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Want to Invest in Real Estate? 7 Questions You Must Ask Yourself Before You Buy

You’ve heard that investing in real estate can be very lucrative. Before you get started, here are seven questions to ask yourself.

1. Is this a hobby or a business?
Ask yourself why you want to invest in real estate.
-Do you want another income stream
-Do you want to build equity in a house
-How many sellers and buyers do you want to speak with each day/week/month
-How much time do you have to invest in real estate
-Are you working a full time job
-Are you retired looking for additional income
-What do you want to do with your time?
If you want to build a real estate investing business, then you need to treat it like a business.
Are you going to be a landlord? Then you need to determine how much time you want to spend collecting rent, maintaining the property, making repairs, answering tenant calls late at night, etc.
Or have a property management company handle the tenants and maintenance? Then you need to determine who you will hire to manage your property and how much you will pay them. Typically a property management company will charge one months rent to locate a tenant and then charge 8%-10% of the monthly rent for collecting the rent and answering all calls from the tenant. You still need to set aside a reserve fund for maintenance.

Maybe you don’t want to be a landlord and you want to wholesale property. Then you need to develop a buyer’s list of buyers who have the cash to purchase the house. You will still need to work with sellers to locate properties, get it under contract. You then need to get your wholesale buyer to sign the assignment of contract. And you have to make sure you follow up with the closing agent to make sure the deal is funded by the wholesale buyer and the deal closes. You will get your assignment fee once the deal closes.

Here are the questions you need to ask yourself.
-Do you want to be a landlord
-How much time do you want to put into real estate investing
-Do you want to build a business or just make some extra money once in a while
2. Do you want to work directly with sellers?
There are many investors who want to get into the real estate investing business who don’ t have prior sales experience. Yes, you can call homeowners directly and negotiate the purchase of their home, it is possible. It’s even easier when you are speaking with a motivated seller. I mean a seller that is really motivated to sell, not someone who wants to sell, wants full price for their home and just doesn’t want to wait for the all cash buyer that will pay retail price.

Are you someone that wants to help these motivated sellers? Do you have it in you to hear their stories over and over? Some of these sellers will break your heart and you will want to help them. You have to make sure that you only work with those that you can help and make a profit for yourself. Just because someone is willing to deed you their house does not mean it is a good deal.

Think about a situation where the seller has two mortgages, judgments, and liens on the property. Yes, you can work this as a short sale and get the liens removed and negotiate with the lender to get a smaller settlement for the payoff of the mortgage. You need to decide if you want to put in the time and effort it takes to negotiate the short sale and get the liens removed. I have seen investors in the short sale negotiation process with the lender for anywhere from 2 months to 18 months. Do you want wait months to close the deal?

You need to decide if you want to work directly with homeowners or have someone handle this for you.

3. Do you want to work directly with buyers?
Once you have a house under contract, it is time for you to find your buyer. The best thing you can do is to build a buyers list before you have a property. Find out where the buyers want to live, and then go find a house in that area. It is much easier to find a house for a buyer than it is to find a buyer for a house.

Do you want to take calls from the buyers? They call at all hours, while you are having dinner, before you wake up in the morning, when you are driving to work, etc. Are you willing to drop everything you are doing to take a call from a buyer?

4. Where are you going to get the money?
This is one of the biggest concerns of all real estate investors, where to get the money.
Yes, you can buy a house with little of your own money. Some of the techniques to do this are:
-Buy the house subject-to the existing mortgage
-Have the seller carryback the financing in the form of a note
-Lease/Option the house
You can also build relationships with other people who have money, such as
-Private lenders
-Hard Money Lenders
-Mortgage Brokers
The biggest money concern that you never hear about is where to get the money to market your business. You can buy a house subject-to the existing mortgage. But how do you find that house? You have to continue to MARKET, MARKET, MARKET.

Marketing costs money. That is what most of the gurus forget to tell you. You hear all about how you can buy a house with no money down or little money down. What they don’t tell you is that you have to spend money on marketing to find the house, and money on marketing to find the buyer.

Before you get started, put together a marketing plan so you know how much money you need to get started.

5. Do you want chunks of cash or cash flow?
What is the reason you want to invest in real estate? Are you interested in getting chunks of cash? Cash Flow? Or Both?

