Real Estate Tips

No Hotel Loan for You! by Cameron Brown

Meeting the requirements to get a decent hotel loan from your local lender can be difficult but not impossible. Let’s face it, what lender wants to put money up for a roach infested dump in downtown Detroit? You’d have to get a separate loan just for the insurance.

Most lenders will only finance hotel properties that are “flagged”. In other words, most banks, public and private lenders will only provide hotel loans to individuals who are starting a franchise under certain major hotel/motel chains such as Best Western, Hilton, Super 8 and other well-established hospitality brands; Sid’s Sleep Shack need not apply. In addition to being a virtual nation-wide brand, the particular establishment in question needs to show a profitable operating and occupancy history.

Even if you want to build a new hotel/motel from the ground up, forget about starting your own brand; most lenders will only provide hotel loans to build the same “flagged” hospitality companies as they will for the purchase of an existing property. Besides having a well-known flag, getting a hotel loan for a new property is possible provided it is well located and can be provided with strong management.

Lenders reserve the best hotel loan rates and terms for properties that are well cared for, attractive, and have pleasing amenities like pools, wireless internet, cable, and complimentary continental breakfast buffets.

Hotel loan terms will, of coarse, vary from lender to lender, but most banks and other investment capital institutions provide 5, 10, or 20 year loan terms for amounts up to $2,000,000. These loans can carry an interest rate ranging from 7% to 8% and typically carry a recourse clause, although some lenders are more flexible than others in this regard.

Just a brief note on recourse loans; this type of loan hold your personal assets liable in the event you default on the hotel loan-seriously bad news if your franchise doesn’t turn out to be as successful as you originally thought. This is the lender’s way of protecting its assets by separating those who are serious about the hotel business from those that just want to try something new. If you’re not familiar with the details of this loan, you should either educate yourself thoroughly first or look around for a non-recourse loan. The terms of a non-recourse loan simply hold the hotel, or whatever else you spent the loan funds on, liable in the event you default.

If you’re planning on borrowing over $2,000,000 to build or buy a larger hotel/motel, the interest rates may be a little better, although not much. Interest rate lows can be more favorable by up to a half percentage point, while to current ceiling is still hovering around 8%. With a larger hotel loan comes a longer loan term, usually 20 to 25 years. One boon of a larger loan is that most institutions offer limited recourse in the event of a default.

Meeting hotel loan requirements can be difficult, after all, this is unlike any other kind of real estate loan and as such has its own rules, terms, and procedures. If you think the hospitality business may be for you, make sure you choose a lender who will take the type to answer questions to your satisfaction. With how the market is these days, there are plenty of lenders out there competing for your business. Take your time and choose carefully from the several loan products they offer; if you’re not satisfied, move on. The hotel business can be both challenging and rewarding. Depending on your location, service, and financing, it can be a great way to build long-term wealth.

About the Author

Cameron Brown is a client account specialist with 10x Marketing - More Visitors. More Buyers. More Revenue. For information on hotel loans , visit Security National Capital .

Reinventing Real Estate by Charles Warnock

Reinventing real estate, Part 1:

How online and empowered consumers
are taking charge and paying less.

For decades, the real estate world turned in a predictable manner. The roles of buyers, sellers and real estate professionals were fairly well defined and transactions followed a predictable path of yard signs, newspaper ads, open houses and miles of paperwork.

Recently, online and empowered consumers have changed the game. Real estate professionals now face issues similar to the ones that have transformed the retail, personal finance and travel planning industries. As technology advances and new business models evolve, the real estate industry has begun to transform itself from providing traditional, carefully controlled “agent-centric” transactions to new “consumer-centric” practices. The following is a look at some of the recent industry trends and how buyers, sellers and investors can expect to benefit. The “Five Ds” that are driving change in real estate are:

1. Disruption – Over the past 10 years, the Internet has matured into a powerful platform for delivering real estate information, forever changing the interaction between buyers, sellers and real estate professionals.

2. Displacement – The popularity and acceptance of self-service and consumer-direct business models is being felt by real estate professionals, who are striving to develop attractive new offerings for Web-savvy consumers.

3. Demanding consumers – You now have more real estate knowledge, tools and resources at your fingertips than ever before. More savvy consumers tend to be more independent and demanding.

4. Downward pressure - Traditional real estate commissions of 5-6 percent of a property’s sales price are facing downward pressure.

5. Developing alternatives – The real estate industry is transforming itself to provide targeted services and exciting new options that add value for consumers.
Disruption

“We are going to see our industry go through dramatic transformation via the Internet and consolidation of agents and companies.” – eRealty Times Columnist Dirk Zeller

Some industry observers have adopted Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen’s term “disruptive technology” to explain recent developments in real estate. Though it’s easy to point to the World Wide Web and advancing technology as the main changes in real estate, that’s only part of what’s shaking things up. Essentially, the real cause of disruption is not just technology, but technology-enabled real estate consumers.

