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You've thought about real estate investing - go on, admit it. Even if it was a wistful little passing fantasy about buying that little rundown house you saw - because all it really needs is a coat of paint - and selling it for a big profit. Or maybe you've considered purchasing rental property 'so that the rents will cover the mortgage'. Why invest in real estate? You've already thought about part of the answer - there's excellent potential for profit in real estate investment. Real estate investment is a proven method of making money and increasing your net worth - with a few caveats. Your profit will depend on your knowledge, your hard work and your ability to plan. Real estate investment isn't a magic formula. No matter how easy the late-night millionaire's club makes it look, it's not a get-rich quick scheme. It could take months before you buy your first property, a year before you sell one, and longer before you're realizing a consistent, comfortable income. To quote one major real-estate investment mogul, an overnight sensation in the real estate market is one that takes five years. So why invest in real estate? Simply put, it IS a career choice with potential profit whose only real limits are those you impose on yourself - and that's how you have to treat it. That means that it's up to YOU how much you make. You control your profits by learning all you can about investing and real estate, studying loan structures and foreclosure laws, understanding the psychology of buying and selling, knowing the rules and responsibilities of holding tenant property. If you know what you're doing, you are nearly guaranteed to make money. Unlike many other investments, you can count on one thing with real estate. You CAN eventually turn a profit on almost any property you own - as long as you paid a reasonable amount for it in the first place. Real estate values rise and fall with the economy. If real estate prices drop, you can count on the fact that they WILL rise again. If you've invested in rental properties, you can count on a steady income from them - as long as they are well-maintained. It's another truth of real estate - people will always need housing. There is always a demand for what you're selling. And even in the toughest markets, rental prices seldom drop more than a few percent. As long as you can keep your rental units full with paying tenants, you can count on the income from those units to cover mortgage and upkeep costs and make a profit.

Source: http://www.buy-and-sell-house-fast.com/investment/invest-in-real-estate.shtml

Given all of the drops in the housing market in the last few years, many people are wondering whether now is the right time to buy a new house. Should you snatch up the good deals before prices start to rise or should you wait it out a little bit longer to see if the prices will drop even more? It can be somewhat of a gamble, so it is important to make sure that you know a few facts about the current market so that you can make the best possible decision. One of the most important facts you should consider when determining whether now is the right time to buy a new house relates not to the market but your own situation. Consider how long you plan to live in the home. While you might not be able to look into a crystal ball and see the future, consider what you know at the moment. If you know for a fact that you plan to upgrade or even move out of the area within the next five years, then now might not be the best time commit to the purchase of a home. On the other hand, if you feel fairly confident with the fact that you will be living in the home for at least five years, then now could be a really good time to purchase a home. You also must consider how comfortable you are with taking risk as well. If you feel comfortable with a possible 10% or even more drop in a home price if you need to re-sell within the next few years then now might be a fine time to make a purchase. If you are not comfortable with risk, then it is probably better to wait and see how the market settles before you make a home purchase. This is because the reality of the current market is that the fluctuations have not yet stopped. During the year, prices are most likely to continue falling. It is also important to keep in mind that you should not get swept up in the hype that is often presented in media advertisements. One of the biggest half-myths that is currently circulating is that the affordability of homes is improving across much of the country. While there is some truth to this, consumers should be wary about taking this and running with it. In addition, consumers should be aware that lending restrictions remain tight throughout much of the country as well. Loans are available for the purchase of a home, but restrictions are much tighter than they were in the past. Make sure you know exactly what is on your credit and how much you will be able to offer for a down payment before you consider purchasing a home in the current market. At the current time, lenders simply are not comfortable with taking a high degree of risk when it comes to mortgage loans and as a result, they tend to be more conservative when offering approval. It is also important to be wary of making assumptions, such as whether your home will appreciate over the next few years. While at one time this might have been a safe assumption that is no longer the case. If you plan to buy a new house in the current market, you should be fully aware that there is the potential for the value of your home to drop over the next few years rather than appreciate. You should not assume that your home will steadily gain value the longer that you own it. This is a gamble that you should be fully aware of before you begin shopping around with the intention of making a home purchase.

