3 Rookie Mistakes When Buying Foreclosed Homes
January 29th, 2010 by adminIf you have been thinking about jumping on the foreclosed homes bandwagon and making some pretty good money off of these homes then it may seem like a simple process. Get a foreclosed home listing, make an offer close to the listed price and cash in. Unfortunately as with anything in life it is not quite that simple. The great news is that while you probably won’t make big money all that easily with some hard work and a little knowledge you can cash in on one of the hottest foreclosed homes markets we have ever seen. The key is to avoid 3 of the big mistakes many new investors make when setting out on making their fortune in real estate investing
. Mistake 1 aE” Using the bank’s sale price. Many new investors often use the bank’s price on a foreclosure listing as a method to decide what they will offer for the home. Here is a common scenario, take the banks listing price on the foreclosure and reduce it 30% to make an offer. While this is a simple method and appears you are sure to get a deal there is one problem. The bank’s listing price may or may not have anything to do with the value of the home. I recommend that you completely ignore what the foreclosed home is listed for and only use your own due diligence to analyze the deal. First you should calculate the market value, then take into account any repairs needed and lastly build in your profit. This should be the only offer you should make on a bank owned home, or any other home for investing purposes for that matter.
Mistake 2 aE” Get your deals from one source. Yes I know you have a full time job and family commitments so you don’t have time to work with a bunch of different sources to get your foreclosed homes listings. So you go out and find a realtor that is willing to pull foreclosures from the MLS (Multiple Listing Service) for you and you are done. For whatever reason this just doesn’t work. You will not get every deal right when you need them from this method. Instead you need to work with multiple sources to find foreclosed homes. My best recommendation is to work with a buyer’s agent to search foreclosures for you but you must also go to the source, the banks themselves and REO (Real Estate Owned) brokers who list these foreclosed homes for the bank. In this case the more the merrier.
Mistake 3 aE” Having no exit strategy. I keep hearing over and over again that you make money when you buy the home. Try that out once and then check your bank statement, you will find this is not true. You might create value when you buy the home well below market value but my checking account has never grown until I sold the home. Before you even begin to look at foreclosed homes start by knowing what your exit strategy is. The type of home you are looking for will vary greatly depending on whether you plan to fix and sell the home, fix and rent it, fix and lease option it or just wholesale it to another investor. Once you have at least one exit strategy you are going to commit to then you can narrow your search for foreclosed homes and choose the ones that are right for you. Today, right now is the best time to work the foreclosed home market. Foreclosure listings are reaching all time highs and the banks are feeling the pain of the REO inventory. Keep in mind that buying a home for investment purposes is a serious matter and you need to have a serious plan in place to profit from it. Avoid these 3 mistakes when investing in your foreclosed home and you will be one step closer to profiting from foreclosures.
Avoid Top 10 Mistakes Made By Real Estate Investors
October 17th, 2009 by adminReal estate investment is perhaps one of the most lucrative forms of investment today. But it is also equally risk bound especially when one is not well versed with the trends and nuances of the real estate market. So if you are contemplating on investing in real estate, it is best to avoid costly mistakes in real estate investment especially when you invest your hard earned money into it. Knowing the most common mistakes made by real estate investors helps one steer away from making such mistakes in the future and ensures good return on investment.
Here are the top ten mistakes made by real estate investors, according to bankrate.com. Bankrate has put together the top ten mistakes after speaking to established, full-time real estate investors and other professionals involved in real estate investment such as bankers. Read on to know them and avoid them.
1. Not planning up ahead. Lack of a proper plan is the biggest mistake made by novice investors. Finding a house after forming a proper investment strategy is the right way instead of looking for a house to fit the plan. Many make the mistake of buying a house because it seems to be a good deal and then trying to see how they can fit it into their plan. Instead of buying a house and thinking one can plan in due course, investors should rather concentrate on the numbers and try to make offers on multiple properties. This will ensure a good property that not only matches their investment model but also works out well with the numbers they had planned for.
2. To believe you can make money quickly. The second major mistake that real estate investors make is to think it is very easy to get rich in real estate. This is only a myth and the reality is that investing in real estate is a long term project.
3. Doing it single-handedly. For becoming a successful real estate investor one needs to build a team of professionals who would assist the investor in his deals. This would ideally include a real estate agent, an appraiser, a home inspector, a closing attorney and a lender.
4. Making excess payment. One another reason that investors in real estate goof up in their investment is by paying too much for the properties they buy. Paying too much and locking up all the funds in the erred property deal will leave you with no money to redeem yourself.
5. Leaving out the groundwork. Not doing your homework could be a costly mistake if you were a real estate investor. Every field of business needs sufficient amount of homework to be done, and real estate investment is no exception. Learn the fundamentals and then venture into investing in properties.
6. Throwing caution to the winds. Investors have to exercise a certain degree of caution and take earnest efforts while making a deal. New investors often fail in this regard and sign a deal without doing adequate research on the property.
7. Miscalculating money flow. Investors whose strategy is to buy, hold and rent out properties need to ensure sufficient cash flow for maintenance. Property managers could be expensive and the owner has to incur more expenses such as mortgage, taxes, insurance, advertising costs etc. Investors have to allocate their budget such that all these expenses are taken care of, or end up having their asset turn into a liability.
8. Lowering the volume. A larger volume of deals or transactions helps in increasing the profits by reducing the impacts of marginal deals.
9. Getting trapped in your own deal. Having more number of options at hand for the property you buy is a wise strategy. This helps one to be prepared for fluctuations in the real estate market. Plans to rent out the house could go awry when the rental market slumps. Having alternative plans helps you cut down losses and tackle unexpected situations.
10. Making incorrect estimates. People who plan to rehab their house need to check if they will still reap the benefits at double the time that they had estimated. This ensures they do not miscalculate and lose money on the deal.
