Wednesday, October 3, 2007

St. George Utah, Secrets of Boomtown Real Estate


What is it about St. George Utah that has attracted a growth rate of 39.8 percent in the last 5 years? Could it be the spectacular views of the red rock bluffs, foothills, black lava rock, and streams that encase the St. George Valley? The secret that draws people to this area is diversity.

There are several smaller towns adjacent to St. George. The city of Washington still enjoys the coveted small town atmosphere, historical beauty of buildings indicating ages gone by. You can find the charm of corner stores, mercantile shops, and grassy fields. Other areas of the valley include the quaint towns of Hurricane, LaVerkin, Santa Clara and Ivins; each with their unique sophistications, and panoramic hillsides.

Yet the true secret attraction is St. George Utah real estate. The diversity of original design and talent is booming along with the population. Don’t let the cozy small town persona fool you. Hollywood style perfection, world class golf courses, exclusive in home amenities and state of the art electronics is pushing the wealth effect in St. George Utah. St. George homes exemplify nature’s beauty with breathtaking views, right from one’s private terrace.

As a realtor, I truly have an insider view to the client’s new appetite for affluent homes. Plante and Associates specializes in homes of artistic and exquisite design tailored to style and taste of luxury fine living. If you’re looking for a place to retire, a second home or the fully furnished corporate lion hide-away, St. George Utah is where you’ll experience it with signature style. I’m Ellen Plante, and you can visit an online tribute to this extraordinary array of one-of-a-kind places at http://www.aboutstgeorgeutah.com or call 800-557-9096. I am more than happy to send you relocation information.

Oh I almost forgot, another secret to St. George housing market boom is a little known fact insiders know. Fabulous downtown Las Vegas Nevada is only 123 miles away.

About The Author

Ellen Plante, a Real Estate Professional lives in the St. George Utah area and pays attention to considerations like originality, design, and personal desires of her elite clientele. Email ellenplante@aboutstgeorgeutah.com Phone: 800-557-9096.

Criteria, Terms, Network - The Foundation of Real Estate Investing


In 2005, a bestselling book called The Millionaire Real Estate Investor was written by Gary Keller with Dave Jenks and Jay Papasan. The question is, because of the recent market changes of a buyers market from a sellers market do the principles laid out in the book still apply?

First, lets understand how the book was originally written. It was based on extensive research and interviews with over 120 millionaire real estate investors. The basic model laid out were Criteria, Terms and Network.

Criteria: What you buy. Criteria is the name used for the checklist you use to identify the type of property that you are going to buy. This applies to a buyers market because there appears to be all type of opportunities available, but you still need to establish what you are looking for & how you are going to take advantage of the market conditions. Are you going to stick to one particular type of property? Only condos or single families? These apply no matter what the market. Will you be able to resale it or rent it? The buyers market presents some new opportunities to consider.Are you going to focus on pre foreclosures, foreclosures or short sales? With these situations presenting themselves more & more, including them in your criteria checklist would be worth considering to see if they provide the greatest opportunity and the least risk.

Terms: With interest rates remaining fairly low, and with the wave of the sub prime backlash, terms are even more important in the buyers market then they have ever been. Add to that the true evaluation of proper offer prices when overall prices are stagnant or declining. Simply taking the time to establish your own parameters to determine when a deal is a good deal & when a deal should be walked away from is critical in an emotion filled buyers market.

Lets look at the principle of Network: Who helps you. to todays marketplace. Having a network of select relationships that know your criteria & that are able to feed you opportunities is essential. Imagine a well placed attorney that knows of pre-foreclosure proceedings or a Northern Virginia Real Estate Team (http://www.theearlofrealestate.net/team.aspx) that is intimately aware of a particular area or that is working in conjunction with a bank to dispose of Bank Owned / Foreclosure Northern Virginia Homes (http://www.theearlofrealestate.net/77_bank_owned_SF.aspx).

All of these areas still applies & answers a lot of the questions of what you'll buy, how you'll buy it & who will help you.

"Mastering these areas will give you the greatest chance for long term success & place you solidly on the path to becoming a Millionaire Real Estate Investor". This was sound advise when the book was written and remains sound advice today.


About The Author

Robert Earl - Founder of The Earl of Real Estate Team is a Real Estate Entrepreneur & Real Estate Coach serving the Northern Virginia Real Estate (http://www.theearlofrealestate.net) Market. The Earl of Real Estate Team focuses on Vienna VA Real Estate, Condos, Townhomes & Homes for Sale (http://www.theearlofrealestate.net/Vienna.aspx)

Use Your IRA or 401K to Purchase Investment Real Estate

Did you know that you can use your IRA or 401K to purchase real estate and have those assets grow in your retirement plan? Most people don’t. This is a great way to increase the value of your retirement plan. Adding real estate to your IRA means these assets will increase in value tax-deferred until you begin pulling money out of your IRA or 401K. That’s right, you can buy real estate, let it appreciate, and not have to pay the IRS any income taxes on your income or gains from it until you retire!

