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Get Your Phone to Ring, Period!

btevansjr — Tue, 15 May 2012 16:23:00 +0000

There are five steps in this business that will lead to your success. They are:

1. Locate prospects,

2. Pre-screen prospects,

3. Construct and present offers,

4. Follow up and get a commitment,

5. Close quickly and repeat.

This diagram shows where you currently are and the steps you must learn in order to get to a house and check! Post this diagram somewhere you will see it every day. If you get confused, if you ever get overwhelmed, think simple. Think this diagram and find out where the problem is. If you’re not talking to sellers then maybe the problem is you need to get more sellers calling. Let’s diagnose the problem and not guess at it.

Step number one, locating sellers. The only thing that matters in locating sellers is getting your phone to ring, period. If your phone is not ringing with a seller, then you don’t have a house to buy. If you don’t have a house to buy, then you don’t have a house to sell. If you don’t have a house to sell, then you don’t make money and you’re not living your dream.

It all boils down to step number one. This is the most important step. If you don’t do this step, nothing else is going to work out.

I was at a seminar one time and a lady came up to me crying and she said “Brian, I bought all this stuff, spent all this money and I don’t know what to do. I’m overwhelmed. I’m flustered and I just don’t know what to do. Can you tell me what I need to do?” I think her name was Betty. I said, “Betty, the only thing you need to do right now is you need to get your phone to ring. Forget about all the other crap. Forget about wholesaling. Forget about short sales. Forget about retailing. Forget about all the junk. Forget about being overwhelmed. Get your phone to ring with people that want to sell a house. Get your marketing working and then you can start to be a transaction engineer and take those leads that come in and figure out what to do with them after you’ve gathered the facts.”

The more difficult it is to find a seller the better the deal will be. What you want to do is you don’t want to be looking where everyone else is looking. You need to be creative. We have the MLS, for sale by owners, vacant houses, and other types of potential sellers.

All of the inventory is with the MLS, but that’s also where all the competition is. What this means is that you need to be in control of your marketing. If you can target your marketing, find the opportunities, that’s when you’re really going to start to succeed very, very well. I’m not saying there are not deals in the MLS. I’m just saying that it’s going to be more of a pain in the neck, because you’re not going to be in control.

If we can mail a set of letters to some vacant owners or some out of state owners or some tired landlords or stuff where people are not targeting so much, then we’re going to have a lot more opportunity to make our money.

Next is determining your marketing for seller leads. Here are the main ways that we market to find the seller leads that we buy. Direct mail, signs, newspaper ads, website, business cards, door flyers, vehicle ads, house scout system, referrals, Better Business Bureau, outbound calls. You can make outbound calls, too, Free reports, Craigslist, other websites, etc. That’s just ways to market to find sellers. That’s not the types of sellers. That’s just marketing.

Out of all of these my favorite hands down is direct mail. We mail out ugly, handwritten, yellow letters. Your marketing doesn’t have to be pretty. The only point of your marketing is to get your phone to ring. The point of your marketing is not to buy a house. The point of your marketing is not to get a new friend. The point of marketing is nothing more than getting your phone to ring, period!

Buying vs Selling

btevansjr — Tue, 08 May 2012 16:11:51 +0000

There are two parts to your business in real estate investing. There is the buying side and the selling side. What I highly advise you to do is keep them mentally separate. You’re going to have one business, but there are two parts to your business. There are separate steps for each part of it. You should have a separate website, separate marketing flyers, separate phone number, separate call in numbers and everything as well. It needs to be separate.

Before you start worrying about selling, start figuring out how you can buy. You’ve got to buy first and sell second. What I’m going to do is show you how to sell and how to think about selling before you actually have to make the commitment of buying. First you have to make a commitment to buy before you can sell. I’m going to discuss the part of buying properties first because the better you get at buying, the easier it will be for you to sell! This is very important.

