The national debt is very high these days. The consumer debt is also very high. Credit cards and easy loans have put many in financial dire straits. This is prompting many to start thinking about their financial situations. At the same time, the topic of future financial health is also coming into focus for many of these same people. Not only does the average person need to get out of debt but they need to start building wealth for the future.

Armando Montelongo has become famous from his Flip This House television show. The show is about buying and selling houses. Specifically, to buy a property and fix or repair anything that is needed and then resell the property. This is a good way to make money in real estate. Even in today’s market, where the foreclosures are at a high, the good news is that creates a buyers market.

In a buyers market, its possible to get low prices. You can build wealth by buying a property or house at a low price, and then sell it at market value, which is low because of the buyers market and many properties available on the market. So, you plan on making your profit when you buy the property instead of when you sell it.

Build your wealth and pay down your debts using real estate. Hire a Real Estate Coach for guidance and assistance. To make money, you need to have a good real estate plan going in and once you find a property, do your homework and figure in any repair and home improvement cost and any cost for anything. Make sure you know how long you can carry the mortgage if the house doesn’t sell as quickly as you had planned. Get debt relief using Armando Montelongo house flipping style or real estate and build your wealth and financial future.

Consider expanding your service offerings to include mortgage services.  Mortgage services are extremely profitable.  Many states only require one or two courses to get licensed, and you may be able to use the loan officer course to get MCE credit for your real estate license.

You probably have a large pool of prospective investors with adjustable rate mortgages who need to refinance their mortgage. Why refer this business, when you can easily provide this service. You already have an established relationship with each owner.  If you own your office, you may even consider subleasing space and partner with a mortgage broker. Our in house mortgage broker pays us rent and refers real estate and property management business to us. This drastically lowers the overhead cost for both companies.

In my last article, I discussed how 2008 will be a great opportunity to purchase rental property from motivated landlords with negative cash flow properties.  As property managers, we can easily achieve instant equity by purchasing property below market and earning a commission at closing. We can increase our return on investment with monthly cash flow, appreciation, principle reduction, and tax savings by depreciating rental property. However, only licensed real estate professionals can use rental property to generate business income.

No other investment can potentially offer a greater return for a property manager than investing in rental property.  Our company provides maintenance, sales, leasing, property management, and mortgage services. We leverage all of our services to generate as much revenue per client as possible.  We offer a one stop shop for all our customers. 

As a licensed real estate broker and loan officer, we generate thousands of dollars each year by assisting tenants living in rental properties I own to purchase homes. We assist tenants in repairing their credit, obtaining a mortgage, representing them as a buyer’s agent, and utilizing our in house maintenance company to help them fix up the property or make any necessary repairs. Not only are tenants happy to utilize our services, but they refer business to us as well.

In our market, there is a huge demand for home buyers who just sold their home and need a place to park while they build a new home. Yet few property managers offer lease terms less than six month, because short term leases are not profitable for the owner. I fill this market demand with properties I personally own and network with Realtors and builders and offer short term leases for their clients and customers. In return, I ask them to refer my company future property management business. We will refer the owner back to the Realtor if they decide to sell the property in the future. This makes the sales transaction go very smoothly, and Realtors are thankful for us providing this service. We have obtained many property management referrals because of this service offering. Even the short term tenants have referred property management business to us.

The more properties you purchase, the more you can leverage your company’s services to generate business income. You will save thousands of dollars in income taxes each year by depreciating each rental property.  Owning rental property can lower your income tax liability to low single digit percentages. Some landlords with a large rental property portfolio pay no income taxes, because their depreciation expense exceeds their taxable income.

I encourage property managers to take advantage of near record low interest rates and purchase as many rental properties as possible. Leverage your rental properties to generate incremental business income.  

In my next article, I will discuss how licensed real estate agents can leverage rental property to generate additional business and tax savings.

