Small Commercial Expert - Cash Flow Monsters! » Uncategorized

Missed It By That Much

mdg123 — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 14:33:21 +0000

Are you old enough to remember the TV series Get Smart? If not, then maybe you saw the recent remake in the theater. Maxwell Smart was a bungling spy who always seemed to muddle his way through every episode. His quirky nature and crack support team were his only weapons.

Every time he got into a tight spot, he would just plow forward. Always confident in his ability and ever reliant on his faithful sidekick, 99.

When ever he would get out of a tight situation or come close to catching the bad guy he would say; ‘missed it by that much!’ Then he’d put is fingers just an inch apart to add emphasis to how close he was to success.

I loved that show and it reminds me a lot of the way I feel sometimes in the real estate business. Sometimes I negotiate a deal and I just miss getting it. But if the numbers aren’t right, I walk away. I’m always mindful of the fact that you should never fall in love with the property, you should fall in love with the numbers.

If the numbers aren’t right, then walk away! And sometimes for me, just as it was for Maxwell Smart, the bad guy will come back around! I have to chuckle when I see a deal that I made an offer on 6 months ago come back around.

The bad guys pop up out of the wood work, but this time they want to play ball. I put my crack team on it! I send out my own special 99 to scout the deal all over again and see if the numbers are the same.

What I’m trying to say, is that it’s okay to miss out on some deals. Many times being as patient as Maxwell Smart and having a crack team around you will make the difference in making a profitable deal and just missing getting taken by the bad guys!

I like old Maxwell. He was confident and unafraid, but he was smart. He had his team and plowed forward, but he also made sure to always come out on the safe end and he continually left the bad guys scratching their heads.

You to can be the Maxwell Smart of real estate. Get out there and get started. Find your 99, a team member that will watch your back. You don’t have to be perfect, smooth or cool, you just have to get out there. Then make some offers and be mindful that the sellers are the bad guys and it’s your job to make a bad situation good.

Most importantly, if the numbers aren’t right, WALK AWAY! Trust me, 6 months later the bad guys will come back looking for you and this time you might just be able to turn them to your way of thinking!

Michael Gross is the President of Dividend America Mortgage and has been in real estate for over 20 years. He has been a builder, a Realtor, an appraiser, and currently he is a lender and an active real estate investor. He uses all of his experience and knowledge to show individuals how to properly use a mortgage as a tool to help create greater wealth through real estate investing. For more information on residential and small commercial loans please call 770-350-7373 or email mgross@dividendamerica.com

Create Your Hedge Fund

mdg123 — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 01:23:05 +0000

Hedge funds are a great thing for those wealthy individuals that can afford to invest a small amount of ‘risk’ capital to boost their returns. Think about it, you can invest about 10% of your wealth and generate returns that can boost your overall portfolio from a paltry 6-8% per year to 12, 15 or 20% if you are in the right fund!Hey, if you loose money theirs good news as well. The loss is active and can count against any taxes owed on income from other sources. It’s almost a win, win right?

So how can we investors create a windfall Hedge Fund like return for ourselves? It’s easy, invest in small commercial properties. Small commercial property is less risky than hedge fund investing, but it gives us many of the same market and tax advantages.

Think about it, with commercial property you get positive income streams, depreciation deductions on your taxes and, if you’ve invested properly, you get to enjoy the benefits of capital appreciation tied to the properties value growth. Talk about a hedge against downturns, inflation and possible stock market losses.

By investing in just a few small commercial properties you can create additional cash flows and tax deductions at the same time. Investing in a small office building, an 8-12 unit apartment building or a small retail strip center with 4-8 retails spaces can be a great way to diversify income and support your residential real estate portfolio.

Making a few small commercial investment today could be like creating your own mini-hedge fund for your small business.

Michael Gross is the President of Dividend America Mortgage and has been in real estate for over 20 years. He has been a builder, a Realtor, an appraiser, and currently he is a lender and an active real estate investor. He uses all of his experience and knowledge to show individuals how to properly use a mortgage as a tool to help create greater wealth through real estate investing. For more information on residential and small commercial loans please contact Mr. Gross on his direct line at 770-350-7373 or via email at

mgross@dividendamerica.com

Cycle Into Success

mdg123 — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 01:21:19 +0000

Business cycles, we read about them all the time and many times we never slow down to think about how the national economic cycle affects our own local small business. That is until we are knee deep in debt and wondering how we’ll dig our way out.

