Real Estate Investing in Foreclosures

Miami real estate investing is not very hard to learn, even though that there are many facets that are essential to understand before attempting to start investing. While many books and seminars are offered on investing only a few deliver the desired results. Investing is not taught in any university and it is more of an art than an exact science. It requires a lot of perseverance and determination. Many investors learn by trial and error although a mistake could be very expensive and usually devastating. Numerous millionaires made their money through real estate investments. Information, education and research are major considerations for an investor to be successful.

Real estate investing in Miami, Florida is a full time business where investors are constantly trying to maximize their profits and minimize their risks in other to generate wealth over time. Investing is a verified long term wealth creator. It is a numbers game and many of the transactions will not work but it is all worth it when one deal goes through and all your hard work is rewarded. It takes a lot of time and effort to effectively dominate the art of real estate investing. It is a risky business but it is the best way to create lasting financial security. Investing in Miami real estate is an excellent way to make a positive monthly income and built long term wealth and obtain financial independence.

Investors in Miami real estate have recently taken a beating and many have seen their investment properties lose value. An investor should not panic and sell in this market to avoid huge loses. Since it is a long term business an investor should realize that the time is now to rent the property and hold until the market turns around. If an investor requires a predictable and safe return on investment then investing in Miami real estate is not the answer. The business of real estate investing is very risky, and unpredictable but well worth the effort. An investor should consider buying foreclosures and bank owned properties. The Miami real estate market has hit bottom and it should be bouncing back very soon.

Miami real estate investing is different than various types of investing. An investor must overcome many roadblocks and obstacles. Usually finding financing is the single most overwhelming challenge an investor will face when trying to purchase Miami real estate. Using leverage in the business is common so arranging financing is very important. Do not purchase investment property with no money down. Little or no money down has caused many properties to go into foreclosure recently. Investing is not as perplexing, time consuming and financially draining as one might imagine.

Bank owned properties or Reo's and Short Sales are a good way to start to look for a good deal in Miami real estate to purchase. The list of bank real estate owned (Reo) properties is huge. Not all banks want to discount properties so finding a good property to buy takes a lot of work and patience. Short Sales are the new trend in speculating in Miami real estate. Banks are not very eager to short sale their inventory and it takes usually about two months for the bank to accept or reject the offer. Government foreclosures are another to avenue to search. These properties include HUD, Housing and Urban Development, VA, Veteran Administration, FNMA and Freddie Mac. HUD homes are very popular and usually they will sell to the higher bidder in a weekly online auction. Investors are allowed to bid when the property does not sell to owner occupants. These HUD-FHA foreclosures properties are offer an excellent value. Foreclosures remain the best way for investors to start in the Miami real estate investing business since most of them have instant equity.

The best way to start investing in Miami real estate is buying foreclosures. The tremendous amount of foreclosures now in the Miami real estate market overwhelmingly gives the investor a lot of inventory to choose from in order to purchase the right property at a discounted price. This opportunity will more than likely never be available again and investors should take full advantage. An experienced Miami real estate agent who specializes in foreclosures is essential in order to guide the investor. The agent must have access to current bank owned REOs, foreclosures, short sale properties, pre-foreclosures government foreclosures and other distress listings. Investing in Miami real estate is a very exciting and rewarding business.

Getting Started in Residential Real Estate Investing

Residential real estate investing is a business activity that has waxed and waned in popularity dramatically over the last few years. Ironically, there always seem to be a lot of people jumping on board with investments like stock, gold, and real estate when the market's going up, and jumping OFF the wagon and pursuing other activities once the market's slumping. In a way that's human nature, but it also means a lot of real estate investors are leaving money on the table.

By understanding the dynamics of your residential real estate investment marketplace, and acting in opposition to the rest of the market, you can often make more money, as long as you also stick to the real estate investing fundamentals.

Real estate investing, whether you're buying residential or commercial property, is not a get-rich-quick scenario. Sure you can make some fast cash flipping houses, if that's your bag, but that is a full time business activity, not a passive, long term investment. The word "investment" implies that you are committed to the activity for the long haul. Often, that's just what it takes to make money in real estate.

