Ideas in the Wild: Bill Ham Aims To Show Real Estate Investors How to Close Deals With Little Or No Money Down

For those who think they can’t afford to invest in multifamily real estate — think again. In his new book Creative Cash, real estate investor Bill Ham reveals the best-kept secrets of the two creative, effective financing strategies other investors don’t want you to know about:

Master Lease Options and Seller Financing. Bill used these strategies to buy his first 400 units without ever stepping into a bank or qualifying for a loan. Now, Bill wants to show other investors how to close your next deal with little to no money down using the hottest strategies in real estate — leveraging other people’s money to come out ahead. I recently caught up with Bill to learn about his book-writing journey and his favorite idea that he shares with readers.

What happened that made you decide to write the book? What was the exact moment you realized these ideas needed to get out there?

My good friend and coach (Julia Barbaro) said to me: “You should write a book about that!” I told her: “OK, let’s do it!” I have been in real estate for over fifteen years. I have been through all the market cycles. I know that we are headed into a tricky market cycle over the next few years and creative financing for real estate will become a highly useful way to fund deals when traditional lenders pull back from the market or have what I call a “flight to quality.”

I had just finished teaching a class on real estate investing and on what to expect in the future of real estate over the next few years. I explained how I remember getting started in real estate in 2005 and going into the 2008 recession. I shared how I built my first portfolio of real estate (402 units) without using any banks or traditional lending.

That’s when Julia made the comment that I should write a book.

What’s your favorite specific, actionable idea in the book?

My S.P.Y technique for getting a seller (of real estate/business) to agree to an offer for creative financing (seller financing or a master lease option etc). S.P.Y stands for Seller, Property, You. This is a method for gathering information and making an offer that solves problems.

The key to creative financing is to solve problems. The S.P.Y method is used to analyze a deal and have the offer solve the seller’s problems first, the property’s problems second, and lastly it should solve your problems. Most people make the mistake of making offers that solve their problems first, the property’s issues second, and lastly the seller’s problems. Use my S.P.Y. Technique to increase your chances of getting a creative offer accepted.

What’s a story of how you’ve applied this lesson in your own life? What has this lesson done for you?

In 2005 I quit my job as a corporate pilot to go into real estate investing full time. I had a duplex that cash flowed $300 a month and $10,000 in savings. I had no choice but to learn how to solve people’s problems, because I had one huge problem: no money!

I quickly learned what is now my number one rule of business: always have something to trade. Everyone else already has what you want. It’s your job to get them to give it to you.

How? Be valuable! If you can’t create value for others they are not likely to give you what you want. I learned to solve real estate and business problems (by using S.P.Y) and built my first real estate portfolio with only creative financing.