CaptureNotes: Your Life, Color-Coded
Posted on January 30, 2013 by Don DeRosa
“I’m known for my handwritten notes.” ~ Pamela Anderson
 You’re driving your Uncle Bugsy to the doctor when you spot a “for sale by owner” sign in front of a nice little brick house. You’re already running late, but you’ve been watching this house – it’s got a big blue tarp draped over the roof – for a couple of months now. You’ve got no pen and paper, and you won’t have time to stop later. Sure, you can snap a picture with your cellphone, but you’d really like to take some notes, too.
Unfortunately, Uncle Bugsy isn’t known for his patience, so you’re only going to have about a minute before he starts complaining about how inconsiderate kids are nowadays.
What should you do?
If you have an iPad, the solution is a great little app called CaptureNotes. CaptureNotes might look like just another note-taking application, but it’s not. Yes, it lets you do all the usual note-taking things: create notes, choose the type of paper and ink color, and doodle and scribble on a touch screen. So far, it’s pretty ordinary.
But there are three other things CaptureNotes does that make it really useful for us as real estate investors.
First, it has some pretty sophisticated bells and whistles. You can add photographs and record audio while you’re taking notes (say, in a seminar, or while you’re inspecting a house). And then you can draw or write on the picture. The app also uses searchable, customizable, color-coded flags as reminders (red for “to do,” for example, or green for “research needed.”). Those flags can even be used to tag a specific moment in the audio.
Second, it allows you to import PDF files and use them as templates. This is a great way to create standardized forms for specific uses. As an investor, I find that this kind of streamlining is a big part of my success – it allows me to spend more time on buying and selling properties, which is where the money is.
Finally, CaptureNotes provides a pretty painless way to back up your new files, simply by uploading them to Dropbox or iTunes.
 Let me say something here about backing up your files. If you aren’t already backing up, please start! I’ve learned the hard way that it’s not a matter of IF your computer is going to crash. It’s a matter of WHEN. And it’s a pretty safe bet that it’ll go dead at the worst possible time. Please back it up!
So picture it: with the clock ticking (Uncle Bugsy is waiting, after all), you start a new notebook. Then you jump out of the car and take pictures of the FSBO sign, and various shots of the house. Now add those pictures to your note, and then circle things on the picture of the house that might be problematic. Go crazy and draw lots of arrows and circles. Then, flag something just for the heck of it. Between the flags and the ability to write and highlight in different colors, you’ll have an exciting, dynamic note that’s definitely useful and darned near artistic.
And that’s a beautiful thing.

Back to Basics: Getting Started with Subject-To Transactions
Posted on February 28, 2013 by Don DeRosa
“The right tool for the job” ~ slogan for True Temper Tools
Congratulations – you made it through the winter and spring is on its way!  I think spring is a perfect time to take an inventory of your real estate investment “tools.” And if you’ve been sitting on the sidelines, wondering if real estate investing is for you, spring is also a great time to dive in! Either way, it’s a good time to get back to basics. Today, let’s focus on one of my favorite investment techniques: “subject to” mortgages.
Most of you know that when you buy a house, you usually receive a warranty deed, which gives ownership of a piece of property.  If you’re paying all cash for a property, you just exchange the cash for the warranty deed.  So far so good.
But if you don’t have all the cash, you have to borrow the money.  Most of you know how the typical mortgage loan works: Buddy Banker says, “Sure, just sign this promissory note that says you’ll pay it all back.”  In return, you get a security instrument that says if you don’t pay the promissory note, the bank gets the property.  In most states, that security instrument is the mortgage (In Georgia, we use security deeds). That mortgage, when it’s recorded, creates a lien on the property.  In other words, the bank puts everyone on public notice that if the owner sells or transfers the property, the bank has to be paid off first. 
