tom-beaty.com views on real estate

Buying Fixing and Selling has received much attention from the media over the last couple of years. HGTV and The Learning Channel both have many shows focused on this exact technique.

[Note - Than Merril’s Flip This House season was the best one of them all] This is a technique, that if executed properly, can make you rich and quick! Yeah I said it, Get Rich Quick! What’s wrong with that?

Buying Fixing and Selling also goes by flipping and some people, including myself call it retailing. For these purposes let’s abbreviate it BFS. When using the BFS technique you are acquiring a property that needs work, fixing it up and selling it for a profit. Sounds easy right. Well sometimes it is and sometimes it isn’t. Last year I did 14 BFS deals. Here’s how they worked out:

I lost money on 2. Total loss was about $25,000. I essentially broke even on 2 others. No money made but no money lost. I made money on 10 totaling about $150,000 net profit.

I am admitting I lost money on 2, and broke even on 2 to let you know that no matter how smart you think you are [I think I pretty sharp nowadays] or how well you know this business [I have done over 700 deals] you still can’t guarantee yourself success on every deal. Real estate investing carries some risk with it and the sooner you realize that, the better. Now let’s talk about what you need to know to succeed.

Property Selection - Selecting the right property to BFS is paramount to your success. Start with the location. You want a property that is located in an area that is primarily occupied with owners NOT tenants! Reread that last sentence if you have never done a BFS deal, it’s that important. So now that you have determined an area lends itself to successful retail selling try to pick a home that has mass appeal. In my market that means you want at least 3 bedrooms and no less than 1.5 baths. Each market varies but make sure your property will appeal to the masses in your target demographic. Finally, buy properties that feel good. You know what I mean. Sometimes you walk into a house and you just don’t feel good. Maybe the rooms are too small, ceilings too low, bathroom too small or kitchen improperly placed. Don’t buy these houses to BFS. Buy houses that feel good! If you are unsure and have know sense of what feels good take your wife. If she is no help, take your mom. Mom always knows.

Running the Numbers - Have you seen your local wholesaler offering the “best deal of the year” lately and running numbers that looked like this?

After Repair Value - $100,000
Sale Price - $80,000
Repairs - $10,000
Your Profit - $10,000 !!!!!

If so, call the police right now because you have a crook on your hands! Enough said about that. Here is how you should analyze a BFS deal and coincidentally, this is exactly how we, at Homes For Investors do it on every one of our deals we wholesale!

After Repair Value minus all of the following:

Sale Price

Closing Costs
Transfer Tax
Points
Pro Rated Interest
Title Insurance
Closing Fees

Homeowners Insurance

Repairs Needed

Holding Costs - length of time varies according to your local market
Mortgage Payments
Property Taxes
Utilities

Sales Costs
Real Estate Agent Commission
Sales Costs Inc Transfer Tax

Equals your:

Projected Net Profit!

And that’s it folks! There is no other way to analyze a BFS deal. Use this formula, be realistic with your numbers and more times than not, you will succeed.

The Rehab - The next lesson is focused on Rehabbing so please, save me from unnecessary typing and wait until the next lesson for this part. Much appreciated.

Property Preparation - Once your rehab is complete now comes time to prepare your property for showings. At bare minimum you will want to:

Do a thorough walk through checking to make sure everything works. Perform a thorough cleaning of the property. Place air fresheners throughout. Stage the property for maximum showing appeal.

Marketing - As the final step to BFS successfully I am going to suggest you not take on the task of marketing your property. See, unless you are a licensed real estate agent you are going to miss out on the most proven method of marketing your property, the MLS. The MLS stands for Multiple Listing Service and is used nationwide by real estate agents. Once your property is listed on the MLS it is available to all agents.

While I do not suggest you market your own properties I do suggest a few things you should have your real estate agent do. They are:

Post flattering pictures on the MLS Listing

Post Virtual Tour or Video on MLS Listing

For Sale sign in yard

Directional signs surrounding the neighborhood

Hold several open houses

Have Info Box flyers in front yard

BFS is an awesome way to create quick cash profits. As long as you follow a few simple rules, some of which are discussed here, you should do just fine.

If you would like to learn more about Harrisburg real estate deals visit http://www.padeals.com.

Ok, so we’ve learned about Buy and Hold and Buy Fix and Sell and I hope you agree they’re both awesome money making strategies. From time to time though you’ll buy a property with the intention of using one of those strategies and for whatever reason it won’t quite work out. If you are faced with a situation such as that you do have a Plan B strategy and its called Rent to Own.

