Real Estate in Singapore: Housing, Capital Gains, Positives & NegativesSingapore’s Unique Housing Market“By the time Singapore attained self-government in 1959, the housing shortage and its related problems such as overcrowding and squatter colonies had reached alarming proportions. Public housing for the lower-income groups was thus given top priority and HDB (Housing Development Board) was set up by February 1960.This marked the beginning of large-scale public housing development in … [Read more...]
Real Estate in Singapore: Housing, Capital Gains, Positives & Negatives
May 25, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Fixing and Flipping in Harold’s Hood
May 24, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Fixing and Flipping in Harold’s HoodHarold grew up on the southside of Phoenix. Give him an address in zip code 85041 and he can tell you the size of the house and the year it was built. Name a street corner or intersection and he’ll recite a historical event that took place there, back to 1950.Needless to say, Harold knows his neighborhood.After the market crashed in 2008, he started buying houses in zip codes, 85040, 85041 and 85042 for $20,000 – $30,000. These were major rehab projects, … [Read more...]
Does Screening Your Calls Work?
March 19, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Does Screening Your Calls Work?I had to tell someone yesterday that I couldn’t pay them even $500 or $1000 for their house. In fact I had to tell them that they needed to call Habitat for Humanity and see if they could donate the land and get them to tear it down.Where did I get this lead?This lead came from one of my probate direct mail campaigns. The house was in such bad shape that the only thing anyone could do was tear it down. I also had to go over what I thought the cost would be if … [Read more...]
Fast Online Real Estate House Values
March 17, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Fast Online Real Estate House ValuesEver ran across a deal and wonder what a good offer would be or what the values of a home in a particular area may be so you can complete your rehab estimate? You no longer need to have a Real Estate Agent look up recently solds data, house values or comparables (comps).Read the full post here... … [Read more...]
Real Estate Economics
January 18, 2012 By Leave a Comment
In the dorky world of real estate economics, the creation of a new housing category should be a major event, on par with, say, the discovery of a new solar system or the cloning of a pig. Strangely, single family rentals (SFR), even though they are now a multi-million property segment of the nation’s housing stock, have been the Rodney Dangerfield of housing. They’ve receive nowhere near the respect they deserve. Perhaps that’s because SFRs are entirely the creation of a new breed of … [Read more...]
Mortgage Notes And The Property Value
January 13, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Mortgage Notes And The Property Value"Do you need to do an appraisal if you’re just buying my mortgage note? You’re not buying the house.” That was a question from a recent client, and it is not the first time that I’ve been asked the question. From the note holder’s perspective, the question is quite reasonable.When considering a note purchase, we first check the payer’s credit and review the transaction documents. Right on the heels of those, we always run either an … [Read more...]
Rental Properties
January 8, 2012 By Leave a Comment
I just read about a couple in South Carolina who had a rental property up for sale. One day, they received a call from one of their neighbors that it appeared someone was inside the property.Nobody was supposed to be in the house at the time so the couple headed over to their place and when they walked in the front door the husband was immediately attacked by a man. The wife pulled out a gun and shot the man and her husband was fine.Apparently, a homeless man had broken into the house and had … [Read more...]
Winning Monopoly
January 7, 2012 By Leave a Comment
The formula for winning Monopoloy is to get 4 green houses, and then a Red Hotel. The formula was drilled into my head as a child for building wealth and winning the game. I had no idea at the time that the formula could also be used in the real world for building wealth and massive cash flow as a real estate investor.In the game of Monopoly, you want to invest in as many properties as possible. Once you own properties, you can collect rent from your opponents every time they land on your … [Read more...]
Make Your Seller Finance Offers FAR More Appealing
December 18, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Make Your Seller Finance Offers FAR More AppealingA Friend of mine recently came across the perfect buy and hold Real Estate property. It’s a quality 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom house in a good location, and the sellers only owe $20,000 on the property. So why is this the perfect buy and hold property? It is because it’s in a solid neighborhood, the house is in good condition and it’s a bread and butter type house that he’ll be able to fill with families for the next 30 years. When he told me … [Read more...]
Big Fix and Flip Mistakes In Real Estate
December 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Big Fix and Flip Mistakes In Real EstateSince 2009, I’ve flipped 59 houses. And unfortunately, I’ve made the same mistakes multiple times on several of them. Why? Because fixing and flipping is not an exact science. I’ve had some time to reflect and came up with the four biggest mistakes I’ve made as a fix and flipper. Here they are, in no particular order:Overestimating the value of a property Over remodeling the property, Under remodeling the property Underestimating the … [Read more...]
Equity Investors and the Economy?
November 8, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Equity Investors and the Economy? On September 7, Kerry Curry wrote an interesting article on Housing Wire entitled “New Normal Means a Lot More Pain to Come.” I read the article, which addresses our existing housing market. In it, an economist for the Federal Reserve Bank in St. Louis discusses how our “new normal” in housing is marked by 2% to 3% growth rates, more frequent recessions, and decreased consumer spending. The article also states that equity investors who can purchase … [Read more...]
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Time to Let Underwater Homeowners Drown
Time to Let Underwater Homeowners DrownThe house on Carla Vista Drive had never been remodeled. Nor did the original owner elect to pay for any upgrades when the home was first purchased. Built in 1992, it had no appeal to a retail buyer. From the peach-colored mini aluminum blinds, to the blue countertops, to the white-washed kitchen cabinets, this house had it all – all awful that is.My wife and I bought it anyway. It was 2004 and my real estate investment business was firing on all … [Read more...]