Friday, May 30, 2008

Real Estate Investing Strategy: Make Money With Wholesaling

Your exit strategy is an extremely important part of your real estate investing business. In fact, it is one of the most important parts. Sometimes investors get excited because they learn how to buy properties, they find them and they get the money lined up to purchase them. But after the purchase, the excitement dies, as they have no idea what to do with their newly owned properties.

You must know your exit strategy when you buy. What do you plan to do with the property? Knowing this allows you to make all types of decisions, from how much to offer, to what kind of financing to use, and more. One strategy is to incorporate wholesaling into your real estate business plans.

What is Wholesaling?

It is simply finding a bargain property and passing it on to a bargain hunter. That bargain hunter will be an investor who will either purchase the property to resell it or purchase it to hold it for rental income. Your profit as a wholesaler should be between $5000 and $15,000 on each house. In some cases it will be higher than $15,000 and on some deals your profit may be a little lower than $5,000.

Why wholesale?

Real estate investors choose to wholesale properties for a few reasons. They could be:

1. Quick cash - it is possible to turn a property around anywhere from 7 to 45 days and get cash in your pocket. If you need to get your hands on some cash quickly, this would be a reason to wholesale. Or, you may not need the cash immediately. You might just want to build your cash reserves. Wholesaling is a good way to do this quickly.

2. Too many houses - maybe you're good at finding houses, but you find more than you need or can use at any given time. If this is the case, wholesaling is a smart move for you. You can still profit from your locating skills, even if you aren't going to keep the property for your own personal portfolio.

3. Flexibility - at any given time, you can determine whether you want to keep a property or sell it. This gives you flexibility as you locate and purchase properties.

Monday, May 26, 2008

16 Tips to Buy Real Estate Successfully

1. Do not overanalyze. You may lose a lot of great opportunities to make great deal of money. Start making offers. 2. Get the property under a contract first with a safety clause. 3. Ask fellow investors, real estate broker about the property value. If it makes sense go ahead with the purchase. 4. If you are buying for a quick flip neighborhoods do not matter. What matters is the $$$ you are going to make. 5. Your perfect buy should be a house/condo/building in excellent condition and in a good neighborhood. 6. Your Second choice should be a cosmetic fixer in a good neighborhood. 7. Inspect the property. Try to get as many things fixed by the seller as possible. Check the neighborhood. Drive around the block. Look at the houses in the neighborhood, what is their condition. Look at the cars parked in the street. Old cars normally can tell you a lot about the neighborhood. Trash on the sidewalks can spell less then great neighborhood. Which in turns means you should buy and sell quickly (most of the time). Renting in those neighborhood could be challenging, especially for the new investor.

8. Use a real estate agent or broker. My first great deal was found by a broker. Try to get access to the MLS so you can look for deals yourself. 9. Shop around for Financing. My experiences with the loan officers tells me one thing. Email them your questions and ask them to email you back their answers or put them on paper. They tend to always change terms and rates (though illegal), and put junk charges. 10. Try to reduce your Title/Escrow charges review them with an experienced investor or real estate agent. 11. Use a real estate attorney for your foreclosure/pre-foreclosure purchases. 12. You can check these free Real Estate Investing Educational sites:

13. Make connections with other fellow real estate investors. You can learn great deal first hand experience from them. One peace of advice alone could be worth thousands for you. So if you like challenges and lifetime learning Real Estate Investing is a great field to work and have fun. 14. Advertise yourself. Get business cards hand them to interested people. Place ads in the newspaper and use whatever other means of advertising you can think of. 15. Use the right Real Estate Forms when you buy and sell. If you don't have any forms here is a website you can print forms for free: http://www.realestate-agentsinfo.com/ 16. Do not be afraid to buy real estate. Fear and lack of knowledge are the number one factor for failure.

Thursday, May 22, 2008

REAL ESTATE : Beach House Rentals Cost

Beach House Rentals Cost

We all love the sound of the ocean and the warm sand between our toes. Feel that bright sun washing over your tired body. Ahh, no wonder we all want to live at the beach. Sadly this is easier said than done.

I mean have you actually check out beach-front real estate lately? It sells for a pretty penny. Make that a gorgeous penny. Clearly most of us can't afford that summer home right on the water's edge. However, that doesn't mean you can't take advantage of beach house rentals. Many of these are available on both coasts. Therefore you can take a break and enjoy the Pacific or Atlantic Ocean if you please.

As expected, many beach house rentals are extremely high priced. Much has to do with what you're looking for. Some beach homes I searched recently online were way over my head.

