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One of the main reasons that people fail at any endeavor in life is that they fear failure, or fear the unknown. So many times new investors would rather live with a known bad situation, than put there neck out for an unknown outcome. Including outcomes that more often then not will end up better than where they are currently at in life.

One of my favorite, yet most saddening quotes is by Henry Thoreau “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them”. Do not be one of those men or women. Instead live the life of this other Thoreau quote “I have learned, that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours”

One of the tools that I have used to get beyond the ordinary, small life of quiet desperation is weighing my opportunity cost. Failing to weigh the opportunity cost of not doing, can leave you living your life like a paper weight. Opportunity cost is the cost of what you are doing compared to what you could be doing. Example: If your time is worth $30/hr, and you take a day off work to sit around on your butt, then your opportunity cost for sitting on your but is $30/hr. You are essentially paying $30/hr to sit on your but.

This relates to real estate investing because if you could be making an extra $20,000 a year as an investor, then your opportunity cost for doing nothing is $20,000 a year. Essentially, most wannabe investors who have become paralyzed by fear are paying at least $20,000 a year, to remain in the “getting ready, to get ready” state of mind.

Take a few moments and write down the things that you have been giving up in your life in exchange for giving into your feelings of fear. What is your fear costing your everyday. For many of you it may be costing you:

1.The great feelings of satisfaction from living the life of your dreams.

2.An extra $20,000 a year that could take you from living a life of scarcity to living the life of your dreams. read more…

Real estate referral leads are quite important for overall growth in the real estate business. Real estate agents all over the world love referrals and who wouldn’t? A referral lead is the most cost effective and sure way of doing business. But real estate referral leads can only be available if you have clients, clients who are happy and satisfied with you and your agency.

Generating real estate referral leads is a whole business by itself. There are marketing professionals, and self proclaimed referral gurus who make a lot of money by using software and technology to deliver referrals to real estate agents. All this is done for a small fee and some people even charge commission if a referral gets converted to a client.

The truth is that although organizations sell referrals, the best referral leads are still the ones that you will get directly from a client. You can get referral leads from a client:

1. If your clients got their dream home or real estate property that they had chosen with ease and without the hassle and stress of filing papers, documentation etc.
2. If your clients have had to pay a lesser service fee or commission to you as compared to other real estate agents in your area for buying the same home.
3. If your client was satisfied with your services and your communication skills
4. Last but not the least, if you delivered more than the client asked for.

These are some of the reasons why a client with provide you with a referral, which is as good as a sale. read more…

Consumer Confidence has literally tanked due to the fall-out in real estate and the credit crunch. These hard times in real estate are affecting the stock market, retail sales and small business. However, in chaos there is always opportunity – Always! So where is the opportunity in real estate, how can you make money on this bubble bursted collapse?

Well, it just so happens that the other day I was streamlining my library and chucked some books into a box going to the Goodwill, then I grabbed one, and thought well maybe I should re-read a few chapters in this one, scan the material once more. Interesting indeed, the book in question:

“A Fortune at Your Feet – How you can get rich, stay rich, and enjoy being rich with Creative Real Estate” by A.D. Kessler – 1981.

Do you have what it takes to make money in real estate, using A.D. Kessler’s creative methods? We all know A.D. Kessler as a real estate guru, late night infomercial hype guys and this book is an extension of that type of methodology. Secure real estate with no money down, make deals, find foreclosures, make negotiations and build wealth. A.D. Kessler was one of the first real estate guys of this type and had a very successful magazine on creative real estate, and trained many real estate professionals to use his system and methods to achieve wealth.

With the real estate market crashed and foreclosures running ramped his books and advice are now becoming very popular once again. How do you find the best properties to buy? How do you find tax lien sales, how do you find properties that are distress sales? A.D. Kessler’s book discusses all this and more. If you are ready to do a little homework, you might find yourself in a position of opportunity during this drastic time of chaos in the real estate markets. read more…

I was on a battered old excuse for a barge sputtering along noisily between the many islands of Indonesia. I had just nearly escaped being eaten by a Komodo dragon and was fighting for a place to stretch-out on above the slosh of saltwater, sweat and other unfortunate body fluids (or remnants of lunch) while en route to Sumbawa.

I’d been traveling in Indonesia for nearly 5 months, learning the culture and geography of the land.

Indonesian people are always friendly. They kindly greet every traveler with a loud “Hello Mister!” regardless of gender. But one strange consistency I experienced was that some Indonesians don’t travel well. Buses, ferries and trains were always packed full of travel sick locals. In Indonesia it’s easy to gorge oneself on the sweet and greasy foods offered at odd hours of the night and then get sick on whatever mode of transport you’re on and whomever you’re near.

