Real Estate Investors Association of Greater Cincinnati

For years, I ran my construction business as an owner-operator. Like many in the trades, I wore every hat—chasing work, managing projects, keeping the books, and making sure the bills got paid. While the business provided income, it was more of a job than a business that could stand on its own. At some point, I realized that if I stepped away, the business would stop. That realization was the spark that pushed me to redesign my business around a system I call the Biz Freedom Framework™—a five-part model that transitions businesses from owner-operator dependency to an employer-led, turnkey business.

Building a Business That Runs Without Me

The first step was Ownership—deciding what I truly wanted from the business. Ownership meant more than having my name on the LLC papers. It meant shaping a vision, documenting guiding principles, and holding myself accountable to building something that worked with or without me.

Next came Leadership. I had to stop being the only decision-maker. Leadership meant building a team that could take responsibility, delegate tasks, and carry out the company’s vision. This required investing in people, processes, and clear expectations.

The Get Work function was about creating a repeatable, professional way to bring in projects without me personally having to sell every job. Marketing systems, proposal templates, and a trained sales pipeline made sure the company could consistently attract and close the right oppo ... Read More…

For some investors, the real estate hunt eventually winds up not at open houses but on courthouse steps, or more recently, behind a laptop screen. In Texas, if a property owner doesn’t keep up with their taxes, the county can step in, foreclose, and auction the property to cover the debt. For anyone prepared, these sales sometimes offer a way to pick up real estate at prices that feel almost too good to be true.

That said, this isn’t a game of just raising your hand at the right moment. Winning in tax deed investing comes down to knowing the rules, managing the pitfalls, and leaning on strategies that have proven themselves over time. 

The Basics: How It Works in Texas 

Here’s the first thing: Texas is different. Some states sell tax liens. You buy the lien, sit tight, and eventually collect interest when the owner pays up. Texas, on the other hand, is mainly a tax deed state. That means you’re bidding on the actual property, not just a lien. 

Auctions happen on the first Tuesday of every month, across all 254 counties. The opening bid? Usually, the amount of back taxes plus penalties and legal fees. If you win, you walk away with a sheriff’s deed.

There’s one twist: the right of redemption. The old owner can buy back the property by paying you the auction price plus a penalty of 25% within six months, or 50% within two years if it’s a homestead or agricultural land. For investors, that redemption penalty can mak ... Read More…

Imagine putting away as much as $77,500 in a self-directed IRA that will grow tax-free for the rest of your life, all while investing in cash flowing and appreciating real estate assets. In this article I explain how that’s possible with a Solo 401(k) and share the features of this account, as well as how this could potentially work for you.

What is a Solo 401(k) and how does it work?

A Solo 401(k) is a retirement plan designed for self-employed individuals or small business owners with no full-time employees, aside from a spouse. This plan offers the same benefits as a traditional 401(k), including tax-deferred growth and the ability to make substantial contributions each year, but it is tailored for individuals running their own businesses.

The Solo 401(k) is unique because it enables you to contribute both as an employee and as an employer, maximizing your retirement savings potential. The plan provides significant flexibility with contribution limits and offers features like tax advantages and loan options that can benefit self-employed individuals looking for greater control over their retirement planning.

Here are some of the requirements for opening and contributing to a Solo 401(k):

You must have self-employment income, or W-2 income from the business entity that is sponsoring the Solo 401(k). For instance, if you are a real estate agent and you receive $100,000 in 1099 commissions, you have $50,000 in business expenses to deduct on your Schedule C, ... Read More…

When you acquire property from a seller and simultaneously sell it to a third-party buyer, as a briefly intervening title holder, you may think you don’t need an owner’s title insurance policy. After all, you’re only holding onto the property for a few seconds and not even taking possession of it. So, what’s your risk if an eventual title issue arises?

Even if you own the property for only a few seconds, hours, or days, you’re entering the “chain of title,” or the ownership record. If any title issues arise later, you could be dragged into legal disputes. Some problems are not discoverable through a standard title search, and don’t surface until later:

• Errors in the public records
• Forged documents
• Omitted signers required for effective transfer from an LLC or other entity
• Undisclosed purchase agreements or other contracts
• Undisclosed heirs

As long as the end buyer has an owner’s title insurance policy, they can file a claim for any covered issues that arise. They can also, however, make a claim against their seller to enforce warranties provided in the deed that was recorded to transfer title. If the end buyer did not get an owner’s title insurance policy, then seeking recovery from their seller may be their only option. And even if a title insurer accepts the claim and pays the insured, the title insurer may seek recoupment from the seller or a previous title holder, depending on the circumstances. The ... Read More…

Markets rise. Markets fall. But savvy investors build systems that keep working, no matter which direction the headlines go.

It’s 2025, and something feels eerily familiar. The stock market continues its upward climb, fueled in part by policy decisions designed to keep confidence high. But under the surface? Cracks are beginning to show. Housing inventory is creeping up. Buyer activity is cooling. According to Redfin, the typical home is now spending more days on the market than at any point since 2015.

If you've been investing in real estate long enough, you might be flashing back to 2007. And while history doesn’t repeat exactly, it does rhyme. The question is: how are you preparing?

Traditional financial advice often encourages diversification. But what if you're heavily invested in real estate and prefer control over guesswork?

The volatility of Wall Street isn’t just a matter of risk; it’s a matter of timing. A portfolio that drops 20% right when you need to tap it for income or to replace HVAC can throw off your entire plan. That’s why more investors are turning to alternatives that emphasize stability, control, and liquidity … especially in uncertain times.

#1 Start with cash flow and liquidity.

