Category: buying real estate

Does your house stinks?


There are certain smells that sometimes are unavoidable in an empty old house but some are so bad that they can ruin your real estate business altogether. If your house stinks it can be a big problem.

Have you ever been at a house viewing and the first thing you noticed when entering was a musty mouldy smell?

Well, it’s not very pleasant to say the least. It immediately gives a bad impression. Nobody wants to live like that. But if you see it from a business point of view it might be a different story. If a house stinks, you might be able to see what the problem is and be confident in how to remove it.

It happened to me when viewing a house in Germany.  I was visiting an old house together with my family and when that musty smell hit us at the time of entering our immediate reaction was “no way!”. After a couple of months though we had to admit, there was no other house available anywhere near our budget.

That’s why we came back to it and actually looked at the problem. It turned out that the problem was some humidity in the basement. The basement was all panelled up with wood which also didn’t help much. After a long family meeting we decided, we go for it.

It definitely paid off.

We removed the mouldy wood and did some treatment to the basement walls. The smell was gone and never came back. And best of all, we were able to get our family home within our budget.

That’s the advantage when buying, you are able to get a house with a bad smell cheaper. Of course, you have to be confident that you are able to remove the problem causing this smell.

When selling, it would be wise to spend some money in solving the problem before. Or, maybe there isn’t even a severe problem. Sometimes it just needs a bit of care, like opening the windows regularly in an empty house. Especially before a viewing.

Bad smell that is really harmful

There are certain smells though that are really harmful for your business. It’s those that can’t be solved on a low budget or maybe they can’t be solved at all. Therefore, it is advised to make some counts before jumping into a “smelly” business. One example of a smell problem that can’t be solved would be a nearby pig farm.

Bad smell that can ruin your real estate business

I recently came across a neighbourhood in Portugal located near a paper factory. On photographs all the houses look lovely and it seems to be a really nice place to live. Unfortunately, visiting and smelling the place ruled out any real estate business in this area. Unless you have clients that lost their sense of smell. ?



UK house prices rise in early 2020 despite Brexit

It seems optimism returned among buyers and sellers – house prices rise across the UK as a result.

After 10 quiet months, property prices rose in November and December 2019.

The average price for a home in December was £215,282, according to Nationwide building society, one of the UK’s largest mortgage lenders. Property prices go up by 0.1% every month.

In January they said property values were 1.9% higher than a year earlier – up from 1.4% in December and the fastest yearly growth since November 2018. The average price for a home now stands at £215,897 – up £615, or 0.5% higher than in December.

In further evidence that the housing market is picking up, inquiries from would-be buyers, agreed sales and the number of real estate coming on to the market all rose in January.

Some surveys have also suggested a price bounce in the housing market since the general election in mid-December, although much will depend on how the Brexit after effects develop.

No doubt, we’re seeing a lot of enthusiasm among buyers since the beginning of this year but we cannot yet tell how sustained this optimistic mood will be.

By the way, price growth in London has fallen to 0.6% since the referendum. This will be welcome news for many people who are interested in becoming homeowners in London. Although it still remains far from affordable for most of us.

One challenge remains though

Raising a deposit to get on the property ladder is still difficult for many. Even in the north of England and in Scotland, where property appears to be cheaper, it’ll take someone earning the average wage more than five years to save up for a 20% deposit.

Are you looking for a property bargain or – as house prices rise – you think it’s a good time now to put your real estate on the market? Visit www.propertyunder100k.com



How to get rich with real estate – or poor

Isn’t that what we all want to know? I always wanted to get rich with real estate. It seems like a simple enough equation but what appears to be a simple method in theory is very often not found in reality.

First and foremost: A property must generate cash flow

Here you can see the basic components that decide the income and therefore the regular income from a rented real estate. Generally, the property has to make profit. The income from your property has to be higher than what you spend. This is a simple and most important rule if you want to make money from renting.

Cashflow is the “key” so to say – just with this income we increase our available capital, which we can spend as we like. We have to take all costs for the property in consideration though, everything – running cost, repairs, maintenance… etc. – to be able to calculate the expected cashflow.

