Get all your details done on deals

There are a lot of different things that need to be accomplished when your doing an investment property. The usual stuff is buying, closing, and getting the property ready to profit for you.

Their are other items you must consider when doing a property. For example make sure you or your contractors have the right permits. I have a home we are currently doing that has 7 permits! These must be pulled in order to get the home finished. On this particular home I had to go down and meet with the building commissioner to talk about an inspector who I thought was unreasonable. The building commissioner was a great guy and sided with me and we got the permit fulfilled! Sometimes you need to do this to save you or your client a lot of unnecessary money.

You will also need to know prices of items that go into your investment property. Example I bought a heater and the installer was really high on his work (price wise). I called him on it and explained what we were willing to pay for that installation. He agreed. Saved my client a couple hundred dollars. It all adds up at the end of the deal.

If you are an out of state buyer require that the contractor/Realtor send you videos on the progress of your property. I load all my clients videos/pics up on Rooftopvideo.com so not only can my clients see the videos, but people they know. The videos are also a great resource for insurance claims and helps with the he said she said scenario's.

The videos also help you with the history of your property and could be a great marketing tool for when you decide to sell your property (for a rental property).

The last detail I want to talk about is lawn care. Our company recently hired a yard improvement company. That really makes a difference on the look of the investment property. Especially in the summer time in Ohio. He simply puts some mulch and flowers in. Then he trims the yard and the bushes. Wow! that really makes a difference and can help your investment property really stand out from the crowd.

These are but a few things that are important in doing all the details on your investment property to make the most money on your portfolio. So remember to keep those in your mind when doing an investment property. Brett Young Rooftopinvestment

Thinking of the life of your investment

I hear of a lot of investments that investors purchase. They get a great deal on a property and then try to figure out the details. Rehab cost is usually the first obstacle, getting reliable people that will get it your rehab done and done to your specifications isn't always easy. You must also keep it in the budget that makes sense for the property. The proper paperwork is need to ensure that they will not lien your property after construction.

You need to find the right areas to purchase in also. I personally always look at the retail, Schools, and vehicles in the area I'm considering. I do not like any boarded up properties at all in my areas.

For example Me and my clients buy in 5 different areas. They understand what the sales price, Option Price, or the rental rates in each area. We look at the taxes also in each area. All the above considerations have also been established.

Some investors get to this point, and then try to figure out they need some kind of property management for their investment. This can very time consuming and can cost you a lot of profit if your not with the right company. I would ask for references to at least see what their clients think of them. Always check to see if they are licensed in their field(Property Management).

Maintenance and upkeep are a virtual part of keeping your property healthy and getting the top rates in your area. Heaters, Plumbing, Roof, and general up keep is needed just to name a few things. Understanding the cost and keeping it reasonable is a very important component to you cash flowing. Unless you have 50+ properties you will need to hire new maintenance people for each new problem that arises. Make sure you have researched and checked these contractors out before you have a problem in that area. Understand their quality, Price and how long they take on getting items repaired.

What type of up keep cost will you have as the property gets older. Paint, windows and blinds are a few things. Keep all this in mind when you buy a property. This will cost you some money. That is why our company demands high cash flow properties with low maintenance. We have over 100 properties and make sure our cost are quality are controlled.

Keeping your properties updated at a reasonable cost makes you a great return for years to come.

One last thing make sure that your cash flow is 18%-24% on your investment properties. Having great cash flow really puts money in your account and you will have plenty for any up keep you may need. For example we just did a home that had a total cost with rehab of $40,000. Our client cash flows $600 a month net. That's $7200 a year! Wow that's great cash flow that they can bank on!

Planning for the life of your investment keeps you cash flow coming in over many years. Isn't that what is all about. Planning is a key component to your success in the real estate investment game. Brett Young www.Rooftopinvestment.com

Worlds Greatest Real Estate Investments

Investors are always looking for the best investment real estate deals. They search the globe for properties that cash flow the best. Looking for these types of investments require time and energy, that is really the only way to find deals.

Finding the greatest investments requires a full time effort. Whether you hire someone to find your investments or you do it yourself it's a full time effort to find the best deals. Example: 58 Charles in Bedford Ohio a residential home that we had looked at 30 days prior. Liked the property but felt it was to expensive to buy at the time.

