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วันศุกร์ที่ 30 มกราคม พ.ศ. 2552

Illinois Real Estate

Illinois Real Estate

President Abraham Lincoln lived in Illinois for 17 years. He only left the place when he became the President of a country on the brink of the infamous civil war. Frances Elizabeth Willard of Illinois was also the prime mover for the women’s fight for the right of suffrage. Illinois (Springfield) was the site where U.S. Grant first gathered troops for the Civil War. A colorful history places Illinois among the places to see in America. For the kids and the not-so-young at heart, the home of Superman exists in Metropolis, Illinois.

Geography

Located along the north-central of the U.S. Illinois is bounded on the north by Wisconsin, Iowa and Missouri on the west. Kentucky takes up the southern border and Indiana in the east. The Mississippi River almost takes up the western boundary.

Industry

The ideal location of Illinois gave way to the installation of first rate transportation infrastructure and world class educational centers. Illinois promises to be a good place to do business. Illinois is into warehousing, manufacturing, agriculture, banking, food, and chemicals. Industries also concentrate on fabricated metals, computers, electronics, plastics and rubber. Transportation equipments are also manufactured in Illinois.

Technology and Infrastructure
144 university-based research centers
71 federal research centers
Argonne National Laboratory is a leading federal laboratory prioritizing in technology and biotechnology

Finance

Illinois leads in the financial industry. It is the site of over 2,300 commercial banks. It has 2,000 insurance carriers, and 175 insurance carriers. The state has the financial capability of providing capital funding for commercial and industrial development.

Agriculture

Corn is the major agricultural produce of the state. This is followed by soybeans and feed grains. Illinois is the top five producers of swine in America. Livestock, dairy and poultry are also major income generating resources.

Education

Illinois offers a choice of schools and universities. These offer varied programs from four-year programs to associate degrees. There are also online schools made available to interested students.

Sights to see

Donley’s Wild West Town (Addison) – a recreated mining operation where you can watch the shows and get a ride on the C.P. Huntington Locomotive

American Indian Burial Grounds (Albany) – The burial mounds are recognized as historic sites

Mississippi River (Albany) – The river made famous by Mark Twain. The river is one of America’s largest river systems

Alto Vineyards (Alto) – Red and white wines can be sampled on site

Snowstar Winter Sports Park (Andalusia) - Skiing pleasure and fun

Arlington Park (Arlington) – Thoroughbred racing

The Creole House (Prairie du Rucher) – See the French creole house built in 1800 and experience the lifestyle of the past

lllinois Waterway Visitor Center and Museum - Watch towboats along the Illinois River. The center provides learning tours about the locks and dams controlling the water flow along the Illinois & Michigan Canal.

Illinois Real Estate

An Illinois real estate is patronized by many. Of course the reason for this is obvious. And that is because an Illinois real estate is near to all the good things that can only be found in Illinois, such as tourists attractions, excellent education, agriculture, technological, and industrial facilities.

Buying Real Estate

Buying Real Estate

It is actual important that if affairs absolute acreage you attending at all the affairs surrounding the property. This would be things like, the absolute amount afterwards affairs and how continued you will be appropriate to accomplish the payments. You charge advice on the breadth of the absolute acreage you plan on buying. Which is the a lot of important to you, accessibility or privacy? Is it acceptable and applied for all your ancestors needs? For instance, do you accept or plan to accept accouchement breadth schools would be an issue?

You aswell accept to accede whether or not the home has abundant bedrooms and bathrooms for the accomplished ancestors to be comfortable. How about closet space, this is something that can could cause a lot of aggravation if not big enough. The kitchen is aswell a actual important breadth that have to be advised carefully, you wish it to adequate and able with avant-garde appliances. Fireplaces and pond pools are account that will depend on what you wish but will add to the amount of the acquirement price.

When affairs absolute acreage you should attending at all aspect of the home you are aggravating to buy both emotionally and practically. You have to adjudge if it is a astute ambition or one you may attempt with and may possibly not be able to allow if any problems should occur. For example, what would appear if you became unemployed at some point, would you still be able to accumulate the payments up until you begin addition job, or what if you became ill and had to absence a lot of time at work?

Take into application the admeasurement and action of the mural that goes forth with that home you are planning on buying. Is there abundant acreage to accomplish you blessed or in a few years will you be adulatory you had purchased absolute acreage with added land. How about the action of the mural is it even and akin or is it asperous and arresting authoritative it harder to do annihilation with.

When affairs absolute acreage there are aswell some altitude that would accomplish it bigger to adjudge to delay until addition time to purchase. For instance, if you are not abiding about the breadth that you are because you may wish to do added analysis afore affairs the absolute estate. If you are accepting problems with application or borderline if your job is dependable again captivation off would be a acceptable idea. If there are any problems in your alliance accord again cat-and-mouse till a added abiding time would apparently be better.

Keep in apperception that if aggregate abroad looks acceptable and you apperceive this is the appropriate time for affairs absolute acreage for you, again don't accomplish any added above purchases. This would be things such as a new car or annihilation expensive. Neither should you accomplish any added banking changes.

Investing In Real Estate

Investing In Real Estate

Once you purchase your first home you realize the satisfaction in owning a piece of real estate. For many people their interest doesn’t stop there and they decide they’d like to continue investing in real estate beyond the home they live in.

Investing in property can be a dynamic way of making extra income. For many people their investing experiences allow them to work less at their 9 to 5 job and instead devote more time to producing an income from their investments.

The first thing you need to consider if you look towards investing in the real estate market is what types of properties your dollars should be spent on. There are two choices that you’ll probably want to research. One is residential properties and the other is commercial properties.

Residential property includes everything from single family homes to multi-family dwellings. If you decide on investing in the purchase of a single family home, you’ll be planning on renting it out. In this case you might act as the landlord yourself, taking care of completing the necessary paperwork, including a rental contract as well as collecting rent payments.

If you decide on this route, you might be investing more than just your money. You’ll also be investing quite a bit of time, not only showing the property to prospective tenants but also coming to their rescue if there is a problem. Problems can range from a broken door look to a furnace that needs to be replaced.

If the prospect of investing that much time in your real estate venture is a bit overwhelming you can hire someone to manage the property for you. This saves you a great deal of time and trouble but it costs money as well, as you’ll have to pay them a salary.

This is almost always the case when investing in a multi-family dwelling. There are many details involved in running an apartment building or condominium complex. The tenants needs have to be addressed in a timely manner and in order to do this you’ll need to think about investing in a property manager.

There are many people who are experienced in this field and enjoy this type of work. If you are investing in a property that is worth a great deal of money, you’ll want to hire someone who has experience in property management to assist you.

When it comes to owning a property such as an apartment building the key to success is in keeping the units full thus ensuring a steady flow of income. This often means investing in advertising. Advertising can be done in several ways. A popular approach is to post signs on the outside of the building showcasing that there are vacancies. If the property is particularly affordable, placing the cost of monthly rent on the sign is a good idea as well.

Another form of advertising that works well whether you’re renting out an apartment or a house is investing in a newspaper advertisement. Many people who are looking for a new place to live scour the classifieds daily in the hope that they’ll find exactly the right rental property in the neighborhood they desire.

Investing in real estate can be a very rewarding experience and with the help of a seasoned real estate agent, you’ll be able to purchase properties that will yield you a profit year after year.

Indiana Real Estate

Indiana Real Estate

The acreage of the Indians - that is Indiana. Indiana became the 15th accompaniment of America on December 11, 1816. It was already home to the abundance lions, bison, and elks. It was aswell actuality that abounding battles were waged over acreage disputes. The wars baffled the built-in Indians. These wars ample up the history books of Indiana. The humans of Indiana are alleged Hoosiers.

Geography and Demography

Indiana takes up 35,867 aboveboard afar (making it the 38th better state). This is home to some 6.3 actor people. Indiana is the aboriginal accompaniment west of the Appalachian Mountains (not counting Hawaii). Bordering Indiana on the arctic are Lake Michigan and Michigan State. On the south, is Kentucky, and Ohio lies on the eastern horizon. Illinois takes up the west border. Indiana has 5 burghal areas and abate automated cities.

Industry

Indiana’s bread-and-butter adherence is founded on several industries:

Mining

Agricultural aliment processing

Meat packing plants

Textile mills

Farm accessories manufacturing

Transportation facilities

Furniture factories

Pharmaceuticals

Steel

Compact discs

Electrical appliances

Mobile homes

Festivals and sights

Hockey is to Minnesotans while basketball is to Indiana. Every year Indiana holds the Hoosier Hysteria area top schools attempt for championship.

Another accident that holds the animation of every Hoosier is the anniversary Indianapolis 500 American Automobile Race. This is captivated on the weekend of Memorial Day. Indy 500 as it is bargain alleged was aboriginal captivated in 1911. The chase area is consistently at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The accident draws in bags of people.

The Feast of the Hunters Moon (West Lafayette) recreates the anniversary acquisition of the French and built-in Americans. This is captivated aboriginal in autumn forth the banks of the Wabash River. During the celebration, bags of humans apprehend the letters of rifles; that appears to smell copse smoke while they accept fun watching the reenactment.

Strawberry Anniversary (Crawfordsville) is acclaimed on the additional anniversary of June if strawberries abound. Various activities animate up the anniversary – there are aptitude contests, aliment vendors, ability booths and reside entertainment.

There are aswell altered bother festivals in Indiana. In Wanatah, the anniversary is captivated every September. Altered booths are set up showcasing comestible displays and handicrafts.

