I constantly see questions like, "Will this method work for me in my state?" Or, "I like this technique, but I've never seen this kind of opportunity in my area." Or, "Is this really legal?" Somehow, people are more ready to disbelieve than to believe! All that any of...

I recently opened the morning paper and staring me in the face was a half-page ad by one of the local banks. The caption, in large bold letters read: The Perfect Cure Below that in two-inch letters was "5.35% 22-month CD." It went on to say, "Get a great return. Take...

Here are some practical tips I have learned from doing lease options over the years. Lease options are great, except when the sellers decides not to live up to their end of the bargain. Sure, you can always sue the seller to force them to sell you the property, but...

As I discussed in my last article [Fast Cash and up to 75% Yield with No Competition], most of the major lenders on manufactured housing dropped out of the market in the early 1990s. Today we are beginning to see the benefits of that corporate retreat. Most of the...

This is a glossary of common terms used in loans and lending. Please note that some of these terms may also have other meanings in other real estate related contexts. Editor's Note: This Glossary is a great resource, especially for beginners. It is lengthy, so please...

Along with the continuing changes in tax legislation, came a benefit for IRA contributions: The non-working spousal limit of $250 was raised to $2,000. Although an additional annual contribution of $2,000 doesn't appear to be much, it works out to a very large amount...

Why are there so few good notes out there to be found? Perhaps those of us who have been teaching the secrets of "paper" for the past several years have created more knowledgeable note buyers in the market today than ever before. While we have helped many people...

A recent question asking, "Where do the pros invest their money?" triggered the idea for this article. I would like to share a couple of deals we just did, and I hope it gives you some ideas. This is a simple system we've been using for years with excellent results....

As of April 1, 1997, all fifty states have adopted the Limited Liability Company or "LLC." The LLC is relatively new to the U.S., and most states have adopted LLC laws only within the past ten or fifteen years. Essentially, the LLC is a cross between a corporation and...

This article provides general background information for residential real estate investors to make reasonably informed decisions about the merits of using a mortgage broker to arrange loans for purchases, sales, refinances, cash out transactions, rehabs or...

Here are the top ten reasons to incorporate your real estate business. #1 Protection from personal liability If you do business in your own name, you are risking everything you have. A corporation will separate your business from your personal assets. If you have a...

As the saying goes, "Happiness is a positive cash flow." Empty rental units do not produce positive cash flows. What vacancies do produce are sleepless nights, gray hairs, and negative cash flows.You need to have strategies in place that will give you an advantage in...

A man named Mark was calling from Florida saying he wanted to sell me a mobile home note. The note was secured by a mobile home just a few miles from my house. He had managed to get my attention. By the time I got off the phone, I had learned all kinds of good stuff....

"My breakthrough property," states real estate investor, author and educator Wright Thurston, "was a 24-unit property comprised of two 12-unit buildings. It took me from the little league to the major leagues."Until then (1982), the young IBM executive had invested in...

Let's look at some of the reasons why multiple units are a shortcut to financial freedom. First, you must start thinking in terms of multiple units instead of single family homes. Now when you go to bat, instead of hitting a home run once every fifty times at bat,...

I hate evictions! I used to have to evict problem tenants, and I dreaded every minute of it. I know what it's like to have rental troubles, and I know if you had been there with an offer in your hands at the moment my troubles seemed overwhelming, you would have...

Let's examine how one can use the tax-deferred money in their retirement plans to take advantage of real estate investing opportunities. This article explains how you can use your 401(k) funds to diversify your portfolio mix into real property.The 401(k) plan First,...

This article has nothing to do with real estate investing. On the other hand, this article has everything to do with your success in real estate investing and in every other aspect of your life. With the New Year rapidly approaching, many of us are getting ready to...

What if I told you there was real estate paper out there that you could buy all day long for fifty cents on the dollar? It's good, secured paper, and nobody else is targeting it. What's so good about it? Well....it's BAD paper. What is "bad paper?" It's a broken...

Unless you are independently wealthy, have an extremely high annual income, or plan on hitting the Powerball lottery, sooner or later, you'll have to learn how to generate cash profits from your real estate investing.The old joke "How do you make a million dollars in...

