3 Questions to Ask Before Buying a Home

If the past few decades have been any indication, owning real estate versus renting remains a viable long-term solution for a lot of folks who want to boost their net worth while simultaneously paying for accommodations. (If we are not paying a landlord, we are paying a bank). And at this point in the economy and housing market, owning real estate now is as good a time as any given the lower prices as well as extremely low mortgage rates.

Please Enter your Name and Email below to get instant access to the e-books and start interacting with your fellow real estate investors today!

Your Name
Your Email Address
Image Verification Please enter the text from the image: [ Refresh Image ] [ What's This? ]

But there are instances where owning your own home may not make the best financial sense, as the past few years have indicated. The following three risk points provide some indication as to when individuals might be better off renting than owning.

1. Do you need two incomes to support your housing expenses. In instances where people are either married or working multiple jobs, ensuring that a single income can support the housing expenses is ideal. Better yet, ensuring that a single income can pay all necessary expenses allows for tremendous flexibility in the event of job loss or pay reductions. What people will want to avoid is having to sacrifice the basic necessities in order to make large mortgage payments if one income were to be reduced or eliminated altogether.

2. Do you have at least 25% equity in your home. Although coming up with equity to make your home purchase is definitely not easy when purchasing, ensuring that you have at least 25% equity in your home provide a substantial comfort zone should market conditions deteriorate. Of course, this might not have eliminated all risks associated with the recent housing market correction, but it would certainly provide enough initial comfort in the event of a fire sale. Equity also gives mortgage borrowers an edge in terms of negotiating restructures to the mortgage with a lender who is dealing with hundreds of other short sales and negative equity situations. Lack of equity exposes you to real long-term risks like bankruptcy and litigation.

3. Can you handle substantially higher payments in the event of increasing interest rates or higher rate resets. One of the problems that led to the housing crash is attributable to rate resets that people who lost their job and could not refinance had to take on. Anticipating higher rates during the house-shopping phase will allow borrowers to see just how financial flexibility they have. Planning for rates that at 2 times what the existing rates are may be aggressive, but working with such high numbers will provide enough of an indication as to whether you can withstand what is inevitable -- higher rates.

These tree pointers provide potential home buyers and mortgage borrowers with a few basic tips that they can use when planning for their home purchase. By anticipating such risks, borrowers will reduce the potential for losing what is arguably the largest investment they will make.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chris_Blanchet

Three Questions That Answer Whether it is Better to Rent Or Buy

One of the toughest decisions that many young people ask themselves once they have landed that first salaried or full-time job and are leaving the home or school residence is whether they should rent or buy. While there are certainly benefits to both and certain regional factors might help to persuade people into becoming buyers or renters, when all else is equal, there is an easy way that you can determine which is best for you. It will involve a bit of work (surfing the net for about 5 minutes) and then the rest will boil down to your personal decision. Here are the three steps to finding out what makes the most sense for you.

Please Enter your Name and Email below to get instant access to the e-books and start interacting with your fellow real estate investors today!

Your Name
Your Email Address
Image Verification Please enter the text from the image: [ Refresh Image ] [ What's This? ]

1. Find out what rent will cost and compare it to a mortgage payment plus property taxes. For example, suppose your ideal rent situation is a 2-bedroom apartment that will run you $1000 per month. A 2-bedroom townhouse in comparison might cost $230,000 and carry mortgage payments of $1,250 with property taxes of $3,000 per year (or $250 per month). The difference here favors renting to the tune of $500 per month or $6,000 per year. But the decision is not so easily made.

2. Determine what your savings for renting would be over the course of 1 year, 2 years, etc. (or whenever you might be looking to buy) and compare it to the accumulated equity in your home. In the case above, renting would allow annual savings of $6,000. The same mortgage would result in equity build up of roughly $7,800, or $1,800 over the course of the year. In this case, waiting even 1 year to buy your home means you are "behind" by $1,800. And these number do not assume any growth in property values (likewise, it does not assume any deteriorating in property values either).

3. What fits your budget and lifestyle. Owning a home comes with a lot of manual labor, whereas most rentals are "all inclusive." Lifestyle aside, can you afford paying $xxx.xx more every month for a mortgage versus renting? Ultimately, your decision needs to take into account what you can realistically afford without having a negative impact on your lifestyle.

By going through the three exercises above in a situation where all else is equal (what I mean by this is that there is no over-supply of rental units which has made renting more appealing in a high-rate, low home-inventory environment), potential buyers or renters will understand what makes more sense on a month-by-month basis, an equity basis as well as a budgeting basis without getting emotionally involved in the decision itself.

Chris has more than 17 years of financial services experience. He currently manages a website about CDL License requirements at Class-B-CDL-Jobs.com. As well, he manages a website about Novaform Mattress Sale opportunities at NovaformMattressSale.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chris_Blanchet

The Pending Real Estate Litigation Standard in Arizona

When filing a lawsuit for specific performance for the sale of a home or other real property contract, buyers often employ the standard legal tactic of contemporaneously recording a notice of lis pendens (lis pendens is Latin for "pending litigation") with the County Recorder's Office. This lis places any other buyer on notice that the title to the property is involved in real estate litigation. Moreover, a pendens prevents any other buyer from acquiring any interest in the property superior to that of the original buyer. Additionally, as a practical matter, because title insurance companies will not insure title to a property against which a pendens is recorded, a property with a lis pendens cannot be sold.

After a lis is recorded, the first question a seller generally asks is "How soon can I remove the lis against my property so that I can sell it to another buyer?" After informing the seller that pursuant to A.R.S. § 33-420(B) the seller is entitled to a prompt hearing on the validity of the pendens, the second question asked by the seller is "What must be proved at this hearing to invalidate the pendens?"

The Arizona Court of Appeals in Evergreen West, Inc. v. Boyd, 167 Ariz. 614, 810 P.2d 612 (Ariz. Ct. App. 1991), established a "groundless" standard for invalidating a pendens before resolution of the specific performance lawsuit (which may last years). In other words, the seller seeking to invalidate the lis carries the burden of proof to establish that the claim upon which the lis pendens is based is "groundless" (i.e., frivolous or totally without merit). This "groundless" standard promulgated by the Court of Appeals in Evergreen West establishes the lowest possible threshold for invalidating a lis pendens prior to resolution of the specific performance lawsuit.

Please Enter your Name and Email below to get instant access to the e-books and start interacting with your fellow real estate investors today!

Your Name
Your Email Address
Image Verification Please enter the text from the image: [ Refresh Image ] [ What's This? ]

real estate litigation, extort, Real estate law firm, real estate law attorneys

In 1992 our neighboring jurisdiction of California established a much tougher standard which better protects sellers. California's standard requires the trial court to make a threshold inquiry into whether "the claimant has... established by a preponderance of the evidence the probable validity of the real property claim." Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 405.32 (emphasis added). In other words, unless the buyer will probably prevail at trial, the lis pendens will be ruled invalid and the seller will be immediately entitled to sell the real property while the lawsuit proceeds to resolution.

In conclusion, requiring an inquiry into the buyer's underlying facts and legal position, to determine whether the buyer's claim for lis pendens has at least a "probable" chance of succeeding at trial, is an excellent rule. A lis pendens should not be used as a weapon by buyers to tie up properties and extort concessions from sellers. Accordingly, the Arizona Court of Appeals or the Arizona legislature will hopefully modify Evergreen West's ruling in the future and establish a higher standard, requiring a buyer to prove the probable validity of a lis pendens at the beginning of the litigation.

Note: Even if the lis pendens is ruled invalid, any buyer with actual knowledge of the title dispute will not be protected if the original buyer wins the lawsuit. Furthermore, the seller is required to disclose this title dispute to any buyer and, if the seller does properly disclose, any buyer will have actual knowledge of the title dispute. Therefore, as a practical matter, even if the lis pendens is ruled invalid, a sale of the real property will only be valid if the seller does not disclose and the buyer does not have any actual knowledge of the title dispute.

Article Source: CombsLawGroup.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Christopher_Combss

Why Realtor Coaching Really Works

Think for a just a minute about where your income is right now and compare that with where you want it to be.

There is probably a huge contrast, don't you think?

Please Enter your Name and Email below to get instant access to the e-books and start interacting with your fellow real estate investors today!

Your Name
Your Email Address
Image Verification Please enter the text from the image: [ Refresh Image ] [ What's This? ]

How do you get your income to where you want it to be? You probably know of other agent that are making a ton of money, even with the market in a slump. How do you copy them and start making some real money.

You are probably considering hiring a Realtor coach.

What can that do for your business?

