Posts Tagged ‘Real Estate Investment’

Real estate investors spend the majority of their time in search of “hot” properties. In today’s cool real estate market, locating profitable properties might seem impossible. However, there is still plenty of money to be made in the real estate investment game.

In the past, hot real estate properties consisted of homes with oceanfront or mountain views. Recently, house flipping has been portrayed as the ultimate money-maker for investors motivated to renovate distressed properties.

Foreclosure homes and bank owned real estate can oftentimes be purchased significantly under market value. Investing time, money and physical labor in repairs and renovations can result in huge profits, if you know what you are doing.

Homes and condominiums located in gated and golf communities are another source of hot real estate properties. As more Baby Boomers reach the age of retirement, they are seeking second homes either for retirement or vacation purposes. Many of them are opting to purchase real estate in activity-based communities geared toward retirees.

One of the lesser known, but exceptionally “hot” real estate markets is that of sustainable living communities. Also referred to as “green” or “enviro-friendly” real estate, sustainable living homes are manufactured from recycled materials and powered by alternative energy sources such as windmills and solar panels.

Many sustainable living communities are self-contained cities or towns. Retail and grocery stores, recreational facilities, post offices and schools are located within the community. The majority of sustainable living communities have their own local government, police and fire stations, hospitals and medical facilities.

Investing in sustainable living real estate offers the potential for substantial profit. Not only is environmentally-friendly real estate expected to significantly appreciate within the next five to ten years, there are currently many tax credits available to investors who purchase energy-efficient homes. These properties make excellent rental properties and tend to attract tenants who are financially responsible.

Commercial real estate and land can be quite lucrative investments. Investing in vacant office buildings, retail outlets and land can yield a tidy profit if you take time to conduct research to analyze future market trends.

The U.S. Government offers numerous tax incentives on commercial properties; particularly if they are developed to bring new jobs to the area. This type of real estate transaction requires extensive knowledge; therefore it is advised to work with knowledgeable advisors who can guide you through the process.

Last, but not least, one of the hottest real estate market investments is that of purchasing distressed properties sold through private investors. A little known secret is to seek out private real estate investors who purchase bank-owned foreclosure property portfolios.

Investors who purchase bank portfolios in bulk are able to purchase houses and other distressed properties at wholesale prices. Depending on the condition and location of bank owned foreclosures, investors can sometimes purchase them for as little as 30-cents on the dollar. However, these deals are rare. Instead, the average cost if closer to 70-cents on the dollar.

When investors purchase in bulk they are eager to pass their savings along to interested buyers. In order to obtain these low-ball prices, most investors require buyers to have cash-in-hand at the time they make an offer. This allows buyers to close the deal in a matter of days instead of weeks. The buyer can then renovate the foreclosure real estate and resell quickly. In some cases, a buyer can make 30- to 40-percent profit within 90 days or less.

Although the real estate market is currently cool, there are plenty of hot deals to be found in real estate investing. However, you need to frequently research and review real estate market trends if you want to stay on top of the game. The more you know about how the real estate market works, the better off you will be when it comes time to buy or sell.

Investment in real estate gives an opportunity to gain good profit for a lot of people. Since investing in a real estate is a great short or long term opportunity, the demands are increasing with each passing day. The price increases substantially over time and this is the main reason for the increasing demand.

There are several real-estate investment trusts that are used by people to invest in residential and commercial business of real estate. A group of people form a trust and a lot of mortgages and commercial properties are managed and possessed by them. Investments are made by the trust in several other real estates. These that invest in real estate show the characteristics of stocks and real estate.

A trust that invests in real-estate works like a company and produces income from real-estate like offices, apartments, shopping centers, hotels and warehouses. Though there are wide ranges of property types, most of the trusts that invest in real estate concentrate on just one of the property types. Those ‘trusts’ that are specialists in health care are known as health care real-estate investment trust.

A trust for investing in real-estate was formed in the early 60′s so that it could raise the investment opportunities in real-estate to a great extent. Small scale investors have the right of accessing these investment funds. The advantage of forming a trust is that a person can select a particular amount of share he wants to invest from various trusts instead of investing in a single management or building.

The trust that invest in real-estate can be broadly divided into three types. They are mortgage, equity and hybrid. Mortgage trusts that invest in real-estate offer direct money to the owners of real-estate by purchasing mortgage or loan backed securities. In case of equity trusts that invests in real-estate the management and the ownership is with the trust. The last category of trusts is a combination of the equity and mortgage trusts. The hybrid trusts that invest in real estate not only provide loans to the operators or owners of real estate but also own properties.

There are quite a few differences between trusts that invest in real-estate and limited partnerships. The main variation is that in case of investment trusts the annual tax information should be provided to the investors. However in case of limited partnerships there is no need to provide for the tax information. The second difference is that in case of limited partnerships there is a limit to the amount that can be invested.

However there is no limit to the amount that can be invested by an investment trust. In case a company desires to be a trust that invests in real-estate, the company is bound to share more than 90 percent of the income that is generated and is taxable to all the shareholders at least once a year. When a company is recognized as a trust investing in real estate the dividends that are provided to the share holders can be reduced.

Over the last several years real estate investing has become extremely popular, almost mainstream. Real estate investment groups have sprung up all over the country, complete courses have been developed to educate the masses, books on the subject arrival on the shelves daily, and reality TV even joined the bandwagon with a variety of shows. Suddenly every bartender, receptionist, cabdriver, and Tom, Dick and Harry is into real estate “investing”. Everybody is trying to create wealth through real estate.

