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#1
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![]() Hi Diem, Gordon.
When I first learned about option contracts many. many years ago, I thought they were the greatest thing since sliced bread. It's amazing the power you can get from a little money and a huge amount of leverage. In one of my collection of real estate books. the author described how back in the nineties many houses that were rented had an option to to buy in the rental contract. Almost no one paid any attention to this option. Then when the great real estate boom occurred a lot of these houses were now worth much more money. Someone might have a house with an option to buy for 200K but the house is now worth $350k! Again, most of these renters did not realise what they were sitting on. But some savvy investors would seek out these houses and buy the renters option and made huge profits on these houses. In at least 2 cases the landlords went to court to stop these sales, but the court rule them perfecty legal. Even today there may be renters with options to buy that are far less than the value of the house, coming across one of those is like coming across a pile of gold bricks. The trick is to find them. The book mentioned some methods. Also the author of the famous classic "No Money Down" described how once he took a fancy to a commercial building. He found out from the renter that there was an option to buy in the lease. If I remember correctly. The building could be brought for 200K but was actually worth about $415K. He made a huge killing on that one. I have heard of someone getting an option on over a million dollars worth of land for one dollar. Now that is leverage! Why would someone grant the option so cheap? Here is one scenario. Owner has about a million dollars worth of land on the outskirts of a city. Mr savvy investor finds out that expansion is planned for that area and big operators are buying up land. My savvy investor goes to the owner and says I want an EXCLUSIVE option to buy your property for 1.5 million dollars I wll pay one dollar for the option which will expire in 2 months. The owners is happy to grant the option since he believes the land is worth only a million. It is actually worth much more than that now Now Mr Savvy Investor sells his option contract to one of the wealthy investors for 100K and runs off to the bank. That is the power of options. This can be done on much smaller levels too. Trevor Last edited by teamplayer : May 10, 2015 at 06:59 AM. Reason: sentences run on |
#2
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![]() Thanks Trevor,
That's an amazing post! Thanks for sharing that information! I didn't know about the "hidden" option-to-buy in many rental contracts... Wow, if you got one of those, and the amount in the option contract is less than the house value - it'd be like picking up money off the street! Certainly options can be very powerful... It can give you control of something (for a limited time period, usually), without having to actually buy it, for a relatively small cost... In one of his reports, Jim Straw talked about using options to buy and sell used industrial equipment. You'd take out an option-to-buy on the equipment (for a relatively small amount of money), then see if you could find a buyer. If you could find a buyer for a higher price than your option-to-buy, you quickly exercise your option, then sell it immediately for a very low-risk profit...! Best wishes, Dien Quote:
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#3
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![]() Hi Diem.
That is something I thought about doing getting options on expensive vehicles. There is virtually no risk, it looks like a no brainer! The only thing that stopped me was that many people have never heard of option contracts and how do I explain to a buyer that I am not selling the vehicle but the option to buy the vehicle? But since Jim Straw thinks it's a good idea maybe I should look into this! I have also thought of getting options on houses, not bargain houses just regular houses and if someone wants to buy I sell them my option. Again, the problem is having to educate the seller and buyer. The real estate book that I learned about this from, said people are more familiar with options out West, but in the East they are less creative. Anyway, if you have any more info on what Jim Straw mentioned let us know. Thanks. Trevor Quote:
Last edited by teamplayer : May 12, 2015 at 06:26 AM. Reason: sentences jumbled |
#4
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![]() Hi Trevor:
GREAT POST. Do you remember the name of the real estate book where you first discovered options? I'd love take a read. Thanks, Ryan M. Quote:
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#5
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![]() Quote:
Hi Ryan, the book I found out about hidden options in rental contracts was "How to Buy Real Estate for at Least 20% Below Market Value," by John T. Reed. The author is a very savvy guy a West Point graduate and very sharp businessman. He has a website where he rates other real estate gurus and he has some pretty unflattering things to say about some of them. he does give a few tips about how to find rental properties with options, for example sometimes they are recorded and you can check the public documents. but that does not look easy. Unless, the documents are digital and you can come up with a custom search! If you do let me know! |
#6
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![]() Quote:
John Reed lives in CA and is quite a guy to speak with. I read some of his material when I was a CA real estate broker. I even spoke with John about an insurance company with which he was having a dispute. It just so happened I had the same insurance company. There are several good books about real estate options. If you are near your library stop in and browse through their selection. In a lot of areas the local county or city MLS has materials for sale. Good luck with your real estate career. |
#7
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![]() TEST your marketing strategy.
