By D.C. Fawcett, Business Building Coach to the Foreclosure Industry

When real estate investors evaluate their options for securing deals and making profits, one great way to do this is to find real estate foreclosures. Foreclosures are abundant, lucrative, and still based on basic investment principles, such as seller motivation. After all, to find real estate foreclosures at quality prices means working with sellers who are more motivated, be they homeowners or the bank.

Where do most people turn when they look to find real estate foreclosures?  Sure, they might take a look at foreclosure listings that comes from free or fee-based sources. They can also market their services and attract sellers from whom they can find real estate foreclosures. While these techniques may lead to productive and profitable deals, they also can be time and cash intensive.

Another option for finding real estate foreclosures is the world of bank owned properties. When a property is lost via foreclosure it goes back to the bank and then becomes one of the now thousands of bank owned real estate foreclosures (or REO properties) on the market today. How do you start finding real estate foreclosures for your business?

The key to successfully find real estate foreclosures is real estate training. Despite the leads you can generate to find real estate foreclosures, I think without the proper foreclosure training, you run the risk of not really knowing what you are doing. Profits can be lost and so too can opportunities to find real estate foreclosures when you lack the proper real estate investing training.

In today’s real estate market, finding real estate foreclosures is as much as part of investing as any other part of the business. Make sure you have a realtor on your team who can provide you with foreclosure listings to find real estate foreclosures because the deals are out there. I also suggest that you commit yourself to real estate training, and your pursuit of real estate foreclosures will be more productive and more rewarding. I wish you the very best in success in all of your investing pursuits and in business as a whole.

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When I first got started in real estate investing, I read a LOT of books. One thing I seemed to hear again and again was “Whatever you do, do NOT become a real estate agent if you’re going to be an investor.”

As a new investor, I believed most of what I read and heeded that warning, but it always stuck in the back of my mind and I found myself wondering why you wouldn’t want to be both.

After some research, I found that the big reason you’re not supposed to be an agent AND an investor is that as a real estate agent (or broker, or Realtor), you’re held to a “higher level of responsibility”.

If a dispute ever arose between you and someone you were involved in a transaction with, it could be argued in court that as a licensed agent, you knew more than the other party, had an unfair advantage and used your additional knowledge to take advantage of the less knowledgeable party.

Herein lies the big question.

Do you plan to take advantage of someone you’re doing business with?

Hopefully, your answer is “No.”

As a real estate investor and/or agent, it’s our ethical obligation, licensure aside, to put together fair, legal and “above board” deals.

So if you’re putting together deals ethically (as I hope you are) then it begs another question:

Why would you want to be both an investor and a real estate agent?

As an investor, when you approach a homeowner and talk to them about their property, you may realize that it’s not the best deal from an investment standpoint, but it would make for a good listing.  There have been many cases where I had a property that just didn’t fit my investment criteria, but it made more sense to list. In these cases, we listed and sold the properties on the market and took our commission.

In addition, as an agent, you get leads for sellers looking to sell, some of which may be better opportunities as investments.

As a real estate agent, what happens when you’re meeting with a seller and you realize that the deal you’re looking at has a lot of upside potential, and you would rather pick it up yourself?

Simply switch hats, put the listing paperwork away, and put on your investor hat.

What kind of opportunities do you miss out on when you’re only an agent?

A fellow real estate agent at an office where I used to work was a top sales agent. He would knock through 300 cold calls a day, line up dozens of closings a month, and top the charts in the office month after month.

He was a fantastic real estate agent.

One day, he came across a listing where the seller wanted to simply “walk away.” In investor speak, this was a “Motivated Seller.” The seller was leaving over $90,000 on the table and was wanted to be done with the property and move on.

Our fellow agent listed the property, brought it to closing and the seller walked away with a check for just over $90,000. Our agent friend was busy working on other deals when he got a post-closing call from the seller looking for help.

The seller didn’t know what to do with the check, didn’t have any place to put it and just needed some money to put gas in the rental truck on their way out of town.

As a real estate investor, our friend could have solved the sellers problems from the get go, helped them with the move, put some cash in their pocket and taken away the problem property all while hanging onto the excess $90,000.

So when it comes down to choosing between being a real estate investor, an agent or both, I hands down choose both every time.

It gives you more options and opens more doors to more deals.

