Investment in Home or Stock! First analyze your financial advisor!

He/she maybe an agent in disguise for the real gamblers - builders, owners, brokers, Stock/MF traders, bankers, manipulators of Dalal Street or Wall Street, etc. Keep aside the financial jargons; stock investments are no more than a "glorified version of traditional gambling". Chances are, when you think about investing in real estate or stock the first thing that comes to mind is to ask an investment expert or realty professionals, overriding your OWN common sense. Look at the housing market as a critic and just Calculate Cash Flow Return (Rental Income) and Future ROI (housing sale profit).

Also keep watching the BSE Realty Index and other similar trends. Reading the recent global market crashes and considering how manipulative the markets are, in general, the long-term success is not so rosy anymore for small investors… Many will surely take it otherwise, but that cannot change the ground realities, can it? Refer the early warning stories!

Taking clues from today's proliferated media to make important decisions can be a disaster, be logical. They are notorious for changing opinions as quick as the status of markets. Forget what the Kotaks, Investment Magazines, Experts, MagicBricks, NDTVs, 99Acres, Bankers, CNBCs, 2letservices, Consultants, RealEstateTimes, Yahoos, Googles,..etc are suggesting, look at the local market conditions! Yes, there are no monarchies in today's digital world, but the basics of what Canakya or Kautilya said in Arthasastra (read finance) cannot be mutated by few opportunists forever. Why will the market grow in your favor? Find an answer before jumping-in!

Historical returns are of little value in formulating return expectations, standard deviations and correlations: When past performance of stocks/bond or housing investments are used as inputs, the outputs of the analysis are portfolios which performed particularly well in the past. When beliefs of investment experts are used as inputs, we get the output as better or worse portfolios. Good and reliable advisory add value by constantly evaluating the investment planning implications of alternative economic scenarios, investment solutions and lifestyle choices, managing costs, and counseling a margin of safety in saving and investing your money. Anything less is bad practice, fire him/her!

For many people, their home is the single largest investment they will ever make. But have you ever stopped to consider that once you purchase a home it becomes part of your overall portfolio of investments. It is one of the most important decision as it can serve a dual role of an investment and your daily life passion. Though a home is one of the largest investments the average investor will purchase, there are other types of real estate investments worth investing in. The most common type is income-producing real estate. Large income-producing real estate properties are commonly purchased by high net-worth individuals and institutions, such as life insurance companies, real estate investment trusts and pension funds.

Income-producing properties are also purchased by individual investors in the form of smaller apartment buildings, duplexes or even a single family homes or condominiums that are rented out to tenants. Real estate is considered an alternative investment class compared to more speculative driven items like equity or bonds! Major difference is that real estate is an investment in the "bricks and mortar" of a building and the land. So it is tangible, because unlike most stocks you can see and touch your house, try it! This often creates substantial pride of ownership, but tangibility also has its downside because real estate requires hands-on management. You don't need to mow the lawn of a bond or unplug the toilet of your equity papers!

Some benefits of realty investments are diversification value, yield enhancement, inflation hedging, ability to influence performance, etc. An investor can do many things to a home to increase its value or improve its performance e.g. replacing the leaky roof, improving the exterior and re-tenanting the building with higher quality tenants. An investor has a greater degree of control over the performance of a real estate investment than equity investments, which are proved to be highly speculative-driven for the benefit of smart manipulators.

Sell Your House Quickly by Staging

No one can argue that deciding to sell your home is a heart wrenching decision. Unless you are amongst the few that like jumping from place to place, odds are you have spent quite a bit of time turning your house into your "home". Your precious weekends have been used painting each room, mulling through furniture showrooms, and creating a place on this planet that is all about you and your family. Now the time has come to leave. But the misconception that you face is that merely putting a for sale sign in the yard will sell the property. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

In today's fallen housing market, the amount of time a property sits on the market can be a death sentence. The longer you wait for buyers creates an opportunity to offer a lower price. The way to get your home noticed fast and sold even faster is to market your home to the buyer. This redecorating for the means of selling is called staging. This secret amongst the real estate world has helped endless property flippers move their inventory even in the worst of housing markets.

