Real Estate Mastermind

You don’t need to quit your job to sell real estate. You don’t even need a college degree. The only requirement to start flipping houses is hard work. Real estate is the ultimate meritocracy because of this. There are no gatekeepers preventing you from getting your hands wet.

The best marketing is the simplest marketing. And in the world of real estate, the simple marketing wins out. By harnessing the power of social media platforms (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn), you can garner a following by posting simple, relevant content. And if you’re providing someone with engaging content, he/she will want to reach out to you when it’s time to buy a house.

Buying real estate is expensive. But it’s a necessary part of the flipping process. You can’t remodel a home unless you own it. But owning it doesn’t mean you personally need to have the money to purchase it. You can seek out loans from lending companies.

You and your best friend decide to start a real estate business. The next step is choosing what type of business entity you wish to register it under. Each option (LLC, S Corp, C Corp, etc.) has its pros and cons, but a general partnership is the one that should be immediately crossed off the list.

A check isn’t just a check. In real estate, who is lending you money is just as important as the money itself. This is something we often overlook. We think all lenders are the same, sitting in their high-rises writing check after check. However, there are clear distinctions we can make between good and bad lenders.

Selling real estate is a do-it-all hustle. You have to build client relationships, manage the marketing of your properties, generate leads that hopefully turn into sales, and much more. Most people cannot do all of thes jobs by themselves; that is why networking in real estate is so important. When you collaborate and play to each others’ strengths, the mountain becomes much more conquerable.

Real estate requires a vast range of knowledge. You have to know which type of corporation to file your taxes under, where to market your properties, how to talk to buyers and sellers, and much more. It’s unlike any other industry in that you truly have to be a jack-of-all-trades. The constant toggle between salesman making deals and technician understanding the legal nuances is intimidating if we don’t continue our education.

Focusing allows you to pierce through the competition. In today’s world, where you can harness the power of the Internet to reach a far greater audience, the more focused your business is, the better. If you specialize in selling 2-3 bedroom condos in the suburbs for $300k-$500k, then you can brand yourself as a business that does just that. Contrary to popular belief, you will not be limiting your potential customer base because the people now have the tools to find you.

A signed contract tells us who owns the house. This is why having the right contract with all the correct details is so important. One missed clause, and the seller can take you to court, declaring that you don’t actually own the property. Your defense will be hollow if you aren’t well-versed in contracts.

Buying a house is complicated. With so many contracts in place, it’s challenging to know where which money is going where. By introducing an assignment clause, we can help specify the flow of money and engage in some more staggered selling processes.

In real estate, you can be making over $200 million/month. And still not need over 2500 employees. This is the reality of the real estate business. To make a lot of money requires little human labor. Thus, the business entity you choose to house your real estate operation should be one that reflects this truth.

Contracts seem simple. You draw up what the sale of a property means and the buyer signs, saying he/she will pay this much for those terms. But what if the buyer could bind you into a future sale of the house for a higher price? This is what a simultaneous close looks like.

We’ve all filed our taxes. But filing taxes as an individual vs as an LLC are two completely different experiences. As an individual, the number of deductions you’re allowed is truly limited. But as an LLC, you can deduct over 400 different items.

Real estate requires a vast range of knowledge. Like many industries, you must constantly be traversing commerce and government. To be a real estate agent, you need to be licensed. To buy/sell real estate, you need to be operating from inside a corporation. Each job duty requires understanding both the business economics and legal nuances of the potential decisions.

Networking is difficult in any industry. But in real estate, it is particularly challenging. The nature of the work forces us into environments that don’t run alongside our colleagues and peers. We spend days showing an open house, only interacting with potential buyers and not the collaborators that can feed us other potential leads.