Jeremy B. Shapiro
http://www.articlesbase.com/real-estate-articles/real-estate-investor-agent-or-both-734503.html

The rumor mill is buzzing. Now is an opportune time to buy a new home. Median prices are low, and getting lower. Fixed mortgage rates hover around 5%. And realtors are offering potential buyers enticing tax credits.

In Phoenix, the market is especially attractive. If you have good credit and ample capital, the next six months could present a unique buying opportunity.

The price of a home in Phoenix is low, some as low as prices from 2004. The median sale price is $178,000, a number last seen in November 2004. And with foreclosures, more homes are selling for less than that, lowering the sale price to roughly $170,000. And the fixed mortgage rates, which hover around 5%, are the lowest in 40 years.

But still people are hesitant. The economy’s forecast is making potential buyers think twice. They are worried about keeping their jobs, earning the money that will pay their mortgage, and spreading roots in a city that may or may not recover from the current recession.

Realtors and experts are trying to assuage buyers’ concerns. The Arizona Star recently ran an article on the situation.

“Right now is probably the best time we have had for buyers, as far as the convergence of prices, interest rates and the number of properties to choose from,” said Martin Eggers, an agent with Desert Roadrunner Realty.

“The window, I think, will be relatively short-lived. Interest rates I don’t foresee staying low like this forever, and then the next part of the equation is once people realize it is such a good time to buy, they are going to start buying,” he said.

Again, the fact comes down to buyers who are ready to buy – that means having enough capital and good credit. This is in stark contrast to five years ago, when home were sold to people without capital. Many of these homes are now in foreclosure. But this is a positive sign. It represents a new era of personal responsibility, and will help balance the Phoenix real estate market.

Again from the article:

All of this sounds good for potential buyers, but University of Arizona economist Marshall Vest said it’s important to remember all the caveats out there, especially since he expects the recession to continue for at least another year and for the Tucson economy to lose thousands more jobs.

“If you have a job, and if you have good credit, and you can come up with a down payment, and if you have sufficient income to amortize the mortgage, now is a great time to buy,” Vest said. “Mortgage rates are low, and there are some really good deals out there.”

The current Phoenix real estate market, for the few who feel stable and confident enough to invest now, is an ideal market to buy.

michaelrussell
http://www.articlesbase.com/business-articles/phoenix-real-estate-save-now-buy-now-748636.html

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When I first got started in real estate investing, I read a LOT of books. One thing I seemed to hear again and again was “Whatever you do, do NOT become a real estate agent if you’re going to be an investor.”

As a new investor, I believed most of what I read and heeded that warning, but it always stuck in the back of my mind and I found myself wondering why you wouldn’t want to be both.

After some research, I found that the big reason you’re not supposed to be an agent AND an investor is that as a real estate agent (or broker, or Realtor), you’re held to a “higher level of responsibility”.

If a dispute ever arose between you and someone you were involved in a transaction with, it could be argued in court that as a licensed agent, you knew more than the other party, had an unfair advantage and used your additional knowledge to take advantage of the less knowledgeable party.

Herein lies the big question.

Do you plan to take advantage of someone you’re doing business with?

Hopefully, your answer is “No.”

As a real estate investor and/or agent, it’s our ethical obligation, licensure aside, to put together fair, legal and “above board” deals.

So if you’re putting together deals ethically (as I hope you are) then it begs another question:

Why would you want to be both an investor and a real estate agent?

As an investor, when you approach a homeowner and talk to them about their property, you may realize that it’s not the best deal from an investment standpoint, but it would make for a good listing.  There have been many cases where I had a property that just didn’t fit my investment criteria, but it made more sense to list. In these cases, we listed and sold the properties on the market and took our commission.

In addition, as an agent, you get leads for sellers looking to sell, some of which may be better opportunities as investments.

As a real estate agent, what happens when you’re meeting with a seller and you realize that the deal you’re looking at has a lot of upside potential, and you would rather pick it up yourself?

Simply switch hats, put the listing paperwork away, and put on your investor hat.

What kind of opportunities do you miss out on when you’re only an agent?

A fellow real estate agent at an office where I used to work was a top sales agent. He would knock through 300 cold calls a day, line up dozens of closings a month, and top the charts in the office month after month.

He was a fantastic real estate agent.

