Many people who have government-related jobs need to have security clearances. These jobs are dependent on the people employed to be of the highest moral character because of national security issues. Even local and national law enforcement agencies can be very strict to various degrees about the background of employees.

The employee applying for a job that requires a background check knows that it could take months or longer for his approval. A comment by someone from his past could derail his chances for the job. While these background checks are not perfect, they are an essential part of many government-related jobs.

The financial services industry and insurance carriers are also on the band wagon for scrutinizing potential clients’ or employees’ credit history. While bad things do happen to good people, these institutions and the government have set up criteria.

One of the sticking points of these security checks is whether an individual is financially stable. While checking a credit report, an employer can see if the prospective employee has had a bankruptcy or foreclosure. If this is the case, the candidate will be passed over or, if he is lucky, delegated to a less responsible position.

The mortgage crisis has caused a lot of good people to have bad things happen to them. Most simply bought or refinanced a home at the height of the real estate market and are faced with a property that is worth half or less than they paid. While they are making their payments, they have to question the basic financial decision of whether it makes sense to continue or let the bank take the property back.

Another major group of individuals has lost their jobs, run through their savings and gone into foreclosure. For these people with security clearances, they face the risk of losing their grade or rating because of a pending foreclosure. This lost of “security status” can be devastating because it can take two years or longer to go through the process and all the while the candidate is working in a lower paying position.

The solutions to this problem are to face it head-on and not hide the issue if the employee has a job. The first step is to contact his superior and discuss the problem and show that the loan was sensible at the time it was gotten and that all possible steps have been taken currently to resolve the problem. The burdensome financial obligation that has resulted has to be shown to be in the process of some type of resolution.

The standard resolutions are to sell the property and take a loss, do a loan modification with the lender, rent the property and put in the negative cash flow monthly or do a short sale. Many people take the path of least resistance and keep making mortgage payments they can’t afford, rent the property and take a smaller loss each month or try for a loan modification that is at best, a postponement of the inevitable.

Short sales are becoming more and more popular because they eliminate the financial burden immediately and in most cases do not impact one’s security clearance. The reason is that the homeowner will not be burdened by continuing financial debt. A short sale is where the lender takes a principal reduction on the mortgage balance due so the property can be sold at current market value.

If the lender decides to foreclose, he is faced with trying to sell to the market and face the issues of an empty property that can be vandalized and is a financial liability that impacts the lender’s cash requirements. Therefore, many lenders ask the homeowner to try a short sale so they don’t have to foreclose and lose more money on the loan.

The principal amount the lender has reduced the loan balance and the costs to do the short sale can be either taken back as a personal note to the homeowner, turned into a deficiency judgment for future collection, charged to the homeowner in the form of an IRS Form 1099 C, or written out by the lender as an uncollectable bad debt.

If this situation occurs, most homeowners won’t sign a personal note because they are uninformed about the collectability of this note. The “value” of the note is similar to credit card debt and can be made much more comfortable over the pending payback. The homeowner should not consider a bankruptcy unless he also has substantial other debts to write off.

Consult with a bankruptcy attorney for specific information on whether you qualify and what steps have to be taken to benefit you the most. In addition, your accountant or CPA should be your source of what effects your actions will have on your income and any current regulations that will help your situation.

In summary, the best attack on the problem of keeping a security clearance is to look at doing a short sale. When concluded, the homeowner’s credit is affected but to a substantially lesser degree than a bankruptcy or a foreclosure. This process should substantially reduce security clearance reviews that result in downgrades and potential loss of your job.

In summary, before you do anything, check with the department who runs these security checks and explain your pending issue. Losing your clearance could result in losing your job and another two years to regain it back. Otherwise, your option is to continue making a burdensome mortgage payment or renting the property to reduce the monthly loss or do a shorts sale which should not affect your clearance.

