The newest ‘buzzword’ to hit the world of real estate investment is: Real Estate Investment Notes. Now, property notes themselves aren’t new, in fact they have been around almost as long as realty itself. But, the ‘awareness’ of them as “viable investment vehicles” is a new trend that is a direct result of recent “cooling” happening in the realty market in parts of the country. Property backed notes are a dose of “hot” in recent “cool” times.

Smart investors always keep a close “eye” out for any changes in the market and “act” quickly to make the wise investment decisions necessary to avoid ‘disastrous’ financial losses. You too can benefit from what these “investment-gurus” have come to know about real estate backed notes and stretch your profits/gains a little further if they are generated inside a self directed IRA or self directed 401k.

Passive Cash Flow

Real Estate notes may have a high rate of return if structured properly, and are more secure than most other well-known investment strategies. A real property note is an investor instrument that can be used to earn what has been coined as “passive-income” or “passive cash flow”. Simply put, this means you will earn ‘dividends’ on your investments in real estate notes without having to do much else other than writing a check for your note and voila the money starts flowing in month after month like clockwork. Not bad, but it gets better. Since the money is earned passively through a real estate, you benefit again at tax time. Gains earned by property notes are taxed at low long term (currently at this writing) 15% capital gains tax rates. Do you know of any other investment strategy that allows you to make money passively and at a flat 15% tax rate? Nothing like real property notes has “hit” the realty world yet where you can make money passively, so until or unless it does, notes are the way to go if you want to put real cash and profit into your pocket month after month, year after year.

If you prefer watching your vested interests grow without any help on your part, then propery notes could be a great alternative for your portfolio. If any ‘cosmetic’ or “functional’ “improvements” are made to the real property listed on your real estate note it can really ‘pump’ up the value of your note to new heights. This will not only increase the dividend-earning potential of your note, but also it works to your benefit should you want to sell off a portion of it, or sell the note off “completely” because it’s increased value will put more money in your pocket. You can use your “windfall’ to re-invest in more opportunities or use a portion of it to fund a college education for your child.

Liquidity:

Unlike selling real property, notes have built in liquidity. In most cases, you don’t have worry that if you “hold” a real property note and wanted to sell it quickly, that it would be hard to find buyers for it. Wise investors are always looking to “buy” more real estate notes with positive cash flows because they know what valuable, income-earning vehicles they are.

Self Directed 401k / IRA Notes:

Did you know you can use your 401K or self directed IRA retirement accounts that you either implemented through an employee-employer plan, or opened up yourself, to fund the purchasing of real property notes? Many people are “tapping” into their retirement accounts because they have learned that real estate notes offer them the ability to increase the benefits usually earned through such retirement accounts, securely and reliably.

Will you be among the ‘wisest’ of investors and look into the “viability” of real estate notes as an investment strategy to best increase the dividend-earning power of your retirement money? A well-researched person will utilize the Internet and companies to calibrate opportunities. The Internet may provide you with access to all of the information you need to learn how real property notes can help you to “retire-in-style” minimizing “risks’ unlike so many of the other investment opportunities today.

The benefits of land backed notes are as follows:

1. Generate passive income.

2. Are secured by real property.

3. Are taxed at low long term capital gains of 15%.

4. Can be purchased with a self directed 401k or self directed IRA.

Another quick note about investment gains earned inside an IRA or 401k:

Gains earned and tucked back into the IRA/401k are earned on a tax-deferred basis and are taxed at ordinary income tax rates at the time of distribution starting at the age of 59 1/2. Gains earned off your property note investments inside your Roth IRA or Roth 401k occur on a tax-deferred basis and distributions are earned tax free at the time of distribution. If you use a Roth IRA/401k, you’ll have years of tax-deferred growth on your investment – and NO TAXES at the time of distribution.

How does that stack up against the current 15% long term capital gains? Right… There is no comparison.

If you are already over the age of 59 1/2 and have a Roth IRA and the Roth IRA has been open more than 5 years, then you are perhaps in the sweetest spot of all, as all your gains filtered through your Self Directed Roth IRA can be distributed to you tax free without any waiting periods. This could be the ultimate leverage and a way to grow your personal wealth.

Real Estate Backed Notes could just be your “hot” ticket to financial success in “cool” times.

You’ve heard the news on Fox, CNN, MSNBC and in the local news papers about the current state of the economy, the credit crisis and the declining housing market. The President is preaching gloom and doom an asking us all to pay higher taxes to cover his spending spree. Foreclosures are at an all time high with more to come. Unemployment is the highest it has been in decades and is only likely to increase. Housing prices are at all time lows with no bottom in sight. Even the banks are going bankrupt as are many Americans.