Web-enabled consumers

According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), more than 72 percent of homebuyers now begin their home search online. The popularity of online real estate ads surpassed newspaper property listings back in 2001, and the gap is widening. Less than one percent of buyers first learned about the home they purchased on the Internet in 1995, while in 2004, that number passed 20 percent.

According to a California Association of Realtors (CAR) survey, 97 percent of respondents said the Web helped them understand the buying process better and 100 percent said using the Web helped them understand home values better. Web-enabled homebuyers like you are taking a more active role in researching homes and neighborhoods. You also now spend less time with real estate professionals once you have completed your research. Internet homebuyers also used the Web effectively to filter out properties that did not interest them, visiting 6.1 homes on average versus 15.4 for traditional buyers.

Today, you can view photos and detailed information for hundreds of properties in the time it used to take to visit a single one. And the Web provides much more opportunity than simply moving print listings online. The growing availability of residential high-speed Internet connections has boosted the popularity of virtual tours and interactive maps, providing consumers with powerful and flexible visual search tools.

In addition to making home searches easier, automated valuation model (AVM) software is making a big impact in how properties are evaluated. AVMs, which generate valuation estimates by analyzing and comparing property information data, are becoming increasingly sophisticated and accurate. While not considered a substitute for human appraisals, AVMs are gaining popularity because they are inexpensive, easy to use and produce valuation estimates in minutes. Now AVMs, used extensively in electronic mortgage approval processing during the recent refinancing boom, are becoming available on real-estate Websites aimed at consumers. This is a significant development for independent sellers, who often find it challenging to price their properties correctly when selling on their own.

The MLS goes public

“In real estate, MLS data sits at the apex of the change, specifically the MLS information that is pushed to the Internet every minute of the day.” – Bradley Inman, Publisher of Inman News

Once an exclusive tool for real estate professionals, the multiple listing service (MLS) has in recent years become a very public platform for real estate listings. The MLS is the nation’s most comprehensive database of properties for sale – four out of five homes sold in the United States are listed on the MLS.
MLS properties are available to agents and brokers worldwide, and are now accessible via consumer Web sites such as Realtor.com, WSJ.com, Excite, Netscape, AOL and MSN. MLS listings also appear on local, regional and national brokerage Websites through Internet Data Exchange (IDX) agreements that allow participating Realtors to share listings and display them to consumers. Even though only licensed realtors can list property on the MLS, the system has begun to figure prominently for the $110 billion independent seller (for-sale-by-owner or FSBO) market. About 13 percent of real estate sales are now FSBO, conducted without a broker’s assistance.

Type “flat fee MLS” into any major search engine, and you’ll see dozens of real estate professionals willing to list your property in the MLS for a fee. If you are willing to pay a commission of 2-3 percent, you can attract the attention of thousands of agents who will show your property to prospective buyers. You can then reduce the cost of the sale to about half a traditional 5-6 percent sales commission, plus the cost of the MLS listing. If you find an independent buyer working without an agent, you could make a sale with no commission at all and pay only an MLS listing flat fee.
Displacement

Currently, about 2.4 million real estate licensees operate nationally, according to the Association of Real Estate License Law officials. The NAR has more than one million members, up from about 760,000 members five years ago. Many real estate professionals and industry observers expect a significant decline in this number because some tasks traditionally performed by agents and brokers can now be done more quickly and easily by Web-enabled consumers.

“Historically the fundamental driver of the real estate industry was the control of information. The real estate agent and the real estate office were the only sources of comprehensive information on which properties were for sale and those who might be interested in buying them. With this control revenues were practically guaranteed.

Moreover, because this exclusive control was akin to a monopoly by virtue of the multiple listing service (MLS) any firm of any size could serve the customer equally well. As a result, the number of real estate companies grew without regard to market efficiencies.

Simply put, the traditional model is too inflexible. Consumers are seriously questioning the value of a real estate agent. They frequently feel that many of the traditional tasks undertaken by the agents are now either no longer required or can be done by the consumer themselves.”

– Swanepoel & Tuccillo, Real Estate Confronts Profitability

The quotes above, from a popular report on emerging real estate business models and dwindling profit margins, highlight a number of issues traditional real estate professionals are now facing. And if the real estate industry has grown historically without regard to market efficiencies, the issue has only been compounded since 2001, as new agents signed on in droves, lured by low interest rates and skyrocketing home prices in many areas. It’s likely that the number of traditional real estate agents will decline, while new types of real estate jobs will be created to deliver value to Web-savvy customers.

End part 1

About the Author

Charles Warnock is Marketing Communications Manager at South-Florida based Homekeys. He writes often on the topics of real estate, finance, interactive marketing and business development. He can be reached cwarnock@homekeys.net, or visit www.homekeys.net for more information.

Negotiating real estate deals to win-win by Charles Warnock

If you’ve spent some time on homekeys.net, you probably noticed we generally don’t carry a torch for tradition or conventional wisdom. Having said that, the well-worn cliché above still holds true, especially in real estate transactions.

