Dean Graziosi Real Estate Blog

Hello All,

“Fake it until you make it.” That phrase sounds like it came right out of Hollywood. It means to have the mindset that you “fake” being a star until you become one.

Actually, fake it till you make it is a spin off of the expression “Act as if” coined by Professor William James of Harvard. He proposed that by “acting as if something is true” will create the natural behavior you want, and the mind will produce the desired result.

In other words, belief has a measurable impact on creating the reality we want.

Many students who write in or leave posts on my blog are very eager to change their lives, and that is awesome. Change starts by making a conscience decision to do so. But many get bogged down in self doubt or fear…or even worse, they let someone else talk them out of their desires.

That’s a tragedy. Don’t let that happen to you! Look, maybe you don’t feel sure or safe about what you want to do in real estate. It’s okay! Most people experience uncertainty all the time, they just don;t admit it. Move towards your goals, share your questions and your own skills, and maybe just “fake it until you make it” (Or in better terms, do some practice runs).

Take an area of what I teach that you like the best or feel most comfortable with and do a practice deal as far as you can take it. Don’t make an uneducated judgment that no-money down deals don’t work, or locking up a deal and assigning it to another person is hard. Use my strategies and go do one. Do one with all the freedom and confidence in the world because you know it is just practice.

Listen to my monthly conference calls, past and future, read my book again, work with one of our coaches, get inspiration and ideas from the forum at www.deangraziosi.com or watch my new “Dean’s Deal of the Month” video series at www.deangraziosibio.com.. Or whatever it takes to get inspired, gain some wisdom and get out there and get in the game.

I love the Wayne Gretsky quote; “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” So, get out there and practice. The one thing practicing can do, is allow you to put the principles I share with you into action and gain the three most important things you need to be successful. Confidence, capabilities and direction. I can supply the capabilities and the direction but you need to get out there and practice until you have the confidence to pull the trigger on your first deal.

So set a goal for yourself. Maybe it is that within 45 days from today you are going to find at least 5 pre-foreclosures, foreclosures or REO’s in your area and make an offer on each. You are going to speak with the right people, or get the marbles out of your mouth so you gain confidence to speak with them… And do your best to get at least one of those offers accepted.

Then you can decide if your practice run needs to be extended or if you have gained the confidence to make that a first deal. Either way there is no down side. So why wouldn’t you do it? And if you find a great enough deal, but you don’t want to do it post it on www.deangraziosi.com and someone else may want to! ;-

Have a wonderful day.
Best
Dean Graziosi

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Whenever someone decides to sell their home, the first thing they typically do is sit down with a calculator and factor in the price of hiring a Realtor. Fees for real estate brokers can be hefty and cut into our equity or profit margin, especially during challenging times like a recessionary cycle.  Many sellers ponder the idea of attempting to do a For Sale By Owner – nicknamed FSBO (pronounced “fizz-bo”) by real estate pros – as a cost-cutting alternative. Of course there are pros and cons to be weighed before deciding, and a variety of factors to consider so that you can make an informed choice.

Whether you go it alone or avail yourself of the services of a professional broker will depend on your particular circumstances as well as your own level of experience. But before choosing which way to go, it always helps to consider these 5 main points:

  Read the rest of this entry »

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Buying ugly ducklings can be a “pretty beautiful” investment strategy if you follow a few basic guidelines. Learn why those dilapidated properties may offer upscale returns on your real estate investment, especially if you spruce them up.

Whether you acquire a house for rental income, as a primary residence, or as a second or vacation home, the strategy of buying the “worst house on the block” may be a rewarding one to follow.  

When appraisers determine the market value of a home, they do so by comparing it to other similar houses in the same general location. By comparing and contrasting the pros and cons of comparable homes, they generate reports commonly referred to in real estate circles as “comps”. Because comps are an attempt to average out the value of homes, they generate a price range that runs from low to medium to high. Buyers and sellers study the comps to figure out how much to offer or ask for a house, and that helps to define the going rates for homes at any given time and in any given market.

But, for example, if you own a mansion – that has had all kinds of expensive upgrades – in a neighborhood of mediocre homes, chances are that buyers will not offer you what the house is worth or what you’ve put into it. They would rather spend the same amount of money and buy into a more prestigious neighborhood lined with similar looking mansions and luxury homes. Similarly, if you own a broken down shack surrounded by mansions, the odds are in your favor that the value of your property will rise, because people usually pay more to be in fancier neighborhoods. Your less desirable home may represent the only affordable opportunity to gain entrance to an otherwise pricey and exclusive neighborhood, so you can charge a premium for that perk. 

Among investors it is often said that you should not buy the best house on the block, because they have the least amount of room for upward price appreciation. In fact, the houses that are the “best” will normally see their values dragged down by less desirable properties in the vicinity. Buy an ugly home in a pretty neighborhood and the market physics works the opposite way, however, to lift your values higher. When you buy the least expensive and “worst” home on the street, you have much more room for your value to rise before it hits a ceiling or plateau. In essence you are capturing built-in equity by buying ugly.

If you fix up that kind of property, you can add substantial equity to it while you also gain the respect and admiration of other homeowners in the area. We all appreciate it when a neighbor spruces up their place to add value and beauty to our street, and making good neighbors is one of the most important aspects of real estate investment success.

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Sometimes it’s easy to miss the forest for the trees.  Whether you’re new to real estate investment, or you’re successfully buying, selling and managing rental properties, there may be an opportunity that is flying under your radar.