If you have never heard of staging, you are probably wondering how this can help me. Staging changes the way your look at your home. The moment you decide to sell your property, the way you see your home should change to that of a buyer. Before hiring an agent and sticking a sign in the yard, there is alot of work to be done. From neutralizing the paint to depersonalizing the decor, things must change in your home to get the greatest return. Staging has be known to bring in offers above the asking price after the seller received multiple offers. Now there is no guarantee, but it is in your best interest to keep your options open.

I myself have used staging to give me huge returns. My first home was a condo that I was selling instead of keeping as a rental property. I learned how to stage the property after hearing about it from a friend that was flipping properties with great success. I had made the decision to sell the condo myself so I could save money, but there were alot of condos for sale in my development. I took about 6 weeks painting and repairing the little things I had ignored for years. Rented a storage unit and moved alot of my things out to make the space appear larger. I put a for sale sign in the window and was on my way. Two weeks later I was under contract and the buyer wanted to close as soon as possible so he could get renters in by year end. I thought this was just a rare case, but I was wrong. I have used these same steps for assisting friends and family to sell homes with great success.

My last testiment to staging was just last year (2007). I was moving out of state and started the steps to stage my home in January so I could get it on the market once it was Spring. My next door neighbors were trying to sell, too. They listed their home prior to mine so they could get a head start on the market and hoping to edge me out of a sale. The homes were similar in size and details, but the big difference was they just hired an agent and put the sign in the yard. Mine was listed in March, under contract beginning of April and closed in May. Their home is still on the market right now and they have lowered their price 4 times!

Guidelines in Seeking Mortgage Loan

BusinessIf you are planning to buy a home, you have to settle your financing first. Definitely, each of us want to have their very own home, but buying one is not that simply, there are factors that you need to consider and think about.

When wanting to buy a home, you do not simply go to the market and search for your desired home. You have to assure yourself that you have the means to have it in order to avoid frustration.

You have to look for a mortgage loan so to have the means to have your dream home. This article will give you certain guidelines that you can make use of in going for a mortgage loan.

Check your credit reports in advance before you go out and seek for a mortgage loan. It is best to check out your credit report every 6 months. Within this period, it can provide you sufficient time to make amends in the credit ratings especially if the credit score are low.

Do not just go with a particular lender, shop around, there are a lot of lenders out there. Due to the high demands, more and more lenders are offering incentives with their mortgage loans in order to attract customers. So you have to contact or visit several lenders, ask for details. You have to know the quotes, rates that they offer. Gain better understanding with each quote. Why don’t you negotiate? It is best to negotiate with the lender about the interest rates and other costs of the mortgage loan.

Be alert, you have to understand the costs that the mortgage loan have. It is recommended to seek for advice from a legal professional in order to gain information about the real estate law and so on.

In seeking for mortgage loan, never sign the loan contract quickly. You have to understand everything that is written in the contract, make sure that the agreement that you have talked about is written in the contact. Assure yourself that what is written there is correct and precise.

Do not make any assumptions. Every detail should be written on paper. Ask all important questions. Make sure that you are clarified with all the queries and questions that you have in mind regarding the mortgage loan. Make sure that every detail are documented, all should be written in the contract. Never do assumptions, since these can make you lose plenty of money.

As soon as you gain mortgage loan, you can start seeking for your dream home. Settling financing is important, it can make you prepared enough in finding your dream home. So in order to make sure to successfully gain your dream home, settle your finances and make sure you will have an approved mortgage before going to the market and seek for your dream home.

Is Being A Real Estate Investor in Your Future?

There's no doubt about it--real estate investing is the proven path to long-term wealth and building a secure future for yourself and family. So, should you invest in real estate? Well, I'm a plain-spoken guy, so here's the answer: "Yes" with several big IFs attached. If you're passionate about it, then real estate investing is a great career for you. No doubt about it--great passion launches great careers! Excitement, enthusiasm, a burning desire to learn--these are all factors that create enjoyable careers and the wealth that comes with them. Those are the emotions that light the fire for a successful real estate investment career. But, that "blaze" must be kept burning by a long-term commitment and a willingness to overcome every obstacle in your way. In most cases, real estate investment is not a shortcut to wealth, despite what many of the so-called "gurus" say. It takes patience and perseverance to build that road to success, but once you have it built, it's a super highway with income flowing freely into your bank account. If you're willing to sacrifice, then real estate investing is a great career for you. This advice is aimed at those of you who are new to real estate investment. No matter what the "No money down!" charlatans tell you, money is required to become a success in real estate. If you can't pay, you won't play! So, if you don't have much cash to invest at the beginning, you're going to have to accumulate it. And, unless you have a rich aunt or uncle to back your efforts, that means sacrifice on your part. In other words, you should be forgoing movies, the latest video game, the latest clothing fashions, etc. and putting the money you would spend on those items into a "seed" account to fund and grow your real estate investments. If you're not willing to sacrifice, then it's likely you'd be more comfortable in a salaried job.