And for a while it was working. As a whole, our country experienced several years of exceptional appreciation in real estate values, making many investors wealthy. Most were accomplishing this by “flipping” real estate. People from all walks of life were buying house on Sunday and quickly selling them for a profit on Monday, with very little downside. There was a time when almost everybody thought real estate investing meant buying and “flipping” properties.

But then things changed. Virtually overnight the real estate fairytale ended. The subprime market crashed. Interest rates on ARMs started to climb. Foreclosures hit record highs. Values started to plummeted. Really plummet.

In fact, as I write this, it is estimated that the current real state crash will be the second largest since the Depression. Some analysts are projecting drops in value of 10 to 20%, maybe more. Foreclosure rates may again double. (Currently, one of every 200 homes is said to be in foreclosure). Some lending institutions are closing their doors. Others are barely hanging on.

But even though this may be an extremely large crash, there are a few factors that separate it from previous down markets. For one, the economy is still pretty strong in most areas of the country. This means, as of yet, we are holding our own against a recession, or worse, a depression. Also, interest rates are still very affordable and should be in the near future. These are two important factors real estate investors look for as they invest in property.

What does this all mean? To sum it up, it means the real estate market is flooded. It means people and banks are willing to deal. It means anyone wishing to dispose of real estate are selling real estate gold at silver prices. It means it’s is time to buy! Only now the investor will not profit by flipping or selling their property, they will have to hold their property and wait for values to resurface. The new strategy for real estate wealth will be simple, buy at the fire sale, and sell after recovery. This wealth will come to those who can successfully accomplish two important during this time:

1. Purchase solid homes in stable neighborhoods at steep discounted prices,

2. Rent those homes to quality tenants who will pay the rent and maintain the property until the recovery occurs.

The average investor thinks wealth is accumulated by purchasing real estate. Successful investors know wealth is created by having quality tenants pay for that real estate under your name. If you really want to invest in real estate, now is the time, fire sales don’t last forever.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go. I have gold to purchase.

The chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) M Damodaran on Wednesday said the regulator was considering proposals to allow real estate investment trusts (REIT) in India.

Speaking at a conference on capital markets organised by the CII, the Sebi chief also said the rules on listing and trading of securitised debt market instruments will be finalised by December.

The regulator had put out a consultative paper on securitised debt in June this year. The draft regulations proposed a system of registration of special purpose distinct entities which were planning to offer securitised debt instruments to the public or seeking the listing of such instruments issued earlier. Damodaran further said that select companies could opt for fast track issuances.

According to the fast track share issuance programme allowed by Sebi in August this year, companies with a 3-year track record on NSE and BSE, and with free-float market capitalization of at least Rs 10,000 crore, can raise funds through rights and follow-on issues, without having to wait for the market regulator’s clearance.

Sebi, at its board meeting in June 2006, had approved guidelines making it mandatory for REMFs (real-estate mutual funds) to be listed on the stock exchanges. But the absence of valuation norms delayed the introduction of REMFs in the country.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) was looking into the valuation issue and once it clears the norms, Sebi will be ready with the rules, M Damodaran said.

“It is not going to be a REIT versus REMF issue. Consultations with people who have a better understanding of these products have commenced and we will shortly write the first set of proposals,” said Damodaran. REIT is a better product, but we will ensure that both products are introduced over time, he added.

The Sebi move comes amid plans by a clutch of companies to raise funds from the Indian market for listing REIT-like vehicles on the Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX).

The Bangalore-based developer Embassy group, Ascendas, provider of business space in Asia and the Delhi-based DLF and Unitech have announced plans to list their fund structures, mainly REITs, on the SGX, banking on its recent easing of norms.

REMFs will be close-ended funds and will invest directly in real estate properties in India, mortgage (housing lease) backed securities, equity shares/bonds/debentures of listed/unlisted companies which deal in properties and undertake property development, and in other securities.

Following the curbs on participatory notes (P-notes), Sebi has received a large number of applications from overseas investors seeking FII registrations, Damodaran said, without providing figures.

The regulator is planning to launch a nationwide campaign for investor education in 2008 and encourages the market participants to take their role as self-regulatory organisations (SRO) seriously.

Nimesh Kampani, Chairman, CII National Committee on Capital Markets and the head of JM Financial Group also stressed on the need to develop SROs for financial intermediaries.

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November 21, 2007

Fortis Invest eyes Japan pension funds

Filed under: India Real Estate News Updates, Real Estate Funds, New Development — Administrator @ 3:05 am

TOKYO, Nov 21 (Reuters) – Fortis Investments, the global assets management arm of the Fortis group, is eyeing Japan’s multi-billion dollar pension funds as key investors for its two new investment funds next year worth a combined $745 million, its real estate chief said on Wednesday.

Fortis Investments, which has about 130 billion euros ($190 billion) in assets under management, will launch two new “funds of funds” — funds that hold a portfolio of other investment funds — focused on European and Asian property.

“We were very Europe-specific when we started two years ago but have diversified outside of Europe since,” Bart Coenraads, chief investment officer and head of real estate for Fortis Investments, told Reuters at the sidelines of a conference in Tokyo.

The firm currently has two Europe-focused fund-of-funds vehicles and a third invested in Asian assets.

