Real Estate Bird Dogging-A Great Way To Build Investing Confidence
May 12, 2012 by Kenny Santos
Filed under Real Estate Investing
One of the problems faced by many newbies (new investors) in the real estate business is lack of confidence. Confidence cannot be built without doing the activity that you are trying to build confidence in. This presents a problem with most people because real estate is not something that you can just practice, you cannot practice buying a house, or practice selling it. You could pretend to buy houses I guess, or pretend to sell houses, but pretending is for kids. This is where real estate bird-dogging comes into play. It gives you a reason to practice, you get paid. Now if money won’t make you practice then nothing will.
Instead of not getting paid for all those hours spent learning the market, you could be making thousands. I cannot think of a better way to learn real estate than getting out and looking for good deals, then finding good deals and showing them to buyers, who pay you for your services. Then after the buyers close you can follow the progress of the home and see if you made a good decision or not. The best part is that during your practice, even if you made a not so great decision you still get paid, and you do not lose a penny.
I started out my investment career as a Realtor. I built my confidence through selling investment properties to other people and watching them make money. After selling 9 homes to other investors and seeing them profit tremendously, I knew it was time for me to start making myself some money.
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Eric Medemar is a realtor and real estate investor with 30+properties. He specializes in wholesaling, assigning, and flipping real estate. In 2007 He has already made close to $100,000 flipping properties. His goal is to help at least 170 people skyrocket their investment careers in 2007. http://www.BirdDogBiz.com http://www.TheMillionairesBlog.com |
Tampa Real Estate: Investing in Property Foreclosure
April 30, 2012 by Kenny Santos
Filed under Real Estate Investing
When a person purchases a home, a loan must be taken on a regular basis. The lenders, which are banks in general, keep the title to the home as collateral. When the person is ineffectual in paying the dues in time, the ownership of the home is transferred to the lender. The transfer of ownership is what is called foreclosure.
Buying foreclosure has been compared to playing poker. Considering as an investment, it has its own risks. First the lenders will check out if there are any junior liens. When they find any pending loans, they pay off everything so that they themselves have clear title to the property. Once this is done, the lender adds up all costs to the loan amount to be recovered, and again resells the property so that they can convalesce the expenses together with the loan amount. This is an ideal time for investors to buy such property. Buying a Tampa real estate property that has been foreclosed already presents many gains.
The foremost and well-known benefit is the fact that all Tampa real estate properties bought from lenders will have clear titles as well as ownership rights, thereby saving one the hassles of undertaking any research. In addition, the foreclosure is not meant for profit booking. Hence, when the lenders sell foreclosed property they need their money back, so they are ready to sell the property cheaper than what it could have obtained in open market under normal conditions.
The first step of buying foreclosed Tampa real estate properties is to collect some relevant information. The best thing to do is to create a database that allows one to segregate data on all the properties and markets in clear sets. The next step is to directly get in touch with the owners of the foreclosed Tampa real estate property and start negotiating with them.
First-time buying foreclosed property on your own can be risky. Thus, one must seek the help from real estate agents. One of the risks involved in buying foreclosure, particularly at an auction, is it gives just a week to deposit all the cash. If one fails to do so, all of the money that has already been deposited might be lost at particular instances. However, as one keeps on making investments, valuable experience will be gained regarding bad construction, poor soils, problems with septic systems, and the like.
Background reading of crucial information is very important before one gets into foreclosure investing. Foreclosure laws in Florida, priority of liens, bidding at auctions, title insurance, and bankruptcy are some of the key areas that one should be familiar with. One will be able to make better and safer decisions if equipped with the right knowledge.
Property investment is not an easy game, and must be played only with caution and care. Little concerns for the person whose property is up for foreclosure are necessary for this process. But one can easily cut down the process of foreclosures into three primary stages. The first stage is pre-foreclosure, second stage is foreclosure auction and the third and final stage is bank owned foreclosures.
As the foreclosure process unfolds, the potential for profit will belittle, the later one gets the foreclosure property. For those who are ambitious enough to attempt the full- time task of foreclosure investment, one must learn to have to learn how to find pre-foreclosures since these normally offer the utmost leverage and profitability that is crucial to the most discounted properties that are available from bank-owned properties.
