The following is an excerpt from “How To Market Your Handyman Business” (a 1 hour and 41 minute free training course download available to our visitors).
Jassen: Right, OK let’s talk about EBay, I know that EBay is kind of going through some changes and it’s on the decline but you can use EBay to build your list even if you’re in the service business could you explain real quick how to do that?
James: I will, and I will also point out that you told me the other day that EBay just recently posted up a new section for service businesses to -
Jassen: They did
James: -use directly to market their services on their service’s section OK?
Jassen: Well yeah, just as a side for my primary business, for those that don’t know my primary business is helping people resolve their back taxes with the IRS and I put up a 30 day fixed price auction a few days ago in the service section of EBay, I think it cost me like $1.40 or something like that it was ridiculously cheap and it’s going to stay up there for thirty days and I put it up there as a fixed price for a very specific price that my firm offers for tax resolution and you know what, I’ll keep renewing it I’m just going to leave it up there forever and -
James: Yeah, six hundred bucks a year.
Jassen: Exactly, even if it gets me you know a few two, three, four people that come into my relationship field then that’s totally worth it.
James: Yeah, I would agree with you so it’s really cheap to do direct services on there but I will tell you another way before they had this whole service thing I had actually figured out a way to do this and the way to do it is you create information products that you can actually sell so those special reports you were talking about, a recording of an audio, a how-to video, a how-to audio if someone is going to go on EBay and actually buy for .99 cents or $9.99 or $100.00 or whatever you’re going to charge for a report on how to do something or a video on how to do something they are a good prospect for that actual service and so those are the people you’d want to add because when they order something they’re going to give you their name and address and telephone number and email address, just add them to your contact list, follow up with them to make sure they’ve received their product and then they get your regular newsletter and your regular email contacts and those are the guys you want to build relationships with because they may buy something they may actually end up being clients.
Jassen: Yeah, yeah you never know it only takes one person being added to your list to make some monumental change in your annual income.
James: Yeah you know something let’s work through that I realize we’re really short on time but let’s say you have a twenty thousand dollar basement remodel ok and let’s say you have two hundred people on your list and you’ve had to mail them all year in order to get one basement remodel-
Jassen: Right.
James: -so twenty people let’s say it even costs you $1.00 per piece of mail it’s not going to cost you that -
Jassen: Right
James: So now you’ve just spent twenty four hundred dollars to do mailing for the year in order to get a twenty thousand dollar job-
Jassen: Right.
James: Is that worthwhile?
Jassen: I would say so.
James: I would think so too but you know only you can decide so you know you get one person who you’ve been mailing to them for a year to do that, I think it’s worthwhile and you do a good job and you get another referral and you could get referrals from that list there’s so many reasons why you want to do that so it’s just hits real home so you need to do that normal contact and follow up with people.
Jassen: You know I’ll throw something out there that just for statistics, I’m a geek I like numbers and that’s why I’m in accounting etcetera but for us our average client acquisition cost is about two hundred dollars so we have to spend two hundred dollars in various types of marketing in order to generate one client-
James: Yup.
Jassen: -so for someone who’s listening to this that is questioning whether to devote fifty cents or whatever it is a dollar a month per person to market to a list and to do other marketing to build that list, I’ve got to tell you it’s worth it, it’s really worth it.
James: I apologize I was actually off on another tangent while you were saying that, a very related tangent and that is it occurred to me that a handyman who goes out during and their normal course of business and finds houses that are run down that could be good leads for a real estate investor-
Jassen: Ooooo.
James: -they can actually go and find out who the owner is and maybe talk to the owner, put it under contract for the real estate investor and do what in the real estate investing world is called wholesaling real estate-
Jassen: Well, I thought you were going to say bird dogging.
James: Well, that’s another thing too right up there because I’ll go to real estate agents in a second but basically you take it to the real estate investor, the real estate investor interested in it, wholesale fees are usually thousands of dollars, I mean picking up a house at a thirty thousand dollar discount it’s not unusual for it to be three thousand dollars of that so and then you may even get the repair job you tell them look it’s a three thousand dollar wholesale fee only if I can do the repairs for you or…
Jassen: Otherwise it’s five thousand right?
