10 Big Mistakes Novice Real Estate Investors Make

Buying real estate is as popular as ever, and it seems pretty straightforward at first glace. With mortgage interest rates at all time lows and plenty of real estate to buy, many investors truly believe that they can do a bit of cosmetic work, accessorize a bit, and then put up the for rent or for sale sign. Unfortunately, it is not quite that easy and there are some common mistakes that can be avoided if one plans ahead and truly understands what he or she is getting into before investing.

Don't Fall In Love

The first rule of thumb when you are investing in real estate is that you cannot fall in love with any one property. When you are looking at real estate to buy for investment purposes you can't think like a homeowner, you must think like a business owner. Don't think about what you like about a home or a piece of real estate, think about how well it will sell or rent in the current market.

Not Exercising Due Diligence

When you invest in real estate you can't simply invest if the property looks good at face value. A very thorough inspection of the structure needs to be done as well as research on the local market. One must also look into the vacancy rates and average rents for homes or structures that are comparable. A diligent business owner will also look into how the neighborhood is zoned as well as any regulations that will apply to the rental property. You will also want to check into how many other rental properties are in the area and if they are comparable to the property you are looking at.

Forgetting the Rule about Time and Money

Many new investors forget that all home improvements are not as cheap and as straightforward and they hoped that they would be. The rule that most investor's use is that it will take twice as long and three times the money than you would think to ready a unit for rent or sale. Real estate isn't transformed over night, so one must plan accordingly. Failing to plan ahead for this can leave you in a real bind where you lose money because you don't have the resources to complete a project.

Believing You'll Secure the Lowest Mortgage Rates

Television can be very deceiving for those that are in the real estate investment business. The low mortgage rates are not offered for just anyone, they are for owner occupied homes, which are considered much less of a risk than a unit that is rented out. Homes that will not be owner occupied will experience mortgage rates that are 1.5 to 2% higher, which can make for a huge difference in monthly payments for the investor and his or her tenants. You also need to be aware of your credit, if you have terrible credit you won't have much luck getting a loan, but the better your credit is the better your rate will be.

Failing to Pre-Screen Tenants

Many new landlords are so anxious to get their new tenants moved in that they forget all about screening them to be sure that they have a relatively clean credit history, they are gainfully employed, and that they have a good rental history. While screening tenants can take a bit longer than you might like to wait, it's easier to get this done than to try to evict a tenant. It's always better to pre-screen than deal with the headaches later.

Breaking Your Own Rules

New investors often set business rules for themselves, and then occasionally they get a bit soft. If you have established rules about what day the rent is due, pet policies, waterbeds, or lawn care, stick with those rules. The minute you stop obeying your own rules you set your self up for disaster. If you stick to your rules and you refuse to break them no matter the situation, you will find that you are much more successful in a business sense.

Investing in Obscure Areas

Generally, it is not a good idea to invest in properties that you cannot visit regularly. Long distance real estate investments leave you out in the cold and you may have no idea what is going on in or around your property. It is a good rule of thumb to only invest in areas that you live.

Paying More than the Property Is Worth

New investors often do not do the proper research and end up paying more for a property than it is worth. When you are investing you have to think about yourself, even if that means that you have to low-ball the seller at first. Investing in real estate is all about getting the right price for you. You need to know that you can cover your mortgage and your expenses from a rental payment, so really consider what the local market will allow.

Failing to Look into the Competition

It's a good idea to look at the competition, especially if they are successful. Lower payments, exciting features, and more will often help fill rental units. Pay attention to what works in your area and duplicate it if possible.

Not Acquiring Enough Insurance

Being under insured is a common mistake of new real estate investors. You need to know that your insurance company will cover accidents on the property as well as damage due to fires or natural disasters.

As you can see, there are a lot of mistakes that you can make. Luckily, if you plan ahead and do not rush into real estate investment you can avoid a lot of these pitfalls, saving you a lot of time and money. Avoiding mistakes will help you become a much more successful real estate investor.

Andrew owns a website that offers useful guide on real estate business. Vist his website at: http://www.buy-and-sell-house-fast.com/ for more tips.

Government Guaranteed Loans Good Source Of Capital For Entrepreneurs

Guaranteed loans are one of the best sources of funds for people who are in need of additional capital. This is especially true for those small and medium scale entrepreneurs who are still starting out in their business. Starting out in a business is often very difficult, especially if you have limited funds to run your operations. More often than not, small and medium size entrepreneurs who are starting out have some of the most innovative businesses in the country. They may find themselves in a difficult situation when trying to get additional capital for their business. The typical reason why most banks and lending institutions tend to shy away from innovative entrepreneurs is that the business that these entrepreneurs are engaged into is still very novel and untested in the market. To compound the difficulty of the situation, most of these entrepreneurs do not have the necessary properties to serve as collateral for the loan.

More often than not, small and medium size businesses tend to die out shortly after they are started, due to lack of necessary capital to run the operations. However, with government guaranteed loan programs, qualified entrepreneurs may now be able to get loans to finance their business operations, even if they do not have the necessary collateral to back their loans. As long as the entrepreneur qualifies under the guidelines of the government guaranteed loan program, he or she may take out a loan at the affiliated banks and lending institutions without much trouble. Since the government has guaranteed that if he or she fails to pay the loan, the government through its designated agency, will purchase the loan from the bank or the lending institution concerned, there is little concern overall.

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Tennessee Home Buying

Maybe you?re buying your first home in Tennessee, or perhaps you?re relocating to Tennessee from another state. Either way, it?s important that you educate yourself on Tennessee home loans before shopping for a home and mortgage. This article explains what you?ll need to know before buying a home in Tennessee:

The price of homes in Tennessee varies widely between zip codes. For example, in Nashville, Tennessee, the median price of a home in the summer of 2005 was $209,000; however, the median price of a home in Knoxville, Tennessee, was $175,000. Overall, the median price of a home in Tennessee in between July 2004 and July 2005 was $166,400.

Tennessee has a very active housing market, and home prices in Tennessee appreciate at a rate comparable to the national average. Between July 2004 and July 2005, home prices in Nashville, Tennessee, rose by 9.5% from the previous year. However, the rate of job growth in Tennessee during the same year was only half of the average national job growth rate.

Many Tennessee organizations banded together to create the Tennessee Home of Your Own Program -- a program to help people with disabilities purchase their own home. Through this program, Tennessee residents with disabilities can get technical assistance with the home-buying process and assistance with down payment and closing costs. Additionally, this program offers home-ownership classes to people with disabilities.

Before closing on the purchase or sale of a home in Tennessee, buyers and sellers need to be aware of a Tennessee law that prohibits the use of personal checks in amounts greater than $1000 for costs associated with loan closing. If loan-closing costs are going to be greater than $1000, the buyer or seller will have to pay by a cashier?s check, wire transfer, or cash.

Jessica Elliott recommends that you visit Mortgage Lenders Plus.com for more information about Tennessee Mortgage Rates and Loans.

Real Estate Investment Trusts

Royalty trusts, in Finance, are classic flow-through investments vehicles. The trust, like a mutual fund, holds a portfolio of assets, which can be anything from producing oil and gas wells to power generating stations to interests in land. The net cash flow, i.e. the total cash flow minus revenues, is passed on to the unit-holders as distribution.

The purpose of a Real Estate Investment Trusts is to reduce or eliminate corporate income taxes. In the United States, where they are generally more widespread as investment vehicles, Real Estate Investment Trusts pay little or no federal income tax but are subject to a number of special requirements set forth in the Internal Revenue Code, one of which is the requirement to distribute annually at least 90 percent of their taxable income in the form of dividends to shareholders.

Real Estate Investment Trusts are, therefore, a special type of royalty trust. They specialize in real property, anything from office buildings to long-term care facilities. For illiquid assets like real estate, closed-end funds of this type make good sense. Open-end or ‘mutual' real estate funds are subject to new money and redemption problems, entirely absent in closed-end trusts. The first Real Estate Investment Trust was introduced in the United States in 1960. The vehicle was designed to facilitate investments in large-scale income-producing real estate by smaller investors. The US model was simple, enabling small investors to acquire equity interests in vehicles holding large-scale commercial property.

But the birth of Real Estate Investments Trusts as a mass investment vehicle can be traced directly to the liquidity crisis encountered by open-end real estate mutual funds all the way back to 1991-92, during the slowdown of real estate that characterized those years. Faced with redemption demands on the part of unit-holders, real estate mutual funds were presented with the unpalatable option of selling valuable real properties into a distressed market to raise cash. Many of them, therefore, chose to close off redemptions and converted into Real Estate Investment Trusts, since then most commonly known as REIT's. Only a few open-end real estate mutual funds continue to own real estate directly. Most now invest in shares of real estate-related companies.

The typical REIT usually distributes about 85 to 95 percent of its income (rental income from properties) to the shareholders, usually on a quarterly basis. This income gets a special tax break, because REIT's shareholders are entitled to a deduction for the pro-rata share of capital cost allowance (depreciation on the real properties). As a result, a high percentage of the distributions are normally tax-deferred. However, the amount will vary from year to year and will differ depending on the particular REIT.

