Why without asking your boss?
Two reasons, one, he or she will most likely say no; and second, he or she will probably have you committed for asking.
So what do you do. Give the raise to yourself.
Impossible you say. Chuck and Sue are crazy. Not at all. Here's how.
You know we love the Creative Real Estate niche of Lease Purchasing and you know we believe it to be the perfect home-based business.
But, did you know you can use these same methods in your spare time to give yourself that big raise.
Ask yourself, "What would I be willing to do to earn an extra $20,000 in a year".
The answer may surprise you. And no, you don't have to become a hit man (or woman) to earn this.
You just have to be willing to take a look at Lease Purchasing.
Some background before you think we've completely lost it.
For every 100 calls Sue makes on For Sale By Owner property, she either speaks with or leaves messages for about 60%. That's about 60 people she puts the concept of Lease Purchasing in front of.
Out of that 60, approximately 10 will develop into true prospects. From these 10, 2 or 3 will develop into property we are willing to take on. The others may become consultations or manual sales.
(Please keep in mind, these numbers will vary a bit depending upon your particular area and current market conditions).
Gee, you say, that sounds like a lot of work. Not really. Consider making those calls over a 3 month period. That's the equivalent of a call per day. Why a 3 month period. Because you're only looking to do one deal a quarter.
Next question. How does this translate into a $20,000/yr. raise? Simple.
On a typical single family house, we look for a $5000 assignment fee on average. Well, let's do the math. 4 x $5,000 = $20,000.
Yup, a $20,000 raise on 4 deals per year.
Is this realistic? Absolutely.
In fact, we may be conservative on that raise for you. You may well decide to do five or six or more deals in a year.
All it takes is knowing how to structure your deals, having the proper contracts and a willingness to want to give yourself a raise. You can find all this information at our website at: www.homebusinesssolutions.com/products/products.htm
You're right. Chuck and Sue are crazy. Crazy like a fox.
Copyright 2000, DeFiore Enterprises
Interested in having your own successful, home based creative real estate investing business? Chuck and Sue have been helping folks start successful home based businesses for over 19 years, and we can help you too! To see how, visit http://www.homebusinesssolutions.com for the latest FREE tips and tricks, educational products and coaching in creative real estate investing and home based businesses. No time to visit the site? Subscribe to our "how to" Home Business Solutions Digest, it's like having your own personal coach: mailto:subscribeHBS@homebusinesssolutions.com
Monday, September 28, 2009
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Horses In My Back Yard
Horses In My Back Yard
by Jody Hudson, with Extensive Collaboration From Chris Hudson
HORSE LOVERS: During my thirty years of selling rural land, I have frequently found that folks want some acreage so that they can own and ride horses. They LOVE horses in their own mind but have little if any of the real knowledge or experience necessary to raise one or more horses. Far too often, they have knowledge based on little more than an idyllic dream and that dream based for the most part on romantic novels and movies. This article will give you some basic information which may save you and a horse some bad or even terrible experiences.
HOW MANY ACRES?: If you do want horses; a good rule of thumb in good pasture areas is 3 to 5 acres of pasture per horse, and ideally another acre or two of paddock per horse. The wise Equestrian will thus plan about 6 to 10 acres per horse they want to keep in the purchase of land. The paddocks are smaller fenced pasture areas close to the barn used for training, saddling up your horse or getting a new horse acclimated to his new home.
The risk of injury to animals increases where horses are overcrowded, and competition for food, water and space may lead to fighting. You must provide an adequate number of paddocks or yards to permit incompatible animals to be segregated. The number of horses and their grouping in each paddock or yard must be appropriate for their compatibility and for the ground conditions, taking into account the climatic conditions pertaining at the time.
You also need room for the house, barn, hay storage, tack building and a loafing shed for them to get under when the weather is not quite acceptable to them. In any yard or shelter, each horse must have adequate room to lie down, stand up and turn around. There should be a clean, dry area for the horse to lie down, the surface of which protects the horse from abrasions and capped elbows and hocks. Paddocks which expose horses to items of machinery, equipment or rubbish (especially wire) likely to cause serious injury must not be used.
FENCING: There are numerous types of fencing that are designed for horses. Board fences are deadly dangerous if not constantly maintained. The horses can break a board and end up impaled on it. Wire, especially barbed wire can entangle your horse's leg or neck and seriously injure him or worse. There are several kinds of fences made for horse pasture. Barbed wire and narrow gauge (2.5 mm) high-tensile steel wire, because of their cutting, non-stretching and nonbreaking properties, can cause severe injury to horses. They should be avoided when constructing fences for horses, as should internal fence-stays or posts, which are a common cause of injury.
Fences should be readily visible to horses and properly maintained. The ideal fence for premises designed mainly for horses is the synthetic, strong, flexible, post-and-rail type, with rails treated or painted with nontoxic preparations. A popular alternative, which also provides a good visual barrier, is a single top rail attached to a conventional post-and-wire fence. I like the Australian Sheep Wire fence as it has a grid that is very small at the bottom and larger at the top. The small grid size at the bottom prevents the horse from stepping through the fence and getting tangled. I also like a charged electric wire just above the highly visible top rail to "convince" the horse to not lean over that top rail to get grass on the other side. Such leaning by such a strong and heavy animal is a major cause of fence breakage. There must be no sharp objects projecting inwards.
Your large animal Veterinarian or Horse feed and tack store can help you find the right fencing and an installer that knows what he's doing. Ideally your pasture will have fence corners rounded on a large radius to prevent your horse from injury if he is cornered by another horse or is just running with exuberance and misjudges the distance to the corner. I have occasionally seen a horse on a tether chain or rope, as some people do a dog. Tethering is a practice which has a high risk of injury to horses. It is not recommended and should be used only when other forms of grazing or containment are unavailable and when close supervision of the horse can be maintained. Only placid horses and those adequately trained to accept the practice should be tethered.
FORGET WHAT YOU LEARNED FROM NOVELS OR HOLLYWOOD: Contrary to all the horse stories and films, your horse will not respond to you the same way a dog or cat will. He will respond and perform best when his owner is consistent and has a routine. Forget all those stories about Flicka and Black Beauty; it only happens in the movies.
Horses do have personality but you must remember that they are very big and strong and you cannot make them do anything unless you have convinced them and then they choose to do it. Proper ground manners are a must and the rider must know how to ride. Take some lessons if you are a first time owner. Horses do not like you to hang onto the reins for balance. Learn how to balance yourself in the saddle and to gently guide the horse with the reins. There is no faster way to make a horse "sour" than to pull on his mouth roughly. Learn the horse language; the way to communicate to your horse is through the balance of your body, your seated position, the position of your feet and legs and lastly the position of your hands.
STABLING: He does not enjoy being locked in a stall every night. He would much prefer the open fields and the starry nights! A three sided shed (preferably with the open side to the southwest) will due just fine. Horses do need protection from the sun and rain. Horse blankets/rugs make us feel better; nature however, has equipped him just dandy with a real fur coat. Those horses that are unlucky enough to be put in a stall every night could probably use a rug unless the barn is REALLY COZY. But, when it is 30 degrees or lower and it is blowing and wet, he does appreciate a stall to eat his grain and hay. And it will save you a lot of cleanup in your paddocks.
PASTURE: Plant a pasture with a mixture of proper grass seeds. Check with the local Agricultural Substation or horse feed supply store for the seed mix. Build several paddocks to keep your horses in for short times, so that you can rotate the pastures and periodically give each one a rest to replenish the height of it's grasses.
Horses are poor utilizers of pasture, compared to cattle or sheep. Most horse pastures contain a large proportion of weeds and "roughs" where horses are the only grazers. Horses will not eat pasture that is contaminated with horse dung. This usually causes the contaminated area to become larger and the grazing area smaller. The pasture growing round the dung patches is usually lush and looks to be the best feed, while the patches in between will look overgrazed.
Where possible, horses should be grazed in conjunction with cattle or sheep. In addition to helping calm the horses; the other species will clean up the "roughs" while also reducing the worm contamination on pasture. Although harrowing can also be useful to spread the dung around, in moist conditions and when the grass is long it may spread worm eggs, making a larger area of the paddock infected. Where no cattle or other grazers are available, it is essential to remove the manure or spread it around regularly during dry periods, when the sun and ultraviolet rays will tend to destroy eggs and larvae.
Your horses will leave some big manure piles around the pasture and especially in the corners. Spread the horse manure out on the pasture with a drag harrow and rake out the pasture corners to break it up in smaller pieces; it helps to keep the fly larvae in the manure from hatching out and bothering your horses.
You will need a manure spreader to spread the manure you shovel out of your loafing sheds and stalls. Your horses will eat a lot of the grass in your pasture -- but you will still have to mow the pastures periodically and you will need to use a weed-eater under and along all the fences. You will need to keep a check out for any plants of the nightshade family as they are poisonous to your steeds.
Grazing animals deplete soil nutrients progressively, which in turn leads to poor pasture quality and growth rate. This should be regularly monitored by soil and pasture analysis. Pasture should be top dressed with fertilizers to replace identified nutrient deficiencies. Check with your State Agricultural Agent (each state has an Agricultural College and Agents attached) to learn to identify soil nutrient needs and to show you how to destroy noxious plants properly. Make certain that there is always plenty of clean fresh water in the pasture and that the water trough is kept dutifully clean!
VACCINATIONS: Your horses require annual booster shots for Rabies, Tetanus, Flu Rhino and Encephalitis, and Potomac Horse Fever. Check with your local Large Animal Veterinarian and maintain a proper schedule of immunizations and regular checkups. Horses also require quarterly worming to keep the intestinal parasites below the danger level.
FARRIER SERVICES: Horses in the wild got along just fine without a Farrier. They ran and romped over vast expanses, were chased by predators and often ran long distances as a herd. But now that they are kept and ridden mostly on soft sandy soil or grasslands -- the hooves need trimming every six to eight weeks. AND, yes some horses do need horseshoes of steel, rubber or some other material. You will be able to tell if your horse need shoeing; if he does he will walk very "tender-footed" and may have cracks and breakage in his hooves. The way he walks, stands and carries himself in general will tip you off to his Farrier needs.
INTENTION: Your intention is of great importance! Horses can feel a fly on their back and they can feel your intent; when you really mean business. They learn in a hurry who they have to respect and who they can play around with -- DON'T be fooled! Set yourself up to win his respect and keep it. Don't ask him to do anything that you suspect will be an argument unless you have the time to make certain that he does it. Be firm. Being firm does not mean beating your horse; it does mean that sometimes you might have to put a chain a little too snugly across his nose to lead him if he walks too fast and gets ahead of you at lead.
TRUST: It is so important that your horse trust you. Please don't abuse him by hitting or kicking him. Trust is necessary for him when you want him to cross a ditch or a fence or take him to water or take him to ride with other horses. Trust is built by day to day consistent care and treatment of your horse; and by not putting him into situations that hurt him or scare him badly.
EQUINE DENTIST: Horses need dentists too! At least once a year, some horses require to have the equine dentist "float" his teeth. This removes sharp edges so that he can chew his food properly and be comfortable with the bit.
GROOMING: Horses love to be brushed and bathed. Spend lots of quality time with your horse when you first get him and each time before and after you ride him with gentle loving hands and lots of brush grooming. Pick the stones and dirt from his feet before and after a ride to keep him from getting bruised feet. Check him for ticks after any ride in the woods or tall grass -- especially in warm weather. Keep all your tack clean and the leather saddle-soaped and lightly oiled. Wash your saddle blanket after each use and rinse his bit well too. He doesn't like a hard, dirty blanket on his back or a crusty bit in his mouth. Keep your brushes clean too, rinse, wash and pull the hair out of them periodically.
NUTRITION: Nutrition is a powerful factor in the life of a horse, just as it is our own. Often a problem horse can just be suffering from some nutritional deficiency. Often a horse that is "cribbing" that is chewing on his stall or on the fence has a nutritional deficiency. This should be handled quickly as the swallowed wood splinters have obvious danger to your horse. Horses need vitamins, roughage of course, minerals, protein, oils, carbohydrates, enzymes and trace elements in their diets to be at their best in health, behavior and attitude... and sometimes even if they are getting the correct food they may not be digesting it to get the proper use of the nutrients... just like us.
Horse Hair Analysis is a very useful tool to find the realistic needs of your horse. The hair is a long term record of the horse's nutritional health and the analysis will tell the most accurate story as to what your particular horse needs... or what he is getting too much of -- especially if he is ingesting some sort of toxic substance.
TRAILERS and TRAILERING: For most people learning to trailer your horse is mandatory. If you are fortunate to purchase a place far out in the rural un-populated areas, especially if you purchase property on a long dirt road or network of such roads -- you may be able to do a lot of riding without trailering. You will still likely want to have a trailer eventually, so that you can take your horse to a trainer, pick up another horse, or take your horse to join a friend for a ride.
There are several types of trailers; they are of many sizes from small to huge. Some of them even have owners quarters or a groomsman's room adjacent to the horse section. There are the horse carrying motor home style vehicles too. For highway speeds and to go any distance, it is best to use a large towing pickup truck specialized for such use. The best are the dual tired big pickup trucks called Duelies. You then get a big sturdy support hitch mounted in the pickup bed and the trailer has a long hitch stalk that projects into the truck bed. This type, called a goose neck trailer with a 5th wheel hitch, will give you excellent stability and a shortened turn radius. It is also virtually impossible to have a trailer disconnect from the truck -- which is a worry with pull-behind trailers.
Before you take your horse for a first trailer ride; you should ride in the back of the trailer, while someone else drives the truck, so that you can experience the cornering and braking calamities that the horse will experience. Some folks put leg wraps on their horses when trailering to help protect the horse more from accidental braking, cornering, or bumping. After you have ridden in the moving trailer yourself, take a few practice runs with you and the horse -- so you can see what the horse is experiencing as a driver drives, turns and brakes. And it would be a good idea to next have someone else ride with your horse while you drive. One of my friends had a good technique; she put a long stem wine glass on the dash of her truck and filled it with water. She then learned to drive without spilling the water or turning over the glass. Personally I think it is a great technique to practice.
