Real Estate-Education Center

For some people, finding a perfect property to buy is challenging. Throw the current economic hardship into the equation, and the process gets even tougher. Fortunately, many people are in the same situation. Here’s a rundown of tips from some of Denver’s leading real estate experts.

1.Choose the wrong mortgage: With the advent of instant refinancing, home loans are no longer the lifetime obligations they used to be. Still, you don’t want to be saddled for even a short period of time with the wrong one. Investigate all your options, then lay your choices side-by-side and do the math, making sure to compare worst-case scenarios. Be sure to look at initial interest rates, future interest rates and payments (if different), and the possibility of prepayment penalties.

2. Confuse “pre-approved” and “pre-qualified” with a loan commitment: These are debatable terms in real estate because not all lenders apply the same definition to each expression. In fact, one leading real estate dictionary contains neither expression because their definitions are uncertain. According to one school of thought, however, when you are “pre-qualified,” the lender is making an educated guess about how much you can borrow based on information you’ve provided. When you are “pre-approved,” the lender has verified everything you have told him or her and is offering to lend you up to a given amount at current interest rates — under certain conditions. Whether pre-qualified or pre-approved, final clearance and a check at closing — a loan commitment — are subject to an appraisal satisfactory to the lender, good title, a last-minute credit check, and other verifications. When meeting with lenders, always ask how they define each term and what additional steps will be required to obtain a loan.

3. Have too much credit: Excessive credit is almost as bad as no credit or even bad credit. Even if you pay your bills on time, lenders tend to focus just as much on how much credit you have available to you as they do on timeliness. So being up to your ears in car loans and credit cards is a sure way to be turned down for a mortgage. Postpone any big ticket purchases until after you buy your house.

4. Lie on your loan application: Exaggerating your income on a mortgage application or putting down other untruths can be a federal offense. Lenders rarely prosecute liars. But if they find out later, they can call your loan due and payable. Don’t ever sign your name to a loan application that is not completely filled out, either. Loan officers have been known to stretch the truth to get a client approved, but it’s the borrower who ends up paying the price, often in the form of monthly loan payments he can’t afford.

5. Hide if you can’t make your payments: The worst thing you can do is ignore phone calls and letters from your lender when you are behind on your payments. Lenders have many options at their disposal to help keep borrowers from losing their homes to foreclosure. But they can’t do anything for you unless they can talk to you about your difficulties. Lenders are the enemy only if you give them no other choice.

6. Skip a home inspection: Failing to make your purchase contingent on a satisfactory home inspection could be a costly mistake. Independent home inspectors examine houses from stem to stern. They’ll be able to tell you whether the roof and/or basement leaks, whether the mechanical systems are in good shape and how long the appliances should last. They can’t report on things they can’t see, but at least their trained eyes are better than yours. So don’t pass just to save $300-$400; that’s money well spent.

7. Hire just any agent to sell your house: All real estate agents are not the same. You want to look for those who specialize in your neighborhood and are top producers. Ask your candidates how they plan to market your house, what you can do to make the place more attractive to prospects and how much you should ask. If you don’t like any of the answers, looks elsewhere. And above all, stay away from relatives. Unless Aunt Bessie or Nephew Nick fit the description above, keep looking.

8. Fail to check out a remodeler: Never, ever hire a contractor who knocks on your door or says his prices are good for only a few days. Reputable remodelers don’t solicit door-to-door, and they don’t cut prices just because they happen to be in your neighborhood. Check out a potential contractor thoroughly by calling several of his past clients, your local better business bureau, his bankers and suppliers, and your local consumer affairs agency.

9. Pay too much upfront: If a contractor asks for more than a third of the contract price as a downpayment, chances are something’s wrong. At worst, he’s a scam artist who has no intention of returning after he cashes your check. At best, he’s undercapitalized and can’t afford to purchase materials on his own. Or, in between, he could be using your money to pay workers on another job. Never give a contractor cash, either.

10. Burn your mortgage: It’s a wonderful feeling when you make your last house payment. After all, the place is now yours, all yours. Many people celebrate by holding a mortgage burning party. But they torch the original document. Don’t. Make a copy and burn that instead. Keep all your loan docs in a safe place.

With that advice in hand, home buyers can rest assured that they will make wise investments at the right time.