What is it?

The Rent to Own technique is a hybrid between the Buy and Hold technique and the Buy Fix and Sell technique. There are aspects of each strategy found in the Rent to Own technique. When using this technique you are simply leasing your property to an interested party and giving them the option to purchase the property from you sometime during the lease period. We call this interested party a tenant/buyer because they are a tenant today and hopefully, a buyer down the road. Don’t confuse option with obligation. When using this technique your tenant/buyer has no obligation to buy, but they do have the option of buying, if they so desire. The reverse is true for you. Should your tenant / buyer decide to exercise their option to buy you must sell the property to them. We call this a unilateral contract and you, as the landlord / seller are obligated to perform in the form of honoring your tenant / buyers option.

Who do we use this strategy with?

Your target market when selling properties on a rent to own agreement are hard working, honest people who for one reason or another have credit issues that are preventing them from obtaining a mortgage to buy a house the conventional way. Due to their credit issues they are willing to pay a premium to you in order to at least have a fighting chance of realizing their dream of home ownership. When screening a prospective tenant/buyer for one of your properties, you want to look for the following criteria:

a] Steady Employment - They will need a steady job that pays a decent salary in order to eventually qualify for a mortgage to buy your property. They should be at their job for at least a year, and / or at least in the same profession for a year or more.

b] Debt to Income Ratio - Their debt to income ratio, using their new monthly house payment should not exceed 50%. To figure out debt to income ratio add up all of their monthly payments that appear on their credit report and divide that number by their gross monthly income.

Example:

Monthly Expenses on Credit Report - $1,600

Gross Monthly Income - $3,000

$1,600 / $3,000 = .53 or 53% Debt to Income Ratio

This person would not qualify.

c] Active Checking Account - The ONLY way to collect monthly payments from your tenant/buyer is by check, whether it be a personal check, bank check, certified check - GET A CHECK, period!

DO NOT EVER ACCEPT CASH PAYMENTS

You can’t track cash and the name of the game when renting to own properties is creating a documented paper trail.

Collecting rents by check allows you to create a paper trail of on time rental payments which will come in handy when it comes time to get a mortgage for them. Having 24 months of on time rent payments, verified with canceled checks goes a long way with a lender and may be the sole reason your tenant/buyer is approved for a mortgage to buy your home.

d] Cash Reserves - You want to make sure they have enough money to satisfy your non refundable option deposit requirements. In addition to them being responsible for paying the non refundable option deposit they must have adequate money for any rent or pro rated rent that will be due, any utility deposits required and general moving expenses.

In most case your tenant / buyer will be giving most, if not all of their savings to you.

e] Credit History - All prospective tenant/buyers will have credit issues, that’s why they are renting to own and not buying. It is your job to find the ones that have a chance of eventually cleaning up their credit and obtaining a mortgage to buy your house. We suggest you not consider anyone who owes more than $10,000 in collections. Why? Well for the most part all collections will have to be paid off prior to them obtaining a mortgage. Knowing this, you want to make sure that it is realistic they be able to accomplish this. Also, we do not suggest approving people who have collection accounts with past landlords or management companies. If they didn’t pay their last landlord, what makes you any different? We also do not like to see more than $1,500 in back child support. If they don’t care enough about their own flesh and blood, they surely won’t care about you!

Why would you use the Rent to Own technique?

In most cases you will use the Rent to Own strategy as an alternative to either renting your property or retailing your property. Some of the reasons you would use the rent to own technique are:

a] Property may be located in an area that does not completely lend itself to an outright sale. Possibly an area where 50% of people are tenants and other 50% are owners. When you have the Rent to Own technique as part of your real estate arsenal you now have the ability to buy in tenant occupied areas and still realize the same profits you would in owner occupied areas. Having this broad of a market to buy in greatly increases your chances of buying at greatly reduced prices on a more consistent basis.

b] Property was listed for retail sale but for whatever reason is not selling.

c] Mortgage market has tightened up lending criteria making it more difficult for low to moderate income buyers to qualify for a mortgage

d] To avoid the expense of current income tax bracket creep.

e] To simply diversify your real estate strategy / portfolio. It’s all about

“Multiple Streams of Income”

in this business. The more streams the better. A perfect mix is accomplished by utilizing the Buy Fix and Sell technique, Buy and Hold technique and the Rent to Own technique at different times throughout the course of the year.

