For centuries the courts have been rigged in favor of the banks.  The banks have the kind of time and money that homeowners could never dream of, and they are more than willing to use both to get their way.  You’d be wrong, however, to think that’s the only way the system was crooked.

If a homeowner whose loan was securitized tried to force the bank to show the chain of title, the court would tell the homeowner that they didn’t have standing to make that demand.  The homeowner then is left with no way of proving that the foreclosing bank/entity does not have the authority to foreclose.  Not anymore! 

In the case of Steinberger v OneWest Bank, et al, the court ruled in a special action that the homeowner does have the standing to demand that the foreclosing bank/entity provide a securitization timeline in order to establish their claim of authority to foreclose.  This timeline of assignments and transfers would prove whether or not assignments were made after a note had already been transferred to a securitized trust and could be declared invalid.

This is a huge win for homeowners because we now have the right to demand that banks prove their authority to foreclose before the court. Read More→

Are you sitting on a ton of cash and you are not sure what to do with it? Do you need to find a real estate investment to put all that cash into? Are you struggling to find a deal that will give you a good ROI on all that cash you have laying around? Or does this describe you…?

Do you need to find some cash to do your real estate deals? Are you trying to figure out how to get your deals funded? Are you looking for partners to help with the cash to get started or perhaps you are looking for a “no money down” deal to get you going?

If the second description is you then you are not a real estate investor…you are a real estate entrepreneur! You are a real estate business owner, not an investor and there is a BIG difference. An investor is someone that fits the first description. An investor already has a lot of cash and needs to put it into a deal to get a return on all that money they have laying around.

Most people don’t realize that they are real estate entrepreneurs and are not actually real estate investors at all. This is one major mistake that most new real estate entrepreneurs / investors make and it can definitely lead to early failure in the real estate business. Read More→

I got into the real estate investing business to have more free time for myself and my family and to have the financial freedom to do whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. I wanted my life to be more worry free. I have spent a great deal of time accomplishing that goal and I want to share some of my insights with you as a real estate entrepreneur.

When you decide to become a Real Estate Investor, make sure you structure your business in such a way that it doesn’t become overwhelming, even more so than a full time job could be. It’s very easy to fall into that trap, especially if you work from home. You can also fall into the trap of trying to do everything yourself, and long-term, this just won’t work. Believe me when I tell you that most tasks in your business need to be delegated to others starting with your marketing.

In my particular case I like to work from home and most of the functions of our business are handled off sight and by Independent Contractors. One of the ways I solved the problem of getting overwhelmed with work was to determine what hours per day would be dedicated to my real estate investing business. At the end of the day the door to the office gets closed and the phones go to an answering service. Your family will appreciate you for this as well. Read More→

Investors get into the real estate business to become ‘Millionaires,’ however, many listen to courses that contain outdated information where the systems are no longer working.  They follow the wrong advice which seriously stalls a successful kick start.  This industry is changing monthly; be sure your trainings are coming from a Mentor who is out doing deals on a consistent basis.   I stand firm on my philosophy of “Don’t quit your job until you have at least one year salary in the bank.”  Why, you ask?  Because it puts unnecessary pressure on many marriages, families and individuals when they quit their job and the deals are not consistently coming in yet.  I not only teach Short Sales, I also teach how to buy, hold, flip, subject to’s, lease option techniques, etc., which allow you, the Investors, to truly understand all of your available exit strategies.

In order for anyone to become a Millionaire with consistent and dependable cash flow, they must hold properties.  In my Real Estate Junkie Course and my Mentor Program, I always recommend that you flip 2 houses and then hold 1 house.  Below is an example of a short sale deal where the Investor ended up holding the property.  I negotiated the short sale with my student and also partnered with her.  My exit strategy was for her to hold the property, lease it out and my student will never have to lift a finger or do any maintenance to the house for a 15 year term.  I explain this exit strategy from A-Z in my Mentor Program.  One important criterion for holding a house is that it has 3 bedrooms, a garage, a basement (if applicable) and a swimming pool is optional. Read More→

As a beginning real estate investor, what is it that we are getting into real estate investing for?  Have you figured out what that is yet?  Is it because you just love real estate?  You love it so much that you would do it for free right?  Probably not, but it is a means to an end and for many people including myself. We see it as a quicker, more effective, and more realistic means to an end than other options (ex: our traditional 9 to 5).  But when you say means to and “end”, what is that “end”?  Is that a clearly defined destination for you?

