Sunday, January 25, 2009

Real Estate with Obama illinois

Market Conditions
With President Obama fresh into the new administration, many are wondering what will be in store for housing.
In his inaugural address, Obama noted, "Our economy is badly weakened, a consequence of greed and irresponsibility on the part of some, but also our collective failure to make hard choices and prepare the nation for a new age. Homes have been lost; jobs shed; businesses shuttered." He gave also a motivating line that "starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin again the work of remaking America."
This reworking of our systems will most definitely include the real estate and mortgage sectors.
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, has reported this week that restoring higher mortgage loan limits is critical to this part of the market. "Buyers in higher price ranges are at a severe disadvantage because they have to pay higher interest rates," he said. "Lower loan limits are having a pronounced impact on trade-up activity at the upper end of the market, which depends more on large downpayments to keep mortgage amounts below the maximums for conventional financing."
NAHB Chairman-elect Joe Robson reports, "The only way to stabilize the housing market and restore consumer confidence is to put a floor under declining home values. In conjunction with foreclosure mitigation efforts, Congress must pass temporary and targeted incentives to encourage Americans to buy homes again. This will help to stabilize home prices, prevent future foreclosures, restore consumer confidence and start creating jobs."

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Illinois Real Estate

resident Abraham Lincoln lived in Illinois for 17 years. He only left the place when he became the President of a country on the brink of the infamous civil war. Frances Elizabeth Willard of Illinois was also the prime mover for the women’s fight for the right of suffrage. Illinois (Springfield) was the site where U.S. Grant first gathered troops for the Civil War. A colorful history places Illinois among the places to see in America. For the kids and the not-so-young at heart, the home of Superman exists in Metropolis, Illinois.

Geography

Located along the north-central of the U.S. Illinois is bounded on the north by Wisconsin, Iowa and Missouri on the west. Kentucky takes up the southern border and Indiana in the east. The Mississippi River almost takes up the western boundary.

Industry

The ideal location of Illinois gave way to the installation of first rate transportation infrastructure and world class educational centers. Illinois promises to be a good place to do business. Illinois is into warehousing, manufacturing, agriculture, banking, food, and chemicals. Industries also concentrate on fabricated metals, computers, electronics, plastics and rubber. Transportation equipments are also manufactured in Illinois.

Technology and Infrastructure
144 university-based research centers
71 federal research centers
Argonne National Laboratory is a leading federal laboratory prioritizing in technology and biotechnology

Finance

Illinois leads in the financial industry. It is the site of over 2,300 commercial banks. It has 2,000 insurance carriers, and 175 insurance carriers. The state has the financial capability of providing capital funding for commercial and industrial development.

Agriculture

Corn is the major agricultural produce of the state. This is followed by soybeans and feed grains. Illinois is the top five producers of swine in America. Livestock, dairy and poultry are also major income generating resources.

Education

Illinois offers a choice of schools and universities. These offer varied programs from four-year programs to associate degrees. There are also online schools made available to interested students.

Sights to see

Donley’s Wild West Town (Addison) – a recreated mining operation where you can watch the shows and get a ride on the C.P. Huntington Locomotive

American Indian Burial Grounds (Albany) – The burial mounds are recognized as historic sites

Mississippi River (Albany) – The river made famous by Mark Twain. The river is one of America’s largest river systems

Alto Vineyards (Alto) – Red and white wines can be sampled on site

Snowstar Winter Sports Park (Andalusia) - Skiing pleasure and fun

Arlington Park (Arlington) – Thoroughbred racing

The Creole House (Prairie du Rucher) – See the French creole house built in 1800 and experience the lifestyle of the past

lllinois Waterway Visitor Center and Museum - Watch towboats along the Illinois River. The center provides learning tours about the locks and dams controlling the water flow along the Illinois & Michigan Canal.

Illinois Real Estate

An Illinois real estate is patronized by many. Of course the reason for this is obvious. And that is because an Illinois real estate is near to all the good things that can only be found in Illinois, such as tourists attractions, excellent education, agriculture, technological, and industrial facilities.

How Much Does My Real Estate Agent Need To Know?

Real estate agents would say that the more you tell them, the better they can negotiate on your behalf. However, the degree of trust you have with an agent may depend upon their legal obligation. Agents working for buyers have three possible choices: They can represent the buyer exclusively, called single agency, or represent the seller exclusively, called sub-agency, or represent both the buyer and seller in a dual-agency situation.

