All About Real Estate

If you’ve read real estate books or attended investment seminars, you’ll hear the gurus recommend you own property for at least 5 years to get the most equity. This advice may sound logical since commission and other closing costs can deduct a major portion of your equity if it hasn’t appreciated substantially.

But let’s consider the downside of waiting to buy a home. When you procrastinate getting into the real estate market, you run the risk of home prices and mortgage rates spiraling beyond your ability to qualify for a home. Plus, you’re letting valuable tax deductions slip through your hands each year you continue to rent. If you consider the wealth building potential of owning a home and the thousands of dollars in equity you could be passing up, you’d be foolish to ignore the opportunity of owning a home.

If you think you’ll have to move after several years, try researching how you can purchase one to turn a profit in a short period of time. Some ambitious homebuyers have created significant wealth by owning several properties in a short time span. One advice you should take to heart is real estate can always be a good investment,-providing you purchase one wisely.

One major strategy to turn a profit is to purchase homes in need of repair. If you’re handy with redecorating and remodeling work, you can add thousands of dollars to the value of a home. If you’re not handy with house repairs, you can also find an inexpensive subcontractor to complete the work.

Investing in fixer uppers aren’t the only way to profit from the real estate market. Many homebuyers have utilized other creative means to build their profits. Some examples of profitable short term ownership strategies include locating sellers desperate to sell, probate sales, foreclosure sales, and REOs (real estate owned) when the mortgage bank takes back property after the home owner fails to make their agreed upon payments.

Another effective technique to help you profit from short term ownership is utilizing lease options. By zeroing in on real estate and properties for rent with options to buy, you get the benefit of building positive credit, accruing a reserve of cash via rent credits to put towards a down payment, and the ability to get a seller to commit to a future predetermined sales price.

One additional benefit to using a lease option is the opportunity to walk away from buying a property (if home prices escalate) and locate another buyer willing to pay you for the option. The new buyer would benefit from your accumulation of rent credits and the opportunity to buy a home for less-than-market price.

Real Estate

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Buying a home is an exciting process full of ups and downs, loves and hates, dreams and reality. Purchasing your first place can be a little intimidating when you’re not sure how to go about it. Being prepared is an essential part of being successful and eliminating some of the stress.

Getting pre-qualified for a loan before falling in love with something you can not afford and in order to secure your financing. Go with a lender you are comfortable with and who answers all the questions you have. Your budget is your main guide, stick with it or even below it. But be careful looking at places which go over that amount.

With a price limit firmly in place, drive around different areas and figure out where you want to put in roots. Make sure you take some things into consideration; like how far from work you will be, how far from the store, the bank and even the coffee shop. Take a look at the school district along with the recreation available.

If you must live in a specific area, but can’t afford a single family home, maybe a condo or apartment conversion is the way to go. Often times they are cheaper in price because they share walls, are smaller and do not have yard space. If a house is more of a priority, then you will have to look in the surrounding areas.

Another important question you have to ask yourself is about what you can and can’t live without. If you need a home office, can you go without the second bathroom even if there is a larger yard? These decisions are tough, so be prepared with a list of wants and a list of needs. There is no sense looking at a property if it only has one bathroom and you need two.

Many houses would make wonderful homes once they look right. If you see a layout you like, or even a house located in the perfect place, but it needs work, you have to decide if you want to take that on. You might get it for the right price and be able to customize everything, but you may not be able to move in right away.

Now that you have a basic idea of what goes into buying a home, it’s time to get out there and start your search. Remember to follow the guidelines and keep track of the associated costs. Have fun in your search and you may just find your dream house on the first walk through.

Real Estate

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Finding Salt Lake City property does not have to be a struggle. It does, however, take some time and effort. There are things you are looking for and it is important to find them. The problem comes in when you do not know where to begin the search. You actually have several resources available that you can use to locate those properties you might be interested in.

The first place many look for any land for sale is through a realtor. This is an integral part of any search because many times they have access to properties that you might not find elsewhere. You can let them know of the general area you would like to search and they can do the work for you. You will be presented with matching results that you can check out.

Sometimes doing the work yourself is more appealing. If you like having the control and want to do the searching on your own, a great place to start is with the classifieds. As part of your search you can use both the newspaper and the online classifieds. This gives you the ability to see listings offered by owners as well as those that realtors have available. Having both options gives you an expanded list to search from. Just be sure to check regularly to see the new listings.

There are also many websites that are dedicated to matching up places for sale with potential buyers. This is another way to look at properties that are listed through realtors and those from the owner. The good part of this option is that you can narrow down the search by the criteria you have. It helps you find only the listings that match exactly what you are looking for.

Another option that you have available are the real estate magazines that are available in the local stores. These magazines can be geared towards only listings by realtors, only listings by owners or a combination of both. You are presented with the basic facts and given the contact information to seek further details.

As you set out to look at Salt Lake City property you will want to get your resources together. This means finding only the places that meet your needs. You can do this if you know where to start.

Real Estate

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How come anytime you walk in to a book store and find your way to the business or financial books all the views that are expressed in the titles are very similar??? In one way or another they all call out for a monetary version of bloodshed. I mean think about the titles: “How you can crush the other guy”or “it’s not personal its business”, “How to come out on top” etc etc. When I got into the real estate investment game I spent hours trying to find the one book that would teach me how to become that REAL ESTATE INVESTING GOD I knew I could become. After reading most of the popular books at the time I actually would feel beat up over the content. I mean did I have to be a “take no prisoners” type of investor? Did I have to prey on some one else’s misfortune?? The answer was no. So I set out to build a list of my own investment rules. I think we each should have our own set of investment rules. Doc’s Rules for investing:

1) Your personal guidelines: Define and follow some personal guidelines. This is the most important rule I have. These guidelines define the investments I will go after as well as the amount of investment I’m willing to part with to get it. It outlines my investment tactic as well as how I want to conduct my the business of this investment Things to include are: Top dollar amount and lowest dollar amount. Type of investment you want to deal with. Period of term for investment.. Etc etc. (Between you and me I even have a guideline about the amount of time I will work per-day)

2) Remember a family is behind the deal you’re working on. Simply put,whoever you are dealing with has mouths to feed. Just because you can get a great deal on a house because the current owner is in a facing some sort of adversity that is causing them to sell below market value, DOES NOT give you license to kick them when they are down. Treat everyone with dignity and respect. If the price they are offering still falls within the personal investing guidelines you have set for yourself ,don’t use your position to abuse the seller. If you?re getting the house for .40 cents on the dollar,don’t be a jerk and push for .20 cents. Always remember…it could be you in the sellers postion. (This rule DOES NOT come in to play when dealing with a bank owned property)

3) Always ask for what you want. Why can’t you ask for something in an investment deal you like, For example. You’re looking at a piece of real estate,ask the seller if they would be willing to throw in new carpet to the sale. I met a investor who was looking at a house that had been on the market for several months. When he went to talk to the seller he happen to see a 1954 Merc Coupe in the garage, so he asked if it was included in the deal. The deal eventually closed for the house AND the car. 4) Make bird dogs. I always give several of my business cards to anyone I do business with and offer them a portion of any profit I make from any investments they help me locate. You would be amazed at how many people will help you make money when they get a small part of it. (And if you follow rule #2 you will be amazed at how many of those bird dogs will sing your praises from the highest mountains)

Just some ideas of things to keep in mind when you’re working on your investment mindset. I have used these rules over the years,and in many cases they, have gotten me more return and repeat networking opportunities then I can count.

Real Estate

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