Buying Your Piece of Vegas

With its thriving economy and steady market growth, buying in property in Las Vegas is a solid investment. Still, buying a property of any kind can feel overwhelming especially if you are a first time buyer. As a Realtor I ve been through this transaction over and over again, and I know that, armed with the right information, this will be a rewarding and satisfying experience for you.
The first step in home buying should always be determining financing. Prequalifying for a mortgage allows you to shop confidently and know exactly how much you can offer. A prequalification letter gives the seller confidence that you are a serious buyer, which in turn lends your offer more weight.
Make a list of features that you are looking for in your ideal home. Decide which of these are essentials and which are things you would love to have, but can live without. Be realistic about this, because it will make your search easier. Also, you can look for things that you can change later. For instance, you might not find the perfect four bedroom place with hardwood floors, but if you find a great four bedroom home now you can upgrade to the hardwood floors in a couple of years.
When you have a good idea of what you re looking for, it s time to choose a Realtor who will help you through this process. You want to find someone who will represent you exclusively in the transaction. In Las Vegas, some Realtors are Dual Agents, which means they represent the buyer and seller. It s difficult, if not impossible, for an agent to represent both sides of the transaction effectively. Check out the market in your area, get listings from your agent and let people know what you are looking for your perfect property may not even be on the market yet. The Internet has made browsing as easy as clicking a button, but don t fall in love until you see the house in real life.
When you start viewing houses you may find they tend to meld together many people have difficulty remembering specific details. Taking along a digital camera to record the houses will help. It s also useful to make notes and give the house a grade out of ten, this way you can accurately compare properties when you get home. Narrow it down to your top picks and revisit your favorites if necessary.
When you ve got some top properties, check out the neighborhood. It won t hurt to get out of your car, walk the streets and talk to your potential neighbors. This will help you get a better feel for the area. Come back in the evening to see if the atmosphere has changed: do you feel safe? Weigh the pros and cons carefully, and try to be objective. Each person will have their own priorities: someone with children may consider the distance to schools, someone else may want cafes and cinemas nearby, while still another person is looking for a short commute.
When you ve made your decision your Realtor can help you through the process of making an offer. Buying a house is an exciting and rewarding process and with a little perseverance you will find the one that s right for you!
Mark Hostetler is a Las Vegas Realtor® who is dedicated to helping his clients negotiate the real estate market successfully. Known for his honesty and work ethic, Mark offers his service to buyers absolutely FREE. For more real estate tips visit Mark at www.welcomehomenevada.com or search his MLS listings for the perfect Las Vegas property.



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How To Make Money Optioning Special Properties

Optioning special properties is another way to make money in real estate that few people consider. However, it can be a way to get large profits from small investments. And the disadvantages? You will lose those small investments most of the time, and spend a lot of time hunting for the right properties.
Investing in real estate through options can be one of the most creative ways to make money. Here is one of my favorite stories which demonstrates the endless creative possibilities.
The Hilltop Investor
Creative real estate investing is mostly about solving problems. Radio stations, police departments and others have a regular problem. They need hilltops to put radio towers on. One creative investor spent his time solving this problem. Here is an example of how he did it. He got options on hill top properties for a few hundred dollars, then found those who needed them, and signed long term leases. With the leases in hand, it was easy to get financing to buy the properties. He invested a few hundred dollars to create years of income.
First, he found hills. Of course, usually the land on top was not for sale, but he talked to the owner anyhow. The owner might not be too interested in selling, but this investor would get him interested. How? By offering to possibly buy the land for more than it was worth.
Let s say that the owner estimated the value at $24,000. This investor would suggest that he might buy it for $30,000, but he needed time to arrange financing. He would give the seller $300 for an option to buy the property within six months. The seller, who hadn t been planning to sell anyhow, would either get to keep the $300, or get more for his property than he thought it was worth.
Now the investor had six months. He contacted radio stations, police departments, and cell phone companies that might need a hill to put a radio tower on. It is common practice to lease these properties on leases of ten-years or longer, for tax reasons, and to conserve capital.
Once the investor got a lease signed, he went to the bank. With a lease in hand, it was relatively simple to get a bank to lend the money for the purchase. As long as he could find a loan with payments that were a couple hundred dollars less than his rental income, he had good cash flow from day one. The leesee had to provide their own tower and other improvements.
What was his total risk? If he didn t find an interested party, he walked away, losing the $300 option fee. As I recall, he succeeded often enough to afford a few losses. Of course, in addition to any cash flow he could generate, he was gaining equity with each loan payment.
Other Option Opportunities
There are other special properties you can do this with. If you read Number 17, you understand the basics of how an option works. You can use options to control commercial property that is right for a fast-food restaurant or a car dealership. You can option a piece of forested land and then get quotes from timber companies to see if the trees are worth more than the purchase price.
You can also reduce the risk further if you approach this the right way. In the example above, the seller is willing to take just $300 for an option, but why? Because it is like free money. He might sell the land for more than it is worth, but if not he gets $300 for signing a simple contract. The fact that his property is tied up for six months isn t important to him, because he wasn t planning to sell it soon anyhow.
The lessons? If you want to get options at the lowest cost, start with properties that aren t yet for sale. These owners have nothing to lose by granting an option. Making the price at which the option is exercised (the purchase price) higher than the market value of the property is another way to get a low option fee accepted. Making the option for less time is another way to get an owner to take a lower option fee, but this can be risky - you need that time to find your buyer or renter.
There is a way to effectively have an option on a property without any fee at all. This is simply to make an offer on a property, with a contingency that let s you out of the contract. For example, if you make an offer, but make it "contingent on my partners approval within 14 days," you will get your earnest money back if your partner doesn t approve. In other words, you have a 14-day option to buy the property, but no option fee is lost if you don t.
This latter technique is perfectly ethical as long as you don t lie to the seller and you really intend to buy the property or assign the contract to some investor who will buy it. Of course, these kinds of contingencies are rarely accepted with a deadline of more than a week or two, so you have limited time to find a renter or buyer for the property.
Copyright Steve Gillman. This article was an excerpt from 69 Ways To Make Money In Real Estate. Want to know the other 68 ways? Visit http://www.99reports.com/make-money-in-real-estate.html