On this occasion the seas where a bit choppier than usual and the boat quaked and swayed like a one-legged flamenco dancer. I quietly watched one passenger, who earlier was the envy of us all for he had a hammock, get battered from ceiling to floor as his hammock upturned and released him to the pull of gravity. Then those fragile souls who had no control of their stomachs began to empty them in mass exodus.

One man, a man named Nolan, came forth and offered sage advice “Ride the Wave” he said, “Don’t panic”.

See, travel sickness has some sort of mass psychology – one person starts and everyone follows, caught up in a flood of nausea they submit.

That reminds me a little bit of the stock market the past couple of weeks- maybe not as extreme but at least similar. Granted, the stock market gave reason to turn your gut (I know a few bargain hunters that are smiling though).

Panicking to list your house for sale is also type of half-hearted hysteria. Nolan’s comment of “Don’t panic, ride the wave” is good advice. read more…

The rate of foreclosures has risen to historic levels. It was projected that 2 million homeowners will lose their homes to foreclosure by the end of this year, according to the Center for Responsible Lending. The two questions to ask about this financial phenomena are (1) why are foreclosure rates rising and (2) how is this an opportunity to start real estate investing? Here are just some of the answers.

1. Job losses. This THE number one reason that people lose their homes. This is particularly true in the Rust Belt (Ohio, Indiana, Michigan) suburbs and cities.

2. ARM’s. An adjustable rate mortgage (ARM) fluctuates with the lending rate. What was at first a very modest home loan made it very easy for someone to buy a home at a rate that was reflected by the then low prime lending rate. However, as the prime lending rate goes up or down with the economy, so does the house payment. A homeowner with an ARM can easily see their payment go from $300 to $400 and upwards within a very short time. Then they can’t make their payments.

3. Interest-only mortgages. This is a way the mortgage brokers and bankers have lured people with good credit to take a loan that they eventually can’t afford. The lender makes the loan with the home buyer paying only the interest, or even less than interest, then resetting the loan at a higher interest rate and making full payments. Interest-only and adjustable-rate mortgages share a 63% cut of all new mortgages.

4. Lending to poor credit risk individuals. Banks and mortgage brokers have been using the methods mentioned above to lend to people with a poor credit history. These loans are, at best, risky in nature. These home owners have low incomes and little or no health insurance. Of those who required emergency foreclosure help, 40% stated that medical costs were the cause of their problem with being able to keep up with their house payments. So, instead of creating wealth for these people through building up equity and stabilizing their lives, it destroys their wealth building capacity and destabilizes not only them, but the community around them. read more…

Due to the current drop in the real estate market, many homeowners are selling their properties to save what is left in their equity. If you are considering selling for this reason, you should wait. Over the last five years there has been a steady increase in real estate prices, and there is no reason to believe that prices will not recover in the future. The areas that boomed in 2002 are now experiencing a downward trend, maybe for a couple of years, but real estate prices have proven to eventually swing upwards. However states like Texas are on the upswing and investors should consider buying outside of California. So if you can wait through this drop, you could end up with a lot more money than if you were to sell now.

If you look at a map of California real estate median prices you’ll see that in 1992 there was a decrease in prices that continued for five years. This may seem disconcerting, for a person who wants to sell. But prices did increase and these five years were the longest period of decline in the California real estate market since before 1968. Let’s see what would happen if Jane and Joe each had bought an investment property in California in 1992 for the average median price of $197,030.

Joe had been following the market and noticed that prices were declining and decided to sell in 1996 for the median price of $177,270. That is close to a $20,000 loss for Joe. Jane, on the other hand, did not sell her property until 2002. The median price for California real estate in 2002 was $316,130, which means Jane made a 60.4% profit on her investment. If she had waited two more years to sell, she would have had both a price appreciation of $119,100 and a loan reduction from the renters.

Now with the huge upward trends in the first half of this decade, it is natural that there is a drop in prices. But for those of you who are willing to fight the market and wait a few years, benefits are in store because prices will rise. So do not worry about a slight loss this year, because your house will soon continue appreciating. If you are still worried, understand that the national rate of appreciation for real estate has averaged 6.1% over the last 30 years. Moreover, other markets are booming. For those investors just starting out or those who want to continue investing, they should look into other areas of the US real estate market. read more…

It’s funny how often you hear people ask for advice or tips in the investment real estate industry. From home-study courses and seminars, to boot camps and one-on-one training, these methods have been proven to be not only interesting to millions of people, but capable of bringing massive wealth to those that take action on what is taught – those that go on and actually make real estate investments themselves. Another benefit of doing things from this angle is that you’ll probably find a lot less competition especially in your local market relative to the other side of the fence of traditional real estate investments It’s the Easiest Form of Real Estate Investing – Investing in pre construction real estate is the easiest form of real estate investing, all you need to do is buy a property wait a few months for it to get into a higher phase of construction then sell it for a profit.