Coenraads said he was particularly keen to attract Japanese pension fund investors as their allocations for real estate were minuscule relative to other asset classes.

“A lot of Japanese pension funds already invested in Japanese real estate now see opportunities in Asia ex-Japan,” he said, adding that Fortis Investments had already obtained a $40 million commitment from a Japanese pension fund investor for an existing fund of funds focused on Asia ex-Japan property.

Japan’s pension funds have traditionally parked their money in low-risk corporate and government bonds but are raising their investments in riskier assets such as equities and property to boost returns for the country’s ageing population. Fortis Investments has about 2.5 billion euros in global real estate exposure — 25 percent of which is run through its fund-of-funds vehicles. The remaining 75 percent of its property-related holdings are in publicly traded securities.

“Many pension funds don’t have the internal capabilities to get the sort of exposure that they can get by buying into a fund of funds,” Coenraads said.Coenraads plans to raise about $300 million for the new Asian fund of funds, about half of which will be invested in Japanese funds. The remaining portfolio will be invested in China, Malaysia, Vietnam, India and Singapore assets.

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Omaxe may tap West Asia as Indian real estate market cools

Filed under: India Real Estate News Updates, Commercial, Residential, New Development — Administrator @ 1:26 am

Source: http://www.livemint.com/2007/11/21005026/Omaxe-may-tap-West-Asia-as-Ind.html

New Delhi: Real estate company Omaxe Ltd has decided to develop properties overseas in places such as Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as the real estate market in India starts to cool and profits get squeezed.The developer plans to build commercial and residential properties in Dubai.

“Last year was very bad for developers,” Rohtas Goel, chairman and managing director, Omaxe, said. “Prices declined by 10% and even by 30% in some locations, which has forced developers to look at overseas markets for expansion,” he added.

The company has decided to enter the Dubai real estate market as the average yearly return on an investment in Dubai is slightly better than in India, Goel said. “It is also easier to do real estate business in Dubai compared to India,” he added.

Omaxe will float an offshore development company to enter the Dubai market. Goel declined to say how much money Omaxe had earmarked for overseas development.

The company will develop real estate through joint ventures with a local real estate developer. Omaxe has to find a local developer to market property in Dubai in keeping with regulations of the UAE government. “We can acquire the land on our own, but to market the property we need a local partner,” Goel said.

Omaxe is in talks with several developers from Dubai for a possible tie-up. But nothing has been finalized yet, Goel said. In the last seven to eight months, the real estate market in New Delhi and its suburbs has seen a decline in demand mostly because of the high interest rates on home loans, which are at a five-year high. The interest rates have increased to 12%, compared with 9% just a year ago. That, coupled with the rising value of land, is making homes more expensive and less affordable—keeping buyers at bay.

“A few developers might be looking at overseas markets because of the high cost of land in India,” said Ganesh Raj, head, real estate practice at audit and consulting firm Ernst & Young India. “As return is a function of price of land, given the present cost of land, developers probably feel that returns in the overseas markets will be better. However, very few developers have actually started real estate development in offshore markets,” Raj added.

Omaxe’s plans to go global comes in the wake of similar efforts by other developers. Parsvnath Developers Ltd has decided to venture into real estate development in the UK, Singapore, UAE, Muscat and Mauritius. DLF Ltd is looking at international acquisitions, and Ansal API Ltd has a partnership with Malaysia’s UEM Group to bid for government projects in Malaysia.Investors are not willing to buy residential properties any more as the interest rates have shot up and it is costlier to buy homes on borrowed money.

Investors are gradually exiting the real estate market, say developers. While investors constituted 70% of the buyers last year, it is now the reverse, Goel said. “Now the actual end-users constitute 70% of the buyers,” he added. Omaxe is present in 30 cities and nine states in India. The company operates across residential, commercial and retail verticals. Omaxe made an initial public offering of shares in July and raised around Rs600 crore.

Is this the first time you are off on a real estate hunting trip? And you are standing clueless about how to go forward with it?

Well here are 10 easy steps to follow to come up with a successful real estate investment –return plan. All you have to do is carefully follow every step provided and you shall see that at the end of the day the winner is YOU, and no one else! We have verified our guide with experienced brokers and seasoned real estate hunters and they have given the proverbial ‘thumbs up’ sign to it!

So here it goes:

The Motive – Understand your motive behind making the real estate investment. Do not just go about it with no concrete plans as to what you will do after you have acquired your property. This is a basic problem that is faced by many amateur real estate investors and can jeopardize the prospect of good returns from your investments.
Area – Pick your area which you might be interested to invest in. Make a choice keeping in mind the proximity or the possibility of constant surveillance of the property at your disposal. This will help safeguard your property against violations and intrusions.
The Cycle – The investment cycle in real estates is definite and make sure you are aware. If prices are on a high for the last 5 years it might depreciate soon. This will discourage normal investors but if you are aware, you know that buying it a low price now, might get you a bigger return at the end of another cycle!
The Plan – Make a logical yet optimistic plan about the real estate investment you are pursuing. Form a budget, the house type you might be looking for and the potential expenses at hand.
Get a Broker – Arrange for a good broker or real estate agent who might get you the whiff of a good property or estate land which you as a commoner might not have laid your hands on.
The Mortgage Broker – If you cannot manage the issue of getting a good, clean loan, hire some trusted mortgage broker to settle the issue for you. But be very careful, as loans and brokers both are abundant and fraudulent in the same quantity.
References – Always try and get a reference for the site. And never ever try and buy a real estate property unseen, if you are an amateur property hunter.
Smaller Homes – Try and invest your money into small family homes and single family homes. These usually are easy and safe to invest in, get easy loans and finances and are easy to resell.
Hiring the Property Manager – If the estate you have invested in is not close-by, or you do not have the luxury of time to preside over its takeover and other procedures, hire a good and trustworthy property manager for the job. This will relieve you off the tensions regarding the estate issues and will also have the estate or property under proper care.
Renting Out – Make longer contracts or leases for your first-time estate or property, if you plan to rent it out. This is because if the tenants leave before you find a suitable deal, the returns will be redundant against the investment.

