Archive for the ‘Real Estate’ Category

Real Estate Guide to Buy or Rent Whangarei Northland and Coastal Property in New Zealand

Friday, February 26th, 2010

Real Estate Investment in Whangarei New Zealand

Real estate business may be focused in so many aspects as an investment and as a method to earn money from. You can be a real estate agent and enjoy earning money while on the other hand, there are those who have the capital to earn being an investor in the buy and sell arena for a real estate business. In Whangarei New Zealand, however, there is a lot of available real estate business investment that you can get in to if you want to earn a significant amount of income from it.

Whangarei Real Estate Agent Marketing Tips

A Whangarei real estate agent in New Zealand may earn through real estate business by selling real estate property in so many ways and methods but so far, there are a few tips that I would like to give you to be able to earn good in this business. To be able to market a real estate property, you have to know where you can make such move or where to post your for sale property using the internet because we all know that the internet is the best medium there is if you are selling anything today. A few good ways to seek refuge for your product are forums and classifieds. Today there are a lot of free classifieds that you can post your for sale product. Forums can also be a good way to sell real estate. You can also try to market your real estate property using social media sites where you can post to multiple people who might just be interested to buy a real estate property in Whangarei. So far these are just a few ways and I know that there are a lot out there.

Different Real Estate Property Investment and Sale

In a real estate investment, there are a lot of different types that you can sell for interest of those who might be looking for the perfect type of property. Different people have different preferences for a real estate property that they wan to buy or rent or even lease for a period of time so to be able to allow your target clients to get a glimpse of what is there in the real estate industry in Whangarei Nez Zealand, you must have access to the different types of real estate properties being sold in the market today and make a list of them all. This is for the purpose of having each type under your profile just in case you have to present a client the different types of real estate property that you sell for choosing.

To get you an idea of what is in store if you are looking to sell real estate these are a few types. Coastal real estate, farmland real estate, northland real estate, beach real estate, resort real estate, ridge real estate and more. So far these are just a few but always feel free to make it more appealing and diverse for your clients. We all know that selling a real estate property either if it is for rent, lease or total sale depends on the choices that you can offer for your clients.

Top Five Reasons to Invest in Real Estate Today

Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010

When it comes to real estate, the topic of the day is the downturn in the market, the number of people losing their homes, and how much this is going to hurt the economy. In the seventeen years I have been in the real estate business, I have witnessed every fluctuation the market has to offer. While it is true that many property owners are enduring trying times, rarely does the same happen to knowledgeable real estate investors.

There are those individuals who remain emotionally unattached and invest wisely in real estate. As a result, they live a very comfortable, if not lavish, lifestyle. Investing in real estate, especially during a downturn, can widen an investor’s opportunities and bring about lucrative returns. This is a truth. If you are thinking about becoming a real estate investor or have already made the decision to start, the following information is priceless.

Wanting to secure a comfortable financial future, most of us go to work every day hoping to build a nest egg. Since, it is common knowledge that real estate investors have the capacity to not only build a nest egg but also create a fortune, why aren’t more people joining the ranks of real estate multimillionaires? Why aren’t there more people fighting for a seat on the real estate bandwagon?

Well, the truth behind real estate investing is that it is a business and therefore, must be treated like one for it to prosper. Just like any other promising venture, investing in real estate requires a well-defined vision, a strategic plan, and an entrepreneurial mindset. Even with the overwhelming evidence revealing success, only a microscopic segment of the population is willing to take the risk, do the work and follow through. The rest simply watch and call those of us doing the work “Lucky”.

When I began my career in real estate, I didn’t have a plan. I didn’t invest. I didn’t even see past my next commission check. What kept me hanging on was a desire to live like the people I worked for, most of whom were real estate investors. Years later, I committed to create serious wealth through real estate. As soon as I mindfully committed to my goal, I began to make deals and more money than ever before.

By choice, I am not one of those investors who vacations six months out of the year. I work all the time meeting with clients, looking at properties and refining my strategy. Add to that a growing number of mentoring/coaching clients and my schedule is officially full. Nevertheless, I am continuously increasing my net worth as I am doing something that never feels like work.

