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Posts Tagged ‘Good Real Estate’

By real estate investment we mean investing money into property i.e. buying property at a low price and selling it at a higher price so as to make a profit out of it. So the most important part of good real estate investment is to get hold of such properties which can give you good returns.

Now, how can you get these potential profit-making deals?

Your first avenue for finding good deals is the local newspaper (the property newspaper). Just search for properties that are listed directly by the owners who want to avoid paying commission to the real estate brokers. Since the owner is saving on the commission that they would otherwise have to pay to the broker, they would probably be able to offer a lower price to you and be more open to negotiations. You could also place your own ‘wanted’ ad in the local newspapers.

On the same lines, you could use internet to search for the real estate investment avenues. In fact, you would be astonished by the number of real estate investment opportunities you are able to locate on the internet. Not only that, searching for real estate investment opportunities (i.e. property for sale) is much easier on internet than anywhere else.

Another good way to hunt for real estate investment opportunities in Australia is by using the services of real estate brokers. Some people use real estate agents as their first (and maybe the only) touch point for getting real estate investment opportunities.

The real estate agents act as information hub for people looking to buy property. In fact, a lot of sellers find it much more convenient to sell their properties by listing it with real estate agents.

Multiple listings service is another good way to find real estate investment opportunities. Since the multiple listing book is provided only to the real estate agents and not to the general public (unless you are very lucky), all the cream (good real estate investment opportunities) would have already been taken before you get to see the book. The key here is to look for expired listings that didn’t get converted to a deal.

Another good way to get a property, that is a good real estate investment, is to look for foreclosures by banks/ VA/ FHA or to visit public auctions. You can generally get a good deal here. Divorce settlements are another good real estate investment opportunity.

Real estate investing is one of the most attractive ways of making good money (that is if you do it correct). Moreover, real estate investing is also a lot of fun. A lot of people practice real estate investing as their core profession and, in fact, make a lot of money that way.

Real estate investing is really an art and, like any art, it takes time to master the art of real estate investing. The key, of course, is to buy at a lower price and sell at higher price and make a profit even after paying all the costs involved in the two (buy/sell) transactions.

So, real estate investment is really about finding good deals. And finding good deals does take some effort

To run a successful real estate investing business, a good real estate investing website is a must .The following critical features define must-have components of a good real estate investing website
1) It must be powered by a database
Any data submitted should be saved in a database, and allow manipulation like sending email, importing or exporting information, etc. Once information is submitted, the web site should automatically store that information in a database and alert you via an email.
2) It must be interactive
Interaction with visitors is a vital element in a web site and a must in any real estate investing website It must enable you to accept and record any data you require from motivated sellers, property buyers, and other visitors to your real estate investing website.
Also, the site must accept testimonials from motivated sellers, another very essential element in real estate investing websites. Also, the real estate website should be able to easily accept entered basic information from sellers or buyers instead of them calling you up so you can get pre-screened and pre-negotiated deals. The website must likewise allow networking on social sites such as Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and so on.
Although you might not use social networking sites, potential buyers, sellers, visitors and investors might do so resulting to increased business. Many investors in real estate use social networking websites when buying and selling properties.
3) It must be easy to use
Running and maintaining a real estate investing website must be easy. Ideally, the site should be maintained from a virtual back office. All other parts should be maintenance-free.
4) It must be flexible
The website must be flexible enough to adapt to changing trends in real estate investing. The website should have the ability to create new pages with fresh contents and new forms to record the information required in real estate investing business.
5) It must offer numerous designs
Nobody wants a generic website. You must purchase a website that offers adaptable designs to suit any real estate investing needs. It should allow brand identity such as logo and full customization if required
And whatever design you opt for and use, it should not cost you extra.
6) The web site must be automated
Your real estate investing web site must allow you to create unlimited follow-up auto responders to handle email campaigns for your motivated sellers, buyers lists or any other lists you manage on your web site. For instance, you can send them an instant message to thank them for submitting their information and promise eventual follow up.
Likewise, it must allow creation of automated reminders important in your real estate investing business. Although you are busy, it should not prevent you from making the follow-ups so vital to the success of a real estate investing business.
7) It should be within your budgeted priced
Unfortunately, many real estate investing websites are simply too costly. If you do not part with a hefty upfront payment, you are stuck with high monthly subscription fees. Such must not be the situation.
The website should be able to run on any hosting account. Look out particularly for hosts that ask only for monthly fees sometimes with no set-up fees. Actually, they simply offer a site builder with real estate designs that can only operate on their server. If you agree to their terms, you get a website and pay the monthly fees but the website is actually their estate investor web site.
As soon as you stop the monthly payments, your website and business are gone. Avoid this trap. As much as possible buy a web site that requires only a single payment and nothing more.
It must offer free lifetime support and upgrades
When you get a real estate investing website, select one that comes with a lifetime support and upgrades. A real estate investing website that offers every little additional module for a fee should be avoided at all costs
These few tips should help you decide which website to buy for your real estate investing business. ~There are other factors to consider but these may be sufficient to make you happy with what you finally buy.

