Real Estate Business and Investing

Property makes millionaires fast according to the fishanblog the new blog on the block. If you consider the leverage power of this business then there is certainly a case to me made for property business and its true potential. Make no mistake, property business is no different to any other business. Any would be property entrepreneur should be well advised to learn the knowledge before embarking on creating his/her portfolio. Consider the scenario below:-

3 bed corner property on the market for £175k

The factors that underpin any buying decision are:-

1) Condition of the property. The property condition will determine to a large extent the type of mortgage or the loan that need to raise. Whether repairs are needed. If so are they cosmetic or are they major repairs.

2)What kind of mortgage do I need? The type of mortgages that are available include repayment mortgage, tracker mortgage, interest only, buy to let mortgage and one account (flexibly mortgage). Are you looking for a mortgage with the lowest monthly outgoings?

3)Is the property is to be let after the purchase is complete?. How much monthly income will the property generate? Assuming a monthly rental income of £700. How much additional cash is required to service the mortgage commitment every month? It is recommended that you pay less than what you earn. If you earn £700 per month then your mortgage outgoing should be about £600 per month. The extra £100 is your contingency or just in case money which must be put aside for when it is needed for essential or emergency repairs.

4)General rule of thumb, corner properties lend themselves well to conversion to flats. Is that a viable proposition for you? Could the property be let for a short while whilst the conversion plans are put into action. You now have a self-funding asset that you can add to. The added value can be realised via disposal or through the re-mortgage route.

There may well be additional factors in your buying decision.

Where can I go and learn about this business?

There are a lot of companies offering to teach you the entire property investment over a single weekend from start to finish. Prices for the weekend courses range from £1000 to £5000.

The people that benefit from these courses are those who put the newly acquired knowledge into practice by taking action. For action orientated individuals, the £5000 investment is well worth it because such people can make that money back many times over.

There is an alternative for people wanting to learn slowly from someone who in involved in the property business. Fishanblog is maintained by Nazir and this blog is exclusively about property business; it leans towards residential property more so than commercial but the principle is the same. You are invited, encouraged and asked ortold to visit this blog and read all the posts including the latest one. You will learn everything that Nazir does; he talks about his deals and walks through each aspect in detail. For example, read all the stuff about an auction deal that he closed recently, learn about all the problems associated with this deal as well as funding issues orcomplications that he has had to grapple with. Go and do it.

When I first got licensed to sell real estate I was about as clueless as they come, but what I lacked in knowledge and ability I made up for in desire to learn and willingness to learn. So, I went to school after finishing real estate school.

No, not a school with a sit down classroom, but school in the sense that I started asking questions of veteran agents and watching what they did and said. I turned off my mouth after a while and opened up my eyes and ears and learned more doing that than I did while getting licensed.

For example, I learned that Real Estate Lead Generators abound, and everyday I was presented with opportunities that had I not been tuned in to pay attention to would have gone overlooked.

Here’s a case in point with respect to business cards. I don’t remember exactly how many business cards came with my first order, but I vaguely remember it being 500-1,000 cards. A year later I still had most of them. It was the craziest thing that I could have done!

Think about it! Instead of making it a point to give them away as fast as I could I was actually rationing them out like I didn’t want to unload them.

Don’t make that mistake! Business cards are great real estate lead generators and should be given out as freely as you would a glass of water to a thirsty person. And that’s just what real estate prospects are. Thirsty to make real estate transactions with real estate agents sharp enough to recognize the opportunities.

Admittedly, I wasn’t too sharp back then, but as I got smarter I realized the value of handing 3-4 business cards to everybody I came in contact with-and I mean everybody; my kids teachers, my doctor, your doctor, the school crossing card, my mechanic, dentist, etc.

And then there were the scores of counter tops that I encountered everyday. Grocery store counters, dry laundry counters, fast food pickup counters, counters where I paid the cable bill, bought computer stuff, book counters, etc.

Oh, and less I forget I must have passed by hundreds of billboards without placing one business card, real estate flyer or anything else on it. My stomach still knots up when I think of all the money those wasted opportunities cost me.