Every July 7 and 8 the humans of Delphi bless the Canal Days Festival. The anniversary is acclaimed with a admirable parade. Food, music, and displays are abundant.

In Winamac, Indiana aged tractors yield the date during the anniversary Aged Power Show. Captivated at the city park, humans will be attending antiques and added collectibles from tractors to the horse pull. This is captivated every July.

Little accouchement adore the anniversary of Swiss Days. The highlight of the anniversary are abounding children’s activities. Swiss foods are awash and sampled. Swiss Days are aswell acclaimed every July.

The August Fun Fest by the River affection a 350 car cruise-in. Reside bands aroma up the celebration. Crafts and aliment are accessible for sale. Ball is accessible for everybody of all ages. The anniversary is captivated in the Victorian Village, Arctic Manchester.

Indiana Absolute Estate

As mentioned above, Indiana has lots of absorbing things traveling on. Aside from all these, the offered Indiana absolute estates are numerous. Abounding humans accept accepted this befalling to be allotment of the city and abounding are still clamoring to accept a home in Indiana. The Indiana absolute acreage industry is absolutely a hit.

วันอังคารที่ 20 มกราคม พ.ศ. 2552

Wholesale Real Estate in a Down Market

Wholesale Real Estate in a Down Market

Just as with selling any other product in the world, real estate is bought and sold at “wholesale” prices each and every day. Real estate wholesale buying generally happens between two real estate investors. One investor finds the property and then sells it to another investor who is interested in rehabilitation of the property for sale or as a long-term rental. In this process the first investor generally never really takes possession of the property and makes money only on the transaction itself.

People often wonder about real estate wholesale buying and selling in a down real estate market. Is it a good time to do it? Is it a bad time to do it? The answer is that in order to buy real estate wholesale you need to be able to put together a good, solid wholesale real estate deal. If you can put the wholesale real estate deal together, then you can do wholesale real estate business in any real estate market – up or down.

Have you ever talked to a struggling stock investor and they told you that the market was bad and it was not a good time to invest in it? Think about that for a moment. Isn’t the smart thing to purchase stocks while they are at a low price, and then later sell them at a higher one? Real estate investment really is the same thing. When the market is down or “bad” is one of the best times to purchase real estate to hold on to for a while, rent out, and make some serious cash on over time.

Don’t get me wrong, real estate wholesale buying deals are not usually simple or easy. However, with a good group of professionals on your side, you can make a lot of money in the wholesale real estate market.

The bottom line is what generally holds you back as a real estate investor is not the state of the market, but rather the state of the thoughts within your head. The sad truth is that many people use a down market as an excuse not to do business. You really should learn to ignore the naysayers, not use an up or down market as your crutch not to do deals, and buy real estate wholesale whenever the deal is right for your investment strategy.

The Qualifications Of A Good Real Estate Agent

The Qualifications Of A Good Real Estate Agent

One of the most important things to remember when you want to have success in the real estate market is that you must choose the right real estate agent, someone who will represent your best interest with the utmost zeal and ability. This is especially important if you know very little about the entire real estate market.

Having a good real estate agent can make sure that you are getting the most out of your real estate experience. Unfortunately, not all real estate agents out there have the qualifications that you may need or may be seeking. In order to find the best and right real estate agent that will suit your needs in the real estate market, you must take a few factors into consideration before you choose a real estate that would represent you.

Before anything else, you should always remember that a real estate agent is just like a salesperson in a way that he or she is trying to sell someone a house. The agent could be working for either a buyer or a seller, depending on what purpose he or she was hired for. Nonetheless, their main mission is still to sell. It is important that you look for real estate agents that have the capability to sell any real estate property. This will help put you at ease knowing that the real estate agent that you have chosen can do his or her job well, thereby increasing the amount of confidence and trust that you have for him or her.

It also helps if you can determine what the real estate agent’s area of expertise is. Since some real estate agents are more specialized and have more knowledge about certain areas, you need to make sure that the real estate agent that you are choosing is knowledgeable and skilled enough in the particular area that you may need him or her for. If an agent has been living in the area that where your real estate property is located, then it can greatly help in how he or she markets and sells the property to other potential buyers since he or she is already familiar with the area, and knows a little something about it.

A good real estate agent is also very accessible and should always be readily available to his or her client. In this way, the agent can make sure that he or she is able to address any queries or problems that the client may have regarding the real estate properties that he or she is planning on selling or buying. There is nothing worse than a real estate agent that is very inaccessible. Any good real estate agent should always be there for his or her client, just so he or she can make sure that the client gets the best result from the whole real estate experience.

Any good real estate agent should also be experienced, but should also be educated. This will help make sure that your real estate agent is able to handle your account without problems and with high competence. You would rather have your account be handled by someone who has a college degree and has a lot of experience in the whole real estate process, as opposed to a high school drop out who has little to no sales yet. You need your real estate agent to take control of the whole process, which is why he or she needs to be very competent and skilled in the matter in order to make sure that your best interest is not overlooked.
Vanessa Arellano Doctor

Real Estate as an investment

Real Estate as an investment

Generally, a lot of people start looking for ‘real estate for sale’ through the internet. And why not, internet is after all the hub of all information. So, you could look for real estate for sale using the search engines on the internet. You could also specify your requirements in search criteria on the real estate sites in order to get very specific results on real estate for sale. You can even view images and video of some of the properties thus reducing the need for personal visits for viewing.

So, this is surely a good option for finding real estate for sale.
However, not everyone is tech-savvy and there are a lot of people who still take the approach of putting up an ad in the local newspapers. So look for real estate for sale in the local newspapers. In fact, there are some newspapers that are dedicated to just that i.e. real estate for sale. You could even go ahead and put up a ‘wanted’ ad in these newspapers.

Sometimes, looking up for real estate for sale in old newspapers (like 1-2 months old) can help you get a good deal (in case the property owner has not been able to sale the property and has become a bit more ‘motivated’ to sell it).

MLS i.e. multiple listing service is often termed as one the best ways to look for real estate for sale. These are published by the real estate boards. If you can lay your hands on a MLS book as soon as it is out, you can really expect to get good deals. The key is to act fast.

Open houses are another good way of getting the best out of time. You can get to see dozens of ‘real estate for sale’ properties in a very short period of time. And you never know when you might come across a property that is real gold.

Investor groups are yet another rich source of real estate for sale information.

Of course, how can we forget the real estate brokers? Real estate brokers are one the most popular (and sometimes most effective) information resource for real estate for sale. Not only do they provide information about ‘real estate for sale’ but also assist in getting the deal finalized and closed.

Besides that, you can also get very good deals through public auctions, bank foreclosures and distress sales.

All about Real Estate Investing Book

All about Real Estate Investing Book

Real Estate Investing is no longer the special past time of wealthy businessmen. In today's world real estate has become a common financial motion for people from all walks of life. This trend will likely to continue to perform will into the predictable future. This change is due to elimination and concentration on company pension plans. Personal investing guide has replaced these plans as the preferred way to plan for retirement

Real estate investing book increases the knowledge and information in the real estate field. People who speak in real estate market are the people with experience in real estate industry. A real estate book which is introduced in electronic format is called as Real estate E-book.

A real estate investing book is a collection of paper, parchment or other material, bound together along one edge within covers that contain information about real estate investment business. A real estate book is also a real estate literary work or a main division of such a work.

A real estate investing book could be studied by real estate course students in the form of a book report. This book may also be read by a real estate professional or real estate business man who would like get more knowledge about some topic related to real estate. There are several recommended real estate investing books available for increasing your real estate investing knowledge and improving your real estate business.

Real estate investing book is one of the least risky types of investments books you can read. Rather than investing in hit or miss stocks that are sometimes unpredictable, real estate investing is a much more stable market. If you make a wise real estate investing book purchase, you will be able to increase your investment’s worth over time even if you put little or no knowledge or basic ideas into it.

The purpose of the Investing book is to supply all the necessary information so that you can obtain new skills and educate more yourself in real estate investing field, in order to get proven profitable results from your investments in the stock market! The Investing book intends to not only provide advice on investments for beginners, but also aims to offer fresh ideas for experienced investors. The Investing book also offers a list of investing terms and important phrases that the investors would need to be well-known with upon their embarkation into investments.

Real Estate Tips

Real Estate Tips

A lot of people use different trends when looking at the real estate market. Ones main tool is to first understand the real estate market.

The real estate is a big market and now is at your advantage. Start in the area that you live in keeping track of local real estate and any homes you may buy. It is easier to keep track of tenants or buyers when you live in same the geographical area.

When it comes to your local real estate market there are a few things to focus on.

#1. Growth in jobs are good because where there is strong growth, there are new workers and they need a place to live.

#2. Many of these people will be moving in from another area.

#3. If job growth is strong, your real estate business should have a nice profit.
A lot of new construction in an area may hurt your real estate business when evaluating your local market. The more homes available to buyers, the harder it will be for sellers to sell their properties. A lot of communities have new construction, but you are fine if it is not outpacing the demand.

วันเสาร์ที่ 17 มกราคม พ.ศ. 2552

Losing Money and Still Getting Ahead

I'm losing money and you should be, too! Here is why - a good diversified portfolio should have winners and losers in it at all times. If you have all winners all the time, then you are taking unnecessary risk because you are concentrated in one asset class. See what happened to all those concentrated real estate portfolios! You can avoid the same disaster in your investment portfolio. Let's look at some smart and dumb strategies:

Situation-You look at your brokerage statement and panic. It keeps going down in value!

