Real Estate Tip: Your Business Rating

Whatever your opinion is on the BBB; never underestimate your rating and how it will affect your potential client’s decision on whether to do business with you or not. Moral of the story, always check your online rating for your business: Check out what I mean by Clicking Here

To your success,

James Gage

What Should Real Estate Investors and Taxi Cab Drivers Have in Common?

By James Gage

Before I get all sorts of e-mails questioning my sanity, please give me a moment to explain what real estate investors and taxi cab drivers should have in common. When I lived in England in the early 1980s while serving in the Air Force, I had the opportunity to strike up a friendship with a local cab driver. What I learned from him has served me well not only in real estate investing, but in investing in general. He picked me up from base one day and brought me down to the local village where I was having lunch at the local pub with some of my friends. When I arrived at my destination I paid for my fare and exited the cab, and by the time I turned around to say thank you – he was gone!

I really didn’t think much of it, in fact I pretty much forgot about it until the following week when I needed to go over to the next village. I called the local cab company and requested a ride. When the cab arrived and to my amazement the same cab driver that I had a week prior showed up to take me on my trek! As I entered the cab and settled in for the ride, I struck up a conversation with the cabbie and politely asked why he was in such a hurry during my last trip? He said that he was the top producing cab driver for the last 3 years running for his company and his goal was to retire in the next 5 years! He further explained that he would be able to retire because he mad 4 times what the other cab drivers made on a weekly basis. I asked him why he was making so much more then his colleagues on a regular basis; what he said is something I have applied to my investing plan ever since that day in the cab- he said…. “It’s all in the meter drop”!

I asked him to further explain, he said that while other cab drivers would sit outside different sites of the Air Force base turning down small fares and waiting for those big money fares to London 75 miles away, he would take those multiple small fares over and over again. When it came to the end of the day he would make 4 times what the “big fare” guys would make, because he was willing to drop the meter for the smaller fares. So what does this have to do with real estate investing? It has a lot to do with it actually! Over my 25 years of investing I have seen many investors walk away from transactions because there was not enough money in the deal for them – is that crazy or what? I tell those types of investors to send me all their “scrapes”; I’ll do them all day long. Why I’m I bringing this up today? I’m I trying to flaunt my success in a challenging economy? No, rather I am trying to encourage people to adopt the philosophy that has served me well over the years. Mainly, stop looking for the big hit and focus on what I call “kibble and bits” strategy!

Why would you sign on the dotted line for hundreds of thousands of dollars on a property in a down market, without any guarantee of being able to sell the property for a profit? Why not do Assignments where there is no risk in the event you can’t get rid of the property? Would you be happy making 3-7 thousand dollars for just assigning your contract over to someone and then move onto the next transaction? Let’s be very conservative here; could you do 2 of these type of transactions per month? If so, that would be 6K on the low side and 14K or more at the top for only a few hours, rather then multiple hours on a traditional transaction with no guarantee of a good pay day. Does this sound good to you? Well, that’s what assignments can do for you; in fact many investors do this in order to raise seed money for their other RE transactions.

If this makes sense to you and you would like to read more about how assignments can get you to the “Hip National Bank” in record time, click on the link provided below now…

http://bit.ly/kqNQkF

Real Estate Investing: Happy Thanksgiving !

Happy Thanksgiving!

I love this Holiday and whether you celebrate Thanksgiving or not
I wanted you know that I am grateful for you, for your
friendship, loyalty and business.
Whatever your tradition, whatever favorite foods you enjoy,
whomever you spend the day with--I wish you a Happy Thanksgiving,
with plenty of time for reflecting, sharing with others, and
enjoying the day.

Truly, you are the best!

Be well.

James Gage

Real Estate Investing News: Robert Kiyosaki

Robert Kiyosaki said today on the Alex Jones Radio Show, that if you owe more then your home is worth you should walk away from your mortgage, even if you can make the payments!!!!! He further stated that this is what the financial elite do and that's why they have the money they have; if it doesn't perform dump it!!!! What great financial advice - huh!!!!

That will fix the housing market mess won't it Robert????