Now, there are some rules, but they are, for the most part fairly simple and straightforward. There are several types of real estate investments that are eligible for including in your IRA. Rental homes or condos, raw land, timberland, commercial real estate or office buildings rented or leased to a business are all eligible. You could also add discounted real estate paper (where you purchase mortgages from someone at a discount) and even tax certificates. You can even purchase your future retirement home with your IRA. You just have to rent it out to someone else until you are ready to retire. This is not a comprehensive list, but it should give you some good ideas.

One rule concerning IRAs & real estate is that you cannot use it buy your own home or any property you live in, like a second vacation home for example. And I have also read it is not a good idea to rent out property you have purchased with your IRA to close relatives.

In order to use your IRA to purchase real estate, you must set up what is called a self directed IRA. This means you can direct your own investments. To do this, you will need the services of an approved IRA trustee or custodian or independent administrator. In order to fulfill their legal obligations, the trustee will most likely require that you hire a property manager to manage any rental property. This is to ensure that the property taxes are paid on time, to collect rents and maintain the property to local building codes. This can be an advantage for you, to let someone else deal with the day to day headaches of managing property.

There are many companies and individuals that offer IRA trustee services.

You can use a Roth IRA or a SEP IRA, for small companies and self-employed people. According to David Gass, president of Business Credit Services, the Roth IRA is his best choice for using an IRA to buy real estate for long term investments.

When you purchase real estate using your IRA, the trustee will most likely require that you purchase the property outright and not use any debt financing (a mortgage or trust deed). This is to protect your IRA from defaults on loans and other problems with long term contracts. If you are thinking, well, I can’t afford to buy a $150,000 or a$200,000 property for my IRA, don’t be put off. I have seen many properties in several parts of the country that can be purchased for under $50,000. You can even buy a mobile home and rent it out.

You need to think of your real estate investments like a business. All the income must be deposited into the IRA. And all expenses related to your property must be paid from the IRA. This will keep you out of hot water with the IRS. And when you sell the property, all of the gains will be added to your IRA, tax deferred.

This short article is just meant to introduce you to the idea that you can increase your wealth by adding real estate to your IRA. You will need to find and work with experts and professionals in this area. Your real estate agent can probably introduce you to several qualified people and companies that deal with this.

Written by Steven Currie
Copyright 2007

About The Author

Steven Currie a financial consultant who helps people save tens of thousands of dollars by paying off their mortgage in less than half of the time.

Contact Info: stevencurrie2@bellsouth.net 931-647-4333

http://www.mywaytofreedom.com/

Discounters Vs. Full Fee Vs. Flexible Fee Real Estate Agents

Have you ever take the time to ask what is the true motivation of the Agent that you select to sell your home?

When it comes time to select a real estate agent to sell your home, you probably have 3 choices when it comes to the type of real estate agent you select based upon the Fee Structure that they use and the resulting motivation that this may or may not cause the agent to have. These 3 categories are a "full fee" structure, a "discounter fee" structure and a blend called a "flexible fee" structure.

The distinction between the different categories can be drawn in two main areas. 1.) How the Deal Comes Together & 2.) Who Finds the Buyer

A "discounter fee" structure real estate agent goes into the transaction with a fee that is significantly reduced for the amount charged by the full fee agent. This is based upon a business model that limits the scope of services that are going to be performed during the course of the transaction. In the end, this approach also will pay out more money to the party that is trying to negotiate against you, the buyers agent. Consider that the Discount Agent may be looking to "Double End" the transaction because there is more money available to the Buyers Agent as compared to the Sellers Agent. To me, this sounds like a conflict of interest, but that may just be me.

A "full fee" structure agent structures the commission charges that no matter how the deal comes together and with no concern as to which agent actually ends up working with the buyer of the property. Consider the following, there is little motivation for a "Full Fee" agent to market the property out to the buyer agent community because the Full Fee Agent may be looking to represent both the buyer of the property and you the seller of the property at the same time. This would influence what marketing avenues and vehicles that an agent would be looking to use.

A flexible fee - choose your own commission (http://www.theearlofrealestate.net/selling_flexible_real_estate_fee.aspx) structure agent will charge a flexible amount dependent upon the way inwhich the sale comes together. If the listing agent is able to attract the buyer directly then they get a minimal increase in the overall compensation, sometimes ranging up to 1% in addition to the amount being charged for listing the property. This is a far cry from the amount charged by the Full Fee agent that double ends the property and thus doubles the commission. This is also a lower amount than the Discounter charges for double ending the property from the base 1% commission to a 300% increase for working with the buyer and seller.

