Author: Mike Lautensack
Source: ezinearticles.com

You may have heard the saying a lot “That to make money you need money,” well that is not entirely true, and in the course of this article we’ll discuss some of the ways by which you can invest and earn profit in the real estate market with small investments. All it takes is some patience and foresight and a keen eye for investment opportunities. Following are some of the ways by which profit can be earned with little down payment.

Fixed Upgrade

Fixed upgrade is increasingly becoming popular among those people who do not have the necessary amount of finance available to buy the property or home of their choice. So what they do is that instead of buying an expensive house they buy a house which is not in that good physical condition for example it may require a certain amount of restoring and repairing work. These types of houses are relatively cheap to obtain and require small amounts of down payments. Once a buyer buys the house he then sets about repairing it and maybe even renting it out to meet the restoration cost. Once the restoration is complete he then proceeds to sell the house at a higher price then he bought it in therefore earning a healthy profit in return. Be advised though care should be taken in assessing the amount of repair that a house needs so that the restoration costs are not cutting into the profits that you expect to earn.

Wholesaling

The term wholesaler is applied to a person who has bought a particular good in bulk and then sells it to the customers or retailers and in turn earns profits on the transaction. In relation to real estate, as we have discussed that we do not have much money to invest so what we can do is that find a wholesaler who is willing to sell his property and then find buyers for that property and earn some profits on the transaction. This is not that difficult and best of all this does not require us to invest large amounts of money; we are just earning profits on the transactions. All this requires is a keen eye for buyers and seller and good business skills.

Finding and Locating Investment Opportunities

The most effective way of finding a good property to invest in is by actively looking around for the best deals. For example driving around the neighborhood and checking out which houses are for sale and at what rates or scouting through the classifieds in the newspapers for properties on sale or rent. You can also make friendships with real estate agents or people who are familiar with the business so that you have first hand knowledge of the prices and the values of properties that come onto the market. You can even try and search the internet for the best deals as nowadays a lot of the property trade is being done over the internet.

I invite you to learn more about Real Estate Investing and become a member of our FREE weekly tele-seminar class where we teach tips and strategy on how to grow your real estate investing business and how to raise Private Money by going to http://www.realestatewealthtoday.com/TuesdayTipsSignUp.html.

Mike Lautensack is a full-time real estate entrepreneur, coach and mentor in Philadelphia, PA and creator of the Private Lending Presentation Kit. This powerful done-for-you kit is loaded with tools and techniques to attract and develop a consistent stream of private investors into your real estate business. To learn more about this kit and receive your FREE eBook go to Real Estate Investing Blog.

Author: Daniel Chris Mc Grey
Source: ezinearticles.com

Many are encouraged to get into real estate investing today. In fact, some have even left their regular day jobs so they could go full time with real estate. Yes, real estate investing is one of the best ways to earn a living today. Despite the global crises that our economy faces, the industry continues to prove to be very profitable. In this article, an experienced investor shares with us all the good things about real estate investing. If you are planning of real estate investing a full time job, below are some of the few things that you can look forward to:

You can run errands during the day when all the kids have gone to school and no one is left home to attend to.
You do not need to leave work just because you want to make appointments with your dentists or doctors.
You can shower any time you want to. You can start making money in front of your computer even in your pajamas.
You can take a vacation anytime you want to. Gone are the days when you had to file for a leave. As long as you have your laptop and mobile phone with you, you can run your business wherever you are.
Your perception about money becomes “warped.” You can spend lavishly on dinner or on a vacation without thinking twice.
You get to handle your own schedule. You can do what you want to do whenever you want to.
You have time for a lot of things which you can’t do when you’re on a regular day job. You can take your dog on a walk in the woods anytime you want to.
You can take a nap everyday!
You can get an assistant and let her run your business for you. As long as you keep everything properly and clearly delegated, you do not have to worry about getting your business messed up even if you go on vacation.
You are your own boss. You do not have to worry about conforming to office politics which you do not like in the first place. Because you are your own boss, you get to make 100% of your decisions.
A single deal can make you pay a new car.

Real estate investing can be very profitable and anybody is entitled to experience the benefits and the perks mentioned above.

For more tips on real estate investing, go to http://www.REIWired.com.

