Model Agency 411

The term flipping in real estate brings up the thoughts of bad and unsavory characters out to steal houses from little old ladies and unsophisticated home owners. The truth is that the thieves and crooks should be in jail. Those of us who make it a part of our business buying and selling property should not be aligned with that same bunch.

Flipping is not a crime!

Buying and selling real estate for profit is normal business here in the U.S.A. Homeowners everyday sell property they purchased with the full and complete understanding that when they sell the property it will be worth more at the sale than it was when they purchased it because of appreciation.

Investors flip houses, commercial property, and land.

On the other hand investors don’t wait for appreciation to increase the value they will know how they are going to increase the value before buying the property. They will use their knowledge and skills to bring additional value to the property, by rezoning, subdividing, renovating, bulldozing and building new, buying low and selling high.

New investors can learn the process

Real Estate investment strategies are numerous and some are so convoluted that it would take a book to explain but in every case the same mantra holds true “know your way out, before you go in”. A very simple truth of the basic investment strategy is to know what you are going to do with the property before buying it.

Know your market, know your values

Investors must know the marketplace or have access to information that is reliable. They must know the cost or have trusted advisors who are knowledgeable about the costs of repairs, financing, fees of attorneys, engineers, architects, and be able to move fast when the opportunity presents itself.

Understand your role

Investors look for and make deals. Contractors do the construction work, attorneys do the legal work, accountants do the accounting, engineers do the engineering, and Investors do the investing. If you want to be a contractor and make a living wage please do, if you want to make the big bucks be an investor and hire good people to do the other jobs because you are too busy doing yours.

A little short of cash

In the beginning you think you can save money by doing the work your self, that’s far from the truth. The professionals do the work better and faster and cheaper than you ever could. Add it up what opportunities did you miss because you were setting tiles in a bathroom? What big new deal did you not partner on because you were too tired to open your email for three days? What big news did you miss that could have made you an extra $75,000 on an offer you just signed because you were too busy doing someone else’s job? You may be a little short of cash but that has more to do with not knowing your way out before you went in.

Bill Carey with over 30 years in real estate sales, investments, and home building offers a unique perspective to the buying and selling process of residential real estate for F*R*E*E consumer information and reports log on to http://www.CharlotteNCExecutiveHomes.com and see
“Insider Real Estate Secrets Revealed”
…a must-read for Home-Owners and Renters!
It’s a F*R*E*E 12-lesson e-course covering more than 20 topics exposing the realities behind buying and selling a home.
It Could Make(or Save) You Thousands of Dollars

See http://www.BillCareyRealtor.com and sign up for our monthly e-newsletter with tips for buyers, sellers, home owners and soon to be home owners.

(Your Comments are Welcome)

One of the best roads to financial freedom and wealth has and always will be the acquisition of good, solid, income producing real estate. Before you can successfully invest in real estate you have to become educated as to how the real estate market works.

Over the last 20 years I’ve bought, sold, and leased real estate in the United States and other countries. I’ve made a lot of money and lost a lot of money by making what I thought were good decisions but turned out to be bad when economic conditions changed unexpectedly.

Becoming educated in real estate requires a lot of work and experience. You can’t just take a class or attend a weekend seminar and become an expert. Real estate professionals who make money are some of the smartest, most educated, and most experienced business professionals in the world, but even the professionals loose millions of dollars. It is not an easy profession.

To be successful in real estate investing you first have to define what real estate is. Real Estate is its future earning power. The value of any piece of real estate is determined by the income that can be generated by that property when it’s developed to its highest and best use from today and into the indefinite future.

The value of a home is determined by the value that the person who wants to live in that home will pay. The value of a rental property in turn is determined by how much people will pay to rent that property. For any piece of real estate to have any value it must be able to be developed so that it can either provide housing or produce income.

Before you make the final decision on whether or not to purchase a piece of real estate you should always ask this question: “When and how will income or wealth be generated on or by this piece of property?” The answer to this question will tell you how much the property is worth today and how much it is likely to be worth in the future.

Here is a six step system that will help you to become a successful real estate investor:

1. Do market research to find a house that is under priced relative to the neighborhood because it is run down and needs a lot of work. A house that is under priced is one that is selling for 20% or more below what similar houses are selling for in the same area based on the costs or sales price per square foot.

2. Purchase the house for the lowest possible down payment and get the seller to carry back a 2nd mortgage or Deed Of Trust on the property. You always want to get the very best price and terms. Price and terms are very often more important than any other factor when buying a property. If you can buy at a low-enough price and terms you can make any property into a successful investment.

