Home Buying, Selling, and Investing Articles

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News and Information For Buyers And Sellers

Rental Property Income - How To Increase It You may think that to raise your rental property income you can just raise rents. However, you can't just raise the rents arbitrarily, because if tenants leave, income goes down, not up. Fortunately, there are other ways, including the ones listed below. 1. Consider raising the rent. We did dismiss ARBITRARY rent hikes as a cash-flow solution, but check on the rates for similar units. Are you renting at below-market rates? 2. Charge rent... (more)

How To Make Money Optioning Special Properties Optioning special properties is another way to make money in real estate that few people consider. However, it can be a way to get large profits from small investments. And the disadvantages? You will lose those small investments most of the time, and spend a lot of time hunting for the right properties. Investing in real estate through options can be one of the most creative ways to make money. Here is one of my favorite stories which demonstrates... (more)

Do Your Own Home Inspection Is there any good reason to do your own home inspection? How about to get a better deal. Every flaw you can find is a negotiating point. You don't have to learn building codes, and you probably should use a professional inspector in any case. The point of learning what to look for is to protect yourself and get a better deal. Home Inspection - Use A Checklist A good home inspection checklist, keeps you from forgetting things. I have more than a... (more)

Real Estate Financing Techniques Do you remember when real estate financing meant you saved up enough to put 20% down on a house, and then you got a mortgage loan for the other 80%? Well, you can still do that, but there are many more options now. Here are ten of them. 1. Gifting programs. In some parts of the country, builders fund foundations that give you a portion of the down payment, so you can get into a home with as little as 3% down payment from your own pocket. FHA and... (more)

Making Money In Real Estate - Ten Ways Making money in real estate is an endless topic that includes all the various types of real estate investments. There is land, apartment buildings, homes, commercial buildings and more. Whatever the type however, you'll make your profits in some of the basic ways listed below. Use this list to get yourself thinking of the possibilities. 1. Appreciation. Making money in real estate can be as simple as holding on and waiting. To really get the... (more)

Make Money As A Slumlord Be a slumlord? Okay, I got your attention, now the truth. I really don't recommend that anyone endanger their renters with unsafe housing. 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 Dumps? People rent not-so-nice places because they can afford to. A house that needs paint, has old rusty hinges on the doors, and... (more)

Where To Invest In Real Estate Where should you invest in real estate? If you know an area well, and have enough experience investing in real estate, you can make money almost anywhere. However, there are always places that are better or worse for real estate investments - places that have a better demand/supply ratio. Use the questions below to find them. Demand Questions 1. Is the population growing fast? Check the US Census figures online, or ask the local government if ... (more)

A Real Estate Investing Opportunity Homes with extra lots may present a real estate investing opportunity. They may provide a way to reduce the cost of a rental home you want to buy, or just a way to make a profit buying and selling. Of course, this can be tricky if you don't know the rules. Typically when a city was platted, the residents proceeded to build a home on each lot. Of course, some built on two lots. This is why even in regularly spaced homes there will often be house... (more)

Fixer Uppers: A Money Making Formula Making money with "fixer-uppers" isn't about repairing drywall or planting flowers. It's about using the right approach from the start. A Big Real Estate Mistake Many people buy and sell a fixer-upper like this: They buy a house, fix it up, then add some amount (say $10,000) that's in their head onto their costs. Then they put the house up for sale for this price. This is so wrong. Would you buy a house according to what ... (more)

Buying In The Path Of Growth Buying in the path of growth, you can make a large profit in a year or less. But get the timing wrong, and you might have to sit on a property for years without sufficient income to cover your holding costs. There are reasons why towns have to grow in certain directions. Sometimes it is a matter of geography. It is difficult to put new buildings on the sides of steep valley walls, or out into a lake or ocean. Sometimes it is a matter of available... (more)

Zero Down Real Estate Zero down real estate doesn't really mean no down payment. Most sellers need something as a down payment if they are providing financing. Most banks won't do 100% financing on real estate that is purchased as an investment. Zero down just means that the down payment won't come from your money. So where will you get it? Can you really profit from real estate without having money to start? The answer is clearly yes. At our local ... (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)

Zero Down - How To Do It Zero down? Why would a seller want to walk away from closing with nothing? Well, they wouldn't, and that brings up the most important point about real estate investing with no down payment: The seller almost always needs cash at closing, but it doesn't have to be YOUR cash. A Zero Down Example I'm selling a small rental property right now, with payments of $400/month. The buyer has a good credit report, and the $5,000 down payment... (more)

Where To Invest In Real Estate Where should you invest in real estate? If you know an area well, and have enough experience investing in real estate, you can make money almost anywhere. However, there are always places that are better or worse for real estate investments - places that have a better demand/supply ratio. Use the questions below to find them. Demand Questions 1. Is the population growing fast? Check the US Census figures online, or ask the local government if ... (more)

Real Estate Appraisal - Do Your Own or single family homes, there are two basic methods used in real estate appraisal. They are replacement cost analysis, and using comparable sales. A third appraisal method, based on capitalization, is used for income properties, and is covered in another article. In figuring replacement cost the question is: What would it cost to buy this land and put this house on it? If the land (improved) would cost $40,000, and the house could be built for... (more)

Buying Rental Property Safely Be careful when buying rental property. We stayed at a motel for a week one winter. The bill showed twice what it should have, but since I already paid the correct amount in cash, I thought nothing of it. When we noticed that the lobby and swimming pool were unheated, we thought it was frugality. Only a year later, when I read a news story about a new owner struggling to make the motel work, did I realize what was going on. The owner had been planning... (more)

Hiring Rental Property Management Why hire rental property management? Because doing it all yourself is the surest way to make your real estate investment experience a bitter one. You also have more time to find the next deal when there is someone taking care of the details for you. Hire a good property manager, but first ask the following questions. 1. How much is the fee? Fees vary around the country from as low as 4% of gross rents for larger buildings, to as high as 12% for... (more)

Real Estate Success Real estate success? It happens by way of the many things you repeatedly do right, and it is your habits that ensure they get done. Here are some habits to develop for your real estate investing success. Ask for people's names, and tell them yours. People are your most valuable resource in real estate investing. The more you know, the more likely you are to find good properties, or buyers for your good properties. Get to know the right people ... (more)

Buy-Change-Sell: A Real Estate Strategy Here's a proven real estate strategy: Buy a property, change the use, and sell it for a profit. Big profits are possible if you find its most profitable use. The disadvantages of this strategy? There is a lot of homework required, and many possible dealings with zoning authorities and others. Years ago there was a row of old homes on a main street in the Northern Michigan town where I used to live. Many of them were rentals. None of them were... (more)

Real Estate Negotiation
The Art Of The Compromise Real estate negotiation is a book-length subject, and one of those reasons why it can sometimes be a mistake to sell your property on your own. A good real estate agent, after all, should have some good negotiating skills learned from experience. However, there are some things you can learn a piece at a time, and this is one of them. Of all the techniques of real estate negotiation, and of negotiation in general, the compromise is one of the most ... (more)

A Guide to Do-It-Yourself Credit Repair by: John Mussi Having poor or bad credit can be a major burden, not only in your financial life but in other aspects of your life at large as well. Not only does it bring major problems into the act of getting a loan or credit card, but you may also be denied certain housing rentals and even employment opportunities. Unfortunately, getting your credit back into shape isn't as easy as some might have you believe… with all of the scams and... (more)

How To Buy An Apartment Building How to buy an apartment building? You could start with a look in the newspaper, a visit to a broker, or a search online - all good ways. Of course, since you're looking at the same properties as every other investor, it's not always easy to beat the competition to the great deals. Is there a better way? Why not look for properties that aren't yet for sale, and make an offer? This is how I bought my first home. An ad in the paper stating... (more)

Real Estate Investment Clubs? Your local real estate investment clubs or associations will educate you. It won't be book education, but useful knowledge about your local real estate market. The people there are investors, many who have gotten wealthy investing right in your town. This means you'll get meaningful and specific advice on what is working in your area, where to go for an inspector or property manager, and many other tips and based on real experience. There are... (more)

Sell Your Real Estate Notes   People sell real estate notes to raise cash quickly. A real estate note is just the loan document created when you financed the sale of your house or investment property. It could be a mortgage note, or a land-contract or contract-for-sale. The point is that the buyer is making payments to you, and you want to cash in. You can sell the entire contract, or just a certain number of payments if you want. The buyer of your property will have... (more)

Buy Investment Property Without Seeing It Why would you buy investment property without seeing it? It's a numbers game. Whether or not you see the property before you make an offer isn't nearly as important as making sure the numbers make sense. A man in California used to just send out offers on a hundred MLS listings at a time, offering 25% less than the asking price on each one. Occasionally a few sellers would accept his offers. He never had to look at the homes beforehand. ... (more)

