3 Things NOT to do when Improving Curb Appeal

One of the questions that came in last week was from a rehabber finishing up a job he was going to flip, and was just about to put it on the market. He took a picture of it, and sent to me, asking me to give him a few pointers on what he could do to spruce up the outside of the property, to make it more appealing to buyers. His question spurred me to write it down for this topic.

1. Do NOT let your landscaping grow too long, even for one day.

Nothing says "No one cares about me" like an unkempt lawn. Potential buyers drive by your property every day. If they happen to see a lawn start to grow a bit higher than the other houses on the street, the emotional part of their brain (the one that actually makes their buying decisions) immediately turns off, and so goes the potential sale. After the initial cleanup my landscaper does, I always have the lawns cut at least once every week and a half, if not once a week.

2. Do NOT ignore your gutters & roof.

You have beautiful doors, new siding, new cement steps with beautiful wrought-iron handrails, and an excellent landscaping job. You stand back to admire your work... and realize there are rust stains all over the gutters. I want you to notice how all your attention turns away from the beauty of the house, to the ugliness of even those 4 rust spots on the gutters. Take care of them! The same goes for any fishing of roof shingles. If you notice shingles coming off or loose upon purchasing the house, it's probably a good idea to figure in a whole new roof, in your purchase price.


3. Do NOT overdo it.

It's not always necessary to tear out every tree & shrub surrounding the property, or to replace all the siding, doors & windows to give the house a new, fresh look. You want the buyers to pull up and say, "Wow. This looks better than the others I've seen in this price range."

THAT'S the key... to be the nicest looking house (inside AND out), at the lowest price in that area.

Some tips on what you CAN do:

1. Start by looking at all the other houses on that street. Do they all have vinyl siding? Do they have roofs newer than yours? DO they have white picket fences outlining their front yards, or shrubs, or nothing? The chances are good the buyers will also see your house compared with others on the street, and they will want to see at least similar features... your goal is to be the best & brightest.

2. Repaint the exterior a bright, neutral color (here is where you can look to the other houses in the neighborhood). If it's vinyl sided and is not in need of repair / replacement, power wash it. You'd be amazed how much brighter a house can look once it's been power washed. And - if it has a detached garage - remember the garage door!

3. Add fresh mulch: If there are shrubs or plants around the entryway or the street, a good way to make them stand out is to add fresh mulch around the plants. This also makes your green lawn stand out better, in the high "pride of ownership" areas.

4. Add a new mailbox. Sometimes, it IS that simple a change to make the front of a house look good. If it's a high end house, I like to use the granite columns with black mailboxes. If a lower end house, a nice wood post with a black mailbox will do. If theres no lawn, then it's more important than ever to add a nice "high-end" look to a mailbox you'll bolt to the side of the door.

5. Give it a "Wow" factor. Many times, it's as simple as going with a really nice front door from Home Depot. Make it the next model up from what everyone else on the street has. Sometimes, it's installing a containment wall with nice stone or brick, which makes it so the buyers do not see an ugly dirt hill as they approach your property. Repainting the shutters, or even adding a small hose-powered fountain are other small ideas that will give them a nice feeling as they approach.

Hope these tips were helpful to some of you rehabbers out there (and some of you wholesalers, too)! Keep those deals going, and as always,

Happy Investing!

It's a Great Time to be in Real Estate!

Well goodness...I had no idea how difficult it would be to keep up with this blog!

Things have been crazy (in a good way!) over the past month, and it's funny, as I (Nick) type this, once again Massachusetts is seeing a storm where we received over 15 inches of that white stuff. I've attempted to ski, and I don't even break bones anymore going down the mountain, but I'm not so avid where I appreciate this much snowfall.

We have a congratulations in order - one of our students (Mike C. of Methuen) really stepped up and took action. Within 6 months, Mike focused down on his financial goals. He researched and set up his new real estate market out of state, and completed his first real estate deal! He was able to raise private money and spent a total of around 6 hours on the deal, netting him about $15K after splitting with his investor. That's an infinite return, and about $2,500 per hour for his time. Way to go, Mike! The best part is, he's informed me he has three other deals on the table he's working on, and he's now turned his business into a machine. All in 6 months! That takes dedication, focus, and action.

We also had a very successful "Analyze The Deal" seminar in Chelmsford! We kept this group small (under 20 individuals), and it was a fantastic night of information and networking. We look forward to continuing those seminars, to allow all local investors to continue building relationships and their knowledge. Thanks to all who attended! More importantly - have you made an offer yet??

If you're NOT MAKING OFFERS, then you're NOT MAKING MONEY!

