Hard Money Loans

Foreclosure Real Estate Investing: How NOT To Lose Your Shirt At The Foreclosure Sale For real estate professionals, this past year has been one of the most painful in recent times — defaults are up, homeownership is down, foreclosures have soared and the poorly performing housing sector is starting to create negative ripple effects in the broader national economy. Since all projections indicate that 2008 will be equally as challenging, should property investors run for the hills, put all their money in AAA rated munis, and ride out the storm until the next boom? Absolutely not! There’s no question that 2008 will bring reduced housing demand, lower prices in some areas, and fewer loan options, yet 2008 looks strong for treasure hunters. At HMB, we’ve been seeing investors scoop up bank REO’s for 40 to 50 cents on the dollar and selling them off at nice profits. After all, people will always buy property if they can get a great deal, no matter what the market conditions. Your job is to simply find the best deals. Many great deals will most certainly come from foreclosures over the next 24 months.

If you intend to jump into foreclosure auctions, follow these tips to help insure a profitable transaction: A? Do your homework: I recently had one of my investors call me and ask me if he would be risking anything greater than his security deposit if he simply walked away from a house he purchased at auction. Because he was intimately familiar with the neighborhood, he didn’t bother to visit the property. After the auction, he learned the damage to the property was more extensive than he anticipated. In a aEoehotaE? market, price appreciation could have bailed him out but, in today’s market, he was sunk. Lesson? Never buy a property sight unseen, and make sure to get the best contractor estimates possible prior to auction day. A? Read the advertisement carefully: The devil is in the fine print. You could buy a lot of trouble if you don’t read and understand every word. Examples: Many auctioneers require a Buyer’s premium. In my area, it could be as much as 10%. If your bidding on a $120,000.00 property, that’s an additional $12,000.00 expense! Even worse, you may be required to pay interest on the prior owner’s defaulting Note from date of auction forward to the date of settlement. That’s an additional 30-45 days of interest expense (or more in some instances). Worst of all, in some cases the auction purchaser could be responsible for certain outstanding liens due at the time of sale, such as water, taxes, or even condo liens. Do you really want to be responsible for the prior owner’s $3,000.00 past due HOA bill because you didn’t read the ad? A? Be careful of flipping: Flips are still possible in this market but could be dangerous to the financial health of an unseasoned or careless investor. If you intend to flip to another investor, remember he or she will be leery of buying anywhere close to retail because of the likelihood of additional price erosion over the next few years.

Did you properly discount your bid price for this? Will the property cash flow at your proposed sales price? Many investors use the 1% Rule as the aEoegold standardaE? aE” a $100,000.00 purchase price should yield a renter at $1,000.00. If you don’t carefully account for these factors, you could get stuck in the property. If you are using short-term hard money and your credit is weak, you even run the risk of loan default because you won’t be able to refinance out of your hard money loan. A? Setting property values: In addition to recent comps, you may want to go back to 2004-05 tax assessment records to review pre-bubble pricing. Is it possible for prices to retrace back to those levels? Maybe yes, maybe no, but it doesn’t hurt to bid based upon worst-case scenarios. A? Keep your cool: Don’t get caught up in the emotion of the auction. Know your absolute high price going in. Once the bidding has exceeded that price, don’t even think about it anymore. Walk to your car and leave. There’s always another deal tomorrow. A? Get finances in order before bidding: You will be required to bring to the auction a cashier’s check for the advertised deposit amount. But you may also be asked to increase the initial deposit to 10% of total purchase price within a certain time period after the auction date.

Check with the auctioneer the day of auction. Also, get lender approval prior to the day of auction. A hard money lender can be your best friend in these situations, as an approval from a hard money source accomplishes 2 things: 1) you’ll know up-front whether you’ll be able to close on the property, thereby reducing any risk of losing your deposit; and 2) you’ll get a second, and often expert, opinion on the conservative value of the property. Even if you end up using conventional lending, the hard money approval can give you great peace of mind. A? Insurance: It is critical to get a hazard insurance policy in place the day of auction. Many times, the risk of loss is contractually passed to the successful auction bidder. If you don’t have insurance and the building burns down, you lose! A? Bankruptcy: Call the auctioneer the night before (for early a.m. auctions) or the morning of the auction to make certain the foreclosed-upon borrower has not filed a bankruptcy. A bankruptcy filing stops the foreclosure process, even if it is filed one minute before auction. Probably 90% of foreclosure auctions get cancelled this way, so you’ll waste a lot time if you don’t call beforehand. A? Default: Always remember that the re-auction of a property is almost always aEoeat the risk and expense of the defaulting bidder.aE? This means if you bid on a property and don’t follow through, you could be sued for a lot more than just your deposit. Jeffrey Shiller, Esq. MD DC VA Hard Money Lender

About Author
Jeffrey Shiller, Esq. www.hardmoneybankers.com MD DC VA Hard Money Lender

Many real estate investors overlook hard money loans as a strategy for acquiring property. That’s because these loans are typically used by desperate property owners looking for a way out of the real estate market, rather than into it. But hard money can work for anyone, and it can be particularly useful if you’re a new investor looking to build your portfolio quickly.

