There’s a huge WIIFM (What’s In It For Me?) factor involved in real estate investing, but have you ever stopped to consider all the good things that can come about from your decision to become a real estate investor? Consider the good works you directly or indirectly perform:

• You put property back on the property tax rolls
• You help people obtain affordable housing
• You improve neighborhoods
• You help increase property values
• You help support infrastructure (roads, police & fire service)
• You help fund education

Making money and getting rich is a nice goal to have, but is there an issue or a cause you are passionate about? Your real estate investing can be the means to providing much needed funds to a group, an organization, or a cause much larger than you. It’s wonderful that you want to be rich beyond your wildest dreams, but true wealth is measured not by what you keep, but by what you get to give away.

What do you care about? How can you help? You can give your time, but many worthy causes are especially strapped for cash. Right now the news is filled with stories about the environmental footprint we all make. But what kind of a societal footprint are you making? What can you do to make yours bigger?

Make a difference – Make it now!

Blessings!
Charrissa Cawley

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I read an article the other day that knocked me off my chair.

I honestly don’t know if it was ignorance on the part of the “journalist” who wrote the article or whether it was part of a much larger, deeper running conspiracy to try to fool the American public. Let me tell you what I read.

The article was in a national publication (I’m not going to tell you which one to protect the stupid – or the guilty) but the article said that if you were interested in buying property right now on the cheap, you should consider buying REO properties from lenders. As a real estate investor, you know that this idea makes perfect sense.

Here’s where the story went south… and wound up somewhere in the Gulf of Mexico. The reporter said that if you wanted to get a real bargain given the number of REO properties on the market, you should approach your friendly banker and if you were a really “savvy investor”, you “might” be able to negotiate an REO purchase in the neighborhood of 95%.

That’s right… 95%.

The idea that someone might be willing to pay nearly full retail for an REO right now is absolutely laughable. Banks are bursting at the seams with REO properties. Banks have more REO’s then teenagers have excuses, and now there are news stories telling people how to go to the banks and pay retail.

That begs the question in my mind: Is this journalist stupid, misinformed, or is this story a plant from either the banking industry or the federal government to try and kickstart the real estate market? I’m not a conspiracy theorist, but it certainly makes me wonder. Think about it for a second. The average untrained Joe can waltz into any realtor’s office in America and get that deal — or better. I seem to remember reading a statistic from the National Association of Realtors one time that said that the average home sold for about 93% of list price. What’s up with that?

I’ve heard of investors getting deals for as little as 50 cents on the dollar, depending on the lender and how hungry they are to move a property. If you’re a brand new investor, do yourself a favor: Don’t believe everything you read. You might be better off getting real estate investing advice from the National Enquirer!

I’m not trying to kick sand into the gearbox of their well laid plan, but I think someone is trying to pull the wool over the eyes of a lot of people. Maybe I’m wrong… maybe it’s not a conspiracy.

What do you think?

There is a lot better information out there, that won’t put your neck out on the line. You deserve honest information from reliable sources. Apparently, newspapers have become repositories of fictional accounts. If you need better Real Estate Investing tips and advice, try this link…I think you’ll like the advice (and the results!) a whole lot better.

 www.reiconferences.com

Blessings!

Charrissa Cawley

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More than a million homeowners are in default on their mortgages and about 10 million more are upside down – owing more on their homes than they are worth. Daily reports on CNN paint a grim picture of the current housing and banking situation. As real estate investors, we have an unprecedented opportunity to create real wealth for ourselves while helping homeowners who are desperately looking for an exit strategy from their homes without the societal stigma – and lasting credit damage – that comes from foreclosure. They’re looking for a graceful way to quietly exit stage left with their dignity intact before their lender takes it along with their homes.

As bad as the situation may seem for the homeowners, it’s even worse for banks. Every homeowner that winds up on the street due to foreclosure costs their lenders dearly – they face growing public scrutiny from Legislators, the media, and anyone with an ax to grind – and adding insult to injury, they have to set aside funds to cover their anticipated losses, which further reduces their ability to provide other loans and places their very futures in jeopardy.

Now there’s a new threat.

Foreign investment funds, many of them financed by record oil profits, are circling like vultures moving in for the kill. Their target? REOs. A handful of these investment funds have amassed more than a trillion dollars that’s burning a hole in their collective pockets, and they’re itching to snap REOs up in mega-purchases of several billion dollars at a time, hoping to pick them up for as little as 40 cents on the dollar. A number of these funds are controlled by some of the wealthiest countries in the Middle East, looking for yet another opportunity to turn a huge profit.

Individual real estate investors like you and me can secure our futures today, but only by acting now. These properties will go somewhere. These market conditions won’t last forever, and foreign interests with an almost unlimited supply of blank checks and favorable currency conversion rates are causing oil tycoons to take on the dual role of real estate mogul.

There’s a silver lining for homeowners as well. They’ll bounce back. Once they get their financial houses in order they’ll look to re-enter the housing market. As this happens, the historic real estate downturn could turn into a surging market as increased demand causes prices to escalate. The question is: how thick will your portfolio be when this happens?

Real estate isn’t a bag of Lay’s potato chips. So get all you can while you can because, unlike potato chips, they won’t make more.

Happy Investing!
Charrissa Cawley

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How do you prefer to receive your cash? Little dribs and drabs at a time, like might come in a one gallon bucket, with the potential to leave nice uniform piles all over your living room – or high volume profits that can gush through a properly placed pipeline, saturating your future with spendable cash?

If you’re anything like most people – and I’d bet you are – you’d choose the pipeline any day of the week.

Then why are you still holding a bucket?

In today’s real estate investing market, there’s no doubt you can generate real sustainable wealth for yourself. You can run ads, distribute ink pens, or throw rocks attached to your business card through people’s windows. While I don’t advocate this approach unless you relish the thought of a visit from the Boys in blue, each of these strategies will get you attention. And you can make money with all of these strategies (even the rock idea might work once in today’s market!), but to really maximize on the opportunities available now, I recommend you pitch the bucket over your shoulder and use your computer to electronically build a never ending profit pipeline.

You’ve heard people screaming from the mountaintops that the Internet is the wave of the future. The future is here, the future is now, but it won’t do you any good if you don’t know what you’re doing or how to proceed. REI Conferences has all the answers you need to build your pipeline. With the proper knowledge and tools you can learn how to lay the foundation for your pipeline and arrange for a tanker to periodically slip by and take your profits to the bank.

So what are you waiting for? There’s never been a better time than right now to get started. Point your web browser to REI Conferences and start digging the foundation to your future!

Charrissa Cawley

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