Real Estate Investing - Research Before Jumping In

These days, a whole lot of people in America are investing money in real estate. Unless all these people have very poor judgment, there must be a good reason for it. Perhaps it’s because real estate can climb in value very quickly and return a good profit. I can not imagine any other reason.

When so much money is at stake, you must be certain that you know exactly what you are doing, since so many real estate investments turn out to be duds. If you make the wrong investment in a real estate property you can lose your shirt. Perhaps the best advice I could recommend is to educate yourself, and I can not think of a better way to do that than to attend a good real estate investing seminar, taught by someone who has made money investing in real estate.

While I have not yet attended a real estate investing seminar, I am seriously thinking about it. A friend of mine recently sold a home in Palm Coast, Florida, only five months after he bought it. Frankly, he had never attended a real estate investing seminar - he was just lucky that he ended up having made a good deal. He moved there to be closer to his girlfriend but soon discovered that his monthly payments were more than he could handle, so he sold the house. I could not believe it when he told me he made $45,000 on the sale. Neither could he!

Well, unlike my friend, I would not just rely on my luck. But I would like to learn how to do the same thing. That is, buy a home in a good area, fix it up to increase its value and then flip it for a hefty profit. But I would not want to go in blind. Fortunately, there is a load of information on the internet about real estate investing seminars and where to find them. I continue to search and increase my knowledge, and despite new investing in real estate is still very promising. If you would like to do the same thing, I highly recommend that you check out real estate investing seminars online. Hey, there is enough real estate out there for everyone. Maybe I’ll see you at a seminar!

Real Estate Investing - Research Before Jumping In

These days, a whole lot of people in America are investing money in real estate. Unless all these people have very poor judgment, there must be a good reason for it. Perhaps it’s because real estate can climb in value very quickly and return a good profit. I can not imagine any other reason.

When so much money is at stake, you must be certain that you know exactly what you are doing, since so many real estate investments turn out to be duds. If you make the wrong investment in a real estate property you can lose your shirt. Perhaps the best advice I could recommend is to educate yourself, and I can not think of a better way to do that than to attend a good real estate investing seminar, taught by someone who has made money investing in real estate.

While I have not yet attended a real estate investing seminar, I am seriously thinking about it. A friend of mine recently sold a home in Palm Coast, Florida, only five months after he bought it. Frankly, he had never attended a real estate investing seminar - he was just lucky that he ended up having made a good deal. He moved there to be closer to his girlfriend but soon discovered that his monthly payments were more than he could handle, so he sold the house. I could not believe it when he told me he made $45,000 on the sale. Neither could he!

Well, unlike my friend, I would not just rely on my luck. But I would like to learn how to do the same thing. That is, buy a home in a good area, fix it up to increase its value and then flip it for a hefty profit. But I would not want to go in blind. Fortunately, there is a load of information on the internet about real estate investing seminars and where to find them. I continue to search and increase my knowledge, and despite new investing in real estate is still very promising. If you would like to do the same thing, I highly recommend that you check out real estate investing seminars online. Hey, there is enough real estate out there for everyone. Maybe I’ll see you at a seminar!

Real Estate Investing - Research Before Jumping In

These days, a whole lot of people in America are investing money in real estate. Unless all these people have very poor judgment, there must be a good reason for it. Perhaps it’s because real estate can climb in value very quickly and return a good profit. I can not imagine any other reason.

When so much money is at stake, you must be certain that you know exactly what you are doing, since so many real estate investments turn out to be duds. If you make the wrong investment in a real estate property you can lose your shirt. Perhaps the best advice I could recommend is to educate yourself, and I can not think of a better way to do that than to attend a good real estate investing seminar, taught by someone who has made money investing in real estate.

While I have not yet attended a real estate investing seminar, I am seriously thinking about it. A friend of mine recently sold a home in Palm Coast, Florida, only five months after he bought it. Frankly, he had never attended a real estate investing seminar - he was just lucky that he ended up having made a good deal. He moved there to be closer to his girlfriend but soon discovered that his monthly payments were more than he could handle, so he sold the house. I could not believe it when he told me he made $45,000 on the sale. Neither could he!

Well, unlike my friend, I would not just rely on my luck. But I would like to learn how to do the same thing. That is, buy a home in a good area, fix it up to increase its value and then flip it for a hefty profit. But I would not want to go in blind. Fortunately, there is a load of information on the internet about real estate investing seminars and where to find them. I continue to search and increase my knowledge, and despite new investing in real estate is still very promising. If you would like to do the same thing, I highly recommend that you check out real estate investing seminars online. Hey, there is enough real estate out there for everyone. Maybe I’ll see you at a seminar!