For sound real estate advice click here for my Free Newsletter.

Be well and let's make things great again.

James Gage

Breaking Real Estate News: Condo Sales

Breaking Real Estate News: Condo sales down 23% from last year, according to CNBC ! Don't be troubled though; there are always opportunities in every market - you just need to know where to look ! Where do you look?

For more up to the minute real estate investing news, sign up for our Free Newsletter by Clicking Here

Be well.

James Gage

Real Estate Investing: Will Pregnancy Prevent You From Getting a Loan?

Hello All:

There has been a lot of talk about banks and mortgage companies denying loans to women who are pregnant or have just delivered- is this true? Face value it might look that way, but it just isn't so - let me explain.

First off this has nothing to do with pregnancy. There is nothing new here at all. We are talking about mortgage guidelines! We are in a Full Documentation World now and they, the banks and mortgage companies need to document income and employment.
Here is how Employment and Income is verified by the powers that be:

• Review pay stubs, W2's etc... If the stubs mention disability or maternity leave it is a red flag

• Call the employer: "Does Jane Doe work there?" This call is often made just before closing since guidelines require a "fresh" verification. If the borrower is on a temporary leave it WILL cause a problem.

Why? It is pretty simple, mortgage guidelines require income streams to last at least 3 years to be considered for qualifications. Maternity leaves are not permanent income, they are often only for a few months and may only be a form of short term disability.

Will a loan be denied if some one is on maternity leave? No, But the closing may be postponed until the borrower returns to work. The guideline has always required a pay stub to prove the borrower has returned to work. This is not just for Maternity leave, it could be for any form of temporary disability.

This is not a discrimination item; it is purely an income issue. It is also Mortgage Banking 101... The basics that have been in the underwriting guidelines for decades. So be careful of what you read, and the source is important as well. A lot of the uproar was from an article floating out in the media that sensationalized guidelines as if they were some new 2 headed beast, The media often takes the side of an issue that will sell things rather than inform accurately.

Now that we have that straight happy investing.

To your success,
James Gage

Real Estate Investing: Happy 4th of July

As we spend this 4th of July weekend with family and friends, let’s pause for a moment and think about what this Independence Day really means. As our country goes through hard times, let us remember that the sacrifices of those that have gone before us paid so we may enjoy the opportunities and freedoms which make this the best country in the world.

Happy 4th of July to you and yours, and don’t eat too much BBQ.

James Gage

Breaking Real Estate Investing News

Hello All:

James Gage here with some breaking real estate investing news:

The US Government reports that according to their latest stats on loan modifications, 75% of modified home loans will re-default within 6 months after modification.

Get read for the 3rd wave of foreclosures I have been predicting for the last 8 months. Of course, this means $$$ for those of us that know how to take advantage (in a moral and ethical way of coarse) of this situation.

For more information on how you can benefit Click Here.

Be well.

James Gage

Real Estate Investing: Real Estate Reminder

Hello All:

Just a quick reminder for those who are trying to sell a property. The first time home buyers credit of $8,000 will end this month! So that being said all contracts must be executed by April 30, 2010, and closing must happen prior to July1, 2010.

Also, the $6,500 Move-Up / Repeat Home Buyer Tax Credit will expire on April 30, 2010 as well.

Good luck and happy investing.

James Gage

Real Estate Investing: Question of The Month

I just received this question in my e-mail box, so I thought I would share the question an answer with you.

James,

I’m sure you get this question a lot, but is now a good time to purchase a home?

Bob Gomez, Spokane, WA

This is what I responded back…

Hi Bob:

Thanks for the e-mail. Wow! That’s a loaded question, but I will answer it best I can.

First, only you and only you know what you can financially tolerate for a mortgage payment; but I must stress that according to my budget criteria I teach people, only a maximum of 35 % of your income should be set aside for housing! If you can not find anything that falls within those parameters, I would suggest that you consider purchasing a duplex or multi-family and live in one of the units while getting your mortgage paid for you (you will be essential living for free) and receive all the tax deductions, while saving money towards a larger down payment – which will lower your mortgage payment.