There are a lot of things to consider before getting started. One of the most important is finding the right kind of property to flip. You have to really research a house before making an offer. One thing you need to know are the comps of the neighborhood. Find out what the other houses in the neighborhood are selling for. Also check for the most recently sold and how much they sold for. You then need to compare other features of the houses such as square footage, land square footage, condition of the house, etc.

Another beginning step is to figure out how you will pay for it. This needs to be decided before you make an offer. You hear a lot about no money down deals and creative financing but those methods will not work in all cases, so you need to be prepared with alternatives.

One of the methods of financing is getting a mortgage loan for the property. This can be long and drawn out and you will need to have good credit and show your ability to handle the note until you can sell the house. You will also have to have enough money to make any necessary repairs.

Another way to finance a real estate deal is to get a HELOC on the house you are living in. A HELOC is a home equity line of credit that you get approved for. You don’t have to use the money, but it is there if you need it. For example, you get a HELOC for $100,000.00 (you can only get a HELOC for a percentage of the value of your house). This money will just sit there available until you want to use it. If you want to buy some investment property for $70,000.00 and need another $10,000.00 for repairs, then you could withdraw $80,000.00 from your HELOC. Using this method you can have a quick closing and be able to offer cash for the property. You can sometimes get it cheaper if you pay cash. Some HELOCs require interest only payments to pay back the amount you used.

If you intend to flip the house in a short length of time, you could just pay the interest only (if this is the way your HELOC is set up) and when the investment property sells you would then pay off your HELOC. A HELOC can be very useful but remember that it is a second mortgage against your home so use it wisely. Talk to your mortgage company or banker to find out about HELOCs and if it is advisable for you to get one.

You can also get a hard money loan. These are privately financed loans that have a higher interest rate than a mortgage loan, usually 12% to 18%, and they are short term, usually 6 months to a year. One advantage of these loans is that you can have an early closing, sometimes two weeks. If you get the right property for the right price you can sometimes finance the cost of the property and the repairs. In some cases you will have no out of pocket expenses. You really have to look for the right deal for these to be beneficial to you. Research these loans as they can come in very handy. Your local real estate investment club is a good place to talk to and about hard money lenders.

These were just a few ways you can find and finance a good real estate property to flip. As in anything to do with real estate you need to research, talk to mortgage companies, real estate agents, and other investors. The best thing a beginner can do is join a real estate investment club where you can get good advice and maybe even get your first real estate flip.

Real estate investing is a good business to be in but there is a lot of studying and learning involved before you take on your first house flip. Think smart and be diligent in your efforts to learn as much as you can about investing in real estate before you take that first plunge.

Finding a good property manager is like any other vendor search – it’s worth your time up front to make the best possible choice. That’s because a bad manager can cost you a lot of money, up to the entire value of your rental property investment. Consider:

• Your property manager will be receiving rent and fees on your behalf. A crooked manager could steal you blind.

• Your manager will be in charge of finding new tenants. A naïve or slipshod manager could bring in bad tenants who trash your building.

• Your manager will handle maintenance. A greedy manager could charge a fortune for simple repair jobs.

Here’s a thirty-question checklist for interviewing prospective property managers. The answers you get will provide a very solid understanding of each manager’s qualifications. You can also get an impression of a prospective manager from other cues – I’ll explain those at the end.

Finally, remember that you have to compare managers to others within an area. It’s possible that none of the prospective managers in one city will match the high standard of your terrific manager in another. On the other hand, if you can’t find a good manager in a city where you plan to invest in real estate, maybe you shouldn’t invest there.

The first questions have to do with finding good tenants, which I think is the key to a happy building. A building with good tenants tends to have fewer maintenance and other issues.

• How many vacancies do you have right now? Out of how many total units that you manage?

• What is the average length of time it takes to fill a vacancy?

• Is that average time getting longer or shorter?

• How do you market your rental units?

• Do you require an exclusive arrangement for marketing to new tenants?

• How does your web site look?

• What factors would make you reject a prospect?

• Would you accept a tenant who met your qualifications in some areas, but not others? Which qualifications are most important to you?

• What screening methods do you use?