Buying Real Estate When It's Not For Sale Buying real estate can start with a look in the newspaper, a visit to a broker, or a search online. These are all good ways to find your next investment property. You're looking at the same properties as every other investor, of course, so it's not always easy to beat the competition to a great buy. A better way to find good real estate investments is to look for properties that aren't yet for sale, and make an offer. I bought my first home... (more)

Internet Marketing Tools Here are some of the internet marketing tools you may need to take your business to the next level. Some of these are free services and websites that you can use. Others are even better: expensive products that make you money. HTML Help : Every HTML document contains certain standard HTML tags. If you don't even know what HTML is (Hyper-Text Markup Language), start with great tutorials here: www.htmlgoodies.com. You can also learn by using... (more)

Investing In Real Estate - Six Specific Tips Investing in real estate should be a pleasurable and profitable activity. Listen carefully to investors, though, and you hear not just success stories, but sad tales of stress and losing money. Here are some tips for keeping your real estate stories happy ones. - Have a top price. Properties have a market value, and then they have their value to you. Many investors pay too much just because everyone else is doing so, and then they have negative cash... (more)

Making Money In Real Estate - Ten Ways Making money in real estate is an endless topic that includes all the various types of real estate investments. There is land, apartment buildings, homes, commercial buildings and more. Whatever the type however, you'll make your profits in some of the basic ways listed below. Use this list to get yourself thinking of the possibilities. 1. Appreciation. Making money in real estate can be as simple as holding on and waiting. To really get the... (more)

Finding Motivated Sellers Motivated sellers? My wife and I were trying to keep the renters happy, the rent coming in and the house repaired - while living 2100 miles away. You bet I was motivated. We just sold our house last month, and even got a good price, but I'll tell you a secret. We would have sold the place for... well I don't want to stress out the buyer if he reads this. Let's just say we would have sold it for much less. There's your first clue on... (more)

Real Estate Inspection - Do It Yourself Why should you do your own real estate inspection? To get a better deal. It isn't necessary to learn building codes, and you probably should use a professional inspector in any case. The point of learning what to look for is to have negotiating points. Home Inspection Checklist With a good inspection checklist, you won't forget things. There are more than a hundred items on my own list. Could you keep all those in mind as you walk through... (more)

Real Estate Flipping - How To Do It With real estate flipping, the most you have to invest is an earnest money deposit. That is a big advantage over other forms of real estate investing. The downside? You have to spend a lot of time looking for deals. Flipping has a couple different meanings in real estate investing, depending on who you ask. Some se any fast purchase and resale, even if it involves making minor repairs and improvements, as "flipping" a property. The more ... (more)

Zero Down Real Estate Zero down real estate doesn't really mean no down payment. Most sellers need something as a down payment if they are providing financing. Most banks won't do 100% financing on real estate that is purchased as an investment. Zero down just means that the down payment won't come from your money. So where will you get it? Can you really profit from real estate without having money to start? The answer is clearly yes. At our local ... (more)

Buying Real Estate When It's Not For Sale Buying real estate can start with a look in the newspaper, a visit to a broker, or a search online. These are all good ways to find your next investment property. You're looking at the same properties as every other investor, of course, so it's not always easy to beat the competition to a great buy. A better way to find good real estate investments is to look for properties that aren't yet for sale, and make an offer. I bought my first home... (more)

Hiring A Contractor - 10 Tips A very smart attorney I know paid $7,000 for a roof repair, only to have the roof leak the next time it rained. The contractor stalled, made excuses, but never did a thing about it. Anyone can have these kinds of problems when having repairs or improvements done, but to make it less likely, avoid the following mistakes when hiring a contractor. 1. Not knowing what you want. If you don't know what you want, you might not like what you get. Also, if ... (more)

Real Estate Flipping - How To Do It With real estate flipping, the most you have to invest is an earnest money deposit. That is a big advantage over other forms of real estate investing. The downside? You have to spend a lot of time looking for deals. Flipping has a couple different meanings in real estate investing, depending on who you ask. Some se any fast purchase and resale, even if it involves making minor repairs and improvements, as "flipping" a property. The more ... (more)

Do Your Own Home Inspection Is there any good reason to do your own home inspection? How about to get a better deal. Every flaw you can find is a negotiating point. You don't have to learn building codes, and you probably should use a professional inspector in any case. The point of learning what to look for is to protect yourself and get a better deal. Home Inspection - Use A Checklist A good home inspection checklist, keeps you from forgetting things. I have more than a... (more)

Hiring A Contractor - 10 Tips A very smart attorney I know paid $7,000 for a roof repair, only to have the roof leak the next time it rained. The contractor stalled, made excuses, but never did a thing about it. Anyone can have these kinds of problems when having repairs or improvements done, but to make it less likely, avoid the following mistakes when hiring a contractor. 1. Not knowing what you want. If you don't know what you want, you might not like what you get. Also, if ... (more)

Make Money Renting Rooms I don't know why I didn't do it sooner, but one day many years ago, I decided to try renting rooms in my home. I was young and single, and had a nice mobile home on small piece of property. I found that it was easy to rent out the other two bedrooms. Suddenly, I had thousands of dollars extra each year. Why Room Rentals? In many towns where the rents are high, single people are forced to share apartments with others. They inevitably... (more)

Ten Creative Financing Techniques Do all the creative financing techniques you hear about really work? Yes, actually. They probably have all worked somewhere for someone at least once. The point isn't if they will all work for you. The point is to know what is possible, so you can find your own creative ways to invest in real estate. Here are ten methods to get you thinking. 1. Hard money lenders. You can ask around or find these online. They specialize in short-term loans at ... (more)

Investing In Self Storage Units Self storage units have simplified management and potentially consistent cash flow. That makes them an attractive investment. You have to shop well, however, because the return on investment is probably low in most areas now, due to competition. Investing in self storage units was a great idea almost anywhere 30 years ago. Now that every little town has several of these facilities, you may have to do some serious research to determine if there is still... (more)

Owner Financing - Safety Tips Why offer owner financing when you sell? A higher price, to start with. Add to that a good return on your money, a faster sale, and an easier sale of a "problem property." Good reasons, but how do you do it safely? 1. Ask for a large down payment. This is the most obvious way to be safe, but not always possible. The point of owner financing is to help the buyer get the property, and down payment is one of the areas most buyers need help. ... (more)

Why Invest In Office Buildings? Office buildings can be very profitable, and long-term leases mean less management than with residential income properties.The downside? Nothing seems to go up and down as much as office rents and office occupancy rates. Investing in office buildings can be very profitable. A friend of mine bought the office building that his law firm was renting, and rented it to his company. It generated cash flow from the start. Now that the original mortgage is paid ... (more)

Selling Land - Three Important Tips Selling land or small lots? Would you like to get more for your property and sell it faster? Then there are three important things you should do. My very first piece of real estate was two-and-a-half acres adjoining some state land in northern Michigan. I paid $3,500 for it. Land was cheap back then. I sold it for $4,750 just two weeks later. I'm convinced that selling land so easily, and for 35% more than I paid, was due to three things. ... (more)

Three Ways To Purchase Property You can purchase property for cash, of course, and if you have it, this can be the best way to get a great price. What if you don't have the cash? Here are some of you other options. Partner To Purchase Property Join the local real estate investing group in your town. Then start taking notes, names, and numbers. Our group here in Tucson meets once a month. The best part of the meeting is the "I have / I want" part, where anyone can... (more)

Make Money As A Slumlord Be a slumlord? Okay, I got your attention, now the truth. I really don't recommend that anyone endanger their renters with unsafe housing. 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 Dumps? People rent not-so-nice places because they can afford to. A house that needs paint, has old rusty hinges on the doors, and... (more)

Nothing Down Real Estate Nothing down? Exactly why would a seller want to walk away from closing with nothing? The truth is, they normally wouldn't, and that brings up the most important point about real estate investing with no down payment: A seller almost always needs cash at closing, but it doesn't have to be YOUR cash. Nothing Down - A Few Ways Sometimes sellers are able to offer terms and a low or no down payment, but often you have to find a way to get... (more)

How To Use A Real Estate Option Using a real estate option to control land can turn a small cash investment into big profits. And the downside? You can lose all your investment, and many options DO expire worthless. An option is a simple concept. You pay for the right to buy something within a certain amount of time at a certain price with certain terms. But you have no obligation to follow through and buy it. Example of a Simple Real Estate Option Suppose you want to... (more)

How To Make Money Note Brokering By note brokering you can make money without much investment (just time, phone, and advertising).It has become a more competitive area, so it may be tough to get started. It may be worth it, though, considering this is almost risk-free, while potentially very profitable. Real estate notes are the loan documents (the contracts) created when real estate is financed. They include mortgage notes, second mortgage notes, and contracts-for-sale. If a seller... (more)

Big Money In Condo Conversions Condo conversions have big profit potential, and it is also a potentially creative process. Just be ready for a few unexpected problems. It had to happen. We were living in Tucson for just a short time when I noticed how cheap rent was in relation to home prices. There were $200,000 homes all over that rented out for $650. Investing in rental homes was obviously a losing game. Condos were priced more reasonably, many 2-bedroom ones around... (more)

