Using the Web and social media to sell real estate

Last week end I have been to a real estate event in Tampa where different real estate “gurus” were promoting their own investment strategy. I was struck by the energy of Nick Sidoti, who runs around shouting at the audience and throwing real money at you to make sure he gets your undivided attention (I did manage to cash 3 bucks in the process). Aside from the unusual but effective presentation style and aside from the fact that Nick self proclaims himself as “crazy”, his strategy seems to make sense also for an international real estate investor.

Nick Sidoti has some unique landlord investment strategies

He has found out a way to secure high rental values by providing special need housing to some types of handicapped people as well as to high end students and retired veterans. The basic concept is to provide fully furnished apartments with full utilities and basic housekeeping provided as part of the rent. You provide a quality of life that is similar to that of an hotel, and at the same time the convenience of an apartment or house. The higher rent comes from the ability to accommodate more than one tenant per unit and get each one paying separately.
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When dealing with special need tenant, like veterans or handicapped people, you get paid directly by the government and the tenant stays in the property for a long time since there are not so many alternatives available on any given market. There are no delays in the payments, most of the maintenance is performed by the government workers taking care of these special people and you can get much more return for your investment with less involvement.

Since it is a very special type of market, you must be thoroughly familiar with the requirements of the government agencies you would be working with and you also need to conduct a very different type of marketing as compared to what is required for regular landlording. I have personally checked with him about the feasibility of this strategy for foreign investors, and he has assured me that these special programs can be performed also by property owners that are not US citizens. You would require naturally a local structure to provide management, but this would be the case also with a local investor.

Nick Sidoti has been involved in real estate investing since 1979 and he has been lecturing for more than 20 years, therefore this is not a new strategy by any means and its longevity adds credibility to it. His conclusions after over two decades of observing other investors is that some people get it and some just don’t (how to make money) So his motto is: “Are you really getting it?” I think I do now.

Roberto Mazzoni