The team here at AA Real Estate has been so busy this past month. Along with servicing our current investors and students, we have been refocusing on our business and where we want to see it go.

We have been in the residential business for 4 years now, and we've made the decision to put this branch on hold for right now, except for the current deals we are currently working on. We decided it would be best to ensure our focus is on our investors and our students, and in order to do that, we will no longer be actively acquiring residential property, except in partnerships with our students (where they choose).

So what HAVE we been doing?

Nick has been focusing down on building the Educational branche of the business. With a whole slew of new seminars and classes coming up, we hope to enrich the active investors up here with some fantastic info, to help them make the best of their investing career.

AA Real Estate will still focus on working with our students, and getting all the money back in our investors' IRAs that was lost in the stock market. For those that haven't seen the light yet, it's a FANTASTIC time to dump those losing stocks and get into real assets, with CA$HFLOW.

Nichol has also been busy! For those that have not yet heard, AA Real Estate has also begun servicing Luxury Property owners, sell their property QUICKLY. Many agents and brokers out there don't quite have the networks or knowledge of how to effectively market these high-end properties, so Nichol and her affiliation with the Luxury Homes Group allows her to service these individuals and help get them out of their situation. She is currently working with her team in both the MA and NH markets. More info will be put on the website soon on this, so stay tuned!

As a tip to investors, get yourself a FLIP cam! We have been using these to market properties for some time now, and you will also begin to see some videos we post within our Education and Commercial divisions, up on our site and on YouTube fairly soon. Flip cams are less than $150, and really help build a buyers list for you to sell your wholesale or retail deals.

Long update! Hopefully it won't be another whole month before we update, but in case it is...

Happy Investing!

AA Real Estate Team

"The Service You Expect, The Returns You Deserve"

Snowy Day Thoughts

As I sit here in my office (yes, even on a Sunday) looking out the window at the snow that never stops falling here in Massachusetts, I check my voicemail, and it's a bit difficult to here: "Hi Nick. My name is . I hope you with the snow. I'm here thinking about whether I should go skiing, or look for property in NH. If you could get back to me on your Lexington KY deal, I'll be at ."

Skiing or looking for property? Only in New England. And all I thought was... what a great day to do both! And I would too, were it not that skis and I don't YET get along, though I'm slowly training my skis to understand how to get me down a mountain without throwing me to the ground.

If you're with me in the snowy weather, take this opportunity to look for property. NOT by driving around, but by maybe taking a snowy walk with family and pets, or taking a stroll online through Craig's List. See any potential deals? Look harder. They are everywhere!

The media has claimed we're in the worst U.S. recession in the history of our time, unemployment is at post WWII levels, and we have a new president that can either help or hurt on the horizon.

I say - who cares? After having come into contact with so many individuals over the past few years, a passion of mine is to show them how to shape their own financial future. Don't let the media, politicians or even your Uncle Ted who has always said how "risky" real estate was, and how you'd "be throwing your life away if you go that route."

I learned a valuable lesson - you don't get rich by working a 9-5 job. No matter how big your raise is each year.

One way to get rich is to educate yourself on proper investing habits, and the best ways to increase your passive income. Create multiple streams of income, and rid yourself of those things that take up your most precious asset.

What is your most precious asset? No, it's NOT money. Your TIME is. Think about it - men only have on average 70 years (women get 80 years) to spend doing the things they love, with the people they love. Why waste it trying to please your boss, or trying to appease your tenants?

I'd love to help you with your investment goals. Feel free to share your comments below on how you feel about your financial futures, your goals, what you'd love to spend your time on when you retire - I'd also be honored to help you get their through our passive income opportunities.

Stay well, and Happy Investing!

My Past - Rantings of the Times

OK, so I started this blog before introducing myself - how rude...

My name is Nick, and I rarely share this story, so I figured why not do it online, when only the whole online community can look upon it?

Investing in real estate for me is a means to an end, and yet understanding how finances and investing works, and educating others, is my passion.

I started out graduating from Saint Anselm College in Manchester, NH, with a degree in Politics. Not even "Political Science", as they said they did not offer that degree - so it was Politics. I learned a lot there, about how government and society operates, but moreso I learned how people function and what influences decisions they make. This came into play later on in my career.

Not having too much of a future in Politics (I did not have the $$ to compete with all other politicians, as history has it that he or she who has the dough, always gets the office), I went into investment banking at Mellon Financial in Everett, MA. Here is where I learned about finances, investing and choices we make, that influence our financial future. I assisted in managing many larger institutional mutual fund clients (one of which I KNOW you have in your portfolio!), and saw how successful they all were during the great economic times, and how everyone sold off during the poor times.

