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Property

Real estate is a legal term (in some jurisdictions, such as the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, USA and The Bahamas) that encompasses land along with improvements to the land, such as buildings, fences, wells and other site improvements that are fixed in location—immovable.[1] Real estate law is the body of regulations and legal codes which pertain to such matters under a particular jurisdiction and include things such as commercial and residential real property transactions. Real estate is often considered synonymous with real property (sometimes called realty), in contrast with personal property (sometimes called chattel or personalty under chattel law or personal property law). However, in some situations the term "real estate" refers to the land and fixtures together, as distinguished from "real property", referring to ownership of land and appurtenances, including anything of a permanent nature such as structures, trees, minerals, and the interest, benefits, and inherent rights thereof. Real property is typically considered to be immovable property.[2] The terms real estate and real property are used primarily in common law, while civil law jurisdictions dental assistant salary refer instead to immovable property. In law, the word real means relating to a thing (res/rei, thing, from O.Fr. reel, from L.L. realis "actual," from Latin. res, "matter, thing"),[3] as distinguished from a person. Thus the law broadly distinguishes between "real" property (land and anything affixed to it) and "personal" property (everything else, e.g., clothing, furniture, money). The conceptual difference was between immovable property, which would transfer title along with the land, and movable property, which a person would retain title to. The oldest use of the term "Real Estate" that has been preserved in historical records was in 1666.[3] This use of "real" also reflects the ancient and feudal preference for land, and the ownership (and owners) thereof. Some people have claimed that the word real in this sense is descended (like French royal and Spanish real) from the Latin word for 'king'. In the feudal system (which has left many traces in the common law) the king was the owner of all land, and everyone who occupied land paid him rent directly or medical assistant salary indirectly (through lords who in turn paid the king), in cash, goods or services (including military service). Property tax, paid to the state, can be seen as a relic of that system, as is the term fee simple. However, this derivation of real is a misconception. Real estate terminology and practice outside the United States (around the world) Real estate as "real property" in the U.K. In British usage, "real property", often shortened to just "property", generally refers to land and fixtures, while the term "real estate" is used mostly in the context of probate law, and means all interests in land held by a deceased person at death, excluding interests in money arising under a trust for sale of or charged on land.[5] See Real property for a definition and Estate agent for a description of the practice in the UK. Real estate in Mexico and Central America This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and Phlebotomy training removed. (September 2009) The real estate businesses in Mexico and Central America are different from the way that they are conducted in the United States. Some similarities include a variety of legal formalities (with professionals such as real estate agents generally employed to assist the buyer); taxes need to be paid (but typically less than those in U.S.); legal paperwork will ensure title; and a neutral party such as a title company will handle documentation and money to make the smooth exchange between the parties. Increasingly, U.S. title companies are doing work for U.S. buyers in Mexico and Central America. Prices are often much cheaper than most areas of the U.S., but in many locations, prices of houses and lots are as expensive as the U.S., one example being Mexico City. U.S. banks have begun to give home loans for properties in Mexico, but, so far, not for other Latin American countries. One important difference from the United States is that each country has rules regarding where foreigners can buy. For example, in Mexico, foreigners medical billing job cannot buy land or homes within 50 km (31 mi) of the coast or 100 km (62 mi) from a border unless they hold title in a Mexican Corporation or a Fideicomiso (a Mexican trust).[6] In Honduras, however, they may buy beach front property directly in their name. There are different rules regarding certain types of property: ejidal land – communally held farm property – can only be sold after a lengthy entitlement process, but that does not prevent them from being offered for sale. In Costa Rica, real estate agents do not need a license to operate, but the transfer of property requires a lawyer. Business sector Question book-new.svg This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2009) With the development of private property ownership, real estate has become a major area of business, commonly referred to as commercial real estate. Purchasing real estate requires a significant investment, and each parcel of land has unique characteristics, so the physician assistant real estate industry has evolved into several distinct fields. Specialists are often called on to valuate real estate and facilitate transactions. Some kinds of real estate businesses include: * Appraisal: Professional valuation services * Brokerages: A mediator who charges a fee to facilitate a real estate transaction between the two parties. * Development: Improving land for use by adding or replacing buildings * Net leasing[7] * Property management: Managing a property for its owner(s) * Real estate marketing: Managing the sales side of the property business * Real estate investing: Managing the investment of real estate * Relocation services: Relocating people or business to a different country * Corporate Real Estate: Managing the real estate held by a corporation to support its core business—unlike managing the real estate held by an investor to generate income Within each field, a business may specialize in a particular type of real estate, such as residential, commercial, or industrial property. In addition, almost all construction business effectively has a connection to real estate. Professional university-level education in real estate nono hair removal is primarily focused at the graduate level. Focus in towards the commercial real estate sector, primarily real estate development or investment rather than residential real estate sales conducted by a REALTOR. See also graduate real estate education for a discussion and list of university-level real estate programs. "Internet real estate" is a term coined by the internet investment community relating to ownership of domain names and the similarities between high quality internet domain names and real-world, prime real estate. Residential real estate The legal arrangement for the right to occupy a dwelling is known as the housing tenure. Types of housing tenure include owner occupancy, Tenancy, housing cooperative, condominiums (individually parceled properties in a single building), public housing, squatting, and cohousing. The occupants of a residence constitute a household. Residences can be classified by, if, and how they are connected to neighboring residences and land. Different types of housing tenure can be used for the same physical type. For example, connected residents might be owned by a single entity and leased out, or owned separately mobile phone deals with an agreement covering the relationship between units and common areas and concerns. 'Single-family detached home' Major categories in North America and Europe * Attached / multi-unit dwellings o Apartment - An individual unit in a multi-unit building. The boundaries of the apartment are generally defined by a perimeter of locked or lockable doors. Often seen in multi-story apartment buildings. o Multi-family house - Often seen in multi-story detached buildings, where each floor is a separate apartment or unit. o Terraced house (a.k.a. townhouse or rowhouse) - A number of single or multi-unit buildings in a continuous row with shared walls and no intervening space. o Condominium - Building or complex, similar to apartments, owned by individuals. Common grounds are owned and shared jointly. There are townhouse or rowhouse style condominiums as well. o Cooperative (a.k.a. "co-op) - A type of multiple ownership in which the residents of a multiunit housing complex own shares in the cooperative corporation that owns the property, giving each resident the right to occupy a specific apartment or unit. * Colorado Springs Realtors Semi-detached dwellings o Duplex - Two units with one shared wall. * Single-family detached home * Portable dwellings o Mobile homes - Potentially a full-time residence which can be (might not in practice be) movable on wheels. o Houseboats - A floating home o Tents - Usually very temporary, with roof and walls consisting only of fabric-like material. The size of an apartment or house can be described in square feet or meters. In the United States, this includes the area of "living space", excluding the garage and other non-living spaces. The "square meters" figure of a house in Europe may report the total area of the walls enclosing the home, thus including any attached garage and non-living spaces, which makes it important to inquire what kind of surface definition has been used. It can be described more roughly by the number of rooms. A studio apartment has a single bedroom with no living room (possibly a separate kitchen). A one-bedroom apartment has a living or dining room separate from the bedroom. Two bedroom, three cheap auto insurance bedroom, and larger units are common. (A bedroom is defined as a room with a closet for clothes storage.) Major categories in India and the Asian Subcontinent * Housing Societies (CGHS) * Condominiums * Builder flats * Chawls * Havelis * Lal Dora - Where people carry out commercial and residential activities both. The size is measured in Gaz (square yards), Quila, Marla, Beegha, and acre. See List of house types for a complete listing of housing types and layouts, real estate trends for shifts in the market and house or home for more general information. Market sector value According to The Economist, "developed economies'" assets at the end of 2002 were the following: * Residential property: $48 trillion; * Commercial property: $14 trillion; * Equities: $20 trillion; * Government bonds: $20 trillion; * Corporate bonds: $13 trillion; * Total: $115 trillion. That makes real estate assets 54% and financial assets 46% of total stocks, bonds, and real estate assets. Assets not counted here are bank deposits, insurance "reserve" assets, natural resources, and human assets. cheap iphone It is not clear if all debt and equity investments are counted in the categories equities and bond. Mortgages in real estate In recent years, many economists have recognized that the lack of effective real estate laws can be a significant barrier to investment in many developing countries. In most societies, rich and poor, a significant fraction of the total wealth is in the form of land and buildings. In most advanced economies, the main source of capital used by individuals and small companies to purchase and improve land and buildings is mortgage loans (or other instruments). These are loans for which the real property itself constitutes collateral. Banks are willing to make such loans at favorable rates in large part because, if the borrower does not make payments, the lender can foreclose by filing a court action which allows them to take back the property and sell it to get their money back. For investors, profitability can be enhanced by using an off plan or pre-construction strategy to purchase at a lower price which Perfect Weddings Singapore is often the case in the pre-construction phase of development.[citation needed] But in many developing countries there is no effective means by which a lender could foreclose, so the mortgage loan industry, as such, either does not exist at all or is only available to members of privileged social classes. Ownership and Rights in Real Estate Real estate ownership can be manifested in many forms. There are also numerous ways in which someone without any ownership in a property can have some rights to its use. Real estate professionals need to know this information in order to properly advise their buyer and seller clients as to ownership rights in a property. Real Estate Property Ownership Can be Encumbered: Just because one owns real estate, it doesn't mean that they have full control over it, or that there aren't others with claims or rights to use of the property. There can also be limitations on the owner's use or transfer of the property. Types of Real Property Encumbrances Easements on Real Property: An easement is the Singapore wedding right of one party to use the land of another. Rights might include passing over the property to access another, using a pond for fishing, placing utilities across it, etc. Easements can be granted at any time, and under the right circumstances, they can be removed. Question: What is The Bundle of Legal Rights of a Real Estate Owner? Answer: Owning real estate carries with it a traditional "bundle of legal rights" transferred with the property from seller to buyer. These are the recognized rights of the holder of title to the property and include: • the right of possession - the property is owned by whomever holds title; • the right of control - within the laws, the owner controls the use of the property; • the right of exclusion - others can be excluded from using or entering the property; • the right of enjoyment - the owner can enjoy the use of the property in any legal manner; and • the right of disposition - the title holder can sell, rent or bali hotels transfer ownership or use of the property at will Ownership of land is holding "title" to it. The evidence of that title is the deed. The seller executes a deed to transfer title to real property and the bundle of rights that go with it. The Real Estate Referral Agent You're checking into BestCuts Medical Center to have your gall bladder removed. In the administration office, the operations manager is discussing to whom they'll assign your surgery. It seems you were referred by Dr. Jones across town and he's getting a 25% referral fee. "Let's give it to the new surgeon, Dr. Baker, as he's just out of internship and doesn't have much work yet. None of the top guys want it because they're busy and don't want to give up the 25%." Doctors don't do this type of referral business.....wonder why? Now let's look at MegaBiz Realty Franchise, and their office in Fargo, SD. Sam Smith is an agent and about to refer a seller client to someone in Memphis, TN. He pulls out free credit report the MegaBiz referral catalog, with all the franchises in it. He doesn't know anyone in Memphis, but looks through the franchise offices and agents there. He finds several with multiple prestigious designations and decides on the one that offers 30% for referrals instead of the others at 25%. Or perhaps he just refers to the office, to let them assign someone. Time for research - 30 minutes. Once Sam gets their referral form, he fills in the information and signs it to seal the deal. Time for form - 15 minutes including faxing. Sam now has 45 minutes tied up in this endeavor, but the clients are looking at $400k homes. 30% of $12,000 (3% buyer side commission) is $3600. That's $4800 per hour or $80 per minute. Why should this practice disappear? As with any product or service in our economy, huge compensation for minimal value is usually short-lived. Not so with this "referral money machine" in real estate. Proponents say: • The receiver is happy to pay the fee for reasonably assured business Ebook Readers for which they didn't have to market, nor expend resources. • The sender is providing a service of value to the receiving REALTOR® and should be compensated. • Don't shoot the messenger, but I recently saw this one in a discussion group - "The consumer client isn't paying for it and is receiving a service." No argument, some value is added by the referral process. Some even follow up with checks on the client to be sure they're being handled well. But there are those who also say: • Some referred clients end up with the least experienced agent in the house. • No amount of follow-up can create enough real value to justify the compensation. • The consumer absolutely does pay for it, as the commission is in the price. • Some receiving agents/brokers have been known to provide a discounted level of service to this discounted commission referral customer. The image of our industry agents and brokers can only be enhanced when we are perceived as providing valuable services for reasonable compensation. The Elliptical Machine referral practice only introduces a middleman into the process, and the payment received is grossly out of proportion to the value added. The Traditional Broker/Agent Commission Split The vast majority of real estate agents are compensated by a broker via sharing the gross commission amount that the broker collects. We're not discussing percentages charged to the client here, only the way the agent is compensated. Here's an example: 1. Gross commission amount of a transaction = $12,000. 2. Broker/Agent split of 50% broker/50% agent = $6000 to the broker and the same to the agent. 3. The percentage split is an amount agreed to by the broker and the agent and usually reflects the amount of services and support the broker provides. It can also reflect the volume of business the agent brings in. 4. If you're in the process of choosing a broker to hold your license, the split is important, but should be balanced with the services and leads provided by the broker. The 100% Commission Split Model In this compensation model, the website laten maken agent gets the entire commission. This model can pay 100% to the agent because the agent is paying a "desk fee" or monthly office fee. This can be a significant amount per month, but experienced producers prefer it because their costs are capped while their income is not. 1. The example from above would pay the full $12,000 to the agent. 