You also need to keep the trailer clean, especially keeping it free of hay dust and dirt. Remember when the trailer is underway and if the vent windows are open, whatever hay and dirt there is inside will start whirling around in the trailer. Keep everything well tied down inside too; falling, and swinging articles in the trailer can spook your horse and cause him to jump and hurt himself.
Service the trailer at least once a year. Check the brakes, tires, tire pressure and all hitch welds and bolts carefully. Make certain that the floor is solid. Practice driving, backing and turning. Practice using the mirrors. Mirror use is difficult to learn and of utmost importance. With proper mirror use however, you can easily back your trailer into a space only a few inches larger than it is.
WHO IS THE BOSS?: If you don't watch out -- your horse will TRAIN YOU, for instance... I knew this lady who trailered her horse to various lessons and rides... but he knew he did not have to get into the trailer until the third attempt each time. First she would lead him to the trailer, he would stop and she would pet and coo to him. The second time she would coax him a little more with carrots and baby talk. When that, of course, didn't work either (he liked that sweet talk and especially the carrots) she would try the third method. By now she was a little tired and frustrated with him, she wanted to go home or get on with the lessons; so she spoke firmly, put the chain across his nose, tightened it a bit, and... he'd get right on. But he always knew that he didn't have to get on until the third technique -- besides he would miss his carrots and sweet talk if he got on the first time!
Here's another one. Some horses raise their head and clamp their teeth and will not accept the bit. I have seen people strike the horse about the face or swing the bridle and hit him -- this only teaches him that the bridle is a mean, scary piece of equipment and that he'd better raise his head up out of your reach for his own protection. The solution to bit shyness takes a while; it will take a little patience, some sweet talk and some sweet syrup on your fingers. Play around with his mouth with your fingers and let him wear the bit awhile when he is in his stall to eat and drink. Put it on him sometimes while you are grooming him too. Make sure that the bit is adjusted correctly for tightness in his mouth and that it is the right size and style. And especially be certain that when you ride him that you are not always holding tension on the reins, using them when you should be only giving body language directions, sawing them back and forth from left to right or in any way being rough on his mouth.
MOUNTING YOUR HORSE: Training your horse to stand still as a statue while you mount is a MUST! If your horse likes to walk about while you try to mount up -- have someone hold him while you get up and properly placed in the saddle. Once you are mounted -- sit well in the saddle with an erect posture, take a deep and cleansing breath and sink into your saddle with poise and assurance before you start off with him. Take time frequently with just you and him; when no one is around, mount him inside the pasture or paddock fence and just stand there in the saddle with him for several minutes. Then after quite some time, ask him to walk. Of course you will need to spend the time needed to train him to stand quiet and still while you are on him. And you must each learn the particulars of how to open the pasture gate while you are in the saddle.
RETURNING FROM A RIDE: There is always the temptation on your horses part, to run back to the barn at the end of a ride. He will be tempted to trot instead of walk; canter instead of trot; or run instead of canter. Be careful or you will be allowing him to learn or to think you are teaching him to run home. If you persist in this permissiveness you may eventually have a runaway horse each time his head turns toward home.
When you do return home; come down to a walk well away from the barn and let him cool down well as you near the barn. If you are cantering in and he wants to go faster, break down the gait to a trot and if needed down to a walk even if a long way from the barn. If he won't walk calmly but wants to jig and go sideways or tries breaking into a faster gait -- you need to spend some time in the paddocks and school him to walk and trot when you tell him too. If you still have trouble; get help from an outside equestrian or a trainer.
BUYING YOUR HORSE: When buying a horse be aware that what you see during the purchasing meeting with the horse -- is what you will have when you take him home. He is most likely on his best behavior at the barns and paddocks where he lives, so when you remove him to take him to your place you are likely to get worse behavior not better. Unless you are a very experience rider with some good horse sense, you should purchase an older, settled horse for a first mount and then as you improve get a younger more spirited one.
Look at the teeth to detect age and condition of the horse. Horse newspapers have lots of ads and some advice. There are auctions for horses too; once you find out about them you can get on the mailing list and visit a few before you buy. Classified ads are a very good sources of horses for sale.
When you go to look at a horse to purchase; take along an honest and reputable person to help you with that purchase. A good saddle horse should cost you from $2,500 to $5,000. A trained horse can cost much more but may well be worth the cost. Specialty horses of course -- Arabians and Thoroughbreds for instance can cost more than a nice home or in some cases more than a nice shopping center. You don't always get what you pay for... but you can count on paying for what you get.
Watch for conformation (shape and bodily proportion) in the horse; which can be learned from books and then there is Attitude -- this is the same as for humans. If the horse has a bad attitude it's hardly worth owning at any cost. The horse should be checked perhaps even x-rayed by a Veterinarian. This is called Vetting a horse; done in a pre-purchase exam. This usually costs about $300 to $500. A lot of lameness can't be seen with the eye and will only show up with strenuous training, or during work or competition -- just when you can't afford it. ===
Happy Trails and best wishes to a lot of good horsin' around for all you readers who want horses. Horses can bring out the best and the worst of a person and give you endless hours of pleasure, exercise and frustration. But most horse owners and lovers wouldn't have it any other way.
TALLY HO!
Copyright 2004 by Jody Hudson
www.Kate-Jody.com and www.TheRuralSpecialist.com
numerous other articles at http://www.kate-jody.com/essays/index.html
Email MrJodyHudson@earthlink.net
Jody Hudson, Realtor specializing in horse properties and being around horse farms, since 1972 and much more. Many years of being around an being in business to help people with horses.
by Jody Hudson, with Extensive Collaboration From Chris Hudson
HORSE LOVERS: During my thirty years of selling rural land, I have frequently found that folks want some acreage so that they can own and ride horses. They LOVE horses in their own mind but have little if any of the real knowledge or experience necessary to raise one or more horses. Far too often, they have knowledge based on little more than an idyllic dream and that dream based for the most part on romantic novels and movies. This article will give you some basic information which may save you and a horse some bad or even terrible experiences.
HOW MANY ACRES?: If you do want horses; a good rule of thumb in good pasture areas is 3 to 5 acres of pasture per horse, and ideally another acre or two of paddock per horse. The wise Equestrian will thus plan about 6 to 10 acres per horse they want to keep in the purchase of land. The paddocks are smaller fenced pasture areas close to the barn used for training, saddling up your horse or getting a new horse acclimated to his new home.
The risk of injury to animals increases where horses are overcrowded, and competition for food, water and space may lead to fighting. You must provide an adequate number of paddocks or yards to permit incompatible animals to be segregated. The number of horses and their grouping in each paddock or yard must be appropriate for their compatibility and for the ground conditions, taking into account the climatic conditions pertaining at the time.
You also need room for the house, barn, hay storage, tack building and a loafing shed for them to get under when the weather is not quite acceptable to them. In any yard or shelter, each horse must have adequate room to lie down, stand up and turn around. There should be a clean, dry area for the horse to lie down, the surface of which protects the horse from abrasions and capped elbows and hocks. Paddocks which expose horses to items of machinery, equipment or rubbish (especially wire) likely to cause serious injury must not be used.
FENCING: There are numerous types of fencing that are designed for horses. Board fences are deadly dangerous if not constantly maintained. The horses can break a board and end up impaled on it. Wire, especially barbed wire can entangle your horse's leg or neck and seriously injure him or worse. There are several kinds of fences made for horse pasture. Barbed wire and narrow gauge (2.5 mm) high-tensile steel wire, because of their cutting, non-stretching and nonbreaking properties, can cause severe injury to horses. They should be avoided when constructing fences for horses, as should internal fence-stays or posts, which are a common cause of injury.
Fences should be readily visible to horses and properly maintained. The ideal fence for premises designed mainly for horses is the synthetic, strong, flexible, post-and-rail type, with rails treated or painted with nontoxic preparations. A popular alternative, which also provides a good visual barrier, is a single top rail attached to a conventional post-and-wire fence. I like the Australian Sheep Wire fence as it has a grid that is very small at the bottom and larger at the top. The small grid size at the bottom prevents the horse from stepping through the fence and getting tangled. I also like a charged electric wire just above the highly visible top rail to "convince" the horse to not lean over that top rail to get grass on the other side. Such leaning by such a strong and heavy animal is a major cause of fence breakage. There must be no sharp objects projecting inwards.
Your large animal Veterinarian or Horse feed and tack store can help you find the right fencing and an installer that knows what he's doing. Ideally your pasture will have fence corners rounded on a large radius to prevent your horse from injury if he is cornered by another horse or is just running with exuberance and misjudges the distance to the corner. I have occasionally seen a horse on a tether chain or rope, as some people do a dog. Tethering is a practice which has a high risk of injury to horses. It is not recommended and should be used only when other forms of grazing or containment are unavailable and when close supervision of the horse can be maintained. Only placid horses and those adequately trained to accept the practice should be tethered.
FORGET WHAT YOU LEARNED FROM NOVELS OR HOLLYWOOD: Contrary to all the horse stories and films, your horse will not respond to you the same way a dog or cat will. He will respond and perform best when his owner is consistent and has a routine. Forget all those stories about Flicka and Black Beauty; it only happens in the movies.
Horses do have personality but you must remember that they are very big and strong and you cannot make them do anything unless you have convinced them and then they choose to do it. Proper ground manners are a must and the rider must know how to ride. Take some lessons if you are a first time owner. Horses do not like you to hang onto the reins for balance. Learn how to balance yourself in the saddle and to gently guide the horse with the reins. There is no faster way to make a horse "sour" than to pull on his mouth roughly. Learn the horse language; the way to communicate to your horse is through the balance of your body, your seated position, the position of your feet and legs and lastly the position of your hands.
STABLING: He does not enjoy being locked in a stall every night. He would much prefer the open fields and the starry nights! A three sided shed (preferably with the open side to the southwest) will due just fine. Horses do need protection from the sun and rain. Horse blankets/rugs make us feel better; nature however, has equipped him just dandy with a real fur coat. Those horses that are unlucky enough to be put in a stall every night could probably use a rug unless the barn is REALLY COZY. But, when it is 30 degrees or lower and it is blowing and wet, he does appreciate a stall to eat his grain and hay. And it will save you a lot of cleanup in your paddocks.
PASTURE: Plant a pasture with a mixture of proper grass seeds. Check with the local Agricultural Substation or horse feed supply store for the seed mix. Build several paddocks to keep your horses in for short times, so that you can rotate the pastures and periodically give each one a rest to replenish the height of it's grasses.
Horses are poor utilizers of pasture, compared to cattle or sheep. Most horse pastures contain a large proportion of weeds and "roughs" where horses are the only grazers. Horses will not eat pasture that is contaminated with horse dung. This usually causes the contaminated area to become larger and the grazing area smaller. The pasture growing round the dung patches is usually lush and looks to be the best feed, while the patches in between will look overgrazed.
Where possible, horses should be grazed in conjunction with cattle or sheep. In addition to helping calm the horses; the other species will clean up the "roughs" while also reducing the worm contamination on pasture. Although harrowing can also be useful to spread the dung around, in moist conditions and when the grass is long it may spread worm eggs, making a larger area of the paddock infected. Where no cattle or other grazers are available, it is essential to remove the manure or spread it around regularly during dry periods, when the sun and ultraviolet rays will tend to destroy eggs and larvae.
Your horses will leave some big manure piles around the pasture and especially in the corners. Spread the horse manure out on the pasture with a drag harrow and rake out the pasture corners to break it up in smaller pieces; it helps to keep the fly larvae in the manure from hatching out and bothering your horses.
You will need a manure spreader to spread the manure you shovel out of your loafing sheds and stalls. Your horses will eat a lot of the grass in your pasture -- but you will still have to mow the pastures periodically and you will need to use a weed-eater under and along all the fences. You will need to keep a check out for any plants of the nightshade family as they are poisonous to your steeds.
Grazing animals deplete soil nutrients progressively, which in turn leads to poor pasture quality and growth rate. This should be regularly monitored by soil and pasture analysis. Pasture should be top dressed with fertilizers to replace identified nutrient deficiencies. Check with your State Agricultural Agent (each state has an Agricultural College and Agents attached) to learn to identify soil nutrient needs and to show you how to destroy noxious plants properly. Make certain that there is always plenty of clean fresh water in the pasture and that the water trough is kept dutifully clean!
VACCINATIONS: Your horses require annual booster shots for Rabies, Tetanus, Flu Rhino and Encephalitis, and Potomac Horse Fever. Check with your local Large Animal Veterinarian and maintain a proper schedule of immunizations and regular checkups. Horses also require quarterly worming to keep the intestinal parasites below the danger level.
FARRIER SERVICES: Horses in the wild got along just fine without a Farrier. They ran and romped over vast expanses, were chased by predators and often ran long distances as a herd. But now that they are kept and ridden mostly on soft sandy soil or grasslands -- the hooves need trimming every six to eight weeks. AND, yes some horses do need horseshoes of steel, rubber or some other material. You will be able to tell if your horse need shoeing; if he does he will walk very "tender-footed" and may have cracks and breakage in his hooves. The way he walks, stands and carries himself in general will tip you off to his Farrier needs.
INTENTION: Your intention is of great importance! Horses can feel a fly on their back and they can feel your intent; when you really mean business. They learn in a hurry who they have to respect and who they can play around with -- DON'T be fooled! Set yourself up to win his respect and keep it. Don't ask him to do anything that you suspect will be an argument unless you have the time to make certain that he does it. Be firm. Being firm does not mean beating your horse; it does mean that sometimes you might have to put a chain a little too snugly across his nose to lead him if he walks too fast and gets ahead of you at lead.
TRUST: It is so important that your horse trust you. Please don't abuse him by hitting or kicking him. Trust is necessary for him when you want him to cross a ditch or a fence or take him to water or take him to ride with other horses. Trust is built by day to day consistent care and treatment of your horse; and by not putting him into situations that hurt him or scare him badly.
EQUINE DENTIST: Horses need dentists too! At least once a year, some horses require to have the equine dentist "float" his teeth. This removes sharp edges so that he can chew his food properly and be comfortable with the bit.
