Property Investing: Fairly Low Risk
May 10, 2008 by steven_miller
Filed under Real Estate
Comments Off
Real estate investors are typically people who want a way to develop financial security and a comfortable retirement income. To do this they’ve chosen a method of investing that is fairly low risk and requires a minimal investment up-front.
Real estate investors tend to focus on the development of equity, which enables them to leverage one property to purchase a second and so on. While you may not be interested in becoming a real estate mogul, even a single property can bring you opportunities that you never before thought possible. Here are some things to consider if you are thinking about investing in real estate:
- Understand “negative cash flow”. Before you make the decision to invest in real estate, you must first understand the idea of negative cash flow. Negative cash flow is very common with investors who have little or no money to invest in their first property. What the term means is that for some length of time, you will be putting more money out than you are bringing in. While the idea of negative cash flow might seem daunting, consider this. If you are purchasing an investment property with no money down, the cash that you will need to pay out of pocket is the equivalent of the down payment that you would have normally made to the lender. It is always best to enter any investment with true knowledge of the risks and benefits. Negative cash flow is something that you must learn about prior to making the decision to purchase an investment property.
- Get it in writing. If you decide to purchase a property by way of assuming a loan, you will basically be writing a check to the seller for the difference between the selling price and the amount remaining on the mortgage. In this case, you must request a statement showing the current loan balance before signing an agreement. Otherwise, you may find out quickly what a difference a few thousand dollars can make – particularly when those dollars are coming out of your pocket.
- Find out what you need to know to be a landlord. If becoming a landlord is your goal, then you will want to get familiar with what is required when it comes to managing tenants. There are many different situations that you will want to prepare for, contracts that you will need to prepare and many other aspects of property management to consider.
- Know what tenants have been promised. When purchasing a rental property with existing tenants, always ask the seller to certify in writing that he/she has not made any agreements with the existing tenants that might have an impact on your responsibilities. For example, if the seller promised a free month’s rent with a lease renewal – you need to know! If you are not aware of these agreements, you are not required to honor them. However, if you intend to keep the same tenants it is important that you honor any agreements and factor your costs into the purchase agreement.
- Understand the tax implications for the type of financing you choose. Be aware that if you use a home equity loan to finance the purchase of an investment property, you will not have the same tax benefits as you would if you used a traditional mortgage program. The cost-savings may make using the equity loan a better choice, but be sure to investigate carefully.
Hopefully, the information presented here has given you new insight into the world of real estate investing. Our intention is that you can now take this information and put it into play in your own investment plan. Careful planning is the first step to financial freedom, and real estate is an excellent vehicle for carrying out the plan.
Wealth Education in the 21st Century
May 3, 2008 by steven_miller
Filed under Financial Freedom
Comments Off
Characteristics of a Person with Wealth Education
All of us are born unique. However, when we look at people who have invested in wealth education and used what they have learned to attain financial freedom successfully, we are highly likely to pick out characteristics that are common among them. Most probably, these traits are the result of carefully cultivated habits.
There are many similar characteristics among people who have had wealth education, and here are seven of them.
People with Wealth Education are Dreamers
Wealth education encourages people to dream big and set big goals. People learn through wealth education that nothing is impossible if the dream is big enough, and these dreams are the ones that push them to achieve what some people may believe to be unachievable.
Since a big dream is often too difficult to realize with one stroke, it is usually broken down into smaller goals that serve as benchmarks or road signs towards the bigger goal.
People with Wealth Education Have a Plan
Dreams are good, but what differentiates a dream from a goal is a plan. Plans make a dream achievable, and it prevents people in pursuit of their dreams from getting lost along the way.
People with Wealth Education Prioritize
People who are constantly seeking wealth concentrate all their efforts towards wealth creation. They are always single-minded about what they want because it is very important to them. They prioritize every single thing they do according to whether or not the task they will be doing would be beneficial to them in achieving their goals.
People with Wealth Education Are Committed to Excellence
They do everything in the best possible way they can. If a task they are going to do plays an important role in obtaining the bigger goal, they give it their best shot and pour into it all the resources they can afford to put in. They believe that being halfhearted in performing a task only wastes time, effort and resources.
People with Wealth Education Are Non-Stop Learners
People who are committed to pursuing financial freedom are always on the look out to learn new things. They use what they learn to assess if how they work is still effective or if the new way is better than their way. Also, they utilize new information to create opportunities and take advantage of already existing ones.
People with Wealth Education Work Only for Themselves
They are aware that being someone else’s employee does not make them rich. Instead, they are adding to the wealth of the person they are working for. Being in business for one’s self means more than just becoming one’s own boss. It also means that the fruits of one’s efforts go directly to one’s own pocket rather than other people’s pockets.
People with Wealth Education Love What They Do
Without love, the work that is necessary to build wealth becomes difficult and meaningless. People will only give their best to what they do if they love doing it.




