cash flow: Tuesday's Tip #59: Uninterested Party
- 05/20/08 02:27 PM
As an real estate investor, you probably spending a lot of time looking at a lot of property. But, what about you out of state investors? And you international investors? How many times do you have the freedom to rush in and check out something you're buying?
The major problem here is that no one has the time to fly all over the place like this. If you have the money to show up every time you get a pending deal all the way across the nation or overseas, you're probably wasting your time.
We've talked a lot about … (1 comments)
cash flow: Our Squidoo Lens for Cash Flow Real Estate Investing
- 05/19/08 10:06 AM
We've created a lens on Squidoo for Cash Flow Real Estate. I'm really impressed with what Seth Godin has put together to bring people and information together and thought this would be a great place to reach more people. We've linked some of our favorite blogs and sites there for you to get more information and education for maximizing your cash flow. Check out our Lens and leave us a message. We want to be as helpful as possible, so give us some feedback. … (1 comments)
cash flow: Tuesday’s Tip #57: The Little Things
- 05/06/08 02:16 PM
It's easy to get into a rush as you're running numbers, because every deal is the "deal of a lifetime". This rush is part of what makes it so enticing for investors to get into the investment real estate world. Sadly, it's also the very thing that takes many of them back out so quickly. See, what happens in a rush is that you stop thinking and start allowing your emotions to dictate your responses. Bad idea. If you aren't educated and level-headed, multiple unexpected costs will kill you every time. Most properties will have numerous simple repairs when you purchase … (6 comments)
cash flow: Tuesday’s Tip #55: How to Survive and Thrive
- 04/29/08 12:08 PM
We're in a very difficult economy right now. Investors have to take seriously how quickly things could change. You could lose a tenant and have a vacancy for six months before any tenant is ever interested in your place. How will you survive that many months of mortgage payments? What about the unexpected leak in the roof? How will you repair it? It's simple. Cash reserves. The important thing to understand is healthy reserves not only protect you from serious problems, but they also allow you incredible peace. They are absolutely necessary. As BawldGuy states, "A generous reserve account is not … (4 comments)
cash flow: Indiana Property Manager
- 04/25/08 05:56 AM
We've talked about this quite a bit before, but your property manager will make or break your real estate investing. Find the wrong one and their likely to be terrorizing tenants, like the Macy's. Get serious about having a property manager who will take care of your tenants. It's never too late to get someone to do the job right. If you're in the Indianapolis area and working with rental and cash flow properties, I have a phenomenal property management company I've been using. They're honest, hard working, and keep your cash flow going. Shoot me an email at derek @ … (3 comments)
cash flow: Tuesday’s Tip #55: Think a Little
- 04/22/08 01:45 PM
I've watched numerous deals close and numerous deals fall apart. They come, and they go. It's reality. The hard part of the reality is when people make stupid decisions. It's difficult to watch it happen. It's even more tough to see a deal crumble as decision makers listen to people with absolutely no credibility. Whether you're the buyer, the seller, the real estate agent, or the appraiser, watching foolishness in action is infuriating. I watched a deal fall apart months ago because of an insurance agent. He was determined the property being purchased needed to have screens and storm windows for … (1 comments)
cash flow: Losing Equity? Think Rentals
- 03/21/08 05:21 AM
Foreclosures are up significantly these days, and it's killing you and me. Americans are losing an incredible amount of equity as houses all around their own are losing value like crazy. The market is flooded with desperate sellers and limited financing options, while few buyers are willing to brave the market. No one is immune. Even Fed Chairman, Ben Bernanke, appears to be losing value fast. While it may not seem like much, solutions are being developed around us. It's in everyone's best interests to make this work. And, if you buy correctly now, it should be a lot easier to … (4 comments)
cash flow: Tuesday’s Tip #48: Keep Good Tenants
- 03/04/08 12:02 PM
I’ve been working closely with my property manager over the past several months. He’s been helping numerous investors across the country to turn their properties around and straighten out their cash flow. Why? Cash flow investors have been screwed by property managers in Indianapolis for years now. Rents have not been collected for the investors, nor were they paid out to them. Bills have been paid by investors for repairs done only to find out later that nothing was actually done. That’s why it’s been a huge relief to me to be dealing with someone that has some integrity. He’s done … (1 comments)
cash flow: "Distinctly Less Favourable" Economy
- 02/27/08 11:21 AM
Where are you investing your money? How are you securing it? What makes that investment secure? Today, news broke that the dollar has hit a new record low against the Euro. Fed Chairman, Ben Bernanke, has sparked this through his recent comments about the economy when he said things are “distinctly less favourable” and as a result, promised further rate cuts. The article states "Consumer spending 'appears to have slowed significantly' in the face of higher gasoline prices and a weakening labour market, he said, adding: 'The business sector has also displayed signs of being affected by the difficulties in the … (5 comments)
cash flow: Tuesday’s Tip #47: Be Resourceful
- 02/26/08 06:52 AM
If you’ve ever been in the rental business, you know how expensive it can be to rehab a property after a tenant moves out. You try to fix things well and put in nice things and tenants destroy them. You put in something cheap and end up replacing it four times before the nice one would have worn out. Sometimes it feels like a lose/lose situation. Your goal is to maximize cash flow by creating a comfortable environment for a renter without putting in a ridiculous amount of money in to rehab it. That can be challenging. Sometimes, it can seem … (2 comments)
cash flow: Tuesday’s Tip #35: Property Insurance
- 10/02/07 03:28 PM