We got alert one morning that the home had been lowered to $22,000 which was a steal! We immediately put a bid on it and received it.

There were 6 other offers on the table for 58 Charles and we got it......you ask how? Our group of professionals personally called the sellers agent and followed up until we had that property secured.

Another example is 785 E 156th St. This property is a duplex. It was an estate sale and the seller knew we might like this property. They called us and we met them at the property. This property had a very high cash flow and was at the right price. We secured that property on the spot. We purchased that duplex for $20,000.

So finding the Greatest Real Estate Investments isn't just looking for them, but being their when you need to be. Some properties only available for an hour! The greatest properties go very quickly, and most investors never see them.

Yes you can find lot's of good real estate deals out their right now. Finding the greatest real estate deals is harder to do, but really makes a difference on cash flow and equity position.

I will be going over the backup system you need when your wanting to make sure your cash flow continues on your investment next week. If you want to see these properties go to Rooftopvideo.com. Brett Young Valley Realty

Lease Options Updated

Real estate is like a box of chocolates

Real estate is like a box of chocolates. There are a lot of different places that you can purchase very reasonably priced investment properties. The key is to know what is good deal and ones that are not.

You first need to know that homes versus multiplex's have some differences. As I'm sure you know multiplex's make more money per month...........on paper anyway. There are two key things to look at.
1. The quality of tenants that will be living in your property. Homes usually have way better quality of tenants then multiplex's. The tenants stay in the homes longer than tenants in multiplex's. So make sure you take that into your profit assumption. For example our company knows that a tenant stays in a home on average 12-24 months. In a multiplex it's 8-12 months.
2. The neighborhoods are important for two reasons. You get higher rents and they are easier to sale when you decide to do that.
3 You can run ads on some sites to see what rents are in the area. You can pick a property that you like and run ads for rent before you purchase it and confirm the projected rent!

Another key point to look at is the state it's in. Is it hot their? Cold? Hurricanes? Floods? Major issues that may effect your total profit and insurance cost. Just think of all the people that effected this year! Also air conditioning is a major expense, that can really wipe out your profit. I know I have a few in Phoenix, Arizona area.

You also need to look at the size of the area(I like a million plus) your buying in. Is their a steady supply on potential tenants? What is the percentage of renters to buyers in the area your looking at. For example in the Cleveland area 40% of the population rents.

The last thing I want to talk about is still the size of the area your looking to buy in. I like at least 1 million in the area and surrounding area. The size of your area will effect the cost to maintain your property. Smaller areas have fewer qualified people to do your work, that means it's going to cost you more to maintain your property and harder to find qualified people to do your work too. That's why I like 1 million or more in the areas I buy in.

Real estate is a box of chocolates and you need to make sure the one you pick has the right taste and fell for your portfolio. Brett Young Rooftopvideo.com

Avoid the costly mistakes in real estate investing

I see a lot of investors and talk to them a lot. One of them called me this week and told me of an investor that had purchased 15 homes for $300,000(homes worth between $1,000-$5,000). They were all over the place, but most were in the Detroit Michigan area. I have drove through that area and decided to pass on buying investment real estate their.

After the investor purchased the homes he was left with finishing them. The company he was using left the deal high and dry. There was still rehabbing and getting the properties cash flowing. The areas he bought had a very high crime rate and that would add on to your rehab cost. Things tend to get stolen in those type of neighborhoods.

The other problem was the neighborhoods they were in. They were awful neighborhoods and need a lot more attention. When your looking at investment real estate make sure your neighborhoods are solid. You can do this by looking at the area or seeing the type of rents that people are paying in that area. In our area for example if a home is less then $750 a month red flags go up. That may not be all that good of area.

When your spending your hard earned money make sure you check out what that company has already done in real estate properties. I had a client fly in this week and spend a couple days looking at our portfolio(we encourage it) and the neighborhoods. He was very happy at what he saw, after seeing the areas he put a 5 bedroom home under contract for $26,500. It will cash flow $700+ a month.

