Toby Beavers has been a Charlottesville realtor since 2003. Toby specializes in Charlottesville luxury homes, Charlottesville luxury  condos, and Charlottesville luxury townhomes. Toby spent the first 10 years selling Charlottesville historic homes and farms. His biggest joy was representing the buyer on Zachary Taylors' birthplace in Orange, Va. Zachary Taylor of Tippy Canoe and Tyler Too fame was the 12 the President of the United States. Toby lives on an historic Charlottesville farm with his family, two horses, two dogs, 2 cats, 4 raccoons, 3 possums, 3 black bears, and one all-black-skunk. Needless to say his food bills are excessive! Toby has sold over 100 Charlottesville homes and is one of very few Charlottesville realtors with all Five Star Reviews on Google. " Toby is a superb realtor. He's extremely well-read, knows the area well, loves the local history, and kept us laughing the whole time. Toby is your man!" WJG III

Ten years ago, a search for real estate would have started in the office of a local real estate agent or by just driving around town. At the agent's office, you would spend an afternoon flipping through pages of active property listings from the local Multiple Listing Service (MLS). After choosing properties of interest, you would spend many weeks touring each property until you found the right one. Finding market data to enable you to assess the asking price would take more time and a lot more driving, and you still might not be able to find all of the information you needed to get really comfortable with a fair market value.

Today, most property searches start on the Internet. A quick keyword search on Google by location will likely get you thousands of results. If you spot a property of interest on a real estate web site, you can typically view photos online and maybe even take a virtual tour. You can then check other Web sites, such as the local county assessor, to get an idea of the property's value, see what the current owner paid for the property, check the real estate taxes, get census data, school information, and even check out what shops are within walking distance-all without leaving your house!

While the resources on the Internet are convenient and helpful, using them properly can be a challenge because of the volume of information and the difficulty in verifying its accuracy. At the time of writing, a search of Denver real estate returned 2,670,000 Web sites. Even a neighborhood specific search for real estate can easily return thousands of Web sites. With so many resources online how does an investor effectively use them without getting bogged down or winding up with incomplete or bad information? Believe it or not, understanding how the business of real estate works offline makes it easier to understand online real estate information and strategies.

Although serious supply-demand imbalances have continued to plague real estate markets into the 2000s in many areas, the mobility of capital in current sophisticated financial markets is encouraging to real estate developers. The loss of tax-shelter markets drained a significant amount of capital from real estate and, in the short run, had a devastating effect on segments of the industry. However, most experts agree that many of those driven from real estate development and the real estate finance business were unprepared and ill-suited as investors. In the long run, a return to real estate development that is grounded in the basics of economics, real demand, and real profits will benefit the industry.

With the never-ending changes in our Real Estate Markets real estate professionals are starting to pay attention to the sound of new commission streams of income. Some realtors have either shied away or ran-away from such terms as Cap Rate, & Cash-on-Cash Returns. Terms that only the 'smart' and 'numbers-oriented people use to determine if a Real Estate purchase is a Good Deal, or not. A majority of the realtor brethren attended real estate school because they are excited and passionate about the promise of selling real estate and making a fantastic living. That being said Times are a Changing. Even if you live in a Hot Market where residential real estate sells in 2-3 days there is an old approach to real estate that is growing faster by the day.....Residential Real Estate Investors.

This deft group of real estate investors is taking real estate and the real estate investment world into a new era! No longer accepting the crazy volatility of the Dow Jones and NASDAQ families. Unwilling to accept the investment practices of their fore-fathers these Investors throw caution to the wind for returns above the traditional 5-6% in their Roth or IRA accounts. These Investors are bold and oftentimes aggressive. Today's Real Estate Investors are all about the fast fix-n-flip, high appreciation, and rock solid monthly cash-flows. Cutting their teeth on investment in their own home-towns is only the beginning as the Serious Investors turn to points outside their own back-yards to other regions that demonstrate greater promise and higher returns. You may say well how does this older adult view their investment opportunities? For starters the age of these stealth hunters ranges from 28 to 68. From Rich Dad-Poor Dad book series to Trumps magical presence on The Apprentice, the young real estate entrepreneurs are making their dreams happen to the tune of 3-5 acquisitions a year! Got your attention now? The typical Investor has good to great credit scores. Excellent cash reserves or hidden resources of partners with cash, and a willingness to make the deal happen at nearly any cost. The best kept secret of all is that these investing beasts travel in packs. Where you see one another is very close behind. In other words they know the people that you need to know to grow your investor database even larger. If the real estate professional does a good job the happy clients are likely to refer many of their fellow-investors. Not just investor clients but their regular every-day real estate business. Face it, if you can demonstrate to your clients how adept you are with their largest personal purchase of real estate, then wouldn't you suppose they will be over their rusted real estate advisors opinion on buying a basic home, condo or beach house?

