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The Foreclosures Are Coming: Here’s How To Prepare

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on Wednesday, 08 February 2023
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There are likely to be many more distressed properties ready to buy very soon. How do you make sure that you are ready to fully capitalize on this opportunity as a real estate investor?


Distress And Defaults Are Mounting

The latest bank and mortgage debt data released by DistressedPro shows that mortgage loan performance reversed trend in the last three months of last year.


Defaults and nonperforming loans are on the rise again. This appears widespread, across almost all sectors. Including commercial mortgage loans, residential home loans, and even multifamily mortgages. The only exception which seems to remain healthy is in farmland and agricultural loans.


Many of the improvements of the past two years have been erased. With many newly defaulting loans, as well as those now being deemed non accrual stage loans by banks.


Although REOs haven’t piled up yet, it is an important metric to watch in terms of overall bank and market health.


Defaults on auto loans and consumer credit card debts have also hit a new high, signaling many mortgage borrowers are barely hanging on. With more likely to fall late on their home loans and who will need to sell their homes.


So, how do you prepare to capitalize on this moment as an investor?


Have Your Funds Ready

There are going to be a lot more distressed properties and motivated sellers to buy from soon. Don’t get caught short, and beat out to the best deals because you aren’t ready to move fast with your offers and closings.


Pool your capital together now. Get your POF (Proof Of Funds) from your lender, and be ready to make fast cash offers.


Have A Strong Team

Those with the strongest teams will win.  Find the best talent, and when you’ve got them, don’t let them go.


Get familiar with working in a remote environment if you haven’t already. Ask around for referrals if you can. Unfortunately, platforms like Upwork which used to be good have now stripped away all of their customer support and have been burning their best talent. While scammers like Amurra Spices, and their fake Airbnb have taken over and aren’t paying freelancers for their work. As a result you may now find the best outsourced help freelancing for themselves.


Have Your Marketing Prepped In Advance

You should have your marketing mapped out and materials created weeks in advance to avoid rushing out junk. If you need to have a new marketing strategy plan created for this new phase of the market.


Focus On Providing Solutions

Focus less on price, and more on finding opportunities, and solving the problem and needs. This applies to both your sellers and end buyers. Focus on what’s most important to them.


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Which Buyers Are Still Spending Big In This Economy?

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on Thursday, 24 November 2022
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Some media outlets have proclaimed that home buying activity has tanked by 25% over the past couple of months. So, if you are a real estate investor relying on consistently doing deals, who is still buying?


The Wealthy

The luxury end of the market still seems to have its share of big buyers. If you are Jeff Bezos, even if your company has lost $10B this year, picking up a new vacation home for $100M is still like spare change.


There may be more celebrities and CEOs falling into distress. Yet, there are just as many happy to splurge on new properties.


Tech Businesses

Some of today’s biggest real estate buyers are tech businesses.


While many older companies are making big layoffs, and are losing billions, others are just starting to scale, and have hundreds of millions of dollars in capital to spend.


One of them is Origin Materials which is building its first plant in Canada for $100M, followed by a second in Louisiana for $1B, spread across 150 acres.


This is a great opportunity to diversify your business, and flip big commercial properties.


Remote Workers

San Francisco is concerned that it is going to lose $200M in property tax revenues as the city empties out, and office vacancies head toward 30% or more. Similar trends are expected to be happening in NYC, and other former business hubs.


Those workers may not be able to afford to continue to live in those cities, nor want to as the quality of life has fallen off a cliff.


But, they need to live somewhere. Which often means buyers flush with cash to buy in more affordable destinations.


Also keep in mind that tax refund season is coming up. Meaning even low end workers may soon be flush with down payment money, and may see buying as more appealing than suffering under extremely high rents.


Investment Funds

Investment funds are still active. They rely on doing new deals to be able to raise money and keep the cash flow coming in. Some will be pickier about the returns and prices they pay than others. Though, these are both bulk buyers of single family homes, as well as multifamily apartment buildings.


The end buyers are still out there. You just need to know who they are, and make the right connections, with the right marketing.

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Does Choosing Who You Sell Properties To Matter?