Dumb- You sell all your losers and stay in cash. Don't do it! You may have to pay a transaction fee for the loss but you also will have a tax loss. Now you moved into cash where it will be hard to keep up with taxes and inflation.

Smart- You look at the particular assets that are losing and see if you truly have a loss since you acquired it. If not, you keep your paper loss. If it has been a consistent loser within the last three out of five years compared to its peers, then you sell into the same asset class but with a better long term performance record. This is a good example of investing correctly for the long term and sticking to your asset allocation strategy even in a down market.

Situation- Your retirement plan assets (IRA, 401K, 403b, etc.) are going down in value!

Dumb-You panic and stop contributing money to your plan and spend the cash or keep it in a money market.

Smart- You make sure your money is diversified in different asset classes and if so, you put new cash into those that are going down. You essentially are buying bargains to increase your potential future capital gains. Great strategy!

Situation- You retired and your income from the fixed income portion of your portfolio is going down!

Dumb- You take all of your retirement income from the fixed income portion of your portfolio and switch more of the equity portion that is going down in value to safer investments.

Smart-You take no more than a 4% withdrawal from your portfolio and you take dividends from your fixed income portion and long term capital gains from your equity portion. This keeps your taxes down and your net after-tax income high. You stick with your asset allocation strategy and review the long term performance of each security that you hold. If it is just one or two bad years, you don't sell, because you are in it for the long term. Great plan!

But don't take my word for it. Here is a quote from John Myers President and CEO (retired) of GE Asset Management in a letter to the editor in the Wall Street Journal, 4/7/08 - "GE results are an example of how a well-diversified portfolio will perform over the long term. In 1986 when I joined GE pension, assets were $11 billion, the plan was underfunded, and GE was making annual contributions. When I retired 21 years later, assets were $56 billion and the plan was $12 billion overfunded despite more than $30 billion paid out to retirees and zero cash contributions from GE."

Good investment strategies start with a well diversified portfolio that contains winners and losers all the time.

What Are the Alternatives to Foreclosure

What Are the Alternatives to Foreclosure

If you are in the same situation as many other people today are, you may be looking for alternatives to foreclosure. To keep the foreclosure process from consuming your most valuable asset you will want to make your plan of attack and execute it early on. Strategic planning is your wisest course of action. You must know exactly what your options are and how to arrive at any given exit strategy at any given time in order to ensure the most successful course of action in avoiding foreclosure.

In any foreclosure situation time is never on your side. The ticking clock looms everywhere and arming yourself with knowledge will be your arsenal to fight this enemy. Whether your state offers a long process or shore process, you must take action quickly and efficiently in order to protect yourself and your assets.

There are several things you could do as alternatives to foreclosure. You can choose to leisurely sell your home, enter into a forbearance agreement with your lender, or simply ignore the problem and hope it goes away. The last option, while a joke, tends to be one most people choose to take. However, you're smarter than that or you would not be reading this article. Depending on how far into foreclosure process you are will dictate what your options are.

Remember the bank doesn't want your property. The bank is not in the business of buying and selling homes. The bank is not a real estate investment company. If there is equity in your property, you have a reliable source of income, and your credit rating isn't too damaged consider refinancing your home. You may have to pay a higher interest rate because after all you have missed a couple of mortgage payments, but a higher interest rate is better than losing your home.

If you are early on in the foreclosure process this is a good time to consider a forbearance agreement with your lender. The forbearance agreement is a contract between you and your lender to effectively refinance any missed payments thus far and to begin making payments again. In the event of a job loss and you can no longer make your payments a forbearance agreement will not be a solution. For your lender to consider a forbearance agreement there will be qualifications that must be met the first of which will be having it probable income.

If you have a verifiable income and your lender agrees to a forbearance agreement but you are somewhat lacking enough income to cover your payment consider taking a second job. Sometimes a part time night job is all you need to gain the extra income to cover your payment. Oftentimes if you have a verifiable income the lender will consider refinancing your mortgage to meet the monthly payment you can afford.

Not taking action is the most costly course of action you can take during the foreclosure process. You'll want of a solid plan and be ready to execute the plan to protect your home, your most valuable asset.

Buying and Renting in Atlanta

Buying and Renting in Atlanta

Home prices are still falling in the Atlanta metro area. The market is saturated, buyers are hesitant, and banks are not granting affordable loans. But if you already have the capital, and your credit is strong, this means it's an opportunity to buy, right? Absolutely. But is it a buyer's market? Not quite.

Atlanta sellers can also save money, especially if they are selling one home and moving into a higher-priced home. If a seller takes 15% less than what their home is worth, they can probably purchase a higher priced home with the same discount. In the end they come out on top because their savings are greater than their loss.

The national real estate market seems to be heading in a general decline, with prices lowering between one and 25% last year. But the Atlanta Journal Constitution ran an article on this topic, and John Adams, a real estate writer, had different thoughts.

From the article:

I am not convinced that home prices are in a broad general decline. A closer look at the facts reveals that certain parts of our country, particularly California and Florida, saw remarkable run-ups in price that were driven by speculators and over-exuberant builders. The situation was made worse by low interest rates and easy qualifying guidelines from lenders. Those parts of the country are now seeing sharp drops in property values and are giving back some or all of the artificial gains they saw in earlier years. In contrast, most of the United States has seen slow to moderate appreciation in recent years, followed by stable home prices during the current year. While some neighborhoods have seen values drop, others have seen higher prices. So the media proclamation that "home prices are plummeting" is applicable to only limited parts of our nation.

Adams notes that every American needs to be concerned with the slumping economy, but he also sees reason for optimism.

I believe any thinking American should be concerned right now. These are difficult times, and they call for a response from all of us. But I have faith in the ability of the American people to find a way to succeed, even in the face of adverse economic conditions. The other factor that gives me hope is this: I have seen no fundamental change in the way most Americans view real estate. A home is still perceived to be a good long-term investment, and owning a home still is a goal for most young adults.

Despite the news that the economy still has farther to fall, many economists and realtors think things will be better by the end of 2010. If you are ready to buy, with capital, credit and location already determined, now might be the perfect time. The one piece of advice that transcends both the negative and positive opinions is to exercise caution. Use common sense and move slowly.

If you are not yet ready to buy a house, Atlanta is a wonderful city in which to rent an apartment. Fortunately, numerous services and organizations are available to help you find an ideal apartment. There are apartments available in the center of the city or in Atlanta's outlying neighborhoods. Virginia-Highlands apartments can be viewed on Promove.

Charlotte Real Estate: An Issue of Trust

Charlotte Real Estate: An Issue of Trust

Finance in America has a long history of criminals—men and women who use deception to turn profits. Today that seems especially apparent, with headlines routinely announcing one swindle after another. Paranoia and distrust from this news is sewn into the public's mindset. Couple that with an unstable economy and a grim financial situation emerges.

The real estate market in the past 10 years had had an important role in developing these trends. The current state of the economy is largely due to the subprime mortgage crisis. It's understandable then if homebuyers want to know more about realtors.

Transparency is a positive thing in business. It allows involved parties to understand and accept another's motivation and goals. It fosters stronger relationships and develops lasting success. But business also employs cloak and dagger tactics. Nobody wants to give away too much information. Nor do they want to appear vulnerable, greedy, naïve or overzealous. In this regard, transparency is anathema to business.

Real estate, for most part, involves a buyer and a seller. Let's focus on residential property. A buyer contacts a realtor and expresses interest in a home. The realtor describes the home, shows it, and works with the buyer. Easy, right?

The buyer understands the realtor is trying to sell him something. It is a conditional agreement that when a realtor shows a home he is trying to sell it. The buyer knows this, listens to the realtor, looks at the home, and then decides.

The realtor makes money from a sale. It's no surprise, then, that realtors work hard to sell property. The trouble starts when bonuses and financial incentives motivate realtors to distort the facts. If a realtor has an incentive to sell a home for a price that he knows the homes is not worth, chances are, especially in a difficult market, that he'll do it. This makes potential buyers suspicious. And it spurs action.

In Charlotte, realtors were recently pressed to allow buyers access to their financial interests in selling a home.

The Charlotte Observer ran an article.

"We want to go over and look at it again," said commission member Marsha Jordan, owner of Apple Realty in Lincolnton, speaking of the rule.

Jordan said colleagues around the state had expressed concern about having to reveal to clients what they make beyond the standard commission that's recorded on a buyer's agency agreement.

She and commission chairman Skip Alston, owner of a Greensboro real estate company, denied that the nine-member commission, which is made up mostly of real estate professionals, was putting their colleagues interests' ahead of consumers.

It's plain to see people are wary. The best way to promote better relationships between realtors and buyers is transparency. When a buyer understands where a seller's motivations are, he feels more comfortable with the experience. But at the end of the day, buyers and sellers need to recognize that real estate is a business, and people are trying to make money.

American history is full of financial criminals. It is also full of trustworthy business people. It's time to flush out the criminals and focus on developing a healthy economy through hard work and trust.

Good News for Seattle's Renters

Good News for Seattle's Renters

The consensus is still out on the Seattle real estate market. Sure, the economy is hurting. The market is saturated. Foreclosures occur less frequently than they did last year, but there are still plenty to report. Some experts thought these circumstances would increase demand for apartments. It did, for a time.

