Real Estate Networks

PREPARING YOUR HOME

Preparing your home for sale is essential for getting it sold and getting top dollar. Owners who take a little time to prepare their home will net thousands more dollars than those who just put a sign in the yard. Which upgrades add value to your home is a topic of much debate. However, cleaning and painting are small changes you can make that will definitely bring you the most in return. Do not put your home on the market before it is ready. You only get one chance to make a good first impression.

Paint
You can’t predict what your buyer’s taste in color schemes will be, so you want to market to the average buyer. Paint your home in bright neutral colors so that they will be able to visualize themselves living in your home.

Keep it clean
Make the bed, put the dishes away, and hide the kids’ toys. You should also consider hiring cleaning professionals to come through and give your place a deep cleaning.

Odors
Be careful of strong cooking odors like onions and garlic. Pet odors are also a big turn- off for buyers. Put litter boxes in a place that will contain the odor. Do what you need to do to remove pet odor from carpets and furniture. Fabric freshener like Febreze can help make your space smell cleaner.

Light makes your home look larger
Clean the windows and keep all window blinds and shades opened. When possible, turn on as many lights as possible, even during the daytime.

Remove personal effects
Your personal items are a distraction to buyers. Put away your personal pictures. Remove any distracting art from the walls. You want buyers to be able to visualize themselves living in your home.

Landscaping
Mow the lawn; generously water and fertilize it. Clear the weeds that grow up along the house. Prune overgrown trees and shrubs. Remove any unnecessary equipment from the lawn. Put bicycles and kids’ toys in the garage. Get rid of run down playground equipment. If the exterior of your home is uninviting or rundown this is the first impression that the buyers will have, and it will be a hard one to recover from. To get an objective view of your home try standing on the other side of the street or a few homes down and comparing the exterior of your home to your neighbors’ homes.

PRICING
Pricing your home is the one of the most important parts of your marketing plan. Too high a price and your home won’t sell, too low a price and you lose money. In a hot market you have much more room to experiment. If your market is slow or slowing, pricing becomes much more crucial, and you’ll want to get it right the first time.

Comparables
When Realtors price your home, they use a method called a CMA, or Comparative Market Analysis. They compare your home to homes that have sold in your area within the last 30-90 days, and to homes like yours that are currently on the market. The formula is simple but the real value comes from knowing which comparables to pick. Two CMA’s done on the same home can vary greatly if the same comparables are not used. This can be difficult to perform objectively. If you think it could be difficult for you to look at your home objectively, it might be best to get a third party opinion. Below are a few things you will want to consider when comparing your home to the competition:

Square Footage: This is a big one. Buyers often use square footage in comparisons, and on occasion use a dollars-per-sq.-ft. analysis when analyzing home prices.

Age: If your home was built in 1920 and one of your closest comparables was built in 1995, you will need to make an adjustment for this. As homes age they change categories. They can be new, outdated, old, or even historical. Again when picking comparables it is very important to compare apples to apples, so if possible keep the age of comparable homes within 5 years of yours.

Lot size: Try to keep comparables within .05 acres of your lot size. Also consider the position of the home on the lot.

Baths: The location of a bathroom can be very important. Having a bathroom off the master bedroom adds value. Also, keep in mind that there is a big difference between a full bathroom and a half bath.

Here are a few things to avoid when determining the asking price of your home.

Adding the cost of upgrades and improvements to your asking price: As discussed in another section, not all improvements will recover their costs at closing. Even if your home is substantially nicer than most homes in your neighborhood, you’ll need to make sure it is still affordable to the buyers who are looking to buy in your neighborhood.

Pricing your home based on what you want or need to get out of it: You might know the exact amount of money you need to achieve from the transaction, after the closing process, in order to put a down payment on your dream home. However, the buyers looking to purchase in your area are not concerned with your next home purchase. Be careful not to miss opportunities by pricing your home above market value.

NEGOTIATING

Preparation
There is no substitute for knowledge. Exercise diligence in your research and you’ll have an accurate assessment of the subject property’s value. This is the most important piece of information in negotiating a deal. All the arguments in the world won’t change the value of a property. If you’ve independently determined what that price is, then you’re not going to sell too low or pay too much. At this point, negotiating becomes an attempt to learn the other party’s level of knowledge.

