http://www.articletrader.com/ Articles at ArticleTrader en-us http://www.articletrader.com/finance/real-estate/three-reasons-why-now-is-the-best-time-to-invest-in-real-estate.html http://www.articletrader.com/finance/real-estate/three-reasons-why-now-is-the-best-time-to-invest-in-real-estate.html Thu, 02 Apr 2009 13:04:57 -0500
Foreclosures are at an all time high. Just about every one of us can think of a family member or friend in foreclosure, or at least a neighbor. While this is a sad result of the mortgage meltdown and the current job market there are still silver linings to every cloud. Banks are more willing to offer deals on REO (Real Estate Owned) properties that they are holding in their over inflated non-performing asset portfolio. They need to move these properties to stay properly capitalized and your chances of getting a good deal are getting better and better every day.

If you have not started to track foreclosures in your market you need to begin today. Keep an eye on homes that go into foreclosure. Then you can identify the homes with the most potential of being a good deal. If the home goes all the way through the foreclosure process make sure you follow up with the bank before the home makes it on to the open MLS market. This will help you develop relationships with the banks and find some real nuggets along the way.

2. The “I” Word.

OK so maybe it isn’t as easy to get a mortgage as it was a couple of years ago. We all know the market has tightened up. The fact is there are still a lot of people with jobs and good credit that can get a mortgage. Fannie Mae recently loosened their rules on the number of homes investors can finance from 4 up to 10. 10 homes is quite a few if you are just starting out.

Even more exciting is that interest rates are at an all time low. If you can get a good deal on a home in foreclosure and secure a 5.5% interest rate then it becomes extremely easy to cash flow on a rental property. Many experienced investors have been making it work for years at 10% interest rates. We should all be able to hit a home run at nearly half of that! Check your credit and find a good investor friendly mortgage broker and find out what you qualify for today.

3. The “T” Word.

Back to the number one reason to invest today, foreclosures. So many people are in foreclosure or have recent job losses it is making it extremely difficult to become or continue to be homeowners. While this may not be a permanent situation it does make the rental market one of the best we have seen in years. I have many clients who are prospering in the rental market. Even better are those tenants that would like to be homeowners today, were yesterday and will be tomorrow. These tenants have the potential to lease a home right now with the opportunity to buy it once their situation has improved and the mortgage market has opened up again. This is the wholly grail for real estate investors as we can cover cash flow today with the big pay off in the future when we sell the home.

I am not saying that it is easy to invest in real estate today nor do I think this is the kind of market where you are going to flip three houses a month and become a millionaire in six months. For those with vision and with the proper training you could be setting yourself and your family up for amazing wealth over time. So many people have kicked themselves for not getting into the market fifteen years ago. Don’t be that person fifteen years from now.




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Isn’t it time you learned how to capitalize on one of the best markets for real estate investing that this country has ever seen? With the recent flood of foreclosures now is the time to learn to invest correctly in real estate from the hosts of the nation’s leading show on real estate investing, Judson Voss and Allison McArthur. Visit http://www.yourrealestatefortunes.com and learn for free, the no-hype truth about choosing the right real estate investing strategy to start making you money, today.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/finance/real-estate/is-renting-smart.html http://www.articletrader.com/finance/real-estate/is-renting-smart.html Thu, 10 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0500
However, a lot of investors will caution you to avoid the tenant business. It’s got a lot of drawbacks and can actually raise your blood pressure!

Holding Costs are High!
When you become a buy and hold landlord your holding costs skyrocket. Many landlords end up waiting between 3-6 months for a new tenant to move in. So in that time while they are waiting for the tenant, the landlord has to keep up the property and pay the electric, gas, and other utilities.

Re-renting Fix-up Costs are High!
As a typical landlord you also end up paying a lot to get the apartment or home ready for a new tenant when the old one moves out. This means you’ll be paying to get new carpet, paint the walls and so on to make that place look good for a new renter. A deposit won’t cover the costs to get that done. In any case, you aren’t supposed to use the security deposit each tenant brings in, to cover the costs of regular wear and tear on the rental between tenants.

Short Leases Equal High Turnover!
A typical lease agreement between the landlord and a tenant lasts about a year. A good number of your tenants will end up moving at the end of that year instead of renewing the lease with you. Not all of them, but more than a few. This high rate of turnover increases your costs as a landlord because you’ll have more holding costs between tenants and you’ll have to prepare that rental for new tenants each year.

Lots of Complaints from Tenants!
A part of being the typical landlord involves getting complaints from your tenants. Most often this concerns maintenance issues. The drains get clogged, the air conditioner conks out, or the garbage disposal stops working. These are all the landlord’s responsibility to maintain so the tenant has a livable home. You would have to deal with getting the tenant complaints fixed in a timely manner and absorbing the cost of fixing problems with the rental property.

