http://www.articletrader.com/ Articles at ArticleTrader en-us http://www.articletrader.com/finance/real-estate/united-states-top-five-real-estate-investment-tips-2006-%7E-2007.html http://www.articletrader.com/finance/real-estate/united-states-top-five-real-estate-investment-tips-2006-%7E-2007.html Wed, 29 Nov 2006 00:00:00 -0600
There are countless tips on real estate investing available and this is by no means intended as a comprehensive list. While every investment has its own intricacies and problems that need to be worked out, there are some very basic aspects that are common to most investment properties. Understanding those aspects and asking questions about them can help you determine whether a particular real estate investment opportunity is for you.

Anything Can Change
Building in the capacity for change in your investment is not only good real estate advice, but good life advice. Aspects of an investment can change at any given time and building in a little cushion in your profit projections for that change will most likely give you a better outlook on the possible outcome of your investment.

This is especially true for something like the tax climate of your investment as changes in tax laws happen regularly. If the tax situation surrounding your investment is the only thing you like about it, it is probably not a sound investment. Solid investments can withstand changes in the tax code, so never rely solely on the stability of tax codes, you will be sorely disappointed.

Do What You Know
It is tempting to get involved in real estate investment opportunities outside of your comfort zone. Maybe the terms look good or the area is nice, but your lack of expertise in the field will ultimately hurt you over the course of the investment. If you are well versed in multi-family homes, do your best to uncover the best investment opportunities in that field. If your bag is fixer-uppers, stick with that. Success is difficult to replicate so if you have a knack for something, exploit that knack.

Compare, Compare, Compare
As any real estate agent will tell you, valuations for a new home put on the market are a direct reflection of other sale prices of similar properties in that area. Your potential investment is the same way. If you are going to rely on rents to make back the money spent on the investment, compare the rents your prospective investment property takes in against similar properties in the area. Are they too high? If so, that may indicate future trouble filling the building at those prices, which then cuts into your profit forecast.

If you are getting involved in a fixer-upper, compare what you think the home will be like in the future to homes that have sold that look similar to that now. Doing so will help you estimate your eventual sale price and the amount of money you should invest to net a decent return.

Hammer Down True Expenses
Just as you want to examine what your incoming cash flow will be on any real estate investment opportunity, you want to investigate your outgoing cash flow as well. What are the key costs involved in running the property? What are the taxes on the property? How much does it cost you when part of your multi-family property is vacant? Sometimes properties can look great when you examine the rent payments coming in but then lose their luster when you look at the cost of running the facility. You need to investigate both sides of the story to get an accurate view of the financial future of your investment.

Know The Building
In real estate investing, surprises are usually costly. Not only should you do a full walk through of the prospective investment yourself, you should also look in to hiring an independent, professional inspector as well. Uncovering problems with the foundation, roof or furnace early can either save you from making a poor investment or give you ammunition to negotiate a lower price.

Not all real estate investments are the same and you will likely run in to a unique problem on every property you pursue. However, by sticking to the tips here, you can give yourself a great foundation from which to operate. Above all, pursue information on the property as vigorously as possible to eliminate the possibility of regretting your investment later.


Published by Joe and Colleen Lane, Realtors?.??The Lane Real Estate Team?services Tri City?Wa Real Estate,?Kennewick Wa Real Estate,?Pasco?Wa Real Estate,?Richland Wa Real Estate, and surrounding Southeastern Washington Communities.
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Published by Joe and Colleen Lane, Realtors?.??The Lane Real Estate Team?services Tri City?Wa Real Estate,?Kennewick Wa Real Estate,?Pasco?Wa Real Estate,?Richland Wa Real Estate, and surrounding Southeastern Washington Communities.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/finance/real-estate/slowing-housing-market-begs-the-return-of-the-home-auction.html http://www.articletrader.com/finance/real-estate/slowing-housing-market-begs-the-return-of-the-home-auction.html Wed, 29 Nov 2006 00:00:00 -0600
With the housing market starting to slow up a bit in some areas of the country, sellers are using more tools at their disposal than ever to get a house sold in a timely fashion. While these methods vary greatly by region, nationally there has been a rise in the amount of real estate auctions seen. Naturally, auctions are not a new phenomenon, but to see them increasingly used as a primary tool in selling real estate is.

