1. Newly Built Home – There are still newly built homes on the market. In the Sunday section of the paper these are highlighted with a map. Sometimes there is special financing available through the builder.

2. Resale Home – These are homes for resale by the owner. Sometimes the owner still lives in them and sometimes they are empty. Financing is available through the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. All three agencies require proof of income, a down payment and will examine your credit. 30 year fixed mortgages are available.

3. Short Sale – These are homes for sale that require homeowner/seller approval and lender approval. The seller owes more than the property is now worth. As an example, the mortgage owed is for $400,000, but the house is only worth $250,000 right now. The seller and their mortgage holder have to approve the contract for sale. The loan you get will be a typical FHA, Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac 30 year fixed. But you might have to wait – even up to 6 months – for the mortgage holder to approve a lesser pay-off.

4. Foreclosure – For some reason a lot of people think buying a foreclosure requires a strange and different loan. It does not. BUT FHA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac do require an appraisal. The appraisal cannot say the house is an extreme “fixer” and needs lots of lots of work, or you won’t get a typical 30 year fixed rate loan. If the foreclosure you are looking to buy is tired and dirty – which a lot of them are – you generally can get a typical loan. If the property is an extreme “fixer” and it is obvious, the appraiser will note this and the lender will not approve your loan. Other than that, buying a foreclosure is like buying a regular resale.

Prices of homes for sale in Charleston, South Carolina significantly declined in 2009. On average, Charleston area home values are about 15% lower compared to 2008. The lower property values have caught the attention of international and local home buyers searching for amazing deals on Charleston properties. If you want to find a great deal on home in the Charleston area you are not alone. The best priced homes in areas like Mount Pleasant and downtown Charleston are receiving multiple offers a few days after listings for sale on MLS.

The combination of truly historic market conditions and the media hype have created both risks and opportunities for today’s home buyers. There are a few things you can do to take advantage of the market and avoid the many pitfalls.

First, do your homework. Research Charleston real estate online and find a Charleston real estate agent to show you houses and neighborhoods. Your real estate agent must understand your neighborhood and home preferences. Once you narrow your home search and target your top 5 neighborhoods in Charleston your real estate agent should give you recent market reports for each neighborhood, provide homeowners association documents and send new home listing updates.

Second, you must be pre-approved for a mortgage and have the necessary down payment. If you are not yet in a position to buy find out why and fix the problems. If you have a home to sell before you can take advantage of the current buyer’s market selling your home should be your first priority. Sell stocks and other assets that will need to be liquidated to have the funds ready to purchase a home.

Third, you need to have realistic expectations. If you want to find a great deal on a home in Charleston you should be willing to make some minor repairs and updating. Foreclosures or bank owned properties in Charleston often require the new homeowners to make substantial repairs after closing. If you are buying a “short sale” in Charleston, plan on the closing taking at least 90 days after the contract has been ratified. Banks negotiate, approve and sometimes reject real estate contracts to purchase both short sale and bank owned properties. Again, your Realtor will be able to estimate when your closing should take place.

Finally, do not get discouraged. Even if your offer is the first one submitted on a home the sellers may receive more favorable offers from other buyers and reject yours. It is often necessary to submit offers to purchase multiple homes for sale in Charleston to get a great deal. Some of the best deals in the Charleston real estate market are short sales which, for various reasons, do not sell to the first buyer with a ratified contract.

When you are buying a new house, you have to make sure that the place where you are going to stay is safe from danger. Never buy any house in the location which has too much crime rates because it will be dangerous for your family! Or, you might need to reconsider of having a house near power plant because the radiation of the power plant can make your family weaker and vulnerable to diseases.

When you are looking for some properties for sale, you need to find the best one. You have to find the place in which you can find peace for your family. If you want to have the best investment, you have to imagine how the area will be in the next future. You have to have an imagination about that place in the future to guess or to predict what sort of business that you can do in the future. So, remember, when you are buying a house, peaceful area to live will be your first consideration but finding the place which will give you so many business benefits will also be one of the considerations that you need to think of when buying a house. You can start looking for this kind of place in the internet.

If you’re among the many considering investing in a rental property you must make a choice. Prepare to spend the time to maintain the unit and arrange for reliable housekeeping services, advertise your little getaway on the internet and in the local media, and provide facilities for checking guests in and out. The alternative is the preference of a majority of out of town owners…hire a reputable property management company to help maximize your ROI.

Here are a few guidelines to help in selecting the management company that best meets your needs.

