Real Estate Investing For Lazy and Poor Folks

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Often times when I talk about real estate investing, I break the topic up for two primary groups of people: lazy folks and poor folks. I want to point out that I don't believe you can successfully become a real estate investor being BOTH lazy AND poor, but I know you can be successful using either one of these methods.

What do I mean when I say lazy folks and what do I mean when I say poor folks?

Lazy folks are people that have more money than time and they are willing to spend money to have things done for them.

Poor folks are people that have more time than money and are willing to do things to save or avoid spending money.

While I cover detailed examples, implementation strategies and more in other articles, courses and checklists, here I will present some very basic examples of what I mean.

Let's say you are trying to find great deals to purchase or wholesale as a real estate investor. What is an example of a lazy way of finding deals? Paying a bird-dog or wholesaler to find deals for you. Another example of a lazy method is to place an ad in the newspaper to have motivated sellers call you with properties they want to sell.

What's a poor way of finding great deals when you have more time than money to invest? Calling on "properties for sale" ads in the newspaper, calling "for rent" ads in the newspaper or on-line, or placing free ads on free classified websites are all good methods. Driving (or walking) around your town looking for vacant of distressed properties is also a good poor man's strategy.

Can you see that someone who has limited money to spend on starting their business, but who has a lot of time might be very attracted to the poor methods? Can you see that once your business is up, running and generating some cash flow that you might need to start leveraging your time by hiring out some tasks, employing more of the lazy methods?

Both methods can work, but each one utilizes different resources in different proportions: some use much more time and some use much more money.

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A helpful tool

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If you want to take a mortgage loan, the type of mortgage loan program that you select should suit your current financial situation, especially with regard to monthly payments. The mortgage payment calculator is a simple way to make sure that have the right mortgage loan application and the right payment. It calculates your potential monthly payment by taking into account information about you that is related to real estate and the mortgage, such as loan amount, term, interest rate and home value.

It takes into consideration tax and insurance information. Once you input this information, you'll get a quick estimate of whether or not the loan is in your budgetary control. It is the first step in seeing whether the mortgage matches your budget. If there are any changes in the mortgage rate, your income or any change in terms by the mortgage lender, you just have to feed the new information to the calculator and the revised monthly payment will be presented to you in no time. It can also be used to compare different offers from different lenders. Taking a mortgage calculated loan is always advisable for precautionary purposes.

You might be in doubt as to where to get a mortgage payment calculator. To clear all doubts relating to real estate loans or real estate itself, contact Paula Cochran, the ‘Loan Lady’. She has immense knowledge and experience in the realty field and she uses the knowledge and experience to help you or anyone get the best mortgage deals at the best rates. So make an appointment by calling her at 408-354-5523 or mail her at paula@theloanlady.net

5,000 SF Office building for sale in Culver City — $1.2M

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This owner-user opportunity is the ideal solution for any business looking to own a piece of real estate in beautifully-restored downtown Culver City area. This property is immaculately maintained, and has tons of parking -- a premium in Culver City. This theoretical 7 Cap is very reasonable for the Los Angeles commercial real estate market, and business looking to diversify their portfolio with real estate, this is a great choice for you.

Property Managers

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Who are property managers?

By California law, a property manager (anyone who manages the property that is not the owner) must be a licensed real estate agent, and is in charge of managing your property so you don't have to.

To answer the typical question: yes, they are necessary. Ask anyone who has tried not using one. They are either no longer investing in Los Angeles commercial real estate, or they are in tears. How much do they cost? Typically, they will charge around 4% of GROSS income to the property, and my require a place to stay, if it is an apartment complex.

Finding a good one can be difficult. You must be sure to ask them for references, for their experience (and if it is in the same property type as yours), and also how they manage their properties on a day-to-day basis. You want someone who is going to be there every day, handling any issues quickly and effectively, and has solid communication skills with the owner. Knowledge of construction, or access to a good team, is also very important.

If you are in need of property managers, Monocle Real Estate Services can provide you with one of our very skilled property managers.

Finding commercial properties with potential added value

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Attention all those house flippers out there: sick of depreciating values, and looking to transitition into the world of the big boys in commercial world?