2. In this model, the agent might be paying anywhere from a few hundred dollars to more than a thousand dollars per month for a desk fee. This fee is frequently based on the type and size of the office space the agent is given. 3. New agents generally are not interested in this model because of the fixed cost they must pay monthly. Not having any idea at the beginning of their commission income, new agents would find this method stressful. Also, few brokerages using this model want to take a new agent for these reasons. Referral Fees from One Brokerage to Another and Agent Split Referrals come "off the top" before commission stop dog barking is split. The referral is a negotiated percentage paid to another company for sending a client, either as a seller or a buyer. Here's an example of a typical buyer referral: 1. Brokerage A has a client selling their home and leaving the area. They refer the buyer client to Brokerage B in another state with a written referral agreement at a certain percentage of the final commission earned by Brokerage B. 2. Using the $12,000 gross commission from above, and an agreed referral fee of 25% would give Brokerage A $3000 for the referral, and Brokerage B's agent and broker would split the remaining $9000. 3. Using the 50/50 split from the first example would yield $4500 for the agent in Brokerage B. Some of the major franchises charge a percentage fee "off the top" of each commission to their franchisee brokerages. This fee would come off the commission before the Broker receives it and splits with the agent. Using a 7% franchise fee as an example: 1. The $12,000 gross commission from the free online dating deal would pay franchise $840, while broker and agent would split the remaining $11,160. 2. On the referral deal from above, the referral fee would normally come off first and the franchise percentage would come off of the $9000. The agent and broker would then split $8370. 3. Many consumers have the mistaken impression that their agent is pocketing the entire commission that they see on their settlement papers. It never hurts for them to be educated to these facts and understand the net commission actually received by the agent. Other Less Traditional Real Estate Compensation Methods With differing models appearing regularly for how brokerages charge their listing and buyer clients, there are many other ways an agent might be compensated....even by a salary. Some of the newer fixed-fee and fee-for-service listing brokerages are paying their agents a salary, rather than a commission. Some brokerages pay their agents a base salary and a lesser commission percentage for each transaction. In a lease agreement, there are various provisions and agreements between the lessor and lessee that Cheap Contact Lenses set out the rights and obligations of each. One of these might be an option for the lessee to renew the lease at the end of the period. The tenant would have the right, upon giving the proper notice, to renew the lease for another period. Another possible real estate option that a tenant or lessee might have is the lease/purchase option. This option would specify that the tenant has the right to purchase the property at a specified price during the term of the lease. In some of these arrangements, the lessor or landlord may also apply a portion of rental payments to the purchase price or down payment of the property. Elements of Real Estate Lease Agreements Possession of the Property This element of a real estate lease addresses the rights of possession of the tenant. The landlord promises the tenant the possession of the property for their enjoyment and promises that the landlord will not interfere with that possession. This does not mean that the landlord cannot enter the property, as it coupons is usually part of the lease agreement that the landlord have the right to enter the property for repairs or other activities outlined in the lease. How the Tenant Can Use the Property There are many types of leases, residential, office, retail,etc. All of these types may have reason to specify restrictions on use of the property by the tenant. A residential lease might forbid use for any business purpose. An office lease might state that the property can only be used as a "real estate" office. A retail lease might specify what types of product that could be sold in the space. In the absence of restricitions on use, the tenant can normally utilize the property for any lawful purpose. What is the Term of the Lease? Generally, leases specifically state a beginning and an ending date for the lease to be effective. This period, when set both front and back end, would mean that no notice to vacate would be needed. The tenant would vacate on the prescribed ending date unless a new cash advance agreement is reached. Leases can run for months or years. Some states prohibit very long leases in excess of 100 years, but it's OK in others. Generally the term is stated with a beginning date and an ending date and the total period. Example: The lease will run from January 1, 2006 through December 31, 2007, a period of two years. The Security Deposit Most leases have a provision for one or more security deposits against the possibility of non-payment of rent or damages to the property. Most states have stringent rules for how deposits should be handled and for whether interest should be paid to the tenant while the deposit is held. There are many times deadline timelines for refunding of deposits once the lease period is ended, the property is vacated and inspected for damage. Improvements to the Leased Property Generally, during a lease, there will be no improvements made by the landlord unless specifically called for in the lease agreement, or unless a new agreement is made in writing. The tenant may Car Insurance make improvements with the permission of the landlord, but they would become the property of the landlord at the end of the lease. Improvements clauses are much more prevalent in commercial leases. Offices and retail spaces are subject to modifications that are considered improvements and that are done to accomodate the business of the tenant. Maintenance of the Leased Property Maintenance elements of a real estate lease can vary significantly depending on whether it is residential or commercial in nature. In most residential property leases, the landlord is responsible for all repairs and maintenance. In commercial properties there are varying agreements made that could make some maintenance the responsibility of the tenant. As in any contract, the responsibilities of the parties should be carefully and completely spelled out to avoid misunderstanding. In the case of a retail or office establishment, there could be a requirement for maintenance of the fixtures, such as display cabinets, that would fall upon the tenant, while the structure and major building maintenance would be done by the landlord. Assignment or Payday Loans Sublease of the Leased Property If the tenant assigns their lease, it usually means that they've transferred all of their leasehold interests to the other party. In a sublease, the original tenant is re-leasing the property to another, with some of their interests transferred. The lease agreement will specify whether any assignment or subletting is allowed and under what circumstances. In many cases, the tenant retains some or all of their liability for payment of rents and responsibility for damage to the property. Options for the Tenant in the Real Estate Lease Many leases provide an option for the tenant to renew the lease prior to the end of the lease period. With the proper notice, the tenant can renew for another pre-agreed period. An example clause might read: "Any time up to thirty days prior to the expiration of this lease, the tenant can elect to extend the lease another six months by written notice to the landlord. The rental amount will be $xxx.xx per month for the new lease term." Another option is tenant screening the one to purchase the property during the lease period. Generally, the purchase price is stated and the landlord may or may not apply some of the rental payments to the down payment or purchase price. REAL ESTATE AS A BUSINESS? Joyce, the wife of the OFW whose husband remits to her $300 or PhP15,000 monthly wants to consider just buying real estate as an investment. She understood from our last talk that she should not invest more than PhP7,000 in real estate so that she can spread her risks. Her cousin, Tina, is offering her a piece of land in her province as an investment. It is 1,000 sq.m. for only PhP400,000. Her cousin is even willing to accept installment payments if she just makes a 10% down payment of PhP40,000. Joyce has the money for the down payment because her husband just received a bonus. Tina is willing to accept payment for the balance of PhP360,000 at the installment payments of PhP7,000 per month for 5 years or 60 months. This is actually Meladerm equivalent to paying Tina an interest rate of only 6.24% p.a. for the PhP360,000 balance due. Tina told Joyce that this is a good deal because the property is well located and there are talks that prices will at least double in five years (this means that the value of the property will increase by 14.4% per year) because the area will be developed very soon. Tina can’t wait for the development because she is getting married and living abroad. The monthly installment is something that she wants to give to her parents as a monthly gift because her husband will be giving her the same amount to give to her parents anyway. My comments are: 1. In terms of the money involved the deal does look okay if Joyce is able to: o Make sure that the PhP15,000 or at least PhP7,000 monthly remittance of her husband will really continue for 5 years and that she will have no other need for it except to pay for this property. o Investigate with the Registrar of Deeds that Reverse phone number lookup the value of property recently sold in the area to be really at least PhP400 per square meter. o Check out that the Transfer Certificate of Title (TCT) is clean and that it really corresponds to the property that was shown to you. o Visit the property to see that it does not have any squatters. Joyce will be paying less than the Php15,000 that she has available monthly so she has the budget to pay for real estate taxes and other expenses to maintain the land free of “talahib” and future possible squatters. o Ensure that the TCT can readily be transferred to Joyce after full payment considering that Tina will already be living abroad. Joyce should consult with a lawyer on this. 2. Joyce should try to understand if there is real basis in expecting the value to double in five years. She should verify from the local government whether or not there are approved infrastructure developments in the area and how long it will take. “Chismis” can never be reliable. She has to go there herself fitted wardrobes and check with the Registry or Deeds and the companies who will be developing the area. However, even plans of big companies can change. Then, she has to make an educated guess if the future increase in value will give her returns that are at least higher than the average annual inflation rate of 7%. If the property appreciates by only 7% annually, which is the average increase of property values, then the sales value of the property after five years will be PhP 561,000 or PhP527,000 after a 6% capital gains tax. This will mean that the effective return of this investment will only be 5.1%. This is lower than the average inflation rate of 7% and is therefore not that attractive as an investment 3. I need to remind Joyce that land, as an investment, is generally an illiquid investment. It is something she cannot sell very quickly if she needs cash. In this case, she can only sell the property after she has completed her installment payments and the TCT has been transferred hair loss treatment to her. Again, this is an issue that ought to be discussed with Tina and the lawyer before the down payment is made. 4. In this case, she should be able to sell the land at PhP600 per square meter after five years if she wants to make a return equal to at least the inflation rate of 7%. She must remember that she will have to pay for the transfer of the TCT (about 2% of selling price) after she has completed the installment payments. Also she has capital gains tax of 6% when she sells the property. 5. If Joyce is able to find other uses for the real estate to give her income, she should include that income in the computation of the returns she has derived from the property. This would of course improve the return on that property investment. 6. Let us assume that there is a small building on the property that Joyce has been offered for the terms given above. Let’s say that Joyce has the option to rent out space hostgator coupon in that building. In such a case, when she estimates her rental income, she should remember that she has to deduct the following from her rental income: o Cost of daily maintenance if there will be more than one tenant in the building as there will be common areas. o 20% vacancy rate. This means that there will be no income for about 2.5 months per year. o Cost of major repairs of the building o Possible non-payment of rent by the tenants. o In addition to real estate tax, municipal permits and income taxes. Title is a generic term that refers to the legal evidence of ownership one has over a property. It includes such documents as Tax Declarations, Real Property Tax Receipts, Deeds of Sale, and the Torrens Title. What we normally think of as title is actually a Certificate of Title also known as the Torrens Title, which results from the Torrens System of Land Registration. The Certificate of Title is the best form of evidence of land ownership. The following are some of the most commonly life insurance quotes encountered questions on Land Title and/or Land ownership in the Philippines. Pages * Home * Real Estate Articles Categories * Buyers Guide (5) * Foreigners Guide (3) * Real Estate Concepts (5) More and more articles will be written in the coming days. There will be guide for foreigners, real estate loans, home improvement, sellers guide, etc. Questions On Land Title Title is a generic term that refers to the legal evidence of ownership one has over a property. It includes such documents as Tax Declarations, Real Property Tax Receipts, Deeds of Sale, and the Torrens Title. What we normally think of as title is actually a Certificate of Title also known as the Torrens Title, which results from the Torrens System of Land Registration. The Certificate of Title is the best form of evidence of land ownership. The following are some of the most commonly encountered questions on Land Title and/or Land ownership in the Philippines. 1. How can one acquire Land Title? The easiest is through sale and by executing a document called seo company Deed Of Sale, which shows the legal transfer of title from the name of the seller to the buyer. The Deed Of Sale is then taken to the Registry of Deed to be officially recorded. This type of title is also called Transfer Certificate of Title. When no title has yet been issued over a parcel of land, Title it can be acquired either through: • Judicial proceedings – by filing a petition for registration in Court • Administrative proceedings – by a filing an appropriate application for patent (e.g. homestead) in the Administrative body (DENR) and registration of this patent becomes the basis for issuance of the Original Certificate of Title by the Register of Deeds. 2. Are there lands with no Land Certificate of Title yet? Yes and they are called public lands and include the following: • Alienable or disposable (A & D Lands) – those that can be acquired or issued title. The Philippines Constitution provides that only agricultural lands can be disposed of to private citizens. • Non-alienable lands – includes timber or forest stop dog biting lands, mineral lands, national parks. No title can be issued over any portion within this area. 3. Can a foreigner have the Land Title in his/her name? Unfortunately, the answer is “No”! Land Title can only be put in the name of a Filipino or a Corporation with at least 60% Filipino ownership. As a foreigner, it would be helpful to be aware of this limitation on your right of owning Land in the Philippines. Please refer to the article that discusses land ownership in the Philippines made especially to the foreigners. Value, Cost and Price of Real Estate Do you know that a mansion erected in a slam area will lose it value? Or a parcel of land with a small hut in the midst of commercial establishments will eventually rise up in value in some future time? The answers to these can be explained by the principles of Real Estate Appraisal or Real Estate Valuation. In this article, we will briefly touch the Economic Principles of Real Estate upon which those concepts are small dog breeds based. As an owner of a real estate property, it will help you understand why some real estate values rise and others fall. Definition of Terms Value is the utility or attribute of a property to satisfy human want or command other properties in exchange. Elements of value: * Scarcity. Limited supply of desired property increases its value. * Utility. The power of a good to render a service or fill a need. * Demand. The desire of a good or service; implemented by purchasing power. Cost is the combination of the factors of production to produce improvement or development. It may or may not be equal to value depending on whether costs are warranted or wisely made. Cost is historical and is a measure of things that happened in the past. Price is an expression of an individual’s estimate of value in terms of money. It may equal, exceed or be less than the value depending on whether the buyer is fully informed, acts under duress, or buys on favorable or unfavorable financing terms. Swimming Pool Economic Principles of Value 1. Principle of highest and best use states that the value of a property is directly related to the use of that property; it is the reasonably probable use that produces the highest property value. The current use of a property may or may not yield its highest value. 