We have all heard of Google Alerts but are we actually using them? For those who needed a refresher, Google Alerts are email updates of the latest relevant Google search results (i.e. web, your company, news, etc.) based on your choice of query or topic.

For example, people use Google Alerts to:

• find out what is being said about their company or product.
• monitor a developing news story.
• keep up to date on a competitor or industry.
• get the latest news on a celebrity or sports team.
• find out what’s being said about themselves.

14 Google Alerts you should be searching for!

1. Your name
2. Your company name
3. Your contact info, email, phone, etc
4. Company domain names and/or your domain (ie. davidtilney.com)
5. Names of assistants, brokers and/or employees
6. Your twitter name
7. Your companies twitter name
8. Niche neighborhoods
9. Property Addresses
10. Your competitions company
11. Your competitions domain names
12. Names of competition key employees
13. Industry terms/keywords
14. Use alerts as idea generators for blog posts!

Steps to setup a Google Alert.

1. Goto http://www.google.com/alerts
2. Search for something in the search box (see the example screenshot to the right)
3. Setup your alert by changing the 4 settings boxes.
4. Click “Create Alert” and your done!
5. You can find your alerts to edit them at http://www.google.com/alerts/manage

Do you use Google Alerts? What is your experience so far? If you have any questions just ask in the comments below!

David talks about how the current housing market has created the perfect storm to use Master Leases to make money now. Hear how he creates cash flow in any market in the country, negotiates with owners, build equity, limit your liability, ‘test drive’ and control properties using little or none of your own money!

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Testimonial

If you want to get involved with investing in real estate but think you can’t afford the overpriced homes, this Master Leasing is for you. Get started with no money and begin immediately after taking this class.
-Ken Malone, Irvine, CA

Want even more info?

Join us this September in Las Vegas to learn more about Master Leasing and Hassle Free Property Management. See our seminars page here. Master Leasing is Class only available for current and past Hassle Free Property Management attendees.

David,

I’ve talked to you before about the success I’ve been having implementing ideas from the course you taught last fall in Atlanta. Id like to share with you the latest tremendous headache you saved me from.

I received an application on one of our vacant properties from a lady named Sheila. I quickly reviewed it, determined that her income didn’t match my ratio requirements when you factor in her $400/month car payment, and wrote her back a polite rejection letter. I received a phone call from her daughter requesting an explanation. When I gave her the reasoning, she said she needed a property as well, and asked if they could qualify together, and I said sure.

Well, she turned in an application, but couldn’t verify her income from her home-based cupcake business with a W2, tax return, or check stubs. So I ignored the application and moved on.

I got a call two days ago from the daughter, demanding to know the status of her application, and claimed boldly that I was giving her the run-around, that I was discriminating against her and her mother, and that I was in violation of Fair Housing.

This is where I was SO GLAD I had taken your course. I was able to calmly reply, “Ma’am, I have never met you. I have never met your mother. This is by design, per our Policy and Procedures Manual.  I only have the information that has been presented to me on your application. It is impossible for me to discriminate against you in violation of Fair Housing, because I have no idea what you look like.”

I don’t think she was quite prepared for that response. Although I then invited her to send in the requested information, I have a sneaking suspicion that, based on her argumentative posture, her application will be denied. (Last I checked, being argumentative does not place you into a protected class!)

I used to personally show every house before taking your course. Thanks for saving me from yet another headache!

Chris Heekin

Thanks Chris, I am glad everything worked out!

www.BusinessDictionary.com defines a master lease as a “controlling lease under which a lessee can sub-lease a property for a period not extending the term of the master lease.

Never have I seen a better time to master lease houses. Owners can’t sell and buyers can’t buy; landlords rule. Now is the time you can become a landlord without taking on a debt or investing a lot of money. Owners who have moved and needed to sell must now lease their mortgaged homes if they hope to avoid foreclosure. This is an opportunity for entrepreneurs who know how to manage and maximize bottom line rental income.

I can’t think of any other situation where you can produce a good income stream without a capital investment. Sure you can work for income, but jobs are not plentiful these days and if you’re not working, the income stops. Not so with master leasing where the sub-tenant must make payments whether you are unemployed, hospitalized, on vacation or sleeping.

There are two types of master leases with as many hybrids as there are owners with different needs. A performance master lease requires the master tenant to pay a percentage of the funds he receives from his sub-tenant only when he receives those funds. A fixed lease, on the other hand, generally requires the master tenant to make payments even if he does not have a sub-tenant. In the first scenario the owner takes the risk of only receiving rent when the master tenant receives rent from his sub-tenant and the owner also agrees to pick up most expenses associated with the property. In the second scenario the master tenant takes on more of the owner’s responsibilities and risks thereby entitling him to a greater profit (or loss) depending upon his success of maximizing net income from the sub-tenant.

