devilalex541

[devilalex541]

When you're dealing with real estate, there's a high chance that you'll lose the investment. If your investment is big and the demand falters, you may be dealt a devastating blow. Remember... losing the investment may be bad but it's certainly not the nastiest thing that will go wrong.

[devilalex541]

Limit Your Real Estate Risk

As I write this, we are starting to see signs of softening in the real estate market. Particularly in some of the hotter real estate markets around the country. The problem with timing the real estate market is the same as trying to time the stock market. By the time it is clear that the trend has changed, it is too late.

Now is a good time to take a look at your current real estate situation best real estate risk information and prepare to make some adjustments if necessary.

The first thing you must do is determine your true reason for owning your house. Do you intend to pay it off and live out the rest of your life in your current home, or are you looking to sell your house at retirement and use the proceeds as part of your retirement income?

If you intend to pay off he mortgage and continue living in your home, then you do not have to worry as much about house price fluctuation. After all, your house is your home and you intend to continue living there for the foreseeable future. House prices declining by 20-30% over the next few years isn't really a concern.

If you are looking at your current home as a part of your investment portfolio, then you have to be concerned about any softening in the market. If you are within five years of retirement you should be very concerned. Your house's value has probably peaked and maybe starting to fall depending on what part of the country you currently live.

[devilalex541]

The fear of losing money can deter people from getting involved in real estate investing. Certainly it's a valid concern. Real estate investment, like any form of investment, is speculative and carries a certain amount of financial risk.

[devilalex541]

The Top 10 Mistakes Real Estate Investors Make

Real estate investing is a challenging undertaking. There are incredible gains to be made and equally incredible losses to be had. Much depends on market forces that are out of your control, real estate risk and even more depends on your understanding of those forces and your ingenuity. Real estate investing is much like playing a musical instrument in the sense that it is a never-ending growth process, you can never be good enough, and if you don't play for a while you lose your chops.

As the saying goes, learn from the mistakes of others! Let's take a look at what I think are the most common mistakes real estate investors make.

1. Not Having a Written Investment Plan

Most investors fail to write anything down at all, let alone writing out a detailed plan - don't you do the same. Put your investment ventures into a long-term, big picture perspective. Start by setting a realistic objective then take inventory of your abilities and weaknesses. Be honest, exploit your abilities and strengthen your weaknesses by hiring specialized professional help.

Draw a detailed map from A to B, and show that plan to experts in the field and people whose advice you trust. Invite feedback. Do this continuously; your plan needs to be a living, breathing work. Remember that plans are just guidelines and are not absolutes. Adjust as you go; every step you take will lead to more clarity. It is much like driving your car at night. When you leave the restaurant after having a wonderful dinner, and start your car and turn on the beams, you can only see maybe 200ft to 300ft in front of you, but as you start driving, the road lights up 200ft to 300ft at a time until you get home.

2. Taking Too Much Risk or Taking Too Little Risk

The very nature of investing is taking risk in return for a gain, but be smart about it. Carefully prepare and take calculated, educated risks. The foremost important factor is to protect your principal, and second is to realize a gain. Don't get involved in an investment just for the sake of getting in; it is better to have no investment that to have a bad one.

Know however, that you need to take some risk. Generally, low risk equates with low returns. Some people are so paranoid they never move on anything. Outline a risk/reward ratio that is acceptable to you and get going. The risk of doing nothing in your life is the highest risk of all.

3. Paralysis of Analysis

This first one is for the engineer types - those who undertake research upon research yet never come to the place where they're ready to move forward - paralysis of analysis. At any given time, there is a lot of competition out there looking for a deal. Be assured that when you find a deal, you are not the only one looking at it. If you are inefficient or take too long with your due diligence you will be too late.

At the other extreme, don't get into a deal without knowing what you are getting into. Realistically, you will never know all there is to know about a deal, and you can count on unforeseen issues to show their ugly faces with every deal. The trick here is to establish an efficient system that you can follow when conducting your due diligence. Find out everything that there is to find, in the shortest possible time, make an informed decision and commit on it.

4. Entering into Bad Partnerships

Partnerships in real estate are very common and rightfully so. After all, real estate investing is a team effort. We can achieve greater results when pooling resources. The key is to carefully consider who you partner with, and for what reason. It's not uncommon for partners to have quite different comfort levels and priorities for investing their resources. One may think the other is taking excessive risk, and the other may think the first is hopelessly conservative. This type of undercurrent is detrimental to a prosperous investment partnership. Before you hasten into anything with anybody make sure you see eye to eye.

