Untitled @micahlimrealstate - Tumblr Blog

Why It’s Never Been Easier To Sell Your Own Home

http://www.micah.sg

Deciding to sell your home can be exhilarating, confusing, stressful and depressing all at about the same time. Selling it on your own you can double that anxiety unless you have a plan. Help ease some of those reactions by doing your homework before you make that life altering decision to move. I have spent over 26 years in the real estate industry and for a great deal of that time I helped people sell their own homes commission free even though I was a realtor. Of course I was hoping they would fail and inevitably list their home with me on MLS. That’s the first thing to expect, agents will be calling with phantom buyers. Give yourself time to find them yourself. Funny thing about real estate, it's the most expensive investment many people will ever make in a lifetime and everyone thinks they're an expert in the field because they own a home. This over confidence has humbled many potential for sale by owners. Most people these days would like to at least try and save the high real estate fees associated with selling through a realtor. In fact nearly 25% of home sellers try to sell privately at least for a couple weeks. Only 5% eventually sell their own homes; a surprisingly pathetic number really. It shouldn’t be this difficult and it really isn’t. Not today with the power of online marketing. Gaining exposure for your home has never been easier or less expensive. Why pay a realtor to market your home when you can do exactly what they do from your home PC. Of course realtors do more than market your home. They presumably pre-qualify prospects, show the listing to prospects, and advertise on the MLS to other agents and brokers. Not to mention putting the offer to purchase together and negotiating the outcome. WOW, that’s a lot of work and yet you can do ALL of this yourself and save thousands of dollars in the process. You need professional counsel on the legalities of your sale from your lawyer. You also need to have your home looking top notch and staged so it appeals to the masses. You can find information online for excellent ideas on improving your homes appearance and you will net more profit from the sale as a result. Again after speaking to your lawyer and mortgage lender for legal and mortgage details, everything else can virtually be found on the Internet to make your sale easy. Let’s talk about marketing your home and attracting buyers. These days you definitely need to have an online presence since most people start their search here. Depending on the value of your home and assuming you’ve set your price you’ll need to decide on who would be your target market. If you’re selling an average size, affordable family home than your prospect pool should be larger. This means local traffic from local advertising. If you aren’t prepared to spend some money to sell privately you should go to a realtor straight away. You’ll need a professional sign made, advertising in the newspaper, some cosmetic home improvements (don’t go overboard) and you’ll need that online exposure that is so important. There are plenty of websites out there that advertise homes privately but you want to make sure you are targeting local viewers to your online listing. Make sure that the website you list your home on has a local web portal for your area. This means buyers are more likely to find you’re listing in the search engines when someone enters Yourtown+homes+for+sale their search results will be targeted to your local market making it easier for them to find your listing. It’s even better if the website publisher takes the time to optimize your listing for the search engines. The good real estate websites are the ones that make it easy for you to present your home to quality buyers, supply you with information to assist your sale and offer you the ability to maintain your listing yourself. What an advantage you’ll have if you can keep your listing looking new with fresh photo uploads and the ability to add or delete certain bits of information like price changes and open houses. Plan carefully and when you think you are ready to move forward with your sale take another hard look at your plan of attack. There's always something else to consider. By preparing yourself and your home for the sale you’ll be surprised how easy it really is to sell it yourself.

What are the Tax Benefits of Donating Real Estate To A Church Or Charity?

http://www.micah.sg

Most people think that donating real estate to a charity is for the rich. This simply is not true. I have worked with individuals, charities, and small corporations for years with the donations process. For many people and companies is about the able to rid themselves of unwanted property. They simply want out. They are tired of property taxes, insurance costs and the liability exposure. The following are the rules that apply for real estate donation: Individuals: The following rules apply if the donated property is owned in your own name, with your spouse or other persons: If you have held the property for more than one year, it is classified as long-term capital gain property. You can deduct the full fair market value of the donated property. Your charitable contribution deduction is limited to thirty percent (30.00%) of your adjusted gross income. Excess contribution value may be carried forward for up to five years. If the property has been depreciated, the fair market value must be reduced by its accumulated depreciation through the date of contribution. Fair market value is most commonly determined by an independent appraisal. If you elect to deduct your cost basis of the donated property you are allowed a deduction of fifty percent (50.00%) of your adjusted gross income. Excesses here again can be carried forward up to five years. Which method you elect is dependent on the cost basis in the property donated, your tax bracket, the age and health of the donor and whether you plan to make future contributions. Corporate Donors The following rules apply if a corporation makes your contribution, these rules apply: If you have a controlling interest in the corporation and the property has been held for more than one year, the corporation can deduct up to ten percent (10.00%) of the net profit of the corporation. Excess contribution amounts can be carried forward up to five years. The fair market value here must be reduced by the amount of accumulate depreciation. If the corporate has elected "Subchapter S" status, then the contribution allowed will be reported on the individual shareholders K1 and may be deducted on the individual return. Partnerships, S-Corporations and Limited Liability Companies The following rules apply if a partnership, S-Corporation or limited liability company is making your contribution: The corporation may not claim a deduction for the property donated. Rather, the contribution passes to the individual shareholders on a pro-rated based on their percent ownership in the S corporation. The shareholder can claim this deduction on their individual tax return. The same limits and carry forward rules will apply. Partnerships and limited liability company contribution rules are the same as an S corporation with one exception the partners or member can claim a deduction even if they have no basis in the partnership or limited liability company. Real estate investing by nature is risky. You can win, lose, or break even. We cannot guarantee a profit or loss. We do not provide legal, accounting, or contracting advice. * Please consult your CPA/Attorney for your specific tax benefit.

