Real Estate Genius Investment Software Blog

By Robert Gavin

It’s true, 90% of the world’s richest people became rich through property. But did you also know that it doesn’t take an advanced degree, millions in the bank or a super high IQ.

NO, what separates the rich form the poor, is understanding how to set and achieve your financial goals.

ANYONE who can understand money and how to make it work for them, rather than them working for it, can become financially independent within 5 years.

Finding the time It is often said that we live in a world where “the richer keep getting richer and the poorer keep getting poorer”. To some extent this is true, but there is no time like now where people with the right information and skill can change their predicament

Here is a question for you? Have you ever wondered why you are always working and never seem to have enough money?

So how do you find the time?

Let’s have a look at some of the things that really takes up a lot of our time:

1- Watching TV.

2- Do less work and overtime

3- Plan your time more carefully.

Surveys show that after work and sleep, watching TV is the third main use of people’s time.

What with the age of retirement continuing to rise and then pensions not being large enough for out retirements, people are increasingly thinking more and more about securing their financial future.

You owe it to yourself and your family.

Setting goals

Lets imagine that two people are driving somewhere they have never been before.

The first driver sets off straight away as fast as he can.

The second driver first spends some time looking at a map and deciding on the best route to go.

Which driver do you think will get there quicker and easier?

This is exactly the same way with property investment. In order for be successful you have to declare where you are heading and set your targets.

Goals are important for many reasons:

1.They call you to action. 2.They help you make choices. Go for some things and reject others. 3.They introduce accountability. 4.They motivate you. 5.They increase your confidence to get you where you want to be.

When setting your own goals be honest with yourself. A great tip is to write them down on paper and refer to them. It’s a proven fact that those with written goals perform better than those without.

A goal is a tangible result that is unambiguous and measurable. Let’s use the example of Thomas Edison

2- Thomas Edison was one of the most brilliant inventors and scientists that ever lived. He did not get up every morning thinking “I will invest something”. No. Instead he woke up every morning with the goal of “making the world a better place for all”. Each day he did this and during his life he created hundreds of invention, including the electric light bulb.

Let have a look at some goals that some people might use: “I want to own 50 properties as soon as possible” -that’s not a goal.

“I want 3,000,000 in my hank account by December 31, 2007″ — now, that’s a goal!

Set yourself a clear, measurable goal now.

Then break it up into smaller, more manageable tasks so you know exactly what you need to do in order to achieve it.

Deciding on your strategy

Goals are WHAT you want. Strategy is HOW to get them

Here are some of the questions you need to be asking yourself when setting your strategy.

1. Have I got my goals clear?
2. Has someone I know double checked that my goals are realistic and properly set out and written down?
3. How much do I need to make financially to hit my yearly goals? Break down your overall goal into smaller chunks..
4. What kind of property investment meets my risk profile?
5. What kind of property investments are going to help me reach my goals?
6. Property investments I can choose from include off-plans; buy-to-let; renovations;
7. How much time do I have on a weekly basis to make my goals happen?
8. To whom am I accountable for reaching my weekly and monthly goals?
9. What reading and researching do I need to do each week?
10. What support do I need to buy in or nurture such as accountants, lawyers, finders, lenders and brokers? Have I prepared a budget and a business plan?

Once you have set your goals, review them every 2 weeks or so to see if you are going. To achieve them or not.

Good financial ground work

If you are managing your personal finances badly to start with, getting involved with property will not help.

Manage your property accounts and personal accounts separately. Use separate bank accounts.

If your personal income is subsidising your property income or vice versa, be clear about how much and in which direction the money is flowing. You need to have a firm grasp on your finances to prevent problems

The simple answer that will solve all your money problems is to spend less than you earn and invest the difference!

Summary

Make time for your financial freedom. It’s well worth it. You will be surprised to find that securing your financial future can be done in less than 10 hours a week. Consider that this is less than a third of the time that the average adult watches TV each week.