As with royalty trust, the value of tax-deferred income will reduce the adjusted cost base of the shares owned. For example, if an investor purchases 1,000 units at $15.50 per unit, receives $3,000 ($3.00 per share) in aggregate tax-deferred distribution over time, and the sells the shares for $17.50 each, the capital gain will be calculated as follows:

[1,000 x ($17.50 - $15.50 + $3.00) = $5,000 before adjustments for commissions. In Canada, this gain will be subjected to capital gain treatment, so only 50 percent or $2,500 will be included in income and taxed accordingly. In fact, Canada allows preferential tax treatment to REIT's by making them RRSP-eligible and by not considering them foreign property (which would taxed at a higher rate), so long as the real estate portfolio does not contain non-Canadian property in excess of the allowable limit.

REIT's yields and the market price of units tend to be strongly influenced by interest rates movements. As rates drop, prices of REIT's rise thus causing yields to drop. On the other hand, when interest rates rise, prices of REIT's drop thus causing yields to rise.

For example, when interest rates were pushed up by both the Federal Reserve Board and the Bank of Canada all the way back in 2000, the typical REIT was yielding close to 14 percent as prices per share fell. When interest rates subsequently dropped, yields fell to less than 10 percent as demand for REIT's increased thus pushing share prices higher.

This is a very important consideration to be kept in mind when investing or otherwise trading units involving this type of trusts. If interest rates appear to be poised to rise, investors may want to defer purchases, and those who own this type of shares already may consider reducing their exposure by selling and take in some profit.

There are typically two catches with REIT's. The first is that since investors are ‘unit-holders' rather than shareholders, they are potentially jointly and severally liable together with all other unit-holders (plus the trust itself) in the eventuality of insolvency. Instead of limited liability, investors rely on the REIT's management to have property, casualty and liability insurance, prudent lending policies and other reasonable safeguards in place. Nevertheless there is always the possibility of a problem - say a catastrophic fire or a building collapse - that is not covered by insurance. This may have seemed like a very small matter prior to the attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001. Since then, however, it is something that has to be taken seriously.

The second problem with REIT's is less transparent. All real estate properties depreciate in value over time (not the land, only the buildings). Depreciation can be somewhat slowed down by earmarking at times significant amounts of money for maintenance and renewal of facilities. Since most of the REIT's income is being distributed and the capital cost allowance is being allocated to investors, investors are factually getting their own capital back over time. As such, the book value of the underlying real properties will be steadily depleting.

Obviously, if real estate markets are on the upswing the depreciation factor will not be overly important, since it will be offset by the appreciation of the underlying assets. But in essence, the point is that the long-term income stream is quite variable, certainly more variable than some managers would have investors believe.

As stated above, the inverse relationship between interest rates and prices of REIT's shares plays an important role. On average, it is safe to assume that interest rate increases are likely to be met by REIT's price declines in the Stock Exchange, because increasing rates correspond to a slowdown in the economic growth and less demand. But out of the context of the frantic buy and sell of Wall Street, even a slowdown in the market for single-family houses can actually benefit REIT's. This is so, because even though real property prices are in decline, it is still cheaper to rent than to own, especially during a period of rising interest rates. And REIT's thrive on rentals. In fact, no city is a better environment for REIT's to operate in than New York City, where some 70 percent of residents rent.

Luigi Frascati

Luigi Frascati is a Real Estate Agent based in Vancouver, British Columbia. He holds a Bachelor Degree in Economics and maintains a weblog entitled the Real Estate Chronicle where you can find the full collection of his articles on Real Estate Economics and Finance. Luigi is associated with the Sutton Group, the largest real estate organization in Canada, and is based with Sutton-Centre Realty in Burnaby, BC.

Luigi is very proud to be an EzineArticles Platinum Expert Author. Your rating at the footer of this Article is very much appreciated. Thank you.

Negotiating a Real Estate Contract

Negotiating the purchase or sale of a home can be fraught with struggles, ill-will and nastiness. coming the three deal-killers is easy if you remember one thing. Keep your emotions out of real estate contract negotiations. It will reward you handsomely. Plus, if you exit successfully from a ugly negotiation you still have to endure several weeks or months with the other side. On top of that, you might need to go back to the buyer and seller and ask for a closing date extension or inspection repairs. If wear out the other side early, they'll be much more unlikely to agree to anything you ask for simply because they don't like you or your attitude.

There are three outcome variables when a real estate contract is drafted by the buyer and presented to the seller.

The seller will accept the terms=contract.

The seller will change the terms=counteroffer.

The seller will reject the terms=the end, start over or walk away.

When the parties to a real estate contract accept the terms, it is known as acceptance. Most states require all real estate contracts to be in writing. And, they require that all offers of price or other terms be in writing. You might want to throw out a number out to a seller in a conversation, but it is not enforceable and is considered by real estate professionals as undesirable.

The counteroffer is the most common scenario in real estate contracts. Many buyers and sellers like the back and fourth of counteroffers and negotiations. But, be forewarned, some buyers and sellers have a low threshold to extended counteroffering. My rule of thumb is once you have gone back and fourth five times, you start to bog down the process. Each side should develop a strategy for negotiating before the real estate contract is formally presented.

In some situations a real estate contract is rejected before acceptance, by either side at any time. Some reasons for rejections are: incompatible closing dates or other terms, price, or another real estate contract is presented and it is more attractive to the seller. I am of the opinion that it is better for a contract to be rejected during negotiations than fall-through after acceptance. Like many things in life, accepted contracts are easier to get into, than out of.

Low-ball offers. Much more common in 2006 and 2007 than in previous years. Real estate market pendulums have swung in the buyers favor. That being said, some of the low-ball offers that buyers recently have attempted to negotiate were twenty-percent under list. Sellers of appropriately priced homes did not even respond. The rule of thumb is to not go below ten-percent of list for an opening price offer. If you can sweeten other terms of a contract to counter the low price, it could help keep you in good graces with the seller.

Counteroffers are like volleyball. Each time an counteroffer is given back to the other side, you will start to know where they want to go on price and terms. If sellers or buyers don't move off their original price much, they are showing signs of digging in their heals, don't expect much movement, each round. Early signs of rigidity in counteroffers tell me to buckle your seatbelt another notch, because the other side is not flexible.

The take-it-or-leave-it offer. Sometimes negotiations get near an impasse. The other side might call your bluff and say this is it, take-it-or-leave it. If you developed a strategy as I mentioned earlier, you will know what to do with the ultimatum. And, I hate to say it, the folks who do these ultimatums also like to try and come back after you've met the ultimatum and ask for another bump. No, no, and no.

Highest and best offer. Sometimes sellers or their agents get restless in negotiations and want to call your bluff. They'll say give us your highest and best offer. This is a tricky situation, sometimes if your not in love with a home, you might withdraw the offer and not tip your hand. Especially if you might revisit it later after pursuing other homes.

Bidding Wars. Going into bidding wars is not for the faint of heart. You will probably over-pay for the home, but if you truly want it, it's okay. You might though have to come up with some extra cash for the down-payment if it doesn't appraise out, at an inflated price. One of the main problems in bidding wars is not knowing how many offers are on the table. Real estate license laws usually favor the listing agent 's need for confidentially with their client, the seller. I've also seen all the offers drop out except for one, and you end up negotiating against yourself. I tell my clients to not participate in a multiple offer situation. They become competitive and emotional, I prefer to stay on the sidelines until the dust settles. Since you haven't tipped your hand, if you are invited to submit your contract after the multiple peter out, you will have a fresh slate with all the frenzy just a learning experience for the sellers.

Don't be rushed through negotiations. I have seen contracts put into acceptance in hours and at the worst, weeks. I would say, a good negotiation should take no more than two days, with five rounds of counteroffers. If either side starts to delay their response to a counteroffer more than one day, it's a red flag. Give reasonable deadlines for a response to all your counteroffers.

Full price offers. Sometimes if a home is priced right and new to the market, and you really want it, offer full price. I've seen homes slip away over a thousand dollars, and in the scheme of things or as a ratio of list price, it's dumb.

Withdrawing an offer. If you are working with unreasonable people, or terms that are agreed to are change and continually in flux, walk away. First though, withdraw the offer. Withdrawing can really tell the other side that they are unreasonable. Sometimes they get it, sometimes they don't. But, most houses are worth the trouble of torture-some sellers or buyers.

Keep a written record of negotiations. It's easy after a couple of rounds to forget that you agreed to leave the basement refrigerator, or as a buyer to shorten your mortgage contingency, make sure you write down all the changes each round, all experienced real estate agents do.

Mark Nash, is a residential real estate author, broker, columnist and writer based in Chicago. His fourth book 1001 Tips for Buying and Selling a Home received eighteen five star reviews on Amazon.com. His latest book; Real Estate A-Z for Buying & Selling a Home will be published in December 2006. Mark publishes a free monthly ezine for real estate professionals. Agent to Agent features ten articles that offer free reprints for agents, home buyers and sellers through EzineArticles.com . Real estate news and book reviews, Celebrity Homestyles, Home selling and buying tips and advice, Joke-of-the-Month, Help this Agent, and agent marketing tips. Over 5000 subscribers in the U.S. & Canada. Subscribe at: http://www.1001realestatetips.com/forrealestateagents.html

Find Real Estate Notes

The Internet is an ideal place to look for real estate notes. Lots of websites offer information on real estate notes for sale. These websites contain relevant information such as the value, dates and contact numbers. Websites often provide long lists of real estate notes offered for sale. Those advertisers charge you a small fee for their services. The greatest advantage of an online search is that you can compare prices and assess the viability of several real estate notes. You can also aim for high discount rates.