Besides creating amazing wealth, being your own boss and having a place or two to call home, owning a real estate investing business has many other advantages. The following five play a special role for the novice investor.

1. Safe Investment

When we use a timeline to compare the real estate market to other investments, such as the stock market, it is easy to see that real estate continues to increase in value over time without any serious instability. Although, there is currently a housing crisis in various parts across the country, every indicator points out that what we are actually experiencing is a readjustment of highly inflated real estate prices. Just as prices may be dropping, in time they will undoubtedly increase. In contrast, the stock market has put investors through a dizzying rollercoaster ride made up of swift highs and abrupt lows throughout history. Regardless of what type of market we are in, it is clear that an investment in real estate guarantees a profit over time.

2. No Cash Necessary

For beginning real estate investors, sometimes the only investment they can make is their time. For every real estate investor, finding a lucrative deal is as good as striking oil. There are plenty of seasoned investors with money in their pockets itching to buy a piece of discounted property. Wholesalers often utilize this method. Therefore, if you are new to the game, consider finding a deal, tying it up and connecting with an investor who can take it off your hands…for a price, of course.

3. Almost Anyone Can Do It

Real estate is such a lucrative field that it opens doors to countless amateur investors everyday. There are how-to books and seminars at every turn teaching would-be investors a myriad of ways to make huge profits in the real estate market. While it is true that overnight success is practically unheard of, anybody with the heart, mind and determination can make it big in real estate. The keys are to continue learning and to monitor market conditions.

4. Leveraging Power

While novice investors can turn a quick profit by wholesaling their deals, Buy-and-Hold investors can yield a profit by borrowing against (leveraging) their properties. Typically, lenders will allow holders of owner-occupied property to borrow up to ninety-five percent of their property’s value and up to eighty-percent of non-owner occupied units. This means that you can either purchase property with a minimal out-of-pocket investment or acquire financing that will allow you to pull cash out of your property’s equity to use for future ventures.

5. Tax Breaks

The popular 1031 exchange and depreciation are just two of them. The United States government has set up multiple tax breaks favoring real estate investors. Owning real estate with the goal of making a profit allows you to deduct interest payments, repairs, and vacancies among other expenses when preparing your tax return. It is important to note that purchasing real estate makes economic sense; it should not be purchased solely for the tax benefits.

Ultimately, owning a real estate business is the way to achieve financial freedom regardless of economic conditions. Whether you quit your job and dive right in or you work at it in your spare time, you can make it happen. Worthwhile benefits are waiting faithfully for the taking.

Commercial Real Estate: the Big Profits

Sunday, February 21st, 2010

Real estate is often termed as the safest investment avenue. In fact, real estate investments done with proper evaluation of the property (and its true value), can lead to good profits. This is one reason why some people pursue real estate investment as their full time job. The talks of real estate are generally focussed towards residential real estate; commercial real estate seems to take a back seat. However, commercial real estate too is a good option for investing in real estate.

Commercial real estate includes a lot of different kinds of properties. Most people relate commercial real estate with only office complexes or factories/ industrial units. However, that is not all of commercial real estate. There is more to commercial real estate. Health care centers, retail structures and warehouse are all good examples of commercial real estate. Even residential properties like apartments (or any property that consists of more than four residential units) are considered commercial real estate. In fact, such commercial real estate is much in demand.

So, is commercial real estate really profitable? Well, if it were not profitable I would not have been writing about commercial real estate at all. So, commercial real estate is profitable for sure. The only thing with commercial real estate is that recognising the opportunity is a bit difficult as compared to residential real estate. But commercial real estate profits can be real big (in fact, much bigger than you would expect from residential real estate of the same proportion). You could take up commercial real estate for either reselling after appreciation or for renting out to, say, retailers. The commercial real estate development is in fact treated as the first sign for growth of residential real estate. Once you know of the possibility of significant commercial growth in the region (either due to tax breaks or whatever), you should start evaluating the potential for appreciation in the prices of commercial real estate and then go for it quickly (as soon as you find a good deal). And you must really work towards getting a good deal. If you find that commercial real estate, e.g. land, is available in big chunks which are too expensive for you to buy, you could look at forming a small investor group (with your friends) and buy it together (and split the profits later). In some cases e.g. when a retail boom is expected in a region, you might find it profitable to buy a property that you can convert into a warehouse for the purpose of renting to small businesses.

