Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Education In Real Estate Investing

Author: Gerald Romine

Education in Real Estate Investing

Your education in real estate investing is critical to your success. Look at it this way, would you rather have one way to buy 10 houses or 10 ways to buy one house? A one trick pony is simply not a good act!

Let's test your knowledge to see if you should be investing in real estate information and education.

Should you use a Realtor for finding real estate investments? Short answer is no. Your real estate investing business depends on your ability to find good deals. Unfortunately most good deals are not found through Realtors and MLS! Why? Because if an agent gets a good listing they first see if they have a buyer or someone in their office before posting it on MLS. Once a property gets on MLS then it is picked over by hundreds or thousands of agents and offered to their clients. Terrible odds. That said a good deal is always a good deal and if a Realtor presents one you should buy it.

Do you need cash and or good credit to have a successful real estate investing business? Absolutely not. You can wholesale properties without cash or credit. You can buy properties subject to their existing financing. You can structure owner financing deals. For more information read ""Real Estate Magic 101 - How To Get Rich In Real Estate Even If You Are Dead Broke!"" Having good credit does give you advantages for conventional financing but is definitely not a prerequisite for a successful real estate investor.

Did you know you can buy and sell a property in the same day without ever officially owning the property? When I learned this it was a real education in real estate investing for me! I'd been in the business for almost 10 years before I had ever bought and sold a property in the same day. At the time I did not know there was a wholesaling system that taught people how to buy properties at deep discounts and sell them to other investors where they could make a quick 5K, 10K, 0r 15K profit.

Did you know you can take over loans without having to qualify? In the real estate investing business we call this buying property ""subject to"" the existing financing. Banks do not want you to get this education in real estate investing because they make most of their money in points and fees when people get new loans. Please understand that when you buy ""subject to"" the existing financing the lender has the right to call the entire loan due because there has been a transfer of ownership. Although they have this right to call the loan due in practice this rarely happens because banks are more interested in receiving their payments than foreclosing on loans.

Did you know people just give houses away for free? Well, almost. Let me explain. Many sellers find themselves in a position where they have little or no equity and they are looking for someone who can take over their payments. In short, they don't want any cash for themselves, just someone else to pay on the loan. In the real estate investing business we call that getting a free house because we don't have to come up with any money when we buy. Note: Your education in real estate investing is important because not all free houses are good deals!

Do you know what hard money is? Hard money is when you buy a property using money from a mortgage broker that utilizes a private money investor's cash. It's called hard money because the terms are 'hard'. It is not uncommon to pay 18% and several points which may seem expensive but really does not matter. Why? What matters is how much you will make on the deal and not what the money is costing.

Do you know what a short sale is? A short sale is typically when a seller having their house foreclosed on by the lender for nonpayment on the loan and you work with the lender to have them discount the amount owed on the loan in return for a cash payoff. This is one of the most lucrative areas for real estate investing.

So how strong was your education in real estate investing? If you knew the answers to all of the questions you are probably have a phenomenal real estate investing business and a matching bank account.

If you can see that investing in real estate information will help you become a successful and profitable investor than you should start your education with Real Estate Magic 101 or Kick Ass Wholesaling.

For more info, please visit http://www.realestatemagic101.com/ http://kickasswholesaling.com/

About the author: Gerald Romine is a nationally recognized real estate expert that has been featured across North America sharing the stage with political leaders, film stars, and business leaders. Since 1989, Gerald has been involved with real estate as a real estate agent, broker, rehabber, investor, and builder and has been involved with everything from houses to apartments. For more information about Gerald's products or services visit http://www.kickassrealestate.com

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