Author: Ben Innes-Ker
Source: articleage.com

How did you get into real estate investing? Did you read a book on it? Was it a seminar? A meeting of some sort with speakers dispensing real estate investing information, but really selling courses? Did you get really, really jazzed and pumped up by these simple (”not easy”) concepts that were delivered to you in parable form from the stage by a charismatic speaker?
Did you find yourself levitating to the back of the room, powerless but to slap down your plastic to buy the kits that were being sold there? Like, “Yes Mr. Ker we do take traveler’s checks. Yes, cash is OK too. “HEY BARNEY DO YOU HAVE CHANGE FOR A HUNDRED??” There’s your kit Mr. Ker. Good Luck!”
I have to admit that’s where I began. I attended a “conference” and dropped over a grand in two days. What I ended up with was a very funny course about Paper (i.e. discounted mortgages) and a more somber account of making a million five in eighteen months buying and rehabbing multi-units.
I listened to tapes for about four days straight, then went out and bought an HP12C financial calculator. I loved paper (the units can wait a while). I really got my head around it. I loved discounting on the calculator, I loved calculating yields. And the guy on these tapes was so funny!
I spent a fun couple of weeks learning the courses and I knew more than most bankers because the guy on the tapes told me so. I wanted to get started and get a note-closing-sweatshop going just like he described. I knew this stuff inside and out.
Two deals a week would be OK with me you know, I’m not greedy. Now where was it in the book that it showed how to find the deals. OK…here we go … Look up names at the courthouse, call Accountants, call Contractors, call Attorneys……hmmm.
To cut a long story short, I looked up five hundred names at the courthouse and sent letters to them, I made about five hundred phone calls to Accountants and Lawyers (setting up my “network”), and finally I found one note holder who was interested in selling. I made an offer, he said “no”, and I went home and went to bed for two weeks… too depressed to function.
All that work, and this guy just said “no”.
That was my introduction to the wonderful world of real estate investing. From there, I got into low income apartments and completely flushed myself down the toilet!
Five years later, after buying and giving back about 50 units, newly penniless, I discovered this thing called creative real estate. Control without ownership, solving people problems, use your brain to buy property – not your cash.
I had an acute appreciation for it, given my (expensive, and painful) landlording odyssey, but it seemed even with all this wonderful real estate investing information, I was still in very much the same position I had been in when I first got started.
The same position I stayed in, until I wised up, and the same position most real estate investors struggle with year after year because they don’t know any better.
That is: “I know all this real estate investing information inside and out. I know 100 different creative ways to buy a property. But I’ve got to suffer through things like lackluster advertising results, cold-calling, talking to hundreds of testy uninterested people, and dead ends, before I even get the chance to talk to someone who is half way motivated to sell.
This is a crossroads. The proverbial “brick wall” for most of us.
And this brings up an important point. Possibly the most important point to really “get” here. Knowing how to find motivated sellers is far more important than knowing 100 different ways to buy a house. You see, your business (and therefore your life) is going to be frustrating, stressful and unfulfilling unless you find a way to create a non-stop flow of motivated sellers calling you, every day.
Now, that’s obvious isn’t it?
Well it can’t be that obvious because not many people actually do it. You see, what I’m trying to point out here that there is a mental shift that needs to occur in your mind, a paradigm shift if you will, before you are going to make any serious money as a Real Estate Entrepreneur.
And what is this shift? It is: Instead of being a real estate entrepreneur, you must become a marketer of your real estate entrepreneurial business. That’s what it comes down to.
If you are in business, you need to make this shift in your thinking. Because no business is going to prosper, or be successful without a lot of customers.
Making this shift in thinking, in orientation, about who you are, focuses you on the singularly most important and financially rewarding aspect of business: marketing. The money is in marketing the business, not in doing the business. It may take a while before you really absorb this. You may have to think about it for a while before it really sinks in. Read it again. Take a minute.
Once you change your thinking to accept that you are a marketer first, and a Real Estate Entrepreneur second, you’ll finally be able to start making the kind of money you really want to make.
Accepting your role as a marketer is the thing that will move you out of the rut of occasional mediocre deals and up into a level of sustained success that would not otherwise be possible for you (although this is not what is taught in how-to-do-it real estate investing information).
And this is true of anyone in any other business or industry. The person or company who is most on top of their marketing, makes all the money, and dominates their market.
