Writing on a postcard as naturally as possible is one of the most challenging tasks a real estate investor has to face. You should be aware if your posts are coming across as hard sell because this would turn off any potential customers.

Don?t be fooled by the seemingly small size of the postcard. And don?t be intimidated by the actual act of ?writing.? Writing ? especially the writing of direct mail copy ? is nothing more than telling someone about all the great aspects of your service.

So now here is my suggestion, why not use your strength in real estate investing to help with writing your real estate direct marketing materials? Most real estate investors who stay in the industry are good at talking to people and researching about their customers.

Go to a quite place where you can relax ? probably your bedroom or living room. Record your thoughts as if you were talking to a friend or an acquaintance. But if you do not have a recorder, type your words on your computer as you speak them.

Now refine this. Go ahead. Do it right now. You?ll discover that it?s much easier now than you thought. Not only should you have the outline of a great sales pitch, it should read as if you were talking to someone. And that someone should be your customer.

Trust me on this one. It?ll work. The fundamental reason why direct-mail is so very powerful at selling is its unique ability to touch potentially hundreds of thousands of people at one time, yet be a very personal message for the individual who is reading it in the privacy of his own home.

So don?t waste time staring blankly at your computer screen and give this method a try. One of the reasons why it also works is because writing the way you would naturally speak to your customer let?s you develop real estate marketing materials that feels more sincere and personal to your prospective customers. This may mean having some fragmented sentences in your copy.

It?s hard to lose the habit of writing for an English teacher or a boss, who is obsess with grammar rather than making a sale. But try to lose the formal tone and make your writing more approachable. Write your message using ideas that your customer can relate to. Hence, to further increase customer rapport and readability, try to write the way your customer speaks when writing your real estate direct mails.

Before you even think about doing this exercise, though, it?s vital that you not worry about anything. It could be that you?ll end up with enough complete copy for two versions of a postcard mailing. That?s great! You can either test these variations, or have your next mailing practically completed right now.

So use your strength in talking and getting to know your customers to write effective real estate direct mails.

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Buying a home can be both an exciting a stressful time. Many people consider doing it themselves in an effort to save money. Whether you are a first time home buyer, or looking for another home, there are many factors that need to be taken into consideration, especially if you are going to buy it yourself without the help of a real estate agent. Are you ready for the responsibilities of homeownership?

Purchasing a home is a major life investment. Before you sign the contract, make sure you can meet the responsibilities that come with homeownership. Make sure that you are financially ready for such a big purchase. Easy to use mortgage calculators that can be found online will allow you to determine if you can afford a home. It will also determine how much you can afford. Mortgage payments include the amount borrowed, the interest, and usually the property taxes. To check to see what you can afford, calculate your net worth, determine your monthly expenses, and your current monthly debts. Make sure you allow enough for unexpected costs such as any repairs you may have to do.

Can you afford the Up-Front Costs?

There are many up-front costs associated with buying a home. It is important to know all of the costs involved so you can determine if you can afford it. These costs include: mortgage loan insurance premium, appraisal fee, down payment, home inspection fee, land registration fees, prepaid property taxes, utility bills such as getting the oil tank filled, homeowners insurance, survey costs, water tests, title insurance fee, and legal fees.

What are your housing needs?

You should know what type of home will suit your needs. You should consider the size of the home such as number of bedrooms and bathrooms, extra features such as walk in closets, a large backyard, a garage…etc. Will the home accommodate a growing family such as more children? Or, is it a retirement home?

Where do you want to live?

You have to decide where you want to put down your roots. Do you want to live in a rural community or urban atmosphere? Location to schools, parks, your workplace, and shopping centers must also be considered. Determine the market value of comparable homes in the neighborhood before making an offer.

Do you want a newly constructed home or resale home?

There are advantages to each type of home. Newly constructed homes are more energy efficient, modern designed, wired for todays technology, require less maintenance, and often come with building warranties. Older homes, or resale homes, tend to have more charm, the taxes will be lower, and they are usually located in established areas near amenities, schools, shopping centers…etc.

What Professionals should you hire?

There are a number of professional services you will need before you make a purchase. This can include real estate agent, mortgage broker, lender (either a bank or other institution such as a trust company or Ontario credit union) attorney, home inspector, insurance broker, home appraiser, and surveyor.

Do you understand the purchase agreement?

Before you sign the contract, read through the entire contract form. If there is anything that you do not understand, consult with a lawyer or real estate broker. Make sure you have mortgage approval before signing the agreement.

Does you contract include an out?

When you sign the purchase agreement, make sure you include terms and conditions that will allow you to cancel the contract. Conditions can depend on approval of inspections and financing.

If you buy a home without a real estate agent, you may save the commission costs if you negotiate the price. Because of the many factors involved with buying a home, enlisting the services of a real estate agent can reduce a lot of stress. No matter what choice you make, it is important to take the time to know all that is involved with buying a home.

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It can be very tough at times trying to locate the right note buyer. The best method to find note buyers is using the Internet. Using a popular search engine website with keywords such as “buy monthly payments” or “buy mortgage payments” could lead to many interested buyers.

There are a lot of search engines out there you could review to search for finding the right note buyers. The best of all search engines are Google followed by Yahoo and then MSN.

Enlisting the assistance of a note finder in the secondary finance industry, a unique group of people exists who specialize in locating buyers. These cash flow specialists – often known simply as “finders” – have a unique understanding of what most buyers are looking for. These finders are happy to work with property sellers or their real estate agents.