You want a manager who finds good tenants reasonably quickly. He should use a variety of methods to find prospective tenants, such as a web site, Craigslist postings, newspaper ads, signs, flyers and more. Your manager should follow an extensive screening process, but be willing to accept a “maybe” tenant if the situation is right. You want a look at the web site to make sure that is inviting to prospective tenants, and constantly updated.

As for the exclusive arrangement, property managers never mind when you or somebody else finds prospects for them. However, in almost all cases, they will still want a rental fee for moving the prospect into your rental unit. Make sure you have a clause that if the unit hasn’t been rented for some time, and you or someone else you find brings in a new tenant, the rental fee is cut in half. You don’t want it cut to $0 because the manager will still have to screen prospects.

The next questions relate to tenant management. It’s just as important to keep good tenants as it is to find them.

• What does your lease look like?

• What is your late rent policy?

• What other rules do you set for tenants?

• What percentage of tenants do you have to evict?

• How does the eviction process work here?

• How do your tenants contact you?

I recommend sticking with the manager’s preferred lease, late rent policy, and rules unless you have a really major objection. If the manager is really experienced, chances are they’ve developed smart rules and policies over time. Tenants should be able to contact the manager through a variety of ways during the day, and have an emergency number for off hours. If the manager is always evicting tenants, he’s bringing in bad tenants.

The next questions relate to maintenance.

• Which kinds of maintenance jobs are handled in-house?

• Which ones do you use an outside handyman for?

• Which ones do you use professional contractors for?

• How many quotes do you get for jobs?

• How expensive does a job have to be for you to contact me before doing it?

• What are your rules for contractors being inside occupied rental units?

• Who are your preferred contractors?

Managers should have a well-thought-out system for assigning jobs to different parties – in-house employees, handyman and professional contractors. Almost any plumbing, heating, or electrical job should be handled by a professional. Other jobs, such as paving a parking lot, require special equipment that usually only professionals have. But most small jobs can be done by handymen who will cost you less.

You want multiple quotes for major jobs – say, anything over $500. You should also have a rule that contractors can never enter an occupied unit –even if the tenant is not home at the time – without a manager’s representative being there. Finally, you want the names of preferred contractors so you can run a quick check on them.

The last group of questions relates to experience. You want managers to know the local real estate world inside and out.

• How long have you been a property manager?

• How long have you been a manager in this area?

• Can I see some of the other properties you manage?

• Do you personally invest in real estate in this area?

Finally, you need to understand your arrangement with the property manager.

• What is your fee structure?

• How will I get reports?

• Do you require an exclusive arrangement to broker the property?

• How much notice will you give before terminating a contract?

The manager’s fees aren’t really important unless they are much higher than everybody else’s, or are so high that you really can’t afford them. Reports are very important because they are your only window into how your investments are performing. The best way is to get them on your own computer, on your time – as may be the case if they use on-line property management software.

You should not accept any exclusive arrangement to broker properties unless they have a limited term. In other words, if the properties don’t sell after a certain time, you can re-list with a different broker for no penalty.

Also, you should require good notice for the contract to be terminated – at least 30 days. That gives you time to find another manager.

Here are some other things to watch out for:

• A manager with a messy office or personal appearance. Chances are he doesn’t much care about the condition of the properties either.

• A manager you have a hard time reaching by phone or email. If he won’t return your messages now when he’s trying to get your business, what are the chances that he’ll do better later?

• A manager whom you sense is trying to intimidate you with knowledge. The “don’t ask stupid questions, I know all about this” approach is often a cover for not really knowing much at all.

Where can I find free lease documents for rental property? Any good websites or software I can download and/or purchase?

I’m trying to find as much info before i begin. Does anyone thats actually done a flip have any advice? Any good books on the subject you suggest? Thanks for your time.

If you are flipping a property, you need to find buyers fast in order to make money. You can find buyers quickly by meeting investors and other potential customers at local business events and auctions and by building online mailing lists that you can send to potential buyers.