Hard money loans can generally be described as high interest loans available to borrowers with any credit rating, as long as they can can provide solid collateral – usually equity in real estate, such as a home. These loans are almost never issued by banks or deposit institutions, but rather by private lenders who specialize in short term lending at high interest.

Normally a home owner in need of a big loan would apply for a second mortgage, using real estate equity as collateral, but bad credit can make things difficult here. If a home owner has missed a few mortgage payments, the banks may refuse to provide more financing – hard money might be the only option in this case.

The limit for hard money loans typically hover at about 60 to 70 per cent of a property’s quick sale value, defined as the price a lender could reasonably expect to realize if the borrower defaulted on the loan, and the property was liquidated fast. The interest rate for a hard money loan is usually in the 15 to 25 per cent range.

Investors can take out hard money loans to buy a property, as long as they provide acceptable collateral – in this case it could even be the property they’re buying. The strategy here is to find a pre-foreclosure property, or any real estate with an owner prepared to sell below below market value as long as the sale is fast. If the investor can re-sell the property at full market value, before too much interest is paid on the hard money loan, he or she can make a significant profit. Hard money loans have helped many successful investors get started in real estate.

In the world of real estate investing, people are always on the look out for different ways to make an investment purchase. Typically the property would simply be bought & mortgaged in the traditional manner but as home values increase and the cost of living rises buyers are seeking out other ways of making the down payment on properties. One way that this can be accomplished is through the use of hard money loans. Now, one must be careful in purchasing with a hard money loan as interest can stack up quickly as most interest rates range between 10 and 16%. In comparison to a normal mortgage this is a fairly high rate. The best way to make this kind of loan work is on a home where the owner is looking for a quick sale and the property has the potential to sell for greater than the purchase price.

The most attractive aspect of a hard money loan is the fact that it can allow a buyer to act quickly to take advantage of a particular home sale. An investor will have to plan carefully and be intelligent and educated about the terms of the loan and the value and viability of the property. An investor should be sure about the attraction of the property as with a higher interest loan the whole point is the flip the property quickly before the payments start to pile up. Additionally the loan should be designed to comprehensively cover the costs of purchase and renovation if necessary or desired. in such a situation the buyer will need to have everything organized ahead of time in terms of renovations or construction to the home and should have a definite timeline as to when things should be complete and the home can be listed. This will also take an intricate understanding of the local real estate market and the trends that dictate it. There are certain times when the market will be hot and times when it will be cooler and the sale of the home will have to be a planned event that takes advantage of the peaks of the market.

In planning a purchase with a hard money loan, be sure to sit down with your realtor and explore all the available options before taking the plunge. They are the best suited individuals to help plan the purchase and subsequent sale of the property. They will also be able to direct a investor to loan professionals that are reputable and honest. With such a wealth of dishonest mortgage companies as this country has seen in the past years, it is essential that an investor has a good amount of background on the lender that they choose to deal with. Good Luck!

If you are interested in real estate investing, you must seriously look into the various options including buying and selling of houses. You may have done it before or you may be a beginner but following certain tips will only help you in making it big in the estate business. You may be very careful if you are a beginner real estate investing. You must put the tips into practice so that you can be successful in the real estate business.

The most important thing you have to do is to automate your work as far as possible. You may be one among those estate investors who shift between the basic occupation and the real estate business. The first thing to understand is that you cannot carry on doing both the work together. You must try to create such system that does not require your assistance to work. The easiest way to do this is to get the help of a virtual assistant. You can also make use of a voice mail in receiving the calls while you are busy. You must also try to invest in a website so that you can get easy access to the information of potential clients.

Before you get in to the market you must also learn estate investing. It is nothing, but just playing with other’s money. When you are new to the real estate business, you might also think of investing your money in buying the house. You must break this habit because if you do that you would not able to make any thing. You should also try reaching the credit limit and you can do this only by investing other’s money into it. Make a small group by joining the people who have invested through you. You must try doing everything that is required to win their trust. If you do that then they would invest more and more into your project.