Secondly, if you are going to pull the trigger and purchase a home, I suggest you plan on staying in it for at least the next 10 years! Hopefully, that will be enough time for the housing market to give you a big chunk of equity.

Finally, there are a lot of great deals out there for individuals wanting to become homeowners – not investment property; at least not at this point in time. Let me qualify my last statement. There is always an exception to every rule, but great investment property deals are few and far in between without using leveraged investing techniques such as lease options and assignments.

I believe in the near future there will be opportunities for those of us that have cash to get great deals after the 3rd wave of foreclosures makes an appearance.

I hope this helps Bob.

Be well.

James Gage

For more great tips and strategies Click Here

Real Estate Investing: Beware of Short Sale Companies

I have come across more than a few companies that claim to be “experts” in short sale negotiations, only to find that not only is the information they provide not accurate, but sometimes they are just out-and-out scams. Most are newly formed companies, with no true experts on site. Typically they’re just trying to take advantage of the current market. I know of a company in GA that tells real estate investors that they will negotiate short sales on their behalf for $1,800.00 per transaction and the investor gets to keep all the profit! Only one problem; they close less then 1% of the short sales they are given.

We are in a time where many people are desperate financially and emotionally, and there are those out there who are eager to take advantage of people in these types of situations. Granted, there are some agencies out there that are good, legitimate short sale companies but, you have to know the difference between the good and the bad.

So what is the answer? Learn how to negotiate short sales yourself! Yes, it's possible to learn to negotiate short sales, as an investor or on behalf of someone else.

If you are ready to learn how to negotiate short sales correctly please Click Here

Until next time.

James Gage

Real Estate Investing: Where to host your real estate website?

Hello All:

The question always comes up when I talk to people about their real estate web sites (if you don't have one, you should, but we will leave that for another post), where do you host yours? Well, before I tell you where I host mine, I would tell you why I host mine there; then you can make up your own mind.

There are many hosting services that charge as little as $3.95 a month for hosting, but then charge you for having e-mails and increased bandwidth! I don't know about you but I don't want to be nicked and dimed every time I turn around.

Below I have listed what I believe you must have included or supported with your hosting service:

--> Up time, meaning, your website has to be guaranteed up and running on the web greater then 99% of the time. That's unfortunately what happens when you go with these sub par services.

--> Multiple e-mail accounts included

--> 24/7 Customer Service at no additional charge

--> Able to host multiple websites, if you chose, on the same account without paying for an additional account.

--> Statistics Page: You need who is coming to your site and when, so you can see how effective your marketing has been - again at no additional cost.

These are just a few of the benefits I think every hosting service should be giving their customers at no extra cost. That being said, I get the all the above and more for $7.95 per month! If you would like more information Click Here

Breaking Real Estate News: Housing Data

James Gage here, with some breaking real estate news:

December Housing Data- Standard & Poors

According to Standard and Poors: “U.S. home prices
unexpectedly slipped in December but the annual rate
of decline slowed, reinforcing the housing market's rocky
road to recovery, Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller indexes
showed on Tuesday.”

Ok, you maybe asking yourself why does that matter?
It’s February and not December, so who cares! This is
a quarterly snap shot, rather then the monthly report’s
we are use to seeing in the news. This information gives
us glimpses of what to expect in the coming quarters, so
we can adjust our investing methods appropriately and get
an advantage over our competition.

The data did indicate that housing prices actually
Increased slightly in housing markets such as Boston.
Austin, San Francisco, while declines continued in
Florida, Las Vegas and Michigan – just to name a few.

That being said, my investing plan remains the same for
now; I have no plans to change my investing plan, which
concentrates on:

 Lease Options
 Short Sales (Kibbles and Bits)
 Probates ( Find and Assign)
 Assignments

Speaking of Assignments, don't forget that my DVD & CD
Presentation on "Assignments Made Easy" 50% off offer ends
tomorrow night at midnight and will return to its normal price of
$37.00.
If you are interested in purchasing this package, plus the
bonus guide @ $18.50 then follow the link below for more information,
and if you decide to purchase it enter promo code: 999.

http://snipurl.com/ugk22

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I hope this information has been of use to you and your real estate
investing business plan.

