When learning something new, I think it's important to consider the source of the information.

I'd like to tell you a little bit about myself, my Real Estate experience, and my personal life so that you know me a little bit better.

My interest in Real Estate began in 2005.

At that time, I was working with a military contracting company as a Mechanical Engineer.

I know that sounds kinda fancy, or whatever, but it was a job that I really didn't enjoy all that much.

I mean, it was a good job that paid well, but I didn't like how every day felt exactly the same.

I was really just bored.

It was one of those situations where you grind your way through the week, all the while looking forward to the weekend - then when the weekend arrived I wasn't really able to enjoy it because then I was dreading Monday. It was a soul-sucking routine, and I wanted out.

The decision to leave was kind of made for me when the company began to falter due to some major disagreements between the Owners.

Thankfully for me, the company died a slow death over the course of about a year. The writing was on the wall for me, and I knew that it was only a matter of time until I would be out of a job all together.

I used that last year of my employment to learn something new. I mean, I knew I had to figure something else out. I didn't want to end up just doing the same boring unfulfilling job with another company - I wanted something different. My Dad was a contractor who built houses in MS, so I suppose that where I got the idea of doing something in Real Estate.

I figured I could flip houses. I liked fixing things, and I've always been pretty good at finding good deals on used cars and stuff - finding good deals on houses couldn't be all the different, right?

I started learning everything I could about Real Estate. Reading books, listening to podcasts, browsing websites - all that stuff - and eventually I felt like I had enough knowledge in my head to make something happen.

So, I started putting some things into motion. Getting some direct mail marketing going out. Starting to talk to sellers. Basically just doing little things that I thought should be done. I didn't really have a very good sense of direction or the important things I should be spending my time on at all.

The good news is that I was taking steps forward - I was taking action. The bad news is that I really wasn't all that effective in the beginning, at all!

I wasted so much money. I made stupid mistakes. I procrastinated. I missed opportunities.

My early days as a Real Estate investor were ROUGH. I say early days, but it was really more like early YEARS for me. I think it really took about 2 years of trying before I closed my first deal.

Thankfully I stuck with it long enough for things to come together. I think what really happened was that I eventually just got lucky, you know?

After that first deal, things kinda changed for me a bit. That first deal confirmed for me that this Real Estate thing could work.

Progress from that point was still a struggle, but at least things started to get a little easier as I grew as an investor, little by little.

At this point, I've been involved in Real Estate for about 12 years or so. I'm thrilled to report that, at this point, I feel like I've kinda figured out the Real Estate game a bit.

I really take a lot of pride in creating these video courses that teach people various things in Real Estate, because I want to help people to achieve their Real Estate goals. Real Estate is one of those things that can be very tricky and very frustrating to figure out, but as you know, the rewards for sticking to it and making it happen are very, very worth it.

I'm committed to providing you with the best training I can through these videos, and I'm SUPER excited about giving you all the inside information for how to master the Probate niche because it's been extraordinarily beneficial and profitable for my business.

This little section is ABOUT ME, so let me end it with this...

I am nothing special.

If I can figure out the Probate niche, so can you.

If I can reach my goals, so can you.

I'm telling you... I'm just a goofy guy who's hardheaded enough to stick with something until I figure it out.

Now it's my goal to do everything I can to help flatten the learning curve so that you too can master the Probate niche.

SO PLEASE PROMISE ME THIS:

Stick with me through this course.

Listen to every word of every lesson.

Apply the instructions I provide step-by-step.

If you can do that - you WILL get results.

Alright... let's get into it.  :)

Probate deals are unique.

They, more often than not, have special benefits associated with them that make them very attractive to deal with.

I'll cover these special traits of Probate houses in this lesson.

There's 1 particular "person" in the Probate Real Estate process that causes a lot of confusion for students.

This individual is "the person appointed to administer the estate of a recently deceased person”.

The reason it's so confusing, is because this person goes by a variety of different titles depending on what county your dealing with.

I'll explain this in more detail in the lecture so that you don't get confused by this as we move forward.