There are only two types of buying strategies. No matter what you’ve heard or thought or know, there are only two ways to buy. You’re either going to buy and hold, or you’re going to buy with the intent to hold, or you’re going to buy with the intent to sell, period. That’s it.

Think to yourself, what are you trying to do? If you buy with the intent to sell immediately, you’re probably looking to make some cash flow as quickly as possible. Let’s get paid. That’s probably the main thing that you’re all here for. That’s why I got into this business, I wanted to get paid. That first $40,000 check got me paid, $40,000 in equity wouldn’t have done squat for me. Equity is nothing. Buy and hold is the equity; It’s the long term. You need to be thinking of the buy and hold and if you operate your business as a transaction engineer, you will find plenty of deals to buy and hold along that way while you’re generating cash now.

But those are the two ways. That’s how simple this business is. You’re either going to buy and sell; buy with the intent to sell quickly, or you’re going to buy with the intent to hold.

How to Live a Life of No Regrets Only Results-Part 2

btevansjr — Tue, 01 May 2012 15:18:31 +0000

Last week, we discussed some of the beginning steps needed to start living a life of No Regrets Only Results. I want to continue this discussion in today’s article so if you missed it, go back and take a look now!

How do I live a life of taking action? I do the first two things above, facing fear and no excuses, and then I follow my instincts. Everybody has instincts. I believe that instincts are very important and I think you should follow them.

For example, this is way off topic, and I can’t even tell you why I’m telling you this, but I watched an episode of The Bachelorette with my wife over the summer. Ashley had an instinct that this guy, Bentley, was going to try to take advantage of her because she got a text message from one of his friends that said he’s on the show for the wrong reason. Long story short, he played her. He played everybody. She said, “I should have followed my instincts.”

Follow your instincts. If something doesn’t feel right, it may not be right. Differentiate between fear and not feeling right, but you’ve got your instincts. You’ve got something down deep inside that tells you, “Maybe this guy knows what he’s talking about. This really is it. However long this takes, I know there is something about this.” You need to listen to this and follow what your instincts tell you.

Next, you’ve got to get specific advice from private mentors. You absolutely have to have mentors. There are two parts to this business. There’s training, and then there’s ongoing mentoring. What I’ve done previously is I’ve tried to put people right into mentoring, and it didn’t work. It doesn’t work.

I am playing Groundhog Day every time I’m on the phone with somebody or a group of people if everyone doesn’t speak the same language. So everybody needs to speak the same language if they want to do it the right way. They need to speak my language and a lot of this stuff is the language, so you need to get your mind wrapped around it.

You have to have private mentors, whether it’s me or whether it’s a family member. I consider my father a mentor and I consider my mother a mentor, each in their own certain respects. And then I have other mentors that I write a lot of checks to, because it works. I wouldn’t continue to write those checks if it didn’t work for me. Some of them haven’t worked, I will say, but I’m not afraid to try it. I believe when I do something like that that it’s going to work for me. I’m going to take at least one or two things from everything that I do, especially when I write a check for it.

I’m writing a check on my education to help make more money, to help me do more things, to live my life by my philosophy of No Regrets Only Results. Advice from mentors, mentors, mentors, amazing; you have to have it.

Lastly by taking action, you must apply your knowledge and focus on winning. If you get all this knowledge and don’t apply it or don’t focus on applying it the right way to get results, it’s not going to work. You can get all this knowledge and you can go to all these seminars until you’re blue in the face, but you must apply it. You must be willing to face your fear and apply it.

This is how I live my life of no regrets only results. It was an intensive day of blood, sweat, and tears trying to figure out who I am, what am I really trying to do here as a real estate investor, as a mentor, as an author, as a father figure, as a husband, everything. Please invest some time doing this for yourself as well and I promise it will be a decision you don’t regret making!

