San Mateo County Real Estate Blog

However, creating your own web site requires some work. There is a lot that goes into it such as design, hosting, search engine marketing and updates. The good websites often require a professional to get it off on the right track and optimized properly. http://www.fixpad.net is a good place to start if you need help with your website.

Having an experienced webmaster will really help.  There are several things you need to do in order for your website to be found among the millions of sites out on the web.  An experienced webmaster will be able to optimize your site for the search engines and get you listed in the top results for your area.  The webmaster will help you with your email newsletters, link stategies, marketing and advertising.  It’s a lot of work, but the payoff is great once everything is in place.

Also, it is important to keep your website interesting and full of information.  If your website is just an advertisement people won’t stay on your site for long.  However, if you provide useful information for your potential clients such as the latest mortgage rates, mls search, home buyer tips, articles and other useful information visitors will stay on your site and come back for more at a later time.  Search engines, such as Google, like constantly changing and updated websites and rewared those sites by giving them top search results.  Since most people only look at the first page of search results it is important to be there.

Another way to reach potential customers is by blogging. If you want to develop a rapport with your customers, make regular postings about the local real estate market and gain interest from other media outlets or potential customers. You would certainly benefit from starting a blog. Because blogs by nature are considered a source of information rather than a commercial advertisement it makes perfect sense for a realtors to use blogs as a means of establishing a reputation in their market.

A website should be the primary marketing tool for every realtor. Almost everyone who looking for a new home searches the internet first.  If you are not there you are missing out on a lot of potential clients.

The real estate market is very good right now and home prices are still rising steadily. Most real estate buyers these days are well educated about the process and have done their research.  This is why realtors need to keep up with the times and be able provide clients with the latest information.

More and more people are using and accessing the Internet. The National Association of Realtors contends that 96% of the Americans who would buy houses will access the Internet to find their dream homes. Most realtors do not understand the power of the Internet in generating the sales that they need. They do not realize that the generation of leads through the Internet can significantly increase your sales.

The easier it is for potential buyers to find you and your properties, the more likely it is that you will make a sale. Having an Internet presence will allow your clients, potential clients, or other interested parties, get in touch with you and the information you have to offer anytime.

You want to get into real estate - either for your personal use or for investment purposes - but you just don’t have the cash to get started? What are you going to do?

There is at least one technique that virtually anyone can use as long as the property seller is willing to negotiate with you. To be fair, not every seller will be interested (or even understand) the concept outlined. Your best bet is to find a property that the owner has great interest in selling, whether because of moving, divorce or frustration with tenants.

In fact, if you are currently renting and thinking about using this technique perhaps your landlord would be happy to help you out!

HOW TO BUY WITH NO MONEY DOWN

There are a few variations that can be used depending on you and your seller. Do they want the market price or are they just eager to get out from the monthly payments - perhaps facing foreclosure?

The simplest method is to take over their mortgage payments - called ‘assuming’ the mortgage. You will need to be approved by the original lender to assume the mortgage. If you cannot get approved for an assumable mortgage you may also try a ’subject to’ assumption where you merely make payments while the property remains in the seller’s name.

WHAT IF THEY WANT A HIGHER PRICE?

You take over the original mortgage AND create a second mortgage on the remaining cost of the house with the seller. Offer a high, interest-only payment for a short period of time - 2 or 3 years. Instead of having the money sit in a bank they can be collecting a high interest over 2 or 3 years with the remainder due in full at the end of the term.

When the term ends you should be able to refinance the cost, or you can sell. Unless you hit a real bad market the value of the property should have risen in that time.

WHAT IF THERE’S NO MORTGAGE TO ASSUME?

Easy. Most mortgage lenders merely want to make a good investment. While your local bank may still shy away there are plenty of financial lenders that would love to make a deal.

Financiers like real estate. The mortgage is usually based on 60-70% of the VALUE of the property, so as long as they know they get their money back in the value of the property if you default, they don’t care what kind of money you make. Complete the deal with a second mortgage created with the seller. If you default they can still foreclose on the property and sell it, paying off the existing mortgage with the proceeds.

