How To Invest In Real Estate If You Have Bad Credit

It seems like every time you turn on the television, there's a new home improvement show dedicated to flipping houses and making bank—a popular way to invest in real estate. 

Investing in real estate and turning it for a profit might be tempting. But if your credit score is below 601—the number the credit bureaus mark as the dividing line between “fair” and “bad” credit—you might have a tough time finding funding.

So, is investing in real estate out of the question for someone in that bunch? Not necessarily.

Buying an investment property vs. buying your own home

No matter what you've seen on TV, purchasing real estate as an investor is a lot more complicated than doing so as a homeowner if you are turning to a lender to help finance the deal.

"Those looking to finance the purchase of real estate as an investment—as opposed to a primary residence—can expect a higher interest rate and more stringent lending criteria from lenders before getting a mortgage," explains Bruce Elliott, president of the Orlando Regional REALTOR® Association and a broker associate with Regal R.E. Professionals in Orlando, FL.

Lenders typically require more money down and a better credit score for a real estate investment loan than for an owner-occupied home loan.

"They also look very carefully to ensure that investment home buyers are financially capable of sustaining the mortgage over an extended period of time in the event that the property doesn’t resell, and they even have formulas to calculate for shortages in expected rental income," Elliott explains.

Can you invest in real estate with bad credit?

Unless you have spare cash or a loan from a friend or relative to finance your investment, obtaining a loan will likely be difficult.

That said, there are other options to help you one day become a real estate investor, Elliott says.

• Improve your credit score. Resolve any collection-related issues uncovered by a credit check, and pay down existing balances. And be smart about other investments: Now is not the time to finance additional purchases such as a car or to open additional credit accounts of any type.
• Find a hard money lender.
No, this isn't a back alley deal-maker. Hard money lenders are private individuals or groups who will put up cash for real estate ventures, and they are often more amenable to making a deal with someone who has poor credit. Of course, there will be some drawbacks: "Generally, these lenders will require anywhere from 40% to 60% down to purchase or close outright," Elliott notes.
• Skip putting money down.
It might sound like a pipe dream, but Elliott says this is often the story behind those roadside “home for sale” signs that specify "cash only.” "The investor simply has purchased an option or received permission from a homeowner to try to sell the home," he explains. "The investor makes money either from a back-to-back closing or from payment directly from the ultimate buyer."

If you want to invest in real estate, bad credit can be a stumbling block, but it doesn’t have to derail the whole train.

The Evolution of Home

Your Investment Property Shopping Criteria

It's time to start looking for a property. Before you do you need to define your selection criteria. This section will focus on what your criteria is, why it matters, and how to define it.Imagine that you want to use a new recipe in making your dinner tonight . You take out a cookbook to find a recipe that looks good, discover a great baked chicken meal, and make your shopping list of ingredients in order to make the meal for your family. You head to the store and begin picking up the items on your list. Chicken, basil, olive oil, and other items begin to fill your cart. Suddenly - you see the spaghetti and remember another recipe that you once wanted to try with spaghetti. You begin to reach for the spaghetti but then remember your shopping list. Spaghetti isn't on the list for tonight's dinner, so you put back the distraction and continue on your way home to make a perfect dinner for your family.

Real estate is no different. Your selection criteria list is just like your ingredient list in the example above. It is designed to keep you focused on shopping for the things you need, and not waste money on other good looking things along the way. Real estate is an exciting field with a lot of different niches and strategies - so it is easy to get distracted by the next big thing or trend. Having a clearly defined selection criteria can help you stay focused, avoid "analysis paralysis" and keep you on track to buy a great investment property. By defining your criteria, you will be able to narrow down the choices in the market, and you will then eliminate the vast majority of deals that are only distractions.  Instead, you'll focus on finding just the kind of deals that you are interested in buying.

Creating Your Selection Criteria

In chapter three, we looked at a number of different niches you could invest in, as well as multiple strategies you can use to invest. It's now time to choose the niche and strategy and come up with a list of criteria to narrow down your selection further.
There are a number of different items you will want to consider to add to your "criteria list." These could include:

• Neighborhood
• Property Size (Square Ft)
• Lot Size
• Property Conditions
• Number of Units
• Cap Rate
• Cashflow
• Appreciation Potential

No one can tell you exactly what your investment property criteria should or should not include. Some of it will come down to personal preference, such as "I only want to buy in Seattle" or "I only want houses with basements," but most of your chosen criteria will revolve around the kind of investment you are getting into. For example, if you are looking to become a "buy and hold" investor of small multifamily units, your criteria is going to include small multifamily properties and will exclude old commercial buildings.
By specifying, ahead of time, what criteria you are willing to look at, your search becomes much more manageable. In the same way, you are able to more effectively communicate your desires to others who may help you buy property. If you simply told people "I am looking for real estate," the most likely response would be "good for you..." However, if you instead mentioned that you were looking "to buy a small single family house in the Rockford neighborhood for under $150,000," you enable others to think of properties that might match that description and get you connected with the deal.