So what if you haven't been focused in the real estate investment sector. And you are thinking this all sounds pretty good, let's give it a try. First question to ask yourself is who have your clients been working with or exploring their options of real estate investing with over the past 3-4 months. Statistically 6 out of 10 clients have considered investing in real estate or have already begun doing so before their realtor even has a chance to blink an eye. Got your attention now? How about the fact that in less than one year I increased my annual commissions by 30% by just positioning myself within my primary data-base of clients. All I did was let them know that I was ready, willing and able to begin assisting them with their Investment Realty needs. What I learned during the first year was that if I could create an environment for my clients to learn more about real estate investing that they would thank me in a variety of ways....Most importantly they would call me before writing a contract and would make sure that I was involved in every contract that wanted to make a real estate purchase. Before long 30% went up to 45% and further. Even if you aren't interested in expanding your client database, at least consider protecting the turf you have for so long spent tireless amounts of time and financial resources to maintain their allegiance. On the other hand if you are looking at your real estate career and are wondering how to reposition yourself for market growth certainly to go well into 2025, here are a few known facts about how real estate investors can improve your business.

In fact, a weak market is a real estate developer's paradise, because a weak market is a buyer's market, and one of the first steps to any real estate development project is securing a viable real estate development site on the best possible terms.

Working with a lead generation company has given me interesting insight into both real estate leads and agents. I dealt with both ends: the consumer and the agents themselves, and my job was to make them both happy. Yeah right. Easier said than done.

The consumer side is easy - real estate leads want a home value, they want information on the market, they want a real estate agent and we get them that. The real estate agents? Well that's another story - they pretty much wanted everything under the sun when it comes to real estate leads. They wanted to be handed people ready to list their homes with them asap, with no work involved on the agent's part. They want listings, not real estate leads.

Well, if I could provide that consistently, all the time, I'd either have a multi-million dollar company, or I'd be doing real estate full time myself. Get this through your heads agents: there is no magic service out there that will hand you listings for a low fee. Instead, these services provide you with real estate leads and it is YOUR job to turn them into clients. Got that? Real estate leads + you = clients!

YOU went to the classes, YOU studied up on sales and marketing techniques and YOU printed up all kinds of trinkets with your name and logo on them for your real estate leads. Ergo, YOU must convince your real estate leads to work with you. And if you're not converting them, maybe you need to take a look at your own methods, rather than immediately blame the source of the real estate leads.

By now, I've probably heard every excuse under the sun as to why online real estate leads are bad or bogus. And that's all it is, an excuse, a cop out to make you feel better about not being able to turn your real estate leads into listings. That being said, here are the top 5 cop-outs I've heard over the years about following up with real estate leads and my responses to them.

1. I'm a new agent and no one wants to use a new agent.

Well, how do they know you're a new agent? Did you announce it the second you spoke with your real estate leads? You don't need to tell all your real estate leads that you're new. If they ask, tell them, and be honest, but don't just volunteer the information. And how to you know
o one wants to use a new agent - sounds like a gross generalization to me. You won't know until you get out there and try - convince your real estate leads that to be new means you're cutting edge, the best thing out there right now, show them what an expert you've become, even if you're new to the business. Just TRY to convert them. Assuming from the start your real estate leads won't want to use you because you're new doesn't even give you a chance.

2. Some real estate leads are on the Do Not Call Registry.

So? There's no such thing as a Do Not Knock list. If your real estate leads are on the DNC Registry and you feel THAT uncomfortable risking a call, you should have your butt in the car, directions in your hand and preparing yourself mentally for your introduction once you knock at their door. And actually, as per the basic rules of the Do Not Call Registry, if a consumer on the lists makes an inquiry (which is what online real estate leads are!), you can contact them for up to 3 months after the inquiry. So you've got 3 months to get them on the phone, after that, there's still always that door! Don't use the DNC as a cop-out method with real estate leads. It's a flimsy excuse.

3. It's unprofessional to go knock on someone's door.

This is the line I usually got after suggesting stopping by the property. My thing is, who said so? Who told you it is unprofessional to go visit your real estate leads' homes and drop off the information they requested? That is a matter of opinion and as long as your real estate leads don't think it's unprofessional, you're good. And by showing initiative and going out of your way to meet your real estate leads, you may have just earned a client for life.