Selling Land - Three Important Tips Selling land or small lots? Would you like to get more for your property and sell it faster? Then there are three important things you should do. My very first piece of real estate was two-and-a-half acres adjoining some state land in northern Michigan. I paid $3,500 for it. Land was cheap back then. I sold it for $4,750 just two weeks later. I'm convinced that selling land so easily, and for 35% more than I paid, was due to three things. ... (more)

Home Buying Tips Home buying tips included in these articles range from walk-through inspection lists to getting the best interest rates to a story of buying a great home for under $20,000. Related articles can be found on the pages Home Selling Tips and Real Estate Investing Articles. Why Are There Cheap Houses? - Knowing the reasons will help you find one. Your Home Buying Checklist - Did you do everything on this list? Buying A Home With Bad... (more)

Real Estate Research - Talk To Everyone Real estate research might start with a look at the U.S. Census information about a town. It can include inspections of specific properties, too. There are many statical tools and information that can help, but don't forget one of the easiest and most useful research tools: talking. Let me explain with a true story. My wife and I were on vacation, and stopped in Farmington, New Mexico for a few days. We were about to buy a house for a winter... (more)

Profit From Under-Utilized Properties Targeting under-utilized properties may lead to a "diamond in the rough." You can make a lot of money with this strategy. You can also spend a lot of time searching for these profit opportunities. It was definitely an under-utilized property. When we looked at the house, we were just thinking in terms of living in it. It had two bedrooms and a full basement. It also had an extra lot, with a mobile home on it. Since the mobile home was beyond... (more)

Making Money With Real Estate The many ways of making money with real estate include not only the various types of property. Of course you can make money with land, apartment buildings, homes, commercial buildings and more. But with whatever type of real estate, there are different ways you'll make your profits. Some of those ways, and how to maximize them, are listed below. 1. Pay-down on the loan. Equity builds with every payment you make. If you get the lowest interest rate ... (more)

Home Buying Tips Home buying tips included in these articles range from walk-through inspection lists to getting the best interest rates to a story of buying a great home for under $20,000. Related articles can be found on the pages Home Selling Tips and Real Estate Investing Articles. Why Are There Cheap Houses? - Knowing the reasons will help you find one. Your Home Buying Checklist - Did you do everything on this list? Buying A Home With Bad... (more)

Purchase Agreement Clauses That Can Save Your Butt The real estate purchase agreement is more than just a casual offer. The moment you and the seller sign it, it is a legally binding contract. Since you can put what you want in your offer, why not include some of the clauses that smart buyers use to protect themselves and save money? Some suggestions follow. Six Purchase Agreement Clauses A better earnest money clause. You can put a small earnest money deposit down and still be taken seriously, ... (more)

Six Real Estate Investing Principles There are real estate investing "tricks" and techniques that you may know, or want to know. There are new ways of doing things that are worth learning. Knowing about the latest types of financing is another way can also help. Before all of these, however, you need to learn some basic principles. Here are six of them. 1. Build relationships. 2. Understand the numbers. 3. Reduce risk. 4. Be prepared. 5. Set goals. 6. Learn, and... (more)

Ten Creative Financing Techniques Do all the creative financing techniques you hear about really work? Yes, actually. They probably have all worked somewhere for someone at least once. The point isn't if they will all work for you. The point is to know what is possible, so you can find your own creative ways to invest in real estate. Here are ten methods to get you thinking. 1. Hard money lenders. You can ask around or find these online. They specialize in short-term loans at ... (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)

Internet Marketing Tools Here are some of the internet marketing tools you may need to take your business to the next level. Some of these are free services and websites that you can use. Others are even better: expensive products that make you money. HTML Help : Every HTML document contains certain standard HTML tags. If you don't even know what HTML is (Hyper-Text Markup Language), start with great tutorials here: www.htmlgoodies.com. You can also learn by using... (more)

Hard Money Profits Make hard money loans and you get a high rate of return on your cash. You have to do it properly to be safe, of course. You also need a lot of money to invest to do this. What are "hard money" loans? They are short-term loans (usually 24 months or less) made to real estate investors, usually so they can purchase and rehab a property. There is often a loan fee of as much as five percent or more of the loan amount, and up to fifteen percent or... (more)

Best Investment Real Estate Locations Where are the best investment real estate locations? If you have enough experience investing in real estate, you can make money almost anywhere, but there are always places that are better or worse for real estate investments. For maximum profits, you want places that have a better demand/supply ratio. You can use the questions below to find them. Real Estate Demand 1. Does the area have decent job growth? Ask local authorities and use census... (more)

Financing The Sale Of Your Home - Safely Why offer seller financing when you sell? A higher price, a good return on your money, a faster sale and to sell a property that is otherwise difficult to sell. Some good reasons, but how do you do it safely? 1. Get a large down payment. The most obvious way to be safe, and not always possible. 2. Get other security. If they want it with little down, and you like the return you'll get, make it safe by putting a mortgage on other property the... (more)

Renting A Room
For Extra Income Renting a room? I wish I had thought of it sooner, but one day many years ago I finally gave it a try. I had a thee-bedroom mobile home on small piece of property, and I soon found that it was easy to rent out not one, but both other bedrooms. I suddenly had thousands of dollars extra each year. Many towns with high rent have a high demand for rooms. Single people share apartments with others, and inevitably have problems with splitting bills, what to... (more)

What the Credit Industry Doesn't Want You to Know About Bankruptcy by: Tiffany Sanders 1. The "new" bankruptcy law that went into affect in October, 2005 isn't very much more restrictive than the "old" law. The law revision got a lot of press that made it sound like it would be much more difficult, "perhaps impossible" to file for bankruptcy protection after the new law went into effect. It's true that there are some additional steps and additional paperwork. Filing... (more)

Create Shared Water Frontage By creating shared water frontage you can dramatically increase the value of property. This can get complicated, but then that's why you won't have much competition. What do people buy when they can't afford a house on the lake or ocean front? They buy a home near the water with shared water frontage. This is a piece of land on the water that is commonly owned by more than one home owner. Usually, this is arranged when a subdivision is... (more)

Real Estate Rentals - Selling For More Selling real estate rentals isn't like selling houses. You can paint a house, and get a little more because it looks nice. Rental properties, especially larger ones, are different, because they're bought by investors, who look at income more than new paint. Raise the income, and you increase value to investors. Time to learn about capitalization rates. If investors in your area expect a capitalization rate of .08 it means they want a net... (more)

They Are All Motivated Sellers The importance of finding motivated sellers is stressed by almost every real estate guru out there. Of course it is ideal if you can find that seller who just wants to get rid of his property no matter what - and fast! All sellers have their own motivations, though, and you can make a better deal out of any property if you learn what those motivations are and use them in your negotiating. In a sense, a seller is a motivated seller the moment he puts... (more)

Make Money With Commercial Property Rentals Commercial property rentals with triple-net leases mean little management and high returns. However, this can be a tough market to break into, and you can have negative cash flow on vacant storefronts for a year at a time. How about a real estate investment in which the renter pays not only the rent, but the taxes and insurance, and maintenance costs as well? That is the idea behind the "triple net lease." It is common in commercial real... (more)

Flipping A Rehab House What is "flipping" a rehab? It is making an offer on a fixer-upper, and then selling the contract. It can mean fast profits with little risk, and very little money invested. The downside? You may make less profits than if you fix it up yourself, and can spend a lot of time looking for the right properties. We are talking about classic real estate "flipping" here. You never really own the property or have any of the headaches that... (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)

Warning! Don't buy a home before you answer these questions. Even if you were to pay all cash for a home, you should ask a number of questions. The fact that you are seeking home on lease option/lease purchase brings to light even more questions! Be certain that you know the answers to these questions before buying a home: Area What is the best area for you, considering where you do most of your activities and work? Is the area declining, static, or improving? Do you know your mass-transit system, and where to locate to be nearby the... (more)

Real Estate Market Research - DIY Want to do it yourself? Start your real estate market research with the U.S. Census information about a town. You want to invest in a town that is growing, especially if you are investing in income properties. It's getting easier to do this now, with all the information available online. Just go to the official U.S. Census site at www.census.gov. If you call the chamber of commerce, or the local department of economic development, they may have a ... (more)

Fix And Flip
A Real Estate Formula Making money with a "fix and flip" property is a great way to make money in real estate. However, it isn't about repairing drywall and planting flowers. It's all about how you do the numbers. People often buy and sell a fixer-upper without a definite plan. They buy a house, fix it up, then add $10,000 or $20,000 onto their costs. They then put the house up for sale at this price. Have you ever bought a house according to what... (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)

An Apartment Building Investment Strategy With an apartment building investment strategy, it is possible to make a very large profit from one deal. It does, however, require a lot of work and possibly a few years to complete. If you know what you are doing, buying, improving, and then selling an apartment building can be one of the surest ways to make a large profit in real estate. Why? The size of the investment helps. Making a 10% profit on a million-dollar property is more profitable than... (more)

