Jun 21

Home Styles in Real Estate Ads – The Meaning

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Whether you’re buying or selling, reading real estate ads can be confusing. Here’s a primer on the styles mentioned in the ads.

Home Styles

What’s the difference between a Tudor and Colonial style? What about a Colonial and Dutch Colonial? Read on to find out.

“Colonial,” “Georgian,” or “Federal” style

Terms used when talking about a two (could be 3 or two and one half) story house that is very symmetrical. The front door is in the center of the house. There are an equal number of windows on each side. There is an upstairs window over each downstairs window and over the front door. There are usually exterior shutters at the windows. (Note: The houses which inspired this very traditional style were built in the early days of our country and are seen mostly in the East.)

“Tudor” style

A style of home that borrows from merry old England. It typically has exposed heavy dark beams. Some of the beams are perpendicular, some horizontal, and some at a forty five degree angle. The exterior walls are usually stucco between the beams. The lower story is usually of brick or stone. The upper story often has sections that are cantilevered out over the lower story. Box bay windows and diamond shaped panes are frequent features as are large chimneys.

“Dutch Colonial” style

Very much like colonial style except that the roof is a gambrel roof. That is, it’s shaped like most folks think of a barn roof. It slopes down from a center ridge line and then, usually a little more than half way to the edge, the angle of the slope becomes sharper creating a second ridge at the front and back where the angle changes.

“Spanish,” “Mexican,” “Hacienda” style

Seen mostly in the South and West of our country, this style incorporates stucco or adobe type bricks and red half round roof tiles. These homes are often built in a “U” shape with the walls of the house extended to enclose the “U.” This design device can give a pleasant feeling of privacy to outdoor areas. Door and window openings with curved tops and wrought iron grilles, door hinges, and handles are frequent features.

Summary

When looking at homes, you’ll find particular styles appeal to you. Once you identify the styles, you can narrow your search for the perfect home.

Raynor James is with http://www.fsboamerica.org – FSBO homes for sale by owner. Visit our home buying page at http://www.fsboamerica.org/buyer.cfm to see homes for sale by owner.

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Jun 17

Salt Lake City Real Estate

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From the mountains to the valley, there are many types of Salt Lake City real estate to choose from.

Cabins:

Cabins nestled into the mountains on the east side of the Salt Lake Valley are a great place to escape for those who have a home in the valley (or nearby). Besides providing a getaway spot, cabins can be an investment.

Many come to ski at one of Utah’s many resorts. Some will stay at the resort itself, while others would like to relax a few miles away from the resort in a cabin. Buying a cabin as an investment may be a good idea, if you have the money for a long-term investment. There are some tax repercussions if you rent out the cabin, so be aware of that. You will also have to clean the cabin between visitors, or pay someone to clean it for you.

If you are relocating:

There is a lot to do in or near Salt Lake City. You can hike and ski in the nearby mountains, or attend one of Salt Lake’s excellent theatres. But before you are able to settle down and enjoy Salt Lake City, you’ll want to find a place to live.

Salt Lake City real estate/residential:

Like most other cities, Salt Lake City offers a variety of residential real estate. The city has apartments, small homes, and luxury homes. There are not many lots for sale within the city itself, but there is still a lot of room for growth in Salt Lake’s suburbs.

To the west and southwest of Salt Lake there are several new and developing communities where you can get a great buy on a new home. If you aren’t interested in a new home, there are many nice homes that have been around for a few years, and others (while still nice) have been around for ages.

Of course, you will have your own preference as to the age of your house. There are other things that will help you make a good decision on the area you choose to live in. A real estate agent will be able to help you find a neighborhood with a low crime rate that is located close to a good elementary, middle, or high school.

If you are relocating you will also want to consider that Salt Lake City is in the process of expanding its public transportation, mainly light rail. If you are interested in using public transportation you may want to move close to the light rail.

Salt Lake City real estate/commercial:

Salt Lake offers many types of office space. There are buildings where you can lease one office, or a whole floor for your company. If you are relocating your business to Salt Lake City, or if your business is already in Salt Lake, but you are expanding, there are several real estate agencies that specialize in commercial real estate.