Many buyers and sellers put in countless hours carefully searching properties or preparing their homes for sale, only to see their sweet deals vanish at the negotiating table. Even if you’re not an experienced negotiator, there are steps you can take to improve results whether you’re buying or selling property. Negotiation doesn’t need to be a confrontational process if you set priorities, plan ahead and stay focused on issues, not personalities.

By far the largest expense related to traditional real estate transactions is the agent/brokers’ commission, and independent buyers and sellers should take advantage of this fact. Without the “overhead” of a 5-6 percent commission, both buyer and seller have a little more flexibility to come to an agreement that’s acceptable to both parties. Here are some negotiation tips for independent buyers and sellers.

Seller negotiating tips:

Set realistic priorities before you start.

When selling, be sure to outline realistic goals before negotiations begin. If you’ve decided that you need to sell your home for at least $250,000, expect to have very different negotiations than if your goal is to sell within 30 days. If money is your primary concern, be prepared to turn down some offers as you wait for the right buyer. If time is more important to you than money, be sure to include some flexibility in your asking price.

Ultimately, the market sets the price.

Set your price too high and your house may sit on the market, becoming less attractive to buyers (some sources estimate a monthly decline of 1.5 percent). Price too low and you’ve got less room to negotiate and may be leaving money on the table. Homekeys.net Subscribers can quickly obtain an objective estimate of property value using our online valuation tool before listing. Another option is to hire a professional property appraiser prior to listing. You may find the cost of either option to be modest compared to making an expensive mistake in your selling price.

Take inventory and take advantage.

Typically, property sales include anything that’s installed or built in to the home. If you’ve got appliances, furniture or fixtures you’re willing to part with, you may be able to entice prospective buyers by including them in the deal. Would buyers be interested in your BBQ grill or pool equipment? It can’t hurt to ask.

Buyer negotiating tips:

Clean up your credit

A great way to strengthen your case as a buyer is to demonstrate excellent credit. The time to check credit is well before negotiations begin so you can square away problems. Many credit issues are not difficult to fix and can be straightened out fairly quickly. Here’s how to check your credit.

Get pre-approved, not just pre-qualified

Pre-approval is another way to flex your buyer muscles because it lets you demonstrate to a prospective seller that your lender is prepared to give you a loan. Many sellers will choose a lower offer from a pre-approved buyer over a higher one from one who hasn’t been pre-approved. Pre-approval is free and can prevent that worst-of-all situation where a buyer successfully negotiates the purchase of his or her dream home and then cannot complete the purchase when financing falls through. Get pre-approved today.

Look for areas other than price.

Even though independent sellers can avoid some or all commission costs, there are still other fees that might apply: property and termite inspections, escrow or attorney’s fees, a title search, insurance costs and applicable taxes. Even if sellers don’t offer much flexibility on asking price, they may be more willing to make a deal with buyers who offer to share the costs of necessary repairs or transaction expenses.

Be prepared to compromise.

Approaching negotiations with a confrontational “win-at-all-costs” attitude is unlikely to yield positive results. Many professionals who teach negotiation skills to executives say a more realistic goal is to find a mutually beneficial solution in which both parties can “win.” This means being aware that you may have to sacrifice something to reach agreement at some point. In this case, be sure to identify in advance what you will and will not give up to ensure you’re happy with the deal in the long term.

Back up your offer

When offering to buy a property, you don’t have to explain how you arrived at a particular dollar amount. But you may fare better in negotiations if you have some objective basis, such as examining comparable sales. If you’re a Subscriber, try Homekeys’ ValueKey valuation tool for an objective estimate of value. If you’ve got a substantial down payment that you’re ready to put into escrow, now’s the time to mention it.

All participants in a negotiation should be prepared to walk away from unacceptable terms. You may be reluctant to give up after all the time you’ve invested in the buying or selling process, but emotionally tense negotiations can sometimes benefit from a cooling-off period. Walking away (or watching the other party walk away) may be uncomfortable, but it is always preferable to accepting terms you can’t live with.

Finally, remember that there’s often value in being direct. Don’t be afraid to ask questions to learn more about the other person’s concerns and objectives. “What do you need from me right now?” “What’s making you uncomfortable?” “It seems we are stuck on this particular issue. Can we set it aside for a moment and see if there is somewhere else we can gain agreement?” Questions like these can help signal your good faith and may help to restart negotiations that become bogged down in details.

About the Author

Charles Warnock is Marketing Communications Manager at Homekeys, a South-Florida based real estate and technology company. He writes often on real estate, finance, interactive marketing and business development.

Reinventing real estate, Part 2 by Charles Warnock

How online and empowered consumers
are taking charge and paying less.

Demanding consumers

“Internet buyers tend to be better informed on market conditions and better prepared to act on the home they want when they start working with a realtor. Luckily for realtors, these changes don’t necessarily hurt, as long as they are able to adjust to the new relationship and realize that the new-style buyers value speed and efficiency over guidance when finding a home.”