What Does A Real Estate Investor Need To Know About Hiring Contractors?

http://www.micah.sg

Where do you find contractor? Ask for referrals from other investors. You can also go to Home Depot early in the morning where the contractors check out. Talk to the clerks about who are the regulars and talk to the contractors in line. Check out their work start to finish and their references. Home Depot is a great place to find a reasonable crew that works for builders. Does the contractor need insurance? You need to make sure you or your contractor has two types of insurance. The Two Types Are: A. Workman’s Compensation Insurance: If you are doing a lot of rehabs, you will want to get a minimum workman’s compensation insurance. If your contractor has workman’s compensation insurance, you will want him to give you a copy of his insurance with you shown as an additional named insured. You then have proof of coverage. Even if you have a minimum policy covering you, you will still need the proof of coverage for your insurance carrier or you will be charged for their cost on your own policy. If you hire a contractor working by himself he can choose to exempt himself from workers compensation, but he needs to sign a form that you get from your insurance company. B. Liability Insurance: Make sure again that you’re named as additional insured on your contractor’s policy or have your own policy. You should talk to insurance experts to determine the amount of coverage you need. C. Builder’s Risk Insurance: You may want to check on getting builders risk insurance for other coverage on your equipment, tools, and etc. How do you pay your contractor? If you are dealing with new contractors that you don’t have a track record on, I recommend that you buy a small amount of materials and see that they get the materials to the job. Only pay for the work that gets done. The question you need to ask yourself is if the contractor walks from the job is there enough money to hire someone to finish the job. Even experienced investors, as well as new investors make the mistake of paying out too much on the job all the time. I have had Home Depot call me and tell me that my contractor is bringing materials back for cash refund. I have had great contractors who I have had a long relationship with me walk off the job. It is a must to hold back enough dollars to hire someone to finish the job. I don’t care how long you have worked with contractors you have to inspect the job before paying. If you don’t inspect the work, don’t get in the business. Consider placing a provision in your contract that final payment is contingent on passing a city certification inspection. Should you have a contract with your rehab crew? I say yes. At the end of this article is a sample contract. See your attorney for what you need in your contract. Should you pull permits? Yes, Yes, Yes!!! The people I see who try to bypass the system and city inspectors just end up in trouble and end up doubling their cost. The short cut to getting the job done is to pay for the permits required. The comments in shared personal experiences. They are not intended to be legal or accounting advice nor solutions. You should always consult with the appropriate professional when making decisions.

Playing The Real Estate Rental Game

http://www.micah.sg

Real estate investing is a game. To play it well you must understand the four financial benefits of real estate and how to maximize them. Those benefits are: 1. Cash flow2. Equity build up (the payoff of your loan)3. Tax benefits4. Potential appreciation In this article we are going to look at benefit number one. Benefit number one – Cash Flow (cash flow before tax). Investing in real state is game of numbers. To play the game well you must understand how to manipulate the numbers to get the end results you want. The result being positive cash flow. The formula to calculate the cash flow is listed below: Gross Rental IncomeMinus: VacancyEquals: Adjusted Gross IncomeMinus: Operating ExpensesEquals: Net Operating IncomeMinus: Debt Service PaymentsEquals: Cash Flow Before Taxes Here is an explanation of each of the factors in the formula above. Gross rental income is the first number that you need. It includes all the rents and any other miscellaneous income from garage rents, laundry machines or vending machine. This number is that total income that we expect to get during the year. Vacancy is a percentage of the gross rental income. It is based on that you won’t collect from of the rent that is expected because of bounced checks, evictions and vacant units during the year. This percentage will vary depending on the supply and demand for rental in your area. I commonly use a 5% vacancy factor when I don’t have any data to determine this. It is important to ALWAYS have a vacancy percentage. Many times the seller will tell you that they have had no vacancy. It is just not true because people’s lives change. They get divorced; lose their jobs and other changes. This causes them not to have the money to pay rent and creates vacancies. Adjusted Gross Income is the actual money that you are going to receive. Operating expense are all the costs that apply to the property each and every year other than the loan payments. It includes things like taxes, insurance, repairs, utilities that you pay and any other expenses. Net Operating Income is that amount of money that the property produces after all operating expenses. This is the most important number because this is the number use to pay any loan payments. This is also the number that we use to determine the value of the property (more about this later). Debt Service Payments is the amount of payments that you spend per year for any loan that you have on the property. Cash Flow Before Tax is the amount of money that is left over after you have paid EVERYTHING. This is the amount of money that is you get to keep for your self. Ok, now that I explained what all the numbers are, here are the keys to creating more cash flow. There is only basically two ways to do it. You have to get more income by increasing the rents and/or reducing vacancies losses or you need to reduce your operating expenses and /or your loan payments. If you are buying, it obvious that by paying less for the property would mean that your loan should be less, therefore your loan payments should be less and should give you more cash flow. It is extremely important that before you every buy any rental real estate that you look at the cash flow and you should run the numbers using three different scenarios. The best case where you rents are high and expenses are low, the worst-case scenario where the rents are low and the expenses are high and then a middle scenario. If the worst-case scenario still makes sense then the property should be a no-brainer and you should go ahead and buy.

