Real Estate Blogs

Of Envelopes and Postcards: Letters and Postcards in More Detail. It’s quite understandable if you’re still not quite sure which one will serve your purpose better, a letter or a postcard. It may even make you more confused to know that there’s no right or wrong answer to this one. You have to make that decision. You alone have the capability to assess what will work best for your work style, preference and, of course, budget, and make that decision accordingly. If you opt for sending out letters, let’s first make sure you have the best possible advantage to begin with. That means doing your envelope right. Advantages • It can be personalized. And, as you know, a personalized mail has better chances of getting opened. • It’s available in a wide array of sizes and colors. You can choose something that reflects your business personality well. Disadvantages • It can’t be stressed enough – it has to...

Sending Out the Mail: Letters and Postcards to Foreclosures Does it seem that letters and postcards are very personal? Well, that’s because they are. They show that you actually took the time to pen your message instead of whipping a quick note on your phone or laptop, and that makes it more meaningful. They’re actually so special that you can utilize them even in advertising to prospect sellers. Like most other things in life, there are always two sides of the coin, so to speak. Letters and postcards are no different. Let’s have a closer look at the former first. In a letter, you can basically write as much as you want, and you can send them out in batches or only one at a time – the choice is yours. The downside is that they’ll cost you more than just shipping out postcards. Just think of the logistics it will involve: the cost of the envelopes, having the...

How You Project Yourself: Whats Your Image? When it comes to your marketing or business approach, you can make use of two different styles to project the image you want to have. They may go by quite a handful of different names in the industry, but in an endeavor to help you remember easily, let’s just call them the corporate image and the mom and pop image. Both of them work quite well, actually. The difference is that you have to decide which one reflects your personality better, which one resonates more with who you are. If you’re not sure yet, just ask yourself this question: are you more comfortable wearing suit and tie, or are you more laidback and the guy (or girl) next door type? If at this point you’re still a bit confused, here’s a bit of sound advice: don’t. The image you choose should come naturally to you – you shouldn’t have to fret over...

Getting Rich by occupying other people's property This ancient remedy was helpful in resolving disputes in the latter part of the Middle Ages. If one farmer continued to cultivate a piece of land at the back of his farm and the farmer’s neighbor did not object, then after 7 years, he owned the land. At the time of course, it was not worth much. What is the purpose of squatter rights? The purpose of squatter rights was to regularize the boundaries of the properties. The added value of the cultivation of the property over a period of years was considered to be an investment and an improvement of the land. Be careful of your neighbors taking over your land, it could cost you a lot of money and possibly losing your ownership. Most of us think that squatter rights were abolished many years ago. This...

Knocking on Doors: Contacting the Homeowners Like a lot of things in life – both personal and professional – there’s a measure of comfort to know that there’s no one fixed way to get in touch with homeowners. You can explore options and then weigh which one works best for you, and which one is the most sensible in a particular situation. For instance, you can try literally knocking on the door, utilizing the phone, or resorting to direct mail. Here’s a quick overview of each. Knocking on the door Advantage It’s very straight forward and clear. If the homeowner expresses interest to sell the house, you can immediately appraise the property on the spot, and even draw up a purchase contract if both parties come to an agreement. Disadvantage Yes, it’s straight forward – to the point that it can be taken as already being invasive. If you don’t like feeling like you’re somehow stepping on the...

Being a real estate investor for a year now and positioning my first poorly built website to be number one on the first page of Google and all other search engines on all my major keywords with some closed deals and listings to show for it. I looked back and analyzed how I was able to achieve those fits within a year and this is what I came up with. I hope it will be of help most especially for those upcoming investor and would be investors 1. Choose your target market or niche and come up with a plan to capture it 2. Define how you are going to reach out and conquer your niche or market You can only conquer your market through the use of the following methods or use of both i) Traditional marketing: I can only recommend this method to somebody who is an extrovert and has a lot of friends and colleagues ii)...

Of Envelopes and Postcards: Letters and Postcards in More Detail It’s quite understandable if you’re still not quite sure which one will serve your purpose better, a letter or a postcard. It may even make you more confused to know that there’s no right or wrong answer to this one. You have to make that decision. You alone have the capability to assess what will work best for your work style, preference and, of course, budget, and make that decision accordingly. If you opt for sending out letters, let’s first make sure you have the best possible advantage to begin with. That means doing your envelope right. Advantages • It can be personalized. And, as you know, a personalized mail has better chances of getting opened. • It’s available in a wide array of sizes and colors. You can choose something that reflects your business personality well. Disadvantages • It can’t be stressed enough – it has...

