I distinctly remember two years ago via a random phone call, a producer called asking if they could view and shoot a property I flipped for the House Hunters television show. I was in the midst of a pretty trying and seemingly never-ending rehab, and I said yes without giving it much thought. The production team thanked us, said it was a great house, and they went in for a few hours and did whatever they do. And then it was silence.

Nearly two years later via a ping on Facebook, I learned the property had in fact been on House Hunters.

The TV show had aired without me even knowing my house had actually been selected and put on the show.

I thought that was pretty cool the house had been seen on national television, but here is the deal. Millions of people watch these television shows believing the couple they just watched searching for a home had this camera crew along to capture the experience. I have a few friends in the real estate world with their own show, and I’ve also spend time on numerous occasions with production teams talking through the possibility of our own show.

Right now the shows really come down to drama, get people juiced up about cool-looking houses, and the pictures of the “after” at the end. These stories for the most part are totally scripted and there to give you a show—not to teach you to be a good buyer or a  investor or to instruct you how to actually flip a house.

Through the nearly 100 houses we will have flipped this year within our business, our team has worked ceaselessly to understand not only how to make the house “look” good, but to really add value for the investors and home owners who buy our properties. For just a little bit more money, a little foresight, a little planning, you can add value both visually and for the longevity and health of the people who are buying and living in your properties. Let’s take a closer look.

Use Great Paint

With the incredible technology of paint these days, we’ve been testing all kinds of different paints over the years. There are a lot of options, but we’ve settled on SuperPaint from Sherwin Williams for both interior walls and all our exteriors. Our painters always say it covers better than nearly any other paint. It is durable and will last a long time.

On the exterior, we’ve painted it on during blazing hot summer months and into the coldest of winter months in our market. Have you ever tried to paint a second layer when it’s cold? It doesn’t go down smoothly, it will peel, and it won’t cover well. The SuperPaint is something you can put down when it’s as cold as 35 degrees, and we’ve never had problems.

You may be saying it’s a lot more expensive, right? Make a phone call and book an in-person appointment with the local sales representative. Tell them what you are up to specifically in your business, and then ask for what you want. The rep can give you some pretty incredible breaks in pricing depending on the volume and what product you are looking for.

Related: 3 Upgrades That Add Little to No Value to Your Investment Property

Teach your buyers and investors about the paint and how by buying your home, they are actually saving money because of the products you used to renovate their property. It also shows that you care about the little things.

Refinish and Restore Hardwood Floors

In our Midwest market, we have real original hardwood floors in many of our properties. I can’t tell you how annoyed I get walking into a “rehab” where someone has either not refinished beat up floors, or they have committed the ultimate sin in covering them up with tile, laminate flooring, or the worst, vinyl. Actually, even more terrifying is painting over hardwoods.

If you are doing that right now, stop it!

Hardwood floors look incredible, they maintain well, tenants and owners love them, and they look great in pictures.  Yes, I understand some hardwood floor companies want to charge an insane amount of money to refinish floors. That’s great for them, and if the general public wants to pay twice or more what we are paying for refinishing floors, that’s their choice.

But seriously, you are an investor. You are flipping and renovating a house. You want to make it the very best, stand out, and show up well. Refinish the floors and take pride in your property. Tell the story about how these are the original floors here, and this spot here, we patched and put this house back together. And then ask the client or tenant to guess whats old and what’s new. They will probably get it once you point it out, but who cares? They just bought into what you were selling!

Another bonus—if you have a lot of pet stains or smells, then sanding down, refinishing, and going a little darker color can nearly or completely hide all those problems.

Add Quality Plumbing Fixtures

Look under “things that get under Nathan’s skin” in the real estate dictionary, and find “crappy #$^” plumbing fixtures right next to it. Can you feel how annoyed I get when I see this kind of stuff? Yes, you CAN buy a faucet from Walmart for $20, but that doesn’t mean you should. It’s like that all-you-can-eat sushi bar that’s only $5. Yeah, good luck. I’ll stick with the good stuff that I know is actually fish, and not fish-like. #urp

Seriously, though, the more expensive fixtures have better parts, they aren’t made out of level 1 (I made that up) plastic. PLASTIC! You are telling me after actually using that faucet for more than a few months with regular use it’s not going to break down? Of course it is.

Stop it. Put in a metal one, take pride in the materials, and make it last a long time for your clients. It’s worth it.

Install Good Windows

I distinctly remember walking one of our turnkey properties early on in our business. I was walking with “Texas Jon” (I call all our clients by their name and area of the world), and I recall seeing this great rehab we had done in the property and talking with him about the great paint colors, new fixtures, totally redone bathroom and kitchen. And there, like a screaming baby, the windows were yelling at me. Something like, “You replaced everything else, so why didn’t you replace me?”