2. Principle of substitution. In concept, every good or service has a substitute or alternative. This principle states that the maximum value of a property tends to be set by the cost of acquiring an equally desirable and valuable substitute property, assuming no costly delay is encountered in making the substitution. 3. Principle of conformity. The idea that a house will more likely appreciate in value if its size, age, condition and style are similar to, or conform to, other houses in the neighborhood. 4. Principle of progression. The value of a property of lesser quality will tend to be increased by being in association with a properties of higher quality in the same area. 5. Principle of regression states that a aloe vera property of higher quality in a neighborhood of properties of lower quality seeks the value level of the properties of lower quality. 6. Principle of increasing and diminishing returns. “When one of the factors of production is held fixed in supply, successive additions of the other factors will lead to an increase in returns up to a point, but beyond this point returns will diminish” Any student of economics is aware of that. It was first written by Anne Robert Jacques Turgot. Applied to real estate, it means that as successively greater increments of land, capital, management or labor are applied to a property a greater yield is produced until a maximum is reached and there is a decline. Real Estate Markets Still Going the Seller's Way Canada has been cruising along positive territory after posting negative numbers in 2009. Market experts and real estate analysts are expecting record performance from resale and home building segments. However, they hasten to add that the industry is not in a bubble since there is no evident speculation male pattern baldness in the real estate markets. What is apparent in Canadian real estate markets is that they are more buyer-driven than seller-driven, which is not really surprising in a market that is experiencing tight inventory situation across all segments. Under the present condition, home prices may be going a little over their real value in some real estate markets, but this not necessarily mean that the markets are in a bubble. The Canadian Real Estate Association, in a recent announcement, reported that the resale segment is expected to post record performance in 2010, especially in the first half of the year. The market for resale home units is forecast to hit 527,300-level for 2010. This is equivalent to 13.3 percent growth in sales from 2009. There are no indications that speculation is getting into the decision making of both active buyers and sellers in real estate markets in Canada. Industry experts have attributed these events in real estate markets to the lower interest rates and the intention of home buyers to make the buy before the hair transplant harmonized sales tax is implemented. This is the prevailing situation in real estate markets in British Columbia and Ontario. Real estate markets are expected to go through adjustment phase once higher interest rates take effect in the second half of 2010. Riding on its positive performance in 2009, the new home segment is expected to be one of the most active sectors for 2010. The seasonally-adjusted growth rate has breached the 186,300-mark in January. This is equivalent to a 5.8-percent jump from December 2010 home-starts sales. On the other hand, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation predicted a sustained growth in this segment for 2010 when it reported a total of 149,081 units of home-starts sold for 2009. In the same report released by CMHC, sales of starter home units in urban territories reached 165,200 in January 2010 which is equivalent to 4.4 percent growth over the same period last year. On the other hand, total sales of multiple housing units posted a 4.4 growth, while detached home starts yielded a 3.3 percent in January 2010. towels Some sectors believe that the fear of possible bubble is being fueled by the remarkable rebound of real estate markets after the major economic downturn a couple of years back. However, market experts believe that this industry-leading performance will not be sustained. The frenzied activity will ultimately taper off once markets make the necessary corrections. These positive developments in the real estate markets come in the heels of the recent announcement by the federal Competition Bureau that it is challenging the rules that are being imposed by the Canadian Real Estate Association. The Federal Bureau contends that the prevailing condition limits the range of choices for homeowners. This has led to situations where consumers are forced to get services they don't need or desire. The Competition Bureau has already filed with the Competition their application seeking to repel the rules that are being implemented by CREA, particularly those that apply on the use of the MLS. There are ongoing talks between the Competition Bureau and the CREA to come out with a mutual agreement to Mage Monster resolve the contentious issues although there are no substantial results have come out from these talks. What is the Effect of the Current Economy on the Real Estate Market? The real estate market is a part of the economy. Thus, what happens to it affects the economy too. Likewise, the events in the economy also affect the real estate industry. The economy faced a lot of challenges in the recent years. Consequently, the real estate realm also faced the same ordeal. This proves that there is indeed a significant relationship between the two. The state of the economy definitely affects the industry. There have been positive effects in the past. People tend to shift their investment to the real estate when the economy is heading a downturn. Most will pull out their stock investments because they are uncertain of what will happen to the economy. Real estate on the other hand seems to be a more tangible asset that can safeguard their wealth. However, all of that changed in the recent financial challenges faced by the authority formula the country. The real estate industry has been gravely affected. This is due to the many events that ultimately led a lot of homeowners to give up their property. How did this happen? This did not happen overnight. It took a series of events. Although many are pointing fingers, everyone contributed to how the economy fell. Many consumers relied on their credit card, spending more than their means. Individuals are not the only ones doing this. Companies are making unwise choices as well. Many thrive on credits, and it seems to work for a while. However, the unthinkable happened. The financial assets of the leading companies depleted, even to the point of bankruptcy and the first casualties, the employees. Since many are losing their jobs, many are unable to pay their credit cards as well. In addition to that, many fail to settle their mortgage on time. The foreclosure rate skyrocketed and this started a meltdown in the industry. The number of foreclosed properties pulled the value of the properties down. In addition to that, Authority Formula Review the number of sellers in the market increased. This is accompanied by the decrease of the number of buyers in the market. The number of buyers is low for various reasons. One is the lack of confidence that people have in the economy. The consumers want to hold on to their finances because they are uncertain of what will happen to the market. Additionally, many are not thinking about purchasing a home because of the unemployment rate. Many are saving because they fear that they will lose their job anytime soon. There are also some positive changes brought by the crash in the economy. It has paved way for the property rentals to boom. More and more occupants are looking for a home to rent. This opened great opportunities to investors. There were also major changes as to the procedure of the loan application and home purchase. New provisions were implemented to protect the consumers better. There were various incentives given out to encourage more individuals to purchase a home. Today, the economy and the Fast Cash Commissions real estate industry are showing signs of recovery. Although they have not fully recovered, they are showing promising improvements. 5 Tips For Finding the Perfect Real Estate Agent Are you looking for a real estate agent to help you sell your home? If so, you certainly want to find the best agent possible. With so many agents available, narrowing down your choices to the best option can be a difficult decision to make. By keeping these things in mind, however, you will soon find a great agent to help you with selling your home. Realtors Versus Real Estate Agents The first thing you need to understand is the difference between a Realtor and a real estate agent. While all Realtors are real estate agents, all real estate agents are not Realtors. This is because real estate agents need to abide by a Code of Ethics and must meet certain educational and experience criteria in order to become designated as Realtors. Although it is not absolutely necessary to hire a Realtor, it does offer some assurance Straddle Trader Pro that the person you are working with is a true professional when you hire someone who is. Consider Referrals Whether the person is a Realtor or not, referrals are a key component to finding the right person to work with. After all, if other people have had a positive experience with the agent, you are more likely to have a good experience as well. Ask your friends and family to provide you with references and ask the client for referrals that you can contact. Attend an Open House Attending open houses is another great way to find a skilled agent. After all, when you attend an open house, you get to see the real estate agent in action. Pay attention to how the agent shows the house, including whether or not he or she passes out promotional materials and points out special features of the home. Pay Attention to Neighborhood Signs Neighborhood signs on houses that are for sale can also provide a good indication of the effectiveness of an agent. Pay particular attention to world flags when the sign goes up and how long it takes for a sold sign to appear, as this will give you a good idea of how long it takes the agent to sell a home. The agent who sells the quickest is generally better than the agent who has the greatest volume of "for sale" signs. Scan Through Advertisements Another way to find a competent agent is to scan through real estate ads. If you notice that a particular agent has a large number of listings within the neighborhood where your home is located, there is a good chance he or she is a specialist in that area. If so, this agent may be a good person for you to work with, as he or she may be able to offer insights that will help you move your home more quickly. Searching through online listings can also help you find the best real estate agent to handle your needs. While online, take a moment to browse through the Websites of the agents you are considering. memory foam mattress This will help you learn more about the agent's selling style, which will help you determine whether or not that person is a good match for your needs. Ryan Lynch runs the marketing department for an Austin real estate team. They specialize in West Austin and Lake Travis Waterfront Homes They help both buyers and sellers of residential properties. Getting to Know Real Estate Agent Titles When it comes to finding a real estate agent, you might assume that all agents are created equally. In reality, there are several different levels of agents that you can select from and it is very easy to get confused by the various titles and what they mean. To make matters worse, many agents add extra titles after their names in order to make themselves sound more important or knowledgeable. So, what exactly do these titles mean and how can they potentially affect the type of service the agent provides to you. Real Estate Agent One title you will certainly come across is that of a real estate agent. world flags An agent is someone who is licensed to sell homes, but who is unable to work for him or herself. As such, agents work for licensed brokers. In turn, these brokers are responsible for the actions of the agents. Real Estate Broker Another title you will likely run across is that of the real estate broker. In general, a broker will have more education than an agent, though this isn't always necessarily true. In order to become designated as a broker, the individual needs to meet certain requirements that are above and beyond those required of agents. Usually, these requirements involve obtaining a four year degree as well as completion of a certain number of college level real estate courses. For those without a degree, completing a certain number of classes in combination with a certain number of years of experience in the industry is necessary to obtain a broker's license. Either way, the individual also needs to successfully complete a broker's exam. This exam is typically longer and more difficult than the one completed car prices by an agent. After meeting the necessary requirements and obtaining the proper licensure, a real estate broker may chose to work independently or may hire real estate salespeople to work in his or her office. Broker Associate Yet another title you may see is that of a broker associate is someone who has obtained broker certification, but still works for another broker. Although broker associates can work for themselves, many choose to work within a larger network of RE professionals instead. Realtor When you see the title of Realtor, it means the person is either an agent or broker who is a member of the National Association of REALTORS(R) (NAR). In order to be a Realtor, the agent or broker must adhere to a Code of Ethic and must pay annual dues. Realtors also belong to various state and local trade associations and complaints against the may be filed with the local board. Although all real estate agents and brokers are not Realtors, many prefer to work with those who are because a Realtor must Phuket meet certain professional criteria in order to obtain this designation. Although you can obtain exceptional service from people with all four of these designations, knowing what and who you are getting involved with is an important first step toward ensuring that you enjoy a smooth transaction. Real Estate - Rock Solid The value of American housing sales in 2007 was $1.15 trillion with a total volume of some 5.85 million homes. More than 28 percent of these houses were purchased by average Americans for the explicit purpose of renting the home to a tenant. These investors defy the popular notion of a real estate investor as a slumlord or TV huckster. Most investors are average Americans looking for an investment alternative to the Wall Street roller coaster ride. ACCIDENTAL MAJORITY Wall Street has been selling trust, reliability, and predictability. Blue chip stocks and bonds bought from reputable brokers were considered the safest and most potentially profitable. Recent actions by formerly respectable firms and individuals have changed this forever. Many investors are moving away from Wall seo company Street and into real estate and discovering its numerous advantages. No one can live in a stock portfolio. Even if property values drop, a landlord still owns something. The house is still there, and tenants are paying rent. Under any circumstances, residential real estate has value to the current owner, any renter, or any future buyer. The value of real estate seldom, if ever, drops to zero. Rental income provides inflation protection. Traditionally, Americans are heavily invested in residential properties because of their home ownership. Some buy and hold houses for rental purposes. Others inherit a family home. Americans who have to relocate become accidental landlords when renting out a family home is the better alternative to an empty house and second mortgage in a slow real estate market. See Figure 1, page 7 to compare rents to an average stock investment. THE BOTTOM CANNOT DROP OUT OF A BASEMENT The principles of real estate investment are simple and the values generally understandable; anyone who has ever rented or bought even one home can grasp Cheap Contact Lenses the basic tenets. But it takes some education to understand the mechanics of buying, holding, and selling this kind of investment. Rental property investment is manageable. If the property is in good condition and the tenants are respectable, the situation generally takes care of itself. Residential properties are the ideal long-term buy and hold, especially when rented. MANAGING INCOME REAL ESTATE Those who are new to real estate investing will need to figure out how to make the most of these assets. Without guidance, and without intending to, a homeowner may become an accidental landlord, a circumstance few are naturally skilled at managing. The secret to making this all work is a reliable property management partner. Enter the professional property manager who manages rental houses, condominiums and apartments for the benefit of the landlord as intentional or accidental investor. But all property managers are not created equal. Tampa Property Management is an exception to the average property manager based on three facts: size, standardization, and national presence. Their mission is managing the rental home to medicare part d the comfort, benefit, and profit of all the parties involved: the tenant, the owner, and the property manager as a professional service provider. The Dos and Don'ts You Need to Follow When You Buy Real Estate Now that investing in real estate is well within your reach you must be itching to invest your hard earned money in buying a home or office. However, you must remember that although the market has eased up and it is now a buyers market you still need to be careful before you invest. Prudent investment in real estate will pay you handsome dividends later on, only if you follow the tips given below. Good neighborhood or a commercially viable place The value of your investment will go up manifold in the coming years if you invest in real estate wisely. A good neighborhood or a place