Example. Say I found an old, obscure book on golf. I want to test the market before I sign a licensing agreement. I might give a small fee to the Copyright owner to "hold" the property while I test. Then, I might do a Real Life Simulation (RLS) and test 7 or 8 Golf PROMOTIONS against each other to a group of my target market. RLS gives the participants a chance to buy the product they like the best from their pay for being in the study...it is, actually, a low cost way to test before roll out, although today, with print on demand and Kindle type readers, it may be better to do a % of sales agreement right up front... IF you have your target market chosen and there is easy access to it. Even with IP, you got options. Some food for thought. Gordon |
#8
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![]() Waay Baack when I was studying "BIZ-OPS" I came across a guy who had gone out into the Texas Farm Area....near major cities and found "Farmers" who were wanting to sell their land and.....were willing to do a "6 month OPTION".
Well....what this guy did was get an "OPTION Contract" with the property owner ....for 6 mos.....then....proceed to offer the property (which meant Advertising).....and.....Sell the Property.....for a HUGE amount OVER what his option was) Anyways......the guy who was doing this published a Book and Course ON HOW he was doing this and.....I looked in my archives and couldn't find. Anyways......anyone with "GUTS" and a tidbit of info on how to do OPTIONS, especaiily with the Internet .....can STILL make a BUNDLE! with THIS method! Don Alm.....sitting back and watching "Entroopeneerism" becoming replaced by "Entitlements"....."Whatcha Got Fer ME....Gummit?!" |
#9
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![]() Quote:
That is exactly why I love options, if the owner is willing you can get an option on ANYTHING, for ten dollars a dollar whatever, then turn around and sell it. The key to profit is the owner does not realize or does not care that he can get a much higher price than the option amount. even if a house is worth 100K and you get an option for that amount, you still might get lucky and sell it for 110K and your risk is a few dollars. Trevor |
#10
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![]() Offering an "OPTION To Buy"......to anyone who has something they want to sell has always worked for.....people with GUTS to offer it!
It doesn't have to do with Real Estate" When my wife and I had our Antique Shoppe, In the Aspen, CO area.....I'd come across antiques at Garage Sales where someone DID have a REAL Antique worth a LOT MORE than what they were offering it for.....however, because I KNEW they didn't know didly about the item they were trying to sell, I'd make a "ridiculous offer to buy" (AKA an Option to Buy) and......ask them to phone me after the "Sale". And.....most times.....they Phoned. As an Aside here: When I moved to the Aspen, CO area.....I discovered something that made me lots of bucks. SOME of the females having "Yard or Garden" Sales, in Aspen.....were offering stuff for sale they wanted to "cash-in" because they were divorcing the rich guy who convinced them to get married BUT.....after a few weeks or months.....these young "Snow-Bunnies" wanted to "get rid of this Rich Guy!....for whatever reason AND.....they found they owned a LOT of Good Stuff they had no interest in and would just like to Git Rid Of! So....guys like me.....who KNEW what was going on.....would go to these Sales every weekend.....see how "under-priced" their stuff was (Hey...they just wanted to get as much cash as they could for the stuff the Rich Guy who sold them on getting married) And......because I KNEW these "Gals" didn't have a ckue as to what their stuff was worth.....if they didn't take my Offer at the time of the sale....I gave them a Card....with MY offer.....as an Option....and.....I received calls.....even that afternoon. So.....OPTIONS WORK.....even in the year 2015....on ANYTHING! Don Alm.....loong time...."Option-Guy" |
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