So, while the pundits are crying about the residential real estate market slump, and the speculators are wondering if this is the bottom, let us return to the fundamentals of residential real estate investing, and learn how to make money investing in real estate for the long term, in good markets, as well as bad.

A Return To The Fundamentals of Residential Real Estate Investing

When real estate is going up, up, up, investing in real estate can seem easy. All ships rise with a rising tide, and even if you've bought a deal with no equity and no cash flow, you can still make money if you're in the right place at the right time.

However, it's hard to time the market without a lot of research and market knowledge. A better strategy is to make sure you understand the four profit centers for residential real estate investing, and make sure your next residential real estate investment deal takes ALL of these into account.

1. Cash Flow - How much money does the residential income property bring in every month, after expenses are paid? This seems like it should be easy to calculate if you know how much the rental income is and how much the mortgage payment is. However, once you factor in everything else that goes into taking care of a rental property - things like vacancy, expenses, repairs and maintenance, advertising, bookkeeping, legal fees and the like, it begins to really add up. I like to use a factor of about 40% of the NOI to estimate my property expenses. I use 50% of the NOI as my ballpark goal for debt service. That leaves 10% of the NOI as profit to me. If the deal doesn't meet those parameters, I am wary.


2. Appreciation - Having the property go up in value while you own it has historically been the most profitable part about owning real estate. However, as we've seen recently, real estate can also go DOWN in value, too. Leverage (your bank loan in this case) is a double-edged sword. It can increase your rate of return if you buy in an appreciating area, but it can also increase your rate of loss when your property goes down in value. For a realistic, low-risk property investment, plan to hold your residential real estate investment property for at least 5 years. This should give you the ability to weather the ups and downs in the market so you can see at a time when it makes sense, from a profit standpoint.


3. Debt Pay down - Each month when you make that mortgage payment to the bank, a tiny portion of it is going to reduce the balance of your loan. Because of the way mortgages are structured, a normally amortizing loan has a very small amount of debt pay down at the beginning, but if you do manage to keep the loan in place for a number of years, you'll see that as you get closer to the end of the loan term, more and more of your principle is being used to retire the debt. Of course, all this assumes that you have an amortizing loan in the first place. If you have an interest-only loan, your payments will be lower, but you won't benefit from any loan pay down. I find that if you are planning to hold the property for 5-7 years or less, it makes sense to look at an interest-only loan, since the debt pay down you'd accrue during this time is minimal, and it can help your cash flow to have an interest-only loan, as long as interest rate adjustments upward don't increase your payments sooner than you were expecting and ruin your cash flow. If you plan to hold onto the property long term, and/or you have a great interest rate, it makes sense to get an accruing loan that will eventually reduce the balance of your investment loan and make it go away. Make sure you run the numbers on your real estate investing strategy to see if it makes sense for you to get a fixed rate loan or an interest only loan. In some cases, it may make sense to refinance your property to increase your cash flow or your rate of return, rather than selling it.


4. Tax Write-Offs - For the right person, tax write-offs can be a big benefit of real estate investing. But they're not the panacea that they're sometimes made out to be. Individuals who are hit with the AMT (Alternative Minimum Tax), who have a lot of properties but are not real estate professionals, or who are not actively involved in their real estate investments may find that they are cut off from some of the sweetest tax breaks provided by the IRS. Even worse, investors who focus on short-term real estate deals like flips, rehabs, etc. have their income treated like EARNED INCOME. The short term capital gains tax rate that they pay is just the same (high) they'd pay if they earned the income in a W-2 job. After a lot of investors got burned in the 1980's by the Tax Reform Act, a lot of people decided it was a bad idea to invest in real estate just for the tax breaks. If you qualify, they can be a great profit center, but in general, you should consider them the frosting on the cake, not the cake itself.

Any residential real estate investing deal that stands up under the scrutiny of this fundamentals-oriented lens, should keep your real estate portfolio and your pocketbook healthy, whether the residential real estate investing market goes up, down or sideways. However, if you can use the real estate market trends to give you a boost, that's fair, too. The key is not to rely on any one "strategy" to try to give you outsized gains. Be realistic with your expectations and stick to the fundamentals. Buy property you can afford and plan to stay invested for the long haul.