Keep in mind that all of this is controlled and regulated by your own areas laws on agency and whether or not an agent can truly represent both parties to a transaction under a dual or designated representation agreement. Check to see what applies in your particular area.

Bottom Line, As with anything, if it sounds to good to be true, it probably is. Make sure that you select an agent and a structure when selling your home in Northern Virginia (http://www.theearlofrealestate.net/Selling.aspx) that provides you with the level of comfort that the agent is truly motivated to get your home sold and that you will be getting value for your commission dollars.


About The Author

Robert Earl - Founder of The Earl of Real Estate Team is a Real Estate Entrepreneur & Real Estate Coach serving the Northern Virginia Real Estate (http://www.theearlofrealestate.net) Market. Robert Earl's Site presents Reston Condos for Sale - Reston Condo Communities (http://www.theearlofrealestate.net/Reston_Condos.aspx)

Should I select a real estate team or single real estate agent?

Some people prefer to make sure that one person is responsible for & doing everything involved with a particular service. They don't want to have to track down multiple people & get multiple answers to what is going on.

Now if you are one of those people then you don't need to read any further because this article is going to focus on the benefits of working with a Real Estate Team as compared to working with an individual agent.

Also, if this is the case, then you probably don't appreciate the services that are provided by your local grocery store or restaurants or gas station for that matter.

These industries have found over the years that a team approach ultimately provides a great level of customer service to the customer.

While it may have been slow to initially take this team approach, the real estate industry is catching on.

With real estate companies looking to better serve the marketplace, some individual agents have taken it upon themselves to create real estate teams to benefit home buyers and sellers.

How? The Team Leader, usually an experienced Real Estate Agent has taken the time to examine the entire real estate transaction process & identify the key steps & the standards of service that need to be provided for optimum customer satisfaction.

Team Members are empowered to make the necessary decisions and to take the required actions. They are trained to know when something is outside their area of expertise so that they can get the Managing Agent involved if needed.

This expertise of team members is particularly leveraged in the areas of Marketing, Transaction Coordination & Feedback follow-up. The customer benefits from levels of efficiency & levels of specialty of the individual team members.

Inquiries from prospective buyers or their agents are handled promptly vs. waiting for the individual agent trying to get back to them when they get around to it. Potential problems are avoided or mitigated during the closing process because team members are free to proactively coordinated & communicate with the lender, settlement company & other Agents.

And last but not least, the old adage of two eyes being better than one applies. Team members are trained to implement checks & balances and are trained to coordinate reviews and hand offs, all while the Lead Agent is available to Manage, Oversee & Clarify.

When assembled, a well running, trained, Real Estate Team is Truly a Time & Money saving benefit to those looking to buy a home in Northern Virginia (http://www.theearlofrealestate.net/Buying.aspx) or sell a home in Northern Virginia (http://www.theearlofrealestate.net/Selling.aspx) as opposed to working with an individual agent.


About The Author

Robert Earl (http://www.theearlofrealestate.net/robert_earl.aspx) - Founder of The Earl of Real Estate Team is a Real Estate Entrepreneur & Real Estate Coach based in the Northern Virginia. The Earl's Site presents Falls_Church Condos for Sale - Falls_Church Condo Communities (http://www.theearlofrealestate.net/Falls_Church_Condos.aspx)

Smart Real Estate Investing Tips

Real estate investing is a topic that many people wonder about. The earning potential of a smart investor is extremely high, because unlike nearly every other type of investment, real estate does not typically decrease in value. When you are looking for a way to ensure your security for the future, or to build a retirement portfolio, real estate is a good vehicle to use. Here are some things that you might want to know about real estate investing…

- Work with a mortgage broker. When you are considering financing options for the purchase of your investment property, contact a mortgage broker to see if he can help you to find financing that is the most advantageous for you. Shop around, and talk to several different brokers to get a feel for experience and access.

- Don’t pass over properties that you may be able to resell to other investors. Sometimes it is a good idea to purchase a property that is an excellent value simply because it is a property that is attractive to other investors. Keep in mind that when you purchase a property that is not what you are looking for or one that requires extensive work, it may end up being a long term investment. However, when someone who specializes in rehabbing comes along you are likely to make a substantial commission on the sale.

