Archive for September, 2008
How Will Financial Meltdown Impact Your Portfolio?
What impact would a complete meltdown on the financial system have on your investing career? Would it have an impact — or would you even notice?
In case you haven’t noticed, our financial system is struggling to recover from the near-collapse of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the subsequent takeover. Since then, there’s been an unending parade of bad news. If things continue in the direction they’re heading, there seems to be widespread agreement that credit could be as hard to get as a parking space at the World Series.
Are you prepared if it happens?
Now is the best time to get your financial house in order, so if you haven’t started the time to act is NOW. Fix any lingering credit issues because lenders are growing more and more selective about who they’ll work with. This doesn’t mean you won’t be able to get a loan or that real estate makes a bad investment. As a matter of fact, real estate makes even better sense with each passing day!
What it means is that you have to be is prepared.
You’ll still be able to get financing for your deals, but it will likely cost you a little more. So you may have to spend a few bucks more than you had planned. Here are three strategies that can help:
1. Hard money lenders –they’ll charge you more, but with today’s low property values you still ought to be able to wind up with positive cash flow, in spite of the higher interest rates.
2. Private money — Line up private money lenders. They’ll still say yes when everyone else says “no” — if the price is right. It takes a little work, but it can be worth the effort if you’re able to line up much-needed cash.
3. Creative financing — Real estate investors are a verstile bumch. If all institutional financing were to dry up in a day, you’d still be able to get creative in finding motivated sellers. If you haven’t already, learn the ins and outs of how creative real estate finance works.
The mail still gets delivered when it rains. There’s a financial storm brewing on the horizon and the wind has begun to blow. Regardless of what happens to the credit markets, you can still take advantage of this unprecedented opportunity to expand your real estate empire. Get out there and deliver your future!
Blessings!
Charrissa Cawley
Is it REALLY possible to buy a house for a buck?
Real estate prices have dropped like a rock and if you’re looking to build your investing portfolio and seize the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to build a lasting legacy, now is the time to kick yourself into overdrive.
The foreclosure mess has caused prices to drop like a rock — and in some markets you can get unbelievable bargains on property if you’re diligent and you buy in the right places. So how cheap can you get property?
Is a buck too much?
That’s right…a dollar. That’s not a down payment or an option fee — that’s the total price somebody paid for a real house on a real lot in Detroit. That very same property sold for $65,000 in November 2006 and at the time was reportedly the nicest house on the block. Of course the property fell on hard times now and was sold for much less, but I’d venture to guess it was worth more than was paid. I hear the buyer paid all cash:)
If you’re resourceful you can get property at rock bottom prices. Do you want to see houses that sell for anywhere from $1 to $10,000? Check out this link! http://stlouis.missouri.org/development/realestate/index.html Maybe you won’t find YOUR perfect property for a dollar. Maybe it will be $500 or $1000 or maybe even $5000. But you don’t even have to be able to do math to know that nine times out of ten a deal like that makes great sense if it is located in the right area! How much thicker can your portfolio get if you can scoop up a handful of properties for even 40 or 50 cents on the dollar?
It’ll take some planning, diligence, and following through on your plans. Do your due diligence; make sure a property will make a good investment and then buy all you can. Today’s prices won’t be available forever, but while they are you may as well be the one building equity and positioning yourself for the inevitable real estate turnaround.
When it comes, you’ll be prepared. Who’s first in line for a million dollar payday? Is it you?
What are you waiting for?
Blessings!
Charrissa Cawley
It Really is What You Know
I read an interesting article the other day that said that recent college grads are having trouble finding the type of employment they’re looking for, and that the ones having the most success are those that utilize their school’s job placement office. It went on to say that students and graduates seeking help are two or three times more likely to find the job they’re looking for.
Is your real estate investing career going nowhere fast? If it is, or you’re not seeing the results you want and need as quickly as you had hoped, you might want to follow the wisdom of job placement officers. If your base of knowledge is limited and your confidence is lagging, tap into a resource that can get you out of the ocean of doubt you find yourself languishing in.
REI Conferences has the training, the knowledge, and the tools you need to get you swimming in a pool of cash. Whether you need information about how to find good deals or where to go for research on new markets, we can help.
Every real estate investor wants to be a player that can build a fat investing portfolio and a good coach can bring out the best in you. Learn what you can and turn to REI Conferences for answers to all of your most pressing questions.
Once you have the answers the questions aren’t a problem. Then your only problem will be what you’re going to do with the cash.
I think you can figure that one out!
Blessings!
Charrissa Cawley
Don’t Be a Chicken
Between high gas prices, mass layoffs, unprecedented mortgage delinquencies, and a stock market that’s tanking, it’s hard to stay positive and not fall into the “Sky is Falling” trap. What are you doing to keep from being ensnared by the rampant pessimism that permeates the news and the American psyche?
Is the glass half full, half empty — or is your hand shaking too badly to tell?
You can choose to allow yourself to get increasingly depressed by all the negativity or you can draw a line in the sand and say, “No more!”
Your outlook can be directly affected by what you look at and listen to. If your real estate investing career is stalled it’s time for you to address the reason why and do something about it today — not next week, next month, or next year.
Are you shooting yourself in the foot and just not know it? If you are, stop! The best way to get positive and stay positive is by surrounding yourself with positive, success-oriented people with a committment to scaling the highest mountain and looking down at the valley below with a look of triumph — and a thankful heart.
You’re booked on a one way flight through this life. Are you going to rise to the top or crash into the side of the mountain? Paint a smile on your face and get out there and take advantage of the opportunity to secure your financial future! Don’t settle for mediocrity when you can have excellence!
It’s not hard. Just do it. Your future is waiting.
Will you answer the call?
Blessings,
Charrissa Cawley
Labor Day for Real Estate Investors
For millions of Americans Labor Day is nothing more than a reminder that they need government intervention to provide them with a day to celebrate the fact that they work entirely too hard for much too little, and that when the last sentence has been written on their working career, that they can look forward to retirement – and worrying about whether Social Security or their meager savings will be enough to sustain them until they die.
As a real estate investor, you’ve gone a different direction. You believe in yourself, your dreams, and the vast world of untapped potential that lies out there in the unprotected sea of real estate entrepreneurship. You reject the idea that your value is tied to what an employer is willing to pay or a labor union can negotiate on your behalf.
You want to create wealth, create opportunity, and you want to do it on your terms.
On this Labor Day I want you to rededicate yourself to the principle that real estate investing can be the vehicle that makes your financial goals reachable if you’re willing to simply step out on faith and claim them by doing a few simple things and doing them well.
Instead of a $100-$200 paid day off you can count on building a portfolio that will allow you to have as many labor days as you like. Except in your case, a labor day will be a day you choose to work in order to dramatically increase your income, instead of a government-sanctioned day of rest that forces you to thank someone else for throwing you a bone and giving you a day off to reflect upon the mediocrity that is your life.
Which future do YOU prefer?
Blessings!
Charrissa Cawley
