February 2008

International Real Estate and FSBOs

by FSBOJane | February 29, 2008

FSBOs (Homes for sale by owner) aren’t just growing in popularity in the States. Turns out, giving power back to the buyer is becoming a global trend. Take a look at these recent articles, all showcasing dissatisfaction with the current real estate models: NEW ZEALAND “The real estate industry cannot afford to insist on the [...]

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Interest Rates

What Can Investors Negotiate with Mortgage Loan Officers?

by Troy Schuricht | February 29, 2008

Negotiating the terms of your loan can be as important as negotiating the sales price of your new investment property. Interest rates and closing cost a huge part of cash flow and return on investment, with the proper due diligent and negotiations, investors can be rewarded on every real estate transaction. What can actually be [...]

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Commentary

U.S. Senate Plans to Consider "Foreclosure Rescue Scam" Legislation. Its Time to Speak Up, Investors!

by Jim Watkins | February 28, 2008

Time to Speak UP! The following information is about what the U.S. Senate is up to. If any of this becomes law, it will have a direct and severe impact on my business. There are very good and honest investors out there and BiggerPockets has been a great place for new & seasoned investors to [...]

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Foreclosures

Every Short Sale Opportunity isn’t Worth Chasing – More Time – Bigger Checks

by Milton B. Yates | February 28, 2008

It is no secret that the business of buying real estate directly from the bank prior to it being foreclosed on is both in style and highly lucrative. The issue a lot of “Short Sale Specialists” have revolves around making the deal work on the front end. Time is our most valuable asset as Real [...]

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Economy

US Real Estate Crisis Causing Record Economic Distress

by Charles Feldman | February 27, 2008

It is amazing, by any standards, just how bad things have gotten on the economic front because of what was, at first, a crisis in the subprime mortgage market. Of course, conditions had to be right (or wrong, in this case) for the subprime match to ignite such an enormous world-wide blaze, but, it has, [...]

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Commentary

Viva La’ Revolution! Investing in Green Real Estate

by Michael Creel | February 26, 2008

The Green revolution has arrived, and it wants you! In todays modern construction world, many builders are investing in Green construction and finding a whole new Market of eager buyers, and the cost depends on just how green you want to get. As for how much it costs, and how much it saves, well, that [...]

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Commentary

Information Is To Investors As Yin Is To Yang

by Mike Farmer | February 26, 2008

As promised, I’m going to circle back and cover a few pre-contract concerns that have to do with due diligence and determining value. I also want to address the importance of not falling into the trap of what I will Anti-Real Estate Agentism – AREA for short. Not only do first time investors benefit from [...]

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Learn Real Estate

Real Estate Mail Marketing: Pull the Right Strings

by Jim Watkins | February 25, 2008

In 2004, I held a mini-workshop on the topic of effective mail marketing. At the time, I had already been using my own system for several years but I needed to help the students come up with a letter of their own, otherwise most of the homeowners would have received identical letters and none of [...]

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Blogs

What Happened To The Stigma?

by Richard Warren | February 25, 2008

Perhaps I’m showing my age as I rapidly approach the half-century mark. But I clearly recall a time when there was shame attached to being in debt. I grew up in a working-class neighborhood of modest homes at a time when people never seemed to move. It was a major event if someone moved in [...]

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Real Estate News

Sunday Real Estate Wrap-Up

by Joshua Dorkin | February 24, 2008

I’m not sure about the rest of you, but this has been a LONG week for me. Personal issues aside, is seems like there is just so much happening in the world: Lunar Eclipse, US shoots down failing satellite, Kosovo declares independence, Castro steps down from leadership of Cuba, Ralph Nader is back, Clinton/Obama battle [...]

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Commentary

Why You Don’t Need a Realtor

by FSBOJane | February 22, 2008

I recently came across an article that put something so well and so clearly that I really don’t think I could improve upon it. Everyone interested in real estate investing would do well to check it out. In “Why Do You Still Need an Agent to Sell Your Home?” author Douglas Gantenbein makes an excellent [...]

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Flipping Houses

10 Questions on Hard Money Loans

by Troy Schuricht | February 21, 2008

What is the process for Hard Money Loans? Hard Money Loans provide Investors access to capital to purchase investment properties. They can fund quickly, typically within 72 hours of receiving the final docs from the Title Company. Hard Money is available for adequately collateralized loans on single-family residential houses and other Real Property including commercial [...]

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Foreclosures

Subprime Mortgage Crisis Draining Wealth From African-Americans

by Charles Feldman | February 20, 2008

A little noted report last month deserves a much closer review. It concludes that the subprime mortgage crisis is causing African-Americans to “experience the greatest loss of wealth in U.S. history.” The report is from United for a Fair Economy and is called “Foreclosed–The State of the Dream 2008.” According to the report, American blacks [...]

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Learn Real Estate

First Time Real Estate Investing – The Contract Phase

by Mike Farmer | February 19, 2008

If you are averse to paper work, formal agreements and legalese, get over it. You can’t avoid it and it’s vitally important. Think of your contract as a big safe to protect your huge amount of valuables. The subject here will be the contract – I’ll circle back in later posts to cover the specific [...]

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Blogs

The Most Dangerous Game: Rehabbing to Flip

by Richard Warren | February 18, 2008

In previous weeks we discussed rehabbing a home for personal use (Getting Started In Rehab) and rehabbing for use as a rental (Rehabbing a Rental Property). This week we will look at rehabbing with the intention of flipping. This is, by far, the riskiest of the three. However, it can also be the most lucrative [...]

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