Attention Single Women Home Foreclosures Investors!

Robert Bruss: Book for single women home buyers offers mostly good advice

By ROBERT J. BRUSS, Inman News Features
May 8, 2005

If you are a single female who wants to buy a first house or condo, "Buying Solo" by Vanessa Summers provides mostly excellent advice. The theme is "You can do it."

As I enjoyed the first part of this book, I thought even men should be allowed to read this great, new, home-buying book. It offers sage advice on what steps to take and how to purchase a home even in high-cost areas.

Summers first tackles topics such as "How much house can I afford? "How can I get a mortgage?" (she recommends getting pre-approved in writing rather than just pre-qualified) and "Should I work with a real estate agent?"

Although the author is a bit mixed up on how sales commissions are split among realty agents, it's nothing of major concern to home buyers.

However, the author then swerves into unrealistic suggestions such as "Get an appraiser to give you a comparative analysis of the upside of home values in each neighborhood, present vs. future." Appraisers don't have time for that nonsense, especially without payment.

Although the book cover is unclear what Summers does in real life to qualify her to advise single-women, first-time home buyers, she offers mostly good advice for prospective home purchasers. In an attempt to be Internet-savvy, the author lists some Web sites. However, she obviously hasn't personally used all of them recently because www.norwest.com merged with Wells Fargo Bank years ago.

In the section about different types of mortgages home buyers should consider, I found especially valuable a little chart comparing the monthly payments on a $100,000 mortgage at 5 percent, 6 percent, 7 percent and 8 percent interest. The 5 percent loan costs $417; at 6 percent the payment is $500; at 7 percent the payment jumps to $583; and at 8 percent the payment is $667. The importance of getting a lower, fixed-interest-rate mortgage is emphasized by that comparison.

Perhaps I am too critical. This new book provides valuable information for first-time home buyers, whether female, male, single, married, or otherwise. However, it should have been "previewed" by a knowledgeable real estate expert who would have corrected the obvious errors and misleading information.

The idea for this book of giving encouragement and advice to first-time female home buyers is great. Unfortunately, Vanessa Summers was not the right person to write this book because she obviously doesn't have much real estate experience and she often provides misleading information. On my scale of one to 10, this disappointing book rates only a seven.

"Buying Solo," by Vanessa Summers (Perigee-Penguin Group, New York), 2005; $14.95; 175 pages; Available in stock or by special order at local bookstores, public libraries, and www.amazon.com.
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Buying a Home Foreclosures- Buying a home foreclosures makes you generate quick profit. Step-by-step process in buying a home foreclosures for quick cash.

Real Estate Book Online Tips

Robert Bruss: Unique book gives new realty investors daily 'to do' lists

By ROBERT J. BRUSS, Inman News Features
May 29, 2005

Reading "40 Days to Success in Real Estate Investing" by Robert Shemin won't make you a successful investor in just 40 days, but it will get you motivated to take action day by day to work toward your realty goals. Written by a successful investor, this new book provides a unique format of daily "to do" lists for getting started investing in real estate.

Along the way, Shemin shares his sage advice based on practical experiences. The only section to be careful about is on day four when the author discusses investing in foreclosures.

Although he is an attorney, the author got a little "mixed up" on an important issue. When discussing foreclosure priority, he says, "If you haven't paid your federal taxes, the IRS can place a lien against your house that trumps all others."

Shemin must have forgotten IRS tax liens have foreclosure priority based on their date of recording and they do not have foreclosure "super-priority" as do property taxes.

The book is filled with lots of personal examples from the author's many investment experiences. There are also many experiences of other investors Shemin has encountered.

The book's basic premise is it provides a step-by-step list of things beginning realty investors should do to become successful. Along the way, the author explains realty investing techniques, such as how to read newspaper real estate ads, driving neighborhoods, and finding seller's true sales motivations.

Emphasis is placed on building a "team" of realty experts, such as agents, tax advisers, mortgage brokers, attorneys and contractors. Shemin suggests developing contacts with other local realty investors to discuss experiences and "network" for mutual benefit.

The book's best chapters discuss negotiation techniques. My favorite negotiation sentence for a buyer to ask the seller is: "What's the least you'd take for this property and be OK?" I guess that's the way folks talk in Tennessee where Shemin invests.

