Real Estate Investing Analysis

This article gives you a foundational understanding of residential real estate investing analysis, and a formula for determining how much to offer when purchasing property for rehab and wholesale purposes.

Anyone can learn the simple skill of real estate investing analysis. The important point to understand is that the analysis will vary, depending on the type of real estate being discussed. This article focuses exclusively on residential single family and duplex properties purchased for rehab and wholesale purposes.

The first step in your real estate investing analysis is to determine the fair market value of the property after all repairs have been completed. This is done most accurately by having a Realtor run a comparable sales comparison report. Make sure the properties your Realtor chooses are truly comparable, not simply the same bedroom count, but also the same type of construction, in the same neighborhood, roughly the same age, etc..

The next step in performing your real estate investing analysis is to determine the cost of all needed repairs to bring the property into what I call ?retail condition?. In other words, how much will all the repairs cost to complete, including materials, labor, and holding costs?

Once you have determined these two values- After Repair Market Value and Repair Costs- the next step in the real estate investing analysis process is some simple subtraction. Subtract the Repair Costs from the After Repair Market Value to arrive at the property?s Current Market Value.

Once you are armed with the Current Market Value of a property, it?s a simple matter to complete the real estate investing analysis and arrive at your offer price. Your offer price will be the Current Market Value minus either $20,000 or 30%, whichever is lower.

To make this real estate investing analysis process all very clear, here’s an example: Suppose you are looking at a single family home in a mid-priced neighborhood. The Realtor pulls Comparables and you determine that the After Repair Value of the property is $150,000. You further estimate that the repairs needed will cost $30,000 to complete, including materials, labor, and holding costs.

Next, as part of your real estate investing analysis, you subtract the $30,000 Repair Costs from the $150,000 After Repair Value, and arrive at a Current Market Value of $120,000. You subtract $20,000 from $120,000 and get $100,000. You also subtract 30% from $120,000 and get $84,000. The lesser of $100,000 or $84,000 is $84,000, so that is your offer price- $84,000.

Using this formula for real estate investing analysis you may miss out on a few properties you could have bought otherwise, but you will never overpay for a property, and you will always make money.

Now, go make more offers!

My First Real Estate Investing Deal And What You Can Learn From It

Every real estate investing deal is an opportunity for both profit and education. Well my first deal was a good combination of both. When I decided I wanted to get involved in real estate investing it took me eight months to decide to do my first deal.

This particular deal came as a result of networking in my local real estate investor group. A local Memphis investor found a deal on a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom home in a moderate to lower income area where people still like to buy homes. This was a wholesale deal for the other investor and he assigned his contract to me to close on the deal. I was buying the property for $58,000 and $5,000 of that went to the investor for assigning the contract to me and $53,000 went to the seller of the property. I had the cash available so I paid all cash for this deal and for $4,000 in repairs this property needed. The after repaired value of the property was approximately 95k.

I had decided I wanted to do a rent to own or lease option deal with this property. I put a yard sign out with property flyers and had links to a website with inside pictures of the property. At the time I was doing this a more experienced investor told me I should try to retail the property and take the quick cash and go on to the next deal. Well as a new investor I wasn?t sure how long it would take for me to find my next good deal so I wanted to get the maximum out of this property. After about a month(and about $800 in ads) I found a tenant I considered suitable and agreed to take a $2500 option fee plus $875 per month and a sales price of $99,000. If the tenant pays the rent by the first of the month then $100 counts as pay down towards the purchase price. If I had sold the property quickly I may have sold for $89k and paid $5k in selling fees and netted about $20k and would have paid about $7k in taxes on that income. Instead by going after lease option it may take 2-6 years to sell and I should get a $99k or better selling price with much less selling costs and should net about $35k of which about $5k will be taxed as capital gains. The lease option method will net me about double what retailing would have done, however it would have been nice to have access to that cash for doing more deals. I think the $15,000 profit quickly would have been better than $30,000 in a couple of years plus the things I could have done with the $62,000 in cash I put into the property.

The tenant I chose has not once in the first nine months paid the rent on time so he hasn?t earned the $100 monthly rent credit, and has on average had to pay an extra $100 each month in late charges. I don?t expect this tenant will be able to refinance, however his job status and income have been going up while he has been in the property, and the current market value is now $105k. The tenants father is a mortgage broker and if I get to the point of evicting the son the father has told me to let him catch up the sons rent before filing for eviction so that part is really in my favor.

From a humanitarian perspective I like lease option deals as I am really helping someone who could not rent otherwise. I will only do a lease option to someone I believe is improving their credit and job situation and should be able to buy the house within 24 months. With 12 months of on time payments verified by copies of checks many mortgage brokers can get your tenant financed as a refinance type of deal.