Lots of real estate note brokers are out there. They can advise you on where to find real estate notes and how to purchase them profitably. Real estate note brokers are able to tell you about the odds of purchasing. If you hunt for real estate notes on your own, you will have to handle the paperwork associated with the deal. Real estate note brokers can do the paperwork for you and help you observe all legal formalities. As all real estate dealings can invite legal complications, it is highly advisable to seek the help of an agent or broker. You will have to pay a small fee for the services of real estate note brokers.

Real estate notes are also often advertised in newspapers and real estate journals.

Another way to find real estate notes is through family, friends and well-wishers. Yet another method is to keep track of the real estate business in your area. Through this, you can get an idea of the real estate notes that exist in your area.

Sell Real Estate Notes provides detailed information on Find Real Estate Notes, Real Estate Note Brokers, Real Estate Note Buyers, Real Estate Note Listings and more. Sell Real Estate Notes is affiliated with Sell House By Owner.

Buyer Beware of Excessive Home Improvements

When shopping for a home, many buyers view improvements to properties as positive sign. In general, this is logical but a buyer must be careful.

A time-tested approach to making money in real estate is to buy a home, make improvements to it and then reap the appreciation gain when you resell the home. While this approach has certainly worked for many, it can lead to disastrous results for seller and unwary buyers.

When a person purchases a home, they buy it for both the current appearance and their vision of how they can improve it. The improvement vision tends to be an emotional decision, one that can lead to financial problems. While improvements area a good idea, most people do not take the time to evaluate how much they can spend on improvements and still make a profit on the resale of the property. Instead, they overspend on improvements and then realize the comparable homes in the neighborhood will not support a price that recoups the cost of improvements.

For instance, the seller may put $100,000 into new bathrooms and kitchen accessories only to realize the appreciation from such improvements is $50,000. In an effort to resolve this issue, the seller will list with a high price and is usually not particularly motivated to lower that price in negotiations until the property has sat on the market for some time.

As a buyer, you have to be very careful when considering the purchase of such homes. These homes will almost always be priced at the top of the market. While they may look nicer than any other home in the area, you must ask yourself whether there is room for the home to appreciate over time. Often there is not, which means you just end up buying the seller?s problem.

While buying a home is an emotional decision, you must be able to objectively crunch the numbers. Buying at the high end of the market is rarely a good idea.

Raynor James is with the site - FSBO America - FSBO homes for sale by owner.

Creating Great Curb Appeal to the Outside of Your For Sale Home 7 Easy Ideas and Advice

No matter how beautifully decorated the inside of your home may be, if the outside of the house does not reflect what lies behind the front door, you may easily lose the sale.

Potential homebuyers frequently make a list of homes from various internet sites, advertisement listings or through a realtor that they wish to see and then drive by these homes to get a ?feel? for the property and the house. Bottom line, if your home looks unappealing from the outside there is a good possibility your home will be crossed off the list of potential purchases.

Decide to spend a weekend fixing up the outside of your home and stick to a plan.

1)Call two or three local landscapers and ask them to come out for a landscape appraisal but most importantly ?pick their brain? for ideas of how best to show your home. Explain that you are selling the home and wish only to make the most of the exterior at minimal cost to you. In some cases, you might be surprised, particularly during slow landscaping seasons that you can afford to have a professional lightly landscape your property or at least modify a portion.

For less than $500, an associate of mine had a local gardener come in and plant 12 tropical plants, 8 large flowered bushes, trim the existing trees to shape, pull the weeds, cut out sod to merge two planting beds, plant 20 small flowering bushes and throw down several bags of mulch in 2 afternoons.

She also saved a little more money by having him transplant bushes from another part of the property to the front where she planned to create a more dramatic impact. Further, his price included clean-up and removal of gardening debris, which saved her a lot of time after the work was complete. Her soil was very hard to dig into and it would have taken her twice as long to dig one hole as it did for the gardener to dig several; he was familiar with such difficult work and he had all the right tools to do it quickly. My associate only paid him to service the front beds while she saved money by cleaning up the smaller side beds on the side property by doing it herself. (The gardener even let her borrow his expert tools as long as she promised to return them the following day, which she did.)

You might be surprised at the minimal but well-worth price of hiring a professional gardener, particularly if you find a local, one-woman/man operation with low overhead. Someone starting a new business might also be less expensive in trying to build a clientele while my associate in turn offered to advertise the gardener?s services by keeping business cards on hand during real estate visits.

Consider having him/her do a portion of the work and then do the less difficult areas of your home yourself. Even if you do not have a landscaping budget, call a few local gardeners to come out for a quote just to get some great landscaping ideas you can use yourself. Most are willing to spend a few minutes of their time even if you do not use their services. Take their business card anyway and offer to send them a referral. It is all part of doing business. So consider hiring a professional gardener to add curb appeal to a tired property.

2) Stand at the curb of your property and look the land from the perspective of the drive-by potential buyer. Get in the car and drive down your street and look at the way your property compares to your neighbors. If your neighborhood is well-cared for but your property is not; where the trees are overgrown and the weeds are hiding your front door is a clear indication your home will stick out like a ?sore thumb? and you may lose the sale. If you live in a neighborhood where your neighbors? landscaping is ?so-so?, this is your opportunity to shine.

My associate explained that she once lived in a brand new home in an older neighborhood where few people took the time to landscape nicely so anything she did?add a border, plant a few bushes, and place a park bench near the front driveway with container plants, certainly looked amazingly better than the homes around her property. When the time came to sell this home, she took a ride around the block and took the position of the potential buyer. As a drive-by buyer canvassing her own street, my associate noted that the viewer would see blas? curb-appealed homes and then come upon her own, where the flowers were blooming, the green grass was trimmed, the containers were filled with flowers and the inexpensive park bench at the end of the long driveway looked inviting. So plan your landscape to stand out from the rest and if your budget does not allow for the extras, then the next rule of thumb is to just make the property look ?neat??.

3) Neatness in landscaping is important. If a property looks tidy, the impression you will give to the drive-by buyer is that the inside is neat and well-cared for as well. Even if you are not a neat person, make an effort to neaten up the exterior. Find someone who has a ?neat? eye and ask for their opinion.

Trim the grass and if you have spotted, brown grass, invest in a bag of grass seed and water frequently to encourage growth. Baby-sit the seeds and if necessary, place a barrier around the area to keep children and pets from stomping on them. Cover new grass-seeded areas with hay or grass clippings to prevent blowing away, from birds eating the seeds and to keep moisture in. Water newly seeded areas daily.

If you have time before you place your home up for sale, fertilize your lawn?it can make a huge difference in how healthy and green the lawn shows from the street. If you do not have grass, then create areas with grass. Consider removing areas covered in stone or weeds and planting with either seeds or sod. It is a big project if you have little or no front lawn so elicit help from friends and neighbors if needed. Having some kind of greenery in the form of grass makes a huge difference to a buyer. Grass is a great canvas to making other areas of your property stand out and grass appeals to many who grew up with front lawns or always wished they had one.

If you live in areas where it is impossible to grow grass, adding stone is another possibility however, be sure that stone works in that area of the country in which you are selling. Stone lawns usually fit in better in coastal properties where sand is the foundation and the cost of carting in topsoil is enormous. I often feel that all-stone frontage looks out of place in neighborhoods where lawns are more prevalent and in some cases can give the impression the homeowner really cannot be bothered to maintain a lawn. I feel that stone is not a warm product if used in very large areas and should be contained in smaller garden beds if possible.

4) Once you have the grass, fix up the existing beds. (If you do not have any beds in your property, this would be an entirely different article. This article deals with homes, which have garden beds already in place that need sprucing up.)

Garden beds help soften the hard lines of sidewalks, walkways, and the rigid angle of homes. Once you have weeded these beds, ask yourself, ?Does the design of the current beds allow them to be connected in some way across the front of the home? Do my beds flow?? The reason that I bring this question forward in a Curb Appeal article is that my associate explained to me that she used to have to separate garden beds in front of her home; one ran right across the front left-side of the home and the other ran down the side of the driveway. Both beds were disconnected from each other separated by a walkway. This separated design made the frontage look severed and harsh. So she cut out the sod from the bed in front of the house, around the walkway and made a connection to the bed nearest the driveway. It looked like one continuous snake-like bed and once planted with similar foliage the entire property looked really ?pulled together?.

In doing this she accomplished two things: 1) Softening the hard angles of the walkway, which did not have a garden bed in front of it and, 2) the property had the look of what my colleague refers to as ?fluid design?. The eye now followed a soft flow from one end of the house where the bed began to the end of the driveway where the bed ended. And?there was a small surprise at the end of that bed too, which made the design interesting and appealing.

At the end of the driveway, which is ordinarily dull space, the garden bed ended in a circular shape and she planted just a few extra eye-catching flowers there; just a nice little touch and the colors were appealing. The path up the driveway, followed around the walkway toward the entrance of the home was entirely landscaped and pulled together with like-flowers and shrubs. Not a whole lot, but it was consistent and it was neat.

5) Another lawn tip from my associate?she did not have time for grass to grow in some ugly, brown and bare spots on her front lawn and in some cases, the grass just never grew back at all. She cut around the bad areas and made a teardrop-shaped cut out on that spot and filled it in with a few container plants she had growing in the yard. My colleague arranged the containers on 3 different levels?small, medium and large and then filled around the containers with mulch to even things out. The arrangement looked very nice. One of her empty containers (she often picks them up in the dollar store or finds disposed of in construction sites), she cut in half and placed it cut-side down on the bare spot on the lawn in front of the 3 flower-filled containers. She filled the cut container with soil and threw in a handful herb seeds, namely dill and in about 2 weeks; the container flowed with pretty green herbs and ?spilled out? the container onto the ground covering the area cut out from the lawn. It made a nice presentation and was not too ?much? and at the same time hid the very worse part of our property. My friend noticed that even after I sold the home, the new owners still kept the container area as it was when she had the home for sale.

