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Diamond Finder

Tuesday March 27th, 2012 Vol 1.2

Things are breaking wide open for us here in the Charlotte Market.  I have just begun my “Tired Landlord Campaign” and we already have 16 properties we are looking at.  And guess who brought them to the table????  My #1 student apprentice – Lori!!!

Way to kick it Lori!

So what is my “Tired Landlord Campaign”?  It is really simple!  I am reaching out to landlords to find out if they are sick of all the hassles of toilets, termites, and tenants.  I offer them a better alternative!  I convert them from being landlords to being bankers.

When was the last time you called your banker and said, “hey dude, the tenant hasn’t paid the rent yet, so I’m going to hold off on sending you the mortgage?”  The answer of course is “Never!”  Or, have you called your bank and said, “Hey man, the roof needs to be replaced so I’m going to pay to get that fixed and then I’ll send your payment next month.”  Of course not.

Landlords get silly calls like that all the time – “hey man, my mother was sick and I had to pay her emergency room bill, so I can’t pay the rent this month.  Is that Okay?”  And worse than that, when the place is vacant, they still have to make the mortgage payment.

Like the old Calgon Bath Beads ad, I offer to take them away from all that landlord crap.  Instead, they can be the banker – going to the mailbox and collecting checks each month, regardless of what is happening with their old property.

So, if you know anyone who is tired of being a landlord, send them my way.  If I buy their house(s) I will definitely give you a piece of the action.

Tom S.

Properties For Sale

Call 704-699-6080 or email me for additional details, photos, or to make an offer on any of these available properties ...

120 Hemlock Ave, Kannapolis, NC Bedrooms: 3 Bathrooms: 1 Living Sq Ft: 1200 Lot Sq Ft: Construction: brick ARV: $90,000 Repair Cost: 0 Asking: $70,000 Other details: Currently rented for $560 per month 611 S Shaver St, Salisbury, NC Bedrooms: 3 Bathrooms: 1.5 Living Sq Ft: 900 Lot Sq Ft: Construction: brick ARV: $70,000 Repair Cost: 0 Asking: $65,000 Other details: Available for sale or rent

8600 Archer Road, Kannapolis, NC Bedrooms: 2 Bathrooms: 1 Living Sq Ft: 1200 Lot Sq Ft: (1.4 acres) Construction: Stick ARV: $112,000 Repair Cost: 0 Asking:  $80,000 all cash or $100,000 with seller financing Other details:  Large carport  Immediately available for sale or rent www.8600ArcherRoad.info 5962 Wilderness Trace, Hickory, NC Bedrooms: 3 Bathrooms: 2 Living Sq Ft: 1800 Lot Sq Ft: Construction: Mobile Home on land ARV: $75,000 Repair Cost: $0 Asking: $68,000 Other details: Currently rented out for $650 per month

Become a celebrity apprentice!

Would $5,000 to $10,000 a month make a difference in your life?  If so, you’re in luck.

I have never done this before, and I may never do it again, but I am taking on 5 people into an apprenticeship program with me.

If you want to learn how to invest in real estate in the Charlotte market, then there is really no better way than to become one of my apprentices.

There are three ways to get where I am today!

1)    You can do it all yourself – go out there and start making offers and trying to make money in real estate.  Trust me when I say this is the way to get hurt really badly.
2)    You can do what I did – invest tens of thousands of dollars to get a solid education in real estate investing and then go out and start buying and selling real estate.  This is much better than Option #1, but you can still get hurt pretty badly (ask me how I know that) and you will have invested a lot of time and money before you ever start making any money at all.
3)    You can do what I finally did that turned my business around – you can hook up with someone who already knows the business and is willing to take you under their wing and teach you what you need to know to be successful in real estate investing.

I will help you build your own real estate investing business from the ground up.  And, you will make money while you learn.  I will teach you how to find great deals and I will take you by the hand and move you through the whole process to make your deals happen.  Heck, I’ll even go to the bank with you to cash your checks! 

You are probably asking yourself – why would Tom do this?  Doesn’t he worry that he’s creating competition for himself?  The answer is that competition doesn’t worry me.  There are so many great deals in the Charlotte market right now that I cannot possibly even find all of them, much less do all of them.  There is plenty and to spare.  Besides, I learned a long time ago that I really enjoy helping other people succeed.  So, if you have dreamed of making money in real estate like I do, now is the time to act.