So commercial real estate presents a whole plethora of investing opportunities, you just need to grab it.

Two (2) Ways to Take Your Rental Real Estate Losses

Saturday, February 20th, 2010

Even if you have strong positive cash flow from your rental real estate, chances are you still have a loss for tax purposes due to the depreciation deduction.

This is a great tax strategy because your positive cash flow is sheltered from tax. But, it can be even better if you are able to take your losses against your other income (like your income from your job or the business that you run).

The general rule for rental real estate losses is that they are passive. This means they can only be taken against passive income. The income from your job and the business you run is active income so your rental losses cannot shelter this income. However, there are two exceptions to this rule.

** Exception #1: “Active Real Estate” exception. **

The Background on the Active Real Estate Exception

Rental real estate, in many cases, is held to provide financial security to individuals with moderate incomes. Because of this Congress believed that a rental real estate investment in which a taxpayer has significant responsibilities and which served a significant non-tax purpose should be treated differently than the activities meant to be limited under the passive loss provisions. So Congress created the active rental real estate exception.

- How It Works -

If you are active in your rental real estate activities you may be able to deduct up to $25,000 of your rental losses against other ordinary income. We say may be because there are income limitations which phase out the $25,000 deduction. The phase out will start when your adjusted gross income exceeds $100,000 and end when your adjusted gross income is at $150,000. This means that for every $2 over $100,000 of adjusted gross income you will lose $1 off the $25,000 deductible amount. For example if your adjusted gross income is $120,000 you will have to reduce the $25,000 exception by $10,000 and the most rental real estate losses you can deduct will be $15,000 for that tax year.

Don’t let your high income penalize you! Learn my tax secrets to increase your cash flow by uncovering the hidden cash flow in your real estate. Several of my secrets reveal how to legally get around these income limitations!

What constitutes active participation?

Active participation exists so long as you participate, in the making of management decisions or arranging for others to provide services (such as repairs), in a significant and bona fide sense. Also, you must have at least a 10% interest in the activity at any time during the year.

** Exception #2: “Real Estate Professional” exception. **

What is a Real Estate Professional?

First, let’s dispense with one myth: Real Estate Professional status does not mean you have to hold a real estate license. Rather, it is a designation you obtain by meeting certain specific requirements. If you qualify as a real estate professional you can deduct all your current year rental real estate losses against other income without limitations.

Requirement #1

The first requirement is that you spend more than 750 hours in real estate trades or businesses in which you materially participate.

What is a real estate trade or business? A real estate trade or business is defined as ANY real estate development, redevelopment, construction, reconstruction, acquisition, conversion, rental, operation, management, leasing, or brokerage trade or business.

The 750 hours test must be met for each activity. So for example, say you have three rental properties. The general rule is that you have to perform at least 750 hours on activities related to EACH of those three properties. Fortunately, there is an exception to this rule. If you make the election to aggregate all of your rental real estate activities into one activity, you only have to meet the 750 hours requirement once for the tax year.

What types of activities qualify as real estate professional activities? Activities such as:

- Searching for possible rental properties

- Attending real estate seminars or reading real estate books

- Meeting with real estate agents and viewing properties

- Meeting with mortgage brokers with regards to getting loans on properties

- Travel time to and from the seminars and your property searches

- Preparing your bookkeeping and tax information for your rental properties

- Time spend buying or selling properties (i.e. signing the closing documents)

- Studying and reviewing financial reports (Investor-type)

- Preparing summaries or analyses for personal use (Investor-type)

- Monitoring finances or operation in a non-managerial capacity (Investor-type)

An important note to the investor-type activities mentioned above is that these activities can only be counted towards real estate professional time if you are involved in the day-to-day operations or management of the activity for which you perform those tasks. Essentially, this means that if you have an independent property manager and your only real estate business is your rental properties, you probably will not qualify as a real estate professional.

