Have you ever lowered the price of a house you have for sale as a retail property? Hopefully after you read this you will never have to do that again. Did you know that for every $1,000 in price reduction of a home it only changes the payment about $6 dollars? That is not much of an incentive for a buyer if you ask me. However, if you keep the price the same and offer to pay closing cost or carry a small second mortgage it greatly increases the number of qualified buyers that could purchase your home.

A week never goes by that someone doesn’t say to me “how did you find this deal”. It is very rare that I “find” a deal. You have to look at a lot of properties and make a lot of offers to buy a property. I always make my first offer over the phone, on the first call. I believe that if your not ashamed of your first offer, its too high. You can always go up but it’s hard to come down after an offer. Having said that, bear in mind that you have to get to know the seller and they must like you and trust you or they will hang up on you if you hit them with an offer half of what they are asking. It is also important to note that it is very rare that your first offer is accepted, especially on the first call.

I heard these words from my good friend, Jay Parker, a long time ago and have never forgotten them. The business of real estate investing requires that we work with a lot of different people and professions. We work with newbie’s, as well as, seasoned professionals. We work with realtors, builders, attorneys, appraisers, lenders, banks and also other investors. All of these professions are highly regulated, however it does not mean that you should always go along with what you are told. There is a phrase that I refer to whenever I am dealing with someone, especially someone that I have never done business with before. That phrase is “trust but verify”. It is a good thing to remember.

What gets you out of the bed each day? Do you have goals and plans, both short and long term, or is the fact that you will be out on the streets if you don’t make next months rent or mortgage payment what motivates you? I say this to prove a point. Some people are pleasure motivated and some people are pain motivated. I think it’s important to find out which you are. If you are pain motivated I suggest that you find something to get excited about. Even if your goal is not for you but for a family member it can still motivate you. Setting goals are very simple. It can be done by anyone. Are you ready? Here’s what you have to do to set a goal…. Decide what you want and write it down. That’s it! Just the fact that you wrote it down increases you chances of obtaining your goal. The other thing you need to do is set a deadline for achieving your goal. A goal without a deadline is just a conversation. This is worth repeating.

This article is also viewable at http://www.landlord2landlord.com/Newsletters.aspx. For more articles like this, please join our Newsletter. According to CNN, "homeowners trying to sell last month faced the biggest glut of homes on the market in about 16 years, as declining sales and growing problems in the mortgage market helped push home prices down for the 12th straight month."

When the bank says no, there is still work to do. On this great call with Dwan, learn how to find deals, put together your packages with the banks, have the crucial conversation that will make or break your deal, how to pin down loss mitigation, how to handle the banks inspection, getting the deed, and more. Don't miss this great call!

Whether you like it or not you can’t do it all by yourself. Investing in real estate requires many different professionals. There are realtors, appraisers, inspectors, builders, remodelers, mortgage companies, banks, property managers, attorneys, partners, accountants, sign companies, printing companies and yes even mentors, buyers, sellers and tenants. I have heard in business that you are only as good as your weakest link. I want to suggest that you choose your team carefully. You may even want to go as far as interviewing your team players. After all this is a business and the dollar amounts can be substantial so you want to make sure that your team members have the same morals, ethics, business philosophy and personality as you.

I want to share with you some ideas on using real estate to become debt free and build your cash reserves. It has worked for me and I have also shared this with many other investors and it has worked for them also. Many investors start out in real estate thinking that you have to “have money to make money”. That is not the case at all. You will need one of two things though; either good credit or cash…remember that it doesn’t have to be your cash or credit as far as that’s concerned. It’s OK to start out with other investors until you can do it on your own. I would rather share the profits and have some of something rather than all of nothing.

The recession is over and spending is going up. Interest rates may even begin to rise soon. According to a recent study Americans are carrying $683 billion in revolving credit card debt. That is not how much we charge but the outstanding balance that we pay interest on each month. WOW! Cambridge Consumer Credit Index stated recently that of all those people who paid less than the entire balance all but 13% made the minimum payment. Using a credit card on a regular basis is nothing more than habit. If you want to change your results just change your habit. You can even go so far as to leave your credit cards at home. Yes, I know it’s tough but if you don’t have them with you, you can’t use them can you? Here are 8 steps that will help you get out from under the burdens of debt. If you have young adult or teenage children I would suggest that you pass this along to them also: