InvestorTeams.com

Project hWOODS!

2007-08-09T19:47:00.000-07:00

Ok, we have started work on our second project - hWOODS! This was a foreclosure and was pretty rough when we arrived. As you can see, nasty carpet, interesting paint colors and no toilets in both bathrooms!?!!? Well you know what they say, where there is no toilets, there is opportunity! As always, we busted out the sledgehammer and took care of the demo...take a look!

Hmmmm.....what to do what to do...

Ah yes, bust out Mr. Sledgehammer.

Perlman sweatin' his rear off - its hot in Deeeeetroit!

My wife with a sledgehammer - watch where you are aiming that thing! ;)

Project BHAM Demo!

2007-07-31T09:25:00.000-07:00

From: Corey Perlman, Co-Founder and CEO, InvestorTeams.com

We successfully demoed two bathrooms and other rooms in our birmingham flip. Just in time too, as we are closing on another house this Thursday! It's time to leave the rest of the Birmingham house to the professionals and get smashing on the new house. By the way, if you haven't demolished a room in a house before, I'd highly recommend it. I think i officially relaesed 10 years of stress in each bathroom. Theraputic!

What is a “Quagmire”?

2007-07-13T10:53:00.000-07:00

Wikipedia says a “Quagmire” is a word referring to a swampy area or intractable situation. It’s also a word I’d use to describe what happens to companies every once in awhile. They get stuck in a quagmire…and sometimes they don’t even know it.

The fortunate thing for us is that we all, the executive team, acknowledge that we are in a technical quagmire of sorts. We have stuff that needs to get done but it can’t get done before we get some other stuff done…that currently, we have no idea how to get done (I sound like Donald Rumsfeld!).

Anyhow, starting a business is awesome, exciting and fruitful…but it ain’t all wine and roses (usually more wine than roses…c’mon, there are three guys running this thing).

Just wanted to let all you faithful blog readers know that we don’t always have our rose colored glasses on. If I can think of another metaphor having to do with roses I’ll let you all know.

More to come!

InvestorTeams.com first Rehab!

2007-07-03T07:29:00.000-07:00

Fellow Investors,

Your friends at Investorteams.com are always looking for ways to build our credibility as real estate investors. Even though we've bought and sold properties before, we've never done an official rehab. So we thought, why not try it when the economy is bad and real estate is even worse. If we can do it here, we can do it anywhere! :) It's already been quite a ride as we got a pretty good deal in the beautiful city of Birmngham, Michigan. We know we got a good deal because after our offer was accepted, the buyer has been looking for ways to get out of the deal. We later found out that multiple offers had come in at full price and now the seller wants out.

This comes to our first lesson: If you plan to be on the mortgage, make sure you are on the purchase agreement. I wanted the mortgage in my name, but my partner was the one who put the original offer in. My banker needed my name on the contract to do the mortgage in my name. The seller said that if we added my name to the contract, that would be the change he needed to get out of the deal. BUT, we are flexible and the mortage will simply go in my partner's name. But lesson learned!

More to come as we start the bidding war to see who wants to work on our house!

To Greater Success!

InvestorTeams.com

Marriage and Credit Card Software!

2007-05-18T13:32:00.000-07:00

We’d like to wish Corey and his Fiancé (soon to be wife) Jessica, all the best in their new lives together!

On a business note, we’re going to be implementing the software and processes to start charging credit cards. That is very exciting because we’ll be generating revenue for the first time in our company’s short history.

So far it’s been a bit of a tech headache but I’ll keep you all posted on how it goes.

More to come, stay tuned everybody!

Real Estate Investing is Exciting!

2007-05-11T11:30:00.000-07:00

I was watching Robert Kiyosaki on one of his DVD's and he made the statement that Investing is actually boring. I want to respectfully disagree with the master, just for a second.

Maybe it is because I’m fairly “wet behind the ears” but I find it extremely exciting!

The other day I was lucky enough to ride along with a couple good friends of mine to see a foreclosed property. This place, while it was definitely was a dump, was in a great neighborhood, on a nice street in a decent location. Most every repair will be cosmetic. Even though I had no skin in the game, I got really excited for my friends and the potential of this property.

See, if you are like me, you get excited about rehabbing, wholesaling, land lording and anything else Real Estate investing related.

There are a few parts to this, at least for me. The first part is taking something that someone has said isn’t worth much and then through your efforts making it worth something to someone else. The other thing that excites me is that we are slowly but surely chipping away at the urban blight plague we’re experiencing here in sunny Detroit, Michigan. Lastly, there is the money. Who doesn’t get excited about money?

See, I believe we live in world of abundance if we choose to view it as such. I’m not talking about being greedy either, I mean enough for everybody. Take rehabbing for example; buy cheap (employ a mortgage broker and a buying RE agent), fix up (employing workers while you do it), market (employing a selling RE agent) and sell it for a fair price to someone who will make it their home. Not only have you taken an eyesore of a house and made it beautiful for someone, but you’ve also just employed 8 or more people depending on the size of your flip. You can’t tell me that’s not good karma!

A great turnout for our first networking event

2007-04-30T11:24:00.000-07:00

You never know what type of attendance you are going to get on a Tuesday night at a local bar - even if it's for a good cause and some great networking. BUT, we were pleasantly surprised by well over 100 local business professionals who came out and had a great time at Goodnite Gracie's in Royal Oak, Michigan. Some great money was raised for the Canine Castle Dog Rescue and my two colleagues, Bill Crawford and Andrew Tocco, were put to the test as guest bartenders for the evening. It was great to watch Andrew's face when he was first asked to make a apple martini. He calmly replied, "I think you'd rather have a Michelob Light". She said no and he was forced to comply. By the end of the night, he was flipping the shaker behind his head like Tom Cruise from Coacktails and I heard one lady say it was the best martini she'd ever had. Way to go Andrew and Bill!

Thanks to everyone who came out and supported InvestorTeams.com that night. We had a great time and can't wait to do it again this summer. Till then! Corey, CEO, InvestorTeams.com

Rich Dad's Phillip Lechter Video Interview!

2007-02-01T19:12:00.000-08:00

Watch our Interview with The Rich Dad Company’s Chief Communications Officer, Phillip Lechter!

We’ve got the entire thing here for your viewing pleasure!

Interview Part 1 of 8

Interview Part 2 of 8

Interview Part 3 of 8

Interview Part 4 of 8

Interview Part 5 of 8

Interview Part 6 of 8

Interview Part 7 of 8

Interview Part 8 of 8

Entrepreneurship…A Fickle Beast!

2007-02-01T18:55:00.000-08:00

With a title like that I feel I should qualify, my life is great, I love life, I love the company we are starting and I’m excited to get out of bed everyday.

That all being said, it’s important to note that there are two kinds of people in this world, entrepreneurs and those who would love to be entrepreneurs.

This post is for those of you who would love to be entrepreneurs…disclaimer, we’re not all Bill Gates, the lady who invented “Airborne” and the guy in the Charles Schwab commercial that retired early to start his own winery…most of us are schmucks with a dream, we’re not the smartest, coolest or even best looking people around…okay, definitely not the best looking people around…anyhow, what I’m getting at is starting a business ain’t easy, in fact it’s really hard. Sometimes you look in the mirror and think, “what the heck am I doing!”

Let me give you a scenario…guy goes to work, some things go right, but a lot goes wrong, really wrong, then the head trash builds up and this guy is thinking, “Man this stinks, I stink, what in the cheesy mashed potato am I doing in the business world, I should go paint by numbers in a rubber room.” Then he comes home, eats dinner and plays with his dog a little bit. After awhile he goes into his home office, fires up the computer and all of a sudden it dawns on him…”THIS IS WHY I’M DOING THIS!”...See, he’s an entrepreneur; its par for the course to make mistakes. You just need to make sure you learn from them. He’ll look back on this crappy day and think, “Well, it was a great experience and I’m better off for it!” So that guy smiles, shrugs off the day and works into the night to make his dreams a reality.

That’s being an entrepreneur, it’s not all wine and roses, but it sure has its moments…

P.S. The guy I described is a good friend of my second cousin, you wouldn’t know him…he’s from Europe or something…

InvestorTeams puts on the eBoot Camp III

2007-01-25T07:32:00.000-08:00

Yes, we are at it again! A full day of teaching our audience how to create a successful online business. I get such a satisfation of watching a group of people going from normal citizens in the morning to Official Propeller Heads at the end of the day. The leave with the passion and knowledge to take their business to a whole new level using the power of the web. We will be at the Wayne County Community College Western Campus this Saturday, January 27th from 9-4:30pm. It's going to be a blast!

Corey P.
CEO, InvestorTeams.com

Rich Dad Poor Dad's Phillip Lechter to Join InvestorTeams.com as our next Spotlight on Success Teleseminar

2006-11-30T14:15:00.000-08:00

We are unbelievably excited to have Phil as our second SOS call. All of the Principals of investorteams.com are huge fans of the Rich Dad organization and Phil has palyed a major role in their success over the past few years. We decided to fly out to Phoenix to also videotape the interview so our members could not only hear the interview, but see it as well. We can't wait! Below is a press release for the upcoming call. thanks for reading!

(INVESTORTEAMS.COM, Nov.28, 2006) Troy, MI – Registered members of financial resource, InvestorTeams.com, will get a chance to hear Chief Communications Officer of the Rich Dad Company, Phillip Lechter, share key strategies for successful real estate investing on December 13, 2006, from 8:00 pm to 9:00 pm (EST). Membership for InvestorTeams.com is free and all that is needed is a valid name and email address.

Phillip Lechter is currently the Chief Communications Officer for The Rich Dad Company. He graduated from Arizona State University in 1997 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management. In 1997 Phillip sat down with his mother’s business partner, Robert Kiyosaki. Robert offered Phillip the challenge of learning to manage time, money and people; to take a job upon graduation where he would learn the skills he needed to manage instead of the job that would pay the highest salary. With these skills he would be well on his way to becoming a successful entrepreneur. In the Fall of 2000, Phillip came on board for the Rich Dad Company. Over the years his responsibilities have grown; now, as Chief Communications Officer, Phillip oversees PR, direct marketing, customer acquisition, messaging, branding and Rich Dad’s coaching and seminar divisions.

“I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Phil for over two years now,” says Corey Perlman, Co-Founder and CEO of InvestorTeams.com. “He has an absolute wealth of investing knowledge and I suggest having a pen and paper ready when he speaks to our members on December 13th. If you’re a Rich Dad Poor Dad fan, you won’t want to miss this call.”

During this one time Teleseminar, Phil will discuss the different types of asset classes investors can invest in, Robert Kiyosaki’s keys to investing and the Rich Dad Company’s outlook for the future. This conference call is FREE to InvestorTeams.com members and lines are limited. If you are interested in joining this free Teleseminar, just follow these simple instructions.

Go to www.investorteams.com
Click on the “Free Teleseminar with Phil Lechter” logo on the homepage.
Fill out our the registration form to become a member of InvestorTeams.com
Once you finish your application, click on the “sign up,” button and you’ll be provided with the call-in number and password to join the call.
Cost: FREEDate: 12/13/06Time: 8:00pm (EST) Contact: info@investorteams.com

Donald Trump's Apprentice Kendra Todd to speak to InvestorTeams.com tonight!

2006-11-15T07:14:00.000-08:00

Tonight is a big night for InvestorTeams.com. We have developed a nice relationship with Kendra Todd and she is excited to share her knowlege with our investor network. Not only was she the first female to win the Apprentice, but she's also a savvy, real estate investor and the author of a fantastic book, Risk and Grow Rich. The call is tonight (November 15th) at 8pm (EST) and open to all invesorteams.com members. Go to www.investorteams.com and sign up if you want to be a part of the call! I'll come back and report on how the call went and how we did with participation. Our hope with these calls is it will drastically boost our membership base and therefore make us more valuable to the Specialists who want to market their service to our network. I'll keep you posted!

Corey.

InvestorTeams to Interview Donald Trump's Apprentice!

2006-10-16T10:10:00.000-07:00

This has been a very exciting month for InvestorTeams.com. Not only did we zoom past our 200th member, but we've secured a phenomenal real estate investor to be our first 'Spotlight on Success' recipient. Her name is Kendra Todd and she was the winner of the 3rd season of Donald Trump's Apprentice! She's also a highly successful real estate investor in such markets as Florida, Tennessee and North Carolina. Our 'Spotlight on Success' segment is a FREE two hour tele-conference call where we interview the recipient on how they've come to be a successful investor and lessons they've learned along the way. Our call with Kendra will be on November 8th from 8-10pm (EST). For more information on the call and to get the details of the dial-in information, make sure to sign-up as a FREE InvestorTeams.com member. We'll be sending the information for the call to all of our members on November 7th. Again, InvestorTeams.com is a completely free resource, so make sure to sign up before November 7th and join us on the call!

