Posted by admin | Real Estate | Posted on May 24th, 2009
Real estate investing is a new, exciting, and wonderful adventure when you’re first getting started. For me, the new hasn’t worn off. I love real estate investing as much as I ever have. But, if there’s one thing I would have changed, it would be my knowledge of the terminology thrown around by more seasoned investors. If you’re tired of feeling like a dunce for having to look up the meaning of a real estate term every time you hear one, here’s a primer that should help get you up to speed.
Acceleration clause – a provision in a mortgage loan that allows the lender to demand immediate payment of the entire outstanding balance because of the violation of a loan provision, such as defaulting on the mortgage.
Addendum – an addition to a contract adding a provision that wasn’t in the original document. Once agreed to by both parties, the addendum then becomes a part of the original contract and is enforceable in court (assuming the provision is legal).
Appreciation – the increase in value of an asset.
Balloon payment – a required large final payment of a contract, frequently a large percentage of the original amount borrowed. Many times a contract will consist primarily of interest only payments for a period of time followed by a large payment that pays off the entire balance. For instance, someone might make interest only payments on a property for five years and then have to pay the entire balance off at the very end.
Cash flow – the amount of money left over on a monthly basis after paying all operating expenses on a property. This amount can be expressed as either a positive or a negative number. For example, if a property has total income of $1500 per month and expenses and debt service of $1000 per month, monthly cash flow on the property would be $500.
Closing – a meeting between the buyer and seller of a property where legal ownership is transferred. When this happens, there is typically a large stack of legal documents that needs to be signed by both parties. At this time, the seller receives certified funds as payment for their property, all closing costs are paid, and the buyer signs mortgage and other legal documents and receives a large stack of papers related to the purchase.
Closing costs – expenses that must be paid in order to legally transfer ownership of a property from the seller to the buyer.
Depreciation – a provision in the Internal Revenue Code that allows the owner of a property to take a tax reduction for the value lost through the year. One unique aspect of this provision is that the federal tax code allows a real estate investor to take a depreciation allowance on their tax return even though their property actually increased in value.
Due on Sale Clause – a provision in a mortgage contract requiring that the entire loan balance be paid immediately on demand in the event of the sale of a mortgaged property. Certain things can trigger the due on sale clause in the contract, such as the legal transfer (or equitable transfer) of ownership from the original loan borrower to another party.
Earnest money deposit – when someone places a written offer on a property, the seller will normally require that the buyer provide a small deposit (usually $500 or $1000) to prove to the seller that they are serious about making the purchase. These funds are normally placed into an escrow account by the real estate agent and will become the property of the seller in the event that the buyer fails to execute the contract as agreed.
Foreclosure – the legal process involved in repossessing a property, usually for nonpayment of a mortgage contract. There are two kinds of foreclosure: judicial and nonjudicial. Specific foreclosure laws vary from state to state, but in general the foreclosure process takes considerably longer in a judicial state because the lender must go to court and prove that the borrower has failed to make their payments as agreed. In a nonjudicial state, the process is much shorter and simpler because the lender is not required to receive court approval prior to forcing the removal of the borrower from the property.
GRM – also known as the Gross Rent Multiplier, which is a ratio you can use to estimate the value of an investment property. To figure the GRM, you need two pieces of information about the property: the sales price and the market rent rate. The way you figure the GRM is by taking the sales price and dividing by the monthly rent. For instance, pretend you have a property with a list price of $125,000 that would rent for $1600 per month. 125,000/1600=78. In this case the GRM would be 78.
Home Equity Loan – a type of loan where the owner of a property borrows money from a lender based upon the value of the property. Proceeds from a home-equity loan are typically used to make repairs to the property, pay off other debt, or to fund additional real estate investments.
HELOC – Home Equity Line of Credit is a type of loan where the borrower pledges the equity in their home as collateral. In exchange for receiving a HELOC loan, the homeowner usually receive a checkbook that they can use to access funds. While the homeowner is typically notified at the time that their loan is approved how much money they are qualified to receive, they don’t normally receive cash at that time. Instead, they use the checkbook to access HELOC funds, so they only pay interest on the portion of the loan that they are utilizing at any given time.
HUD-1 settlement statement – this form is also known generically as the closing statement. Put simply, it is nothing more than a detailed accounting sheet that discloses where every dollar of a real estate transaction is going. It lists things such as real estate commissions, mortgage broker fees, escrow amounts, etc. At the very bottom of the sheet it details the total amount of money paid by or on behalf of the buyer to the seller.
