The ABCs Of Real Estate Investing
April 7, 2011 by Kenny Santos
Filed under Real Estate Investing
If you have been contemplating a career or side business as a real estate investor then there is no better time to start then the present. When you are first starting out there are many things to learn and it is important to remember that the learning curve can be steep. In order to guard yourself against huge losses it is often better to start off slow and with lower priced houses. As you can experience and knowledge in the field you can start close bigger and more profitable deals. For a first house you will typically want to find one that is undervalued and in need of basic repairs. Often a house that needs some simple repair work like painting, new carpet and other easy to do repairs can be purchased at a reduced rate. Then by putting in a little elbow grease and making the repairs and painting the house it can easily be flipped for a much higher price or even rented out for a better rate. This helps new investors get started by getting their feet wet.
If you think of yourself as a handyman and feel that you can do the repairs yourself, you can save a lot of money. On the other hand, if you need to hire someone, you should always make sure that the individual or company that you hire is qualified to do the repairs. If you aren?t comfortable with doing any of the repairs, you should inquire about a subcontractor or company that will do it for a reasonable price, or perhaps a share of the money once you have resold the house.
If the house you are thinking to purchase and resell has any type of structural problems, you should always get an estimate from a reliable contractor before you make the purchase. If you decide to stay in the business, you?ll learn a lot more over the years, although you should always hire a contractor when you first start out. Once you get all of the estimates together, you can make that final decision on how much of an offer you want to put down on the property.
After you have a team together and successfully renovated and resold several homes, you?ll begin to feel quite a bit more confident with buying homes that need repairs. All it takes is time and practice - and you?ll be buying homes that the average investor wouldn?t think twice about. This can be a huge advantage when you are looking for homes to buy and resell, as there will be less competition to worry about. You?ll also be able to get a lower price when buying the home, simply because you can use the cost of the repairs to your advantage.
Once you are able to do repairs on homes, including structural problems, you?ll have a huge advantage in the market. You?ll be able to buy virtually any home, including those that other investors choose to ignore. Doing so can be very profitable for you, especially if the house is in a well known and well desired neighborhood. After you have done the repairs, you can resell the home for a much higher price than you paid to acquire the home.
When you start looking for houses that you can repair and resell, you should always take your time and buy the right homes. You won?t have the money, time, experience, or support to buy the bigger houses at first, which means you won?t have any room for mistakes. Once you have purchased and resold a few smaller homes, you?ll eventually be able to work your way up to the bigger homes - which is where the big profits will come into play.
Keep in mind that when you are starting out in the field of real estate investing you will want to take things slow at first and build your own knowledge of the business. Don’t expect huge profits to come rolling in overnight, it takes time to build your knowledge and your team before the big deals and big profits come in. Once you have been at it for a few years it will become easy to spot the more profitable deals and you will know all of the terms and have your team ready to assist. The is a very exciting field to be working in and it can be a lot of fun when taking slowly and carefully.
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Check out Best Guide Real Estate for more information on how to make money in real estate investing. Or go to Best Guides Real Estate for other real estate related information including home loan refinancing, renting and moving. |
Real Estate Investing - - The Key To Successful Closings
December 27, 2009 by Kenny Santos
Filed under Real Estate Investing
If everyone always did everything they said theyd do, wed all be a lot richer. Unfortunately, tasks are overlooked, and the ball is often dropped. If you want to have successful closings, you must have strong follow-up skills to catch problems early in the process. Follow-up on everyone and everything.
We cant begin to tell you the number of closings that almost fell apart, or would have fallen apart had we not kept a watchful eye on the entire process to make sure that everything was completed when it needed to be. Heres a typical scenario: youre wholesaling a house and you have just 30 days to get it closed before the contract with the Seller expires. You find a buyer who can get a loan and close before the expiration. Then a few days before closing you find out that the loan isnt ready and closing must be delayed two weeks, but the Seller already has another Buyer ready to pay more than your price, so they refuse to extend your contract. You just lost the deal.
So what is follow-up? We used to think it meant staying in touch with the buyer to make sure that everything was completed for the loan. Then we learned that the buyer is often a newbie and clueless of what needs to be done. Mortgage brokers just usually respond Everything looks great until they cant close the loan. So the real trick to following-up is to speak to the final decision maker for each step. This works whether youre selling a retail house or a wholesale house, or even if you are the buyer/borrower. The goal is to close without delays.