Because of the credit crisis, many people can’t get a loan to buy a house right now, despite the low housing prices. Many sellers can’t sell because they owe more than their house is worth. Many of these sellers can’t even rent their house for enough to cover their mortgage payments. Even if they could, many tenants often destroy the house making it even more difficult and costly to sell. If they list their house with a real estate agent, their house will likely sit on the market for many months or years waiting and waiting to sell. Even if it does finally sell at a reduced price, the owner has to pay 6-7% commission plus the bulk of the closing costs. This often results in the seller writing a big, fat check at closing to sell their home.

So what are your alternatives if you need to sell your house fast in this depressed economy and housing market?

1. You can try to sell your house For Sale by Owner.

   If you don’t know how to find buyers, screen out the ones with no cash or credit, help get them qualified for a new loan and handle all the purchase and sale paperwork, selling your house For Sale by Owner (FSBO) can be a verifiable nightmare.

2. You can list your house for sale with a real estate agent.

   If you don’t choose the right real estate agent (you need a top producer with a proven track record of selling houses in this market) , your house could sit on the market indefinitely, month after month, year after year, with no marketing, no showings, no open houses and no buyers. All the while, the value of your home continues to drop like a brick due to all the other houses and foreclosures on the market.

3. You can sell your house to a local, professional home buyer.

   Professional local home buyers, also known as “real estate investors”, buy and sell real estate for investment purposes. Depending on your house and your flexibility on price or terms, a professional home buying company may be able to buy your house in the next 7 days or less. Real estate investors can pay you all cash; pay some cash now and some cash later; take over your mortgage payments; reinstate your loan and take it over; pay off your short sale; or find some other creative way to buy your home and satisfy your lender. If you choose to sell to a real estate investor, be sure to check them out and make sure you are dealing with a reliable and trustworthy professional.

WeBuyHouses.net is a nationwide group of professional real estate investors that buy houses all over the USA in any area, condition or price range. If you have an unwanted house you need to sell quick, call 888-765-3461 toll free or visit www.WeBuyHouses.net and complete their online Seller Questionnaire for a FREE, no obligation consultation. If your house qualifies and you are flexible on price or terms, a local professional home buyer will schedule an appointment with you, come out and inspect your home and make you one or more offers to purchase your home during their visit. If you accept their offer, your house could be sold in as little as 7 days or by the date of your choosing. Either way, you’ll have the peace of mind you’ve been looking for knowing that your house is finally sold!

So why wait another day to sell your home when you can sell your house in 7 days or less? Your wait is over… just call 888-765-3461 toll free or visit www.WeBuyHouses.net to sell your house faster than you ever thought possible. You have everything to gain and nothing to lose. Sell your house fast!

As a professional real estate investor, I am constantly being asked about investing in raw land for a retirement program. I was a CFP (Certified Financial Planner) for about 10 years before I retired and I loved financial planning. So, here is my personal take on the question, and it is my personal opinion. In the final analysis it is your money and you can spend it as you want.

I don’t believe raw land has a place in an investment portfolio – period. I understand that some people have made large profits in raw land but generally they had to hold it for many years or they were selling land to investors (or more aptly speculators) for huge mark-ups. I know that land can be approved for purchase in a self-directed retirement plan, but that does not mean it is a viable or safe investment. This simply means that the filing documents to the IRS from a specific trustee requested raw land as an investment option and the IRS did not decline their application.

So what is the problem with raw land? If you make money there is nothing wrong, but the issue I have is the illiquid nature of not being unable to sell it if you need the money. I understand that it may be a very small portion of your portfolio. If that’s true, you are better off putting the same money in an income vehicle and letting it sit.

No one wants to take money out of their retirement plan unnecessarily or before age 59 ½ to avoid IRS penalties. Unfortunately, the reality is that Americans are cashing in their retirement plans at record numbers because of severe economic conditions. If these unemployed people have to spend their retirement funds they don’t want to hear that their special lot inside a magnificent community can’t be sold except for pennies on the dollar or if at all!

In the early 1970′s a company in Florida was selling raw land by telemarketing to unsuspecting individuals with the promise of making tons of money on the lots. These boiler rooms sold hundreds of millions of dollars of virtually worthless, underwater swamp land to unsuspecting individuals. Many of these people made monthly payments for 20 – 30 years before they just let the properties go back to the mortgage holders.

However, in the past 6 – 8 years investors started buying up these parcels that were actually high and dry because of the Everglades drainage programs. Raw land values went from a few dollars per acre to $40,000 for ¼ acre single-family home lot because of over speculation by investors who couldn’t afford to invest in much more expensive single family homes. Then the correction hit in the past few years and now you can get these same lots for $2,000 or less. What if you had to sell now and had missed the wild speculation because you were waiting for just a few more dollars?

Some die-hards will say that there are no buyers for anything right now but that’s not true. At the right price and condition, you can sell properties and even raw land all day long. But if your timing isn’t exactly perfect, you could have an investment that may have value but if no one is willing to purchase it, it is truly worthless.