To find out more about the Orlando Florida investment preconstruction real estate market please visit our website or give us a call at the number below. However, the real money making difference for real estate investors comes into play in the return on investment (ROI). In short, real estate investment is a realistic option for most investors looking to diversify their holdings, but the key to benefiting from it is getting the right advice from the right source.

In conclusion, there are compelling reasons for you to consider putting money into real estate and real estate is today no longer solely the domain of the rich. Learn from the professional real estate investor and don’t get caught up in the ‘get rich quick’ hype of highly leveraged real estate. Today we are discussing a somewhat advanced strategy for you to use after you have been in the creative real estate investing business for a while. read more…

The first word that comes into the mind of homeowners when they are falling behind on their mortgage payments is “foreclosure”. What these homeowners don’t know is that there is another aspect that they can consider with their mortgage company when they are no longer able to pay their account current for whatever reason. This alternative is called a “short sale”. Many individuals are not aware of this alternative because there are many lenders who do not accept this option. Some lenders feel that they are loosing financially and would gain a better result going through the foreclosure process.

A short sale is an action where the lender who holds the mortgage accepts funds that are less than the payoff amount. Before a person can determine if this is an option, they should perform some research by experts who are familiar with the process of short sales. Both parties involved should speak with a lawyer to make sure all revenues and bases are covered throughout this process.

The short sale process involves both the customers who currently have the loan and the customers who are interested in obtaining a short sale. The current lenders usually require the borrowers to write a letter that will give the lenders permission to discuss the account with the appropriate parties such as: real estate agents, lawyers, closing attorney and any interested buyers. read more…

This article is going to presume you know the basics of how to complete a real estate short sale. I’ve conducted several real estate short sales and the one document that keeps proving its weight in gold is the “contractor estimate.” This is the written repair estimate you get from a licensed contractor. You need to meet with the contractor prior to the BPO and have them give you a line by line item of all the repairs needed on the house.

I always tell my contractor to give me a liberal estimate. I don’t want it to be unrealistically high, but I want them to give me a number that is on the higher side of the estimate. The reason I do this is so that I can present it to the broker conducting the BPO in hopes that they pass it along to the lender (which they usually do). This helps me with my negotiations as the bank can see line by line which items need repair.

Typically, I let my contractor know that I am not wanting them to provide me an estimate for a potential job. I explain that I use it as a negotiating tool. As such, I give them some money for their time since usually the bids are free. In some cases, I actually do end up buying the house (as opposed to flipping it) and I go back to that contractor to do the repair work. Of course, when it comes to actually paying for the repair, I negotiate that down as much as possible ;0) read more…

Here are the basic steps to walk you through a real estate short sale. In case you’re new, a real estate short sale occurs when you attempt to negotiate a discount on the mortgage amount of a house you are trying to buy. Usually the property will be in foreclosure and will have no equity. Many times the mortgage amount will be higher than the property is worth, so you negotiate with the bank to accept less than the full mortgage amount.

When working with the seller’s bank, you’ll find that if any step or component of the real estate short sale is missing, your deal can die in no time. Loss mitigation reps that work for the bank often have 300+ real estate short sale files on their desks, so if you are missing anything your file goes right to the bottom of the stack. This is a list of the minimum you must do. Certain banks and certain situations will likely require other steps.

1) Get a signed ‘authorization to release information’ from the seller and their spouse (even if the spouse supposedly isn’t on the deed or mortgage). Submit the authorization to the bank ASAP since it might take them 48 hours before they log it in their system (no exaggeration).

2) Get a signed sales contract and take unflattering pictures of the house. Get copies of all proof of hardship (late bills, hardship letter, etc).

3) Put together your real estate short sale package to submit to the bank. I will go into detail in a future article about what I include in my package.

4) Find out from the bank’s loss mitigation/foreclosure department what fax number or email address or physical address to send the package to. Sometimes when you talk to different people at the bank they will give you different fax numbers that you’re supposed to fax your package to. Fax every number you have, because someone will lose your package, guaranteed. Better to have too many of your packages floating around than too few.

5) The bank will likely order an appraisal or BPO (broker’s price opinion) to estimate the value of the property. Meet the appraiser/realtor and help them see why the house is worthless.

6) Bank accepts or rejects your offer. If they counter, you counter, they counter, and so on until you agree on a price.

7) Set a closing date and collect your heavily discounted property. read more…