- Research potential properties before purchasing them. When buying a rental property, there are several key features that you should be looking for. The first is sustainability. Is the property in solid condition and is it going to stay that way with minimal upkeep? The second is the location. Yes, location is extremely important for most rental properties. You need to ensure that your tenants can get to where they need to go and that the property is near commonly used retailers and service providers. The third is the average income of the area. This is different from physical location, because you should keep in mind that a high rent area is definitely a better location than a low rent area. And, in high rent areas location is often less of a concern than in low rent areas.

- Start by purchasing a home of your own. If you are not already a homeowner, it is probably a good idea to purchase a home before you purchase an investment property. There are several reasons, but perhaps the most important is that you will learn the process of purchasing a property by actually buying one. It is not unusual for investors to turn their first home into their first investment property, because the property and the market become familiar entities.

- Let potential home sellers know you’re looking to buy. One way to find hidden investment properties is to distribute flyers around a neighborhood in which you would like to buy. Consider having someone drop them door to door. A thousand flyers will only cost you around fifty dollars, and you never know who might give you a call to discuss or point you in the direction of a property. And, much like business cards, you never know who is going to see your contact information. This is an excellent outreach technique when you would like to get your name out there and to find properties that meet your criteria.

- Consider living in your own rental property. A good strategy to consider when you are looking to purchase an investment property is purchasing a multi-unit property and becoming an occupant. The advantages include low cost living, because the other rents coming in should cover a good portion of the mortgage payments, higher deductions at the end of the year and the ability to stay current on maintenance.

- Find a great attorney. Before you become involved in the purchase of an investment property, you should form a relationship with a real estate attorney who is familiar with situations similar to yours. This is especially true if you are attempting to purchase a property with non-conventional financing, because an attorney will help you to ensure that you are making good decisions in terms of your investment.

- Know exactly what you’re getting in to. If you are considering purchasing a rental property with existing tenants, it is imperative that you have access to all tenant records prior to signing a purchase agreement. Otherwise, you may be inheriting another landlord’s problem. Keep in mind that you will most likely not be able to increase the rent amounts after purchasing an occupied property for at least the duration of the existing lease.

Hopefully, the information presented here has given you new insight into the world of real estate investing. Our intention is that you can now take this information and put it into play in your own investment plan. Careful planning is the first step to financial freedom, and real estate is an excellent vehicle for carrying out the plan.

Ben Euporian makes it easy to learn from today's real estate investors. For details, visit this site now: http://www.easyrealestateinvesting.info/


About The Author

Ben Euporian provides information on a wide range of topics.

How to Get Rich: Is Real Estate Investing The Number One Way?

“How to get rich”: there are few more written upon topics in the history of history than how to get rich. Is Real Estate Investing the Number One Way to leverage yourself and build wealth easily? If you’re an entrepreneur who is constantly striving to get to that next level in your life, your business, and your finances, you’ll likely agree with me when I say that we entrepreneurial personality types have an insatiable appetite for consuming material on how to get rich, and how to leverage yourself to build wealth easily. As a real estate entrepreneur who writes often on investing, I’m not going to focus on how to get rich in real estate investing with this article. In fact, I’m exploring if there could be something even better for building wealth easily. An even more powerful way to leverage yourself!? Let’s see!

Build Wealth Easily?

But despite our best efforts and intentions and goals, that doesn’t mean each of us is able to figure out the why, where, who, when, and most frequently the what of how to get rich. Not all of us can drive every vehicle capable of shuttling them to success equally or as quickly as they might another vehicle. That’s why I wrote this article. Real estate investing is my passion. Real estate investing can build and keep wealth like nothing else. But I won’t claim it’s the best vehicle to build wealth easily. In fact, I’m not sure it is!

This article will help some of you see the types of actions and scenarios likely to take someone reading about how to get rich and propel them into a future full of success and sharing with others how to get rich— just by taking each of these vehicles for a mental test drive.

I believe one of the fundamentals of how to get rich is becoming a master of leverage, learning to leverage yourself by learning and applying systems of duplication and delegation and automation. By using creativity and the creation of value to multiply your results with the systems, efforts and resources of other people and organizations, you can be sure that every minute and every dollar you spend in pursuit of your goals learning how to get rich will come back at you in droves.

In real estate investing, I’m familiar with a lot of these methods to leverage yourself, as you can see from visiting the website -- but what about these other plans for how to get rich?

That brings me to the top 13 ways in my opinion to get rich in today’s world— without having to be someone special, have special knowledge or look like a million bucks— as I see them, with an emphasis on how much LEVERAGE you have.

How to Get Rich Top 13 Answers

13. Steal the money

Whatever your religious beliefs, or whether you are consciously aware that there is a God or not, stealing money from others is not a great strategy on how to get rich. Humans are hard-wired with a conscience that in most cases knows right from wrong. Few people can live a full and happy life knowing that their fortune was built on robbery, theft, deception, trickery, or lying. It may appear the “easy route” but in the end karma always wins.