Don’t feel pressured to answer right away
While you might be told the offer is only good until a certain time and date, don’t feel like you have to accept an offer right away or on the spot. Tell them you would like to discuss it with your spouse, or you would like to sleep on it, or perhaps run it by a friend or lawyer. You’ll find that the decision-making process will become much easier once you’ve had time to “sleep on it” and allow yourself to go over all the information.

Be detached
The quickest way to lose control of a negotiation is to become too emotionally involved. Obviously, buying and selling something as expensive as a house is an emotionally loaded experience, but cultivating a detached demeanor will help convince your opponent that you are a competent negotiator who is comfortable with his/her position. Being too emotional will always be interpreted as desperation and that gives the upper hand to the other side.

Ask for more than you will accept
Even if both sides of the bargaining table have perfect knowledge of the property, they’ll still need to feel as if they have negotiated a good deal. It’s hard to feel you’ve accomplished something by negotiating if the starting and ending points are the same. Each party should feel that they’ve gained substantial benefit from the negotiation.

Get it in writing
Get the first offer in writing so you can see all the terms. A polite, “we will consider all written offers” can greatly enhance a nervous negotiator’s ability to control the process. It will give you time to evaluate the offer fairly and greatly reduce the effectiveness of pressure tactics. After the first offer you can counter verbally. Make sure that there is an attorney review period as part of the contract. During the attorney review you will want your attorney to be able to evaluate the contract and make any necessary changes or void the contract if necessary. Putting offers and counter offers through a fax machine a few times will make them unreadable. Once you verbally agree to the terms then get signatures on a fresh contract and send it off to your attorney for the attorney review period (usually around 5 business days).

We hope you’ve enjoyed these excerpts! To receive the complete, complementary For Sale by Owner guide to selling your home by Berg Properties, please visit:
bergproperties.com/fsbo_guide.php bergproperties.com/fsbo_guide.php

Article Written By Scott Berg

Scott Berg has extensive experience in sales and customer service. Prior to founding Berg Properties, Scott Berg was a consultant for the Boru Group and helped many small businesses in a myriad of industries improve sales and customer service by automating their business processes.

Berg Properties was recognized in the Chicago Tribune by the Chicago Association of Realtors as a Top Tier Producer in 2004 with the most residential units and the highest volume sold as a new comer.

Real estate investment and development has never been a more popular pastime or career changing challenge; if you would like to learn seven secrets for consistently successful real estate investing through development or you would like to know how you can continue to profit from property even if the market takes a downward turn just read on…

1) Do Your Location Homework – did you know that through successful and sustained location research professional property investors actually continue to profit during a market down turn? It’s true - whatever the market conditions you can apply their location research approach to your real estate investments and also make consistent profits from property.

Take the necessary time to learn all about a town or city you’re considering for your next property development purchase and discover where the up and coming areas of that town are likely to be. If there are inner-city redevelopment projects planned examine the real estate market in the immediate vicinity, if there are areas that are booming right now examine the immediate neighbouring areas for their potential for future prices rises for example.

Don’t follow the crowd – have the confidence to buck the trend and get ahead of the curve by positioning yourself in a market that is about to boom rather than in one that has already blossomed.

2) Know What You Can Afford – While it can pay to sometimes speculate never be tempted to jeopardise your own home. Work out your finances and be ruthlessly strict about what you can and cannot afford as a down payment, for mortgage costs and for the renovation and redevelopment of your next real estate investment. Only proceed within the confines of your tightly allocated budget and do not be tempted to over extend yourself particularly if competition in the property market is tough and the market is slow or stagnant.

3) Identify Your Target Market – Having identified your next location for property investment identify the types of people who buy into renovated properties in that location. Know who your target market are going to be and what they are likely to look for in a property in that location. If for example you’re examining inner-city spaces you might identify that your buyers will be young single professionals and that the ideal property type for these people will be luxury low maintenance apartments – seek out suitable properties with the potential for redevelopment into luxury low maintenance apartments and you will fulfil your target market’s brief…seek out large houses with substantial gardens in the area and you will have totally missed the market and potentially created a property that will not sell!

4) Renovation Not Rebuild – Know your budget limits and your personal skill restrictions. Do not consider taking on a property that is in need of a complete structural overhaul when your budget is tight or you do not personally have the time, skills or inclination to do the structural work yourself. Be realistic about what you and your budget can achieve and seek properties that fulfil that brief. Pay to have an independent and complete survey done on any property you are seriously considering buying before making a down payment to ensure that there are no hidden surprises waiting for you beneath the floorboards to eat up your budget in its entirety.