In the event the tenant doesn?t buy the property within the first 2 years I can either lease option to another tenant or just try to outright sell the property. Even though the property provides great cash flow I would rather sell it and get a big check and use the cash to go after the next deal.

Some things I learned on this deal that you can use: 1. We had a yard sign with flyers in a flyer tube plus links to view pictures on a website. Before we would show the inside of the property we insisted any prospects should view the pictures online first. We ran ads in the major local newspaper and we got 20 times as many calls from the yard sign than we did from the newspaper. However this street had decent traffic, other properties I have are more secluded. Always use a yard sign and flyer box and have pics online with good descriptions and always highlight the kitchen and bathrooms. 2. If I had the deal to do all over again I would have retailed the house and tried to sell it quickly. I could have rolled this deals cash into more and more deals and made much more money. My opinion now is that every investor who isn?t already financially well off needs to go for the quick income first and progress to long term deals second. 3. I probably should have waited a little longer for a stronger tenant. 4. You can not do this type of lease option transaction in Texas now due to some strange laws that got passed in 2005. However I live in Tennessee and we don?t have any anti-investor state wide laws yet. We do have a bad local one related to trash left over from evictions but that is minor in comparison.

Real Estate Investing Apprenticeship - An Overview

If you?re new to the world of real estate investing, you may be wondering how you can get started when there seems to be so much to learn and understand. Maybe you should consider a real estate investing apprenticeship.

A real estate investing apprenticeship can take any of several different forms. It can be a flexible arrangement with an experienced investor that you partner with for one deal only, or it could be a structured agreement whereby you form an ongoing working relationship with an individual or group of investors.

Either way, there are a few things you should consider before entering into a real estate investing apprenticeship.

First, what exactly do you want to get out of your real estate investing apprenticeship? In other words, what is it you are looking to learn? If you want to learn how to flip houses after rehabbing them, you should look for an experienced rehabber to partner with, offering to bird-dog or wholesale a few deals to him in exchange for looking over his shoulder throughout the process.

If you want your real estate investing apprenticeship to help you build your cash reserves for long term property holding, you should look for a mentor who is willing to split the profits on some larger deals. You might offer to do all or most of the legwork that many experienced investors are just too busy to do.

On the other hand, if you?re hoping to learn the ropes of lease option or subject to investing, you will want your real estate investing apprenticeship to build your skills in those areas. Find an investor with plenty of experience doing those types of deals, and offer to partner up with them several deals.

When approaching a potential mentor about a real estate investing apprenticeship, make sure you tell them what?s in it for them. Tell them the benefits they will realize by partnering with you. Offer to do all or most of the legwork, bring them leads and deals, and bring them potential buyers for their deals. Don?t expect them to want to help you simply out of the goodness of their heart.

Everyone likes to know they will be realizing a benefit from their efforts. Potential real estate investing apprenticeship mentors are no exception. Tell them how they stand to benefit and you will not only make a new friend, you may just make a ton of money, too!

Looking back, some of my most satisfying deals have been done in partnership with other investors. Most of them were win/win for all parties. I may not have recognized it at the time, but I was engaging in a real estate investing apprenticeship. You should explore the possibilities of doing the same.

My First Real Estate Investing Deal And What You Can Learn From It

Every real estate investing deal is an opportunity for both profit and education. Well my first deal was a good combination of both. When I decided I wanted to get involved in real estate investing it took me eight months to decide to do my first deal.

This particular deal came as a result of networking in my local real estate investor group. A local Memphis investor found a deal on a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom home in a moderate to lower income area where people still like to buy homes. This was a wholesale deal for the other investor and he assigned his contract to me to close on the deal. I was buying the property for $58,000 and $5,000 of that went to the investor for assigning the contract to me and $53,000 went to the seller of the property. I had the cash available so I paid all cash for this deal and for $4,000 in repairs this property needed. The after repaired value of the property was approximately 95k.

I had decided I wanted to do a rent to own or lease option deal with this property. I put a yard sign out with property flyers and had links to a website with inside pictures of the property. At the time I was doing this a more experienced investor told me I should try to retail the property and take the quick cash and go on to the next deal. Well as a new investor I wasn?t sure how long it would take for me to find my next good deal so I wanted to get the maximum out of this property. After about a month(and about $800 in ads) I found a tenant I considered suitable and agreed to take a $2500 option fee plus $875 per month and a sales price of $99,000. If the tenant pays the rent by the first of the month then $100 counts as pay down towards the purchase price. If I had sold the property quickly I may have sold for $89k and paid $5k in selling fees and netted about $20k and would have paid about $7k in taxes on that income. Instead by going after lease option it may take 2-6 years to sell and I should get a $99k or better selling price with much less selling costs and should net about $35k of which about $5k will be taxed as capital gains. The lease option method will net me about double what retailing would have done, however it would have been nice to have access to that cash for doing more deals. I think the $15,000 profit quickly would have been better than $30,000 in a couple of years plus the things I could have done with the $62,000 in cash I put into the property.

