1. Use hard money lenders. Ask around or find these online. These lenders specialize in short-term loans at high interest. Typically, you use this type of financing for a “fix and flip.” You can get the money fast, and if you make $30,000 on a project, who cares if you paid $10,000 interest in six months?
2. No-doc or low-doc loans. With these loans, no (or low) documentation of your income or credit is required. You can find banks that do these online now. You’ll only be able to borrow 70% to 80% of the purchase price or property value. However, if you have 10% in cash, you might be able to borrow the other 10% or 20% from a friend or the seller.
3. Seller financing help. Sometimes a bank will loan you 90%, and allow the seller to take back a second mortgage from you for 5%, leaving you needing only 5% for a downpayment.
4. Land contract or “contract for sale.” Called other names as well, this just means the seller lets you make payments, and delivers the title upon payment in full. I sold a rental this way for $1,000 down, because I wanted the 9% interest, and the higher price I got.
5. Credit card advances. Suppose a seller will take $10,000 down on a fixer-upper that you expect to make $20,000 on. Why not use credit cards? If your card limits allow for repair money too, this is a true 0-down deal for you, and if you turn the project in six months, you will have paid maybe $1,000 or $2,000 in interest on an 18% credit card. Don’t let $1,000 get in the way of making $20,000.
6. Use your retirement accounts. The laws are pretty complex in this area, but you can check with a tax attorney to see how you might borrow from your own retirement account to finance real estate investments.
7. Borrow from friends and family. If you go this route, keep it all business. In any cae, loaning you money at 7% isn’t a gift if their money is getting 2% in the bank.
8. Use real estate note buyers. Suppose the seller needs cash. He raises the price, and sells to you for $100,000 with no money down, taking back two mortgages from you for $90,000 and $10,000. He arranged (or you did) for a note buyer to pay him $80,000 cash for the first mortgage at closing, getting him the cash he wanted. You pay two payments now, one to each note holder, but you got in with no money down.
9. Borrow on another property. If you take out a home equity loan for a vacation, and then forget to use it for that, you can later use the money for the downpayment on an investment property, without violating the rules of the bank that gives you the primary mortgage. In other words, you got in with no cash of your own.
10. Start partnerships. For bigger projects, you could arrange for five investors to each put money into a partnership, with your share being the management responsibility instead of cash.
Remember, these ten creative real estate financing techniques are just to get you started.
Do all the creative financing techniques you hear about really work? Yes, actually. They probably have all worked somewhere for someone at least once. The point isn’t if they will all work for you. The point is to know what is possible, so you can find your own creative ways to invest in real estate. Here are ten methods to get you thinking.
2. No-doc and low-doc loans. No (or low) documentation of your income or credit required. Again, you can find banks that do these online now. The catch is that you will only be able to borrow up to 80% of the purchase price or property value. If you have 10% in cash, you might be able to borrow the other 10% from a friend or the seller.
3. Seller-carried second mortgages. Sometimes a bank will loan you 90%, and allow the seller to take back a second mortgage from you for 5%, leaving you needing only 5% for a downpayment.
4. Land contract. Called “contract for sale” or other names as well, this just means the seller lets you make payments, and delivers the title upon payment in full. I sold a rental this way for $1,000 down, because I wanted the 9% interest, and the higher price I got this way.
5. Credit cards. If a seller will take $10,000 down on a fixer-upper that you expect to make $20,000 on, why not use credit cards? This is a true 0-down deal for you, and if you turn the project in six months, you will have paid $900 in interest on an 18% credit card. Don’t let $900 get in the way of making $20,000.
6. Retirement accounts. The laws get pretty complex in this area, but you can check with a tax attorney to see how you might borrow from your own retirement account to finance real estate investments.
7. Friends and family. Keep it all business, if you use this source, but loaning you money at 7% isn’t a gift if their money is getting 2% in the bank.
8. Note buyers. The seller needs cash. He raises the price, and sells to you for $100,000 with no money down, taking back two mortgages from you for $90,000 and $10,000. He arranged (or you did) for a note buyer to pay him $80,000 cash for the first mortgage at closing, getting him the cash he wanted. You pay two payments now, one to each note holder.
9. Get a loan on other property. Interestingly, if you take out a home equity loan for a vacation, and then forget to use it for that, you can use it for the downpayment on an investment property, without violating the rules of the bank that gives you the primary mortgage. In other words, you got in with no cash of your own.
10. Partnerships. For bigger projects, you could arrange for five investors to each put money into a partnership, with your share being the management responsibility instead of cash.
Picking yourself up out of debt can be difficult and tiring. This process requires hard work and focus, as you must learn to change your spending habits. It can be difficult for anyone to follow these changes and become debt free. If you want to be debt free, you need to follow a set plan. These 5 tips will help you to create, and stick to, that plan.
Assess your Debt
The first thing that you need to do is to assess your current debt situation. You need to understand how much debt you have. You need to understand how much interest that debt is incurring. These numbers will help you to set your goals. If you want to be free of all debt, you need to fully understand that debt.
Make More than the Monthly Payment
Many attempt to be freed from their debt by paying the minimum monthly payment on their credit cards. This method will not remove debt from your life. In some cases, the debt can still rise. You need to make an extra effort to pay more than the minimum amount each month. The more you can afford to pay a month, the better off your finances will be.
Budget Your Paycheck
If you want to be free of debt, you need to budget out your paycheck. You need to budget for payments such as rent payments, car payments, and insurance payments. You should also budget out a specific amount for gas and groceries. After you have budgeted these needs, you can budget in the amount of money that you want to pay on your debt. This will help to keep your current finances secure.
