Nu-Way Real Estate

Author: Lee Cameron

It is strange to think that in the fifties houses were considered ‘plush’ at 1,000 square feet and then we whooped all the way up to an average home of 2,500 square feet before we started the current trend back downwards.

The fact that most homes have become larger and more expensive has pushed many first time buyers out of the market. Local builders have noticed that a void is forming in the small homes market.

Most new homes boast substantial square footage and cost substantial dollars. It is a recognized fact that the average first time buyer cannot buy a newly built single family home.

First time buyers will usually have to buy an existing home and become established in the realty market before buying a brand new home. This entails accruing equity in the home, perhaps renovating it, and then selling it to move up the property ladder.

What brings this new awareness that small homes are okay? Is it the sustainable living guilt, or is it that so many baby boomers are out there looking for smaller homes to retire to? Apparently it is neither, it is simply a question of finance.

The St. Petersburg Times reported a Tampa Bay Builders Association spokesman saying that builders will still be building super-sized homes but there will be more of the smaller ones being built as well. This change in thinking is not seen as a fad by builders, but it is one way of bringing down the price of a house.

Lower prices in the housing market are more popular with prospective buyers than such luxuries as king size bathrooms and extra large rooms. People are economizing when buying a new home, say the builders. For instance, they often choose not to install granite counter tops, knowing that they can do it themselves later.

An average ’shrink back’ is from 2,200 square feet to 1800 square feet. Some two bedroom houses are actually being built with the square footage not much over 1,000.

The cost of the raw land is also a factor in the price of the house. If the home is smaller and two units can be built on one plot of land instead of one unit, then obviously the price of the house will be lower.

Is this sensible or stingy? Building smaller homes in the Florida area could also be one way of keeping the younger generation active there. There have been extensive studies of house prices and affordability for young people carried out recently; they showed that young people will often leave areas that only offer high cost homes.

In some cities, such as Boston , young people are quoted as ‘moving away in droves’ because of the high house prices. This is costing Boston the human capital needed for future growth and economic expansion.

The news in Florida that the government is trying to encourage more first time buyers will hopefully mean that Florida will avoid the same pitfall. By offering financial incentives to first time buyers they are ensuring that the younger generation can still flourish in Florida. This will expand the younger segment of Florida society and consequently will also be likely to increase the permanent population.

In the light of these facts, it would be financially viable for builders in Florida to produce some smaller homes. Especially since the first time buyer program is designed to help those people who may have only a modest income. (There is a ceiling on the qualifying monthly salary.)

Income is not rigid, it is determined by the number of individuals living in the house; details can be found on the web under Florida’s First Time Buyer Program and your real estate agent will also be fully versed in these incentives.

It may be a surprising turn around if the small homes being built go like hot cakes! There are many people who would like to downsize, but still want the luxury of a new home. These include groups such as baby boomers and single parent families.

If you don’t want to miss out, go to your real estate agent early, and ask which builders and where will be building these smaller homes. When it comes to brand new homes, you can buy it before it is built. This way you will beat the rush and therefore be assured of a sparkling new home.

Author: William King

At present the real estate market in the United States does not look much promising. Despite the 75 basis point rate cut the situation seems to look a bit mawkish. If you want to protect your self from the falling real estate prices, there are ways that you can adopt. Let us now look at the reasons for the fall in the US real estate prices.

According to Boston fed president Rosengren, the recent fall in the real estate prices in the United States of America is the most severe downfall that the United States has experienced in the past 50 years. The evidence of the downturn can be seen by the increasing numbers of foreclosures. This year the nation wide foreclosure was around 5,00,000 in the third quarter, which was approximately double of what it was in the previous year at the same time. According to him around two million foreclosures could tale place in the year 2007-2008.

In these uncertain times there are certain methods that you can adopt to protect your property. You can lock in your property at the current market price, so that you can at least secure that value. You can make a contract with certain companies who are ready to enter in to a contract, whereby you can sell your property to them after 2 years at a pre decided value. This predefined value is known as the lock in value and the owner of the property has the right to sell the property to sell at that price after a period of two years and within a period of 10 years.

