Know Real Estate

YOU can become RICH with REAL ESTATE!!! Live the life you want with REAL ESTATE! Come to my seminar on how to MAKE MONEY from REAL ESTATE!!! OMG! WTF! BBQ!

It seems that whenever you are interested in investing in real estate, you get inundated with large font, glaring colors and titles promising you the sun, moon and stars if you take their seminar (a bargain at 2999), buy their inspirational tapes (what a deal at 199.99), andor purchase their motivational DVD and book combo (only 99.99? Practically giving them away!).

When the eager investor signs up, the “guru” delivers speeches and media that are long on fantasy and short on reality. These people prey on greed, pure and simple. They capture the attention of people who want to believe that the path to riches is not paved with long, hard work in the beginning.

It’s certainly true that real estate investments can improve your finances and diversify your portfolio. It is also true that there are many people who are quietly well-to-do as a result of careful investing in real estate. The thing is, most of these people worked hard, gave up luxuries and invested wisely instead of falling for claims of easy money.

What these fake gurus will do is emphasize the life you “could” have and gloss over the work real estate investment takes. They describe themselves with as many adjectives as possible instead of actually giving you verifiable information as to their competence. They gloss over any problems common to real estate investment.

Fake gurus also don’t want you to talk to real professionals, like REALTORS(R), because a good REALTOR(R) will lose no time informing you about the truth of your position in the real estate world and then guide you to sensible investments that are likely to give you a good return for the money and time you are willing to put in.

Not every person conducting a seminar on real estate investment is a shyster. Look for people who don’t promise you the moon, who don’t use flashy buzzwords instead of actual facts and who have verifiable references. Do they work in the real estate industry? Do they have references from that industry? What is the focus of the seminar? Someone who is willing to give you the facts on what could go wrong is much more valuable to you than someone who charges you a grand to tell you nothing about what you need to know.

There are people out there getting rich by holding seminars with an emphasis on motivational material instead of facts and strategies. They will throw a lot of buzzwords into their shop talk and intimate that you a) are a fool b) going to stay POOR for the rest of your life andor c) are too ignorant to understand their ‘vision’. If you show any sign of critical thinking, they will attempt to deflect your questions with more buzztalk andor unverifiable claims.

Don’t fall for these scam artists. Put your trust in an agent who will make your goals a priority and won’t charge you for their knowledge.

Known as the Peach State, Georgia is the state of southern hospitality. If you prefer the traditional southern culture, Georgia real estate is certainly worth a look.

Georgia

The largest state east of the Mississippi, Georgia has a long and glorious history. Civil war monuments are rife throughout the state as are small towns with turn of the century homes. Notwithstanding this culture, Georgia is also a very modern state with growing cities such as Atlanta.

Atlanta

The most populous city in Georgia, Atlanta is a growing metropolis. From a sports perspective, the city has Michael Vick and the Atlanta Falcons, the Braves, basketball, hockey and has even hosted the Olympics. Raised in 1865 by General Sherman, the city has a newish feel and has grown to a population of over 3.5 million people. The city can be classified more as a modern city than a traditional southern one.

Savannah

If youre looking for a true southern city in Georgia, Savannah is the place. Located on the border with South Carolina, Savannah is a step back into the past. With tree-lined streets, the city hosts a variety of architecture from the 18th and 19th century including Victorian homes and old manor. Streets are dwarfed by huge, ancient Oak Trees. To see Savannah, rent of buy Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, which was filmed in the city.

Athens

Roughly an hour north of Atlanta, Athens is a mix of southern culture and college town. Home to the University of Georgia, the town has a population of 30,000 plus students. This influx of students gives the city a liberal feel, which is unique for the south.

Georgia Real Estate

Georgia real estate prices vary by location with the metropolis of Atlanta dwarfing smaller town real estate. A single family home in Atlanta will set you back 300,000 on average, while 250,000 will do the trick in Savannah and 230,000 in Athens. The appreciation rate for Oregon real estate depends entirely on the location, but averages a moderate six percent for 2005.

If southern hospitality is your ideal, Georgia may be your destination. With reasonable real estate prices, you can pick up a good deal.

Funding College through Real Estate Investing: Club Palooza Makes It a Family Affair

These days the huge, and growing, costs of tuition, fees and room and board have turned paying for college into a family affair. Impressing upon your kids the importance of a college education, and the character-building exercise of pitching in with other family members to fund it, can be a good lesson in family and personal values. Its also part of a trend in recent years toward helping even the little ones become financially responsible its a good habit they will later thank you for helping them cultivate.

