The Miami real estate industry is gradually embracing Bitcoin as realtors realize the merits and advantages of utilizing the Bitcoin network to facilitate the transfer of large-scale transactions.
For many years, the Bitcoin community and experts within the cryptocurrency sector have debated the fundamental purpose of Bitcoin; whether it should operate more as a store of value or a digital cash system that is capable of processing small transactions with substantially low fees like Visa.
As of current, Bitcoin qualifies as both a store of value and a digital cash system. The integration of the Bitcoin Core development team’s transaction malleability and scaling solution Segregated Witness (SegWit) has significantly reduced Blockchain congestion within the Bitcoin network, decreasing the size of the Bitcoin mempool-the holding area for unconfirmed transactions-and the average Bitcoin block size. More to that, less than three percent of Bitcoin’s transactions are SegWit-enabled. As the ratio of SegWit-enabled transaction increase to over 50 percent, Bitcoin transactions will become even cheaper.
As a result, more merchants, investors and users have started to consider and adopt Bitcoin as a financial and a settlement network that is capable of processing both small and large transactions. Within the real estate industry, the majority of transactions or payments are in the millions. But, to process multi-million dollar transactions, banks require extremely high fees, sometimes up to thousands of dollars per transaction.
Several studies and research papers have revealed that Australian and US banks charge up to $4,000 for a $100,000 transaction. If the payment goes up to a few million dollars, the transaction fee will increase proportionally, potentially to $10,000.
In Bitcoin, such high fees can be avoided. Although transaction fees depend on the size of the transaction, it is possible to send a million dollar transaction with less than $10 with a SegWit-enabled wallet. More importantly, if the Bitcoin Blockchain network is less congested and the mempool size is small, it is possible for senders to attach even smaller fees to process the payment.
For realtors, the usage of Bitcoin significantly eases the process of facilitating large-scale payments. Not only do multi-million dollar bank wire transfers cost thousands of dollars and take weeks to sometimes months of processing time, they also require long paperwork and inefficient process of identity and financial verification.
Thus, Stephan Burke, member of the Master Brokers Forum, a network of real estate professionals in Miami, and realtor associate with Brown Harris Stevens wrote:
“It would seem that an industry like real estate, which already has a high comfort level with technology and the electronic exchange of large sums of money, will be a natural fit for Bitcoin in the coming years. In my opinion, some kind of serious regulation will be needed before Bitcoin hits Main Street. But I do believe that acceptance will happen sooner rather than later. The world changes extremely fast these days.”
Saturday, December 16, 2017
Thursday, December 14, 2017
Net neutrality repeal has real estate really worried
The Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) vote to end Obama-era net neutrality protections could change the way consumers use the internet, and that may have a lasting effect on a real estate industry.
Today’s 3-2 vote under Republican Commissioner Chairman Ajit Pai — which fell along party lines — ends the 2015 Open Internet Order, which regulated the way internet service providers (ISPs) treated content. It required ISPs to treat all content equally and blocked the favoring of providing “fast lanes” for favored sites.
The FCC, in a statement, said they are “returning to the traditional light-touch framework that was in place until 2015.”
As part of the vote, oversight over internet regulations will shift from the FCC to the Federal Trade Commission. While the FCC is split with two Democrats and three Republicans — part of the organization’s bylaws allows for no more than three members of any political party — the FTC is made up of one Republican and one Democrat. Terrell Sweeney, the Democrat serving as a commissioner on the FTC, has already argued that her organization will not be able to save an open Internet.
What’s at stake for small businesses?
In the near term, Russ Cofano, a Washington state-based veteran of the real estate industry for over 25 years — most recently the president of eXp World Holdings, operator of real estate brokerage eXp Realty until this past summer — doesn’t believe much will change, but there’s mid- and long-term repercussions to consider.
“Real estate essentially is a business run by small business operators,” Cofano said. “The majority of real estate brokers are small businesses, individual agents are independent contractors and small businesses.”
He added: “The concern, among folks that are fighting against this repeal is that when you pit big business — that being broadband providers — against small business, big business wins in terms of usability, cost or both.”
At the very least, Cofano explained, repealing net neutrality could make it more expensive for smaller real estate operations to compete, but at the very worst, it could put people at a competitive disadvantage when working with consumers.
While it’s too early to see the shape of things to come, theoretically larger firms could work out deals to ensure speeds aren’t throttled on their sites, versus some of their smaller competitors. Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, for example, could be at an advantage because it belongs to a multinational conglomerate that owns a small stake — less than one percent — in Verizon.
“It’s conceivable that could happen, but the repeal of the net neutrality rules are eliminating FCC regulation, but not antitrust,” Cofano explained.