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on Thursday, 03 June 2021
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Does it matter who you sell your properties to as an investor?


Is there an ethical and legal responsibility sellers have when signing contracts with real estate buyers? If so, what does that mean for your career in real estate, or as an investor and real estate business?


Institutional Sellers Have Been Increasingly Selective

Since the 2008 crisis institutional sellers of nonperforming mortgage notes and REOs have become increasingly selective in who they will sell to.


They have created stringent rules for who qualifies to buy their properties and note assets. In some cases also writing in provisions guiding what those buyers can do with the properties within a specific time window. Such as not foreclosing or evicting for a set period of time.


Aside from the regular issues of making sure they are contracting with buyers who can actually follow through and close on the deal, this is being done to limit their own liability from the actions of those they sell too.


They don’t want to be held liable for negative impacts from the new buyer acting aggressively or harming the market.


Why It Matters Who You Sell Your Property To

While it may not be written in black and white, or even a hard law, sellers may end up bearing some responsibility for the outcomes of who they sell to.


Such as how the new owner:

  • Treats occupants of properties

  • Does a quality job on rehab work and creating new affordable and healthy housing

  • Impacts the immediate neighborhood

  • Operates ethically, and impacts the financial and real estate ecosystem

One of the great parts of the financial freedom that comes with being your own boss in real estate, or simply as an investor is that you now have the choice not to work for people and companies that are taking advantage of people and are treating their customers poorly, or even committing fraud.


It’s important to hold onto that, and flex that freedom in real estate too. You don’t want to be involved with someone who is going to just skim equity from the properties and allow them all to be foreclosed on. Or who may just cover up mold or other toxic health issues with paint and resell them to unsuspecting families with kids.


What It Means For Buying & Selling Properties

For acquisitions today, this means you need to build up your own resume. Show the good work you’ve done, and how you are a strong buyer. If you don’t have the reputation and track record yet, you may need to partner up with someone else who does to gain access to the best discounts on bulk deals.


On the flip side, you may want to carefully curate partnerships for liquidating and flipping properties to those you trust will do a good job.


Or have some parameters that you are looking for when selling high volumes of properties to individual buyers and companies. How many deals have they flipped? How good was the work? How happy are their end buyers or renters? What is their online reputation? Just make sure these are written out and uniform to avoid anything which could be misinterpreted as discrimination.

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The 7 Things That Will Make Or Break You As An Investor This Year

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on Tuesday, 22 December 2020
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2021 is going to be one of the biggest years for real estate investors yet. Not everyone may enjoy the ride, but make no mistake that some will easily add double digit percentage points to their wealth and emerge as far bigger players over the next 12 months.


These are some of the most important factors that will determine how it goes for you.


Mindset: It Is What You Make It

You can choose to cringe and shrink and be fearful every time you are challenged. Or you can choose to find the opportunity and to create opportunity in every scenario. It is your choice how you choose to see it and act.


Commitment Vs. Flexibility

Stay committed to your goals, but flexible in how you achieve them. Expect shifting market trends, migration, curveballs, and more. You may have to adapt your tactics, but don’t back down from your goals.


Financing & End Buyers

Expect there to be some twists in lending over the next year. Banks and conventional mortgage lenders may change their underwriting criteria and appetite for making loans. There is a lot of cash out there, and those with capital will have to choose to back someone with their capital. Being able to adapt to who has the cash and can borrow money for your real estate wholesale deals will make a huge difference in your deal flow and volume for the year.


Data

Be knowledgeable and wired in. Don’t rely on the media headlines and fake social media spin for figuring out what’s happening in the market. Get the best data you can, as early as you can and stay ahead of the curve.


Focus

Focus on your own business and serving your customers the best. Worry less about what the rest of the world is doing.


Marketing

Today, the reality is that 90% of your success in real estate relies on marketing. You should strive to have great product, systems, and service, but it won’t make a dime of a difference without marketing to match.


Your Network

It is times like these in which who you know and who knows you will make all the difference. Work on expanding and strengthening your network.

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Essential Time Management Tips For Real Estate Pros

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on Thursday, 26 April 2018
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Maximizing your time is critical as a real estate investor, agent or CEO. You must get more out of your time than ever today, and know smart time management practices that you can teach your team too.