F] To maximize your profits. When using the rent to own strategy you can usually command a premium sale price.

Benefits of Selling Your Properties Using the Rent to Own Technique

Non Refundable Option Deposits

This deposit is the fee you charge to give your tenant/buyer the option of purchasing the property from you at a later date for a pre-determined price. The deposit should be priced at between 2-5% of the final sale price. This deposit should only be credited to your buyer if they decide to exercise their option to buy the property from you.

Premium Rent

When using this technique you will also have the ability to charge a slightly higher than market rent, but don’t get carried away with this. In most cases when investors charge a higher than market rent, they use the mark up as a “rent credit” given to their tenant/buyer. For instance an investor who is looking for $650 a month may charge $750 a month on a rent to own property but give the tenant/buyer $100 a month rent credit towards the purchase price. We DO NOT suggest doing this in Pennsylvania as it has caused many situations where the courts, should an eviction take place, view this rent credit as the tenant/buyer having “equitable interest” in the property and therefore creating a foreclosure situation and not an eviction. You want to avoid this at all costs so do not ever give a rent credit to your tenant/buyers. That said, when offering your property on a rent to own arrangement you can usually get away with charging up to 5% higher than what current market rent is.

How do you determine what true market rent is? Simple. It is the average of what all other property owners are getting for comparable properties. You can very easily find out what market rents are in a given area by watching the classifieds for a few weeks and then calling the owners of those properties to find out specifics. Take the average of say, 10 properties, similar to yours and within close proximity and that’s what market rent is!

Premium Sale Price

The philosophy behind this is exactly the same as the “Buy Here, Pay Here” car lots. If you have cash, drive away today for $10,000, but hey, we can finance it for you for $292 every two weeks no matter what your credit. The person who opted for the financing paid $14,000 for the same car you and I with our own financing or cash could have bought for $10,000, and renting to own properties is exactly the same.

Flexible terms = premium price.

Remember you are positioning your property to sell in 24 months or so and it is reasonable to expect your tenant / buyer to pay you what the house will be worth at that time, taking into consideration appreciation that may occur during the option period.

Tenants Mentality

In most cases the people you will lease to on a rent to own agreement have more of an owners mentality as opposed to a short term, “in and out in a year” tenant mentality. Also, they gave you a large non refundable down payment on the house therefore making it more important to them that they pay on time and maintain the property because they have more to lose than just a security deposit.

Tenant Improvements

We have had several tenant/buyers over the years finish basements, repaint, replace furnaces, install new kitchens and baths and even add marble flooring in their homes that they are renting to own from us.

Ability to Do It All Over Again If It Doesn’t Work the 1st Time!

If, for whatever reason your first tenant / buyer does not exercise their option to buy you as the owner have the ability to do it all over again, but At this time for a higher price all around.

Downsides of Using the Rent to Own Technique

Percentage of Closed Deals

It is important to know up front that only a portion of the people you put into a rent to own agreement will actually buy the property from you. In our experience about 35% of tenant/buyers actually end up purchasing the property they are in. Your closing percentage can be increased with proper screening up front. Also, your relationship and rapport with your tenant goes a long way.

Late Payments

Late payments are always an issue you need to take into consideration. Plan for them to happen and be prepared to deal with it. Don’t wait until it happens to try to figure out what to do. Set rules and guidelines and create a system to manage your rent to owns and stick to them no matter what.

Evictions

Where you have late payments you will have evictions. Once again, set up a system for your rent to own properties and work your system on every one of them.

Damaged Houses

When and if you deal with an eviction you run the risk of the tenant/buyer damaging your home. If this happens have a repair plan in place and act quickly. Once the property is repaired you can immediately set it up on a rent to own arrangement with another tenant/buyer but this time for a larger non refundable option deposit, a higher monthly rent and a higher sale price.

The Rent to Own technique is a great way to generate positive cash flow and huge cash profits. At bare minimum consider using this strategy in conjunction with others. I truly hope this information will help you become a better, more successful and profitable real estate investor.

If you would like to learn more about real estate contact Zack Weist at http://www.padeals.com.

There’s a reason behind the reputation of “Sweet Home Alabama”-it is a state full of history and a remarkable diversity in its lands and people. Four main sections define Alabama and each one has its own unique offerings to both visitors and residents, new and old.

The Mountains Region

Starting in the north, the Mountains Region is full of amazing landscapes. Outdoor enthusiasts and mountain lovers find the lush vegetation and serene environment a pleasure to discover.

