Construction Loans

Before you sell yourself short, talk to a mortgage company. Many lenders are more than happy to lend you money for a lucrative project, because it means profitable business for them too. Construction loans are the backbone of many mortgage company portfolios, and if you own a vacant lot that has market value, lenders will normally lend you money based on the collateral of the vacant lot. You get cash to build a new house, and after you sell the completed project you can pay back the loan and pocket the profits.
 Other construction loans allow you to borrow money from the builder's own sources, in the same way that you might borrow money from an auto dealer to pay for the car you buy from them. Construction companies with their own mortgage sources may charge you higher interest rates, however, than conventional lenders.
 Shop around for construction loans. More often than not, deciding on a builder and the best source of funds will take longer than it actually takes to build the house, but it is time well spent. A few interest rate points can make a difference of thousands, or hundreds of thousands of dollars. Talk to lots of lenders and buil

·         Gordon Pate is a 5^th generation resident of Bryan-College Station, his extensive knowledge of the area and its culture helps you get acquainted with Bryan-College Station Real Estate. He offers various homes for sale college station properties that satisfy what you need and what you want.

Creative Real Estate Investment

An example of creative real estate investment? When I was young, I had a job that paid $3.40 an hour, and I somehow saved enough to buy my first piece of real estate - 2 acres near where I lived. It cost $3,500.
I spent a few hours removing brush, outlined a driveway with logs, and hand painted a sign. Two weeks after I bought it I sold the land for $4,750, with $250 down, $100 per month, at 11% interest. With the capital gain, my annual return on investment was over 20%. This was my first real estate investment.
Creative Real Estate Investment - The Key
I bought the land cheap, because the seller needed fast cash. I solved his problem. I sold the land higher than the market value because the buyer needed easy terms. Second problem solved. Solving problems is the key to  creative real estate investment.
Cell phone companies, radio stations, police departments and others need hill tops for their towers. The problem is that they can't tie up their capital buying them. One creative investor found a way to solve their problem.
He got six month options on hill top properties for a few hundred dollars. Then, when he found those who needed them, he would get a long term lease signed. They built the tower themselves, of course. With a lease in hand, it was easy to get financing to exercise the option and buy the properties. He invested a few hundred dollars to create years of income.
Trees are needed by lumber mills. A friend of mine solved this problem by letting a company cut half the trees on his small property. They paid $4,500, and I couldn't see the difference when they were done. The property was worth as much the day after the cut as the day before. My friend lived there, but a creative investor could buy property like his, sell half the trees, maybe clay or gravel too, and then re-sell the land.
To solve problems, you have to figure out what they are. Do people need easy terms? Cleared lots? Lumber? Better access to a piece of property? Smaller pieces of land? Condos instead of apartments? The list could go on. Just remember that solving problems is the key to creative real estate investment.

·         Gordon Pate is a 5^th generation resident of Bryan-College Station, his extensive knowledge of the area and its culture helps you get acquainted with Bryan-College Station Real Estate. He offers various homes for sale college station properties that satisfy what you need and what you want.