Try these out and get more done, in less time…


Time Blocking

You know the tasks that you have, and that will come up on a weekly and monthly basis. If you don’t block time for them, then they get put off, or just don’t happen. Carve out the time blocks in advance so there are no excuses. For example; creating 2 hour time blocks every morning for marketing and generating new business. Or having your project manager reserve 4 hours every Friday to inspect rehab jobs before crews ask to get paid. Batching tasks by days can be even more effective. Then you spend less time jumping and adjusting between tasks. For example; batching all your calls for one day of the week. Doing all your marketing on a different day, and so on.


Underbook Yourself

Everything notoriously takes longer than you think. That includes calls with new clients, driving to meet sellers, and signing closing documents. If you book yourself solid for 14 hours a day, you’ll either end up actually working 18 hours a day, or a lot won’t get done. You’ll always be stressed out, and what you do will be so rushed it will be poor quality. Instead, if you only want to work 10 hours a day, 5 days a week, then schedule 8 hours or work. When things take longer or emergencies come up, you’ll still have a 20 hour time slush fund to handle it each week. All without working yourself to insanity.


Stay Off the Phone

Saying we are addicted to our devices today may be a huge understatement. Yet, that doesn’t mean you should be on the phone all day. Far too much time is wasted dialing, making small talk, and saying goodbye. If it can be solved with an email or text message, do that instead. Only use voice calls when you absolutely must.


Use Productivity Tools

Every real estate pro should be using collaborative online productivity tools like Google Drive or Trello. They allow you to create, edit, comment on work, delegate, and follow up on status without phone calls or emails. Things just get done faster and more accurately this way.


Understand that Non-Work Activities are Just as Important for Productivity

Professional bodybuilders and athletes understand that the time they spend in the gym throwing weights around is only a part of their success. The time they spend in competition is even far less than that. Some of the most important time they spend is in resting their bodies, getting in the right mindset, and ensuring they are eating right. Those things all make them more productive in the gym, and then able to perform at their best in the field or ring. So, go workout, learn something, and network over dinner.


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Your Success In Real Estate Depends On This…

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on Thursday, 02 June 2016
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There may be many factors involved in your success in real estate, yet one of the most critical is also one of the most overlooked - vendor relationships.

As great as any real estate investor or CEO is it takes a team to get each deal done. Even without any in-house staff or assistants that means appraisers, inspectors, title companies, lenders, media contacts, and more. Yet, these relationships are often taken for granted. If you want to achieve your maximum potential and last you need access to the best vendors. Not only do you need access, but you need the best vendors to be eager to work hard to do great work on your deals, and fast.

There are two main parts to achieving and maintaining great vendors…

The first is financial. How fast and reliable do you pay? There is often a temptation for real estate investors and companies to drag out invoices as long as possible. Many bite off more than they can chew, and try to use this lag time as a form of credit line.

The best practice here is to put yourself in the vendor’s shoes. How long after doing some work or closing a deal do you expect to get paid? What if you did the work to fix and sell a property but the end buyer or title company didn’t send you a check for 3 months? How would you feel? How motivated would you be to do business with them again?

Of course money only goes so far. If you’ve ever had a job you hated you have already experienced that. At some point the money just isn’t enough to keep you there.

The main part of this is how easy you are to work with. Toyota is famous for its approach to working with vendors. Toyota may push them hard, but they do it with a mindset of helping their vendors to be better and reach their potential, not just to squeeze as much out of them as possible.

If you are a difficult client the revenues you offer may not be enough. Sometimes this is just about being better at delivering clear requests and specifications to empower vendors to do their best for you the first time around. It’s also about treating them, and their staff well.

The best in this area are proactive about building relationships and making a positive impression with each staff member at a vendor who they deal with on a regular basis. Have you ever sent a thank you card to a title processor or loan processor? How about event tickets for a Realtor or mortgage broker to take their family to do something special? Do you talk well about them to others?

Your effort in these areas will form your reputation in the real estate industry. And you better believe that word spreads fast. Are you the investor or firm that vendors are climbing over each other to work with? Or are you running out of vendors to choose from? This dynamic will absolutely determine how long you last in real estate, and how high you go.