4. These real estate leads are too far from my area, or it's in a very bad part of town.

This is probably my favorite cop out, because it just sounds ridiculous to me. If your real estate leads are too far, why did you sign up for that area? Or, if you are getting some real estate leads out of your area, how far? Most of the time, agents complain about having to drive 30 minutes away. To me, 30 minutes of my time is DEFINITELY worth the fat commission check I could get. And if some real estate leads are too far, haven't you EVER heard of a REFERRAL COMMISSION? Find an great agent in the lead's area and send it on over. That way you'll still get a portion of the commission AND you've saved 30 precious minutes of your time.

When real estate leads are in a bad part of town, it usually means it's a very low-value home and is located in either a ghetto or backwater somewhere. It pisses me off when real estate agents say that the home isn't worth their time. Guess what buddy? When you got your license, you gained knowledge that others don't have, but will need at some point. You should be willing and open to share this with your real estate leads, no matter what the economic status of their home and income is. If you don't want to help them, no one can force you, but you are a BAD agent if you're not at least willing to find someone who will your real estate leads.

5. If they wanted to be contacted, they would have given all their correct contact information.

This is a tough one, because on one level I do agree with this SOMEWHAT. Real estate leads who give a good name, number, address and email seems to be more approachable than real estate leads that have fake names, or fake numbers, etc. But again, this statement is really a matter of opinion. You have NO idea what's going through the consumer's head when they filled out their information. Maybe they're not technologically savvy and thought if they put their phone number over the Web, everybody would get it. Maybe they mistyped something. Maybe they don't want to be hassled daily by telemarketer calls but DO still want the information. Until you actually touch base with your real estate leads, you have no idea where their head is at. What would hurt worse, getting a phone slammed in your ear, or missing out on a $15,000 commission because you THOUGHT they didn't need anything since they gave a wrong phone number?

Working with a lead generation company has given me interesting insight into both real estate leads and agents. I dealt with both ends: the consumer and the agents themselves, and my job was to make them both happy. Yeah right. Easier said than done.

The consumer side is easy - real estate leads want a home value, they want information on the market, they want a real estate agent and we get them that. The real estate agents? Well that's another story - they pretty much wanted everything under the sun when it comes to real estate leads. They wanted to be handed people ready to list their homes with them asap, with no work involved on the agent's part. They want listings, not real estate leads.

Well, if I could provide that consistently, all the time, I'd either have a multi-million dollar company, or I'd be doing real estate full time myself. Get this through your heads agents: there is no magic service out there that will hand you listings for a low fee. Instead, these services provide you with real estate leads and it is YOUR job to turn them into clients. Got that? Real estate leads + you = clients!

YOU went to the classes, YOU studied up on sales and marketing techniques and YOU printed up all kinds of trinkets with your name and logo on them for your real estate leads. Ergo, YOU must convince your real estate leads to work with you. And if you're not converting them, maybe you need to take a look at your own methods, rather than immediately blame the source of the real estate leads.

By now, I've probably heard every excuse under the sun as to why online real estate leads are bad or bogus. And that's all it is, an excuse, a cop out to make you feel better about not being able to turn your real estate leads into listings. That being said, here are the top 5 cop-outs I've heard over the years about following up with real estate leads and my responses to them.

1. I'm a new agent and no one wants to use a new agent.

Well, how do they know you're a new agent? Did you announce it the second you spoke with your real estate leads? You don't need to tell all your real estate leads that you're new. If they ask, tell them, and be honest, but don't just volunteer the information. And how to you know
o one wants to use a new agent - sounds like a gross generalization to me. You won't know until you get out there and try - convince your real estate leads that to be new means you're cutting edge, the best thing out there right now, show them what an expert you've become, even if you're new to the business. Just TRY to convert them. Assuming from the start your real estate leads won't want to use you because you're new doesn't even give you a chance.

2. Some real estate leads are on the Do Not Call Registry.

So? There's no such thing as a Do Not Knock list. If your real estate leads are on the DNC Registry and you feel THAT uncomfortable risking a call, you should have your butt in the car, directions in your hand and preparing yourself mentally for your introduction once you knock at their door. And actually, as per the basic rules of the Do Not Call Registry, if a consumer on the lists makes an inquiry (which is what online real estate leads are!), you can contact them for up to 3 months after the inquiry. So you've got 3 months to get them on the phone, after that, there's still always that door! Don't use the DNC as a cop-out method with real estate leads. It's a flimsy excuse.