Requirement #2

The second requirement is that you spend more time in your real estate trades or businesses than in ALL OTHER trades or businesses combined. Time spent as an employee in real estate activities is counted only if you are a more than a 5% owner in that business.

- What You Need to Do -

You have to meet the above requirements each year. So, you could be a real estate professional one year but not the next. Only one spouse needs to meet the requirements in order for a married couple to take advantage of the benefits provided by the real estate professional status.

The extent of an individual’s participation in an activity may be established by any reasonable means. Contemporaneous daily time reports, logs, or similar documents are not required if the extent of such participation may be established by other reasonable means. Documentation required includes the identification of services performed over a period of time and the approximate number of hours spent performing such services during such period, based on appointment books, calendars, or narrative statements.

If you are audited, the IRS will ask you to prove your real estate professional status. For more on how to be prepared, see my recent article titled: “Three (3) Things You Can Do To Be Prepared For An Audit”

Real Estate Appraisal – is That the Real One?

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010

The person who performs a real estate appraisal exercise is called the real estate appraiser or property valuation surveyor. The value as determined by real estate appraisal is the fair market value.

The real estate appraisal is done using various methods and the real estate appraisal values the property as different for difference purposes e.g. the real estate appraisal might assign 2 different values to the same property (Improved value and vacant value) and again the same/similar property might be assigned different values in a residential zone and a commercial zone.

However, the value assigned as a result of real estate appraisal might not be the value that a real estate investor would consider when evaluating the property for investment. In fact, a

real estate investor might completely ignore the value that comes out of real estate appraisal process.

A good real estate investor would evaluate the property on the basis of the developments going on in the region. So real estate appraisal as done by a real estate investor would come up with the value that the real estate investor can get out of the property by buying it at a low price and selling it at a much higher price (as in the present).

Similarly, real estate investor could do his own real estate appraisal for the expected value of the property in, say 2 years time or in 5 years time. Again, a real estate investor might conduct his real estate appraisal based on what value he/she can create by investing some amount of money in the property i.e. a real estate investor might decide on buying a dirty/scary kind of property (which no one likes) and get some minor repairs, painting etc done in order to increase the value of the property (the value that the real estate investor would get by selling it in the market).

So, here the meaning of real estate appraisal changes completely (and can be very different from the value that real estate appraiser would come out with if the real estate appraiser conducted a real estate appraisal exercise on the property).

A real estate investor will generally base his investment decision on this real estate appraisal that he does by himself (or gets done through someone). So, can we then term real estate appraisal as a really real ‘real estate appraisal’?

All About Real Estate Investment Trusts (reits)

Tuesday, February 16th, 2010

Real estate is a big business and everyone seems to want to invest in real estate. You keep hearing a lot of stories about how people made a quick buck by investing in real estate. There are stories about people who made $50000 in a fortnight by making the right kind of investment in real estate. Every now and then, newspapers keep coming up with statistics about the appreciation in the real estate prices. There seems a mad rush for investing in real estate (and this gets even bigger when the mortgage interest rates are falling). However, not everyone has the time, money and expertise to be able to profitably invest in real estate. So what does one do? Is there any other option?

Yes, there is another way of investing in real estate and that is through Real Estate Investment Trust. Real Estate Investment Trust is an organisation that invests in real estate as a full fledged business. By investing in a Real Estate Investment Trust, you can become part of the real estate investment party and enjoy profits (of course, the assumption here is that the Real Estate Investment Trust is good and professionally managed).