What if you knew how to easily locate the right real estate agent, one that puts your interests first. Use my tips and advice to decrease the stress of buying a home and find the best real estate agent for you.

I certainly understand if you question why I believe I know what constitutes a good real estate agent. I would wonder if I were you.

Here is the answer. For more than 28 years, my husband and I have helped people buy homes. Since I left off being a kid, residential real estate and mortgage financing have occupied my life. I was a licensed real estate agent in the first part of my career and the owner of a mortgage company the last part of my career.

Most people will buy one home, maybe two. Others may purchase an investment or vacation house. In most cases you are going need the services of a qualified real estate agent. And yes, choosing a good real estate agent is crucial.

Instead of listing warnings, do’s and don’ts, allow me to share how I interview and choose a real estate agent.

Number one on my list is to find an individual who makes me feel at ease. Buying a house can be difficult and exhausting at times so why complicate it by employing a real estate broker you don’t feel comfortable with.

It is a shame how many home buyers I observe working with agents who are not matched well to them. The dissatisfaction is discussed for weeks, months and sometimes years after moving into a home.

I believe that buying a home should be fun and exciting. After all it will probably be the most significant and most expensive purchase that you are ever going to make. So why not work with someone that you feel comfortable with since you are likely to be in contact with them on a daily or weekly basis for several months.

Second I am looking for an agent who has my best interests in mind. But how do I know if a real estate broker is truly interested in my personal well being and not simply concerned with making the sale? There are several indications.

Does this agent listen to me? If your agent doesn’t directly address your concerns and questions, this may not be the real estate agent for you.

Does your prospective real estate representative talk first and ask questions later? This is another indication of whether your best interests have been kept in mind. Every great agent listens to what’s on your mind after they ask what is important to you.

A thorough agent will always ask you a lot of questions before ever offering to take you out to view houses. You see, a real estate agent is a valuable asset and they know that your time as well as theirs is valuable too. So they are not going to waste your time showing you houses that you can’t afford or don’t fit your circumstances.

Even though it can feel a little uncomfortable, anticipate a trained agent inquiring into your finances. This is the type of real estate agent I look for.

Some agents give advice without taking into consideration your circumstances. A good agent doesn’t give advice but instead presents options. Your agent should be solution oriented by presenting you with choices that allow you to select what you feel is best for your particular circumstances. Watch for and choose a real estate broker who considers options based on your needs rather than theirs. Above all never feel rushed to make a decision.

High on my list when I interview real estate professionals is watching for individuals who admit when they are unsure of an answer to my question. No matter how experienced a agent, no one has all the answers. So when I ask a question and I hear the words “I don’t know” followed by “but I will find out” it is refreshing. Possessing every answer is not what I care about. That is why I rarely decide on a broker based on age or even experience. A real estate broker with enough enthusiasm and energy to do that little bit extra is who I pick.

Even though it will be your home and a place to live, central to every transaction is money. Although a real estate agent isn’t qualified to approve you for a mortgage, it is still important to be asked about your financial ability such as how much money you have saved for down payment and closing costs.

Top real estate agents know from experience that mortgage financing is the hub of every real estate transaction. As a home buyer, protect yourself by understanding the cost before going out to view houses and especially before you make an offer.

A good agent can help you with this too or you can simply contact a licensed mortgage broker who can prepare a Good Faith Estimate of Closing Costs. If you are comfortable asking your real estate agent, most can refer you to a couple of mortgage brokers for detailed estimates of mortgage costs for your comparison. It is critical that you know what costs to expect before you shop for a house and especially before you make an offer.

