Success in Real Estate – Tips That May Help You Make More Profits in Selling Properties

July 17, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Real estate business is indeed a lucrative business if you have what it takes to be successful in this industry. Of course, there are risks involves in making profits buying and selling properties but if you know your way around this industry, you can indeed achieve success in real estate.

If you are interested in making profits in the real estate industry, or if you are interested to venture into this lucrative business, here are some tips that you might find useful to have a good start.

- Seek expert advice. You can go your own way in this industry, but it helps a lot to be guided from the start. It can be hard to start with trial and error especially when you are investing your hard-earned money on it, so better start right by finding expert help. You can find expert advice from people who have been successful in this business or you can also get great resources that you can use in making a good start buying and selling properties.

- Find tools that can help you with your real estate investment. Investment tools can be a great help in finding the best deals on properties where you can also make the best profits from. Among the useful tools you can use in this venture are those that can help you find foreclosed properties or other low-priced real estate properties, which are of course, the best profit makers in the industry and a good technique to find success in real estate.

- Create your business plan. Like any other business, it is indeed important to have your master plan to guide you on how you can run your business. A well-managed and organized business from the start can definitely be a good way to make profits in this industry.

- Make your marketing plan. Although you can incorporate your marketing plan in your business plan, it is important to give more weight in your marketing plan as this is one thing that can help you a lot in making good deals in buying cheaper houses or under-priced ones and selling them for a good profit. Do not forget the internet, aside from the may marketing and advertising techniques you can use online, it is also a big help in reaching out to a wider audience that you cannot normally reach in traditional ways of marketing. Of course, the more organized you are with your marketing, the more it can be easier for you to make and follow your strategy.

- You don’t have to take all the tasks in your hands. If you think you need to hire a real estate agent, then you can also go ahead. If you need the services of a lawyer, then you can also get one for your business. Don’t be afraid to get help, but of course, you have to take into consideration the costs of getting their services as well.

These are just a few of the things that you need to keep in mind to start learning how to achieve success in real estate. However, it is important to continuously learn more tips and techniques so you can have an edge as compared to others who are also trying to make profits making money in real properties.

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Green Real Estate Tips You Can Implement Easily

July 17, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Being green is all about saving, reducing and conserving the planet’s natural resources. How can a green philosophy apply to real estate though?

If you are going to build a new house from scratch, then you have a blank canvas on which you can layer one green innovation on top of another to improve the environmental credibility of your home.

It may not seem as though it is as easy for most people who have no intention of building new real estate and are quite happy living where they are or if they move will choose an already constructed home. However there are a number of ways you can green your property, many of which should save you money either straight away or over a reasonable period of time.

The best time to implement many green improvements is when you need to make a change to your property. Your existing boiler may not be the most environmentally friendly, but the energy used to manufacture it is already accounted for. If it is still relatively new, just throwing it out to get an improved model is unlikely to make financial sense. What you can do is make sure that it runs as efficiently as possible by having it cleaned and serviced on a regular basis, usually once a year.

Adding extra insulation to your property can also help reduce the amount of heat and therefore energy you waste. This can be relatively cheap to install and the money saved will usually pay the cost of the added insulation in about two years. Even more simply, by closing curtains as soon as it gets dark, you will help trap warm air in your house rather than letting it escape through the cold surface of the windows.

Fitting energy efficient light bulbs will cut your electricity bill and switching those lights off when you are not in a room will reduce it even more. Developing good habits in you and your family can take only a few days and will save money.

If you have a back yard or garden, planting your own vegetables is a great way to improve the green credentials of your property. In one simple step you are cutting down on the food miles needed to transport vegetables from the farm to the store and then to your home. You may also find that you waste far less food you grow yourself, because you know just how much effort has gone into producing it.

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Real Estate Tips For Beginning Investors

July 17, 2011 by Leave a Comment

REAL ESTATE Investors behavior modification leads to a massive 800% increase in rate on investment!! The majority of residential real estate investors invest with their hearts instead of looking at their investment as a business, a business that needs to provide cash flow to cover the operation, these investors are content with a return often in the 2% range or even worse in negative territory. When asked the investor will say that they are looking for capital gain and tax benefits so are comfortable with an investment that is showing a negative return.