As real estate investors we have a unique opportunity if we can recognize the cycles and use them to our advantage. For instance, when credit became fast and loose and anyone that could fog a mirror could get a loan, savvy investors recognized early on that using a flip strategy for residential real estate was a great business.

However, now that the cycle has changed and credit is tight, using a flip strategy is not such a good idea. So the question is how does one create a cash flow monster so that they don’t have to go back to the 9 to 5 grind?

The answer is simple. Recognize the cycle we are in and adjust accordingly. Because of the nature of commercial real estate and the way loans are made on commercial property, the small commercial real estate market has made real gains in the past year.

While residential business has been squeezed by a lack of available credit the small commercial market has plodded along. That’s because each small commercial property is looked at as its own business entity. It has to make a profit or lenders will not loan money against it.

As an investor with equity in properties or with stocks and mutual funds, you can create situations where you leverage your wealth to get into the high cash flow properties that can give you a paycheck and keep you from having to schlep back to a J-O-B!

If you don’t think you have the money to get into commercial real estate you may be wrong. By leveraging loans against existing equity in property or by securing loans with stocks, bonds and/or mutual funds, you may be able to obtain all the money you need without having sell your assets.

With 100% CLTV programs and partnering strategies, you may be closer to colossal cash flows than you think!

^{Michael Gross is the President of Dividend America Mortgage and has been in real estate for over 20 years. He has been a builder, a Realtor, an appraiser, and currently he is a lender and an active real estate investor. He uses all of his experience and knowledge to show individuals how to properly use a mortgage as a tool to help create greater wealth through real estate investing. For more information on residential and small commercial loans please contact Mr. Gross on his direct line at 770-350-7373 or via email at}

^{mgross@dividendamerica.com}

Nothing Ventured

mdg123 — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 01:14:28 +0000

I’m amazed, befuddled and flabbergasted! Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have made it official. An individual cannot have more than four mortgages on the personal credit report. If they do, then neither Fannie nor Freddie will purchase the new loan.

So for all you investors out there that don’t want to transition your business to deal with the realities of today’s economy, listen up, if you have more than four mortgages then you are stuck. Switch off the light, pull down the shades; you are done for a while.

But wait; there is a light at the end of the tunnel. If you are one of the rare few that has purchased properties with equity and if you are one those educated by a wise old-timer who taught you to always get positive cash flow, you have a choice.

The blanket loan is a viable solution. The blanket loan is a commercial real estate loan that encumbers a group of residential properties. You must have a minimum of five homes, but 8 or more is ideal.

It’s not easy and it’s not a panacea. As a matter of fact only about 50% of the deals applied for are ever funded. But what choices are left?

I have actually had several investors whose deals look fully qualified tell me they don’t want to move forward with an application until they see other deals being closed successfully. When pressed for a reason why, they said it was because they did not want to make the effort for something that might not work.

But I say to them and others with that line of thinking…..Nothing ventured, nothing gained. In the end the process itself will tell you about your situation. It will help take off the rose colored glasses and give you a clear picture of where your business stands.

Many will be surprised to find out that they are qualified to lump 8, 10 12, or 15 residential properties under one loan that clears them from the existing mortgages from their personal credit and gives them the ability to go out and buy MORE residential properties.

Others will go through the process and find that they CAN buy a small apartment building, a small retail center or an office building.

But sadly others will sit complacent and stagnate. Their business will not grow and they will have to make due and employee worn out subject-to strategies to grow their business.

The time to grow is right now. Real estate prices are great and opportunities abound. But you have to be willing to change with the times. If you want to find out if you qualify for a blanket loan or any other small commercial loan then you have to do the hard work and make the application.

Don’t pay upfront cost. We work with a professional that wants to be invested in time with you to achieve the goal of helping you grow your business. Remember, commercial deals are more expensive than residential, but you don’t have to pay the appraisal and underwriting fees until AFTER the lender gives you a commitment letter. By that time, you are almost closed.

Michael Gross is the President of Dividend America Mortgage and has been in real estate for over 20 years. He has been a builder, a Realtor, an appraiser, and currently he is a lender and an active real estate investor. He uses all of his experience and knowledge to show individuals how to properly use a mortgage as a tool to help create greater wealth through real estate investing. For more information on residential and small commercial loans please contact Mr. Gross on his direct line at 770-350-7373 or via email at

mgross@dividendamerica.com