The Solution!
You can own rental property after a manner by leasing out the properties instead. A lease with the option to buy the property can have many benefits. You’ll be able to put the responsibility for fixing-up and maintaining the property into the hands of the lessee. Leasing property also means you can place the tenants in the property for an extended amount of time. The length of your average lease can be about 3 years or even 5 years. So, you’ll have a lower rate of turn over and few holding costs on that lease property.


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Isn’t it time you learned how to capitalize on one of the best markets for real estate investing that this country has ever seen? With the recent flood of foreclosures now is the time to learn to invest correctly in real estate from the hosts of the nation’s leading show on real estate investing, Judson and Lynn Voss. Visit http://www.yourrealestatefortunes.com and learn for free, the no-hype truth about choosing the right real estate investing strategy to start making you money, today.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/finance/real-estate/the-art-of-negotiation-in-a-short-sale.html http://www.articletrader.com/finance/real-estate/the-art-of-negotiation-in-a-short-sale.html Thu, 10 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0500
There is an art to negotiation in the real estate investment industry. Negotiating a short sale isn’t simply approaching the bank with your packet of paperwork and your best offer to close the deal.

You’ll need to endure at least two rounds of negotiation with the banks most of the time. So, don’t approach them with your final offer right off. It’s probably best if your first offer to the bank is a price that’s lower than what you are willing to pay.

Send a Cover Letter
Submit to the bank an offer cover letter filled will all of your points to justify the discounted offer you are making on the bank. The banks you usually end up negotiating with get tons of offers for their properties. This submitted cover letter helps you stand out and makes you look a little more professional as a real estate investor.

The cover letter can outline your interest in the property, certain negative aspects you’ve noticed to the default property and your first offer on the property. Don’t be afraid to make a low offer on the property when negotiating short sales. You can always up your offers, but you can never lower them. So, if you start out by giving them the most you are willing to pay for the foreclosure property you are interested in the bidding could quickly enter a price range you aren’t able to afford.

Make it Personal
Making more personal offers, such as using the cover letter submission, will get you into more negotiations with banks and help you close more deals. You’ll waste a lot of time if you go out make a 100 low ball offers in a very impersonal manner. It just won’t make real estate investment worth the time.

Instead, go out and find ten default properties that you are interested in and make more personalized offers on them. Put together a nice cover letter for each that outlines the points above and you’ll find that you enter more deal in less time. Less time spent means you are making more money for your effort and you are more likely to make that real estate deal.



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Isn’t it time you learned how to capitalize on one of the best markets for real estate investing that this country has ever seen? With the recent flood of foreclosures now is the time to learn to invest correctly in real estate from the hosts of the nation’s leading show on real estate investing, Judson and Lynn Voss. Visit http://www.yourrealestatefortunes.com and learn for free, the no-hype truth about choosing the right real estate investing strategy to start making you money, today.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/finance/real-estate/building-up-a-network-in-real-estate-investment.html http://www.articletrader.com/finance/real-estate/building-up-a-network-in-real-estate-investment.html Thu, 10 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0500
Network your way to profits
Naturally, you won’t pick up every property that you look at in the real estate investment business. However, just looking at properties brings you into contact with other property investors and helps you to build your network.

As you begin to make more and more deals in the business, say with REO agents that hold bank properties are in post-foreclosure, you are also networking. You’ll find that you get a lot of repeat business with those investors with whom you make successful deals.

It’s not uncommon to only make a deal on one out of every 15 to 20 properties you look at in real estate. However, you’ll find that as you buy those properties you’ll make connections with the REO agents and investors you deal with and they’ll keep you in mind. So after a while, you begin to find that you are being handed deals that fit your criteria because the agents and investors know what you are looking for. Eventually, it’s possible to start picking up one out of every four or five properties you look at, simply because your network will be handing you the perfect properties to invest in. See how easy it is?

Record the Information of those you Meet!
One real estate investor claims that up to 65% of his properties come from repeat clients. Networking is easy when you choose to work with these repeat clients. To make the most of those repeat clients and past investors you’ve worked with, try to remember to take down their names and numbers or keep their business cards and add them to your address book. Be sure to add all pertinent information about each person you meet, such as whether they are looking to invest or sell properties.

Networking is an essential part of the real estate investment business. However, you don’t need to feel intimidated if you are starting out with little to no network. As you make deals and look through properties in the local area you’ll also gradually be developing your very own network.



