When you are a remote investor or digital nomad, you need a trusted team on the ground in the market in which you operate. Your team should consist of at least one person in each of these categories and ideally a secondary contact in each category as a back-up. Buying/Selling Real Estate Agent Property Manager Solicitor (Closing Agent) Handyman / General Contractor Property Inspector When you physically visit your chosen market, you number 1 priority should be meeting and building your power team.

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Market Research Websites Distressed Banks (for identifying bank owned homes prior to foreclosure sales) - www.bauerfinancial.com Price and Crime Heat Maps, Income and Blogs by Zip Code - www.city-data.com Demographics by ethnicity - Racial Dot Map City wide unemployment, income, GDP, house values - https://www.deptofnumbers.com Rent value - www.rentometer.com Crime - www.neighourhoodscout.com Types of Neighbourhoods/Markets Category A - Mansions - generally homes above 3,000 sq ft Category B - White Collar - generally homes above 1,500 sq ft Category C - Blue Collar - generally homes and multifamily homes between 1,000 and 1,500 sq feet. Category D - War Zones - generally homes where the neighbourhoods have chain-link fences, homes are boarded up, and sq feet of less than 1,000 sq ft.

The best way to identify and qualify cash buyers is to find people or companies who have already purchased homes for cash. Sometime you can glean this information from public county records (tax records). There are over 3,600 counties in the USA and each county have their own website with levels of data provided. Once you find who has made recent purchases in your desired market, you will want to call them to introduce yourself. You can say something like: Script 1: For companies and hedge funds that are buying properties for the purpose of building a rental portfolio: Hi my name is _____________. I see from your website that you’re buying houses, I’m curious as to what you’re picking up right now? <this will give you an indication of the types of properties that you should be looking for in order to on-sell to them> Script 2: For individuals who are renovating and selling properties at market value: “Hi, my name is ____________, I see you are buying houses but I wanted to see if you have anything for sale? <if they are selling, generally they will reveal more about their houses, such as 3 bed/2 bath, 1250 sq ft, neighbhood, types of renovations and or finishes and selling price. This is useful to know as it helps you identify their buying patterns and a price point at which you may be able to sell to them> You can then follow up by saying "I can sometimes get great deals on off-market or wholesale properties. Would you be interested in being added to my list of homes that I have secured?" In both scenarios, get the cash buyers details and keep in contact with them when you find and secure a property that meets their criteria

Anyone can find properties for sale on the MLS (multiple listing service). In order to add value, you need to be able to find properties that are off-market. Off-market are defined as properties that are not publicly listed or marketed for sale. They may be pre-foreclosed properties, bank owned properties, distressed properties, for sale by owner on a classified site, or properties that are not currently on the market in any form. Here are the 5 main types of off-market properties and where to find them: FSBO - For sale by owner. These do not include a paid agent who can charge commissions of between 6 and 7%. These homes are often found in classified listings on sites like Craigslist. www.craigslist.org Short Sales - these are properties where the owner is underwater on their mortgage. They are still making payments on the property, but the market value of the home is less than the mortgage on the property. In such a case, you may be able to negotiate a 3 way agreement whereby the bank will take a hair-cut (sells it short of the mortgage amount) by selling the property to you and the current market rate. The current owner walks away with no liability. These scenarios take time to negotiate. https://home.howstuffworks.com/real-estate/selling-home/short-sales.htm Pre-foreclosures - these are homes whereby the owner is has stopped making payments on their mortgage or property taxes but has yet to formally default. The bank or the city is yet to take repossession of the home. In such cases you may be able to contact the distress owner directly and negotiate to buy them out of their situation. Done right, this can be a win-win-win all round. https://www.zillow.com/foreclosures/ Foreclosures (shadow inventory) - these are homes whereby the owner has stopped paying their mortgage or property taxes but formal repossession has yet to take place. In some states, it can take a few years for formal repossession to occur after payments have stopped being made. During that period, a 3rd party buyer can be a solution and get a deal at a distressed price. https://www.zillow.com/foreclosures/ Bank or Government Owned Property - these are properties which the bank or county has now take possession of, but they have yet to put on the open market for re-sale. In such cases, if you are able to identify the banks who hold these homes. Use Bauer Financial to identify banks that are in distress and may be willing to off-load properties to you for pennies on the dollar - https://www.bauerfinancial.com/star-ratings/

On Market Sales Private Treaty Auction

As-is: Describes an offer to sell or purchase a home with-out any repair conditions being attached to the sale DOM: Days on Market. The lower the number the hotter and faster moving the market is Cash-only: Generally is a sign that the property needs work without which it would not qualify for a offer subject to standard bank financing. 1% rule: A terminology whereby an investor will offer up to buy a rental property if the monthly rent is 1% of the purchase price. (e.g. They will offer $100K for a property if it is rented for $1,000 per month) MLS: Multiple Listings Service FMV: Fair Market Value ARV: After Repair Value Comps: Comparable Market Sales Report

Flipping Houses is the term given to some-one who purchases a how with the intention to turn around and sell it quickly. Quickly is generally defined as a holding period of less than 12 months and the profits are subject to short-terms capital gains tax. Gingerbread Tax can assist with US tax questions. Flipping Houses has been popularised by many realty TV renovation shows. There are different types of flipping Quick Flips - Buying a house and on-selling it before closing. You have a qualified buyer lined up. Bird-dogging and Double Closing are two examples. Renovation Flips - This is where you will buy a home (often using short-term financing) and add value by renovating the home to sell on the open market at Fair Market Value. Re-finance Flips - This is where you buy a home, put in a tenant and refinance the property (often as part of a package) as a commercial product to sell.

