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Real Estate News – From $8k to $15k Tax Credit?
Real Estate News Overview:
The current tax credit is scheduled to expire in the fall however, now lawmakers and business are calling for an extension and an expansion from $8k to $15k.
In addition to this increase, the lawmaker request is also attempting to provide this incentive to anyone who buys a house, not just first time home buyers.
Buyers do not have to repay the tax credit if they occupy the home for three years or more.
Real Estate Investor Coach Response:
With the current government budget deficit a major concern to critics and myself included, I may be one to agree that this tax incentive expansion and extension would be a good “jump start” to the housing problem. Frankly, this is a pretty good incentive for anyone even considering purchasing a personal home. Clearly the original $8k incentive didn’t provide the “jump start” the government was hoping for so perhaps $15k will. Only time will tell.
Go back and review a previous blog on how some real estate investors are making money from this tax credit opportunity.
To your Real Estate Investing Success,
Brian Evans
8 Steps to Massive Success in Real Estate
Today’s Real Estate Investor Coach “Insider” video is called, “8 Steps to Massive Success in Real Estate”
One word describes this video……..AWESOME!
Be sure to take 30 quick seconds after the video and tell me what you think by posting your comments below. THANKS!
To your Real Estate Investing Success,
Brian Evans
Real Estate Business Tips – Do What You Say (Secret #2)
If you recall from last weeks blog post I discussed with you the importance of always doing what you say as well as the need to keep people accountable to what they say they will do.
There are two secrets to making this work for you:
Secret #1 - Don’t say you’ll do something if you are at all unsure that you’ll be able to do what you say.
Secret #2 - Use a Planner
Use a Planner you say?? How is that such a big and all-important secret? Well, I will tell you that once I implemented and committed my self to using a planner in my business and life, not only was I able to keep my promises with ease, but I was also able to remember to keep people accountable with ease.
Now I’m not talking about an electronic planner, blackberry, palm, or Microsoft outlook calendar. I’m talking about the good old fashioned leather planner with a paper and pen. There absolutely is nothing better…guaranteed.
Everyday when I get to my office, the first thing I do is open my planner and place it in a stand on my desk so that I can see my schedule and “to do’s.” If there are any “to-do’s” from the day before that I didn’t complete then I automatically write then in today’s page so that I am reminded to get them done.
You see friends, my planner is my excuse to FORGET! I have a terrible memory and you can ask my wife about that. However because I have established such a good habit of using and implementing my planner EVERYDAY it has allowed me to be a better business person and appear as though I have a memory of an Elephant.
Not only this, but my planner is my “idea center.” If you are an entrepreneur like me then you probably also have tons of NEW and GREAT ideas on a regular basis about how to make big bucks in real estate or any other business venture. The thing about me is, I write these ideas down in my planner and then once they are in my planner I automatically know that the idea will get IMPLEMENTED.
If you are not using a good old fashioned planner to organize you personally in your business and life then I believe that you will likely struggle with keeping your commitments and keeping people accountable to their commitments. No matter how big or small these commitments are.
I am a firm believe that the more organized and systemized you get, the faster your business will grow and the more money you will make! Your planner is your secret weapon, your friend, your memory box, your idea center, your accountability partner, your implementation device.
Put it this way, if there was ever a fire, and I had seconds to grab something and run, you’d see my laptop in one hand and my planner in the other. It is invaluable to me as a business owner and entrepreneur.
I hope you enjoyed this short article. If so, please post your comments below.
To your real estate investing success,
Brian Evans
Are Loan Mods Worth the Trouble?
Real Estate News Overview:
Since the inception of the Obama administration’s $75 billion program to reduce foreclosures by encouraging loan modifications, the plan has led to offers of more than 190,000 mortgage modifications with lower monthly payments, according to the Treasury Department. During that time, lenders either have started or advanced foreclosure proceedings against more than 1 million homes, according to RealtyTrac. About 20% of those were foreclosed upon and repossessed. The Center for Responsible Lending says 2.4 million Americans are at risk of foreclosure in 2009, and 8.1 million could be over the next four years.
Real Estate Investor Coach Response:
Here is the long and short of what this means. It is taking about 45-60 days for lenders to respond to the modification inquiries, and another 3-5+ months for a modification to become final. Therefore it is a very slow moving process so don’t bank your business around cash flow from loan mod “brokering” if that is what you are doing. As for me personally, I’d much rather attempt the short sale and buy the property. Now, not all sellers want to sell, and they would rather hope for a loan mod, but remember they have to qualify, which means they have to have acceptable income, employment, etc. Instead of giving up on a seller who says they would rather do a loan mod, I believe you should go for the “I’ll try to buy your house through short sale” pitch one or two more times before offering the loan mod route. The financial reward is much greater than that of a loan mod and it is about the same amount of time that goes by in the process.
