Please help me out with some basic questions about investing

**bigdolo** · 05-17-2011, 08:38 AM

Hello all, I am a true noob to real estate but have a hunger to learn and become well versed in anything and everything real estate related...When it comes to "investing" in real estate I am not clear on everything that it entails or how exactly one profits from it. Obviously it is putting your money in to property that will give you money back but going a little further....

I know theres a few ways to invest in real estate, but so far I am only familiar with these:

Buying and flipping houses
Buying property and getting money from rentals

Now the questions....

Buying and flipping - So you get a loan and buy a house. Now you have a house that you have to pay a mortgage and taxes on. So lets say you buy it for 200,000, then have to pay a total of $1400 a month in mortgage, taxes, utilities etc....so you are coming out of your own pocket on a property you don't live in, and you will not make any money until you sell it. So what if it takes a year for you to sell the house? You wound up paying a year's worth of mortgages and whatever appreciation there was on the house may be cancelled out by how much you came out of pocket to mortgage it correct? So what is the best way to buy/flip to optimize profit?

Buying rental property - Lets say I buy a 10 unit building for 1 million. Now I have a huge monthly mortgage that my tenants will be paying for, so it is as simple as whatever is left over after my mortgage is paid for is my monthly profit? And that will be the case until that mortgage is paid off then everything the tenants pay me goes directly in to my pocket as profit?

Now another thing I hear is about people "owning property" or "owning houses" that are just sitting there with nobody living in it. How is that making them money? And if so then how are they receiving payment for that property?

What are the other ways investors make money off real estate?

Any details and info on these questions would be much appreciated, thank you.

**laura.alamery** · 05-17-2011, 07:51 PM

Finding a niche – it is not a new concept, but it certainly is an important one for getting the highest results possible for the best return on the investment. In today’s competitive times, a real estate investor survival is based on becoming an expert in a particular real estate niche.
1. Pick a Niche - In over 20 years of real estate experience, I have experimented with many types of real estate niches, but the ones I had more success with were the ones I could relate to, that I was passionate about. Make a list of the things that interest you most, things you are passionate about or even an area or neighborhood that interests you.
2. Think outside the box – In order to survive in this business, you have to be creative and come up with ideas and twists on an old way of doing business, which will give you the edge on the competition and make you an authority in the field. You have to gain the confidence and follow your gut feeling that if something feels right, go for it. I remember having ventured many times in unexplored real estate territory and wondering (even if only for a minute) why no one else had thought of it. Sooner or later I found myself on the front of a new way of doing business and an expert in my particular niche.
3. If it was easy, anyone would do it – That is one of my favourite sayings. Real estate is not for everyone. It takes work, continuous education and perseverance. Pick a niche that works for you, develop a plan of action to consistently, repeatedly stay top-of-mind for that targeted prospect and win where it counts.
The right mindset, a clear objective and the perseverance in the niche closer to your personal preference and lifestyle are fundamental to your success in real estate.
I have written this report outlining the top real estate niches in the industry today. As economic times change, niches will change: for instance, the concept of short sale was unknown only a few years ago. Read through them, do some pondering and then learn the skills needed to accomplish your goal.
See below for the report.

**bigdolo** · 05-17-2011, 08:04 PM

Looks like a generic response. Spam? Didn't answer any of my questions.

**laura.alamery** · 05-17-2011, 08:13 PM

Originally Posted by bigdolo

Looks like a generic response. Spam? Didn't answer any of my questions.

You asked about other ways to make money in real estate and I just presented the fact that I wrote a report about the popular ways on making money today in real estate.

I also talk about the pros and cons for each real estate investment.

Just trying to be informative, may be too much information