When you are about to list your home for sale having an appropriate marketing plan is not always the first thing on people’s list of things to be done.  The truth is that most real estate marketing stops at using the Multiple Listing Service or MLS.  This is often a fatal error that can cost you both time and money since your home will usually be competing with many other listings.

Stage one of a good marketing plan is the research stage.  Take a look at the selling, not asking, price of similar homes in your area over the past few months.  Basing your home’s price on asking prices in your area is a common mistake of many sellers.  This could have the result of your home taking longer to sell and for a lower price because the asking price was too high to start with.  Your agent can assist in presenting you with selling prices so you get the full picture.

Once you have a better understanding of real estate values in your area you need to find out what the housing market is doing.  Prices will usually be on the rise or in a decline every month but by how much?  But be mindful to keep your research on your particular area.  Certain pockets of a larger city may be dealing with a modest rise is real estate prices even though the city, as a whole, is in a decline.  For example Durham Region real estate may be dealing with an overall fall in housing prices, however inside the region of Durham, Pickering real estate may be rising slightly due to area specific economic conditions.

Once you have determined on your asking price you need take a step back and look at your home from the context of a purchaser.  Look at all of the areas of your home that may turn off a potential purchaser and possibly cause them to offer you less or even nothing at all. This is quite possibly the most trying part.  Finding out all of the things that need improvement in your own home is often hard to do.  Being able to know where your purchaser is coming from will be invaluable in the offer process.  In any successful negotiation, if you can identify with the other party’s motives you have a better chance of reaching a deal that benefits both parties.

How and where you market your home is going to have a strong effect on the sale.  Making sure every ad dollar counts is essential but it can be tough to find out which of the various types of marketing will have the best results.  In other terms where are the buyers?

While buyers still do comb through real estate publications and the newspaper most buyers turn to the internet at some point to look for homes.  Marketing your home on-line also gives the advantage of being able to provide potential buyers with much more information than a newspaper can.  Websites gives you access to add detailed descriptions, interior and exterior photos, virtual tours and often videos.  The more information you can post the more exposure your home will have and help it to stand out to potential buyers.

At the end of the day you need your home sold for the largest possible price and in the quickest period of time.  You can stand to have the largest chance of success by doing a little research and implementing a proper marketing plan.

Most of us have looked at a piece of property at some location and have thought something along the lines of, “If only I had known that the prices would go up that much, I could have bought that property and would be rich today”. While this is generally a true statement, the fact is that the property often takes a large initial investment in the first place, depending of course on the location and on the size. Investing in commercial real estate means investing in a large piece of property, and like any investment it can entail quite a bit of risk. Here are a few tips to help minimize your risk when considering investing in commercial real estate as well as maximizing your profits.

Everyone seems to be sold on current television shows that portray investors buying property at low prices, fixing them up, and selling at profit. These are not tricks of the television, it is certainly doable. However, many people make the mistake of overestimating their abilities and underestimating the cost of fixing up these properties. Commercial opportunities are even larger scale, so it might be best to consider your first purchase of commercial real estate in a smaller package with less initial work, and rely on the chances of the property increasing in value or in attracting other investors to turn the establishment into a more valuable enterprise.

Remember that investing in real estate is not a get rich overnight gig. Real estate takes some time to mature, although it usually seems that once a location hits a certain plateau prices begin to increase astronomically. Consider your budget for initial investment, and buy accordingly. For example, purchasing a building in New York is a guarantee to make money ten years down the road, but is out of the question for most buyers. Many cities have growth potential, however, so it is not a bad idea to consider buying lots within existing neighborhoods which sooner or later will require their own convenience stores or shopping centers. As with residential real estate, location is the prime concern when considering a commercial real estate investment, and patience will be a virtue.

If you have several commercial properties already, you will know that investing can become a full time job as the concerns of renting, maintenance, and zoning continually pop out. It is no knock on your acuity to decide to sell one or more of your properties, as long as you choose your time and the price accurately. Have a price in mind that will et you a profit over what you initially put in, and do not sell for less unless the property is a real hassle. Also, do not get greedy- if a good price comes along, do not try to squeeze more out of a buyer or you may lose the bid altogether.

Investing in commercial real estate can lead to a great diversification- there is opportunity to invest in land for future development, condominiums, shopping centers, trailer parks, and other rental properties. The best way to go with your commercial properties is to obtain a lease agreement, which will ensure an income flow while also allowing you to retain the property.