that is thriving with commercial activity is always recommended. So, how do you evaluate a neighborhood? Well, a walk or a drive around the place can tell you a lot of things. cash advance loans Just look around and see if the houses in the area are well maintained. If there is a park or a public place then visit it and interact with the people and find out what kind of people live there. A good, clean neighborhood is preferable even if it is slightly expensive. The cars and other automobiles parked in the area will tell you all you need to know. Vandalized cars with dents and scratch marks mean that the neighborhood may have high crime rate. If the driveways and sidewalks are clean and look neat then it means that the area is generally good and such places should be preferred. Also enquire about the rental rates. Higher than normal rentals mean that the neighborhood is sought after and reliable. After all, you don't want to be stuck with an investment you can't liquidate when you want to. Identify a good intermediary or broker Although brokers have earned a bad reputation they do serve an important function when it comes to buying and selling real estate. dog training obedience Identify a good broker. You may ask your friends or colleagues for recommendations and zero in on one. A good broker, one who will protect your interest, should be identified. Don't let your previous impressions of brokers cloud your judgments. Remember that all big and profitable deals that take place happen due to the services of good brokers. Financing options Shop for the best deal you can lay your hands on. Meet a few reputed lenders and ask for their terms and conditions along with interest rates. Remember to ask them for everything in writing. Verbal commitments should play no role in your real estate deal. The best way is to ask for quotes from a few and do a comparison. Read the fine print and see if there are any hidden charges. You may also consider visiting your attorney/lawyer to get a clear idea. Lowest interest rates should not be your only criterion. Do not waste time over analyzing Once all the above things are taken care of and you have identified a good HCG Drops property it is time you went ahead with the deal after consulting your attorney. If you waste time over analyzing, chances are someone else will buy the property before you make up your mind. Remember, if you are looking at the property as an investment then it makes sense that you invest immediately when the prices are rock bottom or fair. Once the property has appreciated substantially it is wise to sell it and book your profits. Do not wait in anticipation for an even higher price as the next real estate bust may be round the corner. Dennis Frank writes informational articles on a variety of interesting subjects including information about Gillette Real Estate 10 Tips to Buy Real Estate Without Breaking Your Budget In every market condition, you need to keep your budget tight in order to make good profits in real estate investments. Here are 10 tips to help you get the most our of your investment budget. 1. Have your loan amount pre-approved. When you have an agreement with your bank, Retractable Awnings you can move quickly on deals. This also lets you prove to both the seller and real estate agent you are a serious buyer, not just shopping around for a deal. 2. Check out all financing options. Get creative with your thinking about financing. Check into low down payment options, combining first and second mortgages on your investment properties. These creative financing options can help you hold onto cash for working on your renovations to turn the property over fast. 3. Sell your previous project first. Having the cash in hand to buy this next property always allows you the most leverage possible on pricing. Being able to buy for cash also reduces your overall costs, eliminating mortgage interest payments, and other fees. 4. Look for empty homes. Empty homes often means the seller is very motivated. They may be paying two mortgages, and are ready to get a deal done today. Homes which have been vacant for a long period of time offer you even greater negotiating power. 5. Homes needing minor repairs can como bajar de peso be your best buys. Homes which lack curb appeal can be purchased well below the market values for the surrounding neighborhood. With a little bit of paint, and a lot of work, these homes can be increased in value substantially, resulting in a great profit. 6. Look for homes in major need of renovation in quality neighborhoods. The worst home in a great area is often the best investment. Buying the home at a low price, investing in the necessary renovations can allow you to sell the home at a much higher price. This is one of the greatest options for flipping homes. Homes in these nice neighborhoods demand higher prices, and sell quickly. 7. Check into home foreclosures. These properties can often be purchased well below market value, especially if they have fallen into disrepair. Check the HUD listings and local mortgage companies to find these great deals. 8. Older, smaller homes can be great investment properties. These homes are often overlooked by other investors due to their lower value. If the home is Smokeless Cigarettes priced properly, they can be renovated quickly, and sold for good profits. Often proper marketing is the missing ingredient. 9. Similar to looking for the worst home in a quality neighborhood, you can also look for the cheapest house in the best neighborhood. The home may have certain features which have kept the price down, which can be easily fixed with minor renovations. Make sure to figure your budget closely, and evaluate your profit potential. 10. Let local real estate agents know exactly what types of properties you are interested in investing in, and what your budget is. They can be your extra feet in the community to help you find great deals. Use these 10 tips to help you find quality investments to extend your real estate investment deals and profits. 4 Risks in Flipping Real Estate Buying real estate for investment purposes may seem like a lonely job at times. You do not need to feel alone, almost 25% of all properties sold in recent times are purchased as an investment property. If Daily deals you are one of the many people buying property for the purpose of flipping you need to watch out for the four points of risk. Ignoring these potential risks could quickly turn your investment into a loss. The first risk you need to consider is property taxes. Property taxes can be re-evaluated at any time, depending on the whims of the area appraisers. This can be especially troublesome if you are planning on keeping the house for several years before flipping it. If the area market is rising quickly in prices, or you make major improvements to the home, the appraisal can come back much higher, and your tax rates may jump through the roof. Your second risk is renovations costs. When you buy a fixer upper, you need to make sure the price is low enough to allow for the costs of the renovation. You must establish a firm budget, and keep your costs tightly under control. If the renovations require a long period of time, you need to be very aware of market Paleo Diet trends in the area. Downward price corrections in the neighborhood of your investment could suddenly turn your renovations into an area of loss. The third risk, which often catches new investors, is the added costs of using your property as a rental property, if it is not selling quickly, instead of inhabiting the home yourself. Insurance rates are higher, sometimes significantly, when the property is used as a rental. If you are using a mortgage to finance the home, you'll need to inform the bank or mortgage company of your plans. Most mortgages are rated for you to inhabit the property, and when it is purchased for rental purposes the interest rates may be higher. Keep this in mind if you plan to rent the property, prior to flipping it. You need to check these costs before making your investment, so you can properly evaluate the profits of flipping the property. The fourth risk is your local real estate market. You need to carefully evaluate the market in the area. If there is a glut ISO 9001 of open properties, you may have difficulty in finding buyers, and maintaining the sales price you need for paying the mortgage and other expenses. Knowing the facts about your market is critical in making proper decisions when buying properties to flip. These risks are all easily within your control, with proper research and planning. Renovation costs can be reduced greatly by doing some of the work yourself, or reducing the scope of work to the essentials. Offering a price, knowing the facts about your costs for insurance, and mortgage payments, allows you to buy the property at a profitable price point, or to walk away without a loss. Knowing your facts can help ease the challenges in flipping houses, and keep you on track for higher profits. Flipping houses just requires thought, hard work, and determination, to keep your business profitable. 5 Tips For Finding the Perfect Real Estate Agent Are you looking for a real estate agent to help you sell your home? If so, you certainly want to find the best agent possible. drug rehab With so many agents available, narrowing down your choices to the best option can be a difficult decision to make. By keeping these things in mind, however, you will soon find a great agent to help you with selling your home. Realtors Versus Real Estate Agents The first thing you need to understand is the difference between a Realtor and a real estate agent. While all Realtors are real estate agents, all real estate agents are not Realtors. This is because real estate agents need to abide by a Code of Ethics and must meet certain educational and experience criteria in order to become designated as Realtors. Although it is not absolutely necessary to hire a Realtor, it does offer some assurance that the person you are working with is a true professional when you hire someone who is. Consider Referrals Whether the person is a Realtor or not, referrals are a key component to finding the right person to work with. After all, if other people have had a positive experience with the agent, web marketing you are more likely to have a good experience as well. Ask your friends and family to provide you with references and ask the client for referrals that you can contact. Attend an Open House Attending open houses is another great way to find a skilled agent. After all, when you attend an open house, you get to see the real estate agent in action. Pay attention to how the agent shows the house, including whether or not he or she passes out promotional materials and points out special features of the home. Pay Attention to Neighborhood Signs Neighborhood signs on houses that are for sale can also provide a good indication of the effectiveness of an agent. Pay particular attention to when the sign goes up and how long it takes for a sold sign to appear, as this will give you a good idea of how long it takes the agent to sell a home. The agent who sells the quickest is generally better than the agent who has the greatest volume of Wedding Favors "for sale" signs. Scan Through Advertisements Another way to find a competent agent is to scan through real estate ads. If you notice that a particular agent has a large number of listings within the neighborhood where your home is located, there is a good chance he or she is a specialist in that area. If so, this agent may be a good person for you to work with, as he or she may be able to offer insights that will help you move your home more quickly. Searching through online listings can also help you find the best real estate agent to handle your needs. While online, take a moment to browse through the Websites of the agents you are considering. This will help you learn more about the agent's selling style, which will help you determine whether or not that person is a good match for your needs. Getting Started Finding Private Money For Your Real Estate Investments Have you heard the joke about the banker and his client? The client walks into car loans the bank and says to the banker, "I'd like to speak with you about a loan." and the banker says "Great - how much can you lend us?" Sometimes it seems like nothing you do will make the banks want to loan to you... and if that is the case private money can fill the gap. And even though we've never had to focus on it in the past, private money is actually something we've been using since the beginning - we borrow $10,000 for a down payment from a realtor we knew, we borrowed $5,000 from a relative to purchase an extra parking spot for the condo we were buying, or we secured vendor financing for the value of the property. These are all examples of private money - which is simply cash from an individual investor seeking a return on their investment. So if you're looking to buy real estate right now and the banks aren't looking at you favourably, then private money might be the answer. The easiest way to find private free ipad money is to ask everyone you know if they "know somebody that would be interested in making a monthly return on their cash backed by quality real estate." You might think you don't know anybody with that kind of money... but you also might be surprised at who you know that is really excited that you've offered them an opportunity to get into real estate. Start slowly... ask 5 people a week... and over a few months you'll likely find out that there are several people within your network that have anywhere from $10,000 to $200,000 or more to loan you on your next property purchase! Real Estate Selling Tips - Incentives That Will Close the Deal Things can really get tough for home sellers when we are in a buyers market. However, this does not mean that we will have to settle for the short end of the deal. There are still opportunities where you can work out a good deal with your potential buyer. You can use certain inducements and concessions in order bankruptcy information to finally convince your buyer to "sign on the dotted line." With things not going your way in the real estate market, it is essential that you exert more effort in order to make some headway without having to be perceived as being a hard sell. Though the market forces seem to be conspiring against you, a great deal is still achievable with proper planning and concessions which you can present at the negotiation table. Here are some of the effective concessions or inducements which you can consider in order to close the deal with your prospective buyer: Closing Cost You may offer to pay for the closing cost as a concession to your buyer. This will reduce the amount of equity that he has to raise to complete the home purchase. In most cases, real estate deals are easily sealed once this concession is presented on the negotiation table. Add on Furnishings This is a viable inducement when selling properties that are located in areas where relocation is very common. Buyers find a deal Minecraft Skins appealing when it involves a property that is partly or fully furnished. In some instances, your buyer might find a particular furnishing as interesting. You may throw in this furnishing as extra in order to convince the buyer to close the deal with you. Warranties The use of warranties is purely a judgment call. You may have to assume the cost of ownership of the furnace, dryer/washer or even the roof and foundation. Buyers are more comfortable in buying a property that is covered by homeowner's warranty. Gym Memberships, Condo Fees If the transaction involves upscale properties, you may have to assume this additional cost items in order to clinch a deal with a prospective buyer who is not inclined to shoulder additional cost outside of the home purchase. A fair offer may involve prepayment of these dues for six months. Rent-to-Own Option One way to close a deal in a slow market is to allow your prospective buyer to "test-drive" the property. The offer involves giving the right to your buyer to rent the web design company property for a fixed duration before they can finally purchase the property. In most instances, a portion of the rent is applied to the down payment to make the offer more attractive to the buyer. This option may present other responsibilities as you will have to shoulder repair and maintenance for the entire duration that your buyer is renting the property. Seller Financing If you already have significant equity on the property, then you might explore the possibility of seller financing with your prospective buyer. This can defray the amount of money that a buyer has to raise to complete the purchase. There are critical issues that you need to seriously consider when you decide to offer this kind of concession to your buyer. It is essential that you hire a real estate attorney to handle the legal matters. Real Estate Mortgage and RRSP - Is it a Good Mix? A lot of people are interested in the option of using their RRSP in order to finance their home purchases. There are two ways by Zenerx which this is done - through Home Buyers Plan or getting the home mortgage through RRSP. From the asset management standpoint, these options may not be a good idea. In this article, we will explore the consequential risk related to the home purchase and the possible ways that these can be prevented. Limited Opportunity for Diversification One the major downside of home investment is that it ties up much of your equity in one single asset. Most financial gurus emphasize the importance of diversification of the investment portfolio in order to smooth out earning potential and reduce the dips and peaks that characterize single asset investments. This is the main reason why it is wise to purchase mutual funds that are indexed. If you take hold of a few of every stock then you won't have to worry much if one company takes a big hit, so long as there is a consistent uptrend in the market as a whole. The same rule applies to real estate investment. Aside from owning a variety of real gold coast massage estate properties, it is also essential that you purchase a REIT. Once you make a purchase of a particular real estate property, you are in effect allocating a significant portion of your hard