Closing Costs When Buying A Home

Closing costs are often the last thing a person thinks of when buying a home. While closing is the joyous moment the home becomes yours, the costs can be surprisingly aggravating.
When you purchase a home, condo or other property, you will go through a period known as escrow. During escrow, various issues related to the property transfer are worked out. The last day of escrow is known as the closing day and you are going to be paying closing costs.
Closing costs come in many forms. Some involve significant dollars while others are relatively painless. Here’s a list of typical costs:
Escrow Fees
An escrow agent is essentially a third party that works with the seller and buyer to finalize the transaction. For this assistance, the escrow agent will charge a fee. Depending on your area and the agent, you can expect fees from a few hundred dollars to around a thousand or so. Make sure you find out the fees before picking an escrow agent.
Home Loan
Obtaining a home loan in the current market is a highly subjective event. “Points” can be a major cost associated with home loans. Points are essentially a fee you pay or have build into the loan for the privilege of being allowed to borrow money. A point usually equates to 1% of the loan. On a loan of $300,000, one point would equal $3,000. If you have excellent credit, you can shop for a loan that doesn’t require you to pay points.
Home and Title Insurance
Insurance for your home and title are a must. If you are borrowing money to purchase the home, each is mandatory. If you are using your own funds, you should still get both forms of insurance. As each name implies, they provide insurance against issues involving your home and problems with the title transferred to you. You want to have clear title.
PMI
Private Mortgage Insurance, “PMI”, is mandatory if your down payment is less than 20% of the purchase price. You can expect to pay a few hundred dollars a year in PMI. Inspections, Appraisals and Miscellaneous Fees
In the home purchase process, you are going to use a variety of services to validate the property is your dream home. These services come with fees and you can expect to pay for home inspectors, appraisers and the like. Depending upon the state you live in, many of these fees may be built into your mortgage. Nonetheless, you need to know exactly what you must pay for on closing day so you can budget accordingly.
Closing escrow should be one of the happier days in your life, particularly if it is for your first home. Make sure you know the costs associated with it so you don’t have to spend the day running around borrowing money.
Gordon Pate is a 5^th generation resident of Bryan-College Station, his extensive knowledge of the area and its culture helps you get acquainted with Bryan-College Station Real Estate. He offers various homes for sale college station properties that satisfy what you need and what you want.

Climbing The Equity Ladder

If you currently find yourself in the enviable position of looking to buy a second property then congratulations. The equity that you stand to gain from this purchase can be considerable, just remember to plan properly, to maximize your gain. The first step in this process is to decide what the second home will be utilized for. Is it a vacation home? Perhaps a long or short-term rental? Either way, the more detailed about your forward planning you are, the smoother the process will be.
If you are looking at this purchase as a source of revenue then there are certain steps that you should take to ensure the home will bring in as much money as possible, thereby allowing you to pay off the mortgage quickly. For this type of investment, the cleaner the better. Nice homes are in high demand, and they fetch a good monthly rate. Enough so that the mortgage payment can be made easily with cash to spare. Also, ask yourself, "am I ready to be a landlord?" This will involve the task of finding and maintaining good tenants, and sometimes having to do what's right for you and your property, not what's right for the renters. If you have the tendency to be "too nice," land lording might not be for you.
No matter what your property is intended for, be sure to cover all the bases. Be as diligent as you were when buying your first home. Even more so, you will be able to apply any lessons you learned during that process on the new home, and avoid any mistakes or area of stress that were present in the first purchase. Many people buy a second house only to find themselves buying yet another. Once you start to climb the equity ladder its kind of hard to stop!
 Gordon Pate is a 5^th generation resident of Bryan-College Station, his extensive knowledge of the area and its culture helps you get acquainted with Bryan-College Station Real Estate. He offers various homes for sale college station properties that satisfy what you need and what you want.

Now Is The Time To Purchase Real Estate!

