For the uninitiated, investing in real estate can seem like a big, mysterious activity that you pretty much have to be born with a special gene to do. They don’t know that you can break it up into several smaller steps, and that it is only a matter of learning how to get through each one.
The following are seven steps you can follow in order to go from being an Average Joe or Josephine to being Joe Cool, real estate mogul. They will at least get you closer to the latter.
1. Realize that it is not outside of your grasp. As one step leads into another, you first have to begin thinking like a real estate investor. And real estate investors think about finding good deals. However, you may not know a good deal if it jumps up and bites you on the nose.
2. That’s why you have to learn some basic accounting. You don’t have to spend 10 years studying under ancient Chinese accounting master, but you should learn how to read financial statements. You should learn about cash flow. You should learn the difference between an asset and a liability, not just take your banker’s word for it.
3. Once you know how to read the language if investment, you will be in a position to learn how to recognize a good deal when you see one. This is a bit trickier. Although you should do plenty of reading on the subject, the best way to learn is through doing. Get out there and look for deals.
4. Learn about the markets you want to play in. If you are thinking about buying a specific kind of property, learn about the markets in the area you are interested in. The market should actually determine where you make your purchase. Look for a community that is progressive, for one thing. A place with a good quality of life. A place with a good economy.
5. Set goals. Determine what you want to accomplish and when you want to accomplish it. Make sure it is within your reach and then take the steps to actually make it happen.
6. Develop your team. You will need to hire professionals to help you with things like accounting and legal issues. You will want people who know more than you do about how buildings are put together to appraise property for you. According to Ken McElroy, author of ?The ABCs of Investing,? the worst thing you could do is skimp on this step and try to be a ?real estate do-it-yourselfer.? That may appear to save you money in the beginning but you will pay dearly in the end.
7. Make your first purchase. When the numbers add up, McElroy says, then it is a good deal. Don’t leap without looking, but if you’ve looked and the numbers add up, then it’s time to jump.
Of course, this is a simplified version of the process, but it is a good way to get an overview. Each one of these steps could be further mapped out. The trick is to do your research and take it at your own pace. Don’t rush. Learn the process. The first purchase will be the most difficult. After that, the real learning starts.
Tags: 10 Years, Average Joe, Basic Accounting, Cash Flow, Economy, Financial Statements, Good Deals, Grasp, Investing In Real Estate, Joe Cool, Josephine, Mysterious Activity, Quality Of Life, Real Estate Investor, Real Estate Investors, Real Estate Mogul, Set Goals, Seven Steps, Smaller Steps
If you’re thinking about investing in real estate to make money, you need to first determine your financial goals. Do you need to make money quickly, invest for your children’s college fund, or build wealth for your retirement? Once you determine your financial goals, you need to decide which type of investing strategy works for you.
Make Money in Real Estate - Fast Cash Strategy
If you’re low on cash, get started by finding a bargain house and selling the contract to another real estate investor. Join a real estate investing club to find investors willing to pay you for finding good deals.
Make Money in Real Estate - Income Property Strategy
If you want to increase your monthly income, look for income property that returns a positive net income from month to month. Start with single family house. Look for a bargain below market value. Fix up the house to generate top rental income. Find houses that will rent for more than your mortgage payment. You may need to go out from your home area to a location that supports this type of return on your money. You can’t pay $300,000 for a home with a mortgage of $1,500 that only rents for $1,000. You might start with a home for around $300,000 that rents for $1,750. You will need good credit to get a loan with good interest rates. In a few years, your rental income should go up. Many real estate investors enjoy thousands of dollars each month generated by income property.
However, some investors don’t like dealing with tenants and prefer to make money in other real estate ventures.
Make Money in Real Estate - Investment Property Strategy
If you want to make money focusing on profits, investment property offers a different strategy. Instead of worrying about rental income, look for property that you can transform and sell or property that will appreciate significantly over time. Besides fixing a house up, you can transform a property by changing it. For instance, some investors buy apartment buildings and turn them into condominiums. Many investors speculate in land and make money by holding the land until new development in the area increases the value.
Examine your financial situation along with your long term goals. You can get started by flipping properties, move onto income properties, and then make larger profits with investment properties. You might end up using a combination of all three strategies to make money investing in real estate.