GROOMING: Horses love to be brushed and bathed. Spend lots of quality time with your horse when you first get him and each time before and after you ride him with gentle loving hands and lots of brush grooming. Pick the stones and dirt from his feet before and after a ride to keep him from getting bruised feet. Check him for ticks after any ride in the woods or tall grass -- especially in warm weather. Keep all your tack clean and the leather saddle-soaped and lightly oiled. Wash your saddle blanket after each use and rinse his bit well too. He doesn't like a hard, dirty blanket on his back or a crusty bit in his mouth. Keep your brushes clean too, rinse, wash and pull the hair out of them periodically.
NUTRITION: Nutrition is a powerful factor in the life of a horse, just as it is our own. Often a problem horse can just be suffering from some nutritional deficiency. Often a horse that is "cribbing" that is chewing on his stall or on the fence has a nutritional deficiency. This should be handled quickly as the swallowed wood splinters have obvious danger to your horse. Horses need vitamins, roughage of course, minerals, protein, oils, carbohydrates, enzymes and trace elements in their diets to be at their best in health, behavior and attitude... and sometimes even if they are getting the correct food they may not be digesting it to get the proper use of the nutrients... just like us.
Horse Hair Analysis is a very useful tool to find the realistic needs of your horse. The hair is a long term record of the horse's nutritional health and the analysis will tell the most accurate story as to what your particular horse needs... or what he is getting too much of -- especially if he is ingesting some sort of toxic substance.
TRAILERS and TRAILERING: For most people learning to trailer your horse is mandatory. If you are fortunate to purchase a place far out in the rural un-populated areas, especially if you purchase property on a long dirt road or network of such roads -- you may be able to do a lot of riding without trailering. You will still likely want to have a trailer eventually, so that you can take your horse to a trainer, pick up another horse, or take your horse to join a friend for a ride.
There are several types of trailers; they are of many sizes from small to huge. Some of them even have owners quarters or a groomsman's room adjacent to the horse section. There are the horse carrying motor home style vehicles too. For highway speeds and to go any distance, it is best to use a large towing pickup truck specialized for such use. The best are the dual tired big pickup trucks called Duelies. You then get a big sturdy support hitch mounted in the pickup bed and the trailer has a long hitch stalk that projects into the truck bed. This type, called a goose neck trailer with a 5th wheel hitch, will give you excellent stability and a shortened turn radius. It is also virtually impossible to have a trailer disconnect from the truck -- which is a worry with pull-behind trailers.
Before you take your horse for a first trailer ride; you should ride in the back of the trailer, while someone else drives the truck, so that you can experience the cornering and braking calamities that the horse will experience. Some folks put leg wraps on their horses when trailering to help protect the horse more from accidental braking, cornering, or bumping. After you have ridden in the moving trailer yourself, take a few practice runs with you and the horse -- so you can see what the horse is experiencing as a driver drives, turns and brakes. And it would be a good idea to next have someone else ride with your horse while you drive. One of my friends had a good technique; she put a long stem wine glass on the dash of her truck and filled it with water. She then learned to drive without spilling the water or turning over the glass. Personally I think it is a great technique to practice.
You also need to keep the trailer clean, especially keeping it free of hay dust and dirt. Remember when the trailer is underway and if the vent windows are open, whatever hay and dirt there is inside will start whirling around in the trailer. Keep everything well tied down inside too; falling, and swinging articles in the trailer can spook your horse and cause him to jump and hurt himself.
Service the trailer at least once a year. Check the brakes, tires, tire pressure and all hitch welds and bolts carefully. Make certain that the floor is solid. Practice driving, backing and turning. Practice using the mirrors. Mirror use is difficult to learn and of utmost importance. With proper mirror use however, you can easily back your trailer into a space only a few inches larger than it is.
WHO IS THE BOSS?: If you don't watch out -- your horse will TRAIN YOU, for instance... I knew this lady who trailered her horse to various lessons and rides... but he knew he did not have to get into the trailer until the third attempt each time. First she would lead him to the trailer, he would stop and she would pet and coo to him. The second time she would coax him a little more with carrots and baby talk. When that, of course, didn't work either (he liked that sweet talk and especially the carrots) she would try the third method. By now she was a little tired and frustrated with him, she wanted to go home or get on with the lessons; so she spoke firmly, put the chain across his nose, tightened it a bit, and... he'd get right on. But he always knew that he didn't have to get on until the third technique -- besides he would miss his carrots and sweet talk if he got on the first time!
Here's another one. Some horses raise their head and clamp their teeth and will not accept the bit. I have seen people strike the horse about the face or swing the bridle and hit him -- this only teaches him that the bridle is a mean, scary piece of equipment and that he'd better raise his head up out of your reach for his own protection. The solution to bit shyness takes a while; it will take a little patience, some sweet talk and some sweet syrup on your fingers. Play around with his mouth with your fingers and let him wear the bit awhile when he is in his stall to eat and drink. Put it on him sometimes while you are grooming him too. Make sure that the bit is adjusted correctly for tightness in his mouth and that it is the right size and style. And especially be certain that when you ride him that you are not always holding tension on the reins, using them when you should be only giving body language directions, sawing them back and forth from left to right or in any way being rough on his mouth.
MOUNTING YOUR HORSE: Training your horse to stand still as a statue while you mount is a MUST! If your horse likes to walk about while you try to mount up -- have someone hold him while you get up and properly placed in the saddle. Once you are mounted -- sit well in the saddle with an erect posture, take a deep and cleansing breath and sink into your saddle with poise and assurance before you start off with him. Take time frequently with just you and him; when no one is around, mount him inside the pasture or paddock fence and just stand there in the saddle with him for several minutes. Then after quite some time, ask him to walk. Of course you will need to spend the time needed to train him to stand quiet and still while you are on him. And you must each learn the particulars of how to open the pasture gate while you are in the saddle.
RETURNING FROM A RIDE: There is always the temptation on your horses part, to run back to the barn at the end of a ride. He will be tempted to trot instead of walk; canter instead of trot; or run instead of canter. Be careful or you will be allowing him to learn or to think you are teaching him to run home. If you persist in this permissiveness you may eventually have a runaway horse each time his head turns toward home.
When you do return home; come down to a walk well away from the barn and let him cool down well as you near the barn. If you are cantering in and he wants to go faster, break down the gait to a trot and if needed down to a walk even if a long way from the barn. If he won't walk calmly but wants to jig and go sideways or tries breaking into a faster gait -- you need to spend some time in the paddocks and school him to walk and trot when you tell him too. If you still have trouble; get help from an outside equestrian or a trainer.
BUYING YOUR HORSE: When buying a horse be aware that what you see during the purchasing meeting with the horse -- is what you will have when you take him home. He is most likely on his best behavior at the barns and paddocks where he lives, so when you remove him to take him to your place you are likely to get worse behavior not better. Unless you are a very experience rider with some good horse sense, you should purchase an older, settled horse for a first mount and then as you improve get a younger more spirited one.
Look at the teeth to detect age and condition of the horse. Horse newspapers have lots of ads and some advice. There are auctions for horses too; once you find out about them you can get on the mailing list and visit a few before you buy. Classified ads are a very good sources of horses for sale.
When you go to look at a horse to purchase; take along an honest and reputable person to help you with that purchase. A good saddle horse should cost you from $2,500 to $5,000. A trained horse can cost much more but may well be worth the cost. Specialty horses of course -- Arabians and Thoroughbreds for instance can cost more than a nice home or in some cases more than a nice shopping center. You don't always get what you pay for... but you can count on paying for what you get.
Watch for conformation (shape and bodily proportion) in the horse; which can be learned from books and then there is Attitude -- this is the same as for humans. If the horse has a bad attitude it's hardly worth owning at any cost. The horse should be checked perhaps even x-rayed by a Veterinarian. This is called Vetting a horse; done in a pre-purchase exam. This usually costs about $300 to $500. A lot of lameness can't be seen with the eye and will only show up with strenuous training, or during work or competition -- just when you can't afford it. ===
Happy Trails and best wishes to a lot of good horsin' around for all you readers who want horses. Horses can bring out the best and the worst of a person and give you endless hours of pleasure, exercise and frustration. But most horse owners and lovers wouldn't have it any other way.
TALLY HO!
Copyright 2004 by Jody Hudson
www.Kate-Jody.com and www.TheRuralSpecialist.com
numerous other articles at http://www.kate-jody.com/essays/index.html
Email MrJodyHudson@earthlink.net
Jody Hudson, Realtor specializing in horse properties and being around horse farms, since 1972 and much more. Many years of being around an being in business to help people with horses.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
A Powerful Suggested Technique for YOUR Home & Property Search
A Powerful Suggested Technique for YOUR Home & Property Search
by Jody Hudson
You can be a pro at buying a home: Whether you are buying your first home or you are an experienced home buyer who owns more than one home, there are some things that can help you get faster results and get more professional and pleasant help from your Realtor.
A home or property purchase is one of the most important and exciting events to experience. Owning a home can help you build equity while reducing your income tax.
Land of any size requires minimal maintenance and is one of the best long term investments, even compared to gold or diamonds. However, along with the low maintenance, there is seldom any income to offset the cost. There are exceptions, mobile home parks, parking lots, and land rental under a shopping center are wonderful investments with relatively low maintenance if any.
Those who own land and property, as opposed to those who rent or lease, are historically considered to have a measure of stability, success and personal merit in addition to the obvious personal financial worth. This is so true that our Founding Fathers, who were dedicated students of all recorded human history, decreed that to be eligible to vote in our country a person must be a freeholder -- that is one who owned property mortgage free. They knew that the most responsible citizens would be the most responsible voters. Few of us would meet that criteria today. A person who held his property debt free, that is with a free and clear title, a Freeholder, was considered to have made good decisions, had good self control and managed his affairs well. Therefore, that person was considered to have obtained a level of maturity and responsibility -- that proved an ability to manage personal affairs and money as well as a priority to think of the future. The person who owned property with no debt, thus had obtained a sufficient ability to be allowed to vote on the management of our government and the public trust.
We are a nation of home and property owners more than any other nation on earth. However, most of us have a mortgage these days. If you, like most of us, need a mortgage on your new property, we hope you will find value in this article and that it will help you understand the advantage of planning your mortgage as a prerequisite to your purchase of a home. Having completed the mortgage acquisition step, a Realtor can help you organize your home search, as you begin browsing through the housing market.
Determining what features you want in your ideal or dream house and what payments you can afford are the important first steps. We ask that you consider the entire cost of home ownership, that is a total of the principle and interest payment, taxes, insurance and maintenance. Most folks are aware of the first four P.I.T.I. or Principle, Interest, Taxes and Insurance. There is another cost of home ownership that is not often figured in. It is property maintenance.
Maintenance is usually about 5% of the value of the improvements per year, if the average is taken over a long period of time, such as forty years. Many people think that 5% is too high a figure and prefer to use 2-3% instead. Whichever you use, make sure you figure in the cost of maintenance or you will end up not easily able to afford the upkeep on your property. This is very important to realize whether you are buying a new home or an older one. And, the older home will usually have a lot of deferred maintenance -- that is things that should have been done and haven't been!
If, for example, you purchase a home and lot where the vacant lot would sell for $50,000, and the home could be replaced for $250,000 and the landscaping value is $20,000 -- a rule of thumb is that you should figure $12,000 per year in maintenance of the home and another thousand in the maintenance of the grounds. We see properties all the time where the improvements have what is known as deferred maintenance. That work that should have been done and hasn't been, soon will need to be done. Deferred maintenance, maintenance not done that should have been done, is subtracted from the value of a home by those in the market, even if it is subconsciously done.
Home maintenance includes painting, caulking, re-carpeting, floor sanding refinishing, re-roofing every 15 to 50 years, depending on the composition of the roof and even replacing of windows, trim and siding. Outside there are sidewalks, the driveway, out buildings, decks, mulching, shrubbery maintenance, fertilizing, reseeding and replanting and of course the regular cutting and similar lawn care expenses. The reason we bring all this up about maintenance is that we hope you figure in the cost of it in addition to your home cost. If maintenance is not figured in you will end up with a mortgage plus maintenance cost or have to borrow more money to do the work that is needed, and that makes it more difficult to afford your new home.
It is important to figure in all the appropriate costs, expenses and other pertinent things, and to get a mortgage that you are able and willing to afford. It is important to your Realtor too. Some Realtors, in order to conserve their time and have more available for serious buyers, require that a person or couple be pre-qualified for the price range in which they seek to purchase a property first, before they begin to show properties. This is a good idea for the buyer as well as the Realtor and some sellers even ask us to NOT bring any prospective purchasers, unless they are financially prequalified -- in writing!
Mortgage brokers will gladly pull your credit report and get you a letter of pre-qualification or even a loan commitment letter for the amount you need to purchase a home. If you have a written loan commitment in hand when you first contact a Realtor, you will get considerably more and better attention.
One of the most difficult situations for a Realtor is that some percentage of the prospective purchasers that come to see properties for sale are not able to purchase those properties. Roughly 95% of a Realtor's time is preparation, paper work, promotion, marketing, web site modification and maintenance as well as maintaining contact with our most qualified buyers and sellers. When we spend two or three hours with a prospective purchaser, and it's usually far more, we are taking away from all the other things we are responsible to do for our other buyers and for our sellers. That time has to be made up.
For properties under $200,000 perhaps half of the folks that come to see us for a home are not able to buy the one they want to see. For properties under $100,000 about 75% of the folks who ask us to see properties are not able to purchase those properties. And, for those folks who come into our offices or call us regarding properties under $100,000 the percentage who can't purchase what they want is greater and greater as the price goes down.
Interestingly enough, a fairly high percentage of those who seek a property over a million dollars are qualified to purchase those properties without the help of our mortgage broker. Either they have their own banker, or they are able to obtain the funds on their own from other investments, or perhaps they even have a liquid assets account such as a money market account.
If you wish to be a shining light, and of greatest interest to your chosen Realtor, you are well advised to seek a mortgage broker or mortgage banker first and get a response in writing to bring with you. Your mortgage banker will probably ask for copies of prior years' tax returns. If you have copies of your credit reports, tax returns, lists of assets and all liabilities, and your bank statements are organized, you're ready to start exploring the housing market and shopping for a mortgage.
By the way, as I write this, our in-house Mortgage Broker or another lender of our choice, is able to give you a better rate and better terms than any other mortgage banker or broker in the market. Whether you use us as your Realtor or not, and if you are planning to purchase in our area we hope you will use us; you will get the utmost attention from your Realtor when you show up with a loan commitment!
