September 2009

How to use Postlets to Improve Your Craigslist Posts

by Justin McClelland | September 17, 2009

There are quite a few features that Postlets offers, some fee-based and some free. In this post I’m going to focus on the free features and show you how you can take your CraigsLists posts from this:

To This:

Postlets Tutorial for Craigslist

In this tutorial postlets.com does most of the work for you. However, in relation to my previous post, I’ll also show you how you can create the illusion of an embeded YouTube property video. The procedure is as follows:

Step 1:

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Investor Interviews

Meet the Investor: Interview with Real Estate Investor, Will Barnard

by Joshua Dorkin | September 17, 2009

Its that time again . . . where we get to meet another successful real estate investor. For those of you who are unfamiliar, we will from time to time, interview investors on BiggerPockets for our Meet the Investor series. With that in mind, we’ve got a great interview for you with real estate investor Will Barnard. Will has been one of the most active members of BiggerPockets over the course of the last year or so, and has given back much to others in the community. He is a great resource and a nice guy. With that in mind . . .

Meet Real Estate Investor Will Barnard

WillBarnard

How long have you been investing in real estate full time?

I started investing in 2004 and went “full time” in 2006.

What attracted you to becoming a real estate investor?

I have almost always been self-employed and I am a true entrepreneur at heart. I have always been interested in real estate investing; in fact, I was out looking at homes to buy, rehab and flip back in 2000, but never pulled the trigger because I felt I did not have the financial capabilities to do so — how little did I know! The fact is, I could have, had I had the right education! Real estate investing offers me the freedom to work when I want (which is actually all the time, but I love it!), make as much money as I want, as there are no limits as in a regular job, and most importantly, I love what I do.

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Real Estate Wholesaling

How to Close REO Wholesale Deals (Part 2 of 5): Using Quitclaim Deeds

by Stephani Davis | September 17, 2009

This article is part 2 in a 5 part series where I will explain the various methods available for closing REO wholesale deals and getting around the bank’s “No Assignment” clause.

Using the Quitclaim Deed Method to Wholesale Real Estate

Last week, I explained the mechanics of using a simultaneous closing, and this week I will discuss using the Quitclaim Deed Method to get your REO wholesale deals to the closing table.

When using the Quitclaim Deed Method, you will be adding your end buyer onto the purchase contract that you have with the bank, and then giving them a quit claim deed after closing in exchange for your wholesale fee.

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Real Estate Investing

How To Make $70,000 Off A Real Estate Wholesale Deal

by Jason Hanson | September 16, 2009

I’m currently working on my longest deal ever. So far it’s been about eight months in the making. Let me show you how this deal evolved so you can learn how to make $70,000…with only a few hours worth of work.

About eight months ago one of my partners got a lead from a guy who owns a beachfront condo in Virginia Beach, VA. It’s a gorgeous condo in perfect condition. The owner is an “eccentric” individual who travels a lot and didn’t want to have to deal with the property anymore.

I met with this owner twice in person to negotiate the deal. At first I thought it was going to be an awesome lease option deal. The mortgage balance was relatively low and the place could be rented out for $3,000 a week during the peak season. My partner and I were looking at over a thousand dollars a month in cash flow.

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Foreclosures

Where to Find Apartment Building Foreclosures

by Ted Karsch | September 16, 2009

Due to easy, high leverage financing and falling commercial real estate values many apartment building owners are now facing foreclosure. This leaves a lot of opportunity for those apartment building investors who are willing to invest the time and energy into finding a great apartment building investment at a rock bottom price. It can be difficult to find listings of apartment building foreclosures because in many cases they are handed over to commercial Realtors who may not even advertise the apartment building as a foreclosure.

Fortunately, the internet has a large number of websites which feature apartment building foreclosure listings, however, none of these websites is devoted solely to multifamily properties. Therefore it is necessary to visit a number of different websites and do some searching within the websites themselves. Below are some websites where you can begin your search.

