The Real Estates Business -Online Auction

 

The method of buying and selling house things, auction, is a method for formative the value of a commodity that has an undecided or variable price. An extended version of auction is fast importance nowadays in the cash market which is called as online auction. It is a winning technique in which so many people bid for crop and services over the internet. It acts as a market for individuals and businesses that use the site to public sale goods and services.

US Property market is successful in the industry. There are great opportunities in the Real Estates business market to claim for the top, and get the desired value. If you want to make an entry into the property market, buy a home at auction. Every year more than 30,000 propertyare sold at auction. The auction business market is wide sufficient that it offers great opportunities for a large mixture of properties.

Selling Houses Fast (Part 2)

The first step to success in buying and selling is locating prospects. Without potential buyers it's very hard to sell houses. Frankly, an ad in the newspaper should be enough to attract plenty of prospects if you know how to write the ad and where to put it.
I can't turn this into an ad-writing course, but any ad that gets prospects to call is a good one. Any ad that doesn't is a bad one, or it's in the wrong publication. Make sure your ad gives the prospect a reason to call. Try to include a USP (Unique Selling Proposition): What can you offer that everyone else isn't?

For example:

Lease Purchase
No Qualifying Owner Financing
No

Bank Qualification No Money Needed Easy Terms Owner Will Help Will Accept Anything On Trade No Down Payment You Get A Car With The House, etc. Some students use flyers distributed in newspapers and don't run ads. Others use a lot of signs, referrals, mail outs, the Internet and electronic voice broadcast. We'll cover all these in the Selling Houses Fast Boot Camp, but the key is to make sure you keep a good flow of leads coming in until the house is sold. Where most people fail is how they handle these leads once they come in. That, my friend, will receive a lot of attention at the boot camp. It's by far the weakest link in the chain. Leads must be prescreened properly and the good ones worked daily. Out of any batch of leads will usually come some qualified ones. Maybe not with a credit, but qualified if you're flexible as we discussed in the last issue. What I look for most, are people who love the house and are excited about owning it. Give me that and a little something to work with and I'll get them in it. 8. No Follow- Up System in Place Why do some folks insist on doing the same job several times when it can be done once? If you're not building a buyer's list of some kind you must love punishment. It's simple. If you have more buyers than houses, you don't run ads, send flyers, mail letters or any of that other stuff. You pick up the phone and call the prospects you've prescreened from the last time and tell them about your new house. Why is that so hard? It looks to me like it's easier to suffer the pain of creating a buyer's list once, rather than talking to dozens of prospects from ads every time you get ready to sell. You don't have to be an organizational wizard to enact a little follow up. Hey, a pile of prescreened buyers on the corner of your desk with no separation or filing system is better than nothing. Sounds like my system. No, that's not true. At least I put them in a file folder. Then I misplace the folder, but I always know it's close by (somewhere). 9. Functional Obsolescence This one is a house problem, not a people problem. You usually can't fix this and shouldn't buy if it's present. That way you won't have trouble selling. Here are some things that come to mind: Extremely small rooms Bathroom off the kitchen Walk through bedroom to get to the only bath Low ceilings (under seven feet) House added-on unprofessionally Strange layout that can't be fixed Adjacent to odors, commercial property, school or anything else that makes it undesirable Bad or no foundation That's just a few of the things I can think of now. Note: Sometimes you can correct this and sometimes you can't. If you don't see a way, simply pass. 10. House is Very Small I guess this is also functional obsolescence, but it's very common. Any time a house has less than 1,000 square feet I get cautious. I've learned that houses under 900 square foot are usually hard to sell and there's not much you can do but keep looking for a small family of 1 or 2 people. I'm not saying they won't sell. I'm just saying they're harder. I've probably done 200 houses below 1,000 square feet. I think I own 3 or 4 now. I guess that verifies there is a buyer for every house. If I can buy them cheap enough, I'll still do some today. But I know going in they may take a little longer to sell. 11. Salesperson Loses Control of the Loan Process You must remain in control from the moment you buy the house until you get a check. That includes the loan process. You decide who does the loan, who appraises the house, who gets the survey and termite report and who closes. You are also in charge of speeding up the loan. Yep! You, not your lender. You should check in every few days, push for results and round up missing paperwork. If you don't, the close will drag on forever. Would you allow your boss to hold your paycheck for 2 to 3 weeks until he decides to pay you? That's exactly what you're doing when you let a loan processor jerk your chain. So, the next time you lose a buyer because he didn't close quick enough, go to your bathroom mirror and cuss out the person responsible. The last time I lost a buyer two days before closing, it was because God told them not to buy. If I'd been two days earlier, maybe I wouldn't have been competing with God. Oh well. Six weeks later I sold the house for $3,000 more than the first buyer. Maybe I wasn't competing with God after all. 12. House is Located Too Far Away from the City That's an easy one. Don't buy it. Unless you want to create a lot of driving time so you can listen to more of my tapes. Frankly, I don't buy anything I intend to retail that's more than 30 minutes from my office. Of course I know for some of you in big cities that's about three blocks away. Hey, you can always move. 13. House is in High Price Range Where Few Buyers Can Afford Actually, sometimes that has no bearing because the upper market is hot. If it is, the high value is not an excuse for a slow sale. The problem is elsewhere on this list. But in smaller cities where a $500,000 house is the mansion, you can certainly expect it to take much longer. All that just makes a case for you to not guarantee monthly payments on big loans. Unless you're a sadist and looking for pain you shouldn't try to outguess the market. Don't count on a high priced house selling quickly just because you like it. Remove the risk, give yourself time and you'll discover the big ones sell just like the little ones, but hopefully with a lot more profit. Caution You'd better make sure you have a large spread on those big babies. Buyers of $500,000 homes are more sophisticated and more apt to ask for a price reduction. The good news is these folks can usually qualify for a loan, and the majority of the sales are all cash. Owner financing and lease purchase just doesn't have the sizzle it does on the lower end. That doesn't mean it's not used, only not as often. 14. Only One Bath I've sold hundreds with only one bath but it's not my preference. Cheap houses, not a problem. Houses above $80,000 - $100,000, it's very difficult. For houses much above $100,000 it's almost impossible. People who can pay more, want more. If you can't add a bath you may wish to consider not buying if you feel it's important to the sale. I have never added a room on the house to add a bath. The only time I have added a bath I've used the existing structure. That should cost you no more than $1,500 - $2,000. Trying to sell a 4-bed/1-bath house ain't easy. Selling a 3-bed/1 bath is okay as long as the house is small. Selling a 2-bed/1 bath is the norm and buyers will expect it. Well, that's about it. I won't guarantee that every problem you'll run into is on this list, but chances are, the next time you're having trouble selling a house, if you'll take a good look at this list, I bet the problem is in it. If you do run into something out of the ordinary that I've not discussed here, drop me a line. In the meantime, remember that there are no real problems, just solutions. And, very often, when you do run across a problem property, there's hidden profit there for someone who knows the answers and can create a solution.

