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How We Improved Our Facebook Ad’s CTR by 2,000%

Filed Under : Real Estate by admin

Feb.4,2012

Recently we started running some split tests for our Facebook real estate marketing ads, and one of the ideas we tried is known as the “Where In” campaign. In other words, this is a way to pull in traffic via Facebook by displaying an advertisement that portrays a local landmark, which visitors can guess at for a chance of winning a prize.

After making some very simple yet extremely effective tweaks to the original copy, we were absolutely shocked by what we found. In fact, I think Josh Schoenly nearly peed his pants when he discovered that by altering 3 specific components, the click through rate (CTR) literally jumped by 2,000%!

How Our Facebook Real Estate Marketing Campaign Improved Exponentially

The Image: As you will see from the video below, one of the most important factors to improving CTR’s is by utilizing a catchy photo. Think of this as interruption based marketing versus actual search intent.

Therefore, with Facebook paid ads, you want to make sure that you find a way to jump off the page. By shifting from a generic stock photo to using a very small image of the actual location, users had a much higher interest. Tip: make this just small enough that people have to visit the page for better visibility.

Advertised Location: From Ryan’s first ad, we find out that using “Central Pa” in the copy was far too broad. Therefore, it helps to keep your Facebook real estate marketing as targeted as possible. Especially when utilizing the “Where In” concept, people are much more likely to guess at something if it falls within their local area.
Demographics: Finally, by changing the targeted demographic from “within 10 miles of York” to just the city, we were able to cut our audience by about 35,000. This helped to remove those irrelevant impressions without sacrificing our reach.

Critical Facebook Ads CTR Benchmarks

Now, Josh will show you more of the nitty gritty below, but here are just a few important factors that you’ll want to keep in mind when running tests for your Facebook real estate marketing:

Cut out any advertisements that fall below a CTR of .025%
Continue split testing whenever you are between .025 and .05%
Anything above the .05% benchmark is great, and over .1% is absolutely bananas

So, click play below to watch this case study and discover how we achieved a CTR of over .2%…

This Article is Copyright © 2004-2011 BiggerPockets, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

How We Improved Our Facebook Ad’s CTR by 2,000%

Real Estate Investing For Real | A BiggerPockets Investment Property Blog

Tags : 2000%, Ad’s, Facebook, Improved

What’s Going on in REO World?

Filed Under : Real Estate by admin

Jan.31,2012

Crazy, crazy, crazy. One of the agents in my office recently got an assignment for an REO. How exciting!. Agents love REO assignments, and this wasn’t his first.

Here’s the crazy part: When I was going over the paperwork, I noticed that the property had been foreclosed upon by the lender in 2008. I couldn’t believe it, so I actually asked a title company to double check that date for me. And, yes, it was true.

So, here’s the clincher: the property is still occupied. (Talk about livin’ large; that’s three years without making a payment on anything except utilities.)

In our constant mumblings and grumblings about the distressed property market, we always talk about the famed shadow inventory. We wonder when the banks will unleash the shadow inventory of REOs on the world and we also wonder how that will impact the housing market.

Recently, I’ve heard rumors that the banks are going to be selling their inventory in bulk. And, there are public discussions about the plan to convert these bank-owned properties into rentals. (Talk about a field day for property managers.)

But, I digress. It seems to me that allowing individuals to live in properties for years at a time probably isn’t a good thing for our national economy. That being said, with all the money that those folks I mentioned saved in rent, they were able to help infuse our local economy with more hard, cold cash—shopping at Target, going to the movies, hitting the malls.

So, what’s the world coming to? Is it better for the economy for banks to hold these properties back or rent them out? Or, is it better for sellers to avoid foreclosure and sell their properties in a short sale?

What say you?

Photo: flickr creative commons by respres

This Article is Copyright © 2004-2011 BiggerPockets, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

What’s Going on in REO World?