6) Another consideration when taking control of curb appeal when selling your home is to remove or trim down those trees and bushes which hide the beauty of your home. So often buyers look at photos of homes, which show a huge tree in front of the house that hides any view from the inside to the street. If you cannot see the home in a photo or in a drive-by viewing, this again reduces the chances that a potential buyer may be interested in your home. No one wants to ?guess? what a home really looks like and if there are overgrown bushes and trees hiding the house, potential buyers do not want to envision having to clear the property themselves. So be bold and trim the bushes down and if necessary, remove whatever seriously blocks viewing the home?s charm and character from the street.

7) Along the lines of seeing a home from the street is the inability to do so if you have cars parked in front that do not always need to be there. Granted, we need to park our cars but if you have the opportunity to take your car to the street or to the furthest end of your property for a few hours on the weekends or, if you have a large driveway and can move the car away from the front of the home, then take the time to do this. Buyers need to visualize the home as it would be if they lived there and anything which detracts from this thought is a non-plus for you as the seller. Weekends are usually the busiest times for drive-by house viewing so if you can move your car to a neighbor?s driveway or off your own driveway for a few hours, do so. It may make a difference in the curb appeal of your home.

Also, as a reminder, if you have any cars, boats or trailers parked in front of your home, which really do not need to be there?a car you were going to work on or an inoperable vehicle without any registration and kept putting off paying to be towed away, make a decision as whether it really needs to be there or not. Call a charity to have it towed away and donate it. Put an ad in the paper or on craigslist for a free boat or project car, but by all means, remove any unnecessary vehicles, which really take away curb appeal and make the property look more like a car dealership or a parking lot than a home.

So the main items to consider when creating curb appeal are to:

?Neaten up the property

?Plant grass or sod wherever possible ? if not possible, hide bad spots with container gardens.

?Trim and cut away trees and shrubbery which prevent drive-by buyers from seeing your property and the home to its fullest.

?Remove cars on higher drive-by traffic days and permanently remove any cars, boats or trailers, which will not be sold with the home.

?Call a landscaper for his/her opinion and talk about a quote for neatening up the property. See if you can afford at least a portion of it to be professionally ?neatened? and if not; get ideas from a professional that you can use later on your own.

Click here for your FREE Report - 450 Ideas to Help Your Home Sell Faster!!
==>http://www.michaeltrustrealty.com/

Michael Trust is a native Angeleno. Born, raised, and educated in Los Angeles, and a homeowner himself, Michael is familiar with the challenges of buying, selling and owning real estate in the Greater Los Angeles area. Michael?s blog, click here =>http://mtrust.realtownblogs.com/

His background is unusual in Realtor? circles. With a baccalaureate degree from California State University, Long Beach, and a Master?s Degree in Management from the University of Southern California (USC), and 15 years of corporate management experience in Fortune 500 type organizations, including responsibility for projects of up to $1 billion, he can help you look at your real estate transaction from a broader business perspective. Michael handles both residential and commercial properties.

Austin Student Apartments

Austin, the capital of Texas and a college town, is home to some of the premier public and private educational institutions in the state. Students from in and around Austin come to the city for higher education.

Comfortable student apartments are available both on and off campus. Most of the on-campus apartments are located within the institutions' campus or at convenient locations. The apartment communities of Austin offer off-campus apartments with easy access. Apartments are available for both rent and lease. The rent may be short term or long term, on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. The rate is subject to facilities available in the apartment. Inexpensive as well as luxury residences can be found.

Austin student apartments provide a fairly wide range of residence options from dormitories and condominiums to family suites, houses, and duplexes. Fully furnished units, private bedrooms, and unfurnished apartments are available. Most of the apartments are equipped with a telephone, basic cable TV service, coin-operated laundry, and Internet access. Facilities vary from apartment to apartment. Some have study centers, fitness centers, fully equipped kitchens, spacious parking area for cars and bikes, as well as private pools. Panoramic views of the neighboring area are an additional feature. Medical and psychological services, counseling, and health education are also provided.

Austin student apartments are within easy access to shopping malls, recreation centers, major businesses, and restaurants. Numerous brokers and property management organizations specialize in renting and leasing student apartments in Austin. American Campus, based in Austin, is one of the largest managers and developers of student housing in America. Online sites also give adequate information.

Austin Apartments provides detailed information on Austin Apartment Associations, Austin Apartment Guides, Austin Apartment Locators, Austin Apartment Stores and more. Austin Apartments is affiliated with North Dallas Apartments.

Staying Calm When Home Values Drop

As the real estate market cools off across the nation, many people are getting nervous about reductions in the value of their property. There is little reason for such stress.

Staying Calm When Home Values Drop

The real estate market can be looked at in two ways. First, you can look at the movements on a monthly or annual basis. When doing so, you will see moves up or down and perhaps stress yourself out far more than necessary. Alternatively, you can look at prices on a long-term perspective of five years or more and predict where they will go based on historical trends in real estate. By far, this second approach is the way to go when it comes to viewing the value of your home.

Unless you live in Texas or Colorado, there is no denying that you have probably seen significant appreciation gains on your home over the last ten years. The market has been about as hot as it ever has. Properties in Las Vegas, for instance, were appreciating at a staggering rate of twenty-five percent or more a year. A YEAR! On paper, a lot of people became millionaires because of the equity gains in their home. As always, such growth could not be sustained inevitably.

The gains you have made over the last five years or so appear to be under attack at the moment. Across the nation, we are seeing a pull back on home values because of a cooling real estate market. It is important that you don?t overreact to this pull back. The gains you have seen in the last few years were paper gains, to wit, they did not put money in your bank account unless you pulled money out of your home. As home values cool, it is important to realize any loss of equity is also a paper loss, to wit, you aren?t paying anything out.

A map of real estate prices over the years would show a continual up trend. Yes, there are variations over a two to three year period, but the overall trend is an increase in property values. There is no reason to believe this will change anytime soon. The current pull back on property values will pass and your home will start appreciating again. It may take a year or two, but it will happen. Relax!

If you are seeing a pull back on the value of your home, you should not sell unless there is some other compelling reason. Practice patience and you will see prices rise again in the near future.

Raynor James is with the site - FSBOAmerica.org - FSBO homes for sale by owner.

Housing Bubble Cool Not Popped

Has the housing bubble finally burst? Or has it cooled down?

According to DataQuick Information Systems ?A total of 27,286 new and resale homes were sold in Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura, San Bernardino and Orange counties last month. That was up 10.3 percent from 24,748 for the month before, and down 11.7 percent from 30,886 for May a year ago.? Statistics like these may support that the real estate market?s bubble hasn?t necessarily popped, but has slowed down.

Other facts that DataQuick published, the move-up category of home sales, when homeowners literally move up from a 2 bedroom home to a 3 bedroom home, have slowed down. But the entry-level homes and mid-range home sales have not slowed down and those prices are still rising, but at a slower pace.

Foreclosures are showing a moderate increase in numbers which means this market could be easily tapped by home buyers and investors. There are a number of sites on the Internet which make it easy to access information on foreclosure properties, including PoliceAuctions.com , a site that allows it?s subscribing members to access over 2653 government auctions in its database which include residential and commercial properties. The site will also allow its members to access listings for thousands of foreclosure properties.

Trends culled from DataQuick support the idea that the real estate bubble hasn?t popped, but has cooled down. This cooling trend maybe more apparent in some areas, but otherwise the real estate market overall is still healthy.

Passport to Integration

Yes we need the passport to travel and most of us use it as a form of ID once we first settle here, but the passport I am referring to is not paper. With more and more families with young children relocating in this area they are the ones with the special passport.

Children are treasured here as they are perceived as the future of this country. With a falling birth rate, Spain welcomes families with open arms. Children integrate fast especially if they are under ten years old. The change of language and culture does not seem to faze them.

Once the young ones join the local school, the invites and involvement in community events start. The children are the reason on both cultural sides, all benefit from this liaison, not only in language but broadness of understanding. Children are the common link and from the friendships they form at school their parents are absorbed speedily into the Catalan way of life.

As an estate agent, I cannot answer, the often anxious questions from parents about how their children will cope with the changes. I cite the families I know and how they have integrated, make a few phone calls and introduce them to others who have already settled here. These families are the people I admire the most, their firm belief in making the change in location to benefit the family is only matched by the speed in which their children help the parents integrate. I wish I had moved here years ago with our daughter and given her the multicultural advantage these children have.

We live in a village but work in the city of Tortosa, the positive changes and attitudes have surprised us over the last few years. With courage the little tots come and say ?hello? often with the praise from the adult accompanying them. On a daily basis I get purloined in shops and cafes by all generations wanting to practise their English language skills. With their enthusiasm it is not always easy to stop them and get the exchange balanced, how many of us have got a Catalan or Spanish phase rehearsed only to have the response returned in English. But we keep trying if only to amuse, also the follow incident which happened last year still makes me smile.