To your Real Estate Investing Success,
Brian Evans
The Importance of a USP
Today’s Real Estate Investor Coach “Insider” video is called, “The Importance of a USP.” If you want to learn what a USP is, how to Benefit from it, as well as the USP’s that I use in my real estate investing business then you must watch this short 8 min and 54 second video RIGHT NOW.
Be sure to take 30 quick seconds after the video and tell me what you think by posting your comments below. THANKS!
To your Real Estate Investing Success,
Brian Evans
Real Estate Business Tips – Do What You Say
This week’s Real Estate Business Tip is something that is extremely important on many levels (Business and Personal). And this tip is, “Do What You Say.”
Sounds simple and miniscule doesn’t it? Well it is far from it. How many times has someone told you that they would call you back, or get back to you about something, or keep you in the loop, or let you know, or shoot you an email, or whatever and NOTHING HAPPENED? Better yet, how many times have you said that to someone and then not followed through with what you said?
Of all the pet peeves that I have, this one might top the chart. There is nothing that is more annoying to me than someone who says they’ll do something and then not do it! And 90% of the time I would venture to guess that they knew when they said it that they weren’t going to do anything, however they said it anyway. Why?? Because you didn’t want to hurt my feelings or let me know up front, and perhaps I’ll forget about it? Makes no sense does it?
Confession time…I was once guilty of this habit. And that is exactly what it is by the way, a BAD HABIT. In my earlier investing days I can recall times when I said that I would call a seller back or a buyer back and then not do it. Why did I do this? I think at the time it was just the easy way out and the easy thing to say to not disappoint the other person. Well, eventually I was called out on it and I was embarrassed. From then on I committed my self to ALWAYS do what I say, and on the flip side of that ALWAYS keep people accountable to what they say. Funny thing is, once you make this commitment you’ll be surprised how many other people DON’T do what they say.
Although breaking this bad habit wasn’t easy, once I committed my self to it, it wasn’t long before I was Always doing what I said I was going to do. Am I perfect now? Absolutely not, but I guarantee that I am better than 99% of other real estate investors and business professionals out there when it comes to doing what you say.
There are two secrets to making this work for you:
Secret #1 - Don’t say you’ll do something if you are at all unsure that you’ll be able to do what you say.
Secret #2 - ……..To be continued…….
Stay tuned for next week’s follow up article to this one where I share with you Secret #2 to being able to always do what you say and always keep people accountable to what they say. You won’t want to miss it!
I hope you enjoyed this short article. If so, please post your comments below.
To your real estate investing success,
Brian Evans
Real Estate News – $8,000 Tax Credit to ALL home buyers?
Real Estate News Overview:
A new bill was introduced Thursday by Howard Coble (R-NC) which would allow almost anyone who purchases a principal residence to take advantage of the $8,000 tax credit through the end of 2010.
The proposed bill would also lift the income limitation which currently states that singles earning more than $75k and couples earning more than $150k are disqualified. This would be good news for higher income earners.
The proposed bill also extends the repayment waiver to account for the extended credit availability. Current law states the tax credit does not have to be repaid unless the homeowner sells the property or no longer uses it as a primary residence within 36 months of purchase.
Real Estate Investor Coach Response:
Ok, so what does all this really mean for the creative real estate investor?
I’m glad I asked…. Because this raises a VERY interesting opportunity that may help you sell properties and get a down payment that makes the deal worth while. Now, I have not done this personally, but I have spoken with one of my real estate investor peers and learned a creative technique that appears to be perfectly legitimate. What he is doing is selling his properties with owner financing, or Land Contract, or AITD, (depending on where you live) and allowing his buyers to use their $8,000 tax credit as part or all of their down payment on the house. Pretty smart if you ask me. And in the eyes of his attorney and the IRS this transaction is perfectly legitimate and the tax credit is provided just like it would be for any other conventional sale. He gets his houses sold, the buyer gets the house, the tax credit money goes to the seller when it comes in, the buyer makes payments to the seller and everyone wins! Man, I wish I would have thought of this.
Personally, I’m not sure If I’ll try it because I like to sell my homes through a lease option because then I still own the home for certain tax purposes that work for me. However, on some of my homes where I’ve owned it for more than a year, I may consider this technique to get an extra $8k. If I do I’ll let you know. And if I do, I’ll be sure to consult with my attorney and consider all the “Murphy factors” that could come into play to make sure that everything is done correctly, and so should you!
If anyone as done a deal this way, I’d love to hear about it.
To your Real Estate Investing Success,
Brian Evans
Capturing Seller Information
Today’s Real Estate Investor Coach “Insider” video is called, “Capturing Seller Information.” This is a very educational 9 min 52 second video that you need to watch RIGHT NOW and then tell me what you think.