Sources for Foreclosed Commercial Real Estate

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Real Estate News

The U.S. Run Housing Market: The Nation’s New Landlord

by Charles Feldman | September 16, 2009

Worried about government run health insurance? Maybe you should be more concerned about the government run housing market!

government owned mortgages real estate For those of you who have lost track of where all our taxpayer dollars have gone as we bailout banks, brokerage houses, car companies, insurance companies…etc—-this sobering statistic courtesy of the New York Times may be a needed splash of chilled water on the face: “The government is financing 9 out of 10 new mortgages in the United States.”

That bears repeating……”The government (as in U.S.) is financing 9 out of 10 new mortgages in the United States.”

According to the Times account, ” Fannie (Mae) and Freddie (Mac) now buy or guarantee almost two-thirds of all new mortgages. The Federal Housing Administration guarantees another 25 percent.”

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Commentary

The Perfect Storm Continues for Real Estate and the Economy

by Peter Giardini | September 15, 2009

I am sure you recall the movie some time back entitled The Perfect Storm? It was a great movie, about the interaction of several storms meeting up to create one giant storm. For an old Navy guy and licensed Coast Guard captain… it scared the hell out of me!

perfect storm housing, real estate, economy

Throughout the past several years we have been experiencing this same situation – first with the housing market, and then starting at this time last year, with our financial markets: The perfect storm of over priced homes, rampant speculation, poor lending practices, and I am sure more then a little fraud. Every one of the previously mentioned occurrences contributed to a complete crash and the current recession we are still in.

In a previous article written for BiggerPockets, I shared a graph that showed how Option ARMs are the next part of the storm to materialize. You can revisit that chart by heading over to this link…

In spite of the recent good news regarding sales (increasing in most areas) and prices (declining at a slower rate, again in most areas) we are about to experience the second wave… kind of like we are in the eye of the storm… and the backside is barreling down on us.

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Financing Real Estate

How to Get Seller Financing for a Mobile Home Park

by Frank Rolfe | September 15, 2009

One of the great advantages of buying mobile home parks is the ready supply of seller financing. No other form of real estate investment offers as much seller carry, and at as favorable terms — with most of these loans being non-recourse and at below-market interest rates.

So how do you get a seller to finance the mobile home park?

One of the first strategies is to “bond” with the seller. A seller will not offer financing if he is not comfortable with the buyer and their ability to make a success of the park. If they are not feeling good about the buyer, then how can they lock up their investment and their future with them? Clearly, before there can be seller financing, there has to be a period in which the seller gets to know the buyer and develops confidence in their abilities.

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Financing Real Estate

How to Generate Private Money, Steps 5 & 6 of 6

by Ryan Moeller | September 15, 2009

Finding financing is one of the biggest challenges for most real estate investors. I previously wrote How to Generate Private Money, where I broke this process into six steps; here I will break down the 5th and 6th steps (See: Steps 1-2, Steps 3-4) of dealing with private lenders.

Step 5: Handle objections, ask for referrals

Goal: Overcome objections to optimize success and get referrals

Solution: Anticipate objections and have a solution to handle them. You will find that the same 2 or 3 objections come up 75% of the time and you have to be able to handle them. Common objections are: What if the deal flops, how is my investment secured, what is in it for me, why real estate, etc.

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Taxes

Don’t Pay Taxes on Your Capital Gains (Part 2): 1031 Exchanges

by Kyle Koller | September 14, 2009

1031-exchange-deferred-taxes In last week’s article, we explored the anatomy of a 1031 exchange and the government’s reasoning for creating such a powerful tax-saving tool. This week, we’ll look at a hypothetical example such that we may more clearly understand how a 1031 exchange works. We’ll close by addressing some common concerns. Let’s get to it!

Ted’s First Investment Property

Ted understands the advantages or real estate investing and does everything he can to acquire his first investment: a nice little income property located at 101 Main Street. After careful analysis, he purchases it for $400,000 and pays $8,000 in acquisition costs. Over the next year, he operates the property as a rental—this is crucial because simply acquiring property for the sole purpose of resale does not qualify for a 1031 exchange. During this time, Ted replaces the roof and makes some other capital improvements totaling $15,000. He also takes a depreciation tax deduction of $5,333.

