Loans » Investment

Former U.N. Ambassador Puts Faith In Indian Real Estate Investment

admin — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 15:37:05 +0000

Tejinder Singh – AHN News Correspondent

Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – Indian diaspora on the East coast was treated to a visual display of real estate investment opportunities at a gala dinner featuring finished and planned projects by New York based Ireo on Saturday in Vienna, Virginia.

“If you are interested in real estate space in India, be it for yourself – your family – or simply an investment, there is no better place to put your money then with Ireo,” Vijay Amritraj, international tennis legend and former United Nations Ambassador told AHN on the sidelines of the glittering show.

Answering, “Why should I mess (read: invest) in India – when I live here?” the core question of Indian Americans settled in the United States, Anjali Grover, of Ireo, told the select audience of rich and famous gathered at the “Bombay Tandoor Restaurant,” that the projects, some of which are completed, some are in the building stage while others are on the architects’ drawing tables, are all on par with the American standards in quality and safety.

Sitting in the United States, the investor can use easy means to invest and own or sell later with Ireo providing personalized services all the way, she added.

View full post on Economy, Business And Finance Stories

Behind the Rebound in Commercial REITs

admin — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 04:31:15 +0000

With the commercial real estate sector’s vital signs stabilizing, indexes of real estate investment trusts have posted big gains this year

View full post on Finance Stories

Private Lending – How to Do Group Presentations to Raise Private Money

admin — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 07:45:34 +0000

photo credit: Graffiti By Numbers

I recently wrote an article about the the best ways to raise private money for real estate Investors where I laid out the top 4 ways to raise private money to grow and develop your real estate investing business. One of the top 4 ways we use and teach to our students is to use group presentations.

A private lending group presentation involves getting 5 to 20 people into a room and doing a presentation where you lay out the details and benefits of your private lending program. This may not be for everyone depending on your comfort level of talking in front of groups, but the advantages of group meetings are very powerful. When people start to ask questions and tell positive stories, a certain level of group think starts to take effect and can be very powerful on the attendees.

We teach our students to focus on the preplanning and marketing, presentation materials and post-meeting follow up as the key to conducting a successful meeting and getting people to invest in your business.

Preplanning and Marketing – We put preplanning and marketing together because they must be done together. Make sure you have a room reserved that can fit 20 or more people comfortably. It can be a hotel conference room but they tend to be expensive. Other options might include a local library, church or civic groups that allow people to use their meeting rooms. Once you have the meeting room arrangements finalized you can then create your marketing piece with the exact address and time of the meeting.

Now you need to get people to come your meeting. And not just anyone – you need potential investors with extra cash to invest. A couple ways to promote your meeting might include posting flyers in 55%2B communities with retires who might have extra cash to invest. You can also rent a list of local people with high incomes and bank CDs and mail them a letter or post card inviting them to the meeting. You can also place small ads in your local newspaper promoting an “information only” meeting about private lending and real estate investing. Better yet do all of these to help fill the room.

Presentation Materials – In order for the meeting to be successful you need to have a well prepared PowerPoint or presentation handout. It needs to be well organized and show your professionalism. This is no time to “wing it”. Your presentation needs to come off well done and organized where you lay your business plan and why it makes sense for them to consider investing with you. Again this should be “information only” and do not make specific offers to invest or discuss actual projects to invest in at this meeting. Actual offers are done in the follow up to the meeting.

Post Meeting Follow Up – As part of the meeting be sure to gather every ones contact information so you can contact them after the meeting. I recommend a letter 2 or 3 days later thanking them and asking them to contact you if they have further questions. Keep in mind that most will not invest, but if 1 or 2 do become investors from each meeting it is a highly successful meeting.

I invite you to learn more about Private Lending and get my new FREE 20-page ebook titled “Discover the Secrets of How to Fund Your Real Estate Deals with Private Lenders!” by clicking here http://realestatewealthtoday.com/FREE-eBook.html

Mike Lautensack is a full-time real estate entrepreneur in Philadelphia, PA and creator of the Private Lending Presentation Kit. This powerful done-for-you kit is loaded with tools and techniques to attract and develop a consistent stream of private investors into your real estate business. To learn more about this kit and receive your FREE Real Estate Wealth Newsletter go to Private Lending Presentation Kit.

