Secrets of Making Money from Real Estate - Part 3

Great, now how do I actually INVEST in real estate?

Investing in real estate will get easier the more you do it. The first deal may take some time, but like anything, the more you do it the better you'll become. Here are some guidelines for investing in real estate.

Establish how much you can borrow:

Know your limits. Don't go looking for $400,000 houses when you can only afford a $200,000 house. Before you invest real estate you must know how much you can borrow from your lender. This can be anywhere from 80%-100%. If you are investing for the first time, banks will most likely only want to lend you 80%-90%. Once you've established good relations with the bank after five to ten deals, they will most likely be willing to cut you better deals and offer 100% financing.

Some private lenders may offer you mortgages and home equity loans of 100%-125%, be careful with these especially if they are individuals. Their motives are often only profit.

Most people dread seeing their banker, hoping that THEY will approve your loan application. However from my experience, you need to show the bank who's boss. By this I mean:

- Do not deal with only one bank, big mistake. Deal with lots of other banks and let the banks know about it. Send out your loan application to as many banks as you like. The best bank that comes back with the best deal wins.
- Always negotiate, just because the "Offered interest rate" is 6% does not mean that they will not lend you lower. Be persistent and confident if you are going to ask for a lower interest rate.

Other things to keep in mind before applying for a loan: Don't lie, you'll get caught and be in a lot of trouble.
Try not to have bad credit history from now on.
Increase your income. Look into taking in foreign exchange students, take a second job, if you own a house with spare rooms consider renting them.

Try to eliminate liability payments. Or lower payments.

Another choice you must make is whether to make the loan an interest only one or a principal and interest loan. I generally prefer to take out interest only loans for several reasons. You will get more cash flow from a property if the payment is interest only. This can go straight to your pocket or cover and unexpected payments with the property. You will also be able to borrow more because you make smaller payments. You may also have the option of paying off the rest of the principal at a later time. Depending where you live, you might also get a tax advantage for taking out an interest only loan. Also, why would you want to pay off debt on something that is already putting money in your pocket and appreciating in value? Wouldn't the money be better spent on a deposit on another rental property which will give you more cash flow. I know I would rather owe 80% on thirty properties earning me $3,000 a year than two or three properties that I have no debt on.

Does this mean you can't take out a principal and interest loan? Of course not! If that's what you really want to do and you still make money on the property, go for it.

Asset protection:

A house will most likely be your biggest and most expensive asset, you'll certainly want to protect it. There are three ways you can do this. Physical protection, corporate protection, and insurance protection.

Physical protection is what you can change in the properties structure to protect it. So you could go as far as building a moat around the property! The first step would be to not buy a house in areas of high crime or natural disaster such as earthquakes or landslides. Then think about installing security systems, burglar alarms, and fences.

Having your property in a corporate entity such as a limited liability company, corporation, or trust provides legal security and possible tax breaks. This all depends on where you live, so it is important to look into this type of protection if you are thinking about buying a lot of properties.

Insurance is the third type of protection. Many insurance companies or even banks will give you good rates for insurance on an investment property. This is because they consider a house a very safe investment! You can get insured on all kinds of things, like earthquakes, depending on how much you want to pay. Be sure to find out the cost of insurance before you buy a property as well so you can input it into your budget calculations.

There is no I in team:

Before buying a property be sure to have good team. You will definitely need an accountant and a solicitor. It is important to have a team because you can't do everything, you need specialists. Everyone in your team should be passionate about what they do and know that you are passionate about what you are doing ( real estate investing!). People in your team must have experience in buying property! If you feel that anyone in your team is slack, inexperienced, and has questionable motives don't work with them anymore.

You may also find It of use to work with a real estate agent who is a property investor themselves. This can be good because If the agent invests in property he or she will have a good idea of what your looking for. However make sure you know the agent's motives. If they are a property investor themselves, why wouldn't they buy the property?

Next, Learn how to analyse a deal in Part 4.

This article was written by John Whiteside. The original article can be found here http://www.use-your-equity.com/realestateinvesting.html . Use-Your-Equity can show you how to create value in your home, then show you how to use the newly created equity to make money. http://www.use-your-equity.com for more information.