Now SHOP! And, have fun!
Copyright 2004 by Jody Hudson www.JodyHudson.com
Read many more informative articles http://www.kate-jody.com/essays/index.html and about the hot real estate market in Rehoboth Beach Delaware at www.Kate-Jody.com
Jody Hudson has been a Realtor since 1972 and in the real estate business as a member of a family real estate business even before that.
by Jody Hudson
You can be a pro at buying a home: Whether you are buying your first home or you are an experienced home buyer who owns more than one home, there are some things that can help you get faster results and get more professional and pleasant help from your Realtor.
A home or property purchase is one of the most important and exciting events to experience. Owning a home can help you build equity while reducing your income tax.
Land of any size requires minimal maintenance and is one of the best long term investments, even compared to gold or diamonds. However, along with the low maintenance, there is seldom any income to offset the cost. There are exceptions, mobile home parks, parking lots, and land rental under a shopping center are wonderful investments with relatively low maintenance if any.
Those who own land and property, as opposed to those who rent or lease, are historically considered to have a measure of stability, success and personal merit in addition to the obvious personal financial worth. This is so true that our Founding Fathers, who were dedicated students of all recorded human history, decreed that to be eligible to vote in our country a person must be a freeholder -- that is one who owned property mortgage free. They knew that the most responsible citizens would be the most responsible voters. Few of us would meet that criteria today. A person who held his property debt free, that is with a free and clear title, a Freeholder, was considered to have made good decisions, had good self control and managed his affairs well. Therefore, that person was considered to have obtained a level of maturity and responsibility -- that proved an ability to manage personal affairs and money as well as a priority to think of the future. The person who owned property with no debt, thus had obtained a sufficient ability to be allowed to vote on the management of our government and the public trust.
We are a nation of home and property owners more than any other nation on earth. However, most of us have a mortgage these days. If you, like most of us, need a mortgage on your new property, we hope you will find value in this article and that it will help you understand the advantage of planning your mortgage as a prerequisite to your purchase of a home. Having completed the mortgage acquisition step, a Realtor can help you organize your home search, as you begin browsing through the housing market.
Determining what features you want in your ideal or dream house and what payments you can afford are the important first steps. We ask that you consider the entire cost of home ownership, that is a total of the principle and interest payment, taxes, insurance and maintenance. Most folks are aware of the first four P.I.T.I. or Principle, Interest, Taxes and Insurance. There is another cost of home ownership that is not often figured in. It is property maintenance.
Maintenance is usually about 5% of the value of the improvements per year, if the average is taken over a long period of time, such as forty years. Many people think that 5% is too high a figure and prefer to use 2-3% instead. Whichever you use, make sure you figure in the cost of maintenance or you will end up not easily able to afford the upkeep on your property. This is very important to realize whether you are buying a new home or an older one. And, the older home will usually have a lot of deferred maintenance -- that is things that should have been done and haven't been!
If, for example, you purchase a home and lot where the vacant lot would sell for $50,000, and the home could be replaced for $250,000 and the landscaping value is $20,000 -- a rule of thumb is that you should figure $12,000 per year in maintenance of the home and another thousand in the maintenance of the grounds. We see properties all the time where the improvements have what is known as deferred maintenance. That work that should have been done and hasn't been, soon will need to be done. Deferred maintenance, maintenance not done that should have been done, is subtracted from the value of a home by those in the market, even if it is subconsciously done.
Home maintenance includes painting, caulking, re-carpeting, floor sanding refinishing, re-roofing every 15 to 50 years, depending on the composition of the roof and even replacing of windows, trim and siding. Outside there are sidewalks, the driveway, out buildings, decks, mulching, shrubbery maintenance, fertilizing, reseeding and replanting and of course the regular cutting and similar lawn care expenses. The reason we bring all this up about maintenance is that we hope you figure in the cost of it in addition to your home cost. If maintenance is not figured in you will end up with a mortgage plus maintenance cost or have to borrow more money to do the work that is needed, and that makes it more difficult to afford your new home.
It is important to figure in all the appropriate costs, expenses and other pertinent things, and to get a mortgage that you are able and willing to afford. It is important to your Realtor too. Some Realtors, in order to conserve their time and have more available for serious buyers, require that a person or couple be pre-qualified for the price range in which they seek to purchase a property first, before they begin to show properties. This is a good idea for the buyer as well as the Realtor and some sellers even ask us to NOT bring any prospective purchasers, unless they are financially prequalified -- in writing!
Mortgage brokers will gladly pull your credit report and get you a letter of pre-qualification or even a loan commitment letter for the amount you need to purchase a home. If you have a written loan commitment in hand when you first contact a Realtor, you will get considerably more and better attention.
One of the most difficult situations for a Realtor is that some percentage of the prospective purchasers that come to see properties for sale are not able to purchase those properties. Roughly 95% of a Realtor's time is preparation, paper work, promotion, marketing, web site modification and maintenance as well as maintaining contact with our most qualified buyers and sellers. When we spend two or three hours with a prospective purchaser, and it's usually far more, we are taking away from all the other things we are responsible to do for our other buyers and for our sellers. That time has to be made up.
For properties under $200,000 perhaps half of the folks that come to see us for a home are not able to buy the one they want to see. For properties under $100,000 about 75% of the folks who ask us to see properties are not able to purchase those properties. And, for those folks who come into our offices or call us regarding properties under $100,000 the percentage who can't purchase what they want is greater and greater as the price goes down.
Interestingly enough, a fairly high percentage of those who seek a property over a million dollars are qualified to purchase those properties without the help of our mortgage broker. Either they have their own banker, or they are able to obtain the funds on their own from other investments, or perhaps they even have a liquid assets account such as a money market account.
If you wish to be a shining light, and of greatest interest to your chosen Realtor, you are well advised to seek a mortgage broker or mortgage banker first and get a response in writing to bring with you. Your mortgage banker will probably ask for copies of prior years' tax returns. If you have copies of your credit reports, tax returns, lists of assets and all liabilities, and your bank statements are organized, you're ready to start exploring the housing market and shopping for a mortgage.
By the way, as I write this, our in-house Mortgage Broker or another lender of our choice, is able to give you a better rate and better terms than any other mortgage banker or broker in the market. Whether you use us as your Realtor or not, and if you are planning to purchase in our area we hope you will use us; you will get the utmost attention from your Realtor when you show up with a loan commitment!
Now SHOP! And, have fun!
Copyright 2004 by Jody Hudson www.JodyHudson.com
Read many more informative articles http://www.kate-jody.com/essays/index.html and about the hot real estate market in Rehoboth Beach Delaware at www.Kate-Jody.com
Jody Hudson has been a Realtor since 1972 and in the real estate business as a member of a family real estate business even before that.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Real Estate: Reasons and Priorities for Purchasing Property
Real Estate: Reasons and Priorities for Purchasing Property. It's not just about Real Estate as an Investment.
By Jody Hudson www.JodyHudson.com
Real Estate can be a great investment with unusual appreciation. We have had several years years of exceptional annual appreciation.
We are still having great appreciation, perhaps as much as 20% annually in some areas. But, it is not as extensive nor as much as it was. Real Estate as an investment can be fairly good to best in the world -- but it is an investment that is best viewed over the long term; There can be long periods when it does not go up in value much, if at all. Taken over a period of decades or even centuries, nothing on earth beats it.
Another problem with real estate is that it is not liquid, that is, it is not easy to convert to cash -- like stocks, bonds, and savings accounts are. Real estate is particularly non-liquid during a downturn in our markets. You will
not likely hear this anywhere else, especially from other Realtors, but real estate is not a great investment, it is usually a good investment but not always, and not all the time -- when looked at short term.
Too many people buy real estate as an investment and forget that there are other reasons to buy. I suggest that you will be much happier if you purchase real estate for use and for lifestyle rather than as an investment, when it comes to your place of residence or your second home. Perhaps it should be almost entirely about lifestyle. After all, a primary residence or a second home should be a place to enjoy a lifestyle that allows you to relax and wind down from the rest of life.
If you live a very public life, one where people are always seeking you out, where you are always in the light of public scrutiny and often in the press for instance; if your normal life is one where you must always been on your best behavior and always crafting each word and action for it's best value - then perhaps a private place, away from others, a place where you don't know your neighbors, is just right for you. There are some communities that are unique. There is one just for you!
Perhaps the lifestyle you want is right in the middle of everything. Take a look at various properties for sale. Each of these properties has it's own personality of location and lifestyle. Ask your Realtor for lifestyle particulars about any of them. Most importantly, visit them on your own and find out from the other residents by meeting them and asking. Weekends are a great time to walk the area and speak to those working outside!
One of the things I try to convey to people who are at stages in life where lifestyle is really the only reason to purchase a home -- is to think about only "lifestyle". Are you really trying to buy an investment that will appreciate over a period of time so that you can sell it for a profit in the future? Or are you trying to settle into a lifestyle that will allow you to enjoy your home and surroundings and other aspects of your life?
Perhaps your other investments are in place, you are seeking a retired life and you wish to enjoy the lifestyle of a million dollar home, but don't want to take that money out of liquid investments, that you might need to access. In such a case, you might want to purchase a home on leased land. The owner of the land will get the appreciation but you can save, in some cases a million dollars or more, by getting a home on leased land. In some cases that might be a mobile home or manufactured home on rented or leased land. In our area of southern Delaware, most of the people living in land-lease communities do NOT look at the home here as an investment! They have investments.
Perhaps your perfect lifestyle home will not appreciate in value much or at all... at least not in the short term. BUT as long as you keep your home in top shape and are in a desirable community, you are most likely not losing anything at all. If you are considering a community that involves leased land, or "ground rent" as some folks call it, then consider what else you may be getting out of the deal.
Here and in other areas, some land-lease parks or communities allow you to live life like one of the wealthy without paying for it and without time and cost of maintainance. You may get benefits such as swimming pools, private beaches, marinas, tennis courts, grass cutting, trash removal, daily or hourly security drive-bys, etc. The communities that I know of that are in "fee simple", that is where you own your own land, do not provide all of these benefits, (though I do know of many that provide some).
Consider what it is you want out of home or out of a vacation home. If low maintenance is a priority for you at this point, the manufactured home community may be the best choice, perhaps. Also, you need to consider how much you are willing to spend on a vacation home. This will hold a major bearing on what you will eventually purchase. There are many options for people who are in your situation. You just need to balance your wants and needs in priority order. Next, consider your finances. There are many desirable factors in owning each different type of residential real estate. All we ask, is that for YOUR improved happiness, please consider Lifestyle instead of only investment appreciation!
Copyright 2004 by Jody Hudson
Other articles by Jody may be found at
http://www.kate-jody.com/essays/index.html
Jody Hudson: MrJodyHudson@earthlink.net and www.Kate-Jody.com
Jody Hudson was raised as a farmer in Delaware. In 1969 he and his father began "planting houses instead of crops" on the land. It was far more profitable. In 1972 he got a real estate licencse. In a few years he became the youngest real estate broker in Delaware history. In 1982 he was selected by Who's Who in American Real Estate as it's youngest member at the time. He has created about 40 residential communities and sold real estate in Delaware and across he nation. He has written several valuable articles http://www.kate-jody.com/essays/index.html for you. Enjoy!
By Jody Hudson www.JodyHudson.com
Real Estate can be a great investment with unusual appreciation. We have had several years years of exceptional annual appreciation.
We are still having great appreciation, perhaps as much as 20% annually in some areas. But, it is not as extensive nor as much as it was. Real Estate as an investment can be fairly good to best in the world -- but it is an investment that is best viewed over the long term; There can be long periods when it does not go up in value much, if at all. Taken over a period of decades or even centuries, nothing on earth beats it.
Another problem with real estate is that it is not liquid, that is, it is not easy to convert to cash -- like stocks, bonds, and savings accounts are. Real estate is particularly non-liquid during a downturn in our markets. You will
not likely hear this anywhere else, especially from other Realtors, but real estate is not a great investment, it is usually a good investment but not always, and not all the time -- when looked at short term.
Too many people buy real estate as an investment and forget that there are other reasons to buy. I suggest that you will be much happier if you purchase real estate for use and for lifestyle rather than as an investment, when it comes to your place of residence or your second home. Perhaps it should be almost entirely about lifestyle. After all, a primary residence or a second home should be a place to enjoy a lifestyle that allows you to relax and wind down from the rest of life.
If you live a very public life, one where people are always seeking you out, where you are always in the light of public scrutiny and often in the press for instance; if your normal life is one where you must always been on your best behavior and always crafting each word and action for it's best value - then perhaps a private place, away from others, a place where you don't know your neighbors, is just right for you. There are some communities that are unique. There is one just for you!
Perhaps the lifestyle you want is right in the middle of everything. Take a look at various properties for sale. Each of these properties has it's own personality of location and lifestyle. Ask your Realtor for lifestyle particulars about any of them. Most importantly, visit them on your own and find out from the other residents by meeting them and asking. Weekends are a great time to walk the area and speak to those working outside!
One of the things I try to convey to people who are at stages in life where lifestyle is really the only reason to purchase a home -- is to think about only "lifestyle". Are you really trying to buy an investment that will appreciate over a period of time so that you can sell it for a profit in the future? Or are you trying to settle into a lifestyle that will allow you to enjoy your home and surroundings and other aspects of your life?
Perhaps your other investments are in place, you are seeking a retired life and you wish to enjoy the lifestyle of a million dollar home, but don't want to take that money out of liquid investments, that you might need to access. In such a case, you might want to purchase a home on leased land. The owner of the land will get the appreciation but you can save, in some cases a million dollars or more, by getting a home on leased land. In some cases that might be a mobile home or manufactured home on rented or leased land. In our area of southern Delaware, most of the people living in land-lease communities do NOT look at the home here as an investment! They have investments.
Perhaps your perfect lifestyle home will not appreciate in value much or at all... at least not in the short term. BUT as long as you keep your home in top shape and are in a desirable community, you are most likely not losing anything at all. If you are considering a community that involves leased land, or "ground rent" as some folks call it, then consider what else you may be getting out of the deal.