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Earl Juanico http://www.tampa-realestate.biz |
Knowledge is the Key to a Successful Real Estate Investing
March 19, 2012 by Kenny Santos
Filed under Real Estate Investing
A lot of people are looking for ways to have additional income.
For many years, real estate has been a well known investment. Most of the millionaires out there made their first million dollars in entering into real estate. Indeed, even celebrities are venturing out into real estate investing. They believe that a big way of money making is through real estate investing.
Yes, real estate investing can be as all what it is in the television and celebrities program, they say it is, but investing in real estate is not that easy. Investing in real estate requires a lot such as buying, selling, negotiating and repairing a property or home. So knowledge in this field of business is very important. Someone who wants to go into real estate investing must has the necessary knowledge in this kind of business. Certainly, you do not want to put your money into waste, if something goes wrong. Proper education in this field should be taken into consideration.
Indeed, everyone can enter the world of real estate; anyone can invest in real estate if they desire to invest. All of them can also be successful in real estate investing, provided that they have gain the proper knowledge in real estate investing. Actually, it is possible that anyone can learn on how to invest in real estate.
Anyone can learn about real estate investing, anyone who considers purchasing a property as an investment, provided that they are educated with this field before doing the buying. There are a lot of strategies and techniques that real estate investors have tried everyday such as rentals, foreclosure, lease options and so on. Certainly, those real estate investors who gave their time to learn and educate themselves will be successful in this type of business.
If you are planning to buy property then sell it on your own, without working with an agent, would be risky in having financial loss, if you do not educate yourself first before entering into such field.
There are lots of ways to gain knowledge about real estate investing. One way is by purchasing books to get several advices and guidelines. Another way is through the internet, there are a lot of websites that cater about real estate investing. There are websites that can give you explanation, trainings, education on different topics in real estate investing.
You can also find some mentors online to give you advices and guidelines about real estate investing. Nowadays, there are also some universities that teach real estate investing.
Absolutely, real estate investing is a profitable business. But of course, you do not have to enter into such business just that, you have to gain the valuable knowledge needed in this type of business, in order not to fail. It would be too risky in your part, if you enter into real estate investing without the necessary knowledge; you do not have the immediate techniques and strategies in handling some problems. So a proper education is a must in venturing out to real estate investing.
Indeed, knowledge is the key to be successful in real estate investing. So if you are planning to venture out to such business, start gaining the necessary knowledge you?ll need in investing at real estate.
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Article Author Eliza Maledevic from Jump2top.com, a SEO Company.Know more about Florida Real Estate at http://tampa-realestate.xon.us & http://www.miamirealestateinc.org |
Real Estate Investing - Finding And Working With The Right Realtor
March 17, 2012 by Kenny Santos
Filed under Real Estate Investing
My Realtor isn’t speaking to me. No, I don’t think I’ve done anything to offend him, but he probably wouldn’t tell me if I had. I am pretty sure I don’t owe him any money either. And before you ask, he does have the ability to speak. He just doesn’t have the desire. So what’s the problem, you ask?
The truth is there is no problem, because my Realtor never speaks to me. Well, perhaps “never” is the wrong word. Rarely is more like it. He just happens to be a man of few words, and our communication (if you can call it that) almost never exceeds 15 words total.
For example, my cell phone rang yesterday and I saw it was my Realtor.
Me: “Hello.”
Him: “Hi. Did you get the key?”
Me: “Yup.”
Him: “O.K., bye.”
Me: “Bye.”
What’s that, like, eleven words, twelve if you count “O.K.” as two, which is a stretch? The thing is, we both like it that way. This is one of the main reasons I choose to work with him. We both share the idea that business communication doesn’t have to be filled up with a lot of small talk or chit chat. We both feel like we get more done that way.
I’m not saying this is the only right way, but it is my way, and that’s one of the things I look for in my team members, especially my Realtor. It also illustrates an important point about choosing a Realtor to help you in your Real Estate Investing business. Choose someone you will enjoy working with, and who will complement the way you operate.
If I tried to work with a “Chatty Cathy” or “Gregarious Greg” it wouldn’t last for long. We would drive each other nuts. Life is too short for that. So I look for people who have a style similar to my own. I recommend that you do the same.