Beautiful lakes dot the mountain areas providing plenty of water sport opportunities, not to mention the refreshing experiences of the lake areas. Brilliant waterfalls and exciting caverns are sights no one should miss. Along with the thrilling sights found at the waterfalls and in the caverns, the hikes to get there are full of scintillating vegetation. You may even come across some delightful glimpses of native animals. You won’t want to forget your camera! You’ll also find historic opportunities in nearly every city like Athens, Cullman, Decatur, Florence, Huntsville, Scottsboro, and Tuscumbia.

The Metropolitan Region

With Birmingham at its center, the Metropolitan Region is full of culture and diversity. History reigns supreme in the region of the state from its native beginnings, to its American roots, through the Civil War and its Civil Rights Movements.

The Talladega Superspeedway in Birmingham and the M-Class cars built at the Mercedes plant in Vance, along with the variety and reputation of world-class restaurants, convention centers, and entertainment facilities that sit among historic structures, houses, and areas that were center to many of our country’s progressive developments, make the Metropolitan Region a place every American should spend time in.

The River Heritage Region

Alabama’s capital of Montgomery is located in the River Heritage Region. Rivers to and from the Gulf were one the state’s and the country’s main venues for development and growth, and still maintain their essential vitality.

History and beauty are abundant in the River Heritage Region. Historic plantations, such as the Gaineswood Plantation in Demopolis, show the heritage and continued need for the fertile soil and crops gained from the exceptional environment. Along with the civil rights landmarks in Selma, and other historic sites and environmental wonders make the River Heritage Region a place to discover the meeting of the past, present, and future.

The Gulf Coast Region

Perhaps the most famous of all the diverse regions of Alabama is the Gulf Coast Region. The sugary white sands famous along the Gulf Shores and Orange Beach have made this area a favorite for vacationers and residents alike.

The laid-back atmosphere combined with the unique flavor of the south continues to make its reputation as a haven. The cities here hold a unique history with Mobile being the birthplace of the Mardi Gras and the home of the USS Alabama, Dauphin Island’s Historic Fort Morgan and Fort Gaines, the Old Courthouse Museum in Monroeville, and dozens of gorgeous historic homes.

Alabama-The Heart

Whether you’re getting ready to make a move to Alabama or are looking for a unique place to visit that has everything, Alabama has a ton of things to offer for every taste, hobby, and interest.

RE/MAX Alabama (http://www.remax-alabama.com/) provides buyers and sellers with real estate maximums quality professional service. Art Gib is a freelance writer.

When you say “Louisana”, the first thing most people think of is New Orleans and Mardi Gras. Since that terrible event in 2005, people also think of Hurricane Katrina. Louisiana received a lot of attention throughout the terrible hurricane and its aftermath. Now it’s back to business and the devastation didn’t diminish the spirit of the Louisiana people one iota.

Addressing Hurricane Katrina

The devastation of Hurricane Katrina is well-documented. The tragic decimation of the New Orleans area was horrific for the residents and Louisiana lovers alike. The natural catastrophe of the hurricane took many things that can’t be replaced. But the heart of the people, the area and its history have not and are not easily defeated.

Rebuilding through the efforts of its people and the people that love New Orleans ranged from not only the government, but people and celebrities from all over the country and the world. Pessimists predicted that the area would become a “ghost town” and rebuilding would be impossible and improbable.

Assessing the Damage

Not only did the people prove these naysayers inaccurate, they began a journey to take advantage of the opportunity that was born of tragedy. They didn’t just rebuild what they lost. They grabbed the opportunity to improve and enhance what they lost.
Though New Orleans itself did not suffer the damage or impact of the full force of the storm like St. Bernard and Plaquemines parishes or Hancock and Harrison counties in Mississippi did. The focus on New Orleans was more of an identification of the general area and the famous reputation of the city.

This is not to say that the devastation or tragic outcome should be taken more lightly. Hurricane Katrina was a brutal finger of nature, an unrelenting and malicious devourer of everything she touched.

Rising Higher from the Dust

The New Orleans and Louisiana area hit by Hurricane Katrina is back in full force. They took their losses, rebuilt what they could and expanded their vision to create things that are progressively better than they were before.

The Big Easy has regained its vitality. Yes, there were things that will be forever lost, but that hasn’t stopped them from reconstituting and enhancing the city. The city is once again a place that residents and tourists take delight in.

