Tom Koziol

Archive of Tom Koziol's Articles

Tom has written 88 article(s) for the BiggerPockets Blog.

An Unlikely Lead Source: Insurance Agents?

by Tom Koziol | March 12, 2010

Since I am knee deep in the insurance business, I think you’ll like what I am about to tell you. First, a little about our agency so you get the full picture. We are what is called a P&C agency. P&C standing for property and casualty. In short, that means besides writing life and health [...]

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Commentary

A Last Minute Reminder

by Tom Koziol | February 26, 2010

This may be redundant but what the heck, if you have even the slimmest chance of using it, you’ll be happy I made this post. A sentence from a recent newspaper article, which you may have read, said: A $1.25 trillion program from the Federal Reserve which has held down mortgage rates is set to [...]

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Credit

More Things That Go Bump In The Night: A Look at the Credit Card Act of 2009′s Possible Impacts

by Tom Koziol | February 19, 2010

In one of my previous posts I mentioned I had used my credit cards to buy a piece of property. It took my partner and I 33 days to sell that house and pocket a nice profit after paying off the cards. The rules are now changing for credit cards. You can still use them [...]

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Mortgages & Lending

An Unexpected Paradigm Shift: Is Holding Paper Still a Safe Option?

by Tom Koziol | February 12, 2010

As a general rule of thumb, mortgage payments have been the top bill that has always been paid. However, high unemployment, sliding home prices and other economic kicks in the butt, have a growing number of struggling consumers doing what was once considered unthinkable: paying their credit card bills instead of their mortgages. On the [...]

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Commentary

Simplification Through Complexity: Managing Your Real Estate Portfolio

by Tom Koziol | January 29, 2010

I did not lose my mind nor am I trying to sound like I’m talking in circles. Something called Complexity Theory is a known commodity and actually works. Hence, simplification through complexity. The below explanation of complexity theory was borrowed from an article at American Thinker. That particular article deals with politics and our current [...]

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Commentary

2010 Real Estate Buzz Word

by Tom Koziol | January 22, 2010

If you have been in this business for at least a week, you know that certain words, commonly called buzz words, will probably dominate your conversation. Well, not 100% of your conversation. Only the ones you have with other investors and potential buyers. This list is only a partial coverage of words unique to the [...]

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Real Estate Tools

The Associated Press Economic Stress Index Tool

by Tom Koziol | January 15, 2010

Economic stress seems to be an apt description of today’s environment. Unemployment, foreclosures and bankruptcies seem to have hit every nook and cranny in these United States. Put another way, I don’t care where you live, your jurisdiction has its share of these problems. Wouldn’t it be nice if you had instant access to a [...]

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Commentary

New Year Old News; But Opportunities Exist if You’re Open to Them!

by Tom Koziol | January 8, 2010

Someone once said figures don’t lie, but liars figure. I want to restate that a bit. Figures don’t lie, but self interests figure. I don’t know if the media is tired of writing about sales going down 16%, or some other number, or if the organizations with a vested interest in the real estate market [...]

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Commentary

New Year’s Resolutions and the Three R’s

by Tom Koziol | January 1, 2010

Before I launch into my post, I want to say happy new year to everyone. May your real estate investments be the ones that see unprecedented growth in 2010 and your rentals stay occupied. Once upon a time I was a motivational speaker. That is, folks would hire me to give their employees or convention [...]

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Real Estate

National Headlines & Local Realities: Finding Great Real Estate Deals

by Tom Koziol | December 25, 2009

If you read the headline that shouted, November new home sales sink 11 percent, without knowing your local market, you could easily believe it was aimed at you. On one hand, it certainly could apply to your area but, on the other hand, it certainly may not. By now, you probably understand the simple real [...]

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Foreclosures

Foreclosures – Looking Through The Eyes Of An Expert

by Tom Koziol | December 18, 2009

When it comes to experts in the foreclosure arena, there doesn’t seem to be a shortage. However, when you sort through the experts, only a few stand out. In an article on Yahoo, a gentleman named Peter Flint, CEO of Trulia, was interviewed. I would bet, from his perspective, he has a better handle on [...]

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Foreclosures

More On Foreclosures: Do Your Homework — Inspect!

by Tom Koziol | December 11, 2009

After my son read my last week’s post about buying a home, or homes, at auction, or during the foreclosure process, he asked me why a bidder simply couldn’t make his or her bid contingent on a professional home inspection. On the surface this seems like a sophomoric question. That’s on the surface. When you [...]

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Foreclosures

Foreclosure Auctions: The Dos and Don’ts

by Tom Koziol | December 4, 2009

It hadn’t been a week when I had made my post about foreclosure auctions when what arrives in my snail mail box but my insurance company’s quarterly newsletter. The newsletter is usually not a big deal but this issue devoted an entire page to buying foreclosures at auction. The article highlighted 4 dos and 2 [...]

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Commentary

Two Acronyms You Don’t Know

by Tom Koziol | November 27, 2009

I would bet if we were in a conversation and I mentioned ASFA and CFPA you would give me a strange look. Yet, these two acronyms impact your daily real estate ventures and impact them like a hurricane impacts a coast line. ASFA stands for the American Financial Services Association, a trade group of credit [...]

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