Tips to Consider Before Investing in Real Estate

Many people would like to stay in apartments but when it comes to investing they go back because of the lack of knowledge. Finally they end up investing in single-family homes and few other first time buyers will go for apartment or condos because they doesn't require more efforts as such houses. People who enjoy certain lifestyles will go for apartments because the security will be high.

When you are thinking of purchasing an apartment, you need to consider the following tips to get the best profit out of that investment. The things to consider are:

• Price
• Number of units
• Location of the building
• Condition of the building
• Maintenance expenses

Price and the number of units are the foremost things to consider because its always good to analyze the budget when investing in apartments. The other things which you need to consider are:

• age of the building
• Sq. footage of units
• Features and Amenities
• Assessment of the property
• Whether pets are allowed
• Gross expenses
• Net income
• Monthly Rents and average rents in the area for similar properties

Apart from these, you should also consider the demographics, crime, transportation facilities and neighborhood.

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Flipping Properties for More Profits

Real estate is a business which is bought and sold every day. With just little information many people become real estate agents and help facilitate a sale by finding a buyer for a seller hereby getting commission.

Getting a real estate license is very simple but to succeed in the strong competition among other real estate agents requires a lot of hard work and struggle. They need to continue education classes and follow the guidelines set for them.

Flippers are investors who buy properties with the intention of selling it for a profit. A flipper will only spend short time with a deal and the profit potential will be much more than the agent's commission.

Three Types of Flippers

Scout

Scout is a person who finds and sells deal for a profit. Their job is to gather information and provide it to others for a fee. This fee depends on the price and profit potential of the property. Scout can make about five hundred to one thousand dollars on every deal.

Dealer

A dealer locates a property and signs a contract with the owner. Apart from providing information, he has control over the property and he gets more profit and assumes more risk than a scout.

The Retailer

A retailer buys the property from a dealer and fixes it up to sell it for a full price. Compared to other flippers, retailers invest more money and can make the largest profit on a deal than others. A retailer takes months to realize his profit whereas a scout or dealer makes money within few days.

Hiring Lawyers for Real Estate

Hiring a lawyer is very much important in real estate investing especially if you are selling or buying a home. Though it costs you some extra money, its always wise to make use of them throughout the process of buying or selling your home.

Instead of getting finance from outside, you can get them from banks which are always ready to lend money for real estate investing. Unlike stock or gold, the worth of real estate does not fluctuate. Lot of opportunities are available in the market for real estate investments. You can exploit them if you have the correct knowledge, experience and desire about the business.

Real estate has become a fast-paced business because of the investment of large amount of money and this is what which drives so many people into this business. The income which you generate in real estate will be much higher when compared to the time and money you spend for getting a license.

Its always good to consult an experienced architect or a civil engineer to evaluate the total cost of the property and construction. If its an old property, consider the cost of construction and the land value to assess its value.

Charge rents reasonably and never fail to satisfy the needs of your tenants. Make an agreement letter confirmaing the status of tenancy or lease agreement.

A lawyer will help you evaluate the complications in properties and hence the service of a real estate lawyer is recommended for sellers who don't have experience in selling.

How to get your money owed by a tenant?

Have you ever evicted a tenant for non-payment of rent or you have been stiffed for the bill? You need not worry if such situation arises. You can collect your money even after years.

First, you need to get a court-ordered judgement after filing an eviction in court. This order will be signed by a judge that permits a constable to force the tenants to move out of property. You can also get a judgement against the tenant if

the tenant has been served with the court papers or

the eviction papers were mailed to the tenant

Security Deposits:

If you have got a security deposit, you can use it for the damage or the non-payment of rent. However you should inform the tenant about your intent of keeping the deposit. Even if you return the deposit, you can still get the money from the tenant for the damages incurred. You need not require a lawyer for it and you just need to file a claim.

Certain assets are exempt from collection by creditors. You need to find the easiest target to collect your money and cash in bank accounts would be the most preferred target. Its always advisable to keep a copy of the tenants' check to know where they are banking.