Copyright ? Jeanette J. Fisher
About the Author: Jeanette Fisher teaches how to find, finance, fix and sell. Free ebooks “Credit Tips” http://worryfreecredit.com “Flipping Houses” at http://doghousetodollhousefordollars.com
Tags: Bargain Market, Financial Goals, Good Deals, Interest Rates, Investing In Real Estate, Investing Money, Mortgage Payment, Net Income, Profits, Property Strategy, Real Estate Investment, Real Estate Investment Property, Real Estate Investor, Real Estate Investors, Rents, Retirement, S College, Single Family, Strategy Works, Thousands Of Dollars
According to the American Heritage Dictionary, a skeptic can be defined as, ?one who instinctively or habitually doubts, questions, or disagrees with assertions or generally accepted conclusions.?
People generally use a derisive tone to call someone who questions things a skeptic, because it is easier for them to bully someone out of having a scientific approach to things, than to back up their own assertions. However, being a skeptic is not a bad thing, especially when it comes to money.
Skeptics make exceptionally good real estate investors. Why? Because skeptics like to investigate things. They don’t make assumptions, and they don’t let other people’s assumptions steer them. Real estate investing requires plenty of investigation.
For one thing, a skeptic doesn’t want to just nod and take everything his accountant or lawyer says, hands down. Therefore, he will learn a little bit about real estate law and about reading financial documents. A skeptic doesn’t like to be completely dependent on his team of experts, even though he knows it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to carry on without them. But his skepticism makes it easier for him to ask intelligent questions of his team, and they appreciate them for it if they are worth their salt.
The skeptic will do more than a cursory examination of a particular real estate market. He will begin with questions. He will find answers. Answers will lead to more questions, and so on, until he thinks he might have a pretty good idea of what a given area is like, real estate-wise.
The skeptic, however, doesn’t trust this idea he has developed. He wants to make sure. And so he will visit the city he is considering purchasing in. He will interview the local experts. He will interview local businessmen and politicians. He will, of course, have them back up their glowing reviews of their city. He takes nothing on face value. He digs.
When it is time to talk to actual property owners, he will use these same tactics to ferret out every possible scrap of information about a property that he can. He will annoy people who want him to simply believe what they have to say and go away. He will not believe, and he will not go away. In the end, he will have the information he came for, or he will walk away. Chances are, he will walk away anyway. A skeptic knows that most deals are not worth having.
Ken McElroy, author of ?The ABCs of Real Estate Investing,? applauds the skeptic. In fact, he approaches investing in just that manner, with levels upon levels of research, and by insisting that assertions are backed up. So far, it has worked for him.
About the Author:
Alex Anderson Represents Real Estate For Sale In Minnesota, and Minnesota Investment Property for Buying Investment Property.
Tags: Accountant, American Heritage Dictionary, Assertions, Assumptions, Businessmen, Conclusions, Cursory Examination, Doubts, Face Value, Financial Documents, Intelligent Questions, Little Bit, Politicians, Property Owners, Real Estate Investing, Real Estate Investors, Skeptic, Skepticism, Skeptics, Team Of Experts
My twenty-two year old son asked me a question last night. He said, “Dad, if you were just starting out, like me, and you wanted to get going in real estate, what would you do?”
What a great question, and I really had to think about it before I answered him. What I told him isn’t original with me. These ideas have been expressed much better by other authors before now, but since the essence of creativity is selective borrowing, here’s the advice I gave him.
I said that the first thing I would do is become an expert in my target market.
“How long will that take?” he asked.
Ah, youth- always in such a hurry.
“Depends on how much time each week you can devote to it,” I answered, giving him another of the vague responses he has grown so used to.
Predictably, he groaned.
I went on to explain to him that, if he really committed himself to following my advice, and if he committed to a minimum of 15 hours each week, he should become both competent and confident in about 3 months, which doesn’t seem like such a long time. The key is looking at tons of houses, and asking tons of questions of the right people.
I told him, if I were just starting out, I would also find the right Realtor to work with. The right Realtor will be able to put you in touch with a boatload of opportunity you can’t find by yourself, and provide you a list of foreclosures and vacant properties to look at every day.”
“What would you do next?” he asked.
I said that I would work on building a buyer’s list at the same time I was learning my market.
“How would you do that?”
“I would find and join my local REIA (Real Estate Investors Association) group, and attend every meeting. If my area didn’t have a REIA group, I would start one. This is the place to start finding, meeting, and networking with the people in your area who invest in property. I would also read the newspaper classifieds for “Buy Houses” or “Buy Property” ads. These people are active buyers, and should be added to your buyer’s list. Your goal is to have as long a buyer’s list as possible, at least 50-100 names depending on the size of your area.”