If you are trying to invest in real estate and need to start finding undervalued and discounted investment property, then you will need to know where to look so that you can find the deals before the next guy does. Investment real estate is a very competitive field and those that are not quick will have a hard time finding a good discount investment property. The worst thing you can do as an investor is to pay full price for a home and think that you can fix it up or flip it. Here is a guide to finding undervalued real estate and other forms of real estate investment.

The first option you have is to join a local real estate investment club and start networking with other investors. Networking is a great way to finding discounted fixer uppers because often many of these investors will have their hands full, but won’t want to just leave a good deal alone. If they know you are actively looking for discount investment property, then they will call you instead of someone else, this means that you’ll have your phone ringing telling you about deals before you can find them, which makes your job easy.

Another option you can use to finding undervalued properties, is to start paying for bird dogs to look through property listings and help find you fixer uppers. Many times, if you have a list of several people that know you are looking for property, then you can get your phone ringing off the hook by offering to pay them a couple hundred dollars per lead. You have to make sure they know what price and value you are looking for in an investment property, but once they do you won’t have to spend any time finding good deals.

Lastly, you can go through the property listings on your own and try to find the deals yourself. You can look through all of the newspapers, classified ads, and FSBO websites to try and find good deals if you feel you have the time. This can be a difficult process if you don’t know what you are doing, however if you become good at this then you will soon shave tons of time off of the process. Once you’ve created a system of how and where to find undervalued property and good fixer uppers, then you can keep repeating the process until you’ve got enough houses to keep your hands full, at which point you can help others out by passing good deals on to them.

Having a network of allies is a great way to stay abreast of the latest in the investment property scene in the area you operate. Although you can do everything on your own, you will soon realize that you hardly have enough time to perfect one area of the process, let alone all of them. Having a team at your side can make flipping houses or investing in investment property a much more profitable and successful venture than doing it alone.

If you’re a real estate agent that does not sell multifamily or other investment real estate at least some portion of the time, then you’re missing out on a great opportunity to build your real estate business.

Moreover, I believe that any real estate agent can sell multifamily property just by learning a few basics, whether they’re a novice to real estate investing or not.

Hey, when I started in real estate, I made the jump from residential real estate to income property sales almost immediately. Just six months into my real estate career I sold a shopping center and made a $24,000 commission…and I knew less about real estate investing then what you’re about to discover in this article.

But I digress.

The point is that you don’t have to become a commercial real estate specialist to sell rental property. Yes, commercial expertise is necessary to service some properties, e.g., leasing, but ordinary real estate agents can typically handle multifamily property transactions quite successfully, and generally do when they want to. That’s how I did it, and so can you.

Moreover, don’t sell yourself short. If you’re a real estate agent, then you are certainly in a great position to work with income property sellers and buyers. Remember what we learned about real estate, that it’s a “contact sport”. Think about it. Investors walk and call in to real estate offices, are previous customers, relatives, friends, and neighbors. In truth, we’re surrounded by potential real estate investment customers.

Finally, strike the thought that any effort you make to sell rental property won’t be worth it. The untold secret about investment property, what others would not want you to discover, is that real estate investors typically purchase more than one property over time. Moreover, unlike home buyers (who purchase one house), real estate investors are known to purchase multiple properties plus, are often willing to sell for the “right price” because there’s no emotional attachment like with a home.

In other words, when you get the opportunity to work with one investor on one transaction, you potentially are setting the stage for multiple transactions.

Okay, now let’s go down the list.

1) Make the Decision

Foremost, decide to make some portion of your real estate business investment business. You don’t have to throw your residential business under a train. If you want to keep selling houses, great, just don’t get started with rental property half-heartedly. If you need an incentive, bear in mind that investment properties can easily generate multi-million dollar transactions equal to three or four residential transactions; therefore, a golden opportunity to bolster your annual earnings in this troubled housing market.

2) Learn the Basics

Unlike residential property, where amenities like kitchen size and school district are important to buyers, other than how they impact rents, amenities generally mean little to those who buy investment property. Real estate investing is about the numbers.

As such, investors are less impressed by an agent’s style and panache than they are with the agent’s ability to discuss investment property and provide timely numbers and reports. It’s not about Armani and Mercedes. Listen. When an investor asks, “What’s the property’s cap rate?” and you have the answer, that’s all you need to start making the right kind of favorable impression that will keep the investor from dumping you for your competition.

At the very least know how to compute capitalization rate and gross rent multiplier and be able to create an APOD. There are numerous websites devoted to real estate investment definitions and formulas where you can learn what you need easily, including my website.