Always remember that the real estate investment game takes some investigation on your part. Just because you find a cheap home doesn't always mean it's really that cheap. Check out some areas I like and see what you think? Click here to view Brett Young

Look at this great property we did in Unversity Heights

We can get these homes bought and rehabbed for $50k-55K. Enjoy

Riding on the right investment real estate train

If your looking at a real estate investment company to find some cash flowing properties, there are some things you should consider before deciding.

The first thing to look for is their track record. What have they've done and what are they doing now. Check what kind of cash flow their clients are getting. Make sure they have history in the business. In today's market you need to make sure they are adapting to it's standards. Also want to make sure they have a lot of examples to see of their past work.

The second thing I would look at is the organization itself. How big is their staff and can they handle all the properties you want. For example are they going to be able to grow and deal with all the new obstacles it brings. Our company just had a full training on Lease Options and how to sell them. We also thoroughly go through the properties and mark the upgrades and the main reasons someone would want those homes. This ensures the property will get the most money.

The third factor would be how much do they know the areas your interested in. The company you pick should have that rolling off their tongues. I had the chance to talk with another investment company and noticed that they didn't like that many areas. They had decided that certain parts of the city was not good enough for them or their clients. This type of attitude could loss you a lot of real estate that would not be presented to you. In defense their are some areas not to invest in, but don't be so critical that you miss out on some really good areas that have great deals.

You want to also make sure that they have a maintenance and construction team that sees to all your details and gets the property ready in a timely matter. You don't want a property taking to long to get rehabbed. Example on a home that needs rehabbing, even if it needs electrical and other major maintenance issues should take between 3-6 weeks tops. Our company regularly audits each home to ensure that the time line is being met. If it is not then we call the client and explain the reason why(95% of our homes get done in this time line). Remember time is money and the longer it sets the less you make.

The last thing you need to look at is the finished product. You need to physically see the property or at least pictures or video's of it. We have clients all over the world that need to see their finished product. We set up a website just for that www.Rooftopvideo.com. That site is for our clients to look at their finished property and all the others we have done and are currently doing. We like our clients to see all our work.

So if your looking at getting into the real estate investment game make sure you understand the real estate investment company your going to spend your hard earned money with. Brett Young Rooftopprofitmax.com

Financial Freedom Act

I believe you can make a lot of money in this market. Some say this down market has a long way to go. Does it? 1 year ago 30 day late foreclosures were 16% of the market. Today it is 8% according to USA Today a story by Julie Schmit.

Her analysis says that delinquent homes are basically all down. What does that say to an investor or should say anyway, is better get going. Some people look at this market as awful and hopeless. As an investors we should look at it as an opportunity. Buying investment real estate has never been so affordable.

People need a place to live, that's why real estate is always a great investment. Real estate is really a commodity that you can purchase without any time limits. You can lease option it or rent it until the values start going up and then you can decide to sell or keep cash flowing. Like a commodity there are two things that need to happen before prices can go up.

Lending must be more available to good credit people. The mortgages have to be reasonable rates and reasonable down payments. In my opinion the rates need to stay under 8%-9% and allow buyers to put down 5%-20%. The higher rate will be OK because of the decrease of values on residential homes(the payments will still be reasonable). Homes that were $100,000-$250,000 are now a lot cheaper than the peak of the market, in some cases over 50% cheaper. The higher rates will bring in more investors into the market, that would want to get back into the mortgage game with those higher returns. So all in all a win win for the market more money more loans and better returns for lenders.

The second thing that needs to happen is the inventory of homes needs to decrease to the buyers in the market. The buyers need to have fewer options and have to make decisions to buy or start losing the good homes. Basically the days on market to sell a home will be 30-60 days at that point. In the peak of the market most homes would sell in 30 days or less. In a normal market 30-60 days is great. You say how will I know when inventory starts going down? Watch days on market. When it gets to 90 days or less the home market will definitely be on the up swing.

I know what your thinking what about the investors? What will they do when the market changes? Being a investor myself I would only say stay tuned to the market, and investors will always be in it.

I also want to share with you my new videos on Financial Freedom Act. Just click on the link and watch the different things you need to know to be a solid investor.

