Property Blogs are popping up all other the internet and for good reason. Blog sites are a very effective way to get people to view your properties as well as interact with potential buyers all over the world.

rent a car bulgariaWhat Is A Blog and Why Are they so Effective for Selling Properties?
To keep it simple, a blog, short for weblog, is an online journal that is updated regularly via postings; with the postings appearing in chronological order. Many blogs allow visitors to make comments via postings in response to the blogger (owner of the blog), or to ask questions.

So why should you use a blog? There are many attributes to blogs that make them very resourceful. First, blogs are easy to get started and some of the most popular sites will actually host your blog for free; making them very economical as well. Basically, you can get your blog start in minutes; costing very little to nothing at all.

If tomorrow all the things were gone,
I’d worked for all my life.
And I had to start again,
with just my children and my wife.

I’d thank my lucky stars,
to be livin here today.
‘ Cause the flag still stands for freedom,
and they can’t take that away.

And I’m proud to be an American,
where at least I know I’m free.
And I wont forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.

And I gladly stand up,
next to you and defend her still today.
‘ Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land,
God bless the USA.

From the lakes of Minnesota,
to the hills of Tennessee.
Across the plains of Texas,
From sea to shining sea.

From Detroit down to Houston,
and New York to L.A.
Well there’s pride in every American heart,
and its time we stand and say.

That I’m proud to be an American,
where at least I know I’m free.
And I wont forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.

And I gladly stand up,
next to you and defend her still today.
‘ Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land,
God bless the USA.

And I’m proud to be and American,
where at least I know I’m free.
And I wont forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.

And I gladly stand up,
next to you and defend her still today.
‘ Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land,
God bless the USA.

компютри втора употребаFannie Mae Announces Single National Down Payment Policy;
Replaces Policy Regarding Markets Where Home Prices are Declining

A friend of mine sent me this article the other day and I thought I’d share because it’s important information for where we are right now in real estate! This may help those of us in areas where our buyers have had a hard time getting financing for our deals and lenders have been scrutinizing deals with a microscope!

WASHINGTON, DC — Fannie Mae (FNM/NYSE) today announced a new, national policy on down payment requirements for conventional, conforming mortgages the company will purchase or guarantee. Starting June 1, 2008, Fannie Mae will accept up to 97 percent loan-to-value ratios for conventional, conforming mortgages processed through its Desktop Underwriter® (DU®) automated underwriting system, and 95 percent loan-to-value ratios for loans underwritten outside of DU, in all geographic locations in the United States. The new national down payment policy will supersede the policy the company adopted in December 2007 that required higher down payments in markets where home prices are declining.

Every time you turn on the news, it’s doom and gloom for real estate all around the country.

And certainly… the news is not good by and large throughout most of the country, BUT… believe it or not, there are pockets that are alive and doing VERY WELL, just like when most of the country was in vertical growth, there were pockets with record foreclosures!

The key is being able to know where those markets are BEFORE everybody else does (Click Here to find out how to find the best markets TODAY).

Let’s look at what could happen if you found the markets before your competitors did? (more…)

Everywhere you turn, there’s a media frenzy stitched with doom and gloom about the real estate market.

Sure… we’ve all heard it… It’s a buyer’s market! But it seems like buyers don’t want to pull the trigger… they’re “waiting” to see if we’re truly at the bottom of the market. They’re waiting to see if the feds drop interest rates again. They’re waiting to see if there’s a better deal around the corner. The point is… they’re waiting! And what you have a house to sell, it’s the last thing you want to contend with! You want a ready, willing, and able buyer to put a contract of your property and show up to closing!

The good news is… that buyers (in some markets) are starting to get the picture. In fact, just in the past 2 weeks, I know of 2 stories where people lost out on a home because they thought the selling side was calling “bluff”. The key is to really have a deal that a buyer simply can’t refuse.

Here’s a simple strategy to get a flood of potential buyers through the door and potentially have multiple offers on the table in no time at all. (Keep this in mind when you’re making your offers on wholesale properties too!!! This model will keep you turning properties no matter WHAT is going on in the market). (more…)

I know that rule #1 in real estate is not to get attached to a piece of property! However, when it’s your own home, the rules change! And that’s what happened to me.