Selling Houses Fast

One of the most common things people fear about getting into real estate is they're afraid they can't sell the house and somehow they'll get stuck with it. I can understand why this would create anxiety for a beginner because they simply don't have enough facts to overcome the fear. However, if you're not a beginner and this is still a problem, there's no excuse for it. So let's get it fixed right now.


The truth is . . . selling should be the easiest part of your business
Are you not buying because you're waiting to sell what you have first? Is your income suffering because you haven't plugged the hole in the back end? Are you so afraid of selling you quit (or never started) buying?

In this article, I'll discuss the reasons why some people have trouble selling and how to fix them. In addition, you should know we now have a live, two-day boot camp I teach focused on the same thing...Selling Houses Fast.

I've identified 14 reasons here. Pay close attention to numbers 4-7 because combined they equal about 80% of why houses don't get sold quickly.

Most of the time it's a people problem, not a house problem. So here we go, in no particular order.

Why houses don't sell quickly...
1. Not ready to sell.

2. Poor area.

3. Over-priced.

4. Salesperson's personality problems.

5. Inflexibility of seller.

6. Salesperson's lack of knowledge about financing programs available.

7. Salesperson's lack of knowledge about attracting & prescreening leads.

8. No follow-up system in place.

9. Functional obsolescence.

10. House very small.

11. Salesperson loses control of the

loan process. 12. House located too far away from the city. 13. House is in high price range where few buyers can afford. 14. Only one bath. Notice the majority of these problems are directly related to the person in charge of making the sale...and the rest should be fixed before you buy. 1. Not ready to sell. 2. Front appearance - Would you want to see the inside? 3. Roof - Does it need to be replaced? 4. Exterior paint - Is it at least 2 colors and looks fresh? Are the colors pleasing or gaudy? 5. Interior paint - Is it two colors or does it look like a white tornado went through it? 6. Interior trim - Is there color, paper borders, blinds, bath and kitchen accessories, lever door handles, shower curtain or door, etc.? 7. Carpet - Same old lifeless, ugly brown or have you tried hunter green? Would you want this carpet installed in your home? 8. Central heat and air - If you're in the southern two-thirds of the country, it's not an option. Do it. 9. Kitchen - Does it have plenty of cabinets or just enough to get by? Customers won't complain about shoddy repairs. They just won't buy. If it doesn't look good enough to satisfy your wife, your buyers won't like it either. Spend a few more dollars and make it a house you can be proud to sell and know your buyer will rave to others about. If you do, amazing things will happen. 1. It will sell quickly. 2. It will appraise for more. 3. You'll sleep good at night. 4. Your buyers will send you customers. 5. Your good reputation will spread quickly. 6. The neighbors will send you customers or sell their houses to you. 7. Your attitude will improve and you'll enjoy dealing with buyers more because you know you have a great product. 8. You'll save the extra money you spent in holding costs. So, in reality all these benefits are free. 9. It'll probably even improve your sex life. Think about it. More sales means more money. More money means happier spouse or significant other. Happier spouse means more frequent and better sex. I heard that on Oprah the other day. 10. Poor area. 11. Is it a war zone? If so, you must learn to sell low income houses or don't buy there if you intend to retail. 12. In low income areas it's critical you master the art of financing. You will not survive if all your sales must be to a buyer or sold for 100% cash out. Get educated or get out. The good news... A. You can make some large spreads on these houses because you can buy them dirt cheap. B. Most of your competition won't touch them. C. They're easy to find and easy to buy. D. At today's interest rates buyers can qualify with small incomes. E. Financing is plentiful. Some with no down payment. F. You can always wholesale if rehabbing isn't feasible for you. The bad news... A. Vandalism is normal. B. You'll have to screen out a lot of buyers. C. You'll be tempted to break the law by falsifying down payments because most of your buyers are broke. Don't do it. D. You'll have to take back a lot of seconds and 50% or more will default. So what? It's all free money anyway. If you're going to work the low income or war zone areas, just be sure your exit is clear and you don't get into any traps. Don't rehab in a war zone unless you know where to get the buyer financed. You'll find a buyer who wants to live there and you can live with vandalism. In addition, you must be flexible on terms, not expect to get cashed out 100% and clearly understand you will be prescreening one of the most uneducated segments of our society. It will take patience and practice. 3. Overpriced Is Not What You Think Just for the record, all my houses are overpriced. And I'm proud of it, in case anyone asks. You should always set your sales price higher than what the house appraised for. If you don't ask for more I can assure you, you won't get it. But there is a limit. You can't go nuts on me here. Putting a $125,000 price on a $100,000 house is pushing the envelope. However, putting a $109,900, or maybe even a $114,900 price on it may work fine. Your market will tell you quickly. If the buyers all complain about the price, you know you have a problem and you may want to lower it a little. Warning! Make sure the price is the problem before you go fixing what isn't broke. Only your buyers can tell you the price is too high. Not your spouse, your neighbor, your brother-in-law or even your Realtor. If I had $100 for every time a Realtor told me my price was too high, I'd be in a higher tax bracket. Actually, that's not true. They don't get any higher. You can always lower the price. You can't raise it once it leaves your lips. I don't know for sure but I bet I haven't lowered the price on more than 15% of all the houses I've done to get them sold. As a rule, a 10% above appraised value or good comps is the upper limit. You'll have to decide the price based on the area, condition, salability and heat of the market. Just don't be giving away money because you're listening to morons. 4. Salesperson's Personality Problems Have you ever talked to a seller or a Realtor you didn't like? A mean-spirited, grouchy, personality perhaps? How about someone who just won't shut up long enough for you to ask a question? Maybe you've encountered the prescreened type who treats you like the enemy until you pass their qualification test. How about all those times you got the wife on the phone and she was afraid to speak without her husband's permission, or vice versa. That doesn't even count the ones who do talk but never say anything. Then there's the clueless spouse who can't even tell you the asking price, much less the other details. Sometimes I wonder if these folks ever talk. How about the couple in the middle of a divorce who talk to you like you're the one who just slept with their spouse? Then there's the know-it-all. You know, the kind who wants to do a seminar for you on the phone to impress you with their intelligence in the art of real estate. They can't sell their own house but they can certainly tell you how to do it. Of course we can't forget all the thinker brains trying to sell to the reptile brains, and vice-versa. Or the sellers so in love with their house it takes them 30 minutes to describe every little detail while you're trying to stay awake. Gosh, I'm getting depressed just writing this. I don't want to ever talk to a seller again. Just kidding. The key for you is not to become like one of those people I just described. If you already are, you can fix it once it's identified. Here's a hot tip. Record your calls and listen to yourself selling your house. If there was a moron on the call you'll probably recognize his/her voice. 5. Every Single Time You Talk to a Buyer You Must Sound... Friendly, Flexible and Excited If you can't, get someone else to sell your houses, which is a whole other subject I'll cover next month. Inflexibility of seller That means most sellers can only see one way to sell a house and if that isn't happening the house will sit and sit until that perfect buyer comes along. Finding an A credit buyer to cash you out isn't the only answer. This is especially true for the low-income houses where A+ buyers are scarce. The more you know about different exits, the easier it will become for you to get flexible. If you don't have your money in the deal and you can live another week without the cash from the sale, it frees you up to get creative and look at other alternatives. Here's a news flash for you . . . It's your job to find a buyer who loves your house . . . then make it work! That means sometimes you must be flexible. It's not a perfect world. Bend a little. Here's a short list of selling methods. A. Sell to a qualified buyer and cash out now. B. Lease option and cash out later. C. Sell with owner financing and help buyer get refinanced later. D. Sell with owner financing and sell the note at closing for 93% of its face value. We spend a whole day on this in the Paper Power Boot Camp. E. Get the buyer an 80% - 90% loan with a secondary loan at a higher rate and take back a second for the difference. I bet you didn't know you could be that flexible did you? Sorry, I can't go into these in detail here but I think you get the message. There's always another way. 6. Salesperson's Lack of Knowledge About Financing Programs Available No, this is not the same thing I just said. If you're going to master your craft of selling houses you must learn a lot about financing programs. What will kill loans? What programs require little or no down payment? What credit can be fixed and what can't? What will the lender want fixed before closing? Who will let me take back a second and who won't? And 40 or 50 other questions you'll get the answers to as you go. You don't have to know all there is about financing to sell a house, but the quicker you learn, the easier it gets. Make an appointment with 3 or 4 mortgage lenders and pick their brain. Let them help with what will work and what won't. Then when you get an interested prospect it's simply a matter of getting the buyer's information to the lender of your choice and letting them tell you what will work. That's the best way I know to learn the ropes about financing. But you know what? A lot of veterans won't even take time to do this. I guess they feel they're too good or too smart to humble themselves and actually ask for help. My friend, what you knew about financing a year ago is not what you should know today. It changes monthly. You must stay on top to be the best. In the next issue, I'll finish my list of reasons why houses sometimes won't sell. In the meantime, read over these pointers I've given you and start developing your own selling strategies. Here's hoping all your houses sell faster than you can buy them.