Related: The Top 7 Upgrades Tenants Seek When Searching for a Rental

Yes, they were windows. And technically, we could have left them. We sold the property already and installing new windows was not a part of our scope or included with the sale. But it really bothered me. I felt like we had left something undone both for my client and for the tenants who would eventually move in.

We walked outside, I called my partner, and we decided right then and there any property we rehabbed, if it didn’t already have awesome windows, we would ensure it did when we were done with it. That goes for $80k rentals and $350k flips. And without any more money from my client, we immediately had new windows installed in that property.

Final Thoughts

There is no shortage of information, education, and entertainment with regard to renovating and flipping properties. Take pride in what you do. Don’t just take care of the pretty stuff like paint colors and a fancy landscape—take care of the important things.

We’re republishing this article to help out our newer readers.

How do you stand out in your rehabs and flip properties?

Let me know with a comment!

Real estate investors come in all shapes, sizes, and financial backgrounds. There are so many ways to invest in real estate. You can flip houses, buy notes, invest in delinquent property tax, become a foreclosure expert, buy and hold property, invest in single family or multifamily homes, buy into mobile home parks, become a developer or a real estate agent, and much more.

There is one thing all of these types of investors have in common, and that is a quest for high returns on their investments—and a willingness to be thought of as a huckster, fool, and risk taker. Some investors do indeed go broke, but the ones who succeed can often look back and wonder why people thought that they were a bit crazy.

Related: 5 Habits of Highly Miserable New Real Estate Investors (& How to Kick Them!)

You Might Be a Real Estate Investor If…

1. You have driven by a property with an overgrown lawn and shrubs, and rather than think a lazy homeowner lives there, you wondered if there was an opportunity to make money there.
2. You have ever looked at the Empire State Building and put together a rough analysis of the rate of return you could get—if only you could get the financing.
3. Someone’s offer to sell you the Brooklyn Bridge was taken seriously—but only if they can guarantee you clear title.
4. You have investigated several different ways to get more property financing and more mortgages, even though you currently only have a single mortgage—on your primary residence.
5. You understand that every property could be a bargain, but only at the right price.
6. You understand that cash flow is king, and any other so-called return (depreciation, appreciation, equity gains, etc.) is not a factor in the investment formula—regardless of what any real estate agent says.
7. You factor in the cost of a property manager—even if you plan on managing the property yourself.
8. You understand that real estate is the way to riches and also one of the fastest ways to the poor house.
9. You can look at a prospect in the eye and decline them for a tenancy in your rental—even if they told you, “My credit is bad, but I always pay my rent.”
10. You know that bad renters often lie on their tenancy application and let their relatives be their past landlord references.
11. You understand the need for a full deposit for your rental and that a renter who does not have enough to pay it is a renter to be passed on.
12. You understand that a bad tenant can ruin your rental returns for several years—even though your plan says you cash flow.
13. You realize a 5% cash-on-cash return is not an investment; it is an opportunity to go broke.
14. Terms like “return on investment,” “gross rent multiplier,” “cap rate,” “cash-on-cash return,” and “vacancy expense” actually start to sound meaningful.
15. You make an offer on a property that makes your real estate agent feel embarrassed to submit—and you make a similar offer on a different property later that same day.
16. You already have plans to quit your job as soon as you have a certain “number of doors,” and you have yet to acquire your first one.
17. Everyone thinks you are crazy to buy that “run down property on the side street” and thinks you are a genius when you make six months’ worth of their salary in three months with that same property.
18. People tell you, “I looked at that property too, but I could not make the numbers work,” and then they ask you, “How did you get the property that cheap?”
19. People think you are crazy spending so much on a property, and then a few months later, they want to give you their money to invest.
20. You look at a property that needs a new kitchen, bathroom, painting, new floors, landscaping, a new roof, and you think, “This is a gem.”
21. You look at a weekend of painting as an opportunity—not a dreaded assignment.
22. You are in the business to make yourself money, not the seller of the property.
23. You know the cost of a 40-yard roll-off dumpster without actually getting a quote.
24. Roaches, bed bugs, ants, mice, and rats are just non-paying residents to be evicted—not something to be afraid of.
25. Your neighbors think you do not have a job and always wonder how you get all your money.
26. The employees at your local home improvement store know you by name—and you are on their list to call when they have a closeout appliance deal.
27. You not only own a toilet plunger, but a toilet auger—and you know how to use it.
28. The house you just flipped looked like a million bucks—and your own house needs as much (or more) work.
29. You are about to sign a mortgage—and it makes you just as nervous as the first time.
30. You actually want to borrow a million dollars, but only if that same million gets you two million in property.
31. People think you are a pauper, and you are actually a multi-millionaire (on paper).
32. You understand that real estate is just an opportunity, and there will always be opportunities. You just need to find them.