House flipping is attractive because it allows you to start making money right away. You don’t have to rent out the property, take care of taxes and management costs for months or years, and you don’t have to wait around waiting for buyers. The idea behind flipping is that you buy distressed property, turn it around, and sell it quickly to someone as soon as the renovations are done. The trick, of course, is to find buyers who are willing to buy quickly. If you’re planning on flipping a house but cannot find a buyer quickly, the delay in selling will mean lost profits.

To sell your investment home quickly:

1)Visit auctions to meet other investors. Local foreclosure auctions are not only a great way to find your next investment property for refurbishing and reselling, but they’re also a great place to pass out your business cards to other investors. Collect the business cards of other investors at the auction in order to build an investor list that you can contact whenever you have a property to sell. This is especially important if you plan on house flipping fairly regularly.

2)Build an e-mail list. Once you have a number of business cards and e-mails of other investors, develop a mailing list and an e-mail list. This way, you can contact investors quickly whenever you are about to sell property. However, keep in mind that you cannot simply send unsolicited information to other people. Have investors sign up for your mail newsletter or your e-mail newsletter, and this way you can send information about your latest home in the latest issue of your newsletter. Use a double opt-in list for e-mail newsletters and e-mail discussion groups, especially, because anti-spam laws can be fairly strict. Also, be careful not to abuse your e-mail list or mailing list. If you send investors a lot of information that they are not interested in, they’ll not only opt out of the mailing lists and e-mail lists, but they will become annoyed and less likely to look carefully over your property opportunities. You may wish to divide your mailing lists into a few groups. For example, send your higher-end properties to those investors interested in higher-end homes, and send rental units to those investors interested in commercial properties. This way, each investor will get the information that they’re actually interested in using.

3)Join business groups in your area. Any meetings, events, or luncheons held by business groups in your area are a great networking opportunity that lets you meet potential investors and investors in your area. Plus, you will be meeting people who are not investors but are still interested in business. These people may still be interested in contacting you when they have a property that they need to sell quickly or hear of a property that is going up for sale. Just about anyone can refer business to you and can refer customers to you, so make friends with lots of business owners in your area.

4)Go online. The Internet has lots of discussion groups, message boards, and forums where you can meet other investors who might be interested in buying your properties. These are great resources if you are house flipping, since you can receive and send information fast.

While many property managers still use Excel spreadsheets or a pencil and paper to manage their investments, there are much better tools available. The property management software you choose should be flexible, inexpensive and easy to use.

You need a really flexible rental property program because, as a property manager, you never know what tomorrow may bring. You might need to get details about a property or tenant at home, in the office or even out at a property. You might need to have other members of your company get records themselves, from their own computers. Your business might double, and you don’t want a tool that won’t server your needs any more.

The most flexible property management programs are those running over the Internet. Because the records are kept on a Web server, you – or anyone else you authorize – can get to them from any Internet-connected computer. And unlike Windows property management programs, on-line property management software doesn’t limit the number of units (doors) you can manage.

Surprisingly, you don’t give up any security features when using the right on-line property management software. True, the records aren’t on your computer. Instead, they’re maintained on a computer that typically has much better protection than your own. It’ll be kept in a locked room, fire-safe room, with daily backups and multiple storage devices. The best on-line rental property programs also use SSL security so that all of your work is encrypted – and therefore completely off-limits to hackers.

All on-line rental property programs are sold by subscription. Look for one that doesn’t require a long-term commitment or a single annual payment. You want to be able to cancel without any penalties.

Because property management programs can be complex, look for one where support and training are included in the subscription fee. You want a company that looks to maintain a healthy long-term relationship with its customers. This is actually another advantage of on-line tools; they have to keep you satisfied for a long time, not just for the first 30 or 60 days.

Support and training should be offered on your schedule. Make sure your software vendor has extended support hours, especially if your office is on one coast and theirs is on another.

It goes without saying that the best property management software is developed by actual property managers. However, some developers rely on their own very limited experience. For example, they may know all about single-family houses, but have no clue about the special needs of commercial property investing or multifamily units. Make sure the company you choose relies on a wide variety of property managers, landlords and other experts to get product design tips.

