Friday, December 28, 2012

What You Must Understand Before Working With A Real Estate Agent

In this article are a number of tips on picking the right agent, as this is a significant part when purchasing your own home or land. The first question most people will ask is, why use a realtor anyway? Why can't I figure this out without any help? Also, is a real estate agent the same as a broker? Is there a difference between the two? This info is fairly valuable whenever you pick somebody to assist you in handling such a purchase.

As we see it, the primary argument for hiring a licensed real estate agent is that he or she knows the ins and outs of business a whole lot more than you probably do.

While laws and regulations may differ between different areas of the country, a real estate broker is generally more skilled with a lot more practical experience than a real estate agent. The knowledge necessary to become a real estate broker is more detailed and a bit more difficult in order to obtain one's license to practice. Secondly, a real estate agent cannot work alone, and has to work with a broker. However, a licensed broker could work by himself or employ the service of sales people; still, the broker is going to be responsible for the agent's actions. A licensed realtor is a member of the National Association of Realtors., Agents adhere to a rigorous code of ethical values. Even so, this doesn't necessarily mean that one Realtor would be ethically better than another would.

You will discover fundamental disparities amongst realtors as well, and some of the differences depend on what individuals they work for. The realtor who lists a property represents the person selling the property, and is contractually required to protect the seller's interests. Now, a buyer's agent, often known as a selling agent (needless to say, it is a bit complex), is an agent who works exclusively for those wishing to purchase property. To further complicate matters, there is the dual agency, where different agents work with only one broker, but one agent may be a buyer's agent while the second one is the listing agent.

To locate a reliable realtor, you have to do some research and speak with a few different agents. As well as asking people you know for referrals, you could also do a little online investigation. For example, if you are searching for Seattle realtors or another area, add the city name inside the search box.

Search for practical experience. Seek out those with a good amount of expertise and have been working in the neighborhood for several years. As an illustration, you will find there's a high turnover rate for real estate professionals, in some areas versus others. Ideally, you would like an agent who may have in excess of a couple of years of sales.

Hunt for professionals that serve a wide segment of the region.

Some real estate agents work on their position on a part time basis, and concentrate mostly in a particular price bracket. An agent is this position may not have enough time in order to bring you to a decent number of properties, especially if your spending budget doesn't fall within the range they happen to be specializing in. Seek out agents that cater to all selling prices and have a committed staff of agents there on a full time basis.

Wherever you are trying to find real estate brokers, the guidelines for discovering the right agency will be similar. You may notice some differences in the way in which agents function in various neighborhoods, but a truly qualified realtor will act in your best interests to help get you a residence according to your unique requirements.

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

How to Raise Private Money for Buying Multifamily Properties

When it comes to raising private money for your multifamily property deals, you are only limited by the scope of your imagination and creativity. The amazing thing is that there is a simple, four-part formula that you can use to raise private money for apartments. Most people, however, don't know about this formula much less that there are four parts and what those four parts are. Let us take a look at each of these four parts.

Remember that all four of these parts need to happen simultaneously for the formula to perform optimally.

Predisposed: You don't want to make this a difficult process. So to make it easy, you need to target people who are already predisposed to investing in real estate such as apartments. They have already shown some affinity, some familiarity, and some willingness to invest in real estate. They don't need persuading that real estate is a good investment vehicle. The only thing you have to sell them on is you and your deal.

Control : Capital preservation is the first thing that comes into people's minds before they will release their money. Control is described best as when you are putting together an investment vehicle, how does the investor feel that they are retaining control over the transaction if something goes wrong? If the borrower does not perform, how does the investor get control of the situation?

Low Risk: The second complimentary part to Control is low risk. How do I design a real estate investment vehicle that is as low risk as possible for the investor? Ideally, it is no risk and if you go to the extreme, it is risk reversal. The investor comes out ahead if the borrower doesn't perform.

High Return: Once you have identified someone who is predisposed to investing in real estate and they realize that it is low risk, then their human greed factor kicks in. The private investor then wants to know how he or she is getting a high return for low risk. You have to craft an investment for them that yields a high return but doesn't give away too much of your profits.