If you like to deal with people, then real estate investing is a great career for you. As an investor, you should be able to "crunch the numbers" with the best of them, of course, but real estate investment is really about "people skills." After all, you'll be dealing with lenders, real estate agents, tenants, mortgage brokers, and others. The real estate "game" is all about negotiating expertly with others. In fact, the best investors love being a player in the negotiation game. It's part of the excitement and thrill of a wonderful profession. But with every thrill comes a "downside";e.g., cranky tenants, unexpected vacancies, plumbing leaks, etc. So, you have to be tough enough to handle physical property problems and human feelings. So, if you have that combination of tact and toughness--or are willing to develop it--then real estate investing is definitely a career for you.

So, my advice is to take a long, hard honest look at yourself and the questions I just posed. If, after due consideration, you answer "Yes!" to all three questions, then--congratulations!--you have a wonderful real estate investment future ahead of you!

Property Valuations: Speculation or Fundamental-Driven?

The process of valuation of any asset class (including real estate) is one of the most debatable concepts in finance. Sure, valuation is certainly a subjective assessment of different factors, but it must reflect a true and fair value of an asset and not a figure presented in the sole interest of the builder or seller.

Valuation of property impacts all players in the real estate market viz. developers, buyers and sellers, financiers and investors, lending agencies and project appraisers, regulators and tax collectors. In the developed markets, Real Estate Pricing and Valuation is organized on the basis of intellectual contribution to the appraiser decision making and valuation accuracy, application of non-traditional appraisal techniques such as regression and the minimum-variance grid method, appraising contaminated property, ad valorem tax assessment, and new perspectives on traditional appraisal methods.

Though Indian real estate is not as mature yet, developers are adapting to the process of valuation lately. In the process, valuations have gone up dramatically and they are unsustainable. Real estate valuation practices in India have resulted in overvalued properties in many sub sectors like apartments, bungalows and commercial centers and have fueled the appetite of speculators.

Many investors may find themselves trapped in illiquid sectors where either the value of their investment has eroded in real terms or where returns have remained low when taking into account the opportunity cost of holding such investments. Prices are already going down in many regions and there is still more room for correction. For the longer term, things looks pretty good and people who did record constructions last year are talking about constructing more in the next year. Currently, these targets are difficult to accomplish as execution would be a big problem and this will impact their stock prices.

Though lot of money is available as equity, debt comprises 60-70% and property developers are stretching themselves with too many projects at the same time. Larger companies are still well positioned financially, but valuation remains a critical issue. And as India lacks an organized supervisory body for property valuers, we wish to provide some helpful tips in our upcoming issues in order for small investors to make a wise investment decision when considering a valued property.

Real Estate in Dubai - A Dynamic Property Market

Dubai is among the leading choices for people who wish to invest in foreign Real Estate. The most progressive of the 7 parts that make the United Arab Emirates offers excellent investment opportunities. The UAE is only 6 hours flight time away from Germany. A short trip and you are in a land of sun and progress. Dubai is a place with an economic growth rate of 6-8%, a 50% budget surplus, excellent architecture, modern infrastructure, and a booming Real Estate and construction industry. No other place in the world has the sort of Real Estate market similar to Dubai.

A lot of the property is still in the form of plans on paper but already the sale and purchase of these properties is good business. There are numerous properties that have already seen many owners despite the fact that construction has not even started. People are making money from property in Dubai that is just land with nothing on it.

Because of factors like these Dubai has become the best place for investing in foreign Real Estate. You just have to take a look at the Dubai skyline and realize why so many people are excited about property there. It is a remarkable sight to behold in the middle of the desert. Dubai offers some of the highest standards of living when compared to any other part of the world and this only spurs on the Real Estate market growth.