Property Management Company - Hiring One Hiring a property management company is a great idea if you have even a small apartment building. Having someone taking care of all the small details of a rental property means you'll have more time to find the next good investment. Also, trying to do it all yourself is the surest way to make your real estate investment experience a bitter one. To find a good property manager, ask the following questions. 1. Other properties they manage? It's ... (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)

FSBO Real Estate Secrets Buying FSBO real estate, or houses for sale by owner, has its own particular problems and opportunities. Dealing with an uninformed seller who thought he knew enough to handle everything by himself can be frustrating, but it can also be very profitable if you are prepared. First you need to understand the FSBO seller. People try to sell a house on their own for one primary reason: To save the sales commission. Unfortunately for them, they usually... (more)

Creative Real Estate Financing This is the age of creative real estate financing. Maybe you remember when financing meant you saved up enough to put 20% down on a house, and then got a mortgage loan for the other 80%? You can still do that, but there are many more options now. Here are ten of them. 1. Second mortgage loans from sellers. Many banks will allow you to have as little as 5% into a home purchase, but will then only loan you 80%. The seller can take payments on a second... (more)

Rental Property - Refinance, Don't Sell You own a rental property for years, and never see the "big pay-off." Is it time to cash in on your investment, now that you've paid down the mortgage, and values are up? Maybe not. The Problem With Selling Selling means you'll have to pay a large capital gains tax. This can be avoided if you reinvest through a 1031 exchange, but then the point is that you want your money, right? Also, a good rental gets more income as rents go... (more)

Real Estate Negotiations - Seller Motivation One of the most important things to do during your real estate negotiations is to learn why the seller is selling. More than that though, you want to try to learn the seller's motivations for every aspect of the process. In other words, learn not just why he wants to sell, but also why he wants to sell a particular way, why he wants the price he is asking, what's important to him when making decisions, and more. Watch for personal motivators,... (more)

Offer To Purchase - Clauses You Need An offer to purchase is a legally binding document, not just a casual negotiating tool. The moment the seller of the real estate signs your offer, you are obligated to live up to its exact language. Since you can write the offer how you want to, why not include the clauses that smart buyers use to protect themselves? You can also use language that will save you money. The Offer To Purchase - Important Clauses Inspection contingency clauses. You want ... (more)

Real Estate Negotiation
The Art Of The Compromise Real estate negotiation is a book-length subject, and one of those reasons why it can sometimes be a mistake to sell your property on your own. A good real estate agent, after all, should have some good negotiating skills learned from experience. However, there are some things you can learn a piece at a time, and this is one of them. Of all the techniques of real estate negotiation, and of negotiation in general, the compromise is one of the most ... (more)

What To Fix On Your Fixer Upper You've bought a house, a fixer-upper you can make some money on. What improvements and repairs should you make? First of all, you need to know this before you buy, as I explained in another article. Before and after you buy, though, you need to have some simple rules with which to start analyzing possible fixes. Return On Investment A young couple was very disappointed when I told them there house was worth $110,000. "We just put ... (more)

Mobile Home Rentals
A Great Investment Why mobile home rentals? Get past the prejudice and look at the numbers. In our town, for example, a two bedroom house costs $130,000 and rents for $800/month. A $50,000 mobile home on real estate gets $500/month. Cash-on-cash return on investment is obviously higher with mobile homes. Don't let the half-truth that mobiles depreciate in value keep you from investing in them. They lose value in a park, on a rented lot, but not on real estate. My first... (more)

Real Estate Investment Clubs? Your local real estate investment clubs or associations will educate you. It won't be book education, but useful knowledge about your local real estate market. The people there are investors, many who have gotten wealthy investing right in your town. This means you'll get meaningful and specific advice on what is working in your area, where to go for an inspector or property manager, and many other tips and based on real experience. There are... (more)

Common Myths About Credit Repair by: John Mussi As important as credit is, there are a lot of people that don't really know that much about credit and how it can be damaged or repaired. A variety of different myths and misconceptions exist in regards to credit and credit repair, and there are a lot of people who don't even bother looking into the facts concerning this topic until it is too late and their credit has been damaged or worse. Below you'll find some of the more common... (more)

Learn Creative Real Estate Investing I started with creative real estate investing before I even bought a home. With a job that paid $3.40 an hour, I saved $5,000. I used $3,500 of it to buy my first piece of real estate - 2 acres near where I lived. As you can guess, this was many years ago. A few hours removing brush, and it was ready to sell. I hand-painted a sign, and two weeks later sold the land for $4,750, with $250 down, $100 per month, at 11% interest. With the capital gain, my... (more)

Hard Money Profits Make hard money loans and you get a high rate of return on your cash. You have to do it properly to be safe, of course. You also need a lot of money to invest to do this. What are "hard money" loans? They are short-term loans (usually 24 months or less) made to real estate investors, usually so they can purchase and rehab a property. There is often a loan fee of as much as five percent or more of the loan amount, and up to fifteen percent or... (more)

Home Selling Tips These articles on home selling tips include topics ranging from how to prepare for sale to choosing a real estate agent, to getting the highest price for your home. Related articles can be found on the pages Home Buying Tips, and Real Estate Investing Articles. Will An Open House Sell Your Home? - Maybe, but read this first. A Lesson About Market Value - What is it exactly? Real Estate - What Are You Really Selling? - Maybe not... (more)

Bad Credit Home Financing - Choosing A Subprime Mortgage Lender by: Carrie Reeder In the early nineties subprime mortgages accounted for about five percent of all mortgages. Today the subprime mortgage loan sector comprises more than twenty percent of the mortgage market. With this explosion of subprime mortgage lenders and brokers, it is important to know what to look for when choosing your lender. Not only do you want to be sure that you are getting the best deal possible... (more)

Why Do It Yourself Credit Repair Is The Best Option Why "Do It Yourself Credit Repair" Is The Best Option by: Brandon C. Hall Having a good credit rating is one of the essential tools to leading a successful economic life. Although most people don't give their credit reports much thought, good credit allows for many things that are usually taken for granted: credit cards, car rentals, hassle free loans and apartment rentals etc. . . Every time you miss a payment to a creditor, the creditor will report this to a credit bureau,... (more)

Easing Your Way Into Homeownership: How Your Real Estate Agent Can Help You Qualify For A Low Down Payment Mortgage by: W. Troy Swezey For many renters, the first step in buying a home is becoming educated about the process. If you’re like many people considering a home purchase, you’ve spent nights and weekends poring over your local real estate section. You’ve talked to friends and relatives about their experiences. Maybe you’ve even purchased a book or tow to help you... (more)

Hiring Rental Property Management Why hire rental property management? Because doing it all yourself is the surest way to make your real estate investment experience a bitter one. You also have more time to find the next deal when there is someone taking care of the details for you. Hire a good property manager, but first ask the following questions. 1. How much is the fee? Fees vary around the country from as low as 4% of gross rents for larger buildings, to as high as 12% for... (more)

No Money Down - Really? No money down may mean no down payment. That's what most people think it means. A seller actually agreeing to get nothing at closing is rare, though. Most sellers need something as a down payment. They want a little bit to show for the sale, and may even need it just to cover their closing costs, like paying the real estate agent. Also, most banks won't finance the entire purchase price of a property. This is especially true of real estate... (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)

A Real Estate Quiz See how well you do on this real estate quiz for home buyers and real estate investors. 1. A "no-doc" mortgage loan means you don't have to have any source of income. True or False? 2. An income property without any special problems is a good deal if it has a capitalization rate (or more commonly called the "cap rate") of: A. .10 or higher B. .05 or lower C. Not enough information 3. In a 1031 exchange you can't... (more)

Buying In The Path Of Growth Buying in the path of growth, you can make a large profit in a year or less. But get the timing wrong, and you might have to sit on a property for years without sufficient income to cover your holding costs. There are reasons why towns have to grow in certain directions. Sometimes it is a matter of geography. It is difficult to put new buildings on the sides of steep valley walls, or out into a lake or ocean. Sometimes it is a matter of available... (more)

What Is A Sandwich Lease? A sandwich lease may seem a bit complicated at first. It also doesn't necessarily work well in all areas. However, when it does work, it is a great way to invest in real estate without much cash. This technique has been used for a long time, but is still relatively unknown among investors. Essentially, you lease a property with an option to buy it, and then turn around and rent it out to someone else, also granting them an option to buy it. Their... (more)

Negotiating Real Estate - Go Slow Why should you sometimes go slow when negotiating real estate deals? It's all about the power of time investment. Let me explain with a story. One of my less-pleasant experiences selling real estate was when I sold a home for a real decent guy, and the buyer was a lawyer. I was new to real estate, and this lawyer knew all the angles. Without getting into all the dirty tricks he used, I'll just say that the buyer had everyone involved angry, ... (more)

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)

