One of the most important things to do when purchasing a home is to find a great real estate agent to make the process flow smoothly and effectively.  A question many people ponder is how to find a good real estate agent.  The best agent may not necessarily work at one of the top ten agencies in the area.  The agent who will work best for you would be an experienced agent who will listen to your needs, act in a professional and ethical manner and knows the market in your area.

1.)Word-of-Mouth or Referral
Most real estate professionals attract a sizable amount of business because of a satisfied client who recommends them to a friend, family member or neighbour.  When you are thinking of purchasing a home, it is a good idea to ask those around you who they have used and ask them to elaborate on their specific experience with the real estate agent in question.  Successful real estate agents strive to make customer satisfaction their number one priority and will do everything they can to facilitate a good experience for a customer.  Try to find an agent that has a proven track record and reputation for delivering quality service, customer satisfaction, and have experience in the neighbourhoods that you are looking in.

2.) Do an Online Search For Real Estate Agents
There are many online resources available when searching for a real estate agent referral, but this by no means ensures quality.  The agents referred online may have paid a fee to the website owner to be listed in the directory.  Performing a Google search of the top agents in your area and then reviewing their websites will give you a good list of agents to interview.  Agents who have experience in the field will tell you, but a newer agent will more than likely have the extra time to spend working with you.  Review any customer testimonials or feedback about an agent you may be interested in retaining.

3.) Visit Open Houses in the Area
You should visit some area open houses where you can actually meet with a potential agent in a non-threatening manner.  Here you can see how they work, collect business cards, formulate an opinion and talk with them on a personal basis.  If you are thinking about selling a home, pay close attention to how the agent presents the home.  Make sure the agent is polite, informative, approachable and professional.  Does the agent promote the home by handing out professional looking feature sheets or other related materials?  Is the agent trying to play up the features that make the home more enticing?  Or is the agent in the corner, back turned and uninvolved in the whole scenario?  

4.) Pay Attention to Real Estate Signs
Carefully monitor the real estate signs in your neighbourhood.  Observe how long from the day they go up until the home is actually sold.  An agent who has a high sales turnover might be a better choice than an agent who has lots of for sale signs but few sold signs.  An agent who gets results is what you want.

5.) Why Agents Use Printed Advertising
There are two main reasons real estate agents use printed advertisement.  First is to advertise and sell a specific piece of real estate.  Secondly, advertising is used to promote the agent handling the transaction.  By checking the local Sunday real estate ads in your neighbourhood and then checking the agents website, you can find the agents who may specialize in your particular neighbourhood.  Contact the agent and inquire about their expertise and ask any other relative questions you may have.

6.) Seeking Recommendations from Other Real Estate Professionals
Ask around and seek out other real estate agents for a referral.  Most agents are happy to refer a buyer or seller to another associate, if the service you require is not a specialty they can provide.  Some agents only specialize in resale property, while others work predominantly with the sale of new homes.  Other agents work exclusively with commercial or investment properties.  Mortgage brokers are a great resource for agent referrals; many brokers have first-hand knowledge and can point you in the direction of a top-quality real estate agent and remember professionals tend to refer like-minded peers. There is also typically a referral fee involved for the referring professional so be careful that they refer you to the best Agent not the one that pays the highest referral fee.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/real-estate-articles/6-tips-for-finding-a-reputable-real-estate-agent-1079228.html

About the Author

RealtyStock.com is a free unbiased Toronto listing website for Toronto listings that is designed to help buyers find Toronto houses for sale. We have simplified the Toronto real estate search process by listening to the market and utilizing cutting edge technologies. RealtyStock.com has also been created to help Toronto Real Estate Agents and Brokers increase their listing’s market exposure.

Real estate investment has emerged as one of the best way to generate revenue and can be used as collateral to secure a loan for a business venture. The investment in real estate whether international or domestic involve risks, even if the venture is successful, when the future flows of income will accrue to the investor and could help alternative investment opportunities.

According to Ross Moore, vice president of Colliers International USA, “foreign real estate investment offers diversification that is a superior investment style”.  It distributes the risk in an effective manner among the multiple markets and optimizes a possible return. Sometimes number of commercial real estate investors need a huge amount of capital to attain and maintain their global portfolio, but the small investors has the opportunity to diversify the assets on a microcosmic level, such as buying residential property, which show considerable possibility of a good profit. However, regardless of the type of investment in foreign real estate, which may be commercial real estate or vacation home in Mexico, investors should look for professional’s help, who have the knowledge about global markets and are well connected with the local real estate agent.

