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You are actively doing deals, have a marketing budget, and want to keep it simple, and profitable!
Starter Blueprint
Empire Builder Blueprint
Passive Investor Blueprint
Welcome to your Lean Investor guide!
You are here now because you want:
A lean, self-sustaining, profitable REI machine that doesn't sacrifice your lifestyle.
You've got some experience...but you're looking for an edge.
You have a budget to invest into lead gen and building systems for others to run the day-to-day.
You don't want a huge team (yet).
There's a problem though...
There's only 24 hours in a day!
And right now, you might be the CEO of every department of your business.
You're probably toying with a ton of different software tools, and trying to make sense of it all so you can have a clear picture of your operation's KPIs...but it's just a TAD too complicated right now.
Are you overwhelmed by all this???
Well not to fear...InvestorFuse is here!
A Lean Investing business looks like this:
On this page, we're going to break down EXACTLY what you need to set this up.
Here are the different sections:
Throughout each section, we'll also answer the question:
What tool do I use?
To capture each tool we recommend and what it costs, we created a spreadsheet, which you can use to map your total budget.
Just go to the appropriate tab...and it's got literally everything you need and all the tool links referenced below.
Ready to make some money!? Let's begin...
A "Deal-Doing-Business" is much different than just YOU goin out there doing deals all the time.
Like anything, each strategy below requires CONSISTENT effort to produce results.
Don't be like most investors that quits when something doesn't work after a week of trying.
You are in it for the long-haul here.
To set your expectations appropriately:
You will need to let go of most of your day-to-day responsibilities.
Yes...this means you'll be delegating (not micro-managing).
Yes...this means that some things won't be done 100% as well as you at first...but guess what:
Increasing your $/hour productivity using a lean team setup and simple technology is the name of the game here.
Ready? Let's get to it!
**This section is an excerpt from The 8020 Investor Academy, our online training and mastermind about systemization.
(Learn more about our Academy and apply here)**
As an active investor, If you have no target...you'll never hit one!
Before spending a bunch of money on systems and campaigns...get specific about the outcome you want.
To help you create a CLEAR intention for your business goals, down to the KPIs you need to hit, we created a fancy spreadsheet.
DOWNLOAD THE FANCY GOAL
SETTING SPREADSHEET
Some tips: Use current known numbers. If you don’t have anything recorded, well it’s a good thing you’re taking this training!
Make a guesstimate. You need a baseline to grow upon.For now, we do this exercise so you can begin to re-arrange your decisions with these numbers as the filter
PRO TIP: Pick ONE strategy and stick to it until success. Every time you switch strategies, a baby Koala dies (and you lose momentum and lower your chance of making money and having a successful dream business.)
FOCUS= Follow One Course Until Successful
Your bread and butter business model should ideally have very few moving parts.
A simple virtual wholesaling strategy is perfect for a lean investing operation.
The "80/20" of wholesaling is sourcing deals at scale...we'll get to that shortly.
The real magic of setting up the infrastructure to acquire houses virtually is this:
It's the common denominator to ALL exit strategies.
If you can generate, capture, qualify, and pursue deals in a systematic way, the world is your oyster.
I'm sure you already know the basics of wholesaling,
But do you want some free training anyways?
My partner Matt Viebrock created this training that breaks down the entire process of virtual investing for free.
He covers:
CLICK HERE FOR FREE COURSE (use the pwd "8020fuse")
If you're looking for a strategy that:
Then creative financing as your exit strategy is for you.
It's all about using TERMS (price, downpayment, monthly payment, length of term) to structure a win-win for you and the seller.
As the coach Blair Halver puts it,
You're not a wholesaler, you're a transaction engineer.
Here's the most popular methods:
What it is: Instead of bank financing, you can buy a house through installment payments to the owner.
Benefits: No banks, you can pay higher price and negotiate favorable terms, you can even negotiate deferred payment, you can assign these like hotcakes to an end buyer for a quick profit.
