Blog
By Mike Hanna
How Do Rising Interest Rates Affect Real Estate Investing? Typically with higher interest rates, demand decreases and the cost of housing can potentially be negatively impacted. However, while many news outlets focus on the national state of the market, real estate is...
The survey results are in!
The Survey Results are in!Given the uncertainty about the economy, we conducted a survey to find out how Texas real estate investors feel about their investment plans and overall market sentiment. Our Survey data indicates that 70% of investors are actively looking...
Texas Real Estate Inventory
Texas Real Estate Inventory (or lack thereof) While most of us have spent the past year thinking about other aspects of life, Texas real estate investors have wondered what the market was going to look like when everything returns to normal. A year ago at this time we...
Get Ready to Protest Your Property Taxes
Over the past several years, the appraisal review boards have been raising assessed values across the state of Texas, with the major markets being hit hardest. I want to help you save some money, and be ready to protest as the...
Title Insurance and Why You Need It
What is Title Insurance? Buying an investment property is one of the biggest purchases anyone can make. To protect the investment from tangible, physical damage like fire, storms or vandalism, hazard insurance is often purchased. What if mistakes are made related to...
Defining the Term “Real Estate Investor”
There’s a lot of misinformation out there regarding real estate investors and what you have to do to be considered one. I don’t know why, but I think it may have to do with how real estate investing is portrayed in the media. So let’s clear up this confusion right...
Top 10 Steps for Selling Faster
The goal for any investor, who is flipping a property, is to get in and out of the deal as quickly as possible at the price they want. There are many books on flipping. Rather than reading an entire book (or several books) on how to sell your property faster, I am...
Contractors – Setting Your Expectations
When it comes to contracting work, there are three things we all want: good, fast and cheap. There’s also an old saying with real estate investors, “You can have any two of these.” For those of you who don’t quite get it, this means if you want fast and...
Finding Wholesale Deals Part 3 – Direct Mail
Over time, the deals I have purchased with the most equity came from a direct-mail campaign. I could go on and on again here, but instead, let me give you a few quick examples: Example #1: I once bought a deal for $100 that was worth $85,000. It needed $40,000 in...
Finding Wholesale Deals Part 2 – Getting Referrals
Getting deals through referrals can be less complicated and deliver some of the best equity deals you will find. Think about this for a minute: how many things have you received from a referral? You may have found your job through a referral, your clients through...
Finding Deals Part 1 – Driving Neighborhoods
Absolutely one of the most underrated methods for buying direct is driving neighborhoods, also known as Driving For Dollars. The reason this can be so effective is that it lets you target the situation/opportunity before anyone else does. One of the best stories I...
Why Price-Per-Square-Foot Gets Investors Into Trouble?
One thing that confuses new and seasoned investors is taking the price-per-square-foot approach to determining the value. What does this mean? Let’s take a look at the following comps and analyze them: House #1 has 1500 square feet and sold for $145,000 or...
3 Key Factors that Impact the Real Estate Market
There’s an old saying that my friend’s father used to say, “Believe half of what you read and none of what you hear.” If you watch the news each day and/or read the newspaper, you may have heard or read that real estate prices are going to continue to rise. You may...
Keys to Getting Started In Real Estate Investing
One of the hardest things to do in life is to get started. Whether it’s a new job, a new business, or a new relationship. All of these involve challenges because of the unknown, the unforeseen, and a general lack of knowledge and experience. This can create anxiety...
90% Hard Money Loans and Percentage Confusion
Recently, there has been a change in how some lenders are marketing LTVs (Loan to Values): Borrow up to 90% of the purchase price and up to 100% of the rehab cost. At first glance, you might think you are getting a higher loan amount, and in turn, bring less money to...
Never Confuse These Two Things About Real Estate Deals
When it comes to investing in real estate, there are just some deals you are not going to be able to acquire. Best to know this from the start and get over it quickly. Someone else is going to get the deal instead of you, either because they were focused on solving...
Did You Know There Is An Over-Under In Real Estate Investing?
You may have heard of the over-under in sports gambling. That’s where you bet on whether the combined score of both teams will be either higher or lower than that number. But did you know there is an over-under in real estate investing? That’s where an investor...
Top Five Things to Consider for Ordering a Land Survey
On more than one occasion, I have seen investors have to clean up a mess after closing that could have been prevented had they ordered a land survey. Unfortunately, most Real Estate investors avoid getting surveys. Why? They don’t want the added cost in doing their deal, they don’t believe surveys are that important, and land surveys can take time to get, potentially holding up their closing. In this blog, I discuss when you should consider getting one. But let’s cover some basics first.
Five Costs Real Estate Investors Typically Forget
New (and even some experienced) real estate investors often think there is more money in a deal than there actually is because they are focusing on gross profit and incorrectly calculating their net profit. For example, a house with a $100,000 ARV that needs...