– E-marketer, Internet Home Buyers Changing the House Rules

Thanks to the Internet and other technological innovations, more real estate information is freely available than ever before. As a result, consumers are demanding new choices, improved services, faster transactions and lower prices. According to a recent NAR survey, the number of sellers stating that they didn’t want to pay a sales commission fee rose from 46 percent in 2003 to 61 percent in 2004. In 2004, 23 percent of Florida home sellers opted to sell independently without an agent, up from 14 percent in 2003 and nearly double the 14 percent national average, according to Planet Realtor.

And Web-enabled consumers are demanding a high digital IQ when working with real estate professionals. In addition to being well-versed on their own industry-specific technology, real estate professionals now are expected to utilize laptops, mobile phones, digital cameras, personal digital assistants and global positioning systems to keep pace with Internet buyers and sellers.
Downward pressure

“If consumers are going to do their own home-shopping online, they expect to save some money, just as they would for using the self-service lane. That’s why they are susceptible to online discount brokers and the new affinity companies that are promoting lower commissions if only the consumers will use their agents. These business models promote the idea to consumers that they ought to be paying less money in commissions.”

Realty Times Columnist Blanche Evans

Traditional real estate commissions, typically around six percent of a home’s selling price, are facing downward pressure from consumers and competition. Some consumers claim traditional real estate commissions don’t reflect:

Today’s home prices. Years ago, when median-priced homes sold for $25,000, real estate commissions were typically five percent, or $1,250. Today, with South Florida median home prices around $300,000, the cost of a six percent full-service real estate commission becomes $18,000. Some brokers even charge additional fees to cover administrative costs. When you consider that today’s average homeowner sells a home every five to seven years, real estate commissions can dramatically impact your personal savings and net worth.

Owner equity. When selling properties, most homeowners calculate the cost of selling as a portion of sales price, though the commissions are paid out of owner equity. (Equity is the difference between the value of your property and amount of mortgages owed.) Consider this example: You decide to sell a property for $250,000 in which you hold 10 percent equity, or $25,000. After paying a six percent commission of $15,000, you are left with $10,000 before any applicable closing costs. In this example, the $15,000 commission is six percent of the selling price, but 60 percent of the $25,000 equity.

Services performed. Under today’s commission structure, selling a $100,000 house at six percent typically costs $6,000, while selling a $500,000 house costs $30,000. Does selling the more expensive home really require five times more effort? Your cost is the same whether the agent spends one hour or 100 hours marketing your home. This is one reason many real estate consumers find fee-for-service real estate so appealing.
Developing alternatives

“Consumers want what they want, when they want it and will gravitate to the most cost-effective source to obtain it. Why? Because our “one-size-fits-all” approach to working with sellers and buyers is archaic and won’t allow consumers to access various segments of help they need in a timely fashion. That’s why .com Web start-ups are finding a receptive audience in real estate consumers and why for-sale-by-owners are burgeoning.”

Julie Garton-Good, Author of “Real Estate a la Carte: Selecting the Services You Need, Paying What They’re Worth”

Until recently, you have had few practical alternatives to the traditional full-service, full-commission real estate transaction with a broker. Most sellers paid a single commission fee for a full range of real estate services, whether they needed them or not. Now traditional real estate agencies face the challenge of identifying new services that have value to today’s sophisticated online and empowered consumers.

One result is an “unbundling” of traditional one-size-fits-all real estate services for consumers who want more control over real estate transactions and their associated costs. If you’re willing to take on some tasks traditionally performed by agents and brokers, you could receive lower transaction costs. You might benefit from the following emerging alternatives:

Fee-for-services

“Consumers want assistance from real estate professionals, but don’t want to pay for it in the form of traditional commissions,” says a la Carte real estate Pioneer Julie Garton-Good. Garton-Good has been preaching the fee-for-services gospel for more than 20 years. As the name implies, you can choose which tasks you feel comfortable performing and hire qualified real estate professionals to do the rest. Many traditional real estate brokerages are beginning to offer a more menu-based service plan. For example, you may not mind listing your home and holding open houses, but you may want assistance with contracts and closings.

One-stop shopping

In response to dwindling margins and the rising costs of technology and lead generation, some real estate companies are attempting to combine traditional and Web-based services to provide consumers a single source for all their real estate needs. One-stop shopping sites generally provide or partner with lenders, insurers, title companies, real estate attorneys and others to facilitate all aspects of buying and selling. In addition, some sites are adding home-improvement and related services to stay in touch with consumers between buying and selling transactions.

Web-based discounters

Although many Web-based real estate companies flamed out in the dotcom era, scores of new companies have emerged to take their place. By offering targeted services such as flat-fee MLS listings, buyer rebates and AVM tools, these sites are appealing to independent buyers and sellers who prefer to take a more active role in transactions. In addition to listings, some sites also offer how-to articles and advice for those who choose to go it alone.
Tradition + technology + turbulence = opportunities

So, given the trends, changes and ongoing industry evolution, what can independent buyers, sellers and investors expect in this new era of real estate?

