The J. Hartman Company Reveals the 5 Most Profitable Cities for Real Estate Developers

Does the J. Hartman Company have a crystal ball? It certainly seems that way; they do make wise choices about which American cities to choose for investing in real estate.

According to Jason Hartman, founder of the Platinum Properties Investor Network, the five most profitable cities to invest in income property are Indianapolis, Austin, St. Louis, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh.

Indianapolis is number one with 1.7 million people of the metro living good based on the affordability of housing, unemployment and the cost of living. Nearly 95% of the homes are affordable to families earning the median salary and the unemployment rate is low; 8.2% compared to the national average of 9.4%. Investors have found great deals on newer homes in Indianapolis as a result of the national housing mortgage meltdown.

Another area of interest is Austin – Round Rock area in Texas. This is one of the fastest growing areas in the country ranking number three on the affordability list. An economic paradox, high demand and low prices; the area has lots of available land and plenty of financing for real estate developers to get in on the action. Another great advantage to the area is the regulatory climate there is easy on the builder. Another amazing statistic – one suburb area north of Austin, Hutto, has grown in population from 1,200 as recorded in the 2000 census to a whopping 17,000!

Rounding out the top five on the affordability list are St. Louis, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh. Though they have slightly higher unemployment numbers, these cities still come out on top du to comparatively cheap housing. It’s no secret that food, utilities, transportation and health care are more expensive in costal regions.

Jason Hartman of the J. Hartman Company and Platinum Properties Investor Network firmly believes that income properties are a wise investment strategy. With the proper use of leverage you can safely put $20,000 down on a $100,000 property to control $100,000 in assets. This is not always so in the stock market where the same $20,000 could easily be wiped out in a crazy market day.

Borrower -vs- Banker During Inflationary Times according to the J. Hartman Company

The J. Hartman Company is a good resource for investing tips and financial information. According to Jason Hartman, founder of Platinum Properties Investor Network, the borrower has the most advantage during times of inflation. Here is an example of purchasing power and the decreasing value of the dollar over time:

Let’s say that you borrow $1,000,000.00 from your banker to purchase income property at today’s interest rate. From his point of view, the banker could take that same $1 million and buy one million loaves of bread for $1.00 each. If the rate of inflation is 10% one year later the real purchasing power of that $1 million will have decreased by 10% so the banker could only buy 900,000 loaves of bread.

This scenario shows that the banker loses purchasing power when he loans you’re the money; therefore, it is better to be the borrower because it is your mortgage debt that is losing real value over time. This is good for the borrower and bad for the banker.

If you, the borrower, has made a wise investment then the value of your $1 million purchase of income property will have appreciated while the balance you owed decreases.

Jason Hartman, Founder of Platinum Properties Investor Network and the J. Hartman Company has over 20 years experience as a real estate professional. Jason began his career at the age of 19, while in college. Platinum Properties Investor Network, Inc is a comprehensive solution providing real estate investors with education, research, resources and technology to deal with all areas of their income property investment needs. Read articles and listen to interviews with Jason Hartman at http://www.JasonHartman.com

The 7 Steps to Successful Selling - An Interview with Will Crist by Jason Hartman of The J. Hartman Company

No matter what business you’re in, whether it be your own business or if you’re working for someone else, you need to have sales skills. Even with your own personal life, children, parents, brothers, sisters and friends, you want to know how to sell your ideas.

Will Crist of Sandler Systems, Inc. is a trusted advisor to business owners and entrepreneurs. He helps with company cultures, sales skills and personality assessments. People often come to Will because they are frustrated; they are not getting the results they want in their business. Their sales people are saying they cannot expect to make sales because of the market, competition or they don’t have the right product for the right price. These are common issues that people look to Will Crist for advice on overcoming.

According to Will Crist the first part of the Sandler method is to change the whole notion of what we mean by selling. It isn’t all about getting someone to buy something from you; your first step is to find out what they want, how you can help them; what kind of issues they have and the reason they would buy something. Will Crist calls this the “pain.”