How to Live a Life of No Regrets Only Results

btevansjr — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 15:03:29 +0000

You all know my philosophy is to live a life of No Regrets Only Results. The way I implement this in to my daily life is by doing these three things: Having no fear, no excuses, and by taking action. Those three key elements are how I live a life of no regrets only results.

Now, the question is how do I live a life of no fear? I live a life of no fear by doing three things with the fear. Number one, I face my fear. The second thing I do is let my fear challenge and motivate me to succeed. And the final part of having no fear is to overcome it.

Everybody has fear. There is not a day that goes by that I don’t experience some kind of anxiety or fear towards something. With every decision comes some sort of fear. I have trained myself to face my fear. You have to be willing to face your fears as well. Calling a seller is scary. Trying to do a deal is scary, but again you’re buying a property and you’re selling it. If you can sell it for more than what you bought it for you make money. That’s the real simple part of the business. I’ve learned through trial and error that I must face everything, whatever scares me I have to do it. If I don’t face it, then it’s going to just overcome me. I’m a firm believer that if something scares you, you probably should do it.

The next step is letting the fear challenge and motivate me. I’m afraid of it, therefore I need to hone that fear and I need to overcome it. Am I always going to win or succeed at whatever it is? I don’t know, but I’m not going to let the fear control my life. I’m in control.

How do I live a life of no excuses? A couple of things. Number one, I choose not to accept the But Factor. The But Factor is, “Yeah, I’d like to do that, but I have a job. I’d like to do this, but my family member died. I’d like to do this, but it costs so much to travel to come to this thing.”

I choose not to accept the But Factor. I choose not to accept the Because Factor, “Yeah, he can do this because his dad paid all three, four years of his school. He can do this because he probably has some money. I can’t do this because” whatever, whatever, whatever.

And then I choose not to conform to conventional wisdom, the Conform Factor. We talked about the media. We talked about people who downgrade and down talk this business. A bunch of realtors down talk investors and they don’t have a clue. They’re making opinions based on stuff they have no idea about, because they’re not in the business. If you’re going to take advice from somebody, take advice from somebody who’s doing it not from somebody who has done it in the past and is now making opinions on it.

Those are examples of how I live a life of no excuses. I choose not to accept a But, I choose not to accept a Because, and I choose not to Conform. That’s what you need to do as well. If you make Buts, if you make Becauses, if you Conform and if you make excuses, your life is going to suck!

I want to challenge each of you to take some time over the next week and re-read all of the information I’ve given you so you can take the steps you need to live your life with No Regrets Only Results. Next week, we’ll continue this topic and discuss some action steps you need to be taking as well!

Determine Your Life Philosophy

btevansjr — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 13:27:15 +0000

So you’ve decided that you want to become a real estate investor. The next thing you need to do is to know your reason why. You need to determine what your personal life philosophy is. This is really, really important. Once you figure out what your philosophy is, the rest of your life from that point will be so much clearer. I have to be honest with you. I really didn’t figure this out until somewhat recently. I always did really well, but it was never clear cut in my mind what I was doing, why I was doing training, why I really wrote the book. It was all just, “Hey, let’s make money.”

Until recently, it has occurred to me that there is a real reason why behind the money. The money is just a vehicle. Real estate investing is just a vehicle for my philosophy, for my reason why. My reason why is No Regrets Only Results. No excuses and all this stuff, that’s not the philosophy. That’s just part of it. The philosophy is something deeper.

Real estate was the vehicle that gave me the money to live my philosophy which now is no regrets only results. Let’s talk about this. I spent one day with one of my mentors and the whole point of this purpose of him flying in to see me was to help me figure out what my message is. Who is Brian Evans? What’s the real reason why you’re doing this?

It took six intensive hours, believe it or not, and it was extremely difficult to pin point this and figure it out. What it came down to was one question he asked, “If you could only pass on one message to your son, one message and one message only, what would that message be? What would you want to tell your son?”

My son’s name is Ryder Cash. Ryder, we like the name, and Cash, I just think that’s cool.