“Would it be an antitrust violation to provide preference for big companies versus small companies?” Cofano added. “The answer is: we don’t know yet, but it’s scary. And lots of harm can happen while things go through the court system to determine if they were wrong in the first place.”
Threats to real estate tech
The repeal of net neutrality could also pose a threat to the thriving proptech industry. Roelof Opperman, an associate with Fifth Wall Ventures — a VC firm with companies like Opendoor, WiredScore, States Title and VTS in its portfolio — thinks it will impact startups with a direct-to-consumer business model, especially.
“Half of real estate technology is pure internet software as a service, delivered to consumers,” Opperman explained, using companies like Compass and Zillowas an example.
“Anytime there’s less regulation, and a telecommunications behemoth could throttle [speeds] based on what you’re paying them, that’s an issue,” he added. “It definitely hits innovation on the consumer end.”
A byproduct of the new lack of regulations could be that alternative internet networks become much more common, and access to those internet networks could become a new selling point for residential and commercial buildings.
“A lot of buildings are thinking about connectivity in a big way,” Opperman said. “Connectivity is basically the number one thing when people look for when moving into a new building or office.”
He added, “So I think it creates a really big opportunity for non-conventional networks such as dark fibre to brand themselves as ‘hey, we don’t do this.’” Dark fibre is a term referring to the extra cables and bandwidth that are laid down for broadband internet, which building owners may use to set up their own private, ultra-fast networks.
Like Cofano, Opperman admitted that there’s still a lot of unknown.
“We’ve just given all these massive telecommunications companies this power, and we’re not sure how they’re going to wield it,” he said.
Opperman thinks, if ISPs start to throttle speeds, they’ll go after bigger companies like YouTube and Netflix first, but eventually that will trickle down to small companies, which will obviously have an adverse impact in terms of cost and the services they provide to consumers.
“If you had two sites that were exactly the same or slightly differentiated, and one was much slower than the other, then why would you go to the other?” Opperman said.
The vote that ‘stacked the deck’
One of the companies backed by Fifth Wall Ventures is WiredScore, a startup that provides commercial real estate tenants with information about their building’s connectivity. The company’s CEO Arie Barendrecht believes the repeal of net neutrality will impact businesses like his own.
“We are a startup so we understand the hard work that goes into building a business,” he said. “Today’s ruling is a big loss for a lot of small businesses and an impediment to the growing innovation economy. The repeal of net neutrality just stacked the deck against smaller companies in favor of big business.”
John Gilbert, the chief operating officer and executive vice president at Rudin Management Company and also the co-chair of the Real Estate Board of New York’s (REBNY) Tech Committee also believes the repeal will have a negative impact on the growing proptech industry.
“Net neutrality has enhanced the creation of new companies offering digital solutions to real life problems,” he said. “Removing this foundational concept risks creating winners and losers based on a playing field that tilts against creative thought. This is an issue that deserves legislative debate.”
Racquel Russell, senior director, government relations and public affairs at Zillow — one of the nation’s largest online listing services, with $7.5 billion market cap — echoed Gilbert’s sentiments.
“The FCC’s changes to net neutrality create an unlevel playing field for consumers and small-business owners, including many of our real estate partners,” she said. “An open internet empowers consumers with information, helps small businesses grow and spurs innovation.”
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) has also been staunchly opposed to the repeal, on behalf of their 1.3 million members.
“The internet as we know it today is a fair and open platform that puts everyone on a level playing field,” said NAR President Elizabeth Mendenhall in a statement. “FCC’s rollback of the Open Internet Order will mean higher costs and slower service for millions of American consumers and businesses. Realtors have strong concerns about what that might mean for the way consumers search for homes online and real estate is transacted.”
Mendenhall pointed specifically to the small businesses that will be impacted by the repeal.
“The last thing small businesses need today is additional costs and competitive disadvantages that put them on the defensive,” she added. “This isn’t just an issue for Silicon Valley or large telecommunications shops. This is a main street concern that affects businesses and consumers across the country.
(https://www.inman.com/2017/12/14/net-neutrality-repeal-has-real-estate-really-worried/)
Today’s 3-2 vote under Republican Commissioner Chairman Ajit Pai — which fell along party lines — ends the 2015 Open Internet Order, which regulated the way internet service providers (ISPs) treated content. It required ISPs to treat all content equally and blocked the favoring of providing “fast lanes” for favored sites.
The FCC, in a statement, said they are “returning to the traditional light-touch framework that was in place until 2015.”
As part of the vote, oversight over internet regulations will shift from the FCC to the Federal Trade Commission. While the FCC is split with two Democrats and three Republicans — part of the organization’s bylaws allows for no more than three members of any political party — the FTC is made up of one Republican and one Democrat. Terrell Sweeney, the Democrat serving as a commissioner on the FTC, has already argued that her organization will not be able to save an open Internet.