cash as investment on a single asset. Your net worth will be at the mercy of that single property. Once it goes down, your net worth will also take a dive. In general, this is not a sound business proposition, for your investment portfolio is not sufficiently diversified. Some Great Opportunities in the Horizon As a general rule, investing in real estate is not really bad. This type of investment is your safety net against inflation. If Canada is hit by double digit inflation, then the bonds and stock market will go on a nosedive. On the other hand, real estate property will not be directly affected by this economic condition and home prices will remain stable. You will also enjoy substantial tax incentives when you go for real estate investments. For instance, you are exempted from paying capitals gains tax if ipad 3 you earn significant profit from your main residence. These are the major upsides of real estate investment. Real Estate Investment - Its Impact on your RRSP However, the big question that you have to answer is whether it is wise to divert the money in your RRSP to your real estate mortgage. In general, it is not a wise business decision. You want to create some semblance of diversity in your investment portfolio. And the potential earnings from your investment in real estate is likely less than your potential earnings if your funds are left in RRSP. You are in effect degrading the level of diversification of your investment portfolio if you move your funds from your RRSP to your real estate mortgage. This is tantamount to making a bad situation worse. The home value is independent and immune from the dips and peaks in the stock market. There may be some instances where there will be a drop in the home value while stocks will go on an uptrend. Under a tight situation, banks Phuket Thailand Forum and Hotels will be forced to require higher down payment. If you have limited options, then you may have to liquidate some of your assets in order to cover the adjustment in the down payment. This is the main argument why it is essential that we take the route of diversification. This also explains why you must not move your funds from RRSP to your real estate property. How to Get Started in Real Estate Investing As a Bird Dog It is very difficult and risky to start in real estate investment especially if you do not have enough capital and experience to back you up. Also if you have bad credit it may seem impossible to begin investing in real estate. The risks involved can be life-changing since it involves large amount of money and it can disappear in an instant if it was used wrongly. However, there is also a way for you to get started in real estate investing even if you do not have the cash and experience. And most importantly, you will skin care products get paid. You can do so by being a bird dog. A bird dog is someone who searches for what real estate investors desire and get paid for whatever he may have found. He looks for properties that are being hurriedly sold, or properties that are abandoned, rundown, or for foreclosure. The bird dog will search for all these kind of properties and inform his investor about it. Once the investor has closed the deal, the bird dog will receive a commission for being able to find the property. To become a bird dog does not require any degree or capital. The only quality that you need to possess is the ability to find properties that investors can sell. To get started, you have to find a company whose line of business is buying problem houses. These companies will tell you from which town they are looking to buy. Just go to the specified place then you can start searching for properties. However, to be a good bird dog you must have the ability to hair loss feel which properties are saleable. No investor will work with you if you keep on giving those properties that are very difficult to sell. Bird dogging is not a regular 9 to 5 job. In fact, professionals even dedicate only about 3 to 4 hours a week for this kind of job. A bird dog can work in his own time while receiving full time pay. Depending on the investor, a bird dog may receive between $2000 to $5000 a month. The amount will also depend on the quality of the deal or on the profit the investor makes. Bird dogging is like an apprenticeship before actually stepping into the real estate business. This kind of job will give you enough cash and experience that you will need in this kind of industry. What is a Real Estate Short Sale? A short sale is a last ditch effort that a home owner can use to pay off his mortgage, if he has fallen behind on payments and is facing foreclosure. A short sale in the car mats simplest terms, is selling the property for less than the balance on your mortgage. If you still owe $100,000 on the mortgage, but you can only sell the home quickly for $80,000, that would be a short sale, but it is not quite that simple. Let's examine this in a little more detail. If you purchased your home for $200,000 before our current economic climate, you probably felt confident you could make your payments. Homes were rising in value and were a great investment. Suddenly our economy took a turn for the worse, and you or your spouse may have lost your job. Suddenly those payments look huge, you can't afford them. Then to make the problem even more daunting, the other homes around you are now either not selling, or selling for extremely reduced prices. Your $200,000 home is now only worth $140,000 and you still owe almost $160,000. You need to get out from under the loan, but obviously you can't sell the house for the full amount of your mortgage. Most people cheap auto insurance would assume that foreclosure is the only step remaining in this picture. This is where a short sale comes into play as a potential additional option. You would need to get an accurate estimate of your home's value. This could be in the form of an appraisal, or a broker's price opinion. Next comes one of the hard parts, finding a buyer interested in buying your home, at a price near the appraised value. You will need to get a signed deal, that is contingent upon your lender approving the deal. Now comes another hard part. Presenting your deal and your case to your lenders customer service department, and getting approval to sell the property at a price below the remaining balance of the mortgage. Here is where you need to be really careful. The lender may agree to the short sale, but still want you to pay the difference between the sales price, and the balance of the mortgage. In our scenario this leaves you with a $20,000 debt and no equity. That does Guru Masterclass not help. If you're lucky, your lender may approve the short sale, accepting the proceeds from the sale as payment in full for the loan. Another place you need to be cautious, if you are using a real estate broker to assist you with this process they will be getting a commission. You need to keep this cost in mind when figuring your total costs and risk. Why would the lender accept such a deal? Foreclosures are time consuming and costly for them, also. They may have too many foreclosed properties to deal with, especially in our current market. If you are struggling with your home payments, you many want to further explore the option of a short sale of your home. Things to Consider For Subject-To Real Estate Purchases A subject-to real estate purchase, where you are taking over the mortgage payments in exchange for the deed to the property, can be a great real estate investment tool. The subject-to transaction allow you great leverage of your money. You normally do not have closing Digital Marketer Lab costs, brokerage fees, and may not even need to pay any cash to the previous home owner. Sounds like a great and easy way to buy property, but it does come with a unique set of risks and challenges you need to be aware of. Your first challenge, make sure before you complete your deal, have a thorough title search done. You need to be 100% sure there are no additional mortgages or liens on the property. The deal may still be attractive, but unless you know the entire picture, you cannot invest wisely. If there are additional liens or mortgages, you will want to work out your investment plan to have them paid at the time you close your deal. A second major challenge, dealing with insurance. Insurance is not a simple "get a policy" issue on a subject-to deal. Since you are not the owner of record on the mortgage, if you drop the previous owner's policy the lender will be notified and will check why the policy has been dropped. If they Game Changer DNA discover the change of ownership, they may request full payment of the mortgage using their "Due On Sale" power. Definitely not part of our plan in a subject-to deal. You may need to carry two policies, but explore your possibilities. Our third challenge, make sure you have a clear plan for making money with your subject-to acquisition. This is an area that many new investors fail to plan. Are you going to rent out the property to cover the mortgage payments while you gain equity? Are you going to sell the property through a lease to own option? Are you planning to list the property for sale, and just wait for the right buyer, while you make the monthly payments out of pocket? While all of these are potential ways will make a profit, unless you've planned your profit making, you may overpay for a property, resulting in a loss. Plan your money making strategy in advance, and you can make a wise buying decision. The fourth challenge, convincing home owners to sell in a Christmas Gifts subject-to deal. You need to have a clear message to present to prospective sellers. The idea of retaining the risk of the mortgage while transferring the ownership to you, may be scary. You will need a clear plan of payments, and a detailed explanation of how you will protect them. If you are clear, confident, and have a plan in place, you will eliminate many of the home owners fears. You are going to be working with motivated, and anxious home owners who need to make a deal. By offering them a clear plan, you are giving them the opportunity they need, creating a win/win situation. I hope this list of challenges stirs your thinking, and allows you to plan successful subject-to deals. There are many more challenges, but the opportunity to build your real estate holdings using subject-to deals outweighs the challenge. The Challenge of Insurance For Your Subject-To Real Estate Deals A subject-to real estate transaction carries a unique challenge for home-owners insurance. Obviously, you must carry insurance to protect yourself, the lender, How to make a website and the previous owner. The challenge of keeping the lender unaware of the transaction creates a big challenge on the insurance front. If you drop the previous owner's insurance, the insurance company is required to notify the lender. Of course, the lender is going to immediately contact their owner of record, and ask about the change, and what policy is now in affect. They may also insure the home with their own insurance choice, usually at a much higher cost. The worst part of this method, they will become aware of change of ownership, and may call for full payment of the mortgage using the "Due on Sale" clause. One method is to just keep the insurance in the previous owner's name. This method while being safe from detection, and not changing your cost, does carry a major risk. The insurance company will be reluctant and may even refuse to pay for losses, since the holder of the policy has not experienced a loss. This increases your risk on the property dramatically. This method in WOW Gold not advisable. You can request the previous owner have you added to their policy as a co-beneficiary or as a named insured. This would give you more potential to collect on damages using the policy, since you are named on the policy. Check with your insurance advisor or attorney on this one. They will be able to advise you if this works in your state. If so, it reduces your risk, while keeping your costs low, and the opportunity for detection also stays low. The second method is the most expensive, but also the safest. Buy a second policy. You would maintain the first policy in the name of the previous owner, which solves the issue of detection by the lender. You purchase a second policy to protect your investment in the property. Of course, by doubling your insurance policies, you just added to your cost of owning the property. If you are renting or leasing the home, and your monthly payments allow you to carry two policies, this is the safest method to pursue. ppi claims Another strategy some investors use, place the property into a land trust. When you've moved the property to the land trust, you can change the beneficiary on the policy to be the trust. A owner can transfer the land to a trust without enacting the Due on Sale clause. While this is perfectly safe if your name matches the name on the mortgage, since this is a subject-to property it may catch the eyes of the lender and they will start digging into the records, and find out there was a change of ownership. Use this strategy carefully. As you can see, the safest route, but also most expensive, is to carry two policies. Planning in advance for your insurance costs for your subject-to acquisitions will give you the ability to still make great profits. How to Pass the Real Estate Exam Taking any exam is enough to make most of us break out into a sweat and taking the exam for your real estate license is no exception. The real estate exam is the same day loans last piece of the puzzle that stands between you and a lucrative career. Online schools have led us to an entirely new method of studying. There is now online testing preparation software that can help you ensure that you pass the real estate exam in your state, the very first time that you take it. Regardless of what material you are being tested on, knowing how to take a test is crucial. First you have to understand precisely what information you will be tested on. There is an overwhelming amount of information regarding the industry. An effective online testing aid will help you understand how much of that information will be included on the exam. Understanding what the exam will test you on can help you focus on the areas that are needed on the real estate exam. Once you are aware of the specific material that will be covered on the exam, there are practice tests included in the exam prep software that can help you locate the areas that you need help on. tinnitus treatment This further narrows down the material that you need to study more. You can study smarter without wasting time re-covering material that you are already comfortable with and keep the focus on areas where you need improvement. You will also have an explanation of every answer so you know more than the right answers, but what makes the answers right. Sometimes it's the most obvious advice that is the most helpful. The single most important thing to remember when testing on either practice or graded exams is to be sure to read all the words to each question. It is easy to skim over a word here or there when reading. One word can completely change the answer to a question, and the examiners know this. There will be choices on the exam that include what the answer would be if you skipped a word, so read carefully. Online exam preparation software gives you a familiarity with the material that brings calm to the process that is essential to a successful testing environment. Many people Invisible Fence crumble under the pressure as soon as they see the first exam question. Being able to take repeated practice exams that reflect the questions of the actual exam will alleviate this stress making you much more relaxed, an essential component to passing the exam for your real estate license. You can study every word of every text written about real estate and still not pass the exam. Being prepared for the exam requires a specific understanding of what types of questions you will get. Online exam preparation is the best way to ensure that you will be ready for any question so you can pass the real estate exam the first time. A Few Things You Need to Know About Real Estate Business Real estate is all about location: you can buy a wonderful property at a cheap price, but if there is no way you can rent it or sell it, it is an unfortunate investment. If you want to get in the real estate business, stop thinking about real estate as ordinary people: teddy bears there are no beautiful properties, but only properties that make profit and those who don't. As an investor the most important thing is profit potential. And to have profit, you must not overpay for it in the first place. So you should do your homework thoroughly before deciding to buy a property. Be skeptic about every offer and use a trained eye to spot the potential flaws. If you want to rent the property, choose an area with low vacancy rates: this will show you the area attracts tenants. Keep in mind that high turnover among tenants cost money: you must repair and clean the property, advertise, and screen the potential tenants. According to experts each vacancy costs two or three months of rent, so it is good to require a minimum of one/year lease from the tenants. A landlord's duty includes not only collecting the rent from the tenants, but also he is responsible for any repairs may occur. If your property is empty you must make time to find new tenants: first advertise hot tub covers your property, and then screen the candidates to make sure they have enough income to pay the rent. If they fail to pay, you'll have to chase your money. If you want to evict a non-paying tenant, carefully follow the legal procedures. You can choose to hire someone to do all these things for you, from fixing the faucet to screening the candidates, but all this will cost money. If you hire specialists to do all the work for you, your profitable property can easily become a money-loser: a company will charge you 7 to 10 percents of your rental income. It is a good idea to keep some money in an escrow account to cover repairs and other costs: otherwise you will have to cover all these costs from your pocket. If your plan is to flip the property, you should check it carefully: you can never