I spotted a nice two story, simple honeymoon home right on the Florida coast, but was shocked at the rates. It read 3400 for summer rental. Now, I can't afford 3400 a month on top of my regular house payment. I can't imagine many of us could. Then when I clicked on the beach house to read more, I discovered something more absurd. The rate wasn't per month; it was per week.

OUCH! My thoughts immediately went to celebrities and business moguls like Donald Trump. Who else could afford such rates for a summer beach home? I too want to have a blast on the beach during spring break of hot July, but not for that rate.

Naturally you can find some beach house rentals for less dough. But, don't kid yourself. They can also go much higher. Try nine grand per week during the high season, which is spring break and the summer months. Obviously these are the most desirable times to visit the beach. On the bright side, most of these beach homes are truly loaded with luxury goodness.

It's all about the spacious rooms, hot tubs and swimming pools for parties. One particular website you can check out for up-close photos is www.beachhouse.com. I will suggest browsing for beach homes in North Carolina and South Carolina. Many I've seen go for considerably less than what you'll find in Florida and California.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Real Estate Listings Provide Clues For Buyers

Real estate listings have a comprehensive view of the properties that are available to buyers ready for Buying Real Estate in India. The real estate listings usually include the latest information on the properties. The real estate listings can help all those people interested in buying some real estate get a quick and complete view of the market in a particular area. Buying a home is a grand undertaking and individuals will not want to make any decisions without the latest information that is available on the real estate listings. The purchase of a primary residence or a vacation home usually is a long term commitment, and the papers are final once they are signed.

The real estate listings include the latest information on all of the properties available, and these listings also provide other important information. The real estate listings usually provide information on the contact numbers for the agent in charge of showing and selling each property. This information can save each buyer considerable time when trying to contact the proper people for viewing each available property. The real estate listings will usually provide information on the price for each available property. This information provides an opportunity to begin a comparison of the properties for consideration.

Real estate listings can provide other information besides the price of one individual property. The listings will show many different properties, and a potential buyer can see how the properties compare with each of the others. The real estate listings will show the square footage for each property and the square footage of the lot on which the property is set. This information can show why one property is worth more than other properties. The listings will often show the number of bedrooms and bathrooms. Of course, these are all factors that a buyer will want to consider when buying a property.

The listings will usually provide the age of the property so the buyer can decide if they are interested in a property without leaving the office of their agent. Some buyers love older homes while others want a brand new home. A look at the listings will help them narrow their search while saving their time. The real estate listings usually show how long the property has been on the market. This could provide some insight for the agent and the potential buyer. If a property has been on the market for a while, the seller might consider a lower price for the property.

Monday, May 19, 2008

Real Estate Marketing Online - Search Engine Optimization and Internet Marketing Services

When you do a search in your favorite search engine, where does your real estate website come up? If your site doesn’t come up in the first few pages then you are missing out on a huge resource for generating new potential clients as well as sales. It is estimated that more than 90% of real estate searches now start online and most of them start from one of the major search engines.

Eyeflow, the owners and operators behind many high traffic real estate related websites including YAERD.org, have been helping real estate agents, developers, and mortgage brokers improve traffic and search engine rankings since 2001.

Why choose Eyeflow for your real estate Internet marketing needs?

1. Eyeflow has created one of the most visited national investment real estate website networks in the world in just under 6 months.

2. Unlike other online marketing firms, Eyeflow boasts a robust knowledge of the real estate and finance industries that provide clients with an edge over the competition.

3. Eyeflow knows how to effectively leverage the online real estate community. Our years of experience have provided us with the wisdom to identify how people in your specific market are searching, where they are searching, and what terms and techniques they are using to search.

For a limited time:

Eyeflow is offering a FREE 3 month optimized approved partner ad page on YAERD.org, one of the most visited real estate web sites on the Internet, with ANY marketing package.

What does this mean?

Eyeflow will build you a customized web page on YAERD.org that will offer your real estate related product or service WITH your direct contact information. It is

Real estate industry related professionals we work with:

* Real Estate Developers (Commercial and Residential)
* Mortgage Brokers and Agents
* Real Estate Agents and Brokers
* Property Management Companies

Eyeflow offers multiple packages to suit all budgets – whether you are an agent new to the industry or you own a seasoned nationwide brokerage, we have the right marketing solution for you.

