Dave Lindahl Answers 27 Questions on
Financing Your Deals
Dear Fellow Real Estate Investor,
You recently requested more information from me about how to attract private money. Here it is.
Around 50 B.C., an old guy named Publilius Syrus said "Money alone sets all the world in motion."
Well, more than 2,000 years later, I think he might just as well have been speaking about real estate investing! Money isn't everything, but knowing how to attract money sure makes real estate investing easier.
I thought you might like to know my answers to a bunch of questions I've received from people across the U.S.
Who is Dave Lindahl?
If you need a refresher on my background, I was a burned-out landscaper 14 years ago. I had:
- No money (OK, that's not totally true; I did have a whole $800 in the bank);
- No time (that one is definitely true, because each night after a full day of grunting dirt and railroad ties around in my landscaping business, it was all I could do to pop a cool one and collapse in my chair in front of the TV);
- No experience. My family didn't know anything about real estate. In fact, I got the "Dave, you're making a big mistake!" speech when I mentioned real estate.
I didn't "luck into" a fortune. I instead made it using tested and proven systems I developed over time. At first they were crude, but I hate making the same mistake twice, so I got better fast.
One of the key areas I focused on throughout my 14 years of doing real estate is attracting private money. In 2007, I attracted over $22 million in private money to fund 11 deals with a market value of $87 million. I now control over $160 million in real estate across the country.
What is "private money" in the first place?
It's all the non-standard people and places you can go to attract money for your deals. We all grew up thinking that you borrow money from banks. They'd like for you to continue to think that way. But there's a whole rainbow of other money sources once you know where to look. I'll talk much more about these sources later in this report.
As a novice in this area, how can I get people to trust me enough for them to give me their money?
Good question. You have to make it not so much about trust as about the property. Yes, you need to come across as professional. There are two good ways to do that: First, have a professional presentation. Second, don't be desperate.
If you have your marketing system revved-up, you'll know that there will be other deals around the corner. When you have your private-money system similarly revved-up, you will know that another lender is just around the corner, too. Your confidence will then rub off on the lenders. I don't mean cockiness, but quiet confidence.
I would like to know how to raise enough private money so when I see a good deal, I can offer all cash and close in 10 days with no contingencies. I think by doing that, I could make some really good offers.
You're absolutely right: Think how professional you come across when you can offer all cash for a great deal, and close quickly with no contingencies! And think about something else: What I just mentioned in the last sentence can be done on your first deal! Stated another way, if you have enough private money backing you up, you can offer all cash, close quickly and with no "fine print" in the offer. And will a seller care that you're a first-timer? Of course not, because your money will be a lovely shade of green.
Should I put an ad in the newspaper that I am looking for private investors?
That's certain death with the SEC! In case you don't, know that's the "Securities and Exchange Commission", which regulates investments at the federal level. See below.
How can I advertise and keep out of trouble with the SEC?
If it's a private placement, you can NOT advertise, period. What happens if you do? Then the SEC can come in and tell you that your deal is in fact a "public offering". If you thought that's just a simple disagreement about terminology, you'd be wrong. If you're a public offering and you did not register to be a public offering, right out of the gate you're in violation of SEC rules. For instance, you didn't file a prospectus with the SEC, and that's required of all public offerings. There are other rules you just ran afoul of, too.
Bottom line: You can NOT advertise for your investment.
That does not mean you have to sit under a rock and hope people stumble over you. In my live event I talk at some length about the ways you can get the word out that you have a deal. You must be very careful about when you tell people about your deal, exactly what you tell them about it, and your documents that back up the careful sequence you follow when talking with people. Once you get the hang of it, the process really is no big deal.
With the current credit markets in turmoil, is now a good time to try and finance a deal?
If you're trying to go into the front door of a conventional, gray-suited banker and ask for money, yes, you're going to have a hard time.
But that's not private money. The people with private money are not the guys with one foot out the skyscraper window because they gambled wrong and now lost billions of dollars in the "subprime mortgage" mess. No, private lenders are average people going about their jobs. Kate, one of my students, discovered from me how to do a quick, informal pitch to just about everyone she meets. Not pushy, but just matter-of-fact style. Her car mechanic had money to lend her! With all the potholes in New England where Kate lives, it's no wonder that mechanic's a rich guy.
I looked for angel investors in my state. The only ones I found focused on tech and start ups. If an angel group is out of the state I am in, does that hurt my chances for funding?
Some angel investors may want to fund local deals, but it all depends on the investor and the deal.