What’s at stake for small businesses?
In the near term, Russ Cofano, a Washington state-based veteran of the real estate industry for over 25 years — most recently the president of eXp World Holdings, operator of real estate brokerage eXp Realty until this past summer — doesn’t believe much will change, but there’s mid- and long-term repercussions to consider.
“Real estate essentially is a business run by small business operators,” Cofano said. “The majority of real estate brokers are small businesses, individual agents are independent contractors and small businesses.”
He added: “The concern, among folks that are fighting against this repeal is that when you pit big business — that being broadband providers — against small business, big business wins in terms of usability, cost or both.”
At the very least, Cofano explained, repealing net neutrality could make it more expensive for smaller real estate operations to compete, but at the very worst, it could put people at a competitive disadvantage when working with consumers.
While it’s too early to see the shape of things to come, theoretically larger firms could work out deals to ensure speeds aren’t throttled on their sites, versus some of their smaller competitors. Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, for example, could be at an advantage because it belongs to a multinational conglomerate that owns a small stake — less than one percent — in Verizon.
“It’s conceivable that could happen, but the repeal of the net neutrality rules are eliminating FCC regulation, but not antitrust,” Cofano explained.
“Would it be an antitrust violation to provide preference for big companies versus small companies?” Cofano added. “The answer is: we don’t know yet, but it’s scary. And lots of harm can happen while things go through the court system to determine if they were wrong in the first place.”
Threats to real estate tech
The repeal of net neutrality could also pose a threat to the thriving proptech industry. Roelof Opperman, an associate with Fifth Wall Ventures — a VC firm with companies like Opendoor, WiredScore, States Title and VTS in its portfolio — thinks it will impact startups with a direct-to-consumer business model, especially.
“Half of real estate technology is pure internet software as a service, delivered to consumers,” Opperman explained, using companies like Compass and Zillowas an example.
“Anytime there’s less regulation, and a telecommunications behemoth could throttle [speeds] based on what you’re paying them, that’s an issue,” he added. “It definitely hits innovation on the consumer end.”
A byproduct of the new lack of regulations could be that alternative internet networks become much more common, and access to those internet networks could become a new selling point for residential and commercial buildings.
“A lot of buildings are thinking about connectivity in a big way,” Opperman said. “Connectivity is basically the number one thing when people look for when moving into a new building or office.”
He added, “So I think it creates a really big opportunity for non-conventional networks such as dark fibre to brand themselves as ‘hey, we don’t do this.’” Dark fibre is a term referring to the extra cables and bandwidth that are laid down for broadband internet, which building owners may use to set up their own private, ultra-fast networks.
Like Cofano, Opperman admitted that there’s still a lot of unknown.
“We’ve just given all these massive telecommunications companies this power, and we’re not sure how they’re going to wield it,” he said.
Opperman thinks, if ISPs start to throttle speeds, they’ll go after bigger companies like YouTube and Netflix first, but eventually that will trickle down to small companies, which will obviously have an adverse impact in terms of cost and the services they provide to consumers.
“If you had two sites that were exactly the same or slightly differentiated, and one was much slower than the other, then why would you go to the other?” Opperman said.
The vote that ‘stacked the deck’
One of the companies backed by Fifth Wall Ventures is WiredScore, a startup that provides commercial real estate tenants with information about their building’s connectivity. The company’s CEO Arie Barendrecht believes the repeal of net neutrality will impact businesses like his own.
“We are a startup so we understand the hard work that goes into building a business,” he said. “Today’s ruling is a big loss for a lot of small businesses and an impediment to the growing innovation economy. The repeal of net neutrality just stacked the deck against smaller companies in favor of big business.”
John Gilbert, the chief operating officer and executive vice president at Rudin Management Company and also the co-chair of the Real Estate Board of New York’s (REBNY) Tech Committee also believes the repeal will have a negative impact on the growing proptech industry.
“Net neutrality has enhanced the creation of new companies offering digital solutions to real life problems,” he said. “Removing this foundational concept risks creating winners and losers based on a playing field that tilts against creative thought. This is an issue that deserves legislative debate.”
Racquel Russell, senior director, government relations and public affairs at Zillow — one of the nation’s largest online listing services, with $7.5 billion market cap — echoed Gilbert’s sentiments.
“The FCC’s changes to net neutrality create an unlevel playing field for consumers and small-business owners, including many of our real estate partners,” she said. “An open internet empowers consumers with information, helps small businesses grow and spurs innovation.”
The National Association of Realtors (NAR) has also been staunchly opposed to the repeal, on behalf of their 1.3 million members.
