advertising methods to get the most bang for your buck Once you have carefully considered each of these, you will be in a position to know exactly how much your ads should be costing. Then, you can avoid wasting money, and you will also avoid opportunity costs from not advertising enough and missing out on deals. Labels: Determining Your Preferred Marketing Cost Per Deal Three Key Points to Market StrategyThis article will discuss three key points on your market strategy. To look at your market strategy, you will first want to define your market. You cannot make any credible decisions until you have defined the market you are going after along with the submarkets and your acquisition strategy. The first key points when looking for a market and what to buy is that it must be a good deal. This is easier said than done. There been many companies and individuals who have bought overpriced deals in the past based upon the faith that the property would appreciate. You want your deal to be good enough that you can hold onto the property through a down cycle and still make money. Set yourself up so that in case some kind of disaster happens you are able to hold onto the property and still make money. A good example is the current market. There has been a downturn within real estate residentially over the last three years but this does not necessarily correspond to the commercial side as well. There have been 10 to 12 years when everything has been going ip but ultimately when it comes on economics, everything is cyclical. At some point there's going to be down cycle. The second key to your market strategy is to not put all of your eggs in one basket. Because real estate goes through cycles, you want to have some reserves in place so that if a down cycle does take place, you have an opportunity to take advantage of some of the deals which will occur. The down cycle is almost always one of the best ways to find new good deals due to how many sellers are on the market at that time. The third key when looking at market strategy is to know what your exit strategy will be. It is very important to know what to look for in buying a property but half the battle is knowing how to sell a property as well. If you buy a property for cheap and sell it for cheap, have you made as much money as you can? Have set guidelines in place for the type of return you would like. Knowing your exit strategy and what the market will allow will allow you to maximize your return. If you are not aware of the market and what is selling, you are cheating yourself out of money that you could have made. You have to work hard to turn around the deal so why not work on getting the most of your hard work that is possible? You should have both a short-term and long-term view of your market strategy. Figure out what you need to do in the short term to make money but also have a long-term plan in place which you are continually building upon. Your short-term plan should build upon your long-term plan. Hopefully this article on market strategy has given you some insight into what you need to do to create a good market strategy. A good strategy will help you avoid many mistakes and provide you with more opportunities as you'll know what you want to look for. Labels: Three Key Points to Market Strategy Luxury Real Estate Marketing Essentials - The Power of DifferentiationThe power of differentiation in the luxury arena applies to people, products and service. Luxury real estate marketing professionals can learn important lessons by studying successful branding in all three categories. A crowded market can still offer a perfect opportunity to differentiate yourself from your competition and build a distinctive personal brand. A new stand out in vodka clearly makes the point. It is called Prairie Vodka. Prairie is organic and kosher. There is an organic brand on the market called Square One that comes in a square shaped bottle. However, there is no organic vodka that is also kosher. The kosher part appeals to dietary rules in this segment of the market. Part of their slogan says that it is crafted on the Minnesota Prairie. The prairie conjures thoughts about the pioneer days that was romanticized by Garrison Keillor's radio shows,A Prairie Home Companion. Mr. Keillor is also from Minnesota. A sense of place, the origin of the product, offers another layer of distinctive branding. Another slogan is Let the Prairie In. The ad shows the nighttime cityscape behind the vodka, as well as two wolves flanking a woman with very big hair on a penthouse balcony. She is dressed in a white gown, running with the wolves. It is dramatic and implies different, new, and edgy. The wolves represent the prairie, the wild, the freshness and the undiluted as expressed by the word organic. The company is a fifth generation family of spirit makers which shows their expertise. It also implies that they have a tradition of making good products. They are in partnership with over 900 farmers. These farmers are partners in the distillery. This shows the support of the farmers and their core values. The taste of the vodka, described by Prairie as beautifully smooth, is lowest on the totem pole in terms of being a strong differentiator. However, it is everything you would expect from a premium vodka. This example shows the manifestation of a brand position and brand differentiation. Every aspect is thought out, and everything in the ad supports the competitive difference including the look of the bottle which is clear and very simple. The target market is not just vodka drinkers. It is vodka drinkers who 1) appreciate the integrity of the ingredients (organic); 2) have dietary restrictions (kosher); 3) are proponents of the environment and community life (900 farmers and partnership); 4) want expertise and tradition (fifth generation spirit makers). By purchasing Prairie vodka and drinking it, you are expressing all of your personal values because you are in agreement with what the brand stands for. Labels: Luxury Real Estate Marketing Essentials - The Power of Differentiation |