• The Web and other technologies will continue to evolve and transform the $1.3 trillion real-estate industry. Technology will continue to reduce the time, expense and complexity of manual processes, and increasingly sophisticated search and valuation tools will play a more strategic role.

• Free and low-cost real estate resources will continue to be available and even multiply on the Web. In real estate, knowledge truly is power. Consumers will try to use their power to gain more control of the real estate process and subsequently expect to be compensated in the form of reduced and fee-for-service commissions.

• The role of traditional real estate brokerages will evolve as Web-enabled consumers become more knowledgeable. This likely will trigger some restructuring and consolidation of traditional brokerages, but will also drive the development of innovative new practices targeting online and empowered consumers. Real estate professionals will focus more on promoting their local knowledge and industry expertise, while consumers will perform some buying and selling tasks on their own.

• Traditional real estate commissions and profitability levels will continue to face downward pressure from various sources. The future will be profitable for brokerages that are able to extend their core expertise of neighborhood and industry knowledge into flexible new consumer-centric offerings.

• The traditional high-touch, full-service real estate agency is evolving, not disappearing. Real estate professionals who provide exceptional service and value to their customers will always be in demand.

You now can find more real estate knowledge, tools and resources on the Web than ever before, enabling you to buy and sell with increased confidence. For real estate professionals, reinventing the industry means making hard decisions, changing processes and managing new opportunities. But for consumers, reinvention in real estate is a winner, hands-down.

Homekeys is coming soon. Be sure to look for us on the Web at http://www.homekeys.net
Feedback, ideas or input? We would like to hear from you! E-mail us at: info@homekeys.net

About the Author

Charles Warnock is Marketing Communications Manager at South-Florida based Homekeys. He writes frequently on real estate, finance, interactive marketing and business development.

The Art & Science of Property Valuation by Manuel Iraola & Charles Warnock

The Art & Science of Property Valuation

It is no secret that sellers want to sell high and buyers want to buy low. But they often arrive at the negotiating table with very different ideas on price. A fair and objective property valuation can help buyers and sellers find common ground and streamline the negotiation process.

In the end, the property is worth what a buyer is willing to pay. But to help both buyers and sellers achieve their goals, both should have a fair and objective estimate of property value. Unfortunately, even objective estimates are still estimates, and there is no way to assure 100% accuracy:

* Appraisals performed by a certified appraiser are not 100 percent accurate.

* CMA’s (Comparable Market Analysis) and BPOs (Broker Price Opinions) performed by a licensed broker or agent are not 100 percent accurate.

* AVM (Automated Valuation Model) technology is not 100 percent accurate.

All these methods, when properly executed, can provide a good indication of value. Estimating value is a combination of art and science. Regardless of how scientific the approach, the actual sale price is subject to the unique variables of each property transaction: property condition, upgrades, current market conditions, circumstances of the sale and individual tastes.

For property owners, pricing correctly is a key to a successful sale. Under-pricing can result in a fast sale, but carries the risk of leaving money on the table. Sellers who price too high may find their properties lingering on the market, and statistics show that values can erode at a rate of about 1.5 percent per month. Longer sales also increase the likelihood of a “distressed sale” when sellers become frustrated or encounter difficult financial circumstances.

Likewise, buyers should avoid emotional purchases. Overpaying because of “falling in love” with a home is common. Homekeys’ ValueKey Technology can help establish an objective, unemotional baseline for buyers and sellers so distressed sales and emotional purchases become the exception, not the rule.

The science of AVMs

To determine a good baseline value for a property, use Homekeys to search thousands of property records for comparable sales or “comps.” Homekeys’ ValueKey tool uses advanced statistical models and proprietary algorithms and formulas to find the best comparable properties available. In addition to property characteristics, the system evaluates how recent comparable sales are and how close properties are from the property being evaluated. Once a base property value estimate is determined, it’s time to check active listings to see what similar properties are selling for. ValueKey searches both owner- and broker-offered active listings to find the most comparable properties available.

The art of AVMs

The art portion of estimating value begins with understanding how comparable sales and active listings compare to the property being evaluated. Since they are nearby, it’s a good idea to drive by comparable sales and listed properties to see how they compare. To help you stay organized, you may want to use a buyer checklist when visiting properties.

After researching comparable sales and active listings, it’s time for the personal touch. Sellers know their own property and neighborhood better than anyone, so they are able to adjust base values according to individual property characteristics. Buyers can make similar adjustments as they visit properties to help formulate an asking price.

Depending on your research, a “market adjustment” may be warranted. If active listings are priced higher than your base estimated value, an upward adjustment may be appropriate. If prices are lower, a downward adjustment might be in order.

Finally, ValueKey enables buyers and sellers to make other value adjustments based on individual property characteristics and condition. Based on a seller’s knowledge or a buyer’s research, appropriate value adjustments can help both parties arrive at a fair selling price.

And though no property valuation system is perfect, AVMs can provide objective valuation estimates quickly and inexpensively, and the technology is improving all the time. As AVM technology continues to evolve and improve, it may prove to be a key to less-stress, more enlightened real estate transactions in the future.