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Isn’t it time you learned how to capitalize on one of the best markets for real estate investing that this country has ever seen? With the recent flood of foreclosures now is the time to learn to invest correctly in real estate from the hosts of the nation’s leading show on real estate investing, Judson and Lynn Voss. Visit http://www.yourrealestatefortunes.com and learn for free, the no-hype truth about choosing the right real estate investing strategy to start making you money, today.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/finance/real-estate/can-you-get-good-discounts-on-properties-out-west.html http://www.articletrader.com/finance/real-estate/can-you-get-good-discounts-on-properties-out-west.html Tue, 08 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0500
It is very possible to make a return on your real estate investments out west and a good profit. Even though the prices are higher, the process of property investment is still all about the numbers.

You may have to work a little harder to find those properties at a price that matches what you’ll need to pay in order to make a return. You may even spend more time in short sales and note purchase discussions with the banks to pick up properties that have little or no equity built up in them. Yet, it is more than possible to make a profitable return on your investments.

What Rate of Return Should You Look For?
Since the properties out west have been known to sell for outrageous prices you may even be able to get yourself a very big return every once in a while. However, there’s nothing wrong with a basic 10 to 15% rate of return on your real estate investments out west either. Just add a couple of zeros to the numbers when you estimate how much money with which you’ll be working, since prices are a little bit higher.

Also when you work on real estate investments in places like California, you may wish to consider taking a minimum discount of only 5%. The properties out here tend to appreciate in leaps and bounds. Even if you are only taking the 5% rate of return on a property deal, you’ll still end up making more of a return in appreciation of your property.

It is possible to make a profit in the more expensive properties in a higher priced market. You may have to take less of a return on each deal, but if you hold onto the properties for a little while they tend to appreciate in high cost areas and you’ll make more profit on the resale of that property.



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Isn’t it time you learned how to capitalize on one of the best markets for real estate investing that this country has ever seen? With the recent flood of foreclosures now is the time to learn to invest correctly in real estate from the hosts of the nation’s leading show on real estate investing, Judson and Lynn Voss. Visit http://www.yourrealestatefortunes.com and learn for free, the no-hype truth about choosing the right real estate investing strategy to start making you money, today.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/finance/real-estate/undesirable-property-in-post-foreclosure-can-be-your-most-profitable-sale.html http://www.articletrader.com/finance/real-estate/undesirable-property-in-post-foreclosure-can-be-your-most-profitable-sale.html Tue, 08 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0500 ~Andy Heller

There are all kinds in real estate investment. All kinds of real estate investors, all kinds of deals and all kinds of property to make a deal on. You’ll definitely find that having all kinds in this business makes for a great amount of variety and plenty of opportunity for earning profits.

There are three basic ways to make a profitable deal in the real estate investment industry.

1. Pick up a Pre-Foreclosure
2. Pick up a Property at the Foreclosure Sale
3. Pick up a Post-Foreclosure

These are the three states of the defaulted property before it usually ends up back on the market as a classic home for sale with a real estate agent. A pre-foreclosure involves finding homeowners who haven’t been keeping up with their payments and working with them to buy their home, while also getting them out of their defaulted mortgage.

The foreclosure sale is where you can go to pick up mortgages and properties that have already been foreclosed on by the bank. A post-foreclosure is a property that didn’t sell at the foreclosure sale for whatever reason and has gone back to the bank.

These last properties are usually undesirable for many reasons. They may look bad, need a lot of repairs, may have a very high mortgage to cover or even have an IRS lien placed on them. The real estate investor must realize that banks are not in the business of real estate. They are in the money business. In fact those post-foreclosure properties in a bank’s portfolio are listed as non-performing assets. The banks don’t want them!

Give Us your Poor, Your Tired, Your Huddled Masses…
In real estate investment you’ll come to love those properties that are in disrepair. These properties are not attractive to the general public, or those people looking to buy a home to live in. Once a home becomes ugly and awful, you’ll find that it’s pretty much only attractive to the post-foreclosure property investors.

As a property grows more and more neglected, fewer and fewer investors will be interested in that property. However, this ugly and awful property is also an excellent way to get a major discount from the bank or the homeowner. You can ask for multiple discounts on the sale price of a property because of shabby appearance, neglected maintenance, problem placement of the home on a lot and more.

Don’t turn down a property deal just because that home looks ugly and awful. In a business with all kinds, the leftovers can really turn out to be diamonds in the rough. If the safety inspection shows the home to be sound and termite free, then you can bet that a property that just looks bad is a great property investment.






