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"The toughest thing about success is that you've got to keep on being a success."

Irving Berlin



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Featured Real Estate Articles

6 Reasons Why John Reese's VRE(Virtual Real Estate) Concept Is The Way To Go In 2006
Who would of ever guessed that Virtual Real Estate on the Internet would one day make many netpreneurers thousands, if not, millions of dollars. I know I sure didn't when I first got started online, but am glad I ran across the concept while searching ...

Flipping Real Estate Can be Risky Business
The art of flipping property may seem like the road to quick riches, but it's anything other than that for the majority of investors. Only a small percentage of people who buy real estate to flip it actually make a quick profit, according to a new survey. ...

Real Estate Website Scams
Many still say the Internet is like the Wild West. When it comes to the proliferation of scams, this is certainly true! As webmaster for over two dozen legal, real estate, and other business oriented websites, we receive a lot of email and phone ...




3 Pitfalls to Avoid When Playing in the Real Estate Game
 
So you've seen your umpteenth infomercial with the guy in his neatly pressed button-upped white T-Shirt grinning ear to ear waving his rock-solid no-money-down rags-to-riches real estate investment course for 3 easy payments of a gazillion dollars (but only if you call now) and now you are thinking, "wow this looks like a great deal, I better get it fast before the special offer expires." You notice how there's always a special offer? Anyway, I am not saying this guy isn't telling the truth, however regardless of which course or school of thought you buy into there are several key areas that one must avoid when engaging in any real estate related transaction.

Pitfall Number 1: Don't Overpay!

The whole point in investing is to find properties that are undervalued. How does one find out what is undervalued versus overvalued? Without getting into technical details, the bottom line is you need experience. Yes much like shopping for anything else, real estate is essentially one of the highest ticket items in the shopping center of life. It's advisable to stick with one market, perhaps the one closest to you in proximity as a starting off point. Through your experience and asking the right questions, you will eventually have a feel for the pulse of the market you are looking after, and of course identify what is considered a good buy.

Pitfall Number 2: Know the Market

Yes, you are actually going to have to do more work! This part is really common sense though, but executing it where the beauty and the payoff comes in. How do you make money in real estate? The most basic way is to buy low and sell high. So from the first step, you have identified general trends in the value of homes, and are pretty good at spotting undervalued homes. Assuming you acquire that home, you may want to profit from it by selling it off to someone else for a higher price. How can you do this? Well there are many ways. For one, most markets appreciate in value over time so if you want a longer term approach that will work. Making upgrades to the property will automatically raise the price of the home as well. Think in terms of what the market wants, not what you personally want. You aren't the one buying it; you are trying to sell it to someone else for a higher price than you bought it.

Pitfall Number 3: Know Your Budget

It may be a fine philosophy to go through life on a whim, but real estate is serious business, and thus diligent financial planning and budgeting is critical to your success. Don't worry you don't need to be a finance geek, however you need to be disciplined and know your budget from the onset, or you may be finding you are learning that you need to make certain renovations or upgrades, and didn't anticipate it going over to a certain cost. Think ahead as to what is needed before actually going forth with investing in real estate.

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Real Estate News

Feds charge Boston real estate executive with illegal campaign contributions - Boston Globe
... illegal campaign contributions to Massachusetts candidates running for Congress. Martin Raffol, 54, executive vice president of the residential ... Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, State Senate,

Real estate tax to be on Missouri ballot - News-Leader.com
Earlier this month the Missouri secretary of state's office concluded that too few signatures were submitted for the initiative to appear. Cole County Circuit Judge Paul Wilson effectively overruled that and ...

Mo. judge orders petition to block real estate transfer tax to appear on November ballot - FOX2now.com
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri judge has ordered a real estate tax initiative to appear on the November ballot. Cole County Circuit Judge Paul Wilson ruled Tuesday that supporters of the ballot measure ...

Real estate economist gives forecast - San Diego Union-Tribune
Do you find yourself constantly whining: “Enough already. When is the economy and housing market going to turn around?” Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors, gave his ...