Everybody learns from somebody, and, when it comes to real estate investing, I definitely have spent considerable time and money studying flipping “at the master’s feet.” I’d like to share the top tips from the top real estate investing gurus I learned the most from over the years.
- Ron LeGrand© – anybody who needs to copyright his name is probably worth listening to! LeGrand is definitely the big name in our business. Although people have been into real estate investing since way before Ron Legrand, I don’t think anybody’s taught it to the masses like Legrand has. Legrand made famous the MAO (Maximum Allowable Offer) formula everybody’s used for years. My greatest takeaway from Legrand was the MAO formula and the mechanics of the quick flipping business. The famous Ron Legrand quote “the less I do, the more I make” was also my first inspiration for systematizing our real estate investing business.
- Robyn Thompson – once I learned the mechanics of flipping, I decided that flipping rehabs was where I wanted to focus. I invested in Robyn’s courses, and attended her rehab and marketing for real estate investing bootcamps. Robyn is one of the best real estate investing gurus out there for giving huge value at every level of presentation (from the free ones to high-dollar bootcamp). I learned a TON from Robyn about the rehab flipping process, but the number one takeaway I got from Robyn was how fast you could really flip rehabs if you just threw more resources at them.
- Dave Lindahl – I met Dave through Robyn’s events, and attended his bootcamps and invested in his courses. Dave teaches flipping for “chunks” of cash, but nobody knows markets or apartments better than Dave. What has been most valuable to me from Dave was his ‘Managing for Maximum Profits’ home study course. An investor with no experience or training in managing property is like a lamb to the lions. I started on the right foot, and have managed properties for years successfully.
- Louis Brown – Lou Brown is the undisputed king of real estate investing forms. I’ve used Lou’s forms for real estate investing since the beginning, and have always appreciated having an incredible library whenever I need a new document. Lou’s forms, therefore, are my #1 takeaway from Lou, and I still use many of them today for flipping.
- Kris Kirschner – Kris’ Auto-Pilot Real Estate Systems(TM) for Buying and Selling real estate set the standard when we were growing our flipping business. Kris is a systems guy all the way, and his real estate systems are used across the country to really automate so much of our business. My greatest takeaway from Kris was his approach to “self-serve” showings. Putting a lockbox on the house, giving the code to people to view, then offering a self-serve kiosk in the kitchen with brochures and applications was pure genius, and I can’t imagine that we ever showed properties in the “olden days.” Flipping real estate is definitely best self-serve.
- Dan Doran – Dan is the truly the master of the sales process for real estate investment, though that barely scratches the surface of what I’ve learned from him. Dan’s ‘Sales Mastery’ course has made a bigger impact on our real estate business than any other system we’ve implemented. If I have to pick just one greatest lesson learned it’s this… “If there’s equity, GO!” Dan was the first to coin this sales strategy, which was contrary to what EVERYBODY else was teaching about flipping (they all said you needed to be looking for motivation, and skip right past the unmotivated sellers). Dan is also a master of the inner game, business building, and the pre-foreclosure niche.
- Richard Roop – Richard is Dan’s partner, and together they teach real estate marketing, systems, and have a fantastic coaching program, which I’ve been in for years now. Richard is a killer copywriter, and his slogan “Sell your house as-is, for a fair price, on the date of your choice” is probably the most copied real estate headline in our business. Pressed for the top lesson, I’d have to say it’s the importance of marketing in our flipping business. The first time I implemented one of Richard’s messages on a long-running campaign, I was literally overwhelmed with phone calls by people who had been receiving my messages previously, but never responded.
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