• Naturally, word of mouth can help you in your research. Talk to locals and other rental property owners. Most will be happy to share their experiences with you.
• Note the visibility of the management company in the market. Are they easily located in the local phone book? How many units do they manage? Do they have actual office facilities or are your guests reporting for check-in to someone’s garage? Do they advertise in the local travel guides and other area publications?
• Technology plays an important part in property management success. Does your candidate have a solid internet presence? Can you see ample photos online to help selecting an appropriate retreat? Can you easily check availability and book online? Most important, how easily can your candidate be found in the online community? Target a search engine and a search term that you feel people might actually use to shop for a property.

In Ruidoso, New Mexico a mountain resort community the most popular vacation rental is the mountain cabin.

Select, for example MSN…and the simple search phrase “ruidoso cabin”. If your property management candidate shows up in the first page, you’ve located a firm that has the marketing savvy to help your investment succeed. If the company you’re investigating is number one on the first search page you’ve found an aggressive, professional marketer with the tools you need to maximize the return from your investment. If they do not appear in the first three pages of search results…move on. They may have a website, but it is not positioned to help you make reservations.

• What is the rental experience like for the guest? Is the initial contact with a friendly, knowledgeable reservationist? Here’s where your own powers of observation come into play. Call your candidate and actually book a stay in one of their managed properties. How were you treated? Was the property well maintained and clean? Would you rent from them again? This simple technique can be a real eye opener.

These basic questions will help you get started in selecting the property management that can help you realize your investment plans.

It is important always for property management companies to maintain a good standing in the community. This is why property management companies are always involved in civic events, service clubs and chambers of commerce. Often property management companies also operate parking structures and parking lots and are aware of the need to fill up as many parking stalls as possible for the maximum price point. There are many ways to do this. One of the most inexpensive ways is through free publicity. A car wash fundraiser on your lot during a slow time of the week may be just that opportunity.

Let’s say for instance that Sunday is your Lot’s slowest day a car wash for church or youth group might be an idea. Christian radio stations will play public service announcements alerting people the day and time and of course the location, Your Parking lot. The radio station will play the spots 5 times a day for a week. Free airtime and all you have to do is be a Good Samaritan. Just think every good Christian in town will remember to park in your lot, instead of a lot next door. Christian customers may also cut down on Hit and Runs and seldom break into the car next door.

Perhaps Saturday is a slow day you can have a local High School Group hold a fundraiser their. High School bands have annual budgets in excess of $40,000. They have 100+ kids in the groups and that means 1.5 parents per kid, who are all your potential customers. Sound good so far? It gets better. Sometimes for a big event you can get the radio station down to do an onsite remote and give away T-shirts and prizes. Thus promoting them selves on your parking lot. Each time announcing who is involved and what location it is at.

“Come on down we are at the corner of main and 5th street in the Central Parking Lot, bring the whole family.”

Great for you, the more people who know about your lot the better. Once a person is familiar with your parking lot they are more likely to feel safe pulling into your lot instead of a nearby lot. The price point between competitors may also not be an issue anymore. After all you are the community-oriented business, the other guy is just a parking lot. Just because you are in a business that does not appear to lend it’s self well to getting your name out there, does not mean you have to take a back seat. Be creative, think outside the box and get er’ done. Think on this in 2006.

            If you want to know more about this retirement place, you are suggested to find some CCRC Resources to get more knowledge about this place before you decide to live in this place. You will be given complete information about the facility and the services that you are able to get from this kind of place. The most interesting thing about this retirement place is that you will be given very supporting facilities that will be very suitable for your retirement day. All the peaceful and calm environment will also become another plus point of why you should spend your retirement day in Florida.

            Similar to other retirement resort, here you will be able to enjoy all fascinating and fun activities with other retired neighbor, such as playing golf, enjoying the view, and many more. And of course, it will be given with very complete and luxurious presentation of course, so that you will feel full of joy in your retirement day. In addition, there will be some kind of life care that will care a lot about you during your retirement day, so that you can enjoy your retirement day in peace and full of joy.

Finding a decent apartment while you are settling down in your new environment can be a real headache, so here is a list that might help you with that process.