What Makes A Great Investor’s Realtor?
Here are a few other things to consider when looking for a Realtor.
One. What type of Real Estate do they specialize in? You are looking for a Realtor with a lot of experience working with investors and investment property, not primarily residential homebuyers. You and I, as investors, have vastly different priorities and concerns than people looking for a place to live. Your Realtor needs to thoroughly understand the difference. Some Realtors don’t enjoy working with investors. Mine does, and yours had better.
Two. Do they handle a lot of foreclosure listings? In many areas, the majority of the foreclosure listings are handled by just one or two offices. That’s the case in my town, and my Realtor works for one of those offices. His agency handles about 45% of all the foreclosures in my city.
I’m sure you can guess what that means! Not only do I see those listings first, but I get all kinds of insider information and tips when I place my offers. Not illegal or unethical information, but market insights and competitive intelligence that I wouldn’t get from anyone else, because they aren’t in a position to know. Often, this has made the difference between getting a deal and missing out.
But How Do I Find One?
Start by looking for the one or two agencies in your area that handle the most foreclosures, and then meet and talk to the Realtors in that office. You’ll quickly find the agents that know and enjoy Investment Real Estate. From there it’s just a matter of getting to know the one who will be able to work with you, and who will give you what you need.
It’s important to remember that you have a part to play in the success of your relationship. Even though you’re the customer, any Realtor with the experience you’re looking for will also expect a few things from you, and you should be prepared. During the interview process, be sure to let the Realtor know that you will be willing to do a few thing that will make his or her life easier.
The first thing is respect, especially for his or her time. These are busy professionals, and they simply do not have time to hold your hand and drag you all over town looking at property. After all, you’re going to be looking at a lot of houses, but buying only a small percentage of them. So tell your Realtor right upfront that you won’t expect them to take you through each and every house.
All you really need them to do is provide you with the listings in your target neighborhoods, get you access to houses occasionally that you can’t get into on your own, pull comps, and submit your offers. Once they understand this, most Realtors who know Investment Real Estate will be happy to work with you.
The second thing you should do is make sure your Realtor gets paid. You may be thinking, what about the commissions? Well, often in my investing business I am looking at tons of houses but not finding anything to buy. It seems to go in streaks. Even when I’m not buying, my Realtor is still doing the same amount of work for me, but getting nothing in return. To keep him happy, I will hand him a check every now and then. Nothing major, just a token to let him know I appreciate his efforts.
I’ve been laughed at by other investors because I do this. Maybe they think I’m a sucker- I’m not sure. One thing I am sure of is that my Realtor has a very few investors at the top of his mind when a really good deal becomes available. Can you guess who one of those few people is? If you want to be remembered for all the right reasons, show your Realtor- and all of your valued team members- a little tangible appreciation from time to time
Speaking of appreciation, you should personally demonstrate yours to your Realtor at least once a year. Why not take him or her and their spouse out for a nice meal? No, I don’t mean a Chicken Wrap down at the Sonic. I mean you should really spring for a nice meal at a fine restaurant. Spend a couple of hundred bucks, and don’t skimp on the wine and dessert. Let them know that what they do for you all year matters, and you consider them a very valuable resource. Trust me, they will never forget.
Third, and in my mind most important, you should follow through on all your commitments. Tell the Realtor that you won’t make offers on properties if you don’t fully intend to close- no matter what! I know investors that get offers accepted all the time, thinking to themselves, ‘If I have to back out, it’s no big deal.’ It may be no big deal to them, but to the Realtor, and other parties to the transaction, it’s a very big deal. These folks have long memories, and they don’t soon forget someone who chronically wastes their time. Apart from the purely ethical considerations, you should follow though on every commitment you make. After all, it’s your reputation on the line. At the end of the day, your reputation is really all you’ve got, isn’t it?
Now that you know what to look for in a Realtor, and how to go about finding one, I’ll expect to hear from you soon. Share your stories with me and I’ll choose the best to create a new DealFile, featuring you!
Now, go make more offers!