Some states require agents to disclose all possible agency relationships before they enter into a residential real estate transaction. Here is a summary of the three basic types:

1. In a traditional relationship, real estate agents and brokers have a fiduciary relationship to the seller. Be aware that the seller pays the commission of both brokers, not just the one who lists and shows the property, but also to the sub-broker, who brings the ready, willing and able buyer to the table. It most cases you will have 2 broker’s splitting the commission.

* Dual agency exists if two agents working for the same broker represent the buyer and seller in a transaction. A potential conflict of interest is created if the listing agent has advance knowledge of another buyer's offer. Therefore, the law states that a dual agent shall not disclose to the buyer that the seller will accept less than the list price, or disclose to the seller that the buyer will pay more than the offer price, without express written permission. Many times it makes sense to “assign” someone in your office one side of the transaction, thus assures there is no conflict of interest.

* A buyer also can hire his or her own agent who will represent the buyer's interests exclusively. Sometimes a buyer's agent must be paid out of the buyer's own pocket but the buyer can trust them with financial information, knowing it will not be transmitted to the other broker and ultimately to the seller. More often the seller pays both the selling broker and the buyer’s broker.

Investing In Real Estate

Once you purchase your first home you realize the satisfaction in owning a piece of real estate. For many people their interest doesn’t stop there and they decide they’d like to continue investing in real estate beyond the home they live in.

Investing in property can be a dynamic way of making extra income. For many people their investing experiences allow them to work less at their 9 to 5 job and instead devote more time to producing an income from their investments.

The first thing you need to consider if you look towards investing in the real estate market is what types of properties your dollars should be spent on. There are two choices that you’ll probably want to research. One is residential properties and the other is commercial properties.

Residential property includes everything from single family homes to multi-family dwellings. If you decide on investing in the purchase of a single family home, you’ll be planning on renting it out. In this case you might act as the landlord yourself, taking care of completing the necessary paperwork, including a rental contract as well as collecting rent payments.

If you decide on this route, you might be investing more than just your money. You’ll also be investing quite a bit of time, not only showing the property to prospective tenants but also coming to their rescue if there is a problem. Problems can range from a broken door look to a furnace that needs to be replaced.

If the prospect of investing that much time in your real estate venture is a bit overwhelming you can hire someone to manage the property for you. This saves you a great deal of time and trouble but it costs money as well, as you’ll have to pay them a salary.

This is almost always the case when investing in a multi-family dwelling. There are many details involved in running an apartment building or condominium complex. The tenants needs have to be addressed in a timely manner and in order to do this you’ll need to think about investing in a property manager.

There are many people who are experienced in this field and enjoy this type of work. If you are investing in a property that is worth a great deal of money, you’ll want to hire someone who has experience in property management to assist you.

When it comes to owning a property such as an apartment building the key to success is in keeping the units full thus ensuring a steady flow of income. This often means investing in advertising. Advertising can be done in several ways. A popular approach is to post signs on the outside of the building showcasing that there are vacancies. If the property is particularly affordable, placing the cost of monthly rent on the sign is a good idea as well.

Another form of advertising that works well whether you’re renting out an apartment or a house is investing in a newspaper advertisement. Many people who are looking for a new place to live scour the classifieds daily in the hope that they’ll find exactly the right rental property in the neighborhood they desire.

Investing in real estate can be a very rewarding experience and with the help of a seasoned real estate agent, you’ll be able to purchase properties that will yield you a profit year after year.

Real Estate Success

Real estate success? It happens by way of the many things you repeatedly do right, and it is your habits that ensure they get done. Here are some habits to develop for your real estate investing success.

Ask for people's names, and tell them yours. People are your most valuable resource in real estate investing. The more you know, the more likely you are to find good properties, or buyers for your good properties. Get to know the right people too. Start with a real estate agent that gets many listings of the type you are interested in. Wouldn't it be nice if he called you first?

Think numbers. Think people first, but know the relevant numbers. Ideally, when you look at a rental property, for example, you should be thinking about the income, the expenses, and the cap rate. You should be imagining how certain changes would allow you to raise the income, and what that would do to the value. Having a "feeling" about a property, and ignoring the numbers, gets investors into trouble.

Carry supplies. Always have at least business cards, pen and paper on you. You never know when you might see a property for sale, or hear about one. Mention that you invest in real estate, and sellers, buyers and other investors suddenly appear with information, opinions, and sometimes deals. Be ready.

Think risk reduction. Put those inspection, financing, and other contingency clauses in the offer, so you will get your deposit back when a deal falls through. Know your exit strategy before you buy. Find value by comparables, not "hunches." Buy properties through your corporation or LLC. Always look for ways to reduce the risks.

