Make Your Fortune in Real Estate With Foreclosure Investing
Posted on February 4, 2009
Filed Under foreclosure investing, foreclosure investment | Leave a Comment
By D.C. Fawcett, Business Building Coach to the Foreclosure Industry
From owning rental properties, to fixing up properties in disrepair, to foreclosure investing, real estate is a bright light in the current gloom of the overall economy. Sure, people are out there losing homes and we wouldn’t wish that upon anyone. That said, these situations create opportunities for investors and also a chance to help someone who needs a solution to their problems.
In short, there has possibly never been a better time to pursue real estate and foreclosure investing is an excellent opportunity in today’s market.
With respect to foreclosure investing, where do most people turn when they seek opportunities? They might take a look at foreclosure listings that come from either realtors or other private sources. They can then use these sources of leads to market to preforeclosures, one of the most common forms of foreclosure investing that includes short sales.
Another option with foreclosure investing is the world of bank owned real estate. When a property is lost via foreclosure it goes back to the bank and then becomes one of the now thousands of bank owned foreclosures (or REO properties) on the market today.
The key is to surround yourself with a professional team who can collectively support your efforts in foreclosure investing. With the abundance of preforeclosures and bank owned foreclosures out there, more and more professionals like realtors and attorneys are working with investors who specialize in foreclosure investing. In addition to guidance, these professionals can also provide you with foreclosure listings for your business.
Despite the opportunities that exist with foreclosure investing, I think foreclosure investing also can be risky for the investor because, without the proper foreclosure training, you run the risk of not really knowing what you are doing. Profits can be lost and so too can opportunities that exist with foreclosure investing when you lack the proper foreclosure investing training.
In today’s economy and market, foreclosure investing is as much as part of the real estate business as anything else. Make sure you have the tools you need ready to go for foreclosure investing because the deals are out there. I also suggest that you commit yourself to real estate training, and your pursuit of foreclosure investing will be more productive and more rewarding. I wish you the very best in success in all of your foreclosure investing pursuits and in business as a whole.
Why There Has Never Been a Better Time to Make a Real Estate Investment
Posted on March 8, 2010
Filed Under home foreclosure investing | 6 Comments
The real estate market has done a complete 180 as prices are crashing left and right. Many are wondering if now is the time to get out of real estate investment when in actuality there has never been a better time to make an investment than today.
The only time you have to worry about the real estate market being up or down is if you are considering selling in the short-term. The reason for this is because you obviously want to be able to sell your investment for as much as possible.
If you intend on holding on to the property for some time, then you are going to learn to deal with the constant fluctuations of the market. You have to realize that the market is going to go up at some point in time, which is when you will want to consider selling the home.
The goal is to buy low and sell high. As prices continue to crash every day, it is becoming increasingly easy to purchase rather nice homes at incredible rates. If you are going to get into real estate investing, now is the time because of how low prices are.
All you have to do is look at the foreclosure list and mortgage auctions. You will see that you have a plethora of options to choose from. You will be able to pick and choose and buy properties at rock bottom prices.Â
To make the most of this opportunity, you want to make sure your rental income equals or exceeds your outgoing. In addition, this should include mortgage repayments. There is nothing better than going to sleep knowing the mortgage payments have been taken care of.Â
As you make a real estate investment today, you can sit back and watch as the market turns around over time. It is guaranteed that the market will rise at some point in time. And when the real estate market begins to rise, you can rest assured that your propertyâs value is going to increase.
If you are going to get into real estate investing, there has never been a better time to do so than today. With diligent research and common knowledge about the market, you will be able to profit greatly in the long-run by investing today. It is all about buying low and selling high and with the way the market is today, you will find incredible deals on legitimate homes.Â
Peter Vekselman
http://www.articlesbase.com/real-estate-articles/why-there-has-never-been-a-better-time-to-make-a-real-estate-investment-688083.html
Flipping Real Estate or Flipping Paper?
Posted on March 8, 2010
Filed Under foreclosure investing | 7 Comments
Flipping real estate properties is not for everybody but it is the fastest way to make a buck in the real estate business.
Most everybody has heard of someone buying a “run down” house for a good price well below market value, fixing it up and selling it at a fair market price. Flipping a “fixer-upper” is definitely one way to turn a reasonably quick profit. I know some people who do it this way but they are more into the contractor and renovation business than they are of the investor mindset.
