Tag: selling a house

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Determining the True Value of the Deal

I don’t know about you, but when I first got started in this business I had a hell of a time determining the true value of selling my property, when I bought it, as well as the After Repaired Value (ARV). There were so many variables in determining the value it just eluded me. When I first began learning about investing everything regarding value was cut and dry. Run comps using the MLS, Real Quest, Data Quick or some of the free comp-ing services from title companies. They would give you the sale prices and the list prices of all of the properties within a radius around the subject property. I did learn that proximity, size, age number of bedrooms and baths are important when determining the value. Amazingly enough you can have two houses built in the same subdivision, same age and size and yet the value of the properties can be radically different. Contrast that with a house built by the same builder but in the next development over and the prices can be different as well. All of this has made for a very confusing problem when determining the value of selling a home. A perfect value would be having a house that was the same size, same number of beds and baths in the same neighborhood built by the same builder and the comparable property was sold and closed only 30 days previously. You can then be assured that the values would be the same. Then you have to take a look at the motivation level of the seller and the buyer; just because the appraised value would be the same the market value could be radically different. Suppose the seller was willing to offer better terms for the sale or the buyer was in a pinch and needed to close quickly. This could add 3-7% to the selling price of the house. I know that I have added many different dimensions to something that should have been simple, determining the value the property. I just want to encourage you to think about the complexity of real estate investing. What may seem like a simple item can become tricky very quickly. This is one thing that will trip up a beginning investor, but surely not the only thing. This is why I encourage you to work with the Best Expert Professionals like appraisers and real estate agents when first getting started. Once you have done several properties you will become an old hand at figuring out what the property is worth.

Alameda County • Contra Costa County • Marin County • Napa County • San Francisco County • San Mateo County • Santa Clara County • Solano County • Sonoma County

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Creative Marketing for Creative Real Estate Investors

We all know that we make money when we buy a house and we pocket the money when we sell my house quick. To have a successful business we need to have good cashflow that covers our expenses and throws off money for us personally. Without this we are not going to be in this business for very long. In order to get good cashflow we need to have deals come our way. To get deals we need to have leads and to get leads we need to market for them. As you can see marketing is the “Key” to this business. Without good marketing everything falls down on top of us. Unfortunately this is where most people make mistakes. Either they don’t do enough marketing or they don’t do good enough marketing. Some people think that sending out a postcard once is marketing. Really if you send a mailing once, you are just wasting your money. You need to have multiple steps as well as multiple avenues of marketing. I advocate that you are using 5 different types of marketing to bring in leads. If you don’t have a marketing budget then you have to use more guerilla types of marketing. You have to do more tasks yourself to stretch your budget. If you have a decent budget set aside you can do more and outsource everything. You can use many types of marketing to obtain quality leads. Just pick any five and run with them. Here is a list for you to pick from: Take this list and pick 5 of them and use them on a weekly basis. Send out letters, hand out flyers, hand out 5 business cards per day, place 10 bandit signs per week, and distribute door hangers to your target neighborhood. Quite frankly, if you are not getting enough lead flow, you are not doing enough marketing. Spend your money where it counts. If one of these methods has not been working for you, change it up a little. Test to see what works and then do more of that. Marketing is the key to a successful business. Be different; stand out from the crowd by being more effective. Effective marketing is a business builder and will prevent your competitors from taking your deals away from you. Take action; make a difference for yourself and others. ___________________________ Need more information, give us a call at (800) 518-0215. See how Ascent Property Solutions can brighten your future.

Alameda County • Contra Costa County • Marin County • Napa County • San Francisco County • San Mateo County • Santa Clara County • Solano County • Sonoma County

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Are You Able To Think On Your Feet