The tenant I chose has not once in the first nine months paid the rent on time so he hasn?t earned the $100 monthly rent credit, and has on average had to pay an extra $100 each month in late charges. I don?t expect this tenant will be able to refinance, however his job status and income have been going up while he has been in the property, and the current market value is now $105k. The tenants father is a mortgage broker and if I get to the point of evicting the son the father has told me to let him catch up the sons rent before filing for eviction so that part is really in my favor.

From a humanitarian perspective I like lease option deals as I am really helping someone who could not rent otherwise. I will only do a lease option to someone I believe is improving their credit and job situation and should be able to buy the house within 24 months. With 12 months of on time payments verified by copies of checks many mortgage brokers can get your tenant financed as a refinance type of deal.

In the event the tenant doesn?t buy the property within the first 2 years I can either lease option to another tenant or just try to outright sell the property. Even though the property provides great cash flow I would rather sell it and get a big check and use the cash to go after the next deal.

Some things I learned on this deal that you can use: 1. We had a yard sign with flyers in a flyer tube plus links to view pictures on a website. Before we would show the inside of the property we insisted any prospects should view the pictures online first. We ran ads in the major local newspaper and we got 20 times as many calls from the yard sign than we did from the newspaper. However this street had decent traffic, other properties I have are more secluded. Always use a yard sign and flyer box and have pics online with good descriptions and always highlight the kitchen and bathrooms. 2. If I had the deal to do all over again I would have retailed the house and tried to sell it quickly. I could have rolled this deals cash into more and more deals and made much more money. My opinion now is that every investor who isn?t already financially well off needs to go for the quick income first and progress to long term deals second. 3. I probably should have waited a little longer for a stronger tenant. 4. You can not do this type of lease option transaction in Texas now due to some strange laws that got passed in 2005. However I live in Tennessee and we don?t have any anti-investor state wide laws yet. We do have a bad local one related to trash left over from evictions but that is minor in comparison.

Real Estate Investing - - The Key To Successful Closings

If everyone always did everything they said theyd do, wed all be a lot richer. Unfortunately, tasks are overlooked, and the ball is often dropped. If you want to have successful closings, you must have strong follow-up skills to catch problems early in the process. Follow-up on everyone and everything.

We cant begin to tell you the number of closings that almost fell apart, or would have fallen apart had we not kept a watchful eye on the entire process to make sure that everything was completed when it needed to be. Heres a typical scenario: youre wholesaling a house and you have just 30 days to get it closed before the contract with the Seller expires. You find a buyer who can get a loan and close before the expiration. Then a few days before closing you find out that the loan isnt ready and closing must be delayed two weeks, but the Seller already has another Buyer ready to pay more than your price, so they refuse to extend your contract. You just lost the deal.

So what is follow-up? We used to think it meant staying in touch with the buyer to make sure that everything was completed for the loan. Then we learned that the buyer is often a newbie and clueless of what needs to be done. Mortgage brokers just usually respond Everything looks great until they cant close the loan. So the real trick to following-up is to speak to the final decision maker for each step. This works whether youre selling a retail house or a wholesale house, or even if you are the buyer/borrower. The goal is to close without delays.

Assuming that you have already received a pre-qualification letter from the lender, and ensured that the lender will loan on the deal (i.e. no issues with title seasoning, assignment fees, inhabitability of the property), the first step is to follow-up with the broker/lender that all of the application paperwork was submitted, and have they forwarded it to the lender? If not, what is still required? Determine if the lender requires a termite letter, appraisal, and a survey (most lenders do). If so, have they all been ordered? When is each to be completed? Keep following-up until you verify that each has been delivered. You also want to verify that the appraisal was sufficient for the loan.

If we dont already own the house, we order a title report as soon as we go under contract with the Seller to discover any defects early in the process, and begin resolving them. Closing attorneys usually do not order the title report until just before closing to receive as current information as possible. But if they find problems, it could delay your closing. It is well worth the $125 to run title ahead of time, and eliminate delays.

Once the broker has forwarded the paperwork to the lender, the next step is to verify the loan has gone to underwriting. If not, what is the delay? If so, was the loan approved? Do any conditions need to be met? What are they and who is handling them? Make sure that once the conditions are met, the loan is returned to underwriting and approved.