So what have you done to excel in these areas? Or what have others done in this respect that wowed you?

 

Authored by Best Transaction Funding BestTransactionFunding.com is the leading source of transactional funding and hard money loans for real estate wholesalers in the US, where 100% financing, and saying “Yes” is what we love doing all day long.

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A Second Chance For A Failed Real Estate Investor?

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on Monday, 08 July 2013
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Does the new housing boom create a miracle second chance for real estate investors that have flopped in the past? Is flipping houses the best chance for the kings of realty to get back on top and regain the reins to their financial futures or is it just too late?

There is No Denying the New Housing Boom

Even the most pessimistic analysts are having a hard time spinning anything negative about the U.S. housing market right now.

Check out the facts &and figures according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR) latest press release on June 20th:

· Existing home sales rose 4.2% in the 12 months to May 2013

· Median existing home sales price jumps 15.4% year-over-year to $208,000

· Buyer traffic has risen 29% in the last year

· Median days on market dropped to just 41 in May 2013

On June 2th Bloomberg ran coverage of the new Mortgage Credit Availability Index from the Mortgage Bankers Association showing U.S. home loan lenders loosening up access to mortgage loans which will only further fuel home sales.

It isn’t just existing home sales that are performing well either. The real signal that the new housing boom is officially opening its gates is new home builders like KB Homes announcing a 74% increase in revenues as of the 2nd quarter 2013.

Based on historical real estate cycles we are now entering a new boom era that will last another 10 to 15 years, during which home values will double.

10,000 Donald Trumps Looking to Rebuild an Empire

So is this new era of plenty in the U.S. residential real estate market the signal that real estate investors and investor groups should jump back into the game and flip more houses once again?

There are many, many real estate investors that completely flopped when the bubble burst. Many lost businesses, homes, expensive sports cars and even saw their families fall apart. So why did it really come to this for so many individuals and is this really their chance for a do-over?

The single biggest cause of failure among the real estate investment crowd when the bubble burst was being overleveraged. Many found themselves in negative cash flow and equity situations. Some are still recovering, others have cleared the debt and are seeing their credit scores gradually rising again.

For most the failure experienced wasn’t anything to do with personal ability, talent or a fault in the housing market. Too many just rushed in without investing in their real estate education or kept gambling on the market even though they knew an end to the run was coming.

A large percentage of this group was turned off to real estate investment and never went back, but now are green with envy as they see others banking big on distressed properties and rapidly rising values. One thing that they all recognize is that there are few if any other alternatives for regaining wealth, status and their previous lifestyles as flipping houses or building portfolios of rentals. And no one can deny if there was ever a good time to get in, this is it.

So if you are a member of this group can you bounce back and hit the big time again by investing in real estate a second time, and how can you prevent failing twice?

It’s entirely possible. Just look at Donald Trump. According to his bio on Wikipedia he once sank to a low of being $900 million in personal debt and some $3.5 billion in business debt. He certainly made a significant comeback and now boasts new developments all over the globe in addition to his stint on reality TV with the ‘Apprentice’.

Few of those reading this are anywhere near that deep in debt. So if he could do it, you can too. So how can you get back on you’re a game fast?

The Inside Scoop on the Next Real Estate Hotspot

The one thing that real estate investors who have ridden the recent housing roller coaster certainly respect is knowledge. So how can investors tap into the best data for identifying investment opportunities and targeting their marketing for maximum effective and ROI?

As predicted ‘Big Data’ has become big business in 2013. The government has recently jumped into the game amidst a variety of scandals. Bloomberg has been criticized in the New York Times for journalists’ tactics and on revelation the conglomerate owns more than 30% of the $25 billion plus financial data services market. Now real estate related firms are bulking up on acquisitions too with news of CoreLogic acquiring DataQuick for $661 million and Fidelity buying back Lender Processing Services for $2.9 billion.

Some of these firms provide valuable information to the real estate investment community, but can also drip out misinformation via faulty calculations, stale figures that do not reflect current trends or data designed to move money to their clients benefit.