The basis of this private money formula is that you are crafting a financial product thru apartment investing. The more you can package up your deal, and quickly and clearly articulate its merits makes all of the difference in the world in raising private monies. With this formula alone, you probably know more about raising private money than 80% of real estate entrepreneurs out there. The key is remembering that all four components need to be done at the same time in order for you to be successful.

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Payday Loan Direct Lenders Offer You Lowest Rate of Interest

Are your monthly bills causing you tension? Are they causing you to struggle? Do you consider that finding a payday loan can be an appropriate brief term remedy for your cash shortage? Do you want to uncover the least expensive price achievable for a cash advance? Should you answered yes to these questions, then obtaining a payday loan direct from lender could be appropriate for you personally. Here is why:

Payday Loan from Direct Lenders
When submitting your money advance application using a direct lender, you will be saving oneself money because you won't be paying any commission expenses. Commissions are charged when a lender utilizes a middleman or perhaps a network for cash loans. These middlemen have to get paid for each lead that they send to the direct lender, as a result you are going to be the a single paying the cost for this.

Lower Rates of interest
Payday loans from direct lenders are the ones that happen to be going to provide you the lower interest rats simply because of the reality that it truly is straight from them. This can be also for the reason that with the high quantity of applications they get for cash advances. Should you do a fast comparison when researching the world wide web, it is best to come across there are numerous different payday loans from direct lenders accessible.

Licensed Payday Loan Businesses
You can uncover that all payday loans direct from lenders are legitimate. A few of these companies have already been about for years and are even licensed. Getting licensed indicates that they've strict terms and regulations. This will likely advantage you due to the fact from the cost the you'll agree to after you obtain the loan, for instance extension fees, is going to be the same fees you might pay later on. You might find that there are 3 benefits to gaining a payday loan direct from a lender. Nevertheless, make certain that you are dealing with a trusted and effectively acknowledged 1.

So in summary, if you study and evaluate the diverse payday loan direct lender businesses, you'll be capable of discover the cheapest rates of interest and also the ones that happen to be able to get you the money the quickest. It's advised that you simply go using a trusted and very well recognized payday loan direct lender. This can save you time by working with an online application and save you money when it comes to the rates of interest.

It isn't complicated to obtain a cash advance in Texas. Whenever you obtain yourself in a money crunch and are face to face with an emergency, a cash advance will come to your rescue. The services of a cash advance retailer are so prompt that you can get your loan income deposited inside your account within 24 hours of filing your application.

These are also known as rapidly payday loans for obvious causes. So whether you (or an individual within your family members) meet an accident, or no matter if you have to pay for unexpected car repairs, an American cash advance will be your friend in require. Comparable in function, organizations giving cash advance in Texas can present rapid services because they do every little thing electronically. From your application towards the verification of one's details, from the deposit of loan quantity towards the repayment, it is all electronic.

Apply from Anywhere Anytime

Usually speaking, any individual can apply for a money advance in Texas. So long as you're an American citizen and are over 18 years of age, you are able to apply. Apart from this, you also need a steady job along with a savings or checking bank account to become eligible.

The money is deposited directly inside your bank within 24 hours of the application. Similarly, the loan amount will be debited to your account on the repayment date. There is no hassle of checks if you get a cash advance in Texas. When you wish to extend the loan period, you'll have to notify the lender prior to the repayment date.

But beware: the extension will cost you additional fees. So don't delay unnecessarily. And also try to stay away from falling into the effortless debt trap that a cash advance can turn out to be. Apply for a money advance in Texas only for those who face an emergency. Do not use the American money advance to fund your each day living expenditures.

Borrow Smartly

Apart from every one of the capabilities and gains, numerous folks still think about taking a cash advance is an pricey way of borrowing funds. Thus, it really is then worthy adequate to check out how you may make use of it smartly. As you search for a cash advance businesses in Texas or anyplace else, it is best to be certain that the organizations state clearly how much they charge you for interest and fees. Make certain there are actually no hidden fees apart from what they display in their internet sites. Also constantly borrow at a substantial amount that you can repay to avert you from finding caught in a loan sharking.

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

How Credit Card Jumping Affects Your Credit Rating

Credit card jumping (or rate surfing) is becoming more widespread as people struggle to keep on top of the mountains of debt they have amassed. It's called credit card jumping because people jump from card to card, taking advantage of the best deals on offer.

