Real Estate 101

• Prospects seldom call just to get more information, they call when out of all the ads they’ve looked through, your ad excited them enough to make the final cut.
• Don’t lose focus of the big picture. Entrepreneurs need a clear-cut purpose to achieve success.
• Know that life is like a act; perform to the best of your ability to successfully captivate your audience.
• Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t price yourself higher than the competition.
• I’m not young enough to know everything. I’m always asking questions.
• Compete with yourself to be the best you can. Entrepreneurs know that competing with others lowers their standards.
• Encountering an obstacle doesn’t necessarily mean going through it; you can try going around, under, or over it. I never give up until I’ve exhausted all of my possibilities.
• I love people who get to the point when they call or come by.
• Most people fear success; they fear commitment.
• The reason I can move quickly is that I’ve done the background work first, which no one really notices.
• A leader has the right to be beaten but never the right to be surprised.
• Never base your decisions on a rule of thumb.
• Beware of generalists when you need a specialist.
• Question the date of their data. As with milk and eggs, the use-by date for advice may have expired.
• People have their own reasons for the advice they offer.
• Economic forecasts rarely forecast correctly.
• If you can’t organize your thoughts quickly and come to a decision, that good deal you were looking at will have been snapped up by someone else.
• Winners see problems as a great way to prove themselves.
• If you adopt an investment approach that was developed by someone else in another place and time, you may end up losing your bank account.
• Organize your information for quick retrieval and thorough understanding.
• Every change creates problems and opportunities.
• Setbacks are a part of life. Don’t let them knock you off your feet.
• Create your business plan before you buy. You want to have Plan A, Plan B, and Plan C for adding value to the property.
• Ignorance can be very expensive.
• Without goals, there’s no momentum. Without momentum, you’re just daydreaming.
• Their problem becomes your opportunity.
• Passion conquers fear.
• Do not value all square footage equally.
• Many lower-priced neighborhoods and communities throughout the United States are primed for a turnaround and attractive property appreciation.
• Location, location, location. That cliché is preached by know-nothings who fail to think. You’re looking for the most profitable deal that might exist in any location. Use your property to boost the value of the location.
• Look for properties in marginal areas that are located near more appealing areas. These properties stand a good chance of appreciating.
• Use enthusiasm to capture and excite the people you need to get your deals permitted, financed, leased, and sold. Enthusiasm is contagious.
• Before you invest in a property that’s governed by an HOA, obtain and closely read a copy of its so-called resale package.
• With some local governments, almost anything goes. With others, you need permission to put up a new mailbox.
• Never assume that you know the zoning law. Quirks and loopholes run everywhere.
• Emphasize on telling people how they’d benefit if they go through with the deal.
• Neither planners nor judges typically appreciate the virtue of pure selfishness. Position your request in terms of the public interest.
• Add a view, add value.
• For first floor units, enhance the view with landscape or fencing.
• When prospects pull up to your property, make sure they immediately fell, “This looks like a nice place to live.”
• Think outside the lines of conventional thought. Move out of your comfort zone and achieve something unique.
• Play up your location. Point out every advantage. Turn every negative into a positive.
• Most properties have hidden potential. It’s your job to find it.
• People don’t buy features, they buy benefits.
• The better you tell, the more you sell.
• The persuasive owner knows that prospects arrive full of hopes, fears, and uncertainties. Prepare to address all of these concerns.
• Discover their feelings about other properties they’ve shopped.
• Really listen to the criticism that prospect give you.
• Until you get a signed contract, keep searching for profit-enhancing improvements.
• Translate features into easily understood benefits.
• Monitor the prospects dialogue, emotional responses, and body language.
• Control those seemingly minor expenses or you’ll soon find they add up to major expenditures.
• Anyone who doesn’t watch their money will soon discover they have no money to watch.
• Enhance perceived value. Spend money where it creates the most lasting and emotional visual effect.
• Look at 100 properties, make 10 offers, and close one deal.
• No matter how good the deal looks on paper, turn it down if your instincts say no.
• Owners sell for less than market value every day. Some discount price to save distress, delay, hassle, or expense. Others unknowingly give bargains.
• When negotiating, talk directly with the decision maker.
• Newspapers include more leads than the classifieds real estate ads. They list births, deaths, retirements, foreclosures, bankruptcies, and lawsuits. Any of these could result in the desire to sell property.
• In negotiations, look for leverage. What do you have that the other guy wants or, even better, can’t do without? Don’t go into a deal without first figuring out the power you possess to solve the other guy’s problems.
• When I enter a negotiation, my attitude is, “I’m going to make a deal”.
• To a degree, your attitude will become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
• Every time you communicate with a buyer, seller, or tenant, you’re negotiating or setting the stage for negotiations. Plan and prepare for what result you want.
• The seller will judge your offer by how well it helps them move toward what they want to achieve.
• Artful negotiators persuade with style rather than flatten with power.
• The true art of the deal does not depend on one’s readiness to strike a compromise.
• A tactic perceived is no tactic at all.
• When you write contingency clauses into your offer, make them definite and short term.
• Remember you’re not just buying land and buildings. You’re buying the legal rights that govern use, occupancy, transfer, redevelopment, and so on.
• You can get killed paying top dollar for a superb location. Or by buying a poor location, even at a low price. You’ve got to know the value of the deal. Never pay more than the deal is worth.

Source: Real Estate 101 by Gary Eldred. Foreword by Donald Trump