Source: http://www.buy-and-sell-house-fast.com/buy-house/buy-a-new-house.shtml

Considering the low interest rates, now may seem as though it would be the perfect time to apply for a new low interest mortgage. At the beginning of the year mortgage rates hit an all new low when they sank below 5%. Consider the large cash influx that the Fed has indicated it will be making, it is anticipated that mortgage rates will continue to be low for quite some time. While those low interest rates can certainly be attractive, many borrowers are discovering that the process of nabbing those rates is anything but easy. This is largely because many lenders today are struggling to deal with regulations that seem to change almost overnight as well as homeowners who are struggling to pay their existing loans. As a result, credit requirements have increased and the number of loans that are available has decreased. Even so, low interest rates certainly present plenty of incentive to attempt to grab onto one of those loans. Considering the fact that if you took out an mortgage just two years ago when mortgage rates hovered around 6.5%, you could stand to save $150 per month on a $150,000 loan, it is easy to see why the pull toward applying for a refinance is so strong now. One of the best things that you can do is to find out if you are even eligible for a refinance before you invest the time and money in applying for a new loan. Keep in mind that having equity in your home and a good credit score are the two most important components in being approved for a refinance. At a minimum, you will likely need a credit score of 740 and you should have at least 20% equity in your home. In the event that you do not have quite that much equity in your home then you may need to pay more upfront or face a higher interest rate. It is also important that you understand the best places to look for a refinance when the time comes to look for a new loan. Remember that even if you have great credit it is still important to shop around in order to get the best rates and terms. This is primarily due to the fact that all banks tends to use a variety of different standards when it comes to underwriting loans. You should know that if you are in the need of a loan that is more than $417,000, commonly known as a jumbo loan, then you will have a much more difficult time locating a low interest loan. In most cases, the rates for jumbo loans will be at least half a percentage point higher than what you would pay for a smaller loan. It can also help to pay for some points up front. Paying for just one point, which is the equivalent of one percentage point, can actually help you to obtain a lower interest rate. Of course, you will need to determine whether paying for the point is worth the amount of money that you will save when you refinance for a lower interest rate. In considering whether it is worth it, it is important to consider the exact amount of money you will save with the new loan each month, the total out of pocket expenses you will pay for the loan including paying for the point and how long it will take you to recoup those costs with the monthly savings. It is also a good idea to consider how long you plan to remain in the home to ensure that you will hold onto the home long enough to recoup those costs, which can often amount to at least several hundred dollars. If you think that you might sell the home within the next three years then it may not be worth it to refinance just to get a lower interest rate because you would not be able to recoup the costs in that amount of time. On the other hand, if you are planning to stay in the home for at least five years, then it very well may be worth it to go ahead and apply for the refinance. While it can take some time to do all of the legwork involved in obtaining a refinance, the benefits can ultimately be worth it, especially if the difference between the new interest rate and your old interest rate is significant.

Source: http://www.buy-and-sell-house-fast.com/home-loans/low-interest-rate-mortgages.shtml

Despite the fact that home prices have been falling for some time, many buyers have remained reluctant to seize the home buying opportunities that abound. As current mortgage rates fall to even lower rates, it is anticipated that this could be just the stimulus that is needed to encourage more home buyers to purchase home and existing homeowners to refinance that current mortgages. The national average of fixed rate 30 year loans has fallen below the 5% mark for the first time in more than 30 years. It is widely anticipated that this will be a pick-up that the market desperately needs. For awhile now there has been rampant speculation regarding when exactly the real estate market would hit bottom. The fact that it has been in what seems to be free fall led many to speculate that the end might not have been yet reached. Consequently, a large percentage of home buyers have been sitting back and waiting. The proverbial fence has become quite crowded. Others believe that 2008 was the much awaited bottom and that the coming year could mark the rise many have been waiting for. Certainly, there have been signs which would indicate this could be the case. In November of 2008, real estate sales dropped nearly 30% from the previous year. The following month, sales experienced a slightly rebound and even found a nominal year over year gain. In addition, the values for homes remained fairly stable over the course of the last near. The median home price was just under $120,000 across the country. The fact that prices seem to be stabilizing combined with lower interest rates may be enough to spur many home buyers to snatch up deals before the housing market begins to experience a true rebound. There are even some experts who are predicting that lower mortgage interest rates could actually cause an upswing in prices. A number of lenders are reporting a spike in the number of people who are calling to become pre-qualified for mortgage loans. Traditionally, when mortgage rates begin to fall, home buyers have been able to purchase more home without spending any more money. While a 1% drop might not sound like much, it can make a tremendous difference in terms of monthly mortgage payments. At 6% a home buyer would be able to afford a $100,000 home and keep the mortgage payments at around $600. If mortgage rates drop by a percentage point, that same home buyer would be able to purchase a home in the $115,000 category without spending hardly any more money per month on their mortgage payment. 15K might not sound like much to some, but in some markets it could be the difference between another bedroom or some other amenity that a buyer wants in a home. The lower mortgage rates are not only attracting home buyers but homeowners who are looking to refinance as well. There are certainly numerous advantages to refinancing a home loan. Homeowners who once thought they had a great deal with a 6% mortgage rate are now seeing that they might be able to drop their mortgage rate to below 5% and save money on their monthly payment or pay off their home sooner. There are also those homeowners who are looking at refinancing their homes at a lower rate in order to pay for remodeling or to consolidate debts using the lower mortgage rate. Both homeowners as well as buyers need to keep in mind; however, that although mortgage rates have dropped, lending restrictions have tightened. There are simply too many lending companies who got burned with subprime loans and who are being far more cautious regarding loan approvals. This does not mean that mortgage loans cannot be found, but for the most part, applicants will need to go through more hoops and provide more documentation in order to be approved than would have been necessary in the past (Tips: Home mortgage loans - They're increasingly difficult to obtain). Banks are still interested in doing business with applicants who qualify but they are also anxious to make sure that the people they do approve for loans will be able to repay them. As a result, consumers who are anticipating making a mortgage loan application in the near future would do well do make sure they have all of their documentation in order before submitting an application. This can greatly help to reduce the amount of time that it takes to review an application for approval as well as possibly assist in the entire approval process.

Source: http://www.buy-and-sell-house-fast.com/home-loans/mortgage-rates.shtml