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Tom Dunn is a successful real estate investor and author of the popular DealFiles Real Estate Investor Stories free newsletter. You are welcome to share this report, unedited and in it’s entirety, with anyone you like. You may not remove this text.? 2006 by Tom Dunn. Website: http://www.dealfiles.com e-mail: tom@dealfiles.com |
Tampa Real Estate: Investing in Property Foreclosure
February 6, 2012 by Kenny Santos
Filed under Real Estate Investing
When a person purchases a home, a loan must be taken on a regular basis. The lenders, which are banks in general, keep the title to the home as collateral. When the person is ineffectual in paying the dues in time, the ownership of the home is transferred to the lender. The transfer of ownership is what is called foreclosure.
Buying foreclosure has been compared to playing poker. Considering as an investment, it has its own risks. First the lenders will check out if there are any junior liens. When they find any pending loans, they pay off everything so that they themselves have clear title to the property. Once this is done, the lender adds up all costs to the loan amount to be recovered, and again resells the property so that they can convalesce the expenses together with the loan amount. This is an ideal time for investors to buy such property. Buying a Tampa real estate property that has been foreclosed already presents many gains.
The foremost and well-known benefit is the fact that all Tampa real estate properties bought from lenders will have clear titles as well as ownership rights, thereby saving one the hassles of undertaking any research. In addition, the foreclosure is not meant for profit booking. Hence, when the lenders sell foreclosed property they need their money back, so they are ready to sell the property cheaper than what it could have obtained in open market under normal conditions.
The first step of buying foreclosed Tampa real estate properties is to collect some relevant information. The best thing to do is to create a database that allows one to segregate data on all the properties and markets in clear sets. The next step is to directly get in touch with the owners of the foreclosed Tampa real estate property and start negotiating with them.
First-time buying foreclosed property on your own can be risky. Thus, one must seek the help from real estate agents. One of the risks involved in buying foreclosure, particularly at an auction, is it gives just a week to deposit all the cash. If one fails to do so, all of the money that has already been deposited might be lost at particular instances. However, as one keeps on making investments, valuable experience will be gained regarding bad construction, poor soils, problems with septic systems, and the like.
Background reading of crucial information is very important before one gets into foreclosure investing. Foreclosure laws in Florida, priority of liens, bidding at auctions, title insurance, and bankruptcy are some of the key areas that one should be familiar with. One will be able to make better and safer decisions if equipped with the right knowledge.
Property investment is not an easy game, and must be played only with caution and care. Little concerns for the person whose property is up for foreclosure are necessary for this process. But one can easily cut down the process of foreclosures into three primary stages. The first stage is pre-foreclosure, second stage is foreclosure auction and the third and final stage is bank owned foreclosures.
As the foreclosure process unfolds, the potential for profit will belittle, the later one gets the foreclosure property. For those who are ambitious enough to attempt the full- time task of foreclosure investment, one must learn to have to learn how to find pre-foreclosures since these normally offer the utmost leverage and profitability that is crucial to the most discounted properties that are available from bank-owned properties.
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Earl Juanico http://www.tampa-realestate.biz |
Real Estate Investing: Tax Certificates
December 26, 2011 by Kenny Santos
Filed under Real Estate Investing
Investors have used tax certificates to make money for a long time now as investing in tax certificates is a secure investment as the investors have the right to foreclose on the property if the home owner is delinquent in repaying the lien or the deed. It is a common practice for almost all the states to hold tax sales as a way of collecting the arrears in payment from delinquent homeowners. The homeowner is given sufficient warning (for about a year and half) and if they still do not pay the arrears, the tax authority will inform the homeowner and list the property in their tax sale list as well as publish it in a newspaper a few weeks before the sale.
Tax sale auctions are held annually or semi- annually, quarterly or monthly and the tax authority makes up a certificate lien or deed, as applicable in that state for amount in arrears and sells it. The investor who bought the tax certificate must be repaid within a certain period called the redemption period, which may depend on the state. Should the homeowner fail to repay the investor, no matter what the value of the tax certificate the deeded rights to the property is handed over to the investor. Should the homeowner redeem the tax arrear, the investor is again assured of a high interest ranging from 16% to 25%, which is a high return on the money invested.