5. Doing the Work Yourself

Here is the bottom line; do what you do best and write checks for the rest! Many investors fall into the trap of trying to save money by doing all the work themselves... don't do it! Even professional contractors who focus on one trade know to subcontract the rest. You have to clearly define your job description. This may vary, depending on the type of investments and on your particular skill set. Primarily, a real estate investor should know his market, know the particular strategy he is employing, and be proficient at managing the experts he is hiring to do the work. A note of caution, do not delegate critical decision-making. Remember, it's your behind on the line; do not expect others to make up for what you lack in investment expertise.

6. Doing Cheap and/or Bad Work

The art of investing is to contribute value to the marketplace at a minimal cost. Contributing value can be done in many different ways but for the purpose of my example lets use rehabbing. When you rehab a fix and flip there is the constant challenge of staying within budget. Make sure to budget enough money to assure you can do quality work, if there is no money in the deal to pay for quality work, don't do the deal. There are lots of over-eager investors out there who are willing to overpay for a deal and then don't have the headroom to pay for quality work - don't be one of them, turning out a bad product does not help the community, or your bottom line.

With a fix and flip you want to generate what I call the three "wow's." The first wow is generated when the buyer looks at your online listing or flyer and says "wow this looks really nice for the price." Sell under market, always aim to realize your profit with a sales price of 90% of market value. The second wow is generated when the buyer pulls up to the property "wow this is much nicer then on the flyer." Curb appeal; aim to be the best looking piece of real estate on the block. The third wow happens when they open the door "wow this is beyond what I expected." Deliver quality work and have style.

7. Not Working with a Real Estate Agent

Let me be clear that when I say agent, I mean a competent agent that has extensive experience working with investors, ideally an investor himself. Mutual criticism and resentment exist between agents and investors that stems from a difference in business culture, but I want to point out this only happens between the incompetent representatives on both sides - don't be one of them - an investor without an agent is like a drummer with one arm. It can be done, and done really well in some cases (Def Leppard), but you would be much better off with both arms.

8. Not Having a Network of Professional Contractors

You have probably heard that real estate investing is a team sport, and if you haven't, there it is. In order to successfully complete any type of real estate investment you will need many different skill sets that you personally may not possess. Your job as an investor is to gather highly skilled professionals and make profitable decisions based on the feedback you get from them, as well as efficiently managing your labor force in order to get the job done, and done right.

Gather your team. Start with an agent, a loan officer, a title company, a real estate attorney, a general contractor, and subcontractors such as an electrician, an HVAC contractor, plumber, roofer etc... Make sure these guys are licensed. Tip: when it comes to contractors, it does not hurt to have at least one or two backups.

9. Falling in Love with your Investment

"How sweet it is to be loved by you." Make sure your fix and flip is not humming this tune! Let the numbers dictate what you buy and how you sell. Have clear written investment criteria and adhere to it. Do not fall in love with your investment. And don't let impatience and greed enter into your decision-making process.

10. Not Having an Exit Strategy

Make sure you figure out your exit before getting involved. As they say - start with the end in mind. I suggest you give thought to multiple exit strategies. One of the benefits of real estate is that most of the time, we have more than one option to exit our investment. In the case of our fix and flip, the first option would be a straight sale for maximum profits.

Good Luck!

[devilalex541]

Real estate investing is a challenging undertaking. There are incredible gains to be made and equally incredible losses to be had. Much depends on market forces that are out of your control, and even more depends on your understanding of those forces and your ingenuity.

[devilalex541]

Real Estate Investment Risks - What Can Happen and How to Avoid It

Over time, real estate will almost always appreciate - making it a solid, steady and reliable investment for those patient enough to wait out a sluggish market, strong enough to endure unreliable tenants, or smart enough to buy in the right place at the right time. However, there are risks involved that can diminish your investment return.

If you're considering in investing in real estate, keep reading for a breakdown of possible real estate risks and how to avoid them.

Risk 1 - The Property Won't Appreciate in Value

If you're thinking about flipping a property (that is, buying, fixing up, and immediately selling) within the year, this is a huge risk - particularly if you're buying in a saturated or slow, down turned housing market. It's true that when prices are low, a good deal can be found, but that also means you're going to have to work extra hard to sell.

When the housing market is either depreciating or appreciating at a slow rate, consider holding off on selling until the market picks up again. In the meantime, if you can't carry the property alone, you can opt to rent it - even if at a lower-than-market rate.

Risk 2 - The Tenants Won't Come

If you're purchasing a real estate property with the intention of renting it, look for an area that will appeal to potential tenants. Try to get close to an urban or town center, near public transit real estate risk and within walking distance of local amenities.

