Did You know We offer local Coaching and Training?

Coaching

Our mission is to get you on track and keep you there. Too many real estate investors fail when they get stopped by lack of knowledge or fear. We are your resource for success.

No more need to be buying endless real estate courses that don’t help you get quickly into the business of making profits with little or no capital of your own. No need to recruit a “team” of professionals (attorneys, lenders, appraisers, inspectors, etc.) because they are all in place for you. Everything you need is provided.

Real estate investing is one of the most rewarding careers available, but it does require that you work to make money. Despite all the claims of “auto-pilot systems”, promises that you can just sit back and collect a check, the only success they provide is for the people selling the programs. YOU are the one who will have to WORK using the tools, experience and personal help we give.

  • Launching Your Business the Right Way

    We’ll show you how to set up your business, home office, types of legal entities, office equipment, software, everything you need to get you started finding deals in just days.

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Depreciation Advantage for Hold Properties

Tax forms

Tony Robinson, one of the coaches for our local Mastermind coaching groups, wrote the following article on the value of depreciating your properties.  Depreciation gives you HUGE tax advantages which is a large income stream that not everyone considers when they’re contemplating becoming a landlord.

I hope the following explains some of the advantages you may not have considered.  If you have any questions about depreciating properties, please add them here to the comments section so we can clear up any confusions.

Here’s a synopsis of Tony’s article:

Many of us using the long term hold strategy fail to capitalize on one of the true benefits of owning real estate. Though the benefits are many, I find the ability to offset income by maximizing depreciation to be the most valuable of all. Did you know that depreciation allowances offset the gross income received on real estate?

Let me explain. The IRS extends the benefit of depreciation to owners of rental property.  Here, the government is actually giving us an incentive to own real estate! The depreciation factor for single family residential property is 27.5 years. This means that you can take depreciation on the “dwelling” spread out over 27.5 years.

An example of how depreciation works is as follows:

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Investing in Real Estate – 2

Footsteps

As I said in Steps for Starting a Career in Real Estate Investing, an important part of creating any business is to emulate someone not only doing what you want to do, but doing it successfully.  Do you have someone to follow who does what you want to do and does it successfully?

You need to find someone who’s been through the mine field before and will allow you to step where they’ve stepped so you don’t get blown up.  You can take the time and expense to do it on your own or save time and money by finding a successful mentor you trust.

The best scenario is that your mentor actually lives close enough for you to be able to talk to this person face-to-face.  This is especially important in real estate because, as much as we pay attention to what’s happening nationally, real estate is actually a very local business.  Not only does Arizona differ dramatically from what’s happening here in North Carolina, what’s happening in Greensboro differs dramatically from what’s happening in the mountains or at the coast.  You must get advice from someone who knows your specific market intimately. This is an expensive business.  Don’t get advice from someone who “thinks” they know what is going on in your area.

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BB&T Shadow Inventory

Shadow Inventory

Just received this interesting email from a friend.  Shows how little we actually know about what’s going on with the economy other than what we hear on the news.

For everyone who is ready to speculate in the market again, I would caution you.  When you buy, buy because it makes you money today, not because it may make you money in the future.  This weak economy may be with us a bit longer so it’s best to remain cautious. There are lots of great real estate deals out there and there will be for some time to come. Get training and know what you’re doing when you invest!

Here are excerpts from the email:

“None of us  wants an ever increasing supply of distressed home sales, which of course put continued downward pressure in home prices. I met with a distressed home seller last week who works for BB&T. He attends the meetings with bank brass as they discuss the numbers of homes they have in inventory and discuss how they will manage existing inventory as well as more incoming bank foreclosures.

According to this seller, BB&T brass state that they have 200,000 homes right now that they are holding that are not for sale. The bank feels that as market conditions improve (i.e. less defaults) they will be able to slowly release this shadow inventory at better sale prices. For right now though, they hold these properties on their balance sheet at full fair market value, which of course makes the balance sheet look better than it actually is.

Once the bank releases these foreclosed properties for sale they have to write down the value in accordance with what they normally receive in distressed sale prices.

The bottom line is that the bank brass forecasts another TWO YEARS before they begin to get back to some semblance of balance. However, my seller prospect said that he told the bank brass THREE YEARS. In either event, we all seem to agree that things will get better, eventually. In the meantime, there are a TON of SWEET opportunities right now for investors who are taking the time to execute on their Biz plan.”

Do you have a plan?

30 Ways to Save Money on Utilities

energy savings

There are a lot of simple and inexpensive things you can do.

1. Check it out! In many areas, cable, satellite and utility companies compete for customers so you can save on some utilities by shopping around for the best rates and plans. (Or at least switch to basic cable!)