Real Estate Investing For Real | A BiggerPockets Investment Property Blog

Tags : Going, What’s, World

4 Tips for Creating Killer Real Estate Marketing Emails

Filed Under : Real Estate by admin

Jan.27,2012

Did you realize that you could currently be sitting on a mound of cash for your business? Leads that are literally ripe for the picking? And in fact, most of your competition is probably not taking the necessary steps to liquidate this real estate marketing goldmine into consistent closed transactions.

What I’m referring to is the power of email marketing. You may have heard that the money is in the list, and this is definitely true to a certain degree. However, the flip side to this statement is that real profits are in how you choose to incubate and covert those leads into business over time.

This is the most common error that real estate professionals can make when it comes to using email. In fact, I have personally witnessed more missed opportunities than I would like to admit of people who spent loads of time and money building up their funnels, only to never truly follow up post opt.

When utilizing this real estate marketing tactic, you may come across varying reports of how often you should stay in touch with your readership. Regardless, consistency is key. Truthfully, we have discovered that when our clients submit at least 2 emails every week, they experience a much better response, less spam complaints, and higher conversion rates than if they only chose to do so sporadically.

Of course the answer is in how you balance this. Each niche and market may be slightly different, but the principles remain relatively the same. Find a pattern that seems to fit your audience best, and then provide them with exactly what they are looking for on a consistent basis.

Here are 4 More Tips on How to Have Great Success with Your Email Campaigns:

Pretend You are Writing to Your Best Friend: I cannot stress enough how powerful this one real estate marketing tip is alone. Imagine the loads of emails and junk that your audience is receiving on a daily basis. Simply by creating copy that seems real and genuine instead of formulaic will greatly improve open rates. Both in the subject line and body, find ways to stand out from the crowd and sprinkle in some humor or unique spins once in a while.
Include Calls to Action: Always have some form of a call to action in the body of your emails. This should be something that will get your audience to engage with the material. Whether it’s trying to get an interested buyer to look at a house or simply to check out your newest post on your real estate marketing blog, find a way to get people interacting. Be sure to include this several times throughout the body of your content for best results.
Keep it Simple: Any email content we create for our own campaigns is always clean and simple. Instead of messing with all types of banners, colors, and other distracting features, we just use plain Jane text. Having too much can take your prospect’s attention off of what’s most important…following through on your calls to action.
Ask for Referrals: Finally, always remember that each person is in a different stage of the buying cycle. Therefore, it is unreasonable to think that everybody is a true prospect. This is the group of people that may need to incubate for some time. So, be sure to include something like the following whenever you are featuring a property:

Not ready to buy but know someone who is? We have plenty more properties just like this! Please feel free to pass this message along to friends or family. (you get the idea)

These are just a few great examples of course. Do you know of something that has worked really well for your own real estate marketing campaigns? Please feel free to share below!

This Article is Copyright © 2004-2011 BiggerPockets, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

4 Tips for Creating Killer Real Estate Marketing Emails

Real Estate Investing For Real | A BiggerPockets Investment Property Blog

Tags : Creating, Emails, Estate, Killer, Marketing, Real, Tips

4 Ways to Build a Strong Real Estate Investing Financial Education Today

Filed Under : Real Estate by admin

Jan.24,2012

“If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.” – Unknown

Your first real estate investment should be a solid financial education

If you are like me, you’ve probably made a few mistakes in your investing career. Every successful real estate investor has made plenty of them. However, you can limit your mistakes and increase your odds of success by building a strong real estate investing financial education.

My biggest investing mistake happened because I didn’t know what I didn’t know. I didn’t have a team around me with experience to guide me away from danger and it cost me in both time and money. But that is a story for another day. Today, with all the education available, this does not have to be the case. You can limit your mistakes and make more money in real estate investing by having a solid real estate investing financial education.