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Commentary

Government America vs. “Real” America

by Brendan O'Brien | September 14, 2009

Researching the Washington, DC real estate market, I came upon some facts that shocked me. I started looking at federal government employment, knowing that the government is the biggest employer in the Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA).

In fact, the federal government is the biggest employer in the country, with about 1.8 million civilian employees. While times get tougher for those of us who don’t work for the government, life for those in government continues to be pretty peachy. In fact, things have gotten a lot better over the last ten years.

The growing discrepancy between the government economy and the “real” economy is causing many problems, but one is a growing disconnect between the government mindset and the private industry mindset.

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Commentary

Las Vegas: Record Sales & Dwindling Supply – So Why Are Prices Still Falling?

by Richard Warren | September 14, 2009

Welcome_to_vegas The economic law of supply and demand says that when demand increases and supply falls, prices are sure to rise. Apparently that law has an asterisk that says “except for Las Vegas.”

For months now I’ve been hearing about how brisk sales have been, especially in the REO, or foreclosure, market. Looking at the numbers you will see that the available supply has been steadily trending down and sales have been setting all-time records. A bank puts an REO on the market and within days there are multiple offers on the property. So why are prices still falling?

On The Street

One realtor that I know specializes in these REO properties. What he sees are a lot of cash buyers from other areas stepping in. That would seem to mean that investors are seeing the value while local buyers are still gun-shy. Are they missing a golden opportunity?

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Social Media

How to Save More Time With Social Networking for Real Estate with Flock

by J. Lamar Ferren | September 13, 2009

One of the biggest complaints I hear about Social Networking is that it takes up too much time. Last week I posted a blog called, “Are You Wasting Time With Social Networking For Real Estate” . The focus was to point out key factors within your social networking habits that may be a waste of your time and how you can be more productive with it by building genuine relationships.

In this Vlog Post (Video Blog) I’d like to focus on helping you save more time with social networking, while continuing to be more productive in your business and building those relationships.

Watch the video below and see 6 Key benefits to using this Social Web Browser for your business. The name of this social web browser is called Flock:

Flock focuses on the key areas of social networking, such as:

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Real Estate Investing

Rehabbers! Know ALL the Costs to Flip that House

by Justin Pierce | September 13, 2009

Every once in a while I catch an episode of Flip this House; I have to admit, it is entertaining and it does show the drama involved in fixing up a home. However, I am very amused when they show the final numbers. I have watched episodes where a first time rehabber has bumbled and stumbled through the process and yet still manages to make a profit in the end, according to the show. This and other shows might make one believe that a flip is a sure bet. When they do the numbers they normally list the Purchase price, the fix up costs, and the sales price. Wow, are they missing a bunch of stuff.

Please take my advice: Do NOT start that flip if those are the only categories of expenses that you are anticipating.

The REAL Costs of Flipping a House

Here are the actual costs of one of my recent flips.

Purchase Price:
Contract Prices: $213,000
Wholesaler: $12,937
Total Price: $225,937

*This deal was brought to me by a wholesaler. So my purchase price consisted of both the amount that I paid the owner (in this case a bank) and the finder’s fee that I paid the wholesaler.

Costs of Money:
3 Points: $7,312.50
Broker Fee: $2,437.50
Holding Costs: $9,500.00
Lender’s Lawyer: $1,220.00
Total Costs: $20,470.00

The cost of money or the cost of capital to me is everything that the lender charges for the use of his money. Note that in this case (which is pretty standard) I paid the lender 3 points and I paid the broker 1 point. Note that there is also a lawyer; this lawyer is not the title company. This is the lenders lawyer who writes up the contracts and the deed. He’s the one who does his very best to shackle me to ensure his client gets his money back. The lawyer represents me in no way at all, but I get the privilege of paying for his services. Most hard money lenders will either have this fee or some sort of administrative fee of about the same price.

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