Martinez - How to Make Money in Real Estate in the New Economy

HOW TO MAKE MONEY
IN REAL ESTATE
IN THE
NEW ECONOMY

Matthew Martinez

Copyright 2011 by Matthew Martinez. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

ISBN: 978-0-07-174612-0

MHID: 0-07-174612-9

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This book is dedicated to my son, Alec.

Perhaps Victor Frankl described it best in his marvelous book, Mans Search for Meaning:

Love is the ultimate and the highest goal to which man can aspire. The salvation of man is through love man who has nothing left in this world still may know bliss, be it only for a brief moment, in the contemplation of his beloved.

How wonderful my life has become since youve entered this world I love you with all of my heart.

Papa

xoxo TQM

When the economy slows, most people stop investing in real estate and wait until economic conditions improve before getting back into the market. These individuals perceive a downturn in the economy as a clear indication to stop buying. Contrary to popular belief, periods of extreme crisis in the real estate sector actually provide investors with a greater opportunity to generate significant wealth. If you have an entrepreneurial spirit and the conviction to persevere during uncertain times, now could be the very best moment in your life to act. In fact, most of the experienced real estate investors I know are salivating at the prospect of making more money in these tough timesmore money than theyve ever made in the past. The current market conditions are quite favorable for acquiring great properties at prices we havent seen in more then 20 years.

In turbulent times, however, innovation is the key to success and the means for greater prosperity. Indeed, the current global financial crisis mandates change. Real estate entrepreneurs must learn how to thrivenot just survivein this new economy. Just getting by and weathering the storm should not be the end goal. Battered by declining values, higher vacancies, and frozen credit markets, many real estate entrepreneurs these days are, indeed, fighting for their very survival. But opportunities abound for the savvy investor. Cap rates on stable investment properties have increased dramatically. Bank-owned properties in good locations are being liquidated at rock-bottom prices. The inability to refinance debt presents even more opportunities for acquiring good real estate assets at very attractive prices. Its the perfect storm for investors who want to get started building their portfolio or for those who already own real estate but want to expand their holdings and cash flow.

How to Make Money in Real Estate in the New Economy is not just another book about making a fortune in real estate by scooping up distressed assets during a period of economic crisis. Rather, this books principal theme emphasizes the necessity of reinventing ones business and self during any challenging economic period. Its about thinking and acting in a way that will cultivate success, even when everyone else is running scared. This book is about having your most profitable year when most others are planning for bankruptcy. Its about taking advantage of todays poor economic climate and finding a way to profit from it.

Numerous books today painstakingly describe how to acquire real estate through short sales, auctions, Real Estate Owned assets, note sales, and so on. This book, however, is not a duplication of what currently exists on the shelves of your local bookstores. Instead, I consciously avoided what had already been written ad nauseam about distressed real estate and wrote a new kind of book that shows how successful real estate entrepreneurs (who embraced change and modified their behavior) could make money during challenging times. Throughout this book, youll read about real life examples of fortunes made and lost during this epic timea new time (in fact, a new economy) that is still in its infancy, but that still offers tremendous opportunity to those with initiative, perseverance, and optimism.