5) Manage Your Budget – With your survey in hand you can approach builders for quotations and seek out prices for fixtures, fittings, finishings and furnishings. Take the prices quoted and sourced and build your budget. Factor in ongoing mortgage and service costs and labour costs as well as your findings and structure and allocate your money accordingly. Watch every single spend and be ruthlessly strict with yourself and your builder. If at all possible have your builder commit to a contract with fixed finish dates and fees and stay on top of every single penny or cent every single day. At the end of each week tally up your outgoings and expenditure and ensure you’re not exceeding your budget. If you’re overspending rein it in or you will have to shave it off other areas of the development. Remember never to scrimp and save on finishing touches and always give yourself a realistic fall back fund in case of emergencies.

6) Appeal To The Widest Market – Forget putting your personal stamp on any property you develop – YOU are not going to be living in the property! You should already have identified your target market which will give you a good idea of the level and quality of finish expected, now meet those expectations without adding your own personal taste into the equation. By appealing to the widest market or the lowest common denominator your property will be attractive to the majority of buyers making it faster and easier to sell on and profit from.

7) Make Friends With A Real Estate Agent – Your greatest ally when developing property will be your real estate agent. Make friends with these guys and you will build a beautiful and successful symbiotic relationship in which you both profit to the maximum! Real estate agents are a fountain of untapped knowledge about the local market, who is looking for what property in which area, which additional features cost little to add but which push up the asking price and what a buyer expects from your particular property type. Get the facts from your real estate agent and then apply their advice. You will create a property they can market for top dollar and to the widest market – you will make more profit and they will make a bigger commission ensuring a beautiful and lasting friendship!

Finally, remember that when you’ve bought, renovated and sold on you’ll be looking for that next property opportunity and any real estate agent who you’ve worked well with will be on the hunt for suitable real estate for your next investment making any subsequent purchases that much easier to source.

Rhiannon Williamson is a freelance writer whose many articles about international property and investing in real estate abroad have appeared in publications around the world. Visit this link to read her latest articles about
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I have a personal philosophy: If you can’t get the little things done, you will never get the big things done. Many people who tell me their strategies about real estate investing… they talk my ears off… and then they run out and do a stupid real estate deal. They pay too much for property, buy in the wrong market, or get a property requiring more work then they anticipated, or the property is “hard to rent”. Many encounter management problems, you know duds that won’t pay the rent, that kind of thing…

Then I started thinking about an investment idea that not everybody will like but it makes economic sense from a cash flow perspective. Why not invest in tin cans? You know, mobile homes. Look at the benefits:

1. A used mobile home (especially a fixer-upper) can be purchased anywhere from $1,500.00 to $5,000.00 (this is less than most down payments)

2. You could pay cash for it and live in it while you fixed it up (with no payments other than insurance (there is no real estate tax on mobile homes usually).

3. You could invest about $2,500 and spiff it out. You know, turn it into a real bachelor pad, dedicated weight lifting room, dedicated office, each room a specialized purpose with an outside porch, maybe a Jacuzzi, new insulation, windows, etc. let’s say you went over board and dumped $5,000.00 into repairs and spiffs… your total cash out lay for everything say, about $10,000.00 (for a decent mobile home park or location)

4. Live in this thing for 2 years, the second year, take all the money you DON’T pay in principal, interest and taxes and SAVE it for your next acquisition. Then,

5. Source out another little fixer upper mobile home and buy it with the money you saved by not having a mortgage.

6. Then rent the original mobile home out for say, $350.00 per month (utilities & lot rent not included). This little gem would generate a over 35% return on your investment the first year! And this cash flow could be used to fix the second mobile home. Repeat the process.

Here’s the point: If you had 10 mobile homes each generating $350.00 per month, that is $3,500 per month, damn near pure cash flow! Or, about $42,000.00 year.

The key to this concept is it meets most of the investment guidelines—buy a fixer upper, rehab the deal, rent it…. Do the next deal. Except, you would have a chance to get a taste of property management on a smaller level while investing far less money. And the cash flow isn’t bad. Repairs and maintenance would probably not be a big issue because you just fixed it up, right? And really, you could probably get more rental income then this example because all your mobile homes would be little bachelor pads when you were done with them.

