Finance Guide

So now that you know what your basic plan is, it’s time to start getting a little serious and put some structure into your actions. The first thing you need to do is to get ‘pre approval’ for a loan. In other words you need to find a lender that suits your needs and get them to agree ‘in writing’ to lend you a certain amount of money to buy a Property. I remember when I bought my first property feeling completely over my head when it came to getting my finance into place. I had so many questions – most of which I managed to answer by trial and error. I will try to give you a detailed overview of all the question, problems and answers that I have encountered with getting finance.

Q. Why do I need to get ‘pre approval’ of a loan?

A. You don’t NEED to get pre approval but I highly recommend you DO for a number of reasons.

- Pre-approval will let you to know EXACTLY how much your budget is and therefore allow you to exclude properties that are out of your price range. This can save you valuable time.

- If you are competing against other buyers then having ‘pre-approval’ will definitely give you a big head start and allow you to take advantage of Vendors who are looking for a quick sale. Think about it – If you were the vendor and two people both offered you $350k for your house BUT one of them had ‘pre-approval’ whilst the other didn’t. Who would you choose? It’s a no brainer, there are even times when you offer $1k -$30k less than somebody else and they still choose you. Why? Because for one reason or another the vendor needs to sell straight away and they can’t wait to find out if the other offer will be approved.

- Keep STRESS to an absolute Minimum. There is nothing worse than having your offer accepted and then having to wait for the bank to make their decision. This is especially the case if you haven’t got a home loan before or are self employed.

Q. Should I use a Mortgage Broker?

A. Yes, a good mortgage broker should save you thousands of dollars and help you get a loan easily. If you are buying your first property then you will appreciate as much help as you can get. Mortgage brokers deal with banks every single day and they should know how to get you a loan and more importantly WHAT loan to get. Have you noticed that there are a million different loan options these days? A good mortgage broker will know which one suits your situation and save you lots of time and money. Always do your own research but if you find someone who you trust you should have no problems. Best of all you don’t even have to pay them; the bank will do that on your behalf. So really there is no reason NOT to use one. Just remember find a Broker who you trust and get along with.

Q. What sort of loan should I get, and what does Interest only mean?

A. The best person to advise you on this is your broker but generally speaking Investors only ever use Interest only loans. What this means is that they will never own the house outright, instead they make smaller repayments that only cover the interest bill. This can be a crazy idea to get your ‘head around’ at first but the reason is quite simple. The lower your repayments are on your property the less restricted your cash flow is, therefore you have more excess money to help finance your next investment property. The logical question is – but if you never pay off the house how can you make any money? As we learnt in Chapter 1, you can still access the equity in your property without selling or completely paying off the house (see chapter 8 for more details). It’s also worth mentioning that the Interest component of an Investment loan IS tax deductible whilst the principle repayments are NOT, just another reason why Professional investors always use Interest only loans.

Q. Should I fix my Interest rate or leave it variable?

A. I have a basic rule or recommendation when it comes to this question. When you first see banks raise their long term fixed rates you know it is time fix your loan. Using this rule and some common sense you should be able to work out what’s best for you.

Q. How much do I need to save for a deposit?

A. Once again it depends on your situation and circumstances. A ‘normal’ property loan would include a 20% deposit but professional investors will always try and pay as little deposit as possible. So, would I recommend getting a 95% loan? With caution and common sense, yes I would – BUT every situation is different and I obviously wouldn’t recommend for someone who is earning $20,000 a year to get a 100% loan for a $500,000 property. Use your common sense whilst doing everything possible to make it happen for you. The worst feeling in the world is when you have saved a decent deposit but decide to wait another 6 months to save that extra little bit only to find out that house prices have risen and your deposit is now effectively worth less than it was 6 months ago.

1. Leverage (Other People’s Money). Leveraging will make every dollar count. You do this by pooling you money with other people’s money. It’s simple: If you have $50,000 and pool with three other people with $50,000 each, together you have $200,000 to invest. This makes is it easier and more profitable for all of you. And because you organized this deal and worked to make the investment property profitable, you will keep the majority of that profit. The investors didn’t have to do anything but put up their money, but they made a profit as well.

In order to gain the trust of other investors is by having a strong credit history, good character (ethical), and have good references. They need to know that they are doing the right thing by putting their money into your hands. This is a trust situation. They are trusting you to be who you say you are and do what you said you would do – turn a profit.

2. Pre-approval with an equity line of credit. If you’re a property own now, and have a good credit history, you may be able to get and equity line of credit for the quick purchase of your investment property. This line of credit is drawn against the equity of your current home. You have a check book and a line of credit that you can draw funds from with little restriction. The interest is charged only on the current balance from this credit line. If you don’t use it, you don’t pay interest on it. But, when a property comes up that meets your criteria and passes all of your tests, you will be able to purchase it immediately with this line of credit.

3. Pledged Account Programs. This is a very short term line of credit, used to get the purchase of your investment property finished. It is a no down payment loan. This is also an adjustable rate mortgage plan, so selling quickly is extremely important. If you can’t sell quickly, then refinance at a fixed rate to keep payments under control. Then you can use the property for rental purposes, with the tenant making the mortgage payment, until you can sell.

In a pledged account, the borrower or his/her relatives pledge certificates of deposit to a lender for security on the no down payment program. The principal and interest earned continue to belong to the borrower or their relatives. But, the CD secures the no down payment loan and lowers the lender risk.

There are other creative ways to finance the purchase of foreclosure property. Check with your local banks, credit union, or savings and loans.

I was on a conference call earlier today and wanted to see if my first impressions and thus conclusions were sound. Please advise me on your take. I will attempt to be as open as possible on talking from the other side of the conversations.

I was contacted on a real estate investment opportunity. Maybe some of you have heard of this even though I am not going to mention any names.