A “subject-to” transaction is a little different.  When you buy a house this way, you’ll take over payments on the original mortgage. You’ll bring the house up to date on the mortgage and back taxes and then continue to make mortgage payments, subject to the existing financing. The seller gives you a warranty deed, which conveys ownership to you.  That means you get the tax benefits and the profits, but you also get the headaches and costs. 
There is one headache you don’t get, though:  liability for the loan.  Your name isn’t on the mortgage. Of course, if you don’t make the payments, Buddy Banker is going to exercise the default clause in the mortgage. In other words, he’s going to say, “You’ve defaulted, so we’re going to foreclose and grab that house right out from under you.”  (Obviously, if you can’t afford the payments, you shouldn’t be buying that property.)
But what about that “due on sale” clause you’ve have heard about? Most mortgages and security deeds now have this clause, which says that if the borrower – our homeowner – sells the house, the bank is allowed to call the loan. In other words, Buddy Banker can tell the seller he’s got to pay the entire amount of the loan – right now!
Luckily, in almost all cases, the bank could care less who owns the house as long as they’re getting paid.  After all, Mr. Banker is swimming in foreclosed houses. He’d rather have the money!  And that’s why subject-to transactions work.
Maybe you’re an experienced investor, and you’d like a refresher course. Or perhaps you’re just getting started. Whatever your situation, I’d like to invite you to my two-day, boot camp called “An Introduction to Real Estate Investing – Making a Fortune Buying Houses with No Money and No Credit” on March 23rd & 24th in Atlanta, GA. This two-day boot camp will cover all the basics of subject-to investing and is great for every skill level. Among the topics we’ll cover:
Getting started in your business, finding sellers, negotiation, constructing and presenting offers, staying organized and managing the paperwork flow,  finding private lenders, exit strategies and much more!
Don’t let spring pass you by. Your fortune awaits!

Protecting Your Stuff: Cloudy Skies Ahead
Posted on March 26, 2013 by Don DeRosa
“Treat your password like your toothbrush. Don’t let anybody else use it, and get a new one every six months.” ~ Clifford Stoll
Tonight you’re closing on a lucrative short sale. Afterwards, you’ve got a special dinner planned. And it’s good to know your seller will sleep better than she has in months. Yes, it’s going to be a great night. All you need to do now is print out the paperwork.
So you turn on your laptop and … nothing.  Nothing. Just the dreaded blue screen of death!
Viruses happen. Spilled coffee happens. Accidentally dropping your iPhone in the swimming pool because you insisted you could carry four margaritas while you dance the hula with your cute cousin Betsy, well, that happens too.
If you’re like me, your whole life is in your iPad. Heaven forbid all that information should suddenly disappear! You can install anti-virus programs, you can be careful what you download, but here’s the bottom line: It’s not a matter of if your system will crash. It’s just a matter of when. It’s true for notepads and smartphones as well as laptops and PCs. So no matter what else you do, you’ll need to make sure all that wonderful information lives somewhere safer than your laptop.
And that means you need to back up your stuff.  You need a copy of all the stuff you care about in your computer. That way, if your smartphone goes kaput, or if it gets stolen, or if you leave it out in the rain, you’ll still have a copy of all your documents and photos.
Backups have come a long way just in the past few years. Remember when you had to copy your hard drive onto about a hundred floppy disks? And you had to make sure you kept the disks in a safe place, away from your computer. Not anymore. Now, there’s something called “the cloud.”
So what the heck is the cloud? Think of it as a great big data storage room in the sky.
You’ve probably used cloud computing without even knowing it. Every time you look at your yahoo email account, for instance, you’re computing in the cloud. The emails don’t live on your hard drive, right? They live somewhere “out there.” In other words, in the cloud.
Easy access to the cloud is a game-changer for investors. The cloud is what makes mobile computing possible. It lets you keep your stuff in a central location so you can get to it from any computer device with Internet access. You can create a purchase offer at home on your PC and park it on the web. Then you can edit it on your notepad while you wait for your latte. You can even bring it up on your smartphone for a last-minute change. 