The point is the relentless and undefeated spirit of the New Orleans and Louisiana area people. They took the lemons that life gave them and made lemon creme brulee.

Re/Max Loisiana (http://www.remax-louisiana.com/) provides buyers and sellers with Louisiana real estate maximums quality professional service.

When getting started in real estate investing so many things come at you at once that it can be an intimidating process. It may look a little like this:

What techniques will I use? Should I wholesale? Retail? Wholetail? Hold? Pre-rehab? Rehab? Take properties subject to? How about lease option? Or sandwich lease option?

How do I acquire? I could buy with cash, credit, hard money or even try to raise private money. Should I buy personally? Maybe an LLC? Or maybe even a land trust? Partnership maybe or how about S-Corporation, nah maybe a C!

What type of deals should I buy? Singles? Multi’s? Mobiles? Commercial buildings? Land?

And that’s just a portion of what entered my mind after my first 2 day seminar back in 1999!

Getting into real estate investing can prove to be the best decision you will ever make but it can be frustrating. It takes work to be successful. Real work! For the most part this is not a passive investment. Even when working with professionals who will be doing most of the heavy lifting you still have to be involved in your success. That brings me to my first point and arguably one of the most important first steps to becoming a real estate investor.

What type of investing is best for you?

In order to answer that question you need to do a self analysis and financial analysis. Not all real estate investing will work for everybody. For instance, if you are someone who has very little cash reserves you probably don’t want to build a buy and hold rental portfolio right away. Why? Because who’s going to pay for the roof when it leaks? How about the mortgage when your tenant doesn’t pay you?

Let’s take a look at the questions you need to ask yourself BEFORE you even think about getting involved in real estate, even with Homes For Investors.

Self Analysis:

How much time per week can I dedicate to my investing business?

What knowledge do I posses that will assist me in my real estate investing business?

What knowledge must I obtain in order to feel comfortable investing in my first property?

Do you like dealing with people? Do you hate it?

Who do I know that can help me succeed as a real estate investor?

The above are just a few of the questions you need to be asking yourself before you begin your investing career. Once you have identified what you are ok with, now you must ask yourself some serious financial questions. The last thing you want to do is get a part time job to pay for your real estate mistakes. Ask me how I know!!!!!!!

Financial Analysis:

I have $______________ available in the form of cash reserves in order to begin my real estate investing business.

In addition to my cash reserves I have $_______________ of disposable monthly income that I can use to pay for any unexpected costs or holding costs associated with my properties.

My credit score is __________ therefore allowing me to borrow or not borrow money from a lender should it be required.

Depending on what category you fall into will determine what real estate investing techniques are best for you. Realize, as your personal situation changes, so will the techniques available to you. Below is a broad based overview of what techniques apply for certain groups of people. Although there are a hundred and one ways to profit in real estate investing, for these purposes, I am going to focus on 4 techniques that have been time tested, and give you the criteria for using each technique.

Bad Credit, No Money - Wholesaling is your best friend. This is really the only technique you should be using. After a few wholesale deals use the profits to repair your credit. Once your credit is repaired begin to build cash reserves in order to utilize other techniques.

Bad Credit, A Ton of Money - If you are this person you have a few options. They are, in my opinion, wholesaling and buying, fixing and selling. Sure you could buy a property and rent it out but what’s your exit strategy to recoup your investment capital if you have bad credit? You don’t have one so your money is going to be tied in one or two properties and you’re out of business. It is this reason I would suggest wholesaling and retailing [buying, fixing and selling] until you repair your credit.

Good Credit, No Money - If you are this person you can probably apply for and obtain a small line of credit to get you started. Once you have obtained that money, deposit it in the bank and use it to prove to your hard money lender that you can service the debt and carrying costs on their loan. Because you don’t have much cash reserve however, you don’t want to put yourself into a situation where you have to borrow money conventionally as that might prove difficult. Because of this fact, I recommend only wholesaling and buying fixing and selling. Be careful when buying fixing and selling. Make sure you have enough in whatever line of credit you obtain to cover at least 12 months worth of holding costs plus some “what if” money for cost overruns and unexpected expenses [they always happen].

Good Credit, A Ton of Money - If you are this person then first of all, congrats, you’re awesome. You are also, because of your responsible behavior, eligible for all real estate investment strategies including but not limited to, buy and hold, rent to own, buy fix and sell and, if you dare, wholesaling! When you have good credit and sufficient cash reserves all techniques make sense financially. The trick is to determine what techniques make the most sense for YOU. If you hate dealing with people then you might not want to buy and hold and become a landlord. Conversely if you love people you may just want to! This is where your self analysis comes into play and while it most certainly comes into play for the other people we mentioned it really means the most to you because all options are available to you.

