1

2

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by any means, without written

permission from the author.

Copyright 1993 - 2005 Merwin Coad

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter

covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other

professional services. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person

should be sought.

(From a Declaration of Principles jointly adopted by a committee of the American Bar Association and a committee of

the Publisher's Association.)

3

...if you are going to do it, you do the best you possibly can!!

There are three broad fields of endeavor available to the investor and any investor must first make a determination as to which field or fields of investing are to be utilized in order to conserve time and effort by not getting into projects which are not relevant to the investor's program. Let us examine these three broad areas of

real estate investment.

RANDOM CHOICE Surprisingly there are many investors, perhaps a majority, who have no particular plan in mind when they begin their investment program except that they consider owning properties to be a good idea and set out to buy whatever comes up which looks good at the time. The properties selected by this type of investor are usually single family houses which are notorious in starting out as negative cash flows as

4

far as actual rentals and expenses are concerned. Single family houses have historically proven, however, to be best at increasing in value over the years. So, it would depend largely as to what the investor had in mind as to whether this investment is to be a good one or not. In analysis you can become more specific to make this type of determination. The random type investing is not usually found when it comes to properties of any size or significance. In other words, a large apartment complex or a major office building would not lend itself to being bought by a random purchaser. The larger the project the more complex they usually are all of which require great care and precision. The random investor possesses a basic goal of wanting to invest in real estate, as we said previously, because he/she feels it is a "good thing". To make a random choice of a property and proceed with the purchase of it means that there is a certain amount of funds available with which to do this and a small amount of analysis having been devoted to it. In all probability this does not represent the studied approach which is recommended to be taken when it comes to devising a real estate investment program. While this random method might represent what a good many persons do, it is important that, if you are going to do it, you do the best you possibly can!! With this in mind we shall delve much deeper into what it will take to be or to become a successful real estate investor who has developed those procedural methods which will give him/her some degree of accuracy in judging what projects to consider in order to be successful in this endeavor. While the "random" method is usually employed by the novice and those with only a minimal amount of operating capital it is, nevertheless, one way to get started in the business of real estate investing. It does give rise, however, to creating many of the situations which turn owners into "don't wanters". By getting into any project where certain demands are made, especially in the

5

management area, when those demands are not able to be met can result only in owner discouragement. This leads us to conclude that if you are going to be a random investor you must school yourself with whatever knowledge and skills it takes in order for you to be a success at it. Just because the project might be smaller in size or because you might not have hired a battery of experts to advise you does not mean that what is done is inconsequential and unimportant. Quite to the contrary, what is done is all the more important because this may be all that you have to work with and to make a mistake and waste your assets by the use of ill advised procedures could be ruinous. This you must not permit to happen. No matter the kind or size of project you get into be a professional using the best professional tools available. While an investor may start out in a random fashion, it must be said that if he pursues his investing program, he will hardly end up continuing the random approach. As his accumulation of properties expands he automatically becomes a seasoned investor with a portfolio. The very fact that he stays with his program will make him into a practicing professional.

6

Occasionally, there are properties which appear on the market which are absolute bargains in very livable, if not in excellent condition.

One might think that if you buy a property only to immediately turn around and sell it that would not constitute what might be called real estate investing. Just because a person might buy a house in disrepair and remodel it and then resell it on the retail market he/she should not be classified as an investor. Well, there might be some discussion at this point but for the purposes as to what we are attempting to do in this course is to point the way and give guidance as to "how to make money" by dealing in real estate and for our

purposes we call that "real estate investing" for the simple reason

7

that any wealth created will be by using the vehicle of real estate properties. There are more than several sources and more than one way to get into the type of property where you simply buy it only to resell it immediately. Without laboring this point, suffice it to say that the more normal sources are often the best sources. There are the classified ads in the paper; there are some real estate brokers who even specialize in this type of investor properties; there are condemned properties and you can obtain lists of these properties from the county condemnation board; you can drive through neighborhoods and spot boarded buildings; you can pass out business cards and asked those to whom you hand them to call you when they become aware of any bargain or boarded property. There are foreclosure properties as there are IRS and delinquent property tax lien sales. Here again, you must not fractionalize yourself by attempting to utilize all these sources. Pick out one or two and try them out changing to others if you later feel you can improve on your system. Not all properties which are susceptible to flipping and/or rehabbing are in a terrible state of repair. Occasionally, there are properties which appear on the market which are absolute bargains in very livable, if not in excellent condition. The owner's circumstances sometimes dictate that a property must be sold of very quickly and the way to do this, most often, is to lower the price to where it will be bought "on the spot". There are, of course, very few of these but they do happen. In planning and setting up your business of investing you MUST include the possibility that properties of this nature will, at times, be available to you. Many times an investor will come upon a terrific bargain but he is incapable of action because he never planned for such an eventuality and cannot proceed because he does not have the ability to handle it by himself. Let it be said at this point that, in these days of creative financing where one can become capable of tying up and owning a considerable amount of property that there might arise the danger of becoming real estate "rich" and cash "poor" at the wrong time. An