12. Winning the lottery

We do not value that which we did not work to earn. Sure it’s nice to fantasize about what we would do with a hundred million dollars, or fifty, or twenty, or ten. Some people say they play the lottery as an “investment vehicle”. The only more ridiculous statistics than the odds stacked against you winning are the statistics of what happens in the financial futures of the average lottery winner: 4 in 5 are BROKE or in debt within 10 years. How? When you have a paycheck to paycheck mentality (as much of the world does) lottery winnings are just a much bigger paycheck. For most people, as one’s income increases so too do the expenses—but faster. Lottery winners who did not have some financial success already are doomed to lose it all.

11. Being born rich

Napoleon Hill once said, in paraphrase, “there is nothing more dangerous than unearned riches”. What did he mean by that? It’s a simple factor of human nature that the more we are given the less we appreciate. Or know the value of. Or how to get it on our own. There’s a reason predators bring meat to their young early on but later set them loose to learn how to feed themselves. The worst possible position to be in, should you lose all your wealth, is that of never having had to learn how to get rich in the first place. The only reason this is better than winning the lottery is because if you are determined to make it happen, you’ve already been exposed to wealth— so you’re not mentally limited as to how much you think you can earn. That’s a huge limitation for many people looking to build wealth easily, not having “seen” wealth.

10. The professional/corporate grind

Being a regular 9 to 5 employee with a guaranteed salary, benefits, 401k and stock options, and job security is not a negative— unless you want more than trading your time for dollars, that is! Admittedly, for some people, there’s something to be said for the safety of a secure, well-paying job that makes us feel normal. You can get rich just by living below your means and investing the difference— even teachers who made no more than $30,000 a year have died leaving multi-million dollar estates. This is great if you are patient, disciplined and can wait 30 years— but it’s not MY idea of how to get rich. Nor is ANY job or career exactly so “safe” anymore in today’s world of downsizing, layoffs, outsourcing, off-shoring, corporate mismanagement, and eroding benefits. Worse, you’re not using leverage here— no matter how hard you work, you can leverage yourself to a great degree as an employee! You’re a cog in someone else’s machine as an employee.

9. Unlimited income direct sales

Sales is one of the highest-paying professions in the world. It can also be the lowest-paying profession in the world. Being a commissioned salesperson with no earnings cap on commissions can bring in a lot of money if you’re good. IF you’re good and you bust your hump. And if your product is solid. And if the economy is strong. And if your company stays in business. And on and on. Too much is not in your hands! The main issue though is that the skills that will avail you of a successful career in professional sales can be used much more efficiently when you leverage yourself by using other vehicles to channel your talents.

8. Franchise Owner

2 + 2 = 4 no matter whether you can do math or not. Franchises are set up to be businesses run based on a system already proven profitable. Whether they are as “turnkey” as their promoters claim is debatable, but there is certainly money in the franchise game to be made. It’s no wonder economists have labeled the franchise boom of the 20th century as the McDonaldization of business when the average McDonald’s restaurant franchise grosses $1.9 Million per year for its franchisee owner. Still, the financial barrier to entry can be as high as a normal business and in many cases even higher.

Leverage Yourself

7. Network Marketing

This one could closer to the top of the list if the opportunities available were worthy to be at the top—most aren’t. If you find the right opportunity, however, and work it with a vengeance on a consistent basis you can gain leverage yourself substantially by using other people’s time. Unfortunately, most people never find the right company at the right time and make the right choice to take action. Then, when they fail, as 9 in 10 do within a year, they give up never having gotten past the dream of buying into someone’s plan to teach them how to get rich—and into the reality. However, for the person in sales who can sell and recruit, network marketing is a better answer in many cases than just conventional selling— for the simple fact that you’re building your own business and residual income streams that will continue whether you continue to work or not.

6. Information Product Sales

Internet marketers of today are capitalizing in ever-increasing numbers on human nature tendencies direct marketers have known for many, many long years. There are some “problems” we have as people that there is NO LIMIT to the amount of money we will throw at the problem trying to find the perfect “solution”. The best markets to sell information products to are: (1) Business Owners Seeking Solutions (2) Better Appearance Seekers (3) Business Opportunity Seekers (3) Diet & Fitness Seekers (4) Dating Advice Seekers and 5) Avid Leisure Hobbyists. The best part about information product sales is the low overhead cost to produce the products you deliver, and the high profit margins you can earn.