But like I said, I’m a lot smarter now (okay, so maybe I’m just older) and can pass on some pearls of wisdom to you so that you can avoid some of the mistakes I made. For example, some other real estate generating ideas include:

Real Estate Leads from Contractor and Home Builder Shows.

Real Estate Contractor and Home Building shows are becoming extremely popular among folks who are looking to build their home or are considering having one custom-built themselves. Getting Real Estate Leads from them is a great a strategy that’s easy to implement.

Real Estate Closing Gifts; Small Gifts That Lead To More Referrals and Sales.

Many Real Estate Agents think of real estate closing gifts as something that should be given to the home buyer by his or her close family and friends. The gift serves as an accolade for the person’s accomplishment. You can design them yourself if you’re the creative type, or simply go out and buy one from your local shopping mall.

Free Website Content; Using Free Content To Generate Leads.

Everything you need to know to build a realtor web site and generate leads is available on the Internet, much of it free to little cost-including website content! In fact, some of the best real estate information I’ve read has been free, and although locating quality free content for publication and turning them into HTML to publish on your web site each week involves a great deal of time and effort it can be worth the effort.

I could go on and on, but it all comes back to the notion that real estate lead generating ideas are around us all day, everyday. If you pay attention to them you can work them to your advantage, but if you impose your will with them you can dominate your market like no other agent in your community.

When you decide to build a home rather than to buy a home or when you make the decision to remodel the home that you already have, you most likely intend to get the job done with the help of contractor. Unfortunately, contractors have earned a somewhat bad reputation as some have failed to live up to their contracts or provide the quality of work homeowners expect when they buy their services. In order to keep yourself from being disappointed by your contractor, it is important that you follow these simple tips.

Tip #1: Ask Your Friends and Family

The single best way to select a contractor is to ask around. If your friends or family members have worked with a contractor that did a good job for them, you should put that contractor high on your list. The more recently the friend or family member hired a contract to work on their real estate the better. After all, if a contractor just did a great job a few months ago, he or she is likely to still be able to provide the same level of service.

Tip #2: Check References

Of course, you may not know anyone that has recently purchased real estate or that did any remodeling to their homes. If this is the case, you won’t have much of a starting point when choosing a contractor. Therefore, it is essential that you check the references provided by the contractor. Ideally, you should check into references for jobs that are completed as well as for jobs that are in progress. This way, you can check out the real estate in varying levels of completion in order to determine the quality of the work.

Before you buy the services of a contractor, you should also talk with some of the references. Ask the references important questions, such as:

- How well did the contractor stay on schedule?

- How happy were you with your real estate when the job was completed?

- Did you feel as if the contractor listened to you when you ran into a problem?

- Were your concerns easily resolved?

Talking with past clients is an excellent way to get an idea of the type of work the contractor does as well as his level of commitment to customer satisfaction.

Tip #3: Check the Contractor’s License

If you are going to buy the services of a contractor, you certainly want someone that is properly educated in the craft. Before you sign a contract and buy the materials for the job, check with your Contractors State License Board in your state. By checking with the board, you can confirm that the contractor is licensed and you can also find out the areas of specialty in which the contractor is licensed.

When checking on licensing, ask the contractor for his or her pocket license as well as another form of identification. Then, check the license against the other form of identification in order to make sure the names match up. Since it is illegal for a contractor to use another contractor’s license, a reputable contractor will have matching identification.

Tip #4: Make Sure the Contractor is Insured

As the buyer, you shouldn’t be expected to buy insurance to cover the job. Rather, the contractor should have insurance in place. Check to make sure the contractor is insured against property damage, worker’s compensation, and personal liability. Ask for a copy of the certificate of insurance to verify coverage as this will protect you if something goes wrong while on the job.

Deciding to buy real estate in order to build your own home or to remodel your current home is an exciting time in your life. Make sure you do your homework before selecting a contractor in order to prevent your dream from turning into a nightmare.