Getting some of you to post your comments is like PULLING TEETH!
BUT, don’t worry it won’t hurt. So do me a favor and talk back to me by posting your comments below.
If there are other specific questions or topics that you would like to learn about then be sure to mention that as well!
HAPPY FRIDAY!
To your Real Estate Investing Success,
Brian Evans
Real Estate Business Tips – “What” to Systemize in your business
If you recall, last week’s blog post was about “Why” you need to systemize your business. A perfect segue for this week’s Business Tip topic is “What” you need to systemize.
I am such a huge proponent of systemizing everything that I possibly can in my business for many reasons that I listed last week. Systemizing can either make or break a business, and if you are getting by in your business right now and don’t have solid systems in place then I would venture to guess that the lack of systems in your business might eventually win the war and put you out of business. That is how serious this topic is.
Ok, so now on to the “What” to systemize:
The most important part of your business that needs to be systemized is the front end of your business, which involves locating and prescreening leads (sellers & buyers). You absolutely ALWAYS need to keep your buying machine running no matter what. You are allowed to turn it down now and again, but never allowed to turn it off.
- Locating Sellers:
- Acquire the list – Once a week you or someone who works for you needs to be gathering new prospects for your weekly mailings. For example, in my business we do a lot of Short Sales, therefore every Tuesday someone goes to the courthouse downtown and physically writes down the names and addresses of all the new preforeclosure listings in my area.
- Market to the list – Once a week you or someone who works for you needs to be mailing to your collected list of potential sellers automatically.
- Prescreening Sellers:
- Capture and prescreen the calls from sellers by sending them to your Live Operator Service or to an automatic Voice Mail that you set up for them to call into. (I strongly prefer you to send the calls to a Live Operator). The Live Operator service that I use in my business is Pat Live. You can learn more or sign up by clicking here.
- Get into the habit of calling the new leads back immediately, and call them back in Blocks rather than one in the morning and one in the afternoon, etc. Get them all done in one shot each day or every other day.
- Prescreening Buyers
- Capture calls from potential buyers by making sure the number they call goes to an automatic mailbox system giving them information about your buying programs and the houses that you have for sale.
- Put Lock Boxes on the houses that you have for sale with signs in the yard and give people the lock box code to view without an appointment. You’ll be surprised how much easier this is on you and the potential buyer.
- Give potential buyers instructions when in the house or on your voicemail what to do when they exit the house and if they like the house.
- Follow up with them.
Are these ALL the systems that you need to set up….Absolutely not, however these are the most important ones. The other systems that you need in your business will depend on who you are and how you do business. Bottom line: set up the front end systems and the rest will fall into place.
I hope you enjoyed this short article. If so, please post your comments below.
To your real estate investing success,
Brian Evans
Real Estate News – Mortgage Rates Increase to 6 month high
The average rate on a 30-year, fixed-rate home loan climbed to 5.29% for the week ended Thursday, Freddie Mac reported. That’s the highest since December and up from 4.91% a week earlier.
“There’s a real risk interest rates could climb up beyond 6% or 6.5%, which can immediately shut down the housing recovery and undermine the national economy,” says Bernard Baumohl, chief global economist at the Economic Outlook Group.
Also, as a result of the increase in rates, refinancing activity fell 24%.
Real Estate Investor Coach Response:
These are interesting facts to know considering the ongoing housing slump and economic “crisis” we as a country are in. Whether the rates go up or down dramatically or slightly doesn’t really matter. As a real estate investor you can have flexibility when you buy and flexibility when you sell if you are educated enough to know how to structure a deal. Remember, properties are our “widget.” In order for us to make money on our product we need to be able to buy our inventory right. I’m going to repeat that because it is a very important sentence. We need to BUY RIGHT. How you buy a property is ultimately going to determine how you will be able to sell a property. Therefore, the better terms and flexibility and price that you are able to negotiate when you buy sets you up to be able to handle the economic “crisis” easier when you sell because you can then make it easier on someone to buy. Make sense? If not the re-read this paragraph as many times as it takes until you figure it out.
And since I don’t use banks to buy my “widgets” (you shouldn’t either) then that is why it doesn’t matter what the interest rates are doing. Remove yourself from the mindset that you have to go down and qualify for a loan to buy properties and be a real estate investor. That is the wrong kind of thinking and will ultimately set you and your business up for problems. There are too many other ways to buy, sell, flip, hold, lease, option, properties than having to rely on what the banks, rates, the economy, etc is doing. Go make your money investing in real estate the right way and let everyone else worry about those “conventional wisdom” things.
Be sure to post your comments on this article below.
To your Real Estate Investing Success,
Brian Evans
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