The sellers had spent two agonizing months trying to make repairs to their rental house. Their tenants had not paid the rent for several months and had skipped out leaving them with a trashed house. It didn't take me very long to see that I was negotiating with...

If you know where to look and develop the proper mind set, there are plenty of real estate deals out there that you can put together without any cash or credit. I never put my own money into a deal. If it means taking money out of my pocket, I pass. Why risk it? It's...

Perhaps you have heard other real estate "gurus" talk about 25, 50, or even 100 different ways to buy real estate for no money down. In reality, there are only four possible ways to buy real estate--with or without any money down. I'll try to simplify the "nothing...

Several years ago, a friend and I sat down and decided we were going to write offers on single family houses listed with Realtors. In fact, we were looking for a way to increase our production. We weren't happy with the volume of transactions coming our way. So we...

The mobile home park manager called and said the bank had repossessed a mobile home and wanted to get it off their books. (Anothernon-performing asset--I love 'em.) The owners had abandoned the home and left it in poor condition and the bank was the "stuckee." The...

An equity share is a joint purchase of property and is an offshoot of the joint venture. In an equity share, one party, called the Occupier, occupies the property. The other party, called the Investor, provides the down payment funds. The Occupier has exclusive...

The explanation of "market value" in this article applies to single family houses only. Different methods apply to apartments and other commercial real estate. The meaning of market value confuses many people. As consumers, most people shop at retail stores and pay...

The foreclosure process creates three sets of real estate investing opportunities: the "Default/Pre-Foreclosure" phase, the "Auction/Sale" phase, and the "REO" phase. This article discusses the risks and the rewards of each opportunity. Buying pre-foreclosures Buying...

I always thought anything that didn't perform was more of a liability than an asset. But according to bankers, it's an asset--it just doesn't produce any money. Huh? In fact, it's costing the bank money to keep that "asset" on the books. I suppose that term sounds...

"You can either work hard, or you can work smart." These words have guided my actions for many years. After confronting nearly every obstacle, impasse and dead-end imaginable, they ring as true today as ever before. Over the years I've learned that, while valuable,...

Telemarketing is the most under used and under rated technique for finding discounted real estate notes. You can get the telephone numbers of most note holders by sending your diskette to TeleMatch (800) 523-7346 or (703) 658-8300. For a very nominal cost they will...

My earlier article, How To Create Your Own Mortgage generated a lot of interest and enthusiasm among our web site visitors, as well as tons of questions. I hope this two-part article removes some of the mystery surrounding discounted paper and clarifies the topic for...

Let's continue exploring some of the concepts basic to an understanding of discounted notes (aka discounted paper). This article explains the difference between interest and yield and how the time value of money affects yield. Interest vs. yield Interest and yield are...

Real estate investing offers so much potential to investors. Why not take advantage of all that real estate has to offer you? Learn how to "stack" the odds of real estate success in your favor.Many real estate investors fall into the trap of latching onto just one...

My ad read: "Mobile Home For Sale--Will Finance," and the phone was ringing off the hook. Some of the callers didn't even bother to ask what the selling price was or the interest rate. Most of them were interested in only two things: "How much down and how much a...

This method is well suited to very short term quick-turn deals. As seller financing goes, it is a very simple technique. The investor offers a small amount of the cash to close the deal, with the remaining amount due a few months later, with no interest and only one...

If you are not satisfied with the quality or volume of real estate deals coming your way, check out the following...Locating good deals is the back bone of making money as a Real Estate Entrepreneur. If you develop the ability to locate the good deals in your...

If you implemented the simple plan outlined in Part One, your buying machine should be coming to life. Now... let's add some momentum and kick it into overdrive... FSBOs FSBO is an acronym and means "For Sale By Owner." These are the people who choose to sell their...

I know from long experience in buying houses, that beginning real estate investors can make good money quickly on assumption deals. I have found this to be one of the easiest and quickest methods of buying and selling a property in weeks, days, or even hours. Using...

If you own a computer and have a sheet of paper, you can create your own mortgage to finance the purchase of real estate. No one checks your credit, and you don't need a cash down payment. We finance most of the auction houses we purchase by selling a private mortgage...

I have purchased many houses for a 40% to 60% discount. In a recent four-month period, I purchased three houses for a 40% discount and four houses for less than half price. If you will take a little time to learn what to do, you too can cash in on this unique...