The advantage that the property holder enjoys is that no matter what is the price in the market, he can still get the locked in value. In case the market value falls considerably he can still sell the property to the dealer at the fixed price. In this case you can exercise the deal if real estate market prices fall. In case the real estate market recovers there is no obligation on the part of the owner to sell it to the contractor. Thus this is a win- win situation for you.

This scheme gives the owners of the property peace of mind. As because, for a nominal fees they can be assured that they will be able to fetch the guaranteed amount for their property no matter how the real estate market fares.

Author: Jackie Lange

Getting started as a real estate investor can be a little scary - unless you’re not actually buying the houses. That’s right you can not buy the house and still make money by using an amazing technique called wholesaling. This gives you the opportunity to earn while you learn but without any of the risks which could be associated with actually buying a house.

With a wholesale deal, you can make $3000 to as much as $30,000 or more in as little as 30 days. My 18 year old daughter made $12,000 on her first deal.

Why Should You Start With Wholesaling?

A wholesale deal is the ideal way to build your confidence and knowledge about the mechanics of a real estate transaction, the paperwork, negotiating, estimating property values, and learning repair costs before you move on to other, more complicated transactions. It’s important that you have a thorough understanding of all these elements to avoid mistakes when you buy your first house to rehab. The confidence you gain by wholesaling houses will help you tremendously when you get ready to take your real estate business to the next level.

How Does it Work?

You find a vacant and run down looking house! There’s no for sale sign in the yard. Through persistence and a little detective work, you are able to locate the owner and negotiate a “risk free” contract to purchase the property at 50% below the after repaired value. Let’s say your contract price is $45,000 and the house is worth $100,000 all fixed up.

To make your contract risk free, you will add a little contingency clause that says you must find another investor who will agree to rehab the house or you will not buy from the seller. Sellers love it when you do all the work for them! Ideally, you will only ask for a week or two to find the rehabber so the seller is not left hanging indefinitely.

When you have a signed contract for $45,000, you then immediately contact other investors who specialize in “rehabbing” ugly houses. Sometimes it’s best to get a little competition going by getting several rehabbers out to the house at the same time for a highest bidder sale or auction. Tell the rehabbers your starting price for the house is $48,000 and it will be sold to the highest bidder. In this example, let’s say that the high bid is $50,000.

When the high bidder is determined, you can either fill out a simple one page ‘assign of contract’ to sell to the rehabber for $5,000. Or you can fill out a separate ‘purchase contract’ to sell to the rehabber for $50,000. You’ll also want to collect an earnest money check from the rehabber which is made out to the Title Company or attorney. All paperwork is turned in to the title company or attorney’s office. Then, about one or two weeks later the transaction closes and you get a check for $5000.

IT’S THAT SIMPLE!

Think of yourself as the scout. You get paid to do all the leg work to find the deals. . For your service of scouting out the deals, you get paid $3000 or more each and every time.

So where do you begin?

To be successful you need to start with the end in mind by locating rehabbers to sell your houses to before you start looking for houses to buy. If you try to find the house first and don’t know any rehabbers to sell to, you’re just setting yourself up for frustration.

Get the weekly papers and look for the “we buy houses” type ads. Go to your local real estate investment club meetings and take time to find the rehabbers. Ask them what part of town they like to buy in and what price range. This will give you an idea of where you need to be looking. Keep a list of all rehabbers and their contact information.

Meanwhile, be on the lookout for run down houses. Some of the best deals are vacant and even boarded up houses. You won’t be able to knock on the door to talk to the owner, but you can ask the neighbors if they know how to locate the owners. You should also search the county tax appraisal records for the name of the owner. Then, your first stop needs to be the telephone book. Call every person with the same last name to see if they know how to locate the owner of the house. If that fails, send a letter or postcard to the owner’s last known address. You should also leave a note at the house just in case they come back to check the house. Be persistent and you will locate the owner so you can negotiate a great deal.