Perhaps your family has grown, or you just want to move up to fancier digs.  You are considering selling your current home and have begun the process of locating another in the area.  When selling a personal residence, we must consider timing, and not just market timing.  Do you wait until you have a contract in hand before signing on the dotted line for the new home?  Or, perhaps you’ve located the perfect new home and are anxiously watching it and trying to get an offer in on the current home.  You may even be considering a price reduction to get it moved before your chosen new home goes under contract. 

There may be a perfect solution, and it can result in an excellent addition to your rental investment portfolio.  Consider keeping the current home and renting it out.  Think about the possible advantages and abilities this will provide.

1. You have an intimate knowledge of the property, and you know it’s in great condition.
2. A second mortgage or home equity loan can help fund the down payment for the new home.
3. You can balance rent expectations with the amount of equity you remove to assure positive cash flow.
4. The costs of selling, such as commissions and closing are no longer necessary.

Every situation is different.  Whether this is a good strategy for you will depend on local market conditions, the amount of equity you have in your home, and how much you can realistically expect for rental income.  However, it is certainly worth investigation if you’re in the moving mindset.

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Being a first time Dad to my 15 month old  daughter Breana (Bree-anna)has opened my eyes  up to a whole new world. If you’re a parent,  you know exactly what I’m saying, without my  having to over explain it.

But rest assured this email is for everyone whether a parent of not.

I encourage you to take a few minutes and read  this email. If you want to skip to the bottom  and just register for my next live training call, then you can do that as well.

But this email could literally change your life  forever…and even more important help change  the lives of your children forever.

Yeah I mean it!

You see, I am hungry for knowledge wisdom and capabilities I can share with my daughter to  help her have the greatest chance possible for  a happy, healthy and accomplished life.

Last week I was in Washington DC brainstorming  with some amazing, smart, successful people. I  won’t drop names (I did that enough last week  with Michael Jordan and Joel Osteen) but these  were people you would know and respect.

Anyway, we got off business for a while and  talked about the ingredients for success. One  person brought up a study he had read a few years back that touched home so deeply I had to  share it with you.

They took 100 of what the world considered the  most successful people alive. People like Bill  Gates, Oprah, Michael Jordan, Warren Buffet and 96 others, and what they were looking for was  common threads or common factors that they all shared.

The questions they asked or things they  considered were things like:

- If they came from divorced family or not.  - Whether they came from money or not. - What their education level was. - What their marital status was… and many  more great questions.

None seemed to match up, until, they got about 83 questions out. Then one question, one common  denominator stood out with the overwhelming  majority of the people. They had this one thing  in common.

Blind Encouragement!

It showed that at some point in there life  (mostly between the ages of 3 and 7) they had  someone in their life that allowed them to  dream and set goals with no boundaries.

And in most cases, it wasn’t their parents.

This hit home so hard because to this day I wear my grandmothers wedding ring around my neck.

My parents split when I was three and I lived  with my Grandmother much of my childhood. My “Gram” was the person in my life who gave me  “Blind Encouragement.”

If I told my Gram I wanted to go to the moon when I was 6 years old she would simply say “bring me back some moon dust” rather then “oh  dear little kids can’t go to the moon.”

At that very moment I realized just how  significant her impact was on my life.

You see it doesn’t usually come from parents -  not because they don’t love you - but in many  cases they feel they’re protecting you from  failure.

If you are really small they may talk you out of trying out for little league where blind  encouragement would tell you to go for it and  do your best… and if you fail, it is no big  deal… that TRUE failing would be not trying  at all.

“Safety” thinking would promote you to go get a  job, be sure and put as much money away into an  IRA for retirement as you can. A “Blind  Encouragement” mentality would tell you to follow your passion, know you can do anything you put your mind to and wealth will follow.

Did you have anyone in your life that allowed  you to dream or talk about limitless goals?

If not then you may be struggling with someone  else’s limits or “safety” feelings that were  instilled in you as a child, and to this day  you don’t know why you can’t follow you  passions.

I wanted to take the time to share this with you today because I was blessed to have Carmella Mannesse Post (my Grandmother) share blind  encouragement with a small, shy and sometime scared of the world little boy.

Today that allows me to embrace and respect  failure rather then having paralysis and doing  nothing.

If you didn’t have that kind of person in your  life, than seek one out. Drift away or stop  listening to people who stifle your dreams and  goals.

Know that failure is part of your success. Know  that the reality of the situation is what you  think that situation is not what others think it is…

I am encouraging you to step out of what is  normal and take action with things that can allow you to wake up excited about each day.

For me, it is real estate - and training others  how to do it. I hope it is real estate for you  as well because it has allowed me to prosper in  so many ways. Honestly, I would love to be your  real estate teacher, but if real estate is not  for you then find out what it is and go for it!

Life is meant to be lived… I am sure you have  obstacles in your life, but remember they will  always be there. It is how we interpret those  obstacles that make us wake up stressed or  smiling each day.

Thanks for taking the time to read this email.

I hope it has sparked some memories of your  upbringing. Good or bad they mean nothing. The past is just that. The past. Use it as research  and development of what works and what does not. Start fresh today and focus on a bigger future for yourself.

If you had someone in your life that shared  blind encouragement with you then think back  and remember those lessons, and if not, know  that others who share that common thread have  had huge success.

Gravitate towards friends and family who promote and encourage you and drift away from those who do the opposite.

I will do my best to help. In fact, in not too  long of a time I am going to start a weekly  video blog with updated real estate techniques  and secrets I learn. It’ll be one more way I can pass on knowledge and encouragement to you!

Ok - - I’m done for now. Sorry for another long  message - but I feel it was important.

‘Til next time, live your life, pursue your  passions and be encouraged!

Most Sincerely,

Dean Graziosi

Creator of Think A Little Different

Author of Be A Real Estate Millionaire

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