News and Information For Buyers And Sellers
Pre-Purchase Inspection
Should you do your own pre-purchase inspection?
Yes and no. Yes, you should inspect a house before you write
an offer on it. Then you should put an inspection contingency
clause in the offer, and hire a professional inspector. Why do
both?
Doing your own inspection can help you
get a better deal. Each cracked window or leaky toilet you can
find is a negotiating point. You see, you could just make a low
offer, but a seller is more likely to accept your...
(more) Real Estate Math - Do You Know
These Simple Formulas?
How much real estate math do you need to
know if you are investing in real estate? There are computers
and calculators for calculating interest rates or amortizing
loans. What you need to know is a few simple formulas for determining
if a property is a good investment or not.
The Real Estate Math You Don't Need
The gross rent multiplier is one formula
you don't need. I bring it up because people are sometimes still
using it, and there are...
(more) Pre-Foreclosure - How To Invest
By investing in properties "pre-foreclosure,"
you get ahead of the crowd and possibly get a great price. The
downside? You may have to walk a fine line between helping an
owner and taking advantage of him.
Pre-foreclosure is simply that time between
when the home owner gets the notice that he is in default on
the mortgage loan, and when he finally loses the home. This may
be where the most money is made on "foreclosures".
By going...
(more) A Simple Real Estate Formula
I saw the ads in our small-town newspaper
for years before I realized exactly what was going on. They were
always the same: A house for sale with 5% down and payments of
1% of the purchase price. It might be a three bedroom home for
$90,000, for example, with $4,500 down and $900 per month payments.
It was a simple real estate formula.
A friend started doing the same thing and
explained the process to me. It was a way to get a great return
on capital....
(more) Low Income Housing Investments
Low income housing providers get a bad
rap. Be ready to be called a slumlord if you invest in it. Much
of what people call slumlording though, is simply providing reasonable
housing for those with low incomes. It is of benefit to the renter
AND the landlord.
Why Do People Rent Ugly Homes?
Not-so-nice places are rented because they
are affordable. When a house needs paint, has old rusty hinges
on the doors, and a dirt driveway, it costs less to buy,...
(more) Categories of Real Estate Investment
Below are ten categories of real estate,
and different ways to invest in them. The best one for you is
something only you can decide, according to your particular needs.
To help you do that, I list a couple good points and bad points
for each type.
1. Renting single family homes. Good points:
An easier way to get started, and good long term return on investment.
Bad points: Being a landlord isn't much fun, and you typically
wait a long time for...
(more) Credit Report: Myth or Reality
by: Herman Randolph
1. Is it a myth or reality that you have more than one credit score?
A. Reality. There are 3 credit companies (Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian) that produce 3 credit scores.
2. Is it a myth or reality that bad credit will drop off after seven years?
A. Myth. If an account is in collections and the creditor reports this every month, that account will remain on your credit report for as long as the creditor reports it. It...
(more) Losing Money In Real Estate -
A True Story
What if you were able to buy a decent two
bedroom home for about $30,000, fix it up a little and put it
on the market for $80,000? Do you think you could make some money
that way? This is the story of a man who lost it all that way,
followed by a few lessons to be learned from his sad tale.
The story takes place in 2002, in a mountain
town in Montana, where the last of the good jobs had left town
twenty-two years earlier when the copper smelter closed. It...
(more)