The Probate R.E. investing process, when boiled down and simplified, is actually quite straight-forward.

It goes like this -

1. Obtain Probate Leads
2. Send strategic direct-mail to the Executor
3. Talk to the Executor and learn about the house
4. Give the Executor a written offer
5. Get the contract, close the deal, make $

I'll cover these steps briefly, and we'll get into the details as we move forward through the lessons.

Getting free probate leads from the courthouse is pretty simple - once you figure out the individual nuances of the particular courthouse.

You see, each courthouse has their own little ways of managing their system.

The basic steps are usually about the same, but it can take a couple trips to really get the process down.

I'll cover the basic steps, and teach you how to figure out how your county's courthouse can provide you with probate leads.

The other way to get probate leads is to simply purchase them online.

In all honesty, it probably won't take you many trips to the courthouse in order to see why this is usually a better option for most people.

Yes, the cost is high compared to the "free" courthouse leads, however the time you save by buying your leads is very substantial.

I'll share with you my source for online probate leads, and also provide a discount code that will save you thousands of dollars.

* SAVE 15% at USProbateLeads.com by using this URL: https://usprobates.com/?AID=140983

It didn't take me very long to decide that it made more sense to BUY leads instead of getting them from the courthouse for FREE.

Yes, it costs money to buy leads, BUT the thing you have to realize though is that "free" courthouse leads aren't exactly FREE after all.

The biggest cost for courthouse leads is YOUR TIME... and that's the most valuable resource you have!

Buying your leads gives you consistency. If you want to close deals on a regular basis, then you need a supply of leads coming in regularly.

Buying leads free up your time. You can't grow your business if you're spending your time chasing leads at the courthouse.

Buying leads maximizes your opportunities. To get the REALLY profitable deals, you need MORE opportunities coming your way.

Now don't get me wrong - getting leads for free from the courthouse is something that makes very good sense for someone who is just getting started. It's quite likely that early on, the newbie probably has an abundance of free time. If that's the case, then by all means go the courthouse route. It's actually a great way to learn the nitty-gritty details of how the probate process works. Free courthouse leads can easily provide the newbie with their very first Probate deal - so in that way, free courthouse leads are GREAT... just don't make the mistake of thinking that you can build and scale your business solely on free leads from the courthouse.

THE BOTTOM LINE: To scale your probate investing business, you need a HIGH VOLUME of Probate Leads CONSISTENTLY coming in.

It's nearly impossible to achieve this by relying on courthouse leads alone.

When you're ready to buy Probate leads, I highly recommend these guys for your Probate lead source: USProbateLeads.com

*** Remember, you SAVE 15% at USProbateLeads.com by using this URL: https://usprobates.com/?AID=140983

It takes more than just leads and letters to make money with probate Real Estate.

It takes a system.

The good news is that it's a very simple system to set up and operate.

In the following lessons, I'll walk you through the steps required to set up and run an effective probate direct mail campaign.

Here is a link to your "Probate Database Template":

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1NsDJSGHBdK27TQYt-c8P_E2NMAskMbbX8m4Aw3kid_Q/edit?usp=sharing

Without a database, there's no way to keep track of your leads.

It's vitally important to track and maintain your leads as you work them.

You can use the link to copy the template. Just select the cells, and paste them into your own sheet.

Included with this course is a full suite of time-tested direct mail documents that are specifically tailored for probate mailings.

Download these to your computer so that you have them on hand.

I'll go over each one of these briefly so that you understand how each one works.

I have provided you with both an an "ODT" and also a "PDF" copy of each document.

The "ODT" is the editable version, and you can use either Open Office or Microsoft Word to make changes to the file.

The "PDF" is the version that you will actually print from... it's the final version.

Now, you'll want to personalize these before you actually use them by adding your own information and phone number.

Just open the ODT file in Word or Open Office, make the changes, save the file, and finally export a new file as a PDF version.

It's actually very simple and I'll provide you with a demonstration of how to personalize your direct mail documents.

Remember this -

"All direct mail pieces work some of the time, but none of them work all the time."