be sure the property is truly undervalued, or it has some serious flaws. A cheap property can be the sign of a low profit potential or that discount furniture the area's market is not so good. Actually finding the right property to flip is quite time consuming. Flippers must search for the right property, and then they must do the repairs and renovations to increase the value of the property. Subject-To Deals, a Real Estate Investors Leverage Are you looking to start investing in real estate, but don't have any idea how you are going to finance the properties. The Subject-To deal, is one of many real estate investors favorite tools. Subject-To is the short way of saying Subject-To the Existing Mortgage being used for financing. As an investor you are looking for deals that allow you to leverage your cash, and to provide you with profit potential. By offering to buy the property by taking over the seller's existing mortgage, you avoid the expensive costs of real estate commissions, and the pain of getting a new mortgage, which may or may not be approved. To clarify this, the seller keeps the mortgage in their name, while signing over the deed/ownership of the home SEO Services to you, the investor. You as the investor agree to make all of the monthly payments on time. Depending on your particular deal, you may be offering the seller some cash up front, or you may be offering to give them a percentage of the profit upon your resale of the home. There is some risk for the investor in this type of deal. The first area of risk involves the bank or lender. Most of them have a "Due on Sale" clause in their mortgage agreements. With a subject-to deal, you are attempting to side-step this clause, since you now own the property. If the lender becomes aware of the property transfer, they may request that you or the home owner pay off the balance of the loan immediately. This is one critical reason you want to make every payment on time. The quickest way to bring the attention of the mortgage company is to start missing payments. A secondary area you need to be concerned with, is insurance. Since the insurance is currently payday loans online in the sellers name, you may not be able to make a claim. Or if you take out new insurance in your name, it will come to the attention of the lender when they receive the notice, which could start you down the "Due on Sale" process. You will need to be creative in taking care of your insurance needs. Why is the seller going to agree to a subject-to deal? Usually because they have an urgent need to stop making the mortgage payments. Maybe they have relocated and are currently paying two mortgage payments. They may have lost employment and want to be out from under the home payment. They could have a home in a slow market, and want to sell quickly so they can move on to another property or town. By learning to use subject-to deals, you can extend your ability to buy properties. Instead of buying one property per year, you may be able to acquire many properties each year, by taking over the sellers loans. Having the subject-to process mortgage help in your bag of options, will give you greater opportunities to expand your real estate investment business. Can a Real Estate Broker Help Me With a Short Sale? Using a real estate broker during your efforts to sell your home in a short sale can be very helpful. It will relieve you of much of the stress of leaning the processes, locating forms, and knowing who to contact. A broker with experience in short sales, will know the paperwork, and will be able to assist you. He will also be with you during the entire process, from sales to closing. A real estate broker who works with short sales is also a great source of possible investors, or individuals looking to buy a property at a great price. But there is also a big negative with using a real estate broker and that is MONEY. A real estate broker is going to earn a commission, which can often be around 6% of your sales price. This adds an additional large cost. If you are going iPhone Unlock to be responsible for the difference between the sales price and the remaining balance of the mortgage, that additional $6,000 per $100,000 of sales price may be overwhelming. You can find discount brokers who will work for a smaller percentage. Now the flip side of that big negative of paying a 6% commission, you'll have someone very motivated working to sell your home, to make sure the paperwork is 100% right, and who can eliminate an amazing amount of your stress. He also will take care of showing the home. I'm not going to tell you which way is best for you, but I know if I were in a financial bind, and trying to do a short sale on my home, I'd want to hold on to every penny I could. I'd rather invest a little in some great training materials and advertising to sell the home myself, applying what would have been commission to the repayment of my loan. I want to pay off that loan to the greatest extent possible. Now, if LED grow lights you decide you want to go the direction of using a broker, make sure you take time to talk to many brokers, and find out who actually knows the short sales process. Also, ask questions about how many short sales they have successfully completed. For this kind of sale, you don't want to mess around with the first broker that pops to mind. You might end up teaching them the short sales process, and for the cost of their commission, you want an expert. I think the biggest advantage to engaging a broker is his contacts. The experienced broker is going to know which investors are interested in buying short sales properties, and will contact them quickly, possibly getting your short sale underway much faster than doing your own marketing. Whichever way you choose, make sure you have a basic understanding of the process, and don't allow yourself to be uninformed on any step of your short sale. You'll be glad you kept your ears open. Commercial Real Estate to Follow Residential - Could it auto insurance quotes Be a Good Thing? Over the past year commercial real estate has been following the steady declines seen in residential real estate. This can be seen by looking no further than the fact that prices are down nearly 40% from 2007 and office vacancies have increased by 5% in 2009 alone. However, residential real estate has slowly began turning around, this has caused many investors and analysts to wonder if commercial property will stabilize in 2010. According to a survey conducted by Grub and Ellis, the commercial market is expected to decline by another 10% to 20%. At which point, the markets will go into the stage of flat lining, this is where prices will not decrease or increase rapidly. This is contrary to what some have been prognosticating for commercial, with it often being called the next shoe to drop. However, according to the Grubb and Ellis survey, when you look at the actual values of the commercial mortgage portfolio at various banks, it is clear that their values are significantly higher in spite online casino of seeing sharp price declines last year. Nationwide Grubb and Ellis expect vacancies to decline even more, with the total amount reaching 18.5% to 19.0%. This is the highest number on record since the firm began conducting the survey in 1986. When you look at the different sectors of commercial it is clear that the decline will be felt in all areas. This can be seen with industrial sector expected to post vacancy rates of 11.4%, while retail is expected to continue to remain weak. These different rising vacancies have meant that many landlords are unable to make their mortgage payments, leading to a rise in foreclosures of commercial real estate. A good example of this would be the Hancock Tower of Boston which is facing foreclosure because of rising vacancies. When you look at what the different figures mean for Boston, it is clear that the city's commercial market will face a mixed recovery of starts and stops. A good example of this can be seen with the predictions for Boston commercial property vacancies, annuities as offices are expected to see a 14.2% increase and 16.2% in industrial. What all of this shows, is that 2010 Boston commercial real estate will face downward pressure as rising vacancies fuel foreclosures. However, towards the end of year is when a recovery is expected in these markets as commercial property works through similar challenges as residential. If you are a home owner and are thinking how can I Sell My House Fast, I suggest using a company like ExpertHomeOffers.com to get connected with local home buyers. You can receive multiple offers for your home very quickly at no cost. Planning to Buy Real Estate? If you are planning to buy real estate in New Zealand, there are some simple steps to follow to ensure you get the best return and enjoyment from your dollar. Whether it's your first home, a new place, or an investment property, there are basic guidelines to help you make the right decision for you and your future. For most people buying a house is the biggest purchase they'll iphone ever make. Yet it is one that is so easily swayed by emotion and desire, without considering some very important factors that will make it a good buy. If you work through a list of "must haves or must dos" you are far more likely to find the house for you that also meets all the criteria for a good investment. While it may feel odd talking about your future home as an investment, as it is something you'll be paying large sums of money into every month, you need to make sure it's money spent wisely. If you plan to buy real estate in New Zealand, then think about the following: 1. What sort of place do you actually need and where should it be? It may be hard to separate them, but the needs list should be different to the wants one. Many of us want a walk in wardrobe and an in-house movie theatre, but they may not be deal breakers in a purchase. Create a list of critical requirements (such as acid reflux diet a minimum number of bathrooms or bedrooms, and perhaps where it is in terms of other amenities.) You can still have a wants list to refer to as you go just in case. 2. How much can you spend? Your budget is going to create a window of availability in terms of the type of home and the locality of it. Make sure you mentally reduce your limit when shopping by around ten to twenty thousand so that you've got a little leeway if you find that perfect wee place and it's a bit more than your limit. 3. Is it a good investment? It does feel strange to talk of a place that will be your home, or the home of your tenants, as an investment, but it is. Is it in an area where there is expected growth? Is the value likely to appreciate? This is important for your long term plans. When you buy real estate in New Zealand, make sure you are happy with your purchase, so you can enjoy the chiropractic marketing bricks and mortar result of your investment every day you own it. Real Estate Lease Options Lease options have been around for a very long time, but in today's state of the economy they are regaining popularity, and investors are making money by using this creative and fast strategy. Since mortgages are very hard to obtain and the inventory is at an all time high, many sellers opt to offer "rent to own" or "owner finance" properties, in the hope of a stabilization of the market or to secure a buyer with borderline credit, who is in the process of cleaning up his/her credit or build an employment history. As an investor, who is looking to make some money fast and with limited risk, especially with very little to no cash available for investing, using the sandwich lease option strategy is a great way to make some money and at the same time establish relationships with other investors/buyers and lenders. The way it works is simple: 1. Locate some potential renters, especially want-to-be owner financing buyers. free credit score Just run an ad on Craigslist, local papers and look for "owner financing wanted" ads. Screen the potential renters for what type of house they are looking for, credit and employment situation (borderline prospects, who are looking to improve their current situation, are best.) 2. Look for properties that meet the criteria of the potential renters: these properties are located through advertising. Don't overlook "For Rent" signs on single family homes - many of these owners are willing to owner finance these houses, even if they don't advertise so. 3. Make an offer on the property and secure control of the paperwork. There should be a clause in the paperwork that authorizes the investor to sublease the property with owner approval, meaning that the owner might want to double check the credentials of the tenant occupying the property. 4. If the house price to you is $100,000 5 year lease, $1,000 per month, 20% toward downpayment, write the offer for the tenant as a 2 to 4 year lease option with 5% per year. This is where you places to eat make your money. In 2 years the property would sell for $110,250, and $121,550 in four years. Also make sure that the option money that the renter pays to you as at least $2,000 over what you have to pay to the owner, so you can make some money upfront. One last tip: try to show the house to the prospective renters/buyers at the same time to create a sense of urgency. Competition will drive a faster offer and more option money. Laura Al-Amery is a real estate investor and consultant with over 20 years experience in several aspects of the real estate business. She has practiced real estate in Hawaii and Missouri, and presently lives in St Louis. She has hosted real estate seminars in St Louis for over 10 years, in real estate subjects like creative financing, building wealth with multi family buildings and short sales. Real Estate Investing - How to Flip Houses for Quick Cash Have you seen the show flip this house? What they do is buy and property for Carpet Cleaning London pennies on the dollar, fix the property up and then resell the house and make 20 thousand or more. This is a great strategy if you have the money and don't mind waiting around 3 months to get your property sold. I want to talk to you today about a strategy where you can make five thousand or more in less than 30 days and more importantly with less than 8 hours of work. So what is the magical strategy? If you guessed wholesaling real estate than you are correct. Wholesaling houses is the best house flipping method around and the quickest method to produce cash in real estate investing. The best part is that you can do this with little or no money of your own. So how do you wholesale or flip houses for quick cash? 1) Find a cheap house With the current state of the economy and real estate market this is no shortage of motivated sellers out there. A seller can be motivated because of financial troubles, foreclosure, bad tenants, Online Payday Loans inherited an unwanted property, divorce and so on. What I do is send all of these people a letter telling them how I can possibly help them. You can also find endless leads online with a nice fully optimized web site. 2) Negotiate and sign a contract Because motivated sellers just want to sell fast and put their problems behind then, you really have lots of room to negotiate if there is equity in a deal. Once you have negotiated a price, ran some numbers to make sure the property is a good deal you can put the property under contract. Contracts are very simple to fill out but can be confusing at first. Ask a local realtor to show you how to fill one out. 3) Find you Investor Buyer When dealing with investors you want to work with cash buyers. Cash buyers are investors who can close on a wholesale deal with cash, and not have to go to the bank and get a loan. Closing on real estate with all cash makes Iphone 4 Cases the process run a lot smoother and goes quickly. Where do you find cash buyers? Check your local real estate investors association, foreclosure auctions and networking events. Believe me there and more cash buyers out there than you think, you just need to find them. 4) Assign you Contract Once you have found a cash buyer you will want to assign your contract to this buyer. All you need to do is have an assignment form, fill out the form, put in your wholesale fee, and then sign it. An assignment of contract simply assigns your right to buy the property to someone else and then you are not liable for the property. 5) Start your title work Some people say that you should start the title work right when you put the house under contract but I like to have a buyer first, that way to can take the contract, assignment and everything to the title company together. And because you will not always find a buyer for every deal you will sometimes have hcg diet to cancel your contract. If you have started title work you may have to pay for what they have done. The title company will do everything that needs to be done from this point on, they will set up the closing and make sure the funds are in place. 