The following are the types of real estate investing we do:
A. Purchase and hold
B. Rent to Own
C. Broker Deals
D. Joint Ventures
Purchase and Hold
We're not strong believers in flips. We do believe in purchasing long term. The equity can later be used to further finance other properties. We have properties that we intend to pay down completely so we later have a greater cash flow.
Rent to Own
I enjoy doing rent to own as it helps people who need time to repair their credit scores or build their down payment. Most of the time, they need to do both. Another positive is that it's very profitable and provides a good profit in a period of three to five years.
Broker Deals
I match tenant and investor together. I charge 1.5% of the value of the property. I either set it up as a rent to own or a rental. In some of my agreements; I'll manage the property for an agreed period of time
Joint Ventures
Always looking for investors to work with. Most of the time, the investor supplies the investment and in turn, I put the deal together and manage it.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Building Your Credit Score
I provide my clients with a simple formula to build their scores:
1. Pay all existing bills on time
2. Pay more than minimum on credit cards - preferably the full balance each month
3. Develop a relationship with a credit union - they're more flexible than a bank and might be needed
4. Develop two trade lines - a credit card and a loan for a RRSP or GIC (forced savings)
5. Avoid having your score pulled up too often
1. Pay all existing bills on time
2. Pay more than minimum on credit cards - preferably the full balance each month
3. Develop a relationship with a credit union - they're more flexible than a bank and might be needed
4. Develop two trade lines - a credit card and a loan for a RRSP or GIC (forced savings)
5. Avoid having your score pulled up too often
Friday, July 31, 2009
Building Your Credit Score (US Version)
The following article will be of assistance as you build up your credit scores.
By Liz Pulliam Weston
MSN Money
We've known the basics of how credit scoring works for nearly a decade now. Yet I still hear from readers who think they can improve their credit, or their finances, by closing accounts or having their credit limits lowered.
This behavior stems, I believe, from the still-widespread myth that you can have too much credit.
Here's the reality: There's no such thing as too much credit, unless you're a debt addict. If that's the case -- if you've never seen a credit card you couldn't max out -- then this column is not for you. You should cut up your cards, seek counseling and pay off your debt.
Most people, by contrast, handle credit more or less responsibly. Forty percent of cardholders regularly pay their balances in full, according to Federal Reserve statistics, and half of those who do carry debt owe $3,000 or less.
It's those folks I'm talking to. And I'll say it again: There's no such thing as too much credit, particularly these days.
Here's why:
Having "too much credit" isn't a negative for FICO scores. You might get dinged for opening the accounts, but the FICO scoring formula (the one used by most lenders) doesn't penalize you for having too many once they're opened. If you get a score and are told the reason it isn't higher is because you have "too much available credit," you probably didn't get a FICO score but one of its competitors. "We just went through the full list of reason codes for FICO scoring, and it contains nothing remotely like 'too much available credit,'" said Craig Watts, a FICO spokesman.
Lots of available credit typically helps your credit scores. Once they're established, credit accounts typically improve your scores as long as you don't pay late or max them out. The FICO credit-scoring system is very sensitive to the gap between the credit you use and your available limits. The bigger the gap -- on each account and overall -- the better for your scores. Closing accounts or asking for lower limits shrinks that gap and can hurt your scores.
Your income isn't a factor. I've read a lot of well-meaning but completely inaccurate advice about how you should limit your available credit to a certain percentage of your income (with the percentage varying by how much credit the particular writer has). This is nonsense. Credit-scoring formulas don't even take income into account.
Lenders may care, but they probably won't. Before the advent of FICO scores, many lenders were suspicious of those with "too much credit," worried these borrowers would suddenly rush out, max out their cards and then default. FICO's research indicates this fear was overblown -- if you've handled credit responsibly in the past, you're likely to continue to do so -- but some lenders are still wary. If you run into one of those, you can placate them by closing accounts, but you risk damage to your credit scores.
Credit card issuers have gone a little nuts. In their efforts to reduce their risk, many credit card companies have been slashing limits, raising rates and closing accounts. Now they're threatening to add new fees. (Read "Banks have declared war -- on you.") Some have taken more-drastic steps by targeting not just risky borrowers but good customers who have always paid on time. The people who are in the best position to fight back are those who can simply take their business elsewhere. If you have plenty of other established accounts, you can start using them instead and transfer any balances. Also, a lower limit on one card isn't a credit-scoring crisis if you have lots of other cards.
You don't need to worry that much about fraud. Yes, identity theft is a real problem, but if one of your existing accounts is hijacked, you're not responsible for the bogus charges if you report them within 60 days. If you have so many accounts you can't keep track of them, you may want to winnow the herd, but most people can remind themselves to log in to their accounts every month or so to check their charges.