Thanks Brett Young www.Rooftopprofitmax.com

Low Maintenance Investment properties

Maintenance is always a big issue when I'm buying investment real estate for me and my clients. I personally like rental homes that have no air conditioners. Those babies(air conditioners) can run you some big money.

I still have a few rental homes in the Phoenix Arizona area. You probably know that it's very hot their. In fact death can occur if their is no cooling present. So having tenants in those type of properties is a big responsibility. Keeping them running can cost you a lot of cash flow income.

If your flipping the property an air conditioner is a big cost to the construction if you have to replace it. In the Phoenix Area you needed 3-5 ton unit to cool a home. That cost could be as high as $5,000-$6,000 dollars a unit!

I have quite a few properties in the mid west. Those properties do not require central air (I might have a few window units in my properties. but the tenant has to pay an extra $25.00-$50.00 a month to have the window unit if we have to add one). I hear your question on well you have to have a heater, and your right. In homes and Duplex's the cost is 25%-40% of air conditioners.

Cash Flowing properties require you to consider all the big cost on your maintenance over the time you have the property when considering you cash flow position. In the Cleveland area we average $500-$800 per month net cash flow. When we have to replace a heater(we rebuild them if we can) it runs $2500 on average. At $500 a month net income, that would take 5 month's to cover the cost.

Let's consider the air conditioner cost at the same cash flow per month($500 per month net cash flow). That would eat up 10 months or double the time a heater would cost.

The repairs on older air conditioners are a lot more than a heater in our case. Compressors can cost up to $1200. We just rebuilt two heaters in a duplex and that only cost $785.00, the HVAC company gave my client a two year warranty with it also. That particular unit cash flows $775 per month net. So in a little over a month the units will be paid for. That's seems reasonable.

That brings up my last point. Consider your cash flow net monthly and maintenance cost on your property. If your making $100, $200, $300 a month net that could be costly in the long run. $1200-$3600 net yearly income does not cover the cost of replacing an air conditioner, and could take you years to cover the cost. Tax experts will tell you that is a tax write off, but it's still a cost and your write off is about 30 cents on the dollar on your taxes. Doesn't sound like great financial advice to me.

So when your looking at the different areas to invest in remember that air conditioners can eat up some or all of your monthly cash flow. if you want to look at some of the properties we do go to RooftopVideo.com Brett Young Valley Realty and Rooftopinvestment.com

Videos tell you alot

I have been collecting videos and pictures for my business for a lot of years. Videos/Pictures can help you look at the property in a different forum. If you have a lot of people at the property when you are looking at it, you may not see everything during that time. The video will help you see it all again at your convince and pick up on some things you may not have seen before.

It's also a great place for history of projects you've done. I remember at one seminar I personally ran a video of some neighborhoods I liked. I noticed a great attention from the crowd on that video. It worked I sold 6 properties that night.

I also created a website for my videos. This site allows you to look at some of the properties we have done. It also allows my clients to always have a place to see their properties. They can also view some other properties in different areas that may interest them. I will be adding exciting new stuff to that site as it matures.

When I want to sell or land contract a home I post it on another site. This site is just for rent to own properties.
This lets my sales people have a place for potential buyers to go and view the video and pictures of the property before they see the property. This saves gas and time. It also makes you look professional and you can explain the details of each deal. The price and the down payment, this will screen your lookers out quickly.

The site also has all the other properties that are rent to own and their details. The potential client can view all our current properties and decide which one fits their needs and pocket book! So either way we get a sale for our client!

One last place I post videos is Facebook I have a special website with all my educational videos on that site Another resource for my clients and potential clients to see what Rooftopinvestment is doing.

I also post videos and Webinar's on this blog to help you see some of the great ideas in real estate investing we have. I hope you enjoy and learn from them.

So there you go Videos are a great source for you to be updated and keep others updated in what's going on their project. Brett Young Rooftopinvestment.com

Keeping it real in real estate

When your remodeling a home the first thing you need to decide on is what your going to do with that property? Are you going to rent it? Sell it? Land contract it? This will make a huge difference on what you want to put into the property.

