Real Estate Blog

Never visit a property vendor! The first reaction to getting a good property deal is to jump in the car and check out the house – but the house is the last thing you want to actually worry about.

You might think – surely you must visit the house before you buy it? Yes, but… Continue reading ‘Don't Jump In the Car’ »

Fix and flip projects have been the talk of the real estate community as more and more people are rehabbing houses for a living. Doing this type of real estate investing is relatively easy because you don’t have to possess a doctorate degree from some prestigious university or have extraordinary skills.

It doesn’t take rocket science to rehab properties for profit. Listed below are the steps on how to fix and flip a property:

• One of the basics of fixing and flipping homes is to obtain financing. Having a good source of funds is vital in the rehabbing business because it can determine the type of property you will buy and the quality of renovations you will put on the house. Therefore, before starting a fix and flip project, you have to make sure that you have enough cash on hand to see it through. Continue reading ‘Tips on Handling Fix and Flip Projects’ »

For most of us, our primary home is located near our workplace, but our second home is situated in a place where we want to settle down permanently after retirement. Your second home shouldn’t just be a retirement or vacation home, but it should also provide you certain tax advantages. Let’s take a look at some of the tax benefits that your second home can generate.

Eligibility for tax benefits

Your vacation home can be a condo, a standalone house, apartment, duplex or cabin. It can even be a vehicle or boat. However, it will become eligible for tax deductions only when it has a well-defined kitchen, bathroom and sleeping area. Hence, before buying a second home make sure that all these features are present. Continue reading ‘Owning a Second Home Gives Certain Tax Advantages’ »

Lots of people are asking this question lately. I thought it would be a good time to clarify what I said a few weeks ago about not looking at your primary residence as an investment. Some people thought I meant they should just continue to rent their living space instead of buying it. That couldn’t be further from the truth, so let me explain in more detail.

When you buy a house, you are admittedly taking on a huge responsibility, but one which can pay off handsomely down the road. My parents bought a house in 1964 and took out a 30-year fixed mortgage. The monthly cost of that mortgage was pretty tough for them to swallow in 1964, but in 1984, when they were still paying $296.00 per month, it was a pretty sweet deal! Continue reading ‘What to Invest in Now – Should I Buy a House Now?’ »

As the collapse of the market seems to be bottoming out, at least on the residential side, there are a lot of investors who are actively searching for investments for their 401k’s. With some of the markets suffering from complete obliteration just a year ago, there are an endless number of opportunistic investments in the market especially with investment properties.

Over the past two months we have seen a surge in our clients starting to use their 401k for the purchase of investment properties for use as rentals or to hold for the future. In cities such as Stockton, Ca one of our clients just bought a condo for $24,000 and her rental income on the property is positive $524. This is the same property that two years ago sold for $104k. I cant think of many more investments that offer a better return than that. What our client did was roll a portion of her 401k into a Self Directed IRA account and used those funds to purchase the property. She now has a free and clear property that is cash flowing just over $500 into her retirement account every single month. Continue reading ‘Distressed RE Market – Let the Land Grab Begin’ »

The airwaves are full of promoters, authors and so-called real estate experts telling you how to purchase property with no money down. I have read very little ‘properly structured’ transactions allowing for ‘no money down.’ No money down deals are great and feasible but they must be structured properly.

Making a secret deal with the seller for money under the table or falsifying a purchase agreement to a lender is fraught with problems that could even land you in jail. On the other hand, most lenders will not knowingly allow you to purchase property with no money down (on arm length purchases) or take money from the closing table even if you are buying the property at a deep discount. Most lenders residential mortgage policies are to loan 75% to 95% of the purchase price or appraisal price, whichever is less. So how then does a purchaser structure a compliance transaction that results in them taking money away from the closing table? Continue reading ‘The Art of Creating Equity’ »