Lastly, remember that buying a house is your decision. Take responsibility for your decision by seeking advice from people you like and feel can trust.

I often say when it comes to buying or refinancing a home, it is your house and your mortgage, no one is going to care about it more than you.

With the current real estate market slump, there are more motivated sellers than ever before who are looking to get rid of their houses. A lot of these are profitable deals, but at the same time, lots of them cannot be profitable deals for the majority real estate investors.

With this proliferation in the number of deals available on the market, most real estate investors end up with more phone calls from distressed sellers looking to sell their houses.

Needless to say, most of these phone calls cannot yield any deals at all. You must therefore filter time wasters from real deals without wasting valuable time and effort, while still attracting all the good deals from motivated sellers.

And why not do it hands-off if you can? This is why you need a good real estate investing website, which is a basic necessity of any real estate investing business. Identifying a good real estate investors website therefore becomes crucial.

At the same time, in the current world, every person expects every legitimate business to have a web site. Most people looking to buy or sell their house start their search from the internet even before they consult a professional such as a real estate agent.

Every person in America nowadays is has access to the internet. Most motivated sellers would rather to submit their house information in privacy over the internet. Providing them with a link to your web site as well as a phone number gives them the choice to contact you through their most convenient method.

You must therefore have a real estate investing web site that is informative, efficient and interactive and one that makes your work easier and fun. Here are a few basic rules you must follow in order to get the best real estate investors web site:

1: Privacy
You must have control of your web site and it’s contents. The web site must belong to you. Especially you must be able to host it where you want without undue limitations where only you controls access to your data. If the company provides hosting, then ability to control the hosting account and your web site is a must. Try to avoid companies that ask you to sign up for free, build up your web site with their templates, then pay them a monthly fee. If the web site must run on their server, be careful. In reality they own your web site for a monthly fee.

2) The web site must be database-driven
It must be able to collect information into a database and allow you to manipulate it any way you want, such as sending email, importing and exporting data and so on.

For example, when a motivated seller comes to your web site, they should be able to submit their property information easily. When you are selling houses prospective buyers must be able to sign up into your buyers list effortlessly. If at all possible, when someone submits information on the web site, you should receive an email and that information should be logged into the database.

3) It must be interactive
The ability to interact with visitors is a fundamental, necessary element of a modern web site, also particularly necessary in your real estate investing business. You must be able to collect the information you want from motivated sellers, house buyers, or any other visitors that you target in your real estate business.

Your motivated sellers must not only be able to submit their houses for sale, but should also be able to leave testimonials, a crucial element to profitable real estate investing.

A modern real estate investors website also needs to be web 2.0 compliant. Especially, it should allow you to share properties on social media web sites like Twitter, Facebook, Myspace and others. Even if you do not personally use these services, allowing your visitors (who also include other real estate investors) to share your properties with their friends on social networking media serves to distribute your properties wider to more people resulting to a quick sale. In today’s world, most real estate investors use social networking sites.

4) It must be uncomplicated, well designed and informative
You do not want your web site to look like every other real estate investors website out there. The web site you buy should offer a big selection of designs to choose from and the ability to customize the designs to suit your real estate investing needs. You should be able to keep your brand such as logo or even a custom look if you need to.

If at all possible, you should not have to pay extra to choose any design you want.

Equally important, nobody wants to go through a maze to find out how you buy and sell houses, or how you run your real estate investing business regardless of your business model.

A good real estate investing web site must be simple and informative enough for motivated sellers to submit their information on the web site instead of making a phone call thereby pre-screening and pre-negotiating deals for you.

The web site must seek to convert your target audience, such as pre-educate motivated sellers so they see you as the only professional qualified to solve their house problems. It must persuade them to submit their information right there instead of calling you saving you lots of time.

When you are selling your properties, it must serve to present them in an easy, friendly manner so a potential buyer can tell in a few minutes if it’s a deal for them or not.

5) It must be optimized for search engines
Motivated sellers must be able to find you on the internet. So must house buyers or other leads that you target in your business. Your real estate investors web site must therefore be well optimized for search engines. Targeting your local market on the search engines is especially important if you buy and sell properties in your local market

6) It must be easy to maintain
Most real estate investors are not computer geeks. A good real estate investing web site must be easy to run and control. Preferably, the web site should be controlled from a virtual back office (admin panel). The front end should completely free of maintenance.

