Attention, real estate investors, Sir Albert Einstein has something to say:

“If A equals success, then the formula is A equals X plus Y and Z, with X being work, Y play, and Z keeping your mouth shut.”

I would like to clarify this early that there is nothing wrong with speaking. In fact, speaking often leads to conversations. When you talk, the person you’re talking to will speak as well. You exchange comments and you have a conversation. In the case of real estate investing, learning to shut up and listen to your prospective seller will bring you more benefits than you think.

Apart from saving real estate investors energy from moving their jaws, lips, and tongue, listening also allows them to learn something about the seller. Although it’s virtually impossible to guess what a seller is thinking, you can get hints on whether he or she is really motivated just by listening. As one veteran real estate investor said, “listening is negotiating.”

You won’t even have to scrutinize a truly motivated seller. He will divulge all his financial woes to you. Sometimes, he even shares his personal problems. Your advice on the personal problems is probably unsolicited although you must offer solutions to the seller in terms of the financial problems. If you are buying the property, tell the seller that you can help him if he sells the property to you. If you are a wholesaler and have a contract with you that moment, you can expect to have a deal in the pipeline. If you were the home owner, the last person you would want to talk to is someone who wants to take away your property for a small amount, right? Real estate investors must keep that in mind.

Location, location, location. After choosing the right investment strategy that suits your business, the next thing you need to do is decide on the right location. So how do you spot the right location for your real estate investments?

Be prepared to inspect as many locations as you can in your area. You only want the best spot for your property investments. If you intend to purchase a capital growth property, find an area that has potential for above average growth in the long run. Show interest in what has happened in the past years but be more interested on what is going to happen in the coming years. Find a location that hasn’t grown for a while but shows a huge potential for capital growth because of redevelopment activities. Property investors should visit local councils to get a brief background of the area. What can you look forward to? What is bad and good about the location? Drive around, talk to the locals and feel the neighbourhood.

For cash flow real estate investments, the major consideration should be whether or not the numbers are stack up. You have to find a location where properties are sold at low prices but yield high rentals. Another consideration that you have to keep in mind is the going rental fee rate in the area. You should be able to get a good supply of tenants in order to make your real estate investments work.

Real estate investing can provide you with lucrative profits. To make things work best for you, you should become an expert in spotting the right location for your real estate investments.

Hard money lenders deserve all the love in the world. Sure, they may charge you with eye-popping interest rates and origination fees but if not for them, you wouldn’t be able finish rehabbing that ugly house along Main Street and get insane profits from it.

Despite their significant contributions to the success of a real estate investor and their willingness to take on risky loans, hard money lenders are not receiving the amount of respect they deserve. Certain people portray them as money-grabbing opportunists, while some investors treat them like bubblegum – discarded once they lost their sweetness.

Obtaining funds from these people should not be like this because borrowing hard money is all about respect. If you want to quickly find out the results of your loan application and get the amount of courtesy you are receiving, then you should treat hard money lenders nicely.

If they don’t respond immediately after you have e-mailed them your loan summary, don’t annoy them with your persistent whining. Who knows, they might still be doing an appraisal on the property you want to borrow money for, which is why they were unable to get back to you the soonest possible time. Instead of complaining about their inaction, call them up and politely ask about the status of your loan application.

See to it that you pay your dues on time. Don’t make promises that you can’t keep. If you tell lenders that you will repay the hard money that you borrowed every first Mondays of the month, see to it that you will make the payments as scheduled.

Just like when making friends, building good relations with lenders of hard money can help you grow as a real estate investor. Therefore, you shouldn’t disregard proper etiquette when borrowing hard money because being friends with hard money lenders can get you to places.

It does not matter what type of real estate investment club you join, the most important thing is that you choose groups that will be able to provide you with crucial opportunities not only for networking but also for support and training. This is one of the major reasons why many women property investors join REI clubs before taking any action in the business.

The biggest advantage when joining a club is the knowledge that you gain from other people who have been in real estate investing for many years. Learning and working with fellow women property investors can help you gain more confidence. As a beginner, you should be ready to get your feet wet before you go out into the battlefield.