Our goal should also always be to invest as little, if possible, no equity at all. Because on the one hand we can maximize our return on equity and on the other hand we keep our own money with us. In other words: we are looking for bank offers that finance 100% of a real estate for us. To do this, of course, as borrowers, we have to meet the banks requirements. Those costs for a credit also have to be taken into consideration.

How to get rich with real estate – cashflow is the most important

After considering all costs our cash flow should still be positive. Some may now think: there is no such property available by any means. But they do exist! Granted, you may need some time to find them. But why not have a look at our real estate listings? Surely you will find some interesting properties.

The same of course is valid if you are trading with real estate instead of renting it. The only problem is that it will take longer time to generate cashflow as you don’t get money on a weekly/monthly basis. It might be a bit more difficult to get by until you make a sale. You can list your real estate for free on www.listproperty4free.com

Make your homework

Also, if you are buying and selling properties for a living make sure you check with your revenue office beforehand to know how much of you profit will need to be paid in tax. This is also an important figure to keep in mind, in some countries this tax is very high.

Also, you might need to register yourself as a business depending on your local laws, this is always good to investigate before you start as it can be a real game changer.

Conclusion

I did not get rich with real estate but I’m able to make a living without needing to go to a job every day. That was my goal and I’m happy that I reached it. I had to start small though and I’m glad I did as I learned a lot with my smaller projects bringing me to where I am today.



How the Internet has revolutionized the Real Estate market


The arrival of the Internet has changed the real estate market for ever. Until 1998, the hunt for a suitable home to buy or sell took place through the advertising in the local newspaper or a big sign in the front of the house.

And these approaches are still used today. With the arrival of online property portals, the significance of the newspaper for many real estate agents has dropped radically: both buyers and sellers create their choice to purchase a property and locating an agent largely online. Obviously, personal recommendation can be still a large thing which shouldn’t be underestimated.

Consequently, the objective of any real estate agent needs to be that potential buyers encounter his real estate offers before everybody else, be it on some real estate portal or straight on his own website. But how can you do this?

Real Estate Market: Listing alone is no longer enough

The competition on the sector is fierce. New thinking is necessary, because listing an ad alone, is no longer sufficient.

Real estate hunt online

When it comes to the real estate market, it’s important to put yourself into the buyer’s shoes.

Fundamentally, the earlier the agent manages to get the buyer to his website or on the portal, etc., the greater the chance to get a deal!

The buyer is on the lookout for advice: he’s at the research phase. He’s now considering selling his own property. That’s the reason why he is searching with Google for advice about his or her concerns. It would be great if this possible client would land on your website at this phase.

For you, this means making services and information about the sale and purchase of property – obviously with reference to a region.

Some potential topics could be: Advice about energy efficiency, market cost determination, house staging, aftercare for clients and a whole lot more.

SEO-optimized composing: Little interventions make a huge impact

But every individual text must also be aligned in this manner that it matches the research requirements of your target group. The intention is that Google shows your text up in the results listing. Possible buyers may find your content before anybody else. Including search engine optimized composing, for that there are a few principles. The simplest & main guideline is: The preview which the searcher enters in his Google search should, if possible, look in the heading and at the very first paragraph of your text!

Where’s the real estate agent’s digital home in 2020?

The most fundamental place for many is your own homepage. This ought to be so intuitive that the consumer can find all of the important information and various methods to get in touch with you. But several websites are distinguished by the fact that they feature mostly static, i.e. virtually classic content that’s rarely changed (like contact, imprint, about us).

Your home can also be on a real estate platform where your available properties are featured along your contact information. This can be at https://www.listproperty4free.com/

Social networking is standard now

At the era of Social Networking, you will find tons of places online where you can also present content.

Most successful agents are on Facebook – the business page is currently standard.

Another great place is youtube. It has been a part Of the Google family and also shows up high in the results listing. It is possible to learn how specialists use real estate videos. Naturally, videos are a great deal and more chances to find you.

For all activities on the Internet, you should produce as many connections to your content as you can.

The searcher’s first experience with the Broker or his property occurs from the results listing.

It is important to be visible on top of the results listings and to look better than the offers of your competition.