Some of these “fixer-upper” properties are in need of extensive repair and will involve electrical work, carpentry work, etc. If the investor gets involved and does some or all of this work then there could be enough profit there but if the investor farms out the required labour, profits could get eaten up quickly. For these types of flipping real estate investments, the purchase price needs to be at a huge discount and normally would be found somewhere in the foreclosure stage.
For the person that is in the mindset of investing rather than being in the renovation business then flipping real estate will only involve flipping the paper contract of the property without even taking possession of it. You can flip by entering an agreement to buy a property then sell the contract to another investor before close of escrow.
Using this technique won’t even require you to put your name on the title. Profits will generally be less than the fixer-upper investor but involves much less work and the whole process is much quicker. A fixer-upper investor would not be happy in making a profit of a few thousand dollars for a few months work on renovations but an investor that can just flip a contract for a few hours or days work would be.
Avoid disclosure of your profits to the new buyer by using a double closing.
After making a sweet deal and flipping a contract involving a juicy profit you may not want all these details to be revealed to your buyer. The solution is a double closing, transferring the property to you initially and then reselling immediately at the same lawyer’s office just an hour later to your buyer.
There is a drawback here and that is a double set of closing costs so you would have to weigh it out to see if it’s worth it to your particular situation or not. Further, you can use a title insurance company for the actual closings. For the issuance of the title insurance policy, the title insurance company will prepare the closing documents and close the transaction usually without an addition charge.
john ferreira
http://www.articlesbase.com/finance-articles/flipping-real-estate-or-flipping-paper-133606.html
Posted on March 7, 2010
Filed Under home foreclosure investing | Leave a Comment
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Posted on March 7, 2010
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Abandoned Properties - One Of The Best Kept Money-Making Secrets - Part 2
Posted on March 6, 2010
Filed Under home foreclosure investing | Leave a Comment
In part one of “Abandoned Properties, One of the Best Kept Money-Making Secrets”, we explored the great profit potential in this unique real estate investing niche. Although some of these properties might be the result of a foreclosure or other distressing event, remember that we’re helping the owner with his/her “house headache” when we invest in an abandoned property.
How Do We Find Abandoned Properties?
Here is one of the easiest ways to find abandoned properties. The first thing to understand is that the more affluent the area is, the fewer the abandons you will find. The less affluent the area, usually the more abandons you will find. I encourage you to find an area somewhere in between the two extremes.
If you keep your eyes open, you will find properties that might have the windows broken out, they might be boarded up, you might see the grass and shrubs overgrown, you might see trash, handbills, newspapers and other signs that this property might be a good candidate for a profitable abandoned property.
Keep a pen and a pad of paper with you at all times. I teach my students to take different routes to and from their normal destinations and write down the addresses of any properties that might be abandon property prospects. This might require that you leave home a little earlier than usual, but it is certainly worth it if it brings you just one abandoned property deal.
Using A Little Known Government Program With An Abandoned Property
Several years ago, I was taking my aunt to an appointment with a dialysis center when I came across an abandoned four unit building. This property showed all the classic signs of abandonment: boarded up windows, tall grass, trash and such. I wrote the address down and called my title company as soon as I got a chance. I gave them the address, and they gave me the owner of the property and the mailing address. I wrote an offer and bought the property for $82,000. We fixed the property up using a little known government program called the Rental Rehab Program to maximize our profits.
This program provided a 3 to 5% loan when the prevailing interest rates were 12% The program also allowed any qualifying tenants to drastically reduce the amount of their out of pocket monthly rent by going on the Section 8 Government Subsidy Program after the rehab was complete. The average wait for the Section 8 Program at the time was 6 to 8 years. This was truly a win-win deal for everyone involved. We kept the property for a number of years, putting a positive cash flow in our pockets every month. We eventually sold the property and made a lot of money.
The Best Financing In the World
With the property needing as much work as it did, it would have been almost impossible to get a conventional bank loan to finance it and, at the time I was in no position to pay all cash. So, what is the solution? As I mentioned before, seller financing is the best financing in the world. The seller of the property financed the entire deal for us.
Here is the point: Abandoned properties are one of the best kept money-making secrets in our industry. They are very good candidates for many of the government loans and grants that can super charge your profits. Tap into this area of real estate and watch your profits soar.