Never Reduce Your Sales Price! Increase Your Content!

We rarely reduce our sales price, and often raise them on slow moving properties. That makes no sense does it? Actually it does! We had a letter from a student recently who was having trouble selling a property. He had the property listed with a Realtor, who was now insisting that the price should be reduced $10,000. The student said that he would still make money at the lower price, but that it would mean the difference in trading his old car for a brand new sparkly one, or a slightly less ugly

used car. The student asked what I thought, and I responded as follows: People typically shop for houses by the monthly payment they can afford. In other words, if they are comfortable making a $1,200 per month payment for their home, the mortgage broker or Realtor tells them what they can afford in terms of price at prevailing interest rates. People thus want to get the most they can for their $1,200 or whatever their magic payment number happens to be. Reducing the price by $10,000 is going to be less than $100 per month in terms of payment. No Buyer is going to say, “Well, I wouldn’t pay $1,200 per month for that house, but sign me up now for $1,160!!!” You are not likely to move into a whole new group of buyers by reducing your price that much. You may catch one or two potential folks who can afford $1,160 on their top end, but you are not going to open the floodgates by any stretch of the imagination. If you cut the price $60,000, you would get more buyers in who could not afford the higher price, but such a cut is not likely if you want to avoid losing money on this deal. Thus cutting price is not an effective solution, as you are really not going to be able to cut the price enough to get a great deal of additional buyers in to look at the house and get a sale. The realtor is grasping for straws, and cutting price is the only way that they can think of to sell homes for the most part. What I do, and we do cover this in the course, is boost content. I want to give them more with the house than I gave originally. I can spend a few extra thousand and greatly increase the wow factor of the house, and get people excited. People buy houses on emotion, and then seek to rationalize their decision with logic, payment tables, and statements on how great of an “investment” the home will make. The most common thing that we have done is add a deck onto the back of the house. This always has worked for us when we could not get a house to sell. Typically we will get an offer within 2 weeks when we have added the deck. I have even increased the cost to cover the cost of the deck. Even if I don’t raise the price, do you see how spending $2,500 on a deck and keeping the same asking price (which effectively is equal to a $2,500 price cut) is superior to a $10,000 price cut, or even a $15,000 price cut? A big new deck will excite people much more than a $60 monthly savings any day. People think that decks are much more valuable than they are in terms of our costs to build them. We received a quote recently of $1,200 plus materials for a deck on a house. Other ideas are picket fences for homes with small front yards, landscaping and/or sod, security system and appliances, add crown molding or wainscoting to key rooms such as the living and dining room. You can also include a home warranty with the home if the systems or plumbing are old (get the Realtor to agree to pay half). Accessorize the bathrooms with guest towels, pretty soaps, and candles (not lit) to create more mood. Add new carpet if the old carpet is looking ugly, or paint if you were trying to sell the house without repainting. Refinishing hardwood floors also can help. We have been caught in the partial mini-rehab spiral a couple of times. Sometimes we like to get in and do minor work to clean it up and sell without much of a fix-up. This is a great strategy that I still endorse. We get more than we would by wholesaling to another investor, and can often sell directly to a homeowner/owner-occupant. We get in and out quickly. However, sometimes we don’t do enough, or a house just can’t sell unless it looks really pretty. We have pulled such properties from the market, done some more fix up (especially with paint and whatever we can do for the least cost), and put it back on the market. This typically is enough to get them to sell. A minimal investment of a few more thousand trumps a radical price cut. Thus in short, do not cut price if you have done your market research and feel that the price you are asking is really fair. Spend a little more and glitz up what you already have. Decks are the best return on the dollar in my market. We generally go for 14x16 if there is space. Realtors love to cut prices out of panic. As investors, we have to keep a level head and go in and figure out what has to be done to add some “sizzle to the steak.”