Look at Domino’s. A marketing machine! Very average pizza. But aggressive marketers, and they virtually own their market.
Look at Bill Gates (yes, I know, everyone cites BG). If you saw Accidental Empires though, a PBS documentary by Robert Cringley, you’d know that Gates was just one of hundreds of fanatical “techies” who were trying to make this computer thing work somehow. With his astute positioning and relentless marketing he rode Microsoft up over IBM to the $243B company it is today.
Of course this doesn’t mean you just market better and let your buying, negotiating and selling skills go to pot. You’ve got to be the very best property buyer you can be and run your office well too.
After all, your sellers and buyers deserve the very best treatment from you. But more importantly, doing what you do so well that people can’t resist telling others about you, is the purest type of marketing in and of itself.
Remember, it doesn’t matter how good you are if you have no Motivated Sellers to talk to.
Buying houses from Motivated Sellers with little or no money out of your pocket is the name of the game, and marketing is the thing that brings in the Motivated Sellers.
OK, so, marketing. Really fabulous! But, what does it mean? So far it’s just a word I’ve said 10 or twenty times, right?
Well, there are two types of marketing people typically use.
The traditional approach which, for want of any better way to go, usually involves just going out after randomly selected sellers. They haven’t been screened or qualified in any way. We just know they have a house to sell. We run up big phone and classified ad bills to get to talk to them. In communicating with them we usually talk to them about our financing, and how great it is, and if they will just sell to us their “problems” will go away. We do it manually; call by call, door by door. We talk about us, rather than inquire about them. We chase, they run. When we stop, the marketing stops. The cost per deal is very high, both financially and emotionally.
The second approach is the targeted, low-cost, systemized, response-oriented approach that, through a variety of media (such as direct mail, lead generating classified ads, flyers, signs, radio, cable TV) states or implies a benefit for the seller, calls for a response from them, and positions you as “the solution” for the sellers who want that. The sellers step forward and select you. The marketing is automated, and it is an operating system that works whether you are there or not.
I don’t want to shock you, but we are not going with the first choice here.
Pick up just about any book or course with real estate investing information or that is about creative real estate and you’ll find the choice #1 approach to finding motivated sellers, if any.
What you won’t find anywhere in those books, courses or real estate investing information is the choice #2 approach, which is direct response marketing.
Direct response marketing targets a specific group of most-desired prospects that you have defined as those most likely to respond to your offer (e.g. out-of-state homeowners, or expired listings), then it advertises for or delivers a message to only those people via a media (e.g. personal-looking hand-addressed #10 envelope mailed first class) that will reach them and get their attention. Once in front of the target, direct response delivers the following:
- A benefit-telegraphic headline
- A true marketing message
- An offer, or offers
- A reason to respond immediately
- Precise response instructions and mechanisms.
With these five elements in place, you set yourself up to be called only by motivated, partially pre-sold sellers, continually, day after day! So now you can be freed to do the most productive thing possible for you as an investor: make offers to motivated sellers!
Hopefully you can see the picture here. Direct response marketing cuts your advertising expense in half. It sifts, sorts and screens your prospects so that only the most qualified and most motivated respond and get to talk to you. In short, it allows you to make more while working less, with more predictability, consistency and control than anything else you could do to find deals.
Is that something you want? Think about it. Is there anyone you know of who is buying and selling a boatload of houses every month?
They are still doing a ton of business. Now, why is that? They don’t offer sellers anything more outstanding than you, do they? They are not privy to any real estate investing information that you are not. They certainly don’t offer sellers anything more creative than you are capable of offering. They don’t have any better phone manner than you.
Not at all. The only thing that very successful Real Estate Entrepreneurs do better than anyone else is: Create a reliable, consistent flow of motivated sellers calling in each day! That’s it! That’s the difference.
So did you get the message here? I hope so.
If you want to change your experience in real estate investing from one of anxiety, frustration and disappointment to working less and making more, you’ll make the change.
Ben Innes-Ker is a father, best-selling author, and real estate investing warrior. He has developed the “Motivated Seller Magnet” to help real estate entrepreneurs attract more motivated sellers with less effort and increase profits. To receive your 23 page special report that reveals real estate investing information anyone can use to achieve this too, visit: http://www.motivatedsellermagnet.net