While note finders can’t offer any legal assistance or help with the creation of a note, they are qualified to give general recommendations about note buyers’ buying criteria. Most importantly, note finders will be able to help locate a buyer for a newly-created cash flow.

To be able to create an attractive note for resale, note payers and note buyers are usually looking for very different things. Most note payers would love a “no money down” purchase over 30 years at a low interest rate, but buyers wouldn’t want anything to do with this sort of note because it is a bad deal for them.

An initial down payment of at least 10% of the sale amount, a fully amortized term between 60 and 120 months, and an interest rate of 12 to 20% is typically what a note buyer is seeking. These conditions are necessary in order to minimize the discount to the note seller.

Note buyers will always reduce the payout amount somewhat in order to counterbalance the risks – limited equity, a payer with low or no credit score, possible foreclosure, or having to foot the bill for legal actions and selling the property by way of auction.

When property sellers are willing to offer an unconventional, private financed note to sell their home, the end result is often much better than the alternative of lowering the price until a “traditional buyer” finds the deal attractive. Smart sellers who can apply owner-finance techniques will have a huge advantage in closing difficult deals in tough markets.

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If you are a newbie to the forex trading world and would like to be armed with the knowledge and skills that you need to be developed so that you can successfully trade in the forex market, or if you are already a forex trader who have attempted several times in being successful in forex trading but cannot seem to be able to achieve the results that you desire and is having a hard time understanding the different forex signals that are available to you that’s why you are losing more than you are making in the forex market, then you should really have the strong foundation of a forex education.

A forex education will be able to give you all the necessary knowledge base that you need to have about the forex market and the different runarounds in trading in it. You should always be wary in forex trading especially if you are prone to succumbing into get-rich-quick schemes since these are, most of the time, scams of some sort. Don’t get it wrong, though. The forex market is regulated by the government, The United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in particular, but more often than not, scams cannot be prevented from sprouting up. To ensure that you are more or less protected from these fraudulent activities, arm yourself with a good forex education. Not only will a good forex education protect you from scams, it will also make you trading-savvy and can make you trade like a pro in no time at all.

A good forex education will empower you with the essentials in the forex market since you will be able to grasp all the twists and turns of trading in it. It will also turn you into a forex trader who almost always makes the right decisions when trading since it will make you have the right amount of guts solely acquired through instinct and the foundation of what you know about the field. It will also protect you from the negative aspects of forex trading like scams that can make you lose your hard-earned money in a single poof since the right knowledge will make you more cautious of these things.

A good forex education will also make you more knowledgeable in all the runarounds of the operations of different currencies. It will also allow you to track all of your forex activities in the right manner. It will also equip you with the forex trading power that is necessary to be successful.

Never get your feet wet in forex trading if you haven’t had the opportunity of having a good forex education. Doing so would be like committing financial suicide.

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The Simplified Employee Pension Individual Retirement Account (SEP IRA) is a great option for the self employed and small business owners who want to get tax relief for the profit that the business (or individual) generates. Unlike 401k plans that come with administrative costs, SEP IRA is easy to setup and maintain. In addition, SEP IRA allows contributions of up to $46,000 in 2008.

SEP IRA’s Contribution Limits

In 2008, you can contribute up to $46,000 or up to 25% of your net profits, whichever is lower. Unlike a 401k plan though, there are no “catch-up” contribution no matter what your age is. In addition, withdraws are mandatory once you reach the age of 70 and a half.

SEP IRA’s Rules

This type of IRA is open for sole proprietors, partnerships, LLC and corporations (both S and C corps). For companies that have employees, the employer must contribute for each employee equal percentages of what the business owner contributes in his/her own plan.  For example, if a business owner contributes 15% of her net profits to a SEP IRA plan, she needs to contribute at least 15% of all employees wages into the plan.  (Note that an employee in this case qualifies as long as she made $500 for that tax year, at least 21 years old and worked at the company for three out of the last five years.)

Like a 401k, the contributions lowers the participants aggregate gross income (AGI) and thus lowers its taxes.  However, withdraws are then taxed at the ordinary income rate.

A Note About the 25%

We’ve said that the contribution limit is $46,000 or 25% of your net profit (or wages if you are an employee).  However, calculating your net profit is not that simple.  When calculating your net profit, you need to take into account self employment taxes as well.  For example, a business owner who makes a profit of $40,000 will not be able to contribute $10,000 to a SEP IRA plan.  That’s because self employee taxes “eat away” at the net profit, so it’s a little less than 25%.

Sole propetiors have an even more complicated structure.  When an employee makes $40,000 and its employer contribute $10,000 to its plan, the effective compensation is actually $50,000.  In the case of sole properitors where the employer and the employee are the same person, the same rules to apply.  Therefore, the contribution rate is 20% instead of 25% (closer to 18% when taken the self employment taxes into account).

Where are SEP IRAs Available

Actually, almost every institution that offer IRAs offer SEP IRAs.  For those interested, just inquire at your favorite stock broker.

What the SEP IRA Mean for Us

The contribution limit is actually quite complicated as you can see but it is a great option for people who have limited employees or are self employed.  Each type of IRA may offer different advantages but the tax advantages of contributing to one outweighs not having one by far.  Therefore, it is highly recommended to have one set up immediately if you don’t haven’t yet.

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Related Articles at Investing School:

• 41 Investing Lessons We Already Know
• A Little Article About Investor’s Biggest Mistakes
• 401(k) Retirement Plans

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