Make goals that you are happy with and create a strategy to show how you are going to achieve it.

As a famous philosopher once said “procrastination of the thief of time”. Start now, save more and plan each step carefully and check.

And in a few years time, your financial future will be secured.

Robert Gavin is a self made professional property investor who in 8 years has gone from renting a studio apartment to owning and managing a highly successful property portfolio, all by the age of 26. He now spends his time helping other like minded investors. If you want to find out why prpoerty is THE greatest investment you can ever make, go to::http://www.invest-in-sofia.com/property.html

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Robert_Gavin
http://EzineArticles.com/?Can-You-Earn-Millions-Through-Property-Investment?-Yes,-But-Only-With-The-Right-Planning&id=419880

The real estate investing calculator site Real Estate Genius has just launched an affiliate program. If you have your own site or blog, this is an opportunity for you to start earning money from your visitors. Real Estate Genius Affiliates will earn 50% of revenue generated by the customers they refer… that also includes 50% of the customers’ ongoing monthly membership fees! If you refer other affiliates to the program, you’ll also earn 25% of any revenue those affiliates earn.

As an additional incentive, you earn $5.00 just for joining! 

To check out the details and join, visit:
Real Estate Genius Affiliate Program

We’ve set up an account at Squidoo, which is a pretty cool new website. Visit Real Estate Genius over there if you have a chance.

By Tyler Fawcett

Real estate investing has become almost a national pastime. Millions are made every year on the buying and selling of homes. Many of the smartest investors know the secret to realizing a great profit in real estate lies in what is known as “The Fixer Upper.” Have you ever noticed that one home on your street that could be so much more than it is with only a little work? Chances are that home is an undiscovered gold mine.

It is truly amazing what a run-down home can become with a little time, a little money and some TLC. Here are a few great ideas to think about when purchasing a fixer upper.

1. Paint. It is no real secret that a new coat of paint can bring new life to a home both inside and out. A different color scheme can also dramatically change the atmosphere and feeling of an older home.

2. Fixtures. Are the fixtures in the home old and outdated? This can be a large drawback when selling a home. Old out of style fixtures show disinterest in the upkeep of a home. This applies to all fixtures, lights, faucets, toilets and sinks. Take some time and find elegant new fixtures that fit the new identity of the home.

3. Floors. Are the home’s floor tragically out of date or in poor shape? Stained linoleum and chipped tiles are never a attractive feature. A quality laminate can do wonders for a home’s appearance. New tiles in high-traffic areas like the kitchen or bathroom are also a good idea.

4. Appliances. Nothing attracts the interest of buyers like brand new appliances. This can also serve as a safety upgrade if the old appliances have fallen into disrepair. New appliance can also drastically increase your asking price.

5. Landscaping. This is one of the most important aspects of improving the fixer upper. Curb appeal is critical when buyers come to view a home. If the curb appeal is neglected and the property is not attended to, many prospective buyers can be lost before they even step into the home. Tidy up the yard and plant some flowers. Ensure that hedges and bushes are neatly trimmed and that all walkways and access points are clear and uncluttered. Another good idea is to resurface the driveway if it is showing cracks and wear. A simple asphalt is easy to apply and adds a neat and tidy air to the entrance.

Don’t forget that many homes sales are decided within the first few minutes of seeing a home. The cosmetic presentation of a home is the single most important factor in attracting prospective buyers. Most of the above mentioned fixes can be done quite easily and without hiring a contractor or professional. Although it is never a good idea to do electrical work yourself unless it is your profession. The same caution definitely applies to working with and around natural gas. So be careful, and give your fixer upper the attention that it needs to bring you the profit that you desire.

