Personal Finance and Investment

If you truly fancy the best bargains on investment properties, you should maximize your chances by looking for more deals. Who do you think is more likely to acquire a low-priced apartment property - an investor that glances through the MLS listings and considers the job done, or the one who makes use of ten resources daily? Here are the golden ten:

1. Talk to People. Let friends and colleagues know you are looking and occasionally the properties will find you. There is a great deal of house owners out there who look to sell, but haven’t yet got their property listed.

2. Search the internet. In a search engine of your choice type in real estate you are seeking, together with the city you are looking to invest in. You may be surprised what you might find.

3. Drive around looking out for “For Sale By Owner” signboards. Many owners are often reluctant to pay to keep the ad in a local paper weekly, therefore you will not find all properties in them.

4. Look for neglected properties. This is a rather obvious sign that the owner does not want to maintain the property. If that is the case, you might buy it cheap.

5. Search for old “To Let” ads. Call the landlord if the ads are a few weeks old. The owners are often prepared to sell, particularly if they haven’t yet let the houses out.

6. Speak to bankers. You may buy a foreclosed property cheaper if you purchase it prior to the property being listed with a real estate agency.

7. Promise people a finder’s fee. There are a lot of people who often hear about great deals. Get those people working for you.

8. Eviction notices. In case some newspapers in your area publish eviction notices, or if you have access to this information via local courthouses, it can be quite valuable. Any landlord who has just gone through the procedure of evicting tenants is very likely to sell.

9. Find old “For sale By Owner” ads. If you call owners of couple-of-months old selling ads, and find they haven’t yet sold, they might be ready to offer you a good deal. Owners frequently surrender the effort, but nevertheless are still willing to sell. Why not help them out?!

10. Placing an ad in a local paper. “Looking for a property to acquire,” may be enough to receive a few calls.

Whether you are a newbie or a true expert in real estate investing, it’s crucial that you are aware of these 7 Simple Steps for investing into real estate.

Real Estate is definitely NOT a get-rich-quick system. Nevertheless, if you discover the basics and put them effectively into practice, you can earn enough money to make most of your dreams and goals come true!

The real estate business is not going to blow out! However, the real estate market will shift and change - just the way it always has been! What is “hot” at present, may turn “icy” in a few years (or sometimes even in a few months). Despite that, there is always a number of ways to bullet proof your real estate investments. And it’s rather simple.

According to statistics, in 1975 the average home price in the United States was $33,300, whereas by 2005 it increased to $195,000. Historically, the median home price doubled every seven years. A simple math will show you that by now the price should be well over $200,000.

This is to say that the real estate market will CONTINUE TO CHANGE, and what is working now, may not work in the near future. For example, the rental business was quite strong just a decade ago, but has become rather weak over the past few years. The business is about to take a new turn once again.

In fact, Real Estate goes in cycles and, therefore, has a certain degree of predictability. Due to this predictability, you have an opportunity to develop your real estate business into a cash-generating machine, which runs by itself following changes in the real estate industry. In fact, it is feasible to make money in real estate at all times, and now is just as good a time as any other to embark on real estate investing.

However, you should make your investments wisely. Surely, you can make some big money during the pre-construction phase, but what happens when the property market shifts and, all of a sudden, there are 40 almost identical flats for sale in the same building? How long can you sustain a negative cash flow on your property?

What about taking possession of property ’subject to’? It’s definitely a wise strategy and lenders may be tempted to turn the other way and not enforce the “due on sale” clause provided that the interest rates are sufficiently low (be aware that the sellers of a ’subject to’ property usually don’t have the lowest interest rates). E.g., if the interest rates rise to 10-11%, it’s pretty clear that lenders may be much more inclined to implement their option making you pay off the 6.5% note!

To avoid that kind of problems, you must learn the basics - the tried and true methods, systems and strategies, which have proven to work in the past, are working NOW and will likely to work in the future. You need to have all the tools at hand in order to go with the flow and not be influenced by the real estate market shifting and changing (It’s already doing this anyway, in case you’ve skipped the intro!

Step No.1 - Lay down your plan: Decide what your long term goals for the Real Estate investing (e.g., financially secured retirement and wealth accumulation) and your short term expectations in respect of making money in real estate are. Then, set up appropriate business entities and put the plan to work.

Step No.2 - Decide on your target market: You cannot possibly try all things on all real estate markets. If foreclosures look attractive to you, start with investing in the foreclosure market. If you decide to become a landlord, concentrate your marketing efforts at out-of-state owners.

Step No.3 - Be unswerving and persistent: As we said before, Real Estate is not a get-rich-quick business. Real Estate is a way to grow your wealth over time and put some extra cash in your pocket tomorrow. You have to stick to your plan and follow it in order to see some good results in real estate. Besides, you need to continue furthering your education and increasing your experience.

Step No.4 - Do not fall prey to the “Analysis Paralysis”: Learn how to analyze properties for profit potential quickly. Do not spend too much time on thinking; instead, try to answer these simple questions: How much is the property worth to you? Does it requires repair and how much would it cost? What can you sell the property for? In the end, it’s all about numbers!

Step No.5 - Become an expert in finance: Real estate is a business that involves both finance and marketing. You should research all available information about mortgages and loan programs on the market. You should learn how to use finance efficiently to negotiate better deals and to sell out your properties.

Step No.6 - Become skilful at solving problems: You will be able to get deals that other real estate people won’t, if you can learn to solve people’s problems. Anything goes on the real estate battlefield. Watch out and be ready!

Step No.7 - You should continue advancing your education: It is crucial to keep investing in your education, learning new strategies and tactics that will help you make more money in the real estate business.

If you liked this article, make sure to read other articles in this category, which discuss the ways to Make Money on Real Estate.  The next article addresses Step No.1 - Laying down your plan in detail!