There's no such thing as a Bad Deal; only a Bad Price. Believe me, if you have a great deal, you'll be able to get angel investors from Antarctica. On the other hand, if angel investors can find plenty of good deals near their location, they probably will pass on distant ones. It all comes down to three things:
- Supply and demand;
- Your marketing skills; and
- The quality of the deal.
Are there any avenues for someone with credit challenges to flip properties?
Let's assume for a minute that you go into an antiques store and find an incredible bargain. And let's assume the place is not a front for stolen goods. In your excitement to pay and have ownership of this rare and unbelievable find, will you stop to inquire about the credit rating of the cashier?
It's no different with flipping properties. If you have a great deal—and it needs to be a legitimately solid bargain—your buyer will not care if you just walked out of bankruptcy court. The seller will recognize a real deal and buy it from you.
Flipping is not a long-term relationship. It's saying "Here's a good deal, and if you want it, you'll have to get it through me." It's not like you're going to a bank to ask for a construction loan where you'll be doing the construction yourself and have no experience. A flip is a low-risk, relatively low-reward way to make several thousand dollars without taking much of your time, and without taking on lingering responsibilities.
I need to know how to raise investment money from private sources. I have yet to understand why when I ask this question to guru types or my local people in real estate investment clubs, they all try to immediately tell me to try hard money. Why would I pay more than I need to borrow money?
They're telling you "hard money" because it's often the fastest way to get money for your deal. Hard money lenders usually will just look at the quality of the deal and will loan you money regardless of your personal situation—if the deal's good enough. If it's a marginal deal they may still lend to you, but at a higher interest rate and/or less amount of money.
You then asked why you would pay more than you need to in order to borrow money. But that's a strange question to ask. Of course you shouldn't pay more than you need to—but you may very well end up paying more than you want to.
When I started out, I hated the idea that hard money lenders were taking such high fees on my deals. I'd be just fuming to myself: "What gives them the right to rip me off like that when I'm doing all the work and they're just skimming a bunch of MY dollars off the top of my deal!"
Well, it should be obvious to you what the answer is: They didn't force me to take their deal. I was starting out in the business and didn't have much of a track record to make a conventional lender feel all warm and fuzzy. So they got that fat profit from my deal because they had the nerve to ask for it and I had no better alternatives than to take it.
Of course, I didn't have a "Dave Lindahl" as my mentor to tell me all the other ways of attracting cash for my deals. So I did it the hard way: Credit cards at first, then hard lenders, until I slowly learned when to use which of a whole bunch of lending sources.
I'm having a hard time doing my first deal. How could I possibly afford the cost of attracting private money to my deals, too?
You may find this hard to believe, but attracting private money can actually make you money, never mind cost you. That's right: It's all due to a little thing called an "Acquisition Fee".
You don't always get acquisition fees when you have private money. If you simply get an investor to lend you money and that person gets a second or third mortgage on a property, you're unlikely to get a fee. But when you put together a private placement and get several investors into the deal, now you're likely to earn a fee.
How big are these fees?
Mine are often $100,000 per deal. For just doing the deal.
You may say "Yeah, but that's you, Dave. What can an investor like me expect?"
Esther, one of my students in San Francisco, got almost $23,000 on the close of her first private placement. On her second deal in Texas, she was nervous about asking for more, but she did anyway. On that one (with the same partners who wanted to invest again with Esther), she got $34,000 at the close. I have other students who've gotten over 6 figures for doing a deal.
But let me be clear: You don't get the fee if you don't ask for it! It takes some nerve, and no one's going to say "Hey Joe, where's your acquisition fee? You gotta put that in our deal!" That's why I spend a lot of time in my live event explaining when and how you include such fees into your deals.
Once you get the hang of it, you'll never go back! You'll be getting paid to do larger deals with none of your own money. That's another way of saying "heaven".
I don't completely understand the no money down concept. Can you explain?
Sure. The late-night infomercial boys have not really been straight with you: They try to say that there are plenty of "no money down" deals out there. In my experience, there are some of them, but even those ones are usually not good deals. (After all, if you only care about getting "a job" or "a spouse", I can fix you up real fast. You won't like it, though! What we're after are "good jobs" and "good spouses", right?)
Here's the trick: There are many more good deals that do in fact require a down payment—but if you know what you're doing, it doesn't have to be a down payment of your personal money. There are ways of finding other investors to put up the down payment.
