A recent article by David Bauder in the Associated Press discussed the fact that real estate investing television and the real estate market seem curiously at odds at the moment. While reality television depicting house flipping and providing a venue to learn real estate investing continues to do well, the real estate market has noticeably cooled.

 

Bauder likens the television shows to out-of-touch developers, noting that TV programmers continue to tout real estate deals featuring a fast sale while many properties across the country languish in “for sale” status. The A&E Network’s “Flip This House,” TLC’s “Flip That House,” and Bravo’s “Flipping Out” all continue to rake in ratings and advertisers.

 

The networks are even expanding with new shows. TLC will be launching a new show, “Date My House” as well as five other related programs supposedly to help people learn real estate investing, yet the programs we’ve seen thus far are fairly untypical of the commonplace investing dilemmas investors face throughout North America. HGTV enjoyed some of its best ratings this past January, and a good part of that success stems from real estate shows.

 

Nine of HGTV’s most popular 10 shows deal with real estate. Shows such as “House Hunters,” “My First Place,” “Hidden Potential,” “Buy Me” and “Design to Sell” seem to draw in viewers in spades. HGTV even did a special in February about buying a first home.

 

As foreclosures increase, the economy goes from “Bad to Worse”, we’re witnessing the worst type of “learn real estate investing” shows that can be offered – an often glitzy, glamorous look to the upside of real estate investing….that mostly glosses over the fact that the true “reality” is that sellers nationwide are frustrated in trying to sell their properties. Since ratings are what television networks need to show advertisers in order to garner ad revenue, isn’t it a wonder why the television shows sometimes reveal an interesting lack of reality then?

There is an upside to the current programming about house flipping – as long as you are not using the shows to learn real estate investing.

 

Brad Wozny, writer and creator of “8 FIGURE Empire™: A Proven System That Shows Investors How to Generate a 6 Figure Bank Account and Realize 7 Figure Real Estate Gains in as Little as 7 Months,” points out that these shows are basically infomercials for real estate professionals (e.g. Realtors).

 

The high ratings plus this feature can make a reality show a powerful venue for real estate pros. Don’t learn real estate investing practices from TV shows is the bottom line – instead consider aligning yourself with a proven real estate investing mentor to learn real estate investing from the ground up.

By: Brad Wozny

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Find, Fund And Facilitate All Your Real Estate

Have you tried your luck at foreign exchange, bonds and stocks, but to no avail? Are you perplexed as to what to put your money on? Consider real estate investment, as several people have turned into millionaires through shrewd investments in real estate. By means of this article, we will elaborate four common real estate investing tips, which would help you realize significant profits via property investment. Be it a newbie or a seasoned investor, these tips are sure to be of help to one and all alike.

Real estate investing tip #1 – Perhaps the most lucrative investment technique is to buy a run down property, fix it up, and then sell at a significant profit. Since the property is shabby, you might be able to acquire it for a low price. However, you must ensure that the cost incurred in the repair is restricted to a minimum so as to guarantee a profit. You can do this by making sure that the basic amenities are in place, without going overboard with the renovation. Such a buy-fix-sell scenario demands excellent property valuation skills and a rather frugal attitude while renovating.

Real estate investing tip #2 – Purchase properties that are about to face a foreclosure. A property typically faces foreclosure when the homeowner is financially distressed and is unable to repay the loan. Another common reason for foreclosures is dissolution of marriage with the abandonment of the house by either of the couple. Such a distressed property can be bagged for a low price by an articulate investor, who can convince the homeowner to sell the property prior to the foreclosure sale. Then the investor may sell the newly bought property at a significant gain.

Real estate investing tip #3 – Locality is a paramount aspect in real estate investment. Two similarly built houses may have varying valuations if they are situated in different locations. So, you must be abreast of the hot locations in your concerned region. If you are just about to start you real estate venture, I suggest you look for places that offer high rentals. Purchasing a property in such a region would result in a healthy monthly source of income.

Real estate investing tip #4 – Ever heard of Warren Buffett? The acclaimed stock investor made billions through a contrarian’s approach to stock investment. You may take a contrarian’s view to real estate investment as well. For instance, you may buy a property when it is out of favor with the majority of investors. That is, acting in opposition to the majority opinion. A contrarian’s approach is not a sure shot path to real estate success. Moreover, it’s complicated and therefore beginners are advised against it.

All in all, there are several avenues that you could realize profit in real estate. However, it is imperative that you be prepared to put in extra work hours, especially at the beginning of your real estate career. Putting your shoulder to the wheel is what’s required to make substantial profits in real estate.