What we do:

With every package, we offer a wide array of services to help generate more leads to your business via the Internet. Here are just a few of the services we provide:

1. Aricle Submission – Eyeflow technicians will create and distribute articles about your product or service on your behalf to hundreds of article directories online. Not only will these articles rank themselves, but they will also contain a link back to your site creating hundreds of quality one way links to your site. These links will naturally bring traffic in to your web site. Additionally, the links will improve your web site’s rankings.

2. Link Building – We will send out thousands of link requests on your site’s behalf to obtain one way links from quality real estate related websites.

3. Real Estate Directory Submission – Did you know that getting listed in high profile directories is a quick and easy way to achieve a higher rank on many major search engines? Eyeflow has a ever growing list of the most effective directories for submission. We will hand submit your site to these directories, resulting in hundreds of quality one way links.

4. Site Optimization – Most web developers do not have a web site’s search engine rankings in mind when they build your site, resulting in your web site getting lost in search engine limbo, or not ranking as effectively as it could. Experienced Eyeflow technicians will go through your site and optimize the code that could be hurting your search engine rankings as well as add new code and content that is search engine friendly.

Friday, May 16, 2008

Are you looking for the perfect home for sale in Orlando Florida?

our realtors deal with investment and preconstruction real estate properties all over the world our head quarters is located in the downtown Orlando, Fl area. Our founders have more then 20 years experience in the Orlando Florida real estate market and is very knowledgeable about the different areas of this great city. If your looking for homes for sale in Orlando, Fl then you need to contact us and see our HUGE selection of Orlando homes.

Why purchase a home in Orlando?

Orlando has some of the finest restaurants for all types of your favorite cuisine including many internationally known restaurants .

A huge selection of entertainment including Solar Bears Hockey, Orlando Jackals Hockey, Disney, Hard Rock Cafe, MGM, Epcot, Sea World, Universal Studios, Magic Basketball, Planet Hollywood, Hard O-Rena Shows, Tampa Bay Bucs, Bob Carr Auditorium Shows, The Southern Ballet, dinner theaters and much more!

Orlando real estate is booming as tourism continues to grow. Even if you're not buying your new Orlando home as an investment it's still nice to quickly obtain equity with little or no work.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

What Should I Look For When Walking Through a Home?

In addition to comparing the home to your minimum requirement and wish lists, use the HUD Home Scorecard and consider the following:

- Is there enough room for both the present and the future?
- Are there enough bedrooms and bathrooms?
- Is the house structurally sound?
- Do the mechanical systems and appliances work?
- Is the yard big enough?
- Do you like the floor plan?
- Will your furniture fit in the space? Is there enough storage space? (Bring a tape measure to better answer these questions.)
- Does anything need to repaired or replaced? Will the seller repair or replace the items?
- Imagine the house in good weather and bad, and in each season. Will you be happy with it year-round?

Take your time and think carefully about each house you see. Ask your real estate agent to point out the pros and cons of each home from a professional standpoint.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Involuntary Conversions - Real Estate Tax Tips

An involuntary conversion occurs when your property is destroyed, stolen, condemned, or disposed of under the threat of condemnation and you receive other property or money in payment, such as insurance or a condemnation award. Involuntary conversions are also called involuntary exchanges.

Reporting Gain or Loss

Gain or loss from an involuntary conversion of your property is usually recognized for tax purposes unless the property is your main home. You report the gain or deduct the loss on your tax return for the year you realize it. (You cannot deduct a loss from an involuntary conversion of property you held for personal use unless the loss resulted from a casualty or theft.)

However, depending on the type of property you receive, you may not have to report a gain on an involuntary conversion. You do not report the gain if you receive property that is similar or related in service or use to the converted property. Your basis for the new property is the same as your basis for the converted property. The gain on the involuntary conversion is deferred until a taxable sale or exchange occurs.

Monday, May 12, 2008

Preconstruction Investment Real Estate Tips

When starting out in the field of pre-construction investment opportunities, you should take a look at various aspects of the opportunity and evaluate them. When evaluating an investment opportunity you should look at who is trying to sell you the investment project. If it is a friend, you might want to look around the preconstruction real estate market for someone who is selling a similar investment property.

If it is a real estate developer that has offered you the chance to participate in the project, you should start looking at their previous completed projects and see the amount of profit that the real estate investors attained after completion. Also remember when you are investing in pre-construction opportunity that you are taking some of the risk (though there is usually less risk involved than traditional real estate investment), and that you should evaluate the risk based on what you would like to gain from investing in the preconstruction real estate property.

Being educated on your target area will help you to make the best decision when it comes to investing in preconstruction real estate.