Anyone ever played the board game Risk? I LOVE this game. Perhaps my skirting with Politics influenced it, but I would get together with some friends any chance I could to play - and I usually won. That is, until my "friends" decided I was the biggest threat, and would gang up to eliminate me first from the game. This happened in 2004, and prompted me to go into a light fit of playful depression, and I sat in front of my TV while they continued playing (this was 2AM on a Friday evening). I turned on the TV, and saw this guy claiming how he could buy houses for "pennies on the dollar", and I could order his how-to system for only $50.

Being in my ultra-sensitive state as it were, I picked up the phone and ordered my very first "readable seminar" on Tax Deeds and Liens from John Beck. In this package, I learned... that I was very good at filing these items in my dusty bookshelf, after I'd only read through them for 20 minutes when they first arrived. I did however, see a quote on the "Quick Start" page:

"If you're serious about investing, call this number: 800-XXX-XXXX."

And I did, and then got suckered into my very first phone "bootcamp." This "bootcamp" was THE most expensive thing I'd ever purchased, including all my cars up to that point, and for some reason, I knew real estate was the key to wealth even then. So I got my 6 credit cards out, and maxed 2 of them by paying the $6K for the bootcamp.

Did I get what I paid for?

Well, I have to say, they forced me to learn how to gather public information, market, and help people facing foreclosure learn their options (well, one I explained options to, the other 24 of them called to yell at me to stop mailing to them). However, one piece of homework changed my life. They assigned me to read the book, "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" by Robert Kiyosaki.

Upon reading this book, I became infatuated with all of his material, and quickly became a student (and large profit center) for him and his company. I took 6 months to read everything I could get my hands on about real estate investing, including online, books at B&N, magazines, and news articles.

I now had invested over $8K in my education (which at the time, was an UNIMAGINABLE amount of money!), and had not ONE DEAL to show for it.
I tell the story often in my circles about the famous shampoo bottle. I'm losing a good amount of hair now, but at the time, I had a good head of hair, and I made the promise to myself while in the shower (I don't blame you if you're unable to imagine it) to have at least ONE deal in the works by the time this bottle had dwindled.

Some time passed, and I still found myself reading, and not DOING. I knew education was vital, and I thought that "I'd do a deal after I felt comfortable." I realized that may never happen.
So I analyzed myself, and realized I still was not comfortable getting into a deal without someone there to ensure I didn't screw up, or lose more money.

I then came into contact with a gentleman out of state, who one of my colleagues told me was a straight-up guy, who was making him lots of money. This gentleman used other peoples credit, to purchase homes with the strategy of selling them as lease option deals. I did all the appropriate background checks, and 2 months later, I found myself excited to be closing not one, but 5 deals with this partner, who also was going to be the property manager (being that I was 1000 miles away). Shampoo bottle was near the bottom - I had succeeded!

Alas, time tells all. After 3 months, this "partner" got his upfront money on the deals, and all of a sudden, neither myself or my colleague heard from this guy again. These houses now sat, only 2 occupied, and neither tenant making payments. Not having any experience in property management, lease options, or even having my tenants contact information, I was pretty much toast. I had to learn how to prepare short sales for 3 of these homes on my own, and then attempted to deed the other 2 back to the bank; however, the mortgage company not being too organized, lost all my paperwork and their vocal authorization to take the deeds back meant nothing. These now show up as foreclosures on my credit report.

This all happened 3 years ago, in 2005. Having no credit and no money left, I stuck my head in the sand and all of a sudden became one of those people in denial. Ironic that I at one time, was trying to assist these very people.

It took me a while to realize what had happened, stand back up, and continue my real estate education and career, this time, without money or credit. All these gurus said it was possible - was it? Well, I thought I was as good a candidate as any, so I gave it one more try, and spent the last of my money on more education and creating relationships.

Looking back on it, I learned so many lessons, the biggest one being - never give up. It's a cliche that rings true for everyone.

Now having completed millions in real estate transactions, and now with 2 offices (Chelmsford, MA and in PA), my business has grown with me. I never stop learning, and the best thought was to look back and see that everything happens for a reason. Without that experience, I may have never taken the first step and TOOK ACTION. I also may never have revised my business model to be so conservative, so that I may have as successful a business as I do now, servicing my investors and sharing the wealth with them.

I welcome others to enter their experiences here should they wish, be they good or bad, as we all have had both. I also will be using this blog as a post for deals as they come up, but I am very curious as to others' experiences.

Until next time,

Nick A.

President, AA Real Estate Enterprises LLC

http://www.AARealEstatePartners.com