“The internet as we know it today is a fair and open platform that puts everyone on a level playing field,” said NAR President Elizabeth Mendenhall in a statement. “FCC’s rollback of the Open Internet Order will mean higher costs and slower service for millions of American consumers and businesses. Realtors have strong concerns about what that might mean for the way consumers search for homes online and real estate is transacted.”
Mendenhall pointed specifically to the small businesses that will be impacted by the repeal.
“The last thing small businesses need today is additional costs and competitive disadvantages that put them on the defensive,” she added. “This isn’t just an issue for Silicon Valley or large telecommunications shops. This is a main street concern that affects businesses and consumers across the country.
(https://www.inman.com/2017/12/14/net-neutrality-repeal-has-real-estate-really-worried/)
6 CRE Trends to Watch in 2018
What does the commercial real estate industry look like in 2018? How will today’s emerging market dynamics affect the business in the long run? The commercial real estate industry saw incredible growth in 2016 and 2017 and CRE professionals and investors are anticipating another great year for the industry.
Let’s take a look at 6 CRE trends to watch in 2018 and how they will impact your prospects.
Millennials
Millennials want to live in the city and they flock to communities that “never sleep.” In addition, millennials are not shopping in the same way older generations do – they utilize e-commerce sites like Amazon to do their shopping, rather than spending time in the traditional shopping mall. This will help boost the e-commerce industry and will benefit online retail and industrial sectors. Big box retail chains will have to adapt to the e-commerce trend or risk going out of business. The number of large commercial retail locations surpassing 50,000 square feet is growing.
Mobile Workforce
We have all heard of the co-working trend continuing to make a splash as more and more companies utilize mobile work options. Co-working companies such as SPACES and WeWork are continuing to expand into suburban and urban markets to adhere to this flexible workforce. This trend is changing the office sector and how employees are utilizing the workspace. This will also affect how you should approach prospecting for potential clients looking for office space.
Workforce Diversity
Commercial real estate trends typically follow trends in the business world. As more minorities and women continue to occupy C-suites, commercial real estate companies will increase diversity among brokers and agents as well and will place increased efforts on diversifying when scouting top talent.
The Aging Population
The large baby boomer population will impact housing and healthcare. Boomers, specifically empty nesters, are moving to urban centers and leaving suburban neighborhoods in the dust. The boomers are also impacting healthcare through the expansion of medical retail, like urgent care centers and walk-in healthcare clinics. Obsolete strip malls are also being converted into healthcare centers across the country.
Mixed-Use Developments
Shared services such as Uber and Lyft and bike-sharing services are a huge reason populations are returning to living in urban centers. Mixed-use developments both in urban areas and suburban areas allow for a true live-work-play lifestyle that caters to both millennials and older generations who do not want to drive and want to live in a walkable area. Public transportation is shaping how and where people live and work.
Alternative Financing
As banks continue to become more constrained about lending because of new regulations, private equity fund and other types of lenders will fill this void, although at higher rates.
ProspectNow is the most effective prospecting system in commercial real estate and can help you expand your brand online. Contact us today with any questions you may have and try out a demo to see how our software can help you boost your sales.
(https://blog.thebrokerlist.com/6-cre-trends-watch-2018-impact-prospects/)
Let’s take a look at 6 CRE trends to watch in 2018 and how they will impact your prospects.
Millennials
Millennials want to live in the city and they flock to communities that “never sleep.” In addition, millennials are not shopping in the same way older generations do – they utilize e-commerce sites like Amazon to do their shopping, rather than spending time in the traditional shopping mall. This will help boost the e-commerce industry and will benefit online retail and industrial sectors. Big box retail chains will have to adapt to the e-commerce trend or risk going out of business. The number of large commercial retail locations surpassing 50,000 square feet is growing.
Mobile Workforce
We have all heard of the co-working trend continuing to make a splash as more and more companies utilize mobile work options. Co-working companies such as SPACES and WeWork are continuing to expand into suburban and urban markets to adhere to this flexible workforce. This trend is changing the office sector and how employees are utilizing the workspace. This will also affect how you should approach prospecting for potential clients looking for office space.
Workforce Diversity
Commercial real estate trends typically follow trends in the business world. As more minorities and women continue to occupy C-suites, commercial real estate companies will increase diversity among brokers and agents as well and will place increased efforts on diversifying when scouting top talent.
The Aging Population
The large baby boomer population will impact housing and healthcare. Boomers, specifically empty nesters, are moving to urban centers and leaving suburban neighborhoods in the dust. The boomers are also impacting healthcare through the expansion of medical retail, like urgent care centers and walk-in healthcare clinics. Obsolete strip malls are also being converted into healthcare centers across the country.