3. It's unprofessional to go knock on someone's door.

This is the line I usually got after suggesting stopping by the property. My thing is, who said so? Who told you it is unprofessional to go visit your real estate leads' homes and drop off the information they requested? That is a matter of opinion and as long as your real estate leads don't think it's unprofessional, you're good. And by showing initiative and going out of your way to meet your real estate leads, you may have just earned a client for life.

4. These real estate leads are too far from my area, or it's in a very bad part of town.

This is probably my favorite cop out, because it just sounds ridiculous to me. If your real estate leads are too far, why did you sign up for that area? Or, if you are getting some real estate leads out of your area, how far? Most of the time, agents complain about having to drive 30 minutes away. To me, 30 minutes of my time is DEFINITELY worth the fat commission check I could get. And if some real estate leads are too far, haven't you EVER heard of a REFERRAL COMMISSION? Find an great agent in the lead's area and send it on over. That way you'll still get a portion of the commission AND you've saved 30 precious minutes of your time.

When real estate leads are in a bad part of town, it usually means it's a very low-value home and is located in either a ghetto or backwater somewhere. It pisses me off when real estate agents say that the home isn't worth their time. Guess what buddy? When you got your license, you gained knowledge that others don't have, but will need at some point. You should be willing and open to share this with your real estate leads, no matter what the economic status of their home and income is. If you don't want to help them, no one can force you, but you are a BAD agent if you're not at least willing to find someone who will your real estate leads.

5. If they wanted to be contacted, they would have given all their correct contact information.

This is a tough one, because on one level I do agree with this SOMEWHAT. Real estate leads who give a good name, number, address and email seems to be more approachable than real estate leads that have fake names, or fake numbers, etc. But again, this statement is really a matter of opinion. You have NO idea what's going through the consumer's head when they filled out their information. Maybe they're not technologically savvy and thought if they put their phone number over the Web, everybody would get it. Maybe they mistyped something. Maybe they don't want to be hassled daily by telemarketer calls but DO still want the information. Until you actually touch base with your real estate leads, you have no idea where their head is at. What would hurt worse, getting a phone slammed in your ear, or missing out on a $15,000 commission because you THOUGHT they didn't need anything since they gave a wrong phone number?

Apartment buildings are considered commercial real estate if there are 5 or more units. To make the numbers work you should consider to either own multiple small apartment buildings or you should opt for bigger buildings. This will keep the expense to income ratio at a positive cash flow. Owning rental properties is all about positive cash flow.

Working with a lead generation company has given me interesting insight into both real estate leads and agents. I dealt with both ends: the consumer and the agents themselves, and my job was to make them both happy. Yeah right. Easier said than done.

The consumer side is easy - real estate leads want a home value, they want information on the market, they want a real estate agent and we get them that. The real estate agents? Well that's another story - they pretty much wanted everything under the sun when it comes to real estate leads. They wanted to be handed people ready to list their homes with them asap, with no work involved on the agent's part. They want listings, not real estate leads.

Well, if I could provide that consistently, all the time, I'd either have a multi-million dollar company, or I'd be doing real estate full time myself. Get this through your heads agents: there is no magic service out there that will hand you listings for a low fee. Instead, these services provide you with real estate leads and it is YOUR job to turn them into clients. Got that? Real estate leads + you = clients!

YOU went to the classes, YOU studied up on sales and marketing techniques and YOU printed up all kinds of trinkets with your name and logo on them for your real estate leads. Ergo, YOU must convince your real estate leads to work with you. And if you're not converting them, maybe you need to take a look at your own methods, rather than immediately blame the source of the real estate leads.

By now, I've probably heard every excuse under the sun as to why online real estate leads are bad or bogus. And that's all it is, an excuse, a cop out to make you feel better about not being able to turn your real estate leads into listings. That being said, here are the top 5 cop-outs I've heard over the years about following up with real estate leads and my responses to them.

1. I'm a new agent and no one wants to use a new agent.

Well, how do they know you're a new agent? Did you announce it the second you spoke with your real estate leads? You don't need to tell all your real estate leads that you're new. If they ask, tell them, and be honest, but don't just volunteer the information. And how to you know
o one wants to use a new agent - sounds like a gross generalization to me. You won't know until you get out there and try - convince your real estate leads that to be new means you're cutting edge, the best thing out there right now, show them what an expert you've become, even if you're new to the business. Just TRY to convert them. Assuming from the start your real estate leads won't want to use you because you're new doesn't even give you a chance.

