Real Estate Articles

Many communities have associations for homeowners, property owners, condo owners, or similar associations. The presence of a homeowners association, also known as "HOA", introduces another layer of rules and regulations to consider when buying a hom...

Investment Real Estate, First Things First Considering investing in property? What are some pertinent things to consider before taking this leap? Of all the investment possibilities, investment in land generally produces the most positive results. ...

Real estate investors familiar mantra location, location, location are nervously replacing the second and third locations with price and risk. As home prices rise to new levels daily and worries that some markets homebuyers are jumping into might sta...

If your problem is listed below, a 1031 exchange may or may not be your solution. 1. Are you a landlord that doesn't want to manage property anymore? 2. Do you want to sell your investment property, but don't want to pay huge amounts of Capital Gains...

This home selection checklist is a tool to help you select a home that is right for you and your family. Before you select a home and get a mortgage, you need to know if you will be happy with the home you select for the coming years. Home selectio...

The San Antonio, Texas real estate market is still going strong even after several years of growth. San Antonio ranks as one of the most affordable cities in the nation to purchase a new home. According to the San Antonio Express-News, "While prices ...

People sometimes confuse a home inspection and an appraisal when they are in the process of buying a home. Most mortgage applications involve an appraisal, which can be a physical inspection of the property plus a written analysis of similar homes t...

Why should you do your own real estate inspection? To get a better deal. It isn't necessary to learn building codes, and you probably should use a professional inspector in any case. The point of learning what to look for is to have negotiating point...

Buying a house is one of the most exciting things you will ever do. But there are LOTS of little details involved - details which can be very costly if they are overlooked. Unfortunately, I made all 10 of these mistakes when buying my first house. Ev...

As you grow older, the issue of wealth building comes front and center. Wealth building simply refers to increasing the net value of your total assets. Wealth building over time is one of the advantages of home ownership. Building Equity Owning a hom...

There are numerous advantages to owning a home. One of the serious advantages is the equity that is built over time. As equity builds, you create a pool of money to access in trying times. Home Equity Equity is simply the value of a property after al...

Be careful when buying rental property. We stayed at a motel for a week one winter. The bill showed twice what it should have, but since I already paid the correct amount in cash, I thought nothing of it. When we noticed that the lobby and swimming p...

You're driving along the road when you spot it. There in the middle of a shaggy lawn sits a disheveled property. It may need a good coat of paint, or a shutter straightened out, but it's easy to see that with a little work it could be a little gem of...

Homebuyers and sellers should be aware about issues involving homeowners insurance and the C.L.U.E. database. C.L.U.E. stands for Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange and is a collection of homeowners insurance claim history enabling insurance c...

If you are in the market to purchase a home, it can be easy to fall in love at first sight. Do so at your own risk. While the overall appearance of a home is important, the quality is in the details. In this article, I provide a checklist of window i...

In a real estate transaction, a touchy issue is how much trust the seller has in a buyer. The existence of a good faith deposit helps put a seller at rest. Good Faith Deposit If you are selling your home, condominium or other real estate, you should ...

Ugly houses can be great investments, but we don't buy them. We understand that there are lots of valid ways to make money investing in real estate. Buying and rehabbing ugly houses is certainly a good one, but we've chosen a different strategy. ...

Closing costs are often the last thing a person thinks of when buying a home. While closing is the joyous moment the home becomes yours, the costs can be surprisingly aggravating. When you purchase a home, condo or other property, you will go through...

Title to a property is a record detailing the owners of the property and rights associated with the ownership. Title typically shows a progression of ownership from the first owner to the current one. Title is a fairly simple concept, but when it goe...

I had a hard time at first with real estate investment. One of the reasons was that I tended to be a "lone wolf," trying to do too much myself. I've since learned that to really do well investing in real estate, you need to have a team of people you ...

You hear it asked on the radio, in the newspapers and on TV. "Are we experiencing a value bubble in real estate and is it ready to burst?" Do you have an answer for that question? Do you have a guess? Yes, I know the so called experts are lining up...

These real questions are answered by me and US Master Builders after receiving them from readers of my e-book, "Residential Development Made Easy." Question 1. 'Design / Build,' sometimes called 'Design / Construct' is a development process where the...

Is real estate investing only for the wealthy? Can you buy with no money down? Do you have to know the "right" people? Let's answer by looking at some of the myths of real estate. 1. Real estate investing is for the wealthy. Money helps, but my first...

Okay, so we all can agree - listings are the lifeblood of the real estate industry. And if the keys to selling them are location, location and location, then the challenge in getting them is self-promotion. But how do you promote to the masses wit...

Many of you may not be aware of the various ways notes can be used. The average person's understanding about notes is that people create them because they are desperate to sell a property. Nothing could be further from the truth. Real estate investor...

You could be facing a dilemma when considering payout options on selling your mortgage note!  To accept a full purchase offer or a partial purchase offer is not always an easy decision. Sure, to take the full purchase option is an easy decision to m...

When real estate note brokers purchase partially paid notes, they pay the note holder a discounted price after factoring in the time value of money, the payer history, and property condition. If  there is still a significant period of time left for ...

The Real estate market in Spain keeps gaining momentum and is of a vital interest among overseas investors. Property prices in the country continue growing at rapid pace due to a sustainable development in many areas of the mainland and the islands. ...

Last week, we started a multi-part series about how to go from being a beginning investor to being "financially independent" in a steady and predictable way. Many, many people want to overly complicate this process so let's briefly, let's recap that...

Questions Sellers Should Ask in Agent Interviews: 1. Is your license in good standing? You can check an agent's certification yourself with your state's department of real estate. Avoid working with an agent whose license is not in good standing. 2....