On the flip side, by learning a few things at a seminar we attended, we were able to immediately apply what we learned to turn a potential disaster into a real asset. For example, we turned a potential $ 75,000 environmental mess on one of our properties, which was preventing us from being able to sell it, into a property we could sell, had a government program clean up the mess, and made a $ 125,000 profit. What was that seminar worth to us? Well… about $ 200,000 on that deal, and the event cost less than $ 1,000. Talk about return on investment.

Below are 4 things you can do today to start building your real estate investing.

Become a student of the industry. If you want to be successful in commercial real estate, read everything you can on it. If you want to be a successful multifamily investor, subscribe to newsletters and read blogs on multifamily real estate investing. There are numerous free information sites available including blogs, free reports, and industry publications. After that, buy a few really good books on the industry. It’s amazing how much information you can pick up that you can apply to your business.

Pick an area and focus. There are 100+ different ways to make money in real estate. Every guru has a system for making money. From short sales to flips to long term apartment investing, you can make money in any of them. However, you won’t make money in any of them if you don’t focus. Pick an area and be the best in it. Don’t spread yourself too thin always trying to find the next best thing. Real estate investing can be hard work. By picking an area and focusing, you will increase your odds of being successful. You can always try new things once you’ve started making money.

Find a mentor. The fastest way to take your investing to the next level is by finding a mentor in the industry that you can learn from. They can help you cut the learning curve dramatically. Find someone who is willing to teach and share with investing experience that can guide you along the way. A mentor can be instrumental in helping you take your investing career to a new level. They also have the experience you need to help you avoid major mistakes.

Invest with Experienced Investors. If you aren’t ready to go out on your own just yet, invest with experienced investors in the area you would like to be in. It’s a great way to learn hands-on while earning a return on your investment along the way. Investing with others will allow you to experience the entire investment process without trying to do it all yourself before you are ready. You will be able to walk through the properties. Look over how they evaluate properties. You can also view the offering materials and find out what makes a good investment. Review the monthly reports and learn the important measurements of successful real estate investments. Just be sure to do your homework before investing.

Building a solid real estate investing financial education is one of the best ways to limit costly mistakes in real estate investing. It will also help you make better investment decisions and in turn, more money. Education doesn’t have to cost a lot of money, but I can guarantee you this: whatever you spend building your investing education before investing will pay big dividends once you start investing.

This Article is Copyright © 2004-2011 BiggerPockets, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

4 Ways to Build a Strong Real Estate Investing Financial Education Today

Real Estate Investing For Real | A BiggerPockets Investment Property Blog

Tags : Build, Education, Estate, Financial, Investing, Real, Strong, Today, Ways

Appreciation or Cash Flow — Which is Better?

Filed Under : Real Estate by admin

Jan.20,2012

Yes I know, I am treading into a debate which in all likelihood would cause a real brawl if discussed over a few beers, but that is not my intention.

My intention is really simple. Is today’s market a better market to be investing for appreciation or for cashflow? In some markets the answer might be BOTH, but I doubt it!

I am constantly discussing goals and objectives with new and experienced real estate investors and invariably the discussion turns to appreciation or cash-flow when it comes to income producing properties.

Now I realize that if you are an investor in California, one of your primary strategies before the housing market crash might have been to purchase a rental or two, not caring about positive cash-flow — all you had to do was own the property for a year or two, and its value would increase by an amount greater than your negative cash-flow. That might have been a great plan, but guess what? When the market turned downward, property values declined significantly and all you had was negative cash-flow, feeding the beast. Praying for appreciation didn’t seem like such a good deal. Did it?

Here is the number one rule every investor much live by every single day:

You Profit When You Buy!

I know this may not be new to you, but here is what I have learned this rule really means. When I mention that you must “profit when you buy”, what I mean is “You must purchase the property at a price that will ensure your profits based upon your ability to execute your exit strategy to extract that profit from the deal” and, in the case of rentals, you end every month with positive cash-flow and lots of it!