What you want out of real estate investing will help you determine what type of real estate investing you want to get into.

If you are looking for chunks of cash, you have a couple of choices. Consider wholesaling or rehabbing (fix and flip).

If you are looking for cash flow, consider landlording, selling a home with seller financing, or be a private lender.

6. Where do you want to invest?

Many investors will start out in their local market because they are familiar with it and they already have some relationships in the area. It’s easiest to start local since you are familiar with house values and have access to local experts to answer your questions.

7. What is your plan to learn more about RE investing?

The most successful real estate investors are those who keep up with the changes in the industry and are constantly learning new techniques.

One of the best things you can do is find a local mentor, someone who is making money investing in your local market. Ideally they should be investing in the area that you are interested in. If you want to wholesale properties, find a local investor who is wholesaling properties. Not only will you ask them to mentor you, but they may buy some of your properties from you.

If you are interested in commercial real estate, then you shouldn’t spend your time with an investor who deals only with single family homes.

Always continue to learn about Real estate investing. There are many gurus that travel the country teaching real estate investing. Ask the people at your REIA whose products they have purchased and whether or not it helped them in their business.

First determine the niche you want to work to get started. Learn everything you can about that specific niche and create income in that niche before you move on to the next niche. Don’t get distracted by the “shiny ball” syndrome.

Real Estate investing can be very lucrative. You need to create a plan, continue to educate yourself, and continue to market for sellers and buyers.

When you have a game plan, call me so we can setup a search and study the market to pick the best deals!

December 2009 MLS Stats for Pinellas County FL

Lot’s of great info here! Take a look at the number of active homes on the market today compared to the past couple of years. The median home price is also on the rise. If we see the unemployment rate go down we could see a much faster recovery in Pinellas County. The number of bank owned homes is also on the way down! Does this mean the end of the great deals? I don’t think so. I’ve seen some great deals in the past few weeks! Like mutiple 3 & 4 bed, pool homes in Clearwater for under $130,000!

Click on the links below and view the pdf. files.

Pinellas December 2009 All Reports: “Condo’s & Single Family”

November 09 monthly foreclosure &short sales report

You still have time to negotiate and buy a “Short Sale” property before the $8,000 first time home buyer tax credit and the $6,500 move up credit runs out! But don’t delay because what I experienced last year was at about 60 days before the end of the tax credit sellers of non “short sale” homes got a higher sold price to list price percentage because they negotiated harder with buyers because they knew that they had the only homes buyers could close on and still get the credit! The morale of the story here is if you want negotiating power, start early.

Have questions? Call or Email me

High court: Mediate on foreclosure

TAMPA, Fla. – Jan. 5, 2009 – Florida homeowners facing foreclosure may soon get one last chance to negotiate with lenders trying to take back their homes.

The Florida Supreme Court issued an administrative order last week that requires a third-party mediation program with all new foreclosure lawsuits involving primary residences.

The goal of the order, written by Chief Justice Peggy Quince, is to help handle the state’s glut of foreclosures. An estimated 456,000 foreclosure cases statewide are clogging the court system, she said.

Florida has the third-highest mortgage delinquency rate in the nation, according to the order. “The crisis continues unabated,” Quince wrote.

The order backs a recommendation made in August by the Supreme Court’s residential task force. The court asked the task force to study the problem and offer guidance.

“I’m pleased the court recognized the need of what the task force asked for,” said Alan Bookman, a task force member and former Florida Bar president. “This is going to force lenders and borrowers to talk to each other. They may not be able to work something out, but it’s a start.”

Lenders have spoken out against mandatory mediation and said it would cause even more delays. Alex Sanchez, president and CEO of the Florida Bankers Association, told the Tribune in August that lenders already are in constant touch with borrowers and file foreclosure cases as a last resort.

Sanchez could not be reached for comment Monday.

The mediation order will be executed through the chief judges of Florida’s 20 judicial circuits. Bookman said he expects the program to be in place by mid-February.

The program requires sending all cases involving primary residences to mediation unless the plaintiff and borrower have already done so or both parties agree to opt out.

The cost of mediation is not to exceed $750, according to the order. Lenders would pay the fee initially, though they could recoup some costs if mediation fails and a foreclosure lawsuit is filed in court.

It’s unclear on what date the mediation requirement kicks in, but it does not apply to cases already in the pipeline, Bookman said.