In conclusion, all retirement accounts will eventually have to be liquidated for legal reasons, immediate economic needs, or death of the owner. Because of the illiquid market for raw land and from a purely financial planning aspect, raw land is not a prudent investment in one’s retirement account.

Dave Dinkel has been a real estate investor since 1975. Dave’s focus in the past few years is educating the public in a manner that doesn’t’ amount to paying for a master’s degree. Dave’s recent contribution to this end is his e-course called “48 Ways to Create a Massive Buyers List” which can be seen at http://www.MakingaBuyersList.com

Picture the scene: a home owner decides to move on and so he quite reasonably asks a local Estate Agent to come and advise him. Let us see how he gets on…

I am confident of getting close to 270,000 (pounds sterling) for your home. I have many potential buyers who would love to come and view this house.

Sounds very promising. He decides to use this Agent.

The Agent organises the Home Information Pack and helpfully rings you to say he will fill out the PIQ (Property Information Questionnaire) with a little help from you. Meanwhile you quickly find another home to buy and begin to organise matters in that direction; you find an empty, 2 year old home that has been repossessed and seems to be on at a heavily discounted value. Great.

Your own Agents do nothing exceptional over the next few weeks and only two people have viewed and no response has come back via the Agents. You decide to complain: you have not seen any Adverts and would have thought the Agent could have got more than two people to view by now.

In respect of your own purchase you decide that because the home is only two years old you do not need a survey of any description.

On your own home, over the next few weeks, three new viewings are made but the only offer made is at 220,000 (pounds sterling). Not exactly breath-taking stuff and you could not accept such a low offer.

After three months an offer comes in at £238,000 and the Agents say it should be accepted as the market is not doing much over the summer holidays. You reluctantly decide to accept the offer.

It then comes to light that a chain has developed and everybody is awaiting the sale of the lowest link – a small flat in a nearby Block that has only just gone on the market.

After the fifth month since you placed your home on the market your buyer has only just instructed his Loan Company to complete the mortgage appraisal inspection. You cannot take more time off work and so allow the Valuer to get a key from the Agents and let himself in to do his inspection.

After nearly seven months since you placed your home on the market your own Estate Agent and then your Solicitor calls with multiple bad news — (1) The bottom of the chain has fallen apart because the flat is not mortgageable because it does not meet the minimum property criteria laid down by the buyers Mortgage Company (something the Estate Agent should have known), (2) your buyers Loan Valuer says your roof frame is weak and needs structural supports to be added and that the buyer wants 5,000 (pounds sterling) knocked off the price because of this problem (could you have headed this problem off by commissioning a Home Condition Survey in the HIP), (3) the one you are buying has a small side extension that has been constructed on land not owned by the seller (if you had read the sellers HIP surely you could have checked out the Conveyance plan and compared it what you saw on-site?).

Stop. Is this chain proceeding? Who and how are re-negotiations to be conducted? Where do you go from here?

Stupid scenario? Not realistic? That would never happen! No – this is real. It can and does happen every day. So what went wrong? Who was to blame?

The answer is clear – everybody but you should take more blame than the others!

YOU should have asked several Agents to view and advise you and the sale price should have been realistic enough to generate immediate interest and potential buyers.

In respect of the roof problem on your own home this would have come to light if you had considered a Home Condition Survey prior to the unit being placed on the market so you would then have had the option of completing repairs or discounting the price to reflect the then known problem (Roofer estimates could have been obtained to show potential buyers and their Advisers).

YOU should have had a private survey completed on your purchase OR at least viewed the HIP and compared the conveyance plan with what you saw on-site.

YOU should have accompanied your buyers Mortgage Valuer so you could have explained the roof problem and ensured he was briefed properly so his

Stuart K. Parrett FRICS, MAE, dipHI is a Chartered Surveyor and owner of PROinspect Consultancy based in southern England. He is a residential property specialist and has over 35 years local experience. He is also a Home Inspector, Valuer, Thermal Imaging Consultant and Expert Witness.

To contact Stuart or to obtain more free information plus product recommendation and fee quotations visit him at http://www.proinspect.co.uk

1.The Buyer’s Mantra became “Ready, Fire, Aim”.

Restated: Buy any attractive property, and buy it quickly. The only perceived mistake was not getting involved in the feeding frenzy for good looking real estate.

Frankly, there was a lot of truth involved in that strategy in a run-away market.

The old and wise adage of “look before you leap” turned into “Ready, Fire, Aim”

Offer quickly or lose the opportunity to buy. Once you have it under contract, there will be plenty of time to decide if you really wanted the property. If you didn’t like what you had roped, you could cut it loose to another investor who was waiting in line to buy it. Or, hold for a very short period and flip it for a profit.

Real estate brokers became familiar with the buying game.