Dave Dinkel has over 35 years experience in real estate investing which has given him a unique perspective into the real estate market. http://www.DaveDinkel.com is the place to interact with Dave Dinkel. You can read some of the latest informative Real Estate articles he has written. Here you can discover and educate yourself on topics ranging from foreclosure, For Sale By Owner(FSBO) Sales, Credit and much more.

Chances are if you’re reading this, you know a thing or two about the Internet and understand the role it plays in today’s marketplace. Selling a home is much different today than it was even 2 years ago; sellers have more choice of services in the form of DIY tools, they are more informed about the marketplace, and new gadgets, communication mediums and technologies have arisen. Some REALTORS® have been adapting to (and surpassing the limitations of) these changes, other’s haven’t. Agents should have exceptional answers to all of the following questions. If they don’t, ask yourself “is this agent and/or brokerage going to provide me with the best possible service and market my property to the widest possible audience?”

1. How will you market my property online?

You’ve heard this statistic before and the figure is increasing by the day: over 90% of buyers search for properties online before taking further action. How will your property stick out from the crowd? Will it be accessible to the maximum potential pool of buyers? What is the agent doing that is different from others?

2. How do you stay in touch with me and other agents?

Is the agent carrying a laptop, tablet and/or smart phone to every appointment? Will he have the time and resources to respond to your and other agent’s requests while on the road? Realtors spend a lot of time in their cars – their mobile office and ability to access information anywhere, anytime is crucial!

3. How do you transmit agreements and other written correspondence?

Via fax is the wrong answer here. It may seem like a small consideration, but deals can get snagged up over something as simple as illegibility or missing pages. Also keep in mind that your lawyer probably charges by the hour; don’t let her spend extra time scrutinizing an agreement due to the fact she needs a magnifying glass to read it. It’s nearly 2012 folks; by now all agents should be transmitting documents via PDF files over secure FTP or encrypted email systems. Furthermore, at the end of the deal, wouldn’t it be nice to have an electronic copy of all documents (as opposed to a messy file folder with wrinkled pages, covered in coffee stains)?

4. What special tools do you use that will help me as a buyer or seller?

Every agent claims to have a trick up their sleeve – a unique method or tool that no one else has access to. This is fine, but does this really add value, and is it something you could get access to yourself on the internet? Ask your agent if he uses proprietary technology such as GIS (mapping & measurement), CMA (market knowledge & analysis), cloud computing (information sharing & distribution), mobile targeting (text and QR codes), eCRM (automatic updates to her pool of buyers), and more. You might not know what half of those things are, but your agent darn well should.

5. I understand that technology is a big part of your business, and that’s great, but do you employ traditional methods as well?

My grandfather, a very wise man, always likes to remind me that “face to face wins the race, phone and mail take second place.” Despite my urging that you choose an agent who has entered the 21st century with confidence, you should also look for someone who is personable, punctual and a competent negotiator. A fistful of gadgets are worth nothing if your agent doesn’t have the professional and people skills to back himself up. That said, here is my litmus test suggestion. Initiate correspondence via email, and if the reply is quick and friendly, pick up the phone to see what he’s like on the line (his number is in his email signature line, right?). If he passes this second test, move onto the third – a face to face interview. You’ll know soon enough if this is the sort of agent who likes hiding behind a computer screen instead of going out and publicizing your property to real people in real environments!

Colin Crowell is a Realtor® specializing in residential listings & first time buyers with RE/MAX Banner Real Estate, the Annapolis Valley’s leading brokerage

Chat LIVE now with Colin! He is available to answer your questions about buying or selling real estate. No obligation, just friendly, helpful advice! Go to http://www.colincrowell.com/ and click the “Live Support” button in the bottom left-hand corner of the page.

With the current economic woes still playing a key part in the condition of the real estate industry, a lot of people who are looking to invest need education in real estate investing. The industry can be potentially very profitable to an investor, but the importance of learning about how to successfully invest in properties can certainly save and gain lots of money for investors. There are several ways to go about gaining the education needed, including courses, seminars, lectures, and personal tips from experienced investors.