Cons: They're a bit harder to find, but like anything else in this business...it's a numbers game. Start with a high equity landlord list.
What it is: Instead of getting bank financing or coming. up with cash, you can buy a house simply by taking over the existing mortgage payments.
Benefits: No-money-down, no credit needed, the mortgage stays in owners name, and unless the seller needs cash upfront, you can acquire title to property basically for free! This is the beauty of negotiating on TERMS vs. just price alone.
Cons: When title transfers, technically banks can ask for all their money back at any time because of the "due on sale" clause. It's extremely rare for them to do it though...because banks HATE owning properties, they just want the cash flow. Luckily, there's ways to solve the problem if it does happen to you.
What it is: Also known as "rent-to-own," this strategy is best used when selling to an end buyer that has cash for a big downpayment, but can't get a bank loan.
Benefits: CASH NOW>CASH FLOW>CASH LATER.
If you can lock up a deal sub-to with no money...imagine how cool it'd be to sell to a "tenant-buyer" that will pay you a large 5-figure downpayment, a monthly rent payment higher than your existing mortgage payment...and a BIG backend sale you can profit on.
See video below for examples...
Cons: You need to screen a lot of tenant buyers to find the right fit, but they are out there! And this can be outsourced.
I recorded a video with Blair Halver running through several deal examples.
Here it is for free:
I'd recommend attending Blair's training on creative financing.
His program literally GUARANTEES results or you get your money back (nobody else offers this).
He shows you
No brainer there, it get's our full stamp of approval...check it out.
Make sure to have a great attorney before doing these deals.
Oh...do you need one? Each state has different laws, so Blair told me I could share his master US recommended attorneys for each state.
Here you go: Blair's Epic State-by-State Lawyer List
Now that you've decided what STRATEGY to pursue to monetize your opportunities, let's dig into different ways to GENERATE those opportunities.
Leads are the lifeblood to your business, so you'll want to get this up and running as soon as possible.
Then, you'll want to get it off your plate so you can focus on doing deals.
As I said for picking the strategy: Pick ONE method and stick to it until success. Every time you switch strategies, you lose the chance to see results, build momentum, and learn how to improve your lead generation.
Be Scientific
Try something, test results, and tweak until successful. Marketing is like a science experiment. You don't know what's going to work well for YOUR business until you try something, and continuously optimize the results.
The biggest reason investors fail is they simply don't do enough lead gen...
Inconsistent marketing is the death blow to most investors
The following are the most "lean" ways to get leads in the door that we know.
They are also the easiest strategies to systemize for consistency.
It will cost you either TIME or MONEY to generate leads.
This is the cost of doing business.
The goal is to invest marketing dollars (or hours), so you can get a return, in the form of fat deal$.
Note I say "invest." It's best to think of expenditure here not as a cost, but as an investment.
So...we sorted these strategies based on your marketing budget.
If you're trying new strategies, you'll want to try a few things at once to see what works.
As soon as something works....STOP EVERYTHING ELSE and do more of what works.
Remember, FOCUS.
Before we begin, a big question you might have:
"Where do I market?"
Answer: Start in your backyard.
Yes, you can do this business virtually....but we'll do that LATER.
For your first deal, choose your own market or nearest major metropolitan area.
Cool?
Remember:
ALL OF THESE STRATEGIES WORK!
You just need to CONSISTENTLY execute. I'm giving you the "80/20" to get these up and running as fast as possible.
Alright here we go...
There are PLENTY of distressed deals in your background...if you can find them!
Driving around and finding vacant looking houses is an easy, inexpensive way to find your first or next deal.
(Eventually, you'll want to hire someone to do this FOR you.)
When you find these properties, you can research the owner and contact them to see if they'd like to sell their house.
Then FOLLOW UP with them over time until they are ready to sell.
There are also plenty of public websites that have For-Sale-By-Owner (FSBO) listings you can target.