James: Yeah, and then you’ve just created a job for yourself by finding a property that an investors going to buy and you can fix it up anyway. OK now so what happens if you go to the investor, you go to the three, five, ten investors that you meet at your local real estate investor group that your networking at like you should and what happens if all of them pass, well now you go to all of your real estate agents and you say look I’ve got this guy and he really wants to sell this property, I’ve got a contract to buy it but you know I really need to have someone else buy it maybe we could convert this into a listing agreement for you and have him sell it and now you’re working your warm market and it’s you know quid pro quo with the real estate agent I mean you went out there and found them a listing and now they feel obliged or obligated to go out there and give you business and so those are ways you can just go out there and create your own business out of thin air.
Jassen: You know what, one of my favorite – I can never remember the exact quote but it’s one of my favorite quotations of all time is your income is directly proportional to the service that you provide others and what you just described, helping other people get listing or find properties and then on the flip side helping the home owner that needs to sell their house and really needs to sell it, desperately needs to sell it helping them sell it faster, putting those people together and also creating some revenue for yourself it’s win, win, win for you, the homeowner, and the investor or the real estate agent.
James: Yeah, and you could focus on that and make a really big project of it or you can just keep your eye open now that you’re aware of it as you drive around during your normal business, you’re going to give a bid or you’re going to do work on a house and you pass by a house that looks -you know where the lawn hasn’t been mowed in three months and you know windows are broken, there’s ninety-seven newspapers in the front yard you know that may be worth trying to figure out who the owner is and making a call or two and working your magic or maybe you do just bird-dog it and bird dogging is just contacting a real estate investor with an address of the property and let them do all that work but bird dogging you won’t get nearly the amount of money you would for wholesaling which is going out there and finding the owner and negotiating something like that.
Jassen: Right it’s like what five hundred dollars for a finder’s fee or something like that?
James: Yeah, that’s in the ball park about five hundred bucks.
Until my next post,
James
P.S. Want access to our full 7 hour training course? Upgrade to “The World’s Greatest Handyman Marketing Course” today to get instant access and take your handyman business to the next level.
Once you have closed on the property you are ready to implement the strategy you’ve selected for the property.
Before you do anything does the house need to be rehabilitated (rehabbed)? If so, then run your systems for rehabbing a property.
Or, maybe you plan to wholesale the property as is? Run your wholesaling systems at this point to get the property sold quickly to another real estate investor.
Are you planning to rent the property? Run your property management systems and checklists for renting the property.
Maybe you are planning to sell the property retail or sell it on a rent to own? If that is the case then go ahead and run through your systems and checklists for getting a property sold quickly.
Hopefully you completed some of the steps that were able to be done before closing while you were waiting to close to save yourself some time executing your strategy. If not, remember that for next time.
The faster that you can execute your strategy once you buy an investment property the more profit you are likely to make due to reduced holding and marketing costs.
Until my next post,
James
Last night we had a webinar for our Real Estate Investor Bronze Members where we discussed the strategies (and resources for implementing those strategies) that are working right now in our current market.
Part of what I discuss in the webinar is that anyone can actually do these strategies in this market if they choose to. You know how to access everything you need and as I mentioned any parts that you do not want to do yourself are able to be outsourced to someone who would love to do that for you. In fact, I have most of the systems to outsource those tasks as well since I have outsourced just about every part of the real estate investing business. If you are a Bronze Member and need help with that, just let me know.
Please enable Javascript and Flash to view this Viddler video.In the webinar I discuss wholesaling, virtual wholesaling, buy and hold, real estate partnerships, subject to and lease options as well as owner financing and private money.
Enjoy the video!
Sincerely,
James
P.S. If you have not downloaded the free real estate courses we have available, you can do that on the Real Estate Course Downloads page.
Tonight for our Real Estate Investor Bronze Members I am holding a training webinar called Real Estate Investing Strategies Working Right Now. In this webinar I will be talking about which real estate investing strategies are working best right now and highlight some of the training materials we have for our Real Estate Investor Bronze Members that can be used to learn specific implementation strategies, checklists, forms and downloadable training courses on the specific areas.