First of all, think about the word coach. Think about a football coach. He looks at his team and quickly pin points where their weak spots are. Then he works with them to improve in these areas. He also can spot the strong points and he can put key players and the spots where they naturally excel. Where would an athlete be without their coach?

In a very similar way, all top producer in any given field have a production coach. A production coach can help you focus on your strengths, improve in your weak points, and keep you on track when you get a little down.

With all of that said, not all coaches are created equal. Some coaches are nothing but a cheerleader, and great cheerleaders don't produce super bowl wins. What ever you do, avoid cheerleaders as a coach. Getting pat on the back for a great job might feel good but it won't make you the big bucks.

Chose a coach that has the skills to change your brain skills. By this I mean that you need a coach that can eliminate fear of prospecting from you completely, not force you through it (not a 'feel the fear and suck it up' type of coaching). There are several types of coaching that can do this for you, NLP and hypnosis being just two of the many skills.

You need to find a coach that can give you the skills to convert leads into dollars in your pocket. Yes, there are ways to improve what you are already doing so that you make more money while doing less.

Make sure you ask for references from other Realtors that your potential coach has helped. If they can give you a few names, that is important because how else can you know that they know how to help someone become a top real estate producer?

Another side point, think about why we require buyer to put down earnest money on a purchase contract. Isn't it to flush out the serious buyers from the flakey time wasters? Doesn't money on the line help prove that someone is serious? Well, paying a real estate coach also helps so become more determined to increase your production and take your career more serious.

So if you really want to make more money in your real estate business and get to the next level, hire a Realtor coach

Don't hire a real estate coach unless you are serious about making more money in your business. Too many people think that coaching is a magic pill, the truth is that, just like an athlete, you'll need to follow the guidance of your coach.

If you are ready to hire a coach, then look for someone that has more than just skills with a script. Success starts in your head and in your heart and if you set those two things up right, real estate sales becomes almost too easy. If you are interested in getting your heart and mind set for real estate success then go to http://setintent.com/ and find out how we can make you the next super star in your office!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Penelope_Diaz

How Can Property Management Fail the Resident?

Generally, I like to focus on the positive perspective. However, this time focusing on how to destroy customer satisfaction and otherwise fail the resident may be a great way to dig into some of the key resident management issues. The ways property managers can fail resident are plentiful and includes items like: 

Please Enter your Name and Email below to get instant access to the e-books and start interacting with your fellow real estate investors today!

Your Name
Your Email Address
Image Verification Please enter the text from the image: [ Refresh Image ] [ What's This? ]

• Failure to office hours that meet the resident's schedule requirements.
• Not maintaining the grounds and common areas in a condition that suits the needs of the residents.
• Failure to respond to maintenance calls. Failure to call in advance before appearing to make repairs. Failure to keep residents abreast of parts orders. Failure to check the condition of apartment systems on a regular basis.
• Failure to provide a warm and welcoming office environment.
• Not managing billing and collections in a professional and courteous manner.
• Failing to properly screen residents.
• Failing to maintain a safe and secure living environment for residents. This means managing crime issues, resident behavior standards, and correcting physical safety factors.
• Not maintaining adequate resources for servicing and supporting the facilities and systems on the property.
• Failing to keep an orderly and happy setting for residents.

The likelihood is we could keep adding to this list for days if we kept at it. The fact is providing great customer service can be simplified by establishing a few basic priorities. These priorities will eliminate the issues and assure efficient operations moving forward.

Great property management implies: 

• Maintaining courteous, friendly, and responsive operations at all levels including in the office, from the maintenance staff, and from members of the team on call. This approach applies from the first call whether it is a call or an email.
• Focusing consistently on assuring the systems and approaches evolve with the market place to provide the most responsive business face possible. Today, that means effective Internet advertising, outdoor signage, phone, text, and email management.
• See to it that customers can rely on the staff to perform all routine activities reliably and according to standards normal for business.
• Ensure all buildings, grounds, and systems are maintained in good operating condition and upgrades are made on a regular and routine basies.

Managers who perform in a manner consistent with these points will generally run an efficient and effective community meeting the needs of residents and maintaining good relationships with the contractors who support the property, government organizations that they interact with, and with the community they are a part of.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Blake_Dale_Ratcliff

How Does a Resident Prospect Choose a Rental Home?