This form of investment strategy is endemic in residential real estate investment, and investors are conditioned to believe that this is good. To maximize your profit take note of and avoid the following pitfalls this will require a major adjustment to your thinking and investment behavior.

Behavior pitfalls to modify:

1.Do not fall in love with your investment property: Many property investors make an unnecessary mistake when they start their career in property investment.They look at their investment property in the same manner and with the same feelings as they do when purchasing their own home to live in and this is a critical mistake as emotion rather than business acumen takes control,and the principles of investment fly out of the window. Investing should encompass the principles of a sound investment and investors should look at the investment as a vehicle that will deliver the results that they are seeking seamlessly. Let me explain again, when purchasing an investment property it should be all about the numbers and nothing about the emotions, look for the properties financial statement. Certainly let emotions dictate the purchase of the home you intend to live in where, you would ask yourself emotion charged questions such as I “like” the house, will I “enjoy” living in this neighborhood, and numbers will if at all figure last, liking and enjoying are all emotionally charged issues.

2. Change your behavior and start becoming a successful investor by evaluating the property investment by it’s numbers it’s financial statement. Start asking your self questions like “Can I purchase this property at a discount,or at a whole sale price”, “Is there enough room for a healthy spread if I use this property as a cash flow tool”,” How much of a spread can I get over and above the cost of money to purchase this investment”. TIP: Keep emotions out and the numbers in, you will be glad you did.

3. Do not be Greedy: A major pitfall especially for quick cash investors, is the danger of becoming greedy, very greedy.They get a great wholesale deal on their property investment and then try and flick it for well above retail, instead of at or slightly below retail.This stymies the sale and the hapless greedy investor has to hold on to the property for a greater length of time and invariably will end up taking less than they could have, if they had sold at or just below retail.Greed costs you more than the gain so quit being greedy. Listen being greedy especially on quick cash deals will come back to bite you.

4. Remember the beauty of quick cash is the quick part. Price your quick deals to move quickly, you will end up making more money than if you were being greedy.

5. Why are some investors susceptible to being greedy? It’s because they subconsciously fear that this deal will be their last. I call this the scarcity mindset. Don’t fall prey to that. There are plenty of deals out there and this one deal will definitely not be your last, unless of course you want it to be. Start cultivating an abundance mindset, instead of a scarcity mindset move forward by pricing your deals to make you money and sell quickly.

6. Thinking you know it all: No one likes a know it all…. do you? This is an awful pitfall that many investors fall into and is particularly prevalent when it comes to investing in real estate,and gets worse after you have been investing for a while. They believe that they know all there is to know about real estate investing.

7. Listen, the market is always changing just because something worked yesterday does not in itself mean that it will work as well today, not only is the market changing but so are the rules and the laws governing real estate.

8. Real Estate is always in a state of flux.There is always something new to learn in the realm of active real estate investment for profit. Perhaps the learning curve has diminished for those that have learned the basics of real estate investing, maybe there is not as much to learn, rest assured you will never stop learning and there will always be surprises in store for the know it all.

9. Instant Gratification: Remember there is no free lunch and definitely no easy way to wealth.It takes time,effort and hard work, sorry you can’t sit on your butt and wish or expect someone else to make you wealthy, it is just not going to happen. Unfortunately far to many people from all walks of life and sadly those that should know better,all want the “instant fix”, the “silver bullet”, “The secret”, to making millions. They all have one thing in common they crave for the “secret” and even if there was a secret, they would want some one else to do it for them.

10. Sorry to disappoint there are no secrets, just common sense, effort and following the principles of sound investing,now this is where the vast majority fail they do not follow the principles of sound investment and if they did start following these principles, after a few successess they look at taking short cuts which invariably cause them hardship, you often hear these people wail why me… If you seriously want to be financially free and wealthy treat your investment as a business and ensure it creates cash flow.

11. These four major psychological pit falls plague potentially successful investors, to overcome them you need to modify your behavior starting with the way you think.

Not convinced? Want to know some secrets that the wealthy use constantly?

Secrets revealed below…..

