by Joost J. Bakker IJmuiden

When investing real estate transactions you most likely want to see standard sales agreement forms being used. These forms are commonly used by agents to simply the process and usually contain all the necessary information. However, any sales agreement can be written on stationary or even a napkin and can be the basis for a legally binding contract.

A written contract is a must

A legally binding contract is something in which two parties come to terms of agreement such as the legal transfer of real estate. This written agreement can also consist of other considerations like the purchase price of the home. You may think that there must be some kind of standard form that solidifies an agreement but the fact of the matter is that there isnt one.

One thing you should definitely avoid is making verbal offers as this can quickly lead to disagreements between the two parties. You should absolutely make sure to get everything in writing as this will help to prevent any uncertainties. The benefit of using a real estate agent for these transactions is that they will prepare the necessary forms and ensure that nothing is left out.

What written agreements must include

If you plan to write up a contract with details on a property then there are several important considerations. One important component is the consideration which is essentially the final price of the home with details of a small deposit to show your seriousness. If you back out for any reason then you typically do not get the deposit back.

There are many other factors that go into a contract like the sales price, legal address, description of the property, details of the deed and statement of terms and conditions. If you plan to write your own agreement then it absolutely must encompass the above factors. However, you may want to hire an attorney to create a legally binding contract on your behalf.

by Ravi Karandeekar

Part 1 of 5: Rehabbing Houses

This posing will mark the beginning of a 5 part series in which I will discuss 5 separate real estate investing strategies, along with the benefits and drawbacks of each. There are hundreds of ways to invest in real estate. It is very important in choosing your investing strategy that you consider the time, money, and effort you’re willing to invest. Also make sure to be realistic about your experience level, construction experience and ability to manage others.

After watching Flip this House, real estate investors think that rehabbing houses is the only real estate investing strategy out there. Although flipping houses can bring substantial profit, you can also loose a ton of money. Let’s look in detail at what’s involved.

So you have decided to step in to the big leagues and start flipping houses? First be sure to carefully evaluate your personal commitment to the projects, time available to invest into them and willingness to liability exposure. Having bought and sold over 150 houses, I am here to tell you that rehabbing houses is one of the most difficult investing strategies, but can also be one of the most lucrative.

Estimating Repairs– Okay, so you’ve heard about a great investment property that needs work. Now what? Even though your realtor or friend thinks it’s a great deal you need to run your rehab costs in details. If you’re not experienced in construction get a couple bids from some reputable contractors to give you an idea of rehab costs. Be sure never to get them out of the yellowpages, but instead use websites like servicemagic.com or get referrals from other investors. In generating rehab costs, there are some great repair estimate sheets online you can get to help in the process. In estimating repairs for house flipping it also helps to think about the 5 major systems that may need to be replaced! Roof, windows, plumbing, electrical, & HVAC. Also always make sure the foundation is in good shape as rehab projects with bad foundations are impossible to re-sell. Home buyers expect these major systems to be new, or fairly updated. If they are older than 15 years plan to update them. We have a standard cost for each based on our are. For example, we can replace HVAC systems for $ 5k or less and windows for $ 200 each.

Learning to estimate repairs can be frustrating but is an essential part of real estate investing. You’re not going to be perfect at it overnight, so have patience with the learning process. By utilizing contractors, you can learn to see things how they do and it will get easier with time.

Obtaining Financing

Getting financing to rehab houses is harder now than before the crash, but can still be done. The preferred method to buying houses for rehab is cash or using an equity line of credit. This way if you are dealing with a motivated house you can close right away without the hassle of jumping through a lenders hoops. If this isn’t an option, you can find a private lender to fund your real estate deals. By offering friends, family, and anyone you know 8-10% interest you should be able to raise the money. You can set it up to defer payments to them until the rehab is complete and you sell the property. You will give them a first mortgage and personal promissory note in exchange for the money. This means they get the house if something goes wrong and can come after you personally.

If you’re planning to get financed by a bank for rehab projects, you will likely need to contact at least ten in your area until you find ones, so don’t be discouraged at first. Don’t waste your time with big banks. Instead focus on the small community banks. If you plan to get financing for rehab projects and real estate investing in general, you will first need to assemble a loan package which lenders will request. It should consist of your last two years personal tax returns, personal financial statement (that shows all your assets & liabilities), a business plan, a cash flow statement (if you currently own property), & a brief description about yourself and the project you are applying for financing on as a real estate investment.

Managing the Renovation:

Flipping houses isn’t an easy job. The process of managing the rehab itself will require excellent organization & people skills. It is also very important that you learn how to estimate repair costs as quickly as possible.