The potential pitfalls are many in the auction business and while it is certainly one of the quickest ways to liquidate a home, it is often wrought with a great deal of uncertainty. What if your home doesn’t sell for the price you were looking for? What if the auction fees take out such a hunk of the selling price that you see little profit? These are key questions to not only ask yourself but to brace for if you pursue the auction as a selling method.

The uncertainty is compounded by the selling slow down that has precipitated these extra auctions. As fewer homes are sold in a particular area, it becomes harder to peg down a selling price for your home based on comparable listings. If there simply aren’t enough comparable listings to form a solid case, the true value of your home can be hard to determine. That can leave a fair amount of guessing to be done when it comes down to an auction and estimating a final sale price.

Those sellers that hold speed as a primary goal during their home sale will see the auctions as perhaps the greatest way to perhaps sacrifice some sale price but gain a great amount of speed. Real estate owners that have found their homes too expensive to maintain or who have to leave quickly due to job relocation or another life event might see the speed as a welcome benefit of the process. Auctions eliminate the steps of a selling process that some sellers see as tedious or slow.

Auctioned homes also avoid the sorts of hurdles that conventionally-sold homes may face such as financing contingencies. Auctions demand a cash payment, weeding out some of the effort typically used to separate the financially-sound contract offer from one that may not be as tenable.

Sellers need not worry about the sale status of a prospective buyer’s current home, for example, and can instead feel assured that whatever day they decide for a home auction will be the final sale date of that property. That can be a great comfort and puts the pace of the transaction squarely under the control of the seller.

Of course, the drawbacks scare most consumers away from the prospect of a real estate auction. Sometimes, prospective home buyers will equate the words auction and discount, giving them the impression that bidding should fall below the market price. If that is the case, bidders will simply stop bidding before the home reaches what they believe to be that market price, perhaps robbing the seller of a bit of the value of the home.

Additionally, fees on auctions can be steep and while consumers avoid real estate agent fees that would normally take place, they will typically pay a bigger fee to have the home auctioned off. The difference between those two percentage points could tell you a great deal about the validity of pursuing a home auction option.

If the real estate market in your area has slowed at any significant rate, auctions are perhaps something you’ll want to look in to, but only if you are prepared to sacrifice at least some of your home’s potential sale value for the benefit of a quick home sale on your schedule.


Published by Joe and Colleen Lane, Realtors?.??The Lane Real Estate Team?services Tri City?Wa Real Estate,?Kennewick Wa Real Estate,?Pasco?Wa Real Estate,?Richland Wa Real Estate, and surrounding Southeastern Washington Communities.
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Published by Joe and Colleen Lane, Realtors?.??The Lane Real Estate Team?services Tri City?Wa Real Estate,?Kennewick Wa Real Estate,?Pasco?Wa Real Estate,?Richland Wa Real Estate, and surrounding Southeastern Washington Communities.
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Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/finance/real-estate/seriously-are-foreclosures-really-worth-the-risk.html http://www.articletrader.com/finance/real-estate/seriously-are-foreclosures-really-worth-the-risk.html Wed, 29 Nov 2006 00:00:00 -0600
Many home buyers and real estate investors have been prompted by steadily increasing interest rates to be more aggressive in their hunt for bargain homes. Competition for the best-priced and most attractive homes has only increased in most real estate markets and because of that intensity, foreclosures are drawing more and more interest from prospective home buyers and investors.

While foreclosures certainly offer some financial benefits, there are also risks involved, as you might expect. Not every foreclosure is the same and while the interest in them is growing, you need to be aware of what to look for when evaluating whether or not a foreclosure opportunist is right for you. Here are some things to look for.

Pre-Foreclosures
Pre-foreclosure properties can offer an attractive investment or home purchase opportunity to those willing to work for it. There exists a period of time in between when a home owner is notified that their loan is in default and when the bank actually seizes the home to put it on the market to recoup expenses. During that period of time, it is possible to purchase the home and satisfy financing requirements on it.

