Real Estate Investing: Make Money with your Property
June 15, 2010 by Kenny Santos
Filed under Real Estate Investing
Investing in properties is one of the best ways to make money. Buying underdeveloped and foreclosed real estate then developing and selling it is an example of real estate investment.
When investing in real estate you should first determine what kind of real estate investment is suitable for you. Do not just jump in with the crowd and start buying properties. You have to think this through. Remember that real estate investment is one of the biggest financial decisions you have to make and can be very risky and might end you up broke.
There are many ways to invest in real estates. One of them is the assumption of loan. The good thing about assuming the loan is that you will need less money to invest in a property. Therefore, you can spend more cash for the property development and upkeep.
Since the lender already knows about the property, you save precious time and money. Another great thing about assuming loans is that with long-term loans you will not start the amortization process when you start the loan. This is because the monthly payments of the first owner was used to the amortization instead of the interest.
There are many ways to assume the loan.
Here are some ways:
Trust Deed Financing
This usually happens if the banks will not finance for the loan of the property. When this happens, the seller can use a trust deed where the buyer can pay lower down payments and the seller will be more flexible with the terms of payment.
The advantages for this are lower costs and a chance for the seller to reduce interest costs. The trust deed also enables the seller to specify how many years the term of the loan will be.
Contract Financing
This works when the seller gets a second mortgage and wraps it around the existing mortgage. In this type of assuming the property loan, you have to ask permission from the loan holder to assume the loan. With this kind of financing, the new financing is added to the original loan.
You might want to know why you would want to invest in Real Estate
Real estate investments can increase the property’s value. To make this work, you have to invest in the development of the property to appraise the value of the property.
You will be buying an underdeveloped property cheaply and sell it with the property value increased.
Before investing in a real estate, ask yourself these following questions before buying:
* What are the local investment conditions?
* What retirement savings do I have?
* Do I want a house to provide income when I retire?
* Do I want to pay down the loans on my properties before I retire and live on the income they generate?
* Do I want to sell the properties and use the profits to finance my retirement?
* What other investments do I have?
* Can my unpredictable cash flow allow me to own my properties?
* Will my property generate immediate income or will it be a long-term investment?
Answering questions like these can help you decide if you would want to invest in real estate. It will help you determine about the type of income you would get in your property and allows you to see yourself in the future when you retire.
About the Author
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California Real Estate Investing ? How To Make Money
March 29, 2010 by Kenny Santos
Filed under Real Estate Investing
California is no doubt the Golden State of the United States. The state?s GDP (Gross Domestic Product) is the largest in the country, and it?s only behind seven countries? in the world. Now, doesn?t that speak volumes for the money making potential this state possesses? This is why California attracts thousands in search for a better living. And therefore, California real estate investing can be regarded as an all profit, no loss proposition.
Real estate investing is a major decision that requires judicious planning. Specifically, you must know when to buy or sell. This can be ascertained by analyzing the trends in the real estate market that, fortunately, are rather predictable relative to the volatile stock market. Following are a few tips and key indicators that will help you make profit through California real estate investing.
? Mortgage rates govern the degree of involvement of buyers in the real estate market. Buyers tend to hold back when mortgage rates increase. For instance, a slight increase in mortgage interest rates from year 2005 to 2006 might have put off a few buyers from making any deals.
? The number of home sales accomplished is another figure to watch out for ? the higher the better. A decrease in the number of buyers is a telltale sign of an imminent slump in the market.
? Another factor that you would want to consider during California real estate investing is the number of building permits issued. Here again, the higher the issued building permits, the higher the demand for houses. And hence, the higher your chances of making money.
? Location is a paramount factor in the real estate business. As far as California is concerned, the closer it is to the beach, the more expensive the property will be. But on the brighter side, the greater appreciation it will experience in due course. For instance, a single-family home in central San Francisco would cost around $1,300,000. So, if you have that kind of money there is nothing like California real estate investing.
? California has in store a lot for the small investor as well. Investors, for whom a beachfront property seems too farfetched, may look to invest in real estate in Los Angeles and San Diego. Single-family homes in these cities have relatively lower rates of around $750,000.
All in all, California real estate investing is an ideal choice for real estate investors ? be they small or big, novice or veteran.
Copyright ? 2007 Joel Teo. All rights reserved. (You may publish this article in its entirety with the following author’s information with live links only.)