In addition, you want your property management software to be responsive to your specific needs. Companies making Windows property management software can never be that responsive to customers, because upgrading the software is such a hassle. Such companies often only release upgrades every year or two, and when they do, their customers have to go through what may be a very messy upgrade process. On the other hand, on-line property management software can be upgraded whenever the company has a new feature that has been fully tested. The next time customers log in, the new features are ready for them to use.

Here are some of the features that you will absolutely want in your property management program.

• A full accounting package. Your program should support whichever accounting method you prefer, cash (simpler) or accrual (more detailed and preferred by most property managers). It should include a number of accounting reports that you can run at any time and for any period. You should be able to calculate late fees and discounts automatically

• Check writing. When you have to write a lot of checks for your business, it’s great to be able to just print them off on your computer. Your software vendor will put you in touch with at least one company that makes the kind of check forms you will need.

One word of caution: to print checks with blank check stock, you will need a laser printer and a special magnetic ink cartridge. The laser printer probably won’t be an issue, but the magnetic ink cartridge may be. A simpler solution is just to order preprinted check forms. These forms will have the basic information such as MICR numbers (the numbers at the bottom of the check, which are always printed in magnetic ink). You’ll still print checks, but just the amount, payee, date and other fields that don’t have to be in magnetic ink.

• Reminders. You should be able to set up reminders for appointments, projects, and other tasks. You should also get automatic reminders for the two things every property manager wants to be aware of: late rent payments and expiring leases.

• Many different data fields to let you store all the information you want, but not that many mandatory data fields. You should be able to use your software for as little or as much work as you like.

• Fast and easy data management. You’ll spend a lot of time entering records and finding what you need in your property management software. You don’t want something that will make it complicated and difficult to handle these tasks. Look for wizards and maybe even a “Quick Start” feature to make loading fast, and fast searching and sorting to let you very easily find what you need.

What if you find a property management program that is great, but not perfect? Many property managers will quit using a program because it doesn’t have the one specific report or calculation they really like. They then have a choice; they can keep on going with Excel or written ledgers, or they can continue on an endless search for the perfect program that simply doesn’t exist.

Instead, why not contact the company you are interested in and see if they can add the feature you want? You might learn that they’re already working on it. If not, they may be happy to add it to keep you satisfied.

There are a lot of investors who like to take properties and turn them around for big profit. If you want to get good at doing the same, you should learn a few house flipping tips from them. New investors will sometimes jump right in and think they can earn money just by buying a home to flip. So many of them lose money this way.

Before you try flipping houses, you have to get a good idea of what types of houses sell in your market. You also need to know how long you can expect a house to be on the market and what prices they are going for. Discover how to research the selling tactics that are successfully used in your area as well, if someone is selling a lot of homes, try to determine if they are offering any promotions to the home buyers.

To get some good house flipping tips about remodeling, take a look at some of the model homes in your area. Although the home you are flipping is older. There is no reason you couldn’t incorporate some of the new ideas into it. It is possible to inexpensively transform an older looking interior and give it a beautiful new look with just a bit of paint, wood, plaster and elbow grease. Making the home look even just a bit more modern is one of the best ways to give tremendous value to a home you want to flip.

If you can find an extremely ugly house with no structural damage, you are almost always guaranteed a good profit. The uglier the home is the better because chances are there will not be a lot of interested buyers. Especially with the housing prices as low as they are right now. You can get away with stating your price for a lot of these because people will likely just want to get them out of their hair so they can get into a better place.

A new real estate course is being released soon that is designed to train anyone how to take advantage of the lucrative opportunity which exists in the current housing market. The course is designed by a well known real estate investor, Charrissa Cawley, and will equip you with all the knowledge and skills you need in order for you to become successful at flipping houses.

CLICK HERE to get more information and sign up to be one of the first to take advantage of this once in a lifetime opportunity.

Would you leave it be, remove it, or just take away the marker and pretend it wasn’t there?