You Can’t Handle The Truth !

The hardest thing that I have come to find over the last 28 years that I have been in the Real Estate business is telling people the truth.

Not that I have a hard time speaking the truth it is just hard to get people to realize that you are speaking the truth and not employing a sales technique on them. Let me explain.

This happens all the time. I get an email from a perspective buyer the other day looking to purchase their first home in a close in to downtown Portland Oregon a few days ago. I call them to perform a diagnostic about their needs and desires vs their abilities to purchase. Yes they have been to a lender to get pre-qualified and they are optimistic and motivated to buy. All good signs however their area of choice is in the hottest neighborhood in Portland with very few listings and even quicker closing times. Our MLS reports 27 days average. Which means realistically homes are being sold in the first few days. Now I have all my buyers set up to receive new listings from my web site at http://www.hportlandrealproperty.com my web site covers all of the MLS listings and is updated every hour so you are getting the freshest an up to date information. And for proactive buyers such as this couple I have them set up to recieve listings ASAP so that they will be randomly notified throughout the day as listings matching their search criteria come on the market.

So the other day I check with them and ask them if they have seen any homes that they would like to see inside. Her response was all of the homes that we like are sale pending. How could that be I asked my site only sends you active listings which you will get within the first 30 minutes to one hour after the agent has entered into the MLS.

Her response was that she was searching on Zillow. So once again had to explain that sites like Zillow only are updated once a day and often have out of date information. My site is accurate and has the most up to date information that the consumer could hope to get. She prommissed to begin using the site. Sometimes it is just hard to tell the truth.

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BPO, s what are they?

A BPO is a Brokers Price Oppinion. An oppinion of value of a real estate asset at time of vIewing and or for a specific time period requested by the requesting party. Most often the requesting party Iis a lender who may have a lean against the property. But it may also be requested by the owner or another interested party such as another lender considering making a loan against the property. Or it might be a request from the mortgage insurance company looking to remove te mortgage insurance premium established when the current loan was taken out.

So what is the value or difference of the BPO compared to an appraisal and or a CMA provided by Real Estate Agents?

An appraisal given by a licensed Appraiser in your state is most often the most consevative view of value for your home. The appraiser is looking to return a value that rmeflects the amount the purchaser is willing to pay with a value that Lender is reasonably safe in lending. It is why you do not see vaues of appraisals often exceeding the agreed upon price. A CMA or competitive Market Anaylisis offered by a Real Estate Agent is the opposite of an appraisal as it is usually the most opptomistic view of the home. The f ocus on the CMA is what is the most I can hope to get for this home and what is the least amount. A good agent would often try to choose a value in the middle but is often persuaded by the owner to choose the higher value.   The BPO is most often some where between the Appraisal and the opptomistic view of the CMA picking a value that is a realistic expectation.

For all your greater Portland Oregon Real Estate needs call Herb and ” start packing ”

Herb Hamilton is a licensed Real Estate Broker in Oregon cell phone is 503-515-8889

I made a Ton of Money Flipping House’s – Oh Yeah?

” Gold I tell you there’s Gold in them thar Hills!” Yes there is excitement in the air and much like the days of the Hollywood westerns a call to action. Gold? Well, maybe and maybe not. Certainly there is a profit to be made for the well prepared Real Estate Fixer Buyer. Is this You? Or will you just be one of the countless stories of failure.

Real estate investments in Fixer’s Flips and Rehabs be it Short Sales and or Foreclosures or in the Derelict/Abandoned homes  market can be very lucrative, If you know what you are doing.

It is that IF that separates the Men from the Boys so to speak. Even with the most experienced of us all there are mistakes made and money lost. But there are many things you can do to help eliminate those losses are at least lessen there effects on your bottom line.

Taking a seminar and listening to the rags to riches stories is one of the sure fire ways to quickly lose your shirt. They may be very motivating and fun to listen to but they are no recipe for success. While education is all good and well you can be over educated as well.

One simple plan that can set you on the right path is to look at investing in Real Estate as a Team Sport. Who would you pick to be on your team, assuming that you have done all of the preliminary work such as financing etc.

The Workers :

1. You ( will or can you do the work)
2. Contractor ( Save your self some headache early on a hire a Licensed Contractor for those jobs that you yourself are not capable of doing )
3. Special Contractors ( Roofer, Electrician, Plumber, HVAC, etc.) You do not have to have these people on the pay roll or at your beck and call but you should at least have done the leg work to check out the quality of work they can do and to compare their prices.
4. Real Estate Agent. ( Did you know that a good real estate agent can make you or break you in the Fixer and Flips market?)

Choosing the right Contractors and Real Estate Agent have many parallels. Your entire team should understand your goals. No member of the team including you should put their needs ahead of the others. A good team understands their place and the places of the other members.

So you have assembled your team and you’re ready to go! What then is a 365 Real Estate Investor? Given that there are only 365 days ( more or less ) in a year a budget needs to be set to meet your goals.

• How much money do you want to make per year after all expenses are paid?
• How much profit is there per project?
• How many projects will it take to reach my goal?

Experience is of course the best teacher. Start small and do not get carried away on that first project. Take on one that even if you fail will not take you down don’t let Greed get in front of the learning curve or your common sense. Build upon your successes for they are the foundation for a bright and profitable future in the world of Fixers and Flips.

Search  Portland Oregon Homes For Sale Right Here

Let Your Next Home find You !   Portland Oregon Info

” A Real Estate Transaction with Herb is one YOU will Profit from “

The Portland Market is Up ! No It’s Down ?

No kidding folks it almost depends on who you talk to. Truth be told the market is doing pretty well here in the Portland area even though the numbers are slightly down from previous years. For the most part we have weathered the battle pretty well.

Of course the Portland Oregon is a pretty spread out area with many small towns just on the edge of the city limits. Some of these areas have been effected a lot more than the inner city.

For a snapshot of what is going on in some of the Portland Metro Areas stop by THE_PICKLE today for a partial Market Report.