Finding real estate:

You can look for both commercial and residential real estate in Salt Lake City’s two most popular newspapers, The Deseret News, and The Salt Lake Tribune. You can also contact a realtor who specializes in Salt Lake City real estate.

Inside Real Estate in a network entirely devoted to real estate information. Our staff of nationwide writers has provided a library of over 25,000 real estate articles. Inside-Real-Estate covers several topics from the basic “how to’s” of real estate to city specific real estate information.

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Jun 06

Negotiating A Short Sale – The High Road to Huge Foreclosure Profits

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Buying foreclosures can be extremely profitable for real estate investors. However, most of these homeowners are mortgaged to the hilt. They have no equity, and big loan payments. In fact, many actually owe more than the property is worth!

Most investors will walk away from these deals because they see no obvious profit. However, you can “create” your own equity by negotiating a “Short Sale” with the bank or lender.

What is a Short Sale?

The concept behind the short sale is simple: your goal as a real estate investor is to convince the bank to sell for less that is owed as payment in full. Of course, this concept is easy – buy the foreclosure from the bank at a big discount, sell the real estate, and make money!

How to Negotiate the Short Sale with the Mortgage Holder

Once you have your secured a contract with the homeowner and have your paperwork in order, you’ll be ready to deal with the loss mitigation department of the bank. Short Sales success relies on dealing with the loss mitigation department at the bank. Although most lenders look at short sales as a necessary evil within the lending industry, that doesn’t mean that the bank will just roll over and do your bidding.

Understand the Bank’s Perspective

With foreclosures at a 52-year high, the loss mitigation department at the bank is busy, if not highly overworked. Turn this disadvantage into an advantage – sell them the benefits of your short sale.

Short sales contracts help lenders unload unwanted property and spare many expenses associated with the foreclosure process. These expenses include, but are not limited to, court costs, bankruptcies, repairs and marketing. This is in addition to the $300,000 to $800,000 (or more!) normally held in reserve by lenders. Federal regulations require this reserve, which is usually many times over the actual price of the bad debt.

As the investor, keep these benefits at the top of your mind. After all, it’s up to you to convince the lender that cutting their losses short is the best option.

It’s time to hone your negotiating skills. Here are 3 Steps to help you out.

Step 1: Have Your Paperwork Ready

There is paperwork that all lenders will require in order for you to submit your offer for the short sale. Second, many of the larger institutional lenders have their own short sale package (their own forms to be filled out and signed).

Since many of these forms have to be signed by the homeowner(s), it’s best to have them with you when you meet with the homeowner to work out a deal. At a minimum you should have the homeowner fill out and/or sign:

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May 31

Real Estate Investing In Bulgaria

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As Bulgaria readies for joining the European Economic Community in 2007, many investors are looking to see if there are real estate bargains to be had there.

Other countries have had a big run up before and shortly after joining the European Economic Community. Bulgaria’s prices for commodities are amongst the cheapest in Europe, and if you can find similarly priced property values, you could do very well.

Most people will want to look at Black Sea properties, or in ski resorts like Bansko, but the real deals are to be found in the interior of the country, in rural areas. In a recent visit properties on the Black Sea were fully priced, but inland properties could be had for 5-15,000 Euros – cheap!

There are many online companies offering pre-construction, or off-plan opportunities as well as completed units. Property management is easily available as well.

Discover one of Germany and England’s favorite holiday desitinations.

Make sure to do your homework though. All sellers will make the property they are selling seem easy to buy, easy to rent, and headed for the moon! Different areas have different appreciation prospects, and rental prospects as well.

A unit in a residential area of a city like Varna will not generate anywhere NEAR the revenues that a Black Sea resort property in Golden Sands will.

With the recent run-up of properties all across Europe, Bulgaria, just escaping the grasp of communism, appears ripe for property appreciation.