Here is small sampling of some cloud-computing resources you might find useful:
• iCloud. This is Apple’s application for backing up your files; you can use this for free if you use an iPad or iPhone.  It’s easy to set up, and you get 5 gigabytes of storage space. (www.icloud.com)
• Evernote and Dropbox: Both of these applications allow you to store and share files. Each has somewhat different capabilities but both allow you to store copies of documents and more. (www.evernote.com and www.dropbox.com)
• Shutterfly and Photobucket. You’ll want to protect more than your documents. You’ll want to back up your photographs as well, whether they’re family portraits or pictures of your next house purchase. (www.shutterfly.com and www.photobucket.com)
Your data represents a lot of hard work, so take care of it. If you do, the world will be your office.
Still, keep your phone away from the swimming pool. You know, just in case.

Discovering an Old Favorite
Posted on May 1, 2013 by Don DeRosa
“A self-taught man usually has a poor teacher.” ~ Henny Youngman
Did you know that the little iPhone I carry around with me is more powerful than the computer that took Apollo 11 to the moon? It’s true. The Apollo 11 computer was just 64 kilobytes!
It’s amazing, isn’t it? I can balance my checking account on my phone. I get 200 cable stations on my TV, and I bet someday I’ll be able to watch them all at the same time. And I’m pretty sure my kids don’t know how to dial a rotary telephone.
Yes, we’ve come a long, long way from Atari Pong!
(For my younger readers, Pong was a very simple computer game where you made a little ball go back and forth and .…. Well, I guess you kind of had to be there.)
But technology development for its own sake just creates shiny distractions. In the rush for new hardware, new applications, and new and more sophisticated Internet sites, it’s easy to forget about yesterday’s website of the day.
So this month, I’m taking a look at a website that’s well-known and not so shiny anymore, but incredibly useful: Youtube.
Yes, Youtube. I know, it’s old news, but Youtube isn’t just for wardrobe malfunctions anymore. Sure, you can watch the Shamwow guy, or see the zoo lady tickle the baby penguin (I love that one!), or be inspired by that great Chrysler Super Bowl commercial from 2011.
But Youtube is also a massive treasure trove of incredibly practical, how-to advice. Need to stage a house? Fix a leaky faucet? Learn Excel? It’s all there, and then some! In fact, I have some really useful videos there, too. Heck, let’s not stop there. You can also learn to balance a checkbook, clip your dog’s toenails, or learn the Welsh national anthem.
Let’s say you want to install a new ceiling fan. In the past, you were at the mercy of those incomprehensible paper instructions that come in the box. But you can search Youtube and actually watch the installation. If you find a decent video, those paper instructions become darned near disposable. That can make all the difference in the world!
Be careful, though, whose advice you follow. Like the Internet generally, anybody can post on Youtube. A video made by MegaHardware Store is probably okay, but even those guys can mess things up once in a while. So consider the source, and always verify with other written or visual instructions. I recommend watching two or three videos, not just one. Watching more than one can help clarify confusing instructions, and can also tip you off to unreliable advice if you see inconsistencies.
So while you’re enjoying all the best new stuff on the Web. don’t ignore those old standbys like Youtube. They’re more helpful than ever.
And by the way, if you go to a yard sale and you find a vintage game called Kaboom, I want it. See, in Kaboom, they had this stick figure man trying to avoid a bomb, and there was actually sound, which was very cool, and … Oh, never mind…

Open Source Apps: Cheap Can Be Great!
Posted on May 31, 2013 by Don DeRosa
“Without a sense of teamwork I think it’s really hard to build a great business.”
~ Martha Stewart
Sticker shock. I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling it these days. In the doctor’s office, at my kid’s college, and at the grocery store.
Business expenses are going up, too. Have you priced Microsoft Office Pro lately? Ouch!  But it would be almost impossible to run a business these days without it. Sooner or later, you’re going to have to cough up the bucks to get it. 
Or are you?