Author: Ben Pargman
Source: ezinearticles.com

I recently was talking to a Short Sale investor named Lynn. Lynn related to me a lot of the emotions that successful real estate investors go through when they’re starting to build their businesses. What she told me is “I’m interested in following the person who is willing to get back to real estate investing and leave the scamming for the scammers.”

Lynn makes a good point. It really is important for those getting into real estate investing that they seek out teachers who are actually out there “doing it.” That means at the core of their “information business” is a hard-core real estate services business that is in the mud of the deals every day, day-in and day-out.

But here’s the truth about most “amazing products”… the Soloflex actually does work! You can actually look like the guy on the infomercial with the abs and pecs BUT only if you bust your butt consistently- for a long time – and eat right and sleep right…and…and…and. But if you do all that, it does work. Look, any information product system (or whatever you want to call it) is the same thing – people have figured out a unique way to do something that WILL help you make more money than you could ever imagined possible at your old job! But guess what… you’ve got to work out… and do it just like at the gym. I’m not talking about going through the motions twice a week and then wondering why you don’t look like the guy on the infomercial.

I would run away fast from anyone who tries to sell you something that supposedly gets you in top physical shape without any physical effort! Run Forest, run! Similarly, I would stay way the heck away from anyone selling a real estate information product guaranteeing that you can quit your job in X days or that it’s easy, or that it doesn’t take any work. That’s just B.S.! Making a fortune, changing your life, and building a future takes work – a lot of work – which is why most people don’t actually do it!

However, you absolutely can shortcut your way through years of a learning curve, shortcut your way with certain technology, and shortcut your way through forests that others have already cut a path through by investing in information products and systems designed by those who have gone through the journey and are willing to share with you. You can dramatically increase the efficiency of your work by spending your time on the right things rather than spinning your wheels when someone who has already done it can just show you what they’ve done.

Here’s a little suggestion – anyone can have one success story to talk about and write a product about it. Before you invest in anyone’s system or product – look for recent evidence that it actually works. I don’t care how good the professional weightlifter model looks in the commercial, I want to know what the experience was like for someone like me (which is why if you watch infomercials they go back and forth from professional models to “regular guys”).

Here’s another tip – every pitchman posts “testimonials” of success stories. Pick up the phone and call the person giving the testimonial and get it straight from them. Do they even know they are being quoted to support sales of someone’s product? Would they agree with how the testimonial is presented? Was it taken out of context? Look, if that’s who the pitchman is putting forward as “the best they got” and when you call, they’re defensive or wishy-washy, well, then… there’s your answer. However, if you call someone who is a raving fan lunatic advocate for the product, well, now you know.

Keep this in mind – the product may actually work, just not for you. Look, when you walk in a gym, there are dozens of machines and weights – and yet a personal trainer is going to design a program that involves only a few of these tools that are right for you and your body type. The same thing is true in the real estate information world – the guy’s program you had a bad experience with may just not be the right machine for YOU but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t work for other people. (The hard thing is that there are not too many opportunities to “try out” different products to see which one’s a fit for you without making that investment – I’m working on just such an opportunity for you – but they are few and far between.

One more piece of advice – when you find yourself having invested in something that ended up not being what you needed, put your concerns in writing to the vender. That step will force you to be honest with yourself – are you asking for your money back for the Soloflex because it’s currently holding your underwear in the basement and you don’t use it and now feel stupid for spending all that money? Whose fault is that? Or if you really have a legitimate concern about the quality and viability of the product then put it in writing.

I can only speak for myself, but I have to assume that my colleagues in the business feel the same. I work my butt off on everything I put out there. Our products reflect a tremendous amount of time thinking, planning, writing, re-writing, designing, and testing. And every product I have ever released to the marketplace has always been improved by the constructive comments form those who use it. We’re not perfect and I’m not selling magic wands or potions – so some stuff is better than other stuff and it can always be better. We are constantly updating, revising, and improving our products based on customer feedback. So if you have something helpful to contribute – PLEASE put it in writing, I bet the guru you’re talking about will actually read it, consider it, and act on it – I know I would.

Ben Pargman is a real estate attorney and the nation’s number one expert in Short Sales. Check out his website at The Short Sale Service, Inc. for his free audio course on how to make money in today’s real estate market.

Author: Darin Garman
Source: ezinearticles.com

One of the things that I spent a lot of time on at my recent Investor Discovery Day Event was the change of investment models. One thing I suggest with all of my students is you need to be looking for other ways for commercial investment real estate to make you money.

If you are just looking at finding an apartment or commercial investment property, purchasing it, and holding it for cash flow and then forgetting about it you are making a huge mistake. Why? There are many other ways that you can make money with apartments and commercial investment real estate. I call them alternative ways. Or if you like-Alternative Ways To Cash Flow Apartments and Commercial Investment property.

One of the first exercises you need to go through when you are buying and even when you are selling for that matter is asking yourself the following question. “What other ways can I make more or the same amount of profit, cash flow or sales proceeds from this transaction besides the typical ways? What am I NOT thinking of?” After you ask yourself this question you then write down a minimum (yes minimum) of 10 other ways to make money from your purchase or sale. Take your time and write these down. What helps me is I think in stages of what provides the most cash flow, what provides the most cash now or what provides the most predictable rate of return, what provides the most tax savings, etc. If you think in these stages you will many times come up with at least two or three MORE ways to profit from the purchase or the sale of the commercial property or apartment building. What you will find many times is ways to make even MORE profits than your where your current path is going to take you. Of course, you will have times when you go through this process you will come up with nothing, however, if you can make as much as $50,000 profit isn’t it worth 45 minutes of your time to spend on it? I mean this is how to make $50,000 an hour isn’t it?