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Avanta launches new virtual office service

Avanta is launching a new virtual office service which enables businesses to enjoy all the benefits of a serviced office without paying a penny in rent. The virtual office concept delivers a full package of services and facilities of an Avanta serviced office, but without being tied down to renting physical space. Virtual PA (VPA) is Avanta s new virtual office service, a concept designed to give start up companies, home workers, or professionals on the move, the facilities and support network of offices services, without the office space. The virtual office service is expected to be of particular interest to organisations or individuals seeking a market presence in central London. Avanta operates seven business centres across London, enabling VPA to offer a choice of prestigious virtual office addresses in the West End, Mayfair, Hammersmith, Victoria and Holborn. Companies can boast an impressive postal address, without the cost of rent, and with no mention of Avanta, whose team will handle all mail, forwarding it the same day to a postal address of the client s choice. Despite not having a permanent base with Avanta, VPA clients can still have free access to any Avanta business location, taking advantage of broadband access points in the breakout areas, meeting rooms and refreshment facilities. VPA clients are even given complimentary membership to Avanta s private members club The Winchester Club in the heart of the West End. A comprehensive package of office support services includes a dedicated London number with professional call answering service in the client s company name. Virtual office clients are also able to call on Avanta s team of skilled secretaries to take care of urgent typing requirements, organising meetings, collating reports, managing large mail outs or delivering fax and photocopying services. Avanta offers a unique, transparent pricing structure for the virtual office service, which ensures that clients only pay for the services they use. This allows them to have a tailored, flexible package to meet their needs. David Alberto, Avanta s Managing Director, said: We have developed the VPA virtual office service in response to the day to day needs of those businesses and individuals who simply don t have the facilities and support network of working in a large corporate office set up. Our virtual office package means that home workers, small business start ups and individuals who s job is not office-based, need no longer be disadvantaged. Avanta s seven business centres are based at prestigious addresses across central London, giving businesses or individuals the choice of having a West End virtual office, Victoria virtual office, Mayfair virtual office, Hammersmith virtual office or Holborn virtual office. ENDS Notes to Editors Avanta is an emerging name in the serviced office market, with a rapidly growing portfolio of office suites in prime locations across London. The company was formed in 2004 by David Alberto, previously with Regus and former Managing Director at MWB Business Exchange. Avanta can offer highly flexible, unbranded office space, with advanced and competitively priced technology, tailor made to meet the requirements of the occupier. The company manages a total of 280,000 sq ft of office space across seven locations, with an average occupancy rate of over 90% at mature locations. For further information, please contact: David Alberto Avanta Management Services Ltd PR agency contact 1 Hammersmith Grove London UK W6 0NB Tel: 020 7269 9355 Site: http://www.avanta.co.uk/



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