Buy Investment Property Without Seeing It Why would you buy investment property without seeing it? It's a numbers game. Whether or not you see the property before you make an offer isn't nearly as important as making sure the numbers make sense. A man in California used to just send out offers on a hundred MLS listings at a time, offering 25% less than the asking price on each one. Occasionally a few sellers would accept his offers. He never had to look at the homes beforehand. ... (more)

Negotiating Real Estate - Go Slow Why should you sometimes go slow when negotiating real estate deals? It's all about the power of time investment. Let me explain with a story. One of my less-pleasant experiences selling real estate was when I sold a home for a real decent guy, and the buyer was a lawyer. I was new to real estate, and this lawyer knew all the angles. Without getting into all the dirty tricks he used, I'll just say that the buyer had everyone involved angry, ... (more)

Mobile Homes Can Make You Wealthy Does the myth that mobile homes depreciate in value keep you from investing in them? Well, they do lose value in a park, on a rented lot. Mobile homes with real estate, however, are an entirely different investment. My mobile home doubled in value in the twelve years I lived in it. The home deteriorated a little (don't all houses?), but the value of the land continued to rise. Also, by renting rooms, I took in far more money from my home than it... (more)

How To Make Money Optioning Special Properties Optioning special properties is another way to make money in real estate that few people consider. However, it can be a way to get large profits from small investments. And the disadvantages? You will lose those small investments most of the time, and spend a lot of time hunting for the right properties. Investing in real estate through options can be one of the most creative ways to make money. Here is one of my favorite stories which demonstrates... (more)

Rental Properties - 10 Cash Flow Tips What if you want better cash flow from your rental properties? You can't just raise the rents arbitrarily. If tenants leave, income goes down, not up. There are other ways, though, including the ones listed below. 1. Install coin-operated washing machines. Even if you don't have the money to do this yourself, you can find a company that will do it for you, and share the income with you. 2. Rent extra parking space. When I got tired of a... (more)

Appraisal For Rental Properties Real estate appraisal for rental properties isn't the same as for single family homes. If you were looking at a 24-unit building, it would be difficult to find similar ones nearby that have recently sold. Therefore, a market analysis using comparable sales isn't normally used. It is also not ideal to use replacement costs either. How do you figure replacement cost if there is no land for sale nearby with proper zoning? This is used as a ... (more)

Real Estate Appraisal - Do Your Own or single family homes, there are two basic methods used in real estate appraisal. They are replacement cost analysis, and using comparable sales. A third appraisal method, based on capitalization, is used for income properties, and is covered in another article. In figuring replacement cost the question is: What would it cost to buy this land and put this house on it? If the land (improved) would cost $40,000, and the house could be built for... (more)

Buying Houses For Sale By Owner Houses for sale by owner, also known as "FSBOs," are a unique case in real estate investment. Buying from an uninformed seller who thought he knew enough to handle everything by himself can be frustrating. It can also be very profitable if you are prepared. Why do people try to sell a house on their own? Only one primary reason comes to mind: To save the sales commission. Of course they usually underestimate the cost and complexity of going... (more)

Rental Management - Do Your Own? Rental management fees vary around the country, and according to the property type. They can be as low as 4% of the gross rents for large properties, to as high as 12% for single family homes. Managing your rental properties yourself can theoretically save you a lot of money, especially if you own a collection of single family rental homes. Should you do it yourself, then? That depends on the property, and on your own long term goals. Let's look ... (more)

Make Your Own Real Estate Investing Course Have you ever ordered a real estate investing course off of a late night infomercial? Was it just what you needed? I hope it was, but more often, there is a lot of information there that just doesn't help. It isn't that the information is necessarily incorrect. It is just that we all are different, and not all ways of making money in real estate suit each of us. Fortunately, there are hundreds of variations based on dozens of basically... (more)

Buying Investment Property First a little story about buying investment property. My wife and I stayed at a motel in Tucson for a week one winter. Our bill was for twice what it should have been, but since I already paid the correct amount in cash, I thought nothing of it. During our stay, we noticed that the lobby and swimming pool were unheated, and passed it off as frugality. A year later, however, when I read a news story about a new owner struggling to make the motel... (more)

Get A Higher Price For Your Income Property Selling income property isn't like selling a house. You can paint a house, and get a little more because it looks nice. Rental property is different, because it's bought by investors, who look at income more than new paint. Raise income, and you increase value. Let's assume investors in your area expect a capitalization rate of .08. That means that they want a net return (before loan payments and taxes) of 8% on the purchase price. If... (more)

Real Estate Limited Partnerships - Why Invest? Real estate partnership, when set up as limited partnerships, have some clear advantages. As a limited partner, you don't have to deal with any of the management problems. You just hand over your money and wait for the profits. Disadvantages? As a limited partner, you have no control - you just hand over your money and hope the general partner does a good job. You might like the idea of a real estate partnership. It is an opportunity to invest in... (more)

Rental Property Income - How To Increase It You may think that to raise your rental property income you can just raise rents. However, you can't just raise the rents arbitrarily, because if tenants leave, income goes down, not up. Fortunately, there are other ways, including the ones listed below. 1. Consider raising the rent. We did dismiss ARBITRARY rent hikes as a cash-flow solution, but check on the rates for similar units. Are you renting at below-market rates? 2. Charge rent... (more)

How To Find Investment Properties If you really want the best deals in investment properties, you have to increase your odds by finding more deals. Who is more likely to get a cheap apartment building, an investor that looks through the MLS listings and calls it a day, or the one that uses ten resources? Here are the ten: 1. Talk. Let people know you are looking and sometimes the properties will come to you. There are a lot of owners out there who want to sell, but haven't yet... (more)

Moving And Relocating Tips I know how stressful and chaotic moving and relocating can be. We moved from one part of Tucson to another in March of this year, and then in June we bought a home and relocated to Colorado. Here are some of the lessons we and others have learned. 1. Make and use lists. We all forget things, even after remembering them several times. Put them on that list during one of these times. Make a list of things to do before the move, including getting school... (more)

How To Make Money Note Brokering By note brokering you can make money without much investment (just time, phone, and advertising).It has become a more competitive area, so it may be tough to get started. It may be worth it, though, considering this is almost risk-free, while potentially very profitable. Real estate notes are the loan documents (the contracts) created when real estate is financed. They include mortgage notes, second mortgage notes, and contracts-for-sale. If a seller... (more)

Ten Myths Of Real Estate Investing Is real estate investing only for the wealthy? Can you buy with no money down? Do you have to know the "right" people? Let's answer by looking at some of the myths of real estate. 1. Real estate investing is for the wealthy. Money helps, but my first real estate investment was a $3,500 lot - which I sold for a profit two weeks after I bought it. Small deals, partners, low-down deals, or just putting aside $7 per day for a couple years... (more)

Real Estate Rentals - Selling For More Selling real estate rentals isn't like selling houses. You can paint a house, and get a little more because it looks nice. Rental properties, especially larger ones, are different, because they're bought by investors, who look at income more than new paint. Raise the income, and you increase value to investors. Time to learn about capitalization rates. If investors in your area expect a capitalization rate of .08 it means they want a net... (more)

How To Buy An Apartment Building How to buy an apartment building? You could start with a look in the newspaper, a visit to a broker, or a search online - all good ways. Of course, since you're looking at the same properties as every other investor, it's not always easy to beat the competition to the great deals. Is there a better way? Why not look for properties that aren't yet for sale, and make an offer? This is how I bought my first home. An ad in the paper stating... (more)

Investment Real Estate Valuation Real estate valuation for single family homes is typically done by using comparable sales. With income properties this just doesn't work well. Imagine if you are looking at a 24-unit building. It would be difficult to find similar ones nearby that have recently sold. It's also not ideal to use replacement costs for income property appraisal. How do you figure replacement cost if there is no land for sale nearby with proper zoning? This is... (more)

Investing In Self Storage Units Self storage units have simplified management and potentially consistent cash flow. That makes them an attractive investment. You have to shop well, however, because the return on investment is probably low in most areas now, due to competition. Investing in self storage units was a great idea almost anywhere 30 years ago. Now that every little town has several of these facilities, you may have to do some serious research to determine if there is still... (more)

How To Use A Real Estate Option Using a real estate option to control land can turn a small cash investment into big profits. And the downside? You can lose all your investment, and many options DO expire worthless. An option is a simple concept. You pay for the right to buy something within a certain amount of time at a certain price with certain terms. But you have no obligation to follow through and buy it. Example of a Simple Real Estate Option Suppose you want to... (more)

How To Sell On Lease Option When you sell on a lease option basis, you generally get to collect higher rent, and sell at a higher price. Then, if the buyer doesn't exercise the option you may be able to keep the deposit and sell the home for even more. The downside? Bookkeeping can tricky, and many tenants don't complete the purchase (this can be an advantage actually, but it does mean more work for you). There are many potential buyers out there who can't buy at... (more)