Insurance is one of those things investors don’t seem to think about very much. It’s easy to let an insurance agent set everything for you on your properties and to miss out on gaining the necessary knowledge in the meantime. That can be a big mistake. Most of us have heard stories of people who had no flood, tornado, or liability insurance. We’ve heard their nightmare stories and how they’ve lost those properties in foreclosure, because they didn’t have the money to repair or rebuild them. Some of the situations investors get themselves into are unavoidable, but many of these are easily … (2 comments)
cash flow: Tuesday’s Tip #32: Creative Thinking
- 09/18/07 02:30 PM
While I’ve never read the book, I was sent a great little excerpt from Michael Michalko’s book, Thinkertoys: A Handbook of Creative-Thinking Techniques. I thought this was a more appropriate time than ever to share this, given the nature of the current real estate market. We have more struggling sellers, harder lending restrictions, and a far less exciting real estate economy than we have had in years, and that requires different thinking. So, check out this great little piece from Michalko’s book and I’ll throw some stuff at you when he’s done: “Imagine a cage containing five monkeys. Inside the cage … (1 comments)
cash flow: Tuesday’s Tip #32: Emotional Buying is for the Birds
- 09/11/07 04:14 AM
It’s easy as a new investor to get excited and let your emotions dictate your decisions. I spend a lot of time trying to get investors focused on the details and then the big picture, but end up spending a lot of that time on calming them down before they make emotional decisions. It's easy to see a property and become excited about the possibilities, if you haven't already figured out your ROI (return on investment). In this case, your emotions dictate your decisions. Now, as a "salesman", you may think that I mean trying to get them focused on buying … (0 comments)
cash flow: Smart Investing
- 09/09/07 08:45 AM
Turn on the news at six or pick up Sunday’s paper. Read Drudge Report or any type of news format out there, and you’re likely to find one thing for sure: tons of bad news about our national real estate economy. People are actually surprised about the current status of the real estate market, where the “Miami Condo Boom” has now become the Miami Condo Bust and now the California Real Estate Inflation Party has become the California Foreclosure “Hangover”. As they say, “What goes up, must come down”. I can understand some of the general public being surprised and/or not … (3 comments)
cash flow: “Investment Real Estate is Risky”
- 08/23/07 04:39 AM
Real estate investors have a reputation across much of the US for being risky. Now, as investors, we’re likely to laugh at comments like that, because we know that it’s really only risky if we’re uneducated and have no idea what we’re doing. Calculated risk is far less risky, in my eyes, than complacency and a life lived out of fear. We aren't playing cards, we're calculating risks. But, I’ve noticed a scary trend among far too many investors these days. Let me explain… I regularly receive phone calls and emails from investors looking for investment properties in Indiana and … (4 comments)
cash flow: Tuesday's Tip #29
- 08/21/07 04:01 PM
I’d love to see statistics on the number of investment properties that the average real estate investor owns these days. I would guess that very few investors ever purchase any more than one or two properties in a lifetime. But, why? As I talk to investors, I regularly see two reasons why: They get burned on the first couple of deals. They get burnt out on the first couple of deals. None of those investors start with visions of busted water pipes at 2am in the middle of winter, dealing with tenant evictions, or finding mold in their newly purchased properties. … (3 comments)
cash flow: Indianapolis Cash Flow Properties
- 08/17/07 09:52 AM
Indianapolis has now moved out of the top ten for the number of homes in foreclosure in the United States and is now number 15. We’re actually down 6%, according to RealtyTrac’s recent postings. Sadly, the news isn’t good for other areas of California, Ohio, and the Northeast, where home-owners are suffering greatly. In fact, Stockton, CA is averaging 1 foreclosure filing for every 27 households and is up 256% from last year. Detroit, one of Indianapolis’s main cash flow property competitors, is averaging 1 in every 29 properties. It’s no wonder we’re seeing more and more investors pouring into Indiana … (0 comments)
cash flow: Mold Testing – Techniques & Qualifications
- 08/16/07 04:58 AM
For real estate investors & home-owners, mold can be a serious problem. But, the biggest problems really come from people’s ignorance in dealing with mold safely and appropriately. That’s why Land Chasers has asked Nathan Whittlesey of Midwest Environmental Solutions to spend some time sharing some helpful hints and insight into the world of mold, mold testing, and mold remediation. Over the past couple of weeks, Nathan has brought us some great information on some of the common myths of mold and why mold testing is necessary. Today, he’s given us some great details on Mold Testing and some of the … (0 comments)
cash flow: Tuesday's Tip #27
- 08/07/07 02:57 PM
As a birddog and a realtor, I spend an incredible amount of time on the phone with sellers of investment real estate here in Indianapolis. I sort through so much garbage in a day’s time, it is unreal. As I’ve said repeatedly, everyone’s got an “investment property for sale”, but no one has a clue what that means. To them, everything cash flows and everything is discounted. They all seem to have very unrealistic expectations and a poor understanding of what an investment property really is. It’s a real treat to come across someone on the seller’s side, who has their … (2 comments)
cash flow: Tuesday's Tip #26
- 07/31/07 05:12 AM
Join RepealPropertyTaxes.com and Advance America in repealing property taxes here in Indiana. While taxes are significantly cheaper here in Indiana than they are in most areas of the country, they’ve still gone up over 450% in the past 26 years and it’s time for a permanent change. Indianapolis has maintained a place in the top 10 for foreclosures for the past several years. Add increased taxes and you can highly expect a further decline in values and much harder times. If you own real estate in Indiana or plan to in the near future, this is a huge opportunity for … (2 comments)
As an real estate investor, you probably spending a lot of time looking at a lot of property. But, what about you out of state investors? And you international investors? How many times do you have the freedom to rush in and check out something you're buying?;)
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