7) The web site must be easily adaptable and flexible
There is no one size fits all does in real estate investing. Each business is unique, and a good real estate investors web site must adaptable to your current real estate investing model you might have without major changes. You must be able to create new pages, add or modify content easily, and create any forms to collect any type of information you choose. You should have the flexibility to choose designs and business model easily without major changes. Most real estate investors also have other side businesses, such as being a mortgage broker, credit restoration, Realtors, etc. Your real estate investing web site must allow you to supplement these services along with investing in real estate if you want to.

It should offer automation capability
Automation is a indispensable necessity for marketing on the internet and making the running of your business easier. A good real estate investing web site must allow you to create unlimited follow-up autoresponders to manage email campaigns for your motivated sellers, buyers lists or any other lists you manage on your web site.

For example, you can set up a Thank You message to motivated sellers after they submit their information, so that once they submit their house information, they get an instant message that says something like Thank you for your enquiry. We will get in touch with you within 24 hours or something like that.

Similarly, you should be able to create automated reminders to remind you of any important events on your real estate investing business. Your busy schedule should not get in the way of important follow-ups so crucial to successful real estate investing.

9) It must be reasonably priced
Sadly, most real estate investing products are too costly. If you do not get hit with a big upfront invoice, you stuck with a big monthly fee. The real estate investing web site you choose must not offer these constraints, otherwise it quickly becomes a liability instead of than an asset for your real estate investing business. The web site must allow you to install it and run it from any web hosting account you choose.

10) It must offer free lifetime support and upgrades
When you buy your real estate investing web site, you must get free lifetime support and upgrades. If a web site charges for everything they do for you, run the other way. Free support must be a compulsory part of any real estate investing business.

These are just a few tips to look out for when shopping for a real estate investing web site. There are many other minor things but if you stick to these basic rules, you should be happy with the web site you get. In one sentence, the real estate investing web site you choose must make your business fun and simple to run.

One matter to hold onto and take serious perspective when working in the Real Estate Business:

Are you executing just a small bit of marketing and promoting and just hoping and wishing that a good deal will flow in your hands, or are you maneuvering and operating your Real Estate Investing Business in a mode that makes certain that a good Real Estate deal will materialize. If you do not have a cognitive process for making sure Real Estate deals materialize, you do not yet understand the importance of possessing a marketing plan. A without a marketing plan isn’t.

The pitiful fact is that even after all their conditioning, less than one percentage of all real estate businessmen and investors actually possess a marketing plan. Even though it’s very simple, do not underrate the power of a good marketing Investing plan.
The most crucial matter regarding Real Estate Investment Marketing is to posses a Marketing Plan to begin with.

1) It is a substantial attitude you have for your intellect to grab on and strive to achieve. Attitude determines your altitude.
2) It allows you to clarify exactly what you want to achieve in the coming 30 days.
3) It allows you to map out the activities needed to excute the Real Estate Investing Marketing plan.
4) It allows you to plan in advance to delegate off the lower paying activities, so you don’t end up doing them.
5) It allows you set time deadlines, to hold others accountable so everything gets done and done well.
6) It results in you being free to concentrate on your highest payoff activity: Making Offers on Great Deals.
7) You have a business that operates consciously, not by accident. Real Estate Investing requires consistent concous effort and work.

More people fail in real estate investing because they simply do not have a plan or goals. You should have a detailed real estae marketing plan of what you want to accomplish and how you are going to accomplish it.

And, don’t be vague, either. Things like, I want to make more money than I can ever spend is too vague, and I want to be rich, and I want to make ,000 a month, are not plans. They are too vague, unclear and they won’t help you in getting there in the Real Estate Investing Business. Be as specific as you can possibly be to insure your Investment Business’s success.

In planning for monthly revenue, try to put your money goals in cash income, not gross revenue. I know gross revenue is what you’re used to thinking in, but cash in the Real Estate Investing business is obviously more important. It’s what you take to the bank, and it’s what pays bills and in fact keeps your Real Estate Business going and growing.

First, examine your current numbers. More than 80 percent of all real estate entrepreneurs and real estate investors know how many houses they are buying each month or quarter, but they don’t know where those houses came from and how many leads they had to process to develop them into the single deal. And, this is very dangerous and can put an end to your real estate investing career.