Real Estate Lesson Learned: Is Big Better?

http://www.micah.sg

At one time in my life I was buying 7-8 Houses a month, fixing them up and then reselling them. Then I got the bright Idea that if I can buy and sell 7-8 a month, I can buy and sell 80. This was a choice that eventually led me to bankruptcy. This has not been that long ago. Twice in my life I have made a lot of money and then took on a large growth spurt and got a large learning experience in business failure. The last one resulted in bankruptcy. It is hard when things are going well to not be seduced by more is better. When you have something working for you, it is easy to become overconfident and start to think of multiplying it. As with most things in life, you want to be sure when you take on something, that you complete it. Pumping up the volume puts you at risk of not having the structures and being set up to deliver on what you are committed to. You naturally encounter problems that were not present on a smaller scale. It is hard when things are going well to not be seduced by more is better. I had to learn personally that pride Goethe before the fall. The bottom line is that there are always good deals in Real Estate! I say measure your success one house at a time. Buy investor property, fix it up, resell it, rent, do a lease-option, but do it one house at a time. Multiple Purchases? One of the most common mistakes I see in business is where investors come into the business and think they need to do multiple houses at a time. Try this on: Try doubling the cost you think it will take to fix the property, doubling the time you think it will take to rehab the property and figure your holding costs doubled (insurance, mortgage payments, taxes, lights, gas, rehab cost). Great deals in Real Estate don’t come in houses fixed and ready to sell. The great buys come from houses that need work. If you are just getting started, stick to cosmetic rehabs (paint and carpet), Don’t take on major rehabs. It will take time to develop rehab crew. The most successful people I see in Real Estate do one house at a time. Failures are great; if you look at them and ask what action was missing that would have made a difference? Hard moneylenders? One pitfall is using very expensive money. For years I ran a business financed on money from Real Estate Investors who are called hard moneylenders. They look at collateral and loan money based on receiving interest can be 18% or higher when you figure in the closing costs. When you get multiple properties in this condition, you will have interest payments that are going to be double and triple what conventional financing is in Real Estate. Now combine this with the common lie we tell ourselves that we can repair the house and put it back on the market for sale or rent in a short time. Your overhead will rise because you will need a staff to manage and rehab everything. Can you see this is a recipe for disaster for everyone? Now if you are doing one house at a time, your overhead will probably stay very low, with very little staff. Therefore you have limited your expenditure of time, money and aggravation. At one time, my overhead was in excess of $50,000.00 per month. I had to depend on other people to do everything, including checking the work. A hundred percent of the monies I was making went paying down my debts and I kept telling myself I would turn it around tomorrow. I found myself with houses that were not finished and houses being lost in foreclosure and for taxes. That left me a very motivated seller and bankruptcy was looming large. With my overhead still there, I attempted to wholesale deals. I decided I would no longer find, repair and resell homes. Instead I would find great buys and sell them to other investors. Basically, I started my business over. It takes a great amount of time to cultivate a list of investors interested in buying deals. This business is built on the concept you can borrow you way out of debt, but it just does not work. You have family, friends, and business associates that may get hurt or destroyed. I’m not saying this to tell you a sad story, but rather in the hopes that by sharing it, someone else can avoid the pain of my mistakes. Take from this what you can learn for yourself. I am 53 years old and starting over. I now have the knowledge to build a business with the proper foundation. I teach Real Estate Investing class now that look for pitfalls and what is needed to do a successful deal one at a time. My advice to you on handling real estate transactions is: Use Title Companies What can happen to you when you fail to get title insurance? We had a participant in one of our seminars, who purchased a house to fix it up. He invested over $40,000 into the home in both repairs and purchase price. When he went to refinance, he found out the person he purchased the house from was not in the chain of title. In other words, he did not have a clear title. Whenever you purchase a home, always close through a title company with title insurance on the property. Title insurance is protection that insures the borrower or lender that they get the property with marketable title. They will only insure the property for the purchase price or for the amount of the mortgage. Use a reputable lender Interview lenders. Go to Real Estate Investor Clubs to find out from other investors which companies are doing the best job. Are you at risk when you use a lender that wants to cross collateralize loans or wants personal guarantees? One lender I know will get one-two year mortgages and demand a right to lien all the properties you own to procure the loan you are getting. Just beware, if you are buying the property to fix up and resell, there are things that you don’t always plan on like: twice as much rehab cost as you planned for, longer marketing time than you initially thought, resulting in added holding costs, or maybe the market moves the wrong direction and you can’t sell the property, so you rent it. Now one of your other properties or even your personal residence needs to be refinanced. You now have a lien showing against the property. Now what do you do? Think before you jump. If you have purchased the property right, you should be able to borrow money based on the equity of that property - not you’re home and other properties. This same lender will ask for a personal guarantee signed by you, your wife and your partner. This personal guarantee allows his mortgage company to lien anything the partner and wife own. Not only that, but this particular lender demands that you use a Title Company he owns. Now when you want to sell another one of your houses and this same cross collateral loan will show up on any property you are selling. Now you are faced with using his title company or he won’t release his loan. Beware of putting yourself in a situation where you are using a person who controls the lending, title work, the appraiser and the Real Estate Company. Do you think, if you had your title work placed with a company the Lender had ownership in, you might run into a problem getting the documents released or have a clean closing at the same title company? Why risk letting human emotions drives a stake into your deals? Keep an arms length distance within your dealings. If you are selling homes or wholesaling property, let the buyer find his own lender and make sure you get an independent title company. Make sure there is not a conflict of interest in the Title Company, Mortgage Company, and real estate company. Keep the integrity in the deal. I am sure there are title companies, real estate companies, and mortgage companies, where there is common ownership that run very good businesses and can separate the conflicts of interests and profit centers. However, to protect yourself, make sure you receive proper disclosure of common ownership. You can always look at the volume of business they are doing in each business and check with the state Licensing Dept. for any complaints against the firm.