Since a foreign real estate investment involves more risk, as you are expanding your property holdings beyond your country and you are not aware of the local market of other countries, you would have to do lots of research on the various countries, in which you are interested to invest. You have to collect various sources of information to acquire knowledge of properties that you would need and invest. You may not get time to do a research on many countries, but you could take the help of websites. This will give you an overview of various countries and their style of living. It is always advisable to visit the country personally and experience the living out there, if you plan to invest in foreign real estate. You can expect higher rewards even with the risk that you take to invest wisely.

You can inquire about different loans and mortgages that are available in that particular country, which would give you a clear idea that investing in that country would be a profitable venture for you or not. Once you are finished with the investigation of the countries’ real estate markets, you would now think, how you should invest in the international real estate market.

As the foreign real estate investment market is huge, so you can get a property, which may be larger than the one in your own country. It could be a provincial property and if you could convert it into a commercial property, you could get higher returns on investment. Always look for the advantages and disadvantages, while you purchase a property, otherwise you may end up losing money and the investment may turn out to be a waste.

Some of the countries, where real estate investment could possibly turn out to be a profitable venture are Croatia, China or Europe, where you find rapid growth in real estate properties due to industrialization and increase in the quality of living. In North America, investors find agricultural properties quite worthwhile to invest in, as they have higher returns on investment.  Apart from these Asia and Africa are also worth considering as far as real estate investment is concerned.

If you are a beginner in this foreign real estate investment, you may make mistakes, as it is a very difficult field to get into. However, even if you have invested in a property, you will not run in a total loss, even if the value of the property decreases. You still own the property, which you could hold onto until such time, its value increases and your foreign real estate investment would prove worthwhile.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/advertising-articles/foreign-real-estate-investment-1290395.html

About the Author

Author Bio:

Real Estate Investing Experts Kim and Charles Petty have been involved in over 700 real estate transactions in the last 9 years and are the creators of the Ultimate Turn Key Virtual Real Estate Investing Systems. For a FREE Special Report and Video on how you too can make Six or Seven Figures A Year Buying and Selling Properties across the USA & abroad go to http://www.VirtualRealEstateInvestingProfits.com

Net Lease Real Estate Investments

Passive real estate for both the investor and the investor’s heirs

ByDavid E. Sobelman, Vice President, Calkain Realty AdvisorsandBenjamin R. Hanan, Shareholder, Abel Band, Chartered

Experienced, savvy and sophisticated real estate investors typically are inundated with decisions of what to do with their existing assets as they plan their estates.  In many cases, individuals holding various types of real property may want to simplify their portfolios for the next generation for ease of administration and enjoyment.  

Net lease investments (“NLIs”) are one of the most passive forms of real estate investment.  Under an NLI arrangement, the investor purchases the real property subject to a “triple net” lease.  In such case, the tenant is responsible for paying all of the taxes, insurance, and most importantly, the maintenance of the real property.  By divesting of current real estate holdings and purchasing an NLI, the investor can ultimately simplify the investor’s real estate portfolio and have the ability to transfer assets to the investor’s beneficiaries with the comfort of understanding that little to no real estate experience will be required in order to manage the NLI.  Additionally, depending on the type of asset purchased, the investor can assist in providing the investor’s heirs with (a) an income stream that extends into the future; and (b) an appreciating capital asset.

Investors concerned with the potential tax burdens associated with the sale of their existing real estate investments may consider taking advantage of the tax-deferred exchange provisions of Internal Revenue Code Section 1031 in order to effectuate their diversification into NLIs.  Through the implementation of a properly structured tax-deferred exchange, investors can sell maintenance-intensive real property investments, defer the taxable gains on such sales and reinvest the proceeds in an NLI.  Throughout the remainder of the investors’ lives, they can continue to enjoy the income stream and appreciation afforded by an NLI.  Should a particular investor continue to maintain their investment in the NLI until death, the investor’s estate will receive a step-up in basis in the NLI to its fair market value as of the date of the investor’s death, thereby eliminating all of the deferred income tax on such real estate investment.  Thereafter, the investor’s beneficiaries receive the following benefits: (a) a real estate investment; (b) an income stream subject to the terms of the NLI; and (c) an asset in which they possess a relatively high basis such that if they sell the NLI in the future, they can minimize the taxes paid in connection with such sale (or, if properly structured, such taxes can be deferred through a subsequent 1031 exchange).