3) Tool Up

Investing a few dollars for quality real estate investment software that enables you to create cash flow, rates of return, and profitability presentations is one of the best tools you can procure for real estate investing, bar none. Here’s why.

Foremost, it makes a statement to investors that you work with rental income property. Presenting quality reports with concise financial data suggests to investors that you’re serious about investment property, can assist in a sound buying decision, and might genuinely care about how the investor spends his or her money. It’s about winning investor confidence.

Secondly, it tells your colleagues that you work with rental income property. This benefits your business because it gives you income property credibility and in turn can lead to additional referral business.

Thirdly, you can learn about rental income property. Almost by default, the formulas, returns, and reports generated in real estate investment software tend to rub off. It’s as a customer of mine remarked, that my software contains everything about real estate investing it took him 15 years to learn. You get the idea.

4) Prepare

You’re making a crucial mistake if you wait until you’re confronted by an investor to learn the terms or buy the software. Urgency is always an issue when investors make the decision to buy or sell investment property, and if they see you pause or scramble for answers, they’re not going to have qualms about calling someone else. Winning or losing a sale often rests solely on the perception a customer develops within seconds during the first encounter. Don’t blow it.

5) Promote

Finally, let people know that you work with multifamily property. Foremost, call your residential customers and ask whether they’ve considered investing in real estate. Remember, investors are homeowners. Tell your relatives and friends. Obviously, the more people that know you’re prepared and equipped to do a real estate analysis and run rates of return for them, the better. I’m preaching to the choir, here, of course, but I can’t emphasize enough the impact your preparation for investment real estate will have on others.

Here’s to your success

Not all real estate property types may be appropriate for new real estate investors. There are many factors to consider when making the decision to add real estate to an investment portfolio.

When deciding on a residential real estate investment strategy, some options for new investors to consider include:

Rental units

Rental units can be considered both long term and short term investments. Types of properties that may be considered for this category would include:

* Detached single family homes

* Attached single family homes

* Multi-Unit properties

* Condos/Townhomes

Being a Landlord

Not everyone has either the desire or inclination to be a landlord. Dealing with tenant and property issues can be very stressful and time consuming. One way to minimize the impact of being a landlord is to hire a professional property management company.

Hiring a professional property management company has several advantages:

* Allows owners of rental properties to be ‘shielded’ from dealing with tenant and property issues directly.

* Provides a buffer allowing the owners to maintain a hands off approach to managing their properties.

* May provide a less stressful experience

* Offers the ability to purchase real estate investments not immediately local to the investor.

* Provides a single contact point for all issues regarding the investment property.

Professional property managers are well versed and prepared to manage tenant and property issues as they arise. They will typically take care of all issues relating to the property.

Many offer their services at reasonable prices and rates while others can be quite expensive depending on additional services being offered. You may expect property managers to provide the following services:

* Advertise properties available

* Receive applications for tenancy

* Perform Credit and Background checks for applicants

* Recommend rental pricing

* Pay maintenance and/or repair bills for the owner

* Send monthly statements and rental income (Less any outstanding bills.

Typically these are deducted and itemized from the rental income and will appear on monthly statements)

Flipping or The Bane of New Investors

Often times, new investors in real estate are overly anxious to ‘flip’ properties and make a significant profit. Rumors of how friends or acquaintances have made allot of money is often the incentive for ‘flipping’.

The real estate market fluctuates greatly. Yesterdays great ‘flipping’ market may be (recent market trends as an example) tomorrows ‘Hold on to it’ market. While this is certainly a desirable quality of an investment property, it is and should not be the primary consideration for new real estate investors. The competition for this type of real estate investment is fierce and occupied by seasoned, experienced professional builders and investors

Property Types

Let’s discuss the various property type which may be considered by new real estate investors.

The selectionof the type of real estate property for investment purposes may be based on several factors.

These factors include:

* Financial considerations – How much can you afford?

* Availability of properties – What types of properties are available?

* Location – You’ve heard this one a thousand times – Location…Location…Location…

* Income potential – Does the property in question match your real estate investment strategy?

Detached and attached single family homes Single family homes whether attached or detached are often the first real estate property type new investors seek. In many areas, they offer the most availability of any property type.

Prices obviously vary greatly with these property types as well.

Multifamily Properties

Apartment units such as duplexes and triplexes should be considered as a viable option for new real estate investors.

Many investors and real estate professionals use apartment buildings as a point of entry to a portfolio of commercial real estate holdings and to build their equity before moving on to larger commercial real estate investments.

Duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes are two, three and four-unit buildings that may or may not be owner occupied.

Summary

Selecting an appropriate type of real estate property in which to invest is a primary consideration for all serious real estate investors.

Real estate investment strategies include the decision of whether or not to become actively involved in the management of the property. Professional property managers offer alternatives to assist in a “hands off” approach to owning residential income property.

Knowing there are options on the various types of properties to purchase as investment may provide new real estate investors the information needed to make that final decision to become a real estate investor.

End of Part 2

© Copyright 2008 Jennifer MacKay. All Rights Reserved.

Real estate is a big business and everyone seems to want to invest in real estate. You keep hearing a lot of stories about how people made a quick buck by investing in real estate. There are stories about people who made $50000 in a fortnight by making the right kind of investment in real estate. Every now and then, newspapers keep coming up with statistics about the appreciation in the real estate prices. There seems a mad rush for investing in real estate (and this gets even bigger when the mortgage interest rates are falling). However, not everyone has the time, money and expertise to be able to profitably invest in real estate. So what does one do? Is there any other option?