Lien – a type of encumbrance that can be placed on a property by a creditor that prevents the property’s sale without the payment of a legitimate debt. For instance, if a homeowner loses a lawsuit and is bordered by the court to pay the winning party a certain amount of money, many times the winning party will place an encumbrance upon their real estate to ensure that the judgment is paid.
LTV – a numeric value that can be used to determine how heavily leveraged a property is. If a borrower takes out a loan in the amount of $100,000 and the property is worth $125,000, the LTV is 80%.
NOI – the Net Operating Income of an investment property is the amount of money left over each month after making all debt payments and paying all operating expenses, such as insurance, maintenance, and repairs.
Owner financing – a method of financing where the seller acts as the bank and agrees to take payments for their equity over a period of time. This is a very common and creative real estate financing technique utilized by a lot of real estate investors who for one reason or another have decided to forgo institutional bank financing or the use of hard money lending sources.
PITI – an acronym that stands for principle, interest, taxes, and insurance.
ROI – an acronym that allows a real estate investor to determine their return on investment, which is expressed as a percentage. For instance, if you invest $100,000 and you receive $10,000 in annual returns, your ROI would be 10%.
Title insurance – an insurance policy that the purchaser of a real estate property can purchase to guarantee that there are no outstanding liens or other encumbrances that would affect the transfer of ownership from one party to another.
As you can clearly see from this list of real estate investing terminology, there is a huge vocabulary for you to learn as you begin to fully immerse yourself into the world of real estate investing. This is by no stretch of the imagination a full list. It is, however, enough of a starter list that you can feel a little more comfortable with getting up to speed. Your eyes won’t completely glaze over if you happen to overhear more experienced investors talking, and in many cases you can smugly smile – knowing that you’re a member of a select club of special entrepreneurs who have their own secret language. Plus, you won’t have to wear a special uniform or try to explain to people where the Klingon empire is located.
To learn even more of the jargon used by real estate investors, navigate over to www.REIconferences.com and look around a site built by investors for investors. It’s packed with all the tips, tools, and information you need to turn the corner and reach all of your investing dreams.
Posted by admin | Real Estate | Posted on May 23rd, 2009
Decide to Sell
Deciding to sell your home is a big decision. The first step in this process should be to understand your motivations, expectations, financial considerations, goals and what you plan to do upon the sale of your home. Many people begin the sale process with unrealistic expectations or unclear goals. It then becomes difficult to meet their goals because these goals have never been clearly defined. You must begin to view your house, no longer as your home, but as an investment property that you want to market.
Setting the Price
Of course one of your most difficult questions is the listing price of your house. What price should you ask? This is an important part of the sales process. If you set the asking price too high, you may scare away buyers. Agents who feel that your house would not be a good investment may not even show the house. After the house sits on the market for a while, people begin to feel that there is something wrong with it because it hasn’t sold. Even if you could sell your house for an inflated price, many times a lender won’t approve a loan on a house that doesn’t appraise for that amount and the sale might fall through at the last minute. If you under price the home, you won’t realize the maximum potential of your investment.
Marketing Plan
Decide on incentives that to be offered to buyers, determine the best places to advertise, and determine how to show the home. Remember that that goal is to sell the home for the highest price, in the least time, with the fewest hassles.
Prepare the Home for Showing
There are two important ways that you can have an impact in making your house attractive to buyers: property condition and listing price. After deciding on a listing price, setup an appointment with a decorating company. They will give you some suggestions for making your house look its best. This process is called “staging.” The suggestions might be simple such as clearing cluttered counter tops. Or they might be more involved such as painting front doors or repairing obvious defects.
The staging company will look at your house from room to room and will offer advice on how to make each room show great. They will also look at the exterior street appeal, backyard and garage. They have a lot of tips that can make your house shine. After this meeting, you will have a list of what you should do to prepare your house for sale. Following these suggestions in a timely manner will ensure your home shows at its best.
Remember that “staging” addresses the appearance of the house and not necessarily other problems, which might become evident during an inspection. An inspection will uncover most defects that eventually may have to be repaired. In this way you can have the repairs done before a potential buyer’s inspection uncovers a defect that might cause a buyer to either change his mind or to want a substantial repair allowance deducted from the price. It is a signal to buyers that you are a responsible, reputable seller. It also allows you to have plenty of time to schedule any work that might need to be done.