“If you could pass on one message to your son, what would that be?”

I said I would tell him to live a life of no regrets. The last thing I ever want in life is to be on my deathbed or looking down from Heaven and think, “Man, I wish I would have tried it. I wish I would have tried it.”

I don’t ever want to have any regrets. No matter big or small. It’s about challenging myself. I told him I wanted to live a life of no regrets and do everything you can to make results. That turned into No Regrets Only Results.

I want to challenge each of you to do the same. Sit down and determine your philosophy and why you decided to enter in to the crazy world of real estate investing. You will find this to be a vital step that will change your life!

The Best Time to Invest in Real Estate

btevansjr — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 16:00:44 +0000

When is the best time to invest in real estate? Right now, yesterday, two years ago, in college, right now! You may be starting later than you wish you would have, but it doesn’t matter just start, start, start, start. You need to forget what the media says, what you hear, and what you think you know about this business. You do not know anything about this business right now. You will know everything you need to know if you let me teach you, I promise!

Forget all the crap; the economy’s in the tank and everything is just difficult, but it doesn’t matter. Those are people that don’t know anything about what it takes to do this business. Those are people who see house prices dropping, they see interest rates changing, they see people losing jobs and unemployment is high, so obviously real estate isn’t working. They compare their real estate market. Those trends which don’t matter, those are conventional trends where they compare that with the stock market trends.

No, you have got to get out of that mind frame of conventional wisdom. Everything I teach and talk about is training you to be an entrepreneur. It’s about being unconventional. It’s about doing things that allow you to make money as quickly as possible with the lowest risk and that’s it. That way you can live your life of no regrets only results or whatever it is that you want to do with the money you make!

When you invest the right way, you’re going to set yourself up to be a transaction engineer. A lot of people try to teach you how to be real estate investor, how to make money in wholesales, short sales, subject to, seller finance, whatever. I will teach you how to be a transaction engineer.

You need to know how to look at any type of deal and determine how you can make money with that deal, period. There’s not one focus. You must be able to know how to do all types of properties. I’ve done every type of deal you can imagine; subject to, short sale, seller finance, option, lease option, invested in my IRA, wholesale, retail, rehabs (which are not my favorite, my least favorite). You need to be a transaction engineer!

Here’s what real estate investing is not. If you buy a property hoping it will appraise sometime in the future, that is not an investing strategy. That’s death on a stick and it’s not going to work.

You want to make money on the day you buy or know how to turn that property into money very quickly thereafter or it’s not a deal. You must be able to buy property thinking you can profit from that deal immediately. If the property appraises it while you own it, that’s just a bonus. While it’s appraising, if it is appraising or if it’s declining doesn’t matter, because you’re going to buy the property based on the math of the deal. If it appraises, great. If it doesn’t, so what? You have to do this business based on what you control, not on forces that you don’t control, such as the market conditions.

I know this is a lot of information to take in, but hopefully it excites you as much as it does me when I talk about it! Real estate investing truly can lead you in a life of No Regrets Only Results if you know what you are doing! If you are one of the many investors that find yourself only working one or two types of real estate deals, then contact me and let’s discuss how I can help you become a transaction engineer as well!

FYI, I'm working 1-on-1 with frustrated investors and splitting the profits 50/50! If you want to learn more about this exciting opportunity for you and me, then GO HERE and see for yourself and see for yourself what this is all about!

FART On It

btevansjr — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 08:25:32 +0000

When was the last time someone told you to FART on something in your business? Probably never, until now. I was shocked to learn about this technique when I first heard it as well, but once explained to me it makes perfect sense!

The good news is, this FART doesn’t smell!

In your business you are dealt with lots and lots of information on a daily basis. The trick is being able to manage all of the information in a way that allows you to quickly get through it, understand it and then get on with doing what you do best – buy houses! Fart is an acronym for: File, Act, Reroute, Trash.