There are two negatives at play when going the pre-foreclosure rate and both discourage a majority of the potential investors that contemplate the pre-foreclosure route. One is the extremely brief period of time available to complete a deal. The period of time is regulated by individual states and usually consists of a couple months.

The other discouraging aspect is the necessity to deal with a home owner that is probably embarrassed by the foreclosure and may not even be aware that such information is made public. Knocking on a door or picking up a phone to contact someone that may not even be aware of pre-foreclosure purchases can be a difficult thing to do.

The Risky World Of Auctions
The best advice for those pondering auctions as a way to get in on foreclosed property is to simple not get involved at all. The risks are immense when dealing with a bank-run auction as you will most likely not have seen the house, have no way to protect yourself against title problems should they exist and must pay in cash.

That collection of traits discourages most investors and rightfully so. There is simply too much uncertainty when dealing with auctions to know for sure that the low sticker price is necessarily worth the hassle of going through title clean up issues and scraping together the cash for a purchase.

Foreclosed Homes
As the final step on a bank’s path of foreclosure, the home is put up for sale on the real estate market, though often for at least close to its market value. Because a home has traveled through a variety of steps and banks are in no hurry to lose money on any loan, savings are often slim on foreclosed properties that make it to this step.

However, there are certainly positives. Most likely there will be at least some kind of discount off of the market price of a property, albeit slim and deals are much easier to put together. Real estate transactions more closely follow the format of common real estate transactions and offer similar protections.

So, as you go through the process of deciding to get involved with foreclosed property, make an effort to decide which step of the process you want to target. There are opportunities all along the path of foreclosed properties, but each step has its own pros and cons that must be weighed against potential benefits. Having a clear plan will save you headaches later as you complete the purchase.


Published by Joe and Colleen Lane, Realtors?.??The Lane Real Estate Team?services Tri City?Wa Real Estate,?Kennewick Wa Real Estate,?Pasco?Wa Real Estate,?Richland Wa Real Estate, and surrounding Southeastern Washington Communities.
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Published by Joe and Colleen Lane, Realtors?.??The Lane Real Estate Team?services Tri City?Wa Real Estate,?Kennewick Wa Real Estate,?Pasco?Wa Real Estate,?Richland Wa Real Estate, and surrounding Southeastern Washington Communities.
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Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/finance/real-estate/prepayment-penalties-erode-your-worth-home-that-is.html http://www.articletrader.com/finance/real-estate/prepayment-penalties-erode-your-worth-home-that-is.html Wed, 29 Nov 2006 00:00:00 -0600
When a home buyer gets involved with buying a home, thoughts usually tend to center on staying in that home for a lengthy period of time, building both a family and equity. However, as we all know, your life can change in an instant and you never know when the next great job offer or life change will be presented, prompting you to leave town and seek a new beginning. It is those opportunities that prepayment penalties prey on and you should be well aware of what you’re getting in to if they are a feature of your mortgage.

Prepayment penalties typically state that if you decide to pay off the balance of your mortgage within a period of time (generally a few years from the start of the mortgage), you agree to pay a sort of penalty that is usually derived as some percentage of the interest on your mortgage over a period of time. The penalties serve loan agencies well as they seek to get some profit out of your loan even though an owner has decided to end it early, but they do a disservice to the home owner.

Naturally, you should be aware of all of the aspects of your home loan, but the section discussing prepayment penalties is perhaps one area to pay special attention to. These penalties can cost as much as a handful of monthly payments, so they do represent a significant cost. Every loan is negotiable and it is up to you and your realtor to make prepayment penalties at the very least a topic of discussion.

Much of the time, eliminating the prepayment penalty from your loan may be too difficult or the bank may ask for too much in return, so negotiating down the lengths and amounts involved could be a workable solution for both sides. Negotiating a smaller window of penalty or a smaller amount of penalty can at least make you feel that you’ve addressed the situation and if you negotiate down the window enough, can probably make you feel safe from having to pay a penalty.