Case Study:

Situation

For over 40 years a private investor had amassed a portfolio of New York real estate encompassing over 3,800 multifamily units.  Over the four decades, the investor had personally managed and operated the portfolio with a small team of staff and advisors.  Now in his late 60’s and with no heirs willing to undertake the management-intensive nature of the holdings, the investor was looking to gradually simplify his assets while maintaining a level of passive income that could be easier to pass on to heirs.

Problem

The size of the investor’s portfolio made it more challenging to find one single buyer since the assets are valued at approximately $420 million.  Additionally, the sale of the assets, if not properly timed, would have triggered a substantial capital gain that would have drastically affected the net proceeds for the investor.

Solution

Staggering the sale of the assets within the portfolio to allow for much smaller dispositions and encourage an ultimately higher sale price, due to increased competition, would allow the investor the opportunity to use the 1031 tax deferred exchange code in order to find like-kind assets to purchase.  The assets found for the exchange were real property occupied by tenants who signed long-term triple net leases, were priced in the $2 – 10 million range and had a large scope of geographic diversification.  Therefore, the passive income attained from the newly acquired assets coupled with the use of the 1031 tax code allowed the investor the comfort to plan for future generations’ passive income as well as eliminated the immediate capital gains taxes he would have realized.

Authors’ Biographical Information

Benjamin R. Hanan is a Shareholder in the Business & Corporate Counseling, Personal Services & Planning and Employment Law Practice Groups at Abel, Band, Russell, Collier, Pitchford & Gordon, Chartered. Also a Certified Public Accountant, Mr. Hanan focuses his law practice on corporate law and business transactions involving individuals, physician practices, and other entities, including entity formation, operation, business sales, mergers and acquisitions, employment arrangements, buy-sell arrangements, and equity owner agreements. Mr. Hanan also devotes a substantial portion of his practice to estate planning and family wealth transfers.

Mr. Hanan earned his Juris Doctorate degree, with highest honors, from The George Washington University Law School in Washington, D.C. Mr. Hanan attended the University of Texas at Austin, where he earned an undergraduate degree in accounting, with highest honors, and a Masters degree in professional accounting.

David E. Sobelman is Vice President of Calkain Realty Advisors, the private markets division of Calkain Companies.  Mr. Sobelman focuses on single tenant retail, industrial, and office net leased investments. Mr. Sobelman is regularly sought out for his opinion on the national and regional commercial real estate trends and has been highlighted in prestigious periodicals including Retail Traffic, Commercial Property News, Northeast Real Estate Business, Globest.com, and many others.  

Mr. Sobelman earned his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Florida and is a former Presidential Appointee in The White House.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/investing-articles/net-lease-real-estate-investments-690185.html

About the Author

David Sobelman is charged with the responsibility of managing Calkain Realty Advisors, the private markets division of Calkain Companies.

David focuses on single tenant retail, industrial, and office net leased transactions. He is instrumental in keeping the trends of the national and regional real estate markets in the forefront of Calkain’s client’s overall property evaluation.