Sell a house in the first 60 seconds

http://www.micah.sg

Selling your house is all about creating the right impression instantly. This first impression will overide any little faults found later down the line. The first impression has a remarkable affect on the brain of the buyer. It says to a buyer " I want to to live here!"

Property buyers will have already formed an impression before they step into your property. A well-kept garden, pathway and fence, plus a freshly painted front door are immediately appealing, whereas a scruffy outdoor space with a litter bin outside the front door may turn many prospective buyers away. De-clutter - don't underestimate the appeal of a tidy property. Throw out the junk - use moving as a good excuse to get rid of old, unwanted and unused items. Clean - dust and clean the whole house thoroughly, from cobwebs on the ceiling to crumbs and stains on carpets and rugs. Remember to wash down paintwork and clean windows. Natural Colours - research shows that, most buyers prefer natural, earthy colours to bright, bold shades. Although there is a wide range of paint colours available, magnolia is still the top-selling colour. Add a bit of colour - to prevent rooms looking too bland, use strong colours for accent walls or cushions and accessories. De-personalise - remove personal items, such as family photographs and children's drawings, which may distract potential buyers.It may sound harsh but it really helps sell property Maintenance – Complete all minor repairs. Major Jobs- If you don’t spend out on home improvements to complete major repairs it could have a disproportionate affect on the value of the property. Lighting - the right lighting can improve the mood of a room. A room looks cosier with a few table lamps rather than bright general lighting. Create a scent - it may be a bit of a cliché to bake bread or grind coffee beans just before the arrival of a potential buyer, but scent does plays an important role in creating the right impression. Open windows - most buyers like the smell of a freshly cleaned and aired room. Open the windows every day to let fresh air into the house. Avoid strong food odours - don't cook foods such as fish or curry before a viewing as the smell will linger. Take pets out - ask friends or family to look after pets during viewings. Fresh flowers and fruit - flowers and a bowl of fruit will brighten up a room and provide a pleasant smell. Define your rooms - a property will be more appealing if rooms have a specific purpose and this allows buyers to see the full potential of the property. Seasons - the best time for selling property is spring and autumn; the market slows down during late summer and over Christmas/New Year. If a property is sold while the market is buoyant, it's much more likely to attract the asking price. Preparing to meet buyers. Making a useful list of costs - Put yourself in the buyer's position and think about what questions they are likely to ask then compile a useful list of costs associated with running your house. In the UK council tax bills vary from property to property so having the costs at hand is really useful for buyers. Utilities bills, insurance, maintenance costs may also be useful information. You can use the list as an aide during the viewing and as a helpful piece of information to give to your prospective buyer when they leave. Keep your property description details - Keep copies to hand of your property description details. Some buyers may have forgotten to bring them along. Be prepared to answer questions relating to what is written on your property details. Know how old your boiler is, how long ago that flat roof was replaced. If you’ve had electrical or plumbing work its good to know what was done, but remember don’t stretch the truth this may return and bite you when you least expect it. Know the positive and negatives- Every house has positive and negative points, know them and be ready to expand about them Your attitude - Treat each person who views your property as a potential buyer. You may have to negotiate with them at a later stage. Your aim will be to create a good working relationship you will need to be friendly but not too friendly, a detached informative attitude is ideal. This also helps give your buyer the feeling that you are not desperate to sell your house. It’s a fine line so be careful you don’t appear disinterested. Avoid putting any pressure on the buyer by asking them too many questions at this early stage. Hard sells do not work with major purchases like a property and will only serve to put your buyers off. Take your time and try to feel relaxed. If you feel rushed and tense so will your buyer. Good time management is essential before you allow in potential buyers. Now you are prepared to sell your home so will the buyer be prepared to buy your home