“Why?” he asked me
“I’ll explain that in a minute.” I said
He rolled his eyes. Talking with your son is like chatting with a nuclear physicist- every time you try to impress them with your knowledge, they make you feel like they can’t believe how long it took you to come to your childish conclusions.
I pressed on, determined to give my son the advice he was seeking.
“Next,” I said, “Armed with an in-depth knowledge of my market area, and my active buyer’s list, I would start making low offers on every foreclosure and vacant property I looked at.”
“Every one?” I could see the doubt in his eyes.
“Well, close to every one. Every house that your confidence level allows you to make an offer on.” I could see the next question coming.
“What do you mean by that?” he asked. So predictable.
“What I mean,” I continued, “is that the market knowledge you gather during your market research will give you a certain level of confidence. The more knowledge you have, the more your confidence will increase. When you first start making offers there will be a lot of properties that will appear to be beyond your skill level, and if they seem to be, they probably are. You simply won’t have enough confidence to make offers on those properties.
“As time goes on, though, and your knowledge grows, so will your confidence. Then those properties that intimidated you at first will become less frightening. Instead of seeing hazards, you will see opportunity. Don’t stress about this, because it’s a natural progression. As long as you’re putting in the time learning your trade the knowledge will come, and so will the confidence. One follows the other like the summer follows the spring.”
Next, my son asked, “But how do you determine how much to offer?”
I went on to explain to him my method for determining the right amount to offer. See my article titled "Real Estate Investing- Is There One Magic Rule?"
“I get it,” my son said, head bobbing up and down knowingly. “What comes next?”
“OK,” I said. “What happens next is, most of your offers are rejected completely, a few might be countered, and one out of every twenty to fifty will be accepted.”
“Is that all?” he asked, perplexed.
“That’s all, but that’s alright,” I said. You can’t handle a whole bunch at once right at the beginning anyway. One or two is enough to get you started. What you do next is very important.”
“What’s that?” my son asked.
“Start marketing your fool head off.” I replied. “You know that list of buyer’s you’ve been developing? You call every one of them and tell them about the great deal you’ve got, and see who’s interested. Put ads in the paper, signs on the property, and signs anywhere in the neighborhood you can get away with. Create a flyer to pass around at your REIA meeting. Sell, sell, sell is the name of the game. Whatever it takes, find a buyer for that property BEFORE you close and take possession of it.”
“What about the title work and all the legal stuff you have to do when you buy a house?” he asked. He’s smarter than I give him credit for.
“That’s just mechanics, and I can teach you mechanics as you’re going through each deal. What we’re talking about here is strategy. If you get this strategy down, you can learn the mechanics.
“OK,” he said, “how do I make money?” A very astute question.
“Simple- the same way you make money on any product you sell. You sell it for more than you paid for it. For instance, let’s say you get a house under contract for $40,000 that you determined beforehand has an After Repaired Value (ARV) of $97,000 and needs repairs of about $12,000. If it were me, I would try to find a buyer in the $48,000 to $53,000 range. That way, your buyer would still have room to make his repairs and make a tidy profit, and you would walk away with somewhere around $5,000 to $8,000 after taxes and fees.”
“Fees and taxes?” my son asked. A rude awakening.
“Yes, paid to your attorney, the Realtor, the title company and the government. Of course you could do a simultaneous closing, and there are other ways to eliminate some or all of those fees, like making your offers in the name of an LLC and then selling the LLC instead of the property, but again we’re talking about mechanics, and that’s the subject for another discussion.” (And another article)
“How much would it be reasonable to earn doing this full-time?” he asked. A light going on.
“There’s no reason a full time wholesaler (wholesaling is really what we’re talking about here) couldn’t make $5,000 to $10,000 per month, or more. Not at first, of course, but after a few months or a year of consistent effort, the sky’s the limit.”
“Wow,” my son said, “I never though about it like that before. I never understood so clearly what wholesaling is all about. I think I could do that.”
I think he could, too. For that matter, so can you. In fact, what’s stopping you?
Now, go make more offers!
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
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Tags: Advice, Association Group, Boatload, Creativity, Dad, Foreclosures, Hurry, Investing, Investors Group, Long Time, Networking, Opportunity, Real Estate Investors, Real Estate Investors Association, Realtor, Target Market, Vacant Properties
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.