Real Estate Investing - Research Before Jumping In

These days, a whole lot of people in America are investing money in real estate. Unless all these people have very poor judgment, there must be a good reason for it. Perhaps it’s because real estate can climb in value very quickly and return a good profit. I can not imagine any other reason.

When so much money is at stake, you must be certain that you know exactly what you are doing, since so many real estate investments turn out to be duds. If you make the wrong investment in a real estate property you can lose your shirt. Perhaps the best advice I could recommend is to educate yourself, and I can not think of a better way to do that than to attend a good real estate investing seminar, taught by someone who has made money investing in real estate.

While I have not yet attended a real estate investing seminar, I am seriously thinking about it. A friend of mine recently sold a home in Palm Coast, Florida, only five months after he bought it. Frankly, he had never attended a real estate investing seminar - he was just lucky that he ended up having made a good deal. He moved there to be closer to his girlfriend but soon discovered that his monthly payments were more than he could handle, so he sold the house. I could not believe it when he told me he made $45,000 on the sale. Neither could he!

Well, unlike my friend, I would not just rely on my luck. But I would like to learn how to do the same thing. That is, buy a home in a good area, fix it up to increase its value and then flip it for a hefty profit. But I would not want to go in blind. Fortunately, there is a load of information on the internet about real estate investing seminars and where to find them. I continue to search and increase my knowledge, and despite new investing in real estate is still very promising. If you would like to do the same thing, I highly recommend that you check out real estate investing seminars online. Hey, there is enough real estate out there for everyone. Maybe I’ll see you at a seminar!

Low-Money-Down Real Estate Investing

Is it really possible to make money from real estate without much starting money?

The answer is both yes and no.

Here’s the No part:
Investing with no money down is a popular topic at high-hype, low-information seminars. The truth is, when people say you can make money from real estate with little or no money down, they are being slightly misleading.

Indeed, they are right: you personally do not need any money to get started. BUT, you have to get the money from somewhere. Speakers at these high-hype seminars mention OPM (Other People’s Money). The way to invest in real estate with no money down is to borrow from other people (family, friends, and investors) to get started.

This is perfectly true, it’s not YOUR money, therefore you’re starting with none of your own money down, but wouldn’t you agree “invest in real estate with no money down” is a misleading statement?

Even if it’s not your money, it is your responsibility. And it’s your debt if something goes wrong.

Here’s the Yes part:
There are ways that you can MINIMISE the amount of money down. I’ve found that there is an inverse relationship between start-up money and creativity. Generally, the less money you have, the more creative you have to be.

Here are a few creative strategies:
Note: These are by no means easy. They require a lot of work and a lot of explaining to people what you’re doing. There is also potential for investors to exploit their clients when doing strategy 2 or 3, so these strategies are for ethical investors only.

• 1. Negotiate terms.
  You can negotiate the settlement terms in a way that best suits you. For example, you could buy a cosmetically challenged house with a five month settlement period, and negotiate access to the house within those five months.

  In that time you could renovate the place and then sell it on the settlement day for more than you pay. Of course, you’d need the money for the renovations, but it’s not as much as you’d need to buy the house.

• 2. Sandwich Wrap.
  Find someone who will sell their house to you on terms instead of for a lump sum (i.e. wrap it for you). Instead of getting a loan and paying the seller the sale price in one go, you simply make weekly/fortnightly/monthly repayments to the seller until you’ve paid the sale price.

  Then you repeat this process for someone else - i.e. you sell the house to someone else on terms instead of for a lump sum.

  Because you want your client to be paying you more than you are paying the original seller, you need to increase the value of the house somehow (e.g. by renovating). You make a profit by receiving higher repayments from your client than you have to pay to the original seller.

• 3. Some now, some later.
  Find a house that has been on the market a while and is having difficulty selling. Go to the owner and tell them that you can sell the house for their asking price if they are willing to accept most of the money in a lump sum, but some of it in instalments. Then advertise the house as FOR SALE, NO DEPOSIT REQUIRED.

  The house will now quickly attract buyers. The buyer will get 80% finance from a bank and pay it to the seller. You then finance the other 20%. Pay it back to the seller in instalments, with a little bit of interest. And get the buyer to pay you back with a little more interest than what you are paying the seller.