Verify that the closing has been scheduled with the attorney, and that they have cleared title. Find out if and when the loan package will be forwarded to the attorney. Then remind all of the players of the date and time of closing, to bring a picture ID to closing, and to bring any funds required in a certified check.

This seems like a lot of work that should be handled by other people, but the reality is that often times something is overlooked. Through your diligent follow-up efforts, problems will be detected early and corrected, allowing your closing to occur flawlessly and on schedule.

Best of success & abundance,

Lou Castillo

About The Author Lou Castillo FREE! Real Estate Investing Secrets To Earning $100,000 Your 1st Year! — 11 Overlooked Real Estate Statregies That Will Turn Your Investing Business upside Down And On The Fast Track TO Success…Guranteed! Plus A Bonus Track With A Secret So Successful It Can Double Your Investing Income Overnight! http://www.InvestorSuccessTactics.com josh@joeandlou.com Tags: Clueless, Decision Maker, Few Days, Final Decision, Investing, Lost, Mortgage Brokers, Newbie, Paperwork, Pre Qualification, Qualification Letter, Real Estate, Typical Scenario, Watchful Eye, Wholesale, Wholesale House Real Estate Investing - Matching Buyers with Properties December 9, 2009 by Kenny Santos   Filed under Real Estate Investing Leave a Comment One of the things you have to consider as a real estate investor is matching buyers with properties that you acquire. When you develop a buyers list for your properties, whether you?re trying to wholesale or rehab, you will find that the simple saying, ?Different strokes for different folks,? applies. Some of the different ?strokes? might be low-end rentals, high-end rentals, multiple unit rentals, and rehabilitation projects. The different ?folks? will often match these properties. For every investor, there is a niche they specialize in. If you want to wholesale properties, it?s up to you to offer the greatest spread of properties to fellow investors. Also, you must take into account, your regular home buyers (owner-occupants). Part of any building block of a business is to identify the target market. For instance, with this site, we identified the people who would be visiting it most likely. We tailor the articles with content that is basic in order to meet the ?customer? needs. We don?t overload the articles with complexities, but we do offer the basic 1-2-3 steps for beginning a real estate investment business or a business in general. Part of this required developing a ?character? for our visitors. In doing this, we are constantly developing new avenues of interest that we think our visitors will benefit from, including hard money financing (coming soon). So, for matching buyers with properties is to simply define what each potential buyer prefers. When you decide to advertise for buyers, you might put out ads like this: Deep Discounts-Properties need Rehab, Priced to Sell, Call XXX-XXX-XXXX or Excellent Cash Flow Rentals offered at Discounted Prices, Call XXX-XXX-XXXX This may attract buyers who are looking for rehab projects. Thus, you?ll be matching rehabbers/contractors with properties in need of rehab. However, when the phone starts ringing, you?ll need to distinguish the type of homes each potential buyer wants. For instance, some might want 4 bedroom, 2 Bath, high-end rehabs, while others will want your basic ?bread and butter? home, 3 beds and 1 bath. Also for the second advertisement, you?re looking for landlords. Additionally, you?ll need to identify the different areas each buyer will consider. You may also run an ad like this: Stop Renting-Starter Homes Available-Mint-Discounted Prices Call XXX-XXX-XXXX These buyers might be your owner-occupants that are currently renting that you?ll add to your buyers list. Part of your strategy here might be buying, rehabbing and selling them yourself. Of course, running one ad might be most economical: Deep Discounted Properties for Sale, Home Buyers, Investors Call XXX-XXX-XXXX Now, how do you determine what each investor/buyer wants? You may ask the following questions: What type of property are you looking for? Specifics? (# of bedrooms, baths, rooms) What locations are you primarily interested in? Have you closed on properties in these areas before? What are your overall objectives for properties you buy? What is the ideal return on investment you?re looking for? What type of rentals do you prefer? How do you continue to grow your customer base (the amount of people you can sell a property to)? Well since money is always the bottom line and not all buyers have cash to buy (and you should never expect or rely on that solely), expanding the pool of investors and buyers you can sell to comes down to having contacts. If your buyers don?t have the contacts or the cash, you will need them. So four simple things you should do are: Make contacts with good mortgage brokers and use them to qualify buyers Make contacts with good hard money lenders to qualify investors (noobs) Make sure these brokers and lenders can close deals quickly Make sure you know the process inside and out so you can expedite the process Lastly, you may look for ads that offer rehabbed homes for sale. For example, if you see a for sale ad that says, ??renovated? or some variation, call that number and begin the process of adding that individual to your buyers list. Visit the property to get a completely true feel for what they look for. This can be a very effective way of getting investors who are actually involved in performing on a contract because they already have demonstrated the ability to do so! Always remember that you?re running a business. Every successful business has a well-defined strategy for marketing, sales