Be patient when you are saving for a down payment on your first piece of property.

Wholesale Real Estate in California: Of all the qualities needed for real estate investing success perhaps patience is the most important. You’ll need lots of it, especially in today’s market climate. You won’t be able to buy and sell in a whirlwind of activity like the investors of a decade ago. Fix and flip was popular then and a purchase, a rehab, and a resale could happen in a few weeks or a month. At this point, your patience will be a virtue, though, because with the current market you aren’t likely to make much profit by buying and selling quickly.

Patience is needed for other aspects of real estate investing as well. When you believe you’ve found a property for sale that you would like to buy, you don’t want to jump right in there and make the offer. You’ll want to do a careful analysis of the asking price and how much it will take you to fix the property so you can rent it out. What will it cost you to get all of the back taxes paid? Is there a mortgage that needs to be paid off or liens that must be satisfied? You’ll want to do a title search to find any outstanding additional owners of the property and other encumbrances on the property that must be taken care of.

“When you believe you’ve found a property for sale that you would like to buy, you don’t want to jump right in there and make the offer.”

New investors are often so anxious to get started that they jump the gun and make buys that they regret later. It’s similar to impulse buying at the mall. Patience is needed to make sure all your ducks are in a row before you make your offer and enter into a commitment to buy a property. Another place that you’ll need patience is in choosing tenants when you are ready to rent out your investment property. Be diligent in your advertising the place for rent and in the all important screening process.

A little extra caution will go a long way toward having good tenants that pay instead of those that charm you into renting to them and end up damaging the property or being late with their rent payments. Be patient when you are saving for a down payment on your first piece of property. Wait until you have enough. Find the right property for you. Pick property that is free of encumbrances and has a clear title. Choose great tenants that will stay with you for awhile and pay their rent. It all takes patience.

“The strategy you use once you purchase the property will determine how much profit you can end up with in the long run.”

Wholesale Real Estate in California: Buying real estate for investment purposes is smart business in any economy. In today’s buyer’s market you can buy cheap and hold to sell later for a profit. It doesn’t get much better than this. Those who are able to purchase a house or perhaps more than one will be getting a better deal than might be available for quite some time. [..read more..]

With a better income statement the more reputable lenders may be able to offer you loans at a better interest rate.

Wholesale Real Estate in California: Looking for property to buy when you want to invest in real estate is not unusual. Most people today understand the big difference between being a home owner and a home renter. When you are paying a mortgage you are paying rent to yourself and the money is going back into your own savings of sorts. When you pay rent you are putting out money every month to pay your landlord’s mortgage. You end up with nothing in the end and he ends up with the property owned free and clear. Owning the house where you live is really a no-brainer.

So, what can you do beyond buying a single family house for yourself if you want to start investing on a larger scale than simply home ownership? Look for a house to buy that includes a granny flat, an apartment or living quarters over the garage or in the barn, or a separate room with it’s own separate entrance. You can then use this extra space to rent out and bring in some income. This can be a way to help secure the loan as well. When you state your income, you will add the income you can potentially receive in the future from the rental of the extra room or apartment.

“Getting help to pay the mortgage off is exactly what real estate investors do. That’s how they make their money and gather additional properties.”

That gives you more opportunity to obtain loans from different lenders, creating options for you to choose from. You could potentially have a bit of competition among lenders, which is always a good thing. With a better income statement the more reputable lenders may be able to offer you loans at a better interest rate than you would get if you simply stated your income as it stands today. Planning to use rental income for part of the property you’ll be living in is a smart idea as it will reduce your monthly liability.

Getting help to pay the mortgage off is exactly what real estate investors do. That’s how they make their money and gather additional properties. You can start with one in this way. Finding a house for sale that includes an extra rental room or living quarters won’t be too difficult. It may take some time before you find just the right one for you, though. Be patient. Remember that you will also be living there along with your renter, so keep looking until you find one that will suit you and your family.

“It could take you a year or possibly two before you actually see a profit.”

Wholesale Real Estate in California: There’s still money in buying and selling houses, but it’s not like the fix and flip days of a decade ago. You may need to hold on to the property until the market improves before you see a profit. If you plan to rehab and resell for profit, it could take you a year or possibly two before you actually see a profit. [..read more..]

The prices are so low at this point that you can get a lot more house for what you are able to afford.

Wholesale Real Estate in California: The real estate market is not in its best form these days. It is, in fact, getting lots of negative press in the media. So if you have money to invest and you have wanted to get started in real estate investment should you wait it out until the market stabilizes? The answer would most likely be ‘no’ because it’s a buyers’ market and the prices are lower than they may be for a long time.

The media talking about the industry in a negative way, ironically, just makes it worse. Americans are skittish about investing and spending in general these days, so spending money on real estate may not be something they are inclined to do anytime soon. This could be one of the biggest mistakes you could ever make. The prices are so low at this point that you can get a lot more house for what you are able to afford. In a free market system the prices go down as a market is saturated with product. There are many more sellers of real estate than buyers, so if you are interested in picking up some wholesale property, the world is your oyster.

“You can buy the house for a very reasonable amount and the seller will be relieved of the cumbersome mortgage he may be having difficulty paying.”

Take a look around at the offerings on web sites and through real estate advertisements. You’ll notice that although the prices are low, they have dropped from what they may have been asking a month or two ago. While there are so many sellers with property to sell you, they are anxious to give you a price that you will find more attractive than what their neighbors are selling their homes for. It’s somewhat like buying a car at the end of the year when the dealerships are doing everything they can to reduce their inventory to make way for the new year’s autos.