This is how some of the most successful entrepreneurs (many of which occupy the Forbes 400 list) have gotten really rich. Not just well off but I am talking rich.. What they did was take a look at the NORMAL way something was done and either came up with a new way to do it OR they came up with a slight variation of this. By looking at it a bit differently in many cases they became geniuses.

Now, if you want me to let you in on a secret that will earn you an additional $10,000-$100,000 in profits this year here it is. Treat your real estate investments like a business and look at these investments like these entrepreneurial geniuses did. The good news is that it really does not take a lot of effort on your part. Just thinking.

As Earl Nightingale said the biggest problem with people is that they don’t think. The biggest reason they are not as successful as they would like to be, in any venture, is that they do not think. Just spend time and think. What OTHER ways can I make money with this property??

APARTMENT & COMMERCIAL INVESTORS ONLY: FREE NO MONEY DOWN REPORT & TELESEMINAR “How to Buy Apartments and Commercial Real Estate With No Or Low Money Down.” Darin Garman Shows You How Based On $411 Million in Experience. Click Below And Get This Free, No-Obligation Report Emailed To Your Inbox Today. Investing In Commercial Real Estate – http://www.MyPlatinumClub.com/wealthy-investors

Author: Jessica G Stevensbr
Source: ezinearticles.combr
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Looking for a good way to prepare for your retirement? Why dont you try investing in real estate? Being a real estate investor is a rewarding career. And more importantly, it can help you fatten up your savings until the day you decide to just sit back and relax with your significant other.

Over the last few years, real estate investing (REI) has become the bread and butter of many people. It has helped them make their dreams into reality. And despite the recent economic setback, the real estate business has given most of us many opportunities to make big gains.

However, REI is not as easy as it may seem. There are many things that you need to take into consideration. And one of the most important of them is your education.

Many great philosophers said that learning shouldnt stop the moment you step out of school. This can be true for most investors. If you want to succeed in this business, you should continue to learn even after your first successful transaction. You must never stop sharpening your skills because they can help you avoid making huge mistakes that can affect your business.

When investing in real estate, make sure that you are spending your money on profitable properties. Never invest in houses that can cause you big profit loss. Therefore, choose the properties that you are going to buy carefully.

Investment properties that have high profitability and marketability are those that have proximity to important establishments such as schools, hospitals, restaurants, cinemas, and other recreational facilities. Those that are located in areas where urban development projects are planned are also great real estate assets to invest in.

Aside from your education and the quality of your investment properties, another important matter that you should look into is your budget. Having sufficient cash flow is a must for a investor because it can help ensure the success of a project. In addition, it allows an investor to act quickly and appropriately in case a good deal comes his or her way.

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pReal estate investing is indeed a good way to prepare for your retirement. With patience and perseverance, you can provide a brighter future for yourself and for your loved ones. Meanwhile, if you are looking for ways to boost your knowledge on REI, you can log on to a target=_new href=http://www.rehab-real-estate.com/ rel=nofollowhttp://www.Rehab-Real-Estate.com/a. The website is home to various learning resources that can bring out the best real estate investor in you./pbr
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Author: Brennan Tomasettibr
Source: ezinearticles.combr
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I have been investing in real estate for over 10 years and when the topic comes up in conversation, people always ask the same question – How did you get started?

The answer is books – to be more specific, Rich Dad, Poor Dad. I was fresh out of college, working as a software consultant, when a more senior colleague/mentor recommended that I read Rich Dad, Poor Dad. He said to me, If I were your age, THIS is what I would be doing. A few weeks later, while stuck at the Buffalo airport, in a snow storm, I read the book cover to cover. From a financial standpoint, my thought process was forever changes.

Here are a few other books I recommend – to anyone looking to get started in RE investing:

- Investing in Real Estate, by Andrew J. McLean and Gary W. Eldred – This book provides a more in depth look at real estate investing – examples of deals, issues which may occur throughout the purchase/ownership process, etc. In my opinion, the authors do a very good job of walking you through various sample transactions. The focus here is on fundamentals – long term wealth accumulation via the Buy Hold approach. This book will not teach you how to do short sales, lease options or some of the other, more involved scenarios; however, it will provide great insight into basic real estate investing practices.

- Landlording on Autopilot, by Mike Butler – for anyone looking to understand property management (even if you plan on hiring someone, it is important to know good strategies), this is an excellent book. Mike developed some great methods for streamlining the PM process – which is critical – particularly when you start to accumulate a multiple properties. It can be the hardest part of the business – but if you start out right, you can prevent a lot of headaches.