Learn more at http://www.homekeys.net

About the Author

Manuel Iroala is President and CEO of Homekeys. Charles Warnock is Marketing Communications Manager at Homekeys, a South-Florida based real estate and technology company. This article can also be found at www.homekeys.net

Investment Property Part 2 of 2: What You Need to Know Before You Buy by Cameron Brown

Welcome to the second portion of a two-part series on investment property. In the first installment, “How Not to Become a Slumlord”, we discussed a little of what it takes to own and operate a property as well as some of the do’s and don’ts of the property management trade. In this second segment, we will be discussing some pre-investment principles that will help you maximize your ROI.

There are three basic principles of investment property that you should know before you buy an investment property in order to avoid overpaying:

Time
How long do you plan on owning the investment property? As with stocks and bonds, the value of your investment may change significantly during the time you own it. While most real estate will appreciate in value over time, there are frequent fluctuations in the short-term market. If you plan on selling your investment property after less than five years, be prepared to accept the investment risk inherent in a shorter time horizon. This is especially true if you bought your property in an overheated real estate market. If this is the case, you could find yourself losing money if the market has taken a temporary downturn, especially if you’ve had to make major repairs to the property.

If you plan on owning the property for the next twenty to twenty-five years, it’s almost certain that your investment property will appreciate in value. There’s also a good chance, however, that you’ll have to make major repairs like replacing the roof, wiring system, or major appliances like a water heater or refrigerator. Of course, these repairs will be offset by the fact that you’ve had/will have twenty plus years to recoup the cost. If on the other hand, you’re only planning on owning an investment property for the next five years, buying a “fixer up’er” can eat up all the profits you would have made during your shorter investment horizon.

Networking
If you want the best deal possible on an investment property, than there are some people you’ll want to be friends with. City hall clerks and bank employees may know what properties will be available on foreclosure and when they will go on the market. Real estate agents usually know everything real estate related within their respective territory. Some prospective landlords even run ads in local newspapers.

Many individuals interested in entering the investment property market may even join local landlord or investment property owners organizations. These types of organizations hold regular meetings where you can get the inside scoop on what’s for sale in your area. The National Real Estate Investors Association is an online organization that provides a wealth of information and resources to potential investment property owners.

Financial Preparation
Get your finances in order. The less debt you have when you walk into your local lending institution, the better loan you’ll get. This is common sense, but it’s even more true for those seeking financing for an investment property. This is because lenders know that people are much more likely to default on a rental property than on their own homes. This means that the bank will demand a larger down payment and higher interest rates that you may have expected. It’s also a good idea to have some extra cash left over to make unforeseen repairs should they arise.

By wisely choosing an investment property time horizon, making contacts in the investment property community, and preparing proper financial means, your investment may become a significant means of supplementing retirement and other savings accounts.

About the Author

Cameron Brown is a client account specialist with 10x Marketing - More Visitors. More Buyers. More Revenue. For information on Investment Property, visit Security National Capital.

HOUSES WITH DAM(P) BASEMENTS WON’T SELL by Jack Overton

A real estate agent’s gut-wrencher: The prospect turns to hubby and says, “Isn’t this so homey and practical and just what we were looking for. Now, let’s go down and look at the basement.” They open the basement door and get the feeling that Noah must have been running an all-nighter down there!

“What did you say the asking price is? Hmmm, well we have a friend cross-state who just had their basement waterproofed and dried out and it cost them over fifteen grand, so we’ll just lower our offer by that much for openers so we can fix the basement.”

Well, with a little forethought and action, the sellers could probably solve that dam(p) problem for about 2 to 3 thousand and the new dry basement may very well become the final clinching selling point!

THE FOUR STEP SOLUTION TO A HAPPY CLOSE—

1. Learn online: the why’s and how’s of basement water problems.
2. Fortify yourself by knowing the over-sell’s and the gotcha closings of the waterproofing professional salesman.
3. Choose a contractor who has been around longer than the last big rain.
4. Get a sign-off from the buyer that the work done will be acceptable without any further obligation on your part. The buyers will rely on a good contractor’s guaranty.

About the Author

Jack Overton has been in residential waterproofing sales, installations and service for 30 plus years. He has put together a 32 page illustrated volume that will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about basement waterproofing but were afraid to ask. It is a scambuster’s dream.
Visit www.NPImall.com for the download.

ARE YOU REALLY A TWENTY FIRST CENTURY INVESTOR? by Steven Battle

Real Estate Investors that educate themselves about CURRENT MARKET TRENDS will reap huge returns NOW!!! Information concerning NEW TRENDS in financial resources will open new and more profitable real estate opportunities for your business.