If you are currently paying on a mortgage with a prepayment penalty and have a lot of that time window left to go, you may think about getting creative with how you deal with the penalty should you have to endure it. If you have a new home with new financing set up, you can elect to roll that prepayment penalty cost into the amount of your new loan to possibly get interest benefits if rates have gone down.

You can also contact your lender or real estate agent if the window is close to expiring but not fully up to see if the cost can be waived and, if so, what the bank would want in return. Perhaps financing a new property through the same bank will entice them to waive the prepayment penalty in favor of getting your repeat business. You’ll never know until you ask or your realtor pursues the matter, so it is always best to at least give it a try.

As with every step of the home buying and home ownership process, having full information with leave you better equipped to make decisions in the future. There are hundreds of little items that must be at least thought about and the presence of a prepayment penalty in your mortgage is one such item. Ask the right questions and make some attempt to negotiate down the terms of the penalty if your lender insists on making prepayment penalties a part of the mortgage. You’ll be glad later if a life-changing opportunity comes along later and you are free to pursue it without enduring the added cost of mortgage prepayment penalties.


Published by Joe and Colleen Lane, Realtors?.??The Lane Real Estate Team?services Tri City?Wa Real Estate,?Kennewick Wa Real Estate,?Pasco?Wa Real Estate,?Richland Wa Real Estate, and surrounding Southeastern Washington Communities.
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Published by Joe and Colleen Lane, Realtors?.??The Lane Real Estate Team?services Tri City?Wa Real Estate,?Kennewick Wa Real Estate,?Pasco?Wa Real Estate,?Richland Wa Real Estate, and surrounding Southeastern Washington Communities.
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Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/finance/real-estate/information-resourceful-people-the-%231-real-estate-market-resource.html http://www.articletrader.com/finance/real-estate/information-resourceful-people-the-%231-real-estate-market-resource.html Wed, 29 Nov 2006 00:00:00 -0600
Information about the real estate industry is all around us. Between local newspaper real estate sections and the thousands of real estate-related web sites on the Internet, there are more resources for real estate information now than ever before. However, as these sources grow, the time spent by some prospective buyers and sellers with actual people decreases. Never forget that doing some ground-level fact finding can do wonders for you, especially as you endeavor to buy a home.

Face-to-face information will serve you well as you research a particular property. The neighbors, for example, will have great information on the property, including how it was treated by the previous owner, perhaps the owner’s motivations for selling and other information that you can then use to determine whether the home is right for you. In real estate transactions, this extra bit of information can be the difference between ending up with a home you’re in love with or a home you find out later has more problems than the façade first suggested.

Census information and local resources will tell you the basics of a home and its locations, but only be talking to those that you might eventually call neighbors will you get the full story on the block, the amount of activity it gets at night and other positives and negatives that will eventually weigh on your real estate decisions.

In the even that a particular home turns out to not be the right one for you, that personal information can also help you decide if a particular city is right for you in the first place. By broadening out your questions, you can get a wider view of the community and determine the positives and negatives of even pursuing real estate in that city. It may be the case that there are some key amenities that are too far away and that may discourage you from further pursuit of the city. Those are great bits of information to have before getting too far down the road in looking for a new home.

Aside from chatting up the neighbors, you can contact a local chamber of commerce of other similar agency, though be prepared to get nothing but a glowing review of the community. While that may seem to not be as useful, it is still certainly good to know the high points of a community and a chamber of commerce official will be all too happy to share those high points with you.

Some key things to ask about whether they concern a single home or an entire community are the level of crime, the quality of local schools, the fluctuations of local weather and perhaps the big events held in the area. These bits of information may not show up on a local MLS print out on a particular piece of real estate, but they do matter during the new home search and should be sought out.

Of course, it is a good idea to go back and verify the information you’ve gotten, if possible. If the neighbor is a good friend of the seller of the home you’re investigating, they may exaggerate the benefits of the home to help their friend complete the sale. Local residents may also over-sell their community with praise that might not entirely be accurate. Go back and research the claims you get if possible and sometimes with those claims as a starting point, you’ll come across information more easily.