Rent prices soared and vacancies dipped to low levels in response to that demand. For many of the city's renters, the hike felt like a rebuke. Many people rent apartments, after all. And in a metropolis like Seattle, when reliable renters are forced to pay more or be switched out for someone who will pay more, emotions tend to run high.

But now a different trend is emerging. Vacancies are up. Apartment prices have flat-lined. More people are staying put. This is in response to the real estate market. Home prices are falling. People are scooping up new properties or waiting to sell until their property value can go up. This is good news for Seattle's renters.

The Seattle Post Intelligencer recently ran article addressing the issue.

The spike in local foreclosures isn't much of a silver lining, they said. "Some people tell us they think the foreclosures in single-family homes and condominiums will increase apartment demand. But we believe this increased demand will be completely offset by lower home prices making the cost of home ownership more competitive with rentals again. This was already starting to happen this fall."

All of this, of course, depends on trends that emerge this spring. If the real estate home market grows stagnant once again, Seattle residents could face another spike in apartment demand. If low-priced homes sell quickly, rental property owners may well increase rent to offset the demand loss. But if things remain as they are now, Seattle may find a healthy balance that makes renting or owning a piece of property an attractive prospect, depending on personal circumstances.

"Our Apartment Market Is Never In Equilibrium -- It Just Passes Through It From Time To Time."

That's how Dupre + Scott Apartment Advisors leads off their December issue of "The Apartment Advisor."

What they mean is that it looks like the market is quickly passing from rising rents and falling vacancies to the opposite.

Dupre + Scott forecast in September that market vacancy (not counting new construction in lease-up) would rise from 4.8 percent this fall to nearly 6 percent by early 2010. They now say it will peak at 7.3 percent in June 2010 but won't get back into balance until early 2012.

With time to spare, Seattle has work to do. The good news is that it ranks as one of the country's most economically diverse and innovative urban centers. Now is a smart time to rent, especially if you are waiting to see what the home market does. The numbers are in a renter's favor, and the increased vacancy rate means more attractive spaces from which to choose.

วันพฤหัสบดีที่ 15 มกราคม พ.ศ. 2552

The M-a-g-i-c Secret for Real Estate Investors

The M-a-g-i-c Secret for Real Estate Investors

One of the keys to success in the absolute acreage apple is architecture a able broker list, contrarily accepted as a buyers list. If you accept a solid buyers list, you can body a stronger career with the contacts and admission that you charge to consistently accomplish able-bodied in the absolute acreage market.

Simply put, if you can acquisition a account of investors who will consistently be absorbed in affairs new houses, you can advice these specific investors acquisition the houses they want. If you alpha to apprentice added about your specific investors, you can acquisition account and houses that will address to their specific tastes, authoritative it added acceptable for them to plan with you time afterwards time.

With a able buyers list, you can go out in the bazaar and acquisition a amount of abundant choices in account to accomplish you added successful. In all, it’s important to accept a acceptable buyers account in adjustment to be added profitable. Also, these investors will apprehend that you are an able in the absolute acreage market. They will acknowledgment to you frequently to see what you accept accessible for them. You will be apparent as the aboriginal footfall appear their success and this ensures you will abide popular. The added humans in your buyers account and in your arrangement in general, the bigger for you. You will be able to advertise abode afterwards abode to the humans who are consistently searching for new backdrop in your area.

Make your buyers account plan for you. In adjustment to accept the a lot of success possible, it pays to bethink the afterward simple acronym: ITS MAGIC.

I – Identity

Why will humans bethink you? Why will they accept to go to you against all the added investors and absolute acreage “experts” in the field? You charge to set yourself apart. If you accommodated approaching investors, added associates of your bounded absolute acreage clubs and even the strangers you accommodated in the grocery store, you charge to leave them canonizing your character and admiring your personality. You wish them to acknowledgment to you time afterwards time so authoritative yourself as amiable as accessible is basic to your success. Accept a signature action, a signature adage or a signature section of accouterment that will accomplish humans bethink who you are. Once they bethink you, you can advice them by affairs added and added houses.

T – Appellation Records

If you can accomplish the action of accepting appellation annal easier, you will be added invaluable in the marketplace. Get admission to bounded absolute acreage annal through appellation companies or added absolute acreage brokers to get the advice you need. If you pay absorption to the names on the appellation records, you can see which investors are snapping up homes often. By highlighting these individuals, you can alpha to body your buyers list.

S – Signs on the Street

Promotions and commercial will advice you acquisition the humans that are abduction up houses. Call the businesses that affiance to buy the ugliest abode on the block. Are they absolutely affairs houses? If so, agenda the business and the accommodation makers in this accumulation to put on your buyers account for approaching absolute acreage deals.

M – Marketing

Promotions and commercial will get YOUR name out there as well. Get a acceptable business agenda and advertisement to advice advance your business. You can leave your advice at appellation companies and everywhere abroad that could bolt the eyes of your approaching investors. You should attending to duke out hundreds of business cards anniversary month. Join clubs. Acquisition out area absolute acreage investors are and put your name in foreground of them to get your name out there.

A – Auctions

Go to bounded auctions to acquisition the investors that are searching for new absolute acreage properties. Pass out your agenda and pay absorption to see who is consistently arcade for new properties. Accommodated humans and bethink names. You’ll body your homes buyers account easier this way.

G – Groups

Join bounded groups and meetings. You can acquisition a amount of investors or abeyant investors. Advice a abundant abeyant broker and you could acquisition yourself with a gold abundance down the road. You never apperceive if your better broker will appear beyond your path.

I – Internet

The Internet is a gold abundance abounding with broker leads and tips to advice humans like you body your buyers list. Attending to absolute acreage forums and altercation groups. Even if you accommodated added humans in absent states, accumulate clue of them in case you move or they move in the future.

C – Clubs, accurately Absolute Acreage Clubs

Real acreage broker clubs are traveling to be the best abode to body your buyers list, abnormally in the beginning. Pass out your business cards actuality and appearance off your accustomed identity. You can acquisition a amount of absolute acreage clubs abreast you to attend.

Taking the time to body and advance a able buyers account is one of the better mistakes I see investors accomplish on a circadian basis. Spend the added time to body your claimed buyers account and watch your business soar.

The Residential Real Estate Buying Process in Austin Texas

The Residential Real Estate Buying Process in Austin Texas

The first step in buying a house is to try and understand what you hope to achieve. When you begin to think about buying a new house, there are many questions you should ask yourself such as: Why do I want to move? How soon do I want to move? How long do I plan on living in the home? For some people renting or putting off buying makes sense. Expect to commit to your home for 3-5 years if you want to avoid losing money on the home.
Needs Analysis
Once you decided that home ownership is right for you will want to decide a few things: What are the most important features to you in a house? How much do you want to invest in your home? Initially? Every month? Do you have lifestyle changes coming, such as adding a baby, having kids move out, or retiring? What part of town do you want to live in? What school district do you want your kids to go to school in? Once your goals are clearly defined you have your target.
Get Pre-Qualified
An important part of the home buying process is to be qualified for a loan. You should get a "pre-qualification" letter before you start actively looking for a house. Most lenders can provide this over the phone or with a simple 1-page questionnaire. This typically takes 20 minutes. Some data you should have ready is your and your spouse's name, address, phone numbers, social security numbers, and past two years of employment, residential, bank, asset and debt information. If possible, you should try to get pre-approved for a loan which is a more serious level of commitment from a lender than a pre-qualification. To receive a loan pre-approval, all employment and credit is verified. This will mean that you are approved for a loan, subject to a final credit check and an appraisal of the subject property.
Make sure to inquire about all loans costs (origination fees, discount points, etc) and find out about closing costs. Closing costs are the fees for services, taxes or special interest charges that surround the purchase of a home. They include up front loan points, title insurance, escrow or closing day charges, document fees, prepaid interest and property taxes. Studies show that the closing costs, which can average 2 to 3 percent of a total home purchase price, are often more costly than many buyers expect. Unless, these charges are rolled into the loan, they must be paid when the home is closed. Finally, make sure your lender provides a Good Faith Estimate according to the Truth in Lending Act (Regulation Z). This allows you to "compare apples to apples" between different lenders.
Home Search
After you've found a house that you like, fits your needs, and has potential, you'll need to prepare an offer. Determine whether or not the house is priced fairly by doing a thorough Comparative Market Analysis. Then review the seller's disclosure and make appropriate adjustments and write your initial offer. Offers should include an earnest money check (made out to a title company), and an option money check (made out to the seller).
Some of the words in the previous paragraph may not be familiar to you. Let's look at them:





Option Money - a check made out to the seller in exchange for the unrestricted right to terminate the agreement for a specified number of days. This is not found in many states.


Earnest Money - a check made out to a Title Company as a show of "good faith" that you are seriously intending to buy the house. The amount is usually around 1% of the home's value.


Escrow Account - a special account administered by the Title Company that holds your earnest money until closing.


Title Company - a company that verifies the validity of a title and offers insurance to protect against problems with any liens on a property or clouds on a title. This company also conducts the closing.


Closing - the actual process of transferring the title of a house from the seller to the buyer (including assigning any liens to lenders for mortgages).