Here and in other areas, some land-lease parks or communities allow you to live life like one of the wealthy without paying for it and without time and cost of maintainance. You may get benefits such as swimming pools, private beaches, marinas, tennis courts, grass cutting, trash removal, daily or hourly security drive-bys, etc. The communities that I know of that are in "fee simple", that is where you own your own land, do not provide all of these benefits, (though I do know of many that provide some).
Consider what it is you want out of home or out of a vacation home. If low maintenance is a priority for you at this point, the manufactured home community may be the best choice, perhaps. Also, you need to consider how much you are willing to spend on a vacation home. This will hold a major bearing on what you will eventually purchase. There are many options for people who are in your situation. You just need to balance your wants and needs in priority order. Next, consider your finances. There are many desirable factors in owning each different type of residential real estate. All we ask, is that for YOUR improved happiness, please consider Lifestyle instead of only investment appreciation!
Copyright 2004 by Jody Hudson
Other articles by Jody may be found at
http://www.kate-jody.com/essays/index.html
Jody Hudson: MrJodyHudson@earthlink.net and www.Kate-Jody.com
Jody Hudson was raised as a farmer in Delaware. In 1969 he and his father began "planting houses instead of crops" on the land. It was far more profitable. In 1972 he got a real estate licencse. In a few years he became the youngest real estate broker in Delaware history. In 1982 he was selected by Who's Who in American Real Estate as it's youngest member at the time. He has created about 40 residential communities and sold real estate in Delaware and across he nation. He has written several valuable articles http://www.kate-jody.com/essays/index.html for you. Enjoy!
Cheap, Bargain, Real Estate; Good Deals, Below Market, Low Priced Properties Are Available...
Cheap, Bargain, Real Estate; Good Deals, Below Market, Low Priced properties are available if you know how to buy them.
By Jody Hudson - Realtor since 1972.
How to FIND and BUY: Cheap Bargain Real Estate, Good Deals, Below Market, Low Priced and Less Expensive; homes, lots, land, businesses, and condominiums. They are everywhere and easy to find. Here is how to find and buy them from anyone, anywhere.
This article lays out the steps: How to find and buy a Bargain, A Good Deal, in real estate; that is; how to get it real cheap! Yes, there are ways!
Nearly every call or e-mail that I get is asking me to find the buyer a bargain. We all feel that way when we are buying as well. All of us want a good deal. We all want to get cheap real estate. And we can all do it.
There is a bit of a challenge however. Every single buyer that I've ever had in my thirty two years of selling real estate has wanted to sell the property they have for more than it is worth. Herein lays our challenge as Realtors -- and of course for you as purchasers.
To get those HOT deals in real estate there are at least three things you must do:
1. First of all as a buyer you must be able and willing to act faster than any other buyer.
2. Second you must be able to know a bargain when you see one. This takes experience and education in the specific market . Any assumptions made from other markets, about the subject-inteded market, will sentence you to certain failure...
3. Third you must BUY it. That is write a deposit check and write a contract that will win over the other contracts that may be presented at about the same time as yours.
This group of three steps, sounds simple, but only about one buyer in each ten year period is willing to do these three things in order to get the cheap property they have asked us to find for them! I have several people, and so do most Realtors, that are the most; ready, willing and able and we call them first! If you want to be one of the ones called you must be MORE ready, willing and able!
Recently, August 2002 the waterfront home next to ours was listed for sale for $249,000 and it was worth at the time about $350,000. Kate and I called each of our family members, our wonderful neighbors on the other side (one of whom is a local builder and the other a mortgage broker) and some of our best clients and a best friend of ours, a builder and investor, who had already said he liked the fine home. (Note that property is now worth about $800,000 Sept. 2004).
We explained that the home was going on the market in a few hours and that they must act fast. Our neighbors on the other side, the most knowledgeable of the bunch wanted to make an offer of $180,000 saying they thought that was all the property was worth. They knew better or at least should have and they should have bought it. They just "hoped" they could get it for less and that they didn't have to move fast. The offer they made was ignored and wasted our time. They did however get another property in a few days, for a lot more money, that was worth a lot less, as a result of improved alertness and awareness after loosing the one next to us.
Our savvy investor friend put in a couple of offers below the asking price with several contingencies. Meanwhile we are telling everyone to write a contract for full price with no contingencies and calling on both our phones as fast as we could call. None of our best friends or family would pay attention. They were ALL too greedy. They knew the property was far under-priced but wanted it for even less... Lesson: when it's a good deal - ACT instead of getting more greedy and losing the deal totally.
Then our lovely new neighbors came and saw the property. They also were knowledgeable about similar properties, and had lost several properties they liked by moving slow, writing unreasonable contracts and not paying attention to real values.
This time they did it correctly. In fact they wrote a contract on the spot, with no contingencies, and for MORE than full price so that if anyone did offer full price they would still have the best chance. They paid $5,000 more than the full price on the spot, told the sellers they could have settlement any time they wanted it and before they even heard back from the sellers they arranged for a mortgage of MORE than they needed and asked for the money to be immediately available. They did not ask for a home inspection, a survey, or for the sellers to fix anything. The home is 30 years old and has not had one bit of maintenance. There was a burst hot water tank, a roof that needs replacing and a few HUGE cracks in the foundation. All these problems cost them about $15,000.
They have, as I write this, owned the property for several months and worked on it every weekend, before they could take a break and enjoy it. They love it. If they were to fix all of the things that need fixing, paint the trim and freshen up the yard and landscaping; we could get $900,000 to $950,000 for this home for them in a few months on the market. And, city sewer will be here in a few years, at that point the property will instantly go up another $200,000 and all the people we called knew about the pending sewer too.
The buyers didn't find out about the sewer coming to town until after they had contracted to purchase the property. The sewer is still not in -- WOW. They are glad they did the One, Two, Three to make it happen!
By doing the three things listed above the purchasers of the home next to us have made the wisest purchasing decision thus far in their lives and have one of the best bargains that have been available in the last several years. The sellers are happy too as they just wanted to sell it as fast as they possibly could, due to a sudden and dangerous illness of one of the owners.
I'm writing this article to serve you the reader. But you must know it is self serving as well. Much of our time as Real Estate Agents is spent trying to successfully educate our buyers and sellers. If they would take our advice they could be far, far, more successful in selling or buying. The articles I write here http://www.kate-jody.com/essays/index.html are those advices that I give my customers and clients - if they ask. Most don't and when they do, very few take the advice. Just like in every other profession, we the professionals do what we can to help those who come to us but it's up to them to take the advice.
Bargain homes are always available - but hard to sell. They are homes that are in need of some repair or cosmetic improvement or that are in an area of transition. We have several on the market right now and they are hard to sell. Someone with vision will eventually purchase them, fix them up and perhaps sell them at a huge profit - often to someone who says they want a bargain but won't do what it takes to get a bargain. Funny isn't it, and this sort of thing happens all the time. It has consistently happened in my 35 years in the real estate business and being a licensed Realtor since 1972. Just know this, if you want a fixer-upper, so does everyone else, but you need to be very, very, educated and able to spend the time and money to renovate the property effectively and affordably. And, you need to do One, Two, Three!
If you want a bargain; educate yourself and be ready to DO -- One, Two, and Three. We'll try to help you.
By Jody Hudson Copyright 2002-2004 www.Kate-Jody.com
Jody Hudson: MrJodyHudson@earthlink.net
By Jody Hudson - Realtor since 1972.
How to FIND and BUY: Cheap Bargain Real Estate, Good Deals, Below Market, Low Priced and Less Expensive; homes, lots, land, businesses, and condominiums. They are everywhere and easy to find. Here is how to find and buy them from anyone, anywhere.
This article lays out the steps: How to find and buy a Bargain, A Good Deal, in real estate; that is; how to get it real cheap! Yes, there are ways!
Nearly every call or e-mail that I get is asking me to find the buyer a bargain. We all feel that way when we are buying as well. All of us want a good deal. We all want to get cheap real estate. And we can all do it.
There is a bit of a challenge however. Every single buyer that I've ever had in my thirty two years of selling real estate has wanted to sell the property they have for more than it is worth. Herein lays our challenge as Realtors -- and of course for you as purchasers.
To get those HOT deals in real estate there are at least three things you must do:
1. First of all as a buyer you must be able and willing to act faster than any other buyer.
2. Second you must be able to know a bargain when you see one. This takes experience and education in the specific market . Any assumptions made from other markets, about the subject-inteded market, will sentence you to certain failure...
3. Third you must BUY it. That is write a deposit check and write a contract that will win over the other contracts that may be presented at about the same time as yours.
This group of three steps, sounds simple, but only about one buyer in each ten year period is willing to do these three things in order to get the cheap property they have asked us to find for them! I have several people, and so do most Realtors, that are the most; ready, willing and able and we call them first! If you want to be one of the ones called you must be MORE ready, willing and able!
Recently, August 2002 the waterfront home next to ours was listed for sale for $249,000 and it was worth at the time about $350,000. Kate and I called each of our family members, our wonderful neighbors on the other side (one of whom is a local builder and the other a mortgage broker) and some of our best clients and a best friend of ours, a builder and investor, who had already said he liked the fine home. (Note that property is now worth about $800,000 Sept. 2004).
We explained that the home was going on the market in a few hours and that they must act fast. Our neighbors on the other side, the most knowledgeable of the bunch wanted to make an offer of $180,000 saying they thought that was all the property was worth. They knew better or at least should have and they should have bought it. They just "hoped" they could get it for less and that they didn't have to move fast. The offer they made was ignored and wasted our time. They did however get another property in a few days, for a lot more money, that was worth a lot less, as a result of improved alertness and awareness after loosing the one next to us.
Our savvy investor friend put in a couple of offers below the asking price with several contingencies. Meanwhile we are telling everyone to write a contract for full price with no contingencies and calling on both our phones as fast as we could call. None of our best friends or family would pay attention. They were ALL too greedy. They knew the property was far under-priced but wanted it for even less... Lesson: when it's a good deal - ACT instead of getting more greedy and losing the deal totally.
Then our lovely new neighbors came and saw the property. They also were knowledgeable about similar properties, and had lost several properties they liked by moving slow, writing unreasonable contracts and not paying attention to real values.
This time they did it correctly. In fact they wrote a contract on the spot, with no contingencies, and for MORE than full price so that if anyone did offer full price they would still have the best chance. They paid $5,000 more than the full price on the spot, told the sellers they could have settlement any time they wanted it and before they even heard back from the sellers they arranged for a mortgage of MORE than they needed and asked for the money to be immediately available. They did not ask for a home inspection, a survey, or for the sellers to fix anything. The home is 30 years old and has not had one bit of maintenance. There was a burst hot water tank, a roof that needs replacing and a few HUGE cracks in the foundation. All these problems cost them about $15,000.
They have, as I write this, owned the property for several months and worked on it every weekend, before they could take a break and enjoy it. They love it. If they were to fix all of the things that need fixing, paint the trim and freshen up the yard and landscaping; we could get $900,000 to $950,000 for this home for them in a few months on the market. And, city sewer will be here in a few years, at that point the property will instantly go up another $200,000 and all the people we called knew about the pending sewer too.
The buyers didn't find out about the sewer coming to town until after they had contracted to purchase the property. The sewer is still not in -- WOW. They are glad they did the One, Two, Three to make it happen!
By doing the three things listed above the purchasers of the home next to us have made the wisest purchasing decision thus far in their lives and have one of the best bargains that have been available in the last several years. The sellers are happy too as they just wanted to sell it as fast as they possibly could, due to a sudden and dangerous illness of one of the owners.
I'm writing this article to serve you the reader. But you must know it is self serving as well. Much of our time as Real Estate Agents is spent trying to successfully educate our buyers and sellers. If they would take our advice they could be far, far, more successful in selling or buying. The articles I write here http://www.kate-jody.com/essays/index.html are those advices that I give my customers and clients - if they ask. Most don't and when they do, very few take the advice. Just like in every other profession, we the professionals do what we can to help those who come to us but it's up to them to take the advice.
Bargain homes are always available - but hard to sell. They are homes that are in need of some repair or cosmetic improvement or that are in an area of transition. We have several on the market right now and they are hard to sell. Someone with vision will eventually purchase them, fix them up and perhaps sell them at a huge profit - often to someone who says they want a bargain but won't do what it takes to get a bargain. Funny isn't it, and this sort of thing happens all the time. It has consistently happened in my 35 years in the real estate business and being a licensed Realtor since 1972. Just know this, if you want a fixer-upper, so does everyone else, but you need to be very, very, educated and able to spend the time and money to renovate the property effectively and affordably. And, you need to do One, Two, Three!
If you want a bargain; educate yourself and be ready to DO -- One, Two, and Three. We'll try to help you.
By Jody Hudson Copyright 2002-2004 www.Kate-Jody.com
Jody Hudson: MrJodyHudson@earthlink.net
Thursday, September 17, 2009
How to Make the Real Estate Market Work For You and Get The Most Money
How to make the Real Estate market work for you and get the most money.
Dad always said that Real estate is a good investment because they don't make it anymore. Because they are so busy these days anyone selling your home may be thinking more of listing more homes than your welfare. If you plan on selling and moving you will need to take some simple steps to get the most money you can.
Most Real Estate companies do a good job but in a sellers market you can probably sell your home yourself. Anyway if you have the time it won't hurt to try. If it doesn't sell then you can always call the pros in latter. The internet has been a blessing to the average person. Not only can you sell many things you don't need anymore, you can even sell your home on the net at sites like PropertytraderUSA.com. Thousands of people visit sites like this looking for a new home. Even if your home is with a Broker you can still speed things along by putting low cost ads on the internet.
First you need to get your home ready to show. Buyers like homes that are clean with as few of your things as possible lying around so it's time to do a spring-cleaning. Some big furniture may cost more to move than its worth so sell these things locally. You may want to buy new things later anyway. Then look around for small stuff you don't want and sell it on eBay. What's left is stuff you can't live without or it's just junk. If you aren't sure then ask your wife guys, she'll point out the junk to you.
If you like most people have collected too much stuff then consider renting storage for a month or two. Clean out the garage and hose it down to get rid of dust and spider webs. Men like garages and want to picture their tools and things there. One of the best home improvements that don't cost a lot of money is pant, especially if you don't mind doing the labor.
