Have you tried your luck at foreign exchange, bonds and stocks, but to no avail? Are you perplexed as to what to put your money on? Consider real estate investment, as several people have turned into millionaires through shrewd investments in real estate. By means of this article, we will elaborate four common real estate investing tips, which would help you realize significant profits via property investment. Be it a newbie or a seasoned investor, these tips are sure to be of help to one and all alike.Real estate investing tip #1 – Perhaps the most lucrative investment technique is to buy a run down property, fix it up, and then sell at a significant profit. Since the property is shabby, you might be able to acquire it for a low price. However, you must ensure that the cost incurred in the repair is restricted to a minimum so as to guarantee a profit. You can do this by making sure that the basic amenities are in place, without going overboard with the renovation. Such a buy-fix-sell scenario demands excellent property valuation skills and a rather frugal attitude while renovating.Real estate investing tip #2 – Purchase properties that are about to face a foreclosure. A property typically faces foreclosure when the homeowner is financially distressed and is unable to repay the loan. Another common reason for foreclosures is dissolution of marriage with the abandonment of the house by either of the couple. Such a distressed property can be bagged for a low price by an articulate investor, who can convince the homeowner to sell the property prior to the foreclosure sale. Then the investor may sell the newly bought property at a significant gain.Real estate investing tip #3 – Locality is a paramount aspect in real estate investment. Two similarly built houses may have varying valuations if they are situated in different locations. So, you must be abreast of the hot locations in your concerned region. If you are just about to start you real estate venture, I suggest you look for places that offer high rentals. Purchasing a property in such a region would result in a healthy monthly source of income.Real estate investing tip #4 – Ever heard of Warren Buffett? The acclaimed stock investor made billions through a contrarian’s approach to stock investment. You may take a contrarian’s view to real estate investment as well. For instance, you may buy a property when it is out of favor with the majority of investors. That is, acting in opposition to the majority opinion. A contrarian’s approach is not a sure shot path to real estate success. Moreover, it’s complicated and therefore beginners are advised against it.All in all, there are several avenues that you could realize profit in real estate. However, it is imperative that you be prepared to put in extra work hours, especially at the beginning of your real estate career. Putting your shoulder to the wheel is what’s required to make substantial profits in real estate.Copyright © 2006 Joel Teo. All rights reserved. (You may publish this article in its entirety with the following author’s information with live links only.)

First, let me say I am an investor, not a lawyer. This is just general information that investors learn about and say “Holy Cow!” and you might be interested in finding out a little more about. With that disclaimer, let’s dive in. There have been a number of major banking institutions announcing they are stopping the foreclosures temporarily to correct problems with the foreclosure documents. Most people assume that this means they are just checking to make sure every thing was done properly. It turns out there may be just a little bit more to the story. So when someone buys a house or other real estate property and gets a loan, there are some documents they sign at the closing called the mortgage and the note. Your lender may have handled all of these correctly and if they did none of this is going to affect you. But, some lenders sell the loans to others (so they collect their fees and make some money and then are out of the transaction except for maybe collecting the payments or servicing the loan).The loans may be put in a big pile of loans and then sold to other financial institutions that in turn break the big pile of loans into smaller investment pieces and sell the smaller pieces (commonly called mortgage backed securities) to investors. When the borrower closed on the loan, a paper trail of people that handled the documents (note and the mortgage) start to flow. Each time they change hands (ownership), there is supposed to be a group of signatures of the givers and the receivers of those documents as well as the witnesses to the signatures and notaries of the signings. Basically, flaws in the chain of the passing of the mortgage and the note correctly leave the loan open to legal challenges when and if there is ever a foreclosure. Also, both of those documents as well as all of the pieces of paper and signatures following them in the paper trail must be in their possession That is one situation.Another problem that can come up is that if there is a default (failure to pay accordingly) and there was insurance on the performance of the borrower (lender insured that the borrower will pay and on time), there may be limits as to what the current owner of the loan can collect from the borrower that is in foreclosure since the lender got some or all of the money owed paid by the insurance company. There is a legal concept that says the foreclosing party must demonstrate the actual loss. If an insurance company paid them, there is either no loss or a reduced loss since they got payment from the insurance company.A third issue that comes up is called robo-signing. This is the occurrence of people that were not physically present when the documents were signed or changed hands have signed the papers like they were there or signing where they were not authorized to sign. Most of these flaws in the proper documentation are not so noticeable to the borrower since they do not see them. There are people that can search out to see if there are potential problems with loan documents… they are called forensic loan investigators. You can likely do an internet search on that term and find them. These companies usually work in conjunction with attorneys that handle foreclosure cases.So all of this is just to raise you level of understanding of what some of the issues are that are causing the news of foreclosures being suspended because of “document problems”. If you are facing foreclosure, contemplating buying a foreclosure or having problems with your loan, seek counsel from an attorney.