  You can charge this extra margin because you are taking on the risk that the buyer might default on their payments and leave you stuck with the debt. The extra interest is essentially your charge for taking on this risk. You make a profit by receiving repayments that are higher than you make.

  I must stress once again that strategies 2 and 3 are hard work, especially because they involve specific legal paperwork. It is actually easier to just save up and use more traditional real estate investing strategies than to spend the money learning how to do these more obscure strategies.

The more traditional strategies I would recommend include positively geared rentals, wraps (simpler than sandwich wraps), and lease options. For more information about these highly profitable strategies, go to http://www.sustainable-wealth-creation.com/property-investing.html

About the Author

Nat has a passion for property and education. She is co-director of a property investing company and is the author of several high quality articles. To read more of what Nat has to say go to http://www.sustainable-wealth-creation.com/property-investing.html or if you would like to contact her directly go to http://www.sustainable-wealth-creation.com/contact-us.html.

Low-Money-Down Real Estate Investing

Is it really possible to make money from real estate without much starting money?

The answer is both yes and no.

Here’s the No part:
Investing with no money down is a popular topic at high-hype, low-information seminars. The truth is, when people say you can make money from real estate with little or no money down, they are being slightly misleading.

Indeed, they are right: you personally do not need any money to get started. BUT, you have to get the money from somewhere. Speakers at these high-hype seminars mention OPM (Other People’s Money). The way to invest in real estate with no money down is to borrow from other people (family, friends, and investors) to get started.

This is perfectly true, it’s not YOUR money, therefore you’re starting with none of your own money down, but wouldn’t you agree “invest in real estate with no money down” is a misleading statement?

Even if it’s not your money, it is your responsibility. And it’s your debt if something goes wrong.

Here’s the Yes part:
There are ways that you can MINIMISE the amount of money down. I’ve found that there is an inverse relationship between start-up money and creativity. Generally, the less money you have, the more creative you have to be.

Here are a few creative strategies:
Note: These are by no means easy. They require a lot of work and a lot of explaining to people what you’re doing. There is also potential for investors to exploit their clients when doing strategy 2 or 3, so these strategies are for ethical investors only.

• 1. Negotiate terms.
  You can negotiate the settlement terms in a way that best suits you. For example, you could buy a cosmetically challenged house with a five month settlement period, and negotiate access to the house within those five months.

  In that time you could renovate the place and then sell it on the settlement day for more than you pay. Of course, you’d need the money for the renovations, but it’s not as much as you’d need to buy the house.

• 2. Sandwich Wrap.
  Find someone who will sell their house to you on terms instead of for a lump sum (i.e. wrap it for you). Instead of getting a loan and paying the seller the sale price in one go, you simply make weekly/fortnightly/monthly repayments to the seller until you’ve paid the sale price.

  Then you repeat this process for someone else - i.e. you sell the house to someone else on terms instead of for a lump sum.

  Because you want your client to be paying you more than you are paying the original seller, you need to increase the value of the house somehow (e.g. by renovating). You make a profit by receiving higher repayments from your client than you have to pay to the original seller.

• 3. Some now, some later.
  Find a house that has been on the market a while and is having difficulty selling. Go to the owner and tell them that you can sell the house for their asking price if they are willing to accept most of the money in a lump sum, but some of it in instalments. Then advertise the house as FOR SALE, NO DEPOSIT REQUIRED.

  The house will now quickly attract buyers. The buyer will get 80% finance from a bank and pay it to the seller. You then finance the other 20%. Pay it back to the seller in instalments, with a little bit of interest. And get the buyer to pay you back with a little more interest than what you are paying the seller.

  You can charge this extra margin because you are taking on the risk that the buyer might default on their payments and leave you stuck with the debt. The extra interest is essentially your charge for taking on this risk. You make a profit by receiving repayments that are higher than you make.

  I must stress once again that strategies 2 and 3 are hard work, especially because they involve specific legal paperwork. It is actually easier to just save up and use more traditional real estate investing strategies than to spend the money learning how to do these more obscure strategies.

The more traditional strategies I would recommend include positively geared rentals, wraps (simpler than sandwich wraps), and lease options. For more information about these highly profitable strategies, go to http://www.sustainable-wealth-creation.com/property-investing.html

About the Author

Nat has a passion for property and education. She is co-director of a property investing company and is the author of several high quality articles. To read more of what Nat has to say go to http://www.sustainable-wealth-creation.com/property-investing.html or if you would like to contact her directly go to http://www.sustainable-wealth-creation.com/contact-us.html.