Offer Seller Financing To Make More Money An example of seller financing: Years ago I bought a rental property, and nine months later sold it for 15% more, without fixing or improving a thing. The easy terms are what sold it. I took $1000 down, and I still get a payment every month, with 9% interest. Four Reasons To Offer Seller Financing 1. To get a higher price. As you can see from the example above, buyers pay for easy terms. From the buyers perspective, he gets a place for almost... (more)

Creative Real Estate Financing This is the age of creative real estate financing. Maybe you remember when financing meant you saved up enough to put 20% down on a house, and then got a mortgage loan for the other 80%? You can still do that, but there are many more options now. Here are ten of them. 1. Second mortgage loans from sellers. Many banks will allow you to have as little as 5% into a home purchase, but will then only loan you 80%. The seller can take payments on a second... (more)

Real Estate Market Research - DIY Want to do it yourself? Start your real estate market research with the U.S. Census information about a town. You want to invest in a town that is growing, especially if you are investing in income properties. It's getting easier to do this now, with all the information available online. Just go to the official U.S. Census site at www.census.gov. If you call the chamber of commerce, or the local department of economic development, they may have a ... (more)

Learn Creative Real Estate Investing I started with creative real estate investing before I even bought a home. With a job that paid $3.40 an hour, I saved $5,000. I used $3,500 of it to buy my first piece of real estate - 2 acres near where I lived. As you can guess, this was many years ago. A few hours removing brush, and it was ready to sell. I hand-painted a sign, and two weeks later sold the land for $4,750, with $250 down, $100 per month, at 11% interest. With the capital gain, my... (more)

Credit Report -- 5 Secrets Credit Bureaus Don't Want You to Know by: Jim Eastman If you've ever applied for a loan or credit card, chances are your lender acquired and examined a copy of your credit report before deciding whether or not to grant you credit. Your "Credit Report" is a record of your credit history and it's prepared by agencies called "Credit Bureaus", or "Consumer Reporting Agencies." These are private organizations and have no affiliation with the United... (more)

Types Of Real Estate - The Choices There are different types of real estate, and different ways to invest in them. Which way is best is for you to decide, according to your particular needs. Here are a few ways to consider, with their advantages and disadvantages. 1. Rental houses. Advantages: One of the easier ways to get started, and good long term return on investment. Disadvantages: Being a landlord isn't much fun, and you typically wait a long time for the big pay-off. 2.... (more)

Making Money With Real Estate The many ways of making money with real estate include not only the various types of property. Of course you can make money with land, apartment buildings, homes, commercial buildings and more. But with whatever type of real estate, there are different ways you'll make your profits. Some of those ways, and how to maximize them, are listed below. 1. Pay-down on the loan. Equity builds with every payment you make. If you get the lowest interest rate ... (more)

Ten Real Estate Investing Tips Real estate investing tips tend to be a bit vague, like "invest in the right location," or "make sure the numbers work." Actually, tips like these are important principles to remember. However, since they have been well represented in other articles, I want to share a few more specific tips with you. 1. Listen to the market. The cabinet guy looked to me for a decision. I realized that I knew nothing at all about which cabinets... (more)

Real Estate Limited Partnerships - Why Invest? Real estate partnership, when set up as limited partnerships, have some clear advantages. As a limited partner, you don't have to deal with any of the management problems. You just hand over your money and wait for the profits. Disadvantages? As a limited partner, you have no control - you just hand over your money and hope the general partner does a good job. You might like the idea of a real estate partnership. It is an opportunity to invest in... (more)

Real Estate Research - Talk To Everyone Real estate research might start with a look at the U.S. Census information about a town. It can include inspections of specific properties, too. There are many statical tools and information that can help, but don't forget one of the easiest and most useful research tools: talking. Let me explain with a true story. My wife and I were on vacation, and stopped in Farmington, New Mexico for a few days. We were about to buy a house for a winter... (more)

Investing In Real Estate - Six Specific Tips Investing in real estate should be a pleasurable and profitable activity. Listen carefully to investors, though, and you hear not just success stories, but sad tales of stress and losing money. Here are some tips for keeping your real estate stories happy ones. - Have a top price. Properties have a market value, and then they have their value to you. Many investors pay too much just because everyone else is doing so, and then they have negative cash... (more)

Locating a Down Payment by: Jennifer Hershey If you are a saver, and many of you are, than the need to locate a down payment will not be an issue for you. But there are also many of us out there that have not had the luxury to save as much as we would have liked for various reasons. With this challenge at hand, we will need to track down a source for a down payment. If you have excellent credit, and when I say excellent, I mean your credit history is perfect without a blemish... (more)

Make Money Renting Rooms I don't know why I didn't do it sooner, but one day many years ago, I decided to try renting rooms in my home. I was young and single, and had a nice mobile home on small piece of property. I found that it was easy to rent out the other two bedrooms. Suddenly, I had thousands of dollars extra each year. Why Room Rentals? In many towns where the rents are high, single people are forced to share apartments with others. They inevitably... (more)

Offer To Purchase - Clauses You Need An offer to purchase is a legally binding document, not just a casual negotiating tool. The moment the seller of the real estate signs your offer, you are obligated to live up to its exact language. Since you can write the offer how you want to, why not include the clauses that smart buyers use to protect themselves? You can also use language that will save you money. The Offer To Purchase - Important Clauses Inspection contingency clauses. You want ... (more)

Buying Rental Property Safely Be careful when buying rental property. We stayed at a motel for a week one winter. The bill showed twice what it should have, but since I already paid the correct amount in cash, I thought nothing of it. When we noticed that the lobby and swimming pool were unheated, we thought it was frugality. Only a year later, when I read a news story about a new owner struggling to make the motel work, did I realize what was going on. The owner had been planning... (more)

Basement Conversions - An Investment Strategy Basement conversions can be a way to quickly make a home more valuable. Just be sure to do the math before you try this. You should also plan for a few surprises. Why should you convert basements into living space? Because unfinished basements are the most under-valued space out there. Finish them, and you can quickly and efficiently raise the value of a home. You can even make an investment strategy of buying homes with large unfinished basements, in... (more)

Refinance & Mortgage Tips: Your Down Payment Is Key Buying a Home for the First Time or Needing Some Cash?Learn How and When to Use a 1st, 2nd or Reverse Mortgage To Use The Equity by: John R. Blakefield Throughout your home owning experience, you may run into unexpected events that cause you to use your options of increasing and decreasing both your debt and home equity in your property. Mortgages are really just that, a change in the amount of money you owe (debt) and the amount of ownership in your property (home equity).... (more)

Fix And Flip
A Real Estate Formula Making money with a "fix and flip" property is a great way to make money in real estate. However, it isn't about repairing drywall and planting flowers. It's all about how you do the numbers. People often buy and sell a fixer-upper without a definite plan. They buy a house, fix it up, then add $10,000 or $20,000 onto their costs. They then put the house up for sale at this price. Have you ever bought a house according to what... (more)

Buying Rental Properties - 10 Tips Buying rental properties can be a great way to build your wealth. However, as in most real estate investment, it is sometimes difficult to know if you've found a good deal - especially the first time. Here are some things to look for to be sure that rental is a great investment. 1. Location. If traffic is heavier, rentals are easier to rent. A sign will often pull more response than an ad in the paper. If it is a nice locale, it will usually rent ... (more)

Rental Property Investment
Finding The Properties Rental property investment starts with finding the best deals. To do this, you can increase your odds by finding more deals. Who's more likely to get a cheap apartment building, an investor that looks through the MLS listings and calls it a day, or the one that uses ten resources? Here are those ten: 1. Look in old papers to find "For Rent" ads. Call if they are a few weeks old. The landlord may be ready to sell, especially if he... (more)

Rental Property Investment
Finding The Properties Rental property investment starts with finding the best deals. To do this, you can increase your odds by finding more deals. Who's more likely to get a cheap apartment building, an investor that looks through the MLS listings and calls it a day, or the one that uses ten resources? Here are those ten: 1. Look in old papers to find "For Rent" ads. Call if they are a few weeks old. The landlord may be ready to sell, especially if he... (more)

Due Diligence - Did You Do It? Due diligence? You hear the term, but what does it really mean? Here's a simple definition: "Investigation and verification of the details of a particular investment." In real estate investment, you can start this process before you make an offer, but you also normally have clauses in the offer that allow you to have inspections done, and reviews of the books and certain documents. Due Diligence - What To Look For You'll need to... (more)

How To Get A Free Copy Of Your Credit Report by: Nick Davis If you're going to apply for a credit card, a mortgage, a loan or any other source of finance, one thing any potential lender will check is your credit report. This will tell them about any previous unpaid debts or legal judgments against you, and help them assess whether you are creditworthy or not. There are three three nationwide consumer reporting companies in the US: Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. All keep... (more)

Real Estate Investment Requires A Team I had a hard time at first with real estate investment. One of the reasons was that I tended to be a "lone wolf," trying to do too much myself. I've since learned that to really do well investing in real estate, you need to have a team of people you can trust and rely on. Here are some possible team members, and what they need to be on the team. 1. Real estate agent. A licensed agent with experience in the area you invest in and... (more)