Good news -- it is just as easy. The only difference is that you will need to rely more heavily on your real estate agents.

In commercial real estate, entreprenurial investors are in fact very rare, and real estate agents are very excited to work with you. You need to speak the code (saying you want "value-added" properties), and some of it will have to be pretty self-directed.

Real Estate agents will be able to tell you of any deals that have hit market, but as you know from house flipping, the best deals are not yet on market. Cruise the streets until you see a piece of commercial real estate in need of some TLC, write down the address, and then send it over to your real estate agent. He will then perform a reverse title search, and get you in contact with the owner...from there, you know the deal.

Real Estate agents will often test you -- sending you only a mediocre idea, to see what your threshold for value is. But if you are firm and polite, you will get your way.

Real Estate Agent Pricing Explained

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Often times, especially if you are a first time buyer, it can be intimidating to use a real estate agent. You are unsure how much it will cost, and what sort of negative influence they might have over you. And as a seller, it seems even stranger -- how can they be so expensive?

Here's the long and short of it: as a buyer, using a real estate agent is free (unless for some reason, you sign a contract saying you want to pay them), and is paid on commission only. If they find a home for you that you close on, half of the seller's negotiated commission price goes to the seller's agent,and it doesn't cost you a thing.

On the sellers side, you are paying for both agents. How much? It is completely negotiable, but it is typically 6% total (Los Angeles commercial real estate, however, averages 4-5%).

It is really that simple. There are some unscrupulous real estate agents who will try to make you sign an agreement that differs from this standard, at which point, you move on to the next. But for the most part, it is a very simple industry.

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Divorce and Mortgages: How can mortgage planning affect a property settlement agreement?

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By having your client sit with a mortgage planner during the formation stages of the settlement strategy you can get an accurate picture of what your client will be able to afford, be it for refinancing the current residence or to purchase a new one. This will have a big impact on the direction of your settlement strategy.

Unfortunately many attorneys do not get involved with the mortgage process because they see it as a matter of course and it is what it is. However, if the divorce attorney takes an active roll in their client’s mortgage and takes the time to understand how it impacts their client’s cash flow and overall net worth they can and will do a better job negotiating a property settlement agreement for their client.

For instance, what if they negotiate a settlement wherein their client retains the house and then they discover that their client can’t afford to keep the house. Selling it changes the dichotomy of the finances which may have tax implications and the settlement that took so long to reach may have to be re-opened? This wastes time and money.

Many times a mortgage planner will discover that the client cannot afford to remain in the current residence and that of course will impact your approach to settlement discussions. A mortgage planner will analyze the income and assets (as you think they might be post divorce) and come up with what your client can afford. Once you know the answer to this you will be in a better position to negotiate for keeping the home or selling it.

There are two other big benefits in starting with a mortgage planner months in advance of the settlement discussions. One benefit is that you can use the information on affordability as a red herring to get something else during the negotiations. The important thing is to “know” the financial impact to your client before you begin settlement discussions. Of course there also may be a big emotional tie to this issue so the sooner you ferret out this issue the better for you and your client.

Another big benefit is to begin with a credit review. The majority of people going through a divorce have their credit destroyed either out of spite or ignorance. By having a mortgage planner run a tri-merged report they will be able to find out if there are any issues with your client’s credit which could dramatically impact the ability to get a new mortgage and of course it will also have an affect on the monthly payments. In addition, by running a credit report you can see if the other spouse has run up any of the credit cards unbeknownst to your client. You will not be able to see if they opened any new cards in their name but any cards with your name attached to them will show up on your report.

As you can see there is a lot to gain in having your client consult with a mortgage planner at the onset of your discussions with your new client. Additional benefits are having an ally to help deliver bad news to your client when they can’t afford to stay in the house that they want to keep for emotional reasons. In summary, form a relationship with a quality mortgage planner you know and trust and use their services to do a better job for your client and make your life easier.

About the Author:  Dave Muti, JD, RMA is the author of Mortgages: What You Need to Know and a Senior Mortgage Planner with Millenium Home Mortgage, LLC located in Parsippany, New Jersey.  Dave can be reached at info@mortgageswhatyouneedtoknow.com.