That's a very true statement, and one that you'll have to live by as you ramp up your direct mail efforts to your new probate leads.

I'll cover the benefits and drawbacks of each mail piece, and talk about which ones may suit you best to get started.

In this lesson, I'll show you the simple Google Voice number I use to collect my Seller's voice mail messages automatically.

It's easy to set up, but you'll need to follow a few specific instructions to be sure your set up right if you choose this same option.

I'll walk you through the process.

So, do you handle your mail campaign yourself, or have someone else do it for you?

This is a lot like the decision you have to make about BUYING LEADS vs FREE COURTHOUSE LEADS.

Either option is fine, as long as you are picking the one that is the best use of your time and budget.

I'll help you decide which option is best for you by laying out the pros and cons of each individual option.

The guys at YellowLettersComplete.com have been handling all of my direct mail for the last 10 years.

They're the most professional, most cost-effective, and the most user-friendly mail house out there. Highly recommended.

* SAVE .05 PER PIECE OF MAIL, by entering the coupon code "BENCLARDY" when you check out.

This particular step is a little open ended.

This is the point where you have to bring the pieces together to get your direct mail campaign activated and running.

The tricky with teaching a specific mailing sequence and technique here is that what works for me, my schedule, and my budget - very likely won't be a perfect fit for you, your schedule, and your budget.

What I'm going to do is tell you 3 different approaches you can take depending on what you feel is best.

So honestly, which combination below fits you best?

A) Big budget & Experienced

B) Low budget & Experienced.

C) Low budget & Inexperienced.

There's no right or wrong answer - and you can always make adjustments as you move forward.

I'll explain what approach I recommend taking backs on your current budget and experience level.

Depending on which option suits you best, the plan will look something like this:

A) Online Leads / 1000+ Mailhouse Letters / Monthly Follow-Up    (Expensive   |   120+ responses   |   About 12 deals a year.)

B) Online Leads / 500+ Mailhouse Letters / Bi-Monthly Follow-Up   (Affordable   |   60+ responses   |   About 6 deals a year.)

C) Courthouse Leads / 50 Letters Per Week / Quarterly Follow-Up    (Cheap   |   20+ responses   |   About 2 deals a year.)

Now these are just generalizations, but they are based on experience.

As you know, Real Estate is a numbers game, but these approximations should be fairly reliable.

My goal is to help you decide what approach to take based on your time, experience, and budget.

The deals will come to you regardless of the option you choose.

The main thing is to choose which option suits you best to START.

You've heard it before - "Real Estate Is A Numbers Game".

It very true.

With direct mail, there are no guarantees of the response rate you'll get from a particular mailing.

There is, however, a basic formula that will help give you an idea of what kind of response rate you can typically expect.

This can help you plan a bit since you can gauge the amount of effort that will be required to process the incoming leads.

Let's talk about it here.

Once you have calls coming in, you'll need to always be updating your database as required.

It's a simple process, but I'll walk you through it so that you can see how to collect the data and update your database.

There's nothing worse that putting in a ton of effort into something and not being able to make your efforts come full circle.

If your going to do something - then by all means MAKE IT COUNT!

I'll take more about what I mean by that in this lesson by explaining a major mistake I made in my early days.

Probate Sellers are different.

This is one of the most important things to understand if you're going to be successful in this niche.

I'll talk about how to interact with them so that you can maximize your chances of being able to buy their house.

In this lesson are some additional tips that I think are helpful as you interact with Probate Sellers.

Here, I've provided you with a downloadable document that you can use to help estimate the cost of a rehab.

The numbers that I've entered into the sheet are ones that I've come up with over the years of working in the Atlanta market.

You will probably want to take a close look at the numbers and modify them to be better suited for your investment market.

This sheet is very handy to have on hand when you are walking through a property with the Seller.

As you check out the house, make notes and use the sheet to collect the data you need to estimate the repair costs to the property.

This can also be a very handy tool to help you get a bigger discount on the property since the cost is more justifiable when in writing.