Most people spend more time planning for their vacation every year than their financial future. Don’t be one those weirdo’s! Take a quick self analysis and determine what investing best compliments you. Then take a look at your finances and decide where you stand. After honestly answering some of the questions here, plus more if needed, make a logical decision as
to what technique [s] you will start out with. Once you have decided what that answer is your
next step is to set goals. I know, it sounds petty but it is not. Goal setting is paramount to your success and a major part of getting started as a real estate investor.

If you would like to learn more about Harrisburg real estate deals visit http://www.padeals.com.

Real estate agents should not stop seeking for consumers or prospective buyers who would deal business with them. If you have been an agent for quite some time, you should understand that prospecting could be an interesting, hard, but rewarding activity. In general, prospecting is a term used to denote a real estate agent’s measures to attract and persuade prospective clients.

To do prospecting, you basically need to get as many clients and convince them to finally buy a property from you. In doing so, you have to establish important and opportunistic ties with consumers or people who would be most likely to hire you for real estate services or buy any of your properties for sale. In general, you should understand that just about one in every 300 people you get ties with and talk to would actually lead to a final real estate transaction. That is why you should strive to keep on meeting more.

Prospecting should be an important part of your everyday routine as long as you stay in the profession. It could be hard for beginners, but could also be much of a breeze if you have successfully been into the business for quite some time. You should realize that as you strive to establish more contacts, you would find yourself eventually doing less effort because clients would start coming to you. To further help you, here are some of the most effective and tested prospecting strategies to adapt.

Find ‘For Sale By Owners’ properties and try convincing the sellers to do business with you. You should always consider the fact that more than 85% of such home sellers end up giving up their efforts to sell on their own and instead hire real estate agents. You should be there when they decide to do so.

Call expired property listings. Most clients in these lists have been frustrated and disappointed with their agents. You should strive harder to convince them you are smarter and much more capable than their former real estate agents.

Go door-to-door. This could be considered a desperate attempt to do real estate business but through time, many agents could attest it works. You could also regularly call previous clients as they may again need your services and buy any property from you. It would not harm to maintain a good friendly relationship with clients even if your deals and transactions have already been completed. In the future, they simply need to make dealings again and you should still be their agent.

Send out small gifts and holiday cards bearing your name as well as your contact information. This is a tried and tested marketing strategy and still works even up to this day. Make sure your gift or card is truly presentable.

Maintain a social network and constantly ask how they are doing. You might directly ask them every once in a while if they are in need of a property or a real estate agent service. You could also organize parties for this purpose. Your own neighborhood could also be a good place to seek prospective clients.

Put up a regular (monthly or quarterly) newsletter and distribute it for free. Do not forget to emphasize your name, your contact number, and your real estate services. You could make this a good bulletin where people could post news about weddings, banquets, honors, and other pertinent information like selling prices of properties. In other words, make such newsletters as interesting and helpful as possible.

Beverly Manago is a freelance writer focused on the real estate industry, and a consultant for My Single Property Websites, a web 2.0 marketing tool that lets real estate agents create stunning virtual tours and single property sites easily. She also contributed to an article about how topost facebook real estate listings there.

Have you ever traded stocks, commodities or the foreign exchange? If so you’ve probably have heard of technical analysis and the inherent value it offers. If not, here’s a brief overview along with how you can use it to save money if you’re in the market for homes for sale in Sarasota.

What technical analysts do is look at charts and crunch numbers in order to find buying as well as selling opportunities. One of the major things that these investors do is look for what they believe is a trend. An upward trend, for example, is when the chart shows that whatever it is you’re analyzing has had higher highs and higher lows. In laymans terms, the prices are going up.

The greatest and wealthiest investors of all time bought as prices were moving higher and sold as prices were moving lower. The people who make the most money in any market are the ones that can get involved at the beginning of a trend - when it’s starting to show its first signs of life.

The charts are saying that home prices in Florida may be turning around. And the value of homes for sale in Sarasota in particular, look like they’re at the beginning of a trend

For the first time since the 2008 real estate meltdown the value of homes in Sarasota, Florida is beginning to trend up and here’s why:

The average estimated value of a home in Sarasota hit a four year low in February, 2009, when, according to AOL Real Estate, it was $224,426. The next month the value rose to $241, 226. In April it dropped to $225, 051 and tested the previous low before moving up to $$255,841 in May. Then, it June it backed off a little. That month the average home was worth $248,981. In 2005 the average price of a home was $499,476.