2. Use energy efficient light bulbs. This is the big buzz right now.  Simply replace incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs. You can now buy round bulbs, not just the cork screw type, that may look better in some of your fixtures. I’ve found them to be less expensive in multi-packs.

3. Check your heat and air vents. Check to see which of your vents are open. Some rooms stay warmer or cooler than others so adjust the vents to balance the temperature throughout your home.  You may find the airflow is better upstairs when you close off some of the downstairs vents.  Some rooms may need the vents only partially open. We used one end of our home very little so we closed most of the vents at that end allowing less energy to heat and cool the rooms we use the most.

4. Install aerator screens on your faucets. These little screens distribute water flow so you get more coverage with less water. They increase the pressure of the stream of water as it comes out of the faucet so you don’t need to turn the faucet up as high. Screens cut the water flow from 3 to 4 gallons per minute to as little as a half-gallon.

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19 more great Home Remedies to Start Your Summer

Arm & Hammer

This is a forwarded email I received and too good not to share. It goes along well with my post Home Remedies.  Enjoy!

1)  Eliminate ear mites. All it takes is a few drops of Wesson Corn Oil in your cat’s ear… massage it in, then clean with a cotton ball. Repeat daily for 3 days. The oil soothes the cat’s skin, smothers the mites, and accelerates healing.

2)  Kills fleas instantly... Dawn Dishwashing Liquid does the trick. Add a few drops to your dog’s bath and shampoo the animal thoroughly. Rinse well to avoid skin irritations. Good-bye fleas.

3)  Rainy day cure for dog odor: Next time your dog comes in from the rain, simply wipe down the animal with Bounce or any dryer sheet, instantly making your dog smell springtime fresh.

4)  Did you know that drinking two glasses of Gatorade can relieve headache pain almost immediately-without the unpleasant side effects caused by traditional pain relievers?

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Real Estate Down Under

Australian Flag

My sister, Laura, just visited for an entire month. Hooray!

She’s been living in Australia for 22 years.  During that time, she’s also lived in Munich and Stuttgart Germany, Seoul Korea, Beijing China, Cordoba Argentina as well as Melbourne, Perth and Darwin Australia. At any rate, Sydney is her home.

We’ve been talking a lot of real estate, naturally, while she’s been here. Things are VERY different Down Under.

For example, no mortgage or home equity interest deductions are given on their personal residences.  That would be a bummer to lose here although the US is talking about taking  that benefit away from us.  Seems our government is looking for ways to increase tax revenues..

Because of their tax laws, it is better to buy a property and rent it out, but rent the property you live in. And, in Australia, the tax rate is almost 45% at the highest tax rate so this savings can make a significant difference in what they pay.  The average house price in Sydney is Read more…

Your Property Rights are Still Intact, today..

The Senate “Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010″ failed to pass yesterday.  Chances are, it will be voted on again today.

The Senate goal yesterday was to vote for cloture, passing the bill without debate, and needed a vote of only 60 to achieve it. They fell short of their goal with a vote of 57 to 41. Two Senators did not vote and Senator Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) was the sole Democrat or Independent to vote against cloture.

With a large majority of the Senate favoring the bill, supporters vowed to continue working to bring the bill to the floor and pass it.

The main reason for this legislation is to regulate Wall Street and the mortgage industry from unscrupulous lending practices that have hurt the public.  Good intentions.  We agree.

What concerns us with these bills is Read more…

Day on the Hill, follow-up

US Capitol

Thank you to everyone for the fabulous comments to my post Protecting Your Property Rights, Our Day on the Hill.  The comments are so well said and so varied that I’m going to re- post many of them here.  This legislation is huge and I want my readers to know that many of us are concerned for and passionate about what’s happening in/with/to our government.

If you haven’t read the original post, please take a moment to do that so these comments make sense to you.  And, please, add your comments to the end of this article.

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National Real Estate Investor 3rd Annual Day on the Hill

National Real Estate Investors Association’s 3rd Annual Day on the Hill was officially deemed a success but it is important to point out that our fight is not over! Our efforts to connect and communicate with legislative officials from across the country were targeted and we were able to conduct nearly 30 meetings we had scheduled with confidence and veteran-like poise.

During the meetings with legislators and many staffers we discussed several pieces of legislation, including the Senate Finance Reform legislation, S 3217 – Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010, which is currently being debated in the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee, under the direction of Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT). This is 1,400+ page legislation.

HR 4173 – Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, is the current bill in which that text can be found, in Title VII.  The specific language that has investors across the country worried is in Section 101(3)(e):
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