The goal is to contact these FSBOs and run through the seller script we provide below to determine if they are motivated to sell.
Did you know that over 90% of ALL HOME SALES are from real estate agents listing properties on the MLS?
You can't deny, we're still in a real estate agent world, and they can be an investors best friend.
What if there was a way to source OFF-MARKET deals from them, before they hit the MLS?
This is called "Pocket Listings,"
And my friend Kyle Nolan Good teaches investors how to build relationships at scale to keep your funnel (and pockets) filled.
Watch Kyle's FULL WORKSHOP here
This free training covers
One of the CHEAPEST (but not totally free) forms of marketing is text messaging.
With this strategy, it is a numbers game...meaning you'll need to text hundreds and hundreds of numbers just to find someone interested in selling.
One of the CHEAPEST forms of marketing is text messaging.
With this strategy, it is a numbers game...meaning you'll need to text hundreds and hundreds of numbers just to find someone interested in selling.
Here's a quick video of how to do that..
For more advanced training on getting the most targeted data. Watch this training from the master Tyler Austin (it's a long one, but it's darn good
Now that you've got your list squared away, it's time to start texting!
He even gives you tips on how you can get a Virtual Assistant to do the texting FOR you!
Ahhh cold calling. Most investors have a love, hate relationship with this one.
Much like texting, it requires HIGH VOLUME.
You (ideally an outsourced team member), needs to do a LOT of dialing.
Rough numbers we've seen across the board:
You must contact 100 leads in order to generate a contract.
I shot a video to show you how easy it is to get a cold calling campaign going. Just use Call Reps, not the company I referenced in this video, which is slightly dated.
If you have a bit more cash to invest...try the following strategies:
With direct mail, you are answering the call from someone who wants to talk to you
vs.
Cold calling...where at first they do NOT want to talk to you.
Pyschologically, you're in a great position when you answer these calls live.
I like how direct mail campaigns can be broken down into hard stats:
2500 mailers sent per month
2% of those leads called
20 of those were qualified leads
1 offer was accepted.
Etc.
Like every other form of lead gen, this is a numbers game, and your success ratio goes up the LONGER you mail a list.
And expect to put some serious cash behind your direct mail.
You're gambling if you expect to pull a deal with only $500/mo budget.
You want to be spending at least $2000/month on mail, which will allow you to mail around 4500 owners.
Luckily, there are services that do ALL of your direct mail for you.
You set it up once, upload your list, and they take it from there.
Here's the best one:
They have an extensive library of templates to choose from.
They have near rock bottom prices (mention InvestorFuse for best deal).
I suggest speaking with their amazing sales team.
They'll help you make all decisions, and have your best interest at heart.
Their leader, Andy Detwiler did a training on best practices for our members. You can watch it here.
Why use CallRail?
Have you heard of "Multi-Touch" Marketing?
Well...it's a thing, and it allows you to hit your lists from multiple channels, all in one system.
Namely...via email, text, cold calls, and direct mail in an automated sequence.
Pros: It consolidates multiple channels into one "Campaign"
Cons: Makes it harder to isolate which channel actually worked to convert the lead. Also, it's more complicated to setup.
Luckily, there's a system for this! Though, it's not for the technically declined.
REIReply is basically the only affordable game. in town that's built for real estate investing teams. I shot a video with their CEO to get more clarity around how to use. it and what you can expect to pay to get results.
There's a lot of misinformation about online marketing for real estate investors.
I'm. here to set the record straight for you.
If you have a website, you need to drive traffic to it if you want it to make you money.
You'll be driving traffic one of three ways:
They call it "Pay-Per-Click" because the ad system is essentially a bidding system.
You are bidding for clicks to a certain audience or keyword you target.
Assuming you have a higher marketing budget, here's why I love PPC:
Pros
Cons:
It costs a lot of money to get it going.
At the high end, Greg Bilbro, CEO of GEOFlip, a company that does this for investors, recommends spending minimum $5k for 5 months to get the BEST results.