And guess what? If you are investing in hopes of appreciation, it is the only thing that you have any control of influence over. (Note: I realize that forced appreciation, possible in the commercial property world is very doable in any market, but this is not the appreciation I am referring to.)

In fact, investing today with appreciation as even a second or third objective is extremely risky!

Let me explain. In most markets today the housing market has not hit the bottom. Values have been bouncing around near the bottom and in a few markets there might be some appreciation, but it has not been consistent. To further complicate matters, most markets are expected to decline up to 5% throughout the remainder of the year.

If you were to invest with appreciation as any of your objectives the first question you have to ask is this. Where do I start my baseline? At the purchase price, which would be the most reasonable place to start or wait until my market has hit bottom and start there. Then suppose that this is your course of action. What could you expect future appreciation to be in the coming years? Assuming that you would realize some level of appreciation over 5 to 10 years, what amount of positive cash-flow would you require to make this investment worthwhile?

The reality is you can’t predict when the bottom will be hit or how much lower it will go nor can you predict what appreciation will be in the future nor as stated above can you control or influence it!

However, here is one thing that you can control and influence. In fact, you can, with reasonable accuracy develop and execute a business plan that will yield consistent cash-flow by just focusing on the cash-flow.

The bottom line is that appreciation may sound sexy, but remember you can’t control it! You can only control your cash-flow assuming of course you bought it right!

This Article is Copyright © 2004-2011 BiggerPockets, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Appreciation or Cash Flow — Which is Better?

Real Estate Investing For Real | A BiggerPockets Investment Property Blog

Tags : Appreciation, Better, Cash, Flow

Why The Real Estate Guru’s Don’t Want Me Talking

Filed Under : Real Estate by admin

Jan.16,2012

I was recently contacted by a well-known real estate guru whose name you would instantly recognize. I’d never spoken with him before but apparently he got my phone number from a mutual friend.

This guru told me he had a big project in development and wanted me to be part of it. But first, he wanted to know how I was making money these days and what I was personally doing. I told him that today I was doing a lot of subject-to’s and that I was trying to acquire a lot of rental properties to hold onto for the long term.

After all, the real estate market is still in the tank in many places and you can pick up bargain rental properties and just sit on them until the day you die. In fact, that’s the dirty little secret that nobody wants you to know.

The “Not-So-Secret” Formula to Wealth: Build Your Rental Portfolio

If you really want to become wealthy as a real estate investor you need to own multiple (quality) rental properties and you need to pay them off over time until you own them free and clear. That way, when you retire you’ll have a nice “pension” of $ 10,000 or more coming in every single month thanks to your properties.

Anyway, when I told the guru this is what I was personally doing these days he said “ohh” and there was a long silence. I was then informed it wasn’t “sexy” enough and that he didn’t think I’d be a good fit for his project. I told him I understood, but that’s what I was doing.

Don’t Forget: Gurus are Marketers

I realize he makes his living selling courses and boot camps and to tell you the truth, I have no problem with it. If people are willing to pay up for his material, then good for him.

However, I do not make my living selling products, therefore I can tell you the truth of what works in real estate without the worry of losing sales or not appearing “sexy” or even without the worry of offending people, because I don’t really care.

Because I know that if you accumulate a “buy and hold” portfolio of just 10 properties… and if you pay them down over the years with money from your other deals, then you’ll have enough income coming in to live a very comfortable life.

It may not be sexy, but at least it’s true, and at least if you follow it you won’t be broke in retirement like far too many Americans.

Photo: dantwohundred

This Article is Copyright © 2004-2011 BiggerPockets, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Why The Real Estate Guru’s Don’t Want Me Talking

Real Estate Investing For Real | A BiggerPockets Investment Property Blog

Tags : Don’t, Estate, Guru’s, Real, Talking, Want

Don’t Get Stuck on Asking Price

Filed Under : Real Estate by admin

Jan.12,2012

Last week I wrote an article discussing the dynamic that is created when distressed inventory is low in a particular market and demand is high. In these markets, you’ll often see increased competition for REO and HUD properties. For some investors, the thought of offering anything but a lowball offer is completely unheard of. However, if competition from numerous investors in an area is fierce, this strategy may limit an investors ability to acquire property.