What does ding your scores, as I've said, is opening and closing accounts and maxing out your cards. So use the following guidelines:
Apply for credit sparingly. Applications are counted as "hard" inquiries and typically lower your scores. Although the damage of one inquiry is usually slight -- 5 points or less -- applying for a bunch of accounts in a short period could tag you as high-risk, because you'll seem suddenly desperate for credit.
Close accounts sparingly. If you decide you must close accounts, shut down retail accounts first (those department store cards you got because of discounts), and try to keep open your major credit card accounts, particularly those with the highest limits.
Use only a small portion of your available credit. Whether or not you pay your balances in full each month -- and you should -- you still want to use only a fraction of your available credit: 30% or less is good, 10% or less even better. The balance that's reported to credit bureaus and used in your scores is typically the balance from your last statement. If you used 50% or more of your limit, even if you paid it off in full, you could be hurting your scores.
Push back against credit limit cuts. If you're a good customer with high credit scores, point that out to the offending issuer. If it doesn't reverse its decision, take your business elsewhere.
By Liz Pulliam Weston
MSN Money
We've known the basics of how credit scoring works for nearly a decade now. Yet I still hear from readers who think they can improve their credit, or their finances, by closing accounts or having their credit limits lowered.
This behavior stems, I believe, from the still-widespread myth that you can have too much credit.
Here's the reality: There's no such thing as too much credit, unless you're a debt addict. If that's the case -- if you've never seen a credit card you couldn't max out -- then this column is not for you. You should cut up your cards, seek counseling and pay off your debt.
Most people, by contrast, handle credit more or less responsibly. Forty percent of cardholders regularly pay their balances in full, according to Federal Reserve statistics, and half of those who do carry debt owe $3,000 or less.
It's those folks I'm talking to. And I'll say it again: There's no such thing as too much credit, particularly these days.
Here's why:
Having "too much credit" isn't a negative for FICO scores. You might get dinged for opening the accounts, but the FICO scoring formula (the one used by most lenders) doesn't penalize you for having too many once they're opened. If you get a score and are told the reason it isn't higher is because you have "too much available credit," you probably didn't get a FICO score but one of its competitors. "We just went through the full list of reason codes for FICO scoring, and it contains nothing remotely like 'too much available credit,'" said Craig Watts, a FICO spokesman.
Lots of available credit typically helps your credit scores. Once they're established, credit accounts typically improve your scores as long as you don't pay late or max them out. The FICO credit-scoring system is very sensitive to the gap between the credit you use and your available limits. The bigger the gap -- on each account and overall -- the better for your scores. Closing accounts or asking for lower limits shrinks that gap and can hurt your scores.
Your income isn't a factor. I've read a lot of well-meaning but completely inaccurate advice about how you should limit your available credit to a certain percentage of your income (with the percentage varying by how much credit the particular writer has). This is nonsense. Credit-scoring formulas don't even take income into account.
Lenders may care, but they probably won't. Before the advent of FICO scores, many lenders were suspicious of those with "too much credit," worried these borrowers would suddenly rush out, max out their cards and then default. FICO's research indicates this fear was overblown -- if you've handled credit responsibly in the past, you're likely to continue to do so -- but some lenders are still wary. If you run into one of those, you can placate them by closing accounts, but you risk damage to your credit scores.
Credit card issuers have gone a little nuts. In their efforts to reduce their risk, many credit card companies have been slashing limits, raising rates and closing accounts. Now they're threatening to add new fees. (Read "Banks have declared war -- on you.") Some have taken more-drastic steps by targeting not just risky borrowers but good customers who have always paid on time. The people who are in the best position to fight back are those who can simply take their business elsewhere. If you have plenty of other established accounts, you can start using them instead and transfer any balances. Also, a lower limit on one card isn't a credit-scoring crisis if you have lots of other cards.
You don't need to worry that much about fraud. Yes, identity theft is a real problem, but if one of your existing accounts is hijacked, you're not responsible for the bogus charges if you report them within 60 days. If you have so many accounts you can't keep track of them, you may want to winnow the herd, but most people can remind themselves to log in to their accounts every month or so to check their charges.
What does ding your scores, as I've said, is opening and closing accounts and maxing out your cards. So use the following guidelines:
Apply for credit sparingly. Applications are counted as "hard" inquiries and typically lower your scores. Although the damage of one inquiry is usually slight -- 5 points or less -- applying for a bunch of accounts in a short period could tag you as high-risk, because you'll seem suddenly desperate for credit.
Close accounts sparingly. If you decide you must close accounts, shut down retail accounts first (those department store cards you got because of discounts), and try to keep open your major credit card accounts, particularly those with the highest limits.
Use only a small portion of your available credit. Whether or not you pay your balances in full each month -- and you should -- you still want to use only a fraction of your available credit: 30% or less is good, 10% or less even better. The balance that's reported to credit bureaus and used in your scores is typically the balance from your last statement. If you used 50% or more of your limit, even if you paid it off in full, you could be hurting your scores.