Like I say, it’s not for everybody but if you aspire to be a property owner, cash flow generating kind of investor and don’t have a lot of starting capital, this is a pretty intelligent way to begin, right? I thought you would agree! You could always sell them and make money too, but the cash flow angle is better.

To your success! Copyright © 2006 James W. Hart, IV All Rights Reserved

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SBS is an online information resource for people. Our focus is real estate and business solutions through books, kits and ebooks. We also have free access to dedicated research center with some of the best government and business links you will find to help you get key information fast. Check us out now and learn how SBS can help you.

Don’t forget to rate this article below! By rating this article you can help Jim Hart better serve your needs for quality article content. Thank you!

If you are in the process of refinancing your home loan with your bank, you will overpay for your new loan no matter where you bank. There are pros and cons with any type of mortgage lender and if you aren’t careful you will pay too much. Here are several reasons why you should never take out a mortgage loan from your bank.

Banks make the majority of their profit by selling your home loan to the secondary mortgage market. Banks are not required to disclose their mark up on your mortgage loan. The mortgage you take out from the bank is funded entirely by the bank and pooled together with their other loans. Once you close on the mortgage the bank will turn around and sell your loan to secondary mortgage market collecting their profit. No one but the bank knows how much they are profiting by selling your loan; the more they overcharge you for the loan, the more the bank will profit.

Pros of Bank Funded Mortgages

• Bank Loans are Convenient
• Bankers are Less Likely to Use Pressure Sales Tactics
• You May Already Have a Relationship with Your Banker

Cons of Bank Funded Mortgages

• Limited Number of Loan Products to Choose From
• No Room for Negotiation on Your Interest Rate
• Interest Rates Are Always Higher
• Banks Are Not Willing to Negotiate Lender Fees and Closing Costs
• Banks are Exempt from Disclosure Rules Provided by the RESPA Act

As you can see the cons of bank funded mortgage loans clearly outweigh and advantages. If you are not familiar with RESPA, it is the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act that protects borrowers in the United Sates by setting guidelines for disclosure. Banks are exempt from the disclosure rules required of other mortgage lenders. Do you really trust your banker not to take advantage of you?

To learn more about your mortgage options and common mistakes to avoid, register for a free mortgage guidebook.

To get your free mortgage guidebook visit RefiAdvisor.com using the link below.

Louie Latour specializes in showing homeowners how to avoid common mortgage mistakes and predatory lenders. For a free copy of “

While you may not believe it, getting bad credit home loans does not always mean a negative thing. Just because you might have bad credit, it does not mean you do not deserve the opportunity to own your own home. With bad credit home loans, you get that opportunity and sometimes a great value. Just because you have bad credit, does not mean you have to pay an arm and a leg just to purchase your new home, the cost of the home is enough, excessive interest rates are not needed. This is where bad credit home loans come in handy.

In most cases, with bad credit home loans, you are required to put a substantial amount of money as a down payment, generally twenty percent or more. This may seem like a tough situation, however, it can be of real help. You see, several things happen when you pay a substantial down payment on bad credit home loans. For one, you will not have to pay extremely high rates of interest. They might be slightly higher than conventional rates, but by putting a large amount down, you will actually save money. Furthermore, with bad credit home loans, if you make a large down payment, the less time you will actually have to pay for the loan, which means more money in your pocket in the long run.

Another great thing about bad credit home loans is the fact that you have multiple choices when it comes to the type of loan you wish to receive. You have choices of interest only loans, balloon payments, fixed rates, or adjustable rate loans. One other fabulous thing about bad credit home loans is that they offer qualification requirements that are easier to meet. With general loans, you have a large list of qualifications that might be hard for many people to meet. However, with bad credit home loans, the stakes are lessened which means that many more people will have the ability to qualify.

The best thing you can do to find the best deals on bad credit home loans is to shop around the internet. The internet can be a great resource for any person looking for bad credit home loans. You can find competitive rates and requirements, allowing you to make a financially stable choice for your bad credit home loans.

The author is owner & operator of several successful websites for
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Real estate leads are as good as gold to a real estate professional – literally. The real estate leads you follow up with today are your clients tomorrow and your paycheck a month from now. Much of your time as a real estate professional is spent generating real estate leads and converting those leads to clients. The advent of the Internet and its emergence into main stream culture brought a new tool to real estate agents in the late 90s: online lead generation services.