Mixed-Use Developments
Shared services such as Uber and Lyft and bike-sharing services are a huge reason populations are returning to living in urban centers. Mixed-use developments both in urban areas and suburban areas allow for a true live-work-play lifestyle that caters to both millennials and older generations who do not want to drive and want to live in a walkable area. Public transportation is shaping how and where people live and work.
Alternative Financing
As banks continue to become more constrained about lending because of new regulations, private equity fund and other types of lenders will fill this void, although at higher rates.
ProspectNow is the most effective prospecting system in commercial real estate and can help you expand your brand online. Contact us today with any questions you may have and try out a demo to see how our software can help you boost your sales.
(https://blog.thebrokerlist.com/6-cre-trends-watch-2018-impact-prospects/)
Wednesday, December 6, 2017
U.S. Home Prices Enjoy Consecutive Months of 7 Percent Annual Increases
According to CoreLogic's latest U.S. Home Price Index and Forecast for October 2017, home prices nationwide are up both year over year and month over month. Home prices nationally increased year over year by 7 percent from October 2016 to October 2017, and on a month-over-month basis home prices increased by 0.9 percent in October 2017 compared with September 2017.
Quick Market FAQs:
Prices Starting to Out-Pace Value With 50 Percent of the Top 50 Markets Overvalued
All States Posted Year-Over-Year Price Gains in October 2017
Home Prices Projected to Increase 4.2 Percent by October 2018
Looking ahead, the CoreLogic HPI Forecast indicates that home prices will increase by 4.2 percent on a year-over-year basis from October 2017 to October 2018, and on a month-over-month basis home prices are expected to decrease by 0.2 percent from October 2017 to November 2017. The CoreLogic HPI Forecast is a projection of home prices using the CoreLogic HPI and other economic variables. Values are derived from state-level forecasts by weighting indices according to the number of owner-occupied households for each state.
"Single-family residential sales and prices continued to heat up in October," said Dr. Frank Nothaft, chief economist for CoreLogic. "On a year-over-year basis, home prices grew in excess of 6 percent for four consecutive months ending in October, the longest such streak since June 2014. This escalation in home prices reflects both the acute lack of supply and the strengthening economy."
According to CoreLogic Market Condition Indicators (MCI) data, an analysis of housing values in the country's 100 largest metropolitan areas based on housing stock, 37 percent of metropolitan areas have an overvalued housing stock as of October 2017. The MCI analysis categorizes home prices in individual markets as undervalued, at value or overvalued by comparing home prices to their long-run, sustainable levels, which are supported by local market fundamentals such as disposable income.
Also, as of October, 26 percent of the top 100 metropolitan areas were undervalued and 37 percent were at value. When looking at only the top 50 markets based on housing stock, 50 percent were overvalued, 14 percent were undervalued and 36 percent were at value. The MCI analysis defines an overvalued housing market as one in which home prices are at least 10 percent higher than the long-term, sustainable level, while an undervalued housing market is one in which home prices are at least 10 percent below the sustainable level.
"The acceleration in home prices is good news for both homeowners and the economy because it leads to higher home equity balances that support consumer spending and is a cushion against mortgage risk," said Frank Martell, president and CEO of CoreLogic. "However, for entry-level renters and first-time homebuyers, it leads to tougher affordability challenges. According to the CoreLogic Single-Family Rent Index, rents paid by entry-level renters for single-family homes rose by 4.2 percent from October 2016 to October 2017 compared with overall single-family rent growth of 2.7 percent over the same time."
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Tuesday, December 5, 2017
Monday, December 4, 2017
10 Lessons this Entrepreneur Learned from Flipping $100 Million in Real Estate
The U.S. housing market has been on a steady tear for the past century. While there have been blips on the radar, especially recently with the Great Recession, real estate remains one of the best performing investment vehicles in the world. For entrepreneurs who understand the mechanics of how to successfully profit from a real estate transaction, the sky is quite literally the limit.
However, it's not always sunshine and rainbows. People do lose their proverbial shirts in real estate, just as they do in all other forms of business. Nonetheless, it offers up one of the most future-proof mediums for earning a substantial amount of money. The truth is that people will always need a place to live and businesses will always need a place to work. For that reason, real estate won't decline, but rather, continue its slow and steady climb.
Of course, the recent housing bubble stings just a little bit. If you're one of the unlucky people who bought near the peak and were forced to sell, or even let your home go in the bloodbath that ensued the 2007 market crash, then you've likely built some aversions towards investing in any form of property. Yet, for those that know how to weather the storm, even the recent downturn isn't a powerful enough deterrent when you weigh the risks versus rewards in real estate investing.
How to succeed in real estate.
