The real estate bubble in Nevada affected not only houses but condominiums, too.  Just as houses were bought simply as commodities to be “flipped,” or sold at a substantial profit, so too were condominiums treated.  Due to the September 11, 2001 tragedy, not only were enormous amounts of investment dollars poured into real estate as a much more viable alternative to the stock market, which remained in the doldrums for several months, day-traders themselves started moonlighting as landlords, purchasing property with an eye towards selling them to fellow speculators down the pipeline.  Like any bubble or Ponzi Scheme, however, there eventually came a time when no more “takers” could be found and the system collapsed of its own inherently unsustainable weight.

Some people feel that Real estate investment is a lot like playing the stock market. I disagree. One of the main factors determining your success is the relationship between supply and oversupply.  The differences are important, too.  And when it comes to supply and oversupply, real estate and stocks behave similarly in some instances and differently in others.  For example, real estate can often be much more manageable.  You can fairly easily do your own rather thorough research into whether the local housing market is undersupplied, oversupplied, or at an equilibrium.  With stocks, there are all kinds of corporate minutiae which must be carefully analyzed, involving technical terms and complex legal rules and financial instruments.  Some people feel that there is simply less risk involved with real estate investment than when investing in the stock of a company.

Real estate is slow moving while stocks can change in minutes. A stock can go to zero while real estate will always be real estate, states Isaac Toussie.   Both require expert advice.

The content of this article has been posted strictly for informational and human interest purposes only, not for advisory purposes, and should not be relied upon in any way by any person or institution.  The reader should not rely on the validity of any of the information contained herein.  The reader is urged to consult a variety of professionals when making business or any other significant decision, including accountants, lawyers, investment advisors, insurance companies and the like.  Again, this article has been posted merely for human interest and informational purposes, not for advisory purposes.

As long as you own your own home, pay your mortgage and have fairly descent credit, it will actually be easy to get started in real estate investing. There is most likely a pretty good amount of equality in your house. Even if you have only owned your house for a short time, you have been paying it off and it is most likely has been increasing in value. Just take a look at the balance of your mortgage and subtract it from its current value. Of course you may need to include a second mortgage or and other liens that may be on your property, but you should still have equality to work with. This is your green light to move forward into investing.

Here three ways to use the equity in your home to raise the capital for real estate investing.

1. Refinancing Your Home – You can refinance your house, get a better interest rate and also get some cash out from a refinance mortgage. You can use the cash to purchase an investment property outright, or you should at least have least enough money for a down payment of a property. Be sure to check with your lender or mortgage broker for any of the rules about cash-out refinancing. Keep in mind, a cash-out refinance mortgage may have higher interest rates than other types of mortgages.

2. Using a Home Equity Loan – A home equity loan uses the equity in your home as collateral, this would be a second mortgage to the one you already have. The mortgage amount is based on a percentage of the equity in your house. You may be able to borrow up to 100% of your homes value, but if you are getting a home equity loan on a second property, you may not be able to borrow as much. This type of loan allows you the option to pay the loan back early without penalty, just a nice little bonus.

3. Open a Home Equity Line of Credit – A home equity line of credit has a credit limit similar to a credit card. This is not much different from a home equity loan, the amount that you can borrow is based on your credit score and the amount of equity in your home. You can transfer funds from your home equity line of credit, or even write checks directly from the account. Interest rates are generally lower than cash-out refinance mortgages, and there are tax advantages as well. Another advantage is that you are only paying interest and making payments on the amount you owe at the time, not the entire amount of the loan. In the future, you may also be able to renegotiate for a higher credit line when the equity in your house increases, especially if you have made improvements to your house.

Real Estate Investing is not only for the rich. The average homeowner can get started in real estate investing even if you don’t have a lot of money in the bank. You can use cash-out refinance mortgages, home equity loans, and home equity lines of credit to begin your journey as a real estate investor, and continue to build more investments into the future.

Get more Real Estate Investing Tips and free advice from www.ezlandlordforms.com. We offer Rental and Lease Agreements for landlords. We are the only online document system for landlords.

Everyday the demand for residential, commercial and retail space is going up like never before. Most Indian metros like Delhi-NCR, Bangalore, Kolkata and Chennai are currently witnessing frenzied development.

The residential real estate news looks extremely promising. Despite the rise in real estate prices and rise in interest rates, buyers are still keen on buying property. The residential real estate in Mumbai, and the Delhi residential real estate prices are sky rocketing, but it has not hampered the end user from buying property, thanks to the higher disposable incomes and affordability. In 1995, it required about 22 times a borrower’s annual income to purchase a house, while in 2006, the ratio dropped to 4.9 times.