1. Harness your positive thoughts and make them a reality. What you think so it shall be
2. Prepare to go beyond your present circumstances.
3. Nurture the ability to believe in your self
4. Set and achieve goals
5. Learn how to have a go
6. Take responsibility for all your actions, stop blaming others when things fail or do not happen as planned
7. The willingness to do what it takes
8. Buy property as a business and not tolerate loss
9. Buy property correctly and never pay to much
10. An aversion to debt, borrow only what can be comfortably repaid and still make a profit
11. Run your investments like successful businesses
12. Speak to and follow successful people
13. Have a positive mental attitude.
14. Take responsibility for your actions, if it going to be it is up to me.

As you can see there is not much that separates the wealthy from the poor, no it is not the amount of money. I could give a poor person a million dollars and by months end they would be poor again, because they have not developed the fourteen points above. Being wealthy is all about you, your thoughts, your beliefs, your attitudes towards wealth, riches money and your self. Your mind is the secret to you being wealthy or poor.

Brian is a real estate trainer and assessor, having trained thousands of students in the fundamentals of profitable real estate investing. Brian has also trained hundreds of students that have wanted to and since being trained by Brian received their Real Estate Agents license to run, operate and sell Real estate in their own businesses. Brian is an astute an extremely knowledgeable Real estate investor and author he runs real estate investment courses for experienced and newbies to real estate investing.His goals are to teach his students how to profit well from their investments.

Brian has practiced as a professional real estate agent and auctioneer and property developer for 30 years and with over a billion dollars in real estate passing through his business, Brian is a sought after trainer and speaker and has the charisma to captivate and hold an audiences attention, like a cobra mesmerizes it’s prey.

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Real Estate: Tips for Buying a Home

July 17, 2011 by Leave a Comment

It is interesting to see that Victoria is building brand new homes at a fast pace; at almost double the rate of New South Wales. This may be due to the seventy thousand jobs that have recently been created in Victoria. By 2037, it is predicted that Melbourne is set to become Australia’s largest city leaving Sydney far behind.

Buying a home is never easy especially if you are not sure about what you want and where you want it. It is important that you first decide on where you would like to live and the size of the house you need. Then, of course, you will have to factor in what you can afford. The rules of purchasing a property vary from state to state depending on whether the property is sold through an auction or by private agreement.

Once you have decided on the property you wish to purchase, make an offer. Always offer a price that is lower than the asking price. Convey your serious intent to buy by paying an initial deposit of maybe 10% of the total price. You can then draw up legal agreements and insure the property. It will take you anywhere between a month and 90 days to finalize the sale. In case you change your mind about the property, the seller is legally allowed to retain 0.25% of your deposit and refund the rest.

Getting a home loan is easy as long as you have all the required documents. It is definitely easier for a salaried couple to get a housing loan. Self-employed persons are not considered as credit worthy as salaried people.

There are several types of home loans with fixed and variable rates of interest.

1. Basic Loan

2. Equity Line Credit Loan

3. No Deposit Loan

4. Fixed Rate Loan

5. Standard Variable Rate Loan

6. Non conforming Loan

7. Home Loan Package

In extremely rare cases, you might be able to swing a 100% loan and even get the financial institution to pay the stamp duty and other expenses. This is called the No Deposit Loan. Self-employed who may not meet the financial institution’s credit requirements, or those who have a bad credit background, or those who are casual workers with no steady job, or fresh immigrants with no history of loan repayment, can apply for the Non Conforming Loan.

There are several questions you need to ask before you buy a property:

• Why is the property on the market?

• Has the property been inspected for structural damage, etc?

• What are the items that come with the property?

• What is the market value of the property and how does it compare with the asking price?

• Is your agent also representing the buyer?

• When will you get possession of the property?

Buying property that is being sold by auction has its good points; you could become the legal owner within a month. But, you need to be financially sound before bidding. If there is any delay in settlement, you could face legal action.

This is the best time to buy property in Australia as the property market is set for an upward swing and property investments promise high profits through rental income and higher resale value.