Rentals are usually always the least expensive. You can go with one color in the paint department. You don't have to lay tile on the floors(lay linoleum instead). You can also use less expensive lighting and fixtures for the home. There are a lot of investor and investor consultants that will tell you that you need the best of everything in this type of home, but you don't. If an area is getting $900 a month that's basically what you will receive n your rent. When potential tenants come in and see a nice clean freshly painted property that will usually suffice that type of client and seal your new tenant.

On the flip side of investing you need the nicer tune up on the property. When your selling it you'll want to dual paint the property(I put a third color on some homes). I personally like high end lighting in my flips. I look around for the best deals on upgraded lighting at used lighting stores or internet. I also look for discounted new lighting stores like Hinkley's and other ones. The flooring will need to be upgraded in all rooms. I like wood and tile. These are great flooring's that help show off your property! For color ideas I go to the home store and get painting flyer's some fresh ideas in my living areas. They have a lot of ideas that you may not know and they are put together by professional interior decorators. Keeping the colors in the home bright and a little different can always give you a bigger wow factor when people go through it versus other properties for sale in your area.

Land contracted or optioned homes need somewhere in between a rental and a flip. I always make the paint about the same as a flip. Where I cut some cost is in the lighting and fixtures. I still want a wow factor because the client has to put money down on the property. We like to get 3% of the purchase price which go go over $2500 in some cases. So you need to make sure that the client really likes the property. The upgrades will also help your appraisal when they go to close the transaction and hopefully put massive amounts of cash in your pocket.

As you can see there is a difference in these three types of properties and the difference saves you thousands of unneeded cash you can save for another day! If you have any questions please email me at brett@lowcostinvestmenthomes.info or you can go check out my videos at rooftopvideo.com Brett Young Valley Realty

Lighting makes a big difference in homes

I have a lot of remodels going on and I always look at ways to make the my homes look different and better than the competition. For example I looked at some of the other remodeled homes in the same area and noticed that most of them have the same color of paint in them. Basically a tan with white trim. I'm sure you seen it. Making your home look unique and have different colors may sell it quicker.

Thinking outside the box I immediately went down to the paint store to get some new ideas. They have great brochures that give you a lot of ideas in color selection. When you are looking at the different ideas always remember the age of the homes in the area. There are so many colors, never limit your self to just a few.

A great way to get other ideas on color is go through some high end open houses in high end areas. Just go get a Starbucks and start your journey. These type of homes usually have interior decorators do the designing for the home. This will give you a lot of great ideas for your remodeled home, or if you want to update your home.

Lighting is another great update. I go all over the city to find the best deals on lighting! I found one store that sells great chandelier's for 1/4 of the price of other outlets. So a light that cost $800 retail I got for $200. That is a cheap upgrade when you think about the cost of flooring, appliance and other upgrades on your home and it really stands out.

In older homes you can really knock the ball out of the park with lighting. I'm doing one in University Heights, Ohio and the home has a lot of great features. To show off those features I put in some great lighting. You do newer home the same way.Brett Young www.unrealcashflow.net

Australia Likes Cleveland Area

Saturday had a couple that flew in from Australia very nice people. We picked them up at their new investment home that they had just purchased. They were very impressed with the area and really liked the neighborhood.

We took them through the home and again they liked that and wanted to know the rehab that was going to be done in that home. They also could not believe the prices of the high quality homes in the Maple Heights area. They Lady said that she paid $500K for a home around the same size in Australia. They also informed me that their economy was really booming!

We them took them on a tour on all the cities like Euclid,Shaker Heights, Cleveland Heights were we invest in and explained the cost and profit in those areas. We stopped in the Cleveland Heights area to eat at a place called "The Melt" great sandwich place. The food was excellent and the atmosphere was very edgy. Me and Tim always make sure that an investor gets a good idea of everything that areas have to offer and one is great restaurants.

They also got to meet our property manager Misho. He took some questions from them and explained how we operated. We then wrapped up our tour with a home we were working on in University Heights. On the way back the new investors decided to move forward with 6 more properties.

When you have a great products make sure you show them off every chance you get. We have a complete tour of all the cities and show some homes we are currently doing so when the clients go home they can plan their investment strategy from all the areas we recommend. Brett Young WWW.rooftopvideo.com

Cash Flow Cities Video