Several online schools and mentoring services exist to help people get a better education in real estate investing, allowing them the opportunity to gain an understanding of all the risks and rewards it brings. Professionals all over the Internet are offering to give hopeful and aspiring investors the best advice possible in investing and trading to make money. Much of the education in property investing stresses the need to stay ahead of the curve, as it is like all other businesses in that competition can be fierce and falling behind can be very costly.

Those who are interested in getting into the business of property investing can benefit from educating themselves in the business, whether informally or formally. Education will hone their ability to assess risks and minimize their losses. With education and knowledge, they can quickly identify opportunities and act appropriately when those opportunities arise.

Any aspiring property investor stands to benefit a great deal from becoming familiar with terminology, as well as reading as much as he or she can on property investing. Simply put, education will help any investor sound and look professional. After all, would you trust an investor who does not seem to know what he or she is talking about or does not even look professional?

It is also important for any investor to have the aptitude to learn and use new technology related to the business. Technology and software are invaluable tools in helping any investor to make up-to-date and informed buying and selling decisions.

Several different strategies exist for maximizing the returns from investing in real estate, and the more you learn the better chance you have of returning a profit. Nearly all education methods will stress that having as much information as you can possibly handle about the real estate market will make it much easier to target which investments are the most well founded.

When you have education in real estate investing, you’ll be better equipped in your real estate dealings, enabling you to analyze opportunities and decide quickly. For more information, Real Estate Investing Guru Review.

Copyright © Sherry Ann Smith

Selling a property can be both difficult and frustrating at the best of times. The current global economy and turbulence in the property market has made the process of selling a home even more difficult and even more stressful.

Almost every single area of the country have been adversely effected by the lagging economy and stagnant property market conditions, as a result a seller must make a careful assessment of the pros and cons of their property before they even consider putting in on the market.

One of the most pressing and important question that needs to be answered right from the off is establishing the best time of the year to sell.

Your location carries some influence as buyers are less likely to buy during cold, wet weather (winter months). Potential buyers will be put off by the bad weather conditions and buying a new home will not be seen as a priority to them, that not to say you cannot sell your property at this time of year, but just there will be fewer potential buyers in the market compared to a warmer time of year.

Finding a good estate agent is without question one of the most important aspects of selling your home, but beware – decent, efficient and hardworking estate agents aren’t as easy to come by as you may think. This is where time must be taken to learn more about the agents in your area, try and go on recommendations from friends and family and look for an estate agent with a proven track record for selling property quickly and efficiently.

Due to the increase of homeowners trying to sell their properties, coupled with falling house prices nationwide, there is an over abundance of homes on the market at present. It is without question a buyer’s market. Nevertheless, this market is also plagued with potential pitfalls for the unprepared buyers. Many homes that are up for sale have not been properly processed meaning the buyer may find themselves stuck in the undesired position of a legal dispute and could potentially end up losing a lot of money in the process.

Although the current housing market may make for grim reading, all is not lost. The best thing to do therefore is to make the most of your estate agents knowledge, experience and expertise. They will know from their own past and current experiences when they have had the best sales run during the year and consequently when most sales are achieved (the best time for you to sell!). They will be well aware that the marketing for the properties is ongoing and that photos of the properties look their best when the foliage is out in full bloom and the skies are blue and sunny, as this is what appeals most to a prospective buyer.

In conclusion, the best time of the year to sell a house is usually from the early spring to the late fall. There are exceptions and this isn’t to say that selling a home at a different time of year is not possible, but this is a good rule of thumb to remember and consider. Your estate agent should be working extremely hard for you fining potential buyers and interested parties, if they are doing their job properly – as you should be making sure they are – there is no reason why you cannot achieve the home sale you desire. Whatever the time of year!