Just as in many other aspects of life, the proliferation of information sources has put personal attention at least somewhat on the back burner. As you go about the important life decision of buying a home, make use of all routes possible, personal contact included, to get a full, complete picture of what you’re buying in to. A few conversations now can save you from a handful of headaches later.


Published by Joe and Colleen Lane, Realtors?.??The Lane Real Estate Team?services Tri City?Wa Real Estate,?Kennewick Wa Real Estate,?Pasco?Wa Real Estate,?Richland Wa Real Estate, and surrounding Southeastern Washington Communities.
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Published by Joe and Colleen Lane, Realtors?.??The Lane Real Estate Team?services Tri City?Wa Real Estate,?Kennewick Wa Real Estate,?Pasco?Wa Real Estate,?Richland Wa Real Estate, and surrounding Southeastern Washington Communities.
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Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/finance/real-estate/have-you-found-the-lowest-rate-think-again.html http://www.articletrader.com/finance/real-estate/have-you-found-the-lowest-rate-think-again.html Wed, 29 Nov 2006 00:00:00 -0600
So you’ve got your new home picked out and you’re ready to embark upon the long process of securing a home loan and ultimately taking ownership of your dream home. Armed with that excitement, you take to the Internet in hopes of uncovering a hidden interest rate nugget, that low rate that other people have overlooked and that you have found through persistence and effort. Well, as you embark on that trip, there are some things to keep in mind during the pursuit for the lowest interest rate possible.

There are probably thousands of web sites offering financial data that can be pertinent to your search, so it is important to quickly cut through them all and pick one that seems to be at least somewhat reputable and has easy-to-access information. You’ll probably want to focus your search on a 30-yeark, fixed-rate mortgage to get a barometer of the interest rate climate initially.

There are many sites out there that will go into detail on interest rate fluctuation but finding one with graphs that can show you the trend of that rate over time will provide you with a great piece of ammunition when trying to determine what the short term market might do and what kind of interest rate would, in the end, be a good one for the time frame you’re looking at.

In addition, there are scores of financial articles written every day about the state of the real estate market and doing some reading on the current state of the market will help you greatly in your pursuit for a low interest rate. Sites like the Wall Street Journal online and other respected newspapers usually publish their full financial sections online. Google News and other outlets can additionally offer a slew of recent financial articles with a search or two.

Each loan has its own special set of financial aspects, so comparing them can be difficult at first glance. Thankfully, there are sites out there that will do it for you and doing a search for financial loan comparisons will give you a few good results. By putting in some information about you and your financial status, you can get some loan offers back that are tailored to your situation and can be compared against each other. This is a great step to help save time that might otherwise be spent deciphering the many loan options available through a multitude of lending agencies.

Finally, be thorough in your search. If you are truly looking to get a full picture of the loans available to you, contacting your local institutions (banks and credit unions) is a great step in the process and sometimes the added benefit of supporting local business or having a nearby branch office can make up for an interest rate shortcoming. It is up to you to assign priority to something like that.

Interest rates are important but while you’ve set out to pursue the lowest rate possible, you might find that there are other benefits you haven’t considered that are important as well. These aspects should also make their way into your loan comparison as things like convenience, reliability and other factors differ from lender to lender. Decide what is important to you and what concessions you would make to accommodate one of those other desires.

Finding the lowest interest rate possible is a noble goal and with the avalanche of online information at the fingertips of anyone with an Internet connection, finding that rate is easier now that in the past. However, as you go through your search, keep in mind that a mortgage is more than just an interest rate and remain open to other benefits that might offset a bit of a higher rate.


Published by Joe and Colleen Lane, Realtors?.??The Lane Real Estate Team?services Tri City?Wa Real Estate,?Kennewick Wa Real Estate,?Pasco?Wa Real Estate,?Richland Wa Real Estate, and surrounding Southeastern Washington Communities.
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Published by Joe and Colleen Lane, Realtors?.??The Lane Real Estate Team?services Tri City?Wa Real Estate,?Kennewick Wa Real Estate,?Pasco?Wa Real Estate,?Richland Wa Real Estate, and surrounding Southeastern Washington Communities.
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Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]>