When I am dealt new information in my business, whether it be mail, or email, or office documents, or notes, or whatever…the way that I get through it is I Fart on it. I either File it away, or Act on it, or Reroute it (I’ll delegate it), or I Trash it…I FART on it.

The stack of papers and files and emails that you have to go through everyday can seem very overwhelming and it can continue to pile up very quickly unless you do something about it. Well, now your solution is simple, humorous, and easy to remember! The quicker that you can FART on all of the information that comes your way, the better off you’ll be as a real estate investor and business owner.

I hope you enjoyed this short article. If so, please let me know!

The Workplace of the Real Estate Investor – Part 2

btevansjr — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 10:33:39 +0000

Regardless of location, an office or other place of doing business for your real estate investing will require a few essentials. The list below is not intended to be all-inclusive but does feature the most important things you’ll need, based upon my experiences.

Computer (desktop or laptop. Personally I prefer Mac vs. a PC)
A dedicated work desk
High speed Internet access
Mobile phone plan with plenty of available minutes
Local phone line
Business cards
Organized and readily available forms and paperwork
Printer (color is ideal)
Fax machine/scanner
A dedicated business mailing address (P.O. Box or UPS Box)
Dedicated email account
Business website
Accounting software
File organization capacity for different projects/deals

Note that the list above does not include basic office supplies, as I think the need for these should be apparent.

Other Helpful Tips

To help with the proper balance between your business and personal life, I suggest having dedicated business hours. I appreciate that the business of being an investor can sometimes spill over into evenings and weekends and I’m not suggesting leaving these times off limits. Just have some definition to how your time is spent. For example, if you typically find the afternoons during any given week to be pretty slow, don’t take calls during that time. Rather, return calls during a defined time slot in the evening. You’ll be more apt to reach clients then anyway and you won’t feel like you’re a slave to your phone. Accessibility is one thing. Being consumed by your business is another and I believe strongly in a happy medium.

A well constructed website can also help alleviate any worry that you’ll potentially lose business during your ‘down-time’. Visitors can learn about you, submit inquiries, and request to visit with you during your normal office hours. The ability to set hours when you are working your business is not only healthy, but also helps you to appear more like a retail business that has set hours. This is especially helpful if you start the business as a part-time venture.

Let me reemphasize that I’m not suggesting any of you go out there and lease or purchase dedicated office space for your real estate investing business, even if that may become more relevant and necessary later. The most important thing you need right out of the gate is some dedicated place from which to conduct your business. I recognize that this may be challenging for many readers. You may not have that finished basement or spare bedroom that could serve as an office. In these cases, all you can do is the best you can.

Remember too the all-important issue of balance between your life and your business. A future as a real estate investor can be very exciting and also one that can be somewhat consuming. Between meetings, phone calls, and time online doing your research, the business (like any) has the potential to blur the line between your home life and work, especially when the business is home-based. Make the effort to find that right balance and, in the long run, you will be much happier and be able to truly enjoy the fruits of your business from the comfort of home.

The importance of a physical office is much less of an issue for either your professional team or for your clients. You of course will be going to meet them in most cases and you are more important than the perception of where your actual business is located. If you’re self-conscious about the ‘rattle trap’ nature of your home office, remind yourself that your clients won’t be coming to visit you there and that your true business results will come from who you are, in the eyes of those who will be evaluating you. Bottom line is, just get started at home and then work your way to an external office only if that is your desire and only if revenue can support the move.

Key Point: Make lots of money first before you make lots of changes.

The Workplace of a Real Estate Investor

btevansjr — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 08:23:10 +0000

The old saying goes that a man’s home is his castle, and beyond the medieval reference, I think there is still some truth to this in the modern era. The home is the most sacred of places, where one does not have to put forth their best show, can relax, and enjoy those things unrelated to work or business. That’s all well and good but what happens when a home-based business enters the picture? Things may get a little more complicated and it could impact your performance as an investor so let’s explore the issue of business workplace a little more.