Copyright © 2006 Joel Teo. All rights reserved.

By: Joel Teo

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How To Sell Your Home In 21 Days Or Less – With Or Without A Realtor

“Growing instead of Shrinking

First thing to note in the list of real estate investing benefits is that if you look at the real estate market as a time line compared to the stock market, you will notice that real estate is a growing line with few major fluxuations. On the other hand the stock market has high points and valleys that range from quick high’s to sudden drops through out it’s history. It’s harder to look at the time lines of other forms of investing i.e. currency investing, mutual funds, buying gold and silver etc – but one thing is clear, no other market is as profitable or as safe as the investment real estate market. Many people ask me “Why is investing in real estate such a safe investment?” and the answer is as simple as it is complicated, the quick answer is “God isn’t making any more of it” the more complicated answer isn’t as poetic. The reason investing in real estate has so many benefits has many factors, I will go over the basics with you now:

Government Tax Breaks – The United States government has setup multiple tax breaks for real estate investors including the very popular 1031 exchange. The textbook definition of a 1031 exchange is:

“”A 1031 exchange or Like kind exchange is defined by section 1031 of the Internal Revenue Code. This code specifies that if an asset, usually some form of real estate such as land or a building, is sold and the proceeds of the sale are then reinvested in a like kind of an asset then no gain or loss is recognized, allowing the deferment of capital gains taxes.”"

The simple explanation is as long as you reinvest the money you made from your real estate investment into another investment you don’t have to pay taxes on said profit. No other form of investing gives you this much freedom with taxes.

Anyone Can Invest – Because real estate investing is so profitable and safe it see’s a huge amount of amateur investors entering the market everyday. Why else do you think all these infomercials are on late at night talking about the millions they’ve made overnight with someone’s CD set? O.k. I’m not saying that buying one of those CD sets will make you a millionaire but they are good to learn the basics of real estate investing from. The big problems with these CD sets is they teach making millions in real estate with bad credit or without spending a dime. This is not the case, 99.9999% of the time you will need excellent credit and a good amount of money for the down payment on an investment property (usually 10-20%).

Other People’s Money – Why invest your money when you can invest someone else’s? One of the big rules in real estate investing is “If someone is willing to flip the bill – let them”. Banks are more then willing to give out a loan to buy houses because unlike other forms of investing they have something tangible they can keep if you don’t pay up. Banks are usually not as willing to give loans for stock or gold investing because the stock you invested in maybe worth nothing by the time you sell and the bank has nothing OR you take your gold and run across the border. Real estate is almost always going to be worth something (often increasing in value every year) and their hasn’t been a recorded case yet of someone taking a house across the border.

Right now the investment real estate market is booming like never before in history and those investing in it are being rewarded more so then in any other time in. If you want more information on this explosive market feel free to visit my website or give me a call and I will answer any question you may have. “

By: Phil Laboon

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Real Estate Investors – Discover How To Raise Cash For Re Deals

From a historical perspective, investing in real estate is almost as old as the construction of property itself. Indeed many business owners who created their wealth through companies then went on to diversify into real estate investments. In fact, over the years real estate investments have produced similar returns to those found in the stock market. Let’s take a look at some of the reasons:

First of all, and most obviously, the supply of building land around the world is limited, even when taking into account landfill opportunities. Since the world’s population is growing and the demand for housing ever increasing, then there would seem to be a never-ending and increasing requirement for real estate of all types.

Now let’s take a look at the mechanics of buying property. Here it can be seen that investing in real estate is quite different from most other traditional investments such as stocks. With real estate you can often borrow up to around 80 percent of the value of a property, sometimes even the full value and beyond under special circumstances. Thus a more modest investment of say 20 percent of the value can be used to buy and control the full value of the larger investment. Naturally, if the value of your investment increases, I.e. property prices rise, then the value of your real estate investment also increases. If so, then you are into profit, including that on the money you originally borrowed.

Naturally, there will be costs associated with real estate investing (such as legal fees and property maintenance, taxes, etc), but these are usually small in comparison with the potential gains.

Borrowing in order to invest in real estate makes real estate a type of leveraged investment. But if you know anything about leverage, you will realize that leveraged investments can also go against you. What, for example, if the property you purchased for $300,000 decreased in value to $240,000? Even though the value only dropped by 20 percent, you actually lose 100 percent of the original $60,000 investment. And if you have a mortgage on this property making up its full purchase price, you will actually need to pay money to the mortgage provider in order to cover the costs of selling the property. That’s in addition to the loss of the whole of your initial investment.