Ryan Harley is an experienced property consultant who works with the Essex Property Buyer group to provide fast, effective solutions to homeowners in Essex who need to sell their property. Ryan, when not helping clients to Sell House Fast In Essex helps to educate and advise others on property related issues.

What Are Private Lenders

Private lenders are people that lend money to investors so they can buy investment properties. Typically they are doing so to get better returns on their money than the stock market or other forms of investment have provided. The terms and details of each loan are up to the individual lender. In our experience, private lenders typically offer easier access to funds, lower interest rates and fees, and an all-around easier experience than typical financial institutions and hard money lenders.

Difference Between Private and Hard Money Lenders

The difference between private lenders and hard money lenders is basically just the terms each offers. Hard money lenders are named so due to the fact that their terms are usually much harder on us. The loan fees are usually several points (a point is 1% of the loan amount) and I have heard of some charging upwards of 7-8 points! Ouch! The interest rates are usually high as well. Typically, they charge between 15-18% interest rates. Many hard money lenders are in business to be just hard money lenders. Private lenders typically are just doing so for better return on their money as a side investment.

Where Do You Find Potential Private Lenders

When looking for private lenders, there are a couple of groups of people to consider:

Family and Friends With Money

The first is family and friends that have some money they might be willing to invest. Just make sure that you approach people that have enough to lend on a typical house that you would consider buying. You should only have one lender per property.

There are also a couple things to consider when approaching this group for lending. You need to carefully consider the fact that the person that lends money for your deal may run into a unexpected problem and need to pull the money out of the deal. This is definitely something that needs to be considered and understood before proceeding. The other issue is that most people consider it a bad idea to work with family or friends. If a deal turns into a dud and you lose money, what are you going to do? Where does it leave your lender? Be careful with this. Even if you use an institutional lender, you should always repay your debts no matter what, but when working with family and friends the consequences could be much worse.

We approached several family members and friends when we were getting started. All wanted to help, but most were too conservative to actually commit. This may be different now that we have been flipping houses for almost a decade successfully.

Private Lenders Already Lending To Investors

The other group to approach is the one that is more likely to agree to lend on your investment properties. This is the group of people that already lend money to investors for properties. These guys are perfect because they already know how good these types of investments can be and only need to be convinced that it is ok to lend to ‘you’. You won’t be selling them so much on the deals as you will be selling yourself. I’ll explain how to do this in a later section.

There are several ways to find these lenders:

Ask other investors for lenders they use or know of.

The difficulty here is that most investors don’t want to share their private lenders because of the limited funds available from each. You never know though, you might get lucky. If you don’t ever ask, you will never find one. Keep a spreadsheet with names and numbers of potential lenders, their contact info, who recommended them, and their terms.

Do some investigating.

This is what we did and I feel this is the single best way to find potential lenders for your real estate investment deals.

Here’s what you do:

Scour the MLS for recently sold REO’s (bank -owned foreclosures) and other fixer upper properties that were likely bought by investors. If you don’t have access, ask a Realtor to do this for you or let you use their system, with their supervision. You should have a good Realtor on your team anyway. Search for more recent sales. Within the past 6 months should be fine. It is important to find lenders that are actively lending. Your search should include areas that you are interested in investing in because the lender will have already shown an interest in lending in that area.

Find the ones that were sold with a loan. You will probably have to check your county records (most are online now) to see if there was a deed of trust or warranty deed with vendor’s lien filed for the property for the recent sale. The recorded docs should have a name for the lender and the address where the original document was sent after being recorded. Write down this info.

You will start to see some of them appear again and again. These are the real prime suspects. You will want to try your best to work with these guys.

You should also keep track of the names and addresses of people that bought investment properties and paid cash. These are a good source of investors to birddog leads or wholesale houses to. Keep track of the area the house was bought in for each investor. You now know they like that area.