Types Of Tax Certificates: Tax Lien Certificates; This system is practiced in about 18 states. The county governments sell only their right to the tax lien or their tax claim on the property. This lien is a high priority lien, so the property can be assumed clear and free from any other claims. It does not provide full ownership like a tax deed certificate does, but is considered a low-risk investment with high yields, as the certificate is secured by the title deeds to the property. The county takes care of the redemption or foreclosure hence is hassle free. The lien does not subject the investor to landowner liability. The lien is made up of the tax arrears, penalties, assessment and other charges.
Tax Deed Certificates; This system is followed in 17 states where the full ownership and possession right is sold to the investor. The investor has to pay a fraction of the market value of the property to get possession. He has the rights of the landlord and can move into the property, possess or occupy it.
Investors have gained a fortune by just investing modest amounts in these tax certificates. Some people may invest as little as $8,000 and own a property worth $150,000! Therefore, real estate investing in tax certificates is a win-win situation, if carefully monitored. There are online firms that offer services and products to help you in real estate investing through tax certificates.
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Alexander Gordon is a writer for www.smallbusinessconsulting.com - The Small Business Consulting Community. Sign-up for the free success steps newsletter and get our booklet valued at $24.95 for free as a special bonus. The newsletter provides daily strategies on starting and significantly growing a business. Business Owners all across the country are joining “The Community of Small Business Owners? to receive and provide strategies, insight, tips, support and more on starting, managing, growing, and selling their businesses. As a member, you will have access to true Millionaire Business Owners who will provide strategies and tips from their real-life experiences. |
Removing The Guesswork From Real Estate Investing
December 23, 2011 by Kenny Santos
Filed under Real Estate Investing
Investing in real estate can be a hard investment to break into properly without a fair amount of research into the market itself. That being said, the time spend educating yourself on the current and past trends in real estate will surely be time well spent. Real estate has consistently shown itself to be one of the most stable and profitable of ventures available to the average investor. Initially there is a lot of guesswork involved with the process of investing in real estate. These include such things as where to invest, should you flip or be a landlord, and how to go about the financing that will undoubtedly ensue?
The best way to pursue this endeavor is to systematically remove the guesswork and replace it with solid facts and informed decisions. The first question is where should you invest? In real estate there is little that is more important than location. If you are thinking about a long term investment then you will want to carefully consider the location of the property before buying. Make sure that your property is within close proximity of schools, shopping, business and any other necessary amenities. Also make sure that any planned changes to these things is taken into account. Make sure that your investment is located in a secure and growing area so that it will be a profitable investment for years to come.
Now comes one of of the big questions. Will you flip the property or do you have what it takes to be a landlord? This decision will factor largely into the the kind of property you choose. Flipping real estate can bring in a nice profit quickly if you are willing to spend some money on renovations or upgrades. On the other hand, being a landlord can bring in a secure monthly income and add to your equity. The choice is yours.
With your financing, just make sure that you deal with a financial professional that specializes in the world of investments. This is crucial as there are many different considerations when investing as opposed to buying for your own residential purposes.
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Alan Olson is the broker/president of Century 21 Vista Inc, located in Fergus Falls, Minnesota. For educated and professional service in the Minnesota real estate market, contact the Century 21 Vista Team at http://www.century21vista.com |
Ten Real Estate Investing Tips
October 23, 2011 by Kenny Santos
Filed under Real Estate Investing
Real estate investing tips tend to be a bit vague, like “invest in the right location,” or “make sure the numbers work.” Actually, tips like these are important principles to remember. However, since they have been well represented in other articles, I want to share a few more specific tips with you.
1. Listen to the market. The cabinet guy looked to me for a decision. I realized that I knew nothing at all about which cabinets people like, so I asked him which ones others were choosing, and he pointed to one that three quarters of his last forty customers had chosen. That’s the one I want, I told him. Why argue with the market you are trying to sell to?
2. Do your own research. The real estate agent might show you only the comparable sales that make the property look more valuable. Do your own research. Some counties have made it easy now, with sales prices online. You can also search any number of sites with MLS listings, just to get an idea about the asking prices of other nearby properties.
3. Partner carefully. When you do a deal with partners, be the money or the management, but not both. Group decisions tend not to work well in real estate, and will cause you much stress. Once you decide on and agree to a plan, step back if you are investing the capital, and let your partner do his thing. Of course, step up and take control if you are managing the project.