Watching an English family with two young children, the parents were struggling to be understood, but in steps the eight year old girl was confident, after a few months living in this country, to explain what the Mum and Dad wanted to say. The power of communication did not go to this little girl?s head, there was an air of amusement to find she was able to do something better than her parents! What also amazed me was how she was able to relate to her elevated status and have fun. Her Mum needed the advice from the Pharmacist but the daughter was going to make her own comments on Mum?s health. Mum was not aware of her slant in the conversation. Yes, this ?Little Darling Daughter? was explaining personal facts and adding a few of her own views to the surprise of those locals within earshot. I was quite relieved that Mum?s non-understanding saved her the embarrassment that the pharmacist now knew what caused her condition and what was said at home! Out of the mouths of babes - Swotting wasps in a bikini is neither wise nor advisable!

Miami Real Estate The Summer of 2006

How has the luxury real estate market fared this summer with regards to residential Miami real estate? People who own homes and want to sell, know very well what has happened this summer, because they can feel it. As far as luxury homes in Miami go, things have come to all but a standstill. Prices haven?t really come down much, and therefore we are seeing a whole lot of real estate for sale, but relatively few buyers. In real estate everything takes time, so prices will come down a little more, and homes will begin to sell. That having been said, it is safe to say that we are in a buyer?s market right now.

Statistics aren?t everything, but they do sometimes tell a story, and in Dade County Florida, which includes Miami, Miami Beach, and a number of surrounding cities and communities, there is definitely a story to be told. For example, according to data supplied by the Coral Gables, Homestead-South Dade, Kendall-Perrine, and Northwestern Association of Realtors or their MLS, in the month of August 2006, that?s just last month, there were 28,712 homes and condos on the market for sale in Dade County, but there were only 1,528 sales. The stats go on and on, but suffice it to say that the Miami real estate market needs a boost, and that is going to take some time. The good news is that Miami is a very special place, an international community, where people from so many parts of the world feel right at home, so real estate is still undervalued. Owning real estate in Miami is always a good idea.

20 Benefits of Steel in Buildings

Steel buildings and metal framed buildings have become the preferred construction types for today?s commercial, industrial, institutional and agricultural markets. Even home building is a growing market for steel or metal frame construction. And it?s no wonder!

Steel offers a large number of benefits to today?s building consumer. From economic (for some, the most important single factor) to functional versatility and flexiblilty, environmental, safety and even health factors, steel buildings provide purchasers with a comfort level that other construction methods can not match.

Below are 20 of the many benefits of steel and metal components in your new building:

1.Steel building components are manufactured to consistent quality and exacting tolerances.

2.Steel is manufactured to precise and uniform shapes.

3.There is no need for ?culling? or inspecting steel components for crown or twists.

4.Metal studs start out straight and stay straight without the warping, bowing, twisting, splitting, shrinking and popping knots.

5.Steel building components do not rot like wood construction can.

6.Steel is impermeable to termites, insects and rodents.

7.Steel does not promote mould and mildew.

8.Steel has one of the highest strength to weight ratios of all building materials.

9.Higher strength means that on-center distances can be wider in steel buildings reducing the amount of material and labor required ? thus reducing costs.

10.Steel and metal framing can reach greater spans than other materials creating larger open spaces.

11.Steel strength allows for taller walls.

12.Metal and steel frames are lighter than traditional concrete and masonry leading to reduced footing and foundation requirements.

13.Steel and metal building components can be as much as 50% lighter than wood.

14.Steel can work well on its own or in combination with other materials.

15.Steel is non-combustible and will not add fuel to a fire.

16.In many cases your insurance premiums will be lower because of this.

17.Steel framing connections are much stronger than wood connections.

18.Steel can be engineered to meet the heavy seismic and wind loads required by building codes.

19.A steel or metal framed building produces much less waste than wood. An average wood framed home generates about 50 cubic feet of waste in the landfills compared to about 1.5 cubic feet for steel or metal.

20.Steel is 100% recyclable. 60 million tons of scrap steel are recycled every year which is more than paper, aluminum, glass and plastic combined.

Commercial Metal Buildings will take you directly to our page on commercial kits. Prefab Metal Building Kits is a website for potential purchasers and contractors alike. Visit http://www.prefabmetalbuildingkits.com for information on the types, manufacturers and uses of the various metal building kits. You will find information on equipment, tools and software as well.

Carefully Consider the Real Cost of that Fixer Upper

If you watch television, you have seen the shows that turn dumps into pristine dream homes. Fixer uppers can return good profits, but be careful when calculating repair costs.

Flip it! Ah, the American Dream to the road to riches. The goal is to find a decent to nice neighborhood with one home that can charitably be considered to have a lot of ?character.? Translating this infamous real estate term, the place is a dump and needs lots of work. Homebuyers can be suckers for these homes. They tend to see a low price when compared to the rest of the neighborhood and think they can make a killing when they fix the home up. This can, in fact, happen, but you must be very calculating.

Can you make a ton of money flipping fixer uppers? Yes and no. If you can do the work yourself, the profit potential is much better. If you must hire contractors to do it, you really need to take a moment and break out the calculator. Many people fail to do so and regret getting into a fixer upper.

One of the place people make mistakes with fixer uppers is failing to consider code requirements. The ?code? refers to regulations requiring the use of certain materials and products in a home. Many older homes are not in compliance with code requirements, but often do not have to be as long as nothing is changed. If changes are made, however, the code can become a problem.

For instance, assume you make some change to heating or air conditioning in the home. In an older home, you may be forced to also update all of the electrical wiring. The same goes for plumbing where older pipes may need to be replaced with new ones to meet code. Obviously, these can be expensive fixes and run your cost in upgrading the home through the roof. What was one a tremendous real estate deal quickly becomes a money pit.

Flipping a home that needs some cosmetic repairs can be very profitable. If you do not understand the full costs associated with the upgrade, however, it can become an emotional and financial nightmare.

Raynor James is with the site - FSBOAmerica.org - home buying information.

Real Estate Agents Evolution of The Shark

Or survival of the most dishonest

Real Estate agents are regarded poorly by the general public. To be fair, there are many conditions that impact on a real estate agent. These impacts can either spit them straight out of the industry or have them evolve into sharks. In many cases it becomes survival of the most dishonest.

Now before all the trustworthy hard working real estate agents groan and moan, about another person giving their industry a hard time, please read on. I believe it is the system in many cases that is broken, and it is that system which shapes many a real estate agent into that predatory shark.

Firstly, becoming a real estate agent isn?t difficult. Most states within Australia have a real estate institute where you can complete a course in under a week. (I completed my course by distance learning in one night and I am no mental giant. The before mentioned groaning agents are really agreeing with me now!)

In the US you can complete a course online and be accredited. All it costs is $99 US.

We are talking a very easy entry point to become a real estate agent.

Now that you are a real estate agent ? with your suitable qualifications, you expect people to trust you with their single most expensive asset, typically their home! Sounds a little bit out of whack right from the start doesn?t it?

Now from an external point of view, real estate looks like a pot of gold. Commission rates of between 2.5% to 3.0% to sell a house. A property worth $500,000 represents a commission of approximately $12,500 to $15,000.

?WOW, I should be able to do one of them each week and earn $650,000 per year. Finally an industry that pays me what I am worth.?

And thus the evolutionary cycle begins. You have an easy entry and the prospect of a huge amount of money. Sounds damn perfect. In fact so perfect it attracts a huge amount of willing entrants with that simple view. Most may I say have the full intention of doing real estate far better than what they have experienced when dealing with real estate agents themselves. Ahhh the noblest of intentions.

The problem is, it attracts far too many people.

Now we have a vast amount of agents all vying for that property sale. The industry cannot support all the agents that are working within it. People rush to enter this industry and there simply is not enough property sales or money to go around.

Now we have the 2nd most critical issue in the evolutionary cycle from person with best intentions to shark real estate agent. COMMISSION ONLY.

Most agents are on commission only. This means they only get paid when they make a sale.

Any agent competing against a vast number of agents for any one property sale, if they don?t say the right things, they won?t get the job. Which means they don?t get paid. It means agents learn to say what ever it takes to get that property listed for sale and then whatever it takes to get it sold. It ?s the only way they get paid. It?s survival of the most dishonest, because many times, potential buyers and sellers really don?t want to hear the truth.

Yes, I can hear Jack Nicholson bellow out to all buyers and sellers??You can?t handle the truth?

Typically agents will say the property is worth more to the owners. This way they will have those owners sign up with them. Because most owners like to think their property is worth more. It?s a simple human trait called greed. (Michael Douglas just stepped in and added his line ?Greed is Good?)

But for the real estate agent it?s a simple numbers game. The more properties they have for sale the better the chances they will make a sale and therefore get paid.

Guess what comes next? Agents learn that it is far easier to sell something cheap. Everyone wants to buy a bargain so the agent pursues a process of marketing the property with such clich?s as ?marriage bust up?, ?owner desperate?. ?bank instructs to sell? and ?owner wants all offers?. They are simply aimed at attracting the most buyers with the lure ? BARGAIN BUYING. Now the poor owner at this stage is horrified at this approach, but the agent convinces them it is the way to attract the most interest. They should know - they completed a course within a week!

Conditioning follows, stage 3 in the evolutionary process. The agent will now try to get the owner to accept less for their property. The buyers won?t offer more ? because they are the bargain hunters, so the agent tells the owner with all sincerity ? this is all the market will offer. Cheap is easy to sell. The faster an agent can convince an owner to accept less the faster they get paid. This is largely the whole auction process. Auctions are designed by agents to get paid as fast as possible.

