…but this time, with Mark Jackson and Sam Bell, the guys behind tomorrow’s (10/1) “Virtual REO Investing” launch.

If you’re considering it, then I’d suggest you give our short chat a listen before you plop down your credit card.

Like last time, I made sure our conversation was unscripted and off-the-cuff.  My goal was to quickly wrap my mind around what “Virtual REO Investing” really is, what it’s not, who it’s for, etc…

…and let others do the same by eavesdropping in…

Some of what I candidly asked them:

• A little about your background as investors
• A birds eye view of the “Virtual REO” model itself
• What exactly do you mean by “virtual” and specifically how is it applied in this model?
• Why REO’s specifically?
• Is this an investing model you actively profit from yourselves, or did you just make it up so you can write a course about it?
• Can you describe a specific “Virtual REO” deal or two you’ve done?
• How do you practically mitigate the greater risk of doing “virtual” deals, where you never actually lay eyes on the property personally?
• How does “transactional funding” come into play? (and also, what IS it, and what specific resources might you recommend?
• what’s different/unique about this compared to other education out there?

Clearly my aim wasn’t to hold punches back here.

So again, if you’re considering an investment in their material, you’d be wise to scroll up and hear our conversation first.  Personally I think it’ll give you a better vision for it than their description page will.

My best,

Resources:

• www.virtualREOsecrets.com

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“Virtual REO Investing” Guys Under the Spotlight (A Revealing Interview)

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It’s no secret that we’re in the midst of a nationwide real estate foreclosure tsunami.

The question is, are you just reeling because of it?  Or are you equipped to respond aptly, and carve yourself off a nice hunk of opportunity, with a side of profit?

Everything’s on sale.

If you’re a preforeclosure investor who focuses on short sales at all (or think you might sometime soon) then you may want to pay attention to a unique, new service that launched recently (May ‘08).

It’s called ShortSaleology, and after being exposed to it, I suspect it may very well change the way things like education, coaching and community are done in our industry.

A snapshot of ShortSaleology…

The brainchild of Oklahoma City investor Cory Boatright, ShortSaleology is a private membership crafted exclusively for short sale investors, and designed to provide a myriad of swank, members-only goodies, such as…

• Access to their in-house lender negotiation team (see video below)
• Private short sale deal funding
• Automatic preforeclosure marketing
• A robust lender database, with private contacts
• A “round table” network
• 50% discount on Pre-NOD leads (Pre-Notice of Default)
• Monthly teleconference calls with live Q&A
• Specialists interviews and hot topic discussions
• Ongoing, private education through audio/video downloads
• Access to Cory’s compilation of private resources
• Deal Review/spotlight
• Exclusive discounts (existing products and new products)
• And more

“A community of short sale investors, serving as one.”

I recently had a private chat with Cory, probing him with some candid questions to help understand ShortSaleology a little better. It’s informal, short (18m:01s to be exact) and gets right to the heart of the matter, including…

• What is Shortsaleology really about?
• Who is it made for (and who is it NOT right for)?
• What are the biggest benefits of membership?
• What does membership cost?
• And more…

If your real estate investing business includes short sales as an acquisition strategy to any extent, then I seriously recommend investing the next 18 minutes in eavesdropping on our short conversation.

After you’re done with that, you may want to review a short video Cory put together last week, describing the short sale negotiating service…

You can find out more about Shortsaleology here.  Also checkout Cory’s Short Sale Fundamentals or subscribe to his blog.

If you have any comments about this, please post them below.  Or if you have any questions for Cory, you can post them here too — and I’ll betcha I can get him to come answer them!

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ShortSaleology Offers Short Sale Negotiating, Private Funding, Mastermind

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They say you never forget “your first time”.

It must be true. I know I won’t forget mine anytime soon.

The first time I was notably stiffed by a tenant, that is.

(What did you think I was talking about anyway )

His name was Bryant Finnie…

…and as far as I’m concerned, he FLAT OUT STOLE sixteen hundred bucks from me. In fact, here are the actual numbers…

That’s exactly how it looked when I sent it to the collection agency (who never collected a dime by the way).

I’ll spare you the longer version of my sob story, but suffice it to say that he called me asking for “a little more time”, assuring me he’d have no problem coming up with the money.

I have a soft heart, I admit it. And I was still fairly green as a landlord at the time. So I granted him the grace he asked for, and moreover I really, truly BELIEVED he’d make good on his word.

Classic, right?

So I found myself standing in the living room of Moonfall Way a mere 30 days later, with only a few piles of rubbish to greet me.

Bryant had, of course, skipped out at some point, with no word of where he was going or when I’d ever hear from him about paying what he owed. And as you might guess, I never did.

My first, but definitely not my last…

Any landlord with even a little experience knows well that these stories are unfortunately par for the course, especially for newer landlords.

So this certainly wasn’t the last time something like this has happened to me as a landlord. In fact, I’ve had much bigger losses that hurt a lot worse since then.

But you never forget your first and the “special” place it holds in your heart.

Friends don’t let friends rent to deadbeats

How many times have you wished that you could report a bad tenant to warn other landlords?

Frankly I hate knowing that after Bryant Amy Finnie stiffed me in July 2003, they probably took the same mess with them to another rental property, and became the same pain in th neck for someone else that they were to me. In fact, they’ve probably done it a number of times by now.

And for the “mom and pop” landlord (more often the case than not) it only takes one bad tenant to devastate you financially, or even put you out of business entirely.

So here’s one way to go about it. Try getting the word out on You Tube. That’s what this guy did

Now as much as I LOVE watching that video, I think I’ve just discovered a better way to help save the next guy…

Enter DoNotRentTo.com…

It’s an online tenant screening service that compiles information about problem tenants so landlords can make better decisions about who they rent to.

Said another way, it’s a national tenant reporting company — you can search their database by name to gauge whether others have experienced problems with a particular tenant applicant.

The missing link in tenant screening?

Any landlord worth his salt already does a standard credit and criminal background check on all tenants (you do…don’t you?)

But credit reports aren’t fail-safe. Sometimes people don’t have a credit history. In my opinion, you don’t really have the whole picture until you speak to their previous landlord.

But what if a prospective tenant lies and provides a relatives number when asked for references?

Yes, it happens. A lot.

That’s where I see a resource like DoNotRentTo.com coming in. A year’s subscription is only $29.99. That’s the investment for the whole year, not per month. (How much do you spend running ONE credit report?)

And apparently you don’t need to subscribe to enter a listing about a tenant - only to search for a name.

As a member, landlords have unlimited tenant postings and unlimited tenant searches. When posting tenant information, landlords are allowed to enter any comments they feel will best describe their experience with a certain renter. Members can also contact other members via e-mail to help verify certain tenant information when needed.

I was able to catch up with the managing partner of DoNotRentTo.com Joseph Collins and have a short chat with him about the service, including…

• How it came about
• Specifically how it benefits landlords
• What does this service provide that you can’t already get on a credit report?
• What is someone posts incorrect information about a past tenant?
• What’s next in it’s development (a property management tool, discounted background checks, etc), and
• How he answers the objections of a few who are concerned about it’s unregulated nature.

If you think this service might be of good use for you, then here’s my short interview with Joe to help cast a little more light on it for you…

Need more info about DoNotRentTo.com? Click here…

Please share your thoughts about this in the blog comments below…

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“Do Not Rent To” Database Helps Landlords Screen Tenants, Avoid Nightmares

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