Inspection and Repairs
To protect your best interests, have structural and systems inspections done by qualified inspectors of your choice. Your lender will typically also require a termite and wood destroying insect (WDI) inspection. The inspection is a great opportunity to ask questions about your prospective home and learn important information about where everything is and how it works.
When the inspection reports come in, you will need to decide if the home is acceptable "as is". If you require repairs to be made, then you will have to negotiate with the seller. At that point, you make a counter offer to the seller requesting either that the repairs be done before closing or extra money to be given to you at closing to cover repairs. The seller can either negotiate these points with us or decide to not continue to negotiate. If the seller rejects the offer and you do not want to buy the home as is, the contract falls through, the seller would be free to accept another offer, and your earnest money would be returned to you. If you come to terms an amendment to the contract will be made and we will waive our option to terminate. Then you will contact your lender to request an appraisal and start planning your move. A day before closing or on the same day, it is recommended that you walk through the house to make sure that everything is in order. This protects you from closing on a home that has been damaged in the move out process or that has been taken possession of by another party.
Closing
The exciting day is finally here! You will review the settlement statement (HUD-1) so that you can clear up any questions before closing. Possession of the home generally happens the same day that papers are signed, but sometimes a snag in the funding of the loan will cause a delay in possesion. For this reason it's best to allow an extra day (or more if we are closing on a Friday or day before a holiday) before you need to be able to move in.
After closing you should file a change of address. File an official change of address form at you local post office or online in the advance so that your mail delivery will not be interrupted. Many corporations, such as credit card companies and magazine subscriptions, take 1 or 2 months to process a change of address.
Congrats! You are now a proud homeowner!

The Benefits of Buying Real Estate in a Bad Neighborhood

The Benefits of Buying Real Estate in a Bad Neighborhood

When humans alarm me, about one of the aboriginal requests they accomplish is for a abode in a "nice" neighborhood. And this makes faculty to wish a adjacency that is safe and enjoyable. But there are some allowances to affairs absolute acreage in the asperous allotment of boondocks or on the amiss ancillary of the tracks. This commodity highlights some of them.

- There is beneath anguish of your adjacency traveling decline because it is already downhill. Acceptable neighborhoods can get bad and bad neighborhoods can get better. Since the amount usually reflects the accepted condition, affairs in a adjacency that has allowance for advance ability be a acceptable idea.

- If you are affairs a rental, you usually get bigger banknote breeze in asperous neighborhoods. If you are renting your property, there are added renters and they are added continued term. It's difficult to hire in acceptable neighborhoods because beneath humans are searching to hire and those who do are about there abbreviate appellation while they attending for a abode to buy.

- You can attending bigger in allegory to added landlords. Landlords in asperous areas frequently don't advance their backdrop as able-bodied as humans in nice areas. Therefore, if you advance your properties, you can draft abroad your competition, and allegation added for it.

- If you are in a asperous neighborhood, you can adduce that your acreage change will advance the adjacency and you accept a bigger adventitious of accepting a altered zoning. Conversely, if you are in a acceptable neighborhood, it's harder to accomplish the aforementioned argument.

- You can buy added property. If you wish to absorb 500k, you can either buy one abode in an flush adjacency or six or seven houses in a rougher neighborhood.

- They're added recession proof. When the abridgement goes south, absolute acreage in asperous neighborhoods is beneath affected.

In summary, I am not adage you accept to buy in a bad neighborhood. But artlessly that if you are searching for continued appellation investments sometimes its a acceptable abstraction to aberrate over the advance and attending about a bit.

Useless Real Estate Middle Men and How to Avoid Them!

Useless Real Estate Middle Men and How to Avoid Them!

How do HomeGain, Realtor.com, Account Magic and added companies like this accomplish money? These companies are alleged advance bearing companies. They absorb all-inclusive amounts of money commercial on TV, the Internet, radio, and in book so that you'll go to their website to acquisition advice about absolute estate. When you bang on a acreage and appeal advice the aggregation again either sells the advance at a fee alignment from $20-$50 for an amateur advance or up to a 35% barometer fee for leads that are added valuable.

What does the aggregation do for the fee charged? The acknowledgment ability be appealing surprising. They don't do anything, but advanced the advance to a account provider. Yep, that's right. You can seek the MLS on any amount of chargeless websites so the website they accommodate is little added than a apparatus to get your information. Some humans anticipate agents, contractors, or added account providers are overpaid for what they do. Take a attending at these companies and ask yourself if forwarding an email is account $1500 (That's the agency breach they would accept on the auction of a $150,000 home.).

Who pays the fees that these companies charge? For the a lot of part, the Realtor, mortgage abettor or added account provider pays for these leads. The laws of business accommodate that you can't get something for nothing. This is actual true. So by abacus no amount to the transaction and demography up to 35% of the transaction for service, the middle-man is demography amount from both the customer and the account provider.

Why is this bad for consumers? In absolute acreage like abounding added account industries, the best Realtors access their business through referrals. The weaker, newer, beneath accomplished agents about buy leads from sources such as these. The next time you appointment a website like these advance generators, anticipate alert about giving them your advice and go anon to the source. You'll cut out the middle-man and get a bigger abettor for your harder becoming dollar.

วันพุธที่ 14 มกราคม พ.ศ. 2552

How to Find a Handyman or Contractor

How to Find a Handyman or Contractor

Finding a good contractor is one of the most difficult (and tedious) tasks a real estate investor has to undertake. Honest, hardworking, and talented contractors exist, but almost always charge accordingly, making it difficult to find a bargain. However, asking the right questions, both of yourself and of them, can take a lot of the pain out of the contractor search: Question 1: How Big is the Job? Bigger jobs require better contractors, plain and simple. If you're renovating a shell, or building a brand new house, you'll need to pull permits, which means you'll need a licensed contractor. Because their licenses are at risk, and because contractors have to jump through some hoops to obtain them, licensed contractors charge a premium for their licenses. That said, landlords who have a leaky pipe underneath the kitchen sink don't need an expensive, licensed contractor to fix it, as an everyday handyman will suffice. So, real estate investors and landlords would be wise to maintain relationships with at least two (but preferably a lot more) contractors: a licensed, skilled general contractor with multiple crews, and a capable but inexpensive handyman. Question 2: Does the Job Require a Permit? As mentioned above, you'll need a licensed contractor to do any kind of permit job. It's probably worth it to have the contractor pull the necessary permits, as they'll know the system well and can do it properly, but a word of caution: always, always, ALWAYS ask for copies of the permits, and keep them on record. There are two reasons why this is recommended: first of all many contractors will say they'll pull the permits and then "forget," and second because bureaucracies consistently mismanage their records and you may need to prove that you did in fact have a permit. Question 3: Where are the Contractor's Prior Projects Located? Some contractors specialize in high-end renovations (these are the expensive contractors, of course), while others never leave the ‘hood. Neither is inherently better, since you get what you pay for, and it doesn't make sense to use a high-end contractor on a low-end property. That all being said, you'll want to know what kind of contractor they are, so ask for a list of recent projects they've worked on, and then walk through them in person to get a sense for what kind of work that contractor does. If possible, talk to the owners of these properties as well, to see how satisfied they are with the work. Question 4: How Long Have They Been a Contractor? Career contractors, who are committed to their work and take pride in it, are far superior to contractors who simply fell into the trade for lack of a better option. Ask the contractor how they "got into contracting," in order to find out how long they've been in the business (you're more likely to get a straight answer with a sideways question). Also, their answer will give you a sense of whether or not they actively chose a career on contracting, which can be a great indicator of how talented and conscientious they are. Question 5: What Kind of Warranty Do They Offer? This is a question that far too many real estate investors and landlords ask too late, after a problem arises. Ask this question up front, before they touch your property, because once the problem rears its ugly head it's already too late. Bear in mind that truly professional contractors OR handymen will guarantee their work, to some extent, while shoddy workers and dabblers will be reluctant to offer any kind of guarantee. A word to the wise regarding warranties, however: many contractors will be suddenly hard to reach after they've been paid, regardless of their warrantee, so buyer beware. Still, get a warrantie and get it in writing, because if nothing else it may make the contractor or handyman more likely to follow through with repairing any mistakes or defects. Finding a good contractor is a long, painful, tedious process, but by asking a lot of questions up front and doing your homework by inspecting their work and talking to their previous clients, you can weed out a lot of bad contractors quickly. Put in the work up front, and it will save you a lot of headaches down the road.

Delayed Mortgage Payments: Tips on How to Keep Your Dream House in Power Ranch

Delayed Mortgage Payments: Tips on How to Keep Your Dream House in Power Ranch

It is the wish of every person to have a place that they could call their own. It is a place where no one can dictate you on your decisions. You can do certain changes without asking permissions, style it according to preference, and make the place look like heaven the way you described it to be. It is not a tall order but to have own involves money. Most Americans finance their house not by paying out right cash but through loans. Incurring debts is part of our everyday living and this is the quickest way to purchase you favorite homes. No matter where you go, there will be lending companies or mortgage brokers that you can rely on when it comes to house financing. With this in mind, buying one could actually mean that on top of your monthly expenses, you will be incurring payments of mortgage and interests for it. Some will end up falling back a little in the payment while other really uses up the 15 days grace period or reach the danger zone (90 days past due). Your dream house standing by a beautiful waterfront view from Power Ranch can be at risk for foreclosure if you do not do something about it. Here are some quick tips on what to do when you are falling back on your mortgage: 1. Call your lender right away so that they will be aware of your situation. They are the only ones who can help you with regard to your payments. 2. Keep track of your missed payments and know how much you owe your lenders, so that you can raise the money within the extensions they gave to you. 3. Know that your lenders can give you temporary changes on your mortgage plan until you can come up with the money and be on track with the monthly payments. If you have a good relationship with your lender, they can grant you a forbearance plan. There is also an option called repayment plan. 4. You can also refinance your mortgage or make modifications to it. While you are having financial difficulties, your monthly payment suits what you can afford for the meantime. 5. Depending on how good your lending company will be, they might be able to help you out reducing the amount of your payment through waiving the interest on your loans and payable until the mortgagor either pays off the first mortgage or no longer owns the property. 6. You can also try to contact Homeownership Preservation Foundation. All you have to do is call 888-995-HOPE and there will be counselors to assist you. These are some of your options when you are already on the verge of loosing your homes and hurting your credit. Your dream house at Power Ranch will be waiting for you and giving up should not be your first option. At times of crisis, there is something you can do. If you have chosen the best lenders, they can give you all the assistance that you are looking for. Summary Buying a home is easy to do when you have a mortgage broker to rely on. However, it can add to your monthly expenses and you might encounter falling back with your payments. Use tips mentioned above to exhaust all possible options to get your dream house.

