subject: The Top 4 Things You Must Do To Develop A Great Real Estate Investment Business Plan [print this page] 1. Do use the business plan template that I gave you. It should allow you to short circuit many of the frustrations of a business plan. Probably the number one frustration is where to start as you sit in front of this blank piece of paper. Hopefully it will take some of that away.
What you'll do is go to each of the sections, look at the questions and answer them. Once you've done that, it becomes your section. Use it as a guide and realize you're not going to answer every question. Use those questions to guide you through the process. Then there will be some editing and what not to refine it and pull it together.
If you go through each of those sections, answer those questions and it will save you an enormous amount of time. It will jog your memory and get you going as opposed to looking at a piece of blank white paper.
2. Do prepare a complete business plan. Don't cut corners or skip sections. I would try to go through each of those sections and at least tick off the important areas. Each of the sections has important elements to them. I don't think there are any you could eliminate.
Make sure you spend a few minutes on each one of those sections. Obviously some sections will have a lot more depth to it. Other sections will be shorter and more concise but don't skip any of them.
3. Do highlight your skills and experience. This is evolving the credibility kit. That's why the credibility kit and this are so intertwined. I think everybody here got the credibility kit call. Go out there and spend the 2 to 3-1/2 hours listening to that call. Go through some of the homework and work through your credibility kit.
4. Do research on your local marketplace. Know your prices and rental rates. Be the expert in your market. We talked on Tuesday about markets that are 15,000 - 30,000 homes. That's about the right size where you can become the expert in your area.
You know what I used to do on a Saturday afternoon? I would drive around my neighborhood, and when I saw a for rent sign I would dial the number right then. I would ask about the rent. It's amazing what a skill set you develop by doing that for an hour or two.
Call 15 to 25 properties and you'll be amazed at the amount of knowledge you get and the skill you get in terms of what your neighborhood and streets are going to rent for. I know it's a lot of work sometimes, but it's the groundwork by which you become a real estate expert. You want to become the expert in your town and location and have skills and strengths that nobody else has.
That's some of the legwork that you have to do. When you develop that expertise, strength and knowledge, it's almost like an attraction. Private lenders will want to invest with you because they will sense that you obviously know your market better than anybody else