Tags: Additional Income, Celebrities, First Million, Foreclosure, How To Invest In Real Estate, Invest, Investing In Real Estate, Investment, Lease Options, Million Dollars, Millionaires, Money, Necessary Knowledge, Proper Education, Proper Knowledge, Real Estate Investing, Real Estate Investors, Successful Real Estate, Television, Years Real Estate
The right real estate investor software is helping real estate investors big and small become wealthy. Manually performing tasks such as property and cash flow analysis, contract creation, prospect management etc. is becoming a thing of the past. Technology has led to the development of real estate investing software that performs these tasks in precise detail, resulting in increased productivity and profits. However, not all real estate investor software is equal here are a some tips for choosing the best software.
With more choices of real estate investor software coming on the market, choosing the best software is the hard part. Like other software programs you have several choices some more expensive than others, but one to fit almost every budget. To make the best decision first narrow down your choices based on your budget and investing needs.
If you are considering a certain piece of real estate investor software, a good practice is to do some research online. Reviews are a good way find out how effective the software has been for others. Use a online search engine, like Google, to search for web pages that have feedback on the particular real estate investing software that you are considering. Read both positive and negative feedback on the software to help make a better decision.
Ask colleagues. Who would know better than someone who is using software. Ask around and find out what if any real estate investing software they use, how they like it and if they have any recommendations.
If at all possible, demo the real estate software if the vendor has a trial, so that you can see how it works for your investing needs. You may know someone with the software, perhaps they will allow you to test the software to see how you like it.
It is imperative to know in advance the system requirements for any real estate investor software you may consider. Make sure your computer is compatible with any software and meet the minimum system requirements. Some vendors may offer a refund should the software be incompatible, you might find that the vendor you purchased from does not. Prevent the hassle and make this a top priority before purchasing.
You must ensure that the real estate investing software meets your needs and will benefit you. Primarily what you want to look for is software that allows you to focus on making deals and become more productive and profitable. If the software cannot do tasks faster, better, or cheaper than you can do the work, then it is of no benefit to you. Simplicity and efficiency is the key here. Be aware of all of the functions the software can perform and how they can help you in your business.
Upgrades are an important component of real estate investor software, you will want to know if upgrades are provided by the vendor. Upgrades vary by manufacturer with some offered discounted or free and others requiring full price for software upgrades. Know how often new updates and upgrades are rolled out and all associated fees required to obtain them.
The task of choosing the best real estate investing software for your business does not have to be a chore. Just use due diligence and a little research. Make sure that it is affordable and has functions that provide the benefits needed to allow you to be more productive and profitable. Make your choice the investment in your business that keeps on giving. In other words choose real estate investor software that is going to provide a good ROI.
Tags: Cash Flow Analysis, Choices, Colleagues, Contract Creation, Demo Software, Google, Investing Software, Positive And Negative Feedback, Precise Detail, Productivity, Profits, Prospect Management, Real Estate Investor, Real Estate Investor Software, Real Estate Investors, Real Estate Software, Software Programs, System Requirements, Using Software, Web Pages
Real estate investment is a great opportunity to earn profits and generate a cash flow. There is a slight difference between real estate investment and other types of investment. Real estate investment can be categorized as a long-term investment or short-term investment. Good real estate investor has ability to invest in real estate at right time.
Real estate investment requires proper knowledge and concentration to invest in good piece of land. Sometimes heavy investment gives wrong results in the future and sometimes with a small investment you can earn more. Investors should be alert at the time of investment in real estate.
If you’re going to rent your property you should have sufficient knowledge about tenant problems and requirements of tenants. You should be aware of all financial as well as legal requirements for your real estate. Investment goals are the primary factor for real estate investment. Decide your investment goals like what you want to do with your real estate.
Real estate market offers different types of strategies to invest in real estate. You should choose the best strategy as per your needs. Efficient real estate investors are able to make their fortunes in real estate business. People who invest in this business can live comfortably. They don’t have any tension about their survival. They can earn more and more profits with single right time real estate investment
Investment in real estate requires great commercial skills and knowledge like other businesses. Real estate business needs additional risk because sometimes you’re at risk in this business. Thats why a person with a great will power can easily handle this business. Forecasting in real estate investing can spoil your future so don’t overestimate your investment.