and growth. Real estate investing is no exception! ?2006 noobdogs.com Noobdogs.com offers a place for fellow new investors in real estate to ask questions and get good, sound information they can understand. Noobdogs.comis owned and operated by AmeriCountry Realty Group LLC. Founded in 2006 by Tom McGiveron, a Behavior Specialist and entrepreneur, noobdogs.com is becoming the premier site for new investors to achieve success in personal development and real estate investment. Tags: Basic 1, Cash Flow, Complexities, Different Strokes For Different Folks, Fellow Investors, Hard Money, Home Buyers, Investing, Investment Business, Match, New Avenues, Niche, Owner Occupants, Real Estate Investment, Real Estate Investor, Rehab Projects, Rehabilitation Projects, Target Market, Wholesale, Xxxx Equity Discount Real Estate Investing November 21, 2009 by Kenny Santos   Filed under Real Estate Investing Leave a Comment Consider these parameters for a real estate deal: Property Value: $250,000 Purchase Price: $160,000 Repairs: $2,500 If you analyze the numbers, you see that the equity available in this deal is $87,500 (Property Value minus Purchase Price minus Repairs). So here’s a hypothetical question for you: Assuming that the information above is accurate, and the property is located in an area that you view as acceptable and/or favorable, then: If I offered to give you this deal in exchange for $10,000 in cash, would you do it? Remember - this is hypothetical. The real question here is this: Would you exchange $10,000 in cash for $87,500 in equity? For most savvy investors, the answer is: Absolutely YES! This is called “Wholesale Real Estate Investing” - the process of buying a lot of equity at a very significant discount from another real estate investor who has already done the hard work of finding a deal and getting it under contract. Just think about that - consider how easy real estate investing would be for you if you had a network of real estate investors in your area (and maybe even all over the country) who, several times each month, offered you the opportunity to purchase significant amounts of equity for a severe discount… …It would be quite easy to become wealthy, fairly quickly, wouldn’t it? The answer again, is: Absolutely Yes, it will. It is through smart “wholesale real estate investing” that you can increase your net worth by $20,000 to $100,000 on every real estate deal that you do. …Now the burning question becomes, “Where exactly do I find these wholesale real estate investing deals?” I know of at least 3 solid sources… You’ve got to admit - it will be a pretty wonderful thing when you know how to find great real estates deals in which you can trade a small amount of cash for a large amount of equity without even having to find the deals yourself… …And that’s exactly what “wholesale real estate investing” is all about. So let’s get right to it. Here are 3 places to find wholesale real estate deals: 1.) Visit the local real estate investing club in your area. Almost all of these clubs have networking opportunities to work with other investors who wholesale deals regularly, and this is an easy way to find great opportunities. 2.) Watch for ads in the newspaper, television, and in other media that advertise slogans like, “We Buy Houses”, or “Sell Your House in 9 Days” or anything similar to that. Most of the time, these people are real estate investors, and they are happy to wholesale deals to people like you. 3.) Watch your email-box. Why? Because if and when you choose enrollment in various free e-courses online, such as that via tm-RealEstateInvesting.com, you’ll be provided with automatic notification about great local and national deals as they become available. But be forewarned - you’ve got to act quickly whenever these deals are announced, because obviously the response is always significant. Happy Hunting! About the author: James Louis writes about things that impact our society. A long time real estate investor, he likes to share his knowledge, insights and tools. One of his favorite tools is the 1031 exchange. For more information visit: http://www.the-1031-exchange-site.com Small Business Credit Card Advantages David HallObtaining a business credit card enables the small business owner to separate personal expenses from business expenses. Offering business credit cards to their employees eliminates the need for employees to use their personal credit cards or cash to make company purchases. Employees using a business credit card will not need to fill out expense statements, wait for approval and reimbursement from their company. Transactions are itemized and reported on quarterly statements that make it easy for management to make changes if needed. Business credit cards can be provided to the employees with preset spending limit and helps in controlling employee spending. One of the main advantages of a business credit card is that it provides efficiency and control over company expenses by consolidating individual expenses. 