INVESTMENT NEWS

MEETING

LOCATION

Holiday Inn & Suites Overland Park West 8787 Reeder Road Overland Park, KS

Top Floor Sunset Ballroom

6pm to 9pm Details at MAREI.org

Real Estate Investor Meeting

On March 10th, 2015, at MAREIs Monthly Meeting, Third Generation Real Estate

Investor and Well Respected REIA Leader Vena Jones Cox sill be sharing How

Wholesaling Really Works: What you Dont Know Can Really Hurt You!

Wholesaling is a 5 Step Process

Theres so much misinformation out there about what it takes to wholesale hous-

es. You cant skip any steps, and theres no need to add any.

And if youll just do them over and over again, those 5 steps will end with a check

for $5,000-$10,000 check in your pocket, over and over again.

If youre not sure what they are, MAREI has posted this detailed video lesson from our March presenter, Vena Jones-Cox at MAREI.org/Vena (at the bottom) Itll give you a taste of the amount of information she packs in to her presentations,

and get you up to speed to get the most out of her presentation at MAREIs meet-

ing on March 10th.

Watch the video, and mark your calendar. Tuesdays Meeting is FREE for mem-bers and has a cost of $25 at the door or $15 if you preregister on the calendar of events at MAREI.org.

Mid-America Association of Real Estate Investors Newsletter March 2015

Buying or Selling Property? MAREI members post properties on their own free website.

Properties flow through to the MAREI website where they are sent out to the Member Data-

base and the MAREI Facebook pages. If you are buying, please check our website, if you

are selling, please join and market your property

FREE BONUS!

How to Get Started Wholesaling

on the MAREI Facebook Page:

Direct Link: MAREI.org/IN

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Are you Out of Your Mind? ~ Vena Jones Cox

Because youd better be, if you want to get deals.

The place you MUST be when talking to sellers is out of YOUR mind, and in

THEIRS. Every single day, I correspond with investors who say something

like:

So, I was looking at craigslist yesterday, and theres this seller, and she has a

house for sale. She wants $220,000 for it, but I think its only worth about

$170,000. So I want to do a creative finance deal. How do I write that up?

If you dont understand whats funny about this line of thought, look again, be-cause you may have the same problem. The investor is so focused on what the INVESTOR wants that he apparently hasnt even bothered to find out what the SELLER wants.

Its somewhat endemic to our business that we get so focused on our strate-gies and our goals and our desire to get a deal done that we completely forget that unless what our strategy has to offer meets the needs of our sellers, THERE IS NO DEAL. Jumping ahead to How do I write up a creative deal before you know what the seller owes, and why shes selling, and whether taking payments would meet her goals is putting the proverbial cart before the proverbial horse. Worrying about finding a buyer for property x before you know that the seller will take a wholesale price for property x is torturing your-self for no reason.

And its easy to make assumptions about seller motivationthat a seller in foreclosure will always want to sell; that a seller who inherited a house doesnt want it; that a seller with building orders will take a discounted price. None of these things are necessarily true, or even true the majority of the time.

Try to approach discussions with sellers as interviews without expectations. Really ask the questions, and really listen to the answers. Then, if necessary, you can step back and review the information before deciding what, if any-thing, you can offer that will meet the sellers real needs.

Questions you MUST ask to really get inside a sellers head include:

Why are you selling?

What have you tried already? How has that worked?

By what date do you need to sell? What happens if you dont sell by then?

What will you take? How did you come up with that number?

So if I cant pay you $X, theres no reason to

Would you consider taking payments to get to that price?

How much do you owe? What are the payments? Do those include taxes and insurance? Whats the rate? Is it fixed, or adjustable? How many more years does that mortgage run?

With these answers in hand, youll know things like whether the payments youd like to make will cover the payments that the seller HAS to makeor whether hes motivated enough to pay the difference. Youll know whether he CAN accept your lowball cash offer, and what might make him decide to do that. Only THEN can you make the deal youre looking for!