For mere $34,900 I can invest into a company where they would find me a home (usually in the mid-west) and rehab it for me. I would then be the owner of the home. The ARV market prices of these homes are in the mid to upper $50,000s. They would then provide up to a year of payments at $400 per month while they find a buyer for my home. I would then carry financing on that home for the end buyer on a 30 year PITI note. There is no balloon payment thus you have strong cash flows. Mortgage payments are based on a 9.9% interest rate and the market RENTS. Thus, the end buyer is paying based upon the market rents. Their down payment is about 2% of the value of the home, normally around $1000.

The Cash-On-Cash Return on these in the first year is approximately 16 to 18%, plus the equity difference of your buying the home and the actual value.

Here is my dilemma. I believe in the speed of money. Thus, when you are investing how quickly do you get your money back. These are all cash deals. At a 18% cash-on-cash this would mean you are cashed out in about 6 years. A little slow for my tastes, but ok.

Another issue is I am in the profession of lease options in Las Vegas, NV. Thus, for an option the tenant/buyer (not the actual end buyer at the time the contract is signed) is putting down at least $2000. I would ask the same on an option in the mid-west even though the price point of the home is lower. This would mean a larger percentage of a down payment. Thus, someone putting down $1000 to buy a home is not as productive as a lease option. And you lose control of the home.

Third issue is these are all done through a separately owned LLC holding the note (and originally the property). If you have to foreclose this is a bit more costly than an eviction — in most cities and municipalities.

In conclusion, I did not see the advantage of doing a program like this unless you are doing this as a small part of your investing portfolio (maybe 20% of your real estate investing) over simply doing a rental or a rent-to-own. I understand the humanitarian and philanthropy benefits, but the math to me doesn’t make sense.

Please give me your input on this. The numbers and returns are higher than most stock or commodity markets and I wouldn’t mind promoting this to certain investors. I just need to know if your initial reaction is similar to mine or am I missing something.

Thanks for your feedback and Happy Investing!

How to finance investment property is a question that anyone involved with making money from property has to ask themselves at some point. This article will help you to understand some things that you need to understand, and questions you need to keep in mind in order to finance investment property effectively and profitably.

What is the long term goal for the property?

This question is key because if you plan to renovate the property and sell it straight on then you will want to make sure that you have your finance set up in such a way so as not to incur large fees to pay off any loan you have taken out to buy the property. If you plan to rent it out and you are UK based then you will need a buy to let mortgage and you might want to have a fixed rate for a least a couple of years on the mortgage, especially if the interest rates are fluctuating at the time of purchase.

Do you have back up funding in place?

Ideally you want to have more than one lender as an option to fund your purchase; therefore, if the lender you are using gets cold feet or wants to back out for some reason, you have other options already prepared. This is particularly important in the current market place since we are in the midst of a global financial crisis and many lenders are either tightening their purse strings or filing for bankruptcy.

Are you credit worthy?

Even if you have bought investment property before, don’t take it for granted that you are credit worthy enough to buy it again. As a professional property investor or developer one of your main priorities should be to make sure that you have an impeccable credit history.

The strange thing is that this actually means having some debt. You could have 10 properties that you pay the mortgage for on time every month without fail, yet when you try to buy another one, they refuse you. There are many potential reasons for this, one of them being that sometimes lenders like to see you with some unsecured debt that you are paying off. If in any doubt as to your credit worthiness check with one of the top credit reference agencies to see what they have on file about you and to get some advice.

What are the tax implications of the purchase?

When thinking about how to finance investment property, you need to have a grasp on what the tax implications are for you personally to invest in the property you are considering buying. Sometimes it is better to buy property as an individual; sometimes it is better to buy as a company.

There is no hard and fast rule. A major consideration, is what are your plans for the future, if you plan to move abroad in five years for good, you might invest with a different strategy than someone who plans to live in their particular country for the rest of their life.

It is advisable to speak to a tax specialist about your plans for buying property and your long-term goals in life in general, so that you buy the right type of property in the right way. By doing this one thing you could be saving yourself hundreds of thousands of pounds in a relatively short period of time.

Many people would like to get into the world of real estate investing, but have many questions. While real estate can be a lucrative place to make money, history teaches us that it is also a place to go bankrupt. One of the most key questions that must be answered before entering into an investment property is, “how will I finance this property?”

Should I Finance At All?

Many people decide not to invest in real estate until they have considerable savings with which to do so. This leads them to question whether they should finance at all. While exposure to leverage can be dangerous, it is usually a necessary component to make real estate investing work. Real estate investing is keyed around appreciation and if an asset is appreciating, you would like to obtain it for as little cash as possible. If your property isn’t appreciating, then you have entered into a bad investment to begin with.

Seller Financing

Almost all bold claims about making a fortune in the real estate market are predicated on the notion of “seller financing.” In this model, the person who sells you their property accepts a small or no down-payment and allows you to make your monthly payments to them. This of course would be a great bargain, but it is very rare in the real world. While some people may be looking for an investment opportunity when leaving their house, most would rather put their equity into a more secure vehicle than loaning money to a stranger.

Realistic Financing

If you want to run realistic, reproducible financing numbers, it is best to assume you will have to put 20% down on your property. Banking institutions are immediately leery of lending money to real estate investors, but at that rate, even if you default they will probably make their money back. While this won’t allow you to achieve the kind of ludicrous returns many “Investment Programs” claim, it will put you in a leveraged position to make gains in a positive real estate market without over-extending yourself. Managing risk is an important part of any investment strategy.

There are many more considerations when considering investing in real estate. Much care and consideration should be invested before deciding to purchase property. While real estate can be a valuable part of a diversified portfolio, it is not a “get rich quick” scheme and requires careful planning.