In a club, you can network with fellow investors – beginners and experienced alike. Aside from them, you will also meet lenders, contractors, and many other individuals who can help you jumpstart your real estate business. Everybody gets a chance to network with everyone forming groups that will help beginners get ready for real estate investing.

Once you find a real estate investment club to join, you should be ready to come up with a business plan. This will serve as your road map or checklist detailing all the things that you need to do in order to become successful. Just before you set your foot outside, be ready to put together a team of experts with whom you will be working with.

If all women property investors find the right REI club, they are sure to give stiff competition to men, who have dominated the industry.

Let’s admit it, we all love to eat. Most of us can’t resist the captivating aroma of mom’s special pot roast or the scent of chocolate chip cookies sitting in the oven. And whenever an ad on the latest munchies at McDonald’s pops on the television screen, we’re itching to get off the couch and drive to the popular fast food chain to grab a bite.

Man’s inherent love for culinary delights is something that you should take advantage of when fixing and flipping properties. According to a survey, majority of the American population spend their time in the kitchen when not watching the boob tube. So if there’s one part of the house that you should give special attention to when rehabbing, it should be the kitchen.

The kitchen is usually moms’ favorite part of the house. It serves as their sanctuary and it is one place that dads don’t usually venture into, unless they want a quick fix for their hunger. And who do you think has a big say when buying a new house for the family? Yup, you got it right. No offense meant to the man of the house but it is usually the mother who gets to decide whether to buy a particular property or not.

As a real estate investor, you should be mom’s BFF and present her a kitchen that she can’t resist. If she falls instantly in love with that part of the house, she will bug dad and talk him into buying the property. And we all know how persistent moms can be if they want something, don’t we?

By making the kitchen a major selling point of your real estate investment, it would be easier for you to sell the rehabbed home and make tons of cash. So when rehabbing a fixer upper home, see to it that you give mom’s sanctuary a big TLC.

Rehabbers and wholesalers, or any real estate investor for that matter, must have a handful of leads. A lead, which is what the investing world calls the name and email or contact number of a prospective buyer or seller, sometimes does not convert into a deal. It is basically a numbers game. The more leads you have, the more chances you have of finding good deals.

A lead is very important to a deal that even the two words say it out loud. Transpose their consonants “d” and “l” and you get the other word. See? Makes sense, right? Like the alpha and omega. Yin and yang. But seriously though, a lead is like a spark, an impetus that gives birth to a deal.

One real estate investor said that his grandfather accidentally taught him the value of leads. His grandfather would tell him that if one wants to catch tons of fish, he must position his boat in the middle of the pond and throw a stick of dynamite into the water. He can then choose from the tons of catch and take which ones he likes. Environmental and animal abuse issues aside (let’s cross our fingers and hope that this entry does not reach the EPA and PETA), the grandfather’s philosophy may also be applied in getting leads. If you fear getting too much leads, you can sell your excess ones to other investors. There are various other things you can do with these leads apart from converting them into deals so surplus should not be an issue.

So, from now on, study how to get tons of leads. Remember real estate investor, without leads, there are no deals.

Do you remember how you wished there was someone else to do your homework when you were young? I don’t know about you but most kids want a clone of themselves who will go to school and do household chores in their place. Having someone to do the “dirty work” and put up with the boring stuff is indeed a dream for most children and I know a handful of grownups who will give up everything just to clone themselves and let their doubles do all the work for them.

How much time do you think you can save if you have a clone when investing in real estate? A lot, probably. You can just sit back and enjoy a holiday in the Bahamas while your “doppelganger” negotiates with the home seller and deals with an obstinate buyer. Now, how fun is that?

To tell you the truth, however, you really don’t need an exact copy of yourself to make investing in real estate much easier for you. In fact, you can use other people’s talents to generate huge income. Although this may sound sneaky, you can ask other people to be your arms, your legs, or even your eyes when buying, selling, and managing real estate investments.

For instance, if you’re not an expert at finding investment properties, you can hire birddogs instead of wasting all your time going around in circles looking for the perfect house to fix and flip. For a fraction of the money you earn through real estate investing, you can save a lot of time and energy, which you’d rather use to find the next deal.