An empty property is a property that's losing money, so attract tenants with perks like in-unit washer-dryers, included hydro, free wireless Internet or a signing bonus.

Risk 3 - The Tenants Are More Trouble Than They're Worth

It's true that an empty property is one that's not returning on its investment, but troublesome tenants can also cause big problems. Unpaid rent can lead you down a long and expensive path to eviction procedures, while damage to the property could cost you thousands of dollars.

Minimize this risk by either screening tenants through a property management company or doing thorough screenings yourself. Ask for references, both employment and personal, proof of income, and permission to do a credit check - which can show you the tenant's history and ability to pay bills on time. A credit check will typically cost you about $40, but it's worth it in the long run.

Risk 4 - Disaster Strikes

A natural disaster and fire are real risks for real estate investors. Your best protection against unforeseen disaster is insurance. In addition, you can also purchase mortgage insurance (different from private mortgage insurance) that can help with your payments should you die or become ill or injured.

[devilalex541]

Are you trying to find apartments that you can rent while you still don't have enough finances to buy your own home? Many families tend to rent apartments in the meantime before they can save enough money to purchase a home and seek the help of a mortgage loan. Finding rent apartments is really not hard but you will have to be patient in looking for the right one for you and your family.

[devilalex541]

Advantages of Renting Houses

Did you know that renting houses can be advantageous? Owning a house is great for long term. But renting a house has its own benefits too. Tenants who rent houses get the most out of renting when they pay low rent. Sometimes, this is due to living in a rent-controlled building.

One of the many benefits is obvious. Being a tenant or a renter would also mean not having to maintain your house. All responsibility lies on the landlord himself.

Another main advantage is that you can move at ease anytime you want. For example, moving to another location to stay is much easier due as a tenant (rather than as a landlord). You will gain benefits psychologically Rent house Baku, Azerbaijan and mentally.

Being a renter also means you do not have money being stuck in a particular house. Why is this a problem? It is when you could have used the money to invest into something else, which could prove more profitable.

People who enter their retirement age will also have a better time retiring. Renters who have no obligations to pay unpaid loan balances have the clear advantage here.

When you are renting, you also considered as having zero risks. This is because you do not own the property itself!

There would be also smaller amount of money needed to pay initially. This is especially true where actual homeowners would have to clear the down payment, which could accord up to 10 percent of the total house price.

Last of all, you will also get fixed costs. For example, the period of paying your rental will more likely be fixed and same compared to buying a house. This is because homeowners are subjected to bank lending rates. These lending rates determine the loan's rate of interest of the house.

[devilalex541]

There are many strategies that small real estate developers are currently using, if they don't have the resources to complete a real estate development project right now, including to turn their real estate knowledge into cash by locating ideal property development sites, perhaps taking out an option on the site, and on-selling the 'Development Permit Approval' to someone who does have the resources.

[devilalex541]

Why Has Renting Apartments Become So Popular?

As the monthly rent of the apartment is far less than the monthly installment of the purchased property, many young people often start out their life together in a renting apartment. This is particularly common for new couples who often are looking to save money to tart with which is why they may choose to consider renting an apartment rather than buying one straight away.

The other major reason for someone to consider renting apartments in place of purchasing is that renting reduces some of the maintenance costs. Maintenance is not an easy job to perform and is directly proportional to the area and state of the apartment. However, tenants do not usually have to bear the cost of maintenance, Rent apartment baku and it should be up to the owner of the property to pay for any repairs that are needed for the flat. This can allow the tenants to use the money saved from this for other purposes.

Renting an apartment has also become a popular trend for those who are working away from home in a different city for an extended period of time. As transport can be expensive and the long journey can be tiring, it can allow someone to work and stay refreshed throughout the day. It means that if someone is working in a city for 3 months which is 500 miles away from home, they can rent a place for that period of time without having to worry about any long journeys or expensive hotel costs.

Renting nice apartments is also proving popular with students as they can share a building with a couple of friends or colleagues and the rent can be divided proportionally. More often than not, this can be very economical and prove financially beneficial for students. Many students don't have much money so renting a place can keep the cost of living down without compromising on the quality of living.

All in all, many people are renting apartments instead of buying them as it often gives the buyer more financial security to begin with. Whilst it is often younger people who are renting places, some businessmen are also starting to rent apartments if they are on an extended business trip if they are far away from home. The renting boom will certainly continue to increase whilst people need to save money and it will have an impact on the global property market.