Investing in the right computers, software, phones and faxes if done correctly can save you a ton of time and money.
Over the years I have bought, and paid to have set up for me, computers, faxes, and software applications. Only to find out I had bought the wrong stuff, paid too much, or did not need half of what I bought. These were very frustrating and expensive mistakes and you can avoid them.
You see, we as investors are a niche, small business community. And unlike realtors, appraisers, and mortgage brokers we do not have blueprints or guides to follow to show us how to set up shop.
In this article, I will discuss the things you need and the things you don’t need, and will include a $30,000.00 dollar investing tip for you.
First things first, a computer is a necessity. I have always purchased Hewlett Packard’s better known as HP’s and have had great success with them. They cost more, but what you save in computer technicians repairing the cheap ones, and the computer’s longevity, well its just worth it.
I recommend buying the small office version of mircosoft small business package. The package that has Word, Outlook (not just outlook express), Publisher and Excel. If you are planning on being a real, honest to goodness, long term investor, then I recommend you start right the first time with these products. Let me explain why.
In Word you can type all your documents, letters, articles, letter heads and set up simple files. Your virtual assistant (va) can help you with that, should you be as uneducated on software as I was in the beginning.
Outlook, this is my all time favorite. All my website addresses, passwords, bird dog contact info, business and personal Christmas card lists are easily stored there. I have an “easy to access” list of investors, one for Las Vegas, Texas, and my vip investors club. It can be separated logically for easy to reach and use applications. All my houses ever purchased are listed in Outlook by seller name, or address including contact info.
For Publisher, I don’t know how to run this program at all! Therefore my virtual assistant (VA) logs onto my computer from Wisconsin and can create a house flyer, letterheads for the company and other graphics for me in mere moments.
Your office fax, here is the priceless tip. I make thirty thousand dollars cash on a single wholesale flip when I received a fax that contained only these words in tiny print-on a large-blank-white-8.5×11- sheet of paper:
I need to sell my house, my number is xxx-xxx-xxxx.