The sad thing about most of this is that the larger franchise groups have corporate training which promotes these processes as the best way to get a result for their clients. Many an agent is brainwashed with corporate training that simply focuses on evolution of the shark.

Now whilst all these activities are occurring, we have the 4th issue in the evolutionary process. VALUE FOR MONEY.

Buyers and sellers assess the agents? activities. Most buyers and sellers will have at least one unhappy experience with a real estate agent to describe. Yet they both know the agent is paid handsomely.

The owner has the added grief of being very aware, that they pay for the advertising, the sign, the internet, the brochure, which will attract the buyer that they then have to pay for again. Yes, that is exactly what occurs. Sounds quite stupid when you say it like that! The agent may throw it around they can organise a better sign or get a cheaper ad etc, but usually the owner is required to pay. They have training for this process as well. It?s called Vendor Paid Advertising.

Lets not even talk about agents suggesting they have better negotiation skills. They do, it has been finely honed by corporate training to get the owner to accept less and pay for all the advertising.

So, with all these processes in mind, the general public are very dubious about the honesty and integrity of any agent they deal with. The agents counter this with expressions such as ?Buyers are Liars? and ?Vendors are Benders?.

And the evolution is finished. You have a shark or you have someone leaving the industry. Survival of the most dishonest, well it would make for a funny reality tv show.

Da dum, Da Dum, Da Dum, I think I hear the agents circling my home right now.

Michael Eroz Property Analyst www.zeroagents.com.au

Guaranteed Farm Loans Getting A Farm Ownership Loan

The government of the United States supports the agricultural sector of the country by extending financial services to help farmers improve production. There are a number of guaranteed farm loans being offered by the government through your local banks and lending institutions, which are affiliated with the program. Affiliated banks and lending institutions in your locality are authorized to process guaranteed agricultural loans for qualified applicants.

One of the things that these guaranteed loans programs would usually fund is the acquisition of farms. When we talk about the acquisition of funds, it also includes the purchase of the land, which will be used for farming purposes, the construction or acquisition of a building, and the improvements thereon that are fixed, immovable, and attached to the real estate.

Aside from the acquisition of land and building which shall be dedicated for farming purposes, the guaranteed farm loans offered by the government through local banks and lending institutions could also be used for soil and water conservation activities in the farm. Soil and water conservation involves the application of technologies and sometimes would require the purchase of some equipment. Soil and water conservation is very important part of farming, as it will ensure that the farm, the soil, and the water supply therein will stay productive and viable even after a long period of time.

The guaranteed agricultural loan can also be used to refinance the old debts of the farm provided that the debts are incurred in connection with the farming operations. This is especially favorable if the farm has outstanding loans which are already about to mature.

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Biophilic Design Shy Relation of Green Building

Green building is more than just a trend. An often overlooked part of Green building is what is called Biophilic design. The goal of this sub-genre is to bring the outdoors into interior living spaces, either residential or commercial. The introduction and interaction with natural elements for aesthetic and health purposes is beginning to receive wider acceptance as indoor air pollution becomes a growing concern for urban dwellers and suburban ones who live in air-tight energy efficient homes.

Biophilic design injects real or simulated natural components into living and working spaces to promote emotional and physical wellness. Morning sun exposure, water features, natural vistas through window-walls, sky-ceilings, and greenhouse rooms where plants dominate and restore air quality while providing an indoor forest refuge are some common applications of this recent design extension. Biophilic design is based more in a emotional or Zen-like perspective than save-natural-resources Green building. Understanding that nature and natural settings allow humans to relax and is part of our DNA, professors at major universities study ecology and it's effect on our home environments as well as dispositions.

Here are some tips to get a start on Biophilic design in your home.

-Find a room that faces good morning sun and install floor-to-ceiling windows to receive a daily dose of high-powered natural light. Studies show that hospital patients who receive morning sunshine need almost a quarter less pain medication that those with north facing windows.

-Install a sky ceiling in a family or living room. These new ceiling systems mimic full-spectrum light emitted from mid-day skies.

-Place a waterfall or pond with fountain in side a favorite room. Flowing or spraying water adds a relaxing sound to your environment and helps screen out exterior noise pollution.

-Build a green house room with many indoor and outdoor plants, more the better. Put a comfortable chair to use for reading or relaxing in your home garden.

-Use window-walls to allow outdoor vistas in. I have seen homes that installed large glass areas in a well-used room. The increase in natural light and the ability to see from the ground to the sky is welcomed especially in the dark days of winter.

Mark Nash is the author of Fundamentals of Marketing for the Real Estate Professional, Starting & Succeeding in Real Estate, Reaching Out: The Financial Power of Niche Marketing, and 1001 Tips for Buying and Selling a Home. Mark is a contributing writer for: Realtor (R) Magazine Online, Broker Agent News, Real Estate Executive Magazine, Principal Broker, and Realty Times. He contributes residential real estate analysis to Business Week, CBS The Early Show, CNN, HGTVpro.com, The New York Times, and USA Today. View his books at http://www.1001RealEstateTips.com

Miami FL Real Estate Officially a Buyer?s Market

It?s officially a buyer?s market in Miami. Miami FL real estate market conditions have been less than favorable lately if you are a seller in Miami. According to data supplied by the Coral Gables, Homestead-South Dade, Kendall-Perrine, and Northwestern Association of Realtors or their MLS, in June of 2005, there were 3,261 single-family homes on the market in Dade County (which includes Miami, Miami Beach, and a number of surrounding smaller cities), with 1,196 sales. In January of 2006, there were 6,364 single-family homes on the market, with only 687 sales. In August of this year, there were 10,579 single-family homes for sale in Dade County, but there were only 705 sales. September of 2006 saw 11,103 single-family homes in Dade County, for sale; with only 758 homes sold.

The condo market in Dade County has been similar. In June of 2005, there were 5,550 condos for sale in Dade, and there were 1,564 sales. However, moving into January of 2006 there were 11,800 condos listed on the market for sale, but only 915 sales. In August of this year, there were 18,133 condos in Dade for sale, with the number of sales falling to a 15 month low of 823 condos sold. September of 2006 fell lower with a total of 18,974 condos for sale in Dade County, and 805 sales.

This is all good news if you are looking to buy real estate, because there is so much to choose from, and the savvy buyer can make a wonderful deal in this real estate climate.. Thousands of luxury homes and condos available for sale in the real estate marketplace can be viewed on Miami FL real estate.

Alex Shay is an experienced real estate broker, who specializes in luxury real estate in Miami, and Miami Beach, as well as Coral Gables, Key Biscayne, Aventura, Bal Harbour, Indian Creek, and all of the surrounding South Florida community. He has been licensed to practice real estate in the State of Florida for over 20 years, and he brings his expertise and negotiating skills to his clients, whether they are his neighbors, or clients from as far away as Taiwan.

Options to Hold Title on Real Estate

Don't wait to the flurry of activity right before closing on your new home to decide how to hold title to the property you're purchasing. After you have an accepted contract on a home, consult with an experienced real estate attorney to determine which option is best for you and anyone else you are buying the property with. Title is the legal document that gives you ownership or evidence that you own a specific piece of land. Here are some common types of ways to hold title. Check with an attorney on variables in holding title by state.

-Tenancy in common. When two or more persons own a piece of real estate. Each owns an undivided fractional interest.

-Joint tenancy. When a property is owned by at least two people, and all have the right of survivorship, until only one person is left and that person takes sole ownership. Rights of survivorship in some states have been terminated.

-Tenancy by the entirety. Created for married couples with full rights of survivorship. Each person has an undivided interest in the property. These tenancies can be terminated by death, divorce, legal judgment, or written agreement.

-Severalty. One person holds title to a property.

-Trusts. Ownership to real estate can be held in a trust. Control is transferred to a third-party for the benefit of the owner.

-Cooperatives. The corporation who holds title to the land and structure delivers owners or shareholders stock in the specific units. Consult state laws for further information on cooperatives.

-Ownership of real estate by businesses varies state by state, consult local laws for applicable information.

-Verify that your title has been properly recorded after it has been delivered and accepted by you.

Mark Nash is the author of Fundamentals of Marketing for the Real Estate Professional, Starting & Succeeding in Real Estate, Reaching Out: The Financial Power of Niche Marketing, and 1001 Tips for Buying and Selling a Home. Mark is a contributing writer for: Realtor (R) Magazine Online, Broker Agent News, Real Estate Executive Magazine, Principal Broker, and Realty Times. His tried and true real estate tips has been featured on Business Week, CBS The Early Show, CNN, HGTVpro.com, The New York Times, and USA Today. Purchase his books at http://www.1001RealEstateTips.com .

What you need to know about a Rental Agreement?

A rental agreement is a legally binding contract between the landlord and the tenant that outlines the terms and conditions of the rental.

This contract document is made up of many components. They are:-

1. The rental agreement should be very specific on the subject of abandonment. It must clearly define the landlord?s options if the tenant leaves the property without notice?

2. It should outline the alterations that a tenant can make to the property. The rental agreement should clearly state the kind and extend of the alteration that is allowed or not.

3. The rental agreement should touch on the subleasing. As subleasing is very popular today, the rental agreement should state your stand very clearly on this subject to avoid future misunderstanding.

4. The rental agreement should also state very clearly what will happen in the case of defaulting on a payment. The late fees should also be outlined in the rental agreement. The tenant should know up front how much they will be penalized.

5. As a landlord you should have access to your property for inspection. The rental agreement should detail when and how you will be able to enter the property in order to inspect it, etc. State laws vary on this subject and your rental agreement should conform to the law of the state.