Investing in Real Estate Investment Trust is very easy too. You can just buy Real Estate Investment Trust shares which trade on all major exchanges. There are certain laws governing the Real Estate Investment Trusts that help them avoiding the tax at corporate levels e.g. it is mandated that Real Estate Investment Trust’s portfolio has 75 percent of investment in real estate. Moreover, 75% of the income of Real Estate Investment Trust must be from rents or mortgage interest. There are various types of Real Estate Investment Trusts. Some Real Estate Investment Trusts own properties themselves and hence feed on the rental income from those properties. Some others indulge in providing only mortgage loans or go for mortgage backed securities. Then there are Real Estate Investment Trusts which do both i.e. rental focussed investments and mortgage based investments.

There are a number of Real Estate Investment Trusts operating in the market and a lot of these Real Estate Investment Trusts are doing good business. By investing in Real Estate Investment Trust you are basically investing in real estate without actually buying a property yourself. This is one easy way of investing in real estate (and much safer too). You must surely evaluate this option for your real estate investments.

Newspaper Real Estate Listings vs Online Real Estate Listings

Saturday, February 13th, 2010

The most common ways of looking for real estate listings are through the Internet and through your local newspapers. No matter what you are looking for, whether it is a home for you and your family to live in or real estate to invest money in, real estate listings will be the prime way for you to find the real estate that is best for you. To find real estate listings, you can use both the Internet and newspapers. It is up to you which one you choose.
Newspaper real estate listings
Looking at real estate listings in the newspaper is one of the most traditional ways to find real estate to purchase. Today, it still stands as one of the most used ways to look over real estate listings. Unfortunately, looking through real estate listings in newspapers can become very time consuming. You will find yourself flipping through pages. After reading through them all, you have to go back and find the ones that fit your needs the most.
Once you find the real estate listings that fit what you are looking for, you have to take the time to write down the contact information and then call them and make an appointment to view the property. Sometimes the real estate listings do not include pictures, which can be a total setback. Newspaper real estate listings are updated every week or so. This means that real estate you are interested in may not be available once you get around to it. If someone were to purchase the real estate before you, you have no way of knowing it before you waste your time.
Internet real estate listings
Since the Internet has grown more and more popular, finding real estate listings online has become one of the easiest and quickest ways to find real estate. The best thing about internet real estate listings is that they are updated two or three times a week. This makes it easier for those who are looking for real estate to buy because they do not have to worry about the real estate being unavailable or already sold.
Also with internet real estate listings, you will be able to few high-resolution photographs of the real estate you are interested in, instead of relying on a small black and white photo out of the newspaper. This allows you to truly see what the real estate looks like. Finding the perfect real estate for you is easy online. You do not have to go through lists and lists of listings to find one that is suitable for you because with a simply click of your mouse, you could find the real estate you are looking for.
Online, you can pick certain criteria such as how large the real estate is, where it is located, etc. This cuts down on the amount of time spent looking for real estate that fits your criteria. With online real estate listings, you do not have to worry about finding contact information. Most times, the website will provide you with a service to contact a realtor, or you can easily print out the real estate ad.

Understanding Real Estate Taxes

Wednesday, February 10th, 2010

Many homeowners do not understand much about real estate taxes and for this reason can end up in the position of losing their homes. Real estate taxes or property tax is normally calculated on the land value, the location, the county laws, and other factors. Real estate taxes are utilized for the upkeep of roads and other public services like emergency services and other municipal services enjoyed by the local residents. Real estate taxes are also in one way limited to the United States alone but for almost every country worldwide as well. Other names used for real estate taxes are rates and land levies and every homeowner will have to pay them.

 

How Much in Real estate taxes must I pay?

 

Real estate taxes are assed according to the sale value of your land or home. Rates are likely to be reassessed each year and normal inflationary increases and land values mean that your real estate taxes will increase with them. There are strict laws in place to ensure that these real estate taxes are paid and if you fall behind you are likely to even lose your home. The bill of rights requires that your property tax bill shows your assessment value of the property and the percentage of the how the figure has been arrived at. Real estate taxes can change according to the local municipal needs and area upgrades that need financing so your real estate taxes can change at any time in relation to municipal budgets.

 

Do I benefit from Real estate taxes?