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With a business credit card, employees are less likely to make impulse purchase, because they are aware that the business credit card is company property and should not be used to make personal purchases. Avoid mismanagement of your business credit card by always making payment on time thus avoiding late fees and higher interest rate. Make sure you read and understand the terms of use of your small business credit card. Business Credit Card Advantages Business owners are able to manage and control employee expenses Receive quarterly and annual statements detailing their employee’s expenses Set employees expense limit As a safety issue, employees have no need to carry cash for company expenses Quarterly and annual reports which simplifies income tax preparation Having a line of credit which increase cash flow Taking advantage of business credit card features and benefits Online account management About the author: About The Author: David Hall owner of the popular site www.iCreditOnline.comHe has tools for finding a wide range of financial services including secured and unsecured cards, student and business cards, auto loans, and more from the most reputable companies in the industry. You can also compare multiple credit card offers, securely complete an online credit card application, and receive a credit decision in at least 60 seconds. Visit David’s site today: www.iCreditOnline.com You have permission to republish this article on your website on condition that you include the byline and hyperlinks intact: Tags: Burning Question, Buying A Lot, Discount Real Estate, Hypothetical Question, Net Worth, Parameters, Real Estate Investing, Real Estate Investor, Real Estate Investors, Real Estates, Savvy Investors, Several Times, Smart Investing, Wholesale, Wonderful Thing Real Estate Investing - - The Key To Successful Closings November 18, 2009 by Kenny Santos   Filed under Real Estate Investing Leave a Comment If everyone always did everything they said theyd do, wed all be a lot richer. Unfortunately, tasks are overlooked, and the ball is often dropped. If you want to have successful closings, you must have strong follow-up skills to catch problems early in the process. Follow-up on everyone and everything. We cant begin to tell you the number of closings that almost fell apart, or would have fallen apart had we not kept a watchful eye on the entire process to make sure that everything was completed when it needed to be. Heres a typical scenario: youre wholesaling a house and you have just 30 days to get it closed before the contract with the Seller expires. You find a buyer who can get a loan and close before the expiration. Then a few days before closing you find out that the loan isnt ready and closing must be delayed two weeks, but the Seller already has another Buyer ready to pay more than your price, so they refuse to extend your contract. You just lost the deal. So what is follow-up? We used to think it meant staying in touch with the buyer to make sure that everything was completed for the loan. Then we learned that the buyer is often a newbie and clueless of what needs to be done. Mortgage brokers just usually respond Everything looks great until they cant close the loan. So the real trick to following-up is to speak to the final decision maker for each step. This works whether youre selling a retail house or a wholesale house, or even if you are the buyer/borrower. The goal is to close without delays. Assuming that you have already received a pre-qualification letter from the lender, and ensured that the lender will loan on the deal (i.e. no issues with title seasoning, assignment fees, inhabitability of the property), the first step is to follow-up with the broker/lender that all of the application paperwork was submitted, and have they forwarded it to the lender? If not, what is still required? Determine if the lender requires a termite letter, appraisal, and a survey (most lenders do). If so, have they all been ordered? When is each to be completed? Keep following-up until you verify that each has been delivered. You also want to verify that the appraisal was sufficient for the loan. If we dont already own the house, we order a title report as soon as we go under contract with the Seller to discover any defects early in the process, and begin resolving them. Closing attorneys usually do not order the title report until just before closing to receive as current information as possible. But if they find problems, it could delay your closing. It is well worth the $125 to run title ahead of time, and eliminate delays. Once the broker has forwarded the paperwork to the lender, the next step is to verify the loan has gone to underwriting. If not, what is the delay? If so, was the loan approved? Do any conditions need to be met? What are they and who is handling them? Make sure that once the conditions are met, the loan is returned to underwriting and approved. Verify that the closing has been scheduled with the attorney, and that they have cleared title. Find out if and when the loan package will be forwarded to the attorney. Then remind all of the players of the date and time of closing, to bring a picture ID to closing, and to bring any funds required in a certified check. This seems like a lot of work that should be handled by other people, but the reality is that often times something is overlooked. Through your diligent follow-up efforts, problems will be detected early and corrected, allowing your closing to occur flawlessly and on schedule. Best of success & abundance, Lou Castillo About The Author Lou Castillo FREE! Real Estate Investing Secrets To Earning $100,000 Your 1st Year! — 11 Overlooked Real Estate Statregies That Will Turn Your Investing Business upside Down And On The Fast Track TO Success…Guranteed! Plus A Bonus Track With A Secret So Successful It Can Double Your Investing Income Overnight! http://www.InvestorSuccessTactics.com josh@joeandlou.com Tags: Clueless, Decision Maker, Few Days, Final Decision, Investing, Lost, Mortgage Brokers, Newbie, Paperwork, Pre Qualification, Qualification Letter, Real Estate, Typical Scenario, Watchful Eye, Wholesale, Wholesale House Equity Discount Real Estate Investing October 22, 2009 by Kenny Santos   Filed under Real Estate Investing Leave a Comment Consider these parameters for a real estate deal: Property Value: $250,000 Purchase Price: $160,000 Repairs: $2,500 If you analyze the numbers, you see that the equity available in this deal is $87,500 (Property Value