8

investor who learns the techniques of obtaining properties with creative methods must not de-stabilize the operation by acquiring too much, too soon and too quickly. In these cases any emergency or other unplanned for but crucial expenditure can place the entire program of investing in jeopardy. Never acquire any additional property unless and until the last purchase has been fully assimilated into the portfolio and is operational and a positive producer, or sold, if that is the plan.

9

Never delegate to others what is best able to be done for and by yourself.

To obtain properties with the planned purpose of keeping them for the long pull by renting or leasing the units out to tenants is, of course, the classical method of real estate investing. The reasons a person would want to get into this type and manner of investing are several, all of which have to do with wealth

creation and wealth building.

The main factors contributing to this type of investing are:

Increase of value of the property over time. A positive cash flow. Any tax shelter features. Some might list other incidental items, but when they are reduced to the irreducible minimum they usually fall into one or other of the

10

three categories listed above. When making a first "random" purchase, or even when acquiring a property in order to flip or to rehab it, the process of analysis is not usually as intense as when a purchase for the long haul is being considered. In this type of investing you are going to have to live with your choice for a considerable period of time. At least, that is the plan. So, in order to analyze a property accurately you must have an accurate vision of what this building is to be and what it is to do once it is purchased. Here again, what we are talking about is management. If you plan, for instance, to reconfigure the interior of the structure in order to have more and better units to rent then your analysis must include everything which is going to be required in order to put the property in that shape. This, of course, is a management decision. If, on the other hand, the property is being acquired at such a reasonable price and the expenses are well within the range so as to produce a healthy positive cash flow, then any reconfiguration might be thought about and planned for, but held in abeyance for a later time. The only way that these things can possibly be determined, however, is with careful and complete analysis. The larger and more complex the property and the structure the more definite is the need for all the factors of an analysis to be included. You might think that this is what an appraisal is all about and that these items should be included in any appraisal which would likely have already been obtained by the owner. That is possible for larger properties but is not normally the case for the smaller ones. But, in any case, it is still a vital necessity for the investor to make his own review of all matters in order to satisfy himself that what he is about to purchase will be an positive addition to the portfolio program. Only his analysis of all the features of the property relieve his mind as to this case. While appraisals do sometimes touch on the value of the use of a property appraisers are not usually the best judge for the specifics of any property. Never delegate to others what is best able to be done for and by yourself.

11

The value of all real estate properties is determined by putting the property into the use which returns the highest rate possible. An appraiser might, or might not, make suitable determinations for the highest economic use of a building. Whether he/she does, or not, YOU must! All of this to say that, the formation of a portfolio of properties is a serious undertaking and one must do it with care and precision. In the next section we will get into the actual analysis of this type of property. We are providing various forms to be used by the investor but even these can be improved upon. So, use your own creativity in this regard and prepare your forms to best suit what you have in mind to accomplish.

This is the conclusion of Part 2, ‘Real Estate Investing 101’ Look for Part 3 in your mail box tomorrow, where we will be talking about;

WHERE AND HOW TO FIND SUITABLE INVESTMENT PROPERTIES

WHERE AND HOW TO FIND SUITABLE INVESTMENT PROPERTIES -- NEWSPAPERS

WHERE AND HOW TO FIND SUITABLE INVESTMENT PROPERTIES -- REAL ESTATE BROKERS

WHERE AND HOW TO FIND SUITABLE INVESTMENT PROPERTIES -- ATTORNEYS

WHERE AND HOW TO FIND SUITABLE INVESTMENT PROPERTIES -- THE INTERNET AND EMAIL

Next Page, More Free Resources….

12

1) Uncle Sam’s Secret –See How The Government Will Guarantee You A Check For Up To 200% To 500% Return On Your Investment. 2) Buy and Sell – Buy and Sell Properties For No Cash or Credit and Virtually NO RISK!!! 3) Massive Untapped Opportunities In Foreclosures. 4) The Truth About No Money Down – How to Make This Well Known - But Little Understood Strategy Generate Wealth For You!!!

If you just can’t wait to get started and want to begin building your fortune now, Click Here.