Yes, there is another way of investing in real estate and that is through Real Estate Investment Trust. Real Estate Investment Trust is an organisation that invests in real estate as a full fledged business. By investing in a Real Estate Investment Trust, you can become part of the real estate investment party and enjoy profits (of course, the assumption here is that the Real Estate Investment Trust is good and professionally managed).

Investing in Real Estate Investment Trust is very easy too. You can just buy Real Estate Investment Trust shares which trade on all major exchanges. There are certain laws governing the Real Estate Investment Trusts that help them avoiding the tax at corporate levels e.g. it is mandated that Real Estate Investment Trust’s portfolio has 75 percent of investment in real estate. Moreover, 75% of the income of Real Estate Investment Trust must be from rents or mortgage interest. There are various types of Real Estate Investment Trusts. Some Real Estate Investment Trusts own properties themselves and hence feed on the rental income from those properties. Some others indulge in providing only mortgage loans or go for mortgage backed securities. Then there are Real Estate Investment Trusts which do both i.e. rental focussed investments and mortgage based investments.

There are a number of Real Estate Investment Trusts operating in the market and a lot of these Real Estate Investment Trusts are doing good business. By investing in Real Estate Investment Trust you are basically investing in real estate without actually buying a property yourself. This is one easy way of investing in real estate (and much safer too). You must surely evaluate this option for your real estate investments.

Many people have the desire to invest in real estate as it can be a very lucrative venture but in order to be successful you should seek the help of a real estate investing guide. Successfully investing in real estate can build your credit rating, create cash flow, and eventually net you a lot of money. But the world of real estate investing is not one that should be entered into lightly as it takes a lot of knowledge to be able to profit from real estate investing. A good real estate investing guide will help you to succeed in your real estate investing ventures. Many people who jump in to the world of real estate investing end up failing, incurring debt, and ruining their credit, all because they did not arm themselves with the proper knowledge before they started. A real estate investing guide is a great way to learn about the business before you dive and will increase your chances of success.

There are many real estate investing guides available on the market today, and you can benefit from the knowledge and advice contained in most of them. A good real estate investing guide will include the risks and benefits of real estate investing and will give you information on how to minimize the risks increase your chances for success. A real estate investing guide that does not realistically portray the amount of time and work involved in real estate investing is probably not the best choice as the world of real estate can be extremely rewarding but not without a lot of work. The real estate investing guide you choose should also give you a good idea of what to expect throughout the process and what type of loss or gain you can expect from various situations.

You should also look for a real estate investing guide that is tailored to your individual investing needs. Simply buying your first home is an investment, and reading a real estate investment guide that is designed for homebuyers looking to purchase a primary residence will help you to select a home that will build you the most equity. It is easy to learn the basics of home buying from a real estate investing guide and you will gain the knowledge you need to build your credit and maximize the equity in your new home if you read one prior to buying.

There are also many other types of real estate investments, and all have unique risks and benefits and should be approached differently. It is important to pick a real estate investing guide that is written with your unique needs in mind so that you can learn about the specific investment type you are interested in. Flipping real estate is much different than investing in a duplex or apartment building, and buying land or an empty lot is different still. After you have decided which investment type you are looking to explore, you should then pick a real estate investing guide that will teach you about your specific type of investment. A good real estate investing guide will help you to understand everything you need to know about purchasing properties, working with tenants, making improvements and renovations, and determining the value of the property as well as estimating its future value.

If you want to make money by investing in real estate, you should be sure to get plenty of real estate investor information before you make any property purchases. Many people are very successful at investing in real estate, but there are also many who fail with their first attempt because they did not seek out the proper real estate investor information before they dove in. Getting valuable real estate investor information is the key to success when you are starting out investing in real estate and that is why it is advisable to do plenty of research on your own as well as taking real estate investment courses or classes.

Many people overlook the process of getting the right real estate investor information because they think the process of buying rental properties or renovating and then selling houses is an easy one. The truth is that no matter what type of real estate investing you are planning to do you will need a large amount of real estate investor information if you want to be successful. There is much more to being a real estate investor than purchasing a property and renting it out or doing a few repairs, you must know the market conditions, all the taxes, paper work, and fees involved with your investment as well as be able to anticipate any potential problems. By taking the time to get quality real estate investor information you are much more likely to be successful in your real estate investment endeavors.

Generally the best real estate investor information which should include risks, benefits, and tips to be successful, is compiled by already successful real estate investors who have profited form real estate investing themselves. Getting your real estate investor information from an already successful and proven real estate investor is the best way to educate yourself for success. The real estate investor information from this type of source is usually the most relevant and valuable as it contains tips, strategies, and advice that has been tried first hand. The best way to learn about real estate investing is to look for real estate investing information in the form of books or courses that are created by successful real estate investors.

There are many ways to invest in real estate from flipping houses to renting out properties to just buying land. The best real estate investor information will give you tips on buying the most lucrative properties that will increase the most in value. It will also tell you how to make the properties you buy sellable or rentable with the least amount of money and while avoiding complications. When buying real estate you have the choice of renting out the property or selling it, and the real estate investor information you use to educate yourself should cover both real estate investment approaches as well as tech you how to determine your realistic chances of success with each approach. No one can make investment choices for you, but seeking out the right real estate investor information will give you the knowledge you need to make successful choices.