Financing residential real estate for investment has become extremely convenient and large options are available. Due to this the residential sector will see tremendous growth.

The growth of real investment is directly linked with the growth of the IT/ITES industry. According to an estimate, for every one thousand square feet office space, 13 new jobs are created. Around 50% of the new employees in Delhi are from outside the city. That means around 5 out of the 13 new employees that get employment for every 1000 sq ft leasing of office space would look for residential accommodation in Delhi. This is the case in many metros. This means that the residential property for rent in India also looks upbeat.

The residential rental property business is becoming large as a huge population is migrating to different cities as the employment is increasing in various sectors like Banking and Financial services, Construction, Communication and Transport, Energy, IT and ITES, Mining, Manufacturing, Retail and other services.

To look for a residential property for rent anywhere in India, there are many places you can look for. Start with the local newspaper, or a newsletter, or through a real estate agent or real estate agencies that have a list of residential properties on rent for the particular city one is looking for. One can even try online search for residential property for rent as there are various sites that have a comprehensive list of residential properties on rent in India.

Bikash kumar is the contributing author to the http://www.indianrealtynews.com for distinct articles and news.Indian Realty news provides news on commercial and residential properties of various cities like Delhi, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Chandigarh and Bangalore etc.

So how do these people do it? And is it something the average person off the street can learn to do? Well, those are some of the same questions I had when I first started in the business. So I spent months of research and tens of thousands of dollars to learn what strategies these successful people use that the rest of us do not. What follows is a brief summary of what I learned. Some may surprise you, others may not. However, I found these to be common words of wisdom from every successful investor.

1. Real Estate Investing is a Business, Not a Hobby

Every successful real estate investor I know operates their endeavors strictly as a business, even if it’s just a part-time thing. This means setting up a Corporation, S-Corp, Limited Liability Company, Limited Partnership, General Partnership, or typically some combination of these entities. Notice I didn’t mention Sole-proprietor? Talk to a knowledgeable real estate attorney in you area for a better idea of which ones are right for you and your goals. Not only will the right entities protect you and your ASSets, but will allow you to take advantage of certain tax advantages you would otherwise not have. If you stop reading here and take no other advice from me please, please do this one.

2. Build A Team of Experts

Few, if any, business owners succeed without a team of experts to guide them. These people can save you a tremendous amount of time and money and possibly even legal problems. Your business team should consist of a good real estate attorney who understands the state laws and an accountant. I recommend finding an accountant who is also a real estate investor if possible.

You should also have a realtor in each area you are considering investing in, an appraiser, a home inspector, an escrow company, a mortgage broker, other investors, a general contractor, and an insurance agent. There are other specialist would should also consider for special cases such as an architect, a surveyor, environmental company, etc.

3. Have a Plan

Develop a business plan for your real estate investing venture even if you are not new to it. After all, this is a business and few really reach their potential without a good plan. I promise you, spending a few hours putting it down on paper will be well worth it. And it’s always good to revisit your plan often to keep you on target.

4. Network, Network, Network

Real estate is people business. If you haven’t done so already, get good at smoozing. Now I don’t mean the used car salesman type where you do all the fast talking. Join your local real estate investment club, become a member of a church if you aren’t already, volunteer with Habitat For Humanity, just get involved! Get to understand what the seller’s or buyer’s needs are. This means listening! Get to know what other investors are looking for and who the local “players” are. You may be able to do a partnership on a deal or refer them to a deal that may not be exactly what you’re looking for. Above all, treat everyone you meet with respect whether they’re your team, sellers, or buyers and they will respect you. If you do these things, more deals will come your way than you can possibly handle. I can think of a lot worse problems to have!

5. Know Your Market

Spend some time getting to know the areas where you plan to invest. Go to some open houses and talk to the agents. Drive the neighborhood and look for the “For Sale By Owner” signs otherwise known as FSBOs. Look for homes that appear vacant or in disrepair. Learn how much homes go for in the area and what the local trends are. Talk to some the local residents and learn what the community is like. Is there crime in the area, how good are the schools, is the area growing, what are the local demographics? This information will serve you well when it comes time to invest.

6. Never Buy A Property Without At Least One Solid Exit Strategy

In real estate, you make your money when you buy, not when you sell. So what am I trying to say here? For each offer you make, you should know exactly how you are going to make your money from it. It could be as a rental for which you should have a positive monthly cash flow. It could be as a rehab and flip for a profit. Or maybe you may offer it as a lease with an option to buy. Or, it could be hold for the equity growth. Run your numbers for each strategy. If the numbers don’t work, don’t do the deal no matter how much you like the property!