With bump-up (to be on top) and spotlight displays, your visibility is increased. Like that possible buyers actually click on your ad and possibly contact you. That of course requires a good quality of pictures and text.

Find some great offers on the real estate market on www.all-real-estate.com



What are the most searched real estate locations?

I recently tried to find the most searched real estate locations in the world. Seems easy enough, right? Well, actually it is not. We can find the answer to that question only to some degree. The reason being that we have limited sources…

First of all, we usually can only see what people search on the internet.

Nobody is able to analyse all the requests real estate agents get from their clients all over the world in person. And to be fair, in many countries the face to face business is still more common than online business especially when it comes to real estate.

Another factor is the many languages spoken in this world. If I search for “most searched real estate locations” I will only get results in English – only representing English speaking countries. According to Wikipedia, there exists approx. 6500 languages though…

Another thing is that even among English speaking countries there are differences, one country might call it “real estate” but another country rather uses the word “property” instead.

Also, we can look at statistics of Google or similar search engines but what about the thousands of real estate portals that exists all over the world? How can we know what users enter in their search form? You really need to make a lot of research to come even close to an answer for that question.

Anyway, what kind of locations are you looking for? A country, a city or even a town…?

Usually people ask about the most searched real estate locations because they like to know where is a really good place for investment. But then, this again comes down to the good old fashion supply and demand rule. If demand increases and supply remains unchanged, then it leads to a higher price.

Taking this in account, we need to see where demand is actually increased.

To determine whether demand is increased you have to compare the number of searches for real estate with the number of available real estate. And this can mean that you don’t need to go all around the world to find a good investment. It might even be a small town in your own country.

From my experience any place (city, town) that has good jobs available has a thriving real estate market.

For example, I live in a small town with a lot of industry and jobs around. Therefore, the demand for real estate – especially one-bedroom apartments – is very high. The last apartment that was put up for sale sold within 12 hours. Amazing! That’s the kind of location you like to invest in.

But to come back to above question, here are some locations I found today using results of search engine results in English:

London, Vancouver, Toronto, Utah, Newburgh Indiana, Wake County and Allegheny County Real Estate…

I have to say though, after all research I did on this topic those locations not necessarily are a good place for investment. You will always need to make more research to determine whether it is a good location for an investment or not.

If you are looking for real estate bargains, cheap properties, we can recommend

https://www.propertyunder20k.com/

or, if your budget is a bit bigger

https://www.propertyunder50k.com/



What Real Estate is all about

Many реорlе bеliеvе thаt real еѕtаtе is nоthing mоrе thаn hоuѕеѕ, apartment buildings, lаrgе office ѕtruсturеѕ.

And while thаt mау bе truе, real еѕtаtе, by definition is muсh mоrе. Rеаl estate iѕ rеаl рrореrtу thаt соnѕiѕtѕ оf land аnd imрrоvеmеntѕ, whiсh inсludе buildingѕ, fixturеѕ, rоаdѕ, ѕtruсturеѕ, and utilitу systems. Property rightѕ givе a title оf оwnеrѕhiр to thе land, improvements, аnd natural rеѕоurсеѕ ѕuсh as minerals, рlаntѕ, аnimаlѕ, wаtеr, etc.

Once upon a time thе роwеrѕ that be dесidеd tо split ‘рrореrtу’ intо twо ѕераrаtе grоuрѕ. Real and Personal. Whаt’ѕ the difference bеtwееn these twо? In a wоrd, movability. If it mоvеѕ, it’ѕ соnѕidеrеd tо bе personal with a few еxсерtiоnѕ. Real property соnѕiѕtѕ оf thrее thingѕ. Land, thingѕ аttасhеd оr аffixеd to thаt lаnd аnd lastly, аррurtеnаnсеѕ.

Lаnd is рrеttу easy. Hоwеvеr it’ѕ nоt just the lаnd you оwn. You аlѕо оwn ѕub-tеrrаin rights, dереnding оn your lосаtiоn. Thiѕ iѕ аlѕо true with thе аirѕрасе above уоur рrореrtу. You own uр tо a certain hеight, аgаin dереnding оn your lосаtiоn. At some роint thе government takes over аnd ѕауѕ, оkау thаt’ѕ it. The rеѕt is оurѕ. We hаvе аirwауѕ to think of аnd we’re nоt going tо have еvеrу flight file a milliоn еаѕеmеntѕ every time thеу tооk off.