REW Writers is a collective publication network facilitated by Real Estate Webmasters each article is contributed by a member of our real estate community. This particular article was submitted on behalf of Calum & Kathleen MacKenzie, your elite Tampa Realtors.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tyler_Fawcett
http://EzineArticles.com/?The-Fixer-Upper&id=422806

So what if the real estate bubble exists only in your mind? That’s the thought examined by Roger Lowenstein in a really thought-provoking piece in the New York Times called Pop Psychology. It’s become really pretty trendy to accept the obviousness of the real estate bubble which has swelled up in the US, and to accept the inevitability of it ‘popping’. So it’s really pretty contrarian to suggest that there might be no bubble- especially when those words aren’t coming from a wild-eyed risk-seeking investment maniac, or a glad-handed realtor trying to upsell you.

Lowenstein points out that for most homeowners, houses have appreciate at a much lower rate than the stock market in past years. It’s only in certain hot markets where things seem to have gotten out of hand.

So then, how have so many people made so much money in real estate?

The answer lies in leverage. The typical home buyer only puts up 10-20% of the value of the house purchased. The rest is borrowed from the bank. Leverage lets you play with other people’s money. The more leverage, the more you can accelerate your potential earnings (or losses).

Unlike with the stock market, in real estate you can borrow a much higher percent of your investment, and you also don’t have to worry about margin calls. Values may plunge, but as long as you can keep up your monthly payments, the bank isn’t going to come knocking for more equity from you.

A brief example of the leverage effect. Let’s say you buy a house for $100,000, and sell it a year later for $105,000. Ridiculous example, but we’ll keep it simple. Your return is 5%. That’s pretty paltry.

However, if you bought the house with a $10,000 downpayment, then your actual ROI is 50%! (You put in 10, you get back 105 - 90 = 15). Not too shabby a return.

It’s an interesting article with some points well worth reading, check it out. And if you want to run some numbers on some potential deals, check out the Real Estate Genius investment property calculator, which will break out your actual economic return on any potential real estate investment.

The terms and conditions of loan are varied, codified according to the specific company. The insurance quote is provided by the multitude of insurance service providers for the customers. There are a lot of free insurance quotes which can be searched out via different web directories. The bank charges of different banks are varied according to the amount of the money which is given as loan. Now the customers are facilitated to get online credit card from all reliable companies. The debt is owed according to the value of the properties of the customers. The loan corporation has introduced the variety of credit cards, having different kinds of packages.

 Interesting article from Saturday’s Wall St Journal, and incredibly on-topic for the Real Estate Genius site! In Learning To Be a Landlord, Jeff Opdyke covers the pros and cons of getting into the landlording business by talking to a number of novice property investors. Some of the challenges faced by the investors he spoke with included:

• repairs taking much longer than expected, leaving properties unrentable in the meantime
• overpaying for the property, meaning the landlord could never get to positive cash flow
• the problem tenant, full of daily complaints
• underbudgeting for repairs
• the dreaded Christmas Eve “my toilet is broken” phone call

Opdyke speaks with an expert who points out that “You’re buying an income stream, not a pretty house”. And that pretty much nails it right there– it’s all about the cash flow!!!

You’ve got to have a good sense that the cash flow will work in your favor right upfront. That’s why you should always run the numbers with a real estate cash flow analyzer. It might only take a few minutes and cost you a few bucks, but it could save you from getting into a bad deal.

Very though-provoking article from the Wall St Journal this past week - Why Your Home Isn’t the Investment You Think It Is. Writer David Crook raises a number of reasons why it may not be appropriate to think of your house as a great investment, maintaining that people do not accurately calculate the returns on their homes– and if they did, they would find those returns to be unacceptedly low. Based on these misconceptions, people justify ‘maximizing their home investment’ by purchasing the largest house they can possibly afford, believing this will result in a larger gain.

