Simple Steps to Residential Real Estate Success

Want to be successful in residential real estate? It’s very simple. Do the following: Always network -- it’s your number-one priority. You also need to source and price inventory, track your systems, prospect, and make offers.

What I mean by that is you’re networking with individuals to acquire the maximum amount of inventory. You should be talking to everyone. A successful investor never knows where his next deal is going to come from, and I have seen deals come from the most unlikely sources. The more you’re out there networking, the greater the chance that opportunity will come your way.

And you’re always sourcing. Where did that deal come from? Where did we get this inventory? Where can we get more houses? When you have success in a certain area, you want to know where that success came from. You’re also asking yourself, What do I pay for this house? What is my exit strategy?

Then you have your tracking tools. These are your internal systems that will help you in determining the correct price at which to buy and sell your inventory, and that will also help you keep track of your inventory so that nothing falls through the cracks and that you know what part of the process each house is in.

Next you need to be making your offers. As soon as you can, you need to have the property inspected. At HIS Real Estate, we send several contractors to get multiple bids. That actually saves us money in the long run.

For example, we may have three contractors look at a property. One says he could do the work for $5,000. Another says he would do it for $4,000. The third says $6,000. We do not always take the cheapest. We take the one that’s going to do it the fastest and with the best service. That’s what we’re looking for. We also want to make sure there is no structural damage to the property. This is a big one.

We also keep prospecting for additional inventory. This is crucial for residential real estate success. You’re always looking for more houses, just as you’re looking for more buyers. So we start cross-qualifying buyers. We allow open houses in the properties. We look for buyers who are looking for a certain type of house in a certain area. That way, when one of our houses comes on the market, we have offers immediately.

This is a summary of what you have to do and what the process should be like. But the number-one thing is you’re always networking. You’re always networking because you want to be seen as the go-to company that is able to get the job done.