Thursday, January 24, 2008

Help Distressed Homeowners





Five Tips for Buying a Foreclosure Property Below Market Value

By Jim Saccacio, RealtyTrac Chief Executive Officer

If you feel like the escalating costs of real estate have priced you out of the market, think again. It may be time to investigate the vast opportunities available in the foreclosures market.









For people willing to do a bit of homework, the foreclosure market offers some of the best opportunities available in real estate today. Experts point toward significant growth in available foreclosure properties, so there’s never been a better time to line up your resources and educate yourself about this previously hidden market. It’s not unusual to save from 10 to 30 percent of the market value on a foreclosure property, and certain properties offer savings of 50 percent or more! There really are bargains out there. You just have to know where to look.



Web-based services such as RealtyTrac give consumers access to foreclosure and pre-foreclosure information that was previously available
only to professional real estate brokers and investors. Today, homebuyers can use these services to identify and research potential home
purchases, as well as to find the tools and professional resources they need to help them close the deal. RealtyTrac, which provides all
the foreclosure data for both MSN House and Home and Yahoo! Real Estate, has already compiled a list of over 550,000 foreclosure
properties across the country.



The keys to a successful foreclosure property purchase are diligence and patience, along with taking an educated approach to investing in this market. RealtyTrac CEO Jim Saccacio offers five tips to help you close a deal on a foreclosure property:


1. Learn about the different types of properties and the foreclosure process.

Not all foreclosures are the same! You need to educate yourself on the difference between the three basic types of properties, including notice-of-default (NOD), notice of trustee sale (NTS), and real-estate-owned REO, as well as the positive and negative aspects of buying at each stage of the foreclosure cycle.


As a rule of thumb, the best savings can be made at the pre-foreclosure stage, where home owners can avoid a foreclosure and lenders can save the time and cost involved in going through the process. Another critical point in the process is immediately prior to the auction date, when all parties might be most open to a last-minute solution.


2. Secure financing early

It’s important for a buyer to be pre-qualified before engaging in discussions with a seller. This ensures that the buyer is in a financial position to purchase the property, and is in the strongest possible position to negotiate.


3. Engage a real estate agent as a “buyer’s representative”

There’s a distinct difference between a buyer’s and a seller’s representative. Buyer’s representatives have the home buyer’s interests at heart, and are charged with finding the right property and negotiating the best price for their clients. Picking the right real estate agent will make your life much easier. Ideally, select an agent who specializes in the foreclosures market and has specific experience in REO properties.


4. Do your homework

Purchasing foreclosure properties is somewhat more risky than buying traditional real estate properties. But, with that risk comes reward in the form of much higher potential savings. With the right examination and due diligence, buyers can significantly reduce the risks. As with any purchase, timing is everything! But, it makes sense to give any property under consideration a thorough examination, including determining its condition and value, finding out the amount in default and the remaining loan balance, and running a legal investing report to make sure the property is free of any financial liabilities. Of course, it never hurts to foster a positive relationship with the seller!


5. Make a realistic offer

If you want to be taken seriously as a buyer, you must be realistic when preparing an offer. Lenders aren’t likely to give properties away, particularly in a real estate market where prices continue to rise. Additionally, homeowners in financial distress may be difficult to deal with, particularly early in the foreclosure process. An educated buyer—one who knows how much is owed on the property and what its market value is—can usually come up with a realistic offer; one that offers significant savings, while meeting the requirements of the lender.


 


Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Profit From The Virtual Real Estate Boom

Today's internet world has skyrocketed over the last decade. Websites and domains pop up every single day, whether they sell products, give free information, talk about life in general, or whatever else you can think of, the internet has room for it all.

Now is the time to get in on this virtual real estate. Property values here are skyrocketing! Unlike physical real estate, there is an infinite number of properties on the internet, and there are room for more--a lot more.

Because of this, now is the time to get in on this opportunity. Don't worry, there is plenty of room. People are buying and selling domain names everyday, and you can get in on this too!