วันอังคารที่ 13 มกราคม พ.ศ. 2552

Real Estate Investment - Top Secrets Real Estate Investors Use To Turbocharge Their Businesses

Real Estate Investment - Top Secrets Real Estate Investors Use To Turbocharge Their Businesses

Have you ever wondered why some real estate investors seem to make it all look so easy? We have all heard the stories about how one investor made over $100,000 in a week by flipping a house. Or maybe about how another one bought a multimillion dollar apartment complex and walked away with cash at closing.

So how do these people do it? And is it something the average person off the street can learn to do? Well, those are some of the same questions I had when I first started in the business. So I spent months of research and tens of thousands of dollars to learn what strategies these successful people use that the rest of us do not. What follows is a brief summary of what I learned. Some may surprise you, others may not. However, I found these to be common words of wisdom from every successful investor.

1. Real Estate Investing is a Business, Not a Hobby

Every successful real estate investor I know operates their endeavors strictly as a business, even if it's just a part-time thing. This means setting up a Corporation, S-Corp, Limited Liability Company, Limited Partnership, General Partnership, or typically some combination of these entities. Notice I didn't mention Sole-proprietor? Talk to a knowledgeable real estate attorney in you area for a better idea of which ones are right for you and your goals. Not only will the right entities protect you and your ASSets, but will allow you to take advantage of certain tax advantages you would otherwise not have. If you stop reading here and take no other advice from me please, please do this one.

2. Build A Team of Experts

Few, if any, business owners succeed without a team of experts to guide them. These people can save you a tremendous amount of time and money and possibly even legal problems. Your business team should consist of a good real estate attorney who understands the state laws and an accountant. I recommend finding an accountant who is also a real estate investor if possible.

You should also have a realtor in each area you are considering investing in, an appraiser, a home inspector, an escrow company, a mortgage broker, other investors, a general contractor, and an insurance agent. There are other specialist would should also consider for special cases such as an architect, a surveyor, environmental company, etc.

3. Have a Plan

Develop a business plan for your real estate investing venture even if you are not new to it. After all, this is a business and few really reach their potential without a good plan. I promise you, spending a few hours putting it down on paper will be well worth it. And it's always good to revisit your plan often to keep you on target.

4. Network, Network, Network

Real estate is people business. If you haven't done so already, get good at smoozing. Now I don't mean the used car salesman type where you do all the fast talking. Join your local real estate investment club, become a member of a church if you aren't already, volunteer with Habitat For Humanity, just get involved! Get to understand what the seller's or buyer's needs are. This means listening! Get to know what other investors are looking for and who the local "players" are. You may be able to do a partnership on a deal or refer them to a deal that may not be exactly what you're looking for. Above all, treat everyone you meet with respect whether they're your team, sellers, or buyers and they will respect you. If you do these things, more deals will come your way than you can possibly handle. I can think of a lot worse problems to have!

5. Know Your Market

Spend some time getting to know the areas where you plan to invest. Go to some open houses and talk to the agents. Drive the neighborhood and look for the "For Sale By Owner" signs otherwise known as FSBOs. Look for homes that appear vacant or in disrepair. Learn how much homes go for in the area and what the local trends are. Talk to some the local residents and learn what the community is like. Is there crime in the area, how good are the schools, is the area growing, what are the local demographics? This information will serve you well when it comes time to invest.

6. Never Buy A Property Without At Least One Solid Exit Strategy

In real estate, you make your money when you buy, not when you sell. So what am I trying to say here? For each offer you make, you should know exactly how you are going to make your money from it. It could be as a rental for which you should have a positive monthly cash flow. It could be as a rehab and flip for a profit. Or maybe you may offer it as a lease with an option to buy. Or, it could be hold for the equity growth. Run your numbers for each strategy. If the numbers don't work, don't do the deal no matter how much you like the property!

7. Treat Your Agents Like Gold

Real estate agents can make or break your business and a good one is worth their weight in gold. They will do much of the legwork for you and bring you potential deals. They know their areas inside and out and can steer you away from potential problems. They will even find you buyers for your properties as well as show it while you are out looking for more deals. And, they work only for commissions based on the sales price of properties that sell.

However, most real estate investors don't buy and sometimes don't sell property at full market prices. This could directly affect your agent's commission and their motivation to support what you want can diminish. I suggest paying your agents commissions based on market price regardless of the ultimate sales price. Yes, it may impact your profits some but you'll have a very loyal agent. And guess who gets the first phone call when hot property comes up!

8. Don't Be A Hog

The old saying goes, "Pigs get fat, and hogs get slaughtered." The saying holds true in real estate investing as well. Many new investors make the mistake of trying to squeeze out the maximum profit out of every deal and then wonder why they can't find any buyers. Don't be afraid to leave something on the table for the next guy, especially if you're selling to other investors. It's better to make a lot of smaller profits over and over than it is to make one big profit. This strategy should have potential buyers lining up at your door when you have a property to sell.

9. Give Away 10-15% of Everything You Make

I can hear you now, "He said what?!" That's right, give away 10-15% of everything you make. How you decide to do it is up to you, but I warn you, you may have to get creative. Steve, a mentor of mine follows this rule like a religion. In fact, on his very first deal he made about $5,000 which he need desperately, since he had recently lost his job. He was nearly bankrupt but still decided to give away some of his profits. He decided to buy his pastor a new suit, something he had never had in his life. Even though Steve was excited about making the money, the look on his pastor's face when he wore it for the first time made him feel ten times better. By the way, word got around very quickly and before you know it, he had three more deals in the works that profited much, much more.

10. Offers, Offers, Offers!

You'll never make any money if you don't first start with an offer. But for some reason, this seems to be the biggest hurdle for most new investors. I like to use the "Fire, Aim, Ready" approach to making an offer. Don't spend a lot of time trying to figure out what the perfect offer will be, just make one. Most of my offers are made without ever having seen the property. Remember, if the first offer doesn't embarrass you, it's too high. I know of a very successful real estate investor in the Tampa area who once offered $1 for a $14 million golf course! Okay, so he eventually bought it for a little over $2 million and the resold it a couple of weeks later for a tiddy profit. It's only after you have the property under contract that you should spend the time to determine if the price is right or not. Most successful investors will make 25 or more offers a week of which maybe only two or three may eventually end being accepted. Of those, maybe one will make it to closing. But let's see, one deal a week, $5-10,000 profit each....you get the picture.

11. Have Fun

Like any business, real estate investing has its challenges. Sometimes deals fall through at the last minute, renters can be a real pain, or you find out about the sewer line collapsing at one of your properties that needs $15,000 in unexpected expenses to fix it. There will always be obstacles to overcome but the rewards can be well worth it. So have fun with it! If you truly enjoy it, it will show on you and suddenly the problems don't seem like such a big deal anymore.

There are many more tricks to the trade depending upon which niche you decide to invest in. But the basics are the same across the board. Apply these secrets and you too can become the next multimillionaire!

Tips For Buying An Affordable Home From Cincinnati Real Estate And Northern Kentucky Real Estate Remax Agent

Tips For Buying An Affordable Home From Cincinnati Real Estate And Northern Kentucky Real Estate Remax Agent

Home loans can be accessible from several types of lenders--thrift institutions, mortgage companies, bartering banks, and acclaim unions. Various lenders may adduce you altered prices, so you should acquaintance several lenders to accomplish abiding you�re accepting the best price. You can aswell get a Cincinnati home accommodation through a mortgage broker. Brokers set up affairs rather than lending money directly; in added words, they will acquisition a lender for you. The broker�s contacts to several lenders can beggarly a bigger alternative of accommodation articles and agreement from which you can choose.

There are abounding factors to accede if searching for a home

Types of Cincinnati homes - There are abounding altered types of homes: individual family, condominium, townhouse, and duplex. Additionally, the blazon of home you baddest may appulse your affairs power.

New or absolute home - Accede whether you wish to move into a new home or an absolute home. In general, new Cincinnati homes are added cher than absolute homes. However, the action of an absolute home can decidedly access your aliment requirements.

Quality of home - Examine the action of the home. Carefully audit the structure, autogenous and exoteric of the abode for defects. The added advance costs may add up over time and beat your aliment estimates. Will the abode charge a lot of repairs? How old are the appliances? The acquirement of the home is one step, but the renovations and aliment are added costs that charge to be considered. Would you adopt to acquirement a newer, costlier home or would you adopt to advance added time and money into renovations and aliment for an older, beneath big-ticket home?

