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The idea of home renovation as a do-it-yourself sounds intimidating. Re-construction is an exact procedure as actual construction, cutting corners and sub-standard materials always spell disaster in the long run.

As an experienced contractor, here are some tips about home renovation.

Renovating a home can be a mind boggling project and there are no hard and fast rules on how to go about renovating a home properly. Rewire first, then fix the plumbing, or fix the plumbing first and then rewire? Assuming that both are in equal shape, there is no hard and fast answer of what should be done first, but here is a checklist to get you started, especially if this is your first home renovation project.

Firstly, ensure that the home is structurally sound. Make sure that the foundation is solid, the walls are stable, the floors support significant weight, the roof and the windows will not leak, the insulation is sufficient, and the siding is protecting the home from the elements. If any of these things need work, start there. It would be a shame to have created a beautiful home only to have it destroyed by water damage or to collapse under its own weight.

Secondly, check the utilities and how they are performing in the home. Replace damaged ducting, damaged or malfunctioning air conditioning and heating, old or faulty wiring or plumbing. These areas are easily updated while the walls are open, and will avoid damaging the work you are about to undertake.

After defining the type of property you would want to invest in, the next thing to do is look for the right real estate property.

There are 2 ways to do this, you can either find a real estate agent who understands investment real estate or do the research yourself and find those properties on your own. Finding the right real estate agent is probably the easiest, but there is no reason why you cannot save a few dollars, do the research and the work yourself. Doing it yourself is a bit more time consuming and a bit of networking is involved, once those contacts have been made (with a bit of maintenance), they are there for a lifetime.

Depending on your goals and the property purchased, you are either going to rent out the space purchased or place it back on the market to sell at a higher price. If renting it out, advertising and showing the spaces is necessary, along with rental agreements. If you are inexperienced in this area, hiring a real estate management company may be necessary until you learn the ropes, or you can depend on your contacts within the real estate industry to give you the right direction. Either way, you are going to need a real estate attorney that specializes in commercial real estate to finalize any deal; the original purchase, renting, and or resale of the property.

Today’s real estate market may not seem like a good idea to start buying up commercial properties, but when a fundamental principle of business is applied, buy low and sell high, this is the perfect time to put money into properties. Property values all over are at a low, and all those properties are just waiting to be snapped up and turned from a