About the Author
Author presents a website on Real Estate Investing http://www.123realestateinvestingguide.com/ . The website offers great knowledge about real estate investment and some tips on how to invest at right time. Also offers information about real estate investment training, real estate investing seminars, commercial real estate training, and a guide for real estate investing book. You can visit his site http://www.cheaprealestateinvestingguide.info/
Tags: Author Author, Business Forecasting, Cash Flow, Estate Business, Fortunes, Investing Guide, Investment Goals, Investment Investment, Investment Real Estate, Long Term Investment, Proper Knowledge, Real Estate Investing, Real Estate Investment, Real Estate Investor, Real Estate Investors, Real Estate Real Estate, Right Time, Short Term Investment, Slight Difference, Tenant Problems
..using just two resources correctly.. Because no one succeeds by themselves.
According to the famous ?6 degrees of separation?, right now you know someone who knows someone who knows someone who can help you build your fortune.
That’s why you need to create a list of people you can turn to for help. Two resources who should be on that list are a real estate attorney and CPA (if you live in Canada, this person is known as a Chartered Accountant, or CA).
They’re critical to your home business.
Not to mention they may have long-term relationships with contractors, mortgage experts, other home business entrepreneurs, and realtors ? whom they can refer to help you.
So choose wisely?
Get someone with the contacts and knowledge that can help your home business build a team of experts, and meet other real estate investors as well.
Now let’s consider what makes a CA/CPA and real estate attorney most suitable.
First, choose someone who is active in the business community and belongs to some sort of professional organization, a local business club, the Better Business Bureau, local Chamber of Commerce, and/or other similar organizations.
They?ll help you create tax savings, and refer your business to their contacts so provide them with three dozen business cards and encourage them to give these out to professionals that they know who can help you.
While this may seem aggressive, they realize that as your business grows, so does theirs. They should be more than happy to pass on the contacts to you — it’s a win-win situation.
Secondly, hopefully they both should be real estate investors, or at least have extensive experience representing real estate investors and home based business owners.
If you are serious about starting and running a massively profitable home business, or just want to add an additional $40,000 Cash To Your Bank Account in the next 90 days, then don’t wait another moment.
Take advantage of this revolutionary, step-by-step wealth creation system today?Act now and order here http://www.millionaireriches.com
Yours for Massive Profits & a Rewarding Life!
Cheers, Brad & Mary Wozny
“Helping 100,000 Women & Families Achieve Financial Freedom!”
To order ?How To Build Your Family?s Million Dollar Real Estate Empire??, and add $40,000 to your bank account or become a millionaire this year, click here now.
Brad & Mary Wozny are a Mom & Son real estate investing team who established this real estate investment resource portal for anyone with a yearning to discover how to start and make money - or generate even MORE money - by investing in residential single family homes and commercial property anywhere.
http://www.millionaireriches.com
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Tags: Based Business Owners, Better Business Bureau, Business Cards, Business Club, Business Community, Chamber Of Commerce, Chartered Accountant, Cpa, Degrees Of Separation, Home Based Business, Home Business Entrepreneurs, Local Chamber, Long Term Relationships, Mortgage Experts, Professional Organization, Profitable Home Business, Real Estate Investing, Real Estate Investors, Representing Real Estate, Team Of Experts
10 Things That Are Keeping You From Getting Rich in Real Estate will help you see things as they really are, not as they ?appear? to be to the untrained eye. Once you learn to see things from a successful investor?s point of view, you can erase the feelings of risk and the lack of confidence that hold you back. These principles put you in the confident frame of find of the educated and experienced professional.
What scares most people as they consider real estate investing as a moneymaking opportunity is that it seems so mysterious, and besides, the stakes seem so high. We?re talking about hundreds of thousands of dollars here.
Of course, just as the dawn helped us allay our childhood fears of monsters in the closet, the light of day?good, relevant and accurate information, helps us overcome those feelings that keep us from taking action with real estate investing. The following information does just that. We will look at things that you might perceive as problems, show you how many other people in the past have dealt with that and overcome it. We work from this viewpoint:
* It?s good to learn from your own mistakes.
* It?s better to learn from the mistakes of others (it?s less painful).
* It?s best to learn from the success of others.
What follows is information that focuses on the success of the most successful real estate investors. No one person knows everything, so we have gathered good information from a variety of sources and present here as a whole ? a whole lot of good stuff that will get you off to a good start and help you avoid the mistakes that cost you money. Remember this, you lose money if you invest foolishly, but you also lose money (that would rightfully be yours) if you fail to act upon opportunity.
We want to look at mistakes you might make and fears you might experience, then consider the right way to do it. Most often our fears are based on misinformation, so here we will look at the myths that some people believe. These myths are based on untruths, but they can paralyze you to inaction if you believe them. Fear of making mistakes is one of the most dangerous of fears, but knowing how to do it right means you not only avoid the mistakes but the fears, as well.