Market ups and downs are to be expected in any indusry. For real estate, the waves come every few years. However, the contrarians know that the best time to invest is when everyone else is selling and the best time to sell is when everyone else is buying. And no matter what the market climate, anyone can succeed in real estate as long as they harbor a few tried-and-true lessons that can only come from the in-the-trenches battle for fiscal survival.
For Justin Colby, a wildly successful real estate investor from California who's flipped well over $100 million in real estate, success didn't come easy. In fact, when Colby first decided to enter into the real estate industry in 2007, he had just lost his home to a foreclosure, his car was repossessed and he was living on a friend's couch in San Francisco. He was a victim to the market frenzy and bubbling valuations that had him in way above his head and he simply let it all go.
If that kind of failure doesn't stop a person, then nothing ever could. In fact, Colby, while living on his friend's couch, was so determined to enter into real estate that even though he had no money and no credit, he committed to one simple thing that helped him eventually succeed. He decided to call 100 real estate agents every single day and tell them who he was, what he wanted to do and why they should work with him.
Naturally, Colby got a lot of hang ups. But he persisted. Out of the 100 agents he would call every single day, on average, 90 would hang up on him. Eight would have a brief exchange with him. And two would be interested enough in what he had to say that they would agree to a sit-down. Colby did this every single day for nine months. Somehow, somewhere, deep down inside, he knew he was destined for this.
He would hold those meetings at Starbucks. At the time, around the Great Recession, Starbucks had been offering free coffee refills as long the coffee was consumed in the shop. So he sat there and met with those realtors and tried to convince and sway them to work with him. Eventually, he found one that had agreed. The question was, how was he going to conduct a real estate transaction without having any money or any credit?
Colby's first flip happened with the realtor's help. Colby found the property and the realtor lined up a buyer. For the cash, he turned to a transactional lender, which is effectively a hard money lender but charges much higher interest rates. For a 48-hour lend, the company charged him two points in interest. But it worked. He flipped that house in 72 hours and made his first $7,000 in real estate, which he had to split with his business partner.
For the next flip, he did the same thing. Afterwards, out of sheer luck, he managed to meet an old friend from high school who showed up at a 49'ers game. That friend had just come into an inheritance and after a brief conversation, decided to invest $100,000 with Colby. That was the turning point. That's when he put pedal to the metal and things really took off.
However, surprisingly, with that investment, Colby did something contrarian. Realizing that he needed guidance and leadership from an expert in the field, he invested in a $25,000 real estate mastermind, which, after two phone calls, helped him to hone his direction. That's all it took. While Colby's first year had only seen two deals push through, in his second year, he did six. These were traditional rehab flips. The next year, an astounding jump to 46 flips, then 96 the year after. Afterwards, he moved into large-scale real estate development.
After flipping $100 million in real estate, Colby learned 10 very important lessons that any entrepreneur who's interested in real estate should heed. No matter what your present stiatuion, people like Colby are a true testament to what's possible when you're so committed and devoted to doing something, that nothing will stand in your way. Imagine having no money, no credit and no personal network that you can lean on, and turning around and becoming a wildly successful real estate investor. That's where true champions are formed.
1. You have to believe it before you see it.
No matter what line of work you're in, if you can't envision success, you won't be able to achieve it. For Colby, even his stark present-day reality wasn't enough to hold him back from achieving his dreams. He was able to wildly envision a future that was so different from his reality, that the power of his thoughts propelled him towards his dreams. Without that, no entrepreneur can succeed.
2. Reasons come first and answers come second.
Anyone who wants to achieve a goal needs to find a strong enough reason why they must achieve it. That will always come first. If your reason is strong enough, whatever it is, then it will help you achieve anything. Colby discovered that he had this burning desire to succeed and didn't want to just live a life of mediocrity. That's how you achieve greatness.
3. Progress happens when you breakthrough your fears.
We all have limiting beliefs and fears that hold us back in life. They stop us from achieving our dreams. But the biggest amount of progress can only happen when we breakthrough our fears. Marilyn Ferguson once said that "Ultimately we know deeply that the other side of every fear is freedom." Colby learned that when a fear arose in his mind, he would immediately breakthrough it by tackling it head on.
4. Don't suffer paralysis by analysis.
We often overthink and over analyze things in life. We wait for the cards to be just right or the stars to align. Well, that's never going to happen. Unless you seize the opportunity, things will never be perfect. You have to go out there and simply do things and not wait around for things to come to you. They'll never come to you unless you go out there and get them.
5. Create a massive action plan if you're serious about getting results.
Colby discovered that he needed a massive action plan to succeed. He never changed his goals. But if his plan wasn't working out, he would adjust his plan, but he was always planning. At the end of the day, if you're building and carrying out your plan constantly, you'll eventually succeed. It might take longer than you initially hoped. But you'll get there.