Friday, May 9, 2008

Analyzing Real Estate Trends in Order to Ensure the Best Investment

Some people devote quite a bit of time to theorizing on the optimal time to invest in real estate and wind up basing their purchase on some friend’s opinion. Others are more emotional and buy real estate on a spontaneous whim. Such ideas may work sometimes, but are not very reliable indicators on when to enter and exit the real estate market. This article highlights a 2-step process to analyze your potential real estate investments.

In real estate investing, just like in the stock market, there is readily available public data, which you can chart to determine if the real estate boom or bust is bottoming out. As with any investment, it is wise to purchase at the bottom of a cycle so that you gain on the rebound. Similarly, it’s important to take the rental yield cycle into consideration when calculating whether the property is worth acquiring while ensuring that you have enough monthly rental to cover your mortgage installments even in the leanest of rental periods.

The best way to analyze real estate trends is to look at the charts with regards to the relevant data. Examine which part of the real estate cycle your prospective real estate property lies in and how the rentals are doing in your potential real estate investment. After this analysis, you will know where the pricing of your real estate investment is heading and plan accordingly.

Then, after analyzing statistical data, talk to a real estate agent about the outlook for the real estate investment sector in which you are interested in investing and ask for indicators of good rental yield in terms of location and whether any events or developments may increase rental yields. For instance, if a new business district is slated for development next to your prospective purchase, it would mean a huge jump in the price of acquisition and rental yields and a huge gain in your real estate investment.

Always devote time to planning what information you need before you speak with the real estate agent before and always know what type of real estate investment property you want, so you can save time when you view properties. After a while, you will have a rough sense of the property prices in an area and will be able to spot a bargain property investment and discern whether or not it’s the right property for you.

Use our two aforementioned ways to identify a bargain for your real estate investment, spend some time looking at your next real estate investment deal, and perhaps it will turn out to be a bargain.

Thursday, May 8, 2008

The No Money Down Real Estate Investing Myth

The biggest question on the real estate investor side is always creative financing, how can I put a deal together with little or no money down? To be honest there will be in almost every transaction a decent amount of money down in every deal. The main objective in any real estate investing situation is to have the least amount of money down as possible and the big dream is “No Money Down”.

Although no money down sounds like a one stop solution for all investors the truth is most people will never see the opportunity to do it in there lifetime. These “guru’s” use the same tactics as the lottery, they promote the one or two people that succeeded and do not focus on the near non existent chances of you actually turning a profit. Maybe that’s why they sell CD sets and books instead of using there on theories themselves.

Bottom line, an investor real estate agent or brokerage will be able to help put you on the path to creative financing but don’t hold your breath for no money down situations.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Like-Kind Exchanges - Real Estate Tax Tips

Generally, if you exchange business or investment property solely for business or investment property of a like-kind, no gain or loss is recognized under Internal Revenue Code Section 1031. If, as part of the exchange, you also receive other (not like-kind) property or money, gain is recognized to the extent of the other property and money received, but a loss is not recognized.

Section 1031 does not apply to exchanges of inventory, stocks, bonds, notes, other securities or evidence of indebtedness, or certain other assets.

Like-Kind Property

Properties are of like-kind, if they are of the same nature or character, even if they differ in grade or quality. Personal properties of a like class are like-kind properties. However, livestock of different sexes are not like-kind properties. Also, personal property used predominantly in the United States and personal property used predominantly outside the United States are not like-kind properties.

Real properties generally are of like-kind, regardless of whether the properties are improved or unimproved. However, real property in the United States and real property outside the United States are not like-kind properties.

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Rural

Rural Land is land that is used wholly and exclusively for carrying on a substantial business of primary production. A 'substantial primary production business' has a commercial purpose or character and is not merely carried on as a hobby or for recreation purposes and is involved in activities related to the cultivation of land; animal husbandry/farming; horticulture; fishing; forestry; viticulture or dairy farming. Primary production for the purpose of the rural land definition does not include vacant land (even if zoned 'rural'), hobby farms, land used for stock agistment or mining.

The definition of primary production is taken from the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936 which states "primary production means production resulting directly from:

* the cultivation of land;
* the maintenance of animals or poultry for the purpose of selling them or their bodily produce, including natural increase;
* fishing operations;
* forest operations; or
* horticulture;

and includes the manufacture of dairy produce by the person who produced the raw material used in that manufacture."

If land cannot be considered rural land then it is defined as urban land. Therefore, acquisitions by foreign interests of 'hobby farms', 'rural residential' blocks, land used for stock agistment and vacant land with rural zoning are included within the urban land category. Most acquisitions of rural and urban land by foreign interests require foreign investment approval.