3. Move into the house so you can work on weekends and in your spare time to refurbish it.

4. Once you’ve fixed up the house you can do one of three things:

5. Keep repeating this process with more houses that you fix up and sell, rent, or refinance. If you can get to the point where you can buy a house every six months, in ten years you could not only have a substantial positive cash flow each month and you could also have a large investment portfolio with little or no money of your own invested in it.

6. As you increase you experience, assets, and cash flow then you move up to buying duplexes, multi-unit properties, and eventually apartment buildings.

The advantages of this six step system are that you can do it while you keep your full time job which enables you to generate cash flow for repairs and renovation on the property you purchase. You can start small with little or no money or risk and buy more investment properties as you gain more knowledge and experience.

One of the keys to successful real estate investing is that you have to be willing to commit, because it takes an enormous amount of time to find the types of properties that are right for what you want to do. If you have lots of time but very little money real estate is where you should start investing for your financial independence.

Copyright©2006 by Joe Love and JLM & Associates, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide.

Joe Love draws on his 25 years of experience helping both individuals and companies build their businesses, increase profits, and achieve total success. He is the founder and CEO of JLM & Associates, a consulting and training organization, specializing in personal and business development. Through his seminars and lectures, Joe Love addresses thousands of men and women each year, including the executives and staffs of many businesses around the world, on the subjects of leadership, achievement, goals, strategic business planning, and marketing.

Reach Joe at: joe@jlmandassociates.com

Read more articles and newsletters at: http://www.jlmandassociates.com

>From National Parks to a relaxed pace of life, South Dakota has
a lot more going for it then you might think. With some of the
cheapest prices in the land, South Dakota real estate is a
steal.

South Dakota

If you’re looking for bustling cities and every modern
convenience, South Dakota is definitely not for you. If you
prefer a relaxed, honest place where you know the neighbors and
a handshake means something, you’ve found the place. Throw
incredibly scenic places like Badlands National Park and Mount
Rushmore, and you have a state with a friendly old west feel
that makes a perfect relocation spot.

Rapid City

The second largest city in South Dakota, Rapid City isn’t very
rapid at all. Instead, the city feels more like a town and is
extremely family oriented. The town is located on rolling hills
with plenty of tree cover. If you enjoy the outdoors, Rapid City
is a hop and a jump from the Black Hills and plenty of outdoor
activities. As occurs throughout South Dakota, it is warm in the
summer and cold in the winter.

Sioux Falls

Built on the Big Sioux River, Sioux Falls is known for…its
falls. Running through the city, the falls are not particularly
big, but are very picturesque. Home to the University of Sioux
Falls, the town has a conservative, friendly atmosphere.

Deadwood

The gold rush town of Deadwood deserves a special mention when
discussing South Dakota. As with most gold rush towns, the
fortunes of Deadwood went up and down with the gold industry.
Eventually, things went really bad and the town nearly was
abandoned. Today, Deadwood has been revived by tourism and
visiting it is like stepping back in time. Casinos dating from
the nineteenth century have been revived with the Midnight Star
Casino being owned by Kevin Costner.

South Dakota Real Estate

South Dakota real estate is just about the best deal in the
United States. You can expect to pay under $200,000 for a single
family home throughout the state. With such low prices, the
appreciation rate for South Dakota real estate was a reasonably
7.5 percent for 2005.

If you are dedicated to managing your money wisely — not from the month to month standpoint, but an overall view — you should consider taking a 15-year mortgage.

A 15-year mortgage comes with a lot of advantages. You can own your home free and clear before you retire. You can save a lot of money in interest — hundreds of thousands in many cases.

If you are thinking that a 15-year mortgage must cost a lot more than a 30-year mortgage, consider the following:

If you were to take out a 30-year mortgage at 8% interest, your monthly payment for principal and interest would be $734 a month. Over the life of the mortgage, you will pay back $164,165 in interest.

That same $100,000 at 7.5% interest will cost you $927 each month in principal and interest. You will pay back $66,862 in interest over the life of the mortgage.

For only $193 extra a month, you can save $97,293 in interest. That’s a lot of money that isn’t going to the lender. It all stays with you. Plus, you own your home in half the time.

There are some arguments made for taking out the 30-year and putting the difference in savings. It doesn’t always work out the way you plan. If you were to save the $193 each month and never miss a month in a 4% average yield account, you would have $47,495. It’s less than half you would save with the 15-year mortgage. And you have to be really dedicated to put that amount into your savings without fail.

The truth is that most people are really awful about saving money. Chances are that you wouldn’t really be disciplined enough to put that money in savings. I’m sure that there are other places you would spend it.