5. Business Owner

Business ownership has many more benefits than can be touched on in a short paragraph but suffice it to say that if you’re not in business for yourself you should be. There is little more fulfilling than being your own boss, and working to build something that might outlast you. The cash flow, the tax benefits, the respect in the community, the outlet for creativity— all of these things make owning a small business (or growing a large one) a large part of the average human dream. As a business owner, you can incorporate many of these other vehicles in your plan for building wealth easily.

4. Celebrity

Clearly, celebrity sells. There are many mega-millionaires on this planet with no other talent than somehow managing to capture the interest of an audience worldwide (or even regionally) longer than their allotted “15 minutes of fame”. Publicity equals better than advertising and advertising done skillfully equals revenue. Celebrities are money machines who can make money in most of the rest of these categories but there are three reasons this is not nearer the top of the list. Despite the number of “what did they do’s?” out there , there are many more celebrities who are famous for a reason— they worked very hard to become the best (or best promoted) at what they do— be it sports, entertainment, speaking, etc. Secondly, there is a very high barrier to entry to this kind of life, one most people just do not have the look, skills, contacts, nerve, or charisma to break into. Lastly, there’s a huge cost to celebrity that would take it out of the top choices of a “best ways on how to get rich” list: your privacy is nonexistent in today’s world of celebrity.

3. Intellectual Property

With income streams from licensing to franchising to royalties to patents, copyrights, and trademarks— creating intellectual property is a serious method of building wealth easily. Musicians, authors, inventors, creative artists, franchisors, entrepreneurs, and high-level marketers are all making tons of money, residually, for many years from work they completed just once. This is a very high leverage activity! Books, music, ebooks, graphic and multimedia designs, software, copywriting, inventions, franchisable sales systems, the list goes on and on. Is this a vehicle you can put into action tomorrow? Not usually! But as you make your way in the world of wealth do not forget to use intellectual property to leverage yourself!

How to Get Rich: Real Estate Investing the Best?

2. The Real Estate Business

It’s widely accepted that 90% of all the world’s millionaires either made or keep their wealth in real estate. Water is wet. The sky is blue. Over time, real estate goes up. These are simple facts. Contrary to the “get rich quick” infomercials you’ve seen, though, figuring out how to get rich in real estate investing isn’t easy. But it is simple, once you understand the processes involved and actively and consistently pursue the business. Real estate investing is one of the highest forms of leverage we have as entrepreneurs, with savvy investors utilizing not only other people’s money, but also other people’s time and even other people’s credit. The real estate business is full of wealth-building opportunities: foreclosures, rentals, lease options, commercial properties, short sales, tax liens, being an agent or loan officer, investing in notes and mortgages…the list goes on and on! Of these, investing in notes and mortgages is pretty high on the easy scale, getting the benefits of real estate without some of the management headaches.

I obviously believe in real estate investing, but I’m not so sure there isn’t an even better, easier, higher leverage vehicle out there for creative entrepreneurs like you and me!

1. Joint Ventures (A.K.A. Strategic Alliances)

Joint Ventures is the best way to build wealth easily. Scratching your head? Well, soon you’ll see that doing successful joint ventures to make massive cash with minimum efforts and minimum risk is just common sense. Too bad common sense ain’t common! If you can master putting together joint ventures, you can be assured that if you build wealth and lose it all— you can quickly earn it back. When you master joint ventures, everything you need to get started again building wealth easily is now in your thought processes. It’s become as simple as common sense. This is because with successful joint ventures you don’t need products or services or invesntory. You don’t need an office, factory, employees, customers, or anything else traditional businesses need. You just need ideas. Of course, if you have any of these things, it only makes it easier because you bring something even more to the table than your brilliant ideas. The basic formula of how to get rich with joint ventures is answering these questions: “Who do I know?”, “What do they have?”, and “What do they need?” Then you play deal maker. That’s it! Zero risk, high profit potential. The ultimate in way to leverage yourself to build wealth easily.


About The Author

Joint Venture with America’s #1 Real Estate Network -- no cost, $2,000 commissions. Danny Welsh and HIS Real Estate Network are seeking INFLUENTIAL professionals/entrepreneurs with EXISTING client base for joint venture marketing of high-caliber real estate investment product with $2000 commissions and turnkey marketing support. You do not need a license of any kind but realtors, mortgage officers, CPAs, CFAs, REIA organizers and real estate attorneys will profit well. Your clients will love you! Not a Job. Not an MLM. No cost for you. To find out more and schedule a quick no-obligation talk you can call/write now at phone (813) 425-3349 x. 710, email JV@homeinvestingsolution.com or visit http://www.hisjointventures.com today!