Generally, where a foreign interest proposes to acquire a business of primary production valued at less than $100 million, the transaction is exempt from requiring foreign investment approval.

Acquisitions of such businesses valued at $100 million or more (or the relevant threshold for US investors or offshore takeovers) require prior approval and are normally approved unless considered contrary to the national interest.

Where the investment is by a foreign government or one of its agencies, foreign investment approval is required irrespective of the size of the investment.

Monday, May 5, 2008

Residential Real Estate

Residential real estate means all Australian urban land other than commercial properties (that is offices, factories, warehouses, restaurants, shops). Acquisitions of 'hobby farms' and 'rural residential' blocks by foreign interests are included in the residential real estate category.

Foreign purchasers intending to acquire real estate in Australia must seek prior approval from the Government through the Foreign Investment Review Board unless specifically exempted by the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Regulations.

Entering Into A Contract

All contracts by foreign persons to acquire interests in Australian real estate must be made conditional upon foreign investment approval, unless approval was obtained prior to entering into the contract.

For properties to be purchased at auction, prior foreign investment approval must still be obtained and advice provided whether the parties were successful or not, and if so, a copy of the signed contract forwarded to the Foreign Investment Review Board(FIRB) after the auction.

Who is Exempt?

Exemptions include:

* acquisitions by Australian citizens resident abroad;
* acquisitions of property zoned residential by foreign nationals who hold permanent resident visas or hold, or who are eligible to hold, a 'special category visa' (eg a New Zealand citizen); and
* foreign persons purchasing, as joint tenants, with their Australian citizen spouse property that is zoned residential.

Under the Act, a foreign person is:

* a natural person not ordinarily resident in Australia;
* a corporation in which a natural person not ordinarily resident in Australia or a foreign corporation holds a controlling interest (that is, a holding of 15 percent or more);
* a corporation in which 2 or more persons, each of whom is either a natural person not ordinarily resident in Australia or a foreign corporation, hold an aggregate controlling interest (that is, a total holding of 40 percent or more);
* the trustee of a trust estate in which a natural person not ordinarily resident in Australia or a foreign corporation holds a substantial interest; or
* the trustee of a trust estate in which 2 or more persons, each of whom is either a natural person not ordinarily resident in Australia or a foreign corporation, hold an aggregate substantial interest.

A substantial foreign interest (ie, a controlling interest) occurs when a single foreigner (and any associates) has 15 per cent or more of the ownership or several foreigners (and any associates) have 40 per cent or more in aggregate of the ownership of any corporation, business or trust.

The Government seeks to ensure that foreign investment in residential real estate increases the housing stock. The Government, therefore, seeks to channel foreign investment into activity that directly increases the supply of new housing (that is, new developments - house and land packages, home units, townhouses, etc) and brings benefits to the local building industry and their suppliers.

The policy on developed residential real estate is negative. The effect is twofold. First, it helps reduce the possibility of excess demand building up in the existing housing market and secondly, it aims to encourage the supply of new dwellings, many of which would become available to Australian residents, either for purchase or rent, therefore maintaining greater stability of house prices and the affordability of housing for Australians.

Friday, May 2, 2008

Commercial Real Estate

Commercial real estate includes vacant land for commercial development and developed commercial property.

Proposals to acquire the following require notification and approval:

1. vacant land, regardless of value;
2. an accommodation facility, regardless of value;
3. property being acquired by a foreign government or its agent, regardless of value;
4. developed commercial real estate subject to heritage listing valued at $5 million or more; and
5. developed commercial real estate where the total value of the property being acquired is $50 million or more.

Under the Act, a foreign person is:

* a natural person not ordinarily resident in Australia;
* a corporation in which a natural person not ordinarily resident in Australia or a foreign corporation holds a controlling interest (that is, a holding of 15 percent or more);
* a corporation in which 2 or more persons, each of whom is either a natural person not ordinarily resident in Australia or a foreign corporation, hold an aggregate controlling interest (that is, a total holding of 40 percent or more);
* the trustee of a trust estate in which a natural person not ordinarily resident in Australia or a foreign corporation holds a substantial interest; or
* the trustee of a trust estate in which 2 or more persons, each of whom is either a natural person not ordinarily resident in Australia or a foreign corporation, hold an aggregate substantial interest.

A substantial foreign interest (ie, a controlling interest) occurs when a single foreigner (and any associates) has 15 per cent or more of the ownership or several foreigners (and any associates) have 40 per cent or more in aggregate of the ownership of any corporation, business or trust.