You Simply Must Know How Your Business is Currently Doing

You should know:

1) The total leads that call each month (each week is more manageable though you can experiement with different time periods ),
2) Where those leads come from. In any business, not just the real estate investing business, you need to track markteing efforts.
3) How many “qualified” seller prospects (i.e. those that you are willing to invest follow-up in if they don’t sell now; they have motivation, you are interested in the house.) you get each month.
4) The ratio of total to qualified leads is another factor.
5) The number of deals you close in your Real Estate Investing endeavors.
6) The ratio of closed deals to qualified leads – for each real estate lead source
7) How much you make from each seller of the real estate investment transaction.
How much it cost you to acquire a new seller. A very important aspect in any investment business. Not just Real Estate Investing.

With this information you can look at your current resources, look ahead, and then plan out what you want to have happen. The number of deals you want to do, the amount of money you need to make in your real estate investing business month by month.

For example, let’s say for instance you are bringing in around ,000 a month or so your average deal gives you about ,000. Yes, I know that’s low, but for the sake of example let’s use these figures. That’s two Real Estate deals a month. These are cash proceeds and after expenses you net 50 percent of your gross or ,000 a month. And let’s say that you want to double your net income next month.

You will have to get twice as many deals to double your investment business. Goal? Four deals a month, or one a week. Sounds like planning doesn’t it?

Let’s say you currently get one deal a month from a classified ad, and one deal a month for mailing expired listings. But, you get ten qualified calls a month from his classified ad and 10 qualified prospects calling a month as a result of mailing expired listings. So, you currently close ten percent of your sales and investment prospects. Again, keeping track of the business aspect of marketing.

First, you can improve on this situation by improving that twenty percent closing ratio. By improving your closing ratio by things like more precise targeting, the present lead-flow would stay the same; you’ll get your same twenty real prospects and achieve your goal of doing four invesment deals next month.

But assuming that’s not something you have control over right now, the other way to double your gross income in the next month is to double the number of qualified transaction prospects that you talk to and make offers to. So instead of getting 20 qualified leads to call, you would need 40. This is of course, providing that you utilze the fory leads just as efficiently, if nor more, than the twenty.

Your plan to get forty qualified prospects for a residental or commercial transaction would need 10 to come from expired listing mailings, 16 to come from flyers in target neighborhoods, 4 from business cards handed out everywhere, 6 to come from signs placed in the ground at high traffic count intersections, 10 to come from classified ads that drive people to the website. Total 46 real estate investment prospects. Cool! That’s six to spare.
With this number of leads coming in you have what is needed closed four good real estate deals and reach your goal of doubling your net income. Actually, it’s more than doubling because your fixed expenses don’t increase with the income.

You should have a monthly plan. Schedule thirty or forty minutes out of one day to make upyour monthly plan and see how you did last month. Schedule this time and keep to it. Don’t do any work or take any calls during this time. Keep it strictly for planning. If you do this and you allow yourself to get into the whole spirit of planning, and making things happen on purpose, you will easily double your income in twelve months.
Your Monthly Plan Should Include The Following

1) A goal for total net income from your investment transactions. Either foreclosures, short sales, regular sales or other wise.
2) A goal for number of residential or commercial deals signed up
3) A goal for number of appointments made for potential real estate transactions.
4) A goal for number of qualified, interested residential or commercial property sellers.
5) A goal for total number of leads in commercial, residential, foreclosures, flips, short sales or other deals.
6) Average net income from each real estate deal.
7) The number of prospects you have to generate to reach your financial investment goal.

A detailed plan to generate the number of prospects you need. Your plan doesn’t have to be typed out or put into a computer. It can be handwritten on paper. It doesn’t have to be a work of art, just useable.

Simple note – pad plans are good enough. The important part is that you do a plan every single week and keep on top of things and not get behind in your real property investing marketing plan.

Setting up a a marketing plan is a simple thing to do, but it is just as easy to not do, and this you need to be aware of it. Blowing it off is the equivalent of you absolving yourself of responsibility for your real property investing business. On the other hand, taking the time to think through your goals each month, both for income, and marketing activity, then committing them to paper will make things start happening by plan and put you in control of your real estate business.