Biggest Home Improvement Mistakes For A Real Estate Investor


As a real estate investor it is sometimes a good investment move to make home improvements to any real estate properties that you purchase. There are several mistakes that commonly occur involving home improvement and real estate investing, and by knowing what these mistakes are you can save a lot of money and aggravation. Let the mistakes that other real estate investors have made be your guide on what to avoid.

The first mistake that some real estate investors make is to buy a property in a bad location or for more money than the house is worth. No matter how many home improvements you make on one of these properties it is unlikely that you will recover a decent profit or even your investment back. Always consider both of these factors before deciding to invest in the property and make home improvements.

A big mistake that many real estate investors make when they are doing home improvements is not knowing or finding out about the building codes in their area. Some investors do not obtain the necessary permits that are required by the city where the real estate investment property is located. This is one of the biggest mistakes, and it can cost you plenty if you make it. The building inspector is there to make sure that the home improvements are safe and done properly. If there is a permit required and you neglect to get one, you may be required to tear down any work that was done, get the permit, and then start from scratch.

Under budgeting for the home improvement project is another common mistake made by real estate investors. The old saying was to take the costs and triple them. That is an exaggeration but not by much. Most investors do not make a full detailed budget of what is needed for the home improvement project down to the last nail and staple. By being realistic and budgeting for all possible materials you will have a more realistic budget and are a lot less likely to go over budget. You should also plan for any unexpected eventuality that could occur and plan for it in the budget as well to avoid any unexpected and costly problems.

The single biggest mistake that real estate investors make is trying to save money on home improvement by doing projects themselves when they are not qualified. There are some projects that should have a licensed contractor or repairman on them. Many home improvement projects can safely be taken on by an amateur and turn out beautiful, but some projects like a new roof or any other extensive renovations should only be done by experts. This is because there are many safety issues involved in these projects, not just for the person doing the job but also for any tenants or owners who live in the house.

By avoiding these mistakes you can save a lot of money on your real estate investment. Know the value of the property before you purchase so you do not pay too much, and make sure that the location is decent. Make sure that your budget is realistic and that it takes into account every possible piece of material and cost. Also make sure that you factor in any possible unexpected cost or problem. The biggest mistake to avoid is to know when you should call for professional help and when you can safely do the home improvement project yourself.

Copyright © 2007 Joel Teo. All rights reserved. (You may publish this article in its entirety with the following author's information with live links only.)


About The Author

Joel Teo writes on various financial topics including Las Vegas Real Estate. Learn more about Las Vegas Real Estate Investing at http://www.realestateinvestment101.info

Home Improvement And The Real Estate Investor


Investing in real estate can be a very lucrative investment if it is done properly. Whether you are investing in a brand new home or an old fixer upper, all houses will gain value if you spend the necessary time and money making sure that the property is maintained. Some people may feel that improving the home is not required since they are only going to sell it anyway, but that line of thought will cost you money in the end. Your investment will gain tremendous value if you are willing to repair and remodel whatever is needed before you sell the investment property.

Some real estate investments may only need a little spring cleaning and a few minor repairs, while other investments may need to be completely redone. Properties that need more work usually cost less to purchase because of the amount and the extent of the work needed. Even properties that need a lot of repairs and renovations can be terrific investments, because their value increases significantly more than the cost of the repairs and home improvements.

Most real estate investors do not realize the importance of making home improvements. Even simple things like painting the walls or weeding the lawn and putting down a good grass seed can raise the value of your investment. You can ask for and get a much higher price for real estate if everything is in great condition. Even houses that are in good repair should be thoroughly cleaned from the top to bottom, including gutters and eaves troughs. When you are considering a property to invest in, it is a good idea to do a very detailed inspection to evaluate all repairs that need to be addressed, whether they are minor or major.

It is important that you keep all receipts for any labor and materials you purchase to repair and improve your real estate investment. When you get ready to sell your investment you will have a record of all the money you have invested in home improvement for the real estate. This will allow you to show an increased value of the home due to the home improvement. It will also enable you to sell your real estate investment faster for a larger price. In a buyer's market, the repairs and maintenance of your property may be one of the biggest sellers. No one wants to buy a home to live in and then have to take the time and money to do a lot of maintenance or repairs.

Home improvement is very important to real estate, whether you are just trying to flip a house to make a profit or you have rental property with tenants. By improving the property you will greatly improve the profit you will make from your real estate investment. A lot of real estate investors do not think about home improvement, and it costs them in the form of lower sales prices and lower monthly rents.

Copyright © 2007 Joel Teo. All rights reserved. (You may publish this article in its entirety with the following author's information with live links only.)


About The Author

Joel Teo writes on various financial topics including Las Vegas Real Estate. Learn more about Las Vegas Real Estate Investing at http://www.realestateinvestment101.info

Fix it and Flip it - How I Lost Money on Real Estate


I've known a lot of people who have lost money when they sold their homes. In fact, I'm one of those people, and it's happened to me more than once.

