Lex Levinrad Real Estate Investor, Speaker, Author & Mentor

On today’s podcast episode I talk about understanding what a wholesale deal is.  Would you be able to recognize a wholesale deal from a house for sale? They are not the same.   Regardless of whether you want to wholesale real estate, fix and flip houses or buy rental properties you need to be able to understand what a wholesale deal is, and why someone would sell their house at a discount. If you have limiting beliefs or excuses of why you cannot own a rental property, then I will share with you a mind exercise that I sometimes use with my students that will help you overcome limited belief mindsets (like not having enough money to buy a rental property).  Here is the exercise Imagine your own mother inherited a million dollars and she wants you to buy single family rental properties for her. So you don't have to worry about having the money to buy rentals because she has the money. And you don't need to worry about having credit since you are paying cash (with her money). So now all you need to do is go out

On today's podcast episode I talk about the Buy, Repair, Rent and Refinance Method (BRRR).  On the last podcast episode, we talked about buying rental properties and the wealth creation effect of buying and holding rental properties for the long term.  Today, we are talking about how to employ the Buy, Repair, Rent and Refinance Method, how it works, and how it enables you to buy real estate with no money down (or with almost no money down).  I use as a case study on this podcast episode, my student Dale who recently purchased a rental property for $94,000. I loaned him $80,000 to purchase the property which was a private lender loan (using my own funds). This is definitely one of the advantages of being a coaching student.  At the Airbnb Boot Camp this past weekend, we covered the Buy, Repair, Rent and Refinance Strategy in detail and we showed our students how to effectively use the BRRR Strategy. We will be covering this again in a few weeks at the Buying Rentals and Building Wealth Boot Camp so make sure

On today's podcast episode, I talk about buying your first rental property. Buying a rental is a lot easier than you think, and you should consider doing it as soon as possible because buying rentals is the path to wealth and financial freedom. What prevents many new real estate investors from buying their first rental is limiting beliefs or obstacles that they believe that they have that prevent them from buying a rental property. This podcast episode will hopefully clear that up for you.  Another issue I see with rental properties is that some beginners think that buying a rental will create enormous amounts of cash flow for them. When they realize that they are only making a few hundred dollars a month and they are faced with maintenance, repairs, tenant headaches and evictions they get depondent and they quit and sell their property. I see this all of the time. And the reason that this happens is because they don't understand the long term wealth building that buying rental properties and holding those re

On today's podcast I talk about creating a life of financial freedom.  I think this is a very approriate time for me to be talking about this becauase last week I returned from a two month trip to the Bahamas where I was living on my catamaran.  I was interviewed by my students Fred and Andy on Sunday night on an IG Live that they were hosting, and one of their main questions on that interview revolved around how to create financial freedom, and what it means to build your life by design and to have a freedom lifestyle.   But their real question was "How do you manage to be off the grid in the Bahamas for two months and still have your real estate business run so efficiently? So I thought I would talk about this concept of financial freedom on today's podcast episode.  Building a life by design means having intent in how you want to live your life, and then creating that life and that lifestlye by purposely planning for it. Learning how to invest in real estate and building a real estate business that buys an

On today's podcast episode, I talk about the current state of the real estate market and where I think the market is heading.  One of the questions I get asked the most is "what do you think of the market right now" or "do you think the real estate market will crash. This podcast episode answers those questions.  Disclaimer: I cannot predict what will happen. No one can. There are too many unknown variables like war, interest rates, the Fed, the dollar, stock and bond markets, etc. However what I can tell you is my opinion on what I see and how I interpret it. That is what this episode is about.  Prices have moved exponentially higher. I was looking today at houses that were worth $150,000 in 2000 that are now on the MLS at $300,000. In many markets, prices have doubled in two years. So be very careful of listening to the "Case Shiller Home Price Index" and other data that is put out by mainstream companies because a lot of this data is skewed because it's an "average" or "median" of the entire country. Diffe

On today's Podcast, I interview my friend Brandon Bateman about Pay Per Click (PPC) and SEO For motivated sellers. I first met Brandon at my Collective Genius mastermind when I was introduced to him by a mutual friend. Brandon is running the PPC and SEO campaigns for some of the biggest real estate investors in the country (including many of my friends in my mastermind). Since we spoke about motivated seller marketing on the last podcast episode on this show, I thought it would be a great time to ask Brandon to come on to the podcast so that he could share some of his PPC and SEO Wisdom with all of my listeners. This episode is packed with a lot of information related to marketing to motivated sellers. We talk about Google Ads (PPC), Facebook Ads, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), website design and many other concepts related to motivated seller marketing. Brandon is an expert in PPC and SEO, so get out your notepad and make sure you take some good notes from this podcast episode! OUR REAL ESTATE TRAINING PR