Is it retirement?  If so, what does retirement look like for you?

Is it financial freedom?  If so, what does financial freedom look like for you?

Is it a net worth of a certain amount of money?

Is it a passive income of a certain amount of money each month?

Is it a house on the water, a big boat, lots of nice cars, lots of vacations?

Is it simply Time Freedom – being able to do whatever you want with your time, because your bills are paid, and everything else is taken care of?

Is it a combination of most of the things I’ve listed above? Read More→

If you are a full time investor or just getting started, you may have noticed that inventory is not what it once was. Many real estate investors see this as an issue but as always by finding a win-win situation I found a resolution to their issue. In the last two years my focus has been in buying houses to renovate and resell. Occasionally, I end up having to wholesale due to having more deals than we can purchase. On the other hand, there are investors that have difficulty finding a good deal. As a result, their money is not working for them. It only made sense to find a way to work together.

There has always been a demand for investment real estate properties on classified sites like Craigslist. Everyone has seen the “I Buy Houses Cash” ad but recently there have been ads like “I have plenty of cash for real estate and not enough deals.” I know what you’re thinking, “It’s the same ad but worded differently.” Well, I thought the same thing at first and ignored it. I also thought they were placed by a company/ hard money lender disguised as a private lender. After seeing a few different ads similar to this I decided it was time to do some investigating. A few of the ads were hard money lenders, companies, wholesalers, etc. However, a few were legitimate investors looking for more inventory and they were willing to work together. Of course they preferred to purchase the property and be on their way but I presented an alternative. Read More→

You’ve heard it before, vandals and vacant property thieves have gutted the house of copper and on their way out have taken one of the most valuable system components, the AC unit! Help is on the way! Atlanta REIA welcomes Nancy and Remo Loyal with Steelworks LLC, manufacturer and full service installation provisions for outdoor AC security (anti-theft) cages.

You may have seen steel cages surrounding these AC units before. All the custom steel AC cages from Steelworks are hinged to flip forward to give easy access for service calls or new installs.  Their AC protective cage is comprised of four heavy 16 gauge wire mesh panels and  one inch tubing framework. The cage prices include complete site installation and locks.   

Steelworks offers a wide variety of sizes of cages, the most popular being the standard size of  36 x 40 x 48. Custom sizes can be built for any unit or specification. As needed, Steelworks can also perform on site custom fabrication and any custom metal work that may be needed.  

If you need something quick, their standard size cages can be installed the same day if needed.

Steelworks design LLC is a local family owned and operated business serving the expanded Metro Atlanta area and all of Georgia since 2003. Their offices and production facility is centrally located in Gwinnett County.  For an estimate or more information, call Remo or Nancy at 770-570-6343 or email at nancy@steelworksllc.net. Read More→

It is the goal of this column to answer questions about QuickBooks and how it is used in the REI arena. Know how to record transactions in the proper way and have your set of books in good shape when it comes time for taxes. It is our intention to do this by you the members submitting questions to mailto:Karen@smallbusinessadvisor.biz, and getting answers here in this column.

Q: I have used my business checking/debit card to make a number of purchases that were for me personally and have nothing to do with my business – how can I fix this?

A: You have two choices: You can reimburse the company for those expenses and put them in an account (equity) called Personal Expense and then when you make the deposit you apply that to the same account.  Or you can just leave them in the Equity account and this will become income to you at the end of the year.

Q: I just started to use QuickBooks and when I look at my chart of accounts I found an account called “Opening Balance Equity”. I did not create this account. How did it get there and what is it used for?

A: The account “Opening Balance Equity” is not a General Accounting Practice account; it is an account that is generated by QuickBooks specifically for setting up specific accounts that will have a beginning balance. For instance: bank accounts, credit card accounts, mortgages and several other types of accounts. QuickBooks “assumes” that the brand new user may not know where to put the off-setting entry when setting up a bank account or other type of account with an existing beginning balance. It allows the user to get their accounts set up and begin using QuickBooks. Later, your CPA will come along and re-class those amounts to their proper place in your books. This account should always have a zero balance.  You should never post anything directly to this account. Read More→