6. Sometimes you learn and sometimes you earn.
Failure should be expected when you're trying to achieve big goals. Don't let that dissuade you. Sometimes you'll learn some serious lessons from those failures and sometimes you'll earn money when things go according to plan. But don't be disheartened when things fall apart from time to time. Expect it. Power through it. And keep going.
7. Find a leader, a mentor or a coach immediately.
No matter what it takes, you have to find someone who can mentor you, a leader or a professional coach. Whatever you have to spend on this, you should make it a priority. They'll be able to guide you in the right direction. When Colby got $100,000 as an investment from a friend, he spent 25% of that on a mastermind coach. Acknowledging the importance of this, Colby has mentored well over a 1,000 students through his coaching program, The Science of Flipping and leads three separate real estate masterminds.
8. Use widely-available resources to help you achieve your goals.
We have so many resources at our disposal to connect with others. We can use social media to message influencers in any industry. We can send emails to industry leaders or business titans. Don't be afraid to ask for help or to tap into networking tools like meetup.com to help you find other like-minded entrepreneurs while working to achieve your goals. Steve Jobs once said, "I've never found anybody who didn't want to help me when I've asked them for help."
9. Manage your time or you'll find yourself going backwards rather than forwards.
If you're serious about achieving any goal, you have to manage your time and do it effectively. Find a good system that works and work it. Focus on your long-term goals and cut out your distractions. Don't spend your day on time-wasters like endlessly surfing the internet or watching television or engaging in some other mindless pursuit. Time is finite so use it wisely.
10. Never, ever, give up, no matter what.
Big goals take time. You have to persist. No matter how bad you feel, you need to get up, dress up and show up. That's what it takes. That's the winning mentality. If things don't go your way, don't take it the wrong way. Just try again. Pick yourself back up and keep moving. Blil Bradley once said that "ambition is the path to success. Persistence is the vehicle you arrive in."
(https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/296913)
However, it's not always sunshine and rainbows. People do lose their proverbial shirts in real estate, just as they do in all other forms of business. Nonetheless, it offers up one of the most future-proof mediums for earning a substantial amount of money. The truth is that people will always need a place to live and businesses will always need a place to work. For that reason, real estate won't decline, but rather, continue its slow and steady climb.
Of course, the recent housing bubble stings just a little bit. If you're one of the unlucky people who bought near the peak and were forced to sell, or even let your home go in the bloodbath that ensued the 2007 market crash, then you've likely built some aversions towards investing in any form of property. Yet, for those that know how to weather the storm, even the recent downturn isn't a powerful enough deterrent when you weigh the risks versus rewards in real estate investing.
How to succeed in real estate.
Market ups and downs are to be expected in any indusry. For real estate, the waves come every few years. However, the contrarians know that the best time to invest is when everyone else is selling and the best time to sell is when everyone else is buying. And no matter what the market climate, anyone can succeed in real estate as long as they harbor a few tried-and-true lessons that can only come from the in-the-trenches battle for fiscal survival.
For Justin Colby, a wildly successful real estate investor from California who's flipped well over $100 million in real estate, success didn't come easy. In fact, when Colby first decided to enter into the real estate industry in 2007, he had just lost his home to a foreclosure, his car was repossessed and he was living on a friend's couch in San Francisco. He was a victim to the market frenzy and bubbling valuations that had him in way above his head and he simply let it all go.
If that kind of failure doesn't stop a person, then nothing ever could. In fact, Colby, while living on his friend's couch, was so determined to enter into real estate that even though he had no money and no credit, he committed to one simple thing that helped him eventually succeed. He decided to call 100 real estate agents every single day and tell them who he was, what he wanted to do and why they should work with him.
Naturally, Colby got a lot of hang ups. But he persisted. Out of the 100 agents he would call every single day, on average, 90 would hang up on him. Eight would have a brief exchange with him. And two would be interested enough in what he had to say that they would agree to a sit-down. Colby did this every single day for nine months. Somehow, somewhere, deep down inside, he knew he was destined for this.
He would hold those meetings at Starbucks. At the time, around the Great Recession, Starbucks had been offering free coffee refills as long the coffee was consumed in the shop. So he sat there and met with those realtors and tried to convince and sway them to work with him. Eventually, he found one that had agreed. The question was, how was he going to conduct a real estate transaction without having any money or any credit?
Colby's first flip happened with the realtor's help. Colby found the property and the realtor lined up a buyer. For the cash, he turned to a transactional lender, which is effectively a hard money lender but charges much higher interest rates. For a 48-hour lend, the company charged him two points in interest. But it worked. He flipped that house in 72 hours and made his first $7,000 in real estate, which he had to split with his business partner.