If three qualified buyers bid on an available property, there was the buyer would was able to get an accepted offer… he or she was referred to as “The Winner”. The person who came in second was referred to as “First Loser”, and the third buyer as “Second Loser” You only won as a “Winner”. Loser” didn’t count.

2.The Buyer’s Mantra became “Debt is Your Friend… borrow as much as possible.

The Logic: If you could come in with say 10% down and the property appreciated at 20% per annum, then you had a 200% equity rate of return from appreciation only.

WHAT HAS CHANGED?

The following notable changes have happened that have changed the tried and true Real Estate Investment Model

1.A national and world-wide recession that has continued to deepen at an alarming rate.

2.The US Congress led by President Obama has tried all kinds of stimulus efforts to correct the economic downturn.

Most of the visible efforts involved throwing previously unimaginable amount of money at the banking industry… unfortunately with no visible results of correcting the primary element that will cure the recession… employment. The National Debt has increased greatly in recent months.Someone in the future will have to shoulder the burden of dealing with and reducing that debt. Hope that you don’t live long enough for your grandkids to understand exactly what we have allowed to happen. We have mortgaged their future. Big Moral Question: Maybe we owe it to our heirs to accumulate enough wealth to pass to them so they have a running chance at dealing with the situation. Give them “enough to assist them, but not enough to ruin them” with the concept of “entitlement to wealth”.

3.Unemployment rates continue to rise.

Consequence on the Real Estate Market:Unemployed people soon lack the financial ability to pay rent or make their mortgage payment. Increasing mortgage defaults mean increasing short sales or foreclosures for those who were not lucky enough to have sold prior to our current “short sale and foreclosure ridden market”.

4.Property values are spiraling downward in the face of competition by low priced short sales and lender resales of properties that they foreclosed upon.

If you are looking to sell or refinance, then a real estate appraiser will be required by the lender who would make the new loan As always, real estate appraisers are required to use the most recent sales that have occurred in the market However, a number of the recent sales are short sales or resales of bank-owned property. One low sale influences future sales in the eyes of the lender. The lender is looking for Market Value today as well as the current value trend of the market. This adverse impact of short sales and foreclosure sales will continue until the bank-owned properties have mostly all been sold.

5.There is a clear and obvious federal move from capitalism toward socialism.

The move toward much stronger federal regulation of all financial activities is one that causes great uncertainty concerning important financial relationships. The federal government takeovers of General Motors and increasing control of the banking industry causes concerns that additional regulation and new governmental agencies could substantially alter the business models that have caused past stability and long term economic trends. The recent success of a nationalized health care program is positive in concept. How can you argue that people should not have some minimum level of health insurance? That would seem un-American! However, the question remains: “At What Cost?” The cost of the plan stacked upon the financial failures of this recession will cause further stress on a system that is bulging at the seams to hold things together.My friends in the insurance industry appear to be next for strong federal regulation. Anytime the government starts to dictate the “actuarial” statistics, something very strange is about to happen. Who Will Pay The Bill? Guess what? You will be fine….SO LONG AS YOU DON’T MAKE “TOO MUCH” MONEY!

6.Interest rates have been maintained at very low levels. This is highly unusual in a recessive economic environment.

The recession of 1980 – 1984 was led by increasing interest rates. First mortgage price hit 21% during the heart of that recession. Very low interest rates and the availability of mortgage funding so far has characterized the current recession. This is very unusual.The recession of 1980-85 had first mortgage prime at 21%. You really needed to borrow money if you agreed to borrow it at that rate. It was high interest rates that led to the recession of 1980-85.

7.A mantra of “tax the rich” is heard at the federal level and at the state of Oregon level. Oregon is known for being one of the “Top 10 Most Taxed State in the Nation”.

This is a dangerous theme. New employment is required to lead us out of the recession. Oregon has lost much of its appeal to those companies who could help the quickest. Small business is the major source of jobs that will create local stability. However, a number of small businesses failed in 2008 and 2009. Interesting Issue: People with money have the capacity to maneuver their money to avoid taxation. The big problem with “soak the rich” is that sooner or later you run out of “rich companies” and “rich people” to tax. Then what do we do?

WHAT IS THE CURRENT REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT ENVIRONMENT?
- or -
WHAT DO WE HAVE TO WORK WITH?

Put the above in a blender and put it on “whirl” for about 30 seconds. Then, pour it out and evaluate what we have to work with.

1.Cheap Mortgage Money: At this time, there is an availability of “cheap” mortgage money for:

Those who can afford to make a 30% to 40% down (depending upon the property type) and as little as 25% down on other asset types. Contact me for some hints of some that I have discovered.

2.Increasing Debt Coverage Ratios: The lender’s Debt Coverage Ratio (“DCR”) has replaced the Loan to Value Ratio (“LVR”) as the standard for gauging maximum loan amount for income producing properties.