Real Estate Success Is Found In Action

Set action-oriented goals. Get in the habit of taking regular steps towards real estate success. Require yourself to look at a certain number of properties, and maybe even to write a certain number of offers each month. Set at least minimum goals for all sorts of little steps, like making five phone calls per week, checking online for new listings twice per week, and so on. Action creates momentum, and repeated action creates habits. Good habits lead to success.

Finally, learning more about investing from books, magazines and even tapes or CDs is a great idea. Just be sure to spend as much time doing something as reading about it. Some of us let our fascination and enjoyment of reading about investing get in the way of actually investing, and of our real estate success.

The Real Estate Gurus

We have all seen them making fantastic promises that you will be financially free in 90 days. The sales pitch is so intoxicating that you would probably get a DUI if you were driving your vehicle. Less then fifthteen minutes into the infomercial your calling the toll-free number giving them your credit card information. A week goes by, there is excitement in the air you can't wait to get started you are already making plans on how your going to spend your new wealth. Finally your material has arrived.

You go over the material the lesson's are easy to understand. The guru promise you'll be up and in business in less then 30-90 days. You have finish the lesson's in just a week.

You are ready to go out and make a killing buying and selling real estate. Two weeks, three, four even two months have gone by no deals. You have even went back over the course to make sure you have everything covered. The excitement you felt a couple of months ago has turned into anger and self doubt. You smell a rat, the guru has taken you for 2-300 dollars of worthless material.

This scenario plays out everyday with people looking to be financially free and they actually think that they can do this with just 20-30 minutes of work put into it a day. No wonder that's why these gurus are making a killing selling this pie in the sky B.S. It takes hard work to succeed in being a real estate investor. Don't fall prey to these slick-oil salesmen.

If you are starting out in real estate investing the first thing to do is educate yourself about your area market. Understand that 20-30 minutes of work will not cut it if you are starting out. If you do decide to buy a real estate course from a guru make sure you have done your homework before spending your hard earn money on a course. All real estate gurus are not bad. There are some out there that have pretty good material for the money.

Don't give up your money to a high profile real estate guru unless you know that you can get a full refund. Also check and see if the guru is a active real estate investor themselves. If he is selling course's and traveling and speaking at seminars all over the country, how does he have time to invest in real estate? Besides most of the material you purchase from some of these gurus you can get for free online.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Criteria, Terms, Network - The Foundation of Real Estate Investing

In 2005, a bestselling book called The Millionaire Real Estate Investor was written by Gary Keller with Dave Jenks and Jay Papasan. The question is, because of the recent market changes of a buyers market from a sellers market do the principles laid out in the book still apply?

First, lets understand how the book was originally written. It was based on extensive research and interviews with over 120 millionaire real estate investors. The basic model laid out were Criteria, Terms and Network.

Criteria: What you buy. Criteria is the name used for the checklist you use to identify the type of property that you are going to buy. This applies to a buyers market because there appears to be all type of opportunities available, but you still need to establish what you are looking for & how you are going to take advantage of the market conditions. Are you going to stick to one particular type of property? Only condos or single families? These apply no matter what the market. Will you be able to resale it or rent it? The buyers market presents some new opportunities to consider.Are you going to focus on pre foreclosures, foreclosures or short sales? With these situations presenting themselves more & more, including them in your criteria checklist would be worth considering to see if they provide the greatest opportunity and the least risk.

Terms: With interest rates remaining fairly low, and with the wave of the sub prime backlash, terms are even more important in the buyers market then they have ever been. Add to that the true evaluation of proper offer prices when overall prices are stagnant or declining. Simply taking the time to establish your own parameters to determine when a deal is a good deal & when a deal should be walked away from is critical in an emotion filled buyers market.

Lets look at the principle of Network: Who helps you. to todays marketplace. Having a network of select relationships that know your criteria & that are able to feed you opportunities is essential. Imagine a well placed attorney that knows of pre-foreclosure proceedings or a Northern Virginia Real Estate Team is intimately aware of a particular area or that is working in conjunction with a bank to dispose of Bank Owned / Foreclosure Northern Virginia Homes.

All of these areas still applies & answers a lot of the questions of what you'll buy, how you'll buy it & who will help you.

"Mastering these areas will give you the greatest chance for long term success & place you solidly on the path to becoming a Millionaire Real Estate Investor". This was sound advise when the book was written and remains sound advice today.