Urban Property Investor

If someone put a gun to my head and told me that I had 30 days to do a deal or I would die, I would spend the next month door knocking. This is the quickest, cheapest and easiest way to find deals. It is also the method investors use least. Before I tell you how to properly door knock, let me dispel any fears you may have.

In all the times I have been door knocking, I have never had a gun pulled on me, been screamed at, or been threatened in any manner. The worst thing that has ever happened to me was that people were rude to me. They told me to leave, or not come by again and that’s it. So right now, get rid of any notion that something bad may happen. Actually, because of the method I use when knocking on doors, the opposite happens. Most people are very friendly. People love to talk and will tell you all types of information about their neighbors such as who has a house to sell, who’s going through a divorce and who is facing foreclosure. Many times the problem becomes spending too much time at one house and having the person talk your ear off.

Here is how to properly door knock:

• Pick your target market. Make sure you are knocking on bread and butter houses, typically 3 bedrooms and 2 baths. 
• Dress business casual. Do not overdress and look like some slick salesperson. 
• Go knocking during the week between the hours of 5-7pm. 
• If you are a male, try and take a female with you. People are less intimidated by women than men. If a man shows up at the door they immediately put up their guard. If a woman is with you, however, they are more relaxed and friendly. 
• Knock on the door and then take a step back, so that you are not crowding the person when they answer the door. 
• Say this magic phrase, every time “Hi, we are looking to buy some houses in this area and are wondering if you know of anybody in your neighborhood that was looking to sell their house” 
• Use good judgment when people invite you into the house. If you feel uncomfortable at all, don’t go in the house. 
• Be consistent. Make sure that you speak to at least 15 people every time that you set out door knocking. You will most likely have to knock on between 30-50 doors. Do not go home until you have hit the 15 people mark. 
• Don’t get offended if people are rude to you. Never argue, just leave. Kill them with kindness and always be polite. 
• Be prepared for when people invite you in, or want to sell the house. Carry a notepad and a pen with you and that’s it. I prefer carrying a yellow legal pad. 

I know that most of you are going to read this and do nothing. Ninety-nine percent of investors do not go door knocking and that is why there is so little competition for deals. 

Most people are not willing to do the hard work that it takes to become successful in this business.

Since people feel more comfortable in pairs, I recommend finding a door knocking partner. At one of your local real estate investor monthly meetings start networking and find a partner with whom to go knocking. There are plenty of people who are afraid to go alone and would love to have a partner. 

If you have not done your first deal, or if you have not closed a deal in a while, then go door knocking consistently and get a deal in the next 30 days.

Jason R. Hanson is the founder of National Real Estate Investor Month, author of “How to Build a Real Estate Empire” and mentor to students all across America. For more information on Jason’s one-on-one mentoring program with 110% money back guarantee, call 800-865-1702 or visithttp://www.PrimoCoach.com

Happy New Year from all of us here at Urban Property Investor.  Wish you all the best of luck with investing and all your other goals in life.  Thanks again for the wonderful year of support!

Hello, and welcome to another of our ongoing series, “The Back to School Sale.” If you are a University of Washington student, then you’ll be happy to hear this. Around the U-district, there are many free and discounted things offered to UW students. For example, if you eat a restaurant around the area, you might be entitled up to a 20% discount! Isn’t that a great deal? In addition, during the week before school starts, there’ll be an event called Dawg Daze where there’ll be discounts offered to UW students. These discounts are good for technology and school-related items, so we’ve heard. Good luck!

Hello, and welcome to the first of our ongoing series of Back to School. Today we will discuss the benefits of back to school, albeit putting aside the educational factor. If you know that your child or children may need a certain number of notebooks each year, then the best time to stock up is the back to school sales. Notebooks that normally cost 3.00 dollars go on sale for 99 cents. In addition, the pens and pencils are much cheaper too. If necessary, you should stock a year’s supply, so you won’t have to buy new ones in the middle of the year, which usually cost a  lot more. In addition, if you have a college student in your household, look for electronics such as laptops that go on sale this time of the year. Rather than waiting for Christmas sale or something nearby holiday, which will cost your child 2-3 months of deprivation, buy it now!