It is important the buyer feel that they are in control while you guide the conversation to a decision, even if they say no. You don’t want to leave things at “Let me think it over,” because this is the customer’s polite way of saying no. In most cases, the customer will not follow up and call you next week to buy. “I’ll think about it” or “let me sleep on it” are typical examples of “no.”

This is when the salesman needs to offer to help the person solve the issue and come to a decision. It’s OK of they say no; what you really want to do is take away the “think it over.” You might find that there is a solution; a way you can help.

The 7 Steps to Selling according to Will Crist

Step 1: Bonding and Rapport

Any encounter with another person begins with bonding and rapport; building trust. Trust comes from keeping promises and delivering on what you say you’ll do. For some people it may be about finding out what you have in common. The goal is to be invited in.

Step 2: The Upfront Contract

Ground Rules: Thank the prospect for inviting you in; remind them why you’re there and how much time you will need to make your presentation. You might say something like, “you’re a busy person; how will we deal with interruptions? I’m turning off my cell phone. Can we go to the conference room?”

The Agenda: Let the prospect know that you will have a lot of questions and give them permission to let you know if they feel you cannot help them. Move from being a salesperson to an advisor by saying your job is not to sell something but to figure out whether or not you can help them.

Step 3: The Pain

Share your fear: The salesperson might say “My biggest fear is you’re going to take what we do here and go talk to three or tour other people; is that going to happen?” The salesperson shares their fear of being “shopped.”

Now you’re ready to learn the prospect’s fears; their time schedule, budget or issues they wish to overcome. Are they committed to making a change? Or are they happy with things just like they are?

Step 4: Money

What is the price of the product or service and how much will it help the company based on “the pain?” If the salesperson can fix the issues how much will the benefit be worth to the company? The numbers will work out to be in the prospect’s favor if they should buy.

Discuss the company’s budget of resources, time and money and how much they have allocated to fix the problem. Find out how their decisions are made and who is involved with the decision making process. Now you know who you want to have in the room when you make your presentation.

The salesperson has now completed the qualification process: pain, budget and decision. All three are necessary to give you a reason to make a presentation. This completes the pre-consulting process.

Step 5: The Ultimate Contract

Ask the prospect something like, “So after I make my presentation next week to the six people who are going to make the decision; all of you believe I can fix your problem, within your budget, what happens next?” This is how one finds out the timeframe for making a decision; this is the ultimate contract. Will they make a decision immediately after the presentation? Your goal is to get a “yes, if it is within their budget.”

Step 6: The Presentation

The salesperson is going to talk about meeting the needs of the company. Your presentation will include an outline on a board of the needs of the company. Show the group how you will solve the problems or meet their needs. Ask if they believe your product or service will be the solution. Find out how the group is feeling; get them to score you on a scale of 1 – 10 as to whether or not you can solve their problem or improve their situation.

The close is part of the presentation; the question: What is the cost? The answer: It’s under your budget. You believe we can solve your problems; it’s within your budget. At this point the salesman wants a decision; a signed contract.

Step 7: Post-Sale

The final step deals with buyer’s remorse. Thank the customer for their business and remind them of an issue that may not have been 100% resolved; something the customer gave in on; example; “Remember when we discussed how we only had the product available in blue and you wanted green? Are you sure that will be OK because we can tear up the contract right now if you want to?” The idea is to give them the opportunity to back out now; to deal with the matter now rather than later.

Next, rehearse the client. “Now you know that your other servicer is going to try to keep your business. Once they hear that you signed a contract with me, they will offer to drop their price, give you something extra; whatever you want so they keep your business. What are you going to say to them?” Hopefully, they will say that their mind is made up; they have made a good decision.

Finally, let the client know how much you will appreciate referrals when they see how well you’re taking care of them. Ask them if they are comfortable with the idea of telling others about you.

Several months later, check back with the client to be sure they are happy and remind them if they are ready to introduce you to other people. You are not asking for a referral, a name or a list of names; you want a meeting with the happy customer and other perspective clients to discuss the difference you made for your client and what you have to offer to his friends.