Real Estate Agents Using The Internet

http://www.micah.sg

Only a few real estate agents have worked out how to use internet technology to their advantage, most agents still operate in the pre internet mode. Things are slowly changing but it is taking some time to catch on. There is more than one way to use the net to your advantage if your selling and dealing with large numbers of people through both the listing and selling stages of a real estate transaction. Building and maintaining a good database can be to some extent set on auto pilot as people can opt in and opt out of the process online via the website interface. Agents and marketers are now waking up to the value of using video to showcase properties via their websites although this has been around for a while Youtube has made things much easier. Websites such as fastrealestate.net offer a free blogging platform for agents and real estate professionals and this gives agents a big advantage over many traditional classifieds websites as blogs offer many more options when it comes to details and features. They also offer instant benefits in the search engines and syndicated data for users to subscribe into, more agents are only now working out the real advantages of the platform, its still a very good time to get in early and stamp your authority on a niche area via a blog. Real estate is still a per son to person business but in order to reach the top the smart agents have adapted quickly to the new marketing angles enabled by the net. What kind of agent are you dealing with?

Ice Tower Failed - Panama Real Estate Bubble Bursting Now?

http://www.micah.sg

Today (06/23/07) one of our major Panama newspapers carried the story of Ice Towers failing to move ahead to completion. Ice Towers was a Panama City icon condo project projected to reach 104 stories in height making it one of the highest residential buildings in the entire world. Ice Towers was to come complete with shops, hotel, casino, amenities etc. It is now been announced that the project will not go ahead and be built to completion according to La Prensa Newspaper today.

This is the second major project that has officially announced failure to complete, the first being Placio de la Bahia which was another icon projected to be 97 floors also on Avenida Balboa. We hold the opinion that these are not the only projects to fail. They were some of the biggest and grandest with a lot of publicity. It is possible that other projects have failed already and it is impossible to know that. A significant amount of these projects are nothing more than a piece of land with a fence and a billboard portraying the project in all of its projected glory. These projects stay in pre-sell mode and the developers keep hoping to sell enough to move ahead. Only time will tell if they ever complete. The official loss of Palacio de Bahia and now Ice Towers is certain to cool down what was a sizzling real estate market. The modification recently in the Panama Tourist Visa Laws reducing tourist visa to 30 days down from 90 days, will certainly only serve to cool things down further since a lot of people simply wish to come to Panama a few months a year as tourists and reside in the home in Panama. Now they are forced to pursue a residency program they did not foresee pursuing when they bought their home. For many months we kept driving by the site of Ice Tower and were wondering why we just saw a big hole in the ground with some lights and a few guys working. This was not consistent with a world-class project that should have been built out much sooner. Now we know why.