Nowadays, the majority of people looking to buy or sell a home or do anything real estate wise are going to the internet first. Years ago, people would get ready to buy or sell, and then walk into a local Realty office and get themselves a real estate agents. Now, they can start researching real estate anywhere from 3 months to 5 years before they actually make a move! That means real estate professionals need to come up with new ways to catch these real estate leads early, so they have time to work them and turn them into clients. There are two major ways to do that now: purchasing a lead generation service and paying for real estate leads and creating your own website with contact pages to generate your own real estate leads.

Which way is better? Truthfully, if you’re not doing both, you’re not being as successful as you could be. Any real estate professional who wants to be a top producer NEEDS their own personal website with homeowner information, contact forms, a blog, etc. That way real estate leads can FIND you on the web.

On the other end, the majority of top producers out there not only have their own website, but they also subscribe to one or more lead generation service, such as HouseValues or GetMyHomesValue. Companies such as these sell real estate leads to agents either at a monthly subscription price, or having the agent pay per lead. These services set up websites offering homeowners free home value information in exchange for their contact information. Basically, a homeowner goes and fills out a simple form about themselves, their contact information and their home and submits it to the company’s website. The company in turn, gives this “lead” to whatever real estate professional they have subscribed in that lead’s area and it is up to the real estate agent themselves to work up the value and follow-up with these real estate leads.

Each lead generation company does things a bit differently: for instance, GetMyHomesValue offers exclusive leads – where the lead is given to one and only one agent in the area, whereas other companies out there will sell the same real estate leads to several different agents. HouseValues has extensive e-mail drip campaigns and scripts to make follow-up a bit easier for agents, while GetMyHomesValue has their staff attempt to contact the leads several times for the agent and then leaves the rest of the follow-up to the individual agent.

The criticism most of these lead generation companies receive has to do with what actually constitutes real estate leads. Because these “leads” are filling out information online, they can often give fake information to avoid being contacted. This then makes it harder for the agents to follow up with the leads.

The successful agent, however, does not give up with confronted with real estate leads that give a property address and e-mail address, but a bad name and number. A great agent will exhaust all options of follow up before scrapping ANY lead, such as using public directories like the White Pages online, tax records of the property, reverse look-ups, etc. They will e-mail the lead on a weekly basis and even stop by the property listed in order to determine who actually submitted the lead.

What happens when the owners of the property claim they did not request their home value information, nor are they looking to sell? The no-so-hot agent will be angry at the waste of their time and blame the lead generation company for selling bogus real estate leads. The HOT agent will introduce themselves anyway, offer their services in any way they can and hand out a business card, then lead the home content in the knowledge that although they may not have gotten to the bottom of the lead, they did just add another prospect to their pipeline of real estate leads.

Online lead generation tools are a HUGE asset to real estate professionals – when used correctly. To be successful with real estate leads gathered online, you’ve got to be ready to work hard and long. You may not convert the lead for 6 months, a year, even two years, but as long as you’re working your real estate leads and keeping your name in their head, you’ve got a leg up on the competition.

Get more information on getmyhomesvalue.com/real_estate_leads” title=”Real Estate Leads real estate leads by visiting GetMyHomesValue.com.

Ashley Lichty is a webmaster and the resident SEO of Web Xtreme, Inc. She has a background in real estate and marketing with emphasis in writing.

Rental homes in the Hamptons are at an all time high,
as real estate investors are finding there are new and
exciting opportunities is this resort atmosphere area.
The Hamptons have much to offer, in the form of
relaxation, in extra curricular activities and for the
couple who wants to just get away for a while from the
bustle of everyday life. The Hamptons beach homes are
fast becoming rental homes that are booked, week after
week, as a great vacationing choice of Americans from
all over the nation.

The Hamptons homes for sale include those that can be
remodeled to become a rental home, and there are also
listings of real estate investments that can be used
for everyday living, or as a summer home or perhaps
even as a winter home! The Hamptons beach homes are
the high end, luxury homes that every person wishes to
include in their real estate portfolio with the
beautiful views, the great scenic areas, and the
luxury style homes that the Hamptons are most known
for.