Features - Accede the appearance of the home. Does it accept gas or electric heating? How abounding bathrooms does it have? How abounding bedrooms do you need? All of these characteristics will access the bulk of the home and your account apartment expenses. HUD's Wish List worksheet (A PDF Clairvoyant is all-important to appearance this file. PDF clairvoyant options for the visually impaired.) can advice you analyze and accent the appearance you are searching for in a home.

Location - Would you rather reside in the city, the country, or the suburbs? Do you wish to be abreast parks or the library? What about a arcade center? Is it important for you to be abreast above highways or accessible transportation? Get a feel for the surrounding breadth by exploring the Cincinnati adjacency and talking to residents.

Crime bulk - Look into the assurance of the Cincinnati neighborhood. Does the Cincinnati adjacency accept a top abomination rate? Has there been an access in crimes committed in the area? If so, how will this access the approaching acreage bulk of your home?

School arrangement - The superior of the academy arrangement in a accurate breadth is not alone important to families with accouchement but can access the acreage bulk of your home.

Economic adherence of breadth - The bread-and-butter advance and adherence of the breadth surrounding a Cincinnati home can access its approaching acreage value.

Cincinnati Home tax - Examine the anniversary bulk of Cincinnati absolute acreage taxes and added assessments levied on Cincinnati homes in the Cincinnati adjacency you are considering.

Brokers will about accomplish acquaintance with several lenders apropos your application, but they do not accept to acquisition the best accord for you unless they are apprenticed with you to be your claimed agent. You should aswell accede contacting added than one broker, just as you would with banks or austerity institutions.

Knowing if you are ambidextrous with a lender or a abettor may not consistently be cut and dry. Some banking institutions plan as both lenders and brokers. And a lot of brokers� advertisements do not use the chat "broker." So be abiding to ask whether a abettor is involved. This advice is important because brokers are usually paid a fee for their casework that may be abstracted from and in accession to the lender�s alpha or added fees. A broker�s advantage may be in the anatomy of "points" paid at closing or as an add-on to your absorption rate, or both. You should ask anniversary abettor you plan with how he or she will be compensated so that you can analyze the altered fees. Be able to accommodate with the brokers as able-bodied as the lenders.

How To Build A Successful Real Estate Websites That Brings Tons Of Real Estate Leads

How To Build A Successful Real Estate Websites That Brings Tons Of Real Estate Leads

Do you wish to body a acknowledged absolute acreage website that is traveling to accompany in added absolute acreage leads than you apperceive what to do with? If you said yes, again you are in luck. We are traveling to allocution about altered means that you can access the leads to your absolute acreage website, and in the end, be added acknowledged than you anytime dreamed of.

After all, there is a big bazaar out there for absolute acreage appropriate now. However, just because there is a big bazaar out there does not beggarly that you are traveling to do good. You accept to aboriginal accomplish a lot of leads to your website. So now we are traveling to allocution about tips that can advice accomplish your website the best that it can be, and get the a lot of out of it as well.

The aboriginal affair that you are traveling to wish to do for your absolute acreage website is to body a landing page. A landing page is the page that your leads are traveling to acreage on if they bang on one of your abounding ads. It is actual important to accept your landing page be altered than your home page. That is because a landing page is just accept to accord a little bit added advice on what the ad was talking about. If you yield them appropriate to your website they are traveling to get overwhelmed. The best way to get leads is to breach them in easy.

Next, actualize a lot of keywords affluent pages for your absolute acreage website. To attending for keywords that are searched for the most, you can go to any seek engine and attending for their a lot of searched keywords.

However I acclaim to use keywords analysis accoutrement like keywords analysis to analyze keywords accompanying to your alcove or location. You are traveling to wish to plan these keywords into the argument of your website. Another abundant affair that you can do is to cover these keywords into the appellation and subheadings of your website. If seek engines seek sites, the capital affair that they attending for is headings.

Next, you charge to accomplish abiding that you access your hotlink popularity. The abstraction is to get entering links on abounding accordant websites as possible. The added links that you accept out there, the better. This is how seek engines will rank your site. So not alone will you get a lot of leads from the seek engines, but you will get a lot of leads from the links you accept out there pointing to your website. I like to use commodity business to body my hotlink popularity. The key is to abide 2-3 online writing anniversary day. Your online writing will act like a viral business apparatus overextension your links all over the internet.

Nowadays Realtors who aren't utilizing the internet as a key business apparatus are absolutely missing the boat. Statistics appearance that internet users searching for a home online are accretion steadily and that is not traveling to change anytime soon.

To Your Success!

Real Estate Lead Generation - Attracting Attention With Real Estate Virtual Tours

Real Estate Lead Generation - Attracting Attention With Real Estate Virtual Tours

Online basal tours are the beachcomber of the approaching for absolute acreage advertising. They acquiesce -to-be buyers to actualization a home 24 hours a day, allure absorption to your listings, and even address to -to-be audience and home sellers searching for a absolute acreage abettor accommodating to go the added mile.

So, how do you actualize a basal tour, and what goes into authoritative a acceptable one? For the answers to these questions and more, accumulate reading.

Capturing and Creating a Basal Tour

In the past, absolute acreage agents who capital to actualize basal tours had to go through big-ticket bright architecture and video alteration firms. Today, there are a amount of bargain software programs and even chargeless online casework that will actualize the basal bout for you if you accommodate the photos.

To abduction the photos, you'll charge a agenda camera and a tripod. By capturing anniversary attempt and alternating the camera about 15 to 20 degrees amid anniversary shot, you'll accept abundant photos to actualize an authentic and acute basal tour.

Then, you can use any of the afterward casework or articles to stitch calm your tour:

FlyInside.Com (http://www.flyinside.com)

Totally chargeless and simple to use, this simple website allows you to actualize a basal bout application their basal online wizard. You can add your own branding for a small, added fee.

TourWeaver (http://www.easypano.com)

This software is big-ticket ($200 to $700, depending on the edition), but it creates absurd basal tours that aswell acquiesce you to actualize clickable hot spots appropriate on the tour. So, for example, you can add roll-over pop-up windows to the kitchen to acquaint -to-be buyers about the new gas awning ambit or a hot atom in the bath to highlight the spa shower.

MapWing.Com (http://www.mapwing.com)

MapWing allows you to actualize free, basal basal tours which can again be aggregate on the web. You can advancement for a added customizable, branded look.

Tips For Cutting a Basal Tour

Try to get at atomic two or three hours in the home with no added activities for your photo session. You wish your shots to attending abundant and you'll charge time and aloofness to get it that way.

When cutting the alfresco the house, abolish all the cars from the driveway, advertise or ambit the walkways, abolish the debris cans, and tidy up the garden. Also, try to shoot the home on a brilliant day. The actualization on the shots should be as adorable as possible.

When cutting the inside, try to get as abundant accustomed ablaze into the home as you can, and about-face on all the autogenous lights. Then, about-face off all the TVs, appliances, and beam fans. Next, declutter the acreage by allowance countertops, authoritative the beds, tucking abroad ataxia and straightening any aberrant items.

Once you're accessible to shoot, focus on abiding shots that are a lot of adulatory but aswell acutely visible, and yield anniversary attempt four or 5 times to ensure a acceptable shot.

Take your time to ensure your shots are bright and attractive. High superior basal tours are a abundant affairs tool.

วันพุธที่ 7 มกราคม พ.ศ. 2552

Setting the Stage to Sell Your Home

Setting the Stage to Sell Your Home

In the real estate business it all comes down to the same two goals, get the best possible price and sell quickly. Whether it's a six bedroom mansion or a modest two bedroom bungalow it's all about getting top dollar and while the details of the process may vary depending to the type of home and local real estate market conditions the goals are always the same, selling your home as soon as possible and at the best possible price. But how do you achieve those goals?

Most home sellers seem to overlook the one most important fact. In order to sell a home and get top dollar, someone has to fall in love with your house. Think about it. Who's going to buy your home? Someone who views the house and walks away with no further interest? Or the couple walking through with the oohs and ahs and enthusiastic comments as they go from room to room. It's the potential buyer that falls in love with the details and the unique qualities of your specific house that is ultimately going to sell your home.

It's true that first impressions are the most important and in the case of selling a home, the first impression is usually the only chance you're going to have. The way you decorate your home when it comes time to sell can be a big factor in making a potential buyer fall in love with your home.

Many homeowners are under the impression that making their home look as warm and personal as possible will make it more attractive to a prospective buyer and help them sell their home more quickly. Actually it is best to remove most of your personal items such as family photos and knick knacks. A space free of clutter can make a room seem larger and help a buyer imagine their furnishings in the home.

At the same time, when you're trying to sell your home, you don't want a house that feels cold and stark so a photo or two is fine and small touches such as oversized throw pillows and a coordinating sofa throw can make a room feel warm and inviting. Add some potpourri or scented candles. There's a certain psychology to the effects of scent and you can use that to your advantage but go light on the aroma. Too much and it can have just the opposite effect.

Furniture placement can also spell warm and cozy as well and placing pieces in a conversational grouping represent closeness of family and friends but when showing your home you also want plenty of space for potential home buyers to move around. Too much furniture or very large pieces in a room can make it cramped and tight and having home buyers walking away feeling the space was too small.

When it comes time to sell your home, remember your goals to get top dollar in the shortest possible time. A little home staging can go a long way. Keep it simple and uncluttered, yet warm and inviting. Set the stage for that one buyer that will fall in love with your home.