Private Lenders – How to Use List Brokers to Find Money For Real Estate Deals

admin — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 06:48:23 +0000

photo credit: badjonni

One of my newsletter members recently asked if using a list broker was a good source of marketing leads to attract private lenders and, if so, how is it done. The answer is yes but with several precautions.

Precautions

It is important to understand that I strongly recommend that marketing for private lenders is done on a local and low key way. I do not recommend any sort of website advertising or newspaper advertising because it can be viewed as a solicitation to an unsophisticated investor and attract calls from your state’s SEC. You do not want one of these calls!

The SEC and state authorities monitor Craig’s List and other similar bulletin boards for people doing unauthorized advertising for private lenders. When you advertise in this fashion, you can not restrict out of state people from reading your ad and as result certain authorities may deem this a solicitation across state lines. If this happens you may be required to register with the federal SEC.

List Brokers

So how do you market to potential private lenders using a list purchased from a list broker? You can start with a national list broker like InfoUSA or Melissa Data and purchase a list that is tightly defined to fit your needs. In fact, most large list brokers already have a predone list targeting high net worth investors. You may want to go with this type of list or customize to fit your needs.

I would start with people that have significant net worth over $500k and have IRA’s or CD’s investments. This fits the profile of typical private investors. You may also want to add retired people who have IRA’s over some fixed dollar amount. It is critical, however, that you only allow people with a primary residence in your Local County or state. Even once you receive your list, I would recommend you proof it once or twice to be sure you only have addresses in your county or state. I know it may be shock that someone may make a mistake, but it does happen and guess who will pay the price for the mistake. The SEC does not care that a clerical error was made.

Once you have a clean list, you can send each person a postcard or letter. Be sure that the message you use on the postcard or letter is more of an offer to provide more information or an invitation to a seminar as opposed to an offer to directly invest with you. You may even want to offer a free voice recorded message or website where they can go and get additional information about your company and investment information.

I invite you to learn more about Private Lenders and get my new FREE 20-page ebook titled “Discover the Secrets of How to Fund Your Real Estate Deals with Private Lenders!” by clicking here http://realestatewealthtoday.com/FREE-eBook.html

Real Estate Investors – “7 Step Formula” to Secure Private Money

admin — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 06:39:37 +0000

photo credit: ericskiff

First – Determine how much money you need to acquire a certain property and be sure to include the purchase price, closing cost and complete renovation costs. If you do not know the renovation cost be sure to make your best estimate so you do not leave these out.

Second – Start to market for private lenders. Make a point to tell everyone you know and meet “that you investing in discounted real estate investments and are looking for investors.” Show your potential private lenders how to start investing passively in investment real estate. You can also use other marketing strategies such as sending out post cards to wealthy people or putting up flyers in 55+ communities.

Third – You will need to create a presentation kit to educate your potential private lenders to the power and security of investing in discounted real estate. Essentially, position them as “the Bank.” Deliver your presentation to your contacts within your sphere of influence and your warm market, such as business associates, friends, family, realtors, accountants and attorneys to name a few. Some of these people may know other contacts within their own networks interested in investing.

Fourth – You will find that many potential private lenders have CD’s or money market funds that are only yielding 3% to 5%. Your presentation has to show that you can offer your investors anywhere from 9% to 15% return on their money versus the small returns they are currently getting at the bank. If they stocks or bonds they may be even more willing to invest in something as safe as good solid local investment real estate versus losing 50% or more in their stock portfolios. You need to offer them more income with a secure investment.

Fifth – Once you have a potential lender or two that has expressed some interest you need to present your proposed deal. You will need to show them what it will cost to purchase and rehab the property and what it will be worth once compete. You may want to borrow all of the money to purchase the property. Or you may go to a bank and borrow 80% and then use your private lender to fund the remaining funds.

Sixth – Make sure your private lender sends the funds (i.e., certified check or wire transfer) to your closing attorney or title clerk. Never have the funds made out to you or your company. Create a promissory note for your private lender explaining the terms of the transaction and make sure they are in either first or second lien position on the property.