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Isn’t it time you learned how to capitalize on one of the best markets for real estate investing that this country has ever seen? With the recent flood of foreclosures now is the time to learn to invest correctly in real estate from the hosts of the nation’s leading show on real estate investing, Judson and Lynn Voss. Visit http://www.yourrealestatefortunes.com and learn for free, the no-hype truth about choosing the right real estate investing strategy to start making you money, today.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/finance/real-estate/how-to-pick-the-tenant-for-your-lease-rental-property.html http://www.articletrader.com/finance/real-estate/how-to-pick-the-tenant-for-your-lease-rental-property.html Tue, 08 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0500 ~Andy Heller

There are all kinds in real estate investment. All kinds of real estate investors, all kinds of deals and all kinds of property to make a deal on. You’ll definitely find that having all kinds in this business makes for a great amount of variety and plenty of opportunity for earning profits.

There are three basic ways to make a profitable deal in the real estate investment industry.

1. Pick up a Pre-Foreclosure
2. Pick up a Property at the Foreclosure Sale
3. Pick up a Post-Foreclosure

These are the three states of the defaulted property before it usually ends up back on the market as a classic home for sale with a real estate agent. A pre-foreclosure involves finding homeowners who haven’t been keeping up with their payments and working with them to buy their home, while also getting them out of their defaulted mortgage.

The foreclosure sale is where you can go to pick up mortgages and properties that have already been foreclosed on by the bank. A post-foreclosure is a property that didn’t sell at the foreclosure sale for whatever reason and has gone back to the bank.

These last properties are usually undesirable for many reasons. They may look bad, need a lot of repairs, may have a very high mortgage to cover or even have an IRS lien placed on them. The real estate investor must realize that banks are not in the business of real estate. They are in the money business. In fact those post-foreclosure properties in a bank’s portfolio are listed as non-performing assets. The banks don’t want them!

Give Us your Poor, Your Tired, Your Huddled Masses…
In real estate investment you’ll come to love those properties that are in disrepair. These properties are not attractive to the general public, or those people looking to buy a home to live in. Once a home becomes ugly and awful, you’ll find that it’s pretty much only attractive to the post-foreclosure property investors.

As a property grows more and more neglected, fewer and fewer investors will be interested in that property. However, this ugly and awful property is also an excellent way to get a major discount from the bank or the homeowner. You can ask for multiple discounts on the sale price of a property because of shabby appearance, neglected maintenance, problem placement of the home on a lot and more.

Don’t turn down a property deal just because that home looks ugly and awful. In a business with all kinds, the leftovers can really turn out to be diamonds in the rough. If the safety inspection shows the home to be sound and termite free, then you can bet that a property that just looks bad is a great property investment.






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Isn’t it time you learned how to capitalize on one of the best markets for real estate investing that this country has ever seen? With the recent flood of foreclosures now is the time to learn to invest correctly in real estate from the hosts of the nation’s leading show on real estate investing, Judson and Lynn Voss. Visit http://www.yourrealestatefortunes.com and learn for free, the no-hype truth about choosing the right real estate investing strategy to start making you money, today.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/finance/real-estate/how-to-get-those-lease-tenants.html http://www.articletrader.com/finance/real-estate/how-to-get-those-lease-tenants.html Tue, 08 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0500
A lot of real estate investors forget that the goal of an ad is to get a phone call. You’ll notice this in the ads of investors with 6 or 7 lines of text that describe the property. Those are trying to sell the property in the ad, when all you need to do is get the phone call.

What to Say in the Ad
Basically, just tell the readers that you’ve got a lease rental or rentals and provide a phone number for them to call in order to get information. You may also wish to state whether this is a house, duplex or apartment and give the number of bedrooms to let the caller know what you have available.

It’s very important to keep your costs down as a buy and hold investor. Many newspapers charge by the line for ads in their classifieds sections. So the more detailed you get with your ads, the longer they’ll be and the more money you’ll end up paying each month in advertising. If you can achieve the same number of calls that the other investor gets with his longer ads, you’ll be maximizing your results with less investment!

When to Show the Property
The phone number that you include in that advertisement for your lease property should ideally go to voice mail or have voice mail capabilities. To save yourself further time fielding calls from people who see the ad, let all the calls go to voice mail. Anyone who is interested will leave their name and information for you to call back.

Pick a day when you’ll be showing the rental you have available. For instance, Sunday is one of the best days to have a house showing. People have a lot of free time and want to get out of the house.

The day before your Sunday showing call all of the people who left a message on your voice mail and talk with them about the property. Also let them know that you just happen to be having an open house the next day if they are interested in leasing the property they can just drop on by.