These 7 steps work with all types of selling, including business-to-business; business to consumer or interpersonal sales (trying to get someone to buy into your way of thinking; family and friends). Use these steps as a guide; tweak them as you see fit for your situation. The important thing is to give the clear impression that you, the salesperson, are there to help; to provide a solution; not just to make a sale.

The J. Hartman Company Presents a 12 Year Wealth Building Plan

People who supposedly know about this kind of stuff say it’s dangerous to include numbers when you write. That may be true but in my opinion, numbers can be pretty exciting. The following set of numbers is visual proof that unique real estate investing strategies through refinancing is a powerful road to riches.

Roughly put, you can double your money in real estate every 12 years. While that sounds great, it’s not even the most exciting part. If you use my strategy and put the equity in your house to use, when you refinance at the end of that 12 year span, you will have an $800,000 gain in income. That works out to about $67,000 a year! Re-invest it in more real estate or retire and repeat the 12 year process.
Enough of a lead in? Here’s what you do.

Most of my clients come to me with about $300,000 in unused equity gathering dust in their home. Actually, it’s worse than gathering dust. It’s losing money, being nibbled voraciously away by inflation. I advise them to refinance their home loan and put that money to use by purchasing either two 4-plex or four 2-plex housing units in diverse geographical markets. Why diverse? It’s built-in portfolio protection if one of the local markets takes a tumble.

A Twelve Year Example:

Once you have refinanced your home and took out the equity here is a guide to investing it wisely:

1. Purchase either 2 or 4 housing units for one million dollars. To do this, you only need to put 20% of that amount down in hard cash. The bank will loan you the rest. Closing costs run about $35,000. We suggest you keep a $40,000 cash reserve in the bank to cover any initial negative cash flow in the early years.
2. Now wait 12 years.
3. After this amount of time passes, using history as our guide, your real estate portfolio will have increased in value to $2 million. It’s time to refinance again.


Here’s where it gets exciting and the true power of this refinancing strategy shines. You can now refinance the $2 million value of your properties at an 80% loan-to-value ratio. The initial 20% down payment you put on the purchase of $1 million has grown to $400,000 and will function as the down payment on the $2 million loan. 80% of $2 million is $1.6 million. You pay off the original $800,000 loan with that and have $800,000 left over.

At this point you could decide to retire and live on the $800,000 for the next 12 year cycle while you’re waiting for your properties to double again. Divide by 12 and that equals about $67,000 per year. Not a princely income but if you’re tired of working, it’s an option. On the other hand, you could take that nice little sum and leverage it (with 20% down) to purchase an additional $4 million dollars worth of properties in diverse geographical markets.

Can you imagine the sweet financial situation you’re going to find yourself in at the end of the next 12 year cycle? But let’s ignore that for now and pick up the original example where we left off.

Let’s say you decided to quit your job and live on the $800,000 for the next 12 years. Over that span of time your income property portfolio has increased in value from $2 million to $4 million. You do the refinancing process again, only this time you walk off with $1.6 million to live on for the NEXT 12 years. That averages about $133,000 a year. Nice raise, huh? Give it 12 more years and you take $3.2 million off the table for living expenses. Now you’re up to $250,000 per year. Start early enough and this is an amazing retirement plan. Don’t forget, in addition to the chunk of income cash, you also own a property portfolio worth $8 million.

And you will be renting these properties out as you go along, so your monthly mortgage payment should be covered by rent from tenants. What’s not to like about this? You only put down 20% while the bank assumes the majority of the risk. Your tenant pays off the mortgage and you own the asset free and clear at the end. This is why we encourage everyone to get off the crooked, non-returns of Wall Street stocks and mutual funds and put your money into the best investment ever created.

Real estate. They’re not making any more of it.

How do you find the right markets? That goes beyond the scope of this article but you can find every single little detail for free at my website.