As a real estate investor, many things can come up during a deal. You have a choice, you can let it throw you for a loop or you can roll with the punches. There have been several times that during a closing the seller revealed something that I should have found out earlier in the process. It stood a chance of blowing the deal out of the water. When I first started investing it did screw up the deal. After learning more about investing I was able to figure things out and recover quickly from these situations. I talked about the cost of education a couple of weeks ago. These are the reasons that I spend so much on education. I quickly remembered tidbits from these workshops and bootcamps that have stood me well over time. I was able to recall how other investors were able to deal with these. I also developed a relationship with other investors around the country that I could call to see if they had ran into this before. With all of this I have been able to overcome almost everything that has been thrown at me. The more you know about investing the more you can deal with the nuances of the transaction. Also, by choosing the right best expert professional to help you, the better off you will be. Obviously you can not know everything about everything. But you can choose to work with those that know a lot about their main job. Take for example a mortgage broker. By working with someone who knows a lot about their trade they can help your client, whether buyer or seller, understand the issues that have cropped up since the sub-prime headaches have come into existence. This can save you from buying a piece of property that may not live up to your expectations. Using the proper home inspector can help you track down trouble when you buy my house rather than when you sell my house, allowing you to take proactive measures in your deal rather than reacting to issues that crop up. Knowing more than one technique will help you when the industry changes. Take for example lease options and the new laws that are being proposed nationally and locally that will hinder these types of transactions. What are you doing now that will help you if that eventuality comes to pass? Start thinking now so that you can survive anything that is going to block your way tomorrow. Alameda County • Contra Costa County • Marin County • Napa County • San Francisco County • San Mateo County • Santa Clara County • Solano County • Sonoma County

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Choosing the Right Target Market Part 1

When investors approach me about where they should look for houses they are looking for me to tell them a general rule of thumb in distance from their house. I remember when I first decided to become a real estate investor I was looking for the same answer. I read Robert Kiyosaki’s book Rich Dad Poor Dad and was looking for the magic bullet. He said to look for properties that were within an easy drive from your house when starting. You know 30 – 60 minutes or less than 30 miles. That made my decision even tougher because there were so many different types of areas in that range. I could go to one of the highest valued neighborhoods in the country or go somewhere where I could buy drugs easier that finding a house. That really didn’t help narrow down my choices at all. I have since gone to many different boot camps by many educators and each one said something similar. Others at least specified demographics as well as geographic areas. That helped somewhat, but really not enough. It was still a large area with nothing that was really helping me choose the best area to farm. I dug in my heals and decided to do my home work. First based upon the type of investing I was doing I knew that I needed motivated sellers, someone who would sell me their house creatively. That narrowed it down somewhat. I knew that I wanted to be able to sell my house quickly once I was ready so I new that it would have to be in that sweet spot of price. I new that I would have to buy it for less that median price and so that helped me choose an area had a preponderance of houses in that price range. I know that I didn’t want to do a major renovation so I knew that I wanted pretty neighborhoods with newer houses rather than a house that was 50 years old and badly outdated. I wanted people who were more inclined to me motivated to sell creatively so I decided to target people who were behind in payments or about to be behind. I knew that with the sub-prime meltdown the people who had mortgages that had adjustable rates were more likely to be in need of selling my house quickly.

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The Best Way to De Stress a Distressed Homeowner

What could possibly more stressful? Imagine that you are behind in your mortgage as well as some of your other bills. As a matter of fact you are only so far behind in your other bills because you put paying your mortgage first over everything else. Creditors are calling. Your mail box is full of late notices. Your mind is working overtime trying to figure out what you could do get out of the situation you find yourself in. Nothing comes to mind… Of course this is stressful. It’s embarrassing and you feel like you want to just crawl into a hole and pull it in after you just like that coyote in the cartoons. You’re stressed when you go home and you’re stressed at work (if you have work). You’re stressed when you get up in the morning and when you go to bed at night. They money problems are also causing issues with your relationships. Life Sucks… What can you do? Just walking away will only get you so far. There are always consequences. The nice thing is in the Bay Area there is a way that you can get rid of your house with no fuss or muss. Selling a home? Calling us at Ascent Property Solutions will meet your need of a hassle free sale. We buy houses and properties no matter the condition, mortgage and location. It’s easy as pie. We will make an appointment and come to you. We have many ways that we can help you. We have done everything from buying properties with cash, to negotiating with the bank all the way to going out and getting a mortgage ourselves. Many times the only thing you have to do is to come to the closing attorney’s office and sign the paperwork and then it is over. At least that part of your stressful life will be taken care of. You can count on Ascent Property Solutions to be the resolution to your property stresses. It doesn’t matter if you live in San Francisco, Alameda, San Mateo and all other counties around the San Francisco Bay Area. Don’t just list your house with a real estate agent hoping that it will sell my house. Call us so that we can buy your house so you can walk away from your troubles so that you can get on with your life and get cash for houses.