The Hamptons are a well-known summer community. It
has been found the party site to many, many
celebrities, politicians, and businesspeople. It is
the getaway destination to most of New York City and
other well-to-do people. The Hamptons is not that big
at all. In fact, if one were to take a train ride
from one side to the other side, the ride would only
be an hour long. The Hamptons is a resort community
located in the eastern part of Long Island. Many
towns and villages make up the Hamptons, which are
what makes this area, and real estate listings so very
unique. Virtually, there are no two that are found to
be the same, because of the settings, the styles of
homes, and the varieties of the layouts of the
interior of the homes.

The Hamptons include the following areas: Water mill,
Westhampton, Westhampton Beach, Southhampton,
Wainscott, Shelter Island, Sagaponack, Sag Harbor, the
Quogues, North Haven, Napeague, Montauk, Hampton Bays,
East Hampton, Bridgehampton, and Amagansett.
Hamptons, New York is one of the most happening places
during the summer time as everyone just wants to getaway for a while. This is what makes a Hamptons rental
property so very valuable.

Many celebrities and other well-endowed people come to
the Hamptons to celebrate and party the summer away
while getting away from business for a while. Getting
invited to a party in the Hamptons is one of the most
important things that could happen to a New Yorker.
The real estate market in the Hamptons is always
changing, as there are new real estate investors
wanting to take part in the fun, excitement and in the
money to be made in this prime real estate area. The
only thing better than getting invited to a Hampton’s
party is throwing a Hamptons party, but of course, you
have to own a house to throw a party, so if you don’t
have a Hampton’s home yet, you should look closely at
what is available right now! By finding good Hampton
agent, any one who can afford it can own some
beachfront, Hampton estate. By purchasing and owning
a Hampton home, people can get instant publicity and
gain huge amounts of popularity.

Many people don’t buy in the Hamptons they rent in the
Hamptons because there are only so many types of homes
the average person can afford. Renting is for the
average person, who wants to enjoy the excitement of
the area, and for those who dream of owning prime real
estate in the Hamptons.

Renting is the most sensible act for those who want a
taste of a different lifestyle and area. This is why
the prime rental real estate in the Hamptons can be an
investment for an owner who will rent out their home;
there is money to be made when renting out a home for
a good price every week when you are not using it
yourself. When it comes to Hampton Beach Rentals, it
could be hard to get a beach house unless you know
someone, so you know this has to be a good real estate
investment as there are so many people who want to
visit the Hamptons.

If you can get the right agent than a beachfront
renter is possible. If you own real estate in the
Hamptons, finding renters is what you should be doing
to get more for your money, and more return from your
investment in this real estate property.
When it comes to the Hamptons, over thirty beaches
cover the area. That’s plenty of party space! Many
people, who do have a Hampton beach rental or own
Hampton real estate, are very wealthy and/or famous.
Anyone who is anyone can either rent or own some
Hampton real estate. This is the very thought of
millions of Americans, so if you have the opportunity
to purchase real estate in the Hamptons, you should!

The Hamptons are known for the best of the best, so it
can be very pricey to buy and rent in any area of the
Hamptons, but it is well worth the money. The
Hamptons is a sure way to know that you are an “A”
lister. If you are invited to a Hampton party, then
you know that you are a very successful
businessperson, and if you own your own place in the
Hamptons, then you’re even more of a success. Homes
for sale Hampton’s style is going to include a large
price tag, to go along with the high profit return
that you can make from renting your real estate in
this area. The Hamptons beach is one that is always
being sought by others for enjoyment and relaxation.

The Hamptons are a sign of ‘making it’. If you are
finding your career is taking off, and you are earning
more money, you should consider a purchase in the
Hamptons, as this is how those who are really living,
are enjoying life. Some of the most famous residents
of the Hamptons are Alec Baldwin, Ellen Barkin,
Christie Brinkely, Sean Combs, the Hiltons, Calvin
Klein, Kelly Klein, Ralph Lauren, Peter Matthiessen,
Sarah Jessica Parker, Kelly Ripa, Martha Stewart, and
Renee Zellweger. You may also see many other
celebrities while in the Hampton area. The Hamptons
real estate online listings are going to give you a
great insight into the types of homes available. You
will find the area has a very wide demographic range,
with 68% of those living in the Hamptons being that of
ages 25 to 44 years old.