Offer a residential service contract to buyers. This guarantees the major appliances in your home as well as other systems and structures. You can also include coverage for your house while it is on the market so you don’t have to pay for any unexpected repairs.
Marketing the Home
Now the fun begins. Here are some ideas that can be used to promote your home.
It is important for you to keep your house in perfect condition everyday because buyers or agents might come by at any time. Keep the kitchen clean, make your bed every morning and keep clutter out of sight. It is especially important to keep pets and pet odors under control. Some wonderful added touches are fresh flowers and potpourri or freshly baked cookies.
As agents and potential buyers begin visiting your home either virtually on the Internet or in person, try to obtain feedback from the buyers. Make changes to the showing state, condition, and price as feedback deems necessary.
The Offer and Negotiation
You have an offer, now what? Sometimes the buyer will offer you the asking price and have no special requests. In this case, you sign that you accept the offer. Sometimes, the buyer’s offer is a lower price and might have other requests. You should consider what is best for you and make a counter offer. Consider carefully your response because if you counter offer, there is no guarantee that the buyer will respond again. Also remember that, once agreed upon and signed by all parties, an offer becomes a legally binding contract. Never get involved in oral offers and negotiation. If you verbally accept an offer, a buyer has no legal obligation to buy the house and may want to continue to bargain with you to see how low a price you will accept.
No matter how well you have prepared your house and how fairly you have priced it, there is always the possibility of receiving a low offer. It could be a limit to the buyer’s ability to purchase. Don’t take it personally and react angrily. This is business, it’s not personal. You can either reject the offer or make a counter-offer. Try to find out as much as you can as to why the offer was low. Certainly if other offers come in very low or if your home is not being shown or not receiving any offers consider adjusting the pricing.
Once the buyer and seller agree on the terms, the buyer will have the home inspected. If there are any problems that are found during this time period then the buyer can withdraw from the contract. The buyer might request that you complete certain repairs before closing or that you contribute a certain sum of money at closing to cover these repairs. If this happens, try not to let contract fall through. After the limited time period is up, the buyer is legally bound to buy your house unless they are denied financing. In the event of cancellation, the buyer would lose any earnest money. One exception to this is in the case of the buyer not receiving funding from the lenders. In that case then the buyer is not held responsible. For this reason, always ask the buyer’s agent for a letter showing that the potential buyer has been prequalified for a loan and, once a contract is signed, ask the buyer’s agent to keep you informed of the buyer’s loan application progress.
Closing
The exciting day is finally here! Verify in advance that all of the paperwork is in order. Request a copy of the HUD1 statement sheet so that you can read over it before closing. Feel free to ask any questions either before the closing or during the closing itself. Typically this is when you relinquish possession of the house so take the keys to give to the new owner.
Posted by admin | Real Estate | Posted on May 2nd, 2009
Going paperless is a dream for many busy real estate agents, but until recently it was an intimidating prospect. However, new digital laws and creative real estate technology companies are helping make the switch less intimidating, and Realtors who’ve been ready for years can now leave paper behind, affordable. Without stacks of documents to move from place to place, real estate transactions are much faster and more economical. Many agents and investors working without paper can close more deals simply because they have more time – that kind of progress bodes well for the industry as a whole.
The road to a paperless real estate industry in the U.S. began in 2000, with the legalization of electronic signatures. While most real estate agencies, government branches, and investors lacked the technology to sign things digitally at that point, it was important legal hurdle that enabled many industries to look at paperless transaction methods. By the end of 2005, more than 60 counties (the primary storage point for real estate records) across the nation had developed electronic records management systems and that number has continued to increase steadily. Other government steps toward paperless real estate have included the Uniform Real Property Electronic Act, the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, and the federal Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act.
Mortgage companies have also played a role in the switch to paperless real estate. In recent years the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization has implemented many standards for electronic mortgages, which have been followed by lenders across the nation
With those two cornerstones in place the paperless real estate industry has been able to grow freely. Real estate title companies that have existed for decades are now offering paperless transaction closing services attracting thousands of new clients each year. All a Realtor has to do to get a paperless transaction started is fax or scan an original document and send it to the paperless transaction company. Once the paper has been digitized (usually to a secure website), paperless management companies enable both agents and investors to access the document and make changes as the closing draws near.
It may be easier than you think to liberate yourself from paper, and free up more time for your real estate business.