Understanding "The Rules" of Investment Property

Perhaps the most important part of the criteria you put together is the financial component. If a deal doesn't make sense financially, it's not going to be a strong investment for you. In chapter two we looked at some of the basic math surrounding real estate investing, such as income, cashflow, and return on investment. However, generally speaking, a listing is not going to tell you the important information you want to know about the financials of a property. Yes, you can generally determine the amount of income the property makes - but you won't know immediately how much monthly cashflow the property produces, how overpriced the property is, or what you should offer. Additionally - it's not going to make sense to get out your spreadsheet and do a full property evaluation on every single deal you glance at. This is when "rules" come into play.
A "rule" is short for "rule of thumb." Rules can help give you a quick way to evaluate a property's financials on the fly. As with any "rule of thumb" using rules is not an exact science and should never be relied on entirely to decide if a property is a good investment. However - they can help you quickly filter a property and decide if it's worth further evaluation. Let's take a look at a few of these rules:

The 2% rule states that your monthly rent should be approximately 2% of the purchase price. 

In other words, a $100,000 home should rent for $2,000 per month; a $50,000 home should rent for $1,000 per month. This is a very conservative estimate that is very simplistic but can help in deciding if a property warrants a deeper look. In most parts of the country, the 2% is very difficult to achieve, but the closer you can get to that, the better cashflow you'll receive.
Real World Example: An average three bedroom home rents for $800 per month in your neighborhood. According to the 2% rule - you should be looking to spend around $40,000 for that property ($800 / .02 = $40,000)

The 50% rule is a great rule-of-thumb that helps you to fairly-accurately predict how much your expenses are going to cost you each month for a property. 

The 50% rule simply states that 50% of your income will be spent on expenses -- not including the mortgage payment. 

As mentioned above - most real estate listings will let you know what the monthly income of a property is. By dividing that number in half, you are able to easily see how much you'll have left to pay the monthly mortgage (principle and interest). Any income left over, after the 50% of expenses and the mortgage payment are taken out, is your cashflow. The 50% of expenses includes all expenses, including repairs, vacancies, utilities, taxes, insurance, management, turnover costs, and the occasional "big ticket" repairs that must be saved up for -- aka. CapEx or Capital Expenses like roofs, parking lots, furnaces.
Real World Example: An apartment building brings in $8,000 per month in income. Using the 50% rule, we are left with $4,000 to make the mortgage payment. If the monthly mortgage payment on the property was $3,500 per month, you can reasonably assume a monthly cashflow of $500 per month.
The 50% rule is especially helpful in teaching that expenses are almost always more than one might think. One common mistake that new investors make is under-estimating how much the expenses are going to cost. The 50% rule helps to show that there are always costs that are unexpected, so plan for them.

The 70% rule is used by investors to quickly determine the maximum price one should pay for a property based on the after repair value (ARV). Though most-often used by house flippers, the 70% rule can actually be used for any strategy when you want to find a good deal. 

The 70% rule says that you should only pay 70% of what the after repair value is, less the repair costs.


Real World Example: A home which, after being fixed up, should sell for approximately $200,000, needs approximately $35,000 worth of work. Using the 70% rule, a person should multiply $200,000 by 70% to get $140,000 - and then subtract the $35,000 in repairs. The most a person should pay for this property, therefore, should be $105,000.
Remember, a rule of thumb like the ones above are used only to quickly and efficiently screen a property and decide if it's worth further investigation. Never use a "rule of thumb" to decide exactly how much to pay or if you should invest or not. If a property passes the above rules (or gets close) it may be worth a more detailed analysis on paper or via a computer spreadsheet. Don't confuse a rule of thumb for a license to skip doing your homework.

How often are homes sold above asking price?

HOMES ARE SELLING FAST!

4 Types Of Home Renovation: Which Ones Boost Value?

"Fix it and flip it" is a phrase often associated with real estate investing. The idea behind the concept is that the completion of a few choice remodeling projects will add significant value to the price of a home. 