Dear Wholesalers, dont be stupid! ~ Vena Jones Cox

Dear Everyone Out There Who Calls Themselves a Wholesaler:

Consider this a public service message.

Because unless you're one of my students, I do not feel obligated to go to enormous lengths to track you down and tell you what you should already know, but at the same time, I guess I feel some sort of moral obligation to warn you that what you're doing is dangerous to your financial health and our industry. I'm sure if this is you, you won't believe it's you, or won't listen, but here goes, anyway:

1. You ARE being watched by people whose goal is to put you out of business. Real estate agents, the division, the depart-ment of commerce--they can all see what you're putting on your non-private facebook page, craigslist, your bandit signs, etc.

2. While assigning a contract IN WHICH YOU ARE A PRINCIPAL for a fee is not, in the opinion of my legal eagles, an activi-ty that requires a real estate license, anything you do or say that appears to be something ELSElike getting paid to bring buyers to other people's deals, "putting buyers and sellers together", "helping (a buyer) find (his) next deal", having a "house for sale" when you in fact have a contract for sale etc, is likely to get you reported to the division.

2.5 If you get caught, please dont add bad grammar to your list of crimes. The term is Must Sell, not Must Sale. Seriously, would it hurt you to spell check your ads?

3. Most Divisions of Real Estate are obligated, by law, to investigate all complaints.

4. And when they do investigate, and they see you BRAGGING on you Facebook page about how you just "co-wholesaled" a deal, or see you advertising that if anyone is looking for a home to buy, they should call you because you can help them out, or sees a craigslist ad in which YOU claim to be a seller in foreclosure trying to sell a house (when in fact you don't own the house at all), you're not going to have much of a defense, because you're either lying or you ARE acting as an agent without a license.

5. An no, deleting it after they've seen it will not do you any goodthey take screen shots. And yes, they do the same thing with your website, so might want to take a look at that, as well.

6. And no, having a "co-wholesaling" agreement or a "revokable non-exclusive option" with the guy who actually IS a principal in the contract does not make you a principal, or protect you in any way. Nor does writing all over your contracts and advertis-ing that you're not an agent and that you and the buyer or seller AGREE you're not an agent, when it's followed by other clauses that clearly show that you're ACTING like an agent. "I'm not an agent. What I do is put buyers and sellers together". Yeah, "I'm not a duck, I just walk and quack like one".

6.5 If you didn't understand 6, get the hell out of the business until you do.

7. It is NOT true that the Division of Real Estate or the Department of Commerce can't "do anything" to you because you don't have a license that they can take. The law allows them to fine you, and even charge you criminally. In Ohio, the fine is $1,000 per day, per (assumed) incident. And that fine is not extinguishable by bankruptcy, so forget that, too.

7.5 If youre thinking, Yeah, but only Ohio cares about this stuff, youre wrong. EVERY state has similar laws.

8. It is NOT true that ignoring that cease and desist letter you got is a good way of operating; on the other hand, I wouldn't do as they request and call the number on the letter without a really competent attorney advising me, either Anything you say can and will be held against you, and they are absolutely allowed to lie to you.

9. I know that you want to look like a big shot on Facebook, so that you can get in on other people's deals, get them to pay you to mentor them, and so on. You should not be "helping" or "coaching" or "mentoring" anyone when you clearly have no idea what YOU'RE doing. I mean, just from an ethical perspective. If you're going to insist on not understanding your business on a deep level, or on ignoring what ATTORNEYS (not me, but people who have presented at your REIA group--or are you too cool to attend those meetings?--or that you could easily hire to get advice, as I have) are telling you, at least have the sense NOT to cackle over it in public.

10. I am not an attorney and not attempting to engage in giving legal advice here. I'm just telling you what I've heard from said attorneys, people who've been harassed by the state, and the state itself. Perhaps you should work harder to get your own ducks in a row in that regard. In other words, don't listen to meGET PROFESSIONAL LEGAL ADVICE ABOUT WHAT YOU'RE DOING, if it's any of the things listed above.