One day, he came across a listing where the seller wanted to simply “walk away.” In investor speak, this was a “Motivated Seller.” The seller was leaving over $90,000 on the table and was wanted to be done with the property and move on.

Our fellow agent listed the property, brought it to closing and the seller walked away with a check for just over $90,000. Our agent friend was busy working on other deals when he got a post-closing call from the seller looking for help.

The seller didn’t know what to do with the check, didn’t have any place to put it and just needed some money to put gas in the rental truck on their way out of town.

As a real estate investor, our friend could have solved the sellers problems from the get go, helped them with the move, put some cash in their pocket and taken away the problem property all while hanging onto the excess $90,000.

So when it comes down to choosing between being a real estate investor, an agent or both, I hands down choose both every time.

It gives you more options and opens more doors to more deals.

Jeremy B. Shapiro
http://www.articlesbase.com/real-estate-articles/real-estate-investor-agent-or-both-734503.html

If you are interested in the real estate industry you may want to consider foreclosures.

Even though this industry has fallen off a bit, it is still a great way to make money.

The most important thing to remember about foreclosure investing is that there are many details to consider. Not only will you need to become familiar with your own situation, but you will also need to know a lot about the foreclosure industry in your area.

But with that being said, foreclosure investing is not a difficult thing to do. If you become familiar with all of the small details you can be a success in no time at all.

The first thing you need to know about foreclosure investing is how it works. Generally speaking, a foreclosure is a property that the bank owns due to the fact that the owner of the property neglected to pay his or her mortgage.

In turn, the bank owns these properties and is forced to sell them back to the public in order to recover the money that they lost. And to go along with this, the bank usually attempts to sell foreclosures quickly because they are not making any money by holding onto them. All of this works out to the advantage of a foreclosure investor.

Getting started with foreclosure investing is quite easy. Now that you know what foreclosure investing is you need to know where to find the properties.

There are several ways that you can do this, and you should look into each option so that you get the best selection possible. Search the newspaper and online and you should not have any problems finding foreclosures to invest in.

When you are finally ready to buy a foreclosure property you will need to become familiar with the steps necessary in your area. Buying foreclosures is different for each county. Some of them have foreclosure auctions once a week, whereas others only have them once a week. It really depends on where you live, and how your county operates.

Overall, foreclosure investing can be a great way to make money. You may have to learn a bit about the industry before starting, but after you are comfortable with what is going on you should be well on your way to success and when you finally begin to realize what foreclosure investing can do for you, you will then be able to make the most out of every transaction.

Gerald Mason
http://www.articlesbase.com/real-estate-articles/tips-for-successful-real-estate-foreclosure-investing-81949.html

Without them, our endeavors would all be in vain as we sit idly by and watch our interests stagnate.

In the world of real estate investing, goals are extremely important. Every investment opportunity requires several goals pertaining to scheduling, budgeting, construction, and marketing. If you are to make money in real estate, you have to stick to your plan and achieve the goals that you have made for your project. If you fail to do so, you could sacrifice a great deal of your profit or ultimately see your investment fail.

The first step to setting goals in real estate investing is that they have to be realistic. Don’t try to cram 8 weeks of construction into 4. If you really want to complete construction in 4 weeks instead of 8, trim away excess and unnecessary renovation projects rather than try to work quickly or around the clock. Setting unrealistic goals only sets you up for failure, and a sense of failure can ruin the entire outlook and motivation for a project.

Goals of the financial variety are also extremely important in real estate investing. In any sort of money-making venture, you need to know how much money you are going to invest and how much money you would like to make in the bargain. But more important than these short-term financial goals are the long-term goals.

These goals center on how much money you want to invest over a long period of time with what results. For example: You may have made your first investment with a small sum of money, and part of this money may have been financed through an equity loan, personal loan, by other means, or through a combination of sources. If you continue using these same sources of funding without upping the ante any, you will not move forward in your investing business. This is where long-term goals come in.

Long-term financial goals do not focus on your immediate real estate investing project. They instead look to the future. A great example of this type of goal would be having your loans paid off and be investing purely with profit after your third investment. Another example would be to be able to purchase more expensive properties or multiple properties instead of focusing on just one low-budget project at a time.

When setting your goals, keep in mind that no two investors will have the same goals. While you can draw inspiration from your peers, don’t try to absorb their business strategies as your own. Instead, look to your own future and set goals that will lead your real estate investing ventures in the direction that you wish them to go.