So while the news can be a good barometer to keep an eye on, savvier investors will zoom in on more local data using sources like RealEstate.com’s Local Info and Market Analysis tools, as well as conducting their own market research via social media and word of mouth.

When it comes real estate marketing investors have never before been so spoilt with in depth insights for targeting and maximizing ROI on cultivating buyer and seller leads. Information giants like Verizon and Google now open the door to masses of information on consumers for enhancing marketing performance, while other companies cut to the chase and provide direct access to exclusive real estate leads.

Tips for Building Momentum Fast

While many would no doubt love to jump into investing in real estate again most can’t afford to go months without a paycheck today. So how can you get back into the game and see results fast?

5 steps to investing successfully the second time around:

1. Recognize the mistakes of the past (and put them behind you)

2. Get wired into blogs like this and other sources of good data and emerging trends

3. Start networking to build contacts and lead sources

4. Set up effective, proven systems that help avoid pitfalls and improve time management

5. Make the leap of faith and go for it

A new entrepreneur publication featured on Yahoo Finance and Reuters, G-Code Magazine, suggests that some of the best growth hacking moves small business owners and independent real estate entrepreneurs can make include taking the time to understand their customer, then engaging in guest blogging, building affiliate networks, becoming a member of local coworking office spaces and even paid search for immediate results.

Excellence = Rewards

Finally, commit to doing it right this time around; no shady short cuts, keeping eyes on the main objective and doing it for the right reasons. Real estate investment may be the fastest path to a handsome income and great wealth but it comes with so many other benefits too.

 

Commit to excellence in every area of you new venture and the rewards will come. You will build and hold a substantial legacy for your loved ones, help to improve the economy and have a direct positive impact on revitalizing communities and bringing new hope to others too.

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Critical Security Threats for Real Estate Investors

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on Tuesday, 04 September 2012
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What is the FBI doing with your phone data, was your information just leaked on the web and are you prepared for having your entire online presence vaporized?

Real estate investors are under more threats than ever before and unless they are prepared not only can their identities be stolen but their online businesses and data can be wiped out overnight!

What’s the FBI doing with your Information Now?

Hackers just published 1 million Apple device ID’s on the web, was yours one of them?

Worse, the hack which tapped more than 12 million Apple user IDs, mobile phone numbers, addresses and names involved the laptop of a top regional FBI cyber-crime supervisor. Besides the immediate threat of investors’ data being leaked many may wonder what the FBI is doing with their information and how they got it?

Backup or be put out of Business

On Friday another major issue for real estate investors emerged as an Apple customer service representative handed over control of accounts to a hacker. This resulted in the targeting of a California journalist who had his Mac, iPhone and iPad wiped clean, email accounts and web based file storage wiped out and social media account hijacked. What would that do to your real estate investing business?

Besides the immediate interruption of contact and potentially business killing messages being sent from your email addresses and social media profiles it would mean losing all data on current and past deals as could mean your bank accounts being compromised too.

Clearly this would be devastating to any real estate investor. So how can you protect against it?

1. Make sure to use multiple step verification for all accounts when possible
2. Use a strong and unique password for each account you have
3. Don’t rely on one cloud database for file storage; back up locally and if you use iCloud also backup to Google Drive, Drop Box or other web file storage system
4. Have a backup device for getting online, taking calls and staying connected
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Building an IPO worthy Real Estate Investment Business

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on Tuesday, 29 May 2012
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Despite the Facebook IPO flop many real estate investors are certainly wishing they were in Mark Zuckerberg’s shoes right now or at least have a dozen Silicon Valley properties to flip to the company’s founders and key staff. Who couldn’t find a use for a few extra billion right now?

So what lessons should real estate investors be taking away from Facebook’s legendary IPO if they want to build incredibly valuable businesses and make a few billion of their own? There are good and bad lessons to takeaway here for building a company that is salable and watching out for some major pitfalls.

Those investors who dream of this type of wealth have to recognize the need to go big in their businesses. If you want a billion dollar company you need billion dollar revenues. If you don’t plan for this build scalable systems and set those goals from the beginning it is unlikely this type of value will ever be reached.