The majority of beginner rehabbers that I know loose their shirt by overspending at the beginning of the job and over paying for the work. A lot of them also get ripped off by paying money upfront before work is done.

Follow these rules to insure you succeed at rehabbing houses:

1.)  Never use a contractor that isn’t recommended by an experienced rehabber or have great reviews online or references.

2.)  Never get a contractor for rehabbing houses out of the yellowpages.

3.)  Never pay money upfront to a contractor. (Instead you can pay the supply house directly for the material orders)

4.)  Always use a contract between you and the contractor that has a hard date that the job must be complete. This must include a per diem penalty for everyday that the job is not done. This penalty amount will be subtracted from what you owe the contractor at pay day.

5.)  Never pay a contractor more than 70% of what you owe him until the job is 110% done!

6.)  Get proof of workers comp & insurance before awarding the job. Keep this paperwork & call to make sure the policies are valid.

7.)  Never, ever break any of the above rules about flipping houses or you’ll be very sorry you did.

If you follow the above rules about rehabbing houses, you will be well on your way to doing a great job. You must have first gotten a great deal on the house. Make sure to join my email list here as I am always sending out new tricks to find houses not listed on the market with a realtor.

Project Management

In rehabbing houses, you or someone that works for you will need to manage the project full time. This means being on the job everyday, ordering materials, working with a designer, getting draws from the lender, paying contractors, keeping the job site locked up every night, ordering dumpsters, communicating with the neighbors, keeping the job site clean, getting bids from contractors, and much, much more.

In closing, rehabbing houses can offer a huge return, but also be a lot of work. You might make money, you might loose money. I offer a Mastery Fast Track Program for serious investors that offer a full rehabbing system and unlimited support throughout the process. You will more than make up for the cost with the money you save on the very first rehab. It’s critical to have a highly experienced partner on your side that can walk you through the process, that you can lean on anytime.

Don’t gamble. Insure your success and sign up today! Make the commitment to your career as a real estate investor and find out what it’s like to have the freedom to build your own house flipping business. Imagine showing your friends that 6 figure. Check that you made on your first rehab deal!

Stay tuned for part 2 next week – Rehabbing Houses for Rental!

Related Best Real Estate Investing Articles

by Eastern Bergen County Board of REALTORS

“I’ve had my home listed with my real estate agent forever! I didn’t figure it would sell in this market, but he has it up for rental and rent-to-own as well on the Multiple Listing Service. Still, there are no takers yet. What gives???” (Charlotte Landlord) 

Dennis Rodman was one of the most prolific rebounders in NBA history, a 2-Time All-NBA Defensive Player of the Year, and an integral member of five championship teams. Known affectionately as the “Worm”, his off the court antics were even more noteworthy. Countless stories of his late night partying in Las Vegas, riding his motorcycle in drag in downtown Chicago, and his penchant for drinking large amounts of tequila (hence, the “Worm”) were legendary. His philosophy was “work hard, play hard”; however, he soon found that when he became an established player, he could play more because his contract was guaranteed. He got paid the same amount of money whether he was in the line-up or not.

When Rodman’s contract was up at the end of 2007, the Chicago Bulls had a dilemma. They needed him to win championships, but couldn’t fathom paying him a huge contract when he missed 33% of the previous year’s regular season’s games (picture yourself taking work off every third day- great gig!). So, the Bulls came up with a solution: the incentive-laden contract. They would pay Rodman up to $ 10.5M, with only $ 4.5M of that guaranteed. The rest of the contract was based on performance metrics and actually playing in the games (imagine that!). The genius was that for every game he played after the 59th (in an 82-game season), he would earn a bonus of $ 185K/game. Mrs.

Rodman didn’t raise no dummy; The Worm got paid- he hit his performance metrics and played in 80 of the 82 games (earning a nice $ 3.9M in bonuses).
 
The same wisdom can be used when determining commission for your agent (and the buyer agents who bring in the prospects) in listing agreements. Ask yourself two questions:
What do you want your real estate agent to accomplish for you? Sale? Rent-to-own tenant? Rental Tenant?
What are you paying them for each? 

What we see commonly in the Charlotte market are the following commission rates:
3% of the purchase price for sale
$ 100 for a rental tenant
$ 100 for a rent-to-own tenant and 3% if the tenant winds up buying

What does this say? It says EMPHATICALLY that you want to sell your home and really do not want rental and rent-to-own tenants. It also says that you are willing to stay in your house until it sells and/or eat the monthly rent as it sits empty. Is that true? Usually, no, but your incentives say otherwise!!