A few of his reasons to dispute the crowd’s wisdom:

• Real estate recessions occur, and could cost you all of your profits and then some if one were to occur when you want to sell. Some recessions endure for years, limiting your ability to wait it out.
• It’s bad portfolio planning to put too many of your eggs in any one basket. If 60-70% of your net worth is tied up in your house, you are carrying an acceptably high amount of risk.
• Unlike other investments (stocks), homes have very high carrying costs. Even when compared with the annual fees on mutual funds and ETF’s, homes can come out as more expensive. Taxes, bills, fees, maintenance all add up.  People tend not to include these expenses when they calculate their profit on sale.
• Further, capital improvements can be very expensive, and usually are not fully recouped at sale, which may not even be until years later.
• Rent vs. own? Remember that owning is expensive to even get into- the real estate purchasing process is very inefficient, with broker’s fees, mortgage points, title searches, and all kinds of other miscellaneous charges which increase the cost.
• Appreciation may occasionally take off in certain areas, but that’s entirely dependent on where you live. It doesn’t do you any good that prices are soaring in California if you own in Iowa.
• Your profits on sale aren’t really profits, in that you don’t get to keep them. That’s because you have to live somewhere, so you’ll just wind up reinvesting your profits in another home… and meanwhile, home prices have been rising, so it’s going to cost you.

Interesting article, and worth thinking about. I don’t think he even raised the issue of the time value of money, ie. the downpayment you’ll eventually reclaim at sale will be worth a lot less to you due to your opportunity cost.

By Parsa Sepahi

1. Location: Your real estate investment’s location is arguably the most important component of your real estate investment portfolio. A good location, in terms of demographics, local economy and wealth distribution among other factors is critical for a success.

2. Value: the value of the property in terms of equity and growth is also critical to the overall investment portfolio. The property value needs to increase as time passes on and you always need to have a liquidation option that will minimize your risk potential of loss.

The general formula for calculating value is the Cap Rate. The higher the rate the better the investment, the formula is as follows:

Yearly Net Income of the Subject Property / Current Price of the Property

3. Financing: last but not least important factor in your real estate investment efforts is financing, a right investment loan will exponentially grow your wealth. The right leverage will allow you to acquire more properties and after one or two successful investments you can save your cash and grow your portfolio by using the right financial products.

The general formula for financing feasibility is the Debt Service Ration (DSR), which is simply:

Yearly income from rent collection - (Mortgage payments + other related property expenses)

These principles apply to both residential and commercial properties. Although there are several strategies to invest in real estate such as short term flipping or long term holding, these 3 mentioned components remain the same no matter which investment strategy you use.

Parsa Sepahi is the Co-Founder of INVESLOAN a Real Estate Investment Financing company. In the past several years he has helped many people use real estate investments to their best advantage and grow their wealth.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Parsa_Sepahi
http://EzineArticles.com/?Real-Estate-Investment-Financing&id=423706

The loan of various kinds is offered by the different money lenders and banks for the potential customers. For the growth of business investment, there is a need of adopting such useful strategies for flourishing the business. The cheap insurance leads are available by the different insurance companies. The creditcard is very valuable way of payment in the modern age. With the advent of internet age, the people are facilitated to work from home. The policies of debt are different from place to place and company to company. The pet insurance provides full security to the pets of the pet owners

By James Orr

You have looked at 6 (maybe 12 deals) and you are finding it near impossible to make them cash flow based on collecting a reasonable rent and getting 30 year fixed rate financing.

Take a deep breath. This is one of the most common problems for real estate investors and what I believe to be one of the things that discourage many people away from starting a lucrative real estate investing business. There is hope though.

First, unless you happen to be lucky enough to live in or near a city that has a low income area where you can still buy “rental houses” where the values are about 100 times the monthly rent, you need to realize that finding these deals is like the Easter Egg hunts you had as a kid. You got to look at a lot of deals to find that special one that will work.

How many will you need to look at? It can vary, but I do not think that looking at 100 is out of the range of possibility.

What?! So, I need to look at 100 houses to find one that will work? Yes, you might need to look at 100 houses, making better distinctions about what might work and what will not work to find a good deal.