7. Treat Your Agents Like Gold

Real estate agents can make or break your business and a good one is worth their weight in gold. They will do much of the legwork for you and bring you potential deals. They know their areas inside and out and can steer you away from potential problems. They will even find you buyers for your properties as well as show it while you are out looking for more deals. And, they work only for commissions based on the sales price of properties that sell.

However, most real estate investors don’t buy and sometimes don’t sell property at full market prices. This could directly affect your agent’s commission and their motivation to support what you want can diminish. I suggest paying your agents commissions based on market price regardless of the ultimate sales price. Yes, it may impact your profits some but you’ll have a very loyal agent. And guess who gets the first phone call when hot property comes up!

8. Don’t Be A Hog

The old saying goes, “Pigs get fat, and hogs get slaughtered.” The saying holds true in real estate investing as well. Many new investors make the mistake of trying to squeeze out the maximum profit out of every deal and then wonder why they can’t find any buyers. Don’t be afraid to leave something on the table for the next guy, especially if you’re selling to other investors. It’s better to make a lot of smaller profits over and over than it is to make one big profit. This strategy should have potential buyers lining up at your door when you have a property to sell.

9. Give Away 10-15% of Everything You Make

I can hear you now, “He said what?!” That’s right, give away 10-15% of everything you make. How you decide to do it is up to you, but I warn you, you may have to get creative. Steve, a mentor of mine follows this rule like a religion. In fact, on his very first deal he made about $5,000 which he need desperately, since he had recently lost his job. He was nearly bankrupt but still decided to give away some of his profits. He decided to buy his pastor a new suit, something he had never had in his life. Even though Steve was excited about making the money, the look on his pastor’s face when he wore it for the first time made him feel ten times better. By the way, word got around very quickly and before you know it, he had three more deals in the works that profited much, much more.

10. Offers, Offers, Offers!

You’ll never make any money if you don’t first start with an offer. But for some reason, this seems to be the biggest hurdle for most new investors. I like to use the “Fire, Aim, Ready” approach to making an offer. Don’t spend a lot of time trying to figure out what the perfect offer will be, just make one. Most of my offers are made without ever having seen the property. Remember, if the first offer doesn’t embarrass you, it’s too high. I know of a very successful real estate investor in the Tampa area who once offered $1 for a $14 million golf course! Okay, so he eventually bought it for a little over $2 million and the resold it a couple of weeks later for a tiddy profit. It’s only after you have the property under contract that you should spend the time to determine if the price is right or not. Most successful investors will make 25 or more offers a week of which maybe only two or three may eventually end being accepted. Of those, maybe one will make it to closing. But let’s see, one deal a week, $5-10,000 profit each….you get the picture.

11. Have Fun

Like any business, real estate investing has its challenges. Sometimes deals fall through at the last minute, renters can be a real pain, or you find out about the sewer line collapsing at one of your properties that needs $15,000 in unexpected expenses to fix it. There will always be obstacles to overcome but the rewards can be well worth it. So have fun with it! If you truly enjoy it, it will show on you and suddenly the problems don’t seem like such a big deal anymore.

There are many more tricks to the trade depending upon which niche you decide to invest in. But the basics are the same across the board. Apply these secrets and you too can become the next multimillionaire!

Troy Thomason is a professional real estate investor and business owner investing in the Southern California and Mid-West regions. He holds an MBA from Peperdine University and publishes real estate and wealth creation related articles. For additional go to: http://www.HassleFreePropertySellers.com.

Bank foreclosure real estate features properties re-possessed by the banks from owners due to default in mortgage payment. Before a real estate property is considered to be foreclosed, it passes a legal foreclosure proceeding. The moment a single payment is missed, the bank will try to contact the owner to know the reason for such delays. If the owner did not communicate effectively with the bank, then the bank has no choice but to file for a “Notice of Default”. Depending on the state, the owner will have an average of 30 days to cure mortgage default.

The re-instatement period is also known as the pre-foreclosure stage. Since foreclosure proceeding has not been completed, the property is still in possession of the owner. The owner, in this situation, could choose to sell the property. A pre-foreclosure sale is usually a direct transaction between the owner and the buyer. In cases where the property was listed, a real estate agent will be the one dealing with the buyer in behalf of the owner.

