real estate investing: Falling Values and Obsolete Appraisals
- 05/23/08 08:50 AM
If you're looking at properties on a fairly regular basis, I'll guarantee you've heard the following line in the past 6 months: "We have an appraisal from [insert date here] for $[insert amount here]." Stop. Write it down. What was the date they told you? If it's anything other than the last 3 months, it's obsolete. According to Shobhana Chandra of Bloomberg.com, "Sales of previously owned homes in the U.S. fell in April and the supply of unsold properties reached a record, signaling no let-up in the 27-month housing slump. Purchases declined 1 percent to an annual rate of 4.89 million, … (3 comments)
real estate investing: 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)
real estate investing: 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)
real estate investing: Tuesday's Tip #58: The Cash Tree
- 05/13/08 02:15 PM
Values tumbled in the first quarter of 2008. The median price for a single family home dropped 7.7%. That's the largest drop in 29 years, according to Kathleen M. Howley of Bloomberg.com. If you have a $150k house, there's a good chance you just lost about $11k of equity in your home. While this freaks a lot of home-owners out, it should excite investors. Real estate investors know that prices are dropping. This means that opportunities for cash flow are abounding. While people are losing their jobs, being raped at the pump, and struggling to keep up with their bills, wise … (3 comments)
real estate investing: 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)
real estate investing: 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)
real estate investing: Tuesday’s Tip #54: Buying with Cash
- 04/15/08 10:19 AM
Foreclosure filings have jumped 57% from a year ago. The bubble has burst, and if you think this only affects us here in the US, you're wrong. It's has spread overseas. You can call me a pessimist, but the reality is staring us in the face. We're in a recession. And, if these articles and everything else that's happening are indicators of our situation, it's going to get worse before it's going to get better. There is no better time to buy. The hype is done. The boom is over. We've dropped and the opportunity is now. So, how do we … (0 comments)
real estate investing: Tuesday’s Tip #53: Specialists on Your Team
- 04/08/08 11:43 AM
Over the past year, I’ve talked quite a bit about the importance of putting together a solid team of advisors and workers in your investing. The right team will make or break your efforts to invest wisely. Given the nature of the current market, I encourage you to really get serious about this piece of your strategy. One of my recent posts about the bus tours provided some insight into this very thing and really forces an investor to look at the truth and be real about it. Who is really there to help you and who is there to make … (0 comments)
real estate investing: Tuesday's Tip #52: Persistent or Annoying?
- 04/01/08 08:08 AM
If you aren't where you want to be as an real estate investor, persistence is key. If you don't know what persistence is, I suggest you read what Seth Godin said of it: "Persistence isn't using the same tactics over and over. That's just annoying. Persistence is having the same goal over and over." I hope you have goals. But, I hope you have the smarts to go along with them as well. Tuesday's Tip: Don't be "annoying". Be persistent. … (0 comments)
real estate investing: 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)
real estate investing: Tuesday’s Tip #49: False Assumptions
- 03/11/08 09:52 AM
Foreclosures are on the rise. They have been rising for quite a while now, as I'm sure you already knew. This problem is having an extremely negative impact on the economy and many other areas of our society. The fact is, none of us are immune from it's impact. But, there is a good side to all of this for those of us on the investment side of the market. In fact, there are two really good things about it. Despite the dropping property values, there are desperate sellers and there is creative financing. We've talked about this before and I'm … (0 comments)
real estate investing: In the News: Real Estate, Economic, and Personal Finance Woes
- 03/06/08 03:55 AM
In February of 2008, Americans filed an average of 3,960 bankruptcy petitions daily. That puts us up 28% from one year ago. As well, we're at a 23 year high on late mortgage payments. That's scary. Things are looking down. Times are hard. How are you helping those who are suffering? There's a lot of opportunity to make a lot of money through long term investing in this market. But, more importantly, there's an opportunity to help a lot of people. Good investors don't just look for ways to help themselves. They are always looking for ways to help others. It's … (0 comments)
real estate investing: 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)
real estate investing: "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)
real estate investing: 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)
real estate investing: Existing Home Sales Dropping Rapidly: Time to Buy
- 02/25/08 06:29 AM
"'Expect sales and prices to keep falling,' said Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist for High Frequency Economics. 'There is no end in sight for the housing disaster'." (Check out the entire article over here at Yahoo Finance.) Believe whatever you like about the economy. Prices and sales continue to drop and now is the time to be buying investment properties. While financing can be difficult, it's not impossible and there are numerous ways out there to invest your retirement money into real estate. Don't miss the opportunity to buy when things are down just because you're nervous. Educate yourself and get … (1 comments)
real estate investing: Cash Buyers in Down Markets
- 02/21/08 05:57 AM
Despite the terrible economic signs across the country, Manhattan real estate agents are enjoying quite the boost in sales of apartments. According to this article by Don Dahler, of CBS, they're experiencing the best sales they've had since the dot-com boom of 2000. I can't help but believe this can't and won't last much longer. With things tanking in so many different areas of the country, values can't continue to go up. And let's be honest, even if they did, very few of us have the money for places like they're selling. I believe it will get a lot worse all … (1 comments)
real estate investing: Debt Management Issues
- 02/20/08 04:05 AM
Vallejo, California is headed for the history books. Sadly, it’s not for their Six Flags Discovery Kingdom location or their first time African-American Mayor, Osby Davis, in the city. It looks as if they’re going down as what might possibly be California’s first city ever to declare bankruptcy. Debt management problems seem to be killing everyone these days. It’s affecting big and small government, huge corporations, our nations banks, politicians, church leaders, and our neighbors. Our country and it’s people are suffering from serious issues with being content and making wise financial decisions. This would be a good time for you … (0 comments)
real estate investing: Tuesday’s Tip #44: Who do you know?
- 12/04/07 01:18 PM
Who do you know? Why does that make a difference? I'm not asking if you know someone famous. I don't need your Who's Who list of acquaintances. In all honesty, I couldn't care much less about any of that. I'm talking about your network of contacts. I'm talking about your investing. Networking can be one of your greatest tools as a real estate investor. Knowing the right people in the right positions can make all the difference in the world. Whether you need better tax strategies, a new toilet, to place your property into a land trust or just help locating … (0 comments)
real estate investing: Tuesday’s Tip #43: Good Communication
- 11/27/07 12:58 PM
Being a middleman, I’m constantly stuck in the middle of poor communication. I see major issues with communication from lenders, inspectors, realtors, buyers, and sellers and that’s just ridiculous. Poor communication comes across as poor professionalism, and it hurts everyone involved. If you don’t have an answer or you don’t have what someone needs, not calling them and/or not responding doesn’t help. If you don’t have what is needed, just say that. If you don’t know, say that. Don’t make something up to please everyone. Tell the truth. What are you doing to help the deal move forward? What are you … (2 comments)
If you're looking at properties on a fairly regular basis, I'll guarantee you've heard the following line in the past 6 months:;)
;)