You have probably heard it from the naysayers… now get it from a yea-sayer. You Do Have What It Takes To Be a Successful Real Estate Investor!If you have ever read a book or listened to real estate investing guru, you have heard them begin by telling you how they got started. The overwhelming majority of them had no experience, no special business talent, and not much (if any) money. The one common denominator is that they had circumstances in their lives that they wanted to be different and an enormous desire to change those circumstances. Many people would like their lives to be different… some keep doing the same things and getting the same unsatisfactory results. Some feebly try for a short while and then quit when they experience the first little bit of discomfort. Only a few keep pushing through the discomfort and keep going with the vision of their goal firmly in view. They keep on, taking notice of the small changes and improvements that keep piling up with their persistent quest to change their circumstances. What is the difference between just wanting something different and actually getting it? Pick your goal, set a plan, act on your plan, then keep on acting on it, making small adjustments as you go along.Desire: It is more than a wish which could happen one day, if every thing just happened to work out right; more than a want… desire is a yearning or longing for something. It is a thing craved strongly for and likely will or has required an effort above and beyond to achieve. When you have a strong desire, you will do both rational and irrational acts to achieve the thing, status or state that is longed for. So, for most people on a quest for something desired, the rational thoughts, plans, steps, actions necessary to move them in the direction of their goal are taken. When all apparent logical, sensible steps are just not enough, then irrational steps are called into play. I am talking about doing things in a different way than you had previously thought of. A real estate investor might be thought of as an entrepreneur. By most definitions, it includes acceptance of a relative degree of risk or the taking of a calculated risk. So you will probably have to take some risk. It makes sense then, to take whatever measures possible to reduce the risk as much as you can. Educate yourself about others that have done what you would like to do. Talk to them if possible or listen to them speak about their experiences. Some find it surprising that many successful real estate investors had obstacles, challenges, disappointments, and outright failures in their journey. They just did not quit when those problems arose. In many cases, they just stumbled forward, trying different approaches to get over a hurdle. Many times they got advice from someone that had already faced that problem and overcome it. You can do the same. If it is your desire to become a successful (check cashing) real estate investor, you will face many of the same challenges that others have faced. Listen to what they have to say about it. There are many courses, books, e-books available… countless articles written to give you help. Try some of them. They will give you many good ideas about overcoming the normal obstacles.Education/System: When they started, they encountered challenges, problems, road blocks and barriers. Everyone does. They either learn by trial and error (the expensive way) or developed or learned systems from others that had already been down those roads before. Believe me; a little money spent on education to avoid big mistakes can save you Big Time and Big Money!Action: If you need to know where most folks start slipping off the path of success, not acting quickly or not at all is the slipping point. Decide where you want to go and start heading in that direction. No matter what type of vehicle you are using, you have a good chance of getting there if you just make a start. When I recently retired from a regular job with a challenging schedule, I decided I would actually do something about my weight and physical condition. I decided to walk for an hour three to four days a week. I have done that for six months now… Result: Forty pounds lighter, lower blood pressure, much better physical condition, I feel much better! I stayed at it and got a little bit better each week. Keep at your goal and you will be better at it.Make corrections as you go: You’ve probably heard that when they went to the moon, they were slightly off course most of the time. They just made slight corrections regularly to get back on course. Any trip of significance is like that. Think about the last time you took a long vacation drive. You started out heading right for your destination but had to stop along the way for food, fuel, lodging… may be a detour or two… all of these put you slightly off the intended route, but you just made a simple minor adjustment and were right back on you journey. When you finally arrived, you probably did not think much about the obstacles, you were just glad to have arrived! Real estate investing is the same… when you first start out you may not be too sure of the directions… just keep moving forward toward your destination and make small changes when necessary. Before you know it, you are there!The Most Important Part – Fuel: What is the missing ingredient… the secret component that can get you to your desired destination? Belief! Belief in your dream. Believe that it can happen for you. Believe that your life can be different. Believe that magic does exist if you just have faith enough to act on your plan and make some corrections as you go along. People and circumstances may arise at critical points when you thought your were almost there. Don’t be the one that just throws in the towel and quits. That is what many people do.There comes a time when you have to decide if you really want it, are willing to fight for your dream or was it just a wish? When you decide you are willing to fight to get it done, suddenly things start to change in your favor. What really changed? It was your BELIEF in your self… That is what gets you through the hard parts. Belief that it can happen, faith to keep on acting on your plan even when it seems crazy and making changes and acting on those changes instead of giving up. Trust me…. This works…. It will work for you!