Starting anything new from the beginning can
be intimidating. Real estate investing is no different. But everyone starts
somewhere, and even though you may meet many other investors with more
experience than you have, you can still make as many great house flipping
deals. Confidence in your knowledge, research, and skill will help you succeed,
regardless of how much experience you have in house flipping.
Would you like to increase your confidence and
professionalism in the real estate investing world? The secret is to “fake it
till you make it,” even when you are intimidated by your comparative lack of
experience. Follow these tips to help you present a confident, professional
face while you are still building up your reputation.
Take Time for Marketing
When you’re first getting started house
flipping, you’ll be excited to start looking at properties and doing rehabs
right out of the gate. And you should—that’s the fun part. But to help build
your brand and establish your legitimacy as a house flipper, you’ll need to
schedule in some time for marketing. Create a name and logo, pick colors and a
motto, and develop both print and online marketing materials that have a
consistent voice and brand. These efforts will pay off both in making you look
professional and in establishing and spreading your brand.
Pick a Catchy Business Name
Whatever you do, don’t use your own name for
branding your house flipping business. Until you are well known and have
developed a good reputation, you won’t get very far with your name alone.
You’ll do better and get more respect off the bat by picking a catchy name for
your real estate business.
Also, when talking to others and in marketing
materials, present yourself as the owner of a business, rather than an
individual flipping houses, and use professional vocabulary. To do this, refer
to your success and work in first person plural, rather than singular. For
example, say, “We got a great deal on this investment property,” or, “We start
rehabbing our newest investment property tomorrow,” instead of, “I got a great
deal.”
Share Your Success on Social
Media
Create websites and social media accounts to
represent your real estate investment businesses. Post about your successes on
these accounts, and don’t be afraid to post about your rehabbing on your
personal accounts as well. Make sure to take lots of before and after pictures
of the work on your investment properties, and post them regularly to show your
progress.
Post about every house flip to share your work
with your followers. Before you know it, you’ll have a portfolio you can refer
to and a reputation among your friends and acquaintances for success in real
estate investment.
Limit Your Availability
When making appointments with anyone in the
industry, don’t say something that suggests you don’t have anything else going
on in your business. Don’t tell your sellers, agents, contractors, or buyers
something like “I’m free anytime,” or “let’s meet when you’re free.” You don’t
want to communicate that this is your only project, especially while you’re
still getting your business off the ground. Making a project seem like your one
and only priority may be a strategy to try once you’re more established, but
for now, you want to seem like you’re juggling many properties.
Of course, there’s no need to lie about your
availability. Schedule blocks of time for essential routine activities. This
includes time for marketing, time for reviewing potential properties and
hunting down leads, and time for networking. Make and keep a schedule, and work
other appointments around the time you’ve set aside for your real estate
investing.