With this in mind, many homeowners undertake major renovation projects before putting their homes up for sale with the idea that sprucing up the place will result in big bucks. More often than not, these upgrades fail to pay for themselves. Read on to find out how to renovate strategically and which renovations really add value to your property.

The Difference between Investors and OwnersUpdating an investment property is generally a sound strategy because successful advocates of the fix-it-and-flip-it philosophy buy run-down homes at bargain prices and save money on the repairs by doing most of the work themselves. A little sweat equity goes a long way toward making a real estate investment profitable.Investors carefully choose their remodeling projects, focusing on those that will result in the most value for the least amount of effort and cost. Part of the process includes paying attention to the other homes in the neighborhood to avoid over-improving the property. If none of the other houses in the area have crown moldings and Corian counter tops, adding these amenities is unlikely to result in a significantly higher selling price.

Owners, on the other hand, often take a less strategic approach to remodeling when sprucing up their homes prior to putting them on the market. As a result, they can end up putting significantly more money into the project than they will get back out of it when they sell.

To make the most of your remodeling projects, it pays to keep four types of projects in mind : basics, curb appeal, value added and personal preference.

The BasicsThe basic are the things that buyers expect when they purchase a home. This includes a roof that doesn't leak, functioning gutters and downspouts, a dry basement, a good furnace, solid floors, walls that are in good repair, retaining walls that work and all of the other common-sense items that you expect to find in a home.

In upscale properties, this includes air conditioning, a certain number of bedrooms, bathrooms and garages, and any other amenities that are common to the neighborhood, such as a swimming pool.

Adding these items to a home that lacks them doesn't add value, it merely brings the property up to the standard level of the rest of the homes in the area. Money spent on these items is unlikely to be fully recovered, but should at least result in ensuring that the home sells for a price that is comparable to other homes in the area.

Curb AppealItems that add curb appeal help the property to look good when prospective buyers arrive. While these projects may not add a considerable amount of monetary value, they will help the place sell faster. Curb appeal items include a nice green lawn, attractive landscaping, fresh paint inside and out, new carpet and new appliances. If you know that a prospective buyer is due to arrive at a certain time, baking an apple pie just before the arrival is an easy way to set the stage, make your house smell good and create a warm, inviting atmosphere. 

Adds ValueThe projects that add considerable value are big favorites of fix-it-and-flip it advocates. While most of these efforts will not recoup their costs, some will come close. Projects that offer the most bang for the buck include new siding, kitchen remodeling, bathroom remodeling, new windows, decks and the addition of living space. The National Association of Realtors cites siding, kitchens and windows as some of the most beneficial projects, often recouping 80% or more of their costs during resale.

Personal PreferencePersonal preference projects are nifty items that you want but that other people may not like or be willing to pay to get. In most areas of the country, these include amenities such as swimming pools, tennis courts, hot tubs, wine cellars, basement game rooms and ponds. There's certainly no harm in adding these items to your house, but don't expect potential buyers to be willing to pay a premium to get them when you are ready to sell.

House and HomeRegardless of the project that you are considering, remember that your primary residence is not just a house, it's your home. If you plan to live there for many years to come, add amenities that you want to have regardless of their impact on resale. When it's time to sell, do the basics to get the property up to par for the neighborhood and add some curb appeal, but don't bother undertaking an extensive array of projects strictly in an effort to increase the value of the property. Even with the projects that are known to add value, the chances are good that you will spend far more money than you will get back in return.

Site of former department store in Beverly Hills on market again

One of the most desirable pieces of real estate in the country — the site of a former department store in Beverly Hills — is on the market again.