Reggie Brooks
http://www.articlesbase.com/real-estate-articles/abandoned-properties-one-of-the-best-kept-moneymaking-secrets-part-2-741187.html
Finding Real Estate Foreclosures
Posted on March 6, 2010
Filed Under foreclosure investing | 4 Comments
If you are interested in investing in foreclosures you can make a lot of money.
This is one sector of the real estate industry that can be quite profitable if you know what you are doing.
But before you can start to invest in foreclosures you need to know where to find them.
Even though this may sound easy, in some cases you may run into problems. After all, finding foreclosures is not quite as easy as finding homes that are for sale by a real estate agent.
But with that being said there are many places that you can search in order to find foreclosures in your area.
The most common place to check for foreclosures is in the newspaper. Even though you will not find a large selection of foreclosures in the newspaper, you can find a few good properties every so often.
If you are going to search for foreclosures be sure to combine it with another method as well. This way you will be ensured of finding what you want.
Another common way to find foreclosures is to sign up for an online service. For a small fee an online service will allow you to search their database of foreclosures 24 hours a day.
The great thing about foreclosure databases like these is that you can find properties from one side of the country to the next. Just make sure that if you are searching for foreclosures through a service that you are getting what you expect.
There are services out there that do not update their listings regularly. If you are a member you are getting nothing more than old properties that have probably already been sold.
Finally, if you want the best foreclosure listings you should go to your county recorder’s office. Here, you will find information on foreclosures that is updated everyday.
If you are serious about foreclosure investing you will want to make it a habit to head to the county recorder’s office on a regular basis. This way you will find out about foreclosures before the rest of the world. And of course by doing this you give yourself the best chance to make money.
Finding foreclosures is not difficult to do. If you keep an open mind and search all of the options you should not run into any problems. Remember, the more foreclosures that you find, the better chance you have of getting one that best suits your needs. And buying the foreclosures that are best for you is one sure fire way to make more money.
Gerald Mason
http://www.articlesbase.com/real-estate-articles/finding-real-estate-foreclosures-81702.html
Costa Del Sol Holiday Rentals - Why Owners Have Turned to Renting Their Properties
Posted on March 3, 2010
Filed Under foreclosure short sale investing | Leave a Comment
Located on the coast of the Mediterranean South of Spain, lies the region of the Costa del Sol; whose name roughly translates into the English “Coast of the Sun”. Comprising of literally hundreds of towns and villages, the Costa del Sol is a very popular tourist destination and the number of Britons investing in property in this Spanish region has been steadily increasing each year.
That was until the global economy fell and just about everything from the monthly gas bill to stocks and shares has been badly affected since. Of course there are those with an income so high as to not feel the effects but it’s wise for consumers to button their wallets and save, save, save in the upcoming months. What this now means for the Costa del Sol is that Western property owners are stuck with the dilemma of whether they can afford to keep their holiday home on the southern coast of Spain, or whether they should sell it on and save the money for a potential economic crash.
Instead of being stuck in the middle of a very hard decision, many Spanish property owners located in the Costa del Sol have actually chosen to rent out their property, rather than selling it on or keeping it empty during the year for use in the summer. While it might mean a lot of paperwork, it actually brings in steady money to keep the family afloat in times of possible crisis. After all, if there’s a beautiful Spanish property laying empty in the centre of affluent tourist area Costa del Sol then why not take advantage of the market and rent it out?
Luckily for owners who are choosing to rent out a room or the whole property, the tourism industry remains largely unaffected by the ever menacing credit crunch. Experts claim that due to the colourful ideas that travel entrepreneurs come up with, and the growing need for people to ‘get away’ from their financial stresses, the number of people taking holidays won’t be too badly affected.
What it also means is that rather than blowing a fortune on a cruise to Barbados, many families, couples or groups of friends might settle for a fortnight in the Costa del Sol instead. It is an area not too expensive to vacation in, yet one that is just as idyllic. Take Nerja for example; this autonomous coastal town oozes Mediterranean luxury and Spanish culture. Couple that with its ideal location not far from the large city of Malaga and at the other side the Sierra Nevada mountains where tourists love to ski.
Perhaps what isn’t quite clear in the process of renting out holiday properties rather than selling them on is what the future intentions of the property owners are. The majority are looking for some financial security in steady income for the short term, and in the long term are simply hoping that the global property market will pick up. Rather than sell their favorite and most expensive asset, they’re looking to hold onto it either until they are financially comfortable and can retire to the Costa del Sol, or so that they can sell it on for a much higher price. Makes sense, right?