 

Everyone benefits from real estate taxes because this money is used to the good all of all residents. In addition to this there are certain IRS benefits for real homeowners as well. Homeowner, are entitled to deduct payments of real estate taxes that they are paying on their property if you claimed for  itemized  deductions on your tax return.  The IRS allows you to deduct real estate taxes on your main home as well as on any other homes and real estate you own. There are no also limits on the dollar amount of real estate taxes you can deduct either so this is certainly beneficial. For real estate investors with multiple properties and homes, there are also no limits on the number of these houses or properties for which deductions can be claimed for in real estate taxes.

 

How is Real estate Taxes paid?

 

When you pay monthly mortgage payment to a bank or financial institution holding your mortgage then the amount generally includes the real estate taxes that have to be paid on your property. The bank or mortgage holder pays these real estate taxes to the proper taxing county authority on their due dates. When your real estate taxes are included in your mortgage payments then you may claim an IRS deduction only in the tax year you actually pay your real estate taxes.  You will find the real estate taxes paid for the year on the statement than the bank or mortgage lender gives you on the end of the year mortgage statements.  

 

Buying Cheap real estate land and Homes with Tax Liens

 

Knowing the Ps and Qs or real estate taxes and tax lien foreclosures can make investing in real estate very lucrative. As mentioned above real estate taxes are tax deductible from the IRS no matter how many homes you own. If you have the right knowledge it is possible to purchase homes at a fraction of their prices for back real estate taxes but realtors and property investors in the know will rather prefer to keep this knowledge secret. It is possible to purchase luxury dream homes of your own or buy and sell property to make handsome returns if you know where to get your hands on this valuable information. You will find that the investment in information of this nature can also help you save money on your own property as well

 Learn More About Real Estate and Tax Lien Properties

Real Estate Information Sources

Thursday, February 4th, 2010

Knowledge is basically the most important key to success in any industry and specially in real estate investing. Even if you know some of the basic techniques in real estate, then you can successfully buy the best property or home without any down payment. However, increasing knowledge among people has no longer kept real estate investing a specialty of wealthy businessmen only. Today, real estate investing has become a very common financial motion for almost every individual. This change is basically because of the concentration and elimination of company pension plans. Personal investing guides have also replaced these plans as they have become the preferred plans to retirement.Real Estate Investing Books: Real estate investing books would literally increase your potential knowledge and information in the real estate investing field. Generally speaking, the people who write these books are the ones with experience in real estate industry, and thus they write from personal experiences. There are also real estate investing guide books that are published in electronic format, which are known as Real estate E-books. Real estate investing books would offer you almost all the possible information that is used by professional real estate investors. If you have only recently entered the real estate market then it is important that you posses the required important information which can be found in these real estate investing books.Real Estate Online Information Sources: Real estate investing includes various categories and sub-categories and there is plenty to learn in the real estate investing market. Although you might find real estate investing books a good source, finding information over the internet is a better idea.  There are tons of websites on the internet, where you can find the desired information. You can even find real estate companies online who would keep you alert with the latest happenings in the real estate industry. If you are planning to buy a property or need to invest in real estate, then an online source would then be your best option. Most of the online real estate companies have a great source of real estate listings that you can refer to. Apart from this, you can also invest in one of the listed properties if the prices and the location match your requirements. These online companies would offer you various real estate investing tips and guidelines on how you could make great profits through the various properties that you have.Other Sources of Real Estate Information: Apart from these information sources, you can also opt for a real estate investing course. You probably could get the most out from a real estate investing course, but you just have to choose the right one. If you are really interested in discovering all the inside secrets of real estate investing, then a real estate investing course can teach you just that. The best part is that that are a number of real estate workshops, classes and courses that educate and offer the required information about the real estate investing market. You just have to choose the right course that would fulfill your need and make you a better real estate investor or help you make a great decision.

