Is Real Estate Investing Good In This Economy?
As an investor who owns property in three states, this question comes to me at least weekly by would-be real estate investors.
They keep hearing people like Warren Buffet say, "when the weak get scared, be bold" or "when everyone one else is selling, it is time to buy".
I tell them that these words are the very words I live by! I am a real estate investor, full-time.
I buy and sell property in my home state of PA and some nationally.
I own land in Florida, rental property in CA and PA where I live with my wife of 35 years.
We bought our first 4 unit apartment building in National City, CA.
back in 1976, when rents for studios and 1 BR apartments were about $150 a month.
That property appreciated so fast, we sold it a year later and made a whopping $20k! Those were the days of real appreciation that could be nudged further with "sweat-equity".
But what about today in early 2011" Where we are witnessing record foreclosures, record bankruptcies and people scared to death to spend money which is further depressing the economy.
I'm not to politicize this except to say that the government-run entities called Freddie and Fannie for short, are the entire cause of the housing issues we have today.
Their influence spans presidencies and spans multiple house and senate majorities.
There is no "party" to blame but there is a government to blame.
It was the insistence these institutions that banks take too much risk by making loans to people base don a breath test.
If they could breathe, they were approved! Now most of those sub-prime loans (as they are called for good reason) are in default.
People that bite off more than they can chew are also to blame.
Okay, so now I'll get off my soap box and get back to the topic at hand.
The real question is can a newbie real estate investor make money in these economic times.
The short answer is definitely "YES".
Anyone with a computer, cell phone, a quiet place at home for a small office and half a brain can follow a proven system and make plenty of money in the real estate industry in this down market.
I'm not hear to teach how to do this because there is enough course out there for any one to choose from - just be sure to do your homework on the "guru" you choose to follow because there are also many that are no investing themselves because they are so successful selling their info products on how to invest...
I do have some favorites that my web site can tell you about but I'm not promoting them in this article.
This is a list of the types of profitable real estate investing available in this marketplace.
It's not all-inclusive as there are always other niches within markets.
Investing with properties comes in two primary flavors.
The first is the investor that buys a great deal, holds on to it by renting it out and sells it years later for a big profit.
The other is the wholesale market where an investor buys a property today and sells that property today or tomorrow at the latest.
The first investor needs access to a ton of cash to continue buying more properties to hold but the second needs no cash at all.
"WHAT?", you say, "no cash at all?".
Yes, no cash at all is needed to wholesale properties.
Let me explain how this works for those of you interested in becoming an investor.
By the way I partner with these folks all the time to help them do their first few deals and we evenly split the profits and guess what I don't charge a dime for this.
I just am very choosy with whom I partner.
Before I explain the wholesale investing let me say that between the buy and hold and wholesale investor, there are myriad ways of investing in real estate.
These two ways are the two ends of the spectrum.
Let me also say that buying a house for you to live in is NOT an investment in real estate and should NEVER be looked at as such.
Some have promoted looking at your own house as an investment has also be part of the cause of the bubble bursting.
You can disagree with me but you can't deny the fact the if people were buying their own house just for their comfort and living they would never think f walking away from it just because it's worth less than they own on it.
Okay, so wholesaling is a great way for a beginner to get started in investing.
I'm going to explain how it works and not how to do it.
How to do it is the subject of another article.
Marketing is the key to success in any business venture.
Starting a new business in investing requires some capital.
Not a lot, but some.
You will have expenses for phone, advertising, business cards, website, etc.
So if you are completely broke, then the best you can hope for is to be a "bird-dog for me or some other investor and get paid a referral fee.
Save your referral fees and then start your investing business later.
With wholesaling you market to people who need to sell.
You've no doubt heard of the motivated seller.
The motivation behind the "want" to sell is very important.
Those people contact you and you make a reasonable offer to them base don their motivation.
They accept the deal and you sign a one page agreement of sale for the property.
Then you re-sell the property for about $5000 to $10000 more than you are contracted to buy it for.
You resell it to investors like me or others looking for a great deal (because you just made a great deal).
But instead of you actually buying the property, you assign your contract to the investor for an assignment fee.
The investor fulfills the buyer commitments as you presented them to the seller originally.
You can easily do two deals a month or more even part-time.
Don't take my word for it, just Google real estate investing or even Google my full name and see how many investors are out there it's staggering.
The reason is that we buy property when everyone else is selling property.
We are bold now because most are weak now.
If you are in investor looking to buy properties for wholesale, be sure to sign up as a buyer on my list below.