Pick a certai

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Isn’t it time you learned how to capitalize on one of the best markets for real estate investing that this country has ever seen? With the recent flood of foreclosures now is the time to learn to invest correctly in real estate from the hosts of the nation’s leading show on real estate investing, Judson and Lynn Voss. Visit http://www.yourrealestatefortunes.com and learn for free, the no-hype truth about choosing the right real estate investing strategy to start making you money, today.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/finance/real-estate/the-best-kept-secret-in-real-estate-investing-note-buying.html http://www.articletrader.com/finance/real-estate/the-best-kept-secret-in-real-estate-investing-note-buying.html Sat, 29 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500
What is a Note?

A note is simply a mortgage loan which is secured by a piece of property. A note can represent a first mortgage, a second mortgage, a land contract, or even a contract for sale.

Why are Notes Sold?

Have you ever borrowed money on a home, in the form of a mortgage? If so, then you have been the borrower on a note. Generally, if you borrow from a bank or lender you are soon informed that your mortgage note is now held by another lender. So, while your payments are the same, and the terms of the contract is the same, you now send your mortgage payments to another lender instead of the one you originally borrowed from. When this happens your lender has sold your note.

Suppose for a moment that you take out a mortgage with Bank A for $100,000. That bank processes your mortgage and you start making your payments on it. Soon you are told that Bank B now holds your note and you should start making your payments to them. What has happened is that Bank A loaned you $100,000 to be repaid over 30 years. Bank B stepped in and paid Bank A $80,000 to purchase your note today and have the rights to collect your payments. So, Bank A takes the $80,000 today and then Bank B in exchange collects your payments over the life of the rest of your loan. This gives Bank A another $80,000 to loan to other people right away rather than wait for your monthly payments to come in to them.

Private Mortgage Investor Notes

In addition to the big banks making mortgages and then selling them to other lenders, often people who carry back mortgages on their paid for properties will sell their notes as well. In this instance they make you as a buyer a note for a portion of the purchase price and then choose to sell the note all at once rather than hold on to it and collect payments over time.

Brokering Notes

In addition to the banks buying and selling notes, you as a note broker can do the same thing. However, you can also simply broker the transaction between the lender and the buyer. If you know about a note which is for $100,000 to be repaid over the next 25 years at 6% interest, you can purchase that note many times for say $80,000 all at one time. You then sell that note to an investor for $85,000. This nets you as the broker a payday of $5,000 and you never used any of your own money in the process!




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Isn’t it time you learned how to capitalize on one of the best markets for real estate investing that this country has ever seen? With the recent flood of foreclosures now is the time to learn to invest correctly in real estate from the hosts of the nation’s leading show on real estate investing, Judson and Lynn Voss. Visit http://www.yourrealestatefortunes.com and learn for free, the no-hype truth about choosing the right real estate investing strategy to start making you money, today.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/finance/real-estate/the-secret-to-making-money-with-lease-to-own-properties.html http://www.articletrader.com/finance/real-estate/the-secret-to-making-money-with-lease-to-own-properties.html Sat, 29 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0500
When you offer a property to a tenant as a lease-to-own option you are essentially renting to them. And, as an added bonus for the tenant a portion of their rent can serve as a future down-payment to purchase the property. The biggest secret to making lease options work well for you as the investor is to write your contracts in a way which removes yourself from the day-to-day issues of the property. By offering a good lease-to-own contract to a potential tenant, you can easily put the responsibility of upkeep and repairs onto your tenant and put yourself in the position of simply being the lender on the property.

In order to find a quality tenant is it important to screen each of your potential tenants on an individual basis and take a good look at their current and possible future financial situations. Generally, people interested in lease options are either cash-poor and unable to afford a down-payment even through they have a good income, or they have some other issue in obtaining a mortgage today that should resolve itself within a few years. Good examples of this type of tenant are those who have gone through a recent divorce or job change which has taken them across the country.

Standard lease option contracts are for a minimum of 3 years. However, if your tenant decides after 3 years that they want to continue to lease from you but cannot purchase yet, you can extend your contract and update the purchase price to reflect the current market value of the property.

By finding good quality tenants, and giving them a good deal on your property with fair terms, you can ensure that your property stays in good repair, stays occupied for a long time, and eventually it will either sell to the tenant or you can start again when they choose to move out.





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Isn’t it time you learned how to capitalize on one of the best markets for real estate investing that this country has ever seen? With the recent flood of foreclosures now is the time to learn to invest correctly in real estate from the hosts of the nation’s leading show on real estate investing, Judson and Lynn Voss. Visit http://www.yourrealestatefortunes.com and learn for free, the no-hype truth about choosing the right real estate investing strategy to start making you money, today.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]>