Range of DCR: As the recession started to develop, the DCR was increased from 1.10 to 1.25 and 1.30. Restated: The amount of a new loan has been reduced rather substantially as the recession continued to progress.

How the DCR Works:

Start with the Net Operating Income of the property and divide it by the Debt Coverage Ratio. This will define the maximum allowed annual principal and interest (P&I) payment. Next, divide that by 12 to identify the maximum allowed monthly P&I payment. Using a “present value” calculator, input that maximum monthly P&I payment in with the lender’s allowed loan amortization term and the lender’s required interest rate. The result is the maximum amount of loan that the lender will permit on that property using that DCR.

3. Uncertainty of the tenant’s ability to pay rent.

Here is where the real estate market has been shaken to the core.

Retail: A number of national credit tenants (Linen & Things, etc. etc,) have failed during the recession.Past Observation: The retail triple net lease has been valued highly on the pecking order of desirable “institutional quality” investments. Cap rates were relatively low to reflect the low risk faced with national credit tenants. The Problem: As some of the “big names” started to fold, the risk rating sky rockets. It would be logical that the cap rates would also increase to recognize that increased risk Conclusion: The retail triple net credit tenant lease has started to pick up a bad name. Flip on the Red Stop Light.

Commercial Office: An interesting observation has been made about office tenants. They are starting to contract in amount of space needed. They are also attempting to renegotiate their leases for lower rents. Several of my commercial broker friends are starting to make a special practice in serving tenants as they negotiate against their landlord,

Commercial Medical: I have had several conversations with skilled doctors concerning the potential impact upon their career and their ability to generate income. They have expressed a deep concern about their continued ability to make good money.

Some might say that they earn too much to begin with. Maybe so, but if they have less income, then they can’t pay as much rent for leased medical space. Medical building landlords… are you listening. Lower rents would mean lower values for leased medical buildings

Residential Income: You have heard the adage… “Everyone needs a place to live”. That is true, but watch the “trickle down effect” take an interesting gyration during a heavy recession.

Vacancy factors has started to increase.However, in the Eugene-Springfield apartment market, the vacancy factor has increased from about 2% to about 4%. That is a rate that can very well be tolerated. My friend Brian Miles, CCIM of SMI Commercial Real Estate in Salem has observed that vacancy factors for apartment units has doubled over the past six months in the greater Salem apartment market. The commercial appraisers who appraise apartments are the best source of current vacancy rate and rent level information.The problem is there are few that are generating published vacancy and rent reports any more. Rick Duncan MAI and owner of Duncan Brown Appraisers in Eugene stated that he grew tired of his competition using his reports in their appraisal reports. Rick Duncan and several of the larger apartment complex property managers are the best source for vacancy factors in the Eugene-Springfield area. Rick is my “go to” guy when I need to get a quick and accurate temperature check of the apartment market in the Eugene-Springfield area.

My Caveat To You
Concerning “Real Estate Market Information”
Be very cautious when accepting information as “fact” concerning the “real estate market”.
The “real estate market” consists of a number of localized sub-markets based upon:

1.Type of property
2.Type of tenant;
3.Location; and,
4.Quality of the information source.

Often I real articles in the local newspaper claiming that “real estate is a total train wreck”. Then check the source. It is an article written in very generic terms about the “housing market” is some region far form the I-5 Corridor between The California border and the Canadian Border.

My Observation Concerning the I-5 Corridor (Oregon and Washington): to date

1.Property values for most types of tenant occupied real estate have held up rather nicely compared to other parts of the nation.
2. Mortgage funding is available to those qualified to purchase.
3. Occupancy levels are showing strains of a recession, but this is where the product types would be anticipated to have recessive problems

Bob Nelson, CCIM
The 1031 Guru
41 years of commercial – investment brokerage expertise
(541) 485-8100
bob@1031guru.com
http://www.1031guru.com

With the dismal outlook in the real estate market at present, many people who have been doing this all their lives are looking for new ways to increase their earnings. Many have since changed careers, but for those who remain, there is a whole new world just waiting to be explored. Taking your real estate business online might seem like a big challenge to those who have always resorted to the traditional methods, but it could also elevate your business immensely.

Marketing your real estate business on the internet is just like marketing any other business online. It is all about projecting yourself as an expert in the eyes of your prospective clients. Sell yourself first and not your company, that way you will attract people to you automatically. People are always attracted to leaders, and experts, and people who are on top of their game within their specific markets. Now, you do not have to be the best to make millions in real estate, it is how you present yourself.

As a real estate agent, or broker, or whatever your title is in your industry, you are already an expert in your field. I sometimes marvel at the way some of you guys project yourselves when making your presentations, but the world do not yet know how good you are. All you have to do now to dominate your competition and run away with the big checks is let the world know. So what is the easiest and most effective way to accomplish this?