Maybe not, thanks to something called “open source.”
What the heck is open source? It’s software that’s created and improved by anyone who wants to pitch in, and it’s free for anyone who wants to use it. This is very different from the usual corporate model, where software is written in secret with lots of copyright lawyers hanging around the water cooler.
Open source is kind of a philosophy. The idea is that when you’ve got a talent pool made of the entire human race, instead of just a limited number of in-house professionals, innovations come more quickly, and bugs are eliminated faster. Everyone can contribute, and everyone can use it free, for any purpose.
Probably the best known open source project is Wikipedia. It’s a great place to look for general information about a topic, although it’s a good idea to verify Wikipedia information with another resource.
You might think that open source programs would be hopelessly rinky-dink, and stripped to the bone of any useful features. You get what you pay for, right? But these versions are surprisingly sophisticated and robust.
So how do you find open source programs? It’s easier than you might think. If there’s a software product that’s got you drooling, just Google it to find other alternatives. Here’s how: Type “open source” and the name of the program you want. For major software products, information about an open source alternative should pop right up.
For example, if you Google “Microsoft Office” and “open source,” you’ll find a PC World article that lists five decent free alternatives; the best known is probably Apache OpenOffice (www.openoffice.org). If you Google Photoshop, you’ll find GIMP (www.gimp.org). GIMP is free, too.
Some cautionary notes, though, before you toss your Microsoft Office back-up disk in the fireplace.
First, be sure you get the software from a source you trust such as www.cnet.com. And don’t venture into cyberspace without some good virus protection!
Second, make sure the program will save files in a format you can use. The good ones will, but it may not be the default. For example, OpenOffice can save your file as a Word document, but only if you tell it to. This is essential if you want to share your files with others.
Third, check the license agreement to be sure you’re using the software legally. Do this especially if you’re a computer expert and you want to change or add to the code.
Fourth, read some reviews. You’ll get invaluable information, and sometimes you’ll find out about a product that’s even better.
Finally, experiment before you limit yourself to any one program. Make sure you’ve got a good feel for how it works. For example, does your OpenOffice document format properly when you open it in Word? Is there useful help and support online? Is the open source product missing any important features?
Many people have found open source products they love so much they don’t need to purchase the name-brand at all. It’s worth checking out even if you still wind up getting the name-brand product. You never know when you’ll need a back-up.
And after all, some of the best things in life really are free.

Putting It All together – Bento 4
Posted on July 31, 2013 by Don DeRosa
“To say that I am organized is an understatement, but my car tells a different story.”
~ Emily Procter
I love summertime, don’t you? So many memories in the making! Barbecues with the family. Long, lazy evenings by the pool. Ball games and beer.  Mowing the lawn. Mowing the lawn again. And mowing the lawn again…. And when, oh when, are those kids ever going to sleep? Man, it’s hot! I’m going inside.
I love air conditioning, don’t you?
When you’ve had enough of the summer heat, maybe it’s time to pay some attention to your office. You do have an office, right? And no, a pile of paper on the kitchen table doesn’t count as an office. You need some dedicated space.  It could be just a corner of a room but it needs to be set aside just for business. It needs to be pleasant, quiet, and comfortable.
You may not want to spend the time, but it really is important for you to organize all the files and “stuff” you’ll have around you.  If you’re not organized, things fall through the cracks. Deadlines get missed. Money evaporates. I’m speaking from experience here.  There was a time when my home office looked like the aftermath of a hurricane.  Stuff was everywhere.  That’s when I knew I had to get organized!
Now, it’s your turn. Your home office doesn’t have to be expensive. It does need to be reasonably efficient, though, so setting it up deserves some quality time and attention.
Just a few years ago, “organization” meant filing cabinets and bookshelves. You still need at least some of these, even with all the technology you have at your fingertips. Of course, you’ll also need a desk and a chair.  And by that, I mean your own desk and chair, not that rickety junk from the yard sale that your kids rejected.