6. The rental agreement should state who is responsible for the maintenance of the property. If it is a joint responsibility, it should clearly state who is responsible for what.

7. Payment methods should be outlined on the rental agreement so that the tenant knows how they can pay the landlord.

8. Like maintenance, utilities are a huge part of any rental agreement. It should be clear on who will pay what bill, as well as which utilities are included in the monthly rent.

All of the above are important components to any rental agreement. In addition since state laws differ, a rental agreement can have additional clauses depending on where you are located.

The first place, and usually the best place, that you may want to search for a rental agreement is on the Internet. There are several websites that will supply you with the rental agreement form that you are looking for. One of the more reputable services is located at www.rentalagreements.net.

You have to pay a small price to purchase the rental agreement that is appropriate for your state but it is much better than drafting your own rental agreement and taking the chance of missing out on something that is crucial.

The other way to get hold of a rental agreement is to get in touch with a real estate agency. If you are lucky, they may even be able to supply you with a sample rental agreement that you can customize and use as your own.

A rental agreement is something that you must have if you are going to be renting out any property. State laws differ and your rental agreement needs to meet the laws and requirements of your state in addition to also outlining every aspect of the lease in detail.

Ken Fong http://www.therealestatescoop.com Terra Bites of Real Estate Information

Real Estate Contracts Get Those Forms

If you?re involved in real estate, you know that every single transaction you go into, from the seemingly insignificant notices of past due rent to transfer of titles for properties, need to be recorded, properly documented and filed. In some instances, these documents need to be created from scratch, but in most cases, for contracts or notices that contain very basic information, generic or standardized forms will suffice.

Those who secure the services of real estate agents need not concern themselves with the preparation of the requisite forms to complete a real estate transaction as these are usually included in an agent?s service package. However, for one reason or another, more and more people opt to conduct real estate businesses: from renting a room, to selling a home, on their own. For these individuals, securing the proper documents to formalize and legalize real estate transactions at a fairly reasonably price, is of utmost importance.

Recognizing the growing trend of individuals to conduct real estate businesses themselves, several real estate-related websites have been launched to provide this new breed of realtors with on-line assistance and round the clock support. These sites not only give tips on how to properly market and sell properties, they also provide links to the websites of support services such as banks, realtors, and law firms.

Indeed, real estate websites are a boon to the industry. However, the benefits these sites have on realtors do not lie on the entertaining articles and useful links. These websites are visited primarily because these are excellent sources of the forms needed for every real estate transaction imaginable.

The forms that are available on most real estate websites were prepared by professional real estate agents. The contents and format conform to existing laws, thus these documents will be honoured and recognized by any court of law in the city, state or country.

What?s so good about these downloadable forms is that these can easily be opened through basic word processing programs without the need for special software; and though basically quite standard in format, all the forms can easily be modified to suit the needs of the user.

The downloadable real estate forms can be purchased per piece (on an ?as needed? basis) or as a complete set (over 60 forms and contracts), and once purchased, these forms can be reprinted or reproduced as often as needed. Payments for purchased forms are secure and may be done through the use of major credit cards, PayPal, and even electronic check payments. Concerned about the cost? Don?t worry, these forms are very affordable. A single contract usually costs around $5.00, and the complete set is within the range of $60.00 ? comparable to the standard rate a professional would charge for preparing a single document.

So the next time you find yourself needing legal real estate forms, you now know that you don?t need to run to a realtor or a law office for help. Simply go online, look for the specific form you need, click to purchase and voila, you?re ready to go.

This is article is brought to you by Gloria Smith at LegalHomeForms.com. Created by a former, licensed Real Estate Agent, LegalHomeForms.com was designed to offer instant access to the most sought after type of real estate forms. For the cost of what others charge for one real estate contract, you can have instant access to over 60 downloadable real estate forms. You can find all these real esate contract forms at: www.legalhomeforms.com

Real Estate for Sale in Arizona

If you are looking for real estate for sale in Arizona, you may want to check the Internet for listings or consult with a real estate broker.

If you are looking for a top custom builder of homes, the Dalton Ross Homes may just be what you?re looking for. On the other hand, La Costa Homes is a premium property found in Kingsman, Arizona. Its builders put a premium on quality. Additionally, Esmay Construction showcases quality properties. They has open floor plans and customized features with a flair for architecture. They have new homes in Kingsman, Arizona, and in Lake Havasu City along with the popular Valley Vista Gold Course.

If you are interested in a family-focused Scottsdale community, there is a modern and luxurious estate in Paradise Valley. Perhaps you are looking for a quaint ranch in Carefree or a custom house with a creatively designed golf course or even a downtown loft. You can search for these homes online with the help of agents.

Some online real estate firms offer first timers and veteran home purchasers valuable knowledge to guide them in their decision-making process. They provide real estate reports online, articles on available properties and a monthly newsletter with informative features on the Arizona real estate environment.

If you are the seller, remember not to utilize traditional methods of selling properties such as open houses and advertisements in magazines. Make sure that the agent maximizes exposure of your home to command a good price.

Since the selling strategies of properties have undergone dramatic changes, a proactive approach is necessary. These include agent-to-agent selling, marketing through the Internet, and other new techniques so your property will fetch a handsome amount.

So keep these things in mind to guide you in your search for estates in Arizona.

Arizona Real Estate provides detailed information on Arizona Real Estate, Tucson Arizona Real Estate, Phoenix Arizona Real Estate, Arizona Real Estate Agents and more. Arizona Real Estate is affiliated with Arizona Vacation Rentals.

Downtown San Diego Real Estate

Downtown San Diego offers a wide range of real estate opportunities because of the expansion that it has experienced in recent years. Evidence to this vibrancy is the construction of over twelve thousand housing units in recent years and hotels, condominiums and shopping centers have replaced old buildings. This real estate boom has been accompanied by various businesses setting up shop in downtown San Diego, all indicators point to further vibrancy that real estate investors, homeowners and buyers can take advantage of for bigger returns.

Neighborhoods and notable sites

There are eight neighborhoods that make up Downtown San Diego; these include Columbia, Core, Cortex Hill, East Village, Gaslamp Quarter, Horton Plaza, Little Italy and Marina. Across these neighborhoods are various sites that have contributed to the vibrancy of the area. One notable site is the Seaport Village shopping center, which boasts of open air eating and specialty shops. Another notable site is the Gaslamp District, which is composed of Victorian style structures that are lined with restaurants, bars, nightclubs, and antique stores. In Horton Plaza, there is the San Diego Zoo and a number of museums, which have made Horton Plaza the most visited neighborhood in Downtown San Diego.

Apart from notable and historical sites, there are also quite number of major hotels in Downtown San Diego like the Marriot Hotel, the Pan Pacific Embassy Suites and the Hyatt Regency. The transportation infrastructure located in Downtown San Diego include train stations, an airport and trolley stations which interconnect San Diego to other areas.

Prices of homes

When of purchasing a house in Downtown San Diego, you can expect to pay as an average of two hundred seventy thousand dollars for smaller houses and as much as three million for high priced large houses. Specific prices of an attached house range from two hundred seventy-nine thousand dollar for a one-bedroom house to three hundred ninety-five thousand dollars for a two-bedroom house. For detached houses, you can expect to pay around seven hundred thousand dollars for a three-bedroom house and one two million dollars for a four-bedroom house. There are currently a number of detached homes and around six hundred condominium units available in downtown San Diego. Given the vibrant real estate environment in Downtown San Diego, it can be expected that players in the real estate business are going to take advantage of the opportunities available there.

San Diego Real Estate provides detailed information on San Diego Real Estate, Buying Real Estate In San Diego, Downtown San Diego Real Estate, San Diego Real Estate Agencies and more. San Diego Real Estate is affiliated with Miami Beach Real Estate.

Are You Short of Cash for Your Next Real Estate Deal?

One thing many investors find when they start purchasing real estate investment properties, is they run out of equity or cash once they have a few properties. They find it difficult to fund their next purchases. The banks or lending institutions start to get nervous when they see you are getting a big portfolio and you are highly leveraged.

As any real estate property investor who is serious about creating wealth knows, you will have to get creative about finding money to fund your deals. The banks will not want to know you especially if you are drawing all the equity out of your properties. If there is a mishap in your life or something goes wrong for you, the banks will want their money back and they will liquidate your investment property to get back their money. This is called foreclosure. It is talked about and it does happen. There are heaps of smart investors creating great deals from this unfortunate circumstance.

One way around this money shortage is using private lenders. They are generally people who don?t understand the real estate property market. But the good thing for the investor is they have cash or money tied up in their own home or business, which is sitting there doing nothing and making no extra income for them. You can either do a joint venture deal with them or borrow the money outright from them for an agreed rate and time. Most time these people will be time poor as well. They are busy in their business or lives and don?t have the time or expertise to chase real estate investment property deals.

Once you source a few of them and get some deals going, they will also have friends or business acquaintances who will be interested in dealing with you as well when they see positive results from their friends deals. So long they see it as a win/win, you will be able to keep buying real estate investment property using their money or equity. This is called Other People?s Money. Or OPM.

Each person may want to go into business with you for all different reasons. Some may want to buy and hold, some may want to flip the property or others may want to buy rehabs to fix up as a project. The key for you is to be flexible in your approach to each prospective real estate investor and their needs. They will require some convincing and educating, as they will some concerns. This will be all new to them.