You see, every successful Investor has learned to overcome these 10 things ? every successful investor has to identify and avoid these 10 ?perceived? roadblocks. Finally, you can have the RIGHT roadmap to success. It?s here, in one package, for you.
We?ll tell you the TRUTH about real estate investing, and you will learn the TRUTH about becoming wealthy in real estate.
Learn what the REAL RISKS are! You?ll know you?re doing it right when:
* You know what to do
* You know what not to fear
* You know what to avoid
* You know what to ignore
- Trying to do it all by yourself
- Going after the wrong properties
- How to make an offer.
- Not making enough of the right kind of offers.
- Stretching yourself too thin until you are cash poor.
- Using to much of your own money.
- Trying to be a plastic surgeon instead of a beautician.
- Not getting started.
- Spending too much in marketing what you sell.
- Not maintaining the momentum (Long-Term Strategies Planning for success with goals)
http://flippersonline.biz
Tags: Childhood Fears, Dawn, Feelings, Good Stuff, Hundreds Of Thousands, Invest Money, Investor, Lack Of Confidence, Misinformation, Moneymaking Opportunity, Monsters In The Closet, Myths, One Person, Point Of View, Real Estate Investors, Successful Real Estate, Thousands Of Dollars, Untrained Eye, Viewpoint, Whole Lot
Over the past few years, real estate investors, hungry for break-even or positive cash flow rental properties, purchased income properties out of state. California investors bought houses in Florida, Texas, and Oklahoma. Florida investors purchased houses in Louisiana. Texas investors purchased in Las Vegas. Many of these investors made millions of dollars because of the appreciation in hot markets.
On the other hand, in 2005, some beginning investors lost their hard-earned investment capital or only made a meager profit because they failed to do their homework on the out-of-state area’s real estate market and customs.
If you ‘re thinking about buying investment properties in a different state than you’re accustomed to, beware of these five surprises.
Surprise # 1 - ‘These (extra) costs are the norm in this state!‘
Besides extra closing costs like pricey surveys, common in Florida but rare in California, other surprise costs included higher transfer fees and taxes. Property taxes in Florida cost much more for investors in Florida than in California. On the other side of the country, out-of-state investors were shocked by California’s state tax held in escrow: 3.8% of the property’s SALES price, no matter the actual profit made. In other words, an investor who made a quick profit of $20,000 on a fast flip could have more than the profit held until the next year’s income tax filing.
Surprise # 2 - ‘You can’t lease this property!‘
New home developers and many Homeowners’ Associations (HOA)s prohibit property owners from leasing their properties. Some of these restrictions got passed, without the investor being notified, during the property purchase phase. You must read the fine print to see if any clauses prevent the rental of the property. Home builders, to keep the value of the neighborhood up, added restrictions requiring the purchaser to occupy the home as a primary or secondary residence.
Surprise # 3 - ‘This house will only rent for $750 per month, not $1200!‘
This was one of the top mistakes made in 2005. Large real estate investing groups, selling out-of-state properties to local investors, inflated the rental income. Because so many houses were purchased in a limited area by investors, a rental glut lowered the expected income. This created hardships for investors who suddenly had to pay out hundreds of dollars a month instead of reaping promised profits.
Surprise # 4 - ‘You can’t sell this house, now!‘
Some investors who couldn’t rent the out-of-state property decided to sell because the values did rise significantly while the house was built or during the purchase time. However, many investors were stunned when they were told they couldn’t sell the property within the first year after purchase. Restrictions prohibiting real estate investors from quick-turning their properties is a trend that is growing increasingly popular with some developers.
Surprise # 5 - ‘Houses don’t appreciate 30% per year here!‘
Perhaps you’ve attended or been invited to a high-power investment seminar that promotes out-of-state real estate investing. Some of these ‘investor clubs’ really are promoters who receive kick-backs in real estate commissions, property management fees, mortgage loan fees, and even fire insurance premiums. They tell stories of huge appreciation gains, which are probably true. However, not all areas enjoy significant appreciation–year after year.
Don’t make the costly mistake of not fully researching the complete market customs and restrictions in the area where you’re thinking about investing. If you can’t afford to go check out the area in person, choose another area that you can visit.
Copyright ? 2006 Jeanette J. Fisher
About the Author: Jeanette Fisher offers FREE “How to Start Real Estate Investing Teleseminar,” free ebook, “The Truth about Making Money Flipping Houses” http://doghousetodollhouse.com