Today’s residential real estate market for investors has become very competitive in most major markets. The vast majority of real estate investing seminars and clubs are encouraging you to search out desperate home owners or distressed properties to be rehabbed.
Not to mention the fact that today’s disillusioned stock investors have now realized that residential real estate investing offers better returns, with less capital risks. As you seek to identify your lucrative real estate opportunities, have you noticed that the good deals are getting harder to find? I am not here to discourage you from investing in real estate, but would like to share real estate investment opportunities and information with you…..opportunities that only a few people are aware of and regularly participate in. That’s right; I am referring to a niche investment market that has VERY LITTLE competition. This unique information is currently setting new trends within the commercial real estate investment community!

I know you are ready for me to tell you about this quiet niche investment market, so I will…… it is….……. ………..Commercial Real Estate. There are HUNDREDS, maybe THOUSANDS of niche market investment opportunities within Commercial Real Estate. And by the way…….. the main reason why so few investors go after commercial real estate, and that might include yourself, is that you’re not convinced that you would qualify for commercial financing ! ! Most investors are lead to believe that a 20% down payment is required to start the process for purchasing commercial properties. WELL, THIS IS NOT TRUE!

Let’s do the math now…… financing a property that cost $5 Million dollars with 20% down would require you to put down $1,000,000 and you would still have to add in legal fees and closing costs. Yes, I know that only a few investors or even investment groups are able to meet these down payment requirements. Your first mistake as an investor would be to go to your local bank to seek financing, or worse, go to private or hard money lenders. First, remember the banks are regulated by the federal government and they are required to underwrite conforming loans and second, bank loans tend to be very structured and are generally inflexible to your project needs. In most cases, THESE LOANS will require a 20% DOWN PAYMENT OR MORE! The only benefit of using private or hard money lenders is when” NO OTHER FINANCING OPTIONS EXIST FOR YOU!”

FINANCING is the key ingredient to identifying lucrative real estate investment opportunities, yet, so few people truly understand the power of knowing WHERE to find the right financing and HOW to get it! WHAT IF you had several lenders, today, that would only require you have 2 to 3% down payments (on certain qualified projects)… WOULD THIS BE OF INTEREST TO YOU? A $5,000,000 loan with 2- 3% down payment equates to putting down $100,000 to $150,000. As an individual investor, this down payment would still be pretty steep for you however, today, many residential investors are already joining and forming Investment clubs to increase and enhance their purchasing power. TO ALL residential real estate investors……. the REAL MESSAGE here is that you are closer to buying commercial real estate than you think! This example should make it clear to you that finding the right financing is the FIRST step and the key ingredient to your real estate investing…….. however, there is a PROBLEM.

The problem is that as an investor, you have been trained to shop for properties FIRST, and almost never for financing. Finding the right financing FIRST will save you and make you more money over time, than you purchasing the undervalued properties and selling them later at or above market prices. I will repeat this….. MOST REAL ESTATE INVESTORS DO NOT UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE OF FINANCING within the investment equation. The ability to save on the amount of the interest rate you are being charged…. month after month….. year after year… 2 or 3 % or more is huge. You may also find out what I already know….. . by securing the financing first…..THIS OPENS UP NEW INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES!

Let’s review some of the BENEFITS that come with purchasing Commercial Real Estate:

1) Unlike residential real estate, commercial real estate’s only purpose is to make money for its investors. If there was a 7% cap rate on the $5,000,000 sample property, it would cash flow $350,000 annually.
2) Do you think you would enjoy having professional tenants with long term leases?
3) Would it excite you if your investment projects qualify for Non recourse financing?
4) You can totally eliminate the process of rehabbing properties.
5) How about this…… YOU no longer have to chase tenants down to collect rent.
6) You no longer have to pay penalties to lenders for not being in owner occupied properties.
7) Expand your investment search throughout all 50 states.
Last and probably the MOST BENEFICIAL of all of the perks….You can qualify to purchase these properties using your commercial tenant’s credit rating, business cash flow and their long-term rental leases!

We are searching for like -minded real estate investors and investment clubs that would like to join a Commercial Real Estate Investor Forum. We welcome that you come and ask your commercial financing questions and share your investment experiences with the group. Go to www.amoneybroker.com/ and click on “Join Our Investor Forum.”

About the Author

In an era where information rules, the small to medium sized real estate investor can NOW be a “Front Runner” AND a major player within the commercial real estate market!, says Steven Battle, Commercial Financing Consultant with Amoneybroker.com

Investors - Look For The Real Estate Sweet Spots by Mark Walters

A politician once proclaimed, “All politics is local!”

The same is true for real estate. If you live in Southern California home values are climbing towards the sky. The real estate market is hot!

At the very same time there are many areas in the Midwest where there has been no job growth, no increase in sales activity and no increase in home prices for over 5-years. If you are in one of those markets you find real estate investing is an entirely different ballgame.

Here’s a good example of picking your sweet spot… something you, as an investor, should consider when planning your investing tactics.

Technical Olympic USA is home builder. The company very carefully selects the areas where they build homes. Right now they are in ten hot markets:

Florida
Texas
Tennessee
Maryland
Pennsylvania
Arizona
Virginia
Colorado
Nevada
Delaware

This builder avoids the crazy areas like San Diego, Loa Angeles and Boston.