Spain Is Good For Real Estate

http://www.micah.sg

If you want a home for the summer, something to rent out for extra income, or a place to retire than look no farther than real estate Torrevieja. With it’s close location to Alicante, you can’t loose in this pristine spot. When you buy a property in Torreviaja, Spain you will not be making the wrong choice. Torrevieja is a lovely tourist destination where you can spend the winter and rent out your place during the summer with no problem! If you want to rent out a property or buy a property to live in then you should go to Torreviaja several times before you make your final decision. You will need to see the difference between villa life and apartment life before you settle down and pick out something right for you. You should explore different parts of the city and the outlying areas when you are in Torreviaja. This will help you know the different areas that you may want to buy something in and you will also know the areas to avoid when you are on your search. You should also visit during different seasons so you can get a vibe for the different times of year. You will want to note all the amenities and different things located on and near your property. Are you close to the shopping area or hot places to eat? Do you want to be near the beach and boost your rental value? Will you be living there or renting it so do you need something warm for the winter to live in? If you want to live there all year round then you want to make sure that it is warm enough in the winter and cool enough in the summer. If you just plan on using it for summer rentals then you don’t have to worry about the winter months and the heating situation. Is the property on a high floor where you will need to carry things up and down it regularly? Could this be a turn off to you or renters? You need to shop around for loans to get the best deal for your money. The prices of homes in Spain are not as cheap as they used to be and you’ll want to make sure that you can qualify for a good loan before you get to serious about buying a place. Compare Spanish loans from loans in your home country. If you choose to go for a loan in Spain, then you will want to be familiar with the laws about real estate in Spain. You can hire a lawyer who speaks both English and Spanish to help you with your situation. You will need him to help you apply for a mortgage and understand everything detailed in it. You should also be prepared for all the paperwork that will follow this process. It will all depend on what country you are from, but the basics are usually a copy of your passport, pay stubs, the past three year’s tax returns, statements from your bank, and proof of your income level.

Tips On Finding Golf Real Estate

http://www.micah.sg

If you’re a golfer, you know there’s no better time to golf than when you’re on vacation. Maybe you’re just passing through, or maybe you’re looking for permanent golf property in Spain. Whatever your needs, there’s sure to be a perfect golf course for you. In Andalucia alone, there are over 60 courses. Half of those are on the Costa del Sol. The natural beauty of the area, coupled with the warm, sunny weather, make this a great location to enjoy a great game of golf. With all the choices of accommodations available, you might find it prudent to purchase real estate or simply rent a hotel room close to the golf course of your choice. If you’re looking for golf property in Spain, look no further than the Costa del Sol. This area on the eastern coast of Spain, on the Mediterranean Sea, is home to a number of luxurious golf clubs. The fabulous weather and gorgeous environment make for an enjoyable vacation. Choices of Golfing Properties The internet has opened a whole new world to the vacation shopper. You can browse properties at your leisure, and compare accommodations for the best fit for your needs. Not only will the internet save you the time you’d spend calling around to different hotels, or working with a travel agent, but it might also save you money. You can find great golf packages online. Golf packages generally include airfare, hotel accommodations, rental car and green fees for at least one game of golf. You might even benefit from booking close to the time of your vacation. If properties have rooms available, often times they discount them at the last minute. You can browse, choose a vacation, pay for your trip, and even print documents without leaving home. The great thing about golf resorts in Spain is that most of them offer first-class accommodations, indulgent amenities and exciting nightlife. So after spending the day on the links, you can return to your resort and enjoy a massage or a body treatment, before heading out to dinner or dancing. If you’re interested in visiting Spain regularly for golfing, it may make more financial sense to purchase a property rather than rent one. You can enjoy the pride of ownership, while enjoying the comfort of knowing you’ll always have a place to stay the next time you want to golf in a warm, sunny climate and enjoy an exciting nightlife.

Commercial Real Estate: Becoming a Market Expert

http://www.micah.sg

Commercial Real Estate: Becoming a Market Expert – Part #2: Pick a Category of Real Estate You Want to Own Becoming a commercial real estate market expert is all about focus. An important part of being successful in this business is focusing on a type of income producing property you want to acquire. This strategy sounds simple until you start looking at the available properties, and your mind starts to think about all the possibilities. Stop--this is a strategic m... Keywords:tony seruga, yolanda seruga, yolanda bishop, commercial real estate, real estate, commercial real estate industry, commercial real estate market, negotiation, investor, investing, commercial real estate investor, commercial real estate negotiation Article Body:Commercial Real Estate: Becoming a Market Expert – Part #2: Pick a Category of Real Estate You Want to Own Becoming a commercial real estate market expert is all about focus. An important part of being successful in this business is focusing on a type of income producing property you want to acquire. This strategy sounds simple until you start looking at the available properties, and your mind starts to think about all the possibilities. Stop--this is a strategic mistake. It will cost you big time if follow through with it. Why? Because the commercial real estate investors that do well focus on a specific type of income producing property. Successful commercial real estate investors aren’t distracted by the money burning a hole in their pocket. They are discriminating. They want to fully understand whatever type of property they focus on that it is a good deal, perhaps a great deal. And the only want to do that is to do your homework. To do your research and due diligence. Admittedly, this is hard to do especially when the pool of available deals is overwhelming large that your eyes get really big, OR when there are slim pickings at the time and you start to wonder where the good properties are. It is vitally important to stick to the strategy. Pick a type of property and learn all you can about this type of property. Types of Commercial Real Estate Now, if you are new to the commercial real estate game, you may be thinking all commercial real estate is the same. They are not. Let’s start with the 10 types that are available: 1. Retail Space – Shopping Malls, Strip Plazas, Free Standing Retail Stores.2. Office Space3. Hotels and Motels4. Multi-Family Dwellings such as Apartments and Condos5. RV Parks6. Mobile Home Parks7. Industrial and Manufacturing8. Warehouse9. Mixed Use Property10. Raw or Agricultural Land Which Can be Developed Pick one, or at most two of these categories of commercial property and focus on them exclusively. Learn as much as you can about them within your market. Dig, really dig. Remember what I said in my previous article—become an expert, an authority… a specialist. Make this type of property your passion. Join a group, club or association and start mingling with people who are just as passionate about this type of income producing property as you. You’ll find no matter which one you focus on, there are people who have made a successful career of investing in that type of property. Now, one question I am asked of people who are new to commercial real estate investing is this: What’s the best type of property to focus on? My answer is raw land or agricultural land that can be rezoned. Why? Because while the challenges are many, the profit upside is huge. So in closing, while there’s opportunity everywhere, it will pay to remember the words of the Zen monks: “He who tries to catch two rabbits, don’t catch any.” Focus on specific type of property and give it all your attention.

