Basic Info About Land Surveys

Posted by Mike Vail | Investing | Monday 6 June 2011 8:35 am

Land surveys are done for a variety of purposes which means that there are actually different types of land surveys. One of the most common land surveys available are residential land surveys, and these are those which are encountered usually by the general public. People usually learn about residential land surveys when they want to have their property’s boundaries determined. This type of land survey is done for settling boundary disputes. But aside from boundary surveys, residential land surveys may include certain geological and man-made features. This includes sewage and plumbing lines, contents of the land and topographical values. Read on and learn about the basic land surveys.

Number one, land surveying is not just all about measuring land. All the other factors that affect the land is taken into consideration. There could be previous records of land surveys which could be invalidated because of changes on the land. Research is conducted so that everything is determined about the boundaries. This is important because everything should be based on the first sale of the property.

Next, better learn about the measurement that are being conducted. Measurements are usually done using a tape and transit. You will observe that for complicated surveys they will utilize GPS or an EDM. Land surveyors usually measure the land a number of times and then get the average measurement. This is quite crucial for settling land disputes and other things that may need land surveys.

Last, better learn about the purpose of land survey. This is important to learn because the different types of land survey will need different equipments. It is imperative that land surveys are precise and exact for legal purposes. Make sure that you are given official documentation for your land survey.

You have just read some of the things that you need to know about land surveys. Make sure that you get land surveys done every time that you build on your property. This will prevent legal disputes about the boundaries of your property. It is quite frustrating for you to find out that you have intruded on your neighbor’s property.

Give us a call for all your land survey needs at our San Diego land surveying company. We have years of experience with our ALTA land surveying San Diego company.

Step by Step Guide in Finding Foreclosed Homes For Sale

Posted by Michael Kowalski | Investing | Monday 25 April 2011 8:11 am

It should not be surprising for a first time home buyer to feel apprehension at the idea of buying a home, even one of the many foreclosed homes for sale. The trick is actually simple. You should just follow a process to make sure that you make your purchase in an organized manner. By doing so, you save much time and avoid losing certain investment opportunities just because you are unsure or unprepared.

Step 1: Determine Your Financial Capacity. It is important that you are aware of exactly how much room you have, in terms of your budget. You should look over your finances carefully, and check carefully as to how much you can afford. Also, if it is possible to continue paying the mortgage even if emergencies or medical problems arise. This way, you are 100 percent sure that you can manage your mortgage payments, no matter what happens.

Step 2: Get Pre Approved. Once you have determined just how much you can afford, you can now shop for a lender who is willing to pre approve your mortgage loan application. You may not believe that this is an important step – however if you end up bidding against another home who is also on the lookout for bargain foreclosed homes for sale, you will be surprised what a pre-approval letter can do for you. Sellers are more likely to accept your offer.

Step 3: Subscribe to a Foreclosure Listing. Now that you are financially prepared, the next logical step is to search for a foreclosure home. At this point, it would be so much easier if you have a search tool such as a foreclosure listing that will permit both speed and convenience. You should subscribe to one which allows you to search by location, price and type of home.

Step 4: Hire a Professional Inspector. As soon as you have located the perfect property, you should always contact a professional home inspector to check the home for structural problems. Experts recommend that buyers do this before making an offer to address problems in the home and to justify the amount you are willing to pay. Most sellers will have no problem agreeing to additional discount or other requests as long as the requests are justified.

Step 5: Make an Offer. Finally, if everything is in order, you can now make an offer. Keep in mind that the buying process will be so much faster if all your documents are ready. Make sure that you are working with a good agent who you can rely on to provide accurate professional assistance. Buying one of these foreclosed homes for sale is actually easy if you think about it. All it takes is a little organization on your part. It’s possible to be a proud homeowner in no time at all.

Look for Area Foreclosures Here

Proper Use of Assumptions in a Real Estate Pro Forma

Posted by Joe Freed | Real estate | Sunday 13 March 2011 10:41 am

In order to create a real estate pro forma for an income producing property you will need to make assumptions. These assumptions will be used to project your property’s cash flows into the future. You may also need to use assumptions to generate your property’s current operating budget as you may not have the ability to get exact budget numbers if the property is not on the market. Without knowing the current operating budget, you will need to use assumptions to calculate your property’s cash flows today, and then use more assumptions to project your property’s cash flows in the future.

In order to start your pro forma, you will need to input or calculate your property’s Net Operating Income (NOI), which is equal to operating income minus operating expenses. If you do not have exact figures for your property’s operating income and expenses, which is the case for most real estate deals, you will need to estimate them using assumptions based on market information and standards. Solid, realistic assumptions are the building blocks of a good real estate pro forma. The most common assumptions you will need to generate NOI are rental rates, expenses rates and vacancy rates.

For rental rates and vacancy rates, you should use the industry average rental rate for similar buildings in your market area, usually quoted as dollars per net square foot for rental rates and a percentage for vacancy rates. For expense rates, you should estimate the total annual operating expenses, usually in dollars per net square foot ($/NSF). These are expenses necessary to operate the property such as electric, water, landscaping, maintenance, etc., as well as taxes and insurance. Each industry sector and lease deal will have different assumptions for this expense. For example, retail and industrial leases are typically triple net (NNN), meaning the tenant pays all operating expenses; therefore, this assumption would be close to zero. If your property is an office building, you should assume you will need to pay a portion of the operating expenses.