Seventh – Complete the purchase of the property and rehab and be sure to invite your private lender out a couple times to see the progress so they remain comfortable the investment and build a long term relationship.

I invite you to learn more about Private Money Lending and get FREE instant access to a 60 minute audio and 20-page eBook titled “Discover the Secrets of How to Fund Your Real Estate Deals with Private Lenders!” by going to http://realestatewealthtoday.com/FREE-eBook.html

So You Need Money For Real Estate Investments – Here is How to Use Private Lenders For Money!

admin — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 11:10:42 +0000

photo credit: Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

If you have tried to get a traditional mortgage, or even a hard money loan, to finance your real estate investments you know how hard it is to get loans in today’s post-credit bubble market. It is even harder to get “no money down” loans for your real estate investing business. If you are using traditional mortgage or hard money loans they can take two or three months to close. The problem you will quickly discover is that sellers are not willing to wait that long and get angry at having to continuously extend their contracts or wait for your loan approval.

Banks and mortgage lenders view mortgage loans to real estate investors as a higher risk than loans to home owners. They believe if the home owner is not living in the property and if trouble hits an investor will opt to pay their own home mortgage first and only pay for the investment loan if they can afford to make the payments. This puts the bank in a very poor position. As a result, most banks are looking for real estate investors to put up 30% to 50% down payment to protect their interest in time of trouble. VERY few investors have this kind of cash so it is very difficult or impossible to do deals with traditional mortgage or hard money loans.

Real estate investors still are not advised to use their own money to do their deals. Even if you have 30-50% saved for a down payment on your investment property, most real estate guru’s warn, NEVER spend your own money on real estate investments. Most beginners start their investment career saving up for a down payment, but the fact is, serious real estate investors do not use their own money to do real estate deals.

So how do you buy real estate investments if it is so hard to get a loan and you do not want me to use my money to apply to a down payment?

Buying real estate without using your own money IS possible, and it’s not difficult. With the right kind of deal, investment property can be purchased without a single penny of your own money.

Enter the world of Private Lenders… Private lenders are individuals with money to lend for investment purposes. They may or may not be wealthy, but they do have excess cash or assets available over and above what they need to live on. These individuals are willing to lend for a higher return than they can get with bank CD’s or money markets. There are no limits on the number of private lenders you can have or the number of real estate deals you can do using private money.

Raising Money With Private Lenders – 4 Mistakes Made by Real Estate Investors and How to Avoid Them!

admin — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 05:42:27 +0000

photo credit: epicharmus

f you are a real estate investor and need funds to finance your real estate deals, or are looking for money to cash out of deals, there is really only ONE option in today’s market conditions. That option is a private lending program where you allow private individuals who have extra money to invest in your real estate investing business.

But with the current popularity of private lending, we are seeing our coaching students and subscribers making a number of mistakes and thought we would highlight the top 4 mistakes and what to do to avoid them when borrowing money from private lenders.

Mistake #1 – Advertising on the Internet – We have seen many investors get into big trouble with the federal or state SEC regulators by advertising for private lenders through internet sites like Craig List and other bulletin boards. SEC regulators are patrolling these boards looking for advertising violations. You can not be sure that people outside your state may be looking at these ads and that would be the same as advertising across state lines and require a federal filing. We do not recommend any internet advertising for private lenders.

Mistake #2 – Using the wrong words in Advertising – We also strongly advise that in all your written or verbal advertising that you NEVER, NEVER, NEVER us the following terms: Guarantee or Guaranteed, Low Risk, Secured, Safe or Risk-free. All of these terms will attract the attention of the federal or state SEC organizations as potentially false or misleading advertising of securities for sale.

Mistake #3 – Not Using Proper Disclosure Language – I strongly recommend you use a disclosure statement in any advertising material, letters, documents, or other marketing materials as part of your private lender program such as;

“This is not a public offering. This is not an offer or invitation to sell or a solicitation of any offer to purchase any securities in the United States or any other jurisdiction. Any securities may only be offered or sold, directly or indirectly, in the state or states in which they have been registered or may be offered under an appropriate exemption.”