On today's podcast episode I talk about marketing to motivated sellers. The main difference between new real estate investors, and expert real estate investors is the willingness to spend money on marketing. And this really boils down to understanding marketing costs and how marketing to motivated sellers really works. The first thing that you need to understand is cost per lead. If I mail out 10,000 postcards at a cost of 42 cents per postcard then my mail campaign cost me $4,200. If I get a response rate of 1/4 of 1 percent then that would work out to be 10,000 x 0.0025 which is 25 leads (sellers). If I spent $4,200 to generate those 25 seller leads, then my cost per lead is $4,200 divided by 25 which works out to be $168 per lead. So with that marketing campaign my cost per lead is $168. If after speaking to those 25 sellers, only 10 are truly motivated to sell and I decide to go on 10 seller appointments then the cost per seller appointment is $4,200 divided by 10 which is $420 per appointment. If I can c

On this podcast episode I talk about one of the most frequent questions I am asked lately, which is: "Is the real estate market going to crash"? While I don't think it's going to be like 2008 (although there is a very small chance it could be), the more likely outcome is a pullback in prices that will entice buyers back to the table. The main difference between 2008 and now, is that the reason that we got into the financial crisis back then was because banks had made very bad loans to borrowers that should not have been getting approved for mortgages. There were No Income/No Job Loans (Ninja Loans), and No Income/No Assets (Nina Loans). Literally anyone with a pulse could get approved for a mortgage and "stated income" and "no doc" loans were very common. Many of these loans were adjustable rate mortgages which reset at a higher Interest rate and some of them were even negative amortization loans. We all know how that ended with the 2008 financial crisis (very badly). I suggest you watch the movie "The Big Sh

On this podcast episode I talk about creative finance methods that are working in today's market and how you can employ these methods to make you a better real estate investor. The biggest issue in today's market is that there is a gap between seller's expectations and what they think their house is worth, relative to what a cash investor is willing to pay. The reason for this is because prices went up so much for so long that sellers became accustomed to getting close to market value (or close to the Zillow estimate). When there is a gap between what a seller is willing to accept and what the cash investor is willing to pay, then often turning to creative financing methods will help bridge that gap. One strategy that helps sellers get closer to retail is the Novations Strategy which we spoke about with our guest Eric Brewer on a previous podcast episode. This works well if the seller wants a price that is close to retail, and will not come down to the price you are willing to pay for a cash offer. Another st

On this podcast episode, I interview my student Andy Saintilus and we talk about his success as a real estate investor, and how and why he transitioned from long term rentals to short term rentals. Andy is just 33 years old. He attended his first real estate training event with me around 5 or 6 years ago. Shortly after that, he signed up for my one on one coaching program. Over the past 5 years, Andy has purchased 10 rental properties in Miami using the Buy, Repair, Rent and Refinance strategy (BRRR). I loaned him the money on all 10 properties - which is one of the benefits of my coaching program. In the past few years, he has transitioned his long term Section 8 rentals into short term vacation rentals that are listed on Airbnb. He now has all 10 properties in Miami listed as short term rentals on Airbnb. Andy now generates over $50,000 a month in income from Airbnb. He has also increased his net worth by almost 2 million dollars. And he is only 33 years old! In November, Andy quit his corporate job for goo

On today's podcast episode, I talk about the opportunity that will be created as a result of the ending of the foreclosure moratorium. The Foreclosure Moratorium ended in September 2021, however the CDC recommended that banks not pursue homeowners in foreclosure until the end of the 2021. Most banks waited until the end of last year. Many States require a 120 day "grace period" before the bank can sue or foreclosure on an individual that is not paying their mortgage. That expired at the end of April 2022. So we are now going to see many homeowners who have not been paying their mortgages start receiving notices of default (NOD) or Lis Pendens (foreclosure lawsuit). The net result is that many of these homeowners will have to face some hard realities. They will have to either sell their home or lose it to foreclosure. These homeowners who have not been paying their mortgage (some since March of 2000) are going to have only 3 choices which are: 1. Have the bank agree to a loan modification 2. Sell their home be

On today's podcast I talk about understanding financial freedom, the velocity of money and how these concepts are both related to your mindset about money. If you could buy a rental property today for $100,000, that was rented to a tenant that paid you $1,000 per month in rent, and your cost to maintain that property was $1,000 per month would you buy it? Unfortunately, for most new investors, the answer would be no. Would you feel like you were not getting a return on your money if the property was just breaking even? Most people would feel that way. And that is because they don't understand the velocity of money. Let's look what would happen with that same property if you had a 15 year fixed rate mortgage. In just 15 years, the property would be paid off, and you would own it free and clear (with no mortgage). 15 years later, not only would the value of the property double to $200,000, but the rents would double as well (from $1,000 to $2,000). And if you owned that property free and clear most of that $2,0

On today's podcast episode, I talk about exit strategies in real estate. I find that too many educators and real estate podcasts out there are focusing on the acquisition strategy and finding properties. While finding deals is important, I think it's equally important to understand what to do with a property once you own it. Ironically, what you plan on doing with the property once you own it, is directly related to finding properties. If you know what you are looking for, then you know where to search and what to search for. This is the biggest mistake I see new real estate investors make. They are not sure what they are looking for. Once you identify the type of property that you want, then you can focus on the exit strategies which are: *Buying Rental Properties For Wealth *Selling Rentals with Owner Financing *Selling Rentals with Rent to Own *Fixing and Flipping The Property *Airbnb & Short Term Rentals Ultimately, if your goal is to create wealth and financial freedom, then you should focus on buyin