You may also find that putting out marketing to find motivated sellers makes finding these types of houses easier rather than just looking at houses that are for sale by owner or listed with a real estate agent.

Buying houses at a discount and/or with good terms can significantly improve your ability to make a house cash flow, especially if the interest rate on the terms you can get from a seller is much better than the current rate you could get from a bank or lender.

What if you have some houses that are very close, but none that will have positive cash flow? First, keep looking. Second, there are some ways to ethically increase the amount a tenant pays you in rent which could make a negative cash flow house a positive cash flow house.

For example, if instead of just renting the house, you sell the house on a rent-to-own, you can get payments that are on par with what your actual mortgage, taxes and insurance expenses are because they need to be able to pay your actual mortgage, taxes and insurance payments to afford that house.

When you interview your potential buyer, you explain that market rent is $1,000 (or whatever it is), but that if they have $10,000 to put down toward purchasing the house their mortgage payment with taxes and insurance would be $1,400 (or whatever it is).

You tell them they need to pay the $1,400 but that you will credit the $400 above market rent toward the purchase of the house when they do go out and get their own loan and buy the house from you. In the meantime, they rent with the payment that resembles your mortgage payment.

James Orr is a professional real estate investor and marketing expert.

You can subscribe to his real estate e-newsletter and access audio downloads, articles, marketing materials and educational real estate videos at his Real Estate Investing blog.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=James_Orr
http://EzineArticles.com/?Finding-Real-Estate-Deals-That-Cash-Flow:-Positive-Cash-Flow-In-Tough-Markets&id=426562

By Bill Wise

We all have heard of the investor that made $100,000 on one house. That is the kind of story that gets told, but what about the investor that makes $15,000 on all his houses? We don’t hear as many stories about that as is deserved. Think about it. How often can you expect to find the $100,000 dollar profit? Not often, maybe never. Most houses, however, offer the potential to make $15,000. If you buy 4 houses a month and net $15,000 on each that is $60,000. A good month for most of us! How do you do that?

First, you need to realize that this takes work and the longer you work at it the more you have in your pipeline. Deals that you tried to make several months ago will surprise you and come to fruition when you don’t expect it. This is a good reason to not overpay. The seller that says he will not take your price today may well call you in a month or two to ask if your offer is still open. But how do you find motivated sellers?

Abandoned Houses

By driving neighborhoods you are interested in and identifying abandoned houses you will build a list you can contact by phone or mail. Get a $35.00 tape recorder and a $250 dictating machine and drive recording the addresses you like. Then use the tax appraisal district’s list of owners and make contact. You will find that some of these owners want to sell.

Code Compliance Officers

Code Compliance Officers routinely identify problem houses and contact the owners to request that the house be brought into compliance with city codes. They can be an excellent source of leads for those houses that an owner has a problem with. Some of these owners lack the means to bring the house into compliance and will entertain your offer to buy.

Estates

You can contact the surviving member after a death and find properties that need to be sold. This is touchy and requires finesse, but can net you some good properties.

Direct Mail

Direct Mail is tested and true. It works! Make a regular mailing part of your plan for success. Mail non-owner occupants as well as owner occupants. Be sure the house has been owned for at least 12 years or longer. That improves the likelihood that there will be enough equity for you to make a profit. You will have trouble buying houses for less than the mortgage balances, but these owners have paid down their mortgage and appreciation has increased the value so that the equity is sufficient for you.

There are many other ways to locate properties. Use your imagination and you will discover that there are ample ways open to you to locate properties. Good Hunting!

Bill Wise has been buying and selling real estate for 32 years. He teaches a course in buying and selling houses in San Antonio, Texas. The knowledge in his articles is hard won from actual in the trenches experience. Visit his web site at http://www.real-estate-investing-training.com/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bill_Wise
http://EzineArticles.com/?Finding-the-Really-Great-Buys&id=425077