<h1>Real Estate Agents Do Something Before Its Too Late!</h1><strong>Author: <a title=”Nicholas Marr” href=”http://www.articlesbase.com/authors/nicholas-marr/16161″>Nicholas Marr</a></strong><br /><p>The advent of the global slowdown and credit squeeze is bringing on the pains in the real estate industry. It’s now time for some thinking out of the box and for determined real estate agents to be more creative in the way they run their business<br /><br />I work with hundreds of real estate agents from about 40 countries worldwide and if there is one thing for sure the slow down is taking out established real estate agents companies. The good news is that many are surviving and some or even doing more business than ever. So what is the difference between one real estate businesses crashing to one that survives? This answer to me is the difference between being flexible in an approach to selling and at the same time having good business housekeeping<br /><br />Lets deal with business house keeping, its a fact that for most agents regular income is reducing, this means nothing can remain the same so its time to act. It is clear that no matter the type of business you run you are you will need to reduce overheads this statement sounds simple enough but some real estate agents cannot do this owing to long term commitments. These are things like the rent for a building or office, imagine being tied in to a 24 months contract and you will see where I am coming from. Staffing costs are the major part off most businesses expenditure and this is the same for real estate agents. The hard fact is you will need to examine plans to reduce staffing costs.<br /><br />The thinking out of the box I mentioned now revolves around bringing new business and developing multiple streams of income. Real estate agents need to widen their audience and attract potential buyers from out of town. I knew of one real estate agent who sold luxury homes. He found buyers in Europe and beyond by promoting his high end real estate online. I am in contact with a Florida agent who now sells Florida properties via on online auction. I have other agents who have dumped the usual inventory to find more attractive property, deals with low finance options our other attractive incentives. Some agents deal purely in bank owned property or homes that will attract people in a credit crunch<br /><br />No matter which country you run your business selling to international buyers is a prospect that you should consider. Selling property to overseas property buyers is not as straightforward as selling to local property buyers. Overseas buyers are in a state of disorientation and may feel vulnerable to malpractice. This results in overseas buyers being seemingly over cautious and on some occasions suspicious of the property agent. The real estate agent’s job is to reassure and inform and never over sell. I have seen numerous examples of American real estate agents selling to British buyers who simply turn the buyer off with their style. Generally the British for example do not want to hear over exaggerated sales talk or feel pressure. It may work initially and real estate agents can end up taking a deposit. What you will find later is a withdrawal from sale later along the way.<br /><br />Overseas buyers warm to real estate agents that do not create additional pressure. Buyers are already under a lot of pressure real estate agents should not be adding to this. Many are apprehensive of being ripped off. They want to know that you are legitimate and for you to prove it. The golden rule is to inform inform and inform again. Information will help sell your properties to overseas buyers. Never over sell or create a climate of pressure, after all the buyer is already under stress. Be ready with information know about visa applications , importation costs, taxation, mortgage process, building insurance, local taxes, local crime trends, schools, leisure facilities and the buying process in your country are to name but a few.<br /><br />In summary it seems that selling to overseas buyers is one element on the road to surviving a global slow down in the real estate industry<br /></p><p>Article Source: <a href=”http://www.articlesbase.com/finance-articles/real-estate-agents-do-something-before-its-too-late-599401.html” title=”Real Estate Agents Do Something Before Its Too Late!”>http://www.articlesbase.com/finance-articles/real-estate-agents-do-something-before-its-too-late-599401.html</a></p><strong>About the Author</strong><br /><p>Author Nicholas Marr has a passion for international real estate he promotes a network of overseas property websites that include <A href=”http://www.homesgofast.com/”>http://www.homesgofast.com</A> and <A href=”http://www.maexpa-international.co.uk/”>http://www.maexpa-international.co.uk</A></p>

Hello, this is Isaac Toussie, a professional residential real estate developer of many years’ experience, and I’d like to share some of my personal observations on market trends with you.  As a real estate professional, I have often noticed certain trends not being covered by the mainstream media.  I would like to take this opportunity to share some of my views, as distilled by over a decade as a developer of residential housing.  But before we dive in, let me just state for legal purposes that the following information is merely opinion, and should not be taken to be advice of any kind by anyone.  I, Isaac Toussie, am simply providing some insight into the business, but nothing upon which any decisions should be based.  Readers are urged to consult the relevant professionals when making any important decisions.

So, with that out of the way, let me tell you about two issues that’s been of interest to me lately.

First off, our nation’s capital has some very interesting news, real estate-wise.  Though it continues to be brutal for the D.C. housing market as gains posted during boom-times keep disappearing, new developments are afoot that give hope to some.  Now everyone knows that home sales have fallen as credit’s dried up on top of an increasingly uncertain job situation for many, with suburban D.C. has even experiencing price drops of up to one hundred thousand dollars!  Yet there may be a silver lining in even this.  After all, one man’s trash is another’s treasure.  And so the glut of foreclosed properties triggered a buying spree in some places, especially among the many first-time buyers of Prince William County who finally found prices within their reach.  That investors also swooped in to snap up properties is generally taken to be a positive sign, as it reflects a certain confidence in market fundamentals.  Indeed, these two groups are like the proverbial canaries in a mine, traditionally signaling trends and shifts.

The second matter that has held my attention recently concerns mortgage delinquency.  According to a recent industry survey, the rate at which mortgage payments have fallen behind has slowed down a little during the fourth quarter of last year.  This has surprised many analysts because delinquency typically rises during the last three months of the year, what with all the expenses brought about by the onset of winter and the gift-giving season.  Could this be that much-awaited early sign of a recovery on the horizon?

Of course, there are also those economists and other such experts who believe that the situation is still extremely grave, as there are still record numbers of homeowners in financial distress.  The big problem is that way too many have missed at least three payments, and these are precisely those who are least amendable to the variety of mortgage relief programs available.  And these are the very people who will be going into foreclosure….