Bottom-line- You must align incentives correctly with the activities you want to encourage! The Worm isn’t going to drive a rent-to-own tenant to your home for a $ 66.67 commission (after his Firm takes its 1/3 cut!).

by Kansas Sebastian

Northern Virginia real estate agents have experience in short sales, foreclosures, and sale of property. They are the best to deal with the sale or purchase of your property. Qualified and efficient real estate agents have the customers’ best interest at heart and give them the best value for their money. Your property is your lifetime investment. It is of prime importance that your dealings should be according to the Northern Virginia property values when you buy or sell.

Top Realtors

If you want to find the best Northern Virginia real estate agent, you don’t have to look far. The Coldwell banker premier real estate agents are there for your needs. With an impressive number of sold properties, Northern Virginia’s top real estate agents can assist you across the state and Maryland in foreclosures, short sales, leasing, and acquisitions, among other services. They are the lifetime top producers for buying or selling your home who have your best interest as their priority.

Dealing With Short Sales

If you are faced with selling your home due to financial problems or risk of foreclosure, you can find a short sale agent Woodbridge Northern Virginia. The agent can help you, as this is probably your best option. The occurrence of this phenomenon is increasing; many homeowners are forced to take this decision. You can depend on the Dynamic Duo & Associates with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage to help you modify the loan as it will cost you less. This is the proof that customers are more important to the team by offering this free service.

Best Assistance Provided

If you own a home anywhere in Northern Virginia, for example, Fort Belvoir the real estate agents of leading companies can help you make your important decisions about buying and selling. They do their best to market your property to your complete satisfaction and make successful transactions that help you.

Coldwell banker premier real estate agents are miracle workers and the foremost among Northern Virginia real estate agents. These agents deliver results when you have all but lost hope about your property goals. They are the industry leaders on whom you can depend and trust with the myriad of decisions regarding selling or buying your home. All the stress of negotiations, processing of sales, marketing, and financing is taken care of by their expertise in the market. You get a realistic view of your choices; all your questions are answered clearly and with the right facts. The services are available in cities such as Woodbridge, Manassas, Lorton, Alexandria, Fairfax, McLean, Oakton, Great Falls, Arlington, Bristow, Burke, and Annandale.

When you buy property in Northern Virginia, there are so many details involved. These include your agent, lender, lawyer, home inspector, and contractor among other issues. You need to find the right home that suits your needs and budget, observe market trends, and then calculate the amounts. When you sell, you also need to look into many details. For all this what can be better guide than accomplished and experienced realtors?

Experienced and established Northern Virginia real estate agents are able to accomplish sales even in a slow market in record time. They provide you with the valuable information about your buying and selling as they are aware of all the aspects of the real estate market. You will be glad that you contacted Coldwell banker premier real estate agents. This is because they help you avoid errors during buying or selling and make a successful sale or purchase.

Related Real Estate Agent Leads Articles

by Chris Devers

Probably as of the moment you already been bombarded with commercials that you should get a government grant now! You might be thinking, why I should even bother when for sure it will be a tedious task to get things done for the application anyways.

You are right on that matter regarding difficulty of having an application for a grant gets approved. However, you should very well know by now that the real estate industry is not doing well and a lot of houses have been foreclosed. You know what it means? This will be a great opportunity! Why? Since the housing industry is down it means that the prices are going to be low and therefore, you invest lesser amount of money and earn big in the near future.

This is the beauty of making investment today when the economy is down. Sooner or later the economy will recover from recession and for sure the prices of goods, commodities and real estate will just zoom up like nobody’s business.

One type of grant for investing in real property is housing assistance for individuals who have low-income.

You can avail the grant through going to the municipality where you want to invest in and look for the housing department in order to ask further details about the real estate within the area.

Now, still saying no to a government grant? I bet not anymore! You do need money to invest in real estate and there is one source that you can get the capital from that is in the form of grant. However, you should put to mind that you are going to be battling with a lot of competing applicants and the amount given is not that big at all. But hey, it’s still money! You can still use it to start investing on property.

Let me show you how to get $ 12,000 Free Government Grant from the US Government as little as 7 days.