Mistake #4 – Advertising Across State Lines – Most small real estate investor do not want to go to the cost and trouble to file with the federal SEC. So it is very important you only advertise and deal with potential investors from within your state and do use advertising that may cross state lines. That is why we do not use newspapers or internet advertising

As with all businesses, it is very important that you avoid as many mistakes as possible and real estate investing is no different. But with private lending a mistake can have serious and expensive consequences so be careful and avoid these mistakes.

First Home Buyer Needs Self Education

admin — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 03:14:55 +0000

Any first home buyer is at a great disadvantage seeking a mortgage if time is not taken to understand all the necessary aspects toward obtaining a loan successfully. To find the most favourable deal possible, it is important for a first home buyer to do a good deal of investigation and research that will provide them with the necessary knowledge to make an informed decision. Although a first home buyer can call upon the experience and knowledge a professional broker provides, it is still dependent upon the consumer to do some self educating as well.

Preparation in Advance

Securing a mortgage for a first home buyer starts many years before actually needing to buy a home. A first home buyer has to be as attractive a prospect as possible to make sure that this very important loan is approved. In order to be as attractive to lenders as possible, a first home buyer must establish and maintain a positive credit rating in the mid 700s, or higher, to even be considered by a mortgage lender. Establishing rotating credit accounts such as credit card, petrol and retail store accounts and paying these on time will help to establish credit worthiness. Living a product life as an ideal credit consumer will prepare a first home buyer for mortgage approval when the time arrives to buy a home.

Down Payment Always Needed

Unless you have financed, sold and financed a home more than once, expect to be required to make a down payment anywhere from 10 to 20 percent of the total home purchase. While preparing for that time to come, conducting positive personal finance management will provide a first home buyer with the necessary history mortgage lenders seek.

Deciding What Can Be Affordable

Mortgage lending decisi0ons for first home buyers take into consideration examination of all personal finances to determine the amount of monthly repayments a consumer can afford. A good rule of thumb is a monthly mortgage repayment, insurance and taxes should not be more than what a first home buyer experiences paying rent. Since other monthly expenses such as utility, food, transportation and other living expenses may not change drastically, assuming a mortgage repayment should be possible if it does not exceed a current rent payment.

Seek Pre-Approval

All first home buyers should seek mortgage pre-approval prior to searching for a house. This allows a consumer the opportunity to start a process toward home purchase by allowing the lender to examine personal credit worthiness establishing a pre-approved purchase amount. Let the amount the lending institution is willing to “risk” on a first home buyer direct the house search. If that number is not sufficient, certain actions such as coming up with an additional down payment may be necessary to qualify for a larger amount.

Motivation for Action

Any first home buyer that has a pre-approval from a lending institution can engage the services of a real estate professional who has a firm understanding off the financial limits that will direct what properties are show, Buying a house is an important step so spending time looking at properties that a first home buyer cannot afford is wasteful.

Although many first home buyers are looking for that “dream” home, choice may be limited in reference to size, type and place for that very first real estate purchase.

Austral Mortgage offers competitive mortgage rates for both residential and commercial loans. We also provide easy to use mortgage calculators

to help you take some of the guesswork out of your home loan and investment decisions. Check out our special First Home Buyer, debt consolidation and investment loan. Investment loan specialists – ask us how

to structure your investment loan – better manage your investment cash flow – save on interest and costs – stay updated on tax decisions

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Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/loans-articles/first-home-buyer-needs-self-education-1348329.html

Private Lending – How One-on-One Breakfast Meetings Can Help Fund Your Real Estate Deals

admin — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:36:18 +0000

photo credit: lumaxart

Recently I wrote an article about the 4 Ways to Raise Private Money for Real Estate Investors where I laid out the top 4 ways to raise Private Money to grow and develop your real estate investing business. One of the 4 ways we use and teach to our students is one-on-one breakfast meetings.