When you approach real estate this way, your deal horizons open up. Let the infomercial students keep frantically searching for the "no money down" deal, while they pass up the opportunities that you can easily pick up, all because you have financing sources ready to rock and roll.
This technique is a way of finding great deals in even competitive markets, because most of your competition will not have the financing capability that you do.
Can I do a no-money-down financing on apartments if I do not have any past experience?
Yes you can. You need several things in place, though:
- You need a great marketing system to bring you lots of deals.
- That will mean that you know the local market and can quickly determine that a deal is in fact a winner, because you've seen so many losers go by.
- You do not try to manage the property yourself! If it's truly a good deal, it will support having professional property management. If you have a pro doing the management, that pro will have a long and successful track record to show lenders.
- You need a great Lenders Presentation. You want to come across as professional when you slide this presentation across the desk to the lender. You see, lenders of multi-family deals are looking primarily at the deal and not at you. (At least the good ones do. There's that "good" word again.) When you can show a solid deal, with great property management, and are not asking for 100% financing, that will be impressive. (Remember, you can get that down payment from other investors.)
You can definitely take these steps above and over time create your own effective approach for getting deals together. If you're impatient and want to use someone else's proven methods, you can do that, too: I go through each of these steps in detail at my Unlimited Private Money live event. I do role plays of various situations at the event, and you really get to see how the presentation works from beginning to end. If you'd like more information, please contact my office at 781-878-7114.
Will I have to give any investor part of my deal?
Not necessarily. It depends on how badly you want financing, how many options you have for getting financing, and what the investment environment is like at the time.
If you've lined up a lot of private money and one investor is asking for much more than others with whom you've spoken, your response should be one word: "Next". Simply move on to those other investors.
On the other hand, if your financing just fell through and you're closing in a week, then how badly do you want the deal? If the answer is "badly", you might have to give up more of the deal in order to nail down the financing. It happens.
Do you promise your investors a particular rate of return on their investment? If so, what is it? Is there a range depending on the level of investment?
The short answer to the first question is "no". You NEVER promise a rate of return. If you do that, it starts to sound like a guarantee, and do you really want to be in the business of making investment guarantees?
"But Dave", you say, "won't investors want to know what they'll get for a return?"
Of course they will. You just don't want them to get the impression that they WILL RECEIVE a specific percentage or dollar return, regardless of the circumstances. Real estate ebbs and flows with the economy, and so will returns to some extent.
Potential investors who are still uncomfortable even after you've explained that you cannot "promise" them a specific return—you don't want them in your deal! You're simply asking for trouble if they're in. You instead must talk about ranges of numbers, and be clear on the factors that can result in the range. For example, you might talk about different cash flow amounts based on occupancy and rent levels that the property might achieve.
The point is that you don't have a crystal ball, and your investors should not expect one. Resist the urge to be highly specific up front, and you'll get better (more realistic) investors in your deals.
Is it REALLY possible to get a GOOD deal in today's unstable market with no money, and no financing?
Yes.
How can I be so certain? Because real estate is known as an "inefficient market". It's not like IBM stock, where it's valued by the stock exchange and everybody can check the price and look at the annual report.
Instead, real estate is unbelievably inefficient: At any given time, huge numbers of people are being born and dying, losing their jobs and landing their first job, moving and getting married. These life activities all can change their need for housing. Sometimes they have to act right now. If you''re an investor in the right place at the right time, with the right kind of financing, you can pick up superb deals in any market.
Oh, and if you're wondering how to be "in the right place at the right time", you can vastly increase your odds of doing so by having a world-class marketing machine. If you are efficiently getting the word out that you're in the market for deals, then you're ahead of 98% of investors, and you'll enjoy far more than your share of the good deals that pop up.
I need to find $$ sources beyond friends and family, who are all very skeptical of real estate investments of any kind, particularly in this down market.
Friends and family can occasionally be OK sources for funds. It depends on the individuals. Here's one response I got when I just started out:
"You're kidding, right? You want me to lend you money for real estate? Hah! I remember when you were a little kid and couldn't tie your shoes! That's the Dave Lindahl I know... you'll never make it in real estate! Hey Martha, guess what the Lindahl kid from down the street just asked me about!..."
Trust me: When you run into any negative reactions, you must do 3 things:
- Don't try to convince them;
- Never bring the topic up again with them; and
- Don't let their negativity get inside your head and deter you from moving your real estate investing career forward!
Some of your family and friends will be great. Others won't be. They'll secretly resent that you're doing things to succeed and will not help you get to your destination. In fact, they may try to sabotage your trip.
