The Eight Essential Characteristics of Successful Real Estate Investors

The Eight Essential Characteristics of Successful Real Estate Investors
As we all know, attitude is everything in any kind of
business. There's the old saying "Attitude is altitude." In
other words, the more positive your attitude, the higher
you'll fly in your investment career. Now, that saying is
definitely true, but it's also a little simplistic.

Here's a plain fact: you can't simply think you'll succeed
and then do so. Thinking has to be combined with action!
You have to get in there and do the everyday spadework that
finds and closes deals.

So, a great attitude and the ability to take action are two
primary characteristics of successful real estate
investors. However, there are some additional
characteristics you should know about. A few, lucky
investor-entrepreneurs are born with them. Most of us,
however, aren't. The good news is that we can learn them!
It just takes study, practice and application.

So, my recommendation is to study the essential
characteristics I explain below and then work hard to
integrate them into personality. It can be done! I know, I
did it!

Characteristic 1: The Entrepreneurial Spirit Whether in
real estate or other businesses, entrepreneurs are
essentially opportunity-seekers with an independent streak.
They have a great combination of vision and common sense.
Through research and hard work, they seek out niches in the
market that no one else has exploited (vision). They then
do the numbers on those niches. If the numbers are good
(common sense), they exploit that niche; if not, they move
on. They favor the KISS principle—keep it simple,
stupid!

Characteristic 2: The Planning Spirit Successful real
estate investors are planners to the core; they detest a
"shotgun" approach to investments, knowing it will spread
their resources too thin and not bring in really profitable
deals. They possess the "Have a plan and work it!"
mentality. In other words, once they've set a goal, they do
the day-to-day work of setting objectives to carry out
those goals. They plan on a daily basis to keep their focus
on achieving their long-term goals. They never get
distracted by daily events or people that get in the way of
achievement of their goals.

Characteristic 3: The Networking Spirit Successful
investors know in their bones that they live or die on the
information they get and the contacts they make within a
local community. So, they're careful to cultivate a
reliable network from the start to the end of their
investment careers.

Successful investors know that they have to give back to
the network of contacts and fellow investors. It's not
always possible, but many investors know that the quickest
and most effective way to success is by finding a mentor
who can teach them the ropes.

They also know that they have to give in return to their
mentors. It's not a one-way street where you take and give
nothing in return. They show mentors (and others) their
appreciation through tips, leads, gift certificates,
birthday cards, theater tickets, etc. Small personal gifts
show that they care and are thinking of the mentor.

Characteristic 4: An Objective Spirit Successful real
estate investors are entirely objective about their
properties. In other words, they ruthlessly review their
portfolio of properties on an annual basis. When they find
properties that aren't performing to their expectations,
they get rid of them quickly. These could include:
Properties losing money Properties in neighborhoods that
have spiraled down into war zones. Properties that have
turned into a management hassle and consume too much time,
etc.

Characteristic 5: An Ethical Spirit Successful real estate
investors treat everyone fairly and honestly. I've said it
before and I'll say it again here—your reputation is
everything in the real estate investment community. Once
it's damaged or gone, it's difficult to make deals because
few people will want to work with you. Successful real
estate investors know that fair and honest treatment of
buyers, sellers, agents, etc. is not only the right thing
to do, but is also great business sense. The better your
reputation, the more business you get.

Characteristic 6: A Family Spirit Successful real estate
investors always gain the support of their families for
their careers. When thousands of dollars are involved, they
know a spouse can get very nervous and fearful, so they
keep that spouse informed on what they're doing every step
of the way.

Characteristic 7: A Giving-Back Spirit Successful real
estate investors give back—to their families, their
communities, their churches, their schools, etc. They
recognize that they should share their good fortune and, at
the same time, gain back in terms of good will and more
business. It's the classic "win-win" situation. Giving back
can take many forms: Time spent on fund-raisers Sponsoring
athletic teams Teaching Charitable donations, etc. They can
also give back by becoming the people who helped give them
a start—by becoming mentors themselves!

Characteristic 8: A Learning Spirit Successful real estate
investors remain successful because they never, ever stop
learning. They know the real estate business is a dynamic
and ever-changing market due to economic conditions,
federal rules and regulations, and other factors. So, they
always stay on top of local, state, and national conditions
and plan to meet the changes created by those conditions.

Key Point: You may not be a "natural" for the real estate
investment business, but you can make yourself into one!
All it takes is a willingness to learn!

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Jack Sternberg is a nationally recognized expert on real
estate investment and the creator of the renowned "Buyers
First Program" who's been in the business for more than 30
years. Sternberg's deals have totaled over $750 million and
he's been to the closing table more than 1,500 times. For
more, visit http://www.askjacksternberg.com

How to run a FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGN Part 2

How to run a FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGN Part 2
What Equipment or Assets are Available?

Once you start fundraising in earnest - or rather, before
you start, you need to know what equipment is available to
help you. The days of pen and notebook are far gone, so
start looking for that computer software specially made for
fundraisers. Once considered a luxury, software programs
for fundraisers are necessary for those whose task is an
ongoing one.