Just think, you may have tried flipping houses, with little to no success. Well, it's much easier to flip virtual properties, because they are unlimited! So right now is the time to get in on the virtual real estate boom. Why, you ask? Because virtural real estate property values are skyrocketing, so it is time to get in on your piece of the action.

Another thing, with virtual real estate, you don't have to worry about keeping the yard fresh to improve the value of the property--the value of virtual property goes up automatically.

Learn how, with this report, how you can make your dreams come true by investing in vitural real estate. Sure you can wait as the virtual market will always be profitable, but why wait? The sooner you start, the more you make.

So go here right now to see how YOU can PROFIT from the Virtual Real Estate Boom. Do it NOW before someone beats you to it!

To your success!

Sunday, January 6, 2008

Check out my lenses on Squidoo!

I'm a Squidoo lensmaster, and I'm inviting you to join me. Find and share recommendations online by building a lens. Click the link below to get started.

http://www.squidoo.com/lensmaster/referral/jbickham429

Overcoming Skepticism

As with anybody new to internet marketing, it is highly likely these newbies are skeptical to what products will help them make money online. The thing is, they come across these products that include sales pages with pictures of big houses, fancy sports cars, and yachts. It seems these supposed “gurus” are trying to sale dreams to newbies, promising instant riches. Heck, the sales pages even include supposed screenshots of earnings. What are they trying to do?

Dreams for sale! Instant riches! Come on, what are they trying to pull? I’m sure a lot of newbies turn to internet marketing, or affiliate marketing, looking to make some extra cash to pay bills or enjoy a night out. What’s sad is that these “gurus” are playing with a newbie’s mind with the screenshots and pictures of fancy cars and stuff, which could make the newbie feel self-conscious and want to buy the product—hitting where it hurts.

So the newbie buys the product, and is disappointed. He has lost some money instead of making any money. What is he to do?

The truth is, there is a way to make money with internet marketing. You just have to know what you are doing, and yes, there are supposed “gurus” out there trying to cash in on the internet marketing industry by creating products that claim to have made that “guru” an “overnight success”. In truth, the only money the “guru” is making is from the sale of his e-book of “secrets”. That is the reason I’m writing this article—to point the newbie in the right direction.

The right direction is in three products that work together. I’m not selling you anything because they are free. The three products are Rational Profits, Work-At-Home Watchdog, and Internet Marketing Unwrapped.

Alok Jain’s Rational Profits is a 5-question, 30-second quiz that results in a list of recommended products. This works for newbies as well as seasoned internet marketers. The list is narrowed down and tailored to your wants or needs. I would recommend this for any person wanting to get involved in internet marketing.

Moreover, if you are still skeptical after taking the Rational Profits quiz, you can check out WAH Watchdog. WAH Watchdog has a list of products graded on a 5-letter scale, including “+” and “-“. What you do is take your list from Rational Profits and see if any of your products are on WAH Watchdog. If they are, you can look at the product description and learn more about the product. You can also eliminate the products receiving the lowest grade, and if you feel comfortable, purchase the product on your list receiving the highest grade. Hopefully, you will not need to purchase too many products just to earn an income through internet marketing.

Also, if a product on your list is not on WAH Watchdog, you can submit that product for review. You can also vote on products already on the list.

In addition, if you would like further information on internet marketing, or even on the gurus in general, check out Internet Marketing Unwrapped. This is a new product by Heather Vale who has interviewed various internet marketing gurus. Do not let Ms. Vale’s sweet, innocent look fool you because she is a tough-as-nails interviewer who does not budge an inch on the gurus. She really gets it out of them. You will see why I like this product because you get to listen in on those interviews; this will give you the absolute truth to internet marketing, and hopefully, this will help you overcome your skepticism and know that there is in fact money to be made online. So definitely check out Internet Marketing Unwrapped if nothing else.

So again, the following three products will help you in your quest to an income in internet marketing:

Rational Profits

WAH Watchdog

Internet Marketing Unwrapped