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…

Many promising real estate investment opportunities aren’t listed or advertised for sale, anywhere. Somewhere a homeowner is missing or under-paying their mortgage payments and doesn’t know WHAT to do about the dunning letters the lender is sending as part of the pre-foreclosure process. As a real estate investor, you want to find this homeowner while she/he can still make their own decision to sell, avoiding a foreclosure, before the lender takes control of the property. Watch for a future post describing the step-by-step pre-foreclosure and foreclosure process. Why are many homeowners who are slipping into a growing hole of overdue Read more…

If you’ve read my blog post ”4 Critical Reasons To Use Direct Mail”, you may be wondering how to start using direct mail to find your below-market real estate investment opportunities, as well as how to manage your mailing lists. First, identify the target area you want to receive your direct mail. Second, create your flyer, deciding on the format, material, the color of the paper and the layout and fonts. And, of course, design the content. Your audience isn’t likely to be sophisticated about real estate or finance, so keep it very basic and to the point! There are Read more…

If you’ve read my blog post ”4 Critical Reasons To Use Direct Mail”, you may be wondering how to start using direct mail to find your below-market real estate investment opportunities, as well as how to manage your mailing lists. First, identify the target area you want to receive your direct mail. Second, create your flyer, deciding on the format, material, the color of the paper and the layout and fonts. And, of course, design the content. Your audience isn’t likely to be sophisticated about real estate or finance, so keep it very basic and to the point! There are Read more…

Good rental properties are an important part of a real estate investment portfolio that allows you to earn while you play, vacation and spend time with your family. But before you buy a rental investment property, what are 3 key financial moving targets that you wouldn’t normally review for a fix & flip? Property taxes. Don’t stop at checking the tax assess or record for both past and current yearly taxes. Also look up articles in the local press and find out what may be coming in the way of future increases. o A slightacross-the-board increase in the local property Read more…

Good rental properties are an important part of a real estate investment portfolio that allows you to earn while you play, vacation and spend time with your family. But before you buy a rental investment property, what are 3 key financial moving targets that you wouldn’t normally review for a fix & flip? Property taxes. Don’t stop at checking the tax assess or record for both past and current yearly taxes. Also look up articles in the local press and find out what may be coming in the way of future increases. o   A slightacross-the-board increase in the local property Read more…

I’ve mentioned numerous times that I’ve found many real estate investing opportunities through direct mail. Of course I do a good deal of business through foreclosure auctions, and I search the classifieds to find fixer-uppers to buy. But I want to talk to you more about direct mail, what it is and how it works. Why should you add direct mail to your arsenal of real estate investment tools? You may be wondering – is direct mail the junk mail I find in my mailbox? The answer: Yup, that’s what it is. So why should you look into this? One Read more…

You’ve worked this rehab property into a beautiful home and have found a buyer at a price you both like. But the sale contract negotiation is not the final make-or-break point for closing this deal. If you’ve already been working closely with a general contractor on a great rehab, what’s left to worry about with the home inspection? Don’t expect any help from the home inspector to sell a great rehab.Home inspectors are not motivated to help the house sell. In fact, in states where they can be sued for problems found after the homebuyer moves in (and in areas Read more…

In Part 1, I describe how the Broker’s Price Opinion (BPO) is evaluated and submitted to the lender as part of the short sale process.We are assuming that in most cases the BPO has not taken full account of the property’s true physical condition. The BPO will undoubtedly reflect a broker/realtor’s wish to sell for as high a price as possible. What can you do at this point to correct an inflated BPO, so the lender will approve your purchase at the below-market price you need for a successful project as a flip, wholesale or rental investment? Since you’ve done Read more…