To your success,

James A. Gage
www.JGage.com

Real Estate Investing: Assignments Made Easy

James Gage here with Gage Consulting Group hoping that
this blog post finds you and yours in good health.

How would You like to make 3,000 – 7,000 thousand dollars
per real estate transaction, even in a down market, without
owning or financing the property? Well if you said Yes, then
continue reading below...

If you're head is still spinning from the recent changes
and trends in the real estate investing marketplace, and
you're wondering how the heck you can make any money in
this environment without a bag full of cash, then you
won't want to miss out on :

"Assignments Made Easy!"

Banks are even tougher these days with who they're lending
to and what they will finance and they're looking more and
more at your credit and how many years of experience that
you have as an investor!
What if you have less than perfect credit, don't know how to
best present your deal to the bank, want to get commercial
financing, have no substantial cash to put into a deal as a
down payment, or are confused by the new FHA and Prime loan
requirements.

This is the exact process I use in one of my investing
modules for consistent cash flow on a monthly basis.


Before I let you go to read over my exactly what this
CD contains, many individuals have called me and ask
if I would put together a step-by- step DVD & CD on
"Assignments", well your wish is my command. I have put
together a DVD & CD on that very subject please visit
the following link for more information:
http://snipurl.com/ugk22
but it doesn't stop there!

Normally priced at less then a few trips to Starbucks
at $37.00, it is a great value if I do say so myself.
But for the next 4 days (Feb 21 - Feb 24 ) I am
extending to you, my faithful newsletter subscribers
the astonishing price of only $18.50! That's a
whooping 50% off my normal website store price! Enter promo
Code 999 on you order/check out page to receive your
discount.

After Feb 24th it will return to the normal price of
$37.00.
You maybe asking, why am I doing this? Simple, I am
committed to getting this information into as many
investors hands as possible, thereby getting your
bank accounts perked up to where they should be!

So please visit the link provided for more information
on this jam packed DVD & CD package:
http://snipurl.com/ugk22

Also, as a thank you bonus I am including:
My Step by Step Assignments Made Easy Guide, which will
walk you through the process A-Z.
Don't forget promo Code 999

To your success,

James A. Gage
www.JGage.com

With this DVD & CD which is jam packed full of information
you will never have to worry about getting or
controlling a property again.

What you will learn with this powerful package :

On DVD 1 James, goes step by step on how to:
• Choose the appropriate document, for the right deal.
• Fill out each document correctly !
• Protect yourself from litigation in every deal!
• Protect the money you make on each deal, if the deal
doesn’t close!
• And much, much more…

On the CD of Forms, James provides all the contracts you will
need to do any deal, whether a straight transaction or Lease Option
assignment. Each document can be modified on your computer to suit
the structure of any deal.

And of course like all of James's products you will
receive much more.

Real Estate Investing: Lease Options- Making Phone Calls

Lease Options: Preparing to Call Sellers In 3 Easy Steps

First you have to go through your newspapers, preferably 2 weeks old. Start with the houses for sale by owner, cross out any by Realtors (at least for now). Next go through the houses for rent. . Go online to the major FSBO sites and pull down homes in your area. Remember, with some of the changes these sites have made they provide bare bones information unless you sign up. To save time, just take down the telephone number if provided or address so you have a starting point to make contact with the owner.
Now you are ready to organize your calling. Go through the above lists; be sure you don’t have any duplications.
Check your database to be sure there are no duplications; if you don’t have a database now is the perfect time to start one.
Now you are ready to call, here are the 3 Steps :

--> Get your yellow pad and make up your headings of: telephone number, type of property, price, and notes.

--> Pull out your telephone calling script and start calling. If you get an answering machine, leave your message script for the appropriate type of property. When you get to speak to the seller, ask all of the questions in the script.

--> Remember, you want to build rapport with the seller.

In addition, by using your script you will get all your questions answered before you leave your home office to view the property. If not, you don’t leave your home office. Remember, your time, knowledge and energy are valuable commodities, you will not squander them.