Related: The 6 Non-Negotiable Habits of Elite Real Estate Investors

We’re republishing this article to help out our newer readers.

Do any of these things ring true for your world? What would you add to my list!

Let me know which of the above traits you can relate to in the comments section below!

First, let me backtrack in my life as an entrepreneur, business owner, and real estate investor in general. I remember the days when I started my real estate company. It took me a year and a half to make my first sale. I was sick of eating peanut butter and drinking $1 gas station coffees to survive. When I went to McDonald’s and bought eight cheeseburgers, eating four and putting four in the fridge, that was the highlight of my week.

One thing that I’ve taken from those times and that I’ll never forget is to always stay true to myself. I never compromised my beliefs. I sacrificed making a profit, making money, and eating in those days because I didn’t want to compromise my beliefs. So the message to you is stay true to yourself no matter what. No matter how hard times get, you are who you are. You can’t impress everyone, and you can’t make everyone happy.

Be Who You Are—And Attract Like-Kind People

I’m a very eccentric guy, I swear a lot, I wear my heart on my sleeve, and I don’t mean harm, but I always say take me as I am or watch me as I go. I’ve worked with a lot of investors over the years, and I’ve made a lot of money (and lost a lot of money), but one thing that I’ve always done is stay good to my word. If I say I’m going to do something, I do it, and if I make a mistake, I put my hand up because it’s an honest mistake and I pay for the mistake that I made. Over time, people start to appreciate that and respect that—and you start attracting like-minded people and people who want to work with you.

It’s hard to pinpoint one exact way to get people to work with you. I think there are many things that will get you there, but if I could give one piece of advice it would be to stay true to yourself no matter what. Only work with people who you genuinely feel are the right fit for you and who you feel you can help. In return, they will get you to where you need to be. I’ve said this in many other blog posts but real estate is a marriage; it’s not a one-night stand. You need to plant a seed now and reap the harvest later. You want to understand what delayed gratification means because it’s going to take you and your partner(s) five, 10, 15, or 20 years to meet your goals. It doesn’t happen overnight. That is something that you really have to keep in mind.

Related: How to Build a Real Estate Investing “Team” With the Skill Sets You Need

I’m begging you, stay true to yourself. Even if that means for a year and a half you have to eat peanut butter for breakfast and drink $1 gas station coffees like I did. Could I have made sales back in the day? I’m sure could have. Did I want to make sales? No, because I didn’t believe that those people were a right fit for me or for my company, and I genuinely didn’t believe that I could help them get to where they needed to be. So I decided to stick to my guns, and I didn’t sell. It was tough, but a year and a half later, I made my first sale. Fast forward to today, and I’ve done over 500 real estate deals.

What’s the single thing that has helped you build a team and grow as an investor—all while keeping your integrity?

Comment below!

Most people understand the world of rental properties, house flips, and other common real estate investments. But there is one little-known niche that could provide massive cash flow and profits without the headaches: note investing. In this episode of the BiggerPockets Podcast, we sit down with Dave Van Horn, author of Real Estate Note Investing, to talk about how anyone can get started with real estate note investing—even as a first investor. In addition to a great conversation about notes, you’ll also hear some of Dave’s powerful strategies for getting his real estate offers accepted, how he started his investments using the BRRRR strategy (with credit cards!) and much, much more.

Click here to listen on iTunes.

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This Show Sponsored By

We just wanted to give a shout out to our podcast sponsor on today’s show: RealtyShares. RealtyShares is a crowdfunding platform that allows you to invest in professionally managed properties without leaving your living room!

Learn more by visiting RealtyShares.com/biggerpockets!

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In This Episode We Cover:

• What is a note?
• The types of notes available
• Ways to start investing in notes
• How much cash one needs to have a note
• Dave’s backstory as a real estate investor
• Dave’s shift to note investing
• What hard money is
• Three things you need to put together a deal
• Getting bank financing
• Performing vs. non-performing notes
• Shadowing and how to do it
• Making multiple offers
• What happens when a performing note becomes a non-performing note?
• About the book
• And SO much more!

Links from the Show

Books Mentioned in this Show

Fire Round Questions

Tweetable Topics:

• “It’s not only about what you’re paying, it’s about how you’re paying it.” (Tweet This!)
• “You don’t need any money, you just need a deal.” (Tweet This!)

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