Ignore me. Talk about how Im crazy, or overly-rigid, or trying to discourage competition. Think that youre smarter than the bureaucrats that are out to get you. Think that the agents who report your open, online activities are just jealous that you make more money than they do. But know that you are on a path that is likely to lead to a great deal of pain, and that isn t necessary. Youve been warned.

~ Vena Jones Cox

Visit the

MAREI Blog I saved $2500 because of

MAREI . . . On Insurance.

Q & A: How can I build

my buyers list? Question:

I am looking for advice or

direction on growing my

buyers list. . . .

Five Ways to Become

Famous! At least in Real

Estate Circles . . . .

Dear Stupid Wholesaler .

. Are you making rookie

mistakes?

Legislative Survey from

National REIA. When it

comes to Washington DC

and our industry we need

to be . . . . .

MAREI.org/Articles

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I Cant Said the Ant?

When I was 2 or 3 years old, my mother took me on almost weekly trips to the library. While she checked out the latest mystery novels, I always went to the same shelf in the childrens section and pulled down the same worn, tea-colored book called I Cant, Said the Ant. I must have made my mom check that book out 50 times. I had every word memorized, eve-ry illustration emblazoned on my brain, and every character befriended in my daydreams.

In case you missed out on this epic, the basic plot is that a teapot falls off the counter and breaks its spout, and if it isnt put back up, it will die some horrible teapot death. All of the citizens of the kitchenfrom the dinnerbell to the pie to the potbeg the single ant in the kitchen to get the teapot back to the counter and repair the broken spout.

Much rhyming ensues (I cant bear it, said the carrot is one that still sticks with me), and ultimately, the ant, who initially, as you might guess from the title, doesnt see how he can manage it, rounds up a work crew of insects and recues the unlucky teapot from the floor.

Yes, this is going somewhere.

To this day, dozens of years later, I still think about that ant and his crea-tive solutions to an impossible task when I think about the people I meet for whom I cant is the final answer, and the much smaller group of peo-ple I meet for whom I cant is just the beginning of the problem-solving, support-finding process.

Maybe someday Ill figure out why 2 people in nearly the same situation and looking at the same set of facts can come to 2 different decisions about whether or not they can do something thats important to them.

Im not here to judge, but I can describe endless examples of folks whove said something along the lines of, I REALLY REALLY want to do this [the membership, class, property purchase etc] and I know that its exactly what I need, but I CANT because [I cant get off work this weekend, I dont have the money, I cant get a babysitter for 3 days, I already bought x, y, and z]all while people who are in every measurable way LESS capable of affording it/taking the time off/etc are moving forward ANY-WAY.

And, thanks to people Ive encountered who simply wouldnt let I cant get in the way, I have come to realize that, no matter what the excuse, thats all it is. Its never about the money or the time or the effortbecause if it was, everyone in a difficult situation would react by not doing the hard thing.

To wit: I recently sold a property in Columbus to a father of 5 (with a 6th on the way) who was 40 years old and positively determined to buy his first house.

This property needed fairly major worknew furnace, wiring, flooring, paint, carpet etcand was priced accordingly ($750 down, $300/mo for 7 years), but Don is a skilled handyperson who was going to have no prob-lem either doing the work or making the payments.

What he WAS going to have a problem with was paying for the materials. His day jobworking as an automotive technicianpays his rent (which dropped $325/month when he moved) and supports the large family, but doesnt leave any spare cash to buy the approximately $7,000 in materi-als hell need to put this house into tip-top shape.

But Don wasnt going to take I cant for an answer. He applied for the

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property, then went out and got a part-time job AT HOME DEPOT so that he could 1) get the employee discount on ma-terials and 2) earn enough extra to pay for them.

He explained to me that he could work there for 6 months, get everything he needed, and then quit, and that he and his wife had agreed that this was a necessary and desirable sacrifice to get a home that they could raise their kids in for the next 20 years.

WOW. Would you consider doing such a thing to get together the down payment for an investment property? Or the money to take that course you swear you want to take? Because some people do.