Now you are on your way to making profitable deals, and it was easy as 1-2-3 !.

If you liked the information in this article about lease options, why not check out our Lease Option Home Study Package Click Here

Short Sales: Pre-Foreclosure News

Hello All:

New federal guidelines that give lenders a 10-day limit in which to respond to purchase offers on short are in play! Sound to good to be true? Yep, it only applies to banks that have received TARP funds. Also keep in mind that if they do respond to the offer in the 10 day window, plan on a 60-90 day or longer closing date - you will still have to go through the whole process!

For more up to date real estate information as it happens go to www.JGage.com
and sign up for our Free Real Estate Investing Newsletter.

Until next time, be well.

James Gage

Breaking Real Estate News: More FHA Changes

Hello Again:

In my last post I informed you about down payment changes that are coming to the FHA program. I have now received the full changes, and when you thought it couldn't get any worse - think again: Here are the additional changes...

--> Raise the upfront premium from 1.75% to as much as 3%
--> Eliminate the ability to roll in to loans that don't charge up front premium
--> Increase monthly MIP from .55%
--> Reduce seller concessions from 6% to 3%
--> Raise minimum FICO score
--> Possible LTV maximums by FICO score
--> Increase accountability of FHA Lenders for fraud ( this is good!)

James Gage

Breaking Real Estate News: FHA Changes Guidelines.

Hello All:

I don't think the government can see past their own face! You would think with the housing inventory that's out there right know, that the last thing the government would do is make thinks harder for individuals to get FHA mortgages. But guess what? They have! As of Friday January 22, 2010, this is what they did in a nutshell...

-> To be able to make a down payment of just 3.5 percent on an FHA-insured loan, homebuyers would have to have a minimum FICO credit score of 580, rather than the current 500 FICO outlined in FHA guidelines. New borrowers with less than a 580 score would have to put down 10 percent on a home purchase.

Thanks Washington for making a tough environment even tougher.

James Gage

Foreclosure News

Hello All:

I just got off the phone with a real estate attorney friend of mine that confirmed what I have been telling you, my faithful readers for the past 3 months! What's that you say? That the 3rd wave of foreclosures has begun to raise its ugly head. He said he can't handle the amount of individuals coming to him seeking loan modification/foreclosure help on properties that have first and second mortgages on them (AKA Prime loans). Also, individuals with home equity loans that are in default are starting to become more numerous!
Most individuals have been living off their credit cards hoping to trend water until a turnaround in the economy; but most have run out of time. My attorney friend said the average credit card debt he is seeing is between $50K - $200K; that means we will also see an uptick in bankruptcies!

If this trend continues, which I don't see any evidence it won't, we will see commercial foreclosures sky rocket! Fasten your seatbelts; this is going to be a bumpy ride…
Remember, those who can recognize trends and patterns, and act on them quickly will always make money in any economy.
Until next time be well.
James Gage

Real Estate Investing: Don't forget to apply for your Abatement !

Hello All:

Don't forget to apply for your real estate abatement's before the end of the month! January is usually the month that cities and towns allow owner's of real estate to apply for a reduction/abatement of their real estate property taxes. On real estate have owned or presently own I apply every year. The procedure is simple, go or call your local tax assessors office and request an Abatement form, fill it out in detail and send it in. In about 30 - 60 days you will receive an answer on how much you were given off your tax bill.

The key to getting your request for abatement accepted is how good your reason for abatement is; you just can't say I want a reduction because...
Rather, you have to make an argument for them in order for acceptance, such as :

-> The value of your property has dropped dramatically
-> You purchased the property for less then assessed value
-> The property is not worth what the town or city has assessed
-> The property hasn't been physically assessed for greater then 3 years
-> Use category has changed or is no longer valid

and so on, you get my point.

You may also want to note that you recognize that the assessment is based on the previous year (they always are 1 year behind ), but your argument still holds true.

For more great tips and real estate strategies click here to sign up for our Free Newsletter.

Until next time -be well.

James Gage