The homes in the Hamptons include those homeowners
that have a Hampton home as their primary residence,
are 71%. Those who do have a second home, state that
the average value of their homes is valued at least
2.5 million dollars. The average value of a home, a
rental home is just over 2 million dollars. If you
were to own a home in the Hamptons, and rent it duringthe summer months only, you would see a return of over
$80,000 per year. As you can see, homes in the
Hamptons are valued much higher than homes in other
areas. The Hamptons multiple listings provide you with
a complete overview of what you can find right now,
but be sure to act fast, as the best listings and the
best homes never are on the market for long at all.

Jennifer Hershey has more than twenty years of experience as a mortgage loan officer. Her site explainingmortgages.com explainingmortgages.com - a real estate investing and mortgage resource devoted to making mortgage types and home loan programs easy to understand.

You can still get a good rate on your mortgage with less-than-perfect credit with an FHA loan. A mortgage is a major expense. But it can be even more costly when your credit score is less than perfect as you may end up being charged a higher interest rate for a subprime mortgage.

How do you avoid having to pay a higher rate? One way is to pay down your debt, and establish a good track record of paying your bills on time. But it can take up to a year to show results.

There is another way, however, and that’s to consider an FHA (Federal Housing Administration) mortgage. These loans use different criteria than other mortgages, and that may allow lenders to offer you terms only slightly higher than market rates — in some cases, as little as .125 percent higher.

FHA mortgages
It’s important to understand what an FHA mortgage is. Contrary to some people’s belief, the Federal Housing Administration is not a lender. It is a federal government agency that guarantees loans by private lenders, making mortgages available to people who may have a difficult time qualifying , often because of a lack of credit history. This includes recent college graduates, newlyweds, as well as people who have had credit problems including bankruptcies and foreclosures. Since an FHA mortgage is government-insured, lenders granting these mortgages assume less risk than they do with other low credit score loans and therefore can extend credit at a more reasonable interest rate.

How to qualify
The qualification criteria for an FHA mortgage are different than they are for a conventional loan. While your credit score is usually the most important factor lenders consider when approving you for a conventional loan, with an FHA loan it’s not the central consideration. Rather, the FHA looks at your overall credit history, and is often more flexible in considering mitigating factors.

That doesn’t mean you don’t have to get your credit under control. The FHA requires a one-year period of acceptable credit, during which you have made all your payments promptly. It may review your rental or mortgage payment history during that time, any new credit or credit inquiries, and whether you have paid off any judgments against you. And it considers your debt-to-income ratio to ensure you’ll be able to repay the loan.

Advantages

The FHA may not hold an unpaid collection against you if there is a valid reason for not paying it. You can qualify three years after a foreclosure, as opposed to the usual four years with a conventional loan. Your down payment can be as little as 3 percent of the loan amount. The down payment can be a gift from a family member, government agency or non-profit organization. Your housing expenses (PITI) and other debt payments can total 41 percent of your income, compared with the usual 33-36 percent for a conventional loan. Disadvantages

There is a limit to the amount you can borrow that varies depending upon your area. You may have to take out a second loan if, due to regional limitations on the amount your can borrow, an FHA loan does not provide you with sufficient financing. (On a $100,000 mortgage, the 1.5 percent upfront mortgage insurance payment would be $1,500 which, wrapped into a fixed, 30-year mortgage at 8 percent, would come to an additional $11.01 per month. The 0.5 percent annual premium would be $500 per year or $41.67 per month.)

While an FHA mortgage may be the answer for you, not all FHA mortgages are the same. So look carefully at the rate and other features, and compare FHA mortgages from different lenders before you sign.

If you are looking to sell real estate note, you’re probably in need of cash for a new investment, a payment or a special purchase. Whatever the case may be, it is crucial that you find a reputable note buyer, someone with extensive experience that you can trust to execute the sale properly and give you the money that you deserve. These days note buyers are just a click away; you just have to know where to find them.

Many people who sell real estate notes go into the process blindly, not knowing what to look for and ultimately getting less than they deserve for their notes. Others are not aware that they can sell just a percentage of the note, called a partial, rather than the entire note. This allows you to receive a lump sum for a certain number of payments. For example, if you are receiving $50,000 over 10 years, you can sell a portion of the payments, say $10,000 worth, and continue to receive the rest of the payments.

There are many different ways to sell real estate note, so don’t let a buyer tell you you have to sell the entire note…that’s simply not true. Although it will often yield high payments, there are many advantages to retaining some of the note. On the other hand, selling off the note in its entirety is also an option to consider as well. An experienced, reputable buyer will explain all of your options.