Negotiating A Sales Contract On Your Finished Rehab

Lately, I've seen investors blowing deals at the very moment they find out that buyers want to purchase their renovated homes. It's becoming enough of a trend that I feel the need to tell you why this is happening - and how you can avoid it.

It's not easy to get a home sold today. It's natural to become anxious when someone expresses an interest in your home. But this is not the time to negotiate. Allow me to explain:

For example, let's say your home has been listed for a while, and an agent gives you a call to let you know that they have a party who is interested in your home. You begin to ask questions like "how much are they considering offering?" or "How soon do they want to settle?" or "I hope they aren’t asking for too many contributions, because I’m not moving much."

Frankly, my students end up getting into conversations that they should NOT be having yet. And you know what happens? The deal ends up blowing up in their face, before a contract is ever signed.

When someone says that they have a party who is interested in your home, you should have only ONE thing to say…

"Great! When can I expect an offer to review?"

You want to encourage the agent to get an offer to you. It doesn't matter at this time how much the offer is for, what kinds of contributions the buyers are looking for, or how soon they want to settle.

Until they put it in writing, none of that is real.

If the agent begins to pry and say something along the lines of, "My buyers are considering something less then your list price, are you flexible?", your response should be, "Maybe, how soon are you planning on getting the offer over? Once I've had a chance to look at it, I can give you a better answer to your question."

Most beginners would respond by saying "What do you mean by flexible?" or "Just how low do they plan on offering?" The answers to those questions do not matter! If it is not in writing, it is just a meaningless conversation.



Here's Why This Is So Important
You see, getting a buyer to sign a contract is a big thing. They are making a commitment and saying, "I want your house." This is a major step taken on their part.

You NEED for your buyers to take that step before you consider ANY negotiations. You need to know that they are committed to buying your house, before you say anything that could turn them off.

Buyers have jitters prior to signing a contract. If you give them any reason to doubt that you are willing to work with them (whether that is your intention or not), they may not sign the offer.

Once they have made the commitment and signed the offer, however, you have one thing out of the way: they want your house. They've spoken that loud and clear. They have chosen your house over all of the others, and they are ready to deal.

This is when you can start to negotiate. Not before.

Why? Because it's much easier to get someone who has already crossed the first hurdle to clear the second one. The first one is the hardest. You may find, later, that you can't negotiate a deal with these buyers. But at least you are negotiating with someone who is committed.

How you handle an individual offer is not as important in a hot market, where you may receive multiple offers. But now, when offers are scarce, you need to give each offer every chance to succeed. You need to do everything in your power to negotiate each offer from a place of strength, on your part, and commitment on the part of your buyers.
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How to Sell Your Properties Using Lease Options

Selling one of your properties on a lease-option gives you the biggest benefits of renters and buyers without the downsides that normally go along with selling or renting out your property.

When you lease-option your property you get the best parts of having a renter: monthly streams of cash-flow, tax benefits of maintaining ownership,

loan amortization, and a healthy chunk of the future appreciation. You get all this without having to deal with the headaches and hassles of traditional renters. When you lease-option your property you get the best parts of having a buyer: a large chunk of money as an up-front option payment, someone else who will take care of the day-to-day maintenance of the property, and a large profit when your buyer gets a new loan on the property and cashes you out. Here Are the Four Steps to Sell Your Property Using a Lease Option: Step One: Spread the Word There are three magic words to help you find your tenant-buyer for your property. These words go in bold, large print in all your advertising for the property. They are: Rent to Own. People instantly know what "rent to own" means and they also know they want it. The two best places to invest in advertising your properties are your local newspaper and in signs around your property. Place a small classified ad in the "For Sale" section of your local paper. Also put a large "Rent to Own" sign in the front yard of the property. And put twenty to thirty signs around the neighborhood on all the major access roads leading past the property. These signs can be professionally printed, but chances are they won�t last long so do them as cheaply as possible. I have found that handmade signs on inexpensive posterboard work as well as the more expensive signs. Both your classified ad and your signs should have the phone number of a voice mail box where you have recorded a 60-90 second message singing all the biggest benefits of the property and how easy the rent to own program makes for them to be able to own it. Use your voice mail as a screening device�ask callers how much money they have to work with as a down payment. When you run a "rent to own" ad your biggest problem will be getting too many calls! By screening callers through a voicemail box you will spend your time calling back only those who have a healthy sized chunk of cash to give you as their up-front option payment. Step Two: Calling Back Prospective Tenant-Buyers to Set Up a Group Showing Have you ever been faced with a prospective buyer who just won�t make up his mind about whether he wants the property or not? Or have you ever raced over to one of your units to show it to someone who just didn�t show up? There is a better way of doing it�group showings. Whenever you can get several prospective tenant-buyers all to look at the property at the same time your property just became more attractive. You are creating a competitive environment and that means the person who wants the property needs to act fast or they will lose out to someone else. This competition will be your biggest aide to closing the deal. The biggest mistake you can make when you are calling back the people who left their name and phone number on your property voice mail box is to invite them to a "showing" for the property. Instead set a definite "appointment" with each person to meet them at the property to have them take a look. Simply set each individual appointment all at the same time! This way not only are you creating that competitive situation, but you are also protecting your time since if two out of the nine people scheduled to meet you don�t show you still have seven people to show the property to. Step Three: Get Them to Fill Out an Application on the Spot Some people won�t want to hurt your feelings by saying no. Instead they will ask for an application and tell you they will send it in later. Don�t fall for this common pitfall. Simply tell them that if they are really serious about the property then they should take a few minutes and fill it in right there. Also make sure you charge $10-20 for each application. Not only will this pay for your credit check of each applicant, but it will also screen out those last few people who are not truly serious about the property. Step Four: Choose the Best Person and Call to Give Them the Good News Speed is of the essence here. If you have someone who wants to have the property who has a healthy option payment and good monthly income I recommend that you get a non-refundable deposit from them to hold their position to rent to own your property. You should collect this deposit as soon as possible. Of course you will make this agreement subject your satisfactory approval of their application (if they don�t pass your evaluation your deposit agreement should say you will return their deposit to them and cancel the agreement.) This is how you market your property as a "Rent to Own" property. Next month I�ll explain how you can get above market prices and cash-flow for your properties. You�ll learn exactly how to price your "rent to own" property so it sells fast and makes you a large profit.

