Ten Steps for Becoming a Successful Real Estate Investor

The secret to success in real estate investment is finding bargain properties that you can "flip" quickly for a profit. Here are a few ideas for becoming a successful investor:

1) Obtain sound advice from investors who are already successful. Friends and realtors can refer you to folks who have proven investment track records.

2) Define your investment goals. Do you want to buy a home to live in, to fix and sell, or to hold for your future?

3) Read real estate investing books and articles, attend workshops and seminars, while AVOIDING out-of-date infomercials.

4) Choose a lender with great service, a good closing record, and fair costs, and get preapproved for financing.

5) Define your target locations, and become an expert. Study real estate newspaper sections, pick up sale flyers, and note sales prices in your target area.

6) Interview real estate agents and learn from them, but don't sign any agreements that will limit your search for bargain properties. You're looking for agents who know your target market thoroughly and will work hard to find properties for you.

7) Find a good escrow officer and use them for every transaction. They'll know your needs and will quickly learn how to expedite your transactions.

8) Study home remodeling techniques by reading design magazines and books. Learn the cost of materials, supplies, and building trades by visiting home improvement warehouses and talking with remodeling professionals.

9) Make many offers on properties, including bidding on HUD repos, asking for great terms and concessions from sellers. The more offers you make, the greater your chance of success.

10) Always have your transformation in mind. Have a plan for what will turn a doghouse into a dollhouse. It will speed turnaround time and save you money on mortgage payments.

Copyright. 2004. Jeanette Fisher. All Rights Reserved.

Professor Jeanette Fisher, author of Doghouse to Dollhouse for Dollars, Joy to the Home, and other books teaches Real Estate Investing and Design Psychology. For more articles, tips, reports, newsletters, and sales flyer template, see http://www.doghousetodollhousefordollars.com/pages/5/index.htm

More than 40 states signed onto a proposed $25-billion deal with major mortgage servicers over faulty foreclosure practices. New York, Nevada and Delaware joined California in holding out for better terms.

More than 40 states signed onto a proposed $25-billion settlement with major mortgage servicers over faulty foreclosure procedures, but California, New York and other key states were still not among them.

California has until Monday to share in a multi-state deal with banks to obtain mortgage relief and reforms. Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris, who walked away from talks last year, says the door remains open.

With a Monday deadline at hand, California officials have resumed direct talks with the Obama administration about joining a multibillion-dollar, multi-state mortgage settlement with the nation's largest banks, a source said Sunday.

The talk show host pays $12 million for the 4,088-square-foot house with four bedrooms and four bathrooms. The ocean-view home sits on 1.26 bluff-top acres with beach access.

In one of the more talked-about transactions in town, actors Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have sold their Malibu beach house to daytime host and comedian Ellen De Generes for $12 million.

The four-bedroom, five-bathroom house built in 1920 for industrialist James Wigmore lists for $2,875,000.

A decorative cast stone entrance opens to this restored Spanish Colonial Revival-style house in Pasadena's South Orange Grove area. Built in 1920 for industrialist James Wigmore, the house retains such original details as coffered wood ceilings and arched doorways.

They don't believe they can sell their property for what it's worth, so they're spending money on making their homes more comfortable.

Do you fit any of these descriptions?

A biennial research report by the National Assn. of Realtors indicates that a handful of real estate agents and brokers and their clients either don't know the law or don't care to follow it.

When it comes to lawsuits, real estate agents and brokers tangle mostly among themselves.

The president aims to help about 3.5 million people with good credit who are unable to refinance at historically low rates because their homes are worth less than their mortgages.

 

The White House hopes to help millions of homeowners lower their monthly mortgage bill with a $5 billion to $10 billion plan to set up a streamlined refinancing program for people who are current on their payments.

The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller index of 20 large U.S. cities fell 1.3% in November from October as foreclosures continue to drag down the housing market.

Three straight months of home-price declines in the biggest U.S. cities showed that foreclosures remain a significant drag on a housing market that is entering its fifth year of deterioration.

L.A. Clipper Chris Paul may be quick down the court, but he moves pretty fast when it comes to buying multimillion-dollar real estate too.