khooverbiz-blog

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This is not about money, but about life.

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It’s rime!

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You don’t have a commitment problem...you have a belief problem.

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Establishing a clear vision in business.  THIS is where you start.

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WHY HIRE A CONSULTANT?

It is a taboo word in business.  Consultant.  What does that even mean?  

The movie “Office Space” set a terrible tone for consultants all over the world.  They are here to fire people, change things & disrupt the good things we have going for us.  That was the humor behind the movie.  

There is a method to the madness when you or a company hires a consultant.  Three things that consultants bring to the table that are of great benefit.

A consultant has an ability that you, nor anyone at the company, currently has.

Ouch!  You mean leaders & CEO’s are not all knowing?  No, they are not.  It is also important to say that they don’t want to be.  A great CEO knows when to devote their time to learning something and when to outsource it.  They hire consultants because they deem the objective to be either not worth their time to learn or a task that would require far too much time to learn and implement.  That point will be supported next.

A consultant works toward a specific objective fast.

A consultant is, typically, knowledgable in a few areas of expertise.  The word “niche” flies around the board rooms these days.  Being specialized, consultants can work faster toward the goal than the company could if they spent the time & resources learning.  Time is money!

A consultant has a proven & guided method.

A company hires a consultant because they know what to do & they have done it before.  That is the point.  Your company can continue to operate while the work is being done.

Regardless of how you feel about consultants, they have great value to most companies.  The goals are not always negative or messy.  Everything from profit margins to company culture are boosted by consultants.  They are capable, proven & fast.  If you hire the right one. 

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Start-Up...You Only Have 3 Things!  That’s it!

I talk to a lot of entrepreneurs who are starting their business.  It is a wonderful time for a start-up.  The sky is the limit!  

The beautiful part about business is that there is no limit.  The tragic part about business is there, actually, is a limit.

As a start-up, you have 3 things to offer.  That is it!  You romance ways to make the company more than it is, but truth always prevails.  Focus on what you have.

SWEAT EQUITY

You have to work hard.  You have to multi-task.  The CEO will have to do payroll.  This is how you gain momentum & build your profit margins.  Wear all the hats.  Don’t outsource until you have more important things to do that GENERATE REVENUE. 

MINDSET

You have to stay on top of your mindset.  Negative positioning will tarnish your movement.  I see a negative entrepreneur and I immediately think that they are never going to make it.  Whatever “it” is, they will never have it.  Control your mindset. 

LEVERAGE

Most start-ups don’t leverage their time, wins or resources for their benefit.  They sit back 7 think “I’ve made it” just because they were on television.  You have to leverage that chance for multiple times more growth.  Leverage your time to max your potential.  Leverage you partnerships to max the impact.

THAT’S IT!  That is all you have if you are a start-up.  You have to be smart & use what you have.  Capital, while you may have some, is not what YOU have.  It is what THEY have.  The only thing your company owns as a start-up, is sweat equity, mindset & leverage.  Period.

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Stop Sitting Down!

I’ve been doing a lot of soul searching lately.  Normally, that means I sit around & don’t do much of anything.  

Not this time.

Reflecting back on the work that I’ve been doing, it is amazing how much clarity comes from taking action.  The process of doing things that won’t work, things that will work, taking two steps back & being aware of my purpose was transformational.

In the middle of writing a book, continuing to build a business & trying to figure out how to raise a kid in this world, there was no time for me to stop.  But I did.  Obviously, I didn’t stop being a dad, but I slowed the rest of the stuff down significantly.

On a call with my business coach, Jacqui Bowman, we were talking about some ideas that I had been kicking around in my head.  I was looking for her to say “that is a good idea” or “you have lost your mind”.  She didn’t say either.  

After telling her what I was thinking, she simply said something to the effect of “Great.  That is what you are doing.  Here’s what you have to do ASAP.  No questions.”  At least that is what I heard.

I’ve never been really punched in the face, but I imagine it to feel something like that felt.  Stunned.  Dazed.  Confused.  Liberated.  Empowered.  Young.    

I followed my coaches advice.  24 hours later, I was headed down a completely different path.  One that I had been thinking about for years.  It had been in the back of my mind.  I was just sitting on it.  Doing nothing.  Waiting.  For what?

In life, we have ideas all the time.  Most of them are completely ridiculous.  However, there is one that is brilliant.  The trouble is that we don’t know which one is the winner until we start trying them out.  Until we start taking action, we don’t really know our purpose.  

