Entries from Searchlight Crusade tagged with 'property investment'

Facts Of Life On Buying and Selling "Without an Agent"

I saw your article on on Searchlight Crusade about exclusive buyers agents and I have a couple follow up questions pertaining to my own situation that I am hoping you could shed some light on. I don't have any...

Flipping vs Fixing vs Investing

I get occasional questions about the difference between these three kinds of activity. Well, there are subjective parts to the answer, but here are some general guidelines: A true flipper is looking for a quick turn on the property, usually...

Why There Is Money in Fixer Properties

I am an adamant believer in the Non-exclusive Buyer's Agency Agreement. In practical terms, as opposed to the Exclusive Buyer's Agency Agreement, it is so much to the advantage of the consumer that it isn't funny, and it doesn't usually...

Segmented Real Estate Markets And Taking Advantage of Them

Market segmentation is what happens when certain things are much more in demand than others. For instance in the hot market brought on by the tax credit of 2009, the central area of San Diego was in high demand,...

Investors Aren't The Only Ones Who Can Fix Ugly Properties

A couple years ago, I took a look at a lender owned property a few miles from my office. It was ugly. I mean ugly. The yard was a mess, there was a deck that was rotting. The facade looked...

Buying Investment Property - An Example of the Issues

My aunt is going to move to a new condo and wants to sell her old one. I would like to buy her old condo as an investment and rent it out (as I am already a home-owner). This...

Low Equity (or Worse!) Relocations in a Buyer's Market

Hi, Dan! I just came across your website and you strike me as the type of guy who has answers for our situation: My husband and I built our home 2.5 years ago. We took out a second mortgage...

Negative Amortization Loan Issues on Investment Property

Read your article on negative arm loans, and for the person who only owns a residence and most real estate investors it will not work. I own several properties, and the parcel to be refinanced is ocean front...so is...

Why Renting Really Is For Suckers (And What To Do About It)

(This article was originally written in August 2006. The market and loan rate figures have changed, but the basic information is the same, as is the conclusion) Okay, you might expect a Real Estate Agent to have a post with...

Rental Fraud, Landlord Fraud, and Prospective Tenant Scams

I don't do rental agency, but I do I work with people to get them to the point where they are ready to buy. I recently got this email from a single mother I'm trying to get into a position...

Investment Property and Sophisticated Users

The majority of the protections that folks have are aimed at helping non-professionals have a chance in the complex and nearly incomprehensible maze that is real estate. The legal presumption is basically that you are a babe in the woods,...

Investment Risk and Paying off the Mortgage Early

An email: Hi Dan, I was reading your article on "should you pay off your mortgage faster?" (DM: link here DELETED It'll be a fresh 30 year loan and I'm 44 years old so this discussion has interest, I...

Lipstick on a Pig: Selling the Property You Should Never Have Bought

Lots of properties have some kind of problem with them. Maybe you bought in full recognizance because of something else about the property, but probably not. Mostly it's directly a result of not spending the effort to find a good...

Investment Property and Loan Qualification

One of the things that has constricted the most with the current paranoid lending environment is the ability to use rental income to qualify for a mortgage. It seems that lenders are seizing upon any excuse to deny income...

There's No Real Way to Take The Complexity Out of Real Estate

Every so often I get e-mail asking why real estate transactions are so complex. Matter of fact, I have this discussion with most clients at some point. The answer is, "Because real estate transactions for a lot of money, and...

Are Foreclosures A Good Investment?

Well, sometimes. Okay, most of the time. But not always. Foreclosures: Bargain hunters beware! Myth no. 1: A big spike in foreclosures is right around the corner... ...That's because in most of the country, anyone who has owned a home...

Real Estate Numbers: Calculators and Spreadsheets Are Your Friend But They Have Limits

On a fairly regular basis I get email asking what I think of this or that loan calculator on the web, this or that predictive model for real estate prices or loan rates, etcetera. Loan calculators are pretty simple when...

Buying Investment Property - An Example of the Issues

My aunt is going to move to a new condo and wants to sell her old one. I would like to buy her old condo as an investment and rent it out (as I am already a home-owner). This...

Getting Rich Quick in Real Estate

I keep running into people who paid money for a get rich quick seminar and are looking to buy property for zero down and immediately sell it for a $50,000 profit. Somebody With A Testimonial Told Them How It Could...

The Return of Portfolio Lending

For a long time, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had a policy that they would not fund investment property (non-owner occupied) beyond 10 loans for a given investor. Although it did impact a certain number of investors, for most folks...