So, as you see, investing in real estate is something to be taken very seriously and should not be done with money which you might need for other things in the near future. Investment in property is more secure as a long-term investment. In the above example, if you could have held onto the property and not sold it, the loss would purely have been ‘on paper’. In all likelihood, over time the value of the property, unless grossly overpriced when you originally bought it, will rise and you will likely not only recover the full value of the initial investment, but also possibly make a nice profit when you do come to sell.

Another reason that real estate is a popular investment is that there are profits to be made from it whilst you are the owner. In addition to the tax-saving benefits (in that any tax due on the property’s increase in value doesn’t become due until it is eventually sold), you can also make additional money from renting out the property. This can often cover all your running costs of the property, plus providing a profit on top.

Unless you make a large down payment, early on during your ownership the monthly operating profit from your property business is likely to be small or non-existent. But over time this profit will increase as the amount of rent you can charge increases at a higher rate than the running costs. Naturally these profits will be subject to normal income tax rules.

A further benefit of investing in property is that you might be able to purchase cheaply a run-down or ‘distressed’ property and fix it up or develop it further. Properties like this can still be found if you look around carefully. Naturally, investing in this type of real estate can still produce large gains. This is something you certainly can’t do with traditional stock market investments.

However, returning to the initial question about whether real estate investing is still a viable option when current prices seem to be nearing their peak: yes, it can still be so, but you might need to be more creative and prepare to be in for the long haul. Property ‘flipping’ methods that worked extremely successfully yesterday, might not work at all well tomorrow.

You might also consider diversifying into overseas real estate markets. Whilst this will require greater study and analysis, and there are many more legal issues to consider, seeking out what appear to be undervalued international real estate opportunities has the potential to be highly profitable if handled correctly.

Naturally, you should always seek the advice of professionals, both financial and legal, before investing in properties of any description, particularly when considering investing overseas. There might be major implications to your overall taxation. Risks can also be substantially higher when you are not there to oversee your investment in person.

By: Bianca Tavares

About the Author:

How To Sell Your Home In 21 Days Or Less – With Or Without A Realtor

The buying and selling of real estate, land and built up property, is the core business of the real estate arena. The industry thrives on buying low and selling high. It has witnessed the entry of a number of investors from the middle class segment of society. The international real estate investment arena involves capitalizing on bargain purchases, high market values and proper usage of increase value strategies, etc. There are a number of online and offline resources that operate 24×7, to help you connect to industry components across countries and continents.

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Any international investor basically buys a property for its current market value. The idea is to look for and invest in land or built up properties with unrealized potential, make the desired ‘appreciation-oriented’ changes to increase the value of the property and then sell and re-invest. The international real estate investment strategies and goals are no different from that of any individual. Profit rules every investment and is the core indulgence for any strategy to be declared worthwhile. In the international real estate investment arena, you need to be aware of building terms, capitalization rates, rents, operating expenses, debt services and purchase prices, which differ from one region to another. 

The cash-on-cash returns are common in this segment of the fiscal world, but you need to first own the land or built up property with a clear title. The international real estate investment arena also demands greater understanding of the depressed markets, boom periods and small and large market niches. The variation within regions is what makes the international real estate investment market more challenging and luring. All over the world, the core real estate investment strategy involves investment in properties which are believed to increase in value in the near future. This possibility is generally ruled by market-wide appreciation and pure speculation. 

The element of chance and luck add to the excitement of belonging to this fraternity. The real estate investment gurus have time and again made tips and advice available on how to identify un-sophisticated sellers and bank on their ignorance. The resultant convoluted real estate deals do challenge the ethics and legality of the transaction, but ‘survival of the fittest’ is the name of the game in the international real estate investment arena. 

The industry recognizes the long term and flip ‘holding’ period for any investment in land or built up property. While in the former you hold the property for years, in the latter you sell the property as soon as possible after acquisition. The international real estate investment market has ample of scope to acquire and sell almost simultaneously! The ability to double money by selling as soon as possible after acquisition makes the market even more adventurous for the novice. In the international arena, different strategies require different periods of time to fructify. 

Today, the internet technology ahs enabled real estate investment enthusiasts to connect and establish relationships in a matter of seconds. The result is a sensitive and versatile market place that ahs ample of scope for profit with every deal. The industry analysis is extremely time-consuming and depending on whether you have a full-time job or not want, you have to study the real estate investment strategies to gain from international market trends. 

Written by: GB

Date Written: 07/07/2008

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By: Charles and Kim Petty

About the Author:

Learn To Find Commercial Real Estate Deals And We Will Fund Them