• You really need to take the time to understand the lease if there is one; don’t let them rush you into signing so fast, ask if you can review it first, take it home, and if need be take it to a lawyer. However, it is important that you sign and initial in front of the leasing agent once you decide on an apartment.
• On the subject of leasing agents, if you encounter an unpleasant one, make note of a red flag because they represent the company and that’s not acceptable behavior in any business setting. You should be treated with respect at all times and they need to listen to any questions or concerns you may have.
• Always inquire about a walk through. RED FLAG: When they tell you they do the walk through. That’s when you walk away before you sign. What their standards are and yours may be on the opposite ends of the earth.
• If you do decide to let them do the walk through and you are not happy, contact the property manager immediately and try to rectify the problem or problems, try not to get too emotional but do stay strong on your concerns.
• A lot of apartments are becoming more lenient on allowing animals and so therefore you will encounter animal smells in the common hallways. This is disturbing, and a simple solution would be to have animal free buildings for those tenants who prefer not to encounter the mess. The same should go for smokers. This is another red flag.
• Do your homework on apartment complexes; visit their website, Google feedback right into the search engine. You will always find negative feedback and as well some positive. Only you can weigh what is really important when you read this information.
• If you do sign the lease and decide at the last minute you made a mistake, you will end up paying for that decision. In most cases, it’s a 2-month break lease agreement in addition to the first months rent you already paid, so food for thought. More than likely you will get your security deposit back, but make sure what they tell you is in writing. If for some reason you cannot get your security deposit back, or only a portion of it, contact the property manager first, then the regional manager and demand a thorough explanation why and if you have been more than fair with them, they need to be fair with you.
• Stay on top of the progress and escalate if you have to the Regional Manager. Again, stay firm, but unemotional in all cases, sometimes it cannot be helped and if you get the right person, you should be satisfied with the end result.

This should serve as a guide to you when you are seeking to relocate to another city or state or just happen to be a first time apartment dweller. Good luck.

Earlier this week I was talking to one of our investors and realized they missed an important step to our Rent to Own formula. We’ve acquired a ton of information over the last few years by following the footprints of other successful investors. Things we’ve learned and do with our eyes closed is not always clear to the beginning investor.

Below are our top 10 things to do when investing in Real Estate.

1. Deposit all your Rent Cheques. One of the strategies we use to help free up our time is to have our tenant’s give us post dated cheques for the year and hand them into the Banks. For a small fee they will automatically deposit these cheques into your account without you having to remember each and every month.

2. Visit Your Property. When investing in Rent to Own properties the maintenance is usually kept to a minimal since your tenants are responsible for minor repairs. Your tenants move in knowing they’re going to own the home in a few years and are willing to maintain your home. With that being said, it’s still important as an investor to visit your property from time to time since you still own the home.

3. Set Expectations Up Front. Set the ground rules up early and be very clear with your delivery. It’s important that they know when rent needs to be paid and if it’s not, you will officially notify them by proceeding with the eviction process. It’s important to follow this process as things can spiral out of control very fast.

4. Send Yearly Statements. At the end of the year for all of our Rent to Own properties we send year statements of all the credits they earned for paying on time. If you have tenants that have had late payments and they see what they lost out on, it helps to re-enforce the importance of paying on time.

5. Insurance. There are many insurance plans for your property. Make sure that you get the right plan and enough insurance to cover your home by talking to your Insurance agent to get the right package for you. A well designed insurance package can protect you from losses caused from fire, storms, vandalism, and personal injury and discrimination lawsuit.

6. Give Them a Gift. I’m big on this one! For each of our tenants, we give them anywhere from $50 to $100 at Christmas. Now I know this may sound like a lot but, how much of your mortgage did they pay down this year for you? After you take this into consideration, you’ll see it’s not much at all. Now if you’re not big on Christmas give them a call on their birthday, it goes a long way.

7. Keep Your Receipts. So many people get into the habit of not keeping their receipts. Trust me, you need them. Especially if you’re investing in Real Estate, there are so many things you can write off.

8. Have a Good Accountant. If you’re investing into Real Estate, make sure you have a good accountant. I could go on and on this topic alone, so I’ll save it for another newsletter. Don’t do this on your own, let your accountant focus on accounting while you focus on investing.

9. Keep an Eye on Your Accounts. No matter how good your cash-flow may be, keep an eye on our accounts. Make sure the appropriate bank fees are coming out, the taxes are right, your home insurance is correct and your cheques aren’t bouncing.

10. Take Action. For any of you that have been following me for awhile, you know I’m big on this topic. It’s important to do your homework and have a good understanding of what you’re getting yourself into. Once you’ve done that, just do it! You will make mistakes along the way, that’s normal. It’s a part of the learning process. I’ve made my share of mistakes and I’ll make more along the way but I’ve grown so much from it.

When you work as an agent in commercial real estate sales and leasing, you have to be prepared to pay the price when it comes to building your listings, commissions, and market share. If you do not pay the price individually, you will grow personally poor very quickly. The costs in your career do not go away and you can only tolerate them for a short period of time.