How Credit Card Jumping Works

It works like this. Suppose you pay for your new car, DVD recorder or stereo using your old card. After the interest free period of around 56 days (less on some cards) you will have to pay interest on the outstanding balance. This can range from under 8% to well over 23% depending on the card you have. And most of the money you pay back each month will pay off interest rather than reducing the principal.

Credit card jumping offers a solution. Most card companies offer reduced interest rates to new customers. This can be a long term low interest rate or a 0% interest rate for a period of up to 12 months. This means that during this period credit card customers are reducing the principal when they make repayments. This will help to reduce their overall indebtedness.

Shopping For A 0% Credit Card

To get a 0% card, consumers just need to shop around. They can visit one of the many comparison websites to find the best deal. Many card companies also offer other incentives such as money-off vouchers, cash back rewards and discounted insurance.

The 'jumping' part comes when the 0% offer runs out. Canny consumers will apply for a new card about a month before the old offer runs out. This leaves plenty of time to get the new card and transfer any balances on to it to take advantage of the new offer. Consumers can do this any number of times.

What About My Credit Rating?

The key to keeping a good credit rating is to always pay at least the minimum amount that is listed on the statement. This must also be paid on time and consumers should never exceed their credit limit. It is also important to keep the old cards even after the balance has moved to another card. Old cards show people's credit history and improve their credit rating.

How Companies Protect Against Card Jumpers

When 0% interest offers first appeared, credit card companies did not realise the implications. They lost hundreds of thousands of pounds of potential interest. Now there's a strategy in place to make card jumping less attractive. This is the balance transfer fee.

The balance transfer fee is a new charge imposed by credit card companies whenever consumers transfer a balance to a new card. The rate for this is around 2%. This means that card companies get their money up front. There are still some cards that do not charge a balance transfer fee, so it's worth shopping around while they last.

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Wealth Building - Other People's Money (opm): What The Rich And Wealthy Have Known For Years

Getting rich isn't all about hard work. In fact hard work has got little to do with getting rich. It's not that I don't advocate hard work, I do. I love working hard but I especially like to see myself and others working smart. I know that getting rich and achieving success is not exclusively the domain of blood, sweat and tears. I've seen friends, work colleagues and family work themselves to the bone for little or no reward.

The Cult of Hard Work, Self-Sacrifice and The Golden Goose

There is a cult of self-sacrifice evident in our culture that warrants you to be extra busy, working super hard, and putting in crazy hours. When it comes to personal wealth building and attaining success, you're the golden goose. However, you can only push the golden goose so hard before he/she stops laying those golden eggs. Without exception every golden goose will eventually run out of energy, capacity or enthusiasm. Therefore, learning how to utilise Other Peoples Time, Money and Skills (i.e. leveraging) is a pre-requisite to becoming rich, building wealth and achieving success.

Other Peoples Money & Leverage

In general terms, getting access to Other People's Money (OPM) is a form of leverage that enables you to go beyond the limits of your own resources and instead apply resourcefulness to everything you do. In business terms, leverage is the key that differentiates self-employed person who owns a job from the business owner who own a business. In financial/investment terms it means getting access to cash that's not yours in order to buy assets that you control and that produce income.

What the Rich and Wealthy Have Know for Years

The richest and especially the wealthiest people in the world have known about leveraging Other People's Money for years. Everyone from Jean Paul Getty, Aristotle Onassis and Donald Trump have excelled at this wealth building principle numero uno. Their use of OPM to buys assets is legendary. Onassis in particular is known for having secured contracts to transport ore and oil in ships and tankers he didn't yet own and then going to the banks securing the loans to buy the ships and tankers using the contracts. A brazen and gifted deal-maker if there ever was one!
People go about building wealth or acquiring assets in different ways based on their background, past experiences and what they have been taught or know about money. For the most part people think of great riches and wealth as largely unattainable because of the model or mindset they have about money. What most people fail to understand is that you actually don't need money to make money. Sure it helps but what you really need is access to Other People's Money in order to make money.