I used to recommend that my students buy a good mortgage calculator, a cellphone, a camera, a computer, and maps. Now, you have all of those in one tiny package: the smart phone.
There are still a few die-hards that want a phone that’s just a phone. Even though I understand the desire to keep things simple, I guarantee you that your toughest competitors have smartphones. Why give them that advantage?
But it’s not enough to just have a smartphone. It’s not even enough to have lots of great apps on your smartphone. You need one more thing: Time.
You’ve got to invest time to learn the software and customize it for your own individual needs.  I know so many people who have the latest smartphone with all the latest apps – but they don’t’ have a clue how to use them. They just want to turn it on and go, and when they can’t figure it out right away, they give up. They might as well have one of those clunky car phones from the 1980s.
In the system I’ve developed, I’ve gathered all the best software and customized it for real estate investors. That’s half the battle right there. But even the best collection of customized apps won’t do you much good if you don’t take the time to educate yourself; and of course you may still want to customize it for your own unique situation. So think of time as an investment – in yourself!
Take Bento 4 for example. Bento is a wonderful organizational app for iOS systems (that is, Apple products). Lots of you have separate programs for contacts, schedules, budgeting, and projects. Bento integrates all those functions – and many more – into one handy app. It’s highly customizable so you can fit it exactly to the way you do business. Better yet, there are loads of templates already created for you. A couple dozen are included in the program, but you can go online and choose from hundreds more. (A word of caution: anybody can submit a template, so there are some clinkers in with the gems). Once you’ve downloaded a template, you can change the content and the look until it’s just right for you. You can even encrypt information and program it to do simple calculations. It’s really versatile.
The first few times I opened Bento, though, I was completely mystified. It looked really great but it sure seemed complicated, so I avoided using it for a long time. I thought if Bento was any good, I would have been able to figure it out right away.
Finally, I decided to invest a little bit of time. I went on Youtube and found an hour-long video about the basics of Bento. I looked at some other tutorials. I explored all the templates and played with them. Then, I worked on customizing the templates and entering data. Now I see how practical it is. (By the way, make sure you get Bento version 4 or later). But it took several hours of learning and practicing and tweaking templates before it was of much help to me.
My efficient little virtual office took some time to set up and learn. But these days I take apps like Bento almost for granted. With one little box smaller than a deck of cards, I can check the time, make a phone call, take pictures of a house, download it into a database, link the record to a contact, encrypt the phone number, track my expenses, and find a coffee house.
And that leaves me more time to enjoy those long summer evenings. From now on, though, I’m paying the neighborhood kid to mow the lawn.

Zillow: More Information for Me and for You!
Posted on September 25, 2012 by Don DeRosa
“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.” ~ Benjamin Franklin
Remember when your dear Aunt Myrtle asked you to help her sell that Miami condo? You did the research, helped arrange some inexpensive upgrades, priced the home sensibly, and voila! It sold in a week and a half. Aunt Myrtle was so grateful she sent you homemade bread and cookies for a year.
But that was then.  This isn’t your Aunt Myrtle’s condo market anymore, and it’s not just because of the Great Recession. While prices were hurtling downward, the amount and availability of information online was increasing like crazy. Databases that used to cost hundreds of dollars per year are now available to everyone for free. And that includes resources like MLS listings that used to be available only to real estate professionals.
Zillow is a great example of just how far online resources have come. Established in 2005 by economists, Zillow doesn’t just provide current home listings; it’s a one-stop shop that analyzes everything from the housing market as a whole to detailed information on single properties. The smart folks in charge have developed mathematical algorithms based on comps and other data, allowing Zillow to predict (or “zestimate”) the value of any property based on comps and other data. Enter an address, and there it is: Zillow’s zestimate of a property’s worth, along with pictures and details from the listing. Comps are even available. And a blog. And a mortgage calculator, and a lot more!  The mobile version can also use GPS to find properties nearby. You can sit in your car in front of a house that’s for sale, look up the price, check Zillow’s value estimate, and then see what houses might be available just around the corner. If you happen to be a bird-dogger, Zillow is your best friend.