Dubai is a place that is also centrally located in the Middle East making it a convenient location for business meetings among surrounding countries. Because of the great business infrastructure it has also gained a good corporate presence that has lead to excellent employment opportunities. This results in an even stronger economy because of the companies and jobs.

Dubai is among the fastest growing places in the world. There are many skyscrapers that are scheduled to open over the next 4 years. Because of the highest construction rate in the world and the growing economy there are many people that are increasingly looking to Dubai as their preferred location for foreign Real Estate investment. Despite the fact that it has so much going for it you should remember that the Dubai market is quite young. It is only as far as back 2002 that foreigners were allowed to own freehold property in Dubai. Before which only citizens could own property in Dubai, everyone else had to stay on rent.

Even today ownership is allowed only in the freehold areas. Everywhere else you can only get a 99-year leasehold that is the closest you can come to ownership. The good news is that because of the excellent response to freehold property ownership in Dubai other emirates like Sharjah, Ras Al Khaimah, and Ajman are also allowing foreigners to own Real Estate. Anyone who buys property anywhere in the United Arab Emirates is automatically granted a residence permit too. Note that a residence does not entitle anyone to work in the UAE.

Residential Investment Properties as Alternative Income

Lately, there has been an increase in the number of people acquiring residential investment properties. If managed properly, they can provide you with a steady source of income for a number of years, or until you decide to sell.

Residential properties are different from commercials ones in that someone is making a home there. You become the legal landlord, and, therefore, responsible for the upkeep of the property. In addition to keeping the location livable, you must be ready to take care of problems as they arrive.

This may seem daunting for some, but there are reasonable solutions to such common problems. Unless you are a professional do-it-yourself wiz, your best bet is to hire a management company to maintain and repair the property when problems arise.

This may seem like a hassle at first, but you have to consider the results of keeping a rental home in good repair. No one wants to live in a run down dump. If you don't maintain the building, then no one will want to rent. For you, that means no revenues from your investment to pay for the mortgage due every month no matter what. Additionally, you want to keep the property in good repair because when you decide to sell it, you want it to have appreciated.

When you decide that you are going to assume ownership and care of a residential investment property, be prepared to commit yourself 100%. It takes time and sometimes your personal money to keep the property generating revenue. The money that the rental makes should pay for its maintenance at the very least. Ideally, it will also return a profit.

You can expect two types of revenue from your investment: yield and capital gain. The yield is what you can expect from rent annually. The capital gain is the appreciation value once you've resold the property. Keep in mind that high yields usually generate low capital gain and high capital gain generates a low yield. For your investment to be the most profitable, you should try to balance these two revenues.

Committing to the responsibilities of a rental is the first step towards getting that lucrative real estate site. The next major step is getting financed. Most people looking to invest in a rental property don't have the ready cash for a down payment. There are a multitude of means you can pursue to get financing.

Residential financing is different from commercial financing because of the nature of the business. The profit is not expected to be in the hundred thousands or millions and the mortgage terms are usually long term. This creates diversity in the market, allowing you to have greater control over payment options, interest options and term length options. Additionally, if you own a home, you can secure a home equity loan to cover your down payment. As a residential investor, you have the potential to turn a nice profit. Your success depends on how much time and effort you are willing to commit to the project as well as how you secure your finances. If you manage these things correctly, the likelihood of your success improves.

Is Property Investment a Good Idea?

Property is a popular long term investment for many individuals with a little extra money to splash around. However, the matter of whether it is a good idea or not is one that is up for debate because there are numerous hidden costs and considerations that need to be taken into account before the decision is made.

Property is a relatively sound investment, provided that purchasing and administration is managed in the correct manner. The stability of the property market is not as dependent on the strength of the economy as many other investments. While, for example, individuals may lose their life savings overnight on the stock market, this is unlikely if one's savings are tied up in property. Indeed, the popularity of property investment is largely due to downturns in the global stock market which have forced people to seek alternative investment opportunities.

However, property investment is not, as many people mistakenly think, an opportunity to make a quick buck. While this is occasionally possible if the market is fluctuating at exactly the right moment, purchasing a property usually needs to be a long term commitment in order to get a good return on investment. For those not prepared to hang onto their properties, investment in this area is perhaps not such a great idea. For those who are, property investment is a good idea, provided that it is gone about in the right way.