You don’t have to quit your job either.  You can start this part time.  Once the checks start rolling in, you may decide it is time to get out of the corporate rat race – or you may decide you like having all that money coming in on the side in addition to your paycheck. Either way is fine.  Both models work well.  I know, I have done both.

I'm currently accepting new apprenticeship applications. I will not be accepting everyone, because to succeed in this business you have to be a go-getter.  Also, I have a limited amount of time available to teach and coach my apprentices, so the openings are very limited. 

Click below to read more & apply now ...

www.coaching.thomasksheppard.com

Weekly Wisdom Shot

We are living in the dash – no I am not talking about the hectic pace of our lives. 

If you visit a cemetery you will notice that the headstones have a birth date and a death date, usually separated by a dash.  That dash between birth and death is our life.  It can be nothing more than a dash, or it can be filled with meaning and significance.  The choice is up to us.

Highly Recommended

In May of this year, I am going to Texas for one of the only events that can pry me away from my business – Mega Partnering V.

My good friend JT Foxx has been hosting Mega Partnering events for the past several years.  I have been to every one so far and they just keep getting better and better.  It is the only event that I will plan my vacation around.

If you want to meet with hundreds of successful people in a setting that is designed to help you network successfully, then you cannot afford to miss Mega Partnering V.

If you want to know more, just follow this link: https://foxx.infusionsoft.com/go/mega5prime/thomassheppard/ 

I have been to every Mega Partnering JT Foxx has hosted so far. Each one has been better than the one before.

Testimonials & Questions

So, last post I promised a testimonial here from Bob Yon of New Dream Home Solutions in Salisbury, NC.  Yesterday, he sent me a video testimonial.  Follow the link here to his video testimonial.

www.tomsheppardreviews.com

Laughter Doeth the Heart Good

A lawyer is standing at the gates to Heaven and St. Peter is listing his sins:

1)    Defending a large corporation in a pollution suit where he knew they were guilty
2)    Defending an obviously guilty murderer because the fee was high
3)    Overcharging fees to many clients
4)    Prosecuting an innocent woman because a scapegoat was needed in a controversial case

And the list goes on for quite a while.  

The lawyer objects and begins to argue his case.  He admits to all of these things, but argues, “Wait, I’ve done some charity stuff in my life also.”

St. Peter looks in his book and says, “Oh yes, I see.  Once you gave a dime to a panhandler and once you gave an extra nickel to the shoeshine boy. Correct?”

The lawyer gets a smug look on his face and replies, “Yes, yes!”

St. Peter turns to the angel next to him and orders, “Give this guy 15 cents and tell him to go to Hell!”

Well, that’s it for this edition of the Diamond Finder.  Here’s hoping you are able to turn all your adversities into advantages!

Tom S.

Tom Sheppard is the author of "Fire Yourself: Get the Job You Want" available from XLibris Press. Tom has been successfully investing in real estate since 2001 while working part time. In 2008 he left a six-figure job as an enterprise project manager with a major national bank to manage his real estate business full-time. His goal is to help 100,000 people find peace of mind by finding quality, affordable homes. He is currently looking to expand his network of funding partners who are helping him achieve this goal. If you would like to know more about how you can Do Well By Doing Good (TM), go to www.CharlotteWealthPartners.com

Bob Yon just gave a video testimonial about working with me in real estate investing! Go see it at http://ping.fm/Oixr2

My New Coaching Gig

Ask Me About My New Coaching Gig

I have been a real estate entrepreneur since 2001.  Between then and now, I have invested a lot of my time and money to learn and apply the "tricks of the trade."  Along the way, I have been asked by many of my fellow entrepreneurs to evaluate deals they were considering.  Without fail, when I did that, they always told me how clear I was in teaching them what they needed to know and calling attention to the parts of the deal that they needed to consider.  They told me I should be coaching other real estate entrepreneurs.

I didn't really take all that talk seriously until a couple of years ago when I realized how much I know about buying and selling real estate compared to most of the people who are trying to be real estate entrepreneurs.  At the same time, I realized that it wasn't fair to me, my family, or my teachers, coaches, and mentors to just give away the knowledge I had paid for so dearly in time, money and experience.

