Fix and Flip:  This is the most common strategy employed, and generally what comes to mind when people think about flipping a property.  You buy a property that needs repair, you take care of all the repairs, and you sell it as retail for a profit.  It is a reliable method that can generate thousands of dollars on a single deal.  Flippers run into trouble when they pay too much for the property or underestimate the cost of repairs.  Be sure to account for all of these factors before making a deal, and be smart (co

 The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is a government department devoted to subsidizing housing for low-income and otherwise-vulnerable Americans, such as homeless military veterans (HUD-VASH).  This is often referred to as Section 8 housing, and is most commonly seen in the form of vouchers being provided to eligible tenants, which translate to a discounted rental or purchase rate.  HUD is the umbrella organization that insures the loans handed out by various federal and state government agencies (m

 Every investor gets into real estate for his own unique, rather idiosyncratic set of reasons, but the common denominator among us all is to improve our quality of life.  Many (especially young) investors make the mistake of thinking that the best way to improve their quality of life is to knock out as many deals as they possibly can, generating as much income as they can scrape from the community, and establishing a name for themselves as the most dominant force in local real estate.  Well, all of those things are great for a car

Many people think we have survived the worst of the economic recession, and we are operating in an increasingly stable real estate market that’s on the mend.  It seems more likely, however, that 2010 will actually be the peak of the foreclosure cycle, with up to four million newly-foreclosed homes.  But what about tax credits, and the increasing number of sales recently?  Well, they’re not all they’re cracked up to be.

The most commonly-employed strategy for flipping homes (short-term ownership of real estate) is to fix and flip a rehab property.  The investor finds a property for sale that needs repairs, buys it at a price well below the retail market value, assumes responsibility for making those repairs, and then resells the property to a homeowner at its retail value.  It can generate a hefty profit, tens of thousands of dollars on a single property, but only if the investor thoroughly researches the cost of turning the home from a substandard sh

    In an historically bad economy like this one, there is no shortage of motivated sellers, which means there is no shortage of opportunities for buyers to get creative with their financing terms.  In many cases, investors with little or no credit can arrange to purchase a home, with little or no money down, and with no new loans.  The nature of the slow market (the buyer’s market) is that it allows buyers to take advantage of opportunities while working to improve their credit and acquire funding for a down payme

    Once you’ve followed your leads and found that one great deal you’ve been searching for, you’ll need to make sure that the property you’re buying is what you think it is, and not just what it is presented to be.  In other words, you’ll need to have a thorough home inspection done by a professional.  If done right, this one pre-purchase home inspection will tell you everything you need to know about the home, what works and what needs to be repaired, and any other baggage that might event

A bill intended to help smaller banks make more loans to smaller businesses is about to be voted on by the U.S. Senate. This bill will help create $ 300 billion in available capital to help small businesses. The businessman in the lending business are saying this quick cash advance won’t help create more loans for small business. Companies that lend are saying that smaller businesses with credit-worthy borrowers are just in very short supply.

Get Out of Debt Blog – Month 4

If you haven’t been following my quest to get out of a half million dollars in debt, I suggest you begin with My Journey to Payoff half a million in debt or check the Get out of Debt Blog master page.

Last month I talked a lot about getting my wife on board and suggested she read Dave Ramsey’s “Total Money Makeover”, but she has yet to and the spending continues.  To make matters worse, our rental property is showing its money eating teeth.  I currently have a vacancy and am in the process of evicting another tenant.  Therefore, only 50% of the building is rented out and paying.  I often ask myself if buying a rental property is worth it.  Maybe I’ll write something later on my disastrous attempt at being a landlord, but in short…I’ve had 5 evictions, over $10,000 in lost rents, forced to invest $30,000 worth of building repairs, and have probably had 3 years worth of at least one unit being vacant during the 5 years of ownership.  

We at 3B Properties have chosen a great real estate inspector that has saved us thousands of dollars finding building’s misfortune.  When we look at prospective investment properties, we’re crunching numbers and calculating rental income or flipping profits, but hardly ever look under the rug.   Usually we’ll have reason to reduce the purchase price by thousands or require the seller to pump thousands into repairs.  Once an offer is accepted, it is hard for the seller to back off from your requests especially when given a professional inspection report.  Finding your own home inspector to evaluate the condition of a property before you buy it is crucial. You wouldn’t buy a car without taking it for a test drive, so why would you buy a home without checking it out?  A little money spent up front can save big bucks down the line. Latent defects are costly and often unseen to the untrained eye.