Financial Articles


A Simple Real Estate Investment Plan To Make A Million Dollars or More!

Posted in Real Estate by admin on the February 27th, 2006

This is a very simple Real Estate Investment Plan that anyone can do. In fact, because it’s so simple most people won’t do it. There are only three simple steps.

>> STEP 1. Go out and borrow one million dollars.

>> STEP 2. Use the million dollars and buy one million dollars worth of well-selected real estate.

>> STEP 3. Get other people to agree to pay off the million dollar loan for you.

Sounds easy. Right? Well it is. Think about this.

In the next year, I want you to go into your real estate marketplace and see if you can find two single-family houses, townhouses or condos in a starter price range. The price range will vary depending on the area of the county that you are in. For my example, I’m going to use a range of $150,000 to $200,000 per property.

I want you to buy these two properties and you should be able to borrow most of the money needed (in some cases all the money needed) from banks, mortgage companies, sellers and other investors.

I want you to repeat the same process for a minimum of five years. At the end of the five year period you would know own ten properties worth one million or more dollars and you will owe one million or more dollars on those properties.

Now the only thing left is to find people willing to pay off your loans on those properties. Those people are all over the place and they are called RENTERS!

At the end of ten to twenty years, what will you have?

You Will Have More Than A Million Dollars Worth Of Real Estate That Somebody Else Bought You!

And not only will you have a million dollars worth of real estate you will have an income of $100,000 + from renting them out because they are all paid for.. and your income will increase as your rents increase.

If you’re saying to yourself that a million dollars isn’t enough and 100, 000 + of annual income isn’t enough, the solution is simple…. BUY MORE!

Learn how to get the money

The first step to get started is that you should learn the rules of the lenders and their programs that they have available for rental properties. To do this you should spend a few hours or more on the phone calling different lenders and asking them these questions:

What type of loan programs do they have available for rental properties? What are the down payment requirements? What is the least amount of down payment required? What does the person have to do to qualify? Do they have any creative financing options to help you buy? Do they have a maximum amount of loans that they will do with one investor? If their program doesn’t fit what your trying to do, do they know of any other lenders who have loan money on rental properties. What are their fees, interest rates, loan terms, closing costs and any other costs of the loan? Once you talk to several lenders you will develop other questions that you should ask and will get a good feel of what you need to do to get qualified to borrow the money. Don’t get frustrated! Many lenders will tell you that you can’t do it or you won’t qualify. Just keep calling more lenders and remember that lender are in the business to lend you money. If they don’t lend money they are out of business.

The other source and I believe the best source is Seller’s financing (In the form of a Contact for Deed, Installment Contract, Seller’s Mortgage). Why is this the best? Because you don’t have all the costs of a traditional lender. There are generally no loan origination fees, appraisal fees, etc. and the best part of seller financing is that everything is negotiable between you and the seller.

How do you get seller financing?… You ask the seller if they are open to it?… You ask the seller if they would like to earn more on their money than if they put it in the bank?

Learn to find the properties

Now that we have an idea about financing we have to start looking for the right properties and analyze the numbers. You want to start by trying to find smaller starter home that a young family or couple would like to live in. Here are some ideas where to look and how to find properties.

Newspaper ads Real Estate MLS system Driving through neighborhoods Advertise yourself Tell people that you are looking to buy houses.. get the word out Get business cards that tell people that you are interest in buying real estate Ask real estate agents to look for you (if you are an agent, ask other real estate agent to let you know if they know of any properties) This is a short list, but you only need to find a couple of properties a year to make this plan work and this short list will do the job. If you want to find more than a few properties a year you should expand your marketing efforts.

Ok, You have now found a property. You have ran the numbers. (Use an Investment Property Worksheet or Real Estate Analyzer Software) and it all make sense. Now is the time to make an offer to buy.

Once the offer is accepted you now want to start the third step… Find a renter who will rent out the property.

Learn to get good renters

Get permission from the seller to allow you to show the property to prospective renters before the day of closing. You should start by advertising in you local paper and contact real estate offices to let them know you have a property available for rent.

Select the best renter based on the criteria that you set up and learn to manage the property.

Repeat the process to buy more and more houses until you reach your goal.

The fastest way to learn is by doing it. This report is short and to the point and doesn’t have every single detail in it. The details you will learn as you go…The key to this is to GO and get started.

Copyright 2006 David Schneider

Dave Schneider has been investing in real estate for over 25 years and is devoting to helping landlords make more money!. For free audio seminars, tools and information on real estate investing and being a landlord, visit this site now: http://landlordtools.com

IRS Holding $2 Billion In Unclaimed Tax Refunds

Posted in Taxes by admin on the February 24th, 2006

Every year, the IRS announces that it is holding unclaimed tax refunds. Taxpayers have a limited time to claim the $2 billion dollars the IRS is currently holding.