They look for areas where employment has grown steadily for the last 5 or 6 years and where second-time home buyers are moving to homes in the $200,000 to $400,000 range.

They’ve learned that these buyers are in there 30s and 40s, have kids and want 3 or 4 bedrooms, 2,800 to 3,000 sq ft of living space and a two-car garage.

Yes, it would be nice if we could all do some research and move to an area where investors are having the most success. Don’t fret. Time and again the truly determined have proven that you can make money in any real estate market… sweet or not.

If you are an investor living in the Midwest you cannot just buy any rental home and count on its appreciating value to provide a profit. Home prices are not going up.

Yet, you can still make money in Midwest real estate. The key is to always buy or option at a price at least 30% below market value. You have less room for error than those investing where home values are increasing by 1% to 3% per month.

In Southern California there are at least 5 real estate investing seminars being presented every week. Investors of all skill levels are swarming like locust over every square foot of ground. Competition is fierce. It’s not quite like that in the Midwest.

Another key is to only invest in homes that people want to buy. A good target is what Technical Olympic has found to be its sweet spot… those homes near 3,000 sq ft. They will be easier to rent to the best class of tenants… and they will sell more quickly for the best profit. In your area the most desirable homes might have other characteristics, but you get the idea

The bottom line is that there are geographical sweet spots… and there are local sweet spots… even neighborhood sweet spots.

Stay in front of demand, buy carefully, use creative techniques like leases, options and “subject to”, and you will find investing opportunity no matter where you live.

About the Author

Mark Walters is a real estate investor. You can learn about his successful tactics at: http://www.lease-option-sub2.com

Tips for Buying a New Home by Matt McWilliams

Buying a new home can be a daunting task, even for someone who has owned several homes. If you recently purchased your first home, you probably found that is hard to find good advice that is truly useful. You had to learn a lot on our own, but at least now you probably feel comfortable and knowledgeable about the whole process.

My wife and I recently purchased a new home in Tennessee. Here are some helpful hints we picked up along the way:

1. Use all of the online resources available. Almost every state and local government has a website where you can research real estate information. The data on home sales, taxes, and neighborhoods is invaluable when you are shopping for a home. We were able to find out the most recent sale prices in the neighborhood we selected, and we didn’t have to rely on a real estate agent to get the data for us. Doing the research yourself will make you more knowledgeable about the market, which is key to making a good purchase.

2. Be realistic about how much you can spend. Try to buy a home in a price range that allows you to put down 20%. If you put down less than this, you will have to pay PMI (private mortgage insurance) to protect the lender in case you default on the loan. I know that 20% is a lot, but it’s not unrealistic. You may not be able to do it on your first home, but hopefully you can on your second home. The profits from the sale of my condo enabled my husband and me to have more than enough for the 20% down payment on our home. But we didn’t put it all down on the home - we saved some of the profits for the unexpected expenses that come with buying a home. We suggest that you do the same.

3. Shop for a home in the winter, preferably around the holidays. Since most people just aren’t interested in buying a home when they are trying to deal with the holidays, you can pretty much be one of the few buyers out there. We bought our home right before Christmas, and it was definitely a buyers market. We had our pick of homes and were able to underbid on the asking price, even though we live in one of the hottest real estate markets in the country.

4. Use a smaller mortgage company that can offer personal service. People tend to go with large, well-known mortgage companies, since that’s all they know. But the smaller, regional companies provide excellent customer service, and can often give you better rates than the big companies. Since they don’t advertise and instead rely on word-of-mouth, they have to be good in order to get your service. We started off with a big-name company, but in the end, we went with a regional company because they had better rates and better customer service.

5. Always have a home inspection. I think most people know this fact already, but it is really important in areas with a hot real estate market. It can be easy to get caught up in bidding wars, and to want to get a house at all costs. Some friends of ours wanted a house so badly that not only did they overbid, but they also waived the home inspection. They got the house - and right along with it they got several thousand dollars worth of damage that would have been found in an inspection. As a final note, try to remember that buying a home doesn’t have to be scary. It’s very exciting to own your own home, so think of all the good things that will come once you have made it through the home-buying process. If you follow the advice above, then you should be well-equipped to make it through unscathed.

6. Save money and shop for your home insurance the easy way! Yeah, I know this is a shameless plug for our web site, but seriously, whatever web site you do use, get online and shop around for your home insurance. You can get multiple home insurance quotes from HometownQuotes.Com or any of a dozen or so reputable companies online. Go to a search engine, like Yahoo! and type in ‘home insurance quotes.’ This is the best way because if you get 5-10 good quotes you can decide for yourself who is the best.

About the Author

Matt McWilliams is one of the co-founders of HometownQuotes.Com, an online insurance quotes web site. He is originally from Pinebluff, NC and graduated from Middle Tennessee State University in 2002. He is considered an expert in the field of online insurance shopping and finding new ways to help consumers save money on their insurance. For more information visit http://www.hometownquotes.com.