Real Estate Investing – Do You Need Training to Invest?

Unlimited Success group

Do you need training to be a doctor? A teacher? A computer programmer? Have you ever started a job where someone didn’t show you what to do, even if its flipping burgers?

Of course you need training. I’m always amazed at the number of people who decide to make money buying real estate and insist they don’t need training. I guess its because you can buy any house that has a for sale sign in the yard and to sell it, all you need to do is put a for-sale-by-owner sign in the yard. But will you really make money that way? Consistently? Safely?

Real estate is a very expensive and very risky business. Even if you inherit a property and owe nothing on it, you still have costs like taxes, insurance, maintenance. If you decide to put in a tenant, you’d better be familiar with landlord-tenant laws which vary from state to state. And, you’ll need to know something about contract law. Its far better to learn ahead of time than to learn with a lawyer standing beside you and a judge seated in front of you.

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Earth Days may have Shortened due to Chilean Quake

Earth

Can you imagine? According to Nasa, the Feb. 27 magnitude 8.8 earthquake in Chile may have shortened the length of each Earth day.

Not only that, but perhaps even more impressive is that the quake actually shifted the Earth’s axis and, relatively speaking, by quite a bit!

Why did this quake have such a global effect when most quakes don’t? A number of things worked together. First of all, it was a very large quake that lasted for a very long time. Next, this quake was located very near the center of the earth making it “easier” to shift the axis. And, finally, the quake was very deep.

Read more about this phenomenon at the Nasa news topics site.

HUD SAFE Mortgage Act

HUD

In case you haven’t heard, there’s a new bill out there called the HUD SAFE Mortgage Act. From what I understand, it passed and became law in the summer of 2009, but states were given up to two years to implement the bill. This legislation makes Owner Financing illegal. If you are not a licensed broker, you will not be able to do owner financing.

This bill is huge. They are considering Lease to Own as a possible owner finance and, if determined to be so, this bill could immediately outlaw lease to own. So many buyers are not able to buy a home with traditional financing and this could eliminate options to those wanna be homeowners.

If you have ever purchased or sold a property using seller financing, you need to take a few moments to read the following message. After you have reviewed the information, send your comments to HUD per the instructions to help stop this devastating proposal. Please, get involved and make your voice heard. Please, help us Make a Difference.

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Can you Touch the Ceiling?

President Obama

President Barack Obama just signed a bill into law allowing the United States government to borrow another 1.9 trillion dollars, raising the debt ceiling from $12.394 trillion to $14.294 trillion.

Congress was forced to go along with this increase because our mounting debt was about to break through the ceiling on its own.

Can you write out $14.294 trillion?  Do you know how many zeros it takes?

This new measure is described as “pay as you go”.  Rule is, if you spend a dollar, you must cut a dollar somewhere else.   Good idea.  Any new “mandatory” spending must be offset by budget cuts or new revenue.  So, if the rule works, why do you need to raise the ceiling almost 2 trillion dollars?  Wouldn’t a couple billion be enough?  I’m sure I don’t understand.

What I do know for sure is, that’s a lot of debt.  And it doesn’t look like it will be getting better anytime soon.

As for me and my household, we’re spending less.  How about you?

Can you touch the ceiling in your house?

Free Energy Audit for your home

Free Energy Audit

Did you know you can get a free energy audit for your home? Have you had yours yet?

I had mine today. Fabulous experience and.. free gifts!

Duke Energy will come to your home and do a FREE energy audit. Just call Duke Energy to schedule your appointment. I had to wait almost 3 months for mine but it’s no big deal to wait, right?

My audit took less than an hour. The inspector started by sitting at his laptop where my account was already pulled up. He knew my energy usage history. Then he asked questions about our energy needs and habits such as how many people live in the home, what temperature we keep the thermostat in the winter (68*) and what temperature in the summer (74*), do we wash in cold, warm or hot water. (cold)

Then he made a tour of the property beginning in the attic crawl space where he looked at insulation and duct work. He checked the hot water heater for age and efficiency, checked windows, fireplace openings, heat ducts, vents and insulation in the attic as well as under the house. He checked the heating unit for age and efficiency.

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