The key to investing in real estate is to find yourself a good realtor. This is important because the real estate market is huge which means jobs in the real estate market are hot. While there is plenty of room for new faces, with new realtors comes inexperience. A single mistake by a realtor can keep a house the market far longer than it should be and in the end it will cost you more money then what you receive in profit. If you are looking to buy and sell real estate it is important to have an experienced and well versed realtor at your side. Before you sign up with a realtor there are several things you should consider.

First of all determine if you need a realtor at all. If holding onto a particular property is not a problem from a time or financial stand point you may be able to market it yourself. This would definitely save you money on realtor fees but you may have a hard time moving the house. Also make sure you know how real estate contracts work and have professional look over anything before either party signs. If you decide that you do need an agent for your real estate investments make sure you interview several agents from different companies. Below is a list of questions to ask them before you sign:

How do they market their houses? Will your house get the exposure it needs to sell and sell fast? What is the scope of their marketing? TV? Radio? Magazines? Newspapers? World Wide Web?

What is the realtor’s experience and background. How long have they been a realtor, how many houses, have they sold, and how successful have they been?

How long does it take them to sell a home? What is the price range of houses they usually list? How many homes are they trying to sell currently?

Have they worked with investors in the real estate market before?

What is will the percentage commission be on the house they sell? Remember that for a house to be worth a realtor’s time they are going to need to make money off of it. Additionally some realtor’s offer a deal in which if you use them both buying and selling they give you a reduced commission rate.

Finding a successful and experienced real estate agent is important because you can build a lasting relationship which is financially beneficial for both of you. Real estate investments especially flipping houses for profit is a booming business. It is equally important to forge relationships with construction companies, wholesalers, and the community in which you are buying and sell homes.

Sometimes the best marketing is word of mouth. Realtor’s will often try to lower your asking price to decrease the amount of time a house is on the market, thus reducing their work load. As the seller you are in charge, after all the realtor is working for you. Make sure your the decisions that are made are best for you and your financial goals.

In today’s day and age, the real estate industry is growing at an extraordinary pace. Every year there are thousands of houses going up all over the country and being bought and sold. The result of this trend has been an enormous amount of people who have decided to invest in real estate as a way of making a living.

This is not simply a get rich quick scheme. Investing in real estate is a viable option for anybody that is looking to run their own home business and put in the brain sweat to learn their area of expertise in this high ticket field.

One of the greatest advantages of setting up a home business real estate company is that your start up costs will not be very steep. The learning curve is though. The most important thing that you will need is the ability to purchase property whenever you feel the urge with your studied knowledge.

This means that you will have to either have a lot of cash, or good credit so that you can get a mortgage when needed. For most people this is not too much of a problem.

After you have determined that you are financially sound, you can get started with the fun stuff. When you begin investing in real estate you will want to start out slow to avoid serious mistakes. There is no need to run out and buy three properties before you even have your feet wet. The best thing to do is buy your first property, and work a plan.

There are two routes that you can take after you buy your first piece of property. First off, you can rent the property out to others in order to set up an additional stream of income. Or you can buy homes for cheap, fix them up, and then resell them for a profit. Fixer uppers.

If you decide to go the second route, you might want to look into the foreclosure industry. Foreclosed properties are ones that the bank owns because the past owner defaulted on their mortgage. The bank will then sell these properties back to the public at a discounted price. By investing in these properties you will be able to buy cheap, and then sell high; this will net you a profit every time.

You can even make good money in the preforeclosure business by buying homes at steep discounts before they are foreclosed upon. Saving families homes and credit from foreclosure, for them, is very satisfying and can be profitable for you of course. This takes study and learning but is done fairly often.

But remember, just because there are a lot of people making money in the real estate industry does not mean that there is no risk involved. Just like every other home based business, there is a chance that you could lose money.

Often times, you may buy a home that you think you can sell, and soon find out that nobody wants the property. This means that you will be stuck with the property until you can find a buyer or renter. Best knowledge you will need to attain is, how to buy at the right price in the right market, so you can sell at the right price. No short cuts here.

A home business real estate investing company is a great idea if you want to make a lot of money. Make sure that you are financially sound, learn everything you can, and that you start slow. These three things will put you on the right path to success.