These are some of the topics that I have on the outline to talk about:
- Wholesaling – Wholesaling is a great way to generate immediate chunks of cash as a real estate investor and a strategy that I strongly recommend for new investors wanting to get involved with the business as it will help you earn while you learn.
- Virtual Wholesaling – Virtual Wholesaling is similar to wholesaling in many ways except you are able to focus on markets that are not local to you in your wholesaling. You will be growing multiple buyers lists, employ marketing in multiple geographical markets–often out of state–and have key dream team members in those areas to help you.
- Buy And Hold – Right now a good long term Buy And Hold strategy is extremely powerful. Interest rates are at or near all time lows, the trend is that more people are moving toward renting and we are heading toward a period of high inflation meaning property values will likely rise considerably. A potential challenge is investor financing which I plan to address in detail for our members.
- Subject To and Lease Options – Buying properties “subject to” the existing financing or structuring a creative Lease Option deal are two different, but similar strategies that specifically address the investor’s financing challenges while still solving problems that many sellers have in our current market.
- Partnerships – There are many folks that want to get involved in real estate investing but do not have the time or expertise to really learn the business. There are some great opportunities for professional real estate investors that have the time and expertise to partner with folks interested in the benefits of real estate investing (income, depreciation, equity build up, appreciation and, in some cases, leverage) to work on the financing side with professional investors so that each of them could achieve more than they might otherwise achieve alone in a win-win partnership.
- Multi-Units and Apartments – While this is not an area of expertise for me since my focus has been primarily on single family homes, I see an opportunity in this strategy and I think for the right person it is something worth at least looking into.
In tonight’s training session, I will also be sharing the amazing resources that we have for the following as well to address the very specific challenges of financing on the side of of the investor buying and also for profitable exit strategies for investors as well:
- Owner Financing – Since this is a major area of focus in our business, I have some amazing resources and training materials on this topic.
- Private Money – Last year when I actually got licensed in my state to be able to raise private money, I was one of only two people who had gotten licensed in the last 10 years and yet there is a huge opportunity with the low returns that folks are getting on their money for real estate investors to work with private individuals with private money loans secured by investment real estate.
- Rent To Own and Lease Options (as exit strategies) – I will also be sharing some of the strategies for offering creative, flexible financing to your end buyers to make your exit strategy more profitable and give you a significant marketing advantage.
As you can see, there is quite a bit to cover on tonight’s webinar so I will be mostly pointing out specific training resources that we have already available including checklists, systems, forms, audio downloads and more. I will, technology willing, be placing the recording of the webinar up on the Real Estate Investor Wiki within a couple days.
Until my next post,
James
Despite conventional wisdom about when investors should buy, most investors are running spooked from our current market. With stocks at fire sale prices and falling house prices in most markets, you may be wondering, should I hold tight and not take any risks in this uncertain market, or should I jump in and “buy low”?
The good news is that if you choose to employ a long term strategy with real estate investing, then any market can be good for buying. It’s impossible to know when a market will bottom out, and how far it will ultimately drop. But, if you use net operating income as your primary criteria for buying, then a house that will support itself supports itself, regardless of whether the price goes down in the months after your purchase.
A net operating income analysis ensures that the price you buy your house for can be supported by the rent that you charge for it. With the record number of foreclosures we have seen, rent prices will likely be stable and over time will increase in most markets. This will occur, not only because former homeowners will be forced back into the rental market, but also because lending standards are tightening. With a scarcity of nothing down loans available, more potential homebuyers will remain renters, thus increasing the pool of prospects for your investment houses.
So, as spooky as the market may seem right now, if you are buying long-term rentals using a sound net operating income approach like we teach on our websites, then yes, now is the time to buy.
For help analyzing your next deal you may want to download our training materials on how to analyze deals (currently free for a very limited time).
Until my next post,
James
For a limited time I have decided to post the webinar video that I recorded earlier tonight online.
In this 70 or so minute real estate course I cover some of the resources we have for setting up a real estate wholesaling or virtual wholesaling business.
Please enable Javascript and Flash to view this Viddler video.If you’d like to see more of these videos and access all the audio course downloads, forms, checklists and get access to our consulting sessions, please upgrade to Real Estate Investor Bronze Membership.
Until my next post,
James