Interestingly, Shemin recommends using a one-page purchase contract to avoid confusing property sellers. Then he explains the essential clauses that should be included in such a refreshingly short contract, compared to the 6-to-8-page contracts now used by most home buyers.

Toward the book's conclusion, the author discusses advanced investment strategies such as wholesaling (buying at a bargain price and reselling to another investor at a below-market price), lease-options, and long-term investment holding.

Although Shemin once wrote a book on property management, now he recommends realty investors hire professional property managers rather than managing their own properties.

The book's final "bonus chapter" by Heather Seitz is a list of investor mistakes not to make, based on her experiences. This extensive chapter offers practical advice from a novice investor who is apparently now successful but who made considerable learning mistakes.

Shemin's approach to real estate investing is to create a business rather than just an investment. The book's most valuable paragraph says: "If you determine that your hour is worth $200, you won't spend time on activities that won't support that rate. Instead of painting and cleaning carpets, you'll be out finding deals. That's where the real money is."

This unusual book, presented in an unusual checklist style, is designed to encourage new investors to get motivated day by day with daily "to do" lists. Shemin's many personal examples add realism to this fast-paced book. On my scale of one to 10, it earns a solid 10.

"40 Days to Success in Real Estate Investing," by Robert Shemin (John Wiley and Sons, Hoboken, N.J.), 2005, $16.95, 231 pages; Available in stock or by special order at local bookstores, public libraries, and www.amazon.com.

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Buying a Home Foreclosures- Buying a home foreclosures makes you generate quick profit. Step-by-step process in buying a home foreclosures for quick cash.

Asset Management Ideas for Your Home Foreclosures

Record Your Assets

If you own and run a small business you probably know how
important it is to properly manage your assets, especially
when tax season rolls around. Managing your assets can be
fairly easy, no matter what type of assets you're talking
about. This includes cash as an asset and physical assets as
well.

Healthy habits with regards to book keeping and accounting
practices will always save you time and money in the long
run. When dealing with your cash accounts and assets, you
need to keep exact track of income and spending -
irrespective of how small or insignificant the dollar value
may be. Every cent added up over a period of time can make a
vast sum.

If you need to submit tax to the government a good
accounting practice and asset management is extremely
important. You may think something may be totally
insignificant, but if you get audited, even years past of
slight indiscretions can come back to haunt you.

Exact and detailed accounting books will also help you
should you need to apply for a loan or a small business
grant. They will need to know all of your assets and if you
have all the proper documentation, and books with accurate
records, you will be able to easily prove you are a reliable
member of the business community.

Often, small business owners tend to overlook certain items,
not realizing that they are actually assets. Anything worth
money, or that can be sold, is considered an asset. For
instance, most of us know that our computer equipment is an
asset, but we may overlook the desk or even the chair we're
sitting on. Take a look around and see if you've missed any
assets in your reconciliation.

The concept of depreciation is important to understand when
managing physical assets. For example a brand new car worth
$18,000, depreciates in value as soon as it is driven off
the lot. What we pay for a brand new item is certainly not
the price we can expect to sell it five years later. For a
car, factors such as mileage, wear and tear, and any
accidents also play a role in the depreciation. While this
rule of depreciation applies to all physical assets,
property is an exception which may in fact appreciate in a
few areas.

Therefore, small businesses need to cater to depreciation in
value of the office equipment and most other equipment that
has been purchased when undertaking asset valuation and
management. While this process sounds overwhelming, it
actually is fairly easy when assisted with the required
tools and guides.

There are several types of software programs available that
can help you with your asset management and book keeping.
Most software is fairly user friendly and comes with good
documentation so you can set it up specifically for your
business with ease. If you would rather hand your asset
management and accounting over to someone else entirely, you
may want to consider consulting a chartered accountant.

The bottom line is that for small businesses, asset
management is very important and must be taken seriously.
Not only can you benefit from properly documenting your
assets, but there can be serious repercussions if you don't.

-o+o-
John Hivern is the webmaster for FTP Assets,
a fantastic resource for information about
http://www.ftpasset.com">Asset Management &
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Buying a Home Foreclosures- Buying a home foreclosures makes you generate quick profit. Step-by-step process in buying a home foreclosures for quick cash.