So you’ve decided to sell a real estate note, so what should you look for in a buyer?

1. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. A reputable buyer will be more than happy to answer any questions you have and let you know what your options are when it comes to selling your note. Choose the option that makes the most sense for you.

2. Ask the buyer how long they have been in the business, how many transactions they have done. Chances are if someone has been doing this a long time they know what they are doing.

3. When you selling-your-note.com sell real estate notes, you should not have to pay any initial fees, points, closing costs or anything else. Everything should be including in the price you are getting paid for the full or partial note.

4. Everything should be in writing so you know exactly what you’re agreeing to. If upon reading the agreement you don’t understand one or more of the terms, feel free to ask for clarification.

5. The most important thing when you sell a real estate note is to go with your gut. You should feel comfortable with the note buyer and with the entire process. If you get a bad vibe or the note buyer is unwilling to answer all of your questions or seems to be giving you conflicting information, don’t go ahead with the sale. There are plenty of reputable, honest buyers out there that you can work with that will answer all of your questions and make you feel confident about the sale of your real estate note.

Now when it comes time to sell real estate note, at least you’ll know what to look for. And remember, money now is always worth more than money later, so if you need cash, selling your note always makes sense.

Jamie has been working in the finance industry for many years and is a contributing editor to selling-your-note.com selling-your-note.com. Visit the selling-your-note.com Sell Real Estate Note website for more information and to receive a free, no obligation quote from professional note buyers.

“When the price of houses in California soared 17 percent in 2003 and 22 percent in 2004, a curious thing happened: Instead of homeownership decreasing because fewer people could afford houses, it rose to record levels,” shows an article in the LA Times. In his LA Times article, writer David Streitfeld links the rise of home prices and home ownership to one thing.

The interest only mortgage:

Interest only mortgages give homeowners the option to pay only the interest of the loan for a specified time period, usually 3,5,7, 10 or 15 years. Since the first few years of any home loan are mostly interest anyway, the loans are actually designed to allow home owners to put away the extra cash. At the end of the initial interest only period, the loan then converts to a fully amortized loan.

For example, the monthly payment of a standard 30 year mortgage at 6.25% would cost $1231 per month, the same loan at interest only costs $791.

In California’s housing market, home buyers are affording more home because of the interest only loan. They are playing the buy know, pay later game. The lower payments of the interest only loan allow buyers to afford more home for less. “The notion of prices falling in California goes so contrary to the current environment it’s almost laughable. In the San Francisco Bay Area, probably the state’s strongest market, its routine for houses to get more than a dozen bids. To win a house, a buyer often needs to pay a third over the asking price. A four-bedroom Berkeley house went on the market in February for $985,000 and promptly sold for $1.5 million. “If property values continue to rise, the interest only homeowner builds equity in the home without paying down any principal.

In a surging housing market, the gamble is quite lucrative…pay interest only for 10 years, allow the market value to appreciate, gain equity without paying any principal, then refinance or sell to get the return from your investment. But if the FMV of the home doesn’t appreciate or actually depreciates, homeowners could get stuck in an unfortunate situation.

“Of course, there’s never a guarantee that prices will appreciate. And if you stay in the house longer than you planned, your monthly payment jumps drastically after your five-year honeymoon period. Suddenly you have to pay principal on the loan, and most likely at a higher rate. If your rate goes to 7 percent for the life of the loan (and there’s nothing stopping it from going higher), your payments will nearly double to $1,413.”

“In the most dire scenario, if they owe more on the home than it’s worth, they’ll simply walk away. Abundant foreclosures could spark a downturn in the entire housing market, leading to the long-feared bursting of what some call a housing bubble,” shows Streitfeld’s LA Times article.

Nick Rian is an award-winning journalist whose journalism credits include awards from the Associated Press, Wisconsin Broadcaster’s Association and The Milwaukee Press Club. Today Nick publishes loan articles in San Diego California. You may find more information about home refinancing, and read more of Nick’s articles at bdnationwidemortgage.com/ Home Equity Loans & Second Mortgages. You can get more advice for first time home buyers and bdnationwidemortgage.com/home-loan-san-diego.html San Diego home equity loans and get more information about and refinancing for people with all types of credit. Look for great interest rates on home equity credit lines and bdnationwidemortgage.com/second-mortgage-california.html second mortgage loans with no application fees.