Andrew Larder Bulgaria Real Estate

FREE REPORT – How To Buy Property With Nothing Down, available by sending a blank email to monopolyinvestments@getresponse.com

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May 22

Don’t Buy Ugly Houses!

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Ugly houses can be great investments, but we don’t buy them. We understand that there are lots of valid ways to make money investing in real estate. Buying and rehabbing ugly houses is certainly a good one, but we’ve chosen a different strategy. Our strategy is to buy good homes that are ready, or nearly ready, to move in. It has worked well and generated consistent profit deal after deal.

Can’t imagine getting a good deal on an attractive house? Believe it or not, there are bargains to be found because nice houses do go into foreclosure, people do move, and people still need to sell fast for a lot of different reasons. Sure, not every house we buy is beautiful and has an immaculate lawn. But you would be surprised at how many “ready to sell” houses are available at below market prices.

Like anything else, it takes work and know-how to find good houses. Here are three good reasons to look for clean, attractive houses.

1. Rehab and marketing time is greatly minimized. In many cases, you can show the house even before you buy it. In fact, if a house is clean and ready to show, we insist that we be able to show it during the time between signing the contract and closing on the house.

We are closing on a house in Chattanooga, TN this month that we sold before we even bought it. How did we do that? The seller was motivated because they had already purchased another house. We actually put a contract on it with the contingency that we would have it sold before we bought it! Our system of selling almost all of our houses on lease-to-purchase contracts keeps our average marketing time down to a week or two, so the contract with contingency was still very attractive to the seller.

The house was ready to sell. We only spent about $500 to fix it up. We sold it through a lease-to-purchase contract before we bought it, and our profit is $14,400 on this deal.

2. There are few rehab surprises. In our experience, no matter how carefully you examine a house before you buy it, there are always unexpected expenses in the rehab phase. It’s just hard to foresee some things until you begin remodeling. Of course, we prefer to keep these surprises minimized. Nice houses with little or no rehab are great for minimizing the surprise.

Incidentally, this is a good reason to have a home professionally inspected before you buy it. It’s also a good reason to budget some contingency funds for houses that do require remodeling.
3. Free up your time. You may enjoy the rehab and remodeling, but the path to true wealth in real estate is in finding and making the deals. If you are buying nice clean houses, then your time is spent in the deal making, not in managing the remodel projects.

Because we’ve made the choice to buy attractive homes, our profit margins may not be as extraordinary as some rehab deals might appear. We don’t have any stories of buying a house for $35,000, investing $35,000 in rehab and then selling for $100,000+.

Instead, our path to wealth has been through buying nice homes from motivated sellers at below market prices. We sell these houses through lease-to-purchase, or “rent-to-own” contracts at market or slightly above market prices. Our profit is generally $15,000 to $20,000 per house and our marketing time is usually less than two weeks.

You can do the math and see that buying nice houses can be very profitable for an investor. In our case, we prefer to handle more deals with these consistent profit margins, than work through the added stress of ugly houses.

Blake Watson is an active real estate investor,author and coach with Lucky 7 Seminars, a real estate investment training company headquartered in Chattanooga, TN.

email: blake@lucky7seminars.com
website: http://www.lucky7seminars.com

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May 14

Fixer Upper Homes

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You’ve bought a fixer upper home you can make some money on. Where do you start? What improvements and repairs are most important? Actually, you need to know this before you buy. Always start with the end in mind, and have a plan to get there. Whether before and after you buy, though, there are some simple rules for analyzing possible fixes.

Return On Investment

Years ago I was a real estate agent sitting across the kitchen table from a very disappointed young couple. I had just told them there house was worth $110,000. “But we just put $40,000 into remodeling the kitchen!” they told me. I looked around, and it was nice. Maybe they added $10,000 in value to the house by spending that $40,000. There’s was a classic example of a bad return on investment.

With fixer upper homes, you need to do things which give the most “bang for the buck.” Try aiming for a three-to-one return on improvements. Before you resurface the driveway for $1000, ask if it will raise the value of the home by $3,000. Even if it’s a guess (especially if it’s a guess), keep this three-to-one formula in your head, if you want to invest safely.