We all have opinions about what residents are looking for when they rent their next home. Unfortunately, the problem is these are just opinions. To really get it right, you have to actually get inside the prospects' heads. The best way to do this is to talk to residents. I definitely recommend doing some of this. However, since this article is about what is going on in resident heads when they are choosing homes, let's talk about some of the things that recent surveys and events have shown about this.

Please Enter your Name and Email below to get instant access to the e-books and start interacting with your fellow real estate investors today!

Your Name
Your Email Address
Image Verification Please enter the text from the image: [ Refresh Image ] [ What's This? ]

First, there are some external factors effecting consumer that we as investors and managers should be thinking about when we are determining our marketing and leasing strategies. Some of these are:

A high percentage of new renters will speak Spanish as their first language.

Homeownership is badly tarnished and unlikely to recover to previous levels for decades if ever.

Consumer credit changes still further pushes households toward renting.

Consumers are more saving focused than they have been in decades.

Household size is going to fall dramatically as the Echo Boomers leave home.

Perhaps in some ways, recognizing the macro factors is the best starting place to understand demand factors. In some ways, consumers are not even conscious of these points as they making their renting decisions. Nevertheless, they will impact feature, form, size, and cost factor acceptability dramatically for owners. In short, without paying attention to macro consumer demand factors your rental property may fail.

Next, we need to consider how consumer demand is working in the current environment. The fact is the vast majority of renters will find your property one of three ways. These include: 1) word of mouth and local awareness, 2) signage, and 3) through internet marketing sources. Because of this, the first issue is to establish optimum visibility in these areas. Given visibility, the key next items are number of access to employment, shopping, and other community features, bedrooms, unit features, and amenities in that order. With these gross items identified, the key is your capacity to (as was highlighted earlier) dig into the specific consumer demand issues by as narrowly as possible focusing on your target market.

If you have properties in the area you are targeting or if you are dealing with a specific project, surveys for incoming and exiting residents divided into the group that chose your property and the group that did not choose you property are perhaps the best approach. This could be supplemented with a survey service doing the same with competing rental projects. Armed with this information, you will have a strong foundation for a powerful marketing campaign.

  

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Blake_Dale_Ratcliff

Buy Low - Sell Fast - Basics to Real Estate Investing

If you are interested in investing in real estate, it is important to make sure that you are doing your best to buy as low as possible. The lower you are able to pay for a piece of real estate, no matter what kind of real estate it is, the more money you stand to make. When you set off for purchasing a lot of property, you will want to purchase during what is called the "buyers market". Basically, this means that it is more profitable for the buyers than the sellers. Of course, if you are purchasing mainly foreclosures and tax sale properties - it is always a buyers market.

Please Enter your Name and Email below to get instant access to the e-books and start interacting with your fellow real estate investors today!

Your Name
Your Email Address
Image Verification Please enter the text from the image: [ Refresh Image ] [ What's This? ]

Another thing that you will want to remember is that the longer you hold on to a property, the more you are risking. Many things could happen. The real estate market in the area could crash. The home could burn to the ground. There is a lot that could happen. This is why so many real estate investors do their best to make sure that they are flipping their properties as quickly as possible. The sooner you can flip a house or a piece of land, the better the deal is.

You will want to be careful of tax sale properties. Make sure that you are going to the auction that will give you the deed free and clear. This way, even if there was a mortgage on the property, no one is going to be able to come back and take you for the balance owed. With the foreclosures, you will want to make sure to double check whether or not there is a redemption period. Basically, some states give the owners that were foreclosed on, a certain number or days or months after the foreclosure sale to come back and redeem the property. They would have to completely pay off the loan. This does not always happen, in fact, it rarely happens, but it is something that you will want to be aware of, just in case.

Now, some real estate investors will say that under a certain dollar amount is just too cheap of a property to mess with. Something must be terribly wrong and that is why it is so cheap so you shouldn't even bother. This is not always the case though. As a real estate investor, it is your job to make sure that you are looking over all of your options. Sometimes, a mortgage company will sell a house for $5,000, free and clear, just to get it off their books. No one bid on it at the foreclosure sale so now the mortgage company is stuck with something they do not want. These are just some of the situations that you are going to want to take full advantage of in order to really make your mark in the field of real estate investing.

Mark Sumpter is the creator of The Wealth College Inc. He has created a complete system for buying and selling pre-foreclosure real estate and making large profits.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mark_E_Sumpter