Even in a tough market and with a newer salesperson, I would expect a deal of substance to be done inside the first 3 months of employment, and then every month thereafter. You do need to choose the deals that bring you the better properties and commissions. The better properties will generate enquiry that can be shared across other quality properties. One quality property of reasonable size and location is worth 10 average ones.

Everyone I come across that is new to the industry looks at the commissions that are available and thinks that they can make a lot of money fast; yes they can but they must pay the price. It takes about 2 or 3 weeks in the job before the ‘honeymoon period’ wears off and the reality sinks in. Hard work is required. It takes 6 to 12 months of hard work for the business and your market to take off. The earlier you get started on the hard work the better for you.

Property sales and leasing transactions do not normally come to you easily or ‘walk in the door’ of your office. You must make your market and you must build your market share; that’s the way it is. Clarity on your targets and action to achieve them are components of the future for any striving salesperson.

So what do you have to do to pay the price in this real estate market? Here are a few tips:

1. Get to know all the major property owners in your area. This is quite difficult as the research required to chase down these people is slow and laborious. Many agents try to get others to do this for them; rarely does this work. Personal commitment is required.
2. Contact all the business leaders in your area to see what property needs or challenges they have coming up. They may own or lease the property in which their business is located. Ask the questions and find out what the next stage of property activity may be.
3. Make at least 2 or 3 hours of cold calls every day to the business community in your property precinct. At least half of the calls you make must be to new people; in this way you can build the market share you require. Far too many agents keep to the same group of people only to find in a couple of years that they have lost the bigger new deals coming in.
4. Personally commit to building your database of tenants, property owners, business leaders, and property professionals. This database will be critical to your future and time in the industry.
5. Seek referral business from all the people that you know and that you talk to. The ‘laws of linkage’ apply and will make your network expand if you ask the right questions.
6. Build a list of qualified enquiries from the people that speak to you on other properties. It thereby follows that every good listing that is opened up for marketing will give you a group of people for your database.
7. Practice the essential parts of your job that will help improve the outcomes that you seek. The parts are usually presenting, prospecting, pitching, negotiating, documentation, database practices, inspecting properties, and marketing. When you improve all the parts of your business the sum total outcome is greater than the individual elements.

In every market and with every property type there is business out there to convert; listings and commissions are to be captured. The diligent and driven agents are the ones that build opportunity. They are the ones that are of value to the sellers and landlords with ‘property pain’ to resolve.

A while back, a local school district requested that I submit a proposal on some excess property owned by the school district. The property was an elementary school which had recently been replaced on a new site. In researching the property, I discovered that the property was already listed by another commercial real estate firm and had been listed for some time.

The building was a one story elementary school and was probably 50 to 60 years old. The building was not well suited to other uses and it would even have some challenges for other parties to continue to use it for similar purposes. Given the probable costs to renovate the building, the building would not be competitive with other options. In other words, you could have probably built a brand new building to specifically suit your purpose less expensively than you could have bought and renovated this building.

Whatever value the property had was in the land. The land had several things going for it. It was about 10 acres, which was a good size parcel. It was fairly level and many of the utilities (gas, electricity, water and sewer) were obviously to the site.

The company which had the property listed at the time, had it listed around $250,000 per acre. Unfortunately, at that time, only 2 other parcels of land had ever sold for that much in the entire county. Both of those sales occurred at the top of the market before the beginning of the recession. Of the two parcels which had sold, one was in a large retail development at an Interstate Interchange with very high traffic counts, a good number of roof tops in the area and very high visibility. The other was a one acre hotel site at an Interstate Interchange with very high traffic counts and highway visibility.

Determining the value of the land would depend on the purpose you could reasonably expect the land to be used for. In this case, the land did not have enough traffic, population or visibility to be a good candidate for a retail use. For similar reasons, it probably would not be a great fit for office, either. It could possibly be used for single family residential, multifamily residential, or possibly industrial use. Of these possibilities, the best the school district could hope for was either multifamily or industrial use. Land for these purposes would probably sell in the $80,000 to $100,000 per acre range.

The school board was really unhappy to hear this news. They were unhappy with me but they were REALLY unhappy with the company that had originally listed the property. I explained to the board that I hated to bring bad news. Obviously, if I were to list the property, I would love to be able to sell it at $250,000 per acre. After all, I get paid on commission and that would only mean more money for me. BUT in a recession, where no commercial property had sold at all in the last year, you could not reasonably expect that land to sell at a price higher than anything had ever sold before in the county.

Bottom line is that unless the property sells, no one will make any money. Pricing a property at a level where I know it will not sell is a disservice to my client and to me.