When it comes to returning a tenant’s deposit when he vacates a property I have tended to go down one of two paths. I either a) return 100% or b) keep most/all of it. I don’t tend to have a lot of cases that fall in-between.

I’m usually leaving some money on the table when I return 100% of a tenant’s deposit, but for me that’s ok. If a tenant leaves the house clean and the landscaping looking nice then I won’t charge him just because he left a few coat hangers in the hall closet.

But unfortunately I’ve had a couple of cases recently where I had to keep 100%. In my experience these tend to fall into one of three categories:

Continue reading Keeping a departing tenant’s deposit? Make sure your ducks are in a row…

At Thanksgiving our thoughts invariably turn toward our men and women in uniform when they are in harm’s way somewhere in the world.

Our current all-volunteer armed forces is the most effective that our nation has ever seen, but compared to the eras of WWII, Korea and Vietnam, today’s military is further removed from society at large than ever. During conscript days most citizens had a father, brother, uncle or cousin in uniform - whereas today’s ubiquitous motto “support our troops” has become an abstract theme for many.

And it’s a theme which is used at every turn by our politicians as they attempt to promote/defeat whatever partisan bill congress happens to be debating at the time. I understand that most Americans who have a “support our troops” ribbon stuck on their bumper do so through genuine solidarity with our military, but it is a slogan that I’ve personally grown to dislike. It is rarely spoken with sincerity by our representatives in Washington, and generally translates into a show of support for a particular position on the ongoing war, not (as it purports) for those who have to fight it.

Continue reading Thanksgiving Thoughts :: why there’s no “support our troops” magnet on my bumper

I have heard a lot lately about “Subject To” real estate investing. “Subject To” is when you purchase an investment property subject to existing financing. The seller keeps the current loan on the property in place and a separate agreement is signed to make it available to the investor and eventually the buyer’s use.

Here is an example. Jane Homeowner lives paycheck to paycheck. Jane receives a promotion from her company, but has move out of state and sell her home. With the real estate market in her area slowing down, she is concerned it may take longer to sell her home and she will run out of time because she only has 30 days to move. Her local realtor told her she would have to take a financial loss on the home because she has very little equity and the prices on ouses have gone down in her area. She decides to put a classified ad in the paper and online to sell her house.

Continue reading ?Subject To? Real Estate Investing

Hey guys, it’s been a while, but I just really needed to let you know - if you’re interested (and of course reading my blog) - that PLRPro Ebooks has a few spots left. So if you wanted to join them, but didn’t get the chance the first time and haven’t signed up for their ‘waiting list’…NOW is your chance to join PLRPro Ebooks!

Just go to: www.buildvre.com/plrproebooks/index.php

If you don’t know about PLRPRo’s PLR Ebook service, just go and check out this post about “PLRPro Launches PLRPro Ebooks - The Worlds #1 PLR Ebook Provider”

Continue reading Still Want To Join PLRPro Ebooks? PLRPRo Ebooks Has A Few Spots Left?

Much has been written on the ongoing push for legislation to protect consumers in the wake of the unfolding sub-prime collapse.  The House of Representatives recently passed H.R. 3915, the Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act of 2007.  Commentary on this legislation most often focuses on the restrictions that it would place on lenders seeking to make loans. 

But there is another important feature in this bill which will be of interest (concern) to investors.  In case of foreclosure, the entity reclaiming the property will have to honor all preexisting leases.   And you thought that banks used to be annoyed about that REO bouncing back onto their books - now they get the property and the tenant. 

Continue reading Mortgage reform will impact investors in more ways than one

I’ve got some VERY exciting news today…

Affiliate Elite is now available to the public!

If you’ve kept an eye on Affiliate Elite over the past month, Brad has been posting sneak peak videos, contests, and free givaways and I’ve received every one of them. What can I say? …Affiliate Elite is a very impressive tool and definitely worth the buy! But then again, which product Brad Callen created wasn’t worth the buy…

So, today at 12:00 (noon) Eastern Standard time, Affiliate Elite is now officially available to the public.

I’m not saying you should all go and just buy this fantastic tool, but if you knew that you wanted to grab a copy, then head over there now and grab a copy of Affiliate Elite PLUS an extra $400+ in exclusive bonuses, before the first 1,000 copies are sold (or before the end of this day, whichever comes first), as they’ll also be forced to increase the price after the first 1,000 are sold. Not because Brad needs the money, but increasing the price will lower the number of people using the software, making it that much more valuable to those that do own a copy

Continue reading Affiliate Elite PLUS Special Bonuses

32 New listings came on the market in October of 2007 in the Tri-Lakes area, their average list price was $474,794 that number is down $17,861 from September. This number generally fluctuates so isn’t a true indicator of valuation trend in the area.

14 Listings went “Under Contract” in the Tri-Lakes area in October, the average price of those homes was $423,384, up from the previous month.

8 Homes sold in the Tri-Lakes area for the month of October, the average sales price of those homes was $440,833, up as well from the previous month, once again not a true indicator of overall valuation.

Continue reading Monument Colorado Real Estate Market Report:

This week’s Fortune magzine featured an interesting article that puts an interesting spin on the housing market that takes a page from the real estate investor’s playbook. 

Followers of the equities market will be familiar with the P/E ratio, the most often quoted financial ratio calculates a company’s share price as a multiple of its earnings.  A high P/E ratio is evidence of the market’s collective assessment that earnings are poised to grow dramatically, whereas a low P/E ratio tend to stick to companies with poor growth potential. Sky-high P/E ratios are not sustainable.  Either the companies blow up (pick the dot.com of your choice as an example) or they mature, stabilize, and earnings “grow into” the stock price (Ebay, Microsoft, etc.)

Continue reading A P/E Ratio for the Housing Market

Nationwide Foreclosures are up 30% in the third quarter, compared to last quarter - and up nearly 100% over this time last year, according to RealtyTrac.

At the top of the list is Nevada, with one fourclosure filing for every 61 households, up over 200% from this time last year.  California is in second place, with 1 filing for every 88 homes. 

Continue reading Real estate is local, but you should care about national trends

Just a quick note about my brand new FREE PLR Guide called: ‘The PLR Mini Course’.

It’s basically the exact same plr mini course which can be found on my blog (click on the ‘START‘ button in the navigation bar above), but now you can also download it as a PDF file and read it anywhere you go, which I think is pretty cool

(assuming you have an iPod video or any similar device of course)

Continue reading Free PLR Guide - The PLR Mini Course