According to collegeboard.com, average annual college costs in 2006-07 were 22, 218 for a four-year private school (up 5.9 percent from last year), 5,836 for a four-year public school (up 6.3 percent from last year), and 2,272 for a two-year public school (up 4.1 percent from last year).

Lots of Options, Loans If You Must
The good news is there are many ways to deal with the college funding issue at any stage of the game. You can take advantage of ways to reduce your income tax bill with education credits like the Hope credit and lifetime learning credit. Parents may consider the popular 529 college savings plans and grandparents in a position to contribute to your childs college fund may qualify for state income-tax deductions and gift and estate tax benefits by using certain instruments. (Be sure to look into the new 2008 “kiddie tax” law, which closes a loophole that effectively encouraged parents to transfer assets to their kids in order to save on taxes.)

Debt is the least attractive option, but sometimes unavoidable. There are needs-based resources like the Federal Perkins Loan Program. There are subsidized, federally-guaranteed Stafford loans (www.fafsa.ed.gov) and unsubsidized federally-guaranteed loans (Parent Plus and a version of the Stafford), neither of which is needs-based. Private loans may also be available from banks or finance companies. The U.S. Department of Education’s National Student Loan Data System (http:www.nslds.ed.gov) is the central database for information on financial aid resources.

Getting a Head Start with Stocks and Real Estate Might Make a Big Difference
A great idea for anyone in the family who can get a head start on saving for college one that is particularly suitable for involving your child is some type of automatic investment plan (AIP) that transfers money directly from a checking or savings account into a mutual fund chosen based on the time frame youre working under. An AIP is a convenient way to take advantage of pound cost averaging, which means you’ll buy more shares when prices are low and fewer shares when prices are high one of the keys to successful long-term investing.

Getting teens and young adults involved in real estate investing to help solve the college funding dilemma is something that few parents might think of. But Club Palooza has and the sponsors have put together an engaging, hands-on type of real estate investor educational experience designed to appeal to adults and their young relatives alike. And young attendees get a stellar return on investment the Club Palooza lessons in financial literacy are free when they are accompanied by a registered parent, aunt, uncle or grandparent.

Club Palooza is an engaging, hands-on type of real estate investor educational experience designed to appeal to adults and their young relatives alike. And young attendees get a stellar return on investment the Club Palooza lessons in financial literacy are free when they are accompanied by a registered parent, aunt, uncle or grandparent.

Club Palooza Is a Lifelong Gift
Club Palooza is part of Investor Palooza, the premier annual conference for the nations most successful real estate investors (www.investorpalooza.com). This year Investor Palooza takes place on January 1820, 2008 at the Renaissance Charlotte Suites Hotel in Charlotte, North Carolina. Among the 12 sought-after speakers on the panel and instructor for Club Palooza is Ken Edmonds, a real estate investor who has been teaching financial literacy to children and college students since 1975. Ken is pleased to have made a positive impact on the lives of thousands of young people over the past 30 years. He is an advocate of helping our youth learn how to successfully manage their financial lives so they can be free of money pressures and spend time on other productive endeavors. As one of Kens students put it: Mr. Edmonds taught us how not to lose sleep over money but to make money while we sleep.

For more information on registering for Investor Palooza and Club Palooza, go to www.investorpalooza.com. Club Palooza is limited to 75 students, so be sure to enroll today.

Fixed brokerage or Set Fee giving way to percentage brokerage in Real Estate

It is human nature to dream. Everyone who strives to achieve a certain status in his or her life dream of many achievements and at some time of their life these dreams revolve around the ultimate achievement for many people – owning a home. Some go even further and dream of perhaps owning few real estate properties as investments. It is when these dreams are in the process of being realized that one encounters the ugly fact that they have to deal out over six percent of the value to a broker whether one is selling home or buying home. This could amount to a lot of cash, however, Help-U-Sell seem to be the answer to these woes, with their set fee system as opposed to a percentage brokerage system, they can save a lot of cash, and we are talking thousands of pounds not penny pinching both for real estate buyers and real estate sellers.

Trained professionals at your service

www.helpusell.com are members of the National Association of Realtors and are online realtor services providers. The difference here is that they dont charge you the conventional six percent fee that all other real estate brokerage firms and individuals charge. They have what they call a set fee system for their clients and this definitely works out far more economical than having to dole out 6 percent of the property cost plus the taxes. If you compare the fixed fee the clientele paid to Help-U-Sell with the 6 percent they would have had to pay as conventional brokerage they have actually saved 400 million pounds for their ever growing client base in a single year. That really proves that the set fee system truly is customer centric – benefiting both Real Estate Buyers and Real Estate Sellers, the same way.