You have a number of options for where to conduct your real estate investing business. Let’s look at the three main options: a dedicated office (purchased or leased), a time-share office and a home based office.

Dedicated Office

The dedicated office is a great idea for many investors but is also the most expensive of the options available to you. You’ll have to locate space to either rent or purchase, which can be a considerable expense in some areas, or at least beyond the scope of a start-up business. Dedicated office space also has no furniture, shelves, etc. and will require separate utilities. All of these things can add up pretty quickly and can thus be prohibitive for many new business owners, including real estate investors.

The advantage of a dedicated office is that your business has a separate location, and thus makes it easier to both separate work from your home life and also maintain personal privacy, with respect to your team and your clients. The latter issue alone is not enough to warrant a dedicated office, as a simple business mailing address is sufficient at first to give your personal life and address the privacy they deserve. Beyond privacy, a dedicated office is clearly a sign of credibility and will generally be seen as a plus to both team members and clients.

There is no need to rush into an office, however, in my opinion it is an essential step at some point if you want to take your real estate business to the highest possible level.

Therefore, if the move to a dedicated office seems warranted, congratulations! This decision is most likely based upon a need that is fueled by a certain volume of business. Basically, it should be a sign that things are going well and when the time is right to move to a dedicated office, you’ll probably know and should also have the revenue to support the move.

Time Shared Office

A newer office concept that is gaining popularity is what I like to call ‘time share’ office space. Here’s how it works. You lease the right to use office space at a particular location for certain blocks of time each week. In some cases, you can also pay a set fee and schedule the space when you need it, say for meetings or conference calls. This can offer the appearance of a dedicated office but without the cost and headache of having to manage it all yourself. As a real estate investor who will likely not need a full-time office right out of the gate, this may be a good option to consider. It also displays professionalism by having a formal meeting place to offer clients that isn’t a table in a coffee shop.

The downside to this option is that the ‘tenants’ at these part-time offices are usually not given storage space so don’t plan on being able to store all your files and equipment there. You’ll have the flexibility of office space but will likely still need office space at home for the rest of your business needs.

Home-Based Office

The home-based office is where I originally started and is without a doubt the most common starting place for the beginning real estate investor. There is no need to purchase or lease an office and it will require far less capital to equip the office when it is at home. Spare or reconfigured bedrooms are probably the most common locations for home offices, followed by finished basements, and nooks or extra space in an existing room in the house. The latter is the only one I really don’t favor, although I recognize that, for some readers, this may be the best current option.

When considering where to set up your home office, consider the following factors that are all relevant:

You will spend time on the phone in your office and need peace and quiet
Storage space for your equipment and files/paperwork
Uninterrupted access to computers and the Internet are essential
Lack of distractions potential distractions (TV, barking dog, crying child, etc)

I recognize that a home office is often something of an intrusion to the space and time dynamic for you and/or your family. You really need to be able to make or take calls when necessary and be able to access your computer at a moment’s notice so consider these things carefully. Having to go outside to do your calls or wait until your child is done surfing the Internet before you can use the computer will get old real quick, in the absence of a Plan B.

At this time you may also be wondering how to conduct client meetings when you work from home. Should you meet with them at your home office? I wouldn’t recommend it. To me, privacy is very important and you’ll be surprised how nosy some clients can be. Instead, set up meetings at any one of your many local offices such as; Starbucks, McDonalds, Wendy’s, etc. If anyone asks why you are meeting there, be honest. Tell them that you work from home and you like to keep your business life separate from your personal life. This is not uncommon nowadays, and as a result people will and should respect your honesty.

In my next post, we’ll discuss all the physical components you need to run a successful office.