6) Collect your Check All you do now is sit back and wait for your check. Wholesaling real estate is not as hard as you thought. Sometimes you will want to check in with your buyer and seller to make sure everyone is happy. What else should you know about flipping houses? Flipping houses is not as hard as you would think; all it takes is a little bit of time to educate yourself and to market your business. Right now wholesaling real estate is the best house flipping strategy to use. Proper Use of Assumptions in a Real Estate Pro Forma In order to create a real estate pro forma for an income producing property you will need to make assumptions. These assumptions will be used to project your property's cash flows into the future. You may also need to use assumptions to generate your property's current operating budget as you may not have the ability to get exact budget numbers if the property is not on the market. Without knowing the current operating budget, you will need to use assumptions to calculate your property's cash flows today, and then use more assumptions to project your property's cash flows in the future. In order to start your pro forma, you will need to input or calculate your property's Net Operating Income (NOI), which is equal to operating income minus operating expenses. If you do not have exact figures for your property's operating income and expenses, which is the case for most real estate deals, you will need to estimate them using assumptions based on market information and standards. Solid, realistic assumptions are the building blocks of a good real estate pro forma. The most common assumptions you will need to generate NOI are rental rates, expenses rates and vacancy rates. For rental rates and vacancy rates, you should use the industry average rental rate for similar buildings in your market area, usually quoted as dollars per net square foot for rental rates and a percentage for vacancy rates. For expense rates, you should estimate the total annual operating expenses, usually in dollars per net square foot ($/NSF). These are expenses necessary to operate the property such as electric, water, landscaping, maintenance, etc., as well as taxes and insurance. Each industry sector and lease deal will have different assumptions for this expense. For example, retail and industrial leases are typically triple net (NNN), meaning the tenant pays all operating expenses; therefore, this assumption would be close to zero. If your property is an office building, you should assume you will need to pay a portion of the operating expenses. Once you have generated your property's current NOI, you can then use assumptions to project cash flows into the future. This is typically done using the inflation assumption. Inflation is the assumed rate by which a cash flow will grow over time. It is typical in a real estate deal to assume inflation of NOI will be generally close to the CPI (Consumer Price Index), or the general inflation or your current market. If your inflation assumption is too high, the compound effect will greatly exaggerate your future cash flows and give you an incorrect valuation of your property's future value. It is important not to over-estimate your inflation assumption. Once your assumptions are input and your pro forma is created, it is important to run sensitivity analysis on all your pro forma assumptions. Sensitivity analysis is performed by changing each assumption (up and down) and understanding how those changes in each assumption affect your pro forma outputs, such as IRR and NPV. Sensitivity analysis can help to pinpoint the assumptions that are critical to your pro forma. Real Estate Investing Book - What Are The Benefits Of Buying a Real Estate Investing Book Real Estate investing isn't any longer the special diversion of rich businessmen. In today's world property has become a standard monetary motion for individuals from all walks of life. This trend can possible to still perform can into the predictable future. This alteration is because of elimination and concentration on company pension plans. A real estate investing book will increase the information and knowledge within the property field. Those who speak in property market are the individuals with expertise in property business. A true estate book that is introduced in electronic format is named as property E-book. A real estate book may be a assortment of paper, parchment or different material, certain together along one edge among covers that contain info regarding property investment business. A true estate book is additionally a true estate literary work or a main division of such a piece. Property investing books may be studied by real estate course students within the type of a book report. This book might also be browse by a true estate skilled or property business man who would love get a lot of information regarding some topic associated with property. There are many suggested property investing books on the market for increasing your property investing information and improving your property business. Investing in book of real estate is one amongst the smallest amount risky forms of investments books you'll read. Instead of investing in hit or miss stocks that are typically unpredictable, investing in property could be a rather more stable market. If you create a wise property investing book purchase, you may be ready to increase your investment's value over time although you place very little or no information or basic concepts into it. The purpose of the investing in book is to provide all the required info so you'll get new skills and educate a lot of yourself in property investing field, So as to induce proven profitable results from your investments within the stock market! The investing book intends to not solely offer recommendation on investments for beginners, However additionally aims to supply recent concepts for knowledgeable investors. The investing book additionally offers a listing of investing terms and necessary phrases that the investors would want to be well-known with upon their embarkation into investments. Tips and Truths About "Turn-Key" Real Estate Investments Real estate investing often lures many people into thinking that with a few swings of a hammer, hefty profits will follow. In fact, real estate investing is a very complex subject with lots of moving parts, risk and pitfalls. That's one reason why so many educational products, programs and gurus stay in business. In recent years, numerous companies have created "turn-key" real estate investments to simplify the process for new and existing investors. I'm defining "turn-key" as an all-inclusive service that acquires, renovates, sells and/or rents properties for the investor. But do they really work? The answer is, some do, some don't. Be careful. Let's take a closer look. First, real estate investing is a "profession" that requires the investor to master numerous disciplines and nomenclature in an ever-changing market climate, including: • Market Analysis • Property Analysis • Acquisition Strategies • Exit Strategies • Asset Protection • Property Management • Financing • Renovation • Contracts and Contingencies • Sales & Marketing • Negotiation Whether you're getting started, part- or full-time investing with real estate, there are always new tricks to learn. So using TK platforms gives the investor the ability to leverage the expertise of the individuals within the company, and supplement any gaps in his/her own knowledge. Next, these programs can deliver the benefit of bulk pricing. In some cases, the TK provider has greater buying power than an individual, and therefore can offer discounted properties. This saves the investor the time and trouble of researching hundreds of properties, trying different acquisition strategies, and making lots of offers. Can't swing a hammer? No problem. Turn-key real estate investing programs often include renovation work in the purchase price. However, many pitfalls lurk in the renovation process. I've heard of some providers who made promises about the quality of work and later were found to be untrue. One thing I like about these types of programs is an investor can diversify his/her portfolio by accessing properties in stable markets, perhaps outside of their primary residence. Numerous markets are doing well, although news reports rarely say anything about that. So whether you live in Florida or California, through a quality TK program, an investor can create income from solid markets with low unemployment, low vacancy rates and good economies. Look out for "hidden costs." Some programs don't disclose the related costs associated with closing, pre-paids, property & casualty insurance, home warranty, and renovation. Turn-key operations require numerous affiliated partnerships to get the job done. So check out who is on the team doing the various tasks. That brings me to one of the biggest challenges with turn-key businesses. There's no profit or return on investment without a retail buyer or rental tenant. So know your exit strategy and verify your turn-key business has a sales and marketing plan in place to solve this challenge. Ask "what if" questions, like what if the tenant or buyer defaults? What if the renovation work exceeds what I was told? What if the turn-key provider doesn't find me a buyer or tenant? I created a turn-key real estate investing company called America's Home Program which is a comprehensive service that successfully addresses each of the challenges mentioned in this article. I've put everything together for the investor, so the only decision to make is "how much do I want to invest?" Real Estate and Social Responsibility The recent Great Recession highlighted the interdependency of the U.S. social structure to the real estate industry. As the real estate market froze to a standing halt, so did the whole U.S. economy. Government officials and regulators should have expected such results as real estate employed more Americans than any other sector. Prior to the Great Recession, 60% of U.S. assets were tied with it. This occurred due the free market philosophy entrenched within the U.S. economic foundations. The properties are mortgaged to pay for sales or to enable owners to access their equity. Mortgages are bundled and divided up in accordance to average credit rating of total borrowers and other variables. Investment banks and other financial institutions purchase and trade mortgage bundles to acquire more capital. In addition, insurance companies and retirement funds purchase mortgages to increase cash flow needed to cover for monthly payments. Furthermore, this particular industry employed many Americans. Most individuals are quick to recognize the agents and brokers. In addition, the industry includes appraisers, construction workers, civil servants employed at all government levels and many more. Many other industries are also connected to real estate. Production and manufacturing of construction materials, as well as points of sale and transportation of goods to construction sites from sales locations are few of such connected industries. For example, in order for a house to be build, the builder must purchase a real property, conduct a soil test, contracts an engineering firm for designing and drawing, hires a licensed contractor to build, and purchase all the material needed. The U.S. real estate industry is very influential in domestic politics. Following the collapse of the prices, many such associations lobbied the government to enact restrictions against foreclosures. The government was split between supporting the frontend (sales and home owners) and the backend (financial institutions and holders of liens). As a result, the government passed special tax credit to stimulate the sales and offered government backed modification through HAMP. As for the backend, the government invested heavily in many of the different banks who operated within the United States. Commonly known as "bailout", government assistance to financial institutions allowed those organizations to survive the worst recession in modern history of humanity. By offering a double deal to help both sides of the equation, the government acted in accordance with the principle of social reasonability. Many homeowners faced growing harsh times and needed the government to force holders of mortgage deeds to accept renegotiated mortgage agreements. At the same time, financial institutions are some of United States biggest employers. By saving them, the federal government curbed the down spiral of collapsing economy. In addition, saving such big businesses helped the United States maintain its attraction as a fertile ground for economic growth. The Luxury Real Estate Market in Spain One thing above all others is very clear in Spain amongst a plethora of other countries, that is that the real estate sector has suffered horrendously in the last couple of years. The market can be segmented though and some areas have responded better than others of course. The better areas were cushioned from the recession and the areas of individual luxury Spanish villas and luxury real estate in Spain have fared a lot better than the areas where there are an oversupply of similar properties aiming at the middle or lower ends of the Spanish property market. In Spain the luxury real estate market is now looking reasonably healthy. Prices have certainly dropped but they were the first to stabilise as soon as the excess stock was absorbed. Many people who had overstretched themselves got into trouble as interest rates rose to levels they hadn't been before and others in that area were bankers, lawyers and other professionals etc... whose industries disappeared almost overnight and they were unable to pay the large mortgage repayments that came with the territory. The now famous distressed sale market grew and virtually disappeared quite quickly as this excess was soaked up by those who had previously wanted to buy in the luxury areas but the price was slightly out of their range. As distressed sales appeared and were comparatively cheap they dragged the market down with them of course. Now they are largely gone the anchor on the market has gone too of course. Not that I am suggesting price rises but with low interest rates in all of Europe, where many of the luxury property buyers come from, and the fact that those counties are slowly coming out of recession, many people now looking to buy in Spain at good prices. It is unlikely that in this particular sector at least there will be any further price falls. As there are limits on the number of luxury Spanish properties on sale the scarcity principle should come into play and maintain prices long and medium term. So where are the luxury properties? Spain has many areas that are havens for the super rich, the obvious candidates are Marbella, Andratx in Mallorca, Catalunya, sprawling city centre pads in Madrid and Barcelona, the more exclusive golf resorts dotted around the country and the Canary Islands noted for their weather all year round are also popular in this field. Valencia, where I am based, also has its luxury areas where the professionals, football players, and those with a lot of spare money have set up home. The areas of Monasterios and Alfinach near to Puzol nestle into the mountainside overlooking the Mediterranean while Campolivar has probably the largest agglomeration of ego homes in the area being just five minutes from the. Rocafort and Santa Barbara tend to be the favourites of the Politicial class and the area around the two golf courses at Betera and El Bosque near Chiva are packed with million Euro homes with beautiful views over green fairways and manicured lawns. For more information on the properties available in these areas, where there is still an overhang of bargains available then click on the links in the author box below. It's Good to Invest in Real Estate Now There's a growing impression that it's not a good idea to put in some money in real estate at the moment. What happens is people read the newspapers or turn on the television and they get all these numbers, about how foreclosure rates have risen and how property values continue to plummet all around the country. And so it's very easy for people to think that the whole country is losing value but it's really not at all. One thing to keep in mind is that these national averages and percentages fail to accurately depict real life market situations. One of my fundamental laws of real estate is that it's local, not global. Case in point, the latest foreclosure market report from RealtyTrac ® shows that 1 in every 416 U.S. households were foreclosed. That number is far from encouraging but then again, it does not show the great degree of variance in between local markets. California reported a rather dismal foreclosure rate of 1 in 130. Nevada had it even worse at 1 in very 91. On the other hand, Texas only had 1 in 849. That's a markedly huge difference. Astute investors understand that real estate trends will always be highly localized and they are able to make this work in their favor. One of the key things is defining which investment strategy to employ and then, selecting a suitable market for that. For instance, if they employ a long term buy and hold strategy, they go into a robust market with very little fluctuations and shows a steady rate of appreciation over time, sufficiently protecting themselves from unpredictable liquidity events. Ideally, they also get their property to generate passive monthly cash flow in between the time that they purchase it and the time that they decide to sell it. What more people need to see is that there are very real opportunities in the market right now and they should not be discouraged by these supposed national market trends. By focusing instead on local trends, they'd be surprised to find that now is in fact one of the best times to invest in real estate. For one thing, there's an abundance of inventory and it's quite possible to find some really really good deals. Furthermore, like I mentioned in my last post, lenders would likely be more inclined to lend now than they might be in a few months. If certain changes in policy do occur, then these financial institutions may be discouraged to lend as much. As things are, anyone thinking of making an investment in real estate would be smart to do so as soon as possible. Real Estate Referrals Made Easy - Perfecting the Lost Art of the Pop In With the advance of cell phones, email and texting it has made it extremely easy to communicate with anyone at anytime, however it hasn't come without a cost. Face to face communication has become a byproduct and of all the personal touches you make in a great follow up campaign to your past clients, pop-in are probably the best and most valuable contacts you can make. Twice a year visit everyone in your SOI (Sphere of Influence) and thank them for past business with a small gift and ask them if they know anyone that may benefit from your services. Here is how we've done this in the past - we divided our SOI into 6 groups. For example Group 1 = SOI members whose last names began with the letters A-D Group 2 = SOI members whose last names began with the letters E-I Group 3 = SOI members whose last names began with the letters J-M Group 4 = SOI members whose last names began with the letters N-Q Group 5 = SOI members whose last names began with the letters R-T Group 6 = SOI members whose last names began with the letters U-Z Another option is dividing them up geographically by where they live. When we first started the program we had about 300 people in our Sphere of Influence