Many people are more fearful of executing a long-term lease as a master tenant than they are of buying an investment property. I think this is an irrational fear since it is easier to terminate a lease than it is to get out of title, especially when you are the one who has created the documents. People also think that they may have to be licensed under their state’s real estate brokerage law to engage in master leasing. Usually this is not true. Licensing is generally required for property managers (with few state exceptions) because managers have a fiduciary relationship with their principal. This is not the case for master tenants who are not agents of the owner, but entrepreneurs working in their own self interest and are principals in the transaction.

Generally managers can only compete on price, personality and scope of service when competing to pick up business. As an entrepreneur you can negotiate any and all aspects of your master lease – the variable or fixed rent amount, the term, the liability for expenses, escape clauses, etc. The key is to draft your documents by design based upon your negotiations with the owner rather than by default (i.e. using a dime store contract). In your sandwich position between the owner and your sub-tenant you seem a little like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Your lease with the owner is pro-tenant since you are a tenant, but your lease with your sub-tenants is pro-landlord since you are their landlord. In today’s marketplace you cannot always generate positive cash flow for owners, but you can lose them less than they are currently losing with a vacant, unsalable house.

It makes good sense to secure an option to buy the property at the same time that you sign your master lease as long as it does not change your cash flow. I have found that a long-term secured lease without an option often acts as a stealth option, since the owner must negotiate with you to remove your lease from the property when refinancing or selling. A master lease in many ways allows you to test drive a property before deciding whether or not you might want to buy. I have found that if you “under promise and over perform” in meeting the terms of your lease with the owner, you will become the person that he or she wants to do business with if the property becomes available for sale. The master lease is the way to get your foot in the door for future negotiations; it is rarely the final negotiation. Real estate is a business built on relationships. A master lease gives you the opportunity to build the relationship that leads to future purchases and often owner financing. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that your master lease is the final negotiation. It should be the first negotiation that can lead to one or more future negotiations.

If you are looking for a way to build cash flow today with little risk….look no further. Master Leasing is it!

David Tilney

I am happy to report that the weekend was well received. I think this was largely because John & I did not collaborate in creating each section that we presented; John wrote his material in Florida and I wrote mine in Colorado. The attendees received two different seminars on how to generate bottom-line cash flow today. Everyone could see that John and I had similar views on much of the real estate business, but they also had the benefit of seeing the differences in how we approach the market. John is an excellent teacher and I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to share the podium with him.

I came away believing that our different viewpoints actually made the seminar more powerful and offered something for everyone who attended. Whereas John felt that right now may be the best time in your life to buy as many houses as you can because of pending inflation, I took a more cautionary view that real estate has not yet hit bottom and presented some other ways to control real estate and generate income without always going into ownership.

The evaluations we received indicated that everyone planned to implement some of the concepts presented. A big joy in teaching is to hear from past students that they have successfully made money from something that you have shared. I have already heard from several who are attempting to implement and look forward to hearing of their future success.

David Tilney

I’m excited to see how John & I will address this seminar’s topic. I intend to spend some time talking about master leasing to build income because I believe that this is the safest and surest way to build income today without the need for capital. I also want to cover reducing expenses and increasing efficiency since both increase  bottom line cash flow and often it is easier to reduce expenses than it is to increase income.

It will be a blast! Hope you can join us. More info here: http://www.bawb.info/workshop/

The seminar will give attendees tools to increase cash flow and efficiency, while decreasing expenses and risk in order to maximize bottom line income. Recent calls I’ve received from past attendees of my Hassle Free seminars have convinced me that the time is right for this seminar. Many house investors are struggling to hang on, while others want to use this time to aggressively tie up real estate. I believe this seminar will speak to both groups. John and I intend to present different solutions to real estate challenges and different insights into the opportunities we see today. I feel sure that attendees will benefit from our unique points of view. John has been teaching how to acquire houses for over 30 years and I have been teaching about what to do with those houses once acquired. It should be interesting to see how we each approach the seminar topic and what we each feel is important to share.

In the past three days I have been approached by three different groups of people with real estate needs. The first is a couple in their late 70’s or early 80’s who have purchased and closed on a one-level house because the wife can no longer navigate stairs. They still have to sell their 1700 sq. ft. house where they have lived for the past 35 years. The second is a tenant whose brother and sister-in-law need to relocate for their employment, but can’t sell their 340K house. The third is my roofer of 30 years whose general contractor son is fixing and flipping houses and needs an equity investor to avoid taking on personal debt. These all offer great opportunities for investors, but none are ‘cookie cutter’ deals.