As you can see, it can be in the favor of a buyer and seller to work together - especially if the seller is motivated. If they can’t wait for a sale, you can still give them their asking price with a little flexibility on their part.

Riches can be made in any kind of real estate market. A professional real estate investor makes money when prices are high and when prices are low.

No matter what is happening in the market they buy low and sell high. They never buy high and expect to make money waiting for prices to rise.

Newbies buy high expecting prices to rise, and when the prices drop they are left owing $175,000 on a house that is now worth $100,000. So as a real estate investor always buy low.

Everywhere there are properties selling for below market value. There are many homes in average neighborhoods that need a few thousand dollars worth of cosmetics.

For example, take a house selling for $100,000. Since you have done your homework you know it could easily sell for $145,000 or more if it looked better. Buy the house, spend $2,000-$7,000 fixing it up, and sell it for a sizable profit.

Never spend a pile of money to completely renovate a house. Just do cosmetic changes such as painting the inside and outside, putting in new carpet, fixing broken doors and repairing leaky faucets. Only do the basics to make the house presentable.

Real estate investors recommend you start out buying three-bedroom, two-bathroom homes. These are the most in demand and so are the easiest to re-sell.

Buy in neighborhoods that are nice. You do not want to buy in neighborhoods that are too nice or too rough. Focus on your average family-friendly neighborhood.

Also, buy homes that are listed at 60-75% or less of their value. Never buy a home that is listed at $100,000 with a value of $100,000. Buy the one listed at $75,000 that is valued at $100,000.

The easiest way to find these homes is to work with a real estate agent. Find one who will be glad to find you homes that meet your criteria.

Why work with a real estate agent? Agents have 85-90% of the properties for sale. They know the area. Tell them you are an investor right up front and what you are looking for. The great agents will be happy to send you all the homes you can handle, and you will be happy to pay them their commission.

Besides having a great agent you also need to have a niche market. Are you going to focus on foreclosures? Are you going to go after fixer-uppers? Are you going to buy and then quickly re-sell? Or are you going to buy and rent it out for a while?

If you are going to rent out your properties be sure you do the math. Will you be able to rent out the house for more than the monthly expenses? Be sure to include a property manager with those expenses. And remember that the house might sit vacant a month or two. Allow enough money to account for no income for part of the year.

So never buy a home that is going to cost you $1,000 a month in finance charges and other expenses if you can only rent it out for $800. That is a fast way to end bankrupt.

But before you do all this, before you get a real estate agent and go out making offers, there is one very important thing you must do first. You must write down your goals.

Is your goal to be worth $1 million within five years? That is very possible. But do not expect to reach 1/5 of that goal in the first year.

Start with a plan to make so many offers a week and stick with it, increasing it as you go. Since most beginners make one purchase for every 50 offers, have a plan to make one purchase a month. That would require you make 50 offers every month. Set the goal and little by little you will achieve it.

So you have your goals, you have a great real estate agent, you know your niche, and now it’s time to make some offers. As stated, most beginners make one purchase with every 50 offers.

If you make $25,000 on that one purchase, then in effect you are making $500 each time you make an offer. So never think that you are wasting your time making those other 49 offers.

Just as important as having written goals, a great agent and a niche, you need to have the right frame of mind to deal with success. So many who want to invest in real estate actually cause themselves to fail. They self-sabotage their success.

Believe you can succeed. Learn how to handle money wisely. Educate yourself by reading and attending seminars. Surround yourself with people who have the same goals as you and who are achieving their goals.

There are many real estate experts out there, so find a good one, attend the seminars on learning how to think about money and be financially responsible, and begin your journey to buy and sell properties.

Buying your first home can be both thrilling and scary and getting your first mortgage is usually part of the equation. Obtaining a mortgage can be confusing and stressful for many people, especially if this is a new experience. Without a doubt your home, even if it’s a starter home, is and will be, one of the biggest investments of your life. With that in mind it is important to take the mortgage process slowly and not rush or skip important steps.