Give Me Ten Minutes and I’ll Make You Better at Real Estate Investing

Thursday, February 4th, 2010

Okay, ten minutes is a guess. You might absorb what I have to say and thereby become better at real estate investing in less time if you’re a fast reader.Shall we get stared?Acknowledge the BasicsReal estate investing involves acquisition, holding, and sale of rights in real property with the expectation of using cash inflows for potential future cash outflows and thereby generating a favorable rate of return on that investment.More advantageous then stock investments (which usually require more investor equity) real estate investments offer the advantage to leverage a real estate property heavily. In other words, with an investment in real estate, you can use other people’s money to magnify your rate of return and control a much larger investment than would be possible otherwise. Moreover, with rental property, you can virtually use other people’s money to pay off your loan.But aside from leverage, real estate investing provides other benefits to investors such as yields from annual after-tax cash flows, equity buildup through appreciation of the asset, and cash flow after tax upon sale. Plus, non-monetary returns such as pride of ownership, the security that you control ownership, and portfolio diversification.You’ll need capital, investing in real estate does have risks, and investment real estate can be management-intensive. Nonetheless, real estate investing is a source of wealth, and that should be enough motivation for us to want to get better at it.Understand the Elements of ReturnReal estate is not purchased, held, or sold on emotion. Real estate is not about love; it’s about a return on investment. As such, prudent real estate investors always consider these four basic elements of return to determine the potential benefits of purchasing, holding on to, or selling an income property investment.1. Cash Flow – This is determined by the amount of money collected from rents and other income less operating expenses and loan payment. Furthermore, real estate investing is all about the investment property’s cash flow. You’re buying income stream, therefore be certain that the numbers you use to calculate cash flow are truthful.2. Appreciation – This is the growth in value of a property over time, or future selling price minus original purchase price. The fundamental truth to understand about appreciation, however, is that real estate investors buy the income stream of investment property. It stands to reason, therefore, that the more income you can sell, the more you can expect your property to be worth. In other words, make a determination about the likelihood of an increase in income and throw it into your decision-making.3. Loan Amortization – This means a periodic reduction of the loan over time leading to increased equity. Because lenders evaluate rental property based on income stream, when buying multifamily property, present lenders with clear and concise cash flow reports. Properties with income and expenses represented accurately to the lender increase the chances the investor will obtain a favorable financing.4. Tax Shelter – This signifies a legal way to use real estate investment property to reduce annual or ultimate income taxes. No one-size-fits-all, though, and the prudent real estate investor should check with a tax expert to be sure what the current tax laws are for the investor in any particular year.Do Your Homework1. Form the correct attitude. Dispel the thought that investing in rental properties is like buying a home and develop the attitude that real estate investing is business. Look beyond curb appeal, exciting amenities, and desirable floor plans unless they contribute to the income. Focus on the numbers. “Only women are beautiful,” an investor once told me. “What are the numbers?”2. Develop a real estate investment goal with meaningful objectives. Have a plan with stated goals that best frames your investment strategy; it’s one of the most important elements of successful investing. What do you want to achieve? By when do you want to achieve it? How much cash are you willing to invest comfortably, and what rate of return are you hoping to generate?3. Research your market. Understanding as much as possible about the conditions of the real estate market surrounding the rental property you want to purchase is a necessary and prudent approach to real estate investing. Learn about property values, rents, and occupancy rates in your local area. You can turn to a qualified real estate professional or speak with the county tax assessor.4. Learn the terms and returns and how to compute them. Get familiar with the nuances of real estate investing and learn the terms, formulas, and calculations. There are sites online that provide free information.5. Consider investing in real estate investment software. Having the ability to create your own rental property analysis gives you more control about how the cash flow numbers are presented and a better understanding about a property’s profitability. There are numerous software solutions to choose from online.6. Create a relationship with a real estate professional that knows the local real estate market and understands rental property. It won’t advance your investment objectives to spend time with an agent unless that person knows about investment property and is adequately prepared to help you correctly procure it. Work with a real estate investment specialist.There you have it. As concise an insight into real estate investing as I could provide without boring you to death. Just take them to heart and you should be fine. Here’s to your investing success.