John and I will give attendees some new ways to look at real estate problems and opportunities. We can’t give you a map to the gold mine, because there is never a “one size fits all” solution that will make you money in this business. We do believe we can give you some tools to add to your real estate ‘toolbox’ so that when situations arise you can take out the right tool to solve a problem and make money in the process. I will cover how you can create positive cash flow with no money down, as well as my thoughts about when a deal is too good to be true. I will also give you my thoughts on who must be on your management team in order for you to survive as a landlord of single family houses and how to hire those people. Many of you know that I live in Naples FL for 8 months each year, but manage a portfolio of houses in Colorado Springs. Come to San Francisco to learn the secret of how I keep these properties occupied and how I collect my rents in 15 minutes each month.  Come hear what John and I are doing today with our investments; learn what others in attendance are doing, and bring your problems so all in attendance can brainstorm during a special after class session on Saturday. For more information, check out the following link: http://bawb.info/workshop.
Hope to see you there!

A light bulb went on in my brain when I realized that this could be the same key needed for my success as a landlord. When I accepted tenants to rent a property, I had certain expectations of them – to maintain and improve the property and grounds, to pay the rent on time, to get along with the neighbors and to reside in the property for a relatively long period of time. I also expected my tenants to be problem solvers who should call on me only when they needed additional support. This, in effect, was the tenant “job description,” but was I sharing my expectations and screening for the proper skills, attitude and moral code? I realized that screening applicants for rental properties was very much like hiring employees for a job.

If landlords use this model, we must first understand what the job description is and then screen for the qualifications necessary to do the job. We must share expectations with the applicants and once they are accepted we must empower them to be the best they can be. And finally, as landlords, we must remember to thank and encourage our tenants when they do a superior job.
If I were running an employment ad for tenants it would read something like this – “WANTED: Tenants with the skills, ability and willingness to maintain and improve properties, pay rent on time, get along with the neighbors and who will stay for at least 5 years.” I want tenants who have integrity and who are self-starters. When I find these types of tenants I work hard to retain them, by showing appreciation for their efforts and always trying to treat them the way they would like to be treated. These tenants are my “valued employees” and they are worth their weight in gold. They improve my properties over time and make my job infinitely more enjoyable. Over the years I have come to recognize that empowering tenants to take responsibility for the properties they are living in is not giving up control. In effect, I have more control because I have created a team approach with my tenants. What is usually seen as an adversarial relationship (between landlord and tenant) is now a win-win situation where we work together to solve problems.

In today’s market, proper tenant screening is more important than ever; however, it seems that many landlords are accepting the first people who apply, as long as they can pay one month’s rent and hopefully some portion of a security deposit. This happens in part because landlords are strapped financially and cannot afford vacancies and/or they don’t have the time to show their properties. I find it also happens because landlords are paranoid that they may be accused of violating federal, state or local Fair Housing laws if they don’t accept the first person that applies to rent their property. Landlords are afraid to screen for the best applicant and instead set a minimum standard, accepting the first applicant who meets that standard. Can you imagine my banker friend hiring employees based upon a minimum standard? If he did his bank would not be the profitable bank that it is today. There is nothing in the Fair Housing law that prevents us from accepting the best tenant we can find. As landlords, we must not discriminate illegally against a protected class and it makes no business sense to do so. We must treat all applicants fairly and consistently in accordance with the screening procedures we have set up, and it makes good sense to have these procedures in writing.

Finally, as landlords we need to take responsibility when a tenant doesn’t live up to our expectations. We need to understand that it is our fault and not the tenant’s. We hired the wrong person for the job. He or she either didn’t have the necessary skills, didn’t have the correct moral code or the job description was not communicated effectively. We need to recognize when it is our fault, solve the problem, move forward and resolve to do better the next time.

Effective property management is a necessary skill if we want to survive and be successful real estate investors over the long haul. Fortunately, it is a skill that can be learned if we are willing to put in the time and effort. Once we set up systems and procedures, we will have more time to work on our business, as opposed to in our business (too often in crisis mode). We will have the time to hone our people skills and work at retaining those “golden” tenants, and maybe we’ll even have time for a vacation!

© David Tilney, August 2008 www.DavidTilney.com

Don’t draft by default….. draft by design! Learn more in our Hassle Free Property Management class!