{"id":362,"date":"2015-03-31T13:41:00","date_gmt":"2015-03-31T13:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stepstonetexas.com\/?p=362"},"modified":"2020-10-01T18:15:28","modified_gmt":"2020-10-01T18:15:28","slug":"investing-strategy-for-the-long-term","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.stepstonetexas.com\/?p=362","title":{"rendered":"Investing Strategy for the Long-Term"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a><\/div>\n

I’ve been practicing creative real estate investing for eleven years. \u00a0It hasn’t always been easy. \u00a0In fact, there were times where it was a downright struggle. \u00a0Part of that is I didn’t really ever embrace the level of networking and educating myself that I do today.<\/p>\n

But when I look back on the long road I’ve been on, I do realize that every year gets easier. \u00a0Every year I make more money. \u00a0And every year the future looks brighter and brighter.<\/p>\n

What I have done right is employ a strategy that is built for the long-term.<\/p>\n

Which is good since I am having so much fun, I don’t ever want to retire!<\/p>\n

We talk a lot to our agent\/investors and those thinking about joining us, that our brand of real estate is one for the long-term. \u00a0But what exactly makes it so? \u00a0What is the strategy for the long-term?<\/p>\n

Treating Sellers with Respect<\/b>
\n
\n<\/b>It’s easy to look down on someone who is in trouble. \u00a0We are all guilty of not understanding how they got behind on their mortgage payments or the poor choices they made that led them to the situation they are in. \u00a0But the fact is, they are flawed humans, and we are no different. \u00a0We all have made mistakes and we all have needed a little help from time to time. \u00a0My wife, Angie, is good at reminding me that we are “all God’s children”, particularly when I get frustrated at other drivers on the way to the next seller meeting.<\/p>\n

Treating your sellers with respect and offering them the solutions that best fit THEIR needs does pay dividends later. \u00a0I recently had a seller meeting where this absolutely helped. \u00a0One of our agent\/investors got to witness this first hand. \u00a0I handed the daughter of the seller my card and her reaction was immediately positive. “StepStone… I’ve heard of you, you guys are really good”.<\/p>\n

The fact is, people today do a lot of online research. \u00a0And if you try to squeeze out every last penny on a deal by putting your needs ahead of the seller, your reputation can and will eventually suffer. \u00a0We strive extra hard to make the seller’s experience positive through the whole process of either buying or listing their house. \u00a0Through these years of effort, we have built a reputation that gives us a competitive advantage in the marketplace and we are set-up for the long-term.<\/p>\n

Treating Each Other with Respect<\/b>
\n
\n<\/b>When we get a property under contract that we want to wholesale, it is vitally important to us that we offer that property to other investors (first to our StepStone Agent\/Investors) in a way that is fair and honest.<\/p>\n

I see roughly ten “wholesale” deals come across my email every day. \u00a0Not a single one do I bother to look at anymore unless its from a StepStone Investor\/Agent. \u00a0Why? \u00a0Because all too often the numbers they present are downright lies. \u00a0We can disagree on the ARV (after-repaired value), but we all know the difference between a disagreement and a lie.<\/p>\n

Or the repair numbers are ridiculously low. \u00a0I see investors marketing their property as an easy paint and carpet job, only to walk in and see a pink bathtub from 1954. \u00a0On top of that, they want a $5,000 non-refundable deposit to secure the property. \u00a0So if you find out later that the repair costs are higher (which they probably are), you have a choice to either wave goodbye to your $5,000 or close on the deal anyway.<\/p>\n

This is not treating fellow investors with respect!<\/p>\n

By working WITH my buyers to get a good deal for both of us, I have built a buyer’s list that pays attention to my deals when I email them out. \u00a0By sending out deals in an honest way, and leaving meat on the bone for the investor that is going to flip it or rent it, closing deals is easy for me.<\/p>\n

At StepStone, we want buyers to clamour for our deals, not cringe at the sight of our emails. \u00a0We want buyers who want to work with us for the long-term and we have been successful at doing just that.<\/p>\n

Being Flexible and Immune to Market Cycles<\/b>
\n
\n<\/b>By being both an investor and an agent, our investor\/agents have made themselves immune to market cycles. \u00a0By being equally ready to list property as to buy it, they are prepared when the majority of leads are short sale listings. \u00a0They have an advantage when it comes time to offer more property out as owner finance because they can list the property on the MLS.<\/p>\n

We currently are making the majority of our money on flips, new construction and wholesales to other flippers. \u00a0But in 2009, when the world looked bleak for many, we were doing just fine with our 25 short sale listings and monthly owner finance closings. \u00a0Throw in our occasional wholesale to buy and hold investors and our business didn’t miss a beat!<\/p>\n

The StepStone Way<\/b>
\n
\n<\/b>This truly is the StepStone Way and it is a strategy that is for the long-term. \u00a0By treating sellers, investors and each other with respect, we are establishing ourselves as THE go-to company that has integrity and presents ourselves and our deals honestly. \u00a0By being flexible with what we offer sellers, and by offering them what will be best for them, we have developed a strategy that makes us immune to the market.<\/p>\n

The StepStone Way is a strategy for the next hundred years, not the next three.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve been practicing creative real estate investing for eleven years. \u00a0It hasn’t always been easy. \u00a0In fact, there were times where it was a downright struggle. \u00a0Part of that is I didn’t really ever embrace the level of networking and educating myself that I do today. But when I look back on the long road […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-362","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.stepstonetexas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.stepstonetexas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.stepstonetexas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.stepstonetexas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.stepstonetexas.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=362"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.stepstonetexas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":468,"href":"https:\/\/blog.stepstonetexas.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362\/revisions\/468"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.stepstonetexas.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=362"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.stepstonetexas.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=362"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.stepstonetexas.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=362"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}