OK, now that I got that out of the way, on to your real question: Yes, there are plenty of sources beyond friends and family. There are "angel investors" who are successful businesspeople who regularly lend money on deals. You can also get money from "hard money lenders" who don't care about you, but only care about the deal. I know, they've been compared to loan sharks. So what. Sometimes you come across a deal that's so good, you are willing to give up some significant profit in order to make the deal happen.
There are plenty of other sources, like local banks, conduit lenders, and big national lenders. One great source is also people who didn't even know they were lenders! That's right: They're people with money in self-directed IRAs and they're continually upset at earning a lousy few points of interest. If you approach these people with a professional presentation for a local property, some of them will wish they knew about you a lot sooner. Which brings me to a related question:
Can you raise private money from a self-directed IRA?
True "self-directed" IRAs are great places to find money. The thing is, most people think they're in a self-directed IRA when in reality, they've been fed a pack of lies by their securities firm.
Here's the scam: The Big Boys on Wall Street think you're an idiot. (Don't take it personally; they think everyone else is an idiot, too.) They are also greedy. So this is how the discussion goes at one of the "Acme Financial Services off-site planning meetings":
"Hey, let's tell our idiots—um, customers—that we're putting them into the "Acme Retirement Security Self-Directed IRA", when in fact we'll just allow them to invest from among stocks we sell them, bonds we sell them, mutual funds we make commissions on, and money market accounts we gouge them with. We'll get our lawyers to put in really really small print whatever we need to, in order to make it legal. The idiots will never know the difference!"
Meanwhile, the truly smart investors would never dream of establishing an IRA with one of these companies. Instead, they establish a truly self-directed IRA. To do that, you need to go with a company whose only business is establishing IRAs. Do NOT go with a firm that has an advertising budget the size of many small nations, and that makes its money from selling you stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. Go with a pro.
When you do, you still have to abide by federal regulations. For instance, you can't buy gold bullion in your self-directed IRA. But you CAN buy real estate, if you follow the rules. Fortunately, these firms are really good at knowing those rules and they make it easy to stay in compliance.
How do I choose the best company to open a self-directed IRA with?
Whatever you do, do NOT go with one of the major securities firms on Wall Street for a "self-directed IRA". I change my mind from time to time on who are the best providers of truly self-directed IRAs, so you should call my office at 781-878-7114. Tell them you were reading about IRAs in my Unlimited Private Money report, and you'd like to know Dave's current recommendations. They'll give you the latest info.
How can I line up a private lender who will lend on my "beck and call"!
Just remember Dave's Three Golden Keys to Business Relationships. You don't know them? They go like this:
Key #1: Always, do what you say you're going to do. (Most investors blow past deadlines, or don't return phone calls, or never get around to sending in documents.)
Key #2: Make doing business with you easy. (Most investors never think how to save the other person's time and effort.)
Key #3: Don't be a pain in the butt. (Most investors like to nit-pick and pester until they get their way.)
Believe me when I tell you—these may seem like simple statements, and they actually are simple. But only about 1 out of every 20 investors follows even one of these keys! How many investors follow all three of them? OK, now I have to get out my calculator... that's 1/20th times 1/20th times 1/20th...or 1 out of every 8,000 investors! Let's say I'm off by a factor of 10. That still means you'll be the only investor out of 800 who follows all three of these principles. And THAT's how you get lenders, real estate brokers, and sellers lined up to want to deal with you!
Are there any other options besides banks and private lenders?
That's not the right question to ask. That's a little like saying "Is there anything besides animals and non-animals?" Here's what I mean:
When you say "banks", if you mean established commercial lenders, there are lots of different ones. Private lenders are everyone else.
In the world of people who lend money as a profession, you have banks, savings and loans, real estate investment trusts, corporations, insurance companies, pension funds, Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, and the list goes on.
Among private lenders there are hard money people, friends and relatives, "arm's-length" lenders (i.e., not related to you), and others. In a sense, seller financing is a type of private money, too.
There are plenty of lenders out there. You just need to know how to attract the ones interested in the kind of deals you're trying to do.
How can I leverage the equity in one investment property to purchase another?
You sure can. The best way I know is to do a "Section 1031 Exchange". It's the greatest thing the government has created in a very long time.
If you follow some fairly straightforward rules, you can sell one property, take all the proceeds from it and buy another property without having to pay one thin dime in taxes. The deal isn't tax-free; instead it's tax-deferred. Yes, eventually you'll pay taxes on your big pile of dough. But the feds don't care if you trade up and up, to ever-larger properties, as long as you follow the rules.
