Owning property
Want to be a land baron but don't have the cash? Check out a real estate investment fund. If you fancy the idea of owning property but don't have the cash to buy it, a real estate fund may be what you've been looking for. Real estate funds have been growing in popularity over the past few years. One of the reasons these income-producing funds have enjoyed a shareholder increase is that most invest in equity Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs). An equity REIT is a stock that must pay out 95 percent of its taxable income as dividends if it's to enjoy a tax-advantaged status. What REIT companies typically do is own and manage a portfolio of income-producing real estate. One REIT might own apartment complexes in the Southwest ....

Buying To Let Top Ten Tips
Buying to let is considered a serious investment and should not be conducted without some equally serious research. Our top ten tips will get you on the right path to finding out all you need to know to become a seriously successful landlord. 1 -- Choose the right property Ensure the property is in an area well suited to letting. It is a good idea to take advice from local specialist letting agents on the most suitable area and types of property in demand. 2 -- Get the right mortgage A wide range of mortgages are now available for the buy-to-let sector. Seek advice from your financial advisor and take your time to consider the most appropriate mortgage for your needs. 3 -- Consider the hidden costs As the landlord you will be responsible for ensuring the maintenance of the property. Make sure that the rent covers the cost of maintenance and insurance, as well as the mortgage...

Fixer Uppers: Don't Make This Mistake
A Big Real Estate Mistake Many people buy and sell a fixer-upper like this: They buy a house, fix it up, then add some amount (say $10,000) that's in their head onto their costs. Then they put the house up for sale for this price. This is so wrong. Would you buy a house according to what the seller has into it? Of course not. You look at what similar houses are selling for to determine the value. So if you have $110,000 into a fixer-upper and similar homes are selling for $105,000, how much can you get? It doesn't have anything to do with what you've spent, does it? The Fixer-Upper Formula 1. Determine how much the house wil sell for when you're done fixing it up. Ask an appraiser for help, or look at what similar houses have sold for (not list prices). What it's likely to sell for is the only meaningful definition of value when dealing with fixer-uppers....

Finding Southern California Real Estate Foreclosure Property
If you want to find southern California real estate foreclose property its best to use services that make it their business to provide listings. At one time finding distressed properties was primarily in the hands of experts that make a full time living purchasing southern California real estate foreclosure property, normally doing some cleanup, repair and restoration and then selling the property for a handsome profit. Things have really changed and the process no longer is limited to those in the know. With some simple homework or a couple classes most people can take advantage of buying and selling these types of properties. The growth and success of the internet has leveled the playing field and opens up the previously hard to find information to the simple click of the mouse. You now can sit back with your favorite drink, relax while looking for the homes or properties in the area's that interest you and poof in a very short period of time you'll have a raft of information that you were looking forward right there in front of you. Hit the print button, map it out and you're ready to go...

Make Money With Room Rentals
I don't know why I didn't do it sooner, but one day many years ago, I decided to try renting rooms in my home. I was young and single, and had a nice mobile home on small piece of property. I found that it was easy to rent out the other two bedrooms. Suddenly, I had thousands of dollars extra each year. Why Room Rentals? In many towns where the rents are high, single people are forced to share apartments with others. They inevitably have problems with splitting the bills, what to do if one person is late with their share of the rent, who made which phone calls, etc. So when they see a room for in a nice home, with everything from local cals to cable TV included in the rent, they like the idea. Room Rentals - The How To Include everything. Don't set yourself up for arguments about who owes what for utilities, or who watches the cable TV more. Cancel long distance plans, get a phone card, and just have...

Selling a House is Easy
The thought of selling a house strikes fear into most people. The contracts, the legalese, the exorbitant costs — they all conspire to make the experience unpleasant at best, and a nightmare at worst. It doesn't have to be that way, though. Let's take a look at three different scenarios for selling the same house. We'll assume an average house in an average town in America, whose market value has been established at $150,000. Scenario 1: A Traditional Home Sell If the value of the home is $150,000, a realtor will often suggest a list price of $149,900 — and rightfully so. Although you lose $100 before the house ever goes on the market, studies show that buyers actually see a difference in the two prices much greater than $100, so the ultimate benefit outweighs the initial loss. Statistics show that the average home sells for 90 to 95% of...

Making it affordable: Nine tips for first time home buyers
It seems that everyone loves a good real estate story. The media is filled with reports about soaring property values and home owners of modest means becoming instant millionaires when they sell. As a result, many first time home buyers, afraid of missing out, will rush into buying decisions and achieve less-than-spectacular results. As a first time buyer, your biggest challenge is to balance livability and profitability in a way that makes sense for you and your family. Remember, you are buying a home first and an investment second. Of course, there’s no foolproof formula for buyer success, but there are steps you can take to stack the odds in your favor: Tip 1: Don’t bet on market timing If you’re waiting for prices to drop in places like Southern California, Washington D.C. or Miami, you may be waiting a very long time. In regions that are built out with limited room to expand, it’s not realistic to assume property values will fall dramatically. Of course, prices in the nation’s super-heated residential markets (much of California, Nassau-Suffolk Counties in New York, South Florida) should cool...

Property Investing - Am I Buying for Profit or Prestige?
All of us have emotional preconceptions and assumptions. They are reinforced and fine tuned by our experiences of life, be they traumatic, disciplined or consistent. Our brains are designed so that the emotional patterning centers mature while we are still in utero, whereas our rational centers begin to mature at about 4 years old and finish maturing through adolescence to early adulthood. Non- rational emotional patterning is therefore a design feature!! Most of us have some common preconceived ideas, historically these were things like the earth was flat, and we couldn't fly. Now they are more likely to be about how we structure our lives. Why do over 3 million people in Sydney need to get up and go to work at the same time, every day and cause massive traffic congestion? Why do we think this is normal? Is it normal? Does it work for us? Why do we keep doing it? As well as commonly held patterns we all have a few family...

What is Tax-Deferred Exchange?
Under Section 1031 of the Internal Revenue Code, owners of real estate held for investment or use in a trade or business can swap their property tax-free for "like-kind" real estate. Exchanges are made for people wanting to stay invested in real estate, increase their leverage and to avoid paying hefty taxes upon the sale of property. Like Kind - Apartments - Rental Houses - Retail Properties - Commercial - Raw Land - Office Buildings - Industrial - Ranches Non Qualifying Properties - Personal Residences - Dealer Property - Partnership Interests - Inventory Reason to Exchanges - Restoring Depreciation that will soon expire - by exchanging...

What is Tax-Deferred Exchange?
Condo-hotels have evolved as a better, more reliable second home alternative to time-shares. They are usually attractive, high-rise hotels on the ocean or in other prime locations, and range in price from the mid $200,000s to over 1 million, depending on the size, location, and amenities.
Many of the biggest names in the hotel industry have condo-hotel buildings, including Hilton, Four Seasons, Clarion, and Ritz-Carlton. Donald Trump has numerous condo- hotel facilities across the country, including a building in Fort Lauderdale and another in Sunny Isles, Florida.
In general, condo-hotel properties have been highly successful with all or nearly all units selling out within months of the first offering. For example, the Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne is a beachfront property with 188 condo-hotel units, all of which sold out a year before the building was even finished. Needless to say, the values of the condo-hotels in this building have gone up significantly.
There are several reasons for the popularity of condo-hotels. When you purchase a property, you purchase a condo unit in...