At the moment the market for vacation or holiday property anywhere in the world is very illiquid. That is to say, the market’s assets (the properties) cannot be sold at a price equal to the one they were bought for. This is a great problem for the property owner as the whole idea in getting onto the property market is to make a return on the initial investment (otherwise known as ROI). If this isn’t done, then a great loss has been made. Now that the economy is in such trouble due to the Credit Crunch, the property market is nose diving and owners are biding their time until the average sale price rises once again.
So what should you do if you’re a Spanish property owner, particularly in the Costa del Sol? The answer is, sit on your investment and get all you can from it; whether that’s enjoying it yourself or by renting it out to other keen travelers to gain some extra income. Every penny counts at the moment!
Lucy Wallace
http://www.articlesbase.com/real-estate-articles/costa-del-sol-holiday-rentals-why-owners-have-turned-to-renting-their-properties-671921.html
Stuck With McMansion
Posted on March 3, 2010
Filed Under foreclosure investment property | Leave a Comment
Were you lured by low mortgage payments into buying a palatial mansion, only to be stuck with a big house and earth shattering mortgage payments? You are not alone. Many well-educated individuals are in the same position.
The subprime mortgage crisis and its foreclosure cousin has affected more than the less than perfect credit borrowers the media has presented. Subprime lenders expanded their market base by offering products exclusively for borrowers with good to perfect credit. These mortgages - option arm, no money down, and 125% home equity - were offered to improve families’ home ownership opportunities. They did. Homeownership peaked at an all time high of 69.2% in 2004 from 64%.
The subprime crisis has become national as it affecting 60% of the American population. People are losing their dream homes and their sanity. They are stressed, attempting to cover mortgage payments that are increasing wildly, they cannot afford. Property values nationally are dropping sharply trapping people into a negative situation. Their American dream of owning a home, a major investment in America, is being crushed. People are stressed, depressed, and frustrated. People are in a financial funk.
Ida Byrd-Hill, President of Uplift, Inc. a 501(c)3 Idea Incubator has published a book, Breakin’ Out of Your Financial Funk, to help people mentally and emotionally deal with the financial panic they are now feeling due to the mortgage crisis.
Ida Byrd-Hill spent 15 years as a financial advisor and mortgage lender attempting to educate people to view their mortgage as a part of an integrated financial plan and not the plan alone. She believes when property values increased double and triple fold, Americans were baited into the false sense this boom would continue forever. People secured adjustable rate option arm, no money down and 125% home equity mortgages, not realizing greedy mortgage companies would increase their rates astronomically even when interest rates remained low.
Affluent well-educated people have been bamboozled by the trusted financial industry. Affluent well-educated people were baited into low mortgage payments with option arm mortgages. Option arm mortgages is the street term for the negative amortization loan which promised start interest rates as low as 1.25% to 4% compared to 5.25% to 8%. See the difference in the table below.
$500,000 Loan Amount
Rate
1.25% $1666.26 5.25% $2761.02
2.25% $1911.23 6.25% $3078.59
3.25% $2176.03 7.25% $3410.88
4.00% $2387.08 8.00% $3668.82
People trusted mortgage companies when they should not have been trusted. Adjustable rate mortgages once adjusted annually. Along the way, mortgage companies slipped in semiannual interest rate adjustment. Instead of a maximum rate increase of 2% annually, people are realizing a 4% rate increase annually. If your rate began at 3.25% and every year the interest rate is increased 4% a year, in three years, a person will reach the maximum legally allowable interest rate of 13.99 %. For a $500,000 mortgage, the payment in three years would jump to $5920.40 almost triple the original payment of $2176.03. Most people cannot handle an adjustment of that magnitude especially not over 3 years. The interest rate cap was once 9% but the mortgage companies lobbied Congress to increase it to make more money.
Option arm mortgages were designed for the super wealthy, who understood there would be balance of interest left over from paying only 5 percent of the interest due. The super wealthy gambled that their property value would increase faster than this interest balance increase and they would generate a sizable profit from this real estate transaction. The common individual would not be so lucky. Property values nationally have rapidly declined. People can not even refinance themselves out of this situation as their mortgage balance is higher than the worth of their house. Hence, they are stuck with a big house, a declining investment, earth shattering payment and an increasing mortgage balance.
Even when the foreclosures began to mount, mortgage companies could have renegotiated mortgages to adjust the rate annually rather than semiannually. They were not going to cut into their profits to save America.
