You Say You Want A (Virtual) Revolution

Are you looking for a faster, easier way to make deals happen . . . and get paid well for it?

The answer, my friends, is to join the virtual revolution.

But before we get into some timely tips on virtual deals, let me introduce myself…

Introducing…

I’m Dolmar Cross, the newest Mogul Faculty Advisor, and I’m super happy to be here!

See, like many of you, I am a guy who struggled to get my investing business off the ground. I eventually starting making it happen thanks to some fierce determination, raw persistence and a savvy mentor’s friendly guidance and help.

But the money went right to my head – yep, that’s me swimming with sharks…

I started splurging—snazzy luxury cars, taking friends on lavish trips. I thought I was on top of the world (or under the sea, as it were) and could do no wrong. Unfortunately that’s when it usually all hits the fan—which is exactly what happened to me.

When the market crashed in ’08 I lost everything (literally everything; I had to file for bankruptcy). Discouraged, I met with an investor who gave me some powerful insight… basically kicked my butt back into dusting myself off and getting right back to it—for the sake of my kids—to teach them that when things get hard, we don’t just quit.

We fight on.

So with this powerful, new mindset and very little money left, I found myself with a sincere need to get good property leads without spending any money. Thus sparked the inspiration for my Property Scout Pipeline (more on this game-changing system in future lessons).

I have flipped over 100 properties. . . and today, I only work about 15 hours a week.

So let’s dive into one aspect of how I do REI. (See what I did just there? Dive. Sharks. Yep.) You’ll see it’s made me become a successful investor and an advocate for the virtual revolution – leveraging business relationships and outsourcing. Plus, I’m sharing some super-helpful websites that can help you and your business.

Here we go…

The Virtual Investing Revolution

So, I’m continually amazed at how rapidly the world of real estate investing evolves. These changes are:

Sometimes beyond our control, forcing us to adapt (think changing markets, interest rates and government regulations)
Sometimes offer us a choice (think new investing strategies and new technology)

When it comes to changes that offer you a choice, you want to be on the cutting edge. That will give you a tremendous advantage.

In case you haven’t noticed, there is just such a movement right now. It’s evolved to become a roaring freight train of a business model that demands attention.

It’s often called virtual wholesaling, and it’s revolutionizing the way many investors are doing business.

A friend of mine put it this way:

“Revolutions cause massive, massive change. Any time there’s a revolution, these changes have dramatic effects on all those involved. And just like the American revolution, there are winners and there are losers . . . and the losing ideology [ultimately] goes packing.”

The virtual wholesaling movement IS a revolution. That means if you fail to adapt to the massive changes happening to our industry right now, you’re already losing out to your competition who does.

So what is virtual wholesaling?

To me, the term virtual wholesaling means leveraging both technology and others’ efforts to accomplish more for your investment business, with less of your own effort. It means automating and outsourcing as much of your business as possible.

hug Virtual wholesaling results in increased productivity but with less demand of your own time and energy. You find processes and people to help you, and then you only spend time on the most critical tasks.

Your critical tasks will depend on your investment niche, but for most, they are valuation and negotiation. Period.

I say, you should never be marketing for leads. Never. And you should never be seeing deals through closing. Never. Those tasks can and should be outsourced. And thanks to today’s technology, it’s ridiculously fast and easy to outsource these tasks – and for not very much money.

Think about the people you outsource to as your bird dogs, or as I like to call them property scouts, who find deals for you. The technology that’s now available, including my own system, makes recruiting, training and managing an entire property scout network possible within a matter of days.

And these scouts don’t have to be in your area. It’s just as easy to work in distant markets as it is to work in your own backyard. If I wanted to gain a footprint in Charlotte, North Carolina this week while I’m chillin’ in Hawaii, I have everything in place to make that happen.

From generating quality buyer and seller leads to determining value to making offers and even closing deals, each step is beautifully systematized for me and completely portable to any virtual market I want my hands in.

The virtual wholesaling model allows you to be anywhere—or everywhere—at once. It allows you to cherry pick the very best deals from around the country, rather than trying to squeeze dollars out of the market you happen to live in.

If you’ve not yet tasted the freedom that comes from outsourcing the non-critical, repetitive or tedious aspects of your business, then you can look forward to the paradise that awaits!

The bottom line is it’s wiser and much more satisfying to work on your business vs. in your business, and I will never ever go back to the way things were prior to outsourcing.

“If your business depends on you, you don’t own a business – you have a job.
And it’s the worst job in the world because you’re working for a lunatic.”
~ Michael Gerber, The E-Myth

Virtual assistants

Just like property scouts, another amazingly effective way to outsource is through a virtual assistant or VA. VAs are independent contractors who work remotely and can essentially do any part of your business that you don’t want to do yourself:

Administrative work
Technical support
Phone support
Communicating with buyers and sellers
Coordinating your closings
Managing your property scout network

I can’t begin to explain how much easier my virtual assistants made my life. We communicate regularly through email and Skype, and maybe one day I’ll meet them in person.

Virtual assistants typically expect anywhere between $4 (Philippines and India) and $25 (U.S.) per hour.

For administrative virtual assistants, I recommend VirtualStaffFinder or EasyVirtualAssistant. For technical assistants, use Upwork or Guru.

“It is vain to do with more what can be done with less.”
~ William of Occam

Virtual property finding

For a beginning investor, the old model of “paying your dues” to generate leads is obsolete. Unless you’re on an absolute shoestring marketing budget—and even if you’re on a shoestring marketing budget—just like VAs, I think you should outsource your marketing from the start with bird dogs.

For novice and experienced investors alike, understanding and tapping into the unique power of the internet can and should allow you to recruit property scouts en masse. For very little cost. In any market in the country you want to be in.

And what bird dogs can do for you is essentially limitless:

Research websites for leads
Place bandit signs
Hang flyers
Distribute business cards
Run print ads
Use car magnets
Drive for dollars
Even send direct mail

Property Scouts are essentially your “virtual marketing assistants,” and you can literally have hundreds of them working for you in a matter of weeks.

The bottom line is that the old bird dog concept of your mailman writing down addresses of vacant houses on a napkin is pretty much dunzo.

Join the revolution

Here’s the thing…

This business is about making deals happen and getting paid well for it. Faster and easier is better. Virtual deals and outsourcing through virtual team members is the way to go, my friend. And you need to be on board.

In my upcoming lessons, I’ll be talking a lot more about the power of property scouts, virtual deals and the incredible Property Scout Pipeline system I created. I look forward to sharing so much more with you here on Mogul!

Whatcha Think?

Are you doing any virtual marketing? What has made virtual wholesaling successful for you? Share below!

1. List the tasks you are currently doing that you need to find virtual help with immediately. Then list the critical tasks you should focus on.

2. Hire a virtual assistant for any administrative, technical or managerial tasks.

3. Post an ad for property scouts to help you—starting this week—with your marketing.

4. Watch your business grow as you focus on the critical tasks and let others help you with the rest.