This is a great strategy to use to leverage you further to expand your real estate investment property portfolio.

To your investing success.

Leo Love PS If any of your family or friends are interested please pass this on to them.

http://www.therealestateinvester.com

I am an experienced and passionate investor. I buy typical mum and dad type houses that give me cash flow and capital growth. My website offers helpful tips and ideas for any type of investor to help you with your wealth creation. Using my site will help to prevent you falling into the traps the inexperienced investors do.

Location location location

What?s the first thing you look at when searching for an attractive residential investment property? Do you look at the exteriors of the house since it?s the first thing potential buyers ever see, with a keen eye on impressive landscaping, manicured lawns, a fancy gazebo and an impressive outside fireplace? Or do you look for the house with the most impressive interiors, particularly the one with the best living room, kitchen, bathrooms and master bedroom? Or do you fancy yourself to be a cost-effective investor who searches for a potential dream house but one that is sold at the most affordable price?

It doesn?t matter if you?re looking for a piece of property for your own personal use or for investment purposes. Location is where you begin. The following is a checklist of basic questions when searching for the ideal location.

1. How is the local community, town or city? Is it safe? Are there nearby places that can meet your basic requirements such as a supermarket, schools, gas stations, hospitals or clinics, church, dry cleaners? Do the schools have a high standard of education? Are they overcrowded? Would you feel secure having your kids playing in front of the house? How is access to local highways, major traffic routes, and mass transit services?

2. Is it economically stable? Are the businesses in the area flourishing? Is there a good mix of commercial and business districts? Are there enough business endeavors to provide ample job opportunities?

3. How are the local government services? Are the roads all paved and well-maintained? Is there a capable police force and a dependable fire station in the vicinity? How do local crime statistics compare to national levels? Are there regular community events such as an annual parade and activities for children, teenagers and the elderly?

4. How are property taxes in the area compared to nearby towns and cities?

5. How is the property's resale value? Is the area a hot location for real estate where demand for houses is stronger than available supply? Are there more people moving into the neighborhood than moving out of it?

Jonathon Hardcastle writes articles on many topics including Real Estate, Business, and Finance

Buying And Selling Real Estate: Basics Of The Transaction

A real estate transaction is, first and foremost, a customer service business. Buying or selling a home is one of the largest transactions most people make in their lifetime, and in many cases, it makes someone?s dream come true. A real estate transaction is a large ongoing financial commitment, so buyers and sellers should spend time to know the basics. It always pays to be cautious and analyze your requirement and how much you can afford. Making the right choices while buying or selling a real estate property can be a complex and time-consuming process. Having the overview of basic steps involved in a real estate transaction can help you avoid potentially expensive mistakes.

Any buyer or seller should carefully consider the practical and legal complications of a real estate transaction before proceeding. Whether you are a seller or buyer, you should understand the contract terms in a transaction and how they affect you. Following are the basic tricks of the trade in a real estate transaction:

? Information is Essential: You should be informed about your options. Don?t make the mistake of getting carried away and investing in something that looks great but doesn?t meet your requirements. Learning as much as possible about all aspects of real estate property buying and selling is essential for a satisfactory transaction. Find all you can about the market value of the property by attending auctions, speaking with agents, reading the latest releases of auction results and the prices of properties listed.

?Shop around for the Best Price: Apart from being informed about the current market value of the property, you also need to be informed about products and services offered by real estate agents, solicitors, and conveyancers, and loan providers.

? Don?t Hurry: Never rush or feel pressurized to take any haste decisions. Always keep in mind there is a lot of hard work and a lot of money at stake. Make sure that you are making this commitment for the right property. Once your homework is done you will feel confident that you have found the right house at the right price, the right agent or the right loan when it comes your way.

? Read before Signing: During any real estate transaction you may come across several types of contracts such as loan agreements, authorities to sell, contract notes and contracts of sale of real estate. The rule of thumb is not to sign any document without reading and fully understanding its contents including all terms, conditions and fine print. Seek professional advice whenever required and make sure whatever has been agreed upon verbally are put into writing.

?Negotiation: Negotiation is an art. Learning to practice it in a real estate transaction is very much essential. Many terms and conditions are negotiable in the actual process. Estate agents, loan providers, solicitors and conveyancers, as well as buyers and sellers are usually adept at it.

During the process of buying or selling real estate, you may find it helpful to have a professional real estate agent assist you. Real estate agents can provide many useful services in a transaction. The seller and buyer may each have his own agent. They help you in purchasing land and real estate with built-in equity. Professional agents provide their clientele with land and real estate consulting services that ranges from acquisition to research and development. They also provide you the accurate market value for your real estate property or land for sale. Real estate experts are in a position to advice you about the community and get you just the type of real estate that meets your requirement.

Christine is an expert Internet market professional with years of experience in various industries such as: Business, Finance, Real Estate, Web-Design and many more.

Arizona Land For Sale

Sarasota Housing Market Trends

According to the latest housing price forecasts from Fiserv Lending Solutions, a provider of mortgage and consumer lending services, prices in the Sarasota housing market will rise by 3.1% in 2006. The median price of Sarasota homes in the third quarter of 2005 was $222,000, and between the third quarter of 2004 and 2005, sales rose by 40.3%, top three in the rankings published by Fiserv. Sarasota housing market was only edged out by Phoenix and neighboring Naples in terms of the change in sales price within a one-year interval, between 2004 and 2005. Comparing this with the corresponding projection for 2005 to 2006, there is an indication of a dramatic deceleration of the market. The rates are slowing down and if conditions remain as they are at the moment, Sarasota housing market is bound to equilibrate in the years to come. Fiserv generally forecasts a significant stagnation in housing prices for the United States in 2006. Overall median home prices will only inch up by 1.5% this year. Many metropolitan areas in the United States will experience drops, including some of the largest, and most expensive, ones such as Los Angeles (down 3%), New York (down 2.43%), and Washington (down 1.9%).

Officially, the Florida Association of Realtors report that the statistics for the second quarter of 2006 showed ?signs of a market adjusting to a better balance between buyers and sellers.? All over Florida, existing-home median sales price rose 9% to reach $254,800 in the second quarter; the corresponding number a year ago was $234,500. In a more recent account, Bradenton Herald reported on August 23, 2006 that existing home sales continued to tumble throughout Florida in July. Every market in the state showed a decrease in the number of homes sold as compared to last July but only Naples saw a bigger drop off in sales than the Sarasota housing market. More recent numbers released by the Florida Association of Realtors confirm that sales in Florida dropped by 49% and home prices are starting to follow suit. Housing prices fell 11% from where they had been in July 2005, where the median cost of an existing home was $338,100. The median price for July 2006 was $302,100.

In the Sarasota housing market, residential home sales were down by 39% compared to last year, with the median sales price barely moving up from $317,800 to $318,500. Condo conversions also dropped 20% in price. A most likely reason for the general decline of prices is the difficulty in selling overpriced homes in the Sarasota housing market. No amount of advertising has ever sold an overpriced property.

Derrick Barwick, senior vice president of de Morgan Communities, figures that it will take the better part of a year for inventory in the Sarasota housing market to balance with demand. But even then, the statistics will not return to the headstrong 2004-2005 levels. The National Association of Home Builders also indicated that the Sarasota housing market is likely to remain depressed for the remainder of 2006. Evidently, the Housing Market Index for August 2006 declined seven points to 32, the lowest level reached since February 1991 when the measure was at 27. Only Housing Market Index figures above 50 indicate that more builders view sales conditions as good than poor.

The National Association of Home Builders has been doing the survey for 21 years. It weighs the perception of builders with regards to sales expectations for the next six months as either ?good,? ?fair? or ?poor.? Corresponding scores for each component are then utilized to extract the Housing Market Index. For the Sarasota housing market, all three components fell in August.

With these trends, erosion in the Sarasota housing market activity to continue through most of 2006 before hopefully stabilizing by 2007.

Earl Juanico - http://siestakeyrealestate.com

Property 5 Tips On Choosing A Conveyancer

1. Firstly do you have any recommendations from friends or family? Recommendations are always valuable. Your estate agent may also be able to give you feedback on the solicitors in your local area.

2. Be sure to get quotes rather than estimates for how much it will cost. Fees can vary considerably and it's good to know what the final bill is expected to be.

3. How can you contact them? Some estate agencies may offer an in-house conveyancing service which may be what you are after. However, check how you can contact them and make sure you are happy with what they offer. For example, you may only be able to contact them via email. If you are someone who likes to have an immediate question answered then this type of communication may not best suit you. However, their benefits such as no sale, no fee may suit you well.

4. How busy are they? If they are very busy then this might show two things: one, they are popular which could be a point in their favour, but two, if they are too busy then the large workload could mean that progress on each individual case is slow.

5. Check out online conveyancing companies. They can offer low fixed rates, no sale - no fee options and have extended hours where you can contact them by phone, email, post or fax. You do not meet anyone face to face so again it depends on how you like to work and what you feel most comfortable with.

To find a conveyancer to suit your needs research what is on offer, consider how you like to work with others and then make an informed decision. A conveyancer you are happy with should make the whole process of buying and selling property easier and give you more time to be excited about your new home.

To find your next property visit http://www.wheresmyproperty.com.

Susy Copus is a property commentator writing about all aspects of home moving, properties for sale, estate agent directories and house prices for the UK Property Search Engine, Wheres My Property. Susy also writes for Renovate Alerts who specialise in finding property to renovate and Property Money Maker.