Twо, itеmѕ attached tо thе lаnd. We tаkе thiѕ fоr grаntеd. Your hоmе is соnѕidеrеd аn аttасhmеnt. If you lооk оn уоur dееd, I doubt уоu’ll find аnу mеntiоn оf thе ѕtruсturе on your lаnd. Thе house transfers with the ѕаlе bесаuѕе оf its’ аttасhmеnt tо thе land.

What is Real Estate Management?

Rеаl estate mаnаgеmеnt саn hеlр rеаl еѕtаtе invеѕtоrѕ rеаlizе thе mаximum potential оf thеir investment. Rеаl еѕtаtе mаnаgеmеnt is uѕеd fоr all property tуреѕ, аnd this inсludеѕ trаilеr раrkѕ, араrtmеntѕ, hоmеѕ, induѕtriаl plants, ѕtоrаgе рlасеѕ, stores, аnd оffiсеѕ. Prореr rеаl еѕtаtе mаnаgеmеnt саn save уоu a lоt of money аnd aggravation, аѕ well as keeping оr inсrеаѕing the vаluе оf your invеѕtmеntѕ. A professional рrореrtу manager оr management соmраnу will hеlр you mаximizе уоur invеѕtmеnt while minimizing any unnесеѕѕаrу costs involved.

A real estate mаnаgеmеnt соmраnу will hаvе expertise in рrореrtу mаnаgеmеnt, аѕ well аѕ thе time аvаilаblе tо deal with any аnd аll рrоblеmѕ. A good rеаl еѕtаtе mаnаgеr will help market the рrореrtу to minimize аnу vасаnt unitѕ, which dесrеаѕеѕ уоur рrоfit. Thеу also normally have thе еxреriеnсе nесеѕѕаrу tо wееd out a lаrgе number оf unsuitable tеnаntѕ bеfоrе thеу еvеn rеnt thе рlасе. An еxреrt рrореrtу manager will bе аblе to tеll good tеnаntѕ frоm bаd tеnаntѕ and wееd out оnеѕ that will end up сrеаting рrоblеmѕ оr nоt paying thе rent оn time оr at аll. Thiѕ аѕресt alone mау ѕаvе уоu hundrеdѕ оr thоuѕаndѕ оn соurt соѕtѕ and fееѕ tо еviсt аn unwanted tеnаnt.

Real Eѕtаtе mаnаgеmеnt iѕ whеn you hirе оr аuthоrizе a professional tо manage уоur real estate invеѕtmеntѕ fоr уоu. Thiѕ inсludеѕ ѕhоwing thе unitѕ, ѕigning lеаѕеѕ, dоing аnу rераirѕ and mаintеnаnсе, аnd imрrоving thе vаluе оf уоur initiаl invеѕtmеntѕ. A rеаl еѕtаtе manager will oversee еvеrу aspect оf your rеntаl рrореrtу tо mаximizе уоur inсоmе аnd investment vаluе, whilе minimizing thе соѕtѕ and unnесеѕѕаrу rераirѕ.

What do Real Estate Agents Do?

Cliеntѕ in thе рrореrtу business ѕеаrсh fоr rеаl еѕtаtе аgеntѕ whеn ѕеlling or buying property. Thеу are also known as dеаlеrѕ оr brоkеrѕ, and thеу act as intеrmеdiаriеѕ bеtwееn a buyer and ѕеllеr. The mаin mode of рауmеnt is thrоugh commission. There services dереnd оn whiсh ѕidе thеу аrе working for, аnd thеу hаvе vаriоuѕ duties. Yоur rеаl еѕtаtе аgеnt will detail thеѕе duties fоr уоu.

If a dеаlеr iѕ wоrking on thе ѕidе оf thе seller, it iѕ hiѕ dutу tо еnѕurе the property on sale iѕ advertised. Thе advert hаѕ dеtаilѕ оf thе property tо bе ѕоld оr leased. Onсе the advert iѕ рlасеd on the website оr оfflinе thrоugh newspapers (оr оthеr mеdiа), thе dеаlеr will bеgin оn hiѕ next ѕtrаtеgу.