If you have a youth in the house, then you probably know that transportation is very expensive. A bus ride in Seattle costs 75cents per ride (youths). If you’re an adult, then you have to pay 2.00 dollars. However, there’s a better way to get around this, and believe it or not, it is an investment. What you need to get is a bus card. Bus cards are much cheaper and much more convenient. Most people ride the bus for at least two trips a day. If in between those two trips two hours or more has lapsed, then you have to pay 1.50 if you’re a youth, and 4.oo dollars if you’re an adult. But, if you pay for a third trip, then you’re up to 22.5 (youth) and 6.00 dollars. Now, we’ll take the average and say two paid trips a day, for a youth, which is 1.50, multiply that by the average days in a month, 30, and you get 45 dollars. A standard 75cent bus pass in Seattle is 27.00 dollars! You see the difference? If you don’t, it’s a 18 dollars! Now that’s a great investment!

If you are a lover of antiques and want to collect them, we have good news for you. There’s not only the benefit of having an artifact compliment your home, but also the fact that you can make money out of it. Painting such as the Mona Lisa sold for millions. If you smartly invest in antiques, you can make that much just as well. Here’s an inspiring story we came upon. There was a family that suffered from arson. Everybody escaped uninjured, but the father was unsatisfied with leaving his home with nothing. At the last minute, he ran back in, and the first thing he saw was a painting. He grabbed it and left the house before the flames could demolish it. Turns out, the painting was an antique worth 10,000 dollars. If this story doesn’t inspire, we don’t know what else.

If you are looking to make some easy money in today’s economy, consider buying a boat. You might be wondering to yourself right now: how can a boat make me money? The answer’s simple. Compliment the purchase of the boat with a fishing lisence and a rod, and you’re on your way to making lots of money. Simply go afar and fish your way to wealth. Many people today are selling fishes for tens of dollars per bag, and they’re getting rich from it. If you don’t believe us, believe the fish markets’ success, in seattle, and elsewhere. We do not suggest that you should fish an overload — only enough to fulfill your license obligations and enough to make you the money you want. In addition, if you know your fish well, you can know how much each is worth. Then you can put a price on it.

Welcome to the Northwest, Part II.

Here we will talk about the California Gold Rush of 1848 and its significance in the boom of the west. On January 24, 1848,  a person by the name of James Marshall discovered gold at Sutter’s Mill and soon, about 300,000 more people came to claim a stake. This was the beginning of the California Gold Rush, which resulted in many rich people in the west. Cities such as Los Angeles boomed and par no less in the economic realm than already established ones such as New York City or Denver. These rich people dramatically changed demographics of those who settled west. Stay tuned to know how this affected the ecnonomgy, locally and nationally. (To Be Continuted).

So, you’re an entrepreneur, and you’re hungry for knowledge about how people had the money to buy lands, properties, even whole towns. Well, the fact is, when the United States first acquired the states in the west, many people were reluctant to move here. Firstly, Native Americans whom they assumed were vicious and agressive people inhabited these lands. Second, it was far away from the central command Washington, DC. However, there was a strong incentive that led many people to leave behind the already developed cities of New York, Boston, and whatnot,  to travel west into the forests and undeveloped lands, and that is of course, land itself. That’s the main incentive. The government gave people properties so that they could find their own opportunities and at the same time expand and mark American territory.

Stay connected for the sequel: The Northwest, a Brief History, Part II

1) If you deposit 100 dollars each month for 40 years, you can become an instant millionaire after all the interests have been calculated.

2) Invest in homes and sell them after a 6 month period. The average person makes a couple hundred thousands during each transaction.

3) Work. Save. Entrepreneur. Simple.