Now, I could fail miserably at this, but I’m okay with that.  I know that I won’t quit.  I know that I feel strongly that this is what I’m supposed to be doing.

Stop sitting on your ideas.  Be smart about the implementation.  Give it your best effort.  Find the purpose.  Go for it!  That is how you win.

KCH  

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We treat setbacks & even failures as a definition of ourselves. We don’t give ourselves the credit of learning. The power to overcome & recoup. If you choose to dwell & treat failure as your soul, that is how it will be. If you choose to see failure as a small, specific event, you can overcome. KCH

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5 WAYS TO LOSE MONEY INVESTING IN REAL ESATE

I know what the late night infomercial says.  “Invest in real estate with NO money.”  Sounds great doesn’t it?

It is also a big, ugly lie.

If you are thinking of investing in real estate, there are a lot of ways to lose money.  There are only a few ways to make money.  If you are new to the game or have the wrong mentor, you, most likely, will lose money.  It is far too easy to lose than it is to win.

Here are 5 important ways that you can lose money in real estate investing.

1)  Make unnecessary renovations.

The idea of renovation when it comes to investing is to add value.  Meaning, you want a return on the work you are doing.  Investing is not about what you like or what you prefer.  Investing is about the money.  Period.  If you are doing work that does not add value to the resale, then you are wasting money.

2)  Use overstated rental income.

Real estate agents give “ballpark” figures all the time when it comes to gross rental income.  You will want to use hard numbers.  Get a rental history on letterhead from the management company or managing website to verify.  The last thing you want to do is to run your numbers based on an inflated sense of annual income.

3)  Buy into poorly run or expensive homeowners association fees.

You will not find this expense on Zillow or Trulia or Realtor.  If the investment property has a homeowners association, you will need to verify the cost per month, the financial strength of the association and any assessments that are planned for the immediate future.  In many investment markets, this is the expense that is the difference between profit and loss.  Ask your agent to do ample due diligence work for you.

4)  Buy into re-zoning or infrastructure changes around property.

Building a massive shopping center on the lot next to a house is not an attractive amenity.  Neither is widening a road that will be 20 feet from the screened porch of the property when it is complete.  Make certain that you check into any likely changes in the foreseeable future in this regard.  It will impact the resale value, rental rates and strength of investment.

5)  Buying into flood zones, unusable land and “dead” land.

If your investment has land, you want to make sure you know that the land is usable.  That means that it is also marketable for resale.  Flood zones are important near bodies of water.  They impact insurance, the types of property that can be built and the resale value.  Usable land means that you can use it for what you intend to use it for.  Preserved wetlands, protected forests and swamps are great unless you plan to build a home.  Then, they are a loss.  “Dead” land is my own term.  It means that you bought a cemetery, protected tract or otherwise undesirable piece of property.  Poor investment. 

So, unlike the infomercial promises, this is not a quick turn around to profit.  There is a lot of work that goes into investing properly.  I suggest that you target the numbers you are looking for, hire a local agent to find properties that match those numbers and, then, run the numbers through a strict, but efficient due diligence period with that agent.  

You can’t get into investing and carrying property with no money, but you sure can make some money if you are savvy about the process.

KH

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3 WAYS TO KILL A REAL ESTATE DEAL...FAST

There is a lot of emotion & competition in the real estate process.  Let’s face it, everyone wants a good deal.  

No matter how much homework you do & proof you find, there are three rock solid ways to kill a real estate deal.

1)  You think that you should NOT have to negotiate.

Real estate is very much a negotiation.  The price is not firm because the market shifts so frequently.  If you enter a real estate contract & have no intention of negotiating, save yourself some time & stay out of the game.

2) You don’t submit proper supporting documents.

It does not matter how much money you have, if you can’t prove it there will be no deal.  The days of the “good old fashioned handshake” are far gone.  If you want to present the best offer you can, you will have to support your claims with evidence.  Pre-Approval letters, bank statements, proof of funds, etc.  That is just how it works in today’s business landscape.

3) Lack of tech.

Time is the most important element in todays real estate market.  If you can’t answer & sign documents in a timely manner, it will kill the deal.  Given the fact that we don’t need wet signatures until the closing, you have to be ready & willing to use the tech at your disposal.

Looking at the small things that will kill a real estate deal is a big part of getting it done.  As an agent, we have to educate our clients as to what is expected & ease their mind that this is required.  If you have a firm stance, but an understanding of the process, you will win.