Be careful about making enemies. You may enjoy snubbing others when you show up in your hoodie for business meetings but it may bite you in the butt later. Too much hype and attacks on larger and better funded competitors can also bite back at the worst possible moment – like IPO day.

On clearly fatal flaw made by Facebook has been its neglect of those who really turn in the revenues. Treat your advertisers, affiliates, buyers and sellers right and deliver great returns for investors. Help them win and they will be loyal when it counts.

Perhaps the biggest nail in the coffin of the Facebook IPO was a revision of documents warning about future potential revenue issues stemming from consumer trends towards mobile. This means real estate investors should not only be using social and maintaining their Facebook pages but get serious about mobile apps, local SEO and mobile marketing.

Obviously the opening stock price for Facebook was hugely inflated and way out of whack with earnings. Going big fast may be important but net profit and sustainable revenues are critical too. Real estate investors should be taking a serious look at outsourcing, cloud computing and VOIP as well as transactional funding for flipping houses to reduce debt and overhead in order to maximize the bottom line.

Lastly, don’t fall into the pit many other investors do every day and neglect branding. Results based marketing which delivers instant business is crucial but a monthly budget should be created for consistent brand building too.

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Are Real Estate Investors Being Limited to One Loan Program?

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on Sunday, 20 May 2012
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Despite what looks like a solid real estate rebound underway mortgage financing could soon become much tougher to come by. Will this result in investors being limited to a single loan program and what strategic changes do investors need to be considering?

Mortgage lending in the U.S. is under fire. It is already hard for borrowers to get approved for home loans, even with good credit but there are new threats in the works which could make borrowing even more difficult.

Following the recent J.P. Morgan loss of $2-3 billion and the bankruptcy filing by Ally’s mortgage unit regulators are strapped with new ammunition to lead a crackdown on banks and control them. Any more bank failures or major losses will only fuel this witch hunt further.

Loan modifications and refinances don’t appear to be working to stop foreclosures as it has been revealed almost 50% of all FHA modified loans have re-defaulted within a year. This has brought about more calls for a tightening of credit standards and loan guidelines to one of the few programs left out there for low income families and those with anything less than perfect credit and 20% down. This is on top of the increased down payment requirements by FHA and the increased fee structure already put in place.

The Consumer Finance Protection Bureau is jumping on this bandwagon with a proposal to change the fees allowed to be charged by mortgage originators, calling for a simple flat fee versus origination points and discount points. Again this only threatens to reduce lending options by running mortgage brokers out of business and making borrowing more expensive for those buying less expensive homes.

The debate about interest rates is ongoing but a factor which could also push more out of the running to buy homes. Then you have banks being harsher than ever on credit and permitting fewer individuals to open accounts and even refusing secured credit cards and loans to those with deposits. This means less savings and fewer deposits which banks need to lend as well as preventing masses of individuals from being able to rebuild their credit in the wake of the crisis.

This all not only means tougher times for buyers looking for new residences but fewer borrowing options for real estate investors and potentially a smaller buyer pool for flip homes to.

Hard money lenders have lost their minds and are now as hard to get approved with as conventional lenders back in 2005 if not more so. This leaves transactional funding as virtually the only financing options for real estate investors flipping houses.

However, investors also need to perhaps begin to be more careful in their selection of acquisitions, focusing on properties which will attract cash heavy, stronger buyers

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Pinterest for Real Estate Investing Pros

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New social networks pop up every day promising to be the next must have platform for businesses to market themselves. Few catch on or pick up momentum but Pinterest appears to be one the few which is here to stay.

Pinterest may not be the best social platform for every type of business or industry but it seems to be a fantastic match for real estate investors flipping houses.

Pinterest has not just been booming in popularity and increasing its user base but also stands out due to how much more time users are spending on the site than other social networks.

Before investors begin developing their Pinterest strategy and start posting it is important to recognize who is using the site. The overwhelming majority of members are women 18 to 54. Their interests are generally focused on fashion, hobbies, interior design and arts.

How should you be incorporating Pinterest in your marketing plan? Include it in your regular posting schedule and integrate it with your Facebook and Twitter accounts. Include a badge on your blog allowing readers to ‘Pin’ and share your images and blog.