- Loopholes of the Rich, by Diane Kennedy – Another book within the Rich Dad series – Diane gives a great, easy to understand, perspective on the tax advantages and legal (company structures, etc.) that should be considered when investing in real estate. Just as important as learning how to get the money coming in is learning how to keep it! This book is a great starter for understanding those strategies.

- Grow Rich with the Property Cycle, by Kieran Trass – This book was a more difficult read (for me anyway) but the perspective is priceless. It describes the various stages within the property cycle and how to make money in each phase! It may sound as if what we are experiencing in the current economy is something which has never been seen before. While that may be true – with regard to the exact cause – it is certainly not the first time our markets have seen a similar recession/depression. The most important thing is to understand where you are in the property cycle and how to best take advantage. I read this book once every few years.

No one book will teach you everything and there is always more to learn. Knowledge is the best ally when heading into new territory!

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pBrennan has a background in Accounting/Finance and has been investing in real estate for over 10 years. She currently owns over 40 properties in the Philadelphia and Jacksonville markets combined. She recently launched a target=_new href=http://www.WomenGetWealthy.com rel=nofollowhttp://www.WomenGetWealthy.com/a – a place for women to connect and discuss strategies for building wealth./pbr
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Author: Flynna Sarah Molinabr
Source: ezinearticles.combr
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Nowadays, when you have extra savings you would plan to invest it into something worthwhile. And one of the common suggestions is to acquire a second home. Purchasing real estate can surely give you a high return of your investment. It is the best move you can ever do in your life because you can do business and work for another company all at the same time. However, this is not as easy as purchasing one and rent it. You need to be knowledgeable of what kind of market you are entering into.

To guide you in this venture, consider some of these tips for real estate investing.

When you put up any kind of business, a thorough research is highly needed. Prior to committing to any transaction, perform a feasibility study to broaden your knowledge about the subject matter. The scope of your study will basically focus on the types of real estate properties, value of each of these houses, prices of your possible competitors and the home improvements or upgrades that you will need for a certain residence. Other minor details will also be of big help to your evaluation. In this way, once you start your operation, you can easily handle every situation that comes in your way. Of course, you can not always expect for your business to boom.

Before buying the property, you need to check it carefully. Make sure that it is free of any legal issues or damages. This is what most of the investors tend to overlook, securing the actual condition of the property. This is also one way to assure you that there are no possible complications later on.

You also have to be aware of the amended tax laws related to your business. In this way, you can fully comply with all the requirements that the government stipulates. Aside from that, knowing your rights will also let you avail of the tax credits that are intended for your business. Consult your legal counsel regarding this matter. He can surely guide you along the way.

When you are about to start looking for possible renters, make sure to have a list of your requirements or the characteristics you are looking for in a tenant. This is very important when you are entering into rental property business. These renters are the life of your business, but they can also be the cause to pull it down. Occupants are eventually the ones who will use your buildings, and thus they have to show their concern on your property. They should know how to take care of your property and abide by the policies that you made. Bear in mind that these are strangers, so you can not expect them to show the same level of concern you have for your property. And be transparent to them so as to build good business rapport.

Planning to invest in real estate is definitely a worthwhile thing to do, only if you are fully equipped with all the learnings you need to know about the business. It takes a lot of patience and determination to be successful in this venture. Once you possess these characteristics, you will surely become an instant millionaire in due time.