Kevin Hoover

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Zillow is WRONG!!

First, I like Zillow & the tools that it gives real estate buyers & sellers.  There is nothing more valuable than information when it comes to real estate.

However, everything will not be correct when you are operating at the volume of a company like Zillow.  That is not to say that they take short cuts or try to dupe the average home owner.  Zillow has a large task on their hands.

Any time you have an algorithm based value calculator, hundreds of markets that price differently & you are relying on information from other sources, there is a good chance that not everything will be accurate.  Zillow does a great job acknowledging this fact.  While it is not front page news on their site, it is on there.

ZESTIMATE:  There is, virtually, no way for a computer program to consider all the minute details that could impact the price of a property.  By pulling public records of the property & its history, Zillow gets a number that is as close as possible based on the information that they were able to obtain.

The one piece that is missing from their algorithm is comps.  Zillow doesn’t provide a comparative market analysis.  In many markets, that can be the determining factor when it comes to price.  

Over the years, Zillow has developed a great system for determining accuracy & they have been open about the potential for a Zestimate being inaccurate.  In their disclaimers, they even say that Zestimates “should not be used for pricing a home.”  Smart & safe.

I enjoy the fact that real estate buyers & sellers are showing up more educated than ever before.  Zillow is a big part of that trend.  As they created access & information, they also created trust.  However, there are still some things that you just can’t trust when it comes to algorithm based price structure.  

Be smart.  Do the work.  Hire a good agent.  Get the deal.

Kevin Hoover   

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Real Estate Success...4 Important Skills to Learn in Your First Year

The first year of your real estate career is the most important.  New agents are energized, optimistic & completely thinking of short term success.  The first goal is to get a paycheck.  As it should be.  

However, success during the first 24 months that will allow for rapid growth, more sales potential & create more time hinges on some key skills that you don’t learn in licensing courses.

1) Learn the legal.

Contracts are the telltale sign of a good, experienced agent.  If you join a team with a closing coordinator, this will be the last thing you are told to worry about.  The inclination & direction will be to get out there & sell.  You need to take the time to learn how to write, amend & negotiate a contract.  Instead of thinking about your next deal, think about your next growth phase. 

2) Don’t give money away.

Know your process & why it works.  There are a lot of things that other agents, brokers and marketers will suggest that you buy in order to do business.  Everything from a VA to a snazzy CRM.  If you are not joining a team that provides these things, have a clear understanding as to the problem you need to solve.  Find reviews & recommendations about the agent sales process.  How do agents that are at the level you are aspiring to be find leads, close leads & market to those leads.  You don’t have to spend a lot of money to achieve these things in your first year.   

3)  Know your numbers.

If you are not profitable, you won’t be in business very long.  The worst mistake you can make is to NOT treat this like a business.  Tracking expenses, miles, dues & marketing dollars is vital as you build success.  Get an accounting system in place, business accounts at your bank, an LLC perhaps & anything else that helps you understand that, even though you may work for another company, this is very much your business.  If you know your numbers, growth will be much easier.

4)  Accept growth at your own pace.

Plan your growth path & don’t give it a time frame.  Joining a team is the easiest way for a first year agent to earn quick success.  However, you have to be willing to accept growth at a faster or slower pace than your colleagues.  The emotions of no salary, lots of expenses & big checks at one time can be overwhelming.  Embrace that & work through it.  When you stop getting information & education from your team or company, it may be time to move on.  The money will come, but, in your first year, you need to have the self-awareness that charts your own course.  

The first year as a real estate agent is vital.  It will dictate your growth over the next five years.  If you have to learn these a few years into your business, it will be much more difficult than if you commit to starting as a business in year one.  Taking the time now to build a strong base in contracts, process, profitability & growth will create a viable way to achieve the things you want in real estate.

Kevin Hoover       

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When creativity meets caring.

Ryan Berman was on my podcast a few weeks ago & told me about this.  Well, he launched this week & it is AWESOME.  One off the most creative business minds that I have ever met & he happens to have a huge heart for helping people.  

Get on the site...get a pair of socks...help people.  That is THE action to take right now.  

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Put action to ideas. That is the only way to bring clarity to your vision. The ONLY way! When you start gaining clarity, you reduce fear. Go do it!

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New book in January 2018. Stay tuned.

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Talent attraction videos are VERY important to growing your business.  For my real estate group, this is the one I use ONCE I’ve had an exchange with a potential partner.  

How are you pitching your company to potential partners, employees or sponsors?