Are we offering securities if we solicit private money where we provide duties related to the deal and the investor/lender has an expectation of profit?
I urge you to ask your own securities attorney for the official word on these matters. But here's the general rule: It's not your duties or the expectation of profit that turns something into a security. It's when you divide up an investment into multiple identical pieces with identical rights and collateral that you've become a security.
Here's the tricky part: You can become a security even if you never call yourself one! As they say, "If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's a duck." In other words, the regulators will look at your arrangement. If it walks and quacks like a security, it's a security. In that case, you had better been treating it like a security all along, or you'll be in violation from the outset.
This stuff isn't rocket science. That's why in my live event we talk at length about the rules you need to follow in order to be in compliance with the boys in black suits and no sense of humor.
Do you standardize the investment sizes when you get money from other investors, or do you accept different amounts from different investors for the same project?
You really can set them at any amount you want. There are some factors to consider, though:
When you make the "unit size" too big, people get a little scared. If you say it's $100,000, they may feel like that's too rich for their blood, and they may not want to seem "cheap" by only taking a half unit.
If you set it at $10,000, you may get people who only give you $10,000 when they might have been able to do $40-60,000.
In a private placement, you can only have 35 non-accredited investors, maximum. (You can have an unlimited number of accredited investors.) So depending on how much you're trying to raise, you may run into problems with too many non-accredited investors if you make the investment units too small.
I spend some time in my live event talking about whether it's better to get accredited or non-accredited investors into your deals. There are pros and cons to each side of that argument.
Many lawyers I've contacted do not seem able to set up syndications. What is the best way to find a lawyer who can do this?
Be very careful here. Some lawyers are great (I'd never do a deal without 'em), but many think they're know-it-alls. Therefore they'd much rather tell you "don't do it" than tell you "I don't know anything about that area, so I'll refer you to someone else." Even worse is the lawyer who doesn't know what he's doing, but works with you on the project just so he can collect the fee!
You need a "securities attorney" when you're bringing in money from other people. This is usually a different person from your real estate attorney. These people are just as specialized as a foot doctor and a kidney doctor. Sure you can save money by going to your "country doctor" who tries to patch you up regardless of what's wrong with you'but do you really want to?
Yes it will cost you more money to get the securities attorney in addition to your other advisors. But remember, the deal needs to be good enough to support the cost of your team.
Can you pool private money and not get into trouble with the SEC?
Yes you can. People do it all the time. But don't just blunder in and think you can figure it out through common sense and "trial and error". Unfortunately, the SEC doesn't give you a certain number of free tries before you get it right.
Fortunately, the rules are not written in Ancient Egyptian. Most of them make a lot of sense. You can get very far down the road by following how other experienced people have put together their deals—and then you want to run your deal by your securities attorney before actually rolling it out.
Once you've constructed one deal, fortunately the next one is way easier. You can mostly use that first deal as a cookie-cutter template to do later ones, but be warned: You still must run later deals by your securities attorney to make sure you didn't miss anything, and that the rules haven't changed since your last deal. It's a small price to pay to keep everything legal and air-tight.
Why isn't everyone doing this, if it's so great?
Because it does take some effort to get off your duff and discover the principles of attracting private money. According to the U.S. Government, in 2006 the average amount of TV that guys watched was around 2½ hours per day (you ladies are better, but not by much!). So let's see, that's more than 912 hours per year, or 22 standard work weeks. Only the success-oriented people among us will carve out a tiny fraction of that time and make it pay off big-time in the freedom that real estate investing brings. Hey, we all make our beds and we then get to sleep in them.
Even if I offered my live event down at the YMCA for free, I doubt if many people would pull themselves away from the Idiot Box to attend. As it turns out, I actually charge for my years of battle-scarred knowledge. So that means even fewer people take advantage of it.
It's therefore not hard to imagine that the people who do show up at my events are fired up to succeed. They also help each other: At my last event, some students got together and pooled their knowledge and energy. They're now an investing team of five people, and are working on getting deals ranging in size from $6 million to $15 million! They all speak the same "language of money" they got at my live event, and they keep each other motivated.
What would you do differently with financing if you were starting your real estate career over again?
People think I made my fortune pretty quickly, but I see where I could have been on Easy Street even sooner. Let me describe the Slow, Common Way of approaching real estate:
The Slow, Common Way to Wealth:
- You think about investing for a long time before you do anything about it and actually take action.
- You learn by trial and error.