How To Fix Fixer Upper Homes

With new curtains, flowers, ceiling fans and such, you can’t really estimate the increase in value for each item. Instead, group together the many small repairs and improvements you’re considering, and imagine how the house will look when you are done. Then estimate whether you will increase the value enough to justify the cost.

Often it’s in the small details that you’ll get the best return on investment, so look at these first. New mailbox, flowers on the porch, a raked yard and trimmed trees – $35 total if you do the work yourself – can make a big difference in the first impression potential buyers have. First impressions are important.

Other small investments that more than pay their way include shiny new switch covers (less than $1 each), shelves, a birdhouse, new doorknobs, new light fixtures, curtains, new rocks or wood chips on outdoor paths, new faucets, new woodstain on decks, and general cleaning. Stand out in front of the house and imagine what it might look like with all the various small improvements (flowers, wood-rail fence, birdbath, etc.).

Big Fixes

Of course there are things that just have to be repaired. Basic systems must function. Improvements, however, should be subject to the three-to-one rule. You can get creative here. A friend of mine once had a simple wall put up, and for less than $1000 created a new bedroom, probably raising the value of the house by $8,000. That’s a good return on investment.

Bathrooms and kitchens are important to buyers. A $1000 updating of a bathroom can add $4000 in value to a home. Spend $2000 wisely in the kitchen (New fridge, re-finish the cupboards, add a garbage disposal, etc.), and you can add $8000 to the value of the house. Look for the changes which are most universally valued (don’t paint the kitchen pink because YOU like that color), and be sure you get a decent return on investment.

Depending on the fixer upper homes you look at, there are many types of potential improvements that may be worth doing. These include adding carports, new doors, fences, gazebos, sheds, painting, carpet, benches, a new closet, a new toilet, a new stove, a shower/tub surround, and trees or bushes. The bottom line is the bottom line: be sure anything you do returns more than you spend, preferably three times as much.

Steve Gillman has invested in real estate for years. To learn more, go get your free real estate investing course at: http://www.MakeThatOffer.com

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Apr 27

How to Negotiate a Successful Short Sale

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Anyone who has ever profited from doing a short sale has also without a doubt had one or two rejected at some point. Guess what? It is just the nature of the beastAs with all types of sales; you’re playing a numbers game.

There are very few investors who truly know how to successfully negotiate a Short Sale. We find that most investors have the perception that all that is necessary is to submit an offer and wait for the bank to give you an answer. If all goes well the offer will be accepted but in many cases it’s not that simple.

That’s why a strategic plan is necessary. “What do you mean?” You ask. A strategic plan means making the deal go your way by persuading the lender to agree with your offer.

There are several steps that will ensure your success when negotiating with lenders.

First of all, you must be able to determine if you indeed have a short sale opportunity on your hands. Many investors are under the misconception that every homeowner facing foreclosure is a good short sale candidate. This could not be any further from the truth. One of the most common mistakes made by investors is attempting to fit a square peg into a round hole. Not all deals are good short sale opportunities. You must know the difference between a good and a bad deal. Period! You’ll have to analyze the deal and develop an excellent plan of attack if you want to truly master the art of the Short Sale.

Second, you must not take no for an answer. No can never be the final chapter to your negotiation. If the lender says no you must ask yourself why. There must be a reason. Why did they say no? Is there anyone else I can speak with? Was my offer to low? How does the lender determine their bottom dollar? What else can I do? What was the BPO amount? These are just a few of the questions that need to be addressed each time you are met with some resistance from the lender.

We’d like to share an awesome deal that one of our students closed recently. His name is Thomas Stockman.

Thomas got a call off of one of his signs from a gentleman that had two properties in foreclosure. The two properties were on the same street and were bought as rental homes within the last year. Consequently, they were also financed by the same mortgage company. One property had a mortgage balance of approximately $150,000 and was in need of several thousand dollars worth of repairs. The other had a mortgage balance of $156,000 and was currently being rented for $1,100 per month. Both properties had very little equity but the neighborhood had been very active over the last 9 months. After qualifying the two potential deals he decided to attempt short sales.