Ever notice how guests always end up in the kitchen? Most people like kitchens and this is the first room to remodel or just clean and paint. The next most important room is the bathroom. Repair leaks, rust spots, and replace the little things that seem to get ugly over time. If you have pets make sure you don't have a cat litter box sitting around smelling up the place. Homeowners get used to their own smells and can't smell a thing but your visitors' sure can!
Big dogs scare some people (not me) and maybe it would be best to let Bruno visit Uncle Pete for a few weeks. After you finish with everything invite some friends over for a party and get some feedback on how everything looks. When everything looks good it's time to take some pictures. You need good clear pictures to post on the net and mail to interested buyers. If you're not experienced at photography find someone that is. Good photography takes years to learn and that's what you need now. I've tested photos of my products on eBay and believe me it makes a big difference. Remember, a picture is worth a thousand words.
If you use a Real Estate broker select one with lots of experience. I like the larger companies because they give you lots more exposure through their advertising and intercity referrals. Buyers trust them more also. The small cut-rate company's may be slower to find a buyer and fix problems. When you are ready to move be careful to pick an honest moving company. Many of them have been holding truckloads of belongings and demanding more money. Pick one with a good reputation.
When I was selling Real Estate there was no such thing as the internet. What a wonderful thing it is. More and more people are selling everything you can think of on the net. There are plenty of Real Estate listing websites including my own PropertyTraderUSA.com that will advertise your Home for a small fee. PropertytraderUSA.com is free for the first 200 ads. After that its only $25 for six months and includes a photo. Wow, can you imagine selling for $25 and saving all that money! Do it Now!
To your success! Dean Minton
© 2004 by Dean Minton
You have permission to publish this article electronically or in print, in your Newsletter, on your website, or in your E-Book, as long as the author's Resource Box is included with the article.
--------------------------------------------------------
Dean Minton is the author of the Science Fiction Screenplays,
"The Quantum Child" and "Backseat".
List your property for sale at Dean's new Nation Wide Real Estate Website for only $25 dollars! (first 200 are free) Go to Http://www.PropertytraderUSA.com
Contact him at: mailto: Deanspictures@netzero.net
--------------------------------------------------------
Dad always said that Real estate is a good investment because they don't make it anymore. Because they are so busy these days anyone selling your home may be thinking more of listing more homes than your welfare. If you plan on selling and moving you will need to take some simple steps to get the most money you can.
Most Real Estate companies do a good job but in a sellers market you can probably sell your home yourself. Anyway if you have the time it won't hurt to try. If it doesn't sell then you can always call the pros in latter. The internet has been a blessing to the average person. Not only can you sell many things you don't need anymore, you can even sell your home on the net at sites like PropertytraderUSA.com. Thousands of people visit sites like this looking for a new home. Even if your home is with a Broker you can still speed things along by putting low cost ads on the internet.
First you need to get your home ready to show. Buyers like homes that are clean with as few of your things as possible lying around so it's time to do a spring-cleaning. Some big furniture may cost more to move than its worth so sell these things locally. You may want to buy new things later anyway. Then look around for small stuff you don't want and sell it on eBay. What's left is stuff you can't live without or it's just junk. If you aren't sure then ask your wife guys, she'll point out the junk to you.
If you like most people have collected too much stuff then consider renting storage for a month or two. Clean out the garage and hose it down to get rid of dust and spider webs. Men like garages and want to picture their tools and things there. One of the best home improvements that don't cost a lot of money is pant, especially if you don't mind doing the labor.
Ever notice how guests always end up in the kitchen? Most people like kitchens and this is the first room to remodel or just clean and paint. The next most important room is the bathroom. Repair leaks, rust spots, and replace the little things that seem to get ugly over time. If you have pets make sure you don't have a cat litter box sitting around smelling up the place. Homeowners get used to their own smells and can't smell a thing but your visitors' sure can!
Big dogs scare some people (not me) and maybe it would be best to let Bruno visit Uncle Pete for a few weeks. After you finish with everything invite some friends over for a party and get some feedback on how everything looks. When everything looks good it's time to take some pictures. You need good clear pictures to post on the net and mail to interested buyers. If you're not experienced at photography find someone that is. Good photography takes years to learn and that's what you need now. I've tested photos of my products on eBay and believe me it makes a big difference. Remember, a picture is worth a thousand words.
If you use a Real Estate broker select one with lots of experience. I like the larger companies because they give you lots more exposure through their advertising and intercity referrals. Buyers trust them more also. The small cut-rate company's may be slower to find a buyer and fix problems. When you are ready to move be careful to pick an honest moving company. Many of them have been holding truckloads of belongings and demanding more money. Pick one with a good reputation.
When I was selling Real Estate there was no such thing as the internet. What a wonderful thing it is. More and more people are selling everything you can think of on the net. There are plenty of Real Estate listing websites including my own PropertyTraderUSA.com that will advertise your Home for a small fee. PropertytraderUSA.com is free for the first 200 ads. After that its only $25 for six months and includes a photo. Wow, can you imagine selling for $25 and saving all that money! Do it Now!
To your success! Dean Minton
© 2004 by Dean Minton
You have permission to publish this article electronically or in print, in your Newsletter, on your website, or in your E-Book, as long as the author's Resource Box is included with the article.
--------------------------------------------------------
Dean Minton is the author of the Science Fiction Screenplays,
"The Quantum Child" and "Backseat".
List your property for sale at Dean's new Nation Wide Real Estate Website for only $25 dollars! (first 200 are free) Go to Http://www.PropertytraderUSA.com
Contact him at: mailto: Deanspictures@netzero.net
--------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
How to Price Your Property?
A house properly priced is half sold.
But there are plenty of ways to price it improperly..
* You can't go by what you paid for the place. Perhaps you bought two years ago when local prices were skyrocketing, and things have cooled off since. Perhaps houses like yours can now be bought for less, and if you hold out for what you paid, you'll just waste your time..
On the other hand, perhaps prices in your area have taken off, and you'd short-change yourself if you just tried to "get my money out" (but you'd have a fast sale.).
* You can't go by how much you've spent on improvements. A given street will support only a given price range. If you've invested so much that yours would be the most expensive house on the street, the buying public is not likely to reimburse you..
* You can't go by your tax assessment figure. Even in communities that aim at full-value assessments, the figures are almost never in line with what buyers are currently ready to pay..
So how do you price your house?.
By putting yourself in a buyer's shoes..
What else is for sale in the area? How does it compare with your house? How long has it been on the market? What has sold recently, and how much did the buying public value it at? What has failed to sell in the past year?.
Any good broker can furnish the data you need, often in the form of a chart known as a CMA, Comparative Market Analysis. .
And once you have it, again think like a buyer. What price would it take for you to look at a list and say to an agent "Take me to see that one"?.
Ajay Pats is a professional manager.He manages real estate broking site "Real estate broker"(http://realestatebroker.nexuswebs.net/realestatebroker/index.html ),community for home based business entrepreneurs "Venturecon/Home business opportunities" (http://groups.msn.com/venturecon ) and inspirational ezine "Discover secrets of happy and prosperous life " (http://www.topica.com/lists/venturemall ).
But there are plenty of ways to price it improperly..
* You can't go by what you paid for the place. Perhaps you bought two years ago when local prices were skyrocketing, and things have cooled off since. Perhaps houses like yours can now be bought for less, and if you hold out for what you paid, you'll just waste your time..
On the other hand, perhaps prices in your area have taken off, and you'd short-change yourself if you just tried to "get my money out" (but you'd have a fast sale.).
* You can't go by how much you've spent on improvements. A given street will support only a given price range. If you've invested so much that yours would be the most expensive house on the street, the buying public is not likely to reimburse you..
* You can't go by your tax assessment figure. Even in communities that aim at full-value assessments, the figures are almost never in line with what buyers are currently ready to pay..
So how do you price your house?.
By putting yourself in a buyer's shoes..
What else is for sale in the area? How does it compare with your house? How long has it been on the market? What has sold recently, and how much did the buying public value it at? What has failed to sell in the past year?.
Any good broker can furnish the data you need, often in the form of a chart known as a CMA, Comparative Market Analysis. .
And once you have it, again think like a buyer. What price would it take for you to look at a list and say to an agent "Take me to see that one"?.
Ajay Pats is a professional manager.He manages real estate broking site "Real estate broker"(http://realestatebroker.nexuswebs.net/realestatebroker/index.html ),community for home based business entrepreneurs "Venturecon/Home business opportunities" (http://groups.msn.com/venturecon ) and inspirational ezine "Discover secrets of happy and prosperous life " (http://www.topica.com/lists/venturemall ).
Joint Ventures In Real Estate Development; So How Do They Work?
There are many reasons why you would consider joining with another person to undertake a development project in Joint Venture.
Usually the most basis reason reveolves around something you don't have.
Some of them may be:
1. I own land ... have capital & capacity to borrow ... but no experience.
2. I have capital & capacity to borrow ... partner has land ... both have no experience.
3. I am 'time poor' ... work full time and can't be personally involved ...
Let's suppose you want to find a land owner who will put their land
into the Joint Venture, (JV) and their land will be their major contribution to the deal, plus some borrowings.
Let's consider the implications of entering into a JV in the first place.
After all, in a JV you have to take into account another persons attitude, decision making process, (or inability to make a decision), whether they have a logical and sensible mind ... the list goes on.
So, getting into a JV must have a good payback for you. Whatever you lack is usually the reason for entering into a JV.
I have noticed over the years that JV's have a prime motivator, the driver of the deal (you), and the other person is along for the ride.
For example: the other party may have a wonderful property (site) and wants to develop it, but does not have the knowledge. You "love" the site and know that you could make it a very successful and profitable real estate development. You approched the land owner.
Another example: maybe two individuals who have saved their capital, however individually it is inadaquate to undertake a project. Combining their capital and borrowing capacity will allow they to proceed.
I prefer a JV where both parties are equally motivated, have different skill bases, but each regards the other as contributing equally.
You know the feelings that can occur, "I'm working harder that you ...
all you do is the phone and number crunching work ... I'm always out
and about on site dealing with the real work."
Don't forget why you got together in the first place.
So there are many reasons for JV's. However, you must be clear as to why you are doing it, and it must be secured by a legally prepared JV Agreement.
A lot of 'practical people' hate legal documents ... a JV Agreement is a legal document and both parties must understand what it says. If one of you is a bit slack on this point, it is up to the other to sit them down and go through it ... it's important!
Why?
Suppose the JV deal hits a rough patch and your partner says, "I didn't know that ... why didn't you tell me ... I left all that legal garbage to you ... blah, blah." Got It, have the arguments at the beginning of the deal ... not later.
A JV Agreement sets out what each party will contribute, both money and effort, and sets out each parties obligations. It also sets out what happens if the parties 'fall-out' with each other as well as the division of profits or losses.
There is a lot more at stake if you JV with your rother-in-Law, other relatives etc ... the term 'on-going-nightmare' is a phrase that readily comes to mind.
And if one of those family JV's brake down, it dosen't matter how many pages are in the JV Agreement, or what the words say to prove that you are "RIGHT," ... as far as YOUR Brother-in-Law is concerned, you are a 'expletive deleted.'
Just thought I'd get that out of the way!! OK?
One more thing ... doing a JV with a rich person, when you are many levels poorer then them, is also not smart.
Why?
Well, in simple terms, when 'push comes to shove' money rules ...
The golden rule says, He who has the GOLD, RULES.
Also, if the rich guy tell you not to bother with a JV Agreement ... he appears to be saving you money ... tempting eh? ... what he's really doing is taking away your legal rights.
Yep, you'll have less rights than an employee. If that's the deal ... better to be an employee!
In my my ebook I emphasise the importance of getting the Structure Work of the business organised - you will build a much better development business from a secure foundation.
When you are doing your interviewing of the associated professionals, try to see if they, personally, have any entrepreneutial tendancies.
They may have land, houses, houses for renovation etc but don't have the 'TIME' or 'SKILLS' to do the work themselves.
Don't come out and ask them straight away ... follow my ebook, do the work you want to do; that is assessing them ... but keep your antenna out for any signs of a common interest.
OK, back to getting hold of some land.
Get to know the local real estate agents; I mean know them well.
Remember what I say in the ebook.
Call in and buy them a cup of coffee, take them out of their work place;
what about dinner after work; really spread yourself around.
Invest your Time in finding good, well informed, dedicated agents. Believe me they are in your business community ... it's your job to find them.
Appreciate that Agents are essentially self-employed, irrespective of whether they work in a Real Estate Agency ... their 'mind set' is independent.
They back themselves and their abilities to provide a sales service at a
level that "consistantly" provides them with a 'good income.
That 'good income' by the way, will leave most of their 'client's' income
looking a little anaemic.
The 'good agents' are busy; their 'time' is money; literally. So don't mess them around.
Don't talk to them as though you are the Aga Kahn! You're Not. There's always a guy richer than you ... maybe the Agent!
Why am I making such a big point about agents.
I believe "people" get the agents "they deserve."
I have heard people talk to Agents as though they were some grubby leech on society and are doing them an honor even to talk to them.
To be a successful agent these days you have to be very good. Many are highly educated and choose real estate as a career for the freedom,
individual reward and great returns.
What comes out of your mouth + body language tells an agent a great deal about you. They then wonder why the Agent never calls then ... Dong!!!
Keep your 'ego' under control. Their sales success rests on their ability at 'reading people.' Remember what I say in my ebook!
When you are in the development business, you are in the business of:
Getting People To Do ... What You Want Them To Do
Within The 'TIME' AND 'Costs'You Set.
That means that you have to be in control of 'How You Treat People.'
Agents know a lot of people ... maybe, they even know those people who want to JV with you.
While you are doing this "work" don't forget to do what my ebook tell you
to do about research.
Last idea for finding JV people - talk to your friends - put an advert in the local newspaper seeking expressions of interest from people interested in doing what you want.
OK, you've found a partner who has the land and you are comfortable with the relationship after several meetings.
Important question! What value does your prospective partner put on his land that will be put into the JV?
Just throwing a few figures around to give you an example.
Let's say that market value for his land right now is $300,000. But he wants to put into the JV at $400,000. So if your JV Agreement involves you gaining a share of the profit, your share will be $100,000 less. Got It?
Now let's say that part of your skills contribution to the JV includes a
rezoning of the land to a higher level and you achieve that for the JV.