The brоkеr will ѕtаrt оn marketing the property.

If thе рrореrtу attracts any intеrеѕtеd раrtiеѕ, it is the rеѕроnѕibilitу of the brоkеr to follow uр оn the buуеr. Bу doing thiѕ, thеу are able tо come tо an agreement оn the рriсеѕ bу nеgоtiаting.

Looking for some real estate? Look no further,
find a property on www.all-real-estate.com

You can also use our map to find a property near you.



Land for sale – 5 practical tips to sell your Real Estate

You have a land for sale? In this guide we have 5 practical tips for a successful real estate sale.

If your property is a designated building land and is located in a city or close to town, then the sales opportunities are excellent. Naturally, urban locations have only limited land available, there are hardly any gaps. At the same time, demand is usually high.

There are basically two target groups for the sale of a property; private individuals who want to realize their dream of owning a home, or property developers and project developers who want to realize their own construction projects in order to subsequently market them.

Most important for the buyer is to know how he can use the land.

1. Land for sale – Which marketing strategy to choose?

When marketing a plot of land prospective buyers should be informed about the details of building feasibility and different project perspectives to be developed (for example, building a detached house vs. erecting two semi-detached houses). If the size of the plot allows for only one or two units, both individuals and developers should be addressed in the marketing as both groups qualify as buyers. A real estate agent can develop the marketing concept.

If the plot is very attractive, the best-selling price can be obtained through a bidding process that sets a minimum bid and asks the bidder to bid higher. Bidding procedures should normally be carried out by market intermediaries. It is traditionally carried out by real estate agents who have already sold land more frequently and know the most important property developers in the region.

2. Developability of a property as an indicator of recoverable sales price

At what price a property can be sold, can be deduced most likely from the buildability of the property. In principle, the more living space it can have, the higher the sales price.

It might be a good idea to contact an architect to develop a possible building concept. Please keep in mind your target groups. If the land is good for both, the best is to show a sketch for each possibility (for example, a detached house as well as an apartment block). Probably, the architect is able to advice you on how much density can be build on your land.

3. Make a pre-application before selling the property?

In the event that the building feasibility is unclear because there is no qualified development plan and the buildability does not clearly result from the surrounding buildings, it may be useful for the seller of a plot to make a pre-application before marketing the property.

In the case of a pre-application to the planning department, the requesting party submits proposals for development to the building authority and then receives an official notification, which gives legally binding information on the buildability. Although the pre-application is costly and may take a few weeks, it facilitates the sale of a property.

4. Have all the legal documents in order

Before marketing your land for sale, you should put together all necessary documents. Usually, they are made available to the real estate agent and when it comes to the sale they will be given to the notary. As a result a buyer who decides to go ahead with the purchase will not need to wait. Unfortunately, it happens often that a buyer gives up because of the long waiting time to get all the needed documents in order.

5. How much is my land worth? – How to come up with the right price

There are different procedures to determine the value of a land. The method used depends on the type of property.

First of all, the comparative value method: The comparative value method sets the property in relation to similar properties that were sold in the same location. This procedure usually applies to privately used residential land.

In contrast, the earnings value method: This method is used primarily for land in which the future yields achievable by the land are taken into account for the value of the land. Examples of this are residential properties that are for rent or commercial properties.

Where can I buy and sell my land for Sale? That you already know.

Find land for sale on  https://www.all-real-estate.com/

The best time of the year to buy real estate

Of course, nobody can predict the future and tell you exactly when is the best time of the year to buy real estate. But there are few indicators we can analyse from past years.

Naturally, prospective buyers would see more properties for sale when the weather is nicer, and this leads to more deals during the summer months. In fact, the weather has a huge impact on the real estate market in countries all over the world.

That´s why statistically you would get better prices on real estate in the winter month as there is less demand.

But make no mistake, that´s just the statistic.

If you ask a real estate agent when is the best time of the year to buy real estate, he will tell you “NOW”. And it makes sense. If the perfect home comes up on the market, you will just go for it, right? Nobody will wait till the winter month to try to get a better deal. And that shows another thing that should be considered.

