An Overview of Easements
August 31, 2008
Title insurance is generally associated with insuring a purchaser’s or lender’s interest in a particular piece of real estate. The right to use an easement is often considered less important than unencumbered title of the insured parcel. An easement, however, can significantly affect the value of the insured parcel. Questions regarding the validity or use of an easement may result in a dispute among neighbors that may require protracted litigation to resolve.
In light of the potential for such unpleasantness, the practitioner is well advised to be aware of any easements related to the property to be insured. The following discussion is intended as a brief and general overview of some of the issues a practitioner will encounter when a title company is asked to insure an easement or a piece of real estate affected by an easement. Of course, each title order will have its own set of circumstances requiring individual attention by the title examiner.
THE BASICS
Important Facts For Home Buyers
August 30, 2008
If you are considering buying a home or have spent many years saving in preparation of buying a home, the questions and process involved in buying a home can be extremely stressful. As exciting as it is to begin looking for your new home, there are many unexpected costs and details to be considered before contacting a real estate agent. Home buyers should be aware of every aspect involved in purchasing a home before they take that big step towards home ownership.
You will want to get the most value possible for your money. You should be aware of every detail in regard to the home you wish to purchase. Home inspections can reveal many hidden flaws and problems that could cost you thousands of dollars in repairs. Be aware of your right to a home inspection and contact a professional, licensed home inspector.
Compare the mortgage terms and interest rates offered by various mortgage lenders. Even a slight difference in your interest rate can add up to thousands of dollars over the length of your mortgage. A pre-approval from the lender of your choice will not only give you added confidence when shopping for a new home, but could give you added leverage when bargaining with the seller. A pre-approval will let you know the exact amount you are approved for and will save you time after your offer has been accepted by the seller.
Buying Your First Investment Property
August 29, 2008
“Begin With The End In Mind”
I first heard the phrase “Begin with the end in mind” in a Steven Covey book called “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”. This expression makes a lot of sense because the fact is, you can’t get where you’re going, unless you know where you want to go.
Most new investors understand that real estate is an investment vehicle that makes sense. We all know that many fortunes have been built with real estate. But when you are first getting started, all the available information can be very confusing. I often receive emails asking “what strategies should I use?” or “Where should I look to find deals?”.
One reason these issues are so difficult to understand and sort out when you are new to the investing game is that the answer to the question can be different for every individual.
Seminars tend to package information in a “one-size-fits-all” crash course. But this inevitably leaves unanswered questions for each individual user. Simply put, each person has their own individual situation with regard to credit, income, employment, assets, etc. All of these factors can affect your investing choices and objectives.
3 Strategies For Buying Property With No Money Down
August 28, 2008
Everyone has heard a story or read about someone who bought a property without paying a single dime as a down payment. But how does this work?
There are several “classic” methods commonly used to purchase real estate with no money down. There are an infinite variety of situations in a real estate transaction that could lead to a deal with no down payment. But for the sake of reality, I will focus on those that are most commonly seen in the current market.
1. Seller second - The buyer obtains a new first mortgage for most but not all of the total purchase price. The seller finances the rest.
Purchase price: $100,000 Buyers loan: $90,000 (90% LTV) (new first mortgage) Sellers finances $10,000 (in the form of a new second mortgage) The buyer has borrowed 100% of the purchase price. Thus, you have100% financing, and no down payment was paid by buyer. This is not a difficult strategy to employ if the seller has enough equity, is willing to hold a second, and the first mortgage lender approves.
Back To The Future - Big Changes Are Coming, Get Ready Now
August 27, 2008
The comments below are quoted from a recent speech by Ben Bernanke, a member of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors…
“Looking forward, I am sure that the Committee will continue to watch the oil situation carefully. However, future monetary-policy choices will not be closely linked to the behavior of oil prices per se. Rather, they will depend on what the incoming data, taken as a whole, say about prospects for inflation and the strength of the expansion. Generally, I expect those data to suggest that the removal of policy accommodation can proceed at a ‘measured’ pace. However, as always, the actual course of policy will depend on the evidence, including, of course, what we learn about how oil prices are affecting the economy.”
In short, the Federal Reserve knows that there will be an impact. But no one knows how big and how fast. During the oil embargo of the 1970’s gasoline prices doubled several times over a matter of months. The effect was dramatic and sudden. It was difficult to adjust, because things were happening so fast.
Boom or Bust
August 27, 2008
For those looking to invest in the real estate market?keep your eyes on the headlines. According to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), the number of areas across the U.S. with real estate booms shot to 55, increasing by nearly two-thirds last year. The FDIC warns, "these booms may be followed by busts".