When the seller is in a bind, you can do something that will help both him and you. You can buy the house for a very reasonable amount and the seller will be relieved of the cumbersome mortgage he may be having difficulty paying. With job loss and the difficult economic conditions many people are facing foreclosure on their homes. Giving the seller hope by purchasing the house is the other side of the coin for you as an investor. This is a win-win time for buyers and sellers both. It’s a great time to buy real estate.

“If you don’t have any credit or have recently had a bankruptcy or foreclosure, you can build your credit back up to a good place.”

Wholesale Real Estate in California: Build your credit up before embarking on an investment path. It will help you to establish relationships of trust with lenders and other investors. You can work on your credit by getting your debts paid off a little at a time if necessary. [..read more..]

Dryers are one of the leading causes of house fires and it can usually be attributed to lint combustion.

Wholesale Real Estate in California: As a landlord, you will want to be vigilant about safety issues in and around your rental houses. While you may be insured for fire, it would be tough to get over losing a tenant or having someone burned because you failed to follow basic fire safety precautions to keep your tenants and your investment houses safe. What tenants do, and there are plenty of nightmare stories out there among landlords and firefighters, you cannot control.

You can, however, do your part to assure that alarms are installed, the systems are all up to date and working properly, and you don’t have any recalled appliances in the house. The following are just a few suggestions to help you protect your tenants and property. Before you rent out a house, install the appropriate number of fire and smoke alarms. They are each different and respond to different stimulus. Fire alarms go off when intense heat is sensed, but not if the smoke is present and the heat hasn’t reached them yet. Smoke alarms go off when there is what appears to be smoke as detected by the ‘eye’ in the unit.

“Before you rent out a house, install the appropriate number of fire and smoke alarms.”

These don’t go off where there is heat, but little smoke. They also tend to go off when you steam up the shower, or cobwebs look like smoke to the electronic ‘eye.’ Try a more sophisticated model that senses both. A CO1 detector is also a good idea and can be purchased as a unit that alarms when any of the 3 is present – smoke, fire, and deadly CO1, carbon monoxide. These units serve as a warning to your residents to allow them the maximum time to exit the house in case of emergency and call 9-1-1. Check your heating and cooling systems, hot water heaters, stoves, dishwashers, refrigerators, electrical breaker boxes, etc. for recall notices or other safety warnings. You can do this online fairly easily. Just type the specific model number into the search box with ‘recall’ and you’ll find what you need to know.

A few years ago there was a massive recall of home heating systems spanning several popular brands because they presented a fire hazard. If you provide a clothes dryer, there are brand specific ways to open it up and clean out the lint thoroughly. Flex vent tubing can be replaced with semi-rigid tubing or metal ducting to prevent lint from sticking in the ribs and combusting. Dryers are one of the leading causes of house fires and it can usually be attributed to lint combustion.

“Many wholesalers have resources and information to help you with your preparations leading up to the purchase of a home.”

Wholesale Real Estate in California: Consider calling a wholesaler to find discounted properties for sale. You might even find a rent to own situation that will help you to prepare for home ownership. For example, you can rent a house to own for two years. [..read more..]

Offering something valuable for free is often a guarantee that a potential client will make the call or pursue the email.

Wholesale Real Estate in California: When you go online to create exposure for your listings, as a real estate investor you will indeed attract attention. The idea, though, is to get the correct kind of attention that will eventually lead to sales and deals.

The big mistake of posting your ads at any old time is not smart advertising. Your timing is crucial, as all of the free posting online classifieds operate in the same way. They post ads on top of their page as they come in. If you post at odd times, your target market will not see your ads. Posting very early in the morning or late at night will mean that by the time your intended market takes a look at the ads, yours will already be far down the line. In a busy or large city, your post could end up on the second or third page within hours. Posting in the lunch and dinner hour may be a better time to increase your potential exposure.

Another mistake that posters often make is to post the same kind of ads with the same old information for each. Try using different terminology or eye catching phrases in your ads to grab the reader’s attention. Instead of saying simply ‘4 bed, 2 bath, garage, fenced yard call me 555-1212’ say something like ‘Award winning school district, 4 bed, 2 bath, workshop, near town call 555-1212.’ The second description might be much more enticing to parents, who would most likely be the buyers of a home with that many bedrooms.

“Information is always a good draw as people are eager to read more about real estate and investing.”

Don’t fail to include the proverbial call to action in your advertisement posts. Instruct the readers to call for a free report on widgets, email for a free list of investment properties in the area, or something similar. Asking you to ‘call me’ at the listing’s end is a call to action, but not a very strong one. Give them something to really grab their interest and give them a reason to call or email you.

Offering something valuable for free is often just the thing to increase the likelihood that a potential client will make the call or pursue the email. Downloadable reports or ebooks are fairly easy to put together and will give you something solid to offer them. Information is always a good draw as people are eager to read more about real estate and investing.

“Perhaps the best advice would be to go directly to a real estate wholesaler and start asking questions.”

Wholesale Real Estate in California: Spending thousands on real estate investment courses and stopping the process there is the typical course of action. Learn instead by putting your knowledge to practical use. After you get your start and figure out what it’s all about, you can apply your practical knowledge to any book knowledge you have acquired and get started. [..read more..]