An Assignment of Contract is where you enter an agreement to purchase a property. You draw up the contract to purchase in the name of "<your name and/or assigns> This type of agreement permits you to on-sell the contract to purchase the property within the agreed terms. If you have a list of qualified buyers, you can then agree to sell the contract to them for the contract purchase price, plus your free for putting the deal under contract. If you have multiple buyers who are interested, then you can get them to put in their highest and best offer for purchasing the contract.

Bird Dogging is a technique whereby a person will go and find a property that meets the specifications of a potential buyer. To do bird-dogging, you need to gather and qualify information on both the potential buyer and potential properties for them to purchase. You then act as a dating agent and bring the two together. You can then charge the buyer a finders fee if they proceed with purchasing the deal. The exact nature of the bird-dog fee can be agreed upfront with the buyer and paid independently or can be agreed to be included as a distribution from the closing agent at settlement. Generally a bird-dog fee is in the range of 1% of the purchase price or $3K - whichever is greater.

A Double Close (or same-day closing) is where you enter into an agreement to purchase a home for from a seller for $X and during the closing process you find a buyer who will buy the same property for $X + your profit. In such a case you can organise for the closing solicitor to transfer the property from the seller to you and then 10 minutes later to transfer the property to your buyer. Depending on the circumstances, you may not even need to furnish the funds if you end buyer will provide the solicitor the funds before either closing takes place. In some situations you never need to disclose your profit margin to either the seller or the buyer. Your profit margin can be as large as the market will reasonably bear. It is necessary to check the laws of your state in order to determine if this strategy is permitted. This strategy works in a fast rising market where you are able to secure an in demand property for below market price and have a list of qualified cash buyers who are wanting to buy such a property for the final sales price.

Tax Liens are

Building a portfolio of cash flowing rental properties is the goal for many flippers. Once a real estate investor owns a rental property they can leverage that to grow their rental portfolio using a strategy called BRRRR (Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat). This type of cashflow provides a regular income stream which allows the investor to leave their standard job.

Commercial Real Estate is a broad term to mean 'income producing property'. It generally refers to residential property with more than 4 doors and all non-residential real estate. What makes commercial property 'commercial' is the methodology by which financial institutions provide a valuation of the property. When a property is classed as commercial, the bank does not look so much at the capital value of the property, but more so at the income generation of the property. Non-residential commercial property can include the following: Storage Units - very little that can go wrong (no toilets or appliances) Trailer Parks - rent of the lot to residents Advertising Signs Industrial and Office Zonings

Land Banking is ...

REITs are Real Estate Investment Trusts.

Transactional Funding is super-short term funding in order to facilitate a transaction. It is available to those who can demonstrate that they have linked and qualified transactions lined up. Generally the funding is available to 24 hours with release conditions to a qualified solicitier. The cost is generally 1% of the funding provided. In such situations, the provider of the transactional funding will provide a 'proof of funds' letter. Example of a Transactional Funding Provider: https://besttransactionfunding.com

When you have a trading history

Hard money financing is financing whereby a private (non-bank) provider will loan you money on higher than average interest rates for short term purposes (e.g. Loan you 200K at 3% per month for up to 4 months and a 2 point establishment fee). People select hard money lenders when they don't have the history or documentation to qualify for a traditional bank or business loan, but they are confident that their real estate project will net them enough to pay the lending fees plus make their profit. A typical scenario may be a new couple to real estate who want to buy a distressed home in April and renovate it over the summer and sell it at market value in August. The hard money loan can be used for the purchase price and repair cost. They put in the sweat equity and reap the profit at the end of the summer. After doing a few of these hard money details, the couple will likely have the history whereby they can qualify for a bank loan the 3rd time they wish to do this.

Traditional US Banks are notorious for being unfriendly to deal with for international clients. The following digital banks are recommended for money transfers. They provide debit cards, US bank account numbers and good exchange rates.

Personal Credit Rating (FICO score) Business Credit Rating (Dun and Bradstreet Number)

1.Names 2.Address 3.Price - Legal consideration 4.Earnest Money - $500/$1000/10% down (HUD & VA) 5.Inspection Contingency 6.Closing Date Signatures/Initials

Most contracts will include a contingency. A contingency means that the offer is subject to a cooling off period of due diligence for a purpose. That purpose may include obtaining finance or conducting a home inspection report by a qualified inspector.