Real Estate Investing Facts

It is not surprising that the housing market has quickly learned to take advantage of the Internet, and virtual bulletin boards such as Kijiji have turned into an excellent resource for both buyers and sellers to access pictures and descriptions of homes for sale. A lot of tech savvy consumers are now learning how social media sites are able to create a virtual web that stretches farther than your personal of contacts. It is not simply that may popular social media sites quick to use and reasonably straightforward to build, they may be launched and maintained with little to no expense – not including time, dedication and patience. The most valuable ability is compiling a proper keyword plan that will optimize your positioning in the search engines, creating an opportunity for your listing to potentially rise to the top of the most popular search engines.

Services like Word Press and Typepad offer you free design templates where users can simply post details, load up photos and link to other supporting websites, making blogs an ideal place to list and search for property online. Once you create your blog post, it may become your main destination for much of your social networking links. If you launch the right way, each time you update your blog you will automatically notify your contacts and other concerned parties. Coming up with popular keywords is crucial, and not only should they be added to the keyword tag section, they should be placed into the headline, the first and last paragraph and especially the excerpt. Realize that it is a trial and error procedure, so if you don’t obtain the traffic numbers you need right away, think about replacing the keywords. If your goal is to network with purchasers of high demand Queen West condos and comparable condominiums then these are the strategies you will need to play with.

Facebook has inadvertently grown into a natural venue for real estate marketing since it involves the unencumbered flow of ideas and gives a type of open forum where you can throughly publicize your services. Smart for sale by owners as well as seasoned professionals inform their Facebook pals regarding homes available for sale, who may either consider it for themselves or send the information on to other interested parties and on it goes, producing a terrific promotional network. Be certain to give the right contact information on all of your posts so interested purchasers are able to reach you directly with questions. To keep from developing a name as being unreliable and fishing for leads, be certain and keep up with all the responses created by your efforts. You could set yourself up as an expert in a given region so if you are marketing King West condos then always be posting current info on the area.

To make the most of both your site and social media page, you should incorporate the micro-blogs given to Twitter subscribers that may be posted to instantly to generate interest in the activity regarding your property. Many buyers are turning to social media to search for info on things such as real estate in Barrie on top of using search engines. You can make a routine of putting out information tidbits, amusing stories and updates to your subscribers to keep them coming back. When your blog is added to, you may post Twitter alerts to all of your followers and as well automatically update your Facebook message board. Clever use of Twitter terms can match your posting with trending phrases, fads and local buzzwords.

Yesterday I wrote about how to find good rental properties using the buying techniques learned from ForeclosureS.com. This month I will discuss basic budgeting principles to maximize cash flow on rentals.

Planning is always the first step in any endeavor. Create a simple monthly budget for each property. Identify the most common monthly income and expense categories. For example, a rental property owner would include rent received as income and mortgage interest paid for the property as an expense.

Income includes rent, garage rent, late charges, etc. Do not include security deposits and pet deposits as income as these are deposits and must be returned to the tenant after move out per the requirements of the lease. Security deposits should be indicated on the lease and held in a separate bank account.

Do read your state laws concerning security deposits as some states require you give the interest earned on tenant security deposits back to the tenant when they move out.

Tracking your expenses accurately is the key to maximizing your tax deductions on a rental property. Expenses should include; mortgage principal, mortgage interest, property taxes, property insurance, utilities, repairs and maintenance, advertising and vacancy loss. Utilities should only include the portion for which you are responsible – commonly water, sewage and trash.

Vacancy Loss is the amount of time your property remains unoccupied. Vacancy Loss should be prorated by dividing the monthly rent amount by the number of days in the month and then multiplying that by the number of days vacant. For example; a property that rents for $1,500/mo and was vacant for 15 days would show a $750 vacancy loss for that month. ($1,50030 = $50 X 15 = $750).

Even if you include the above listed expenses in the total rent amount, you should itemize them in your budget in order to separate the income from the expenses. This is very important when it is time to prepare your taxes and will also show you areas where you could budget more cost effectively. The following is an example of what your budget should look like.