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Real Estate Tips For Landlords

July 17, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Real Estate Tips

Most “guru’s” are currently spouting about how good real estate investments can be. This article won’t seek to reinforce their sales pitch, nor will it argue with it. Real Estate can be a great investment, but if you not careful it can also be a financial disaster.
You may ask who I am to speak on real estate. Whilst not a multi-millionaire selling my next great book this article can give you some practical advice of someone who rented out for over five years and explain the pitfalls and the success stories.

Important Lessons:-

1) Good Insurance:- number one is not an option – its a necessity. Ensure your asset is fully insure both normal house insurance and extras like tenant damage and loss of rental income. Given a disastrous tenant this can lessen the pain. Be WARN! Don’t under insure your house, if it burns down, particularly if there is any suspicion of arson the insurance company will do their own independent investigation and here is the real kicker – THEY WILL CHARGE YOU FOR THE PRIVILEGE – thats right, read the fine print, the insurance company before paying you out will minus their costs – i.e. $100,000 policy – $20,000 investigation means only $80,000 to you. Read the fine print, the insurance despite their ads is not your friend if a million dollar house and therefore a million dollars on the line, don’t expect the insurance company to be happy to pay out, if they can find a way to slime out of the policy they probably will. An insurance policy is a contact make sure you read it. Make sure you chose an insurance policy not just on price but also on good reputation and on company strength.
(Want more advice try Real Estate Underground – Click Here!)

2) A bargain isn’t always a bargain:- When purchasing a house remember to be very careful. Don’t buy on emotion. Never buy without visiting it several times on different days and times. I know of a nice suburb that has nice houses with big yards, but the smell of the local slaughter house is enough to make you want to vomit. Remember you only become aware of such things by visiting the house personally. Go at least one time without the real estate agent, speak to the neighbours and ask if they like living there. When buying a fix it upper check how easy it is to fix up. Does it contain asbestos, lead paint or like harmful products that are going to cost you a fortune to remove? Would you like to live there? If you don’t then don’t expect others to. Remember whilst more expensive houses may cost more they tend to attract better class of tenants and less maintenance costs as well as higher rental returns. Remember there are always more houses out there it the buyer is stuck on a price thats no good for you, don’t be afraid to walk away. Never buy a house on emotion!
(Want to learn more on fixer upper fortunes then click Here!)

3) Do it yourself:- Unless you have a huge portfolio of real estate under your control try to do it yourself and you will save a lot more. If you engage a real esate agent to rent your house they will charge between 10%-15% of the rental income, in return you get very little. They will rent out the house, may inspect once or twice a year (some agents will charge extra for this privilege) and you don’t have the choice of the tenants. Do it yourself and save the money. Pay a small fee to join online real estate black list – (this is a list that blacklists bad tenants) and you are in the same position as them. A real estate first goal is not to please you but to ensure they get their cut – this may mean they make decisions that are not in your best interest, but in theirs (e.g. they may get kick backs from their tradesman and other relationships – in my case they repaired a hot water cylinder without my permission – the cylinder was less than a year old and still under warranty – thus I could of got it repaired for free, was I angry – you bet). Don’t forget with agents its your house, if they are not keeping you satisfied, change agents. In regards to maintenance tradesman are hugely expensive, whatever you can do yourself, do. For example, changing a tap washer is an easy thing to do, some plumbers charge $100 just to pay a visit.
(Want to Buy and Sell Real Estate from home? Click Here! )

4) There is more than Rent. Remember to factor in the rise in real estate prices. You may be able to buy a cheap house in a country town, but if that town has shown no growth and is unlikely to grow then you will not be able to resell the house at the later stage for a much increased price. What creates regularly increasing house prices is even increasing demand. Be careful buying in places like a mining town or a town with one industry, mine resources are limited and one industry towns can turn into ghost towns overnight if the main factory closes. Play it safe buy in towns and cities where growth has been and will continue to be good. Therefore don’t just consider the rate of return on investment in terms of rent, but also factor in capital growth. If there is likely to be little or no capital growth the rental returns need to be higher – if they aren’t, forget it and keep looking. When a place is vacant charging too high a rent will ensure it takes weeks to fine a new tenant – every week it is unrented is costing you between $5-$10 a week in rent – (e.g. which is better renting a house for a year at $400 a week or $380 a week – if the fails to rent for four weeks at $400 even if you finally rent it at $400 you have lost out ($20 extra rent X 48 weeks – ($960) (4x$380= 1520)- if you’d rented it straight away at $380 a week – you would have been $560 better off for the year)