2. Some real estate leads are on the Do Not Call Registry.

So? There's no such thing as a Do Not Knock list. If your real estate leads are on the DNC Registry and you feel THAT uncomfortable risking a call, you should have your butt in the car, directions in your hand and preparing yourself mentally for your introduction once you knock at their door. And actually, as per the basic rules of the Do Not Call Registry, if a consumer on the lists makes an inquiry (which is what online real estate leads are!), you can contact them for up to 3 months after the inquiry. So you've got 3 months to get them on the phone, after that, there's still always that door! Don't use the DNC as a cop-out method with real estate leads. It's a flimsy excuse.

3. It's unprofessional to go knock on someone's door.

This is the line I usually got after suggesting stopping by the property. My thing is, who said so? Who told you it is unprofessional to go visit your real estate leads' homes and drop off the information they requested? That is a matter of opinion and as long as your real estate leads don't think it's unprofessional, you're good. And by showing initiative and going out of your way to meet your real estate leads, you may have just earned a client for life.

4. These real estate leads are too far from my area, or it's in a very bad part of town.

This is probably my favorite cop out, because it just sounds ridiculous to me. If your real estate leads are too far, why did you sign up for that area? Or, if you are getting some real estate leads out of your area, how far? Most of the time, agents complain about having to drive 30 minutes away. To me, 30 minutes of my time is DEFINITELY worth the fat commission check I could get. And if some real estate leads are too far, haven't you EVER heard of a REFERRAL COMMISSION? Find an great agent in the lead's area and send it on over. That way you'll still get a portion of the commission AND you've saved 30 precious minutes of your time.

When real estate leads are in a bad part of town, it usually means it's a very low-value home and is located in either a ghetto or backwater somewhere. It pisses me off when real estate agents say that the home isn't worth their time. Guess what buddy? When you got your license, you gained knowledge that others don't have, but will need at some point. You should be willing and open to share this with your real estate leads, no matter what the economic status of their home and income is. If you don't want to help them, no one can force you, but you are a BAD agent if you're not at least willing to find someone who will your real estate leads.

5. If they wanted to be contacted, they would have given all their correct contact information.

This is a tough one, because on one level I do agree with this SOMEWHAT. Real estate leads who give a good name, number, address and email seems to be more approachable than real estate leads that have fake names, or fake numbers, etc. But again, this statement is really a matter of opinion. You have NO idea what's going through the consumer's head when they filled out their information. Maybe they're not technologically savvy and thought if they put their phone number over the Web, everybody would get it. Maybe they mistyped something. Maybe they don't want to be hassled daily by telemarketer calls but DO still want the information. Until you actually touch base with your real estate leads, you have no idea where their head is at. What would hurt worse, getting a phone slammed in your ear, or missing out on a $15,000 commission because you THOUGHT they didn't need anything since they gave a wrong phone number?

You've probably heard of the increasing number of foreign real estate investments in the United States. This is not surprising. With the troubles that the real estate investment market is facing in the United States, greater opportunities in real estate investment were opened to foreign investors.

The real estate market is one where a profitable investment is always to be found; somewhere amidst the foreclosure lists or lying dormant on a real estate agent's desk. This guide aims to give you the background necessary to allow you to find profitable investment real estate.

The first key to profiting from real estate is to find a highly motivated and urgent seller. The idea is that to negotiate a lower price on a piece of real estate requires the seller to want to sell their house quickly or desperately. If you are talking to an unmotivated seller on the telephone then it will soon be very clear that you are not going to get a discounted price on this real estate. If the seller is unmotivated then you will be unable to negotiate a lucrative deal.

One counterintuitive aspect of real estate investment is that you normally make a profit when you buy real estate and not when you sell it. This means that, while there is often little you can do to increase the value of real estate; sellers are human and are often willing to negotiate their price. Saving money while buying real estate is the key to selling homes for a profit in the real estate market.

With that in mind, your first step is to develop a list of real estate properties that you are considering investing in. You are going to need to view around ten pieces of real estate before you careful choose which one will be your chosen investment.

One useful technique for sourcing profitable real estate properties is to interview real estate agents; the people that profit from real estate on a daily basis. Interviewing a real estate agent and finding out if they own any investment real estate they would be very useful. Remember, they will be more than willing to be interviewed because you are offering them your regular custom.

Real estate agents understand the market inside out and can be an excellent source of investment properties with low prices because others have not seen or understood the potential of them. After you create a good relationship with some local real estate agents you will typically receive a phone call every time they notice a good property reach their desk. Remember, they receive a lot in return for this relationship because the more real estate that they sell the more commission that they earn.