1. Don’t waste time trying to find bank foreclosures on MLS. There are good Realtors in Michigan who work exclusively for and with real estate investors. Find one and use them as your Buying Agent. You buy the REO – they get paid by the bank. It is a win-win for both of you. Let them sit on MLS and fax / email you the REO list in your target Michigan city.

2. Don’t waste time trying to do comps or CMA yourself on MLS for a foreclosure property that you are thinking about buying. I have timed it. A CMA will waste alteast 30 minutes of your life. Either use the above list of Realtors for a small fee to pull your CMA’s for you or better still hook up with a local appraiser who will do it for you for even a smaller fee. Appraisers are hurting right now because of end of refiancne booms and they will welcome the extra income.

3. Don’t waste time running ads when you have no clue about marketing or what needs to be said in a classifed ad to make the phone ring. It aint magic but it is not exactly as easy as everybody and their mother thinks. Here is the smarter route – look in your local Michigan newspaper and call everybody else who is running ads and ask them if they are buying foreclosures in your Michigan city. If they are not barter the foreclosure leads from them.

4. Don’t waste time driving and looking at houses. If you are dealing with the homeowner ask them if they had a appraisal done. If they did let them email or mail a copy to you. Better still ask them if they have a digital camera. Ask them to take pictures of the property – front, back, street, inside, basmeent – atleast 20 pictures and let them email them to you. If you are too chicken to ask them to do that – do yourself a favor and get out of this industry.

5. Don’t waste time trying to convince your broke relatives / friends / co-workers or parents to invest with you. It does not matter how passionate you sound, they just don’t have it to give it to you.

6. Don’t waste time looking for private money before doing at least 3 deals. It a’int going to happen and if for some reason it did – you will get slaughtered in the interest rates.

7. Don’t waste time trying to buy 8-10 properties in the next 60 days when the seller is promising you $70,00 cash back at closing. It is a scam. Read my guide on Michigan Real Estate Investing.

8. Don’t waste time putting offers on REOs when you don’t even have a dime to your name. Get the money first (conventional, hard, soft, unsecured, whatever) before waste time looking at houses.

9. Don’t waste time doing Short Sales if you are impatient or worse talking to Michigan homeowners whose foreclosure eviction is happening in less than 60 days. I don’t care how sexy the deal is – chances are that Loss Mitigation Officers have already lost all interest in it. Does miracles happens once in a while? Yes they do but Nora has expensive tastes and I cannot run my business and checking account on “hope for miracles”.

10. Don’t waste time doing this business without the right kind of training. Despite your good intentions you cannot get up one morning and start calling yourself a doctor. Same thing here.

You are passionate, hard working and honest – I am happy for ya! But if you do this without the right blueprint, the right plan and the right secrets grinded in your big head – Bubba I got news for ya! You are going to lose your shirt. Invest time and get trained. Right! It is a one time investment then you get the knowledge for life.