The way to establish yourself as an expert in marketing online is to give valuable and useful information to your target audience. Do not think about what you will gain from this initially, just provide good information that can help your prospects with their problems. Remember, people are spending hours on the internet everyday looking for a solution to their problems, help them solve it and you are their hero.

An effective way of doing this is to write informative articles and reports that provide useful and relevant information to your target market. These could be “how to” articles telling them how to accomplish a specific chore. For example, “How To Buy Rental Properties With No Money Down,” or “5 Simple ‘Brush-ups’ You Can Do To Guarantee Top Dollar When Selling Your Home.”

The key here is to optimize these articles with the keywords or key phrases that people are using to look for this information, and also for the areas where you are doing business in. Your articles should just provide high quality information for these people and nothing about your company. The resource box at the end of your article will provide a link to your website, or blog for them to get more information.

You could take this a step further by selling inexpensive real estate information related to your specialty. You can create these yourself, or access them through an affiliate program. This will allow you to get them into your sales funnel where you can present your business to them. This also allows you to recommend other products relevant to your main business any time you want.

If you specialize in a certain area like most people, create a newsletter and load your articles in it. Offering your newsletter on your website or blog will allow you to build a list of prospects who are interested in what you do. Build a huge list, develop a good relationship with that list and you will now have the keys to unlimited passive income any time you want.

Marketing your business on the internet for maximum growth is all about selling yourself and not your company. People do business with who they know and trust, and to earn this trust you will have to demonstrate that you are good at what you do. Let your prospects see that you can provide them with the help that they need, and that you have their best interest at heart. This will guarantee that your real estate business continue to grow, and provide the profitability and security that you deserve.

Godfrey Thaxter is a marketing consultant who writes informative articles providing tips and strategies for “Home Business Success” with your internet marketing business. Click The Link Now To Get Instant Access To The “Highest Quality Advertising & Marketing” On The Internet – And To See How You Can Explode Your Traffic Generation Using Articles!

Precisely it is a proven system to prepare your home for sale in such a way it looks most appealing to the prospective buyer. In this process, an Accredited Home Staging professional will magnify the advantages your home already has and would reduce the negatives to the best extent possible.

Why do Home Staging?

A good question. Well – let’s face it – the US housing market is not what it was for decades. Gone are those days when home sellers were having the final say. Selling a home was easy just by listing it and setting the asking price. Virtually the home seller selected the buyer, among the many contenders for pricey locations, and put forth conditions of sale.

Now thanks to the tidal wave of foreclosure properties flooding the real estate market, it has become a buyers’ market, where as many as 11 housing properties are made available with same qualifications, while searching online for a home. So home sellers have to change their strategies accordingly to impress upon the buyers.

Know the competition existing:

For example in Virginia Beach, VA, according to latest reports there are 4,300 properties listed for sale in MLS along with 1,287 properties listed for distressed sale under foreclosure. The inventory of unsold properties is mounting and your property will be lying one among them – if you do not use your prudence to make it heads above the other attractive properties, to pull the attention of the searcher like a piece of iron to magnet, to your property.

Home Staging will make the difference?

In a competitive market – consumer goods or real estate – the packaging does the trick. In a supermarket you have gone for shopping – which attracts your attention first – the beautifully displayed items or the sack-packs lying on the floor? Likewise your house put in the market for sale is a commodity that should attract those entering the store – the online list of properties for sale.

What is needed for Home Staging?

Nothing more than the realistic approach to the situation. Yes – your house is comfortable for you and you love it for the reason that you hard-earned it, but the buyer can’t necessarily see this. You think your house needs no Home Staging and why should you spend extra money when you are selling. If this is your line of thinking – sorry – you are missing a lot.

Forget for a while you are the owner of the house and step into the shoes of the buyer you want to buy your home. From the front door to the backyard – if you view with a critical eye, you are sure to find many “ifs” and “buts” to deter the buyer from appreciating the house.

This is exactly where an Accredited Home Staging professional can do magic. They know – by experience and expertise gained through staging a number of houses, how to make your home look pleasing to the buyers on all aspects. And ultimately you are going to reap the harvest of profits – many times more than the cost of Home Staging – in making your home sell in faster and at the price you ask for.

Home Staging is many faceted subject – go to www.xanadustaging.com – you will learn a lot and get more tips absolutely free.

Ramaswamy Sundaram is an expert author at this site. He will be writing many articles on the topic of Home Staging with a view to help troubled home sellers in the US market, waiting indefinitely to sell their homes. The right tips about Home Staging will clear many doubts in the minds of unwary home owners and they can take an informed decision in preparing their homes to sell faster.

People who invest in real estate tend to make a lot of money. This article is a must-read if you are thinking of becoming a new investor in this field. Here, you will learn about three simple steps that will jump start your real estate investment plan.