5) Good tenants are worth keeping. If you have good tenants who are looking after the house, you don’t alway have to keeping raising the rent every year with the general market increase – reward good tenants and increase your likelihood of retaining them by giving them a discount on the market rate. If the tenant puts in a garden and trees and other landscaping, the capital value they are adding to your property may mean you should not hit them with the highest possible rent. tenants who damage a house or fail to pay rent can cost a fortune. It normally takes 6 weeks or more to evict a non-paying tenant, that can mean a big loss, doubly so if you are paying the mortgage.

 

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7 Tips to Real Estate Agents’ Success

July 17, 2011 by Leave a Comment

With over 2 million real estate agents according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), becoming a successful real estate agent takes more than just a license and a knowledge of current laws and regulations.The first year drop out range estimated to be from 40% to 80% demonstrates that many real estate agents are not as successful as they could be and research suggests that 90% give up after 3 years. The following 7 tips may help you avoid becoming one of these statistics.

  1. First and Foremost YOU are a business. Real estate agents work for a broker, but are independent, commissioned sales people. This means that you are a small business and must run your practice as a business. Again, remember you are a small business owner.
  2. Embrace a Planning Attitude. If you don’t have a plan, then you are on some else’s plan – usually the successful real estate agent’s. During the last 10 years, what I have learned as a performance improvement consultant or coach is that most people place more value in planning a trip to the grocery store or a vacation than planning their lives either professionally or personally.
  3. Research Your Market Plan. Since you, as the real estate agent, are responsible for your own expenses, do your research specific to your marketing plan within your strategic plan. Time spent in constructing your marketing plan is definitely well spent. NOTE: Remember a business plan usually is data driven, while a strategic plan identifies who does what by when.
  4. Establish Sales Goals. Using your strategic action plan, establish sales goals. If you are new to this industry, it may take 6 months before the first sale. HINT: Use the W.H.Y. S.M.A.R.T. criteria for goal setting.
  5. Create a Financial Budget. Budgeting is critical given the up and down of this volatile market place. Your financial budget should plan for your marketing costs, any additional costs such as education and your forecasted income.
  6. Make Managing Yourself a Priority. Building a business is not easy. You must learn how to manage yourself especially in the area of time management, ongoing real estate business training coaching continuing education units, and personal life balance. Real estate is said to be a 24/7 business much like any small business. However, it is important not to lose sight of your personal life including family, friends, physical health, etc.
  7. Find a Mentor or a Real Estate Coach. Going it alone is not easy. Take the time to find a mentor who can help you steer through some of the known obstacles and help you during the “peaks and valleys.” If you have the resources, you may wish to hire a real estate coach or an executive coach who specializes in small business help and sales.

Being an incredible sales person and entering the real estate market does not guarantee similar sales success. However, these 7 tips may help you avoid many of the pitfalls by not being one of the four real estate agents who quit within one year or one of the nine who give up after 3 years.

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How to Have a Successful Open House

July 12, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Picture of the "Gingerbread House" i...

Image via Wikipedia

In order to have success at selling your real estate you need to have a successful open house. Even with the power of the Internet and people being able to do their research online, there is a majority of people who will still want to see a house in person so they can get a feel for the area and the house itself. This is where you can make their visit a pleasant experience.

The first thing to do is to make sure people know that you are having an open house. With social media, print media and more, you can get the word out to many people at a time and greater your chances of having more potential buyers.

One way to make sure a crowd shows up is to make things more fun. Always be sure you have snacks available and that the shoppers feel welcome and at home. This is the entire reason they may choose your house over another so let them browse but make it worth the trip. You can even have drawings or a prize package; that is up to you. However, keep in mind that people love to show up for something extra and as long as you have a crowd, your chances of getting a buyer is greatly enhanced. Sure, you may get some people who show up just to snack or enter the drawing but there are even ways around that. You can make the raffle only for those that fill out an application or express interest; the point is, there are ways to be sure that the right people are the ones showing up.

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