How to Sell or Occupy Your Empty Houses Fast (Part 2)

#1: NO MONEY NEEDED or NO MONEY DOWN with Down Payment Grant
I had the honor of sharing the stage with Ron LeGrand in September at both his marketing boot camps for buying and selling houses. Ron shared some new information on Neighborhood Gold, a non-profit organization providing down payment

grants for buyers. This program, was also the subject of Ron's September TeleSeminar for his Prosperity Partners Network (AKA Millionaire Mastermind Group) which I am a member. This is a strategy for making your ads, flyers and signs compelling AND getting cashed out. Here's an example of how you can use this program. If you have a buyer who qualifies to borrow 95% to 97%, but does not have any money, you can: Pay their closing costs, and Get them a grant for their down payment. The grant is an expense to you, the seller. If the grant is for 3% of the purchase price, then 4% (3% plus 1% fee) will be withheld from your proceeds at closing. If the grant is for 5%, then the cost to you is 6%. Another example. Buyer is approved for 90% first, 5% owner carry second, and lender requires 5% down. You can use Neighborhood Gold for the 5%, again costing you 6%. I just got around to looking up their web site and I'm now looking to use this program on a few current deals to see how well it works. For details go to www.neighborhoodgold.com. #2: ADS TO DRIVE TONS OF CALLS AND BUILD A BUYER'S LIST With a good buyer's list, you can occupy a new property without running a new ad. This "vague" ad below was revealed by an active investor on Bill Barnett's "Broke No More" Conference Call... NO BANK QUALIFYING: Owner must sell. Two homes available. Call John, 719-555-1234 I have a similar long running classified ad appearing in EACH issue of my local daily and weekly newspapers... OWNER FINANCING or rent-to-own. 3 nice mountain homes to choose from. 24 hour recorded list 1-888-555-1111 Box 1234 I may have 1 house or I may have 7 but I keep running the same ad without changing it. I just update the recorded list. #3: SEND POSTCARDS TO THE SURROUNDING NEIGHBORHOOD My title company will give me mailing labels of homeowners near my houses for sale. I can select subdivisions or zip codes to target the area. In many areas, you can get these names on labels through your tax assessor. Thanks to my friend, Jeff Kaller (www.mrpreforeclosure.com), I was reminded of the effectiveness of this tactic while listening to his Pre-foreclosure course. I decided to add this technique to our arsenal of marketing tools to sell houses fast. The cost will be about $.25 per mailed postcard. Printing and mailing 500 cards is only about $125. Unconverted prospects can go on your buyer's list. Here is an example of the post card content (a personal message, description of the property, no photo needed): LEFT FRONT PANEL------------------------- Dear Neighbor, Thought you'd appreciate knowing about the home for sale near you at 248 Elfin Drive. It just became available and I was wondering if you had any family members or friends who might be interested. We own the home and can offer flexible no bank-qualifying owner financing. We can even help finance the down payment! If you, your immediate family, or your referral purchases this home, we might be able to pay some or all of the closing costs. Be sure to mention this postcard. Do you know a nice family who might be interested? Please call Martha or myself at 687-6885. I'm also writing to all your neighbors... so call right away while this home is still available. Sincerely, Manager Bottom Line Results, Inc. RIGHT FRONT PANEL------------------------- Buy this home with little or no money down! This 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom modular home has great views to the north west and easy access being close to the Divide intersection (Sherwood Forest). There's extra space for parking a boat, RV or building a garage. It has 1,272 square feet, newer carpet, new kitchen floor. Affordable living in a nice location. Vacant, call to see inside. Very flexible owner financing or rent-to-own terms. 248 Elfin Glen Dr. Divide, Colorado ................$119,500 Free 24 hour recorded info, call 1-888-499-1051, box 5056 REVERSE SIDE------------------------- Bottom Line Results, Inc. 743 Gold Hill Pl. #239 P.O. Box 220 Woodland Park, CO 80866-0220 Call our 24 hour Real Estate Hotline at 1-888-499-1051, then: Box 6996 for current list of homes for sale by owner with flexible owner financing, or Box 6206 to learn more about how our owner financing programs work, or Box 6051 to learn how we might buy your house in as little as 9 days at a fair price RECAP: 1) Check out Neighborhood Gold so you can offer NO MONEY DOWN or NO MONEY NEEDED in your marketing. 2) Build a buyer's list with generic ads. 3) Hit the surrounding neighborhood with hundreds of postcards.

How to Sell or Occupy Your Empty Houses Fast (Part 1)

My intention is to keep every house I buy for at least a year or two, hopefully longer. But that does not deter me from offering it for resale IMMEDIATELY. By offering to sell instead of to rent, I attract a "buyer" mentality. I buy properties creatively so that I can turn right around and offer them FOR SALE with these marketing advantages:

• No money needed, or
• No bank qualifying owner financing, or
• Rent-to-Own

Classified ad #1
NO MONEY NEEDED: Owner can finance down payment
and pay all closing costs. Nice 3 bed, 2 bath, 2 car home, views, privacy, $159,500.
24 hour recorded message 1-888-555-1111 Box 1234
Here we are looking for a buyer to qualify for an 80% to 97% first mortgage. Our ability to carry back a 3% to 20%