- That first deal finally happens, usually through lots of "sweat equity" on your part.
- You do that same painful approach for a few more times until you either burn out or get smart.
- Finally you give up some of the profit in your deal in order to use other people's money or labor, and realize you can do more deals that way. Things get a little easier.
- You finance using banks where you can, but have to pass on lots of good deals because the banks want too much down, or are too slow.
- Eventually you get smart, and through lots of trial-and-error, you realize there's a whole big world of private-money financing out there.
- Now your investing really takes off.
The Fast, Uncommon Way to Bigger Wealth:
- You decide there's no real merit in getting the bruises and scars yourself, and you're OK with borrowing the methods that others have paid dearly to learn.
- You realize quickly that real estate is about marketing systems—for finding deals, for attracting money, and for finding buyers of your deals. You put those systems in place ASAP.
- You realize early on that it's not about you (as in "my credit's too crummy for a lender") and it's in reality all about the deal (as in "That third eye in your forehead is kinda interesting—I'd like to buy that great deal you just told me about.")
- You never get married to a deal because you have the confidence that if this one falls through, there are plenty of other fish in the ocean.
- You're fine with deals that require down payments, because you know how to get the down payment from your stable of private lenders.
- Your investing takes off from your very first deal
I wish I had that Uncommon Mindset from the get-go! I would have been richer, faster, and with way fewer scars!
The Myth of Perfection
Please don't fall into the trap of feeling like you have to get great at attracting private money. You no doubt have lots of other responsibilities and too little time to do them, never mind something new.
Here's the wonderful thing I discovered: You don't have to be world-class at attracting private money; you don't even have to be great. You just have to be OK at it!
If all you are is somewhat better than other investors, you'll be the King of the Hill. You can worry about getting perfect later. Just get OK at it now!
Believe me, at my event, I'll take you from wherever you are now to more than "OK". I'm not going to insult your intelligence the way other gurus do and promise that you'll know absolutely everything you could ever discover about private money in three short days. That's just silly.
I do promise that I'll get all your questions answered, and that you'll see step-by-step how I and other people attract private money right now, in early 2008, in this real estate market, with all the election talk, subprime-mortgage worries and recession concerns. Some of us are quietly doing deal after deal, because we're choosing not to participate in the soft economy.
What My Live Event is Like
I've designed this event to install into your brain everything you need to know in order to start bringing in big money.
Let's look at what we'll do together:
Spend 3 days with me personally
I don't have some junior assistant teach this event, which is coming up on March 24-26. I conduct it personally. I'm there for the full three days. You can ask me questions during the sessions, or you can simply wait and ask me in private during a break. Either way's good with me.
You can also hang back and just listen to the dozens of other questions people ask, and my answers. My goal is to empty you out of all your questions and fill you with the answers and techniques to start attracting money immediately.
Notice I say "attract". Forget about "searching" or "finding" private money. You'll be putting out very specific and efficient bait that will allow you to attract the lenders to you.
You'll find when people ask you about investing, it's so easy just to answer their questions! No memorizing of long pitches or speeches here! Just talking with folks who demonstrate an interest in lending.
My event is not cheap. To spend a full 3 days with me and come away with the ability to attract as much money as you'll ever need—that event has a registration fee of $2995. But remember: This one-time fee is only a small fraction of the up-front fee you'll get on your very first deal. And you'll soon be doing deal after deal, to satisfy the growing list of private lenders wanting to invest through you.
Meet someone who literally started out broke and made a billion dollars
You'll meet Bill Bartmann, a friend of mine. Bill was born next to a slaughterhouse and became a gang member at age 14. He was an alcoholic at 17. Yet he rose to become the 25th wealthiest person in America. His take-home pay in one year was more than $500,000 per DAY. That's not a typo.
You'll have the opportunity to meet Bill and hear his absolutely unforgettable story. It's much more than a story, though, because Bill will share how you too can become wealthy, no matter what is in your path. You can even have someone take a picture of you with Bill.
Get to know a securities attorney
One of my securities attorneys will be at the event the entire time. He will make a presentation, and the rest of the time he'll be there to answer all of your questions. He's a real pro, and he typically charges $250.00 per hour.
Watch me role play
Techniques are no good unless they're tested, proven, and realistic. That's why you'll watch me role play the part of both a new investor and seasoned investor. I'll demonstrate right before your eyes exactly how to attract private money. You or someone else is welcome to play the part of your "nightmare person", and see how I handle the situation. You'll come away seeing exactly how easy it is to talk with people about private money.