The first step is making a decision. At the outset, it is important to make a real commitment when it comes to investing in real estate. While real estate will be able to provide you with financial success, it is not always fun and enjoyable. Effort is necessary to reach the fruition of your plans, as well as openness to learning new things without getting disheartened in the process.

Once you have committed to it, your nest step is to learn the basics. There are so many informational materials you can read up about investing in real estate. You can read books, attend seminars or look up some online resources. The cost can be minimal, because most of these resources are free. As you can see, it need not be expensive to get an education – but it will require a lot of time. Some of the things you need to read up on is the valuation of properties, title transfers, the basics of title insurances and other concepts. You can even read on up on this online, then add on to your knowledge base as soon as you have the basics covered. By the end of it all, you ought to know things like operating expenses, cash flow, cap rate and others.

Another thing you need to know has to do with financing. You must be able to differentiate between residential loans and commercial loans, because the differences of these will greatly affect your investment plans and outcomes. You can discuss these in further detail with a professional in the field.

One more thing you need to know: finding and evaluating rental property. You can learn this in two ways: through a professional in investment property and through software about real estate investment. The former will clue you in on properties with potential; while the latter will help you compute and evaluate the cash flow of the property, its profitability and the rate of returns.

And finally, you have to get started on it. Do not keep waiting or delaying it, because as soon as you have done your homework and scoped out some properties with the potential for investment, you need to act as soon as possible. It is for your own good that you apply what you have learned right away so everything is fresh in your mind. If you stick to the books, you will never learn the pleasures that come with getting a return of investment in real estate. Additionally, the software can also give you a step by step teaching instruction on the nuances of investing once you have a good grasp of how the software runs and computes the numbers.

Beverly Manago is a freelance writer focused on the real estate industry. She is also a consultant for My Single Property Website, a web 2.0 marketing tool that lets real estate agents create stunning virtual tours and single property sites easily, with a free version available for listing presentations. She also contributes to the Property Site Google Analytics there.

Does this sound like an agent you know?

Joe Agent gets a farm list from his title company of everyone in his zip code. He then calls up his favorite postcard print company and tells them what he wants designed.

Of course, he wants a picture of a perfectly manicured home on the front side of his postcard, his handsome profile picture in the upper left hand corner on the back side and a cheesy slogan underneath saying, “Making Your Dream Home Come True”.

Joe wants a small blurb about himself placed below his lovely slogan describing how long he’s been in real estate, how many deals he’s done and how he’s the best agent in the world.

If he’s really on his game, he’ll give his website address (which will probably be an unprofessional jumbled mess of shoddy images and sales copy that will make you gag).

Joe then blasts out his postcard once a month for 3 months; gets 2 phone calls and zero buyers or listings. He “wisely” surmises that postcards are a waste and immediately stops throwing good money after bad.

Joe did everything right, didn’t he? No, of course not or else we wouldn’t have been so rough on poor Joe.

Here are 5 steps Joe should have walked to have commission checks rolling in instead of cash going out:

1) Get a list of prospects most likely to use your services. Joe just grabbed everyone in a particular zip code. He didn’t narrow down his criteria; home value, ownership length, mortgage balance relative to the home’s value, etc. This way, when you get a response, you’re almost darn sure you can work with them and not have to let them down gently like the smelly guy at the gym who keeps asking you out every Saturday night.

2) Don’t make your postcard like every other “wanna-be” agent out there. You’re not like Joe; you’re a pro (rhyme not intended). Stand out like one and make it unique. Use an eye catching image on the front that will make people actually turn over your postcard over instead of throwing it away. Think about the emotion you’re trying to hit in your prospect and give them that image.

3) Go ahead and put your picture on the back BUT make it of you with a client and not with some slogan that’s as cheesy as that nacho dip you had Friday night (or like that line itself). You can even blend your slogan with your paragraph underneath. But don’t go boasting about yourself. Talk about your prospect, not about you. People want to be “talked about”, not “talked to”.

Think about what they want and write a few benefits that give it to them. For example, don’t say, “I’ve been the #1 top producing agent for 14 years in Yourtown.” Instead, say something like, “You don’t want to risk this type of financial transaction with an unqualified agent. You want the peace of mind and security knowing they have the experience and expertise to handle any road bumps that come up, saving you thousands in the process.” Paint word pictures that hit their emotions.

4) A website. Simple? You’d think so but it’s not. Too many agents throw up these (I’ll call them sad looking just to be nice) sites that prospects click off faster than it took them to pull up. It all starts with impressions and many folks will go to your site before they do anything else. Make it count. Make it professional. Project an image of uniqueness, clarity, organization, humor, etc. Get crazy and use video and/or audio. Touch all your prospects senses, except for smell unless you know a way that I don’t.