Now is the best time to purchase real estate.  If you have thought about investing in real estate for any reason, know that there has never been a better time than now to invest in this market.  The real estate market is in a recession and there are more sellers than buyers.  This means that the supply is up, the demand is low and the prices are rock bottom.  This is the time to buy.
The real estate market will rebound again.  It will again become a sellers market in which there are more people looking to buy homes than people willing to sell them.  This will probably not occur for at least another four years.  During that time, things will even out a bit and housing prices will level off.  When the sellers market hits, the prices will begin to rise again.   That is when you want to sell.
In addition to being a great buyers market with tons of foreclosures on the market, another aspect of real estate market today is the fact that the mortgage rates are lower than they have been in 40 years or so.  This gives you the opportunity not only to take advantage of the low asking prices on homes, but also rock bottom interest rates.
You should look to your real estate investment as a long term investment at this point.  It will take several years for the market to rebound from this slump.  When it does, you can then sell and make some money on your investment.  In the meantime, you can use the investment for practical purposes.  Either you can live in the home yourself, have family members live in the home or rent it out to tenants.  The mortgage will be covered and eventually you will be able to sell the property that you purchased for a lot less than market value, for a profit.
Real estate is one of the best investments that you can make.  It is a tangible asset that not only can be used, is something that must be used.  One of our most basic needs is shelter.  Real estate is the only investment that you can make that attends to one our basic needs.  You certainly cannot invest in food as it does not last for the long haul.  And clothing?  Too trendy and never worth more used than when new.  But real estate is a winner.  Shelter is the one thing we all need and you can actually make money by investing in real estate, even in a depressed market.
Take a look around and purchase real estate in an area that is either about to hit a growth spurt or is stable and established.  If you are looking for a home for yourself, take a look at the many different foreclosures that are on the market.  You can get quite a deal as there are thousands of  these properties all over the United States, even in upscale neighborhoods.  When you find a property that you like, bid low.  Take about 20 percent off of the asking price.  The seller can always counter offer with a higher figure.
Shop around for the best mortgage interest rates and packages.  There has never been a better time than now to invest in real estate.
Gordon Pate is a 5^th generation resident of Bryan-College Station, his extensive knowledge of the area and its culture helps you get acquainted with Bryan-College Station Real Estate. He offers various homes for sale college station properties that satisfy what you need and what you want.

How To Invest In Real Estate In A Down Economy

The real estate economy has hit rock bottom.  There are thousands of foreclosures all over the United States.  States such as California and Florida have found that their foreclosure ratio has reached epidemic proportions.  All across the country people are finding it more and more difficult to get by.
The United States is experiencing the beginning of a recession.  Things will get worse before they get better.  They will, however, get better.  They always do.  You just have to be willing to wait it out.
If you want to invest in real estate, this is the perfect time to do so.  With the mortgage rates being lower than ever before and the housing prices also at rock bottom, there are so many opportunities to make a good investment in the real estate market.  This includes buying property for both residential use and to let out to tenants.
Everyone is affected by a collapse in the residential real estate market.  It starts a chain reaction that has really just begun.  People begin to be laid off in the trades and stop spending money on entertainment or new cars or furniture.  The effect on everyone is astounding.   The real estate recession is like a virus out of control. 
You should always look at your home as an investment.  If you are renting property now, realize that you are paying a mortgage for someone else.  You can be paying yourself that money as well as taking advantage of tax incentives that are available to homeowners. 
Investing in real estate in a down economy is actually the best time to invest in real estate.  You have to make sure that the property in which you choose to invest is in area in which the homes have systematically grown in value.  If you want to speculate, you can invest in an area that is up and coming, such as a place where people are moving to get away from urban sprawl.  Track the patterns of growth in your area and determine the next development boom.  If, for example, the growth is going Southwest, go to an area one point farther than the most recently developed area and purchase property in that area.  Because prices are low as well as mortgage rates, this is the perfect time to do this.  When things get rolling again as far as developments, you may be sitting on a goldmine.
If you own a home and still want to invest, consider buying a home that you can rent to others.  People always need a place to live and a rental unit is usually a good investment.  Because of low interest rates and housing prices, you should be able to get a good deal on both property and a loan.  Loans for investment property that you plan to rent are usually different than those in which you plan to live and in some cases, you need to put down 50 percent of the property value to get a loan, so be aware of that.  However, the rates are still rock bottom so this is a good time to buy.
If you are investing in property that you plan to rent to tenants, make sure it is in an area where people want to live so that you can be assured of having a steady flow of income.
  Gordon Pate is a 5^th generation resident of Bryan-College Station, his extensive knowledge of the area and its culture helps you get acquainted with Bryan-College Station Real Estate. He offers various homes for sale college station properties that satisfy what you need and what you want.