There are a number of factors can cause a financial loss when you sell your house, including the need to sell at the wrong time due to divorce or an impending foreclosure, or a downturn in the local real estate market. However, it's also common to lose money simply by making too many expensive changes to the house before putting it on the market. This is how I lost money on real estate, before I wised up.

My most resounding failure in the fix it and flip it market was a house I bought in Spokane, Washington. Knowing what I know now, I would have restricted myself to replacing the carpets and the kitchen and bathroom fixtures, painting inside and out, and buying new appliances. I probably would have replaced the old-style windows, too, to make the place look nicer and appeal to the energy-conscious buyer. These fixes could have been done easily within the two years I needed to live there to avoid capital gains taxes.

Since I didn't know what I know now, I made major renovations, which included moving the bathroom. I did most of the work myself, but the materials alone cost more than I could get back when the house was sold. With the exception of repairs done to the house to make it eligible for an FHA loan and watering the grass, I doubt that any of my major projects really helped me sell the house or increased its value.

If a house is actually sound, with no structural damage or insect problems, the biggest reason it will sell for less than its worth is usually cosmetic. This was certainly true of the house I bought in Spokane. Dirty carpeting, and a wall in the living room covered with mirror tiles, kept most buyers from going any further into the house. I could see past the cosmetic problems and see the home's full potential - but my imagination went a bit too far.

The floor plan was odd, and slightly inconvenient, but leaving the bathroom where it was would have been far more rational, financially. Why didn't I do that? Because my emotions and my nesting instincts took over, pushing aside all thought of future gain or loss.

Let's face it - most people don't buy their own homes with the intention of making a profit, although they certainly hope the house will be a good investment. In fact, the emotional stress caused by the process of buying a house and moving into it can be enough to completely erase any thought of moving again a few years later. However, I know several families who have made a very good living by buying underpriced homes, living in them and fixing them up, and then selling them when the IRS will allow them to do so without paying extra taxes. Clearly, these folks don't make any changes to these houses without carefully considering the bottom line.

After my Spokane adventure, I decided to learn from my mistakes, and find out how to stop losing money on houses. I read books by authors who are experienced in fixing and flipping houses - and then read them again. When I saw that most remodeling projects almost never recoup their costs when the house is sold, I was a little shocked, because I had been guilty of almost every mistake on the list at one time or another. I know many people who have also made the same mistakes, even when they started those remodeling projects with the intention of increasing the value of their homes.

When I bought my next house, I kept that list very firmly in mind. For instance, my kitchen was badly in need of a major overhaul, (or so I believed), and it was far too small. I pored over the latest home decorating magazines, and ideas came flooding into my head. I thought about knocking out some walls, and I even tried to imagine adding on to the house to make the kitchen bigger. New cabinets would be needed, and new appliances...

In the end I painted the kitchen cabinets and replaced the sink with a new one I purchased at Ikea. I covered the chipped orange Formica counters with printed cotton fabric, and coated it with many layers of water-based Verathane that was intended to protect wood floors. The complete "remodel" cost less than $400, as opposed to the thousands of dollars that I would have spent if I followed through on my idle dreams of a "perfect" kitchen. Since the house sold at a very good price within two weeks of listing it, my buyer obviously didn't mind that the kitchen didn't meet my idea of perfect. Because I kept my costs down, I made a handy profit on the sale.

Would I have been able to sell the house for more money if the kitchen had been remodeled and expanded? Perhaps, but not enough to cover the cost of the remodel. Although the National Association of Realtors lists a kitchen remodel as one of the projects that will increase a house the most, they still advise that you should expect to get back only 80% of the costs. If your new kitchen is far fancier, bigger, and more expensive than any other kitchen in the neighborhood, the returns will be even less. A full kitchen remodel can cost thousands of dollars, so the 20% you don't get back can be a big chunk of change.

Does this mean that you shouldn't make changes to your home that would make you happy? Not at all, especially if you intend to live there for many years. But it does pay to sit down with your spouse or partner before you start making your remodeling plans, determine exactly how long you'll be staying in the home, and then think about the full financial implications of the remodeling project. Even if you don't think of yourself as a professional house flipper, it might pay to slow down a bit and find ways to improve the home without spending money you'll never see again. As a bonus, your family might be able to avoid the stress and disruption of all that remodeling mess.


About The Author

Jonni Good is the author of a new report that shows how she used these fix it and flip it ideas - and how the profit allowed her to buy her next house with cash. Visit - http://www.BuyAHouseWithCash.com