Assuming that you have already received a pre-qualification letter from the lender, and ensured that the lender will loan on the deal (i.e. no issues with title seasoning, assignment fees, inhabitability of the property), the first step is to follow-up with the broker/lender that all of the application paperwork was submitted, and have they forwarded it to the lender? If not, what is still required? Determine if the lender requires a termite letter, appraisal, and a survey (most lenders do). If so, have they all been ordered? When is each to be completed? Keep following-up until you verify that each has been delivered. You also want to verify that the appraisal was sufficient for the loan.
If we dont already own the house, we order a title report as soon as we go under contract with the Seller to discover any defects early in the process, and begin resolving them. Closing attorneys usually do not order the title report until just before closing to receive as current information as possible. But if they find problems, it could delay your closing. It is well worth the $125 to run title ahead of time, and eliminate delays.
Once the broker has forwarded the paperwork to the lender, the next step is to verify the loan has gone to underwriting. If not, what is the delay? If so, was the loan approved? Do any conditions need to be met? What are they and who is handling them? Make sure that once the conditions are met, the loan is returned to underwriting and approved.
Verify that the closing has been scheduled with the attorney, and that they have cleared title. Find out if and when the loan package will be forwarded to the attorney. Then remind all of the players of the date and time of closing, to bring a picture ID to closing, and to bring any funds required in a certified check.
This seems like a lot of work that should be handled by other people, but the reality is that often times something is overlooked. Through your diligent follow-up efforts, problems will be detected early and corrected, allowing your closing to occur flawlessly and on schedule.
Best of success & abundance,
Lou Castillo
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About The Author Lou Castillo FREE! Real Estate Investing Secrets To Earning $100,000 Your 1st Year! — 11 Overlooked Real Estate Statregies That Will Turn Your Investing Business upside Down And On The Fast Track TO Success…Guranteed! Plus A Bonus Track With A Secret So Successful It Can Double Your Investing Income Overnight! http://www.InvestorSuccessTactics.com Real Estate Investing - - The Key To Successful ClosingsNovember 18, 2009 by Kenny Santos If everyone always did everything they said theyd do, wed all be a lot richer. Unfortunately, tasks are overlooked, and the ball is often dropped. If you want to have successful closings, you must have strong follow-up skills to catch problems early in the process. Follow-up on everyone and everything. We cant begin to tell you the number of closings that almost fell apart, or would have fallen apart had we not kept a watchful eye on the entire process to make sure that everything was completed when it needed to be. Heres a typical scenario: youre wholesaling a house and you have just 30 days to get it closed before the contract with the Seller expires. You find a buyer who can get a loan and close before the expiration. Then a few days before closing you find out that the loan isnt ready and closing must be delayed two weeks, but the Seller already has another Buyer ready to pay more than your price, so they refuse to extend your contract. You just lost the deal. So what is follow-up? We used to think it meant staying in touch with the buyer to make sure that everything was completed for the loan. Then we learned that the buyer is often a newbie and clueless of what needs to be done. Mortgage brokers just usually respond Everything looks great until they cant close the loan. So the real trick to following-up is to speak to the final decision maker for each step. This works whether youre selling a retail house or a wholesale house, or even if you are the buyer/borrower. The goal is to close without delays. Assuming that you have already received a pre-qualification letter from the lender, and ensured that the lender will loan on the deal (i.e. no issues with title seasoning, assignment fees, inhabitability of the property), the first step is to follow-up with the broker/lender that all of the application paperwork was submitted, and have they forwarded it to the lender? If not, what is still required? Determine if the lender requires a termite letter, appraisal, and a survey (most lenders do). If so, have they all been ordered? When is each to be completed? Keep following-up until you verify that each has been delivered. You also want to verify that the appraisal was sufficient for the loan. If we dont already own the house, we order a title report as soon as we go under contract with the Seller to discover any defects early in the process, and begin resolving them. Closing attorneys usually do not order the title report until just before closing to receive as current information as possible. But if they find problems, it could delay your closing. It is well worth the $125 to run title ahead of time, and eliminate delays. Once the broker has forwarded the paperwork to the lender, the next step is to verify the loan has gone to underwriting. If not, what is the delay? If so, was the loan approved? Do any conditions need to be met? What are they and who is handling them? Make sure that once the conditions are met, the loan is returned to underwriting and approved. Verify that the closing has been scheduled with the attorney, and that they have cleared title. Find out if and when the loan package will be forwarded to the attorney. Then remind all of the players of the date and time of closing, to bring a picture ID to closing, and to bring any funds required in a certified check. This seems like a lot of work that should be handled by other people, but the reality is that often times something is overlooked. Through your diligent follow-up efforts, problems will be detected early and corrected, allowing your closing to occur flawlessly and on schedule. Best of success & abundance, Lou Castillo
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