If you are not comfortable with group meetings – one-on-one breakfast meetings are a great alternative. I generally recommend a breakfast meeting in a quiet restaurant where you can have 30 to 45 minutes of time with your prospect. At these meetings you need to lay out your private lending program and benefits of investing with your company.

Pre-meeting – It is important that you have a good presentation kit or creditability kit before you go into a private lender meeting. This can be a PowerPoint presentation where you lay out your business plan, your background and why it makes sense to invest with your company. You also need to have some sort of creditability kit where you lay your past deals, testimonials, educational experience or certification and any other information that lays the ground work for why you are creditable and trustworthy. Do not go into this meeting with out some sort of information and just “wing it” as you go. This looks unprepared and will not leave a professional image.

Meeting – During the meeting you need to develop a rapport with the potential lender. Without rapport nobody will do business with you. It is very simple – people do business with people they like so take the time to develop rapport before going into your presentation. At the point where you have developed rapport start going through your presentation and allow questions as they will assist the private lenders understanding and allow the rapport process to continue to develop.

It is important that this meeting is about information not an actual hard sell. You need to educate the other person first about your program and the benefits of investing with your company. I would not make an actual offer at this meeting. Wait to a couple days after the meeting to discuss a specific deal or invest opportunity.

Post Meeting – I would recommend that 2 or 3 days after the meeting that you email, call or mail something to the person to see if they have any follow up questions and start to mention a possible investment opportunity. Even if they do not invest right away continue to send follow up information as you never know when the time is right so stay in touch.

Real Estate Money – Where to Get it in the Post-Credit Bubble Market Place?

admin — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 23:41:31 +0000

photo credit: lumaxart

Real estate money and access to quick cash is the key for any real estate investor. Having cash to buy properties is the life blood of your investment business. But where does this money come from in the post-credit bubble market place?

Real estate investors are looking for better financing options as the old traditional sources of money are becoming more difficult to find and qualify for than in the past.

Here is a quick look at some of the traditional sources of real estate capital and the pros and cons of each and a new and better source of money in this market place.

Mortgages Loans: Most real estate investor became very accustom to borrowing money from the local bank or saving & loans. Yet in the post-bubble market place these sources of real estate money have all but dried up. Banks are no longer offering subprime loans or no-doc loans. Even when they do loans they want excellent credit scores over 700, sizable down payments in the 30% to 40% range and quality properties with little or no rehab involved. This isn’t always possible for real estate investor and especial if you are just starting out as a new investor. These loans are also very costly for investor with high interest rates and lots of closing cost. Not only do you need the 30% to 40% down but the closing cost can be several thousands dollars and dramatically reduce your profit upon sale of the property.

Hard Money Lenders: Hard money lenders were very popular for real estate money despite the high cost. However even hard money lenders are having problems getting money to lend in the post-credit bubble and as a result many markets no long have hard money lenders in business. Hard money loans have always had several drawbacks including only lending to about 65% of the home’s value and you have to come up with the balance of the money. In addition, the fees to obtain these hard money loans are a crushing at 5 to 10 points up front and generally 5 points on the back end. The net effect of all these coast is real estate money that will cost in the 20%+ range and you still have to come out of pocket for almost 1/3 of the purchase and rehab costs.

Private Lenders: Private lending, through individuals and not through banks, is a much better option for real estate money in this new market place. Private lenders are willing to negotiate with you for both the terms and amount of the loan that will both fit the deal and there needs. This way both parties are getting what they want and need out of the lending transaction.

Private lenders can do either as a first mortgage loan where they put they put in senior dollars or second mortgage where they are subordinate (behind) another bank or other lender. The cost of private lending is very low as they are almost no closing cost and the interest rates are in the 9% to 15% range with no back-end fees.

Do you want to learn more about Private Lending and how it can transform your real estate investing business then please click here ===> Private Lending Presentation Kit.

The Private Lending Presentation Kit is powerful done-for-you kit loaded with tools and techniques to attract and develop a consistent stream of private investors into your real estate business. To learn more about this kit and receive your FREE Real Estate Wealth Newsletter please visit http://realestatewealthtoday.com/Private-Lending-Presentation-Kit.html and join the thousand of happy investors who have already joined.