Confused about debt vs. equity deals? We'll clear that up.
We'll go over in great detail whether you're better off doing a debt offering or an equity one. (That is, will your investors be lending you money and getting an interest rate, or will they be co-investing and getting a piece of the deal.)
If you think "Oh, that's easy—I'd always do this kind of offering", you'd probably be wrong. We'll discuss when you're better off doing a debt deal and when it's a no-brainer to do an equity one.
Discover where I found 42% of my private money last year.
Given that I raised $22 million last year, we're talking a decent amount of cash from this one type of lender.
I'll share rates of return and percentages
If you give investors too low of a return, they won't be interested and you deal doesn't happen. But you don't want to give away the farm, either. Let me be Goldilocks and hand you the rates of return and deal structures that are just right , right now in 2009.
Make your life easy by using my software
I will give you software where you can plug in the numbers, income, expenses, and mortgage amount to your property. It will instantly tell you whether or not you can syndicate that deal. More importantly, you'll know how to tweak that deal so the numbers make sense and investors will buy into it. It will also show how much money you can take out of the deal up front and later. This software has a value of $500.00
Become totally comfortable analyzing deals through my case studies
We'll do lots of case studies where you get to see real deals with real numbers. Each case study takes from 30 minutes to 75 minutes for us to go through and get all your questions answered. After a short time, you'll be buzzing through these real-life case studies like you're an old hand.
Get my tested and proven marketing campaigns
I take you step-by-step through marketing campaigns. You'll see whom to mail and how to mail, so you don't violate any SEC rules, but so people start sending you money.
There's a buzzword in the securities business called the "substantive, pre-existing relationship". You need to know what this means, and especially what the feds think it means. We go over that in detail. If you don't know, or don't follow the rules, it will be very bad for you. But if you do know, you'll find it easy.
I clear up any confusion about which entity to use
We'll talk about entity structuring. Should you do your deals in a limited liability company or should you do them in a TIC (tenant-in-common arrangement)? You'll discover why I do most of my deals through one of those two entities and why I avoid the other one. If you want to have an easy life, you should avoid it, too.
You get all my ready-made presentations to lenders
Then we'll go through the different presentations. I'll hand you my group presentation. Then you'll get a very short presentation to use at a real estate investing club.
I even hand you a presentation I did at a life insurance company because those people have big money. I spend a lot of time giving you individual presentations as well.
So, whether it be a 1-minute presentation, or a 5-, 15, or 30-minute version, you'll be able to pick just the right one for your audience.
I show you how to give each one of those presentations so you know exactly what to say and when to say it. They're so easy and natural, you'll find that you are comfortable giving each of them.
You'll get the PowerPoint presentation of each one of these different presentations. That's easily a value of $500.00.
I also hand you these presentations on audio CDs so you can listen to them over and over again until they're second nature to you. That's a value of $500.00.
I then go the extra mile and include the video of all these presentations on DVD that you can take home with you. You can watch again how I act and what I say. After all, sometimes it's not so much what you say as how you say it. That's a value of $1,000.00.
Get completely comfortable with objections by lenders
Of course you'll get objections. Sometimes they're just questions the other person needs answered and they're stated as objections.
Objections are your friends! They tell you when you're on the right path, because they point out what the other person is focused on. And when you know how to handle those objections, you relax.
I'm not talking hard-sell approaches or confrontation. That's not necessary. You'll simply be explaining how the lending process works.
I will hand you all the common objections I've had in doing deal after deal after deal. I've pretty much heard 'em all. You'll discover exactly how to make the objections dissolve so that money continues to flow in. You lucky dog.
Discover how to have credibility for your very first deal
Wouldn't it be great to have credibility before doing your very first deal? It's possible, because as we discussed earlier, it's not about you—it's about your deal.
I take you step-by-step through my system for focusing your potential lenders on your deal and making it just a non-issue that it's your first one. In fact, the way I structure it, you can go ahead and tell them it's your first deal. Know what they'll do when you follow my system? They'll shrug and then go back to asking you about the deal.
How cool is that!
Use my business plan template
I will show you how to put together an effective business plan. Angel investors will look at it and know you're a serious investor, even if you're new at it. They will know that you know what you're doing (and you will know, because you're just following my step-by-step system).
