You’ve snagged a great purchase price on a classic late-1960’s home being vacated by aging owners who have lived there for 30 or 40 years. Before purchasing the property as a real estate investment, you were pleased to find that the owners took care of it throughout the years. The roof was replaced a few years ago, the walls, ceilings and floors are in good shape, and you’ll update the carpets and wall color. Overall, a good buy! Except for one teeny, tiny little issue … the practical-minded 1960’s builder generously doled out from two to four outlets in each Read more…

There is a new style of “post-foreclosure backlog”. Housing markets are recovering and the foreclosure crisis is now years behind us. So how is the past crisis still affecting markets and real estate investors? In many areas one of the most interesting question marks for the future are rentals. Although we are years into the recovery from the foreclosure crisis, rental markets in many areas remain larger than they have ever been. During the peak foreclosure years, approximately 2007-2009, rentals expanded sharply as many former homeowners lost their home, along with their equity and their mortgage qualification. Real estate investors Read more…

If you are a flipper I have potentially GREAT news! You may be asking me, Why is it only “potentially” GREAT news Andy? Great question so give me a moment to explain… As of right now there is a 90 day flip policy with FHA. What this has meant as a flipper is that you had to wait 90 days from the time that you bought the property (and your deed was recorded) before a fully executed contract with FHA financing would go through without any hiccups. It was not impossible to sell your property inside that 90 day window, Read more…

It’s a funny thing how difficult – and how easy – it can be to learn who actually owns a property – critical information for a real estate investor! Perhaps you’ve picked this property out on a drive-by and don’t want to knock on the door; or the property is vacant; or you are avoiding talking to a resident tenant. How do you find out how to contact the owner – and even some background information about them? In the United States, the County Tax Assessor’s office where the property resides has public records of who owns each property, along Read more…

Read my other posts about direct mail, one of the strongest real estate investment tools I use. 4 Critical Reasons To Use Direct Mail 4+ Tools for Direct Mail Efficiency Every neighborhood, no matter how upscale or low-income, has a homeowner(s) who is having financial troubles and is falling behind on their mortgage payments. Those are the people you want to reach, before they contact a realtor or are in foreclosure. Some neighborhoods have more homeowners with mortgage problems than others, so look at rates of foreclosures, trends in employment and so on. Watch for a future post on choosing Read more…