Three Ways To Purchase Property You can purchase property for cash, of course, and if you have it, this can be the best way to get a great price. What if you don't have the cash? Here are some of you other options. Partner To Purchase Property Join the local real estate investing group in your town. Then start taking notes, names, and numbers. Our group here in Tucson meets once a month. The best part of the meeting is the "I have / I want" part, where anyone can... (more)

Helpful Tips for Erasing Your Bad Credit by: Talbert Williams Bad credit can have a harmful effect on a number of things. If you have a bad credit, then you may not be able to get a loan or a credit card on the terms that are favorable to you. Moreover, it can even prevent you from getting some jobs. Thus, it is very important to erase bad credit. To erase bad credit, the most important thing that you need to do is to repay your old debts. By repaying these debts,... (more)

How To Make An Offer You know the first rule of how to make an offer. When you bought your home, you offered less than you were willing to pay, right? That's the most common negotiation technique. For experienced investors, however, that's just one technique among the many more powerful ones. What else can you do? 1. Offer an odd amount, like $161,793. This gives the impression that you know something the seller doesn't. They may... (more)

Rental Properties - 10 Cash Flow Tips What if you want better cash flow from your rental properties? You can't just raise the rents arbitrarily. If tenants leave, income goes down, not up. There are other ways, though, including the ones listed below. 1. Install coin-operated washing machines. Even if you don't have the money to do this yourself, you can find a company that will do it for you, and share the income with you. 2. Rent extra parking space. When I got tired of a... (more)

Investing In Billboards Billboards are income properties without the usual landlording concerns. Perhaps the biggest problem with investing in billboards is that there are limited opportunities to do so in most areas. I like the idea of a billboard investment. No toilets to fix, no tenants to evict. Just lease the space, let the renter do all the painting, and collect the income. Of course it might be necessary to upgrade the billboard or repair it every ten years or so, but... (more)

A Flexible Payment Mortgage-- Could it be your answer? Flexible Payment Mortgages by: LendingTree Editorial Staff With most mortgages, your payment is the same every month. But what if your paycheck isn’t so regular? Would you like to be able to vary your mortgage payment depending on your cash flow? An option ARM -- also called a flex-ARM or pick-a-payment loan -- allows you to do just that. How does it work? An option ARM is an adjustable-rate mortgage with a twist. You don’t pay a set amount each month. Instead,... (more)

Buy Real Estate - The Two-Note Technique The two-note technique is another of the many ways to buy real estate with no money down. It not only gets you into real estate with zero down, but it can also get the seller a good chunk of cash at closing. This is especially important if he has to pay off an existing mortgage loan on the property. First, a definition is in order. What is a "note?" It is the debt instrument created to finance a real estate purchase. The most common example... (more)

Buying Investment Property First a little story about buying investment property. My wife and I stayed at a motel in Tucson for a week one winter. Our bill was for twice what it should have been, but since I already paid the correct amount in cash, I thought nothing of it. During our stay, we noticed that the lobby and swimming pool were unheated, and passed it off as frugality. A year later, however, when I read a news story about a new owner struggling to make the motel... (more)

Real Estate Inspection - Do It Yourself Why should you do your own real estate inspection? To get a better deal. It isn't necessary to learn building codes, and you probably should use a professional inspector in any case. The point of learning what to look for is to have negotiating points. Home Inspection Checklist With a good inspection checklist, you won't forget things. There are more than a hundred items on my own list. Could you keep all those in mind as you walk through... (more)

Create Your Own Duplex Investment You can create your own duplex investment by converting a home into a duplex. This can make a negative cash flow house into a positive cash flow duplex. Of course, zZoning and permit problems are definite possibilities. Houses may be a losing proposition as rentals in your area. They are in many areas now. However, if you find the right kind of home, you may be able to convert it into a duplex and turn that cash flow situation around. Let's look at ... (more)

Nothing Down Real Estate Nothing down? Exactly why would a seller want to walk away from closing with nothing? The truth is, they normally wouldn't, and that brings up the most important point about real estate investing with no down payment: A seller almost always needs cash at closing, but it doesn't have to be YOUR cash. Nothing Down - A Few Ways Sometimes sellers are able to offer terms and a low or no down payment, but often you have to find a way to get... (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)

Renting A Room
For Extra Income Renting a room? I wish I had thought of it sooner, but one day many years ago I finally gave it a try. I had a thee-bedroom mobile home on small piece of property, and I soon found that it was easy to rent out not one, but both other bedrooms. I suddenly had thousands of dollars extra each year. Many towns with high rent have a high demand for rooms. Single people share apartments with others, and inevitably have problems with splitting bills, what to... (more)

Zero Down - How To Do It Zero down? Why would a seller want to walk away from closing with nothing? Well, they wouldn't, and that brings up the most important point about real estate investing with no down payment: The seller almost always needs cash at closing, but it doesn't have to be YOUR cash. A Zero Down Example I'm selling a small rental property right now, with payments of $400/month. The buyer has a good credit report, and the $5,000 down payment... (more)

Buying Mobile Homes - Watch For These Problems Why are so many people buying mobile homes? Affordability is the primary reason. Buying a mobile for a first home, a retirement home, or even as a rental property investment - they all can make perfect sense. They do have their own particular problems though. Here are some of those problems, and what you can do about them. Depreciation is the first big issue that comes to most peoples minds when they think about buying mobile homes. They all go down... (more)

Credit After Bankruptcy - What To Expect by: Carrie Reeder If you have recently filed bankruptcy, it won't be long before you are starting to ask yourself, "Ok, now, what do I do when I need a loan? Where do I got to get approved? Can I get approved?" Here are some overall basics about getting any kind of credit after a bankruptcy. 2-3 Years after bankruptcy discharge is the magic number - Once you have filed bankruptcy, even the next day you can still get a car loan and possibly... (more)

How to Improve Your Chances to Qualify for a Conventional Home Loan by: Alexis Dey Before you give up on the idea that you will never be able to get a home equity loan because of your bad credit, first be sure you can’t get one. It may save you a lot of work, and it opens up more possibilities for home purchases and help from real estate agents. You might be surprised to find that there are ways you can get conventional financing, even though you never thought you would be... (more)

Buying Rental Properties - 10 Tips Buying rental properties can be a great way to build your wealth. However, as in most real estate investment, it is sometimes difficult to know if you've found a good deal - especially the first time. Here are some things to look for to be sure that rental is a great investment. 1. Location. If traffic is heavier, rentals are easier to rent. A sign will often pull more response than an ad in the paper. If it is a nice locale, it will usually rent ... (more)

Rental Property - Refinance, Don't Sell You own a rental property for years, and never see the "big pay-off." Is it time to cash in on your investment, now that you've paid down the mortgage, and values are up? Maybe not. The Problem With Selling Selling means you'll have to pay a large capital gains tax. This can be avoided if you reinvest through a 1031 exchange, but then the point is that you want your money, right? Also, a good rental gets more income as rents go... (more)

Understanding Real Estate Value What is real estate value? It isn't what you have into your house. It isn't what you feel it is worth. It is what the market will pay. How do you figure out what the market will pay? For single family homes, the best way is by seeing what similar homes have sold for. Figuring replacement cost isn't very useful. It's difficult to say what land is worth in a city center where none is left for sale, for example, and tough to gauge... (more)

How To Find Investment Properties If you really want the best deals in investment properties, you have to increase your odds by finding more deals. Who is more likely to get a cheap apartment building, an investor that looks through the MLS listings and calls it a day, or the one that uses ten resources? Here are the ten: 1. Talk. Let people know you are looking and sometimes the properties will come to you. There are a lot of owners out there who want to sell, but haven't yet... (more)

How To Invest In Mobile Home Parks Mobile home parks are known for their cash flow, and this will usually grow in time. I asked a real estate agent if the mobile home parks in this area ever are for sale. Almost never, he told me, because they provide so much cash flow that owners don't want to sell. That's worth remembering. Another important point is that being a landlord or owner of a mobile home park is not like owning or managing apartments or rental houses. You are... (more)

Six Real Estate Investing Principles There are real estate investing "tricks" and techniques that you may know, or want to know. There are new ways of doing things that are worth learning. Knowing about the latest types of financing is another way can also help. Before all of these, however, you need to learn some basic principles. Here are six of them. 1. Build relationships. 2. Understand the numbers. 3. Reduce risk. 4. Be prepared. 5. Set goals. 6. Learn, and... (more)

Financing The Sale Of Your Home - Safely Why offer seller financing when you sell? A higher price, a good return on your money, a faster sale and to sell a property that is otherwise difficult to sell. Some good reasons, but how do you do it safely? 1. Get a large down payment. The most obvious way to be safe, and not always possible. 2. Get other security. If they want it with little down, and you like the return you'll get, make it safe by putting a mortgage on other property the... (more)