Before you react irrationally and enter into a business decision that will ruin your life forever. Fight the funk. Read Breakin’ Out of Your Financial Funk, a book written to ease people out of the financial panic into a thinking, dreaming, and planning mode again. Or, better yet, give yourself a mental break at one of our Breakin’ Out of Your Financial Funk seminars coming soon to your region. Purchase the book or register for the seminar at http://www.upliftinc.org or http://Amazon.com.
Ida Byrd-Hill
http://www.articlesbase.com/finance-articles/stuck-with-mcmansion-580983.html
Loan Modification for Do it Yourselfers
Posted on March 3, 2010
Filed Under home foreclosure investing | Leave a Comment
Visions of a glamorous lifestyle, back yard barbecues and pool parties that were fueled by teaser loan rates, not to mention negative amortization loans, wooed millions of homeowners into a false sense of security in the early years of this millennium.  House prices soared overnight and the dream of having a solid piece of real estate in a safe neighborhood, close to good schools, took on the utmost importance in the minds of millions of would-be homeowners.
The results of years of unchecked desire to become a buyer combined with irresponsible loan management have put American homeowners into a financial panic.  Over 2.2 million foreclosures were filed in 2007 and that was up 75 percent over the previous year.  The year 2008 is certainly sliding into the record books as well.
If these facts threaten to include you this year, STOP!  If you donât want to join them, then this is the time to make some clear determinations about what you will do.  It could take approximately 30 days for you to gather and present your case to your lender with the expectation that in the end you will have renegotiated your loan to include figures you CAN live with.
         You can request a modification from your lender without having to use an attorney or loan modification company. You will need to gather all the same documentation that they would request from you to handle your case, so why not save the $2500 - $4500 that would be charged by using an attorney or loan modification company.Â
         You may ask if it wouldnât be better to pay a financial expert to do this for you.  Maybe, but if you had the extra money to do this, you probably already took that route. And, like everything else in life, they cannot guarantee that this will work.   On the other hand, and without investing a lot of money, you can do this yourself and save thousands in the process.  The Loan Modification experts could not proceed without a great deal of input from you, so before you prepare to part with any more of your hard earned cash, consider handling the process yourself.
         Do not wait until the lender is ready to complete the foreclosure on your home, it may be too late to save your home by that point. You will want to contact your lender as soon as you know that you are running into a problem with your payments.Â
         There are many options that the lender may present to you other than a loan modification. If your financial loss was due to some hardship, an illness, divorce, death of spouse, or some sort of unexpected tax levy, sick child or disability or other hardship, you can talk with your lender about a loan modification or one of the other options explained below.
         FOREBEARANCE - Forebearance happens when you have fallen behind in payments and are moving into the dangerous area of foreclosure.  It is designed to bring your past due payments current over a specified period of time.  As one of the most common options, it encompasses a written agreement that you will make your full payment each month and a partial payment on your delinquent amount.
         An example of this is that if you have missed three payments you will agree to make the full payment and then you will spread the amount of the missed payments over a 6 to 12 month period in order to catch up and be completely current.
         Do you have an FHA/HUD loan? You may want to consider PARTIAL CLAIM, which is an interest free loan available to owners of that type of loan.  If this is negotiated, the delinquent portion can be tacked on to the end of the original loan and will go into effect after the first loan is paid in full.
         Next, look at SHORT SALES. Your lender may allow you to sell your home to someone for less than you currently owe. The main focus in this scenario is to talk with your lender first because he MUST agree to take a payoff that is lower than the current mortgage balance before the sale is final.
Last, but not least, is the LOAN MODIFICATION. This changes the terms of the loan to include lower payments, longer term loans, interest only, principle reduction or any combination that the lender is willing to work out with you. Â
It is very important to present a complete package to your lender when requesting any type of modification from your lender. You need to be prepared to document every hardship you claim with all of the encompassing legal paperwork.
 âThe Complete Handbook on Loan Modificationâ that is presented by LoanModificationDIY deals with helping you get a successful Loan Modification.Â
To learn about the different options that the lender may propose to you and how to prepare the best loan modification package, please visit <a href:”www.loanmodificationdiy.com”>LoanModificationDIY.com. </a>
Eli Zaken
http://www.articlesbase.com/mortgage-articles/loan-modification-for-do-it-yourselfers-736604.html