Oh. Did I mention that Zillow is free? There’s not even a charge to list houses for sale or for rent.
And guess what: Your Aunt Myrtle can use it too. And so can your prospective home sellers. This can be a game-changer because now you are not the only one with data. Your seller can tell you that the “zestimate” of their house is about $25,000 more than what you are prepared to pay them. How are you going to handle that?
You’re going to handle it by understanding Zillow. Whether or not you actually use Zillow for your own purposes, you need to know how it works so you can resolve any misunderstandings the seller might have. In particular, you need to know that Zillow doesn’t count foreclosures when it’s calculating value. It also doesn’t factor in the number of bedrooms or bathrooms or a house’s condition. It’s just a number, folks. That’s why you’ll see zestimates that are way above the asking price, and zestimates that are way below. This might sound like a problem, but it is terrific news: you’ll be able to explain to the seller why the Zillow number is wrong (or right), and you can back it up with your own comps, which are more reliable.
Zillow is fast becoming one of the most important real estate websites available. Used properly and with integrity, it can make your work much more efficient. That means more houses, and more profitable transactions.
Say! Maybe it’s time to contact Aunt Myrtle again. She’s probably ready to get a new house. And I’m completely out of homemade bread…

CallerID Note Pro: Get the Names Straight!
Posted on November 28, 2012 by Don DeRosa
“Discretion in speech is more important than eloquence.” ~ English proverb
It’s eight p.m. on a Saturday night. You’ve just settled into your front-row seat at the opera – you’re seeing your favorite, La Traviata.
Okay, so you’re really at a WWE wrestling smackdown. Work with me here.
At any rate, you’re in your seat waiting for the action to begin, and your phone vibrates. Caller ID says it’s Francine Fudley, a very motivated seller who’s on the verge of signing a contract. But wait, that’s wrong! Isn’t Francine Fudley the name of your brother’s second wife’s third cousin? The seller’s name is really Freddie Pfeffer, right? Or is that Frances Furman?
Sheesh. What a dilemma! You’ve got to take a call from the seller, even if it means missing a perfectly good cage match. But if you take the call and it turns out to be your brother’s second wife’s third cousin, you’ll be stuck in a long, long conversation about how her gout is a sure sign of a decaying society.
Do you answer the call, or not?
Let me just mention at this point that you can customize your cellphone ringtones for different kinds of callers. One ringtone for sellers, another for business associates, and still another for cranky, distant relatives. Of course, you knew that already. (You did know that, right?)  But different ringtones don’t help you much when your phone is set to vibrate.
That’s why I love CallerID Note Pro. This simple Android app allows you to attach post-it style notes to your contacts. There is no limit to the number of notes you can associate with an individual contact.
So how does this work? When Francine Fudley calls, you’d see her name, plus a note that you created, saying, “motivated seller,” or “she’s a talker,” or “whatever you do, don’t mention gout!” Happily, the note would then disappear, reducing the risk that anyone will see what you really think of your family.
Depending on your settings, CallerID Note Pro can prompt you to create a new note after each phone call. This is handy if you want to jot down a short note about your conversation, or if you want to remember to follow up on something during your next call. You can also search for particular notes, another nice feature. You can even disable the caller ID function and just keep notes on all your contacts.
CallerID Note Pro is available at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.thirtymatches.calleridnotes.pro&hl=en. It’s very easy to use, even if you’re not very computer literate. As of this writing, the software costs all of $0.99. But you can also try out the lite version for free at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.thirtymatches.calleridnotes.lite.
With CallerID Note Pro, you can create instant “cliff notes” for each of your contacts. With this simple organizational tool, you’ll never miss a call from a motivated seller. You’ll never have to hear about a distant in-law’s medical conditions. And you won’t miss a moment of that WWE cage match.