5 Ways To Invest In Real Estate - Safely

In the summer of 2007 we saw big drop in the real estate market. Lenders suddenly found themselves holding mortgages that were not getting paid and homes were falling into foreclosure by the thousands.

This grew the number of homes in the national inventory. The new higher restrictions by the lending industry added to the large gap between home owners and home buyers.

If you ever were thinking about be a real estate investor, the fall of 2007 is the time to start.
Why, because there is an extra large amount of homes sitting on the market waiting to be bought. There are 100 of thousands of sellers hoping to sell their homes quickly, before they are forced into foreclosure.

Here are some tips to follow:
1. Never pay too much for your investment home... All investors follow the 70% rule. That means if a home is market value is $100,000 then you need to purchase it for $70,000. When you purchase a home to flip, you have closing costs when you buy and when you sell. There's holding costs when you put the house on the market. And... do not forget your profit.

2. Only buy from motivated sellers... You can determine a motivated seller by the Four D's. Death, Disease, Divorce & Disaster all these factors motivate people to sell their homes. As a real estate investor you help good people out of bad situations. Until you know what the other persons problem is you will never be able to solve it.

3. Never use your own money... It sounds ironic but those who use their own money in real estate invest sting limit their effectiveness and cash flow. When you use other people's money you can level your value. There are private investors out there who are willing to give short term loans at 12% - 20% interest. Even at those relatively high interest rate, investors are still making on average $20,000 per flip.

4. Never do your own work on a rehab. You make no money painting walls or laying flooring. You see all these rehab shows on TV and they are doing their own rehab work. How can you flip more than one home when doing your own work? You can not... What you need is a system that any contractor can follow. Develop a system or cookie cutter method.

5. Never quote a price to a seller... when negotiating to buy anything, the first person to quote a price is in a weaker position. So, just do not say a price. First walk through the home with the seller and look for problems with the property (this is your ammo for later) When you have good feeling for the property and the seller's "why". Just simply say "Do you have any idea what you would be ask for this home?" the seller will say "I do not know" 90% of the time, waiting for you to give a price. Then say " I know you do not know but if you did know what would you say." They will give you a price and you say "That would be a fair price, if _______________________." Fill in the blank with what you see wrong and then say you would have to fix that... Plus you would have to pay closing and holding cost. Give them your 70% or less price. Then close with why this would a solution to their problem.

Many inventors break one or more of these rules and end up paying for it later. The key to success in real estate investing and flip homes is to have a system and a mentor. Learn from successful investors who are will to share what they know with you. Avoid these fly by night real estate investment seminars, find a real live investor who flips homes 10 - 20 homes a month. When you take the time to learn the flipping business it will pay big dividends.



To take a look at more articles just like this one, click here: http://www.superiorimageusa.com G Allan Roberts is private investor and home rehaber. Mr. Roberts is a purchaser of privately held mortgage notes and contracts. List you home free at BuyFSBOusa.com