We Buy Houses in Prince Georges county, Maryland

We Buy Houses in Prince Georges county, Maryland

We buy houses all over the United States, and this is to let everyone in Prince Georges county, Maryland (as well as these surrounding areas:
Bowie, Fort Washington, Capitol Heights, Fairmount Heights, Cheltenham, Clinton, College Park, Waldorf, Upper Marlboro, Temple Hills, Suitland, Riverdale, Oxon Hill, Mount Rainer, Laurel, Lanham, Hyattsville, Greenbelt, Glenn Dale, District Heights, Brentwood, Brandywine, Bladensburg, Beltsville, Accokeek ) know that we now have investors that are in your location that would like to buy your house now!

WeBuyHousesin1week.com can introduce you to a network of friendly, knowledgeable and local Prince Georges county Maryland investors that want to buy your house now!

WeBuyHousesin1week.com has home investors that are nationwide, as well as in Prince Georges county, Maryland! Our home buyers are looking to invest in properties just like yours for a long term return. In other words, why are you holding and paying extra expenses to have your home listed when there are people that want to buy your house now? Our experienced investors can help in practically any situation.

To have one of our local investors contact you with solutions to your property now, no matter the situation, simply complete our online Home Seller Questionnaire. That is all is takes to have one or more of our local contacts in your area who wants to buy your home contact you.

Sell Your House or Property Fast, We Buy Houses Fast
We Buy House in 1 Week.com is not just a small investing company that wants to buy your house. All our associated investors know that our mission is more about you. Treating you with respect about your situation, but more importantly make sure that when we buy your house it is a win-win situation for you, the homeowner. Above all, we have a variety of solutions on how we can solve your problems. Whether you need to sell your house quickly, need cash for your house, moving expenses, etc.

We Buy Houses Nationwide!
It's never to soon to start saving and listing your property can be expensive. Whether it's to save on the costs of real estate agents, holding expenses that can add up to thousands or open house hassles. Maybe you just need to sell your home fast for cash, we understand that sometimes a fast home sale now is better than a long term listing to sell later. If there's one thing our years of experience as homebuyers has shown us, it's that folks who need to sell a house fast are frequently under a lot of stress. Our job is to best relieve relieve you from that stressed-out feeling so you can go on knowing that burden is gone.

Contact We Buy Houses in 1 Week Right Now
What is most important is you to take action now, not later. The longer you wait, the more it cost you. Contact us now so that we can help! It is now possible to sell your own house fast in 1 week or less. Just give us the basic information we need and one of our local professional home investors in your area contact you right away. . .Simply complete our Homeseller Questionnaire.

We Buy Houses in 1 week is a group of well trained, educated, professional home buyers that as a group live by certain standards and ethics. You satisfaction is a must.

Reverse Mortgage, When?

Reverse Mortgage, When?

While a reverse mortgage is not the perfect fit for all senior homeowners, when it is the process and financial security are well worth it. During the past year I have been working with several families that we're interested in getting a reverse mortgage, but would never commit to the process. Either they were getting comfortable with me as their broker or educating themselves about the loan. The one problem was their home values were falling during this time, some had appraisals done and were happy with the amount of money they would receive, but decided to wait. Unfortunately for the seniors the reverse mortgage was no longer desirable option because their home values had fallen to a point to where the seniors were bringing money to the close, instead of receiving money. Seniors should be aware that the FHA appraisal that they receive today only last six months, and with the current real estate situation, property values look to be heading lower.

Seniors need to be educated and reminded on how their home value may dictate when a reverse mortgage may be attainable.

An example of this situation happened to the Parker family, where in early 2008 Mrs.Parker had an appraisal done on their home in Florida. Mrs Parker wanted to go through with the loan, but Mr.Parker was apprehensive and wanted to explore other options at the time. We kept in constant contact with the family and informed them that the FHA appraisal would only be valid for 6 months. They kept saying they understood this but by the time Mr. Parker agreed that a reverse mortgage was the best option, it was after the 6 month period. When they got their home re-appraised the Parker's home no longer appraised at a value that made the loan attractive. If they had obtained the loan on the previous appraisal they would have pocketed substantial funds, where as if they obtained the loan with the latter appraisal it would have cost them money to close on the loan.

This unfortunate event happened to more than just a few of my clients recently, where they simply waited too long to complete the loan. In some situations, what looked to be a smart financial decision in early to mid 2008 could have possibly turned into a financial disaster if the client decided to go ahead and complete the loan in the later part of the year. Homes simply were not appraising for the same value they did just months earlier! This caused the loan to not be a viable option any longer. These unfortunate situations have caused me to make even more of an effort to educate seniors and their families on how their Loan to Value comes into play in a declining housing market where homes are losing value at an alarming rate. Our clients are encouraged to get the appraisal on their home done and consider all the facts before making a decision to obtain a reverse mortgage. Unfortunately, due to the rapid decline in home values, timely decisions are very important. In certain situations if the senior waits too long they may not have the option of doing the loan at all.

Purchase Panama Real Estate - You Won't Regret it

Purchase Panama Real Estate - You Won't Regret it

Purchasing real estate in Panama can be a profitable, satisfying experience. The country is far more advanced than Costa Rica, but real estate prices (in general) are far lower. Foreigners have the same property rights as Panamanian citizens, and if you purchase your real estate through a corporation (very easy to set up) you will be exempt from property taxes for 20 years.

However, you need to be very careful when buying property through a real estate agent. Fraud is rampant throughout Panama, and little is being done to stop it. In 1999 the Real estate Technical Board (Junta Technica de Bienes Raices) of the Republic of Panama was formed. Supposedly this government agency has the power to consider complaints arising from any real estate transaction, and to impose any sanctions that are deemed necessary. This includes anything from a reprimand up to a revocation of an real estate agent's license, so they can no longer sell property in Panama. This all looks good on paper, but in fact the Board has proven to be almost completely impotent in stopping real estate fraud in Panama.

Case in point: my first real estate property purchase in Panama was done through a company called Great Land Panama. The owner of the company, Khadine Smith, defrauded me out of thousands of dollars when she charged a 30% commission. She then turned around and stole $20,000 from the landowner, by not paying him the price that was in his contract.

I had to talk with five attorneys before I could even find one who knew how to file a formal complaint with the Real estate Board. The complaint was filed in May of '08, after which I heard nothing for more than six months. Finally in Dec '08 I was able to get in touch with a senior official on the Board. He informed me that this particular Panama real estate agent had four other complaints against her, involving millions of dollars. The Board had not yet investigated any of these complaints, but he assured me that they would "get around to it very soon." Bottom line - she is still out there ripping off unsuspecting foreigners, and will probably continue doing so for the foreseeable future.

So what is one to do? It's fairly simple; make sure that you either work directly with the landowner or with a foreigner who is already developing a project, with no intermediaries. I personally know several "gringos" in my area of the Azuero Peninsula who are working on various projects, and none of them used an agent for their real estate property purchase. If you don't speak Spanish I can help you with translation services, as well as guiding you through the entire process of purchasing property and real estate in Panama. Feel free to contact me at www.thePanamacollection.com, and I would be happy to help you in any way I can.

About The Panama Collection

Stafford Industries has scoured Central America to find the best value in real estate investments. After years of research, Panama was selected for its pristine beauty and relatively undiscovered land.

Once you make the decision to own a piece of paradise, why not make it complete with your custom dream home? It would be our pleasure to help you every step of the way from lot selection through final construction. We are bi-lingual in both English and Spanish. Phase 1 development is currently underway and offers fantastic pricing to those who act now. This 102-acre project features 16 oversized lots ranging in size from 3 to 12 acres.

Real estate in Argentina

Real estate in Argentina

by Rick Ballester


Buenos Aires is a vibrant city, which has a sophisticated, genteel Latin flair… but is cosmopolitan like New York or Paris. Large boulevards, expansive parks and plazas, tall trees… it's a walking city with an aristocratic European feel. Here people use all the community green space. Stroll through a park, and you'll see people reading, picnicking, talking… and even dancing the tango. Buying real estate in Argentina has become an excellent way to invest in real estate abroad. Some of the recent benefits include the increasing cash flow from renting the property, low expenditures on the property, and low real estate taxes. In a recent article "Real Emerging Property Markets are to be Found in South America," in Property Wire August 2008, the analysis of South American real estate suggests that while the United States and European property markets are depressed, there are still many opportunities to make money in emerging markets. South America has many such emerging markets, specifically Argentina. The article sites Argentina as one of the best places in the world to live right now and argues that the nation's trade and government surpluses are a draw for Europeans. Argentina has beaches, ski centers, mountains, and vast, open tracts of land for visitors and potential investors to enjoy. Property prices have risen 50% since 2002 and tourism has grown 10% every year since then as well. There is high demand for rental properties and buy-to-let property owners make rental income of up to 6% of the original purchase price in Buenos Aires's popular neighborhoods. An article from the New York Times July 2008 entitled, "For Sale…in Buenos Aires," The reason that Argentina is a cheaper option can, in many ways, be attributed to the crash in 2001. While the nation has been recovering rapidly from its crash, growth has slowed somewhat in the last two years and prices are still much cheaper than in the US or Europe (3 pesos to 1 dollar). With tourism expected to grow to 10 million by 2010 the demand for hotels, one and two bedroom apartments and hostels will no doubt continue to make buying and renting real esate in buenos aires a great investment. Americans are coming in droves and so moving the market in particular areas such as Palermo and Recoleta. The most poplular options are one and two bedroom apartments. MSN travel section lists Argentina as still the best deal in which to buy property in South America.

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