Mortgage and Real Estate Blog

Watch a late night infomercial about generating wealth and one of the first things that you’re going to discover is that the fastest way to great abs is. . . Wait, wrong story; the thing that you are going to discover is that there are a lot of folks out there who tell you the best way to create real wealth is through real estate investing.

It is possible to create wealth with real estate investing - provided you do it the right way. Rather than staying up late and scratching your head trying to figure out how you got suckered in by an infomercial, you can learn what you need to know about real estate investing from those who are in the field and who have already found success; it’s possible to learn with a mentor rather than a collection of DVDs that are designed to show you how to do it yourself without support when you’ve got questions that need answers.

What do you think would be more successful: watching a made for DVD movie or working one on one with a mentor who can show you where to get the money to make great deals, how to find motivated sellers and to evaluate the profit potential of each deal?

If you’ve been thinking about getting a start as a real estate investor, one of the important things that you’re going to want to consider are the options available when you’re looking for property. There are going to be trends. You’re going to consider the trends - those pointers and tidbits that you can pick up by watching Flip that House, the advice of Trump (who some may argue is only offering Trump University to make even more money) and other real estate investors, and the things that you can read about in the money or real estate sections in your local newspaper.

A lot of these trends right now seem to be saying that foreclosures is the way to go, but is that really the case? Even if the “experts” are telling you that foreclosures are a great way to make money as a real estate investor, is it what they themselves are doing?

If you’re really looking for good real estate investing advice, one of the best things that you can do is to find yourself a great real estate investment mentor - someone who won’t just tell you what to do but who will show you how to do what works.

When money gets tight and gas and food prices are steadily climbing, you’re going to find yourself thinking about your finances; plenty of people are going to make the choice to look at their options. One of those options is going to be getting involved in real estate investing.

The challenge of real estate investing in a buyers market is that it’s not going to be quite as easy to turn a profit; you won’t be able to buy a property one day and immediately turn it around and make a few thousand dollars. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t possible to reach your financial goals with real estate investing - it is, provided you are getting the advice that you need about finding financing, where to look for motivated sellers, to finding tenants and everything else that’s involved in getting started with real estate investing as a business.

With access to the right information and the ability to learn more about getting started and finding a mentor who can help you to get started and help you evaluate deals before you make them, you’ll find that it’s a lot easier to learn the ins and outs of investing in real estate. You’ll also find that you are on your way to reaching your goals.

Here are a hand full of real estate and mortgage websites we recommend:

Real Estate

Assistant For Real Estate - A virtual assistant for real estate agents and brokers. Save yourself some time, money, and headache.

Virtual U. - A blog that instructs virtual assistants on how to improve their services.

Seaside Views - Looking for coastal real estate in Florida? Start here.

Homes For Sale - This real estate broker in New Jersey deals exclusively with high end luxury homes.

Park City Journal - More than a real estate blog, this is a community blog. And it covers Park City, Utah very well.

Investor Wealth - A great blog for real estate investing.

Building Systems Network - A blog focused on ecological home construction, green building, and modular homes.

GW Kime & Associates - Real estate agents serving Michigan, primarily the Ann Arbor area.

Mortgage

Michigan Mortgage - Looking for a mortgage company in Michigan? Try this one.

Mortgage Tracker - When you want the latest, and the best, information on anything related to mortgages, this is the place to check first.

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Here’s some practical advice for real estate investors.

1. Plan - Yep, novel concept. Have a plan and stick to it. It works no matter what you do. Even real estate investing.
2. Build a solid team - You can’t do it all yourself, can you?
3. Market your business, man - There is no substitute for solid marketing
4. Budget - Don’t overdo yourself. Create a budget and stick with it. Know how much money you have to spend.
5. Become a specialist - Oh, yeah. Develop a niche and quit chasing rumors. Get real good at one thing.

In most parts of the country today, foreclosures are hot. If you specialize in foreclosures then business should be good.

When you are in the market for a luxury home, neighborhood is just as important as anything else. What I mean by that is, a luxury home and the neighborhood go hand in hand. Does the luxury home you are interested in sit in a luxury neighborhood or is it across the street from the slums?

Ideally, you want your neighborhood to reflect your home. In some towns and cities, you’ll run across luxury homes just around the corner from run down tenements and cockroach-infested townhomes. You want your friends to be impressed by the neighborhood as much as by your home. That’s why it’s important to scope out the neighborhood and learn as much as you can about it before you move there. Even if you don’t plan to spend a lot of time in your home, you still want the neighborhood to be somewhat respectable. You still want to be able to travel - for business and pleasure - knowing that your new luxury home is safe from burglars and other ne’er-do-wells.

Keep an eye on the neighborhood and only by luxury homes that exist in the right places.

Real estate in Manhattan is at all-time high, according to one of the most powerful women (people) in New York City. The price-per-square foot is higher than it has ever been before. Mary Ann Tighe says it in this video:

The most expensive real estate in the U.S.

If what she is saying is true then real estate prices in Moscow and other International cities could surpass this. Why is it that real estate values in New York are going up while they are going down everywhere else? Markets fluctuate, to be sure, but do they go up in one location while going down in another? Yes, that sometimes happens. But what is the rationale?

A few years ago, real estate investing classes were a dime a dozen. You could find them on college campuses, in hotels, or virtually anywhere you might find young entrepreneurs eager to learn how to make money. But do you really get any value out of them?

To be sure, there are some good courses in real estate investing, but there is a lot of bad information as well. You have to be careful. Only take courses from reputable names in the industry. Before you sign up for that course, try Googling the name of the instructor or the name of the company behind him or her and see what you can find out from other people who have taken the course. You’d be surprised at how much you can find about real estate investing “gurus” who make big claims.

Back in the 1990s everyone wanted to be an investor - a real estate investor, that is. The market was hot, people were making money, good real estate was a dime a dozen and house flippers were constructing, reconstructing, buying and selling, and turning profits. What happened?

As with anything, markets change. They go up and down and people make money either way. Some people. Some make money on the upswing, some make money on the downswing, and a few savvy investors are able to turn a dime on either swing. Market conditions are the biggest determinant in success, however, and those who are able to turn a profit from their investments do so by starting with an understanding of the market in which they operate. That’s the message of Michelle Odessey, who writes the Real Estate Investing Blog.

If you are thinking about investing in real estate then I’d encourage you to study your local market, where you’ll be buying and selling real estate, for six months before you make your first transaction. It’s a tough game and all you need is one mistake before you paint yourself into a corner you can’t get out of. That’s said, there is a huge market in foreclosures right now and real estate investors who understand how to make foreclosures pay are raking it in hand over fist.

Here’s a great article explaining the loan-to-value problem for many investor-landlords. If you are a new landlord or one with not a lot of capital then it may be getting more difficult for you to obtain a loan in order to keep doing business. Mortgage lenders are increasingly opting to fund business transactions on a 75% LTV as opposed to a 90% LTV. That means borrowers have to put more money down in order to secure a loan, but investors traditionally don’t like to put too much money down.

These policies will undoubtedly favor landlords who have cash reserves and capital from which to draw should things get difficult. Landlords who are having a tough go of it will continue to have a tough go of it. Landlords will additional money to invest will have the upper hand and the added edge to stay competitive. It is now officially difficult to obtain a loan for investment purposes.