Once you have generated your property’s current NOI, you may then use assumptions to project cash flows in the future. This is commonly done by using inflation. Inflation is the assumed rate by which earnings will grow over a period of time. It is usual in a real-estate deal to assume inflation of NOI is going to be generally near to the CPI (Consumer Price Index), or general inflation or your existing market. If your inflation assumption is just too high, the compound effect will greatly exaggerate your future cash flows and provide an incorrect valuation of your respective property’s future value. It is vital to not over-estimate your inflation assumption.

Once your assumptions are input and your pro forma is created, it is important to run sensitivity analysis on all your pro forma assumptions. Sensitivity analysis is performed by changing each assumption (up and down) and understanding how those changes in each assumption affect your pro forma outputs, such as IRR and NPV. Sensitivity analysis can help to pinpoint the assumptions that are critical to your pro forma.

For more info and tricks on building real estate pro forma models and templates, please see the Pro Forma GURU: Guide for Real Estate Investing at www.ProFormaGURU

Investing In Pre Foreclosure Property

Posted by Jilly Willson | Real estate | Monday 21 February 2011 1:48 pm

Property in pre foreclosure are a great opportunity for real estate property investors If you have the fortitude to go through the process, buying a pre foreclosure has numbers advantages over other types of investment properties Because owners of pre foreclosure properties are facing financial challenges, they are often ready to accept almost any offer. This fact often points to a huge ROI for the real estate investor The biggest hurdle in the deal is getting the bank to agree to the terms of the sale instead of letting the property go through foreclosure and up for auction.

As the bank stands to lose money on the sale, they will only do the deal if their losses are less than what it would cost to go through foreclosure.Essentially they are in a lose lose situation and will evaluate sales offers based upon what will minimize their losses. If a property owner has put the property into pre foreclosure by stopping mortgage payments, it is still up to the buyer to demonstrate that by allowing the sale to go through, the bank will minimize their losses.

Due to this this fact, real estate investors often assemble complete packages to plead their case to the bank. They learn who the loss mitigation people are at the bank and learn what is needed by the bank to complete the transaction.

Many investors find mentors to help them get started when buying pre foreclosures Although not wholly necessary, recruiting a mentor does have some obvious benefits

Depending on your goals, investing in pre foreclosure homes may be a great way to profit. Just keep in mind that there are numerous steps in the process that will need attention and focus.

There are many other resources available to learn more about investing in short sales. BestShorSales.com is a learning service that I have found useful in the past

To learn more about how to gain from pre foreclosure click on our Real Estate Investment Website today. Along with to investment tools, real estate investors receive our free real estate software, a ninety-nine dollar value.

Choosing To Refinance Your Mortgage

Posted by Robert Xyssion | Real estate | Wednesday 16 February 2011 1:50 pm

Interest rates on mortgages and loans are extraordinarily low. These rates are the bottom they have been in decades. Along with this low interest rate comes colossal alternative for house owners of actual estate to scale back their principal and interest payments. Determining whether or not it is sensible to refinance relies in your distinctive state of affairs, in addition to if it can save you enough money by the refinance to justify the expense. The analysis is a relatively straightforward, however you need to understand the process so that you may benefit from renewing your mortgage.

When attempting to determine if refinancing your mortgage is a good suggestion, you first need to look at what you owe and how a lot you pay each month. Then you could evaluate the prices and cost associated with the brand new loan. If refinancing will reduce your fee and not add years or significant price, then the refinancing your mortgage makes sense.

The simplest approach to see if altering your mortgage makes sense from a quantitative standpoint is to make a listing that features your payoff, your monthly cost, and the variety of funds which have yet to be made. Multiply the number of residual payments by your current cost and report this number.

Now write down the refinance number, the brand new refinance term, and the approximate new mortgage payment. Simplify the calculations by utilizing a spreadsheet, or on-line refinance calculator. Embody your refinance prices as part of the overall quantity that you’ll be financing, bank charges, appraisal charges and switch and escrow costs. Now repeat the same calculation as earlier than, multiply the entire number of funds by the month-to-month fee amount.

In case you are updating your mortgage, but not pulling out any fairness, the refinance makes the commonest sense when you can lower your periodic payment, and if your entire quantity paid (variety of funds multiplied by the month-to-month cost) after the refinance is decrease than the general amount to be of the payoff your present mortgage. If the periodic cost is lower than your current fee, however the full quantity is more, you have to determine if paying decrease month-to-month outweighs the greater amount you’ll need to disburse. The other choice is required if your fee increases but the full quantity due decreases. In both case, check your calculations rigorously as you come to a decision.

One assume to take into accounts as you go through the above analysis is that the present mortgage should equal the quantity that you’re refinancing. If the refinance quantity exceeds the amount presently due on the mortgage then a way more difficult evaluation is warranted. For any such evaluation, you’ll need a variety sheet with current value and amortization calculations. If you’re not comfortable with some of these calculations, seek the advice of a financial adviser or accountant to help with quantifying your decision.

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