http://www.micah.sg

Real Estate Investment Financing is simply industry jargon for a real estate investment loan. In a bad property market where rental yields are low, the most dreaded word that you can say to a real estate investor is negative equity. So what is negative equity? It is a situation which arises when the foreclosed value of your property is less than the price that you paid for it and in certain states like in New York, the mortgagee (the bank) can then bring a deficiency action against the owner to reclaim the difference. This article will therefore go on to examine three ways to prevent a negative equity situation in the longer term. The first key to preventing yourself from a negative equity situation is always look at the downside of any investment and analyze the rental yield of your property in a bad year. In real estate investment terms, this means that you look at the average rental yields of your property in the lean years to see if it drops below your monthly instalment for your mortgage repayment. I hate guessing, so the best way is to go to a real estate agent and ask them to generate a graph and then do your own analysis to see if your property rental would go below the amount that you are paying for your monthly mortgage instalment. The second factor to consider is the price that you pay and the monthly instalments. Many people during a property boom, tend to overpay for their property and as a result, when the economy turns around, the changes of a negative equity situation arising is quite possible. Excessive exuberance in the real estate market like in the stock market can make you more likely to buy the property at an all time high. The third factor is the rebound of a sector. Spend some time looking at statistical data. Which property sectors rebound more quickly than others in response to a good market and economy? By choosing your property investment right, even if the market is bad, your chances of a turnaround are better than the national average. This is also an application of the common adage of “making the best of a bad situation” in real estate investing. In conclusion, by spending some time to consider the three above contributing factors and spending some time to analyze a property investment can save you much heartache later and prevent you from falling into a negative equity Real Estate Investment Financing situation.

Miami Real Estate

Miami is currently one of the richest real estate area in the United States. Buying a property there will allow you live near the most famous beaches in the world, and in the same time you will be enjoying the urban comforts that a city can offer you. The Miami Real Estate recently received a boost from the constructions made by some of the most notable real estate investors, like Donald Trump plus many others. If you are looking to take luxury living to the next level you should definitely buy Miami Beach Condos. Just imagine the benefits that you will get by living in such a Miami Beach Condo. You will have the opportunity to spend your time on world's most famous beaches, do shopping, and join high quality restaurants just by walking a short distance from your condo. Another great thing is the view that your new condo is going to give you. The city has changed a lot in the last 10 years, thanks to the premium real estate investment made there, right now the city is full of life. Its population has grown significantly during the last years. Be happy, enjoy life, your first step to happiness could be buying a Miami Beach Condo. Miami is famous for the beaches, the nightlife, the history, the style, and can be a perfect destination for anyone. You will have the opportunity to purchase some modest condos or ultra luxury condos. No matter what you are after, living there it's going to make your life a dream. Just imagine the glamorous life style that this city is going to offer you. This is the reason why many Hollywood celebrities love Miami.