The “Where” and “What” in the real estate you like to buy.

If the “Where” is in a popular location with high demand or the “What” is a house where usually only apartments are available… then there is no time to waste to ask for the “When”.

Make sure you have your financing in order. Like this you can tell the seller that you are ready to go. Some homeowners would give a small discount for a quick sale.

This of course might be a different story if you are an investor and you don´t look for something specific. You may simply look for good real estate deals, then yes, probably the winter months will be a good time to look.

Why not have a look today on www.all-real-estate.com

Are real estate agents paid on commission only?

The answer is: It depends.

If real estate agents are paid on commission only depends if the real estate agent is self-employed or not. If not, he would get a monthly wage from his employer plus his share in a deal when he sold something.

Being employed

Any real estate agent who does not own a business is usually an employee at a bank or at a real estate office.

This can be lucrative. Although in this case the commission is not particularly large, he receives a fixed salary each month.

The commission varies greatly with the performance of the broker. In most real estate offices the performance-related salary would be between 20 to 50 percent of the commission.

Being self-employed

An alternative to an employment with a monthly salary is being self-employment as a real estate agent.

There is no fixed income, but the commission per sale or rental is higher.

Real estate commissions are based on the price of the property. The commission for a real estate transaction is negotiable. It tends to range anywhere from 1% all the way up to 10%.

But don´t forget, as a freelance real estate agent you also have more expenses, such as costs forrunning your office and possibly paying staff. These costs will lessen your profits. In addition, self-employed need to look after their health insurance and Pay taxes (income tax, trade tax, etc.).

Real estate agents carry a high economic risk, because they are responsible for the accuracy of their statements. Basically, they work for free until they sell something. Some properties may not be sold because of unrealistic price expectations of the seller. Also, some may sell only after many months and countless viewing appointments. In addition, buyers who contact the seller directly to bypass the commission pose a commercial risk to the real estate agent.

 

Real Estate Investment and the Rate of Return

Once upon a time there was a gingerbread house. It was lovely decorated with lots and lots of candy…

How often we have heard it. “If something looks too good to be true, it probably is”. Unfortunately, a real estate investment is no fairy tale with a happy ever after. Especially when it comes to profit, we must be careful with promises of an unrealistic high rate of return.

But to know if something looks too good to be true, we first need to know what is a realistic rate of return for a real estate investment? And how is it calculated?

The rate of return shows how much profit in percent is made per year in relation to the money spend. Like this it is possible to compare one real estate investment to another or even compare it to other types of investments.

When a percentage value is mentioned as a return on real estate, a serious investor should first ask what return is meant. A distinction is made between gross and net return (or some also call it “cap rate” meaning Capitalization rate).

The gross return covers purchase costs and additional purchase costs, but not ongoing expenses such as administration and maintenance costs or taxes.

It is calculated like this
annual income divided by purchase price x 100 = gross return in %

The net Return includes the current expenses except taxes, so the net return is always lower than the gross return.

It is calculated like this
annual income minus all expenses divided by purchase price x 100 = Net return in %

These are just the very basic types of return – of course there are others, more complex (price return, money-weighted return, time-weighted return…).

Let´s see an example.

You bought a house for 150,000 EUR and you rent it out for 700 EUR a month. Your expenses for the house are 2,000 EUR per year.

This means that your gross return is 5,6 %.
(700 EUR x 12 month) / 150,000 EUR x 100 = 5,6 %

Your net return on the other hand is only 4,26 %.
[(700 EUR x 12 month) – 2,000 EUR] / 150,000 EUR x 100 = 4,26 %

As a result, to get a good idea of your profit it is always better to look at the net return.

What is an average rate of return?

Depending on your country and the type of real estate (residential or commercial) your average rate of return would probably be something between 4% and 10%. Of course, the bigger the rate the better. But again, if the rate of return is very high in a real estate investment you must be cautious. Also look out for the wording “possible” or “potential” yield of …. Meaning you will need to do something to achieve that – maybe even investing more money.

So, if the rate of return in a real estate investment looks too good to be true maybe take a closer look at the tenant of this nice “gingerbread house” or bite marks on the walls….