He contacted the bank and began the process. His offer on the first house was $89,900 and $95,800 on the second house. The bank rejected both and asked for higher offers. After several conversations and some additional documentation to justify his offer, Thomas was able to get both properties for a total of $60,000 below market value. Thomas rehabbed the first property for $3,500 and put it on the market for sale. Since the second property was already occupied by a tenant he decided to keep it. His mortgage is roughly $400 per month (interest only loan/taxes paid at year end) he makes $700 in monthly positive cash flow. Not bad for a beginner (wink).

This would have never happened if Thomas accepted NO from the bank. If he would have not known what pressure points to touch and how to counter without increasing the offer amount we would not be talking about these deals.

This type of outcome is customary when you are equipped with the necessary tools and know how to turn a “No” into a “Yes” just by slightly adjusting your approach. Thomas got two great properties with lots of equity and a constant cash flow, the homeowner avoided TWO foreclosures, and the bank was satisfied.

Remember, the next time you are putting together a short sale offer, be prepared and take control of the deal. Never take NO for an answer. Be proactive not reactive. Don’t just submit offers without having a game plan. Do yourself a favor and take advantage of the opportunity to make lots of money in an industry where great deals are hard to come by. We hope that you have learned something and are on your way to much success.

Best Regards,

D.C. Fowler, Real Estate Investor/Educator
http://www.shortsaledeals.com

Mr. Fowler has been a real estate investor for over 15 years specializing in the area of pre-foreclosure/short sale investing. He has bought and sold over 200 homes in Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, and Tennessee using the same short sale techniques that he teaches in his course, Making Money with Short Sales: The Complete Guide to Acquiring Property Pre-Foreclosure. Mr. Fowler currently resides in Atlanta Georgia. He also spends many hours per month teaching his creative real estate investing techniques to other aspiring investors across the country.

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Apr 22

Home Sellers – Surviving the Home Inspector

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In today’s world of home buying and selling the home inspector can ruin the sellers’ day with stoke of his pen or a keystroke on his notebook computer. It doesn’t have to be that way home sellers have plenty of time to be ready for the buyer, buyer’s agent and any home inspector. Below are some quick items to have your home ready.

Be way out in front of the curve, hire your own inspector and complete the repairs before placing your home on the market. A good real estate agent will suggest that you hire an inspector on any home that at first glance says I need help. You could spend $200 to $500 but getting to it first may help you make a sale and get you a higher price.

Don’t cover anything up, don’t hide problems. They will be found if not by the inspector then when the buyers’ final walk through before closing after you’ve moved all your furniture out. How would you like to move back in or spend 2 weeks in a hotel while the repairs are being completed so you can close and move to your next house, if that deal didn’t already fall apart?

Basement problems, wet walls or floor? Most times covered by stacks of boxes or other things stored away, inspectors don’t move things they only check where they have access. The point is this will come back and bite you, basement problems are sometimes a very easy fix clean and repair gutters regrade around foundation so water moves away, a leaking hose bibb (outside faucet).

Painting and touch ups should be done inside and outside a clean fresh look will give everyone confidence in the rest of the property. Painting the front door and entry is the best place to start. Hallways and corners always show a lot of use.

Cleaning interior and exterior get rid of all the junk you plan on tossing anyway. Too much stuff in the house may be cause to question what’s behind it or underneath of it. Wash off any mold or mildew from your siding and roof.

Landscaping trim all shrubs around the foundation, tall shrubs cause moisture to stay on walls and foundations a good place for termites and wood rot. Shrubs also hide your house what else are you hiding? This can cause a lot of questions from a home inspector and pest control inspectors they both know they usually find something here.

Each of these can help you make your sale. Home inspectors are not the enemy remember your buyers agent will suggest that you hire an inspector for your purchase.