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Reasons for hedging real estate risk

Hedging your real estate risk is an important asset and property portfolio management strategy, during periods of economic and/or financial turmoil.

Economic and financial stress leads to drastic reduction of demand for real estate that causes dramatic downturns  in prices of all property types and create an environment of high uncertainty which keeps prices on a downward path.

The investor must hold a position in another investment instrument or vehicle that will register a counterbalancing that will increase in value, when the value of the particular real estate held by the investor decreases due to the economic/financial shock.

Property derivatives may allow a real estate investor to take such hedging positions but a caution is required in evaluating the cost of such derivatives and the true hedge that they provide against potential decreases in the values of the particular real estate assets held.

 For example, taking a counterparty position in a total return swap based on a property index during periods of rising prices, in order to create a hedging position against an unexpected economic shock, that will result in value declines and negative returns may be highly risky. In such an environment of rising prices, it is more likely that the counterparty will be paying the swap buyer, and if such a strategy is employed for many periods the cost of such protection may end up being higher than the gain that will be realized when the unexpected shock takes place eventually.

Real estate risk is not limited to the risk of declining capital values. It includes also some other major risks that need to be hedged, such as significant reduction of Net Operating Income  due to drastic reduction in market rents. Furthermore, it includes the interest rate risk , in case that a mortgage loan with an adjustable rate is used to finance part of the investment, and the exchange rate risk in the case of investments located in foreign countries that use different currency.

The place to invest in commercial property

When investing in commercial property the main goal is to maximize investment return that helps to reduce the risks as much as possible.

The cities with the greatest appreciation potential are considered to be the ones with largest supply shortages. The term "supply shortages" in the commercial property market refers to cities and sub markets in which the demand for commercial property is larger than the supply.

Therefore, cities in which the demand for commercial property increases at a considerably faster rate than the supply of commercial space have a high likelihood of strong property value increases and high commercial real estate investment returns. However, there is an important requirement for the above dynamics to take place and this has to do with the existing commercial property available for lease or sale,which has to be small. If the existing vacant inventory is large, even if demand for commercial space is growing faster than the existing stock, commercial property rents and values may continue to decline.

Therefore, in order to correctly answer the question where to invest in commercial property, we need to thoroughly analyze the demand and supply prospects of the targeted markets or sub-markets, and assess whether expected demand increases will be exceeding the available vacant stock and by how much.

Tips for successful real estate video marketing

1) Do Your Research

Keywords are the bread and butter of marketing in an online format.You will need to do some research using Google’s Keyword Tool. This is a free program offered by Google allowing you to research possible keywords or terms related to your choice of topics.

You will be able to enter your own keywords. You will be given a list of possible keywords, terms, or phrases that will allow you to use keywords to reach your target audience.

Google will allow you to research what keywords, terms, or phrases are being sought most in specific areas, regions, or globally, too. By knowing and understanding what your target audience is looking for on the internet, you can gear your real estate video marketing campaign towards that demographic.

2) Know Your Goal

Real estate marketing plan is essential to any advertising and marketing campaign. There are four main goals you will aim for as you develop your real estate marketing video: SEO, branding, lead generation, or listing plan. Each of the goals will lead to different types of development in the video process.

3)Type of Video suits to you

You can create slide shows, video capture, animated videos, real video of the property, video of the surrounding neighborhood, and so much more. The type of real estate videos you develop will depend on your skills and your available resources.

4)Must contain Script

In general speaking to most of the peoples will need some sort of script so as not to sound chopping, redundant, or unprofessional. Develop a script that dictates what your message should be and then work with what you have on hand.

5) Distribute in time

You will discover many video sharing websites, and none is more popular than You tube. After creating a free account, you can upload your finished product onto the account, and distribute freely to potential customers, clients, or investors. Be sure to add appropriate meta tags, titles, descriptions, and keywords.

If you want to increase your profitability, a successful real estate video marketing campaign will get you started reaching your target audience.