A Real Estate Investing Opportunity Homes with extra lots may present a real estate investing opportunity. They may provide a way to reduce the cost of a rental home you want to buy, or just a way to make a profit buying and selling. Of course, this can be tricky if you don't know the rules. Typically when a city was platted, the residents proceeded to build a home on each lot. Of course, some built on two lots. This is why even in regularly spaced homes there will often be house... (more)

How To Lose Money On A Fixer Upper Home A fixer upper home seemed like a good investment, but we had little experience. We had bought, fixed and sold a home in Montana for a profit, and completed the project in only a few months. However, we were new to the Tucson area, and didn't quite have a grasp on the home values. In Tucson, two identical houses can be $50,000 apart in price if they are three blocks apart. Then there was the fact that the styles are different from anything we had... (more)

What To Fix On Your Fixer Upper You've bought a house, a fixer-upper you can make some money on. What improvements and repairs should you make? First of all, you need to know this before you buy, as I explained in another article. Before and after you buy, though, you need to have some simple rules with which to start analyzing possible fixes. Return On Investment A young couple was very disappointed when I told them there house was worth $110,000. "We just put ... (more)

Say Goodbye To The Gross Rent Multiplier You may be familiar with the gross rent multiplier. This simple formula for determining the value of rental real estate has been around for ages. The first book I read on investing in real estate advised me to "never buy a property with a GRM of more than 8." GRM is the acronym for gross rent multiplier, of course, and the formula is this: divide the price by the gross annual rents to get the GRM. In other words, the author was advising me... (more)

Bad Credit Repair-- Defining The Problem by: Alexis Dey Before you begin the process of repairing your credit, you first need to ask yourself why you are having credit problems? Poor credit is nothing to be ashamed of. It is far more common than you may realize. Often it may not even be your fault, like Gerald and Lisa. They invested five years and all they money they saved to start a small sign company. Then one summer someone broke into their business office and stole all the... (more)

Why Invest In Office Buildings? Office buildings can be very profitable, and long-term leases mean less management than with residential income properties.The downside? Nothing seems to go up and down as much as office rents and office occupancy rates. Investing in office buildings can be very profitable. A friend of mine bought the office building that his law firm was renting, and rented it to his company. It generated cash flow from the start. Now that the original mortgage is paid ... (more)

Real Estate Partners - A Good Idea? We were looking for real estate partners because we were new to the Tucson area. We found that two identical houses here can be $50,000 apart in price if they are three blocks apart. Also, the styles are different from anything we had in Michigan, so it would be good to have some help figuring value and what buyers want. At the Arizona Real Estate Investors Association meeting I announced that we had money to invest in fixer upper real estate, and we... (more)

Make Money With Condo Rentals What are the advantages of investing in condo rentals versus houses? Simplified maintenance, and more cash flow in some areas. The catch? Some condominium complexes won't allow you to rent out units. The solution? Find one that allows it. In many areas, the rental rates for condos and houses of similar size are about the same. Sometimes a two bedroom house will get just a little bit more than a condo. On the other hand, in a condo complex with a... (more)

Bad Credit? You Can Still Get a Mortgage to Buy a House by: John R. Blakefield Unfortunately bad credit can haunt you for the rest of your life. If there are bankruptcies or foreclosures on your credit report, you know how hard it is to get any line of credit. Lenders and creditors simply look to as a too big of risk to loan money to. But we know that even though mistakes were made in the past, your financial situation and behavior can be reformed. Some lenders understand this... (more)

Mobile Homes Can Make You Wealthy Does the myth that mobile homes depreciate in value keep you from investing in them? Well, they do lose value in a park, on a rented lot. Mobile homes with real estate, however, are an entirely different investment. My mobile home doubled in value in the twelve years I lived in it. The home deteriorated a little (don't all houses?), but the value of the land continued to rise. Also, by renting rooms, I took in far more money from my home than it... (more)

Buy-Change-Sell: A Real Estate Strategy Here's a proven real estate strategy: Buy a property, change the use, and sell it for a profit. Big profits are possible if you find its most profitable use. The disadvantages of this strategy? There is a lot of homework required, and many possible dealings with zoning authorities and others. Years ago there was a row of old homes on a main street in the Northern Michigan town where I used to live. Many of them were rentals. None of them were... (more)

A Real Estate Quiz See how well you do on this real estate quiz for home buyers and real estate investors. 1. A "no-doc" mortgage loan means you don't have to have any source of income. True or False? 2. An income property without any special problems is a good deal if it has a capitalization rate (or more commonly called the "cap rate") of: A. .10 or higher B. .05 or lower C. Not enough information 3. In a 1031 exchange you can't... (more)

Say Goodbye To The Gross Rent Multiplier You may be familiar with the gross rent multiplier. This simple formula for determining the value of rental real estate has been around for ages. The first book I read on investing in real estate advised me to "never buy a property with a GRM of more than 8." GRM is the acronym for gross rent multiplier, of course, and the formula is this: divide the price by the gross annual rents to get the GRM. In other words, the author was advising me... (more)

An Apartment Building Investment Strategy With an apartment building investment strategy, it is possible to make a very large profit from one deal. It does, however, require a lot of work and possibly a few years to complete. If you know what you are doing, buying, improving, and then selling an apartment building can be one of the surest ways to make a large profit in real estate. Why? The size of the investment helps. Making a 10% profit on a million-dollar property is more profitable than... (more)

Real Estate Investment Requires A Team I had a hard time at first with real estate investment. One of the reasons was that I tended to be a "lone wolf," trying to do too much myself. I've since learned that to really do well investing in real estate, you need to have a team of people you can trust and rely on. Here are some possible team members, and what they need to be on the team. 1. Real estate agent. A licensed agent with experience in the area you invest in and... (more)

Offer Seller Financing To Make More Money An example of seller financing: Years ago I bought a rental property, and nine months later sold it for 15% more, without fixing or improving a thing. The easy terms are what sold it. I took $1000 down, and I still get a payment every month, with 9% interest. Four Reasons To Offer Seller Financing 1. To get a higher price. As you can see from the example above, buyers pay for easy terms. From the buyers perspective, he gets a place for almost... (more)

Real Estate Partners - A Good Idea? We were looking for real estate partners because we were new to the Tucson area. We found that two identical houses here can be $50,000 apart in price if they are three blocks apart. Also, the styles are different from anything we had in Michigan, so it would be good to have some help figuring value and what buyers want. At the Arizona Real Estate Investors Association meeting I announced that we had money to invest in fixer upper real estate, and we... (more)

Real Estate Investing By Mail? One of my favorite real estate investing stories is about a man in California who used to just send out offers on a hundred MLS listings at a time. He never looked at the properties. He just offered 25% less than the asking price on each one, trusting that the listing agents were pricing these homes somewhere near the actual value, and so assured that he had a good deal if the seller accepted. Sometimes a seller would accept his low-ball offer. This... (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)

Bad Credit Repair: Solving The Problem Bad Credit Repair -- Solving The Problem by: Alexis Dey It is possible to fix your bad credit, with time, patience and determination. The first step in repairing poor credit is fixing any problems you may have with money. 1) Get a credit reports on yourself and check out what is on them. To get yours free go to www.annualcreditreport.com. You are allowed by U.S. law to get a free copy from each of the three major credit companies once every 12 months. 2) Once you have... (more)

Refinancing Real Estate Investments Why should you consider refinancing real estate investments instead of selling them? Maybe you've owned a rental property for years, you've paid down the mortgage, the value is up, and you want to cash in on that equity. You will do better to refinance. Here's why. There are two problems with selling. First, selling means paying a large capital gains tax. You can avoid this if you reinvest through a 1031 exchange, but then the point is... (more)

How To Make An Offer You know the first rule of how to make an offer. When you bought your home, you offered less than you were willing to pay, right? That's the most common negotiation technique. For experienced investors, however, that's just one technique among the many more powerful ones. What else can you do? 1. Offer an odd amount, like $161,793. This gives the impression that you know something the seller doesn't. They may... (more)

Due Diligence - Did You Do It? Due diligence? You hear the term, but what does it really mean? Here's a simple definition: "Investigation and verification of the details of a particular investment." In real estate investment, you can start this process before you make an offer, but you also normally have clauses in the offer that allow you to have inspections done, and reviews of the books and certain documents. Due Diligence - What To Look For You'll need to... (more)

Make Money With Condo Rentals What are the advantages of investing in condo rentals versus houses? Simplified maintenance, and more cash flow in some areas. The catch? Some condominium complexes won't allow you to rent out units. The solution? Find one that allows it. In many areas, the rental rates for condos and houses of similar size are about the same. Sometimes a two bedroom house will get just a little bit more than a condo. On the other hand, in a condo complex with a... (more)

Big Money In Condo Conversions Condo conversions have big profit potential, and it is also a potentially creative process. Just be ready for a few unexpected problems. It had to happen. We were living in Tucson for just a short time when I noticed how cheap rent was in relation to home prices. There were $200,000 homes all over that rented out for $650. Investing in rental homes was obviously a losing game. Condos were priced more reasonably, many 2-bedroom ones around... (more)