Another investor I know raised $18,000 delivering pizzas as a 2nd job to get the money to start buying notes (and has now made literally millions doing so). And one of my own students sold everything in his house that he could spare on eBay to raise the money for mentoring (and now flips well over 40 properties a year). And another quit his job because his boss wouldnt give him Friday off to go to a class even though hed asked for it weeks in advance (and has been full-time in real estate, shortsaling dozens of properties a year, since then). And another attended my wholesaling bootcamp with her 11 year old in tow because she couldnt find a babysitter for 4 days. And another went, as an adult, hat in hand to her parents to get $2,500 to attend a wholesaling bootcamp that she positively couldnt afford. Oh wait, that was me.

So WHY cant you put together $500 for marketing again? And WHY cant you go to that out-of-town seminar?

Bottom line is, you dont really want to, or youd find a way to do it, as thousands have before you.

We spend so much time telling ourselves that X is out of our reach because of money, or time, or hassle, or whatever that we dont think outside the box about how to MAKE it happen. Or better yet, refuse to believe that there IS a box.

So ask yourself, whats REALLY behind your excuses? Are you worried that even if you spend the money on the market-ing/property/class/membership, you cant or wont make it work for you? Are you afraid that your family/friends/colleagues wont support you in your efforts and sacrifices? Or have you just not sat down and thought about what you could do/sell/cash in/change to get what youre telling yourselfand methat you want?

Ive taken the words I cant out of my vocabulary. I may say I dont want to do what it takes or I dont want the results that badly or I wont or Its not worth it to me, but I try to be honest with myself about why Im not taking on another project or making the time to travel to an event or expanding my business to include another strategy. I cant is not only untrueits demoralizing and doesnt encourage creative thinking about a problem.

What about you?

BUILD YOUR WHOLESALE BUSINESS

& Get Your Phone Ringing To truly get out of the rat race, you need a plan that goes beyond learning the strategies, and takes you to the point where your real estate business more or less runs without you. For wholesalers, this means two things: using advanced strategies to do more deals and create passive income, and systemizing your business so that others can easily do deals FOR you. Vena Jones-Cox will share her wholesaling strategies at a Saturday March 14th Workshop, where you will discover:

How to wholesale all those non-assignable bank-owned properties on the market today, WITHOUT coming up with the cash to close, and double the number of deals you do.

Use creative financing concepts to wholesale properties & add passive income to your biz.

How to systemize everything your wholesaling business does, and easily delegate it to others.

How to hire help when you cant afford help.

Once you learn the basics of any real estate strategy, every problem you have is a marketing problem. Not enough deals? Thats because not enough motivated sellers know that you buy properties. Properties staying vacant too long? Thats because not enough qualified renters or buyers know about your great deal. Great marketing gives you incredible leverage, making your phone ring off the hook with customers who want to give you money or give you properties.

But do you REALLY know how to make your marketing as effective as possible for as little money as possible? After this workshop you will know how to:

How to create messages that your prospects cant resist, and get 5-20% response rates to your very first mailing, and make lots of money without spending lots of money

How to get lists of motivated sellers, buyers, lenders, and more

How to make absolutely sure your mail gets opened and read

How to develop a marketing plan that will get you the sellers, buyers, renters, lenders, whatevers missing from your business right now!

SPACE IS LIMITED, RESERVE YOUR SPOT TODAY Call 913-815-0111, go Online at www.MAREI.org or email form below to info@MAREI.org!

Regular Pricing: $49 for member, plus $20 for guest. $69 for non-member, plus $20 for guest.