The order likely will apply to cases filed after the chief judges sign orders for each circuit, Bookman said. However, the chief judges could assign a different date.

“They could make it affective for cases filed this week, when the order was signed,” Bookman said.

Most areas of Florida continue to see a rise in foreclosure filings.

However, the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metro area recently saw overall foreclosure filings slow. The November number dropped 9 percent year-over-year and 1 percent from the previous month, according to RealtyTrac, a California company that tracks mortgage activity.

Even so, the area has been rocked by foreclosures. The category of filings known as new foreclosure lawsuits increased in November, from 31,380 the month before to 32,276.

Short Sale process overview

This video is my personal experience of selling homes that need to go through the short sale process. Some banks have made the process easy while others have (bank of America) are making this so hard. I’ve tried to give you an overview of what I’ve see and what my clients have experienced over the past 2 years. If you have any additional questions about the process or maybe you need help selling your home call or email me. visit me at www.DavidPriceRealtor.com

Banks start to embrace short sales

WASHINGTON – Dec. 7, 2009 – Even before the government put pressure on them to embrace short sales, more banks were starting to take their lumps, do the short-sale deals and move on.

Three years into the housing meltdown, short sales have tripled to 40,000 in the first six months of 2009 compared to the same time period a year ago, according to data from the Office of Thrift Supervision and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

Wells Fargo, Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. this year have hired and trained more staff to handle short sales and also developed software for expediting them.

“It’s really finally dawning on banks that they’re better off with a short sale,” says Richard Green, director of the Lusk Center for Real Estate at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. “I think banks were in denial.”

Source: Bloomberg, John Gittelsohn and Margaret Collins (12/4/2009)

Fed housing program encourages short sales

Fed housing program encourages short sales

WASHINGTON – Dec. 1, 2009 – The Obama Administration, through the Treasury Department, announced new housing guidelines yesterday. While a series of announcements highlighted different programs, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) focused on changes that will make it easier for real estate associates to deal with short sales and “deeds in lieu of foreclosure.”

The program’s official name is the Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives Program (HAFA), and it’s part of an existing initiative, the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP). HAFA applies to loans not owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, which cover over half of all U.S. mortgages; however, Fannie and Freddie will issue their own versions of HAFA in coming weeks.

While HAFA’s goal is simple – increase the number of short sales and “deeds in lieu of foreclosure” by simplifying the process – the rules are complex, and it comes with 43 pages of guidelines and forms. Among other things, HAFA:

• Allows borrowers to receive pre-approved short sales terms before listing the property (including the minimum acceptable net proceeds).

• Prohibits servicers from requiring a reduction in the real estate commission agreed upon in the listing agreement (up to 6 percent).

• Requires borrowers to be fully released from future liability for the first mortgage debt (no cash contribution, promissory note, or deficiency judgment is allowed.)

• Provides financial incentives: $1,500 for borrower relocation assistance; $1,000 for servicers to cover administrative and processing costs; and up to $1,000 for investors.

The program does not take effect until April 5, 2010, but servicers may implement it before then if they meet certain requirements. The program sunsets on Dec. 31, 2012.

For more information, read the Nov. 30 HAMP news release: https://www.hmpadmin.com/portal/docs/news/hampupdate113009.pdf

To read the complete 43-page short sale guidelines, go to: https://www.hmpadmin.com/portal/docs/hamp_servicer/sd0909.pdf

Deficiency Judgments: The Real Risk

There are numerous websites showing the legal and theoretical possibilities of being sued after foreclosure. Many so-called “foreclosure experts” threaten homeowners with the possibility of being sued after foreclosure, and having their wages garnished, cars repossessed, or given enormous tax bills from the IRS. Since so many state foreclosure laws do allow deficiency judgments, there is always the danger of being sued after foreclosure. However, most of the foreclosure advice being given to homeowners is wildly inaccurate. In almost every single case, what usually “actually” happens is…
Nothing.

The bank, after the foreclosure, would have to sue the former foreclosure victims for the deficiency judgment if one even exists. This means the bank would have to hire lawyers, pay attorney fees and court costs, and would simply have a judgment against them. There is no expectation that they would ever be able to collect on that judgment, and banks are aware that homeowners go into foreclosure because they run out of money. So, if they know homeowners have experienced a financial hardship and do not have any money, and the mortgage company has already lost money on the loan due to the foreclosure, there is little reason for them to sue again. They just move on with attempting to sell the property on the open market and recoup some of their losses.