Three years is a magical number when it comes to tax returns. It refers to the statute of limitations on certain tax issues such as when an audit can occur, when refunds can be claimed and when amended tax returns can be filed. The IRS is currently holding $2 billion dollars in unclaimed tax refunds for the 2002 tax year and taxpayers must file their claims by April 17, 2006 or lose the refunds forever.

Approximately 1.7 million people are due refunds out of the $2 billion dollars currently held by the IRS. These people have refunds due because they failed to file tax returns for 2002. This occurred most likely because people felt they did not make enough money to warrant filing a tax return. By failing to file, however, they have left $570 on average with the IRS.

If a taxpayer fails to claim the tax refund by filing a tax return for 2002, the money will default to the federal government. Importantly, there is no penalty associated for filing late if a taxpayer is due a tax refund. This is common misconception among non-filers.

One group of taxpayers that almost always has a large percentage of non-filers is military personnel. Obviously, it is a bit hard to file from Afghanistan, but now is the time to do so for 2002. Members of the military that failed to file in 2002 are owed an average of $749 per taxpayer.

The IRS releases demographic on the areas in the United States where refunds are due. To this end, California and Texas are the states where the most individuals are due refunds while Idaho has only 6,200 people due a refund.

Nobody finds filing taxes an exciting prospect. The pain is much less, however, is you know you are due a refund. If you failed to file in 2002, you might be throwing away a nice little chunk of change.

Richard A. Chapo is with http://www.businesstaxrecovery.com - recovery of business taxes through tax help and tax relief. Visit http://www.businesstaxrecovery.com/articles to read more business tax articles.

10 Ways to Save Big on Auto Insurance

Posted in Insurance by admin on the February 23rd, 2006

Auto insurance can make a big hole in your pocket. Insurance premiums vary hugely between companies, agencies or agents, brokers, and of course the make of the car you own and your credit rating. To pay lower insurance you must:

1. Always maintain a good driving record.

2. Never accept the first estimate you receive. Be wise and check comparisons of different insurance providers at your state insurance department website or phone them. Their addresses and contact numbers can be accessed from http://www.consumeraction.gov/insurance.shtml the consumer action website. Be sure to get competitive quotes from different insurance providers. Contact providers that are strongly recommended by people you know well. Keep your peace of mind by checking the financial stability of the companies with rating companies like A.M. Best (http://www.ambest.com/) as well as in forums and blogs.

3. Complete a market survey well before you select a car make and make a comparative table of insurance and other hidden costs. Find out which features increase insurance premiums and which ones reduce premiums. For example if parts of a certain make are hard to find or expensive such cars will have huge insurance premiums, similarly installation of anti-theft devices or an extra brake system lowers insurance premiums. Many questions are answered by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety at http://www.iihs.org/.

4. Choose to have higher deductibles this will reduce the burden by at least 15-25%. But look at your finances first and determine whether you can set aside US$ 200-US$1000 periodically to create an emergency vehicle fund.

5. Consider availing the insurance from the same company that has you covered for home, accident, or life. Many companies offer concessions to clients who have more than one kind of policy. Known as a multi-policy discount this could benefit you.

6. Most policies are based on your personal credit record. Having an unshakeable credit history can lower costs. Pay bills on time, don’t avail too many loans, and be sure that credit balances are as low as possible.

7. Avoid duplicating medical coverage. Find out whether eliminating medical cover in auto insurance will reduce your premiums or the personal injury protection costs. In some places the reduction is as much as 40%. So, if you have adequate health insurance you could weigh the pros and cons of eliminating this in auto insurance.

8. Find out if insurance premiums are dependant on where you stay. Sometimes staying in a rural community or suburbs as against the city center could save you a bundle.

9. Take advantages of discounts like low risk career, low mileage, taking public transport to work, car pooling, no violations or accidents, taking defensive driving courses, following safety rules and regulations, or having a child who studies far away.

10. Use the reductions offered for insuring more than one car belonging to the family. Many companies have special offers for corporate organizations, club members, professional groups, alumni groups, or clubs.

Make time to make a big saving. Check through all the parameters and mark areas where a saving can be made. The market is competitive and you can be the beneficiary.

Paul Wilson is a freelance writer for http://www.1866Cars.com, the premier website to find help on Cars including topics on car rental, national car rental, thrifty car rental, online car rental, pickup trucks rental, cargo van rental and more. He also freelances for the premier Car Insurance Quotes site http://www.1888Carinsurance.com

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