Essentially houses in Sarasota now cost half of what they did less than five years ago. Does this look like a buying opportunity to you?

The value of Sarasota homes is roughly $40,000 more than the Florida state average and about twelve thousand dollars more than the national average.

Sarasota is located in southwestern Florida. It’s a land resplendent with beautiful beaches, wonderful weather, fine dining, museums, concerts, natural beauty, golf courses, great shopping venues, the best schools in the state, and homes in virtually every price range,

Whether you’re a first time buyer, someone looking for their second home, a recent retiree looking to move to warmer climes, or an investor, you may want to take the time to find charts of Sarasota homes and look at the sale prices. Do this and you will probably see that now may be the perfect time to buy.

And to find out more about homes for sale in Sarasota go to http://www.SarasotaLandAndHomes.com/ now.

Wendy Moyer is a professional journalist.

Some of the finest and most respected magazines in the world are raving about Sarasota, Florida. Fortune Magazine has called Sarasota “The finest small city in the United States”. With its fabulous beaches, beautiful weather, abundant wildlife, theaters, golf courses, beautiful sunsets and more, it’s easy to see why Money Magazine has rated Sarasota as one of the 15 most desirable communities to live in within the United States. And if you’re looking to reinvent your life, AARP Magazine says that Sarasota is one of the best places to do just that.

Sarasota Real Estate

The county of Sarasota, comprised of about 600 square miles of property that’s situated in the southwestern part of Florida, stretches from rambling ranchland all the way to Sarasota Bay and the shores of the Gulf of Mexico. Its coastal waters are clean, clear and refreshing. Spend time there and enjoy the mild temperatures while the sun shines throughout the day through.

Siesta Key beach has been called one of the prettiest beaches in the world. Its beaches seem to have been made solely for enjoying leisurely strolls on a sunny afternoon.

If you’re a patron of the arts there’s a lot to love about Sarasota. You can enjoy the performances of world famous soloists as well as world renowned orchestras in its concert halls. Prefer the theater? Then you’ll enjoy performances of contemporary as well as classical works throughout the year. Art galleries abound that offer exhibitions featuring works of contemporary artists along with classical masters - and everything in between.

If you have younger children you’ll appreciate that Sarasota’s school system consistently ranks as one of the best in the state. No matter your age, it’s good to know that it’s medical facilities are amongst the best in the United States.

A Great Place to Live

Golf, beaches, the arts, fishing, great weather - it’s all here for you. And if you’re in the market, you’ll find real estate available for everyone from first time buyers through retirees as well as people looking to purchase their second home. There are high rise condos, championship gated homes along golf courses, ocean front estates, and more. Historically Sarasota real estate has been amongst the top real estate markets in the United States.

If you’ve ever considered buying real estate in southern Florida this could be the time you’ve been waiting for. You may want to go ahead now because underpriced opportunities seem to abound. Home prices in the area plummeted by almost 50% between the first quarter of 2006 and the first quarter of 2009.

Experienced real estate investors are beginning to snap up prime properties across the United States. Maybe it’s your time to follow their lead.

And to find out more about Sarasota real estate go to http://www.SarasotaLandAndHomes.com/ now.

Wendy Moyer is a professional journalist.

If you are helping a homeowner sell his home to prospective buyers, you must learn to orient him with the realities of home selling. It would be good to make him understand and anticipate what to expect, especially on home showing, which is necessary to lure any prospective homebuyer. It would be ideal if you would mention possible events that could occur while the home for sale is on the market. Here are several ideas that should help you get it along well.

Make sure the house is ready for showing at all times. Same-day and last-minute requests for showing are possible even if there is stipulation for a ‘24-hour notice to show.’ Standard hefty lag time should be allotted to give the tenant ample notice. It is not ideal to tag the property ‘difficult to show’ as potential buyers would lose interest on it.

Keep it always flexible. As a real estate agent, it is your responsibility to make the home seller understand that during several times, you and the prospective buyer could arrive at the site earlier or later than a scheduled or specified time. It happens, especially when inevitable things happen on the buyer’s end. No matter how professional you are to stick to schedule, you should always adjust for the availability of the homebuyer. Encourage the tenant or home seller to stay out a little longer to make sure they would not interrupt any showing.