not including people that lived out of town. So by dividing 300 people by 6 (since we plan to touch them every 6 months) we had approximately 50 people we needed to drop by each month. Depending on whether or not the people are home these pop-ins can go very quickly or take a long time. Remember the goal of the "pop-in" is to build your relationship with your SOI. Don't rush just to get these gifts out or you'll defeat the purpose. Once a month we would make a trip to a local dollar store. We would then search for items that looked like they may have cost around $5-10. We purchase enough of these to cover one sixth of our SOI - it actually works better to divide your list up front and know how many items you will be delivering each month. When we started we were buying for about 50 so at times we might have to visit several different stores or pick different items (remember it really doesn't matter). We searched for items around the holiday of the month (as most months have a holiday) such as ceramic jack-o-lanterns, miniature flags, ceramic turkeys, chocolate roses, etc. We would then wrap the items in tissue paper and attach a business card and small note with ribbon and hand deliver these to one sixth of our SOI each month - so that person on our SOI (that lived locally) received two gifts each year. For example, in January of the first year we begin doing this we might deliver all of our SOI whose last name began with A-D a glass snowman. In February we would lake all our SOI whose last name began with E-I a chocolate rose, and so on. Once we got through our entire SOI we would do it again so everyone was receiving a small gift every 6 months. We rotated the list each year by one month so that the same people didn't get something for Valentine's Day or St. Patrick's Day every single year. During our busy season, we actually paid a college girl to do all this for us and it worked out quite well. However, it was more effective when we delivered the gifts ourselves. Try delivering on weekends or evenings so you will have the opportunity to actually visit with your clients since there will be a greater chance of them being home. Also, depending on how big an area in which you live, a more feasible way to deliver these might be to divide your SOI into zones where they live rather than by last name. Is Real Estate Still a Good Call? There's a growing impression that it's not a good idea to put in some money in real estate at the moment. What happens is people read the newspapers or turn on the television and they get all these numbers, about how foreclosure rates have risen and how property values continue to plummet all around the country. And so it's very easy for people to think that the whole country is losing value but it's really not at all. One thing to keep in mind is that these national averages and percentages fail to accurately depict real life market situations. One of my fundamental laws of real estate is that it's local, not global. Case in point, the latest foreclosure market report from RealtyTrac ® shows that 1 in every 416 U.S. households were foreclosed. That number is far from encouraging but then again, it does not show the great degree of variance in between local markets. California reported a rather dismal foreclosure rate of 1 in 130. Nevada had it even worse at 1 in very 91. On the other hand, Texas only had 1 in 849. That's a markedly huge difference. Astute investors understand that real estate trends will always be highly localized and they are able to make this work in their favor. One of the key things is defining which investment strategy to employ and then, selecting a suitable market for that. For instance, if they employ a long term buy and hold strategy, they go into a robust market with very little fluctuations and shows a steady rate of appreciation over time, sufficiently protecting themselves from unpredictable liquidity events. Ideally, they also get their property to generate passive monthly cash flow in between the time that they purchase it and the time that they decide to sell it. What more people need to see is that there are very real opportunities in the market right now and they should not be discouraged by these supposed national market trends. By focusing instead on local trends, they'd be surprised to find that now is in fact one of the best times to invest in real estate. For one thing, there's an abundance of inventory and it's quite possible to find some really really good deals. Furthermore, like I mentioned in my last post, lenders would likely be more inclined to lend now than they might be in a few months. If certain changes in policy do occur, then these financial institutions may be discouraged to lend as much. As things are, anyone thinking of making an investment in real estate would be smart to do so as soon as possible. Real Estate Agents - Are They Really Overpaid? Welcome to my world. The rough and tumble bubble of real estate sales. I know there are a lot of folks out there who feel we are overpaid for our services, however, I'd love to walk you through a recent scenario, to hopefully shed a little light on what we actually experience on an all too regular basis. Clients have already purchased their new home, out of province, (no pay day here) and the sale is pending the sale of their existing home. The market is strong, so even though they are under the gun to sell, human nature takes its toll and they go on the market $15,000 higher than my recommended asking price, confident the market will support the price. Never mind the circumstances, the fact they need to get a serious purchaser before they are able to close on their new one. They are confident...no house presently on the market offers what theirs does. Within 24 hours they go live on the multiple listing service. Bring on the buyers. Day two; first nervous call from seller. Not only has their neighbor checked out their listing and decides to list his own home, but he has a little more sense as well, and realizes that with a lower asking price, his home, which more than compares, will sell first. Seller is already putting the pressure on. I recommend a reduced price to better compete, especially since the new comparable listing is actually superior to her own. A hard pill to swallow and one that most sellers will take personally. Week Two; still no price reduction and the neighbors house is under offer. Seller calls upset, wondering if those purchasers even looked at hers. Considering the asking price was $10,000 less, there's a good chance that those purchasers didn't have the buying power to look. There's a simple rule in real estate...the higher the price, the lower volume of buyers to market to. It's another 45minute phone call, and the price remains unchanged. Week Three; Owner has been alerted to another offer on the property they want to purchase and has been issued 48hrs to either procure financing or back out of the deal. Desperate not to lose the home, they decide to refinance the property they already own in order to get their deal, increasing the monies owed...and increasing the asking price to compensate for it. So now... an even higher priced listing, and still no payday. In the three weeks since listing there has been a web site designed (my cost) two classified ads in the local paper (my cost) a for sale sign installed on the property (my cost) and an ad run in the full color glossy magazine dedicated to home buyers (my cost) Month 2 and 3; Lookers have been numerous, but offers have been non-existent. By the grace of god, a co-operating brokerage brings us an offer, just barely enough to cover costs and fees. Already settled into their new home, sellers finally agree to accept, after reminding them that this offer is actually on the higher end of my original projections. My payday will automatically be cut in half in order to compensate the buyer's agent, but it will hopefully get the house sold. Ads (at my cost) are still running, and my phone bill for the out of province calls now rivals my mortgage payment. After much emailing and faxing, the paperwork is finally signed and in order, and the buyer has 10 business days to satisfy his conditions. On the 10th day, we receive notice that he has been unable to procure financing, and my sellers are even more frustrated...and back on the market. More ads, more showings, both at my cost. Month 4; the market is slowing and prices are falling. What was once a slightly overpriced listing has become an even harder sell. Phone bills and advertising fees are eating up the commissions on my other deals. And now the sellers are frustrated with me, because I'm obviously not working hard enough! I know they are frustrated and the financial burden of carrying two homes isn't helping. I have sympathy for their situation, however, if they had have followed my original advice they could have avoided it. Now winter's coming on, and my contract is getting close to expiring. I am still spending money, with no payday on the horizon. Month 5; Praise the Lord! On the same day we get our first snowfall of the season, we receive another acceptable offer on the property. Once again it is faxing, emailing, phoning...but maybe this one will stick! Again, the offer comes from a cooperating brokerage, but the closing date will happen in time for me to get my phone bill caught up. It's a little lower than the first, but it still works, and if I shave a hair or two off my share of the commission, we can get it done. Eight days into the conditions, it's another repeat. Buyers have been rejected for financing. I remind the other agent that she told us they were preapproved...but I guess it wasn't official. Desperate to keep the deal together, the agent approaches us with a rent to own option and a substantial deposit. Considering it will keep the mortgage paid for my sellers over the winter, I can't blame them for taking the deal, but it leaves me waiting six months for my payday. Month 12; It's been a quiet few months, and the break has allowed me the time to sign up a few "easy" (please note my sarcasm here) deals. My phone bills are caught up, and I'm ready to start the New Year off with a bang. Famous last words. The buyers on the other end of our rent to own are backing out of the deal. The sellers' are livid. 45 minute phone calls suddenly turn into 90 minute phone calls. Lawyers, who originally drew up the deal, are calling. Deposits are to be returned. Deposits are NOT to be returned. Fax me copies of this. Fax me copies of that. The buyer's agent is writing letters. The buyer's agent's broker is sending faxes. Happy New Year! And still no pay day. YEAR 2; Seller's are desperate to get someone into their house. The listing goes back on the market in the coldest winter to date in 50 years. The tenants have left the property in a mess, and sellers must return to get the property back to its original state. Three visits and photographs to record the mess and assist with the legal side of things. I've now opened a credit line specifically for these clients! My commission went south with the buyers, and now I have a property that doesn't compare to its original state, and still priced the same. Desperate for a happy ending, I offer to seek out a tenant, to at least keep the payments covered for the rest of the winter. More ads, more web site submissions, more costs, but finally, a potential tenant approaches. A few emails back and forth to determine worthiness, and then contact is made directly with the seller. I provide lease agreements, paperwork, etc. Another poor tree dies, and still no pay day. Almost Year 3; Owners have been quiet over the past 9 months, but the calls have started again. Tenant has purchased another property and would like to move ASAP. We've got to get this house listed and on the market. Blah! I'm thinking a match looks pretty good at this point, but I get through the phone call (only an hour this time). Back to the drawing board with paperwork, photos, web site, and advertising. Cha-ching! Cha-ching! Cha-ching! Throughout all of this I have somehow managed to keep my other clients happy, but the Mrs. Doesn't take too kindly to when I have to put her off because she has interrupted the offering I am writing on another listing. I feel her animosity, but can't believe that after all I've done she would resent the fact I have other clients. Despite my insistence on calling her back, she informs me that having the property for sale is hindering her chances of finding a tenant, and that she would like to take the rent to own option. (Did they miss the lesson on the first occasion?) I explain that that wouldn't be a problem, and we'd get the signs down. I also tell her that if she does find someone worthwhile, I'd be happy to show the house to them, and look into their references and credit to be sure they have a solid history. Caught up in another busy day and thinking I've got her handled, I make plans to call her the following day. Closer to Year 3; She beats me to it. My phone starts ringing at 8:59am she wants an official cancellation of our listing contract. She doesn't know what she's doing and she needs help. I don't want to help her so she wants to find someone who will. I am absolutely 100% floored by the remark. I am floored at the nerve! I am also floored by my response and the language that flies out of my mouth. Very unprofessional, but at the same time much needed. I am not sorry to see them go. I am sorry about the time and the extra effort I put in. I am so very sorry that we humans have to make it somebody else's fault when we do something we know isn't right or fair. I worked my behind off for these people, but at the end of the day it didn't matter. I didn't charge them anything for the services I provided in regards to the rentals, leases, etc. which are over and above what most agents would have done. At the end of it all, I ended up with nothing, other than the terrible feeling that comes when I am forced to confrontation. Year 3; another year and another round of buyers and sellers ready to fight to the deaths for the best deal out there. After over ten years in this business, I still can't believe how many Saints I've seen turned to Sinners for the sake of a dollar. If you doubt the worth of a good real estate agent, I urge you to consider this story. Throughout this entire ordeal, my main function was so far beyond your average real estate agent, and my only goal for this year is to make sure I don't let experiences like this one destroy my faith in people and alter the way I do business. I don't resent the fact I didn't get my payday. I do resent the fact that it had to end this way. As we all know, the greatest human want is nothing more than appreciation, and I'm no different. If you would like to get to know a team who thinks real estate is more about people than it is money...feel free to visit us here: http://www.easthants.com/realestate. Real Estate Financing Terms There are basically three (3) ways of financing a real estate purchase, namely: a) spot cash, b) deferred cash payment, c) long term financing. A resale house or property from an individual seller (as opposed to a developer) is usually to be paid in Spot Cash. On the other hand, real estate for sale from developers, can be availed in longer terms. Each type of financing scheme has its own advantages and disadvantages. To determine which one is appropriate to you, it is best to start looking at your own budget and financial capabilities. Some financial institutions (banks, credit unions, money lenders, etc) will require income documents from your and/or your co-borrower to determine which one applies to you. Listed below are the characteristics of each type of payment scheme. 1. Spot Cash. This is an outright payment for the entire contract price of the property you are buying. The entire contract amount must be paid within the agreed number of days (usually 30 days) from the date of reservation. One of the advantages of Spot Cash payment is the large amount of discount that can be availed. Buyers who have enough savings are usually attracted by the discount being offered. Another advantage of Spot Cash payment is that all the necessary documents will get to your hands in a short period of time, assuming everything is in its proper order. Another advantage of Spot Cash payment is that it doesn’t require a lot of documents on the part of the buyer. The only disadvantage of this approach is that only a few buyers can afford to do so. Buyers usually buy on borrowed funds and savings are usually allocated for something else. TIP: You don’t have to pay Spot Cash from your savings. Wise buyers will usually loan from other sources that offer lower interest rates and then pay spot cash. It’s like borrowing from A at super low interest rate to pay spot cash for real property offered by B. 2. Deferred Cash. You can think of it as an installment payment without the discount and without interest. There are people who don’t want to be burdened with interest payments. They usually go for this option. Aside from saving on interest payments, Deferred Cash payment also allows for shorter time period for the documents to be processed. In many cases, the entire contract price may be covered within 3 years. Always check with your developer the time-frame for the whole amount to be paid. 3. Long Term Financing. Long Term Financing usually divides the contract price into two: a) down payment and b) financed amount. The amount to be financed is usually covered by a mortgage from a financial institution. Some developers will also offer In-House Financing, but it usually has higher interest rates than available in the market. The loan company will require a lot of income documents from you before your loan is approved. It’s understandable, they want to make sure that they are granting loan from someone who has the ability to pay it in time. The amount of loan and payment terms largely depend on your income, employment or business standing. This is the usual payment scheme followed by the buyers. Its advantage is that it feels light and can be inserted as part of the monthly budget for the household. The disadvantage is that the longer the loan term, the higher the total payments you will have to cover and therefore the more expensive the property becomes in the long run.