Real Estate Article

With today's focus on investing in and flipping homes, there is an investment that has become lost in the glamour of high profile home flipping. The purchase of land has always been one of the more secure forms of real estate investment, and if you are looking for a long-term asset land is perfect. There are numerous ways you can go about making a profit off your purchase of land, but most involve proper zoning and selling to the right person or company.

Before you purchase any parcel of land, do some research into the zoning of the area. Find out if it is zoned for residential, commercial or both. Finding something that is zoned for both is a great find because it gives you the widest array of options when selling. Also try to find out if there are any liens or easements on the property, this information will be critical when selling. Now consider the area that the land is in, is it an area that is likely to be developed? How does it match up in terms of location and proximity to amenities existing or proposed?

Closing costs are often the last thing a person thinks of when buying a home. While closing is the joyous moment the home becomes yours, the costs can be surprisingly aggravating.

When you purchase a home, condo or other property, you will go through a period known as escrow. During escrow, various issues related to the property transfer are worked out. The last day of escrow is known as the closing day and you are going to be paying closing costs.

Closing costs come in many forms. Some involve significant dollars while others are relatively painless. Here’s a list of typical costs:

Escrow Fees

An escrow agent is essentially a third party that works with the seller and buyer to finalize the transaction. For this assistance, the escrow agent will charge a fee. Depending on your area and the agent, you can expect fees from a few hundred dollars to around a thousand or so. Make sure you find out the fees before picking an escrow agent.

If you want to sell your home, you can do this through a variety of ways. The simplest is to just put a “For Sale” sign on your lawn and hope it attracts the attention of passers by. You can also make little flyers and distribute them after mass, or during soccer games. If you don’t want to hand out flyers manually, you can just make several big posters and put these in well frequented places like groceries and post offices.

In case you want to reach a wider market, you can place an advertisement in your local newspaper. Unfortunately, this may be costly and the ad may only run for a few days. If you don’t want the hassle, you can simply hire a real estate agent and then just let him do the leg work. Finally, in recent years, a new form of advertisement has cropped up – advertisement via the Internet.

When you bought your home, you offered less than you were willing to pay, right? That's the most common negotiation technique. For experienced investors, however, that's just one technique among the many more powerful ones. What else can you do?

How To Make An Offer

 1. Offer an odd amount, like $161,793. This gives the impression that you know something the seller doesn't. They may think you have a good reason for that particular price.

The phenomenal real estate boom of the past several years has not been confined to sales of primary residences alone. Sales of second homes also have ratcheted up dramatically as vacationers and investors look to snap up these properties amid the lure of low mortgage rates and rapidly increasing home values.

According to a study conducted by the National Association of Realtors, 2.82 million vacation home purchases were made in 2004, up 16 percent from the previous year.

With the rising demand, prices also escalated; the price of a typical vacation home increased 21 percent from 2003 to 2004, about twice the rate of appreciation for the overall home market.