Push back against credit limit cuts. If you're a good customer with high credit scores, point that out to the offending issuer. If it doesn't reverse its decision, take your business elsewhere.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Rent to Own Scams
It's sometimes embarrassing to tell people that I arrange for property ownership through a rent to own program for my clients. There are hundreds if not thousands of people out there purchasing property and then advertising in every media stream to be able to book as many appointments at one time in order to create a frenzy. A prospect falls in love with the property, they're asked how much of a deposit they can get, well they muster up $5000 or $10,000, usually after going to a bank and taking a cash back on their credit card. So a couple is trying to get ahead and decide to take the rent to own approach only to further get into more debt.
Don't provide deposits till an offer is made but make sure it's favorable. Most rent to own always place a 6% appreciation compounded. I reduce the percentage by 1 for every $5k deposit. A deposit of $10k can be a saving of over $4k on a @210k property. A deposit is not needed but when searching for a property, look for a property that is a little undervalued. This will work very favorably at time of buy out. If you're purchasing a place that is being viewed by the landlord, check out what the buy out is and what are properties presently selling for in the area.
This is an important point to pay attention to; watch out for the appreciation placed on the property. A lot of these Rent to Own experts are nothing more than opportunist, they start at a price higher than the value of the house, then they add the closing and mortgage insurance so by the time you add a few years of compounded interest, the property is the most expensive one on the block. The tenant has paid more per month and now can't see the sense of purchasing the property at this high level. The other thing that can happen is that the lender advises the want to be owner that the property was appraised for much less than what the vendor is requesting. This works in the hands of the owner of the property.
I work with my clients so they can gain ownership and I can share success stories for future prospects. The start up of the property is based on the cost that I purchased it at. I place a fair appreciation amount each year depending on the current economic climate.
Don't provide deposits till an offer is made but make sure it's favorable. Most rent to own always place a 6% appreciation compounded. I reduce the percentage by 1 for every $5k deposit. A deposit of $10k can be a saving of over $4k on a @210k property. A deposit is not needed but when searching for a property, look for a property that is a little undervalued. This will work very favorably at time of buy out. If you're purchasing a place that is being viewed by the landlord, check out what the buy out is and what are properties presently selling for in the area.
This is an important point to pay attention to; watch out for the appreciation placed on the property. A lot of these Rent to Own experts are nothing more than opportunist, they start at a price higher than the value of the house, then they add the closing and mortgage insurance so by the time you add a few years of compounded interest, the property is the most expensive one on the block. The tenant has paid more per month and now can't see the sense of purchasing the property at this high level. The other thing that can happen is that the lender advises the want to be owner that the property was appraised for much less than what the vendor is requesting. This works in the hands of the owner of the property.
I work with my clients so they can gain ownership and I can share success stories for future prospects. The start up of the property is based on the cost that I purchased it at. I place a fair appreciation amount each year depending on the current economic climate.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Dont Take Things for Granted
A number of years ago I received a call from a dad whose son experienced a brain injury in a car accident. The son was the only survivor, his three friends died in the accident and this had profound effect on his son. The parents had moved into the son's house because he needed their assistance to do the simplest of tasks. The problem though was the son had not been paying the mortgage nor did the parents realized this so were very surprised when the Sheriff had notified them that they were being evicted. They heard of me somehow and made contact. The problem I have at times is that I really want to help everyone I come in contact with. I tried desperately to acquire an investor but timing wasn't right. It was a short time frame and I approached very potential investor at the time but to no avail.
I advised them that it was unfortunate but I just couldn't help them.
Then all hell broke loose. This father who came across as a gentle soul called me and threatened me to hang me by the b_lls. (you have to use your imagination) He later wrote an e-mail calling me every name in the book, threatened if he ever saw me in his town that he would tear me apart, limb by limp.
Then all hell broke loose. This father who came across as a gentle soul called me and threatened me to hang me by the b_lls. (you have to use your imagination) He later wrote an e-mail calling me every name in the book, threatened if he ever saw me in his town that he would tear me apart, limb by limp.
It's sometimes interesting how easy it is to misjudge people. As they say, sometimes things work out for a reason. There might have been more to the story as to why they were getting evicted. I might have had a very difficult tenant. I might have saved myself time and abuse by contacting the lender to understand why an eviction was occurring to this older couple who just experienced a sad situation with their son. Where is the empathy? In reality, I was being taken as the idiot. Lesson well learnt.
Moral of the story, don't take things at face value.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
A Secure Method to Secure Ownership
We work with all sorts of people, some have had poor credit, experienced a bankruptcy or built up too much credit. We'll work with you to improve your credit rating free of charge. We want to work with you to obtain ownership.
JOINT VENTURE
Interested in investing in real estate - contact us and we'll provide you with full details
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