Start Saving
If you are looking to be free of debt, you need to start saving money. A solid savings account can help prevent you from going into unmanageable debt in the first place. While you may not be able to contribute a lot to your savings per paycheck, the account will eventually grow into a stable and reliable account.
Take Something Out of your Routine
Most people have a habitual spending habit that will drain them of a decent amount of money per month. Think about a specific spending habit that you have. Some people go out to fast food on specific days. Others need their cup of coffee from their favorite coffee house every day before work. Taking these extra expenses out will help you to reallocate that money to a savings account or debt payment.
It is important for you to assess your debt before you create your plan. This will allow you to understand your situation fully. When you understand the situation, you can plan for monthly payments. This plan will also help you budget for your life, and budget for a savings account. These components all add up, helping you to be debt free as quickly as possible.
May
25Tips for Effective Tax and Personal Anti-Recession Steps
Posted By: Ramon Rivas on May 25, 2010 at 6:05 amAsk an economist to define recession for you and chances are, they’ll tell you that it is a state of the economy where it declines for at least 6 months. But that’s just a pretty, picture-book definition. Recession can affect not just cities and countries, it can also affect individuals and families on a more personal level. To help you implement tax and personal anti-recession steps, here are things you can do:
Start saving. Now.
If you have a nest egg stashed somewhere, good for you. Boost it with more savings. If you don’t, it’s time to start immediately. Implement tax and personal savings steps in order to fight the effects of recession.
Cut back on spending immediately.
If you think you need everything you buy, gather your last few weeks’ worth of receipts and rate each item according to necessity. Chances are, there are a few things there that you’ll realize now that you didn’t really have to buy.
If you see the same pattern in most of your receipts, that’s a sign that you ought to cut back on your expenses and seriously implement a budget or spending plan. You could, for example, cancel gym memberships and take up running or home exercises instead, buy items on sale instead of at regular prices and put off any large purchases – cars, TVs, video equipment, furniture, etc.
Take big chunks out of your debt.
Your debt can get you down and it will not hesitate to do the same thing to your credit score. During a recession, a bad credit rating is just not something you want to have. If you have debts in some form (loans, credit cards, mortgage, etc.), try to pay off as much of your debt as possible. The earlier you do this, the better it will be for your finances.
Clearing your debts is an excellent anti-recession step because it helps save you money in terms of interest. It will also give you peace of mind and the personal satisfaction of being in charge.
Consider investing? Ask a professional.
An experienced financial adviser can help you understand the kind of options you have, given your own resources and the type of risks you are willing to take. Recession can make investing much more of a challenge, particularly for the uninitiated. That is why you’ll need all the help you can get in order to find the best places where to put your money in.
Know your deductibles.
Review your tax code for the types of items that you can include in your deductibles. Remember that not all expenses can be used as deductions. Only if you can prove them ‘ordinary and necessary’ will the tax man consider them.
Keep all receipts for deductions.
Audit or no audit, it pays to have documents that support your tax claims, especially if they refer to deductions. Get organized regarding your files, particularly those that pertain to your business or work. Keep things where you can readily access them and use for reference later.
Consider leasing your business vehicle.
If you want to give yourself better tax performance, a good anti-recession tip to follow is to lease that car of yours. This will help get you better deductions compared to what you’ll receive if you purchased the vehicle.
When in doubt, always refer to a professional.
The personal anti-recession tips you obtain will usually work seamlessly but some steps involving taxes might have certain limitations. Before implementing these steps, you might want to consult a basic taxation guide or see an accountant or bookkeeper. They can guide you on what you can and should do based on your own unique circumstances.
There are multiple facets to credit card debt. There are multiple myths surrounding these multiple aspects that people tend to believe. These myths may hurt them as they work to pay off their debt. Knowing the credit card debt facts, over these myths, will help you to better understand your debt. You can better understand what you need to do to pay off that debt. You can also better understand the culture of debt in society, and how you must work to stay away from a growing trend.
Interest Rates can Change
Interest rates are not set in stone. While you may enjoy a small interest rate now, that interest rate could jump without notice. While laws are being passed to change the rules regarding interest rate changes, they may still be changed until these changes become law. By sticking with monthly payments and by religiously paying down your debt, you can avoid these interest rate changes.
Minimum Payments are Not Enough
Many people believe that the minimum payments that they are making will be enough to pay down their cards debt balance. They do not realize that, on many of their credit cards, the interest charges per month can be larger than the minimum payments. If you are only paying the minimum payments on your cards, you may still be gaining debt.
Debt Continues to Rise
When people are dealing with debt, they tend to go into more debt. People will often open up new credit cards to help pay off their old credit cards. Eventually, they fail to realize that they have dug themselves into a deeper hole. General credit card debt is rising by at least 1% per year. Debt is also rising on the personal level. Slowly but surely, the average debt for Americans in debt is rising. According to a Nilson Report from April 2009, the average credit card debt for USA households has jumped from $10,737 to $10,779; an increase of over $40 in less than a year, from 2007 to 2008.
More People Go Into Debt Every Day
As a nation, America has almost $1 Trillion in credit card debt. This number continues to rise. In the past year, 700,000 people in America have gained a credit card that did not previously have one. This means that over half of a million people went into credit card debt in the last year. credit card debt is an easy habit to fall into.
Debt continues to rise for individuals, and for society as a whole. If you can, stay away from creating new debt as you work to overcome your current debt. With that being said, you should still work to increase your payments to avoid the issues that come from many of these credit card debt facts. By knowing the truth behind these facts, however, you can take the best possible approach to your financial situation.