4. Negotiate openly. Just ask a seller outright, “What do you want to get out of this?” It is rare that someone is offended by this simple question, and it saves you from wasting valuable time talking about things that don’t interest him or her. Once you get a clear answer, you can decide if you can give them what they want, and still get what you need.
5. Invest safely. Investing isn’t gambling. There is always risk, but the difference is that the odds are in your favor. If not, you are gambling. This why you shouldn’t invest based on continued price increases. There is no guarantee that prices will continue up at any particular rate. Do deals that work even if prices go nowhere, and if values go up, you’re that much better off.
6. Run the numbers. It is about the numbers, and if it is income property, it’s about one number in particular: cash flow. Whatever the local formulas are, whether gross rent multipliers or capitalization rates or whatever, just be sure that after every last expense you’ll have cash flow from the very first month.
Rules, formulas and real estate tips are really just guidelines. Even the rule above about cash flow can be broken if you know that rents can be raised soon, for example. You have to use common sense and learn from experience, and you can’t replace good analysis with rules, formulas and real estate tips.
About the Author
Steve Gillman has invested in real estate for years. To learn more, get a free real estate investing course, and see a photo of a beautiful house he and his wife bought for $17,500, visit http://www.HousesUnderFiftyThousand.com
What Is Pre-construction Real Estate Investing?
October 6, 2011 by Kenny Santos
Filed under Real Estate Investing
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Investing in pre-construction real estate is one of the most profitable investing opportunities available in the market today. Even though it?s a fairly old strategy, very few investors have a good understanding of it. Preconstruction real estate investing can be best explained with an example: A developer is planning to build a 100 unit condominium development in a very popular location. The developer has already worked out the numbers and thinks that the project will make a handsome profit. Since he doesn?t have the required amount of capital to complete a project of such magnitude, he approaches banks to request financing. But before banks lend out millions of dollars to the developer, they want to know that the project has the potential to sell after completion. Since there is no way to know the future and banks like to reduce risk as much as possible, they require the developer to pre-sell a certain number of the units (usually 25%-50%) before they will lend money. In this example a bank agrees to finance the developer if 40% of the units are sold before construction begins. There are very few home buyers who are going to commit to buying something without actually seeing it with their naked eyes. So the developer has no choice but to approach real estate investors who understand the risk and reward of such ventures. In order to reward these investors for their risk, the developer gives them a 10% discount off the appraised value (after construction value) of the condos if they sign a purchase agreement (contract). This creates a win-win situation where the developer is able to secure financing and the investors are able to get built-in equity by getting the property below appraised value. The investors who buy these condos before the construction is completed are called pre-construction investors, and this investment strategy is called preconstruction investing. In this example it was a development from the ground up, but the term ?pre-construction investing? can be used for any purchase made before the actual completion of a real estate development. The development may be from ground up or just a renovation project i.e. A condo conversion project where preconstruction investors buy before the renovation is complete is also an example of pre construction investing. In general, pre construction pricing is 5% - 15% lower than the market value of the finished property. Sometimes the developer may offer other financial incentives instead of a price discount. Some examples include cash back after closing, closing cost credit, free upgrades, rental guarantee or lease back, paid property taxes, waive assessments waived, management fees waived, etc. However, in most cases the developer will offer a combination of a price discount and other financial incentives in order make the deal sweeter for preconstruction investors. After the construction or renovation is complete, pre construction investors? have two options to exit. Either they sell their property and make a quick profit, or they can hold the property as a long term investment and build equity. Sometimes investors can also profit by assigning the contract to a fellow investor for a small profit even before assuming title to the property. Below is summary of the process of preconstruction investing: The pre construction investor buys a house, condo or townhouse from a reputed developer in the preconstruction phase at a price discount and/or other financial incentives. The pre-construction investor waits for the construction or renovations to be completed. After completion of the construction or renovation, the preconstruction investor sells the property immediately for a profit. Or the pre construction investor holds the property to build additional equity due to appreciation and by paying off principal using the rental income. In some cases, exit by assignments is also possible.
Article Tags: investors, preconstruction, property
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