One of the very first steps necessary in the mortgage process is to decide if you want to go with a direct lender or a brokerage service. Dealing directly with lenders can, in most cases be a little bit cheaper because you don’t have to pay a brokerage commission. However, a brokerage service can find lenders that are most suitable to the needs of the borrower and also take care of the many administrative tasks involved in the process. That is what you are paying them to do.

For first time homebuyers there are many programs that can assist including, but not limited to, FHA, VA and other specialized programs that vary based on where you live. Any quality mortgage company will be able to supply a listing of programs suitable to the lenders needs. In many cases these programs can be quite helpful in assisting in that first home purchase.

It is also important that you pre-qualify for a mortgage. That way you will know in advance how much home you can afford which in many cases will save you time, aggravation and in some instances embarrassment. You can go on the Internet and use any one of the free mortgage calculators available to help you figure out what your monthly payments might look like. Filling out that application and getting pre-approved is a must for any one seeking a mortgage.

You should also ask a lot of questions about anything that you may not fully understand. Find out the difference between a fixed and adjustable rate mortgage. You must also find out about any fees that may be charged to you. Some fees, quite frankly, can be avoided by the educated shopper so shop around. Buying a home is similar to buying anything else, only on a much larger scale. You always want to get the best deal possible and remember to never, ever sign anything that you don’t fully understand.

If you’ve ever had insomnia and watched late night television you may have seen the infomercials telling you that you can buy real estate no money down. But can you really purchase investment property without having any cash? The answer is, “yes!”.

Anyone can purchase property without having any cash, but it’s not nearly as easy as the gurus proclaim. Can you do it even if you have bad credit?? Yes, but it’s a whole lot easier to do it if you have good credit.

In fact, with good credit it’s easy to get cash when you buy. Here’s how you can get paid when you buy a piece of property.

Example: Property is for sale for $100,000.

1. You ask the owner of the property to give you a note for $30,000 secured by other property you own or even as an unsecured note (you can put a VA clause in the note allowing it to be moved back to the subject after the closing).
2. You get a conventional loan for 75% of the sales price.
3. You ask the seller to pay your closing costs.
4. You ask the seller for a carpeting allowance of $2000.

Here’s how the deal works;

- You buy the property for $100,000.
- You pay the bank on a $75,000 mortgage.
- You pay the owner on a $30,000 mortgage.
- The seller pays your closing costs.
- The seller pays you $2000 for carpeting.

If the property is rented out for $1000, you collect the rents and security deposits.

In the above example the buyer would walk away from the closing with a $100,000 property, $5000 from the over finance, $2000 for the carpeting, and $2000 for the rent and security deposit. That’s a total of $9000 for buying a piece of investment property. NOT TOO BAD.

Will every seller be willing to do this deal with you? No, maybe only one seller in ten or twenty will be willing to do this deal. But there are sellers who will do this deal. What you have to find is a motivated seller.

What makes a motivated seller?

- An owner who is in foreclosure.
- An owner who got the property as part of an estate.
- An owner who no longer wants to deal with tenants.
- An owner who is in divorce.
- An owner who has been transferred out of state.

Now that you’ve bought a property and put money in your pocket be prepared to deal with the tenants.

Beginning a hobby or career in real estate investing doesn’t have to be so complicated or such hard work if you will only begin with what you have, right where you are at this moment.

Look for someone who really needs to sell their home and solve their problem. One of the fastest solutions if they are about to lose the house is to take over their payments on a subject-to contract. By giving them some walking money, they can afford to move and still have the cash to rent another home.

Then, clean up the property, lease it out to a future buyer on a rent-to-own basis which is called a Lease/Option. You get to collect an up-front, non-refundable deposit. Three to five percent of the future purchase price is a good figure to shoot for. You can actually do this every month and make some additional cash, or concentrate on this method as a full time lifestyle.