That rezoning may take the land from a single unit (house) dwelling zone to a six dwelling unit zone.
Your efforts have increased the land value significantly ... no, not six times, as house properties are valued differently to multiple unit properties. But it may have increased by 3 or more times, depending on your market.
Once again the $100,000 will come off your share. Now that may be OK by you, because you are just starting out on your first development ... it is always better to KNOW what you are agreeing too.
I hope this information helps you in your consideration of entering a JV.
but please remember, don't just read my eBook ... study it ... take notes in a special hard cover Development Copy Book that you will buy.
Writing things down is an aid to learning and remembering.
My LAST DON'T ... Don't start any of this JV stuff until you know my eBook
inside out. You must not just be able to 'talk the talk' - you must know what you are talking about.
What I am all about, is helping you to do residential development with the RISK reduced.
If it takes four years study to get a basic Degree and say another five years to get some experience, why would you think that you can enter the development business with little study -- no experience and expect to be profitable?
"Residential Development Made Easy" is written by Colm Dillon, the 'Real Estate Development Coach' and is the only 'How To Become a Residential Real Estate Developer's eBook on the web; it's selling in 38 Countries, from his experience of developing $1.2 Billion worth of real estate - read more on his web site http://realestatedevelopmentcoach.com/realestatedevelopment.html
Usually the most basis reason reveolves around something you don't have.
Some of them may be:
1. I own land ... have capital & capacity to borrow ... but no experience.
2. I have capital & capacity to borrow ... partner has land ... both have no experience.
3. I am 'time poor' ... work full time and can't be personally involved ...
Let's suppose you want to find a land owner who will put their land
into the Joint Venture, (JV) and their land will be their major contribution to the deal, plus some borrowings.
Let's consider the implications of entering into a JV in the first place.
After all, in a JV you have to take into account another persons attitude, decision making process, (or inability to make a decision), whether they have a logical and sensible mind ... the list goes on.
So, getting into a JV must have a good payback for you. Whatever you lack is usually the reason for entering into a JV.
I have noticed over the years that JV's have a prime motivator, the driver of the deal (you), and the other person is along for the ride.
For example: the other party may have a wonderful property (site) and wants to develop it, but does not have the knowledge. You "love" the site and know that you could make it a very successful and profitable real estate development. You approched the land owner.
Another example: maybe two individuals who have saved their capital, however individually it is inadaquate to undertake a project. Combining their capital and borrowing capacity will allow they to proceed.
I prefer a JV where both parties are equally motivated, have different skill bases, but each regards the other as contributing equally.
You know the feelings that can occur, "I'm working harder that you ...
all you do is the phone and number crunching work ... I'm always out
and about on site dealing with the real work."
Don't forget why you got together in the first place.
So there are many reasons for JV's. However, you must be clear as to why you are doing it, and it must be secured by a legally prepared JV Agreement.
A lot of 'practical people' hate legal documents ... a JV Agreement is a legal document and both parties must understand what it says. If one of you is a bit slack on this point, it is up to the other to sit them down and go through it ... it's important!
Why?
Suppose the JV deal hits a rough patch and your partner says, "I didn't know that ... why didn't you tell me ... I left all that legal garbage to you ... blah, blah." Got It, have the arguments at the beginning of the deal ... not later.
A JV Agreement sets out what each party will contribute, both money and effort, and sets out each parties obligations. It also sets out what happens if the parties 'fall-out' with each other as well as the division of profits or losses.
There is a lot more at stake if you JV with your rother-in-Law, other relatives etc ... the term 'on-going-nightmare' is a phrase that readily comes to mind.
And if one of those family JV's brake down, it dosen't matter how many pages are in the JV Agreement, or what the words say to prove that you are "RIGHT," ... as far as YOUR Brother-in-Law is concerned, you are a 'expletive deleted.'
Just thought I'd get that out of the way!! OK?
One more thing ... doing a JV with a rich person, when you are many levels poorer then them, is also not smart.
Why?
Well, in simple terms, when 'push comes to shove' money rules ...
The golden rule says, He who has the GOLD, RULES.
Also, if the rich guy tell you not to bother with a JV Agreement ... he appears to be saving you money ... tempting eh? ... what he's really doing is taking away your legal rights.
Yep, you'll have less rights than an employee. If that's the deal ... better to be an employee!
In my my ebook I emphasise the importance of getting the Structure Work of the business organised - you will build a much better development business from a secure foundation.
When you are doing your interviewing of the associated professionals, try to see if they, personally, have any entrepreneutial tendancies.
They may have land, houses, houses for renovation etc but don't have the 'TIME' or 'SKILLS' to do the work themselves.
Don't come out and ask them straight away ... follow my ebook, do the work you want to do; that is assessing them ... but keep your antenna out for any signs of a common interest.
OK, back to getting hold of some land.
Get to know the local real estate agents; I mean know them well.
Remember what I say in the ebook.
Call in and buy them a cup of coffee, take them out of their work place;
what about dinner after work; really spread yourself around.
Invest your Time in finding good, well informed, dedicated agents. Believe me they are in your business community ... it's your job to find them.
Appreciate that Agents are essentially self-employed, irrespective of whether they work in a Real Estate Agency ... their 'mind set' is independent.
They back themselves and their abilities to provide a sales service at a
level that "consistantly" provides them with a 'good income.
That 'good income' by the way, will leave most of their 'client's' income
looking a little anaemic.
The 'good agents' are busy; their 'time' is money; literally. So don't mess them around.
Don't talk to them as though you are the Aga Kahn! You're Not. There's always a guy richer than you ... maybe the Agent!
Why am I making such a big point about agents.
I believe "people" get the agents "they deserve."
I have heard people talk to Agents as though they were some grubby leech on society and are doing them an honor even to talk to them.
To be a successful agent these days you have to be very good. Many are highly educated and choose real estate as a career for the freedom,
individual reward and great returns.
What comes out of your mouth + body language tells an agent a great deal about you. They then wonder why the Agent never calls then ... Dong!!!
Keep your 'ego' under control. Their sales success rests on their ability at 'reading people.' Remember what I say in my ebook!
When you are in the development business, you are in the business of:
Getting People To Do ... What You Want Them To Do
Within The 'TIME' AND 'Costs'You Set.
That means that you have to be in control of 'How You Treat People.'
Agents know a lot of people ... maybe, they even know those people who want to JV with you.
While you are doing this "work" don't forget to do what my ebook tell you
to do about research.
Last idea for finding JV people - talk to your friends - put an advert in the local newspaper seeking expressions of interest from people interested in doing what you want.
OK, you've found a partner who has the land and you are comfortable with the relationship after several meetings.
Important question! What value does your prospective partner put on his land that will be put into the JV?
Just throwing a few figures around to give you an example.
Let's say that market value for his land right now is $300,000. But he wants to put into the JV at $400,000. So if your JV Agreement involves you gaining a share of the profit, your share will be $100,000 less. Got It?
Now let's say that part of your skills contribution to the JV includes a
rezoning of the land to a higher level and you achieve that for the JV.
That rezoning may take the land from a single unit (house) dwelling zone to a six dwelling unit zone.
Your efforts have increased the land value significantly ... no, not six times, as house properties are valued differently to multiple unit properties. But it may have increased by 3 or more times, depending on your market.
Once again the $100,000 will come off your share. Now that may be OK by you, because you are just starting out on your first development ... it is always better to KNOW what you are agreeing too.
I hope this information helps you in your consideration of entering a JV.
but please remember, don't just read my eBook ... study it ... take notes in a special hard cover Development Copy Book that you will buy.
Writing things down is an aid to learning and remembering.
My LAST DON'T ... Don't start any of this JV stuff until you know my eBook
inside out. You must not just be able to 'talk the talk' - you must know what you are talking about.
What I am all about, is helping you to do residential development with the RISK reduced.
If it takes four years study to get a basic Degree and say another five years to get some experience, why would you think that you can enter the development business with little study -- no experience and expect to be profitable?
"Residential Development Made Easy" is written by Colm Dillon, the 'Real Estate Development Coach' and is the only 'How To Become a Residential Real Estate Developer's eBook on the web; it's selling in 38 Countries, from his experience of developing $1.2 Billion worth of real estate - read more on his web site http://realestatedevelopmentcoach.com/realestatedevelopment.html
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Purchasing Property With No Money Down: My Personal Experience
Have you ever seen those infomercials about buying houses with "No Money Down?" They are really well done. They have all kinds of people offering great testimonials about how they have gotten rich, buying rental properties, with absolutely no money out of their pocket. You see this guy, standing on a street corner, talking to someone, and he says, "I own that one," pointing to a beautiful colonial. "I also own that one next to it, and the one two doors down, and I'll be closing on the one directly across the street from it, next week." He then assures us that he has purchased 17 homes in the last eight or ten months, with zero money down on the properties. Plus, in many cases he's also paid no closing costs.
And, let's not forget, this same guy is grossing tens of thousands of dollars monthly, and his net worth is nearly one million dollars. So, he says.
Now, all of this looks wonderful, so when the person selling the course that will teach you how to do this, at a nifty price of just $297.00, speaks, you are glued to his every word. "Real estate is the safest and fastest way to make money, today," the expert will tell you.
So, can this really be done? Can you purchase houses with no money down? Can you become a landlord in as little as one month's time and start raking in the cash from those rent payments? The answer is an absolute "Yes." It can be done, and I am proof positive, because I've done it. The question you should be asking yourself is not can I buy real estate with no money down, but should I?
You see, this is a question that the guy selling the No Money Down course, with all of his people and their great testimonials hopes you never ask. His advertising and marketing strategy would collapse, if he gave anyone a chance to ask this question, because he would be forced to lie if he answered it.
Rarely is the whole truth anywhere to be found in infomercials, especially when the advertising is about No Money Down real estate programs. The infomercial makes the idea and the program look so easy that any child could handle it. It makes it seem like every American should be doing it, and we'd all be millionaires. But every American is not doing it, and many of the ones who are doing it not only are not getting rich, they are actually going broke. The infomercial won't tell you this. That's why I'm here.
The Truth
Now, let's get started with the truth about buying real estate with no money down and the truth about being a landlord. The first thing you need to know is that they are both very bad ideas. Let me illustrate by using my own experience in these areas. I started buying rental property nearly 10 years ago. The first property I bought was a deal orchestrated by some real estate con artist, who told me I needed just $2,000 to take ownership of this home and, in the process, help out a woman who was about to be foreclosed upon.
In two years, she would clean up her credit, refinance the loan on the house, and I would make $10,000. Sounded good to someone who was quick to buy into anything that returned big dollars in a short time.
This worked for the first year, as the woman paid on time, and I pocketed an extra $100 monthly. Later, though, things began to collapse, as the house began to need repairs, all of which the woman couldn't afford, so I had to pay for them. I put nearly $5,000 into the house in a four-year period. When I was finally able to sell it, I didn't quite make back what I had put into it.
Meanwhile, I was eager to overcome this problem by adding many more. A slick mortgage broker got hooked up with an even slicker real estate prospector, and the two of them convinced me that they had a way I could buy houses rapidly, with absolutely no money out of my pocket. Although my experience will probably be enough to enlighten you to the pitfalls of this model and of being a landlord, let me say that I can't emphasize enough how dangerous buying property with no money down is.
In six months time, I had purchased eight houses - many with loans from the same wholesale lender. These lenders should have been concerned with all of the debt I was building, but they kept approving loans, based on my good credit and rents covering the mortgage payments. One of the biggest problems, which I was not experienced enough to detect, was that most of the rents were just $50 to $100 above the mortgage payment.
"Don't worry," the investor/ hustler would say. "You'll make all your money on volume. We'll get you into 30 or 40 houses, and you'll be pocketing $4,000 to $5,000 every month."
As you might imagine, my mind raced. I was making the huge deposits at that very moment. My bank account was fattening up at breakneck speed.
The Illusion
This is what people who buy houses, using the No Money Down plan envision happening. After all, if you can buy one house with no money down, why not five or ten or fifty? For some reason - the vision of the dollar sign, most likely - I failed to seriously consider the maintenance of these houses, the possibility of missed rent payments, and the chance that renters might actually stop paying, altogether, forcing me to evict them - a time-consuming and extremely costly undertaking.
As you may have already guessed, all of these things happened to me, after I had amassed 26 rental properties. In fact, oftentimes, all of these problems happened in the same month. Now, for awhile (when I had about 10 houses), if one person failed to pay rent, I could cover it with the nine other payments. But when two, three and sometimes even five tenants didn't pay in the same month, it was devastating to my business. I had to go to my business account and pay up to $3,000 at a time in mortgage payments, with no income to cover it. Plus, I had to pay a property management company to get my tenants to pay or to evict them.
Soon, this became the norm, not the exception. There were constant problems at my houses. Unhappy tenants led to poor upkeep of the property and even more maintenance problems. About one year, after I had amassed 26 houses, I was having problems with roughly 10-15 houses and/or tenants each week. I was evicting at least two tenants each month, and approximately four to seven tenants were either behind on rent or not paying at all. Promises were made, payment plans arranged and few, if any, ever followed through.
It didn't take long for me to realize that this was no way to make money in real estate. Consequently, I got rid of these houses as fast as I possibly could. There were plenty of buyers, willing to take over my headaches, because they had the ability to make it work, they believed.
In 10 years of being a landlord, I lost thousands of dollars and likely took some years away from my life with all the stress I had endured. So, whatever you do, avoid the No Money Down Trap. There are much better, still inexpensive ways to make money in real estate.
Learn the best ways at www.winningthemortgagegame.com
Mark Barnes is author of the wealth-building system, Winning the Mortgage Game and other investment real estate books. He is also a suspense novelist, and his new novel, The League, will thrill both suspense and sports fans. Learn about Mark's wealth-building system and get his free home loan course at http://www.winningthemortgagegame.com. Learn more about The League and read an excerpt at http://www.sportsnovels.com
And, let's not forget, this same guy is grossing tens of thousands of dollars monthly, and his net worth is nearly one million dollars. So, he says.
Now, all of this looks wonderful, so when the person selling the course that will teach you how to do this, at a nifty price of just $297.00, speaks, you are glued to his every word. "Real estate is the safest and fastest way to make money, today," the expert will tell you.