Bill Carey with over 30 years in real estate sales, investments, and home building offers a unique perspective to the buying and selling process of residential real estate for F*R*E*E consumer information and reports log on to http://www.CharlotteNCExecutiveHomes.com and see
“Insider Real Estate Secrets Revealed”
…a must-read for Home-Owners and Renters!
It’s a F*R*E*E 12-lesson e-course covering more than 20 topics exposing the realities behind buying and selling a home.
It Could Make(or Save) You Thousands of Dollars

See http://www.BillCareyRealtor.com and sign up for our monthly e-newsletter with tips for buyers, sellers, home owners and soon to be home owners.

(Your Comments are Welcome)

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Apr 10

Real Estate Note Holder Facts – What to Know Before You List Your Real Estate Note

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If you’re a real estate note holder looking to list your note for sale there’s some things you need to know first. The buyer of a note will ask for certain information each and every time they purchase a note.

Being prepared with this information when you list a note can save you time and frustration.
You shoulde expect a serious note purchaser to request the information within this article,
and if you are serious about selling your real estate note, you should provide the information
without a fuss.

Why? Because the information you provide will give the note buyer a good idea of whether they
want to pay you for the note or not. You need to show the Buyer what you have for sale
EXACTLY what you have for sale.

Think it much as when you would buy a car. You would want to know the make, model, style,
color, mileage, age, engine type, seating arrangements, accessories, and all the other little
facts and features that make the vechicle what it is. You want to know whether it is EXACTLY
what you are looking for before you purchase.

A serious note buyer wants to know Exactly what they will be buying too, so provide them
with the information they need to make a purchase.

What a Serious Note Buyer Will Request from you:

A copy of the note
Copy of Trust Deed, Mortgage, or Land Contract
Payment History of the Note Payor
Escrow Instructions from real estate sale in which the contract was created
Escrow closing statement from real estate sale in which the contract was created
Title insurance policy that insures the contract
Fire insurance information on the property which secures the contract
Loan payment record
pictures of subject property
street and city map showing the property location
Plans, surveys or other documents in your possession

The note buyer may also request a credit report on the note Payor. Any note holder (you) has
the legal right to pull a credit report on a Payor at any time, without any permission from the
Payor. Having this information ready will make your transaction smooth an speedy.

List and sell your real
estate note absolutely free, or Learn how to list and sell your real estate note Now.

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Mar 24

Descriptive Terms in Real Estate Ads – More Definitions

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If you are buying or selling a home, the chances are good you struggle with the meaning of descriptive real estate terms. Here are explanations and definitions for more terms.

“Shed Dormers”

These are often seen in Dutch colonial style houses and are flat roofed dormers. Sometimes these dormers are single windows, but often they are two or three windows side by side with one flat roof.

“Blind Dormer Window”

Sometimes builders construct fake dormer windows to add architectural interest to new houses. They are at attic level but can’t be seen from the attic because the roof of the house covers access to them.

“Oversize Garage”

Ads often say how many cars a garage will hold. Then they add the word “oversize” as in “oversize 2-car garage.” What is usually meant is that there is room for storage, or a work bench in addition to space for the cars. Occasionally it simply means you can open a car door wide enough to actually get out with both cars in the garage!

“Gourmet Kitchen”

This phrase is intended to convey the idea that a very good cook can happily work here. That may or may not be the case, but it does usually mean that the kitchen is fairly large and attractive.

“Great Room”

I’ve seen this used in two distinctly different ways. The first is to describe a living room, dining room, and kitchen in a very open floor plan. The area typically has a high ceiling. The second way I’ve seen it used is when what we’d normally call a family room has a high, often coffered, ceiling, a fireplace with a dramatically massive mantle, and perhaps an upstairs balcony overlooking it. I think this may stem from the idea of a “great hall” in old English houses.

If you can get the verbiage down, you’ll be way ahead in the real estate game. Look for future articles on this subject or visit our site to read more terms.

Raynor James is with the FSBO site -http://www.fsboamerica.org – FSBO homes for sale by owner. Visit our home buying page – http://www.fsboamerica.org/buyer.cfm – to view and buy homes, houses, condos, land and real estate.

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