minus Purchase Price minus Repairs). So here’s a hypothetical question for you: Assuming that the information above is accurate, and the property is located in an area that you view as acceptable and/or favorable, then: If I offered to give you this deal in exchange for $10,000 in cash, would you do it? Remember - this is hypothetical. The real question here is this: Would you exchange $10,000 in cash for $87,500 in equity? For most savvy investors, the answer is: Absolutely YES! This is called “Wholesale Real Estate Investing” - the process of buying a lot of equity at a very significant discount from another real estate investor who has already done the hard work of finding a deal and getting it under contract. Just think about that - consider how easy real estate investing would be for you if you had a network of real estate investors in your area (and maybe even all over the country) who, several times each month, offered you the opportunity to purchase significant amounts of equity for a severe discount… …It would be quite easy to become wealthy, fairly quickly, wouldn’t it? The answer again, is: Absolutely Yes, it will. It is through smart “wholesale real estate investing” that you can increase your net worth by $20,000 to $100,000 on every real estate deal that you do. …Now the burning question becomes, “Where exactly do I find these wholesale real estate investing deals?” I know of at least 3 solid sources… You’ve got to admit - it will be a pretty wonderful thing when you know how to find great real estates deals in which you can trade a small amount of cash for a large amount of equity without even having to find the deals yourself… …And that’s exactly what “wholesale real estate investing” is all about. So let’s get right to it. Here are 3 places to find wholesale real estate deals: 1.) Visit the local real estate investing club in your area. Almost all of these clubs have networking opportunities to work with other investors who wholesale deals regularly, and this is an easy way to find great opportunities. 2.) Watch for ads in the newspaper, television, and in other media that advertise slogans like, “We Buy Houses”, or “Sell Your House in 9 Days” or anything similar to that. Most of the time, these people are real estate investors, and they are happy to wholesale deals to people like you. 3.) Watch your email-box. Why? Because if and when you choose enrollment in various free e-courses online, such as that via tm-RealEstateInvesting.com, you’ll be provided with automatic notification about great local and national deals as they become available. But be forewarned - you’ve got to act quickly whenever these deals are announced, because obviously the response is always significant. Happy Hunting! About the author: James Louis writes about things that impact our society. A long time real estate investor, he likes to share his knowledge, insights and tools. One of his favorite tools is the 1031 exchange. For more information visit: http://www.the-1031-exchange-site.com Small Business Credit Card Advantages David HallObtaining a business credit card enables the small business owner to separate personal expenses from business expenses. Offering business credit cards to their employees eliminates the need for employees to use their personal credit cards or cash to make company purchases. Employees using a business credit card will not need to fill out expense statements, wait for approval and reimbursement from their company. Transactions are itemized and reported on quarterly statements that make it easy for management to make changes if needed. Business credit cards can be provided to the employees with preset spending limit and helps in controlling employee spending. One of the main advantages of a business credit card is that it provides efficiency and control over company expenses by consolidating individual expenses. Instead of receiving a flood of invoices and expense statements, the company can receive one expense statement each quarter with itemized employee expense. Also business credit card companies can provide an itemized year-end statement with summary of all transactions. This enables the manager to track expenses very clearly and also simplifies the figuring out of the company tax return. Business credit cards offer many benefits such as 0% intro APR on your balance transfers and purchases, cash back rewards on business purchases, business travel rewards, no annual fee, online account management and discount on everyday business purchases plus a host of other features and benefits. These bonuses and rewards can lower the company expenses and add up to a significant amount of savings for the company. An important feature of business credit card is the ability to build the company credit standing and receive incremental increases in credit line and cash flow over time. With a business credit card, employees are less likely to make impulse purchase, because they are aware that the business credit card is company property and should not be used to make personal purchases. Avoid mismanagement of your business credit card by always making payment on time thus avoiding late fees and higher interest rate. Make sure you read and understand the terms of use of your small business credit card. Business Credit Card Advantages Business owners are able to manage and control employee expenses Receive quarterly and annual statements detailing their employee’s expenses Set employees expense limit As a safety issue, employees have no need to carry cash for company expenses Quarterly and annual reports which simplifies income tax preparation Having a line of credit which increase cash flow Taking advantage of business credit card features and benefits Online account management About the author: About The Author: David Hall owner of the popular site www.iCreditOnline.comHe has tools for finding a wide range of financial services including secured and unsecured cards, student and business cards, auto loans, and more from the most reputable companies in the industry. You can also compare multiple credit card offers, securely complete an online credit card application, and receive a credit decision in at least 60 seconds. Visit David’s site today: www.iCreditOnline.com You have permission to republish this article on your website on condition that you include the byline and hyperlinks intact: Tags: Burning Question, Buying A Lot, Discount Real Estate, Hypothetical Question, Net Worth, Parameters, Real Estate Investing, Real Estate Investor, Real Estate Investors, Real Estates, Savvy Investors, Several Times, Smart Investing, Wholesale, Wonderful Thing Real Estate Investing - - The Key To Successful Closings October 21, 2009 by Kenny Santos   Filed under Real Estate Investing Leave a Comment If everyone always did everything they said theyd do, wed all be a lot richer. Unfortunately, tasks are overlooked, and the ball is often dropped. If you want to have successful closings, you must have strong follow-up skills to catch problems early in the process. Follow-up on everyone and everything. We cant begin to tell you the number of closings that almost fell apart, or would have fallen apart had we not kept a watchful eye on the entire process to make sure that everything was completed when it needed to be. Heres a typical scenario: youre wholesaling a house and you have just 30 days to get it closed before the contract with the Seller expires. You find a buyer who can get a loan and close before the expiration. Then a few days before closing you find out that the loan isnt ready and closing must be delayed two weeks, but the Seller already has another Buyer ready to pay more than your price, so they refuse to extend your contract. You just lost the deal. So what is follow-up? We used to think it meant staying in touch with the buyer to make sure that everything was completed for the loan. Then we learned that the buyer is often a newbie and clueless of what needs to be done. Mortgage brokers just usually respond Everything looks great until they cant close the loan. So the real trick to following-up is to speak to the final decision maker for each step. This works whether youre selling a retail house or a wholesale house, or even if you are the buyer/borrower. The goal is to close without delays. Assuming that you have already received a pre-qualification letter from the lender, and ensured that the lender will loan on the deal (i.e. no issues with title seasoning, assignment fees, inhabitability of the property), the first step is to follow-up with the broker/lender that all of the application paperwork was submitted, and have they forwarded it to the lender? If not, what is still required? Determine if the lender requires a termite letter, appraisal, and a survey (most lenders do). If so, have they all been ordered? When is each to be completed? Keep following-up until you verify that each has been delivered. You also want to verify that the appraisal was sufficient for the loan. If we dont already own the house, we order a title report as soon as we go under contract with the Seller to discover any defects early in the process, and begin resolving them. Closing attorneys usually do not order the title report until just before closing to receive as current information as possible. But if they find problems, it could delay your closing. It is well worth the $125 to run title ahead of time, and eliminate delays. Once the broker has forwarded the paperwork to the lender, the next step is to verify the loan has gone to underwriting. If not, what is the delay? If so, was the loan approved? Do any conditions need to be met? What are they and who is handling them? Make sure that once the conditions are met, the loan is returned to underwriting and approved. Verify that the closing has been scheduled with the attorney, and that they have cleared title. Find out if and when the loan package will be forwarded to the attorney. Then remind all of the players of the date and time of closing, to bring a picture ID to closing, and to bring any funds required in a certified check. This seems like a lot of work that should be handled by other people, but the reality is that often times something is overlooked. Through your diligent follow-up efforts, problems will be detected early and corrected, allowing your closing to occur flawlessly and on schedule. Best of success & abundance, Lou Castillo About The Author Lou Castillo FREE! Real Estate Investing Secrets To Earning $100,000 Your 1st Year! — 11 Overlooked Real Estate Statregies That Will Turn Your Investing Business upside Down And On The Fast Track TO Success…Guranteed! Plus A Bonus Track With A Secret So Successful It Can Double Your Investing Income Overnight! http://www.InvestorSuccessTactics.com josh@joeandlou.com Tags: Clueless, Decision Maker, Few Days, Final Decision, Investing, Lost, Mortgage Brokers, Newbie, Paperwork, Pre Qualification, Qualification Letter, Real Estate, Typical Scenario, Watchful Eye, Wholesale, Wholesale House « Previous Page — Next Page » eNews & Updates Sign up to receive breaking news as well as receive other site updates! Enter Google AdSense Code Here Work with Kenny Coach with Kenny Create Long Term Wealth Kenny Shrinks Recent Posts Real Estate Investing - 7 Steps To Success Business Management Case Study; Franchising Industry After 9/11 and Issues of Outlet Ownership Real Estate Investing: Income, Leverage, Appreciation And Depreciation Single Moms & Home Business Ownership: A Reality Or A Fantasy? 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