Help-U-Sell authorizes licensed real estate agents to help you buy home or sell home. These individuals are highly trained professionals who take you through the entire process of buying or selling a property. These real estate services include listing the property, handling negotiations, offering referrals to other service providers, showing the property to the prospective buyer, and over all providing their reputed representation that guarantees the property to have a clear title. These licensed professionals charge a professional fee set by the company instead of a percentage of the propertys current value. This proves to be a saving of about fifteen thousand pounds, on a property valued at five hundred thousand pounds, for both the buyer as well as the seller. Imagine the things you could do with this kind of savings! New furnishings, bathroom fittings, or just about anything.

Value for money

Another advantage of Help-U-Sell is that when they advertise your property they are doing just that, they will not infringe on your advertisement time and space by advertising their services. This ensures value for money and also getting the point home to prospective buyers. Buyers can browse through over two million listings on their site and then, for a set fee rather than a percentage of the value of the property, solicit the services of these highly professional group and transact a completely trouble free real estate transaction.

The fact that thousands of clients are turning to a set-fee system for selling or buying of property proves the popularity and cost effectiveness of the set fee system. With their set fee system Help-U-Sell is definitely going places after appointing over 60 franchises in the U.S., establishing 14 offices in South Africa and now have set up base in the Philippines, Seems like the set fee system of real estate is here to stay.

A walk-through is an important step in a real estate transaction. To get the most out of it, make sure you understand the terms of the purchase contract.

Check Things the Contract Specifies

When you signed the contact to purchase your new home, certain elements and characteristics were specified. If the home does not match those elements on the walk-through, the contract will give you leveraging position. Consider the following:

If theres a hole in the wallboard caused by the leg of a table going through it when the seller was moving out, the house is not in substantially the same condition as when you wrote the contract and the wallboard was intact.

If you fill up that lovely, large Jacuzzi tub and the jets wont work, there is a problem with the working systems of the home. If you start the dishwasher, and it leaks before the cycle is finished, that appliance is not in normal working order. If all the surface burners on the stove wont light (if gas) or heat to red hot (if electric), ditto. If the heat or air conditioning wont come on, we have another problem with the working systems.

Allow yourself enough time to really pay attention and check on things. Usually an hour to an hour and a half is enough. Dont have a chip on your shoulder. Do be a good business person and systematically check.

If your contract calls for something you cant easily judge and it requires a third party to do it (such as the HVAC service mentioned above), you can request a copy of a paid bill at settlement. This is usually sufficient indication that the work has been done, and you know whom to call if there is a problem.

What If You Find a Problem?

Settlement may, or may not, be delayed if a problem is discovered. If its small and something you can easily fix, you may just want to ignore it. If it is something expensive and extensive, you probably dont want to ignore it. Many approaches are possible, but my inclination would be to go to the settlement table anyway and request that enough money be set aside in an escrow account held by a third party (not the buyer or the seller) to fix the problem. Id pad the amount a little to be sure theres enough. Those funds could then be used to complete the needed work and then the balance released to the seller.

If the seller is not willing to accept the idea of funds in escrow, Id request a delay of settlement until the work has been completed. The terms of such a delay need to be spelled out in an addendum to your contract.

Setting out to use walk-through to change the terms of a contract is not fair. However, if a walk-through shows that the terms of your contract have not been met, you need to figure out how to get things back on track and are behaving appropriately when you do so.

Most walk-throughs go smoothly. Lets hope yours is one of the smooth ones.

Literally translated Feng means wind and Shui mean water. Deeply rooted in connection to nature, Feng Shui is the 4000 year old Chinese are of placement and philosophy that supports living in awareness and harmony with our surroundings.

As the awareness of Feng Shui increases, more real estate agents are being asked to show buyers homes with good Feng Shui. If a real estate agent has knowledge of this ancient and highly respected design philosophy will assists himher to:

Increase the value, marketability, and emotional appeal of a home.
Build confidence with Feng Shui savvy buyers and sellers.
Provide solutions to remedy a homes Feng Shui energy challenges.
Build referrals by selling Feng Shui friendly homes that support the well being of your clients and their sphere of influence.

This section will explain the 5 Feng Shui tips for your references.

Tip 1 : Main Entrance