"Studio 60" and InvestorTeams.com

2006-10-11T10:33:00.000-07:00

I wanted to write to you all to let you know that I just watched “Studio 60”, which is the new show on NBC with Matthew Perry and Amanda Pete. Now, I know what you are all thinking, “Hey, what the heck are you wasting time with network television shows for!?” Well, I’ll admit that I allow myself about 2 hours a week of television (that doesn’t count movie night with my wife on the weekends). Anyhow, the show is great; it’s about a “Saturday Night Live” kind of sketch comedy show where they have to write a whole 90 minutes of fresh material every week. They make it look hard and stressful on the show, because it is hard and stressful.

Now, I know what you are thinking, “Hey, Bill, where are you going with this!?” Well, I was just thinking that is kind of what we do, only every month, trying to bring you valuable material that you will remember and use. We are much less stressed than those people portrayed on the show, but the comparison is really close because comedy is like finance, there are a million different things you can talk about and a lot of it can be garbage, but there is a lot out there that really hits (either it makes you laugh or you can make a ton of cash…you get it, I know).

So, anyhow, just wanted to let you all know, in an extremely roundabout way, that one: the good people at InvestorTeams.com have to work with a crazy person named Bill. And two: we are working hard to bring you the best and most valuable content having to do with investing and entrepreneurship.

So stick with us and we’ll keep the good stuff coming!

Bill Crawford
InvestorTeams.com

eBoot Camp - September 23rd!

2006-09-12T07:44:00.000-07:00

Come see the InvestorTeams Crew as they put on the 2nd annual eBoot Camp in Belleville, MI on September 23rd from 8:30am - 4:40pm. This is an INTENSE, ENTERTAINING day that covers the ABCs of creating a web presence online. We cover:

Þ Ways to Sell Products While You Sleep
Þ How to Own the Perfect Domain Name for Your Business
Þ The Cost Effective Way to get Your Website on the Web
Þ How to use email Marketing to Attract Users to Your Site
Þ How to Increase Your Search Engine Ranking
Þ About Blogs, Podcasts, eBooks
Þ “Hurling The URL” - Free Ways to Advertise Your Website
Þ The Difference Between the Good, the Bad and the Ugly Websites

We provide 40 computers for our Participants to work off of or you can bring your laptop as we have wireless as well. Here are the details:

Time: 8:30 – 4:00
Registration Starts at 7:30am

Wayne County Community College
(Western Campus)

9555 Haggerty Road
Belleville, MI 48111

$89.00 early bird / $129.00 at the door
Call 248-762-0800 to register.

Call NOW – Seating is Limited!

2006-08-07T14:24:00.000-07:00

2006-07-28T12:17:00.000-07:00

Finding Specialists

2006-07-28T11:27:00.000-07:00

Ok, so we are 4 months in to creating this community for Investors and people who service them to interact. It's been WAY too easy to find Investors and WAY harder than we thought to find the Specialists. (FYI - when I say Specialists, I mean accountants, mortgage brokers, real estate agents, lawyers, etc.) It might be because the Investor side is free and we charge for being a Specialist. But it has not been hard to sell the value to the Specialist. In fact, we have a closing ration of about 60% of those we speak to. The challenge we face is the medium in which we are finding Specialists.

Finding emails on the web and "cold emailing" is not effective. On the other hand, when we have a booth at a mega evening event seminar, we've been able to speak with Specialists and explain the value - thus - an easy sell. So, we are scratching our heads on figuring out the easiest way to communicate with Specialists on more of a global scale as opposed to the onesy-twosy method we seem to have adopted.

If our readers have any suggestions, we'd love for you to post them on this blog.
To Greater Success!
Corey

We Hit Our 60th Member!

2006-07-28T11:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday marked our 60th InvestorTeam member and we are very proud of the progress so far. Investors are coming from all over the US and we are just trying to figure out how they are finding us! We've asked our web designer to add a column in the sign-up page to ask our users how they are locating us so we can know which marketing strategies are working and those that are not. So far, we've sent to friends and colleagues, promoted at real estate events in Michigan, wrote an eNewsletter and created press releases that were sent all over the web. I look forward to posting our 100th member soon! To Greater Success! Corey P, InvestorTeams.com