"Boom" areas are defined as having inflation-adjusted prices at the end of 2004 that were up 30% or more in three years.
Of the 362 major metropolitan cities included in this study, over 15% were boom areas. This data, analyzed by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, more than doubles the peak of the 1980’s booms and is the highest ratio of boom markets in 30 years.
As for "boom or bust", busts are rare. Only 17% of U.S. housing booms from 1978-1998 ended in busts, which are defined as a 15% or more drop in home prices over a five-year period.
What is making the market soar? Aside from inflation, the mortgage industry has to be considered first. Adjustable rate and interest only mortgages are growing in numbers and subprime loans now account for 10% of all mortgage loans.
Is 100% Annual Return On Investments Possible With Low Risk Land Investments?
August 26, 2008
In last week’s article, we discussed how substantial profits could be made by investing where baby boomers may want to relocate or buy a second home. This seemed to confuse readers since they were thinking that our web site is about preconstruction and preconstruction to them means buying condos?? In this article, I hope to broaden your horizons considerably.
Unlike many people, I have a very broad definition of preconstruction investing which can be summarized as follows:
Preconstruction investing is the pursuit of real estate projects that offer the opportunity to ride rapidly increasing prices over time without the need to put tenants in place to defray costs. Since no tenants are involved, this opens the possibility to making investments in locales that are far removed from where you live.
If you adopt this point of view, then a whole world of "alternative" preconstruction investments opens up to you. Today, we are going to look at one specific type of investment: investing in developing land projects where baby boomers might want to retire or own a second home.
Before we get into the specifics, let’s talk about what all investors want:
? Low risk
Investing in Real Estate & REITs
August 25, 2008
Real estate investing runs the gamut in terms of risk and investment success. The first rule of real estate investing, even before location, location, location, is be very careful with whom you are dealing. For some reason, real estate is fraught with unscrupulous characters, many of whom you’ll see on late night television commercials with their “no-money” down methods of becoming millionaires. Only a very small percent of these so-called real estate gurus are legitimate.
If you are seriously considering investing in real estate property, it means essentially that you will need:
Investment capital, or a legitimate means of attaining some without putting yourself in debt.
A good knowledge of the real estate market and the neighborhood in which you are looking to buy property.
Good management, people and negotiating skills
The ability to do repair work or access to people who can do it for you. The name and number of a property inspector or engineer.
Unless you are able to find, evaluate and buy houses that are either in foreclosure or fixer-uppers, which can be turned around quickly, you will most likely serve as a landlord for the property while it increases in value. Be careful to whom you rent because your property must be well-maintained.
Prepare Your Rental Property for Occupancy
August 24, 2008
Among your many responsibilities as a landlord, the law provides for a warranty of implied habitability. This means that the dwelling must be considered habitable and any known problems must be fixed before you allow a tenant to take occupancy.
When a tenant vacates one of your units, take this opportunity to perform a walkthrough of the unit to determine its condition and discover what repairs or maintenance need to be done. Here are some of the specific areas that you will need to examine in your property before you accept a new tenant.
Do all the fixtures work properly? This includes faucets, showers, tubs, toilets, and any other fixtures. Make sure that the fixtures do not leak and that they consistently operate correctly. Address any leaks or other problems before you rent out your property. If a fixture is consistently causing problems, it may be easier — and even cheaper — to replace it to avoid future problems. In addition to providing quality fixtures for your tenants, repairing leaky fixtures can also reduce your water bill. If you pay for your tenants’ utilities and water, this can mean substantial savings.
Land Subdivision - $1.2 Billion Dollar Developer Tells You How To Do It
August 23, 2008
Land subdivision is a bit like helping Mom slice up her beautiful Apple Pie; it’s all so easy, when, like Mom, you’ve done it a few times. So let’s see if we can get the ingredients for a land subdivision correct so you can do it right first time, OK?
Every city or town in the free world has a Town Plan and it comprises, not surprisingly, of plans or maps, usually with lots of different colors all over them, but also lots of words explaining what the colors mean as well as lots of Rules that tell you what you can do with land.
The colors indicate different zonings that your elected Council has decided upon. So say, Residential housing may be Yellow; high density housing like units, condos may be Pink; and industrial Orange, whatever. So you can see at a glance how the town plan is subdivided into land use categories.
Just as you can’t build a house anywhere you like, you can’t have a farm or a factory in the middle of a residential area either. So the first thing you must do is find out what is the ‘Zoning’ of the land you own or are thinking of buying. Getting land Rezoned is another issue altogether.