What to post? Original pictures, interior design photos, before and after pics of the homes you are rehabbing and flipping as well as videos. Take a look at what other investors and real estate related companies are doing with their Pinterest accounts like Fortune Builders.

Real estate investors who are working from home and are constantly plagued and interrupted by their better (or at least other) halves will find introducing them to Pinterest can keep them hypnotized and out of the way for days. Expect for the odd request for a credit card to go out and buy some of the items they are browsing.

What are you waiting for? Check it out and request your invite…
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Preparing to Switch Strategies as Mortgage Lending Gets Tougher

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on Tuesday, 28 February 2012
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Mortgages could quickly become a lot tougher to get. How are you going to maintain the volume of your real estate investing business and enable it to grow?

The headlines have been full of calls to wind down mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in he last few months with potentially devastating consequences for U.S. borrowers. Even the governor of the Federal Reserve, Elizabeth Duke came out at a hearing today stating there would be “much, much less lending going on,” should they be closed in the near future. These agencies to have issues, including already forking out over $110 million in legal fees to protect executives and Bank of America announced early this month and end to selling mortgages to the giant entities. However, when banks hold onto their mortgage paper in their own portfolio they are far tougher about the loans they will make.

So what does this mean for those flipping houses? Fortunately, this won’t affect acquisitions for real estate investors taking advantage of transactional funding. However, those who have been relying on end investors or home buyers who are using financing to turn their deals over to may need to rethink their strategies and focus.

Those who do not just want to keep up the volume of houses they are flipping now but who want to grow that number may need to focus more efforts on attracting cash buyers. The good news is that there are plenty of them out there, however there is also a lot of competition for them.

The more resourceful investors can be in marketing to and attracting these cash rich buyers the further marketing dollars will go and the bigger the bottom line. Consider how you can work with strategic partners who already marketing to these prospects or whom already have large databases full of them. This could include working with financial planners, tax accountants, attorneys and others. Look for opportunities to network where there are large numbers of cash buyers in attendance like at regional or national property shows both here and abroad as well of course bolstering your web presence.
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A Home For Christmas, Everybody Needs One

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on Tuesday, 29 November 2011
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Some real estate investors are preparing themselves for a quiet couple of weeks as consumers concern themselves with holiday shopping, digging up old recipes and attending parties. However, savvy real estate investors know that for many there is no better possible present that a new home for Christmas.

The holiday season and gift giving is great but many people are rethinking their goals and priorities are planning to cut back on their shopping this year and are more focused on preparing for the future. Though even for the most flamboyant holiday shoppers real estate is sure to be a winning present that won’t fail to impress.

Whether creating a new foundation for a better financial future with a new family is the most pressing item or minimizing taxes, advancing wealth and winning the heart of someone special is top of the list this holiday season, nothing beats a new home or sky scraping condo. Plus it sure beats blowing money on junk just for the sake of buying presents for appearances sake or because the commercials tell you to.

It is your job as a real estate investor to remind people of this and make sure a new property is on top of everyone’s ‘Dear Santa’ letter this year. Between the huge amount of inventory available and easy access to flash funding through Best Transactional Funding your capacity for doing deals is virtually limitless.

So get out there, sell a home for Christmas to everyone. Put a giant sized bow on them if you have to, stick a mammoth sized Christmas tree in the front yard with lights or send out small presents with keys in the them to prospects as a way to grab attention. Just don’t overlook the opportunities to cash in while your competition is sleeping.
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Are The Feds Targeting Your Ads?

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on Tuesday, 29 November 2011
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In the last week the feds have lead an attack on companies offering help to distressed homeowners, shutting off hundreds of online ad campaigns. Could your real estate investing business be the next target and what can you do?

TARP’s Deputy Special Inspector General announced a crackdown on Internet advertising promoting loan modification and other assistance for underwater homeowners and other motivated sellers facing foreclosure. So far over 1,000 advertisers have been shut down or suspended by search engines Bing, Yahoo and Google.