+ Income:

Rental Income:

Garage Rent:

Late Charges:

Total Income:

- Expenses:

Mortgage Principal:

Mortgage Interest:

Property Taxes:

Property Insurance:

Water:

Sewage:

Trash pick-Up:

Repairs and maintenance:

Advertising:

Vacancy Loss:

Total Expenses:

+ Monthly Cash Flow:

The overall goal of having a budget for each rental property is to track expenses, take full advantage of your tax deductions, and maximize your cash flow. Following these simple steps will help you to build a very profitable portfolio of rental properties.

Happy Renting,

Daryl White
Personal Investor Coach, Instructor, Investor

Learn To Wholesale

Foreclosure Investing

Foreclosure List

Foreclosure Investor Seminar

Copyright © 2010 Foreclosures.com.
This article is available for free distribution under the following terms:
a) You may not edit, delete or add any content to this article.
b) You must maintain all links to Foreclosures.com.
c) This article must be distributed free of charge.
d) This Resource Box must stay intact.

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It seems that there are many home owners who are now facing foreclosures. Many of these homeowners hate to deal with the overwhelming facts that got them into this mess. If they would think back to when they first bought that home, losing the home was probably the furthest idea in their mind. Quite sad! Few home owners actually ever plan to go into foreclosure. Why would you?

 Many foreclosures begin due to overwhelming and stressful situations  . These can include a Job loss, sudden illness or medical emergency, a death in the family, a divorce / loss of second income, excessive debt duties ,job demotion or furtherance denials, the inability to pay an adjustable interest rate that increases, or unexpected major home maintenance or car expense.The best way to avoid a foreclosure on your home is to prevent the filing of a Notice of Default. All Lenders do not want to foreclose but will file a Notice of Default to protect their own interests.  If you are unable to make your monthly mortgage payment ,  you should immediately contact your bank or loan agent  . Make sure you do not put this off !  Do not be embarrassed or ignore letters from your lender because those responses will only make your situation worse, not better.

Depending on your own situation and circumstances, there are some options your lender might propose to you in order to prevent a foreclosure. These include :extended Time to make up your payments, forgiving a payment., spread out the missed payments over a longer term, changing the terms of your loan, add the back payments to your loan balance, make a separate loan to you. When the lender files a Notice of Default, your options become very limited. That is why it is better for you to call your lender before you begin falling behind on your payments.

Lenders are often reluctant to work out repayment schedules after foreclosure proceedings have been commenced! You will most likely be given a certain time period to bring the payments current, pay the costs of filing the foreclosure and to stop the foreclosure. This is called the “reinstatement” of your loan. If you cannot make up the missed payments and the lender will not work with you, here are a few further options to stop foreclosure:Sell Your Home, Consider a Short Sale, or Sign a Deed-in-Lieu of Foreclosure. Owners in default should negotiate the right to retain occupancy, arguing that if the lender followed through on the foreclosure, an owner would still enjoy the right of possession during that procedure.

 If you must sell your home or need to find a place to live you can always list online at a number of various websites. We recommend a service at www.Prop2GO.com who specialize in apartment and housing listings and are an easy way to help you with this dilemma. They specialize in Apartments for rent , Winnipeg Apartments , and Toronto Apartments. They also have a great number of international listings in America and Canada.

pre foreclosure listings in Western Canada.

Investment Property in Canada.

Foreclosure Lists in the United States.

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When I started in the pre-foreclosure investing business I was determined that I was not going to be a landlord. There is a reason for this. However, I couldn’t help but to realize that buying a property at 30% below market and renting it is a great way to get positive cash flow on a rental. Therefore, I started acquiring a small portfolio of rental properties which now net me upwards of $4,000 per month and growing.

Now let me tell you why I really didn’t want to be a landlord. Prior to getting into investing, I worked seven years for a property management company specializing in affordable housing. I worked four years as an On-Site Manager for a 118 unit apartment building and three years as a Regional Property Manager, supervising over 700 units in the Greater Los Angeles area.

During that time I was certified by the Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM®) as an Accredited Residential Manager (ARM®). Sounds fancy but it simply means that I have a clue when it comes to renting units. Bottom line is that I learned more than I ever wanted to know about managing residential rental properties and how to make them cash flow. I’m now applying what I learned to my pre-foreclosure investing business.