Have the renter/buyer sign a contract. You pocket the difference between what you’re paying the original owner and the amount you’re collecting from the new renter/buyer. The spread is higher on nice, expensive homes in great neighborhoods, so don’t be afraid to search in these areas.

This is a good method of collecting extra cash flow every month. There is no limit to the number of these deals you can do other than your time and effort.

Call on every “For Rent” ad in the local paper and just ask if they would be willing to sell the property in a couple of years if you sign a long-term lease. If you get a yes, negotiate a fair purchase price, sign a contract and find a renter/buyer. It really is that simple. Of course, you want to have a lawyer check out the contracts on the first deal to protect both parties.

Try to get at least $150 more per month than you are paying. Also get a minimum of $1000 above and beyond what you have paid out as the option deposit. You don’t want to be working for free, do you?

Let’s look at some figures from actual lease/options. A couple were behind on their notes because he lost his job, and she didn’t make enough to pay all the living expense. The stress was causing marital problems and they wanted to sell, but the house stayed on the market for six months with no takers.

They were getting desperate when a neighbor mentioned the situation to her church group. One of the group’s members had a son who was looking for a house that could be leased with an option to purchase in a few years. He and his wife didn’t have a lot of money for a down payment, but they knew that buying was better than renting.

After looking at the property, they decided it would be a perfect first home if they could manage the financing. The couple offered $1000 as a non-refundable option deposit, if the current owners would give them two years to qualify for a new mortgage. The timing was right and the current owners accepted the offer. The monthly payment they agreed on was $200 less than similar house rentals in the area.

Both couples were happy and they signed contracts for the deal the next day. The new couple didn’t even move in. They saw an opportunity to make some quick cash and a good monthly cash flow, so they lease/optioned the house to another couple for $5000 down with payments that were $300 above their obligation.

If this new couple closes on the deal in 1 year, they will have earned $5,000 up front and $3,600 over the course of the year in monthly cash flow. By the way, the sales price was $12,000 higher than what they had agreed to pay the original owners. Added up this equals $20,600 for just a few hours work.

These deals exist in every town in the world. You can do these until you build up your bankroll and monthly cash flow. There are no geographical limits. Travel the world doing deals, living where you please and life is no longer on a budget.

If you are in dire need of money and don’t have the financial means for a large cash transaction to buy a house, then opting for a home mortgage is worth consideration.

Basically, a mortgage refers to a long-standing credit that a debtor obtains from a financial institution or from a property seller.

In most cases, the house is the usual collateral for the mortgage, thus the term “home mortgage”. In turn, the mortgage lender will be entitled to some legal rights upon the property as long as the mortgage is in full force or until the debtor pays back the loan.

A home mortgage serves as security for loans, thus giving the lender the power to acquire the property through foreclosure in the event that the borrower fails to pay the loan on time.

Generally, a home mortgage is comprised of a large loan. That’s why in most cases a home mortgage can take 15 to 30 years before the borrower can pay back the due amount.

In a home mortgage, the due amount to be paid by the borrower stipulates the principal amount of the mortgage and the interest owed relative to the outstanding balance. The real estate taxes and property insurance are also factored into the total mortgage balance.

Some home owners who find it difficult to make their mortgage payments may opt for refinancing of their mortgage. But for those who wish to pay off a home mortgage quickly, there are things to be considered…

First, make sure you have a stable source of income. Organize your overall financial assets to ensure that paying off your mortgage will not over-extend your cash flow. There are many such considerations that should be carefully planned and organized before resorting to pay-off your home mortgage.

It’s also important to your financial security to have a ready reserve of cash just in case of emergencies. This can be in the form of stocks and bonds, a bank savings account, or any other readily available form of cash.

Paying off your home mortgage can be a rewarding experience, but be sure to consider your overall financial status before making the decision to do so. The wrong decision can put you at great financial risk.

If you think that you are ready for the mortgage “experience” and that you have your finances securely organized, then by all means, go for it. After all, nothing beats a worry-free, mortgage-free financial status.

