Making Real Estate Money-Multitasking

Real Estate Investors And Multitasking Skills

There are plenty of jobs and careers out there that require multi-tasking.  Being an entrepreneur is no different and in fact I would venture to say that as an entrepreneur multi-tasking is a must and a skill you have to master (or delegate to an employed who has that gift).  There are two different areas in real estate investing you should have multiple solutions for: getting stuck in one way of doing something for your business and being limited in your sources of income.

Too many times investors’ keep doing things the same way and wonder why it’s not working like it did when initially started.  For example, whether it may be certain vendors they use, a marketing method, an employee, an income stream, and an exit strategy. What I mean by all that is, ask yourself this one thing - if one of these sources or one of these things that you are dependent on were eliminated or were taken away from you, would your business still survive on a regular basis?

For example, if you have only one marketing method to find properties and that’s putting out We Buy Houses signs and all of a sudden a new mayor comes in and gets elected and they crack down like you wouldn’t believe on illegal signs and bandit signs. If that were your only marketing method for finding leads, then what would happen to your business? Would you still survive? Would you still be able to get paid?

If the answer is no, then obviously here you need to find different methods for marketing your business. If you are relying on a certain vendor to print things for you or take calls for you, and if that vendor went out of business, what would you do? Do you have backups?

If you have one employee and that employee does everything for you, what would happen if that employee left and got a new job? If you have one income stream, one exit strategy and that’s retailing for cash and all of a sudden the market dries up and the economy goes south, which it is right now. Would you still be able to make money and survive in this business?

So, be smart about this. Do not become over dependent on any one thing. Analyze your business. And if you find that you are dependent on just one thing in your business whether it is any of the examples I just mentioned or other examples we have not talked about, you need to find backups and Plan Bs for all of those things in case something happens and you have to adjust.

So, be smart. Don’t become over dependent on any one thing in your business.

You also need to explore other sources of income. My friends, this tip is huge.

If you’re not looking for other sources of income other than what you’re doing every day, flipping houses or whatever, then you’re not maximizing yourself. You’re not maximizing your potential.

Perhaps you’re comfortable with where you’re at in your business and you don’t need extra income streams. Fine. But I would venture to say that most of you reading these posts are entrepreneurs and always looking to get to the next level, no matter where you’re at, whether you haven’t gotten to the first level yet or whether you’re seasoned and doing extremely well. You’re always looking for the edge. You’re always looking for something else. At least I am anyway.

So, it would be wise if you did explore other sources of income streams. For example, did you know that a lot of the leads that you generate in your business, (leads where people are looking to sell their house or leads that you generate where people are looking to buy a house) that you could potentially sell those leads to other people in your market niche who would pay for those leads?  They would pay anywhere from $5 to $25 to maybe even $75 or more per name per lead? That’s huge information.

And that’s a perfect correlation to what you’re doing in your business everyday. Find ways to incorporate other methods of income streams into your real estate business.  It doesn’t have to be real estate business, it could be any business.

Perhaps your core business, your real estate investing business is doing great. Maybe you should start to explore other things. Maybe you should start to explore coaching, consulting, partnering, different things like that.

So, don’t be over reliant on an income stream and explore other sources of this because this is where true wealth comes into play. Anybody’s who anybody out there who really makes money, who’s very super successful has multiple income streams. They begin to leverage their time and their money to develop multiple income streams. So that way, if any one-income stream fails, they have more income streams coming from a different angle to live off of.   It’s simply smart business.

Making Real Estate Money-Virtual Brokerage

Real Estate Online: Virtual Brokerage Can Help or Hurt Buyers

Google is the first to tell you: Somewhere between 80 percent to 90 percent of all real estate searches start online, at a computer or on a mobile device. Today's buyers pull up page after page of homes, compare assets, price per square foot, every detail. Buyers have even bought homes straight off the Internet, without ever being in them. A great way to shop, huh?

Yes and no. Along with the advantages of real estate shopping online comes the risk of being taken in. And as "web-estate" marketing becomes more competitive and sophisticated, it seems likely the risk could increase.

First it's helpful to know how the business is changing for real estate agents.

Sharp real estate agents produce websites, create blogs, post to bulletin boards, engage in social networking, and learn just about every way they can to sprawl themselves across the web to get sales leads. They also spend thousands of dollars buying keywords and other tools that push them to the top of Google searches so that, for example, when you type in "Dallas homes for sale," their website is among the first to pop up.

In fact, pay-per-click can cost an agent up to $3.00 per visitor, and not all of those are solid leads -- buying customers. Some agents feel it's like throwing money away, but they need to market themselves in the world of "web-estate." Naturally, the more money they spend, the better their positioning, so you often end up with the largest, wealthiest brokerages getting the best rankings. You know, those brokers who get half of that 3 percent commission.

Well, that too may be changing.

The Internet-search playing field is getting more level and affordable, even for the smallest agent, thanks to a new search technology: the IDX/MLS SEO fusion pages. 
Not to get too techie on you, but a Realtor in Arizona figured out that when people really want to buy a home, they are very specific -- and rather wordy -- in what they search for: "three-bedroom, three-bath home in Richardson school district with 2-car garage and pool." This is called a "long-tail" search, as opposed to a "short-tail" search like "Richardson Texas real estate."

Right now, say SE experts, agents are throwing money at the short-tail search. A few weeks ago, consultantSean Callahan of Real Estate Marketing Nerds and Multi Media Icon, Inc., discovered that 60 percent to 80 percent of Google real estate searches are those long-tailed phrases -- very specific searches, not general ones.

"Real estate agents are focusing money on the short-tail keywords," says Callahan, "and throwing money away."

Callahan's "long-tail" searches will have a multiplier effect on web listings as thousands of pages of data are created from listings. Every listing that matches one criteria in a long-tailed search will be spread over the web to feed the longer search. Not only will the longer search terms upstage the short key phrases hogged by the big brokers --- "San Diego Real Estate" -- realty agents will pay considerably less -- $.03 per visitor. And those leads will be toward more-targeted, focused buyers who will end up buying. Ka-ching!

"Our research," says Callahan, "shows that over 70 percent of real estate searches are coming from long-tailed keywords, like 'gated 4 bedroom home for sale in Dallas, TX,' and the long-tailed keywords are converting to better quality leads for the agents. "

This can help the real estate consumer by providing a faster search with better data.

Callahan says consumers will get a higher quality source of information from the Internet and more specific criteria in a shorter period of time -- less digging for relevant data.

It could also ultimately lead to cost savings: Brokers know their days are numbered as costs continue to rise. The virtual brokerage is taking shape. As consumers demand commission concessions from their agents, someone is going to get squeezed: the broker.

But consumers also need to know how real estate agents are marketing in the Web 2.0 world, and be prudent. Great photography can turn a pig's rear into a silk purse on the Internet.

Agents are advised to prepare listings for photo shoots as if they were walking the house down the red carpet at the Academy Awards -- they stage, plump, primp, nip and tuck for the cameras.

They create slick videos with soundtracks to draw you to a home. I often advise readers to see a home in it's "natural state" -- some dishes in the sink, papers stacked on the counters, because likely this is how it will look when you live there.

"This is an incredibly powerful tool that should revolutionize the way potential homeowners find houses to view," says Thad Stammen of Audience Experts, an SEO expert who works with select real estate clients in the Dallas/Fort Worth area."

But consumers need to remember that agents are doing everything they can to be web-assessable and present listings that look like they are straight from the pages of House Beautiful."

See more homes for sale at AOL Real Estate.