So where do you start?

That’s a great question because there’s a lot more to it than just buying a property at a discount and renting it out. Start by familiarizing yourself with the “Tenant/Landlord” law in your state. There are many books on the subject and I highly recommend you do this first. If that doesn’t change your mind about being a landlord then read on. Now you must determine what types of properties you want to rent, i.e. single family homes, duplexes, fourplexs, etc. Since the ForeclosureS.com Home Study and 3-Day Lab teach you about residential properties 1-4 units, stick with that for now. Once you exceed four units, it’s a completely different ball game.

Your target rental property should be residential 2-4 units. Set up a separate search in your ForeclosureS.com list for those types of properties in the areas you choose. You can do the same with single family homes but I’ve found that 2-4 units cash flow a little better.

Once you have done the above, you must do what’s commonly referred to as a “Market Survey.” What this means is you have to figure out how much you can rent your unit or home for in the area it’s in. Your goal is to collect more in rent than it costs you to hold the property.

That’s a given right?

To do a market survey you simply research what similar properties are renting for within a 5-10 mile radius of your target property. You can use resources like local newspapers rental section, online services like Rent.com and local Real Estate Agents who almost always have rental listings.

After you’ve completed your “Market Survey” go drive those areas, same as you would your comps, to know what type of neighborhood it is. What you absolutely don’t want to do is buy in an area that has a large number of vacant rental properties and/or default filings on 2 and 4 unit properties. Why? Because there is a reason for it. I assure you it’s not a good one. Things like drug and gang activity and loud traffic noise are reasons people move out and not in.

So now you know what you’re looking for, you’ve set up your search on your ForeclosureS.com list and BAM! There it is, the perfect rental property. What next? This will sound very familiar, GET ON THE PHONE and call the owner in default.

In Part-II I will cover creating a “Property Budget” to maximize your cash flow.

Happy Investing. Until tomorrow…

Daryl White
Personal Investor Coach, Instructor, Investor

Learn To Wholesale

Foreclosure Investing

Foreclosure List

Foreclosure Investor Seminar

Copyright © 2010 Foreclosures.com.
This article is available for free distribution under the following terms:
a) You may not edit, delete or add any content to this article.
b) You must maintain all links to Foreclosures.com.
c) This article must be distributed free of charge.
d) This Resource Box must stay intact.

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It’s been said that in Oriental culture it is taboo to write a book until you are over the age of 50.

I suppose there is a lot of wisdom in that.

It takes a good minute for our pea brains to wrap themselves around the complexities of life on planet earth. Every time you think you know something, you later realize you were totally wrong. And that’s good.

When that happens we can then walk in our current circumstances with more humility and open-mindedness. Go through the whole process enough times and you become wise. It takes time.

Anyways, I say all that to say this…

I’m only 31 … and I’m writing this book anydarnways. After all, I’m not Oriental! I like hot sake and I dated a Vietnamese girl in high school once, but that’s about it. Plus I don’t think the “50 year old” rule counts for digital books.

So why should you read this book?

Because I graduated Harvard with a degree in real estate?
Shoot; I barely graduated high school and would have rather punched myself in the face until I bled and died than have gone to college.

Because I’m famous?

Not just yet. But keep an eye on me.

Because I am a nationally recognized speaker and writer?
Uuuhhh … I’m big in Europe. Does that count?

No, you should not read this book for any of the above reasons people. You should read this book for this one reason … It’s practically free!

I am about to get you started on a proven fast track to real estate wealth, and it cost you less than freakin’ fifty bucks! Where else are you gonna find that? This will be the same information (if not better) than the heavy hitters charge you thousands of dollars for in their seminars.

One difference you will see in this book is that I actually give you real life nuts and bolts details on how to get things accomplished (complete with forms, references to websites where to find required information, exact wording for your marketing, etc …)
I could have easily stretched this information out and charged $300 for some big “manual”… but I didn’t.

I cut out all the fluff and we are getting right down to business. You will get just as much out of this one book as with most gurus’ expensive CD and tape programs.

Most importantly you should read this because I made $500,000 my first year in real estate … and so can you.

Pre$ton Ely
President, Real Freedom Inc

The Art of WholeSaling

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