This article covers six dynamite real estate investing tips intended to help anyone just getting started in real estate investing to successfully launch and hit the ground running with real estate investment property.

1. Develop the Correct Attitude

To stand a chance of succeeding at real estate investing, foremost, you must understand that real estate investment is a business, and you will become the CEO of that business.

As your first order of business, then, it’s crucial to develop the correct mind-set about investment real estate and be able to make this distinction between buying a home and investing in real estate:

“You buy a home to live and raise a family; you buy real estate investment property to pay for the home, live comfortably, and raise your family in style”

As one very successful real estate investor said, “Only women are beautiful, what are the numbers?” In other words, you will not succeed at real estate investing until you acknowledge that it’s not curb appeal, amenities, floor plan, or neighborhood that should turn you on or off to the investment opportunity; what counts most is the property’s financial performance.

2. Develop Meaningful Objectives

A meaningful set of (realistic) objectives that frames your investment strategy is one of the most important elements of successful investing. Yes, we may all desire to make millions of dollars from real estate investing, but fantasy is not the same as expressing specific goals and a method on how to achieve it.

Here are some suggestions:

How much cash are you willing to invest comfortably? What rate of return are you hoping to achieve by making the investment in real estate? Are you expecting instant cash flow, looking to make your money when the property is resold, or merely looking to achieve tax shelter benefits? How long are you planning to hold the property before you dispose of it? What amount of your own effort can you afford to contribute to the day-to-day operation of running the property? What net worth are you hoping investing will help you to achieve, and by when would you like to achieve it? What type of income property do you feel most comfortable owning, residential or commercial, or does it matter?

3. Develop Market Research

If you’re new to real estate investing, you undoubtedly know little about investment real estate in your local market. So, do market research to learn as much as you can about income property values, rents, and occupancy rates in your area. The better prepared you are, the more likely you are to recognize a good (or bad) deal when you see it.

Here are some good resources:

(a) The local newspaper, (b) A local appraiser, (c) The county tax assessor, (d) A qualified local real estate professional, (e) A local property management company

4. Run the Numbers

I can’t stress enough the importance of running the property’s cash flow, rates of return, and profitability numbers. Remember, real estate investing is a business, and as the CEO of your investment enterprise, you’ve got to know what you’re buying, especially if you’re trying to determine which of several investment opportunities would be the most profitable.

You have two options:

(a) Invest in real estate investment software. This will enable you to discover for yourself the investment property’s cash flow and rates of return, and create your own analysis reports. Plus, by running the numbers yourself, you gain a broader understanding of real estate investing nuances, and in turn might be less likely to fall victim to the wiles of someone with little concern about how you spend your money.

(b) At the very least, work with a real estate professional that has invested in real estate investment software and can calculate, present, and discuss the property’s financial data with you.

5. Develop a Relationship with a Qualified Real Estate Professional

Working with a qualified real estate professional is a great way for beginners to get started with rental property investing because an astute professional can acquaint you with local market conditions, recommend a property that meets your investing objectives, and discuss strengths and weaknesses about specific property performance.

Here’s a warning, however: Work with a real estate person who understands investment real estate.

Be sure the agent has a firm grip on key financial measures inherent to real estate investing, knows how to measure profitability and rate of return, has the ability to present the data you need to make wise investment decisions, and, most importantly, shows a genuine interest in how you spend your money. The last thing you want to do is to get involved with a real estate agent that would throw you under the bus just to make a commission.

Here’s a good way to interview for an agent. Ask them for the property’s cap rate and then request an APOD. If their response (even to these basics) is to stand there looking at you like a deer into the headlights of a car, find another agent.

6. Start Investing

Hopefully, this has given you some insight into real estate investing, highlighted a few things to make you a more prudent real estate investor, and perhaps alerted you to a couple of things that should be avoided.

Okay, that does it for us, now it’s time for you to get started. Here’s to your success.

Continuing your education in real estate investing is of the utmost importance for your success as a real estate investor in today’s market. Why? The old saying, “knowledge is power”, holds true in basically every aspect of your life, including real estate investing. Whether you are a beginner or seasoned real estate investor, there is always something new you can learn to further your career.

With our current market situation, the changes in the availability of money, what you learned a few years ago may not be effective for today’s real estate investor. Continuing education for Real estate investors is crucial to their success.

Many real estate investors are recognizing the importance of continuing their education and are benefiting immensely from what they are learning.

New ideas and techniques have been developed to help real estate investors enhance their knowledge, so they can apply what they learn to increase their real estate empire.

There are many different methods you can use to continue your education. It depends on how far you have already come in your real estate investing career. You may choose to take advantage of the free online webinars to find out about new and innovative real estate systems or simply “read up” on areas of investing where you may lack knowledge.

Different methods to consider for continuing your real estate investing education are:

. Free Online Webinars

. Join a real estate investment club

. Enroll in a coaching program

. Purchase a real estate investing course

. Read books

. Mentoring

. Training classes

. Seminars

Other areas to consider continuing education for success in real estate investing:

. Real Estate Investor Marketing – Real estate investor marketing is essential to your success. Even if you have already learned real estate investor marketing strategies, new techniques have been developed to increase awareness of the services you provide. There are many different online resources available to purchase or to learn about real estate investing marketing.