Real estate investors often live in the land of “lumpy” income: months with big wins followed by dry spells. One increasingly popular strategy is adopting a business-style approach to real estate finances by creating a "R ... Read More…

I want to introduce you to some of the best kept secrets to get more motivated sellers contacting you. But can you keep a secret? 

Getting motivated sellers to contact you first is essential to any successful Real Estate Investor’s business. A truly motivated seller is the key to a good deal; the more motivated the seller, the better the deal. You will find very quickly, as I did, that you will be able to buy a lot more houses at much better prices if you target the right sellers. You will also more likely get the terms and at the price you want when the seller contacts you first, especially in some of today’s really hot real estate markets. You’ll want to target the kind of sellers who truly need to sell as opposed to those who just want to sell, including those sellers in pre-foreclosure. 

Marketing to sellers is also a numbers’ game. The more motivated sellers you are able to locate, the more motivated sellers you will have contacting you, and the more opportunities you’ll have to make good deals. The secret is in learning how to find the truly motivated sellers that no one else knows about. 

Whom exactly are you going to be marketing to? Motivation comes in many forms. Sellers need to sell for a variety of reasons. Some reasons have to do with the sellers themselves, such as age, health status, job situations, personal situations, financial difficulties, change in family size or change in marital status. 

Other reaso ... Read More…

O.K., so you have gotten it into your blood, mind, and soul that you want to be a Rehabber. Take that ugly, smelly eyesore and turn it into the gem of the neighborhood. No problem, right? After all, you’ve watched all the shows on HGTV and Magnolia Network. You know all about what countertops to choose…what color schemes will wow your buyers…and, that bathroom layout you have etched into your mind is killer….

Well, there may be just a bit more to it than you think.

In this article, I want to address some of the areas you will want to start with before ever lifting a hammer or paintbrush. Some of the things which, if done correctly ahead of time, will make your project run infinitely smoother, save you time and money and allow you to keep any hair you currently have.

What Needs to be Done?

Believe it or not, this is one of the areas where most of us…even experienced Rehabbers…have some of our biggest challenges. Do I replace the windows? What about the furnace? Should I use Home Depot countertops…Corian…mid-range? There are a myriad of things to consider here, and the more experienced and wiser you become, the closer you will be to “guessing right”.

For instance, one of the first things you must consider is: Who is my end buyer/user – are you rehabbing for a landlord or for a retail buyer? Vinyl flooring in a rental unit is just fine, but a retail buyer will really be impressed by ceramic tile in t ... Read More…

Many people have been taught that land is risky, expensive, doesn’t cash flow, and takes a long time to convert into profit. But there’s one phrase I hear over and over again that really irks me:

“Land doesn’t cash flow.”

While it’s technically true that land doesn’t cash flow like a rental house does, there are several clear and effective ways to make land generate monthly income—and not just from traditional income land like farmland, billboards, or cell towers.

Beyond Billboards and Parking Lots

Sure, you can make steady income by renting a piece of land in a city as a parking lot or storage space—or putting up a billboard or cell tower. Some investors buy rural land near highways and rent the surface space to businesses using trailers or old trucks as mobile billboards. Some of them make more monthly income than most people earn at their jobs.

But that’s not the type of land cash flow I focus on.

My Strategy: Seller Financing

What I’m talking about is how to make land cash flow through seller financing—my way.

Here’s what makes my strategy powerful:
You often get all your investment back the moment you sell the property—and every monthly payment after that is pure profit.

If you’re looking for high return on investment with less hassle, this might be exactly what you’re after.

Let’s Compare

Traditional Seller Financing Example:

• Buy for $100,000
• Sell ... Read More…

When you’re doing your first few deals—or doing your first few deals in a strategy that you haven’t explored before—you need help.

Maybe it’s help evaluating the deal. Maybe it’s help with negotiation or contracts. Maybe it’s help understanding how to ‘price’ the rent or sale price. Maybe it’s help understanding how the financing will work. But you’ll find yourself needing advice from people who’ve ‘been there, done that, got the T-shirt’ over and over again throughout your real estate career.

This is no small matter; it’s easy to lose a deal (or worse yet, do a bad one!) because there’s ONE hangup. ONE question that needs to be answered or ONE problem that needs to be overcome

1:  EVERY Friday morning at our online Haves and Wants meeting. It’s very common for members to attend with the “Want” of “I need someone to walk me through how to do this subject to deal I found” or “Can someone help me with evaluating a property I’m trying to buy?” and to get assistance either then and there, or later in the day from someone who volunteers to help out.

2:  At our monthly online General Membership Meetings. Each begins with an informal early bird session where you can ask questions, introduce yourself, and find out who does what.

3: At our monthly in-person Chapter meetings. If you happen to live in the Columbus, Cincinna ... Read More…

Lordy, people, there are SO many ways to put together real estate deals. SURELY there’s one out there that you’ll like/understand/benefit from.

If you don’t like full-on wholesaling—maybe because ugly houses repel you, or some of the areas that work well aren’t neighborhoods in which you want to spend time, or you don’t like making super-low offers—then learn how to do creative deals, and flip those.

Creative financing techniques—buying properties using seller-held mortgages, contracts for deed, lease/options, and subject to the existing loan—are usually thought of as ways for you, the buyer, to control real estate for some period of time so that you can exercise some exit strategy that requires control.

For instance, you might buy a property subject to the existing loan so that you can renovate it and rent it for the long term. Or you might get a “split funds” seller mortgage for a year because you intend to renovate and resell the property within that year. Or you might control the property with a lease with the option to buy so that you can sell it with a lease with the option to buy (with, of course, a higher overall price, higher down payment, and higher monthly payment coming to you than the ones you’re paying).

But, if done carefully (by which I mean with the right people, full disclosure, and all the contractual ‘i’s dotted and ‘t’s crossed) creative deals can also be ... Read More…