Making Contact With A Potential Private Money Lender

Once you’ve created a list of potential private money lenders, you will need to find a way to contact them. Our preferred method is to write a letter to them. The letter usually just states that I am an investor in the area and I am looking for people interested in receiving a good return on their money, secured by real estate. You should also briefly mention how you found them and why you decided to contact them. This is usually something they are curious about anyway. I’ve found that many of them will actually consider it a good sign that you are a true go-getter and have what it takes. The letter goes on to mention that they should call me so that we can discuss it further.

As far as SEC guidelines goes, you should be fine as long as you don’t use words like “guarantee” and talk about any specific deal in the letter. You also need to stick with using one lender per deal (no comingling of funds). Just be general about your discussion of providing a better return on their money and to call so that you can discuss it further.

When they call, try to make small talk and ask if they have been lending on investment properties for a while. Try to set up a lunch meeting with them so that you can talk more in depth about what you are looking for.

Your First Meeting

This is where I want to mention the importance of your level of confidence. It is of utmost importance that you exude confidence and make it appear that they need you more than you need them. You should try to make it seem like you are interviewing them and that the acceptance to work together is up to you. This might take a little work, but makes all the difference in the world.

To help you with this, just consider the fact that you will (if you want to) be offering them 10% interest on their money AND it will be secured with real estate that is worth a lot more than how much they are lending. THIS IS AWESOME AND YOU NEED TO UNDERSTAND THAT IT IS. They should consider themselves lucky that you are offering this to them. Don’t ever doubt that.

You should obviously be at a point where you have educated yourself on real estate investing and flipping houses. Do not attempt to meet potential lenders before having done so. You are asking them to lend large sums of money and you’d better know what you are talking about.

Things To Bring

Business Plan – You should have a business plan, even if it just describes what types of properties you buy, that you intend to improve them through rehab, you sell with the help of a Realtor, etc. Just the basic process of buying and then selling and what types of profit margins you look for. What kinds of things will cause you to walk away from a house purchase.Maybe some insight into the real estate market in your area to show that you keep up with it.

If you’ve done some deals be sure to have some before and after rehab pictures and as many details you can provide about timelines and the numbers for the deals. Lenders love this. It shows that as you are prepared and it shows them exactly what will be happening with the money they lend.

If you have not done any deals, try to arrive with some potential deals and your analysis for each. I will talk about what we did before we had done any deals in a later section.

Money to pay for their meal. You’d think this would be obvious…

How Their Money Is Secured

To help them feel safer with the investment, make sure to let them know that their loan will be secured with a first lien deed of trust. Some lenders will want a personal guarantee if you buy your properties using an entity such as an LLC. I’m certainly trustworthy enough to make sure that my debts are paid even if things go sour, so I do not hesitate to give them this. Your title company should be able to have an attorney draw these up for each loan.

You will want to buy your properties far below market value. We suggest at least 70% of market value minus cost of repairs. This should be explained to the potential lenders to help them understand that if they did have to take the property back, they would have an asset that is valued quite a bit above what they had into it.

What Terms We Usually Get

This is another time where you need to remember how good of a deal you are offering them. If they ask for a certain interest rate and points, NEGOTIATE WITH THEM. I have a feeling that they actually like to see this. Trust me. They want to know that you are a real businessman or woman. This gets back into you being the one that is controlling the situation.

The terms that we typically get are 10% interest with “interest only” monthly payments and a 1 point loan fee. The loan is usually for 9-12 months with 1 point being required for an extension (though this should not be needed). We get loans to cover the purchase, repair costs, and sometimes the payments as well.

What We Did Before Having Done Deals

When we started, we would have had a hard time approaching private lenders to work with. It can be done and should not be considered impossible. Realistically, it is best to work with a money partner or work with hard money lenders. There are national hard money lenders but I feel it would probably be better to work with local ones. One of the benefits to working with hard money lenders or money partners (that are also investors) is that they may keep you from investing in a bad deal. If no one wants to put their money into the deal, it probably isn’t a deal.