Have you heard that commercial about interest-only mortgages…the one where you’re told about what a wonderful benefit it is to have a low, low mortgage payment and all the wonderful tax write-offs you will receive?

Before you decide to buy now and pay later, that is pay “big time” later, take a moment to enlighten yourself a bit more about these so-called “interest only mortgages.” Think about it for a moment. If you just pay the interest on your home, will you ever start paying on principal and will you ever earn any equity into your property?

By definition, a mortgage is a temporary, conditional pledge of property to a creditor as security for performance of an obligation or repayment of a debt. Simplified, that means you borrow money from a financial institution and they essentially buy your house and you pay it back. How can this happen if you’re just paying interest? More accurately, interest-only mortgages are a temporary reprieve for paying off a traditional mortgage. You may actually be prolonging the inevitable and eventually making it even more costly to pay off your mortgage.

Far too many people are in debt way over their heads because of interest-only mortgages. They took advantage of attractive offers to buy now and pay later. With an interest only payment you’re keeping the principal at minimum value while continuing to pay interest at 100%. With a more conventional mortgage you’d be slowly dwindling down the total interest amount.

Most interest-only payment schedules are offered on Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARMs), but they can also be found on a fixed rate mortgage. Interest-only payment periods almost never run for the entire term of the loan which is typically 15 or 30 years. Depending on the terms of your contract, you could be expected to start paying on the principal in five, seven or ten years. Once the interest-only period ends, your monthly payment will go up because then you’ll be paying on both principal and interest.

Conversely, interest-only mortgages can be a good thing for some people. For those people wanting to purchase a bigger/better home for a lower down payment AND who anticipate moving within seven years, the interest-only payment method may be the way to go. However, keep in-mind that in a “down” realestate market you generally won’t be building equity and making money by doing it this way. The majority of the money made from investing in real estate comes from an increase in value to the home. The average person moves every seven years anyway. Gone are the days when people stay in a home thirty years. Hence, if you anticipate moving before you’ll have to start paying on the principal, then an interest-only payment may be ideal for you.

There’s a great deal of fine print to any mortgage. Evaluate your own goals; be vigilant when reviewing the terms on the loan you’re considering before acting.

When the going gets tough and the tough just keeps on going, mortgage lenders may seem like godsend angels at your doorstep.

Due to some unavoidable circumstances, more and more people are getting deeper into debt. As a result, many people are seeking alternatives for dealing with their financial problems, and ways they can minimize and consolidate their expenses. One way to do this is by securing a mortgage.

Basically, a mortgage is a legal record or document designed to protect the mortgage lender against delay of payment or the debtor’s refusal to pay the debt.

A mortgage lender can be any financial institution or even an individual who has the capacity to lend money to the borrower. There are, actually, various types of mortgage lenders. The key in selecting a mortgage is to choose the right one that fits your needs. Look for a mortgage that has the capacity to lend you the right amount of money at a reasonable rate of interest.

The most common and well-known mortgage lender is the bank. You can opt to choose the bank as your mortgage lender for reliability, convenience, and nippy approval on loans. Banks generally work faster in processing your loans as compared to other mortgage lenders. Banks are also a one-stop center for all your lending needs.

You can also secure a mortgage through a mortgage broker. A mortgage broker is a type of mortgage lender that usually acts as a middleman and finds the appropriate loan that best fits your needs.

Finally, you may want to consider credit unions and thrifts as other types of lending institutions where mortgages can be secured.

Whatever type of mortgage lender you choose; your credit history will have a definite influence on the placement of a mortgage and availability of money.

Whichever form of mortgage you choose, be sure to do your homework before making a final decision. Get recommendations from friends or relatives who know reliable mortgage lenders. As a final step in the process, be sure to check the mortgage lender’s credentials so you can be certain that your financial transactions will be secure and dependable.

You really have to pay more attention on these things. After all, it’s your money that’s at stake if things will not go on smoothly. So, it would be better to be sure with your mortgage lender even if it means you’re the one who is asking for favor.