AG Mortgage Investment Trust, Inc. Announces Public Offering of Common Stock
AG Mortgage Investment Trust, Inc. is a real estate investment trust that invests in, acquires and manages a diversified portfolio of residential mortgage assets, other real estate-related securities and financial assets. AG Mortgage Investment Trust, …
Read more on Business Wire (press release)

Find More Grants For Real Estate Investing Articles

by YoTuT

Article by Montrealex

Montreal real estate market : Home value is the estimation given to your home which is in the list of selling. Selling a home is probably an important thing which requires more experience to be done correctly. Some of the people lose serious money everyday just because they don’t have an entrepreneur mentality for selling. It does not mean that everyone who has a plan of selling your house required acquiring an entrepreneurial mindset, but some awareness should be there about leaving a lot of money. If you need to be you’re your house in a successful manner with maximum profit, then there are some changes which should be taken first. Some tips are provided here to help for boosting your home value:

Spend time with an expert:

You need to have a conversation about the fact with some of the experts for increasing your home value. A professional agent will guide you through all the procedures of improving your house to sell for the best price. While you get to pay this expert some money for the hour or two they spend with you, there will be an amazing amount you’re going to get back when you make use of their advice.

Inspections:

No one like to lose a great deal because a buyer has found that your home which have a problem. On selling your house at the price needed you definitely need to be as a professional with your potential buyer? An inspected house worth a lot more than one inspection, even if there is no problem with it.

Fix broken thing:

Most of the people are not giving much importance to small details, but believe apart from your competition. Fixing doors and windows’ locks is a priority when selling your house. Making sure that your water pipes as well as your electricity work fine is going to leave the impression that you are a professional seller who knows what they are doing. Just look at some successful real estate investors who buy houses, do some fixes and then sell them for 20 or 30 thousand dollars profit.

Remove unnecessary things:

On the preparation of the sale make sure that you don’t bother or distract your buyer by leaving unnecessary things inside the house.

Painting:

Painting is one of the most important things which can be improving your home’s appearance. You can literally make thousands of dollars worth of value just by spending a few hundred bucks to paint your house. The first thing to keep in mind when painting your house is to choose mild colors which make the buyer to purchase the home immediately.

For more details about Montreal real estate developers log on to http://www.montrealex.com/

A Market Builds for Single-Family Rentals
The fund, GI Partners in Menlo Park, Calif., plans to announce on Wednesday a $ 250 million investment in Waypoint Real Estate Group, an Oakland-based company that buys foreclosed homes at discounts and rents them out to tenants. …
Read more on Wall Street Journal

Related Real Estate Marketing Plan For Sellers Articles

by Randy Willis Photos

Article by David Riewe

Leads can be very hard to find, although there isn’t exactly a shortage on home buyers and sellers, most of the time these buyers choose the more flashy realtors. And with the advent of technology and other techniques to hoard leads, most of the leads go to a select few realtors who know the tricks of the trade.

One of the effective tricks these days that makes use of modern technology are private radio transmitters that are installed inside the houses to be sold. This technology has come to be called “talking houses”, and it makes use of a private radio transmitter that broadcasts a short recording talking about a few of the features of the house. The best part is, these transmitters can be bought over the counter at your local computer or radio store.

The recording gives interested people the chance to sort of preview the home before even calling you, and if they’re interested enough, they’ll be able to contact you, provided of course that you recorded your contact details along with the recording for the house.

Technology has indeed helped, but what really sells these houses is what you input into the transmitter. Most transmitters have built-in memories that record a few voice minutes and simply repeat it over and over.

For the precious few minutes that your clients will spend in front of the house tuned into your frequency, you’ll need to have said enough to make them interested, yet kept some to make them call you.

The marketing all boils down to you, if you simply put every single detail into the recording, the buyers won’t have a reason to call you, and you won’t get customers unless they really already intend to buy it. You’d want to be able to convince leads to buy the house. If they already know all the details then you won’t have your chance to convince them.

Give out a few of the benefits, not the features, so that they’ll see the best in the house. Give them a reason, a desire to buy the house. But don’t enlist all the benefits, keep some for yourself so they’ll have to call you. If you enlist all the benefits, be vague with some, so then they’ll be compelled to call you and be convinced by you. After that, you won’t have to do much, and you’ve already got your lead.