So, can this really be done? Can you purchase houses with no money down? Can you become a landlord in as little as one month's time and start raking in the cash from those rent payments? The answer is an absolute "Yes." It can be done, and I am proof positive, because I've done it. The question you should be asking yourself is not can I buy real estate with no money down, but should I?
You see, this is a question that the guy selling the No Money Down course, with all of his people and their great testimonials hopes you never ask. His advertising and marketing strategy would collapse, if he gave anyone a chance to ask this question, because he would be forced to lie if he answered it.
Rarely is the whole truth anywhere to be found in infomercials, especially when the advertising is about No Money Down real estate programs. The infomercial makes the idea and the program look so easy that any child could handle it. It makes it seem like every American should be doing it, and we'd all be millionaires. But every American is not doing it, and many of the ones who are doing it not only are not getting rich, they are actually going broke. The infomercial won't tell you this. That's why I'm here.
The Truth
Now, let's get started with the truth about buying real estate with no money down and the truth about being a landlord. The first thing you need to know is that they are both very bad ideas. Let me illustrate by using my own experience in these areas. I started buying rental property nearly 10 years ago. The first property I bought was a deal orchestrated by some real estate con artist, who told me I needed just $2,000 to take ownership of this home and, in the process, help out a woman who was about to be foreclosed upon.
In two years, she would clean up her credit, refinance the loan on the house, and I would make $10,000. Sounded good to someone who was quick to buy into anything that returned big dollars in a short time.
This worked for the first year, as the woman paid on time, and I pocketed an extra $100 monthly. Later, though, things began to collapse, as the house began to need repairs, all of which the woman couldn't afford, so I had to pay for them. I put nearly $5,000 into the house in a four-year period. When I was finally able to sell it, I didn't quite make back what I had put into it.
Meanwhile, I was eager to overcome this problem by adding many more. A slick mortgage broker got hooked up with an even slicker real estate prospector, and the two of them convinced me that they had a way I could buy houses rapidly, with absolutely no money out of my pocket. Although my experience will probably be enough to enlighten you to the pitfalls of this model and of being a landlord, let me say that I can't emphasize enough how dangerous buying property with no money down is.
In six months time, I had purchased eight houses - many with loans from the same wholesale lender. These lenders should have been concerned with all of the debt I was building, but they kept approving loans, based on my good credit and rents covering the mortgage payments. One of the biggest problems, which I was not experienced enough to detect, was that most of the rents were just $50 to $100 above the mortgage payment.
"Don't worry," the investor/ hustler would say. "You'll make all your money on volume. We'll get you into 30 or 40 houses, and you'll be pocketing $4,000 to $5,000 every month."
As you might imagine, my mind raced. I was making the huge deposits at that very moment. My bank account was fattening up at breakneck speed.
The Illusion
This is what people who buy houses, using the No Money Down plan envision happening. After all, if you can buy one house with no money down, why not five or ten or fifty? For some reason - the vision of the dollar sign, most likely - I failed to seriously consider the maintenance of these houses, the possibility of missed rent payments, and the chance that renters might actually stop paying, altogether, forcing me to evict them - a time-consuming and extremely costly undertaking.
As you may have already guessed, all of these things happened to me, after I had amassed 26 rental properties. In fact, oftentimes, all of these problems happened in the same month. Now, for awhile (when I had about 10 houses), if one person failed to pay rent, I could cover it with the nine other payments. But when two, three and sometimes even five tenants didn't pay in the same month, it was devastating to my business. I had to go to my business account and pay up to $3,000 at a time in mortgage payments, with no income to cover it. Plus, I had to pay a property management company to get my tenants to pay or to evict them.
Soon, this became the norm, not the exception. There were constant problems at my houses. Unhappy tenants led to poor upkeep of the property and even more maintenance problems. About one year, after I had amassed 26 houses, I was having problems with roughly 10-15 houses and/or tenants each week. I was evicting at least two tenants each month, and approximately four to seven tenants were either behind on rent or not paying at all. Promises were made, payment plans arranged and few, if any, ever followed through.
It didn't take long for me to realize that this was no way to make money in real estate. Consequently, I got rid of these houses as fast as I possibly could. There were plenty of buyers, willing to take over my headaches, because they had the ability to make it work, they believed.
In 10 years of being a landlord, I lost thousands of dollars and likely took some years away from my life with all the stress I had endured. So, whatever you do, avoid the No Money Down Trap. There are much better, still inexpensive ways to make money in real estate.
Learn the best ways at www.winningthemortgagegame.com
Mark Barnes is author of the wealth-building system, Winning the Mortgage Game and other investment real estate books. He is also a suspense novelist, and his new novel, The League, will thrill both suspense and sports fans. Learn about Mark's wealth-building system and get his free home loan course at http://www.winningthemortgagegame.com. Learn more about The League and read an excerpt at http://www.sportsnovels.com
How to Prequalify a Buyer When You Sell Your Home By Owner
One questions many "for sale by owner" sellers ask is "how can I determine if a potential buyer can afford to buy my house?" In the real estate industry this is referred to as "pre-qualifying" a buyer. You might think this is a complex process but in reality it is actually quite simple and only involves a little math.
Before we get to the math there are a few terms you should understand. The first is PITI which is nothing more than an abbreviation for "principal, interest, taxes and insurance. This figure represents the MONTHLY cost of the mortgage payment of principal and interest plus the monthly cost of property taxes and homeowners insurance. The second term is "RATIO". The ratio is a number that most banks use as an indicator of how much of a buyers monthly GROSS income they could afford to spend on PITI. Still with me? Most banks use a ratio of 28% without considering any other debts (credit cards, car payments etc.). This ratio is sometimes referred to as the "front end ratio". When you take into consideration other monthly debt, a ratio of 36-40% is considered acceptable. This is referred to as the "back end ratio".
Now for the formulas:
The front-end ratio is calculated simply by dividing PITI by the gross monthly income. Back end ratio is calculated by dividing PITI+DEBT by the gross monthly income.
Let see the formula in action:
Fred wants to buy your house. Fred earns $50,000.00 per year. We need to know Fred's gross MONTHLY income so we divide $50,000.00 by 12 and we get $4,166.66. If we know that Fred can safely afford 28% of this figure we multiply $4,166.66 X .28 to get $1,166.66. That's it! Now we know how much Fred can afford to pay per month for PITI.
At this point we have half of the information we need to determine whether or not Fred can buy our house. Next we need to know just how much the PITI payment is going to be for our house.
We need four pieces of information to determine PITI:
1) Sales Price (Our example is 100,000.00)
From the sales price we subtract the down payment to determine how much Fred needs to borrow. This result brings us to another term you might run across. Loan to Value Ratio or LTV. Eg: Sale price $100,000 and down payment of 5% = LTV ration of 95%. Said another way, the loan is 95% of the value of the property.
2) Mortgage amount (principal + interest).
The mortgage amount is generally the sales price less the down payment. There are three factors in determining how much the P&I (principal & interest) portion of the payment will be. You need to know 1) loan amount; 2) interest rate; 3) Term of the loan in years. With these three figures you can find a mortgage payment calculator just about anywhere on the internet to calculate the mortgage payment, but remember you still need to add in the monthly portion of annual property taxes and the monthly portion of hazard insurance (property insurance). For our example, with 5% down Fred would need to borrow $95,000.00. We will use an interest rate of 6% and a term of 30 years.
3) Annual taxes (Our example is $2,400.00)/12=$200.00 per month
Divide the annual taxes by 12 to come up with the monthly portion of the property taxes.
4) Annual hazard insurance (Our example is $600.00)/12=$50.00 per month
Divide the annual hazard insurance by 12 to come up with the monthly portion of the property insurance.
Now, let's put it all together. A mortgage of $95,000 at 6% for 30 years would produce a monthly P&I payment of $569.57 per month. This figure was produced by our payment calculator. Add in taxes of $200.00 per month and add in insurance of $50.00 per month and the PITI necessary to purchase our house equals $819.57.
Putting it all together
From our calculations above we know that our buyer Fred can afford PITI up to $1,166.66 per month. We know that the PITI needed to purchase our house is $819.57. With this information we now know that Fred DOES qualify to purchase our house!
Of course, there are other requirements to qualify for a loan including a good credit rating and a job with at least two years consecutive employment. More about that is our next issue.
Bruce Andrews has been in the real estate business for over 20 years. He has experience in real estate investing as well as practicing real estate as a broker for several years. He is currently President of Fifty States Realty, www.fiftystatesfsbo.com a national "for sale by owner" website.
Before we get to the math there are a few terms you should understand. The first is PITI which is nothing more than an abbreviation for "principal, interest, taxes and insurance. This figure represents the MONTHLY cost of the mortgage payment of principal and interest plus the monthly cost of property taxes and homeowners insurance. The second term is "RATIO". The ratio is a number that most banks use as an indicator of how much of a buyers monthly GROSS income they could afford to spend on PITI. Still with me? Most banks use a ratio of 28% without considering any other debts (credit cards, car payments etc.). This ratio is sometimes referred to as the "front end ratio". When you take into consideration other monthly debt, a ratio of 36-40% is considered acceptable. This is referred to as the "back end ratio".
Now for the formulas:
The front-end ratio is calculated simply by dividing PITI by the gross monthly income. Back end ratio is calculated by dividing PITI+DEBT by the gross monthly income.
Let see the formula in action:
Fred wants to buy your house. Fred earns $50,000.00 per year. We need to know Fred's gross MONTHLY income so we divide $50,000.00 by 12 and we get $4,166.66. If we know that Fred can safely afford 28% of this figure we multiply $4,166.66 X .28 to get $1,166.66. That's it! Now we know how much Fred can afford to pay per month for PITI.
At this point we have half of the information we need to determine whether or not Fred can buy our house. Next we need to know just how much the PITI payment is going to be for our house.
We need four pieces of information to determine PITI:
1) Sales Price (Our example is 100,000.00)
From the sales price we subtract the down payment to determine how much Fred needs to borrow. This result brings us to another term you might run across. Loan to Value Ratio or LTV. Eg: Sale price $100,000 and down payment of 5% = LTV ration of 95%. Said another way, the loan is 95% of the value of the property.
2) Mortgage amount (principal + interest).
The mortgage amount is generally the sales price less the down payment. There are three factors in determining how much the P&I (principal & interest) portion of the payment will be. You need to know 1) loan amount; 2) interest rate; 3) Term of the loan in years. With these three figures you can find a mortgage payment calculator just about anywhere on the internet to calculate the mortgage payment, but remember you still need to add in the monthly portion of annual property taxes and the monthly portion of hazard insurance (property insurance). For our example, with 5% down Fred would need to borrow $95,000.00. We will use an interest rate of 6% and a term of 30 years.
3) Annual taxes (Our example is $2,400.00)/12=$200.00 per month
Divide the annual taxes by 12 to come up with the monthly portion of the property taxes.
4) Annual hazard insurance (Our example is $600.00)/12=$50.00 per month
Divide the annual hazard insurance by 12 to come up with the monthly portion of the property insurance.
Now, let's put it all together. A mortgage of $95,000 at 6% for 30 years would produce a monthly P&I payment of $569.57 per month. This figure was produced by our payment calculator. Add in taxes of $200.00 per month and add in insurance of $50.00 per month and the PITI necessary to purchase our house equals $819.57.
Putting it all together
From our calculations above we know that our buyer Fred can afford PITI up to $1,166.66 per month. We know that the PITI needed to purchase our house is $819.57. With this information we now know that Fred DOES qualify to purchase our house!
Of course, there are other requirements to qualify for a loan including a good credit rating and a job with at least two years consecutive employment. More about that is our next issue.
Bruce Andrews has been in the real estate business for over 20 years. He has experience in real estate investing as well as practicing real estate as a broker for several years. He is currently President of Fifty States Realty, www.fiftystatesfsbo.com a national "for sale by owner" website.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Can I Sell My Private Mortgage Notes?
In this country millions of homes are sold every year. In most cases buyers go to a bank or finance company to seek mortgage financing.
In some cases, 200,000 in the U.S., home buyers rely on the seller rather than a financial institution to provide financing because:
? The purchaser may not qualify for a traditional mortgage.
? The purchaser may be a relative looking to save on closing fees.
? The seller may be interested in having a long-term income stream.
Often the seller is pressured into providing financing for the purchaser instead of receiving a lump sum. This forces the seller to assume the role of a mortgage company, worrying about servicing and collecting a monthly income stream. A stream, which may or may not be consistent, depends on the payer's ability to meet their monthly obligations.
Peacock Capital provides an option to note holders nationwide who are ready to sell their homes and use the equity for their own purposes.
We will purchase the note for a lump sum and collect the monthly checks. No more worrying about the "Check is in the mail" Or, "Will they stop paying, forcing a foreclosure?" Or, "Has my buyer kept up with their insurance payments?" Etc.
Afra AmirSanjari is the Principal for Peacock Capital. Peacock Capital specializes in solving the cash flow challenges of Small/Medium Businesses, Government Vendors and Individuals with innovative financial solutions by providing a network for securing operating capital.
http://www.peacockcapital.com
info@peacockcapital.com
In some cases, 200,000 in the U.S., home buyers rely on the seller rather than a financial institution to provide financing because:
? The purchaser may not qualify for a traditional mortgage.
? The purchaser may be a relative looking to save on closing fees.
? The seller may be interested in having a long-term income stream.
Often the seller is pressured into providing financing for the purchaser instead of receiving a lump sum. This forces the seller to assume the role of a mortgage company, worrying about servicing and collecting a monthly income stream. A stream, which may or may not be consistent, depends on the payer's ability to meet their monthly obligations.
Peacock Capital provides an option to note holders nationwide who are ready to sell their homes and use the equity for their own purposes.
We will purchase the note for a lump sum and collect the monthly checks. No more worrying about the "Check is in the mail" Or, "Will they stop paying, forcing a foreclosure?" Or, "Has my buyer kept up with their insurance payments?" Etc.
Afra AmirSanjari is the Principal for Peacock Capital. Peacock Capital specializes in solving the cash flow challenges of Small/Medium Businesses, Government Vendors and Individuals with innovative financial solutions by providing a network for securing operating capital.
http://www.peacockcapital.com
info@peacockcapital.com
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