For the next flip, he did the same thing. Afterwards, out of sheer luck, he managed to meet an old friend from high school who showed up at a 49'ers game. That friend had just come into an inheritance and after a brief conversation, decided to invest $100,000 with Colby. That was the turning point. That's when he put pedal to the metal and things really took off.
However, surprisingly, with that investment, Colby did something contrarian. Realizing that he needed guidance and leadership from an expert in the field, he invested in a $25,000 real estate mastermind, which, after two phone calls, helped him to hone his direction. That's all it took. While Colby's first year had only seen two deals push through, in his second year, he did six. These were traditional rehab flips. The next year, an astounding jump to 46 flips, then 96 the year after. Afterwards, he moved into large-scale real estate development.
After flipping $100 million in real estate, Colby learned 10 very important lessons that any entrepreneur who's interested in real estate should heed. No matter what your present stiatuion, people like Colby are a true testament to what's possible when you're so committed and devoted to doing something, that nothing will stand in your way. Imagine having no money, no credit and no personal network that you can lean on, and turning around and becoming a wildly successful real estate investor. That's where true champions are formed.
1. You have to believe it before you see it.
No matter what line of work you're in, if you can't envision success, you won't be able to achieve it. For Colby, even his stark present-day reality wasn't enough to hold him back from achieving his dreams. He was able to wildly envision a future that was so different from his reality, that the power of his thoughts propelled him towards his dreams. Without that, no entrepreneur can succeed.
2. Reasons come first and answers come second.
Anyone who wants to achieve a goal needs to find a strong enough reason why they must achieve it. That will always come first. If your reason is strong enough, whatever it is, then it will help you achieve anything. Colby discovered that he had this burning desire to succeed and didn't want to just live a life of mediocrity. That's how you achieve greatness.
3. Progress happens when you breakthrough your fears.
We all have limiting beliefs and fears that hold us back in life. They stop us from achieving our dreams. But the biggest amount of progress can only happen when we breakthrough our fears. Marilyn Ferguson once said that "Ultimately we know deeply that the other side of every fear is freedom." Colby learned that when a fear arose in his mind, he would immediately breakthrough it by tackling it head on.
4. Don't suffer paralysis by analysis.
We often overthink and over analyze things in life. We wait for the cards to be just right or the stars to align. Well, that's never going to happen. Unless you seize the opportunity, things will never be perfect. You have to go out there and simply do things and not wait around for things to come to you. They'll never come to you unless you go out there and get them.
5. Create a massive action plan if you're serious about getting results.
Colby discovered that he needed a massive action plan to succeed. He never changed his goals. But if his plan wasn't working out, he would adjust his plan, but he was always planning. At the end of the day, if you're building and carrying out your plan constantly, you'll eventually succeed. It might take longer than you initially hoped. But you'll get there.
6. Sometimes you learn and sometimes you earn.
Failure should be expected when you're trying to achieve big goals. Don't let that dissuade you. Sometimes you'll learn some serious lessons from those failures and sometimes you'll earn money when things go according to plan. But don't be disheartened when things fall apart from time to time. Expect it. Power through it. And keep going.
7. Find a leader, a mentor or a coach immediately.
No matter what it takes, you have to find someone who can mentor you, a leader or a professional coach. Whatever you have to spend on this, you should make it a priority. They'll be able to guide you in the right direction. When Colby got $100,000 as an investment from a friend, he spent 25% of that on a mastermind coach. Acknowledging the importance of this, Colby has mentored well over a 1,000 students through his coaching program, The Science of Flipping and leads three separate real estate masterminds.
8. Use widely-available resources to help you achieve your goals.
We have so many resources at our disposal to connect with others. We can use social media to message influencers in any industry. We can send emails to industry leaders or business titans. Don't be afraid to ask for help or to tap into networking tools like meetup.com to help you find other like-minded entrepreneurs while working to achieve your goals. Steve Jobs once said, "I've never found anybody who didn't want to help me when I've asked them for help."
9. Manage your time or you'll find yourself going backwards rather than forwards.
If you're serious about achieving any goal, you have to manage your time and do it effectively. Find a good system that works and work it. Focus on your long-term goals and cut out your distractions. Don't spend your day on time-wasters like endlessly surfing the internet or watching television or engaging in some other mindless pursuit. Time is finite so use it wisely.
10. Never, ever, give up, no matter what.
Big goals take time. You have to persist. No matter how bad you feel, you need to get up, dress up and show up. That's what it takes. That's the winning mentality. If things don't go your way, don't take it the wrong way. Just try again. Pick yourself back up and keep moving. Blil Bradley once said that "ambition is the path to success. Persistence is the vehicle you arrive in."
(https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/296913)
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