The Dos and Don’ts of Going to Market for Sale
A realtor friend of mine once told me, “As soon as a house is listed on the MLS, it’s the belle of the ball.” If it looks good online, agents in the area will want to show it to their prospective buyers. As the saying goes, “you never get a second chance to make a...
The Seduction of Cheaper Hard Money
Over time hard money lenders come and go. Which ones stay? The lenders who survive in this business are the ones that understand they must charge enough to operate, service loans, and most importantly, service customers who are in most cases, making one of their...
12 Steps to Determine the After Repair Value (ARV)
Every investor needs to be able to determine the After Repair Value (ARV) as close as possible, prior to ordering an appraisal. In order for a property to be considered comparable to the subject property, it needs to meet certain criteria. I have put together a list...
The Real Value of an Appraisal
Appraisals eliminate the guesswork in determining the market value and actually lower your risk before you purchase. In addition to providing you with the after repair value of your property, an appraisal will show you photos of the comps, location of the...
Set An Offer Goal Every Month
There is an old saying in real estate investing circles, “If you’re not making offers, you are not going to get deals.” It sounds so simple, but you would be surprised how many investors I speak with on a regular basis who say they cannot find deals. My response is...
Criteria For Being a “Good” Real Estate Agent
Many years ago, I heard a broker with 40 years of experience say, “Of all the licensed real estate agentsin the market, only 1% of them are actually any good.” Whether that’s an accurate percentage or not, finding one that can work successfully with investors is...
Three Reasons “For Sale by Owner (FSBO)” Is A Mistake!
The more time you spend in real estate, the more you will see things and wonder if they make sense or not. One of those is certainly the decision to list your property on the MLS with a broker or go the other route: For Sale by Owner (FSBO). When I was getting...
Setting Expectations on 2-4 Family Deals
Since I’ve been in real estate, I’ve seen investors infatuated over 2-4 family dwellings (i.e., duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes). The reason: these properties have the ability to produce high cash flow, and conforming loans are available (30-year, fixed-rate...
Make Goal Setting Easier On Yourself
Many of you may know that there have been studies that show that those who write down their goals accomplish significantly more than those who don’t. I know I’m preaching to the choir with some of you here. While others might be thinking this is so cliché and such a...
The Power of a Mastermind Group
Most of you have probably heard the saying, “No man is an island” by John Donne, a 17th Century English author. I heard someone say this at the first mastermind meeting I attended as the reason they wanted to be part of it. It has resonated with me to this...
Real Estate Investors: Greedy Profiteers or Good Samaritans?
I am proud to be a real estate investor but in the many years I have been in this business, I have heard the most inaccurate, absurd, as well as offensive things about real estate investors. Things like: we are greedy profiteers, we are slumlords, and probably the...
How To Get Stuck In Hard Money with 4 Rentals
Creating cash flow is one of the many benefits of building a rental portfolio. Just like starting any new business, taking it one step at a time, in the beginning, is important as you will make some mistakes and learn as you progress. Rental properties are no...
Why Flipping Multiple Deals Too Quickly Can Cost You Big!
As many of you already know, real estate investing can be very exciting. Especially when you get that deal you know is going to sell for a nice profit. Most of you who are new to real estate investing is going to take it one step at a time – certainly the smart (and...
Portfolio Loans and Advice on Using Them
Recently, one of our biggest clients had a large package of houses where he was going to refinance out of a hard money loan and into long term, permanent financing. One option he was considering was doing a portfolio loan with a small bank. For those of you who are...
Marketing Your Property Early
Many investors think marketing a property before it is totally complete will give them a jumpstart on finding a buyer and that it will help them sell the property faster. While in theory this may seem to be an advantage, it will more than likely hurt rather than help....
Making That First Offer Work
This advice is very timely for many of our clients who are selling property right now, and what I learned years ago the hard way. Even if you don’t have a property for sale, or are not flipping property at this time, you might hang on to this for future reference....
How to Determine ARV with a Garage Conversion
Over the years I have bought, rented, sold and funded many houses with garage conversions. Yesterday, a client of ours asked the following question, “How does a garage conversion affect the value of a property?” Great question and one that confuses new investors...
Finding a Good Hard Money Lender
Hard money is a type of real estate loan that is an alternative form of financing. If a traditional financial lender is unwilling to approve a loan, or a loan is needed quickly, hard money is sometimes the only option left. Hard money loans are primarily based on...
How does a hard money loan differ from a conventional mortgage
If you are looking to invest in real estate and need financing, you might be thinking you have two options: a conventional mortgage or a hard money loan. Though most people understand the basics of a conventional mortgage, many may wonder, “what is a hard money loan?”...
About Me
Mike Hanna is a real estate investor, mentor, author, and public speaker. He has been an active real estate investor since 2002 in both single family and multi-family properties, and has been in the hard money business since 2005.
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