The Benefits of Utilising Other People's Money

OPM buys you time; it enables you do things before you would otherwise be able to do them. It allows you participate in deals your own resources don't allow you to do. It enables you make choices you couldn't otherwise make. It takes the average person many, many years to accumulate wealth or build a business entirely from their own resources. By utilising the power of Other People's Money you can fast-track your personal wealth building or the growth of a business. Importantly, your personal wealth building is no longer limited to what you have been able to save and invest from your earned income.

Getting High on OPM Real Estate

Most people's typical first experience of using Other People's Money is when they take on a mortgage to buy their home. Typically, their initial down-payment combined with their contract of employment that demonstrates their ability to produce future income is enough for them to secure a mortgage loan against home. Unfortunately your home is not an asset, well it is, but it's the bank's asset as they are making income from the loan advanced, not you. If you can get a bank to advance you a mortgage loan so as to purchase an investment rental property (an asset) whereby you get to retain what remains of the rental income after you pay the mortgage, then you have used Other People's Money to buy and asset to produce income. In order to secure this loan you need to demonstrate to the bank that you are a safe bet. They will typically want to see that you have at least 20% of the purchase price as a down-payment and sufficient net income being generated by this asset and other sources to ride out any changes in interest rates, rental void periods etc.

Getting High on OPM Business

In business, entrepreneurs and business owners get access to Other People's Money when they write a business plan which they present to a business agent or venture capitalist i.e. investors. This process is known as raising capital. In return for the money (known as capital) received the investor who provided the capital typically receives equity (i.e. shareholding) in the business. Money can also be borrowed from a bank and the bank is repaid the principal and also receives interest on the loan. It's the business owner's job to put this capital to good use; to produce products or services that generate sales revenue to pay back the loan and, of course, all the other expenditures of the business.
Other People's Money is always available and accessible to a greater or lesser extent depending on overall market conditions. Your first responsibility as an entrepreneur or investor seeking capital is to understand and inform yourself as to the multiple sources of OPM and numerous deal structures that utilise OPM.

Jumping Through the Window of Opportunity

Finally, the chief take-away from all this talk about Other People's Money is that rather than saying to yourself I can't afford to start a business or I don't have the money to invest in that deal you now know there are no real excuses or limitations. Not that using Other People's Money is without its pitfalls. Like every financial transaction there are inherent risks. Firstly, you are liable to repay the capital borrowed and generally provide an agreed additional return to the investor. However, that's not up for discussion here. The key thing for now is to realize that you can always get access to Other People's Money to enable you participate in deals and do things you previously thought weren't possible. You can start jumping through the window of opportunity when it's open...and as you begin implementing this principle of Other People's Money into your business and personal wealth building endeavours you begin to realise its open all the time!

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

2008 Market Crash Recap

2008 is over at last. It has been an extremely turbulent year and everyone's swept under its currents such that it was hard to see what actually happened, so, here's a recap of what happened in the stock market in 2008.

Summing up, the Dow lost a total of 4488 points this year, down 33.84%. The Nasdaq composite lost a total of 1075 points, down 40.54%. The S&P500 lost a total of 565 points, down 38.49%. The more volatile Nasdaq Composite became the loss leader this year just as it is expected to be the gain leader in a rising market, so, no surprise there. Both the Nasdaq Composite and the S&P500 went lower than the low of the last crisis in 2002. Only the Dow managed to stay above the last crisis level marginally. I had expected it to also make a lower low but it did not.

How did it all begin? Indications of this 2008 market crash actually started showing up as early as July of 2007 when short term bond yields begun yielding higher than long term bond yields in a bond yield curve that is almost perfectly horizontal above the 4% yield line. Such a bond yield curve indicates excessive optimism in the capital market as the 20yr bond hit an all time low price (relative to recent years). Bond prices go down when demand for bonds goes down. Demand for bonds goes down when capital gets reallocated, usually into the equities market (for simplification sake), resulting in high bond yields. At that time, the Dow was trading well above the 13000 points level, just one step from the 14000 level resistance which marked the beginning of the 2008 market crash. At the same time, foreclosure rates had been and continued to rise nation wide, putting pressure on the value of the most complex derivative instrument ever created amongst investment bankers, CDOs or Collateralized debt obligations.