Once the foreclosure proceeding is completed with the owner not being able to cure default during the pre-foreclosure stage, the bank will have to file a “Notice of Foreclosure”. A foreclosure sale is usually set a week after the notice has been filed. In a foreclosure sale, you will see interested buyers: banks to whom mortgage is owed, private investors and of course real estate brokers and agents. All of these people are there to bid for bank foreclosure real estate. The highest bidder naturally wins the auction.

Some bank foreclosure real estate property survives a foreclosure auction and becomes the possession of the bank that holds the lien. These bank foreclosure real estate properties are no called real estate owned or REO. When the bank’s inventory of REOs or bank foreclosure real estate properties become too big, it will decide to enter into foreclosure listings contract with reputable real estate brokers. These brokers will assign real estate agents to handle these bank foreclosure real estate properties.

From this stage onwards, real estate agents will play a major role until the bank foreclosure real estate property is sold and commission is collected. If you noticed, in all stages of foreclosure, real estate agents are presented with an opportunity to earn. So do not be surprised that more and more people are deciding to shift careers and become real estate agents.

Bob Smith is a freelancer but regularly writes for http://ForeclosureDatabank.com. You can get more information on Bank Foreclosures at http://www.foreclosuredatabank.com.

Real estate rental properties used to be a perfect investment for high wage earners. They were able to deduct all the losses generated by the property – and when you added up mortgage payments, property taxes and maintenance, the losses could be substantial – from their gross incomes.

The IRS has rained on that parade. Real estate rental properties are now considered passive activity, even if you actively manage the property. The only ones who can take full advantage of real estate investing losses these days are the so-called “real estate professionals.”

However all is not lost. Even now you can deduct all the expenses of a rental from the gross rental income. If the losses exceed income, they are converted into passive activity losses which are not deductible against ordinary income, but are deductible against other passive activity income as well as any gain made when the property is sold.

Real estate investing offers several special advantages: the purchase can be highly leveraged, from zero down to the usual 20% down payment; the mortgage payments are generally tax deductible as are the taxes and expenses of maintaining the property; and if you own the property over a year, it is subject to long-term capital gains taxes – presently 15% – minus any accumulated passive activity losses.

Because of the highly leveraged nature of most real estate purchases, investors can afford to own multiple properties. Or you can start small, with one property, and use that as leverage on another house as your equity in grows.

However, real estate is unlike other investments. Unless you buy raw land, it requires management and maintenance, insurance and tax payments. There will even be continuing costs with raw land, property taxes and liability insurance being the major expenses. If you think you can’t be sued if someone trips on a log or falls into a hole on an undeveloped piece of property, think again. Ask your lawyer what the liability laws in your state are.

If you own rental buildings, they must be insured, properly maintained and rented out. Someone has to fix the problems and collect the rent. You can do this yourself, especially if you like being awakened at three in the morning because a toilet won’t flush – I’ve been there and done that. Or you can hire a management company to do this for you. Most work on a cost plus basis.

Because of all of this, you do need to find properties that either throw off good income from rents or have the potential for appreciation, especially if some repairs are done. In other words, you have to work out beforehand how any given piece of real estate will make money for you. If it won’t, keep looking.

Real estate prices are not as volatile as the stock market’s can be, but they do fluctuate. It is better to go into a real estate investment with a long term frame of mind and remember the rule “location, location, location”.

Over time real estate values tend to grow and, because of the leveraged nature of the investment, the growth is magnified. For example, 5% growth on $150,000 is $7500. But if you only have 20% down or $30,000 invested, that $7500 becomes a 25% return on your investment.

Of course you don’t have to own real estate outright. You can invest in “Real Estate Investment Trusts (REIT)”. These are professionally managed funds that usually invest in larger, commercial projects – shopping malls and office buildings. Your aim is long term capital appreciation. The investments are heavily leveraged and the tax benefits spread among the partners.

Since real estate does not necessarily move in the same directions as stocks or bonds and also generally tends to hold its value, this is a good diversification move, but you are unlikely to realize the gains you would see with individual real estate holdings.

Also, despite the fact that real estate is booming right now, it can and has fallen, sharply at times. There have been gluts of office space in major cities, overdevelopment of residential housing (remember the S&L debacle of about 15 years ago), or there could just be a general down real estate market from time to time.

Most of us have already diversified into real estate by purchasing our home. If the equity is preserved, this can turn into a major cash cow after several decades of use. If certain simple rules are met, you can exclude $250,000 ($500,000 if married and filing separately) of any gains you realize.

As you can see, real estate investing, if done properly, can be quite lucrative. But study the subject intensively before committing yourself. The library is full of good books on the subject.

Also consult with a CPA or tax attorney on how to best structure your business for maximum returns.