Stephanie Better, a Facebook ads specialist, recommends at least $2,000/mo to start getting a consistent flow of Facebook leads.
Why? Again, you need to collect a lot of "data" around which ads get clicked by who.
Also, this works best if you're targeting a large market or city. You need enough eyeballs for it to work. Don't go this route if you're targeting tertiary or rural markets.
HINT: DON'T DO THIS YOURSELF.
Unless you genuinely enjoy PPC algorithms, leave this to the pros and stay focused on monetizing the leads it produces.
For Google PPC:
Most services charge up to $2,000/month to manage your ads full time and send you reports.
That's in addition to your adspend. We suggest a minimum $2,000 per month for at least 6 months.
Our favorite Google PPC Done-For-You Services:
For Facebook Ads
Our Favorite Facebook Ads Services:
For $997 bux, Blair shows you how to setup a NATIONAL Facebook ad campaign, gives you all the templates, shows you how to use the system, and then shows you how to do creative finance deals to make big profits virtually, no matter what market the lead comes from. By targeting the whole country, you can get spend as little as $5-$6 a day to get a steady stream of leads.
So, check out that course if you want to do it yourself.
Website
In the meantime, you should setup your website so you have a web presence.
Look no further than Carrot, a done-for-you pre-built investor website that naturally ranks in google with ZERO work on your part.
Get A Carrrot Site Here for Under $70/mo
Here's a training from Trevor Mauch, their CEO, about how best to use a Carrot site and make it your own. (This is a clip from our Modern Marketing Masterclass)
Generating opportunities is only half the battle.
CLOSING them is where the money is made.
He/She with the best follow-up system always wins...
Remember, a Lean Investing business looks like this:
Until now, we've only just built the arm that drops houses into a funnel.
Why is it important to have this as automated as possible?
Here's two VERY BIG reasons:
But don't just trust the data...trust your common sense.
Not every seller needs to sell the moment you talk to them.
Some leads take YEARS of nurturing before converting to a deal.
Our colleague Christina Krause did a 3 year study that showed that 75% of her client's deals came from followup 30 or more days after the initial contact.
Of her clients with NO follow-up system...only 8% of their deals came from followup...
Don't Waste Your Marketing Dollars!!!
Now it's time to build a funnel that uses all of the best practices of lead conversion.
Enter, our sales system:
IF3.
Think of IF3 as your Lead Conversion System. Here's how it works:
Without an automated system like IF3, you're staring at countless hours of mundane work:
Our tool gives you a simple process for this, so you don't have to re-invent the wheel.
Learn more about our Lead Conversion System here.
Alright, now that you've selected your strategy, started generating leads, and setup your sales system...
It's time to setup your operation and plug in a team!
To get a team up and running, you'll need to hire at least one Virtual Assistant to help you manage leads.
There's a few ways to skin the cat.
This video will help you determine the best structure for your team.
Look no further than Rocket Station VAs.
They are pre-trained for real estate lead management related tasks .
(as well as other basic admin functions)
The coolest thing about them:
When you sign up, they will help map out the processes your VA will be doing for you.
That way there's complete clarity and you ensure that they know exactly how to execute.
They cost $10/hour.
To request a VA, book a call with Rocket Station and mention InvestorFuse for the best pricing.
I hope this guide gave you the essential strategies and tools to start making the income you need to live your dream Lean Investor lifestyle.
If you've read this far, you have the capacity to do this.
The only way to fail is to stop.
Everything else is just an outcome...and you will learn by taking action.
If you want help and accountability alongside other Lean Investors...
Apply For The 80/20 Investor Academy.
You'll get 35 hours of additional training, and meet twice a week with us to ensure you have a clear path forward every day.
Apply and we'll get to chat one-on-one about your goals.
Now, go and get what's yours.
-Dan Schwartz, CEO, InvestorFuse