If you are interested in being a bird dog or want to partner on some deals to get your feet wet, Google my name and contact em on my website or by phone.
They keep hearing people like Warren Buffet say, "when the weak get scared, be bold" or "when everyone one else is selling, it is time to buy".
I tell them that these words are the very words I live by! I am a real estate investor, full-time.
I buy and sell property in my home state of PA and some nationally.
I own land in Florida, rental property in CA and PA where I live with my wife of 35 years.
We bought our first 4 unit apartment building in National City, CA.
back in 1976, when rents for studios and 1 BR apartments were about $150 a month.
That property appreciated so fast, we sold it a year later and made a whopping $20k! Those were the days of real appreciation that could be nudged further with "sweat-equity".
But what about today in early 2011" Where we are witnessing record foreclosures, record bankruptcies and people scared to death to spend money which is further depressing the economy.
I'm not to politicize this except to say that the government-run entities called Freddie and Fannie for short, are the entire cause of the housing issues we have today.
Their influence spans presidencies and spans multiple house and senate majorities.
There is no "party" to blame but there is a government to blame.
It was the insistence these institutions that banks take too much risk by making loans to people base don a breath test.
If they could breathe, they were approved! Now most of those sub-prime loans (as they are called for good reason) are in default.
People that bite off more than they can chew are also to blame.
Okay, so now I'll get off my soap box and get back to the topic at hand.
The real question is can a newbie real estate investor make money in these economic times.
The short answer is definitely "YES".
Anyone with a computer, cell phone, a quiet place at home for a small office and half a brain can follow a proven system and make plenty of money in the real estate industry in this down market.
I'm not hear to teach how to do this because there is enough course out there for any one to choose from - just be sure to do your homework on the "guru" you choose to follow because there are also many that are no investing themselves because they are so successful selling their info products on how to invest...
I do have some favorites that my web site can tell you about but I'm not promoting them in this article.
This is a list of the types of profitable real estate investing available in this marketplace.
It's not all-inclusive as there are always other niches within markets.
Investing with properties comes in two primary flavors.
The first is the investor that buys a great deal, holds on to it by renting it out and sells it years later for a big profit.
The other is the wholesale market where an investor buys a property today and sells that property today or tomorrow at the latest.
The first investor needs access to a ton of cash to continue buying more properties to hold but the second needs no cash at all.
"WHAT?", you say, "no cash at all?".
Yes, no cash at all is needed to wholesale properties.
Let me explain how this works for those of you interested in becoming an investor.
By the way I partner with these folks all the time to help them do their first few deals and we evenly split the profits and guess what I don't charge a dime for this.
I just am very choosy with whom I partner.
Before I explain the wholesale investing let me say that between the buy and hold and wholesale investor, there are myriad ways of investing in real estate.
These two ways are the two ends of the spectrum.
Let me also say that buying a house for you to live in is NOT an investment in real estate and should NEVER be looked at as such.
Some have promoted looking at your own house as an investment has also be part of the cause of the bubble bursting.
You can disagree with me but you can't deny the fact the if people were buying their own house just for their comfort and living they would never think f walking away from it just because it's worth less than they own on it.
Okay, so wholesaling is a great way for a beginner to get started in investing.
I'm going to explain how it works and not how to do it.
How to do it is the subject of another article.
Marketing is the key to success in any business venture.
Starting a new business in investing requires some capital.
Not a lot, but some.
You will have expenses for phone, advertising, business cards, website, etc.
So if you are completely broke, then the best you can hope for is to be a "bird-dog for me or some other investor and get paid a referral fee.
Save your referral fees and then start your investing business later.
With wholesaling you market to people who need to sell.
You've no doubt heard of the motivated seller.
The motivation behind the "want" to sell is very important.
Those people contact you and you make a reasonable offer to them base don their motivation.
They accept the deal and you sign a one page agreement of sale for the property.
Then you re-sell the property for about $5000 to $10000 more than you are contracted to buy it for.
You resell it to investors like me or others looking for a great deal (because you just made a great deal).
But instead of you actually buying the property, you assign your contract to the investor for an assignment fee.
The investor fulfills the buyer commitments as you presented them to the seller originally.
You can easily do two deals a month or more even part-time.
Don't take my word for it, just Google real estate investing or even Google my full name and see how many investors are out there it's staggering.
The reason is that we buy property when everyone else is selling property.
We are bold now because most are weak now.
If you are in investor looking to buy properties for wholesale, be sure to sign up as a buyer on my list below.
If you are interested in being a bird dog or want to partner on some deals to get your feet wet, Google my name and contact em on my website or by phone.
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