All 3 major indices hit their peak in October of 2007 and begun their long retreat. The retreat didn't look at all menacing for a start as all 3 major indices backed down to their respective short term support levels and even rebounded slightly, making it all look like a classical pullback in a strong primary bull trend. At that time, the Fed's still all confused with what to handle, inflation or growth, and talks of Stagflation begun showing up as real GDP went sideways in Q3 2007 and then retreated in Q4 2007. This was when 2 groups of economists; Recession Talkers and Goldilocks, begun their battle of tongues over the major wires. Of course, now we know who knew better. Sensing danger, investors begun taking positions in bonds once again, bringing bond yields down from their previous highs. The Fed also begun taking Fed Fund Rate down from its high of over 5% in August gradually (too gradually, argued by some economists). At this time, a perfect storm is brewing as the more the Feds cut rates, the lower the dollar goes and the higher commodities prices went (as well as prices at the pump of course), putting further pressure on the real economy.

The first warning sign of a recession surfaced in January 2008 as unemployment rate hit 5% for the month of December 2007. 5% is a psychological level that says that something might be wrong in the economy as full employment rate (normal unemployment with minimal cyclical unemployment) is around the 4.5% level (number arrived at from my own research). That was probably one of the catalysts that caused all 3 major indices to break their respective short term support levels downwards in the first month of 2008, threatening the integrity of the primary bull trend that was in place since 2003. At the same time, inflation continued to be a problem as oil continued it march to the 0 per barrel level while talks of CDOs becoming worthless due to significant doubt about the fixed income ability of mortgage loans built into them begun hitting the wire. In fact, it was around this time when analysts begun finding CDOs being over-rated by rating agencies (well, like one of the high profile analysts said, they belonged to the same club).

By February of 2008, it has become apparent from the charts that the intermediate term bull trend has been compromised as investors rushed for quality, depressing short term bond yields to almost half of what they were just a couple of months ago. On the charts, however, it could still be argued that the Dow merely made its first major intermediate term correction since the primary bull trend started in 2003. Such a technical correction is also an acceptable argument under the Dow theory as some technical chartists expect the major indices to make a rebound from that level, which, did not happen (even though the Dow did rebound just a little bit for a couple of months as technicians took position). At this time, however, the economy's already not looking at rosy as it did just months ago with rising unemployment, lowering durable goods order, rising oil price and a dropping GDP. Signs of trouble also begun emerging in the investment banking sector as major investment bankers started changing CEOs and writing off worthless CDOs and subprime loans. By this time, the Fed is beginning to get it that the economy is in real danger but has yet to take major actions on the fed fund nor to take coordinated action with central banks around the world. The dark cloud also spreaded into stock markets worldwide, making it obvious that this is not only an USA crisis but a world crisis.

By July 2008, investors were convinced that the economy is indeed in a recession (at last) and the credit crisis is deeper than most has expected. All 3 major indices made their first significant downwards breakout, totally disintegrating the previous primary bull trend, and stated without a doubt that the bear has arrived. All hell broke loose after that as Lehman Brothers closed down, unemployment rate soared and real GDP went negative. Investors begun rushing for the door, taking major indices down by a greater magnitude each month. The Dow was down 9% for the month of September and over 17% in October. At the same time, as aggregate demand drops in the economy, so did demand for oil as crude oil price dropped like a rock from its high of 0 per barrel all the way to below , taking CPI along with it. The US dollar also took a surprising turn and surged upwards against major currencies for months, wiping out forex traders trading on the "short-the-dollar-golden-strategy".

Right now, commodities prices are at lows that was not seen for decades, bond prices has formed a bubble waiting to be burst and unemployment rate has reached higher than the previous crisis. Talks of write downs are also disappearing. This is certainly the best time for enterprising companies to take advantage of better prices and start hiring once again. In fact, purchasing by companies are already picking up slightly as indicated by the latest PMI number. All the ingredients needed for economy recovery seems to be in place and I suspect we should see some real signs in 2009. 2008 has done a good job of quickly and mercilessly draining waste from the economy instead of making it a prolonged agony. With stocks this low and bond bubble waiting to be burst, the stock market definitely has a lot more upside potential than downside potential right now. Let's say a nice goodbye to 2008 and welcome 2009! :)

** I am sorry if I did not include many of the other major events that contributed in the 2008 crash as I intend to keep this as short as possible while correlating events in the economy to the stock market.