You get my actual business plan on a CD, so it's easy for you to customize for your own use. That's a $1,000 value
Property packages made easy
We'll also put together property packages. I will show you how to put one together, step-by-step. In fact, I'll hand you the template. Then all you'll really need to do is fill in those blanks and you have a property package you can hand to investors. They most likely will never have seen such a thorough package before. It's just another way to impress investors and make them want to do your deal. That's another $1.000.00 value.
Plug in all my office systems and make it easy to follow all your investments
Oh, and you'll get all of my private money office systems that I built and use on a regular basis. They'll allow you to track everything: your incoming funds; what you'll have going out; funding status by deal, and more. I like to spend the least possible time on tracking, but I also want to know where everything is, all the time. That's why I built this system—it lets me sleep like a baby at night.
It comes with a value of over $12,000, and it's yours at no cost. All you have to do is take it home, plug it in, and you will not make a mistake if you follow it. In fact, you'll have your investors praising you to other people and those people will start bringing you money as well.
If you save me time, I'll save you money
I have to be honest with you: I do love marketing, but I like to do my marketing with real estate—not for live events. I'd rather be out there closing on a deal. So I like to fill my events quickly and be done with it. Then I can plan with the hotel how many spots will be filled up. I just don't find it fun to haggle with event planners to find a bigger room to hold another 75 people.
Therefore, you can come to my 3-day event and get all the benefits described above—which add up to $22,495.00—for a one-time investment of just $3995. That's a discount of $18,500, or more than 82%, just so I can make it a "no brainer" and be done with filling the event.
You can put your investment on multiple credit cards if you wish. You can also pay half now and the other half before the event, if that's more convenient.
Bring a spouse or family member for free
You can also bring a spouse or a family member, absolutely free. That's an additional value of $1,500.00.
How's This For A Guarantee:
When I'm a consumer, I hate it when someone says how great a product or service is, and then offers a wimpy guarantee that really means nothing.
Not here. This is how I expect to be treated, and how I will treat you: Attend all three days of the event. Soak up all my methods and secrets for getting more money into your investing business than you know what to do with. (Don't worry—you'll get good at telling investors they have to wait for your next deal.)
You are the sole judge, and you must conclude that you got way more value than your investment. Period. Otherwise, I wouldn't feel right about keeping your dollars and you can whisper your request to me or anyone on my staff. I will write you a check for the entire amount of the boot camp.
I'll also write you a second check for $250 toward the amount you paid for expenses while you were there. And then I'll pay your hotel room rate during the event (if you booked the hotel using our discount code).
How fair is that!
You don't have to decide "yes" about anything now. You simply have to say "Maybe" and let the event be your judge.
Here's another myth: Too many "gurus" want you to think that the only way you can succeed is through them. That's baloney.
I guess they want or need your money so badly that they'll say anything to get you to their event. That's not my style.
Here's a truth you're not likely to hear from any other real estate guru: You can become very successful at real estate in general and at attracting private money in particular—without any help from an expert, including me!
Of course it won't happen by looking for a Magic Pill. Instead, all you need to do is what I did: Just go out there and with enough time and testing, you'll no doubt figure out some good processes yourself.
There is another way: You can bum off my already developed systems, which I offer at what I think is a fair investment with a totally solid guarantee.
My point is that you do have choices for how you get good at investing. It really just comes down to how impatient you are to arrive at your financial destination.
My mom has told me throughout my life: "Dave, why don't you slow down a little! Enjoy life!"
To be honest, I secretly think that impatience is a virtue. I don't want to reach my goals someday, way off at the end of a far-away rainbow. I want the pot of gold right now.
Are you the same way? Are you sick of waiting? Well, having the ability to finance great deals is a very serious wealth accelerator.
Yes, you can figure it out yourself. But why bother? Just put me to the test and see for yourself whether this event is the life-changer I say it is. Get your pot of gold now .
I'm looking forward to shaking your hand and making you wealthy, beginning March 24!
Dave Lindahl
P.S. Did I tell you I'll hand you a list of my 50 favorite sources for attracting private money?
P.P.S. The last event filled up FAST, and we literally had to turn people away. Why? Because we reserve the rooms months in advance and city fire regulations don't allow us just to stuff more chairs into the room. This event already is largely filled from the overflow from the last one. So if you want to ensure your seat, call 781-878-7114 now and say "Save me a seat at your private money event!"
Important Note: I am not an attorney. I don't pretend to be one, either. You must not rely on this document for tax or accounting advice. I am only stating my opinions and interpretations of investment practices, and am not acting as your personal advisor. Please seek the specific advice of tax and accounting professionals—who are familiar with your own specific circumstances—before you take any action of your own.