On today's episode, I talk about buying houses on terms. This is a follow up to our previous podcast episode, which spoke about the Novations Strategy. If you have not already listened to that episode I encourage you to do so. In today's market, if you are doing direct to seller marketing, you are going to be facing sellers who know that the market is hot and know that they can get top dollar. You are going to encounter many scenarios where the seller wants a retail price or close to retail, and as a cash investor you simply cannot pay that much. If you are paying cash, you are typically buying properties at around 70 cents on the dollar. Usually you are using a hard money or private lender to buy properties for cash and because the rates are high, you have to buy at a significant discount for the deal to make sense. But is there a case for you to buy properties at a higher price like 80 to 90 cents on the dollar? There may be, if there is existing financing in place and the rate is very low on that financing

On today's podcast episode I invited my friend Eric Brewer, who is a member of my Collective Genius Mastermind to talk about Novations. I first heard Eric talking about Novations a few years ago, at one of our mastermind meetings. Since then, I have seen many of my friends from the mastermind implement this method in their own real estate investing. This strategy is perfect for deals where the seller wants more than you are willing to pay. It also allows you to earn bigger spreads. Eric explains how to use this novation method. There are a lot of golden nuggets in this episode! Make sure you take lots of notes. If you are brand new to real estate and want to learn more about our real estate training programs, investing in real estate, buying rental properties, wholesaling real estate, and fixing and flipping houses then please register using the free webinar training links below: FREE WHOLESALING TRAINING https://www.lexlevinrad.com/webinar FREE FIXING AND FLIPPING TRAINING If you want to learn how to fix and

On today's podcast episode, I talk about investing in foreclosures, short sales and bank owned properties. The Federal Eviction Moratorium and the Foreclosure Moratorium both recently expired (as of September 2021). Current government guidelines recommend that banks and mortgage servicers try to "work out" and negotiate with homeowners that are delinquent on their mortgage. Banks are able to modify the terms of the loan, can decrease interest rates, increase loan term, or add money owed to the back end of the loan. Many homeowners have taken advantage of forbearance options and will be able to modify their loan. However, homeowners that are delinquent on their mortgage and cannot pay will be facing foreclosure. There are currently millions of homeowners who are delinquent on their mortgage and not in forbearance. I anticipate that 2022 will be the year of foreclosures. Many of these homeowners will not be able to make their mortgage payments and the banks and mortgage service companies will be forced to file

On today's podcast episode I talk about the opportunity in short term rentals and Airbnb. Over the past 2 years, some of my students have transitioned from rental properties and section 8 rentals to Airbnb. And the opportunity in short term rentals is something that you need to pay very close attention to. As an example, my student Andy had a Section 8 Rental Property in Miami that was generating around $2,200 per month. When the tenant moved out, he decided to turn the rental property into a short term Airbnb rental. That same property now generates north of $8,000 per month. Over the past 12 months he has been converting all of his rental properties to Airbnb. He is only 32 years old and he is already financially free. My student Davidson purchased a property on the West Coast of Florida in Lehigh Acres that he was originally intending on fixing and flipping. I encouraged him to explore the opportunity of keeping it as a short term rental. His listing just went live yesterday and in the first 24 hours he ha

On this podcast episode I talk about rental property returns and the components that make up the rental income and the rental expenses. As an example, I use a typical 3 bedroom 2 bathroom house that could be purchased for $250,000 in Port St Lucie FL. This house could be rented for $1,800 which would represent an annual gross rental income of $21,600. I break down the expenses on a property like this to show you how the rental income and expenses would be broken out in order to arrive at your net rental income (which is your real return). Gross Annual Income $21,600 Property Taxes $4,000 Property Insurance $3,000 Repairs & Maintenance $1,800 Vacancies and Evictions $1,800 Property Management $2,160 Net Rental Income $8,840. If you were to purchase this property for the price of $250,000 and you paid cash, then your return of $8,840 on a $250,000 would return you only 3.5% on your cash. Now granted that's better than a CD in the bank, but it's still a low return. So why invest in real estate? The answers a

On today's podcast episode I talk about why every real estate investor needs to know how to find wholesale deals. Even if you don't want to be a wholesaler, you should still know how to deploy the method that wholesalers use to find deals. If you are a landlord looking for a rental property you are looking for a wholesale deal at a wholesale price. If you are a rehabber looking for a fix and flip or your next Airbnb, you are looking for a wholesale deal at a wholesale price. And if you don't know how to find these deals, then you are paying a wholesaler a fee of $10,000 to $20,000 (or more) for each and every property that you buy. It would benefit you to learn how wholesalers find deals and to employ some of their tactics of finding deals directly from motivated sellers so that you can cut out the "middle man". On this podcast episode I talk about how wholesalers use different ways of marketing to motivated sellers to find deals. I discuss motivated seller marketing, text marketing, direct mail, pay per clic