For those looking for multiple streams of income, rental real estate is a good place to start.

For more financial planning articles, visit http://www.credit-yourself.com/financial-planning.html.

Chris Cooper a retired attorney, and his wife Aileen, who has a MBA in Finance, provide personal finance and financial planning advice at Credit Yourself.

Over the last couple of years in Calgary, more and more people had decided to inject some of their savings into the real estate market. Especially after the dot.com bust in the early part of the millennium. Including myself and many others were getting tired of the continuous fluctuations of the stock market. It was extremely stressful to wake up everyday and hoping that nothing bad is going to happen in the stock market and not being able to control my investments differently than buy or sell. As history has already provided many examples to us about how a company could disappear overnight and completely wipe out your investments, yet I have never seen a house disappear from the face of the earth so suddenly. If it did by some unfortunate event, usually an insurance provider has reimbursed the owner.

comes from directly applying the power of leverage. It doesn’t matter what kind of business we are talking about. If you want to be successful, you will need to find a way of multiplying your knowledge, power and time. If you choose to invest in stocks, you will get your returns one on one. Meaning that if you invest $1,000 and that particular stock goes up in value by 10% your ROI will be $100. When you put your dollars into a piece of real estate, the banks will usually require 25% of your own money and they will put up the remaining 75% of the purchase price for you. The beautiful part of this arrangement is that if the purchased real estate increases by 36% like it did in 2006 than your ROI will be 4 x 36%. Now that‘s the true power of leverage.

Real estate values most definitely won’t be increasing by 36% forever. However even if we make a very conservative assumption of prices to only increase by 6% annually than you are still anticipating a 24% ROI. In many of my client’s opinion it sure beats any of the G.I.C. investments available today.

Right, but I am not cut out to be a Landlord. What if the tenant doesn’t pay or damages the property? What if…? Excuses can be created in every situation in our lives just to rationalize why not to do something. Sometimes to move ahead in life, we need to get a little more comfortable with being uncomfortable when we decide to get involved with new ideas. However, if you prefer not to deal with tenants you can completely circumvent that challenge. Once again, if we examine some of the other evidences that successful people have left behind we can easily find the solution to this problem. You not only need to leverage

Piece of mind – is the first thought that comes into my mind when I think about real estate as an investment vehicle. Security, predictable future and leveraged growth are the number one reasons why many choose to invest in real estate. According to Andrew Carnegie “Over 90% of all millionaires become so through owning real estate”. Now that’s a powerful statement. Let it sink in for a minute. Even if you are somewhat skeptical about the future of Calgary’s real estate market we cannot pass by such an important statement and not to acknowledge it as part of a major footprint of success.

Real estate values go up for many reasons. The number one cause of increasing real estate prices is the scarcity of supply or where the demand of the influx of people to a geographical area will outperform the supply. The good news for us in Alberta is that our provincial government has done such a great job of creating an economical atmosphere for business that there will be new business opening up and moving to this province for many more years to come. Not to mention the billions of dollars of projects already in the books that requires a constant feed of new employees from outside of Alberta.

Why real estate vs. the stock market? Unfortunately, many media outlets don’t understand the concept of the power of leverage when it comes to calculating actual ROI (return on investment). Every time I look at a news clip or read an article in the paper where they are comparing the performance of real estate prices to the stock market, I am ready to kick something to calm my frustration. The secret of many successful investors. your money, you will also need to leverage your time and knowledge by hiring the right professional to be on your team of success. Can you imagine Donald Trump taking phone calls at 2:00a.m. about a leaky toilet? Or personally collecting his rental cheques every month from his tenants? I didn’t think so. So, why do you think that you need to do it all alone? Why not do exactly what some of the major players in this investment business have already done? If it worked for them why wouldn’t it work for you?

It’s absolutely essential to hire the best professional experts on your team of advisors to propel your investments to the top and not to leave anything to a chance. Some of the professionals you should absolutely consider on having on your real estate team are Property Managers, Accountants, Contractors, Lawyers and knowledgeable REALTORS® who will not only advise you but allow you to stand on their shoulders and push you up to achieve your goals.

I truly believe that everyone can succeed at investing in real estate if one puts their mind to it. But it’s up to you to decide and take actions. You owe it to yourself to further explore the possibilities of investing in real estate. As you are probably aware, real estate is and has been a solid blue chip performer over the long term (after all they’re not making any more land!).

Joe Samson is currently a realtor For Calgary Real Estate and has been for the past 7 years. You can read more articles like this at his web site http://www.joesamson.com.