While this initiative is said to be targeting scam artists attempting to prey on vulnerable property owners, exactly how they are identifying who are running scams versus those offering legitimate and valuable help is unclear, except for the types of PPC advertising and help they are offering. This combined with the fact that TARP’s Deputy Special Inspector General came out promoting the government’s own Making Home Affordable site, hot-line and contacting lenders they have invested in directly hints that this may simply be a way of wiping out the competition rather than acting to protect consumers.

Homeowners should certainly be protected but it is obviously that third parties, especially real estate investors have done far more to bail out the individual homeowner and the US economy as a whole than we have actually seen accomplished by the government’s recent feeble attempts at new plans.

The bottom line is that this is a scary precedent for any real estate investor. The search engines have a reputation for shutting down ads and blocking advertisers first, then asking questions later. So your company and marketing could well come under attack. What to do?

Perhaps it is prudent to take another look at your Internet ads, make sure that you can’t be confused with the scam artists out there and even set up separate or mirror websites using iFrames so that you don’t have to fear any down time.
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Should You Be Worried About Short Sale Fraud?

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on Wednesday, 03 August 2011
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There have been a number of stories about ‘short sale fraud’ circulating in the last couple of weeks. Short sales are of course one of the great sources of discounted properties investors using transactional funding tap into to make big profits flipping houses. So should you be worried as a real estate investor and consider staying away from short sales?

Not at all! According to one Washington, DC attorney and short sale expert in an interview this week ‘short sale fraud’ is mostly a concept dreamed up by greedy lenders who are jealous of the profits real estate investors are making.

So how are some getting in trouble for their involvement in short sale flips? It is important to note that it isn’t the investors using transactional funding to acquire and flip homes for quick profits that are finding themselves in hot water. It has been licensed real estate agents who have been found to have mislead and blatantly lied to the banks in order to get short sales approved that have been the ones catching the heat. Such is the case with the Realtor in Connecticut who just got 8 months in the slammer. It seems she found a buyer and instead of submitting that offer to the bank, had a fellow real estate agent buy the property and then had them flip it to the end buyer for an extra $30,000. Nothing wrong with making a quick profit. The issue was the agent in question clearly abused her position and deceived the bank by telling them the property couldn’t sell for more when the deal was already set up.

Should the banks care at all if the property is resold, who to, when and how much for? No, if they are happy to recoup what they can and complete the short sale that should be the end of the story. Though licensed agents do have a fiduciary responsibility and those required to sign an affidavit confirming full disclosure in the A-B side of the transaction ought to be upfront. However, again full time real estate investors may want to think twice before renewing their real estate licenses again just to avoid the extra potential heat.

Otherwise get out there, lock down wholesale deals, put offers on short sales and use your transactional lender to help you flip homes quickly for some nice paychecks.

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Is Transactional Funding Legal?

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Staying on the right side of the law or at least avoiding extra unwanted attention from the authorities can sometimes be a tricky business when flipping houses. Unfortunately many out dated real estate investment courses and programs provide information that either doesn’t work any more or has become illegal. However, this does not include transactional funding.

Dry closings or simultaneous closings where an investors uses a buyer’s money to fund a double closing and pay the seller are definitely frowned upon and can at the very least get you the wrong type of attention. Plus of course it does pose technical issues with recording deeds in time to satisfy the end buyer’s lender’s requirements which can jeopardize your deals.

Flash funding or transactional funding is different. This type of financing provides you as a real estate investor with the funds to close your A to B transaction with the seller, with real money. Then you can have a separate closing for the B to C side which cashes you out with your end buyer via a cash purchase or their bank financing. This is completely legal, though the mechanics may need to work slightly differently depending on where the end buyer is bringing their funds from.

In many cases you can easily close both ends of your deal within three days often even on the same day. However, in circumstances when the end lender wants to see the recorded deed from the first transaction you may need to wait as long as a couple of weeks. Thankfully the best transactional lenders are now rolling out extended financing options that can give you as much as 40 days to re-pay the loan.

So yes, transactional funding is completely legal and above board, though if course as always it helps to use a title company or closing attorney who is comfortable with this type of real estate deal, knows how to facilitate a smooth transaction on both ends and is familiar with how different lenders require things to be done.
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