I have learned over the years to use the asking price as a guide, but ultimately submit offers based on the way I’ve calculated my numbers. In using my own formula, I typically make offers below asking price and as one would expect, I often get outbid by other investors. However, there are times when a new listing hits the MLS and my numbers actually allow me to bid above the asking price. Knowing that the property will be highly competitive, I have no problem submitting an offer over asking price in an effort to lock up the property before I get stuck in a bidding war. To me, it’s not a game of “how far below the asking price can I negotiate” …. it’s about locking up good investment properties where the numbers make sense.

On the flipside, I have found that it’s also easy to get stuck on an asking price when looking at “pre-approved” short sale listings. In my experience, short sales that have been listed in the MLS are somewhat arbitrarily priced. Often, it’s simply the listing agent’s opinion of what the bank may or may not approve. Again, I try not to get stuck on the asking price, but submit offers based on the way I calculate my numbers. If the asking price works, then by all means submit a full price offer, but don’t get stuck by the fact that the listing indicates it’s been “pre-approved” by the lender.

It’s so important for investors to have a clearly defined strategy when investing in real estate. Whether it’s to buy and hold, wholesale, retail, etc., it’s important to outline and stick to the formula that works for your particular strategy. Once you’ve structured a strategy that makes sense, it’s much easier to make offers without the emotion and gamesmanship so many investors get sucked into. Ultimately, if you are consistent and disciplined in your approach to investing you should be in a position to maximize profitability and minimize losses.

This Article is Copyright © 2004-2011 BiggerPockets, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Don’t Get Stuck on Asking Price

Real Estate Investing For Real | A BiggerPockets Investment Property Blog

Tags : Asking, Don’t, Price, Stuck

The Formula for Building Wealth and Massive Cash Flow in Real Estate Investing

Filed Under : Real Estate by admin

Jan.8,2012

4 green houses, and then a Red Hotel.

That is the formula for winning Monopoly. The formula was drilled into my head as a child for building wealth and winning the game. I had no idea at the time that the formula could also be used in the real world for building wealth and massive cash flow as a real estate investor.

In the game of Monopoly, you want to invest in as many properties as possible. Once you own properties, you can collect rent from your opponents every time they land on your space and must rent your space for their turn. Land rents for the lowest price without any buildings on it. This is great at first because you are starting to collect rental income. But, once you get a taste of rental income (cash flow), you want even more. The next step in Monopoly is to improve your land and add rental income by investing in homes on your land. Each house you invest in on your property increases the amount of income you can collect as rent.

Once you have invested in rental homes on all your properties, there is only one thing left to do to maximize your income. It’s time to trade in the rental homes (using 1031 Exchanges) for an even bigger building on your property that will bring in more income. You trade your rental homes for an investment in a red hotel or apartment complex. Investing in the apartment complex maximizes the amount of rental income (cash flow) you receive. The more properties you own with red hotels, the more rent you can collect. The more rent your property collects, the bigger your rental income becomes and the faster you become wealthy.

Once you’ve invested in a few apartment complexes on your properties, the game becomes easy. You can sit back and wait for your opponents to rent your properties and collect the rental income. This is the time in the game when you become truly wealthy.

To win the game Monopoly, you need to grow your wealth. You do that by buying properties and renting them out to strong renters. You start by investing in small single-family homes. You add even more homes as you go. Then, when you have maximized your rental income through single family homes, it’s time to exchange them for bigger investment properties. You do this by investing in apartment complexes that collect even more rent. They help you grow your wealth rapidly.

Doing this over and over again allows you to build your wealth and income. It makes the game easy, allowing you to buy more properties and create even more income.

