Have you ever heard the old saying, "Buy low, sell high?" News stories about the softening real estate market might scare away some novice investors, but experienced investors recognize weak markets as opportunities to pick up bargains. In many areas, now is the time to buy before prices start climbing again. In this course, you will learn how to make money in any area, in good times and bad, even if you have little money to start with.
Real Estate Investing includes specially designed worksheets and hands-on activities to take the guesswork out of your investing efforts. Start developing a plan for your own investing efforts based on proven methods used every day by full-time, professional real estate investors. You will learn how to invest in foreclosures, manage a rehab project, and build your team of real estate professionals (title officers, lawyers, accountants, mortgage brokers, appraisers, and more). This course also explores the effects of higher interest rates and cover alternative strategies for a changing market. By the end of the course, you will be working toward your first (or next) deal.
Josh Fuhrer is a real estate investor and developer with over 15 years of experience in single-family homes, and multifamily and commercial properties. He runs his own real estate development company, focusing on development and asset management of nearly one million square feet of retail, office, and mixed-use projects. He holds a master's degree in Real Estate from Georgetown University, and a graduate certificate in real estate development from Portland State University.
The instructional materials required for this course are included in enrollment and will be available online.
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Lesson 1
Real estate investors build wealth by providing a tremendous service to their community. In our first lesson, we'll explore the advantages of real estate and discuss why it's such a powerful investment vehicle. You'll learn investor secrets I wish I'd known when I began investing. You'll evaluate your current financial position and define your investing goals. Then you'll begin setting up shop as a real estate investor.
Lesson 2
Do you know a good deal when you find one? How do you find good deals? In Lesson 2, you'll learn about the two main categories of investments and how they relate to your investing goals. We'll cover how to find a steady stream of potential deals and how to structure your transactions to meet your goals and the needs of buyers and sellers. You'll learn to read the story in the numbers and find the profit in a deal. We'll explore how to prescreen sellers over the phone to save time, and how to do most of your due diligence from home before even looking at the property. You'll also discover the single most important trait to look for in everyone you do business with, and why it's the key to maximizing your investing efforts.
Lesson 3
Has anyone ever told you "It takes money to make money?" Well, it's not always true. In this lesson, we'll debunk that old myth once and for all by exploring how to profit from selling or flipping a purchase option on a property. Often referred to as "bird dogging," finding a good deal to sell to another investor is a great way to hone your skills and create working capital. You'll learn a system for getting a property under contract, and get the forms and worksheets you'll need to get your first deal done. And you won't need any money to do it!
Lesson 4
In this lesson, we'll delve into the foreclosure process; its mechanics, consequences, and opportunities. You'll see how hard the process can be for homeowners going through it, and you'll learn how you can help families avoid this black mark on their credit history by using your problem-solving skills. This lesson is a favorite, as it's chock-full of helpful tips on what to do (and not do) when negotiating with sellers in foreclosure. It also includes foreclosure-specific worksheets created just for this course, and a series of sample letters for contacting homeowners facing foreclosure. Be sure to check out the bonus section on creating equity out of thin air with short sales!
Lesson 5
Looking for monthly cash flow without the hassles of being a landlord? Well, look no further! In this lesson, you'll learn how to create passive income with lease options while your tenants take over the responsibility of maintenance and upkeep of your properties! You'll learn how to find properties for sale that aren't even on the market, and how to use the "rent-to-own" concept to help people buy a house affordably while still making a nice profit for yourself.
Lesson 6
This lesson will show you how to effectively manage your rehab projects to create maximum value and profit. You'll learn the characteristics of the perfect house for rehabbing, as well as how best to get the work done without doing it all yourself. You'll become an expert at working with contractors, estimating repairs, and crafting a plan for your rehab projects.
Lesson 7
Get ready--you're about to discover the best-kept secret in real estate investing: mobile homes! Why? Because they're simple deals to do, require little up-front capital, have a hungry, underserved pool of potential buyers and sellers, and very little competition from other investors. We'll talk about some of the mobile home deals I've made, what to look for in a unit, and we'll look at all the tools, worksheets, and negotiating tips you'll need to get your first mobile home deal done!
Lesson 8
Negotiation is a game you can win, if you know the rules and use the right strategies. In this lesson, we'll explore the psychology of bartering, how to present yourself in a negotiation, and how to cultivate the right mindset to make every deal a win-win. We'll discuss the two most powerful questions to use in any negotiation, and learn negotiating skills you can use in all areas of life, not just real estate. This lesson includes a fun, interactive role-playing game where you get to test your skills by negotiating your way through a scenario with a live opponent!
Lesson 9
Believe it or not, finding the money to do a deal is the easy part; it's finding the deal that takes work. Not all deals require large sums of money, but most people let lack of funds hold them back from getting started investing in real estate. In this lesson, you'll discover that there's a vast ocean of money just waiting to be put into profitable deals. We'll cover the various types of loans and lenders, and discuss who to go to for the loan you need. You'll learn to evaluate your credit and the credit of those who buy from you, so you always know what types of lenders to approach for every deal.
Lesson 10
In this lesson, we'll explore how to quickly sell your properties for top dollar. We'll cover what it means to "think like a buyer" as we discuss what drives a buyer's decision-making process. You'll learn the seven essential items that every effective classified ad must have, as well as how to present yourself and your property at an open house. You'll see how to make your house stand out from others that are for sale in the neighborhood, and how to build a buyers list for your next deal.
Lesson 11
Markets go up, and markets go down, but housing always seems to go up. But does it really? What if it dropped? Would you be prepared? In this lesson, you'll learn how to make money in any market condition so you'll have nothing to fear if the market shifts. We'll look at factors that could cause the housing market to go soft in the next few years, and we'll discuss strategies for protecting and growing your investments if the winds of change begin to blow.
Lesson 12
In our last lesson, we'll put all the pieces together. We'll cover the power of using systems to give efficiency and velocity to your investing efforts. You'll learn the importance of asset protection, building a team of professional advisors you can depend on, and how to reduce your tax burden and increase your profit margins. We'll explore such powerful tools as 1031 exchanges, Nevada corporations and LLCs, and Self-Directed Roth IRAs. Then we'll end with some final thoughts to help you begin your investing journey.
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