5) Here’s the big one… guide them to what you want them to do. Don’t throw up a garbled mess of links, pictures and text. If you want them to get to know you, which is how you’ll get their business, be intentional! Give them expert advice and collect their contact information. Sure, you can sit back and wait for folks to eventually, hopefully call or email you.

But why not entice them to provide their info upfront? But they’re going to protect this more than their IRA so you need to give them something in return. It’s only fair, right? How about a “Free guide to saving $10,000 on your next home purchase” or “5 pitfalls to avoid when selling that will save you $7,000.” Of course not everyone will give up their email for your freebie but a certain number will and that will allow you to start the relationship rather than sitting back and waiting on the couch. Bottom line, you’ll appear as the expert providing all the info and the commission checks will roll in quicker. It’s all about building a relationship and this is how to start it off right!

BONUS STEP: Repeat your mailing! Don’t stop after 2 mailings because you’re not getting the response you want. Studies show that it takes consumers upwards of seeing an ad 7 times before they remember it and act upon it. Use that to your advantage and be patient. On average, the longer you mail, the higher your response rate will be!

Josh Sanders is the Founder of Shiloh Street, a one-of-a-kind real estate brokerage in Seattle, WA, “Founded by Agents to Serve You Better.”

Having been in the mortgage and real estate business since the age of 21, he saw a need for a real estate brokerage centered around real estate agents specifically, allowing them to prosper more than the owners of the company and serve their clients at the highest level.

The vision came from not only his own ideas of what he wanted as an agent but also from a mass of agents in Western WA. Shiloh Street launched in January 2010 and has been getting great growth as well as fantastic word of mouth buzz.

Josh lives with his wife of 6+ years in Bothell, WA and our 4 dogs… and counting My wife has been a Certified Real Estate Appraiser for 8+ years in the Puget Sound Region.

Most businesses are already well aware of the benefits of using call capture technology. However, these same businesses may not know about the risks of not using this technology. A business that is looking to grow simply cannot afford to avoid using call capture because it provides a reliable way to develop quality leads. This is especially important in the real estate industry, as these leads can often be difficult to come by.

Call capture technology is generally used to secure the personal information of anyone who calls a specific number. This is commonly used in the real estate industry, as interested customers will call about a home that they might be interested in. The real estate agent is then able to return the call with more information. Those who do not take advantage of this technology, however, run the risk of losing those potential leads before they can even speak to each individual person. This is definitely not an efficient way to do business, as allowing interested parties to walk away without speaking to them can result in a loss of sales.

One of the reasons for the efficiency of call capture is that it is available 24 hours a day and seven days per week. This means that if an individual sees a real estate agent’s advertisements at midnight, he or she can call right away to receive more information on that house; there is no waiting time. An automated message can be recorded in the extension for that home, which will provide further information and will keep the potential customer satisfied. The agent will be notified of the call and can follow up on the lead the next morning. Not providing the information home buyers are looking for, when they are looking for it, can be risky business. Call capture allows that information to be available whenever the interested buyer wants it.

This is an amazing technology because call capture does not allow any leads to slip through an agent’s fingertips. Even if that individual does not answer his or her home phone when the agent calls back, the agent will have the caller’s address and can send along some literature for that individual to read. This means that no matter what, the real estate agent will be able to make some sort of contact with the caller and hopefully turn that caller into a quality lead. In a business that is entirely based on being in the right place at the right time, call capture technology allows for these agents to be in multiple places at once.

Compare this with a real estate agent that does not have call capture technology, and there is a definite difference to behold. An agent without this technology might still have a caller ID system at his or her office and can still provide an audio listing of the home. If the person who called does not leave a message, however, the real estate agent will only have a phone number to go on. This makes the follow up process much more difficult, as the agent will not have as much information with which to proceed as he or she would with call capture. With only minimal information to go on, the agent risks sounding unprofessional and ill prepared on the follow up contact. With the information provided by the call capture system, the agent will know the caller’s phone number, the property they were interested in, where they saw the ad for the property and possibly their name and address.

From an operational standpoint, call capture makes sense because it saves the agent a great deal of time. Since developing leads can take hours each day, it cuts into the actual sales time on day-to-day basis. By setting up a few phone numbers with call capture technology, these real estate agents can avoid using all of their spare time finding potential customers and can focus on contacting the leads that already have an interest in a listed home. This technology truly streamlines the day-to-day operations for a real estate agent, as it allows these individuals to avoid following dead-end leads and wasting precious time.

Call capture is a valuable tool for agents that don’t want to risk losing quality leads due to the inability to track them. With mirrored extensions, an agent doesn’t have to risk wasting their advertising dollars on marketing that doesn’t work. And the immediate call notification means that agents don’t have to risk missing out on a lead because they never even knew the prospective client looked at the property. Click to learn more about using call capture in your real estate business. Or for a 15 Day Free Trial visit http://www.RealtyOne800.com, a leading provider of real estate call capture systems today.