Marketing: It’s All about the Numbers So what does it take to get a homeowner who is in foreclosure to actually call you? There are a lot of people in the sales industry who will employ certain marketing strategies to get customers, and that totally makes sense. But at the end of the day it boils down to this: it’s a numbers game. And it is, isn’t it? Whether you’re trying to buy houses or doing marketing to homeowners, the more prospect clients you have, the more chances you’ll have to get positive results. Look at it this way: it’s like mining for gold. You don’t know where exactly the gold is, but if you have a larger area to dig through, you’ll more likely to succeed. Do marketing, marketing, and more marketing. It’s that simple. It’s just sensible to diversify and actually utilize different marketing approaches. It won’t do much good, however, if you get stuck analyzing foreclosure...

Practical Advice on Judging a Foreclosure File People usually think that the first thing to do when dealing with foreclosure properties is to decide which one to actually consider buying. Actually, it’s not. The first thing to do is do NOT even attempt to pass judgement just by looking at a foreclosure file. It simply doesn’t make sense to try distinguishing the difference between a good prospect and a bad one simply by the figures and details available on hand. If you’re considerably knowledgeable on the matter, you may be able to discern which properties have more equity than another – but that doesn’t mean you’re going to get a nice profit just because of that. Analyzing data doesn’t cut it; actually writing an offer for a property does. For example, you may consider a house that looks like it’s a great deal on paper – maybe it boasts of a lot of equity –...

Many home buyers, and even some investors, seem to approach a real estate purchase offer as just an opening of negotiations. It can be this, of course, but it is also a legally binding contract the moment the seller signs it. You don't get to change the terms after that, or back out of the deal. That is, unless you have the right language in the offer to begin with. Purchase Offer Clauses To Protect You 1. Inspections This is perhaps one of the more important clauses in a purchase offer, and is common. But make sure you get the wording right. Ask for help if necessary, but the point is to make it possible to cancel the offer if any inspections show problems you don't want to deal with. Such a clause might read something like this; "This offer is contingent on the buyer's approval of the results of a termite inspection...

Foreclosure is a court action taken by the mortgagee or the lender asking the court to cancel the equity of redemption to the mortgagor. The second and third mortgages should have a clause saying that if first is in default, the others are automatically in default too and they can take action against the borrower or the mortgagor. Redemption is the right of the mortgagor to have clear title to the property after paying the loan fully. Redemption period is usually provided to pay off interest, fees and back payments. There are basically two types of foreclosures. The first one is called Judicial. In this type of foreclosure, the mortgagee petitions the courts and begins a lawsuit against responsible parties. The second type is Non-judicial. With this, the power of sale has the processes covered in the mortgage documents. Lenders have the right to sell the property. On the power of sale process, happens quickly. It...

Selling a distressed home can be a little different than your every day home transaction. When you have a home in good condition, no legal or financial problems, it can be beneficial if you have the time and patience to list on the MLS and Maximize your profit. When selling a distressed home this can make things a little more difficult. 1. Time When listing your home on the open market you could be waiting months if not years depending on many different circumstances including, market, location, homes shape… If you have a home in good condition that isn’t facing foreclosure, or have a re -possession pending, this is most likely your best option. Most Distressed Homeowners don’t have this kind of time. Once a mortgage payment is missed your on the clock before the foreclosure process begins. Homeowners wait too long to find alternative routes to foreclosure and tend to lose their homes to the...

1. Landlords on rentfaster.ca , Craiglist or Kijiji - Check out these websites under the “houses/apt for rent” sections, and you’ll find a huge list of property owners, along with their phone numbers and property addresses! Not all these owners will be cash buyers, but most investors with enough knowledge to buy multiple properties could probably do a cash deal or refer to others within their network. 2. Real estate clubs - Attend functions and seminars in your area run by local investment clubs. Network and converse with everyone and ask what their specialty is while letting them know what you do. You’ll make great business relationships and most importantly add to your list of buyers. 3. Real estate agents - These professionals have unique tools and experience that is valuable. They also have an existing network of buyers and sellers. Create relationships with a number of key agents and they will be a steady...

We firmly believe that all Canadians deserve a place they can call home. Our main goal here at Calgary Rent To Buy is to transform current renters into future homeowners through our unique and customizable Rent to Own Programs. Entering into a R2O (Rent to own or lease option) can be a great option if you’re not financially ready to buy a home yourself through a traditional mortgage. The structure of the program is the tenant buyer enters into a lease agreement with an exclusive option to purchase the property within a specified time period and at a specified price. We realize that every family has a different combination of assets, limitations and dreams. Our job at Calgary Rent To Buy is to understand your unique needs, so we can formulate the perfect Rent to Own program for you. We have evaluated the merits of various Rent to Own concepts and decided to implement and adopt only the most...