http://www.micah.sg

Purchasing land in Arizona

Moving to Arizona has the ultimate choices from purchasing raw land to purchasing land in a more rural area to add a manufactured home to building a luxury custom home. Finding land is easy; Finding land that is worth purchasing is a totally different story. I can specifically tell you about Arizona although this might be prevalent in other areas also. What to watch out for are Land fissures, Drinking water (how far you have to drill to install a pump), natural washes, and natural washes that become re-routed from other building and area growth, and most importantly flood plains. If you purchase land on a hill or close to a mountain expect to have above average ground movement and more costs for the foundations. Also high speed internet may become an issue unless you can get used to using a high speed cell card. If you are dreaming of a home with land to have horses and other friendly domestic animals you might check with city ordinances first. For example if you purchase land that was recently annexed by Surprise AZ. You might be surprised by the no farm animal ordinances. Even if homeowners nearby already have this type of animal living on the land they have owned for many years this can be a huge issue if that is what you were planning for your land. Keep in mind that Arizona water is a very big topic here, being in a desert water conservation is very important. Wells that are functioning now might have to be dug deeper in the future as the land around is developed. Large subdivisions moving in around you can lower a water table pretty fast and cause you to have to make modifications to your well, the storage tank and also how deep your well is. Keep Scott Schulte at www.scottschulte.com in mind when your looking for Arizona real state

http:///www.micah.sg

National Real Estate Disaster

The current real estate crisis in the US is only going to get worse as the sub prime loans continue to switch from the honeymoon rate to the higher rate that has already seen many home owners pushed over the edge and out of their homes. This is an economic disaster that will continue to have serious effects on the US real estate market and the economy for years to come. The banks should shoulder some responsibility for to the crisis after all they set the lending criteria along with the various financial institutions have made it very easy to obtain a home loan where in many cases the loan should never have been granted. Many people were steered into sub prime deals when they did not need to go that way, they could have easily qualified for a standard loan but were steered towards the sub prime deals by the lenders who were keen to pickup the more lucrative commissions. So now the time has come to pay and people are walking away from homes on mass, the banks are being forced to foreclose and property values are falling as a result. Falling property values means many people end up in situation where they have negative equity in their homes, they can't sell to repay the debt and the banks become very uncomfortable with the situation. The money market tightens up and the situation compounds. It's a national disaster in the eyes of some, so much pain and suffering for families. The economic fallout is massive and will only get worse as America rushes towards a recession, the soft landing of the real estate market has turned into a giant crash and the ripple effect will travel right around the whole globe. The banks have now started to try and work with people to keep them in their houses and they are negotiating where possible. The foreclosure market is running hot in almost every state, many construction companies are falling like flies and are offering amazing deals to maintain cash flow and viability. Oil has pushed closer to the $100 per barrel mark to add to the problems.

http://www.micah.sg

Real Estate & Credit

Making money in real estate is always going to be an option, as the current real estate market remains depressed then big opportunities will present themselves every single day. It's a sad fact that many people have over extended on credit and as such have been forced to foreclose and walk away form the family home. Right now the foreclosure market is running hot due to record numbers of defaults in the US. Smart cashed up investors are very much aware of this and are ready to purchase homes at well below market value. Just as many people made money as the market rose many people are making money on the falling market. It still remains true that you make money when you buy. Of course people will point the finger of blame at everyone else in these situations, it's sad that families have to lose their home but at the same time we live in an age where people tend to duck personal responsibility on every level they can. People should be prepared to accept the fact that they got themselves into high levels of debt and be prepared to accept responsibility for their actions. The property market will take time to recover from the downturn and this will give people time to recover and sort out their financial situations. Lessons will be learned and banks lending criteria will be evaluated and corrected to stop this from happening again. If your in a situation now where it looks like you stand to lose the house then the best thing you can do is open up the lines of communication with the bank or finance company, they are ready to talk in most cases.

http://www.micah.sg

For best advice on real estate investment contact a real estate investment company

Now days buying and selling property is quite an easy task. But one has to know the ins and outs of the current market otherwise you will be cheated. A person who has a good knowledge in real estate finds it easier to survive in the real estate market than the one who is a novice. In such a scenario a real estate investment company lends the help needed to make your investment a smooth process.A Real Estate Investment Company is the right choice for due guidance on all aspects of real estate investment where experienced professionals will guide you throughout your path. So the process of buying and selling real estate can be accompanied with services of professionals in the industry which are very helpful.The Real Estate Investment Company will provide you with various leads on real estate agents, brokers, realtors etc so that you are in right places at the right time and amongst right people. Real estate agents will also provide you a list of do’s and don’t in this field and thus help new players from committing mistakes and incurring losses. There may be many number of real estate investment companies available so try to choose the most competent among them. Real estate companies also give you latest real estate information, current market value, market trends, and many more. Working with these real estate investment companies you gain knowledge in real estate and come to know about various investment opportunities. One of the best roads to financial freedom and wealth has and always will be the good, solid, income producing real estate investment. Real estate investment is the safest of all investments. Today, more multi-millionaires are being created in real estate investment than any other sector such as stocks & bonds, gas & oil or precious metals. Real Estate Investment Companies are making the job of investors pretty easy and gaining profits in the process.

http://www.micah.sg

Trending Blogs

Recently Viewed Blogs

Untitled