Early Bird Pricing $39 for member, plus $10 for guest. $59 for non-member, plus $10 for guest

Add $99 for Annual Membership for 1 or $149 for Annual Membership for two. Total: _______________

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Saturday March 14th 8:30 to 4:30, Lunch Included, Holiday Inn at 8787 Reeder Road, Overland Park, KS

BUSINESS directory

Service Company Contact Phone Web

Contractor Building Trades Robert Massey 816-868-1817

Contractor Discover Heating & Air Curt Whitlock 816-500-2970 Discover HVAC.net

Contractor Supply Home Depot Sharon Beck 913-313-8912 HomeDepot.com

Contractor Supply Sherwin Williams Mike Steiner 816-589-8506 SherwinWilliams.com

Hard Money Crossroads Investment Lending Staff 913-766-2900 CrossroadsInvestmentLending.com

Hard Money Great Plains Funding George Hersch 913-735-6605 GreatPlainsFunding.com

Hard Money Investor Choice Funding Dave Williams 303-500-7088 InvestorsChoiceFunding.com

Hard Money Kansas City Investor Funding JJ Pawlowski 816-916-4593 KCInvestorFunding.com

Hard Money Longhorn Investments Mike Friedl 913-634-6386 LonghornInvestments.com

Home Buyer kcmoHomeBuyer Scott Tucker 816-200-2198 kcmoHomeBuyer.com

Insurance Asset Protection Insurance Lisa Goodner 877-752-2742 APIAProtects.com

Investor 3B Real Estate Investments Bob Hult 913-940-0992 3BREI.com

Mortgage Pulaski Bank Beth Langston 816-234-8660 PulaskiBank.com

Realty Realty Resource Staff 816-523-4400 RealtyResourceKC.com

Realty & Management Arrow Realty Candace Davis 913-956-5003 ArrowRealtyKC.com

Realty & Management Executive Asset Realty Group Jim Goodwin 816-866-1159 ExecutiveAssetRealty.com

Realty & Management Home Rental Services Kandy Meehan 913-469-6633 Home4Rent.com

Realty & Management Jamieson Home Team Kevin Jamieson 913-384-8331 JaimesonHomeTeam.com

Security COPR Security Geoff Miles 816-398-4045 COPRcage.com

Title & Escrow Accurate Title David Green 913-338-0100 AccurateTitleCo.com

Title & Escrow Alpha Title Patsy Archer 913-498-8999 AlphaTitleLLC.net

Title & Escrow Continental Title Sharon Bower 913-744-7011 CTitle.com

Turn Key Rentals KCInvest Don Tucker 913-735-0118 KCInvest.com

See full details on all Business Associates at MAREI.org/Business-Directory/ Mid-America Association of Real Estate Investors does not render legal, tax, economic or investment advice. All pro-

grams, properties and services are provided with the understanding that Association is not engaged in rendering legal, tax,

or other professional services. If legal, tax or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional

should be sought. Everyone should complete their own due diligence!

Contact Us

Learn more about Mid-America Association of Real Estate Investors

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Kansas City Office 8014 State Line Rd, Suite 210 Leawood, KS 66208

(913) 815-0111

info@MAREI.org

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A Trade Association for Real Estate Professionals

For landlords, wholesalers, rehabbers, note sellers, multifamily investors, exchangers or anyone else who use real estate as a way to build wealth. We welcome full time investors as well as those just getting start-ed or people who provide a product or service to the industry.

With something for everyone from beginner to pro!

The experienced real estate professional will find the support they need stay in-formed of the issues and tools to take action. The new investor will find the edu-cation they need to get started and the products, services and connections to build profitable businesses. The product or service provider that caters to the real es-tate industry will find active professionals who need their services. And everyone benefits from our community, from live meetings and events to our very vibrant social media destinations. Please join us . . . .

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More . . . .

Meeting Location MAREI Meets every 2nd Tuesday at the Holiday Inn & Suites at 8787 Reeder Road in Overland Park, KS. Conveniently located just off 69 & I35 Highways at 87th Street.

Meeting Agenda

6:00 pm: Networking & Vendors 6:00 pm: Announcements & Introductions 7:30 pm: How Wholesaling Really Works with Vena Jones-Cox 9:30 pm: Late Night Networking in the Lounge February Meeting on 8th Floor in Sunset Ballroom

FREE BONUS! Todays Note Business - A Webinar & 5 Day e Course:

Direct Link: MAREI.org/Eddie NoteSchool in Kansas City March 6, 7 & 8