James Klobasa
http://www.articlesbase.com/non-fiction-articles/your-guide-to-setting-real-estate-investing-goals-99266.html

Every day, new and established agents are waking up to the fact that an effective online presence has become more than just a good marketing idea. An effective online presence is now mandatory. So, you should be aware of how to build a top real estate website.

Real estate has flooded the internet and browsing through MLS information is now as common as checking your bank account online. Agents are now displaying their listings to the general public.

Web content that holds a visitor´s attention and moves them to action must take into account marketing principles and peoples´reading behavior.

Websites with an eye-catching graphic design, intuitive navigation layout, and interesting web content are key to converting visitors to sales leads.

Real estate blogs are one of the most important internet marketing tools in recent years. They provide your small business with a chance to share your expertise and knowledge with a larger audience.

Designing a professional looking website from scratch can appear to be a challenging task. However, if you are armed with the right knowledge and the correct software and tools you will be able to build a top real estate website.

Real estate brokers and agents or any small business need to have a management system for their web design to be successful. Your site will require real estate website design, search engine optimization, hosting and more.

Brokers and agents need to be able to manage their own listings (adding and deleting) without having to contact their web designer every time they have a new property listing. Therefore, your site should be easy for you to navigate because real estate websites need to be updated regularly.

Real estate website design and mortgage website design should create captivating interactive experiences designed to match your prospects buying process with your sales process. For example, brokers and agents can set up client chat services on their sites.

Brokers and agents have found the international buyer a profitable niche market to target. Those who successfully positioned their real estate websites to target foreign buyers did well in states targeted by foreign real estate investors.

Search engine optimization can help you achieve those all important top rankings for your relevant keywords and trademark names. Search engines consider sites with links relative to their own content “more important” and place them higher in ranking.

Statistics indicate that well-placed testimonials on real estate web designs add a stickiness factor that keeps website visitors on websites longer and converts visitors to sales leads when they fill out your guestbook.

Customizable featured listings, easy contact methods, community information, maps and mortgage payment calculators are also standard features on a Realtor web site design.

Sharquenta Wells
http://www.articlesbase.com/web-design-articles/how-to-build-a-top-real-estate-website-748939.html

I read the Orlando Sentinel newspaper this morning and found encouraging information about the Orlando residential real estate market.

The article reports:

“Members of the Orlando Regional Realtor Association sold nearly 5 percent more homes in November than they did a year ago, as prices continued to drop to levels not seen since 2004, which has made more homes more affordable, the trade group reported Wednesday.”

This upswing was initially forecasted earlier this year, when area real estate experts theorized that the record number of Florida foreclosures would eventually shift in favor of the homebuyer.

These numbers are certainly positive. And they support the theories of area experts. But they also pose interesting questions, as well as reason for concern.

First, the numbers might be too positive. While five percent is noteworthy, it is not miraculous. It might, however, still be enough to stir the market into action.

Caution should be exercised. A five percent increase in home sales, especially compared to 2007’s sales–when the market was tumbling in a downward spiral–do not necessarily reflect an overall turnaround in home sales.

Today’s enterprising homebuyer needs to focus on his or her personal financial situation. Regardless of market trends, jumping too quickly into a questionable investment could have consequences.

Second, if these numbers stir significant buyers into action, and the market is not yet stable, new homeowners and investors alike might well find themselves in the same situation as a year or two ago, when stagnant property, swollen market prices, and a decimated economy forced owners into foreclosure.

The key is to watch the numbers. If property prices continue to fall, wait to buy. If they flatten out, wait for Orlando’s economy to bounce back, then buy right before the iron gets hot.

For homebuyers, the article continues:

“Not everyone who wants to buy a home can do so right now, even if they have good credit. Despite the low financing rates, buyers are still having to meet higher credit standards as a result of the ongoing stress in the financial markets.”

Fortunately, Orlando renters have been spared dramatic increases in monthly costs. If a person wants to buy, but does not yet have the credit or capital to do so, now is a good time to rent property.

Wait until you are ready to buy. The real estate market serves wise investments well.

November’s positive numbers are positive numbers nonetheless. If you are ready to buy property in Orlando, the current prices might be the best you’ll see.

michaelrussell
http://www.articlesbase.com/project-management-articles/orlando-real-estate-the-good-and-bad-720976.html

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