There is something emotionally charged about the buying and selling of New York high-end real estate. How else to explain the juggernaut of reality TV shows about high-end brokers?

After 30 years of marriage, Sharon and Michael Newman decided it was finally time to move from the Catskills to New York City.

On blocks near Kissena Park streets are quiet, houses are small, and the electricity that charges the atmosphere in downtown Flushing is nowhere to be found.

A five-story, seven-bedroom house in Brooklyn Heights has sweeping views of New York Harbor and the Manhattan skyline.

Demand is so intense that there are waiting lists in some buildings, and a few landlords report that eager renters are even bidding up rents.

Sales at the very high end of the market barely missed a beat in the recession. But that prosperity hasn’t yet trickled down.

A Flatiron condo, a Midtown South co-op and a Brooklyn Heights carriage house.

A four-bedroom ranch in Montclair, N.J., and a four-bedroom colonial Cape in Babylon, N.Y.

For a century, Roosevelt Island housed a grim penitentiary. It was demolished in the 1930s.

More borrowers are opting for fixed-rate loans with terms other than the standard 30 or 15 years, especially when it comes to refinancings.

Two more glass skyscrapers are added to a group of towers on the waterfront of Long Island City.

Insurance coverage for a co-op unit; when a tenant is ‘blacklisted’; a co-op is smaller than estimated.

The market for $500,000-to-$600,000 houses in Westchester has become especially active.

A shaky real estate market means more sellers are providing buyer concessions, from gift cards to help with paying property taxes.

Houses of worship are adaptable to residential and other uses as congregations dwindle.

The settlement reached last week over questionable mortgage practices by major American banks hardly cracks the iceberg that is the foreclosure mess.

Under the settlement, nearly two million Americans could benefit from mortgage relief from the nation’s biggest banks.

A cold war-era satellite relay station is for sale in California after a Silicon Valley mogul gave up on plans to turn it into a weekend home.

How can I make my front porch more appealing to buyers?

Court hearings meant to protect New York homeowners from foreclosure are hopelessly slowed by endless paperwork and requests for additional information.

The Bay Area and Silicon Valley expect the windfall from the Facebook stock offering to make their in-demand region even hotter.

The house, designed by the architect Eric Fisher, looms over the street like a big industrial arm.

A town house in Dallas, a midcentury modern in Rhode Island and a Tudor in Denver.

Prices in some parts of the country are still off by as much as 25 percent from their 2007 peak.

Trinity Church is the largest landlord in Hudson Square and is part of the effort to rezone the area to residential from manufacturing.

Rising oil prices and a boom in shale exploration are leading companies to add office space in the Houston area, most notably Exxon Mobil.

Ms. de França is the president and chief executive of Douglas Elliman Development Marketing, which focuses on new residential developments.

Meet the real estate broker’s interns: an ambitious group willing to do anything, earn nothing and wake up early on a Sunday to fluff the couch cushions at open houses.

A Flatiron condo, a Midtown South co-op and a Brooklyn Heights carriage house.

A four-bedroom ranch in Montclair, N.J., and a four-bedroom colonial Cape in Babylon, N.Y.

Homes in Dallas, Rhode Island and Denver.

Compare the cost of renting and buying equivalent homes.

For recently divorced men, a new breed of decorators offers help navigating a strange new world.

Plants that light up the winter garden can be found at Broken Arrow Nursery in Connecticut, which has long been a favorite of gardening geeks.

A sister in need drew the painter Beverly McIver back home to North Carolina, unaware that a new beginning was in store for both of them.

A jewelry designer finds striking new objects for storage.

Timothy Sakamoto and Jochen Repolust are part of the small but growing niche making mobile apps focused on specific works of architecture.

To promote an auction of 20th- and 21st-century design, the interior designer Stephen Sills has created a preview exhibition in an apartment at the Apthorp.

Fishs Eddy now sells plates acquired from the archives of the now-defunct Syracuse China Corporation, many more than 100 years old.

The designer Russell Greenberg creates custom baby rattles with ends shaped like profiles of mom and dad.