Unlike other commercial properties across Southern California that have seen major long-stalled developments finally get underway in the last few years, this one has been a struggle. Once home to an upscale Robinsons-May store, the property has seen multiple owners who have so far been unable to bring a condominium complex designed by a famous architect to life.
Fortunes have been won and lost in the process, however, and vast sums are again on the line.
Joint Treasure International, a Hong Kong private equity firm, bought the 8-acre parcel near the intersection of Wilshire and Santa Monica boulevards in 2010 for $148 million. The firm had said it would complete an existing plan to build 235 condos on the property at 9900 Wilshire Blvd.
The 62-year-old building, which stands across Merv Griffin Way from the Beverly Hilton Hotel, has been unoccupied for nearly a decade. In a separate development, the owner of the hotel announced this month that he will start work soon on a Waldorf Astoria hotel that will rise next to the Hilton.
Representatives of Joint Treasure could not be reached to explain why they want to sell the Robinsons-May property or how much they hope to get for it. Real estate experts familiar with the Beverly Hills market think that the property is worth more than twice what Joint Treasure paid for it, perhaps in the mid-$300-million range.
Developers have found it challenging in recent years to find lenders willing to fund condo projects. Even though the housing market has been recovering, condo prices are still a bit low to justify new construction in most neighborhoods.
Beverly Hills, with its international cachet, is different, real estate broker Laurie Lustig-Bower said. "We are severely under-supplied for high-end condos in Beverly Hills," she said. Condos in the nearby Montage have sold for more than $10 million.
Lustig-Bower's international property brokerage, CBRE Group Inc., is marketing the property with Savills, a London real estate services firm.
"We think there is a high probability the new owner will be from overseas," Lustig-Bower said. Investors from Europe, the Middle East and especially Asia are likely buyers, she said.
The top selling point of the property is that previous owners successfully navigated Beverly Hills' arduous city planning process and secured approvals to build a condo complex designed by Richard Meier, architect of the Getty Center.
"Upon transfer of ownership, the incoming buyer will leverage the value already created and be able to immediately commence construction — a truly rare circumstance in the highly regulated and supply-constrained city of Beverly Hills," the selling brokers said in a statement.
Meier's design includes underground parking for 876 cars and nearly 21,000 square feet of shops and restaurants.
Condominiums at 9900 Wilshire could be sold to buyers from around the world, many of whom would probably have residences in other cities as well.
"I think we'll see a lot of local interest too," Lustig-Bower said.
Joint Treasure bought the property in 2010 in a private auction from Banco Inbursa, a bank controlled by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim. The bank took possession of the property that year after completing foreclosure proceedings against CPC Group, which was operated by jet-setting British developers Nicholas and Christian Candy.
The Candys made headlines in 2007 when they bought the parcel for $500 million in one of the largest transactions in the history of Los Angeles County. The seller, New Pacific Realty Corp. in Beverly Hills, paid $33.5 million for the property three years earlier.
New Pacific created the plan that called for razing the empty department store and building a $500-million, ultra-luxury condominium and retail complex designed by Meier. Joint Treasure said it would follow through with the same basic plan but never started construction.
Beverly Hills is experiencing a surge in investment, said real estate broker Jay Luchs of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank. Rodeo Drive is fully leased for the first time in years, and nearby Beverly Drive is attracting more top-end national and international fashion retailers.
"Owners of these companies want to buy houses here," he said "Their CEOs and important people want to be here."
The growing commercial property demand has helped raise residential prices, Luchs said.
"Everything changed over last five or seven years — $5 million is nothing now," he said. "The best homes are $15 million to $20 million or more."

March Newsletter

November Newsletter

 

 

Your Investment Property Shopping Criteria

It's time to start looking for a property. Before you do you need to define your selection criteria. This section will focus on what your criteria is, why it matters, and how to define it.
Imagine that you want to use a new recipe in making your dinner tonight . You take out a cookbook to find a recipe that looks good, discover a great baked chicken meal, and make your shopping list of ingredients in order to make the meal for your family. You head to the store and begin picking up the items on your list. Chicken, basil, olive oil, and other items begin to fill your cart. Suddenly - you see the spaghetti and remember another recipe that you once wanted to try with spaghetti. You begin to reach for the spaghetti but then remember your shopping list. Spaghetti isn't on the list for tonight's dinner, so you put back the distraction and continue on your way home to make a perfect dinner for your family.
Real estate is no different. Your selection criteria list is just like your ingredient list in the example above. It is designed to keep you focused on shopping for the things you need, and not waste money on other good looking things along the way. Real estate is an exciting field with a lot of different niches and strategies - so it is easy to get distracted by the next big thing or trend. Having a clearly defined selection criteria can help you stay focused, avoid "analysis paralysis" and keep you on track to buy a great investment property. By defining your criteria, you will be able to narrow down the choices in the market, and you will then eliminate the vast majority of deals that are only distractions. Instead, you'll focus on finding just the kind of deals that you are interested in buying.