I bought my home in Coral Gables back in 2003 and absolutely fell in love with it. It was an old spanish home with unique architectural elements and it was absolutely perfect for me. In fact, it even had a converted carport that I used for my office so that my work didn’t creep into my entire living space (as it has in my new home!)

In 2005, I bought another house… This time, in West Palm Beach a block from the water. The house itself was not my dream house, but I loved the location. I could even put my own sailboat in the water at the end of the street (which I never got around to). I decided to move to West Palm Beach because I was doing more real estate in the area and didn’t want to keep both houses as active residences. I did go back and forth for the first 18 months and just didn’t want to do it anymore. So, I rented it for just about a year and a half. (more…)

At least several times per week, I get asked about how to get business lines of credit ESPECIALLY since the lenders are tightening up these days. Now, when I am applying for credit, I’m not too picky if it comes in the form of a credit card with courtesy checks or an actual line of credit.

I’m not too concerned about interest rates because I’m using them for a tool. Certainly, the lower the interest rate, the better, but if I have to get a card at 15%, I’ll take it. I won’t carry a balance on it or use it unless I come across a deal that I simply must use the card for and it makes sense.

Some people may wonder why I don’t fight for great rates, and I definitely try to get the best rates I can, but I’m not accumulating business credit for the sole purpose of maxing out my debt :-0! You see, I want to have as MUCH money available to me at any given time in case the right deal comes along and I need immediate cash OR in case I need some extra funds to grow my business.

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Listen to Lou Castillo’s “Online RE Empire HERE (In this 90 minute interview, Lou reveals how YOU CAN have multiple streams of income with real estate as the foundation)

I remember back about 5 years ago when the whole “Multiple Streams of Income” was all the rage. But, even then… I thought, “Hmmm. How in the heck is anyone supposed to learn 4 VERY DIFFERENT businesses at the same time?”

I consider myself pretty good at multi-tasking and taking on multiple projects at the same time, but when you’re trying to…

… Learn the RE business;
… Figure out how to write ebooks and put them online;
… Speak publicly;
… Understand the stock market; and
… Choose a network marketing company

all at once, it’s no doubt that you wind up running in circles, never really getting ANYTHING accomplished. I know from first hand experience. I would go to a seminar or an event and I would want to come home and do EVERYTHING! I remember starting (more…)

I just spent the last week with my “mastermind” team, or my network of people that help me grow our business. And while I was there, I lot of questions came up about referrals, partners, etc. Now, this wasn’t a “real estate” group per se, but we definitely share our resources.

On the plane home, I got to thinking about networking in real estate. There aren’t as many mastermind groups out there. Plus, the cost to enter can be out of reach for many (this one cost me $16,000). So, I thought that since we’re just getting going into 2008, now would be a great time to evaluate our businesses and who’s on our team. So, I decided to post this article..

Here’s a short list of people that you need in your real estate business:

… Accountants
… Attorneys
… Private Lenders
… Rehab Lenders

(more…)

Like many homeowners, I got my escrow analysis recently on one of my investment properties (and it wasn’t one that I was doing especially well with in the first place). I’ll tell you right off the bat that it’s got a negative cashflow to begin with. Perhaps one of these days I’ll go into the whole story on why and what the long term exit strategy is.

Long story short, the payments went from $2285.84 to $2811.67.

Oh yeah… and the HOA went from $500/quarter to $533/quarter. I know this doesn’t sound like a lot, but every dollar starts to add up.
So, as of January 1, 2008, the payments have increased from $2452.61 to $2989.34. This means that my payment went up $536.73 every month. And keep in mind, I was upside down every month before. THIS HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE MORTGAGE ADJUSTING and I have owned this property for 19 months so there’s no first year adjustment for taxes to take into account.

My first reaction was to get angry – I mean really angry. Are you kidding me? How did this happen? So I quickly called the bank to try and figure out what was going on. They were collecting around $714 per month for taxes and insurance. This is DOUBLE what my taxes and insurance should be. (more…)