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pWant to know more about real estate properties? Check these sites a target=_new href=http://losangelescommunityguide.com/ rel=nofollowLos Angeles Community Guide/a and a target=_new href=http://www.allsouthernphoenixmetrorealestate.com/46680-Southern-Phoenix-Metro-AZ-FixerUpper-RESCmty.aspx rel=nofollowSouthern Phoenix Metro Fixer Uppers/a./pbr
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Author: Barbara Grasseybr
Source: downloadbr
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Anyone who has ever been a victim of insomnia has probably been subjected to the late night infomercials that promise real estate riches with no money down. An integral part of the infomercial is a series of sound-bites or testimonials from successful students telling how much real estate they bought and how quickly their lives went from rags to riches thanks to whichever fabulous course is being touted.
To be fair, you can make a lot of money in real estate and you can shorten your learning curve tremendously by buying some of these courses. You can also spend thousands of dollars and still be at a loss as to how to get started on your road to success. When you ask for help from the course sponsors, you are upsold to an expensive bootcamp or another series of DVDs and books.
Before you jump into an expensive course with both feet, take some time to investigate the courses out there and to find out exactly what is meant when someone says No Money Down.
No money down in almost every course Ive ever subscribed to generally means none of your money down. Thats almost as good as no money down, but the money still has to come from somewhere. Some of the ways you can do a no money down deal include: 100% financing (you still pay some fees and closing costs); using other peoples money (including but not limited to friends and relatives); hard or private money lenders; using cash advances on your credit cards; taking on a financial partner; negotiating a no money deal directly from the seller; lease option; and taking property subject to the existing loan.
The other half of the equation is the concept of owning or controlling properties. The enthusiastic and successful course alumni talk about owning a million dollars worth of real estate in a short amount of time. What they dont talk about is how much is owed on the property. If theyre doing no money down deals, the amount owed is probably very close to the amount the properties are worth. Their balance sheet improves when and if the properties increase in value. For the past few years, people have made a lot of money due to the fast equity growth in many markets. Over the past six months or so, those paper profits have deflated somewhat and the equity growth has slowed considerably. Over a long period of time, equity growth is what will make people truly wealthy. But until you sell the properties or refinance and take some of the money out of the property, you are looking at paper profits. And paper profits dont put food on the table.
One of the words you will want to listen for is cashflow. Cashflow is the amount of money the owner makes on an investment property after all the expenses are paid: mortgage, taxes, insurance, maintenance and repairs, vacancy rate, etc. A general rule of thumb is that a property will breakeven or possibly cashflow (depending on taxes, insurance, maintenance, etc.) if you can rent it for 1% of the purchase price. For example, if a three bedroom, two bath home rents for $1,200 in your area, you shouldnt pay more than $120,000 for the house, unless you want to make a substantial down payment to bring the loan amount down to $120,000. The testimonials you hear on infomercials talk about the large monthly incomes generated by real estate investments. What you dont hear is how much money goes right back out each month to cover the debt service on the properties.
Money is made in real estate when you go into the deal, not when you sell. True investors want to buy a property at the right price in order to have immediate cashflow and/or equity. Buying a property that doesnt at least break even or cashflow and hoping that the market will bring the property values up is speculating, not investing. The equity growth is the long-term payoff for an investor, not a quick money strategy.
One of the complaints Ive heard about one of the more famous late night gurus is that his strategies are so old that most are no longer legal. I have his course. Some of the techniques can no longer be used. But he has a lot of other good general information in his course. With experience, you can look at some of the old, now illegal strategies and apply them to the new market and new laws.
There are all sorts of ways to do no money down deals. Whether a strategy is a new twist or an old workhorse, legality varies state to state. I recently spoke to a young investor who was eager to find subject to deals to flip to other investors or end users. Subject to means taking title to someones house and keeping the loan in their name. It can trigger the Due on Sale clause which is included in just about every loan that is made in the U.S. The seller runs the risk that the investor or the person the investor sells the deal to will not make the payments in a timely fashion or at all and ruin the sellers credit. The young investor had bought a late night course and was eager to hit the ground running. He hasnt stopped to find out the pitfalls of that type of deal; he doesnt have the financial depth to cover the payments on the properties that he takes subject to, he will be committing loan fraud and will probably end up getting sued by a seller who will come back at him either for not making payments or for coercing him to sign over his house when he was in financial distress.
The courses you buy, the books you read, the seminars you go to are all just starting points. Each course gives another layer of knowledge and fills in gaps left by the previous courses. But you need to supplement the courses with real-world experience. One way to do that is to join a real estate investor group. (For a group in your area, check www.nationalreia.com, click on Groups, then click on your state on the map.) Meeting with other investors will help you learn your local market, find out about other meetings and seminars and discover who is respected in the industry and who is not. If there are no groups in your area, try to go to a real estate seminar (they are usually two or three day events and range in price from $300 to $5,000 – hit the more inexpensive ones first) and meet other investors from around the country.