The Attitude of the Real Estate Investor – Continued

btevansjr — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 08:31:59 +0000

Flexibility

A significant and important part of an investor’s attitude has to include flexibility that allows the investor to work with a variety of situations they experience. Flexibility is generally an admired trait, and perhaps better stated, a lack of flexibility is often a negative. Flexibility is not just having an open schedule in which to make appointments. It is an underlying attitude of open-mindedness that naturally welcomes a variety of scenarios and potential outcomes. This is a healthy attitude to have because few deals go exactly according to plan. Be flexible, and you’ll be both more successful and more influential with your clients.

How do you rate yourself, on a flexibility scale of 1-10? It’s OK if you are low or in the middle; the important thing is to be honest with yourself. Many strong personalities have more of a ‘my way or the highway’ approach to life and to business and, if this sounds like you, then flexibility is something you likely need to work on.

Humility

Humility, as a component of attitude, is a nice counterbalance to confidence. Humility has been an admired trait in people for a long time and I think, in moderation, it has its place. What I mean by this is, too often, investors can overdo the humility and, in doing so, be seen as either soft or weak. This can be a disadvantage when working with other investors or more assertive clients.

The proper dose of humility can actually work to your benefit. Humility is essentially an expression of ‘Hey, I’m not that different from you’ or ‘I’m no better than you are’ or “I made a mistake and I’m sorry” and can be an indirect way to establish some basic rapport with a client. It effectively offsets confidence by adding a certain human side to a display of confidence and makes the client less prone to see your confidence as arrogance.

From a basic attitude standpoint, I think it is effective to truly think of yourself as being an equal of most people you encounter. If you truly believe you are better than someone else, then maybe you are arrogant and you will just have to do the best you can with that. Too much humility can make you prone to think you aren’t worthy of the success that you do deserve and can foster self-sabotaging behavior. As is usually the case, a good attitude is somewhat about balance and the right balance of confidence and humility can take you a long way.

Commitment to a Favorable Outcome

Underlying the repertoire of every successful real estate investor I’ve met is a dedicated commitment to a mutually beneficial outcome for every deal they complete. While I’ll talk a little more about how this fits into the skill of negotiation later, I think the spirit behind this commitment is a critical part of a good investor attitude. After all, if you are in this business just for the money and do not care what outcome is achieved for your clients, sooner or later that approach will catch up with you. That is just my opinion and I have seen that greed can go so far but does have a tangible end of the road, and I’d love to see you take a more favorable path.

It is more than just a negotiation strategy. It becomes an underlying part of your attitude and could even be more effectively described as a sort of philosophy for your business. When a real estate investment business has such a philosophy, it carries over to most every aspect of how you communicate. The commitment to that ideal outcome will appear in your marketing message, it will be reflected in how you talk to clients, and will be more apparent than you think.

Before you know it, this type of philosophical commitment will actually start resulting in more deals. Why? It will be because this component of your attitude has permeated every part of your business. You will be seen as more sincere because people will enjoy talking to you and will be more responsive to your business proposals. I’ve seen this attitude-based evolution in many an investor and it is always a fun thing to watch unfold. It can happen for you too, so make the commitment to yourself and to how you will do business, and it will just be a matter of time.

It is natural that the formation of a good attitude may be something that you need to work on a little bit. I like to believe that many of us are naturally positive people, but as you’ve seen, there’s more to a good real estate investor attitude than just that. It’s what goes into a good attitude that will also contribute the most to your success and growth. Why do these things need to be built or worked on?

Well, the basic components of who you are as a person will still shine through in your attitude as a real estate investor. If you’re naturally friendly, this will reflect in your attitude. The components like empathy, confidence, and commitment to a favorable outcome may take a little time to develop as you get comfortable in your business and learn more about how things work. For example, it’s real easy for someone to say ‘Just be confident’ but, if you are just learning the business, this may be easier said than done and the confidence will come as you get more experienced and absorb more education.

The bottom line is this. Who you are does shape your overall attitude. What you learn and add to your vault of experiences will mold and refine your attitude and your business.