Jason Hartmann is the president of Platinum Properties Investor Network for real estate investors and entrepreneurs. Through podcasts, educational events, referrals, mentoring and software, investors can easily locate, finance and purchase income properties in any market with peace of mind.

The J. Hartman Company 10 Commandments of Real Estate Investing

Real Estate Investments should be part of everyone’s investment portfolio. Sure, like any investments, there is risk involved; however, the risk is greatly minimized by those who are properly prepared to make wise real estate investments.

Jason’s Ten Commandments of Successful Investing™

1. Thou shalt become educated
a. Knowledge is a powerful tool. Do your due diligence so that you are your own best advisor.
2. Thou shalt have a professional counselor.
a. Only invest with investment professionals who stay with you for the long-term so that you have a single point of contact to coordinate your entire investment plan. Advisors should buy for themselves what they sell, putting their money where their mouth is, and get paid for producing results rather than simply for advice.
3. Thou shalt maintain control
a. Never leave your financial future in the hands of incompetent, unethical or greedy brokerage houses, fund managers or corporations. Always be a direct investor.
4. Thou shalt use prudent financial planning techniques.
a. Always invest with your goals in mind (retirement, financial freedom, creating wealth) and abide by your risk tolerance and investing style.
5. Thou shalt not gamble.
a. Be a prudent long-term value investor, never a get-rich-quick gambler, speculator or flipper by investing only in properties that make good financial sense the day you buy them.
6. Thou shalt diversify.
a. Reduce your risk and maximize returns by investing in several areas as every market is different.
7. Thou shalt be Area Agnostic™
a. Only invest with an advisor who is not partial to any one area or investment to avoid a conflict of interest. Consider a variety of opportunities.
8. Thou shalt borrow to maximize leverage and accelerate wealth creation.
a. Use as much borrowed money and as little of your own money as possible so long as the borrowed money can be repaid by the tenant. Let other people’s money work for you, reduce your risk and make you wealthy.
9. Thou shalt only invest where there is universal need.
a. No one needs stocks, bonds or gold but EVERYONE needs a place to live and with growing affluence around the world, consumption of raw materials will continue to cause upward price pressure on improved real estate.
10. Thou shalt invest only in tax-favored assets.
a. Non-cash write-offs and deductions are money in your pocket and income property offers the best of both.

Jason Hartman is the CEO of Platinum Properties Investor Network, a comprehensive solution to providing real estate investors with education, research, resources and technology to deal with all areas of their income-property investment needs.

Advice from The J. Hartman Company: The Rule of 72

Real Estate Investments will always have the potential to offer a good financial return. Savvy investors set their financial goals using a simple, but powerful calculation to estimate what their financial status will look like in the future.

The Rule of 72

The Rule of 72 is a common calculation used by investors to determine how long it will take their investment to double in value given a certain rate of return. Obviously, this is not a mathematical theory set in stone which can never fail and always is correct to the third decimal place. Having said that, the Rule of 72 has shown to be fairly reliable over the years at giving you a ballpark estimate of how an investment might play out.

Let’s look at a few examples

The calculation itself is so simple, even a caveman…never mind. It really is simple. You divide 72 by the rate of return to arrive at the estimate (in years) of how long to double your investment. What if you expect a 2% rate of return? Using the Rule of 72, how long will it take to double your money?
72 divided by .02 = 36 years.

Remember to move the decimal over after you do the math. If you’re expecting a 2% return from any investment, you REALLY need to check out The Complete Solution For Real Estate Investors™, the innovative method Platinum Properties Investor Network uses to invest in income property. If our returns dip below 36%, we’re not happy campers.

Speaking of 36%, let’s do another example using the Rule of 72.

72 divided by .36 = 2 years! Yes, you read that correctly. Two years is how long it would take your investment to double if you maintained a 36% annual rate of return. How would you like them apples?

Jason Hartman, Founder of Platinum Properties Investor Network, and the J. Hartman company offers the Complete Solution for Real Estate Investors. Jason helps individuals secure their financial future by investing in income-producing properties in 41 markets throughout the US.