Creating Your Selection Criteria

In chapter three, we looked at a number of different niches you could invest in, as well as multiple strategies you can use to invest. It's now time to choose the niche and strategy and come up with a list of criteria to narrow down your selection further.
There are a number of different items you will want to consider to add to your "criteria list." These could include:

• Town
• Neighborhood
• Property Size (Square Ft)
• Lot Size
• Property Conditions
• Number of Units
• Cap Rate
• Cashflow
• Appreciation Potential

No one can tell you exactly what your investment property criteria should or should not include. Some of it will come down to personal preference, such as "I only want to buy in Seattle" or "I only want houses with basements," but most of your chosen criteria will revolve around the kind of investment you are getting into. For example, if you are looking to become a "buy and hold" investor of small multifamily units, your criteria is going to include small multifamily properties and will exclude old commercial buildings.
By specifying, ahead of time, what criteria you are willing to look at, your search becomes much more manageable. In the same way, you are able to more effectively communicate your desires to others who may help you buy property. If you simply told people "I am looking for real estate," the most likely response would be "good for you..." However, if you instead mentioned that you were looking "to buy a small single family house in the Rockford neighborhood for under $150,000," you enable others to think of properties that might match that description and get you connected with the deal.

Understanding "The Rules" of Investment Property

Perhaps the most important part of the criteria you put together is the financial component. If a deal doesn't make sense financially, it's not going to be a strong investment for you. In chapter two we looked at some of the basic math surrounding real estate investing, such as income, cashflow, and return on investment. However, generally speaking, a listing is not going to tell you the important information you want to know about the financials of a property. Yes, you can generally determine the amount of income the property makes - but you won't know immediately how much monthly cashflow the property produces, how overpriced the property is, or what you should offer. Additionally - it's not going to make sense to get out your spreadsheet and do a full property evaluation on every single deal you glance at. This is when "rules" come into play.
A "rule" is short for "rule of thumb." Rules can help give you a quick way to evaluate a property's financials on the fly. As with any "rule of thumb" using rules is not an exact science and should never be relied on entirely to decide if a property is a good investment. However - they can help you quickly filter a property and decide if it's worth further evaluation. Let's take a look at a few of these rules:

The 2% rule states that your monthly rent should be approximately 2% of the purchase price. In other words, a $100,000 home should rent for $2,000 per month; a $50,000 home should rent for $1,000 per month. This is a very conservative estimate that is very simplistic but can help in deciding if a property warrants a deeper look. In most parts of the country, the 2% is very difficult to achieve, but the closer you can get to that, the better cashflow you'll receive.
Real World Example: An average three bedroom home rents for $800 per month in your neighborhood. According to the 2% rule - you should be looking to spend around $40,000 for that property ($800 / .02 = $40,000)

The 50% rule is a great rule-of-thumb that helps you to fairly-accurately predict how much your expenses are going to cost you each month for a property. The 50% rule simply states that 50% of your income will be spent on expenses -- not including the mortgage payment. As mentioned above - most real estate listings will let you know what the monthly income of a property is. By dividing that number in half, you are able to easily see how much you'll have left to pay the monthly mortgage (principle and interest). Any income left over, after the 50% of expenses and the mortgage payment are taken out, is your cashflow. The 50% of expenses includes all expenses, including repairs, vacancies, utilities, taxes, insurance, management, turnover costs, and the occasional "big ticket" repairs that must be saved up for -- aka. CapEx or Capital Expenses like roofs, parking lots, furnaces.
Real World Example: An apartment building brings in $8,000 per month in income. Using the 50% rule, we are left with $4,000 to make the mortgage payment. If the monthly mortgage payment on the property was $3,500 per month, you can reasonably assume a monthly cashflow of $500 per month.
The 50% rule is especially helpful in teaching that expenses are almost always more than one might think. One common mistake that new investors make is under-estimating how much the expenses are going to cost. The 50% rule helps to show that there are always costs that are unexpected, so plan for them.

The 70% rule is used by investors to quickly determine the maximum price one should pay for a property based on the after repair value (ARV). Though most-often used by house flippers, the 70% rule can actually be used for any strategy when you want to find a good deal. The 70% rule says that you should only pay 70% of what the after repair value is, less the repair costs.
Real World Example: A home which, after being fixed up, should sell for approximately $200,000, needs approximately $35,000 worth of work. Using the 70% rule, a person should multiply $200,000 by 70% to get $140,000 - and then subtract the $35,000 in repairs. The most a person should pay for this property, therefore, should be $105,000.
Remember, a rule of thumb like the ones above are used only to quickly and efficiently screen a property and decide if it's worth further investigation. Never use a "rule of thumb" to decide exactly how much to pay or if you should invest or not. If a property passes the above rules (or gets close) it may be worth a more detailed analysis on paper or via a computer spreadsheet. Don't confuse a rule of thumb for a license to skip doing your homework.