Don’t feel bad about using other people for your benefit because you’re actually helping them out. By providing them with the means to earn extra income, you are helping them give their families better lives. So if you want to make your job easier and help other people in the process, you should learn to delegate your tasks and bring more people to your real estate investing team.

It’s about time we all cheer up! All you need to do is keep these real estate tips in mind and you can definitely make it big this year.

There are hints that 2010 will not be as difficult as the past 2 years. In fact, by the last quarter of 2009, there have been signs that the real estate market is mending fast. Sales activity increased while home values in most American cities have started to rise as well. To help you ensure good profits in the business, below are 3 real estate tips to get your hopes up in 2010:

First, find a down payment assistance. Today, we can find a wide range of down payment assistance programs for first-time buyers. These programs are offered at the federal and local levels. You can also get assistance from existing federal programs available at the city and state level.

Second, if you have plans of making home improvements, do it now. Whether it’s for your own use or for future selling, now is the perfect time to rehab houses. Take advantage of the low financing costs, reduced material prices, and relatively lower contractor costs at the moment. Keep in mind that the bathroom and kitchen renovation can offer you the highest returns. Prioritize your counters and cabinets.

Third, every individual who wants to make money in real estate this year should be mindful that a good price will facilitate fast sales. There is a significant reason why some houses sell in just a few days or weeks while others gather dust for several months. If you want to ensure fast sales, price your property accordingly.

Keep these real estate tips in mind and get ready to boost your business this year!

If you heard some wholesalers say that they can turn $10 into $10,000 flipping houses, you better believe them. It’s not magic or anything black hat, it’s simply intelligent real estate investing.

You might think that these investors mentioned $10, as opposed to $23.75, $200, or any other random amounts, because it appears to be too small to become a start-up capital. It could also be because they want to make it appear that flipping houses results in a thousand-fold return in investment. It could also be that this figure sounds better than other amounts.

Those who are into the flipping houses, however, know that transactions can indeed take place with the help of $10. Remember, when wholesaling houses, the investor needs to place the property under contract. Sellers – the homeowners – usually agree to place their house under contract for as little as ten bucks. This small amount is known as the measly money deposit. It is literally a measly money deposit.

Why will buyers agree to such small amounts? It’s because most sellers are motivated. What matters to them is having the property sold. Especially for those whose houses have been listed for months already, they will perceive the contract as a fresh ray of hope. After all, you are “buying” the property. It’s just that you won’t buy it immediately and that’s why you are putting it under contract.

That does not mean though that all owners agree to a $10 measly money deposit. Some owners will seek $100, others probably higher. Whatever the amount, always be sure to find buyers fast to avoid paying holding costs or losing possible real estate investing deals.

If there’s one activity that I hate the most, it is probably cleaning a messy and filthy bathroom. Imagine all those dirt and grime clinging to your skin and that unpleasant smell overpowering the floral scent of the detergent you’re using to clean the place up. The thought of seeing such an untidy and mucky room is enough to make me shudder.

Real estate investors got it bad because part of their tasks when rehabbing a property is to give grimy bathrooms a makeover. They have no choice but to deal with this particular part of the house to make the property a looker. But once they manage to give the bathroom a new look, it would be easier for them to make thousands of dollars from the rehabbed home.

I’m not really aware of the reason why most home buyers are very choosy when it comes to the bathroom. It baffles me that some buyers won’t purchase a property, even if it is perfect for their family, because the restrooms are not giving them “positive vibes.” So if you make money rehabbing fixer upper homes and handyman specials, you should be prepared to satisfy this particular quirk of home buyers.

Giving special attention to the bathroom is a great way to increase the profitability of a property. Because you want your fix and flip project to leave a lasting impression on the buyer, you have to ensure that a prospective client will fall in love with the house the moment he sees it. So if you have a buyer who has a “bathroom fetish,” then you should do your best to stage the restrooms.

I’m not saying that you should disregard the other parts of the house and focus your attention solely on the bathrooms. The point is that you should give restrooms some TLC, even if you’re just like me who hates scrubbing grimy tiles, sinks, and toilet bowls, if you want to make big bucks when rehabbing houses.