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Instant bad credit loans: ideal funds to solve your short term financial crisis

Short term monetary needs and demands are not that easy to resolve. The problem lies in your inability to arrange the funds on an emergency, which of course is a daunting task. Since arranging funds on your own is out of contention, you will no doubt have to rely upon external financial assistance. As you are looking to curb the short term financial urgency, it would seem ideal to opt for instant bad credit loans.

When it comes to these loans, the funds you are in need of are immediately made available Once the loan amount is released, it is then deposited in to your bank account. This in turn makes it easy for you to attain the funds, so as to deal with the short term financial needs.

Apparently, while acquiring the loans, you are never required to pledge any collateral or undergo any credit check. This in fact implies that you do get a chance to procure the funds, without undertaking any risk or worrying about your credit history.

However, to be in a position to source these loans, there are preconditions, which you must comply with. In this regard:-

- You must be a permanent resident of Australia
- Age attained should be more than 18 years
- Must be employed duly on a regular basis
- The income should be at least AU00

Under the aegis of these loans, you are free to procure funds anywhere in the range of AU0-AU00. The borrowed amount then has to be paid back over a period of 14-30 days. As for the amount derived, you are free to utilize it, as per your specific requirement.

In order to derive these loans at any point of time, without much of a hassle, you can apply through lenders based online. Online application is devoid of any paperwork and all the details required has to be placed in a simple form, available on the lenders website. On further making a detailed and proper research, you will be in a position to acquire the funds against viable terms.

So, with instant loans, you do have the funds, which can be used to deal with any short term financial emergency.

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Online Low Fee Payday Loan Direct Lenders

Nowadays, you probably hear rather a lot about payday loans, and not a lot of that talk is positive. In fact, you can indeed benefit a lot by using cash advances in a proper way. Applying with a payday loan direct lender that takes the time to teach you how the payday advances work and abides by the many commitments undertaken may help you see that payday loans may be a great blessing rather than a curse.

Tremendous cost is the most pressing concern, usually taking into consideration regarding cash advances. Obviously the borrower must pay something, however is it way too much to cover the outstanding quality of the product you get? In case you think over the potential expenses for your other available options, you would see that the payday advance is in the end a good bargain. Most times it's the remarkable speed and amazing ease of the procedure that counts, not the cost.

The payday loan lender arranges to get you the money you truly need to get you through until your next pay check. In case you need to pay some additional expense extremely quickly, that is the most appealing and the least controversial option accessible these days. If you have ever applied for a traditional consumer loan, you will be pleased to see how extremely easy the payday loan application works. The cash would be delivered to you within a business day.

Payday loan online is probably the simplest way to obtain instant cash. The operators online would grant you use of the money you request instantly. Oftentimes the entire application can be submitted through the Internet, with no hassle of supplying additional papers, that saves you a lot of trouble. Online cash advance companies can always approve your loan application in twenty-four hours or even less.

With a cash loan you will avail the money you definitely want incredibly quickly and perfectly easily. The bureaucratic red tape and arduous procedures required for traditional loans are not associated with payday loans.

The advantages of the payday advance process are simplicity and convenience which can rarely be associated with the conventional loan procedure. Besides, they won't ask you to undergo a credit habits check; thus you don't have to be concerned about the being denied because of credit history issues. Those payday advances also do not use any property as collateral; the applicant does not need security and the applicant shouldn't worry about losing any assets. The payday advances have several benefits in comparison with a bank loan.

When taking out a cash advance, do so accurately. Be sure you read carefully and thoroughly understand all the options. The payday loans are taken out for rather a short time, inability to repay on a payback date will end in high penalties. The payday loans should be viewed as an enhancement of your pay check rather than as a separate loan. It's like making extra sure that the cash you're receiving would be repaid with the future salary.

Sometimes, payday loans earn notoriety since they turn out to be outside the traditional loan system. Much of the bad press is in reality due to the borrower blaming the payday advance system when in reality they simply misunderstood its intent. If handled correctly, with a fair and honest payday advance lender, it is likely you will be grateful to have it fixed with such a convenient solution to your short term money problems.