The ABCs of Real Estate Investment Trusts
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
FHA Purchase Real Estate Financing
If you need to obtain necessary financing for the purchase of a home it is important for you to know that there are alternative lending sources other than banks and traditional lenders that you can use for a mortgage, even if your credit or other circumstances are less than ideal. There are government sponsored programs that allow a variety of people wit different backgrounds to purchase a home with a low or no down payment and affordable interest rate. Fha purchase financing is an option many people who are involved in the buying process.
Fha purchase financing is financing insured by the Federal Housing Administration which is a government owned organization that works to extend mortgages to people who do not meet traditional lending criteria. The Fha was established under the National Housing Act, with their goal being to extend financing to people with repayment abilities who otherwise lack the ability to get a traditional loan. Read more
Real Estate: A Good Investment
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
The ABCs of the Residential Real Estate Foreclosure Process
By now most Americans are very aware of the fact that real estate foreclosures are at an all time high. In many states and metropolitan areas, foreclosure rates have doubled and tripled since the beginning of 2006. A lot of American homeowners, though, still are not clear on exactly what the foreclosure process is or how it unfolds. In a typical case, when a homeowner is 30 days late on its monthly mortgage payment, the lending institution will place a phone call to the home-owner, reminding them to make their monthly payment. The Lender will follow up with another phone call and usually a written reminder after 60 days of non-payment.
Once the homeowner is 90 days behind on their mortgage, the lender will invariably send the homeowner what is called a “pre-foreclosure letter.” Read more
Bernard Madoff – 50 Billion Reasons to Invest in Hard Money – Private Mortgage Loans
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
Government Tax Foreclosed Houses Can Be a Great Investment For You
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
Why Down Economic Times Create Multi-Family Investment Opportunities
There is a common rationale used in the world of real estate that human beings need four fundamental things to survive: air, food, water, and shelter. This rationale is used simply to exemplify why real estate has been and will continue to be a valuable commodity and I tend to agree with it. The need for real estate is pretty obvious but the choice to invest in it and what types to focus on may not be quite as clear.
There has been a tremendous amount of recent focus on the housing crunch and the impact it has had on our economy as a whole. As a dedicated investor in multi-family real estate, I can tell you that the housing crunch has created a mass migration of consumers. Where are they migrating from? The homes that they purchased a few years ago, can no longer afford, and have since had to sell or unfortunately lose via foreclosure. Read more
Foreclosure Investing Secrets of Finding Private Money
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
Raising Private Money For Real Estate Investing
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
How to Buy More Than Four Properties When Investing in Michigan Foreclosures
Michigan foreclosures have pressed down real estate values in Metro Detroit for over 4 years in a row. The silver lining to these skidding values is that investors now recognize that prices for investment properties have never been more attractive.
So why aren’t more people snatching up houses at rock bottom prices like a kid on a Toys R Us shopping spree?
Well when they take the next steps to transforming this dream into reality they find out that most mortgage lenders currently will not allow you to have more than 4 mortgages to your name if you are applying for another. When translated, this means that you can only have 3 additional mortgages on your credit report if you have one on your primary residence. Read more