We started by working with a money partner. He was our mentor and had been investing in real estate for around 20 years. We did all of the work, including finding the deals, negotiating the deals, rehabbing the houses (using contractors), selling the houses and the whole nine yards and he put up the money. We split profits 50/50. This was great when we started because the only thing we risked was our time. No money out of our pockets (except for some marketing expenses). I highly recommend this method of getting started. You really limit your risk.

Conclusion

Now that you know how to find and approach private money lenders you can start saving yourself tons of interest and fees that you may have been paying using hard money lenders. If you are flipping houses you need to get out there and start building relationships with private lenders.

Danny Johnson is a real estate investor in San Antonio, TX that operates a blog that teaches how to flip houses – FlippingJunkie.com. He is currently allowing people interested in learning how to flip houses to follow along as he shows how he and his wife are marketing for motivated sellers, analyzing the leads that come in, talking to the motivated sellers, closing the deals, rehabbing the houses with before and after pictures, and selling the houses for profit. Check out the blog to follow along.

The real estate and mortgage industry have changed dynamically over the course of the last few years, and will hopefully never return to where it was during the boom of the market that took place a few years ago. Corrupt lending practice, bloated government spending in the secondary market, and irresponsible use of equity is what helped our housing market drop at a rate only rivaled by the Great Depression. From appraising to loan origination, the way businesses in this industry work has been altered to allow for more safe and secure practice.

Personally, I believe that the mortgage side of the real estate market has been affected the most. It is no secret that the indiscretions in the lending side of the market, as well as certain government entities allowing for almost limitless spending, played a big part in the housing bubble. Because of this, lending standards have been tightened, and there is much more due diligence being done on the part of the underwriter before a loan is approved. Also, systems within the lending offices themselves have been adjusted and updated. Believe it or not, many illegitimate foreclosures took place due to lack of communication between departments within lending companies. Much has been done to eliminate these problems, as well as dish out severe punishment for those not complying with federal lending regulations.

Appraisers are also having to alter the way they are conducting business. Many people blame appraisers for what happened in the housing market. Inflated appraised prices (often resulting in monetary kickbacks) on houses is what snowballed into an over priced real estate market. Appraisers are practicing more ethical appraisals, and are not over inflating the prices of homes.

Investors are switching their short term investment strategies into more long term ones. For instance, investors were making a killing by simply purchasing property, and then selling at an elevated price when the market went up. This allowed for more property flipping. Now, with the market maintaining low prices for the last two and a half years, investors are investing their money into long term rental properties that can be sold later on down the line. By purchasing a property and renting it, investors are capitalizing on a society that is calling for more rental properties, and well as setting themselves up in a good position when the market turns around. Real estate investors, however, are constantly altering their investment strategies to adhere to whatever the market is calling for at the time.

Anthony Flores is a real estate, mortgage, and investment consultant in Riverside, Ca. Houses for sale in Yorba Linda are remaining far above the rest in the housing market.

A professional real estate investor since 2000 and owner of http://www.MHVProperties.com, Michael Gier has been involved in nearly every aspect of real estate. Currently he buys properties in the Los Angeles area to fix and sell.

For educational products including his rcent DVD’s “Quick Profits Wholesaling Real Estate” and “MOLD – Separating Fact From Fiction,” other real estate training, his blog, and “Buy and Hold” opportunities, go to his website.

If you are a home owner and are thinking how can I Sell My House Fast, I suggest using a company like ExpertHomeOffers.com to get connected with local home buyers. You can receive multiple offers for your home very quickly at no cost.

Tom Fitzgerald writes about real estate investments and its relationship to the financial community in his blog http://www.GreatDayForRealEstate.com. His writings, primarily addressing foreclosures and REOs, can serve as a primer for the new investor as well as a resource for the experienced investor. Tom would like your comments on those articles you find informative.