second mortgage depends on how much equity we have. I can't see buying houses for more than 80% of what I plan to sell it for with creative terms. There are tons of sellers willing to take 10% below market when you show them what they'll might net "at some uncertain date" going through an agent. Then, getting a 10% premium from my buyer is very common since I'm making it easy to buy. Will it appraise? Yes. What if it doesn't? Lower your price...or find another buyer...or keep it. Appraisals occur when someone is getting a new bank loan. In most cases, I sell via methods #2 & #3 requiring no new loan until later. Offering to pay the closing costs will help buyers with good credit and income, yet no savings. This approach will cost 2%-3% of the purchase price... but it gets my underlying loan (hard money or loan taken subject to) paid off fast. If an underlying lien is an owner carry back note, it's discount time! NOTE: Be cautious about anyone taking your property off the market with contingencies. I rarely do. Realtors can play that game. If my buyer wants to get a new loan, we setup the purchase agreement as a rent-to-own (with at least 3% non-refundable purchase deposit) in case their loan is delayed. That way we both have a dead certain move-in and rental payment start date. Yes, my intent is to keep each house I buy for awhile, but if I have a qualified buyer immediately willing to pay my asking price, and I'm getting some or all my cash at closing, I'll take it. Classified ad #2 NO BANK QUALIFYING owner financing. Nice 3 bed, 2 bath, 2 car home, views, privacy, $159,500. 24 hour recorded message 1-888-555-1111 Box 1234 Here we're looking for someone with money to put down, and challenged credit is OK. I'll sell on a wraparound if I am lucky enough to find a buyer with the 8-12% down I require to give them ownership with extra difficulty getting the house back if they default. I can still offer "owner financing" via a rent-to-own if they only have 3-8% down, thereby KEEPING the house as I intended. They will have 12 months to close, and perhaps a right to extend another 12 months in exchange for higher rent (10% annual increase), higher price (1/2% a month after 12 months) and more non-refundable money down. So I'll sell the property if someone waives a big wad of cash in my face, but I just don't count on it. Typically I will take the first tenant buyer who meets my minimum requirements... Classified ad #3 RENT-TO-OWN: Nice 3 bed, 2 bath, 2 car home, views, privacy. Pets OK. Rent credit. $159,500. 24 hour recorded message 1-888-555-1111 Box 1234 This ad is run in the HOMES FOR SALE section. A tenant buyer is 500% better than a tenant. They take care of the house. They don't call me. There's no security or pet deposit to manage, just a non-refundable purchase deposit. They pay on time or lose their monthly rent credit, and rent discount. They fix up the property and enjoy the feeling of ownership, because they're planning to buy. But I do risk having them buy the house. My experience is only one out of 3 will close. You can improve those odds by being pickier than I am. Therefore, the average house may resell in 2-3 years after 2-3 tenant buyers (thus meeting my holding period goals). Does the tenant buyer lose out when they don't buy? Not really. I've never kicked out a tenant buyer if they wanted more time. We just renegotiate the terms. When they do leave it's because of a break up, or job change, transfer, or something like that. They may be better off waking away from a 3-5% purchase deposit after just 1 to 2 years than if they bought the house. Compare it to the normal 2-3% in closing costs to buy with a new loan, and then another 6-9% in costs to resell it though an agent. BOTTOM LINE: People want to buy, not rent. Offer flexible, creative terms you can put in your classified ads, flyers, signs, etc. Offering to sell to your tenants reduces your management headaches. Collecting several purchase deposits on houses you bought "no money down" can become a reliable INCOME stream. For every 12 houses you buy, you may wind up selling 4, but you'll still have a net gain of 9 properties. Over time you can build a large portfolio. Taking a "quick turn" marketing approach as described above will also help you CASH in big chucks of equity to pay your expenses, and write yourself some "5-FIGURE PAYCHECKS."

How To Fix Up Properties For Maximum Curb Appeal And Resale Value

Your goal during the fix-up phase is to increase the property's curb appeal and resale value by:

1. Giving the property and grounds an industrial strength cleaning.

2. Applying a cosmetic facelift to the exterior of the property and grounds.

3. Applying a cosmetic facelift to the interior of the property.

Know What You Don't Know About Property Repairs
A word to the wise: If you're thinking about doing the fix-up yourself, first ask yourself this question: Do I have the knowledge, skill, and experience necessary to do a top-notch, professional quality job? Be honest with yourself. I've seen a lot of money wasted by so-called weekend handymen who didn't possess the skill levels necessary to achieve a first class job, and they had to call in a professional at a great expense to bail them out and redo their handiwork. Know your limitations and abide by them. Don't try to save money by doing repairs, which you aren't qualified to do. In other words, know what you don't know about property repairs, and never attempt to fix stuff that you know absolutely nothing about, regardless of how many times you've seen Norm fix it on reruns of This Old House! The often-heard refrain of, "don't try this at home," should be applicable to all amateurs for any repairs.

Seven Key Elements That Must Be Included In Your Property Fix-Up Plan
The trick to having a fast property fix-up that's on schedule and within budget is to be well organized. In order to do this, you must make certain to include the following seven key elements in your property fix-up plan:

1. Budget: Establish a bottom-line budget before you start the job.

2. Total job cost estimate: Estimate to within five percent how much the total fix-up is going to cost.

3. Labor: If you don't have the knowledge, experience, and time to do a first class professional looking job,

hire competent tradesmen and contractors to do it for you. 4. Job supervision: If you don't have the knowledge and time to supervise the job yourself, hire a competent professional to do it for you. 5. Quality control: Have all of the completed work inspected to make certain that it has been done in a professional manner in accordance with acceptable construction methods and building codes. 6. Work schedule: Set a coordinated work schedule to complete the entire job. 7. Completion date: Put completion dates in all your contracts and hold everyone accountable. How To Avoid Being Ripped-Off By Unscrupulous Repairmen And Contractors Here are three ways that you can avoid being ripped of by the many unscrupulous repairmen, tradesmen and contractors who make a living taking real estate investors to-the-cleaners on a regular basis: 1. Hire only properly licensed and insured repairmen, tradesmen and contractors. 2. Require written estimates for all jobs. 3. Require that everyone who provides labor and materials on your job sign your state's version of a waiver and release of lien upon final payment form. How To Hire Only Properly Licensed And Insured Repairmen And Contractors In order to avoid being duped into hiring one of the numerous unlicensed and uninsured crooks masquerading as legitimate repairmen and contractors, you must follow these eight steps to weed out the phonies, fakes and frauds: 1. Require that all repairmen and contractors provide copies of their license or of competency, occupational license, workers” compensation insurance certificate, workers” compensation exemption certificate for sole employees, general liability insurance certificate and automobile liability insurance certificate. 2. Require that all repairmen and contractors provide four verifiable customer references. 3. Contact each customer reference provided and ask them if they would hire the repairman or contractor again. 4. Conduct an online search of your state's contractor license database to verify that the contractor has a valid license. 5. Contact all of the insurers listed on the insurance certificates to verify that the policies are valid and in effect. 6. Contact your local city and county building departments to check if there's a history of complaints against the repairman or contractor. 7. Contact your local Better Business Bureau to check if there's a history of complaints against the repairman or contractor. 8. Log onto your state attorney general's consumer investigations Web page to check if the repairman or contractor is under investigation. How To Find Competent Professional Tradesmen And Contractors How do you find competent professional tradesmen and contractors? Start by looking on the Internet and in your local newspaper under the professional services section. Or, better yet, visit construction job sites and ask tradesmen if they're interested in side-work. In most cases, they will be. Ask them for references from people they have done work for. Also, try to see previous examples of their work. A little investigative work on your part could pay handsome dividends, especially if it helps you to avoid being stuck with a less than professional looking job. I've had good luck hiring retired tradesmen who are looking for part-time employment. Require Written Estimates For All Jobs In order to avoid being ripped off by unscrupulous repairmen and contractors, require written estimates that include the following information: 1. Detailed description of the scope of all work to be performed on the job to include cleanup. 2. Detailed work schedule with commencement and completion dates. 3. Specifications for all building materials to be used on the job. 4. Listing of all building permits required to perform the job. 5. Detailed payment schedule outlining the amount and time when payments are to be made. 6. Warranties covering workmanship and building materials used on the job. What You Need to Know About Your State's Construction Lien Law You need to know that under most state construction lien laws, anyone who provides a service, labor or materials for the improvement of real property has a right to file a lien against the property for nonpayment. Furthermore, if you do pay a contractor for a job, and the contractor fails to pay the subcontractors who supplied the labor and the materialmen who supplied the materials, you're still financially responsible for paying them even though you've paid the contractor in full. In other words, you could end up paying for a job twice if you don't have legal proof that everyone was paid in full. Require Everyone To Sign A Release Of Lien In order to avoid paying for a job twice, require that everyone who works or supplies materials on your job sign a Waiver and Release Of Lien Upon Final Payment when they're paid. This way, you'll have legal proof that everyone connected to your property fix-up was paid in full. Give The Property An Industrial Strength Cleaning The first step in the property fix-up phase is to thoroughly clean the property's exterior to include the roof and all walkways and parking areas. You can apply an industrial strength cleaning to any type of property by using a pressure washer with a minimum capacity of 3500 PSI at 3.5 GPM. Pressure washing will remove all dirt, grime, soot, oils, and other pollutants from all exterior surfaces. I recommend that you hire the services of a competent professional pressure washing service that uses state-of-the-art equipment and the proper chemicals. The main objective in having your property's exterior thoroughly washed is to be able to see what is beneath the last five year's worth of dirt, filth, and grime. It's really amazing what a professional pressure washing can do to a property's appearance. Plus, pressure washing eliminates a lot of labor-intensive work such as scraping paint. In most cases, the only things necessary prior to applying the finishing coat of exterior paint will be caulking and priming the surfaces. Lastly, a thorough pressure washing will expose any rotted wood and other building materials needing replacement. Always Complete The Exterior Facelift First Rule number one in the fix-up of any property is to always complete the exterior facelift first. This way, the property looks enticing from the curb and helps to lure potential buyers inside for a further look. Don't Scrimp On Paint Don't scrimp on the quality of paint or the cost of a quality paint job. An amateurish looking paint job done by an inexperienced painter with cheap paint, sticks out like a sore thumb, while a professional looking paint job will literally add thousands of dollars to a property's resale value. Fact is, there's no greater return on investment than the increased value brought by a top quality, professional looking exterior and interior paint job. I am constantly amazed at how a good quality paint job can drastically upgrade the appearance and resale value of any property. Choose A Color Scheme That Enhances Your Property's Curb Appeal It's extremely important that you choose an exterior paint color scheme that will enhance your property's curb appeal. I use a three-color exterior paint scheme that my wife, Barbara, came up with in 1995. It incorporates three tropical colors that people generally associate with Florida. For example, I paint the body of the building one color, the fascia and exterior doors one color and the drip edge around the roof and window shutters one color. Go to paint related Web sites online or visit your local paint store for suggestions on the exterior color schemes that will best accentuate your property's character and charm. Select An Interior Color Scheme That Uses Neutral Colors The interior walls and ceilings should be painted in light neutral colors, using quality interior flat latex paint. The interior trim and doors should be painted with latex semi-gloss enamel paint. For example, I use a two-color interior color scheme: flat white paint on walls and ceilings and antique white semi-gloss on trim and doors. Please keep in mind that a professional interior paint job using quality paint will enhance a rental unit's appearance and increase the property's resale value, while a shoddy paint job using cheap paint will detract from a rental unit's appearance and do nothing to contribute to the property's resale value! Apply Textured Coatings To Rough Interior Wall And Ceiling Surfaces You can avoid the cost of replacing interior walls and ceilings that have rough surfaces by applying a textured coating to them. A professional looking texture job will greatly enhance the appearance of your problem walls and ceilings. In most cases, the best and least expensive texture to use is premixed joint compound. Joint compound will bond to most wall and ceiling surfaces such as drywall, lath and plaster. And, pre-mixed joint compound is less expensive and easier to apply than conventional plaster mixes. My Property Fix-Up Motto Is Clean, Repair Or Replace As Needed Being a parsimonious Yankee from New Hampshire, my property fix-up motto has always been clean, repair or replace as needed. In other words, first try cleaning it, and if that doesn't do the trick, try repairing, and if that doesn't work, replace it with a pre-owned replacement from a reputable source. The following is a listing of items that must be cleaned, patched, repaired or replaced when fixing up a property: 1. Walkways and parking areas. Clean, repair, patch and seal all walkways and parking areas as needed. 2. Mailboxes. Clean, repair or replace all mailboxes as needed. 3. Exterior doors. Clean, repair or replace all exterior doors, hardware and locksets as needed. 4. Windows. Clean, repair or replace window frames, glass and locks as needed. 5. Exterior lighting. Clean, repair or replace all exterior light fixtures and bulbs as needed. 6. Interior doors. Clean, repair or replace all interior doors, hardware and locksets as needed. 7. Kitchen cabinets. Clean, repair or replace all cabinet doors, hardware and countertops as needed. 8. Interior lighting. Clean, repair or replace all interior light fixtures and bulbs as needed. 9. Plumbing fixtures. Clean, repair, or replace all sinks, tubs, showers, faucets, commodes and vanities as needed. 10. Heating and cooling systems. Clean, repair or replace all heating and cooling systems as needed. 11. Floor coverings: Clean, repair or replace all carpets and floor coverings as needed. 12. Exterior and interior paint. Clean, prepare and paint all exterior and interior surfaces. 13. Landscaping. Prune, cut, trim and mow the property”s landscaping and lawn as needed. 14. Gutters and downspouts. Clean, repair or replace all gutters and downspouts as needed. 15. Roofs. Clean, repair or replace as needed. Conduct Final Walk-Through Inspections Before Making The Final Payments Lastly, prior to making any final payments to tradesmen and contractors, do a walk-through inspection of the property to determine if all work has been satisfactorily completed. When doing your walk-through, check the quality of the materials and workmanship. Make lists of all the discrepancies you find during your walk-through and give them to each applicable contractor or tradesmen to correct. In doing this, be fair and realistic, but don't let anyone take unfair advantage of you. When making your final payments, be certain you get a release of lien form signed by each contractor or tradesmen which states that they've been paid in full for all labor and materials used on your property. Don't Get Carried Away During The Fix-Up Lastly, please don't get carried away during the fix-up and do foolish things like putting up expensive vertical blinds, installing expensive floor coverings, or mirroring bedroom ceilings. When doing a cosmetic facelift on a property, never lose sight of your fix-up objective, which should always be to maximize the property's curb appeal and resale by giving it an industrial cleaning and cosmetic facelift.