Sensible Property Investment
While property investment can be incredibly rewarding, there are a number of factors that property investors have to keep in mind to stay afloat. Firstly, it is important to draw up a comprehensive budget that takes all your costs into account. The purpose of this is to make allowances for the nasty surprise payments that are often associated with purchasing property. This will also allow you to better decide what you can afford. It is also important that buyers do not make assumptions regarding their purchase and seek professional assistance should they be in any doubt.

Because investors are going to own their properties in the medium to long term, it is important that they pay for themselves to some degree. In order to ensure that this is possible, potential owners need to have a clear idea about the purpose of the property before they sign on the dotted line.

There are four ways that an investment property can be used to generate a regular income:

•Buying and Reselling: This involves buying a plot or home for a small amount of money, developing or renovating it at minimal cost and then reselling it with the intention of making a profit.
•B&B or Guesthouse Development: Turning a property into a business of some sort is another way to generate income from it. Guesthouses and Bed and Breakfasts are popular options. This however, requires both time and further financial input from the investor.
•Holiday Letting: Properties in desirable areas can be bought for the sole purpose of holiday letting. In this scenario, property is leased for a large daily or weekly rate to holiday makers who are seeking short term leases.
•Long Term Leasing: With a long term lease, letting rates are lower, but the income is guaranteed, and it is easy to screen tenants.

Starting small is also important. While it may be tempting to invest everything you own in an enormous development, it is necessary to learn the tools of the trade before plunging in head first. This will ensure that if anything were to go wrong, the loss to the investor would not be that great. By starting small, investors can begin to understand the ins and outs of managing property and get better at it before risking more. In this game, experience counts for a lot.

Investing in property is no walk in the park. From the outset, it is a challenge to choose the right property, and manage it in a successful manner. It can however, be an incredibly rewarding experience, with numerous benefits attached. In addition to providing a relatively stable place to stash your money, property investment can be highly profitable if it is gone about in a clever way. For those prepared to make the commitment to a long term investment, buying a property is definitely a good idea.

How To Be A Commercial Property Tycoon

You may have experienced success with the buy-to-let market. Now you may be looking for new ways to earn a long-term income and enjoy greater security.

What should you do?

Well, there are many different options, but I'm going to discuss one of the most successful methods.

Investing in commercial property!

Would you like to know why?

Well, there are many different reasons which I'm going to reveal to you.

First of all, commercial property can be found everywhere - your favorite restaurants, your local shopping malls, the office where you work and your local movie theater. This sector forms a very essential part of our country's economy and we all contribute to it in different ways.

Are you interested in another reason?

People are living longer which creates a higher demand for commercial property. For example, the current average life expectancy is 90 years compared to 80 years in the 1980s. The government will probably increase the retirement age from 65 to 70. Consequently, people will be forced to work when they're much older.

Many private investors are drawn to commercial real estate. Thousands of people move to this country seeking work opportunities and the buy-to-let residential market is experiencing lower investment yields. Higher rents charged to commercial tenants and generous tax breaks provide greater incentives to enter the world of commercial real estate.

But wait, there's more...

There is a much higher demand for commercial property from overseas investors. Oil-rich countries in the Middle East and Russia are one of the biggest investors.

In fact, do you know who owns half of all the prime commercial real estate in several areas of London?

I'll give you a clue - it's not UK investors...

It's the group of Middle Eastern and Russian investors!

India and China are also contributing more to the UK commercial market thanks to the lack of government corruption and political interference.

If you want to take advantage of the booming demand for UK and global commercial property, you should hire a reputable commercial property management company. They can help you find suitable properties online, from the Estate Gazette, by private treaty or at auction houses.

You must also calculate factors such as loan-to-value ratio, gearing, return on investment and yields. If you don't have enough money, you can invest in commercial property indirectly.

Best Places To Buy A Vacation Home

"The main thing motivating a vacation-home buyer is utility," says David Hehman, president of EscapeHomes.com, a San Francisco-based second-home research site. "They want to maximize their purchase around a recreational activity."