When a homeowner sells the property before the foreclosure and sells it at a lower amount than what is owed on the loan, this is called a short sale, and is one of the most common ways that homeowners can stop foreclosure on their homes. In this case, the homeowners would get a 1099 at the end of the year, since the bank is forgiving the difference in the loan amount. Forgiven debt is counted as income. But this is only a possibility when a homeowner has worked out a short sale with the bank and a buyer, and the home has actually transferred ownership through the short sale.

When the house is sold at sheriff sale for a loss, this is not forgiven debt. It is merely a sale of the house, and homeowners do not get a 1099 if they do not receive any profit from the sheriff sale and if no debt is forgiven. The house is just taken from them to pay the bank and the bank gets the property back because that was pledged as collateral on the original loan. The legal mechanism of foreclosure allows for the sale of the property at a public auction, but has nothing to do with forgiving any portion of the actual debt represented by the foreclosure judgment.

So that is what actually happens in the vast, vast majority of foreclosure situations. Banks rarely pursue deficiency judgments unless they know the homeowners have a lot of cash and other assets that would make it worth suing them. This is not the case in most foreclosures, though. While literally hundreds of online resources and charlatans will threaten homeowners with the possibility of a deficiency judgment and all of its ill effects after foreclosure, the banks themselves are wise enough to recognize that suing their former clients is not in their best interests in all but the most extreme cases. In fact, most lenders would gladly give former foreclosure victims another loan, if they met the qualifications; so there is no reason to turn away future business due to an unfortunate financial hardship that led to the foreclosure.

www.foreclosurefish.com

Foreclosures fall 6 percent in May from April

WASHINGTON – June 11, 2009 – The number of U.S. households on the verge of losing their homes dipped in May from April, and the annual increase was the smallest in three years.

But as layoffs, rather than risky mortgages, become the main reason that borrowers default on their home loans, foreclosures likely will remain elevated this year and into 2010. Many economists expect unemployment, now at 9.4 percent nationwide, to rise as high as 10 percent, and some project it will exceed the post-World War II record of 10.8 percent.

Foreclosure filings fell 6 percent in May from April, according to RealtyTrac Inc. More than 321,000 households received at least one foreclosure-related notice last month – 18 percent more than a year earlier – but the smallest annual gain since June 2006.

Despite the drop from April, it was the third-highest monthly rate since Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac began its report in January 2005, and the third straight month with more than 300,000 households receiving a foreclosure filing.

One in every 398 U.S. homes received a foreclosure filing last month, according to the foreclosure listing firm’s report.

The mortgage industry has resumed cracking down on delinquent borrowers after foreclosures were temporarily halted by mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and other lenders.

“It would not be a huge surprise to see the numbers level off a little bit at this point,” said Rick Sharga, RealtyTrac’s senior vice president for marketing.

Banks repossessed about 65,000 homes in May, up from 64,000 in April, due to big increases in several states including Michigan, Arizona and Nevada.

The Obama administration announced a plan in March to provide $50 billion from the financial industry rescue fund as an incentive for the mortgage industry to modify loans at lower monthly payments.

But the effectiveness of the relief plan remains unclear, with questions lingering about how much the lending industry will cooperate. Many housing counselors say it hasn’t made much of a difference so far.

After banks take over foreclosed homes, they usually put them up for sale at deep discounts, pulling down prices for other sellers. Nationwide, sales of foreclosures and other distressed properties made up about 45 percent of the market in April, according to the National Association of Realtors.

The supply of new foreclosures had diminished in recent months as banks held off on taking back properties, but it’s starting to surge again, said Gary Kent, a San Diego real estate broker who focuses on the foreclosure market.

“Everything I’ve got that’s priced right is just flying off the shelves,” he said.

On a state-by-state basis, Nevada had the nation’s highest foreclosure rate in May with one every 64 households receiving a filing. California took the No. 2 slot previously occupied by Florida. California’s rate was one in every 144 households.

In Florida, one in every 148 households received a foreclosure filing. Rounding out the top 10 were Arizona, Utah, Michigan, Georgia, Colorado, Idaho and Ohio.