It is not a good idea to allow the home seller to be present during a showing. The primary responsibility of any real estate agent is to explain to such home sellers that most of the prospective buyers are not comfortable when sellers are present during showing. Thus, if the seller wants to emphasize a good feature of the house, it would be appropriate if he tells about it to you before the scheduled tour. Make sure the seller is not around during showing so that his mood would not turn off a possible buyer. Also remind the seller to store away small items in the house that they worry might be stolen during showing.

Be present in all scheduled showing. However, there are instances when it is more logical and ethical for you not to be around. This is particularly true when you are selling a typical home. The home buyer might be represented by his own buyer’s agent, who in turn might not be comfortable with you around during showing.

Control home pets during showing. Advise the home seller to put out house pets like dogs during showing. The animals might scare the buyers away. A dog’s simple gruff bark could be sufficient to make any typical home buyer turn around to the front door. Also deal with the pet odors as you certainly should not let the home buyer develop an impression that the property is a house that smells. Again, ask the home seller to clean up the house before any showing.

Beverly Manago is a freelance writer focused on the real estate industry, and a consultant for My Single Property Websites, a web 2.0 marketing tool that lets real estate agents create stunning virtual tours and single property sites easily. She also contributed to an article about the Anatomy of a Virtual Brokerage there.

The real estate market dropped substantially in the summer of 2007. Lenders were suddenly in a pickle holding onto mortgages that were not being paid and houses left and right were taking the leap into foreclosure.

The number of houses in the national inventory grew by thousands. As a result there were new higher restrictions being placed by the lending industry that widened the already expansive gap between the home buyers and the home owners.

If real estate investing has ever been on your mind, then the fall of 2007 is the ideal time to jump on that bandwagon. The reason is because of the surplus of homes on the market and the low demand driving the prices into the ground. Hundreds of thousands of owners are scrambling to get their homes sold before the inevitable foreclosure ensnares them, too.

In this rich market there are some things you should do when starting your real estate investing.

1. Never overpay for your investment home… If you follow the 70% rule that other investors abide by then for a market value of $100,000 you need to buy it for $70,000. When you are flipping you need to keep in mind the closing costs when you purchase and when you sell and there are also holding costs when you place the house on the market. And, most importantly, do not forget that you need to make a profit.

2. Only buy your houses from sellers who are motivated There is a very simple way to determine who is a motivated seller. Use the four D’s; Death, Disease, Divorce and Disaster, these are the factors that will motivate someone to sell their property. You can know that you’re doing a good thing as a real estate investor by helping good people out of their bad situations. You need to know what situation you are helping them with for the negotiating.

3. Do not use your own money… If you invest with your own money you are actually limiting your investment potential and your resulting cash flow. By using someone else’s money for investing you will be able to level your value. There are a number of private investors out there who are willing to help you out with a short term loan at about 12 to 20% interest; even though that seems a little steep for interest rates, you can still clear an average of $20,000 per flip.

4. Do not do your own rehabbing work It just makes more sense financially to hire out for the work that needs to be done so that you can devote your valuable time to investing in other properties. How can you hope to flip houses if you’re too busy doing the grunt work? Just make sure that you have a simple plan and a system in place for how you want your rehab work to be accomplished.

5. Do not quote a price to the seller… If you are in the middle of negotiations, the first person to price quote is actually in the weaker position. Do not talk prices at all if you can help it. Do a walk-through of the home with the seller, check out any potential problems with the property and save that information for later use. When you get a good feel of the property you then ask the seller “do you have a price in mind for this property?” 90% of the time, the answer to this question will be some form of “I don’t know.” This is when they are trying to turn the tables for you to quote a price. Instead ask “I know you don’t know, but if you did know, what would you say?” This question seems to result in a price quote. Now you pull out your information about the problems with the property and say something along the lines of “That would a fair price, if (insert the information here).” And let them know that that problem would need to be fixed and mention the holding and closing costs you will have to pay. This is where you hit them with your 70% rule price. And then give them a great reason why this would solve their problems.

There are quite a few investors who have paid dearly for breaking one or more of these rules. The key to your success in the real estate investing business is to have both a system in place and a mentor to guide you. Learn from the success stories, as well as the failures, so you can determine what factors played a part in each. Avoid gurus and seminars; they are only a waste of your time and money. If you learn all the ins and outs of the business real estate investing can prove to be very lucrative.

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