In my area (Tampa/St. Pete, FL) and most major cities, seminar companies sponsor free real estate seminars about every other month. The seminar usually lasts a couple of hours and it is a come-on to buy a course. I go to those every chance I get and leave my credit cards at home. Or at least in the car. Its a chance to learn about strategies I may not be using or a niche market I hadnt thought of working. Its also a chance to network with fellow investors. One of the best tape courses I have ever bought, I purchased at a free come-on seminar. I had left my credit cards at home but knew by the end of the seminar that the course offered information I needed. I had a credit card statement in my car which had the card number on it. We guessed at the expiration date and I spent about $1,300 for three courses. That was a lot of money to me. Which brings me to my next point.
No course is any good unless you take off the shrink-wrap and use it! So many people make an impulse purchase of a course and never even open up the package. Then theyll complain that the course was no good or didnt work. Courses and seminars dont work. You have to do the work. The courses just tell you how. When I got home with that $1,300 package of CDs I was a bit overwhelmed by how much I had just spent. I knew that I had to make my money back on it. Over the next three days I listened to the three courses, one after the other, twice in a row. Then I applied some of the techniques I learned and within a few months I had located a property that eventually netted me over $15,000. I have a friend who bought the same three courses. She has never, never taken the shrink-wrap off the notebooks.
Thirteen hundred dollars was and still is a lot of money to me. Fifteen thousand dollars is more. Thats why its called investing. But not everyone has that much money to start with. Its ironic that you have to spend money to learn to buy real estate with no money down. If I can find a course at a discount, so much the better. I check my local library for books and tapes first. If I check a book out of the library that I feel has good information, Ill buy the book, either retail or try to find it online as a used book. I also check EBay and Overstock.com to see if any of the courses by my favorite gurus can be picked up for less money. Ive picked up a series of investing books that retail in the $15 range at the local goodwill store for $2.50 each — virtually untouched and unread.
Investing in real estate with little or no money down is done every day. But you increase your odds of success by first educating yourself on various techniques and lowering your expectations to realistic levels. As you start reading up on real estate, work out a plan for your real estate business. Do you want to buy and hold properties? How many do you want to hold or manage? Do you want to flip properties to someone else for a fee? Do you want to use banks, hard money lenders, lease options or whatever to acquire properties? Find the techniques you are comfortable using, get your paperwork in order and learn your local marketplace before going out and buying everything in sight. Theres no sense accumulating a real estate empire if you cant hold on to it. Heres one thing that is hardly ever mentioned in those late night infomercials: Do Your Homework. Real estate investing takes knowledge, experience and hard work. The courses that are out there are merely the tools you can use to make the work easier.
ฉ Barbara J. Grassey. All rights reserved. 2006.
Barbara Grassey is a real estate investor and speaker. She is the author of Fast Money In Real Estate: Secrets of a Bird-Dog. She can be contacted at http://www.therealestatebirddog.combr
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Author: Charles Pettybr
Source: articlesbase.combr
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Real estate investing is the involvement of management, purchase, rental, sale, or ownership of a real estate that can be used as profit. Real estate development is the improvement of a specific realty property as part of the strategy in the investment of real estate. This is generally considered as a real estate sub-specialty. Relative to the other investment kinds, real estate is a form of asset that has fixed liquidity. Real estate also is also regarded to be capital intensive and is highly dependent on cash flow. These factors must be well managed and understood otherwise the investor gives himself risks. One of the main causes for investment to fail in dealing with real estate is because the investor experiences a zero cash flow for quite some time wherein the amount can no longer be sustained, this will result to a forced reselling of the property gone into insolvency. Acquisition and sources Acquiring and looking for sources of real estate is not hard although the real estate market in numerous countries are not that efficient or organized compared to other having instruments of liquid investment. Individual properties are not interchangeable and are unique by themselves. This presents one big challenge to investors who want to evaluate investments and price opportunities. This is one reason why when searching for properties wherein one can invest in, it involves competition and substantial hard work among the investors to be able to purchase properties. This will be variable depending on the availability knowledge. This provides a lot of opportunities for the investors to acquire properties at cheaper prices but poses an increased risk in terms of transaction. Investors of real estate usually use a number of appraisal methods in order to figure out the value of the property before the purchase. Sources of properties for investment include:  Agents of real estateMarket listings Private sales Public auction Wholesalers  The moment a property fit for investment is located, the investor will negotiate a sale price and terms with the one selling the property, then after the business talk, the contract for sale will be executed. In order to be assisted in the process of acquisition, the investors can sometimes employ attorneys or agents having the knowledge about real estate. This is due to the deal that acquire a real estate posses a lot of complexes which may lead to a very costly deal if executed improperly. During property acquisition, the investor makes an offer to buy the reserve of the investors right to complete their transaction upon satisfactorily negotiating with the latter. This reservation money can be refunded or not and is a sign for the investors willingness and seriousness to purchase the property. The terms for the offer in real estate investing include several contingencies that allow the investor sufficient time to complete diligence and acquire financing before the final purchase. During the contingency period, the one investing usually reserve the right to abolish the offer with no attached penalties and accomplish refund on money deposits. Once the contingencies expired, rescinding usually requires the forfeit of money deposits and may sometimes leave penalties as well. That is why, to avoid such penalties, the investor must have a great deal of understanding and knowledge on the venture that he has to overcome. Legal advises from people having investing backgrounds will greatly help to lessen the risk. br
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