Commercial Real Estate Investment Articles

When it comes to saving taxes, being proactive is definitely the way to go. Now that the hectic holiday season is over, don’t forget to take a new look at ways to save money. Here are three suggestions to help you out:

The market is slowing and investors are drowning in house payments. Is there an end in sight? Probably not. But, there is something you can do about it. Dropping the price until you get it sold is one way to do it. But, I’ve got a better solution–sell the house.

In my workshop, I teach that there are at least nine different ways you can do a deal with poor or bad credit.

[Editor’s note: Buying a home “subject to” means “subject to the existing financing” already in place on the property. The terms of the original note with the lender stay the same, and the note remains in the seller’s name. Typically, you would then sell the house to a tenant/buyer on a lease option.]

So you’ve just purchased a new home study course. You followed the instructions. You found a good deal. You present your contract to the listing broker, and you get laughed at!

For years, hot-shot speculators made huge profits flipping condos in Florida and Vegas before they were even constructed. All the while, the naysayers in the ivory towers of Wall Street and academia warned of a “housing bubble” that was sure to burst as all bubbles do.

Another month, another “home sales” decline, as the real estate markets in many parts of the country decelerate and transition into something less than the hyperactive state of the past few years.

Many people start out in real estate investing with great fervor, only to become discouraged after a few months when they don’t attain instant fortune.

Every real estate investor has heard how important it is to build rapport with distressed homeowners. What we never hear about is how to do it. What is it about someone that makes us instantly like or dislike them? We do not really know what it is about that person; we just know it is something.

The day has come when savvy entrepreneurs, investors, rehabbers, FSBOs, Realtors, and other real property owners have come to the realization that they can sell their properties faster by offering owner financing and still get to a cash position.

Most of us are smart enough to realize that no real estate “system” is foolproof, and if anything seems too be good to be true, it probably is.

Most people have come to mistakenly view cash (including cash to an existing loan and/or cash to a new loan), rather than benefits, as the driving force behind real estate transactions. So when cash is tight, transactions don’t get done, and benefits for buyers AND sellers are left by the wayside.

Year after year, home remodeling fraud costs consumers thousands of dollars and considerable stress and aggravation. Contractor fraud is a criminal activity pulled by scam artists on consumers. They tend to prey on senior citizens and singles, taking advantage of their willingness to trust others who sound believable.

Real estate and housing markets across the nation are changing. You can hardly turn on the national news without hearing a story on how home prices are peaking–or even declining. Homes are taking longer to sell. The spread between asking prices and selling prices is widening. Unsold inventories are up. Foreclosures are on the rise.

Housing markets throughout the nation are changing. It’s getting harder to buy right in some areas and tougher to sell quickly in other areas. Many creative real estate investors will leave the business frustrated that what was once working well is not working as well anymore. Attendance at real estate investor club meetings is declining. People are giving up on their dreams.

How to invest in real estate? Don’t. You heard me right. I don’t invest in real estate and neither should you. Forget about being a real estate investor, and you’ll be well on your way, financially, to wherever it is you’re trying to get.

The headlines keep on coming. The only thing for certain is as leading business consultant, Tom Peters, would say: “If you’re not confused, you’re not paying attention!”

People who have always put their money in blue-chip stocks, bonds, and money-market accounts commonly think of real estate as being an inherently risky investment. While real estate can be risky, you can certainly limit that risk by educating yourself.

Ray, what factors indicate the climate, good or bad, for investing in mobile home parks?

In Part One, Riding the “Paper” Tiger: The Subprime Disaster, I left off with a discussion of the current marketplace and the role subprime lending is playing. In Part Two, let’s explore how your knowledge of recent history–and what is going on right now can help you use time-tested techniques to profit in today’s marketplace.

As I write this in the spring of 2007, the real estate market is in the throes of yet another of its recurrent downward cycles. Consequently, a frequent question we get these days is: “How is the latest meltdown in the subprime lending industry affecting the purchase of owner-financed paper?”

Curb appeal is one of the most important aspects of any real estate transaction. For me, it is the curb appeal that defines everything about my deal. How much will I offer? How much will it take to rehab the property? How does it compare to the surrounding living conditions?

The so-called day after “hangover” from the fast and loose lending spree that helped fuel the real estate boom during the first half of this decade keeps getting worse, with a continued fall out among lenders who catered to high-risk (or “subprime”) borrowers. Several dozen lenders have closed their doors because the Wall Street firms who have provided their funding will no longer do so.

“Do not try this at home . . .” There’s a reason those guys on television ask you to not do the things you see them attempt to do. They’re risky or downright dangerous, and for a novice to do whatever it is they’re doing on the screen is just an accident waiting to happen.

The real estate contract is the most often used, yet little understood tool in the real estate business. Whether you are a rank beginner or seasoned expert, there is no excuse for not knowing and understanding real estate contracts.