If you are just doing a raffle for your local club, you may
not need anything like this, but if you are officially the
fund-raiser for a large organization, you need equipment.
If you don't have an office, then you will certainly need
one and all the things that go with it, such as phone,
answering machine, photocopier, computer and printer.
Special fundraising software will also aid you in your
task. Your only trouble might be in choosing the correct
package.

To get the one most suited to your needs, you'll need to
know the specific elements in your annual fundraising
program, how many computers are in your office and their
speed, chip, RAM and storage capacity, how much you can
spend and what your staffing structure is.

Your program may only need to be the most basic and simple
of all, in which it should only cost you around $1,500.
Those with all the bells and whistles may cost up to
$20,000. There are a variety of in between programs, of
course. You are the only one who can work out what your
needs are. The most complicated programs will need more
staff training, of course, so this may be a consideration.

What about assets? Assets for fundraising may include a
variety of things. If you need to have meetings - and you
will - is there a room or hall suitable to hold it in? Do
you have access to an overhead projector or something
similar if you need it? Decent sound equipment is sure to
be needed also, unless you want a hoarse voice.

An asset could also be an account for running expenses. You
can't raise money without spending some first. Even for a
raffle, you need to spend money on the prizes. You may be
able to take the expenses out of the raffle money in some
cases, but in others, you need to have the prizes on
display to sell the tickets.

For fundraising that goes into the thousands or millions,
you certainly need an expense account for travel, marketing
and advertising and other related things. While board
members should be volunteers, their costs such as travel
and child-care need to be met.

Who are Your Current Supporters?

The supporters for any fundraising event are usually those
who are passionate or interested enough in your cause and
help in whatever way they can. Whether this is by making a
donation or asking others to make one, or whether it is by
offering their skills, talents or time is up to them.

When you are organizing your event, the first line of
supporters will be the committee members. They are
voluntary board members who offer their time and expertise
to help make the plan a success. There will be the
president, treasurer and secretary, plus advertising
executive, PR person and the marketing manager. Even if you
are only arranging a chook raffle, you will need to have
volunteers to sell the tickets.

Your supporters can be anyone who agrees with your cause
and would like to see it prosper, but your current
supporters will generally be those who actually work to
support the fundraiser in some way at the present time. It
may be that they simply wear a badge or some other icon to
promote and advertise it, they may simply give advice and
suggestions on the running of it, or they may get in and
work very hard in a number of other ways to support you.

Past supporters may be persuaded to come on board once
again in another category if they prefer. Being offered the
opportunity to serve in a different capacity could stir
their interest anew and your organization will benefit
greatly from their past experience.

A supporter - or sponsor - is often the one who donates
money to your cause. Since the reason for having a
fundraiser is to gain funds for a specific cause, a lack of
these supporters will mean your fundraiser is doomed to
failure. It is important then to get these supporters on
side and give them the opportunity to support your cause.
While it is great to be able to use modern technology such
as email to alert supporters to the chance of making a
donation, nothing can really take the place of the personal
touch.

If you are able to make appointments to meet with the heads
of business who have shown an interest in supporting your
cause, then you will be much more likely to gain a donation
of considerable use. Most people are not that free with
their checking book that they will hand over a large
donation to an operation that is largely faceless. Support
at every level is the keyword.

What is Your Fundraising Strategy?

Implementing specific strategies is done in all levels of
business and no less in fundraising. Fundraising strategies
require careful thought. Some organizations concentrate all
their efforts on a single annual event, while others may
prefer a monthly event or some kind of ongoing fundraising
that keeps them constantly in the public eye. What your
strategy will be is largely decided by how much money you
need and whom it is for.

Smaller, local fundraising efforts often use the once a
year approach. This may be in the form of a school fete or
a concert to which parents and grandparents are invited. It
may be a camp or it may be a cookie drive or a raffle. If
there are a limited number of helpers, the raffle or jumble
sale is often a good way to go. Sometimes it's better to
have these say, four times a year rather than weekly, then
people don't get tired of them. Finding out whom your
target market will be is also part of the strategy of
fundraising.

There are many organizations that will help with ideas for
fundraising strategies. For those who have never done
fundraising before, using one of these organizations may be
the ideal way to start out. You may be provided with a
choice of candy bars or lollipops to sell, online magazines
to subscribe to or many other ideas. You may decide to have
a walkathon, runathon or skipathon. There are strategies to
suit large, medium and small groups of helpers. Very often
they will help you with advertisements and media kits.

Strategy is not only about what you will sell or do to make
money and when, it is also to do with how you will
advertise, how the event will be planned and how to get
people involved in helping out. It is about 'branding' -
how your organization will be known in the community and
whether it will be local thing or go nationwide.

One good strategy for all fund-raisers is to present their
need as an investment opportunity rather than a need. For
instance, if you need funds for a school, present that
school as the answer to the problem of unemployment in the
area, rather than as funds needed to shore up a failing
institution.

Sponsors are much more willing to donate money to what
seems like an investment. And if their company employs
people from the same area, you can point out how much
better their future employees will be fitted for the job
once they've been trained with the additional funds.

Stay Tuned for Part 3...

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