This is the most expensive way to gather information because it costs you both time and money.

It's also the option that provide you with the highest quality information you can get about the property.

There's nothing better than getting eyes on the house.

Now, it doesn't have to be YOUR eyes, but it does have to be someone's eyes that you know and trust.

I'll talk about how you can go to the property personally, OR how you can hire someone to go to the property like I do.

First, I'd like to tell you that I'm a big fan of deals that have 2 or MORE exit strategies.

That way, if plan A doesn't work out, you can execute plan B without taking a loss or putting yourself in a bad position.

My approach is that I usually size up deals based on being able to wholesale them as a Plan A.

Usually my plan B is to sell the property as a turn-key rental.

Plan C is to hold onto the rental.

Yeah - so I typically have 3 potential exit strategies whenever I go into a deal.

In this lecture, I'll talk more about how to choose the appropriate exit strategies for your deals.

It's a bit impossible to provide a detailed guide on property analysis within this course.

The trouble is that our markets, investment goals, contractors, property values, and building material costs likely vary by a large margin.

I can, however, provide general instruction on how to go about sizing up potential investment opportunities so that you can be best set up for analyzing properties in your specific market.

The Purchase & Sale Agreement is what makes Real Estate work.

Without it, houses simply do not get bought and sold.

Now, in this lesson, I'm providing you with a copy of the same exact P&S Agreement that I've used hundreds of times to buy houses.

This simple, 2 page agreement is the result of 10+ years of constant tweaking and tuning to get all the verbiage exactly right.

It's simple, highly effective, and has all the right working to keep you safe.

Download a copy of both the ODT and also the PDF file to your computer.

This can be a difficult step for people to take, especially early on.

In this lesson, I'll teach you how to make the offer to the seller, and how to react to their reaction.

It's actually pretty simple, but I want you to be prepared so that you can maximize your chances at getting the contract on the house.

In this lesson, I'm going to cover the various ways that you can get your offer/contract to the Seller.

There are many ways to do it, but some are better than others depending on different factors.

Most are free, but a couple will cost you a few bucks.

So, the seller has agreed to your offer and they have given you back the executed Purchase & Sale Agreement. WHAHOO!

...but, now what!??!

Now your job is to keep the deal on track through the closing.

The primary part of this job is maintaining good communication with the Executor.

Check out the video, and I'll explain how to ensure that the closing goes smoothly.

One of the big secrets to accomplishing big things is to make small, consistent steps forward.

Over the course of the following 3 lessons, I'm going to give you 3 weekly challenges that I'd like for you to accomplish.

You can do them on your own time and schedule, but you encourage you to finishing each challenge within 7 days.

By doing so, you'll be setting yourself up for success by building up momentum that will be greatly beneficial as you move forward.

Of all the ways that I see people fail, this is one of the most common ways.

Part of it could be procrastination, but it could also be for a lack of a proper system or schedule.

Let me talk for a minute about the incredible importance of follow-up.

I'm of the opinion that one of the most important assets a Real Estate Investor can have is a Heavy Hitter Closer.

What I mean by that is that you'll benefit greatly from building a strong relationship with an excellent Closing Attorney or Title Company.

This lesson will walk you through the steps you'll need to take in order to link up with a top-rate, investor-friendly Closer in your market.

Alright - at this point the course is over, but in reality, you still have much to do.

You have to execute all of the steps provided to you within the course.

You have to continue building momentum, continue learning, and continue growing as a Real Estate Investor.

The Probate niche, for me, has consistently provided me with the most profitable deals I've ever experienced.

I know that it can do the same for you. All it takes is consistently applying the knowledge provided in this course, and I know that you will succeed with probate Real Estate.

Now, one of the biggest challenges is to stay motivated and concentrate on WHY you want to reach your goals. 

Real Estate can be a roller coaster ride of emotions - especially early on, so it's key that you are able to stay motivated.

In this final lesson, I'll talk specifically about staying motivated and why its vitally important to your success.

I thank you sincerely for taking my course, and I wish you the very best in your Real Estate endeavors.

-Ben