by Kansas Sebastian

Article by SHRI KRISHAN ESTATES

Greater Noida Property @ 9811414970 Sri Krishna Estates || Real Estate Agents in Greater Noida|| Flats for Sale Greater Noida apartment: “purchase happiness for you”Everyone dreams of having his own apartment and attempts are made for accessing this one of most important needs of life. Comfort and convenience are some factors which make difference between two homes. And if your home is in most structured city with proximity to National Capital, you feel proud to be a homeowner.Here we are talking of property deals in Greater Noida. Apartment in this city, with integrated and well engineering services, is not an unassailable thing. Currently, there are number of players in reality sector who are offering this kind of facility with affordable range of price. Noida is, no doubt, one of most popular cities in India. Here, people are in hunt to purchase property and apartments. In Real estate sector, Noida has its own image. Because of this popularity, People are shifting to Noida from its nearby cities. Infrastructure development and moderate growth attract people to be residents of Noida. Increasing number of IT companies and BPO centers along with other commercial centers is the main reason of demand increment for homes and properties. The city is depicting the home seekers because of its urbanization, wide roads and open environment. Thus, the city has its own identity in real estate sector.Why Apartment in Greater Noida ?* Well attachment with Delhi and NCR through Metro and Roads* Affordable rates of lands and properties compare to Delhi and Gurgaon* Leads the aspiration to mountain high platform through world class lifestyle, luxuries multiplexes, convenient workplaces and ever lasting pleasure* Green environment with innovative infrastructure. * Easy availability of affordable apartment at prime location.* Ample opportunities of employment * No problem of water and electricityContact Detail:SHRI KRISHAN ESTATES Address: G.1, Krishan Apra Golf View Plaza Alpha Commercial Belt, Greater Noida Distt Gautam Budh Nagar, U.P. 201308Mobile No.+91-9811414970, 9873714970Email id : saurabh@shrikrishanestates.com URL : http://www.shrikrishanestates.com/Schemedetail-6.php

Related Real Estate Agent Leads Articles

Buying or selling a real estate is probably that sort of transaction that can be very important in someone’s life. This deal is the one to affect the life of both the purchaser and the seller for the future time. Because of these effects, the transaction of a buying-selling real estate has to be formalized as it is not enough that the items will be listed, they must as well be written down as legal obligations.

These details can be found in a single document that is called the Real Estate Sales Agreement. This sort of document will stipulate about everything that the sale is about, from the technical data to the things that will be used to furnish it. Also the agreed upon amount of purchasing should be stated, both in words and figures, along with the deposit and the down payments with the final remittance.

The real estate sales agreement is enforced as soon as both parties sign it and in case there is the need to add extra things, then an addendum should be added to the main document.

Most of the times, the real estate sales agreements are conceived by real estate agents and lawyers, but there are situations when sellers and buyers alike contribute into writing one of these documents on their own.

There are plenty of online real estate sales agreement forms that can be downloaded and customized according to the situation, thus many approach this matter from this perspective. These forms can be purchased and downloaded either by piece or by bulk, as the user needs and desires to. The payment is also performed online as long as these sites do take any form of credit cards.

As to the format and the content of these real estate website forms, especially the ones related to real estate sales agreement, they are recognized by the local and federal agencies.

Nevertheless, before singing the final form it is recommended to have first a draft of it and take it to be checked by a lawyer and see for its accuracy and compliance with the legal requirements.

As long as a real estate sales agreement is the most important of all the documents that are associated with real estate field, it is very important that the technical information is in fact correctly stated. Along with these, all the necessary clauses and conditions, most specifically the terms of payment are outlined in a clear manner next to any potential penalties that are applied when the payment terms are not fully complied with.

Find More Real Estate Sales Agreement Form Articles

by Ravi Karandeekar

In the real estate world, you commonly think of houses, building or any piece of land to use. But when you add investment to its word, it will give you a different definition. Once it generates income and the owner bought multiple pieces of real estate. Most likely, it is for rental purposes one of which will be the primary residence and others will be for rental income. There is also different tax implication (capital gain) when its use for investment, as property value appraises over a period of time.

When it comes to investing real estate, it is more than a place you own or a place where you live, an added building or land wherein you are earning profit, or you are gaining. Depending on how you invest. Some purchased more than one property for the purpose of living and others to earn by looking for tenants. The place or where you’re putting that actual investment is what you call as real estate, and if your purpose is to gain profit out of it, you are already investing. It is beyond a home to live but it is more of an investment.

1. Buying and investing real estate is more complicated. Unlike investing in stocks and bonds; you are just waiting for the right signal of buying and selling. But here, it depends with the tenants that you have,  because there are some tenants that do not care with your property. You set rules and regulations for them to follow, they just don’t mind. Then one day they’ll call you and report the wreck of your ceiling and comfort room, though, things can still be fix, you still can manage, what if, your tenant is not willing to pay for the damages? Your cash flow will be affected. And the worst thing that will happen is; when they unable to pay the rent at all.

You as an investor must think of ways on how to deal with worst scenario. You have to think out of the box, or keeping your heads up. These things can be avoided, if you have precautionary measures in tail; like you are able to investigate further, the person or family that wants to rent your house for example. It is not enough that they are able to provide you details of their income, doing a back ground check will help (history from where they last rented). In that manner you will have idea how to deal them. Remember, your house is an investing real estate and not a charity institution.