Still, whether that includes sitting surfside or skiing down double black-diamonds, no one wants to buy a property that will decrease in value. The safest bets are luxury homes in blue-chip locales. While a Jackson Hole ski lodge or a Martha's Vineyard beach house probably won't explode in short-term value--unless snow stops falling on the Grand Tetons or the Massachusetts shoreline disappears--both are highly desirable, heavily supply constrained areas which have done nothing but appreciate in the last 20 years.

They're also extremely expensive.

Another route is to go for the undiscovered gem. ( In Pictures: Undervalued Vacation-Home Spots.) Here, buy-in prices will be significantly lower than the blue chips. Picking a quality unknown is a way for buyers to build memories and still be able to afford to send the kids to college.

How It's Done
In compiling our list, we picked the five fastest-appreciating regional blue chips, as well as 10 hidden gems nationwide, all of which offer many of the same geographic advantages as the blue chips, without the high price tag.

But calculating appreciation rates for second-home spots can be tricky. That's because many of these destinations, like Tahoe City, Calif., or Sun Valley, Idaho, have a very distinct property-value divide between the housing stock for full-time and part-time residents, the latter set owning primarily luxury vacation homes.

The key is to track values on a granular level. To do that, NeighborhoodScout.com, a Rhode Island-based real estate research site, developed an index designed to pinpoint vacation-home spots. The firm looks for neighborhoods with desirable locations, near beaches, lakes or mountains, for example, and with amenities and services that cater to a vacationing crowd, which, according to its research, are typically high-net-worth renters. Property value spikes within a vacation home area are also examined. The data is then cropped to study which locations had the fastest median home price appreciation over the past five years.

Of the Northeast's most expensive summer destinations, the village of Water Mill, N.Y., in Bridgehampton, appreciated fastest. The median home price there is $1.38 million; it increased in value at an average of 21% a year over the last five years. In the Midwest, Victoria, Minn., which is surrounded by many of the state's trademark lakes, grew an average of 18% a year.

The north end of Key Largo, Fla., has appreciated at 27% a year, on average, according to NeighborhoodScout, making it the fastest-growing vacation spot in the South. Moran, Wyo., situated between Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks, has seen 35% average increases in annual value since 2002.

What's Driving Prices Up?
Nationwide home sales are down 4.1% from this time last year. And sales of investment properties, which, unlike second homes, are generally urban properties rented for profit, fell 28.9%, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR) Investment and Vacation Home Survey.

But vacation buyers aren't sweating. Vacation-home sales were up 4.7% last year to a new record of 1.07 million, according to the NAR.

"We expected the drop in investment sales, because speculators left the market in 2006," says David Lereah, NAR's chief economist. "The rise in vacation-home sales is based on strong demographic and lifestyle factors, with only modest interest in renting their properties."

In other words, if the sun is shining on the shore, or the powder's falling on the slopes, vacation-home buyers don't mind short-term market fluctuations very much.

This makes more sense when you consider that the average vacation-home buyer had a median household income of $102,000 last year, according to NAR, far out-pacing the national average of $44,000; and second-home buyers had a median age of 44, down from 52 a year ago, suggesting that the market has shifted hands to a new generation, one that has time to wait out market volatility.

Money matters, however. And long-term return on investment is important. In that regard, the best bets are blue-chip locales like the Hamptons in New York, or Aspen, Colo., where historical market appreciation has been strong but prices can be prohibitively expensive. Other such spots include Nantucket, Mass., and Jackson Hole, Wyo.

But "finding a top quality home that's still affordable can take a lot of effort," says Andrew Schiller, founder of NeighborhoodScout. "Good places to look are quality places near blue-chip vacation destinations."

Take Kamuela, Hawaii, on the north shore of the Big Island. A bit up the road from Hilo, the median house value is $487,188, modest by Hawaiian standards. Or look to Blue Hill, Maine, up the coast from Kennebunkport, where a four-acre equestrian estate runs just under $300,000. If the Southwest is more your style, the Cochiti lakeshore in Pena Blanca, N.M., outside Santa Fe, has pristine views of the Sandia Mountains--and the median price is only $209,000.

But those hidden gems don't stay secret for long.

"In [December 2006] you could get an ocean-view lot in Captain Cook, Hawaii, south of Kona, for $70,000," says Schiller. "When we called in late March on behalf of a client looking to purchase in Captain Cook, the prices had gone from $70,000 to $150,000."