By Jamie Edwards
Do any of your leads come from outside your marketing plan.
My marketing plan is to let the whole world know what I do.
That way I get leads from all over the country from people who I have met and know what I do.
I never focus on just one thing. I will work on any deal if it makes sense.
What is the best piece of advice you can give someone new?
Find out what you do best and stay with it. Do not give up even when the tough get going.
Do not leave your current job until you start cashing checks. Get a mentor or coach of some sort.
Just make sure you do your due diligence on them just like you do your properties.
What are some pitfalls to avoid?
Again, if you are currently working, do not quit until you have cashed a check or two.
Stay away from the negative talkers (this business doesn’t work).
Find and surround yourself with people who are cashing checks and doing deals.
Pick their brain and get as much education as you can from the successful investors.
Stay away from people who keep saying when they get it figured out they will do their first deal.
What is your mental mindset when you are looking for a deal?
First and foremost I want to know what the seller needs and will it be a “win win” deal for all the parties involved.
I like to make no less than $30,000.00 on any deal I do and I like to have at least 3 exit strategies to create the income I am looking for.
How did you find the resources available to make your first deal?
I got a referral from a friend and that gave me my first deal. I negotiated a “subject-to” which meant no money out of pocket and I got the deed. With a tenant already in place that was paying the mortgage payment (slow but paying), eventually I evicted the tenant and sold the house for a profit approx $43,000.00.
Did you take a lot of classes, or read a lot of books, or attend a lot of seminars to build your confidence to make your first deal?How did you build your confidence? Did you have a mentor?
I have spent over $170,000.00 to date on training, boot camps and classes. I believe you have to be taught something you don’t know. I have read a few books along the way. That is actually how I got started, by reading a few of Robert Allen’s books back in the early 80’s. My first deal I just negotiated my way through by making offers and counter offers until we agreed. Did I know exactly what I was doing? NO!! I knew I wasn’t going to jail and that the seller wasn’t going to yell at me so what did I have to lose. I had a few conversations with the seller and we came to a meeting of the minds. We then put the outcome on paper and I had my first deal. I truly believe that even if you have been to boot camps you still need training or a mentor. I personally just hired a mentor to take me through the year 2007.
What do you think are the best characteristics of a successful investor?
To have a passion for what you are doing and not just for the money. To have dreams, goals, persistence, integrity, honesty and to show compassion to others in their time of need. If you have all those characteristics you will go far in this business.
After all of Hunter has shared with us, there is no reason why you couldn’t succeed. I can tell you that his background story, where he came from to where you see him now is much more challenging than the space would allow. After interviewing a lot of investors, this man has proved to himself and this writer that YOU can make it if YOU really want to. Besides who wants a job? Happy Investing and Profiting.