4 green houses, then a red hotel or apartment complex is the formula for success in Monopoly, but it is also the formula for building great wealth and massive cash flow in real estate investing.

Photo: Fiona Shields

Real Estate Investing For Real | A BiggerPockets Investment Property Blog

Tags : Building, Cash, Estate, Flow, Formula, Investing, Massive, Real, Wealth

Will 2012 Be the Year of the Short Sale?

Filed Under : Real Estate by admin

Jan.4,2012

Many people say that 2012 will be the year of the short sale. There are lots of reasons that short sale sellers might be getting off the fence and selling their homes as short sales in the coming year.

First off, the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act of 2007 is set to come to an end. Through this program that is slated to help those with debt forgiven between 2007 and 2012, many folks are alleviated of a significant amount of taxable income. However, for transactions closing after 2012, short sale sellers will not have the advantage of protection from tax liability. For some, that could be a big bummer.

Another reason that 2012 may be the year of the short sale is because there are many wonderful short sale incentive programs that can pay short sale sellers up to $ 35,000 in order to participate in a short sale (depending upon the mortgage lender and investor note holder). Some programs include the HAFA program, the Bank of America Cooperative Program and several independent programs stemming from the major lending institutions. For a prospective short sale seller, money might be a key motivator in 2012.

Also, there’s that new HARP 2.0 program, a refinance program for responsible borrowers. If that program is anything like any of the other Government programs (such as HAMP and HAFA), it might be doomed for failure and bring about yet another faction of short sale sellers—those who thought they would qualify for a refi, but did not.

So, it seems to me that there will be lots of folks poised to participate in short sale transactions. However, will the banks be prepared to accommodate them and process the short sales quickly and efficiently? Now that might be a question for the Magic 8 Ball®.

Photo: flickr creative commons by Waifer X

Real Estate Investing For Real | A BiggerPockets Investment Property Blog

Tags : 2012, Sale, Short, Year

Real Estate News by the Numbers: Week of December 24 – December 30

Filed Under : Real Estate by admin

Dec.31,2011

A quick rundown of the important real estate news from the week of December 24 – December 30, by the numbers:

1.2% – Decrease in home prices in October from the previous month according to the S&P/Case-Shiller 20 city index. It’s the sixth straight month homes prices have fallen. Prices are also down 3.4% from a year ago.

3.95% – Average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage this week according to Freddie Mac. The average rate is up from last week’s record low rate of 3.91%.

2013 – Year that Moody’s Analytics’ chief economist, Mark Zandi, believes home prices in the U.S. will stabilize. Home prices have already fallen 40% in the last five years. Mr. Zandi also sees a 3-5% price decline in 2012.

$ 132.5 Million – Listing price for a Montana ranch . The property, located on 123,000 acres, was assembled by the late William and Desiree Moore, co-founders of Kelly-Moore Paints

7.3% – Gain in pending home sales in November from the previous month according to the National Association of Realtors. Pending home sales are based on signed contracts. Pending home sales are also at the highest level in 19 months.

674 – Average amount of days it takes to process a foreclosure (from first missed payment to foreclosure) according to LPS Applied Analytics. Just four years ago, it took an average of 253 days to process a foreclosure.

1 Year – Extension granted for a waiver on the “anti-flipping” rule. ” Homebuyers relying on FHA-insured financing will continue to be able to buy homes that have changed hands in the last 90 days.”

26,000 – Rise in short sales in 2011 from 2010. The increase was accompanied by a big drop in foreclosures, 255,000, during the same time period.

15,000 – Increase in new jobless benefits claims last week. The 381,000 jobless benefits claimed last week are still below the number of claims in early November, when there was more than 400,000.

$ 20 Million – Sales price for Will and Jada Pinkett Smith‘s Hawaii home. The 7-acre property sold for $ 6.5 million more than when they purchased the home two years ago.