See to that you pick the market in real estate scene and later focus on it. If you try spreading all the activities by yourself then it would be very troublesome because you would not have experience in this field. You may feel to limit the options but once you gain the experience you would be able to invest lot of money into it slowly.

You must handle the risk factor with so much care since you cannot afford losing even a pie. To make money through real estate, you must manage risk effectively. All the areas have ample amounts of risk attached to them. You must make use of those people who have walked before you through the same way. You can get the services of a real estate investing coach for the same. You must also make it a point that you are enjoying the real estate business. If you are not enjoying what you are doing, the best thing to do is to quit. The business opportunities will flow into you if you are enjoying the whole process.

Author: Jake Trump
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Let us take a look at how these funds operate, their structure, their return potential and what they mean to you as an investor.

History of Reits :
The concept of Reits originated in the USA. These products grew in popularity over a period of time, as the returns generated by these funds were much better than that from other forms of investments such as bonds, government savings schemes and the like. Now, such products will be soon available in India with SEBI having taken the first few steps to allow mutual funds to set up such funds.

Functioning of a Reit :
A typical real estate investment trust will be structured like a mutual fund. read more…

There are many kinds of investments in which we can put our money and eventually earn in the future. Most business-minded people would choose investments that can give them not only income but also security. They seek in particular for an investment that possesses the capacity to stay productive over a longer period of time. They don’t just want another investment that can give them a one-time income. There are many kinds of investment that you can choose from. There are investments in banks, stock market, business ventures, real estate and other financial companies. But most people will invest in real estate. Why is it that they are willing to invest in this kind of investment?

Real estate can cost investors a lot of money up front, but it can promise a higher return in the future. One basic characteristic a real estate investment has is that the payment can be amortized for a longer period of time on an installment basis. In this case, the investor will only prepare for a down payment and the remaining amount will be paid on a monthly basis. Aside from that advantage, this kind of investment has the capacity to increase its appraised value up to 10% every year depending on the location and the development of a given investment. read more…

Bruce Madoff, President and founder of a New York firm that invested money for hedge funds and wealthy individuals and institutions, has been charged with operating a long-running Ponzi scheme that could cost investors billions of dollars. If this turns out to be true, it could be almost as large as the Enron scandal and will jeopardize the financial well-being of many individuals and institutions.

Ponzi schemes such as the one Madoff perpetrated are named after a 1920′s fraudster named Charles Ponzi. It is a “rob Peter to pay Paul” scheme whereby unsuspecting investors are sucked in by a fraudster making promises of unbelievable interest rate returns. Meanwhile he is just using that new money to payoff earlier investors. Once no new recruits can be found, the house of cards collapses, much like Madoff’s did when he could not meet $7 Billion of payouts to his investors.
In reading about this fraud, several very important lessons stand out: read more…

One of the best ways to make an investment these days is to invest in the government tax foreclosure houses. It is so because the foreclosure houses are very easily available and can be availed at very amazingly cheap prices. The best thing about them is that they are available at rates that are far cheaper than the actual real estate market rates of that particular property.

Basically, the government tax foreclosure houses are those real estates that have been repossessed by the government agencies and the government banks. The government agencies or banks owing to the fact that the borrower of the loan or the mortgage amount had defaulted in repaying the capital sum that he availed from them seize these real estate properties. read more…

You can acquire foreclosure properties by going to the bank and getting a loan. One of the challenges with that is you can only get so many loans in your name. As of this writing conventional lenders will only allow you to have 4 loans in your name. This article explains what I did instead: found private money.

The people you’re looking for are private individuals who have money to invest in real estate. Many of these people may currently keep their money in CDs, mutual funds, IRAs, etc.

Why do they put money into these types of accounts? They want a good return on their investment. If you can offer them a higher return than they’re currently getting on their CDs, money market accounts, etc., do you think they’d be interested in talking to you? Absolutely! read more…

If you’ve been watching the news lately you might have heard some of the breaking headlines about our current real estate and finance markets. Actually, it’s kind of hard to miss. I know, because I don’t usually watch the news and I am having a hard time avoiding all the gloom and doom. So, what does it mean to us as real estate investors now that money is tightening up for both our buyers and us as investors to buy houses?

Well, it opens up an amazing opportunity for those that are willing to roll up their sleeves and get to work raising private money.

Private money, unlike institutional money, is money lent by individuals that are looking to get a better and/or more stable return on their money instead of depositing it with a bank or investing it in the stock market. read more…