If you have the extra money, you should consider the 15-year mortgage. You are building equity in your property much faster. You are getting debt out of the way before retirement.

There are cases in which taking the lower monthly payment may be more beneficial. For example, people who are certain they will move in a couple of years are often better off taking out the lowest monthly payment mortgage they can, especially in areas where home values are on the rise.

There are a lot of people out there looking to stretch into the largest or most expensive home they can possible afford. If you want to stretch, the 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage is certainly your best choice. But you should really consider the properties in your price range for a 15-year mortgage. Even if you are going to sell the home in a decade, when you sell it, you will have more equity in the home to get back. Your payments have been working for you, not against you.

There are also those that take out the 30-year — just in case — and pay it off like a 15-year. There is nothing wrong with this. Just make sure that your mortgage doesn’t come with prepayment penalties. You will just have to be certain that you are disciplined enough to make the extra payments. That’s the only way you will save.

Most people consider their homes their largest investment. It doesn’t have to cost you so much. Getting rid of your debt is the grandest step you will take to living free. A mortgage isn’t something you should stretch to its breaking point. The 15-year mortgage is a wise decision for the home owner with an eye towards the future.

Martin Lukac (http://www.MartinLukac.com), represents http://www.RateEmpire.com and http://www.1AmericanFinancial.com, a finance web-company specializing in real estate/mortgage market. We specialize in daily updates, rate predictions, mortgage rates and more. Find low home loan mortgage interest rates from hundreds of mortgage companies!

As more and more of us look for better ways to secure our financial future than investing into stocks and shares or relying on our government to provide for us in our old age, so interest in purchasing property as an investment asset is increasing.

After all rarely do careful investments made into real estate lose a purchaser money, whereas all too often investments made into pensions companies or on the stock market fail to come to fruition - is it any wonder therefore that more people want to know how to build a profitable property portfolio?

Here are ten top tips that expert property investors abide by when looking for property that they can do up and resell or rent out for profit. If you want to learn the tricks of the trade then read on…

1) Speak to letting agents and do your own research, find out how much rent you think you can comfortably get from a given property type in a given location. With that figure confirmed and in mind never pay over 100 times more than the monthly rental figure for a property. I.e., if you’re sure a property will return you GBP 700 a month do not pay more than GBP 70,000 for that property and you will then achieve a good rental yield.

2) Understand and harness the power of OPM - other people’s money! Never over commit your own personal wealth to a pure investment property, instead use loans, mortgages and credit facilities and put down the smallest deposit possible. Preserve your own wealth at all costs.

3) Don’t invest in future potential, invest in real potential. If an area is considered to be up and coming because in the future it will benefit from better infrastructure never bank on the investment being made…just know that if an area has already arrived and a particular property is already profitable, the future prospects for that property are already assured and make a far better bet than speculating to hopefully, maybe, potentially one day accumulate!

4) Don’t make it personal - an investment is a pure profit making enterprise therefore don’t get emotionally attached to any particular property, remain as objective as possible.

5) When letting property let it unfurnished because you will have enough to cope with getting the rent out of tenants and keeping on top of property upkeep without having to locate someone to fix a leaking washing machine or replace a broken crockery set.

6) Seriously reconsider plans to renovate and refurbish to sell on for profit. Unless you’re a builder and an interior designer and you have friends in the trade to help you and get you materials at cost you will end up paying more than you intend to pay and eating away at your profits. Yes money can be made from renovation property but it is far easier to make money from rental property!

7) Learn all you can from the wealth of brilliant books that have been published by property investors and real estate millionaires. You can bet your bottom dollar that all those who give seminars on making money from real estate are actually making their money from you attending their seminar - whereas if a successful property portfolio owner has committed their knowledge to print you cannot afford to overlook their wisdom.

Do hands on research - get out on the streets, visit letting agents and estate agents, look at property prices, rental rates, the popularity of a given area and only when you are certain about a location and a property type should you make a commitment to buy real estate.

9) If you do your homework and keep revising your facts and figures you should be confident in your own decisions and not be swayed by others who might say your plans will never work. You have to have dreams and ambitions and visualize all your hopes and hard work coming to fruition. Keep your feet on the ground and don’t be swayed by the negativity and limitation of others.

10) Be financially pessimistic. Always underestimate your returns and overestimate your outgoings that way at best you’ll be spot on with your earnings and at best you’ll be rewarded for practical and careful budgeting.

Rhiannon Williamson writes about real estate investment worldwide. To read more about overseas investment property click here.