. Personal Growth – Not only can you advance your career through learning more about real estate investing, but you can also further your career by investing in yourself through personal growth. Determine what could be holding you back in your real estate investing career. If you are feeling lost or unmotivated, you might consider attending a free online webinar. Or maybe you have issues in organization; they now have real estate systems for the Investor that can be set up for you at a very reasonable cost. Getting organized will help keep you on track.

. Join Forums – Communicate with other investors to find out what they have learned. Find a forum where you can exchange information and interact with others who may be experiencing similar frustrations and fears, as well as successes. Forums can actually be a way to motivate you and give you different ideas to move forward in your real estate investing career.

Continuing your education in real estate investing is essential to your success. There are many different methods and depths to which you can increase your knowledge in advancing your real estate investing career. The important thing to remember is you should never stop learning. Changing procedures, laws and strategies make it critical that you keep updated on these changes. Your success will be based on your knowledge in how to implement these changes into your real estate investing business plans.

IRA investments are suffering right now. The stock market is plunging, the real estate market is a disaster, and the economy is wobbly. So why would you consider an IRA real estate investment in such tough times?

Any time is a good time for IRA real estate investments, with a proviso. And it’s a big proviso. You have to choose the right real estate investment for your IRA. Choose wrong, for either an IRA real estate investment or any other IRA investment, and you’ve got a disaster. But choose the right real estate investment for your IRA and you’ll set yourself up well for a comfortable retirement.

That’s equally true now, when times are tough, because there are some excellent IRA real estate investments available if you know where they are.

IRA investing isn’t easy. Of course you could do what 96% of the population do with their IRA investments. Leave the investing to your custodian, and if you do chances are that like everyone else you’ll get a return of around 4% – 9% per annum. Not the sort of return that is going to result in a comfortable worry free retirement.

Or you could do your own IRA investing. It’s quite allowed, there is no reason to leave the investing to your custodian like almost everyone else does, and there are much better returns to be made.

But doing your own IRA real estate investing isn’t easy. You need to learn all about buying right, maintaining your real estate investment, finding loans, finding tenants and ultimately, as some stage, selling the property. And none of these is easy to do for the average IRA owner who wants to find a great IRA real estate investment but isn’t a real estate professional.

Or you could leave all that work to someone else. Someone who does it full time and knows exactly what they are doing.

Because if you’re not a professional real estate investor then you aren’t doing yourself a service trying IRA real estate investing on your own. There’s too many pitfalls and you’ll probably pay for it in your retirement.

And of course there’s all the work for you in the meantime. After all, who wants to be fixing toilets? Or leaky faucets, or getting out of bed in the middle of the night because a tenant has a broken window?

Is there a turnkey solution to finding high quality IRA real estate investments? Yes there is. It’s perfectly possible to find a good company offering solid IRA real estate investment opportunities, and one in particular that offers a total turnkey solution to IRA investing. The work is done for you, no fixing toilets. And no cash down.

And of course a company like this will know exactly where the best real estate investments are to be found, whereas you may find that locating these yourself isn’t easy. After all, who has time to be combing the country looking for good real estate investments? You don’t, but the professionals do.

And believe it or not, the current state of the real estate market is creating some fantastic, once in a lifetime real estate investment opportunities for IRA investors, and many are taking advantage of these investment opportunities right now. Many people will be setting the foundations of their future retirement through their IRA right now taking advantage of some of the best times we’ve seen for top quality IRA real estate investments.

So if you’ve got an IRA and have tired of losing money in the stock market, and don’t want the work or responsibility of real estate investing in difficult times like these, consider using a professional IRA real estate investment company.

Times like these only come around rarely for the canny real estate and IRA investor.

Commercial real estate partnerships can be the best way for beginning investors or those who know little about commercial real estate to make money in the market today. At this point in time commercial real estate is the only way to make quick money since the bottom has pretty much fallen out of the residential real estate market.

When seeking commercial real estate partnerships, you want to find out as much about the partnership as possible. While some people choose to invest with friends, others find fellow investors in all sorts of places, including the internet. There are also real estate investment agencies that match people with the types of investment that they want, similar to mutual funds.

It is probably best, when seeking commercial real estate partnerships to find a group that you know and trust and who are investing in local property. This way you can not only get to know the other investors, but you also have some control over the real estate investment that you are making.

If you have money to invest in the real estate market but are unsure about sinking it all into one investment or not familiar with the commercial real estate market, the best way to go about such an investment is through commercial real estate partnerships. These can be an ideal way to not only make money in the real estate market, but also learn about the business.

Commercial real estate has many different facets. It can range from large shopping centers to industrial parks to hotels. Commercial real estate is usually more of a safe bet than residential real estate investing, although the stakes are higher. You normally only get fifty percent of the price of the property in financing, unlike the residential market, where you can get ninety five percent of the financing. You have to have a little bit more money to invest in the commercial real estate market, but it is generally a very secure option and a way to get a steady income from rentals.

Speak to your investment counselor about reliable commercial real estate partnerships in your area. He or she may be able to direct you to a reliable group or give you some other options when speaking of investing in commercial real estate. Investment groups can be found just about anywhere, even among your neighbors. The best part about joining one of the commercial real estate partnerships is that you do not have to take all of the risk with the real estate investment.

For those with only a little bit of money in which to invest or who are not well versed with the commercial real estate market, it makes more sense to seek out commercial real estate partnerships.