About the Author:
Joel Teo writes on various financial topics including Investment Properties in Las Vegas. Learn more about Investment Properties in Las Vegas
7 Steps To Make Money In Real Estate Investing
March 28, 2010 by Kenny Santos
Filed under Real Estate Investing
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#1 Know that you can do it too! Have you ever stopped to think about who owns all the downtown buildings? Or how about all those apartment complexes you see everywhere? When you see a “For Rent” Sign on a house do you wonder how many more rental houses that guy owns. Well, the point to these questions is to say that you can be one of the millions of people that own rental real estate too? That actually comes as a surprise to some people and that is why the title above says KNOW that you can do it too! You can and you should. Let me repeat that. You can and you should. There are plenty of excuses people use to say; “well, I can’t do that” and as the saying goes - “You either can or you can’t, either way you are right!” Here’s what I want you to do. Just below write out the first few “I can’t” reasons. I’ll even get you started… What if you could turn it around so there were no excuses, no more “I can’t”? Wouldn’t that allow you to achieve your goal of financial freedom? Wouldn’t that allow you to create the result of buying properties below market value so you could make money time after time? What we intend to do is what we will ultimately get. The more clear the intention, the better chance we will do the things necessary to get it. For instance, if you say; “I want to invest in real estate”, that intention is very vague and not easily acted upon. However if you can describe what kind of real estate you want it becomes much clearer and much more likely to happen. As an example, if you say; “I want to own a rental duplex in the hospital district with each side being 3 bedrooms and 2 baths and it needs to cash flow at least $150 per side and I don’t want to pay more than $10,000 down and would love owner financing”, you are much more likely to find what you are looking for. Is it easier to believe that you can own a duplex in the hospital district or that someday you want to be rich? Your mind will help you be successful if you truly believe and articulate what you want in detail. #2 Begin with the end in mind In Stephen Covey’s book “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People”, habit number one is “Be Proactive”. You’re being proactive just by reading this article. You’re taking action. Habit number 2 is “Begin with the end in mind”. Set a goal. Know what you want and plan how to get there. So many would be investors don’t have a road map to where they want to end up so they don’t end up anywhere. THIS IS A CRITICAL STEP!! There is a major difference between investing in real estate and being a real estate investor. By inheriting a property or buying a house that pays you $2 per month, you are an owner of an investment property. (Many people actually loose money each month because they didn’t buy right but that is another story). Technically, they are invested in real estate. But they are not real estate investors. They don’t have a plan of accumulating wealth with strategies and tactics that get them there over time. (Sorry, this is not a get rich quick opportunity…lottery tickets sold elsewhere). A plan should have realistic goals. For instance, if your desire is to retire wealthy, what do you mean by “retire wealthy”. Be very specific. I have one client that defines it as “I want my wife to be able to stay home and I don’t want to have to work. I need about $6,000 to pay my bills and I want to be able to do some traveling so I want $10,000 per month” You should have a long term goal of 10 - 15 years or more; medium term goals in the 5 - 10 year time horizon and shorter term goals in the 2 - 5 year range and immediate goals that define what you are going to do this year. Let’s take a look at a sample of this… A 52 yr. old working male with a wife that works as a teacher might start with basic goals as follows: 10 year goal retire at 62 with no reduction in lifestyle [so they need to replace $82,000/year income ($6,834 per month) which might take 10-12 free and clear houses generating cash flow in the $500 - $600/month range] 5 year goalOwn 15 housing units (could be apartment or duplex generating at least $150/unit in free cash flow ($2,250) to retire my wife to be looking for real estate full time). Own Real Estate in my self Directed IRA - grows tax deferred or even tax free if using a ROTH Join the local REIA - Real Estate Investors Association. Understand my financial situation - set a household budget, savings & Investment plan, income statement and balance sheet (which you will need for loans anyway). Develop a buying criteria - (what do you want to buy, where, how much, what condition, how big, etc). Find an investor friendly real estate agent (to help me find property that fits my criteria). NOTE: this is just a summary of goals while a real plan is more in depth & detailed. #3 Model success - Another way to say this is “don’t recreate the wheel”. If 8,000,000 people have already done something and hundreds of thousands are currently doing it too, DON’T TRY TO MAKE IT UP AS YOU GO! There are many real estate investors that are happy to share their experience over a cup of coffee or lunch (you buy of course). The investors I have been privileged to know are a caring, sharing group of people that want to give back and help people. That’s how I got interested. Now let’s talk specifics. If you were going to go into the hamburger business would your chance of success be better if you were starting your own burger place or buying into a big name franchise? Assuming all things were equal, you wouldn’t have to develop all the systems and training for your own business if you went the franchise way. You would have the expertise of people that have been there and made mistakes and refined their systems and processes to improve the business. You would have the help of other franchise owners in your area to let help you get started and to talk with about local business trends and situations and on and on…. The point of this is to find out what other successful people are doing and model them. Don’t recreate the wheel. If your advertising isn’t working to generate leads, find someone that has a “lead generation machine” and copy what they are doing. (Please don’t infringe on copyrights, etc). But if they have a web page driving lead traffic, you should consider it. If they are putting signs out, you should consider it. If they are doing direct mail, you might give it a try. I think you get the point. Look at every process as you find, fund, fix and flip real estate and break down the components to business processes and then put a system around the process to help you make it more efficient and more manageable. #4 Focus, Focus, Focus Lack of focus is probably the single biggest cause of new investor failure that I have seen. Every month people are buying new books and tapes from the circuit guru that flies into town for the REIA meeting or some big name putting on their own event. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t expose yourself to different techniques to buying and/or selling property but most people have a “flavor of the month” investing technique that they get excited about and don’t ever focus creating a business (being a real estate investor). Look at your resources, network of people and resources, time you have and level of difficulty and commitment to do a specific type of transaction. You should pick one that considers your time and resources and then get really good at it. #5 Take action You don’t have to be good to begin, but you have to begin to be good. This is the shortest section here. TAKE ACTION! Do something. One of my bible study teachers used to say to me after I asked so many questions was; “Larry, Just get a mitt and get into the game!” Translation for real estate investors….”Just get out there and make offers”. You can’t make money until you get a contract that is signed by the seller, right? #6 Build a team of experts #7 Make offers! You can learn a lot and not make money. You can plan a lot and not make money. You can network with hundreds of people and not make money. You can attend meeting after meeting and conference call after conference call and not make money. Start making offers and start making some money. How many? How about 1 a day to start and then get up to 50-100 per month? Believe it or not, at some point someone will accept one of your offers and you’ll be “off to the races”.
Article Tags: make, people, real
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