Directionals Move Properties

One of the most effective and frequently overlooked methods of filling or selling a property is the use of directional arrow signs. I'm guilty of it myself, although usually I'm merely lazy instead of overlooking this great marketing technique. Being lazy usually costs me in terms of holding costs, especially if you happen to be in a buyer's market as I currently am. Even if you're in a hot market where everything is moving quickly, directionals will move your property that much quicker.

Yes, there are numerous other methods you can use such as: flyers in the neighborhood and large stores and shopping malls, ads in the large and small papers, listings on the internet, listing with a

real estate agent, calling real estate agents to inform them, mailouts to apartment complexes, yard signs with flyer boxes, open houses, calling loan officers, emailing your buyer list, etc., etc. (I have one friend use advertises her properties on the cable preview channel and she says it works great. Unfortunately, that option isn't available in my area.) Why Do Directionals Work So Well? Directional arrow signs work well for a number of reasons. First, they are targeted to the neighborhood where the property is located so the folks who will actually see them are the buyers or tenants who are already driving the neighborhood looking for properties. The second group of people who will see the signs are the residents who already live there. Many times the nearby residents will have family or friends who want to move into the neighborhood. Flyers delivered to the neighborhood will also accomplish the notification aspect that there's an available property, but what flyers don't do is lead the prospect or prospect's friend straight to the front door. Why Not Just Use Typical Bandit Signs? For those that don't know, bandit signs are the road-side signs that many people utilize to advertise their business, favorite politician, and/or properties for sale or lease. The signs come in many colors and sizes, some professionally done and some hand-written. The nickname bandit signs stems from the fact that many municipalities have sign ordinances that prohibit their use or restrict use in the public domain or right of way. The primary weakness of typical bandit signs for marketing a property for sale or lease is that the sign provides a little information (often impossible to read while driving by) and a phone number. If I'm out looking for properties today, I don't want to leave a message or turn around to go see what the sign said. I want to drive by NOW, not tomorrow, not later today, right now. How is a Directional Arrow Sign Different? Who said anything about one directional sign? I'm talking an entire series of signs that leads the prospect from the main thoroughfare all the way through the neighborhood to the driveway of your property. There's no thinking, major squinting, turning around, or phone calls involved here. "Oh, honey, turn there quick." Then it's "look, there's another sign, turn there." etc., all the way to the property. Then, of course, there's more information including contact numbers available at the property. Okay, So How Do I Implement This Technique? Here's the way I do it and you should tweak it and improve to suit you. When a property becomes available, I study the neighborhood and determine the "best" ways to lead prospects to my property. By "best", I take into consideration ease of navigation, neighborhood amenities like parks and schools, and surrounding properties. If there's a back way into the subdivision or location, I map out both paths. My target locations are every single corner that my prospects will need to turn in order to get to the property. If there's a really long stretch without a turn, then I might need a directional arrow in the middle of that stretch to keep them coming. My experience has been that I will have to replace signs within the neighborhood only a few times, but I have to monitor the signs on the major roads and replace them fairly frequently. However, these signs tend to stay put much longer than a traditional bandit sign. Then I simply go door-knocking and ask people if I can place a small directional sign in their yard. I intentionally do this during the day to miss folks because I'd rather not get involved in lengthy discussions about the property and I've got many doors to get to. Once I'm sure no one's home, I leave a letter in the screen door or someplace where it will be easily seen. I drop this letter at all four houses on each corner on the route. What Does the Letter Say? I've found it's important to NOT come across as a real estate investor or a company. I use an informal style and simply ask for help in finding someone to buy or lease my property. Points that I include in the letter are: It's just a small directional arrow sign I'll put it right by the corner and not really in their yard I'll make sure I don't damage any sprinkler systems They get a $20 gift certificate once the process is done They get to choose the store, restaurant, etc. Please call me to replace the sign if it gets removed The first person who calls me wins This technique has never failed. Frequently, I'll have two or more people from each corner call me, but I've always had at least one person call to agree to the arrangement. Some of them have even taken serious offense to do-gooder neighbors who remove the signs as the property owner is concerned they might not get their gift certificate. I'll describe the signs in more detail below, but I started adding "Placed With Permission of Owner" on the top of the signs and this reduced my losses. The end result of this effort is that perhaps I pay out $160 to $200 in referral fees, but I have to run my $50 to $150 worth of weekly newspaper ads many, many fewer weeks. It definitely pays off from a monetary standpoint. The other benefit is that I now have a list of folks near each property (whom I've never even met) who think I'm great. Every single person will call me back after receiving their gift to thank me and the large majority volunteer that I'm more than welcome to do this anytime I need. What Do the Signs Look Like? The signs I use are basically the standard bandit signs cut in half. A normal size bandit sign is 18" x 24" and I use 9" x 12" signs for my directional arrows. I have a red directional arrow that takes up about 5 inches of the sign, leaving the bottom 4 inches blank. Within the red arrow I ask the sign company to put my message which could be "Owner Finance" or "Lease Purchase" or whatever you prefer. The message is easy to read. In the blank space I use a large marker to write the property address. It's important to leave enough blank space below the arrow to write the address in large numbers and letters. Also, as I mentioned above, I include the "owner permission" tag line on top of the arrow. I buy 36" wooden stakes from Home Depot and attach an arrow sign to each side of the stake so the information can be seen coming and going. If you don't have a source for these signs, please contact www.BanditSigns.com to get some. They're inexpensive and well worth the cost. I hope you'll add this tool to your marketing techniques and discover the same success I've had in using it. You may find that you abandon many other advertising tools you've been using in the past.