real estate

Real Estate Investing Checklist

March 11, 2020 by Team RE Mentor Leave a Comment

Investing in residential real estate is one of the oldest forms of investing — and it’s an asset class worth considering for your portfolio due to the cash flow, tax and diversification benefits it offers. To ensure you invest wisely, research and advance preparation are key.

real estate investing — Real Estate Investing Checklist

Here are the first steps you must consider if you’re thinking about becoming a real estate investor:

Step 1. Research these three questions:

Where are the best places to buy — and how can you forecast demand in the future? Do your homework and conduct market research, and you’ll gain visibility into which locations are established neighborhoods, where the up-and-coming places are and what areas offer the least financial appreciation.
Is now the right time to buy? Pay attention to economic trends and rent activity in the area you want to invest in.
How much leverage can I afford? Know whether your real estate goals are short- or long-term; this will dictate how much debt you can take on when buying an investment property.

Step 2. Gather your financial documents

Request your credit report from all three credit rating agencies: Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion.
Assemble paperwork, including tax returns, W-2 forms from the past two years, current pay stubs, bank statements from the past several months, current asset statements, etc.

Step 3. Speak with a banker or mortgage broker

Based on your income eligibility and credit score, your banker or broker can help you determine how much financing you’re eligible to receive.

Step 4. Know what type of financing is right for your real estate purchase

Research the forms of financing that are applicable to the type of residential properties you’re considering.
Know what type of financing is best for your investment horizon.
Understand how each loan type’s structure and terms will impact your monthly cash flow and your overall return on investment.

Step 5. Build the rest of your team

Select a broker who knows the area you want to purchase in and will give you candid advice you can trust.
Find a reliable real estate attorney and home appraiser (or home inspector) who will help you avoid last-minute surprises during the real estate transaction.

As with many investments, real estate has potential — but that doesn’t mean it’s an assured gain. Use this checklist to take calculated steps, make careful choices, and weigh the costs and benefits of your actions before making an offer.

3 Property Management Trends 2020

February 26, 2020 by Team RE Mentor Leave a Comment

Millennial Tenants

Millennial tenants are becoming more of the tenant market and what they want often requires high tech solutions. Without that technology, they consider you backward or irrelevant, even though you’ve got everything else nailed.

Without technology and growing property portfolio’s you may not be able to keep up, nor satisfy landlords and owners that you’re capable of growth and efficiency.

They’ll likely know from their first visit to your website or conversation on the phone that you’re old school.

Renters love the ease of doing things when they can via their smartphone, on the bus or subway, at work, on the road in their car or at home.

Rental Market Demand

Housing construction starts will grow in 2020 and for the next 5 years.

Renters are weighing the buy vs rent decision, and some will make the choice to buy a home. That will in turn lower rents and raise vacancies.

Your costs will go up and your revenues down.

Large Multifamily Properties

Large multifamily buildings are the trend, due to so much pent up demand for units. Big developments near key transit locations will receive priority from the government.

Learn to Sow Success

February 21, 2020 by Team RE Mentor Leave a Comment

This is an excerpt from a longer article Published: Wed, 17 Jul 2019

The law of the harvest is a lot more than that to a person who seeks success. In essence, the law says, “If you sow success, you shall reap success.”

Now that sounds silly, doesn’t it? If you already have success to sow, you don’t need to sow something to reap it.

If you had your first million dollars already, you wouldn’t need to do anything to earn it.

Luckily, we can sow success without actually having it first. You see, when you sow corn, you don’t sow whole ears, you just sow the seeds. And where do you get the seeds? From somebody who has already had a successful crop, that’s where. Success seeds work just like corn, and you’ve got a whole batch of good seeds right in front of you. Sow them to reap your success. That’s your first law of success.

Every law of success is a seed that will sprout until you have a whole field full of it. Then you can reap your harvest and continue the process, because now—guess what? You’ve got your own seeds, and you can help others plant their crops and replant your own for another yield.

When you’ve helped others to succeed in their lives and their ambitions, that is when you know you have truly succeeded in your life. Nothing is more satisfying than that feeling of success.

There is no finer vindication of your efforts than someone else succeeding with your help using your seeds of success, and that is what we strive for at RE Mentor.

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Listen to real insights for real estate investors from real estate professionals on this week’s Real Insight’s Podcast

Moving For Love

February 14, 2020 by Team RE Mentor Leave a Comment

-Moving For Love-

Consumers are willing to move—even more than 500 miles–in order to be with a significant other. And the move tends to be worth it, according to a survey by Bellhops, a professional moving company. Bellhops analyzed nearly 2 million online conversations in the U.S. from June 2018 to March 2019 to find themes in moving. “Moving for love” was among those themes they found.

Sixty percent of the people whose conversations involved moving for love are now married or in a long-term relationship, the study showed. Women are more likely to move for love than men.

One-third of the people who moved for love did so more than once too. Fifty-seven percent said they’d do it again, if necessary too.

Americans are willing to move long distances to be with their significant others—44% moved 500 miles or more for love, the study found.

For those who move, the majority rent an apartment. But 25% are so confident in their choice that they skip renting and buy a home in their new location once they move, according to the survey.

Source: “The State of Moving,” Bellhops (2020)

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“The Nibble”

February 1, 2020 by Team RE Mentor Leave a Comment

Webster’s Dictionary would define the word “nibble” as “a small bite”, but to the person buying something, a nibble is a bit different. To a buyer, a nibble is a conscious or unconscious effort to get the seller to take less, and is usually the last effort to get just a little bit more taken off of the asking price. – Real Estate Club

The Nibble is a negotiating tactic.

Once you have the deal signed and finalized, if anything surfaces that you weren’t aware of prior to the signing of the contracts, ask the seller for a credit at closing. This information often surfaces after the property inspections, when you receive your Due Diligence verification back.

The most common Nibble

is actually the repair allowance we just spoke of. If there are additional repairs that you were not aware of prior to negotiating the sale of the property, ask the seller for a credit.

Other common Nibbles:

Maybe the rents aren’t as high as the seller stated, or perhaps some of the expenses are higher than you were told. Since your offer was based on the information given to you by the seller, you have the right to go back and get a credit for the difference.

Beware, though.

The reason it’s called a Nibble is that you’re asking for small items, one at a time, nibbling away at the deal. If the seller agrees to each, you may end up with quite a bit. You aren’t asking for anything unreasonable. You’re asking for an amount that may be an inconvenience, but not a deal-breaker.

Nibbles are done after the seller is tied to the deal.

The further along you are in the negotiating process before you request these credits, the more likely the seller will agree. The seller already has plans for his proceeds and just wants to close the deal.