Real Estate Investing Tips, REI Information, Faqs, Advice, Strategies...It's all here!

Real Estate Investing Tips is an all-inclusive site that gives you information, faqs, advice, and strategies for how to get started or improve your real estate investing. Each section is covered briefly but more information can be obtained by clicking on each link.

Tips -->

For each team member slot interview 5 individuals in each category. How do they respond to your questions and phone calls? Are they available? How many clients do they currently have? Listen carefully to the information they offer. Try to keep folks in your pocket while you try to empty theirs (philosophically speaking of course).

2. Did you know that you can use credit cards to buy property? Let the credit card companies front you a small loan to buy your first real estate investment. Use those low interest-rate checks they send out around the holidays. Real Estate Investing Tips like this may be considered unusual but sometimes you have to think outside the box.

3. Value an education. You must be willing to view this as an education. Some things you can learn and other things you have to pay for. I have been to many seminars and workshops on real estate. I have invested my time in learning this craft. I have also invested my money. This usually comes from my desire and love of reading. I enjoy reading and I enjoy making money in real estate so I read good books on the subject. I have also purchased a few programs so that I can learn from someone who walks the talk.

4. At a recent workshop, I learned about a website called Rent-o-meter.com. This site gives you median rents for rental properties in a particular area. So, if you are planning on buying a rental property in a particular area this site will help you calculate the numbers to see if you will get a good return on your investment.

5. Learn the art of negotiation

FAQs -->

1. How do I get started? --Read about 5 good books on Real Estate Investing. You can always pick up new and improved Real Estate Investing Tips from a good $9.95 book.

2. Where are the best markets to invest? --Two answers: (a) The one you can afford and feel comfortable starting in; (b) and more specifically, Texas (newly developed lending rules that could decrease foreclosures in certain areas); (c) Utah (has 0 REO's from a particular REO Property List site); (d) up and coming areas: Atlanta, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Charlotte, Denver, Jacksonville, and Detroit.

3. What type of neighborhood should I buy in? --I've heard "Buy the worst house in the best neighborhood". --Find the "deal" where the numbers work and pig feeds you and let that dictate the neighborhood of choice. (You can always hire a property management company to collect the rent.)

4. What type of property is best to buy? --Three bedroom/ 1 bathroom houses are the easiest to rent out or sell.

5. Where do I get help from? --read and re-read good real estate investing books. I personally like Robert Allen's material. I also have read the Rich Dad's series.

6. What if my credit is bad? --I filed for bankruptcy in 1994. I purchased my first property exactly 18 months later.

7. How can I start with only $2,000? --Look for an REO (I once won an REO bid for a property for $382.00) --Investigate tax sale properties (San Bernardino County just had their yearly sale May 19-23rd.) Many REI courses offer suggestions for this.

This avenue on Real Estate Investing Tips will be elaborated on in my upcoming newsletter and ebook.

Advice -->

1. Tenants: Follow up regularly just to say "Hi." Ask "Do you need anything/ How is everything going?" Tenants will appreciate your concern.

2. Tenants: Take care of "fixits" ASAP. I have arranged with tenants where if they call me ahead of time, we negotiate that they pay for the fixit and then deduct that amount from the rent AS LONG AS they include the invoice from the fixit company.

3. General: Only TAKE ADVICE FROM PEOPLE WHO ARE WHERE YOU WANT TO BE!! This was such a good lesson for me and I actually learned it from a cab driver. Only listen to people who have experience or credentials to give out advice. Do not let your brother-in-law talk you out of buying a rental property because he went with you to look at it and doesn't "think" the foundation is solid WHEN #1 he doesn't own any rental property himself and #2 has never paid a company to complete a licensed home inspection!!!!

4. Financial: Know your money strengths and weaknesses. You should always know your spendable monthly income, meaning how much money is at your disposal after all bills are paid monthly? I put this here in the Real Estate Investing Tips section but also see the section on Money.

Strategies -->

1. Zero down. So popular but so widely misunderstood. It is not a free house because you bought it with zero down. It IS a house you used someone else's money to purchase (i.e. the bank, your friend's/family's, your credit cards)

2. land contracts = a contract between a buyer and a seller where the buyer must make specific and timely payments to the seller while the seller remains the legal owner of the property until the agreed upon contract is fulfilled

3. rent to own homes = similar to lease option, benefits: no credit check, no bank qualifying, and original deposit can be applied to purchase price.

4. wholesaling = you finding/negotiating a great deal, getting everything contracted on paper, then selling the contract to someone else and making a profit from selling that piece of paper

5. refi around the rosy = Buy a property, refinance it, pull out some money, use that money to buy the next property, repeat the process

6. REO’s / Foreclosures = purchase properties that are owned by banks and lending institutions and negotiate good deals (60% FMV). This is one of my favorite real estate investing tips!

7. pre construction = (*crystal ball required) buy a "new" house before the builders have even started building it, make sure it is one of the very first homes within the entire development, ask how many phases the development will have, get in at phase 1, sit and wait, when phase 3 building starts sell your home for profit. Traditionally, phase 3 homes are usually about $50,000 more than phase 1 homes. So you can potentially sell your "new" home for $50,000 more than what you paid for it.

8. lease options = find a property that you can lease (similar to renting) for a year or two where some of the "rent" money is being put in an account that grows for that one- or two-year period; after the time period is up, use that saved up money as a down payment to purchase the property. Note: (a) the "rent" will be more than you would regularly pay to rent a similar property because of the extra that is required for the down payment "savings program"; (b) initially, the landlord/owner will require a non-refundable deposit of $2000-$5000 as "option money" because they have agreed to sell you the property at a specific price but in that upcoming one- or two-year time period the value of the house may have appreciated (national average is 7%)

9. commercial investing = an apartment building greater than four units is considered a commercial property. commercial investing requires greater down payments (around 35%) but traditional commercial loans are based more on the income produced from the property than the credit score and income of the buyer

These Real Estate Investing Tips are the most common. Others will be discussed later.

REI Information

1. If you can find a property that you can purchase at a good price and hold on to for a minimum of ten years, the chances are very good that you will make a good return on your money.

2. Every so often get a new book on real estate investing and every so often re-read an older book on real estate investing. You can compare the major points covered to see if there are any differences. There probably will be if the books are written over ten years apart given the market changes.

Many books provide general Real Estate Investing Tips. However, newer books also offer good information due to the advancement of technology. There might have been new ways created to accomplish some tasks associated with real estate investing (i.e. software). Older books will tend to have out-dated methods. So, just keep abreast of the times.

Finally, new books will provide new resources. The internet has greatly increased our ability to find information quickly.

3. If 90% of millionaires made their money in the pillow industry (buying and selling pillows)... and you wanted to be a millionaire, wouldn't it make sense to go into the pillow industry? Well, the vast majority of millionaires in the U.S. made their money via investing in real estate. For me, the writing was on the wall! This was and is one of my key Real Estate Investing Tips.

4. The key to rental properties is the rental prices. You have to make sure that the rent you can charge for the property is (a) in line with the going rental rates (b) more importantly, enough to cover the expenses (unless you can and don't mind feeding the alligator).

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Real Estate Investing Tips

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