But, I had no clue how to monetize all that accumulated expertise other than to keep doing succesful deals.  Also, I was worried that setting myself up as a real estate coach might look like I was trying to compete with my own coaches and mentors.  About a week ago all that changed.

About a week ago I got an email from a nationally renown real estate guru named Preston Ely.  I have bought several products from Preston and always found them to be a good value.  He gives very good information at a very reasonable price (here is a link to one of his most comprehensive courses - Real Estate Empire - reempire.com

So, when Preston sent me an email offering to help me establish my own coaching business, I was interested enough to check it out. 

I listened to his whole pitch and immediately bought what he was offering.  The short version is, he is co-branding many of his materials with me and is teaching me the same model he has used to build his own very successful coaching and real estate business.  So, I don't have to create all original materials, I can take what he has, add my own and use it all day long with his permission.

I realized that setting up my own coaching business is not really competing with my own coaches and mentors any more than my buying houses is competing with them.  There are so many deals out there, that there are plenty to go around, the same is true of coaching clients - different people need different types of coaches.  My coaches and mentors are so much more successful than I am that we can only compliment each other's businesses, we don't compete.  So, I thought I could do this, emphasizing the local nature of my services and only taking on distant students as the exception.  Also, by strictly limiting the number and caliber of students I take on, I won't be poaching from my coaches and mentors.

Preston gave me permission to compete with him as a coach and he gave me what I would need to succeed at it.

Preston's program starts with five days of "Quickstart Lessons" followed by another lesson each week.  He also provided me with several wonderful tools, including a version of his own sales page for coaching.

I promptly loaded up the site, customized it to reflect my own experience in addition to Preston's, and published the site.

Then, I sent out an email to some of my close friends and associates letting them know that I was "hanging out my shingle" (that means going into business for those who don't know the phrase) as a real estate coach.  My email gave them a link to the site (www.coaching.thomasksheppard.com).

The next day, I got a phone call from Lori.  It went something like this.

     "Hi Lori. How are you doing?"

     "Tom, I need a coach."

     "You went to my site?"

     "I sure did!  I sent in my application right away."  I immediately checked my email and found Lori's application to my program in my inbox.

I signed her up on the spot.

Okay - I actually had to scramble and really quickly download the model contract and several other things Preston provided me with, including some student bonuses like an ebook and an audio.  Then I had to modify the contract so it was from me instead of Preston and I edited the ebook so that I could legitimately be listed as a co-author with Preston.

I fired off the contract and a roles and repsonsibilities agreement in an email to Lori and by the next day, I had a signed contract in hand and payment the day after that.

When I mentioned my quick success in an online forum with others who have purchased Preston's program, they hounded me with questions about how I did it so quickly.  So, rather than pound that out in a forum posting, I decided it would be easier to just post it in my blog and let anyone who is interested come read it here.

So, here is the quick recap of how I managed to garner some overnight success as a real estate coach:

1. I spent years learning how to master my business
2. I spent years building my reputation and giving value to others
3. When Preston made the offer - I took advantage of it right away.
4. I took Immediate, Massive Action.  I immediately did everything I could with what he gave me, as soon as he gave it to me.

So, here's to overnight success!  May it endure at least twice as long as it took to achieve.

Regards,
Tom S.

Tom Sheppard is the author of "Fire Yourself: Get the Job You Want" available from XLibris Press. Tom has been successfully investing in real estate since 2001 while working part time. In 2008 he left a six-figure job as an enterprise project manager with a major national bank to manage his real estate business full-time. His goal is to help 100,000 people find peace of mind by finding quality, affordable homes. He is currently looking to expand his network of funding partners who are helping him achieve this goal. If you would like to know more about how you can Do Well By Doing Good (TM), go to www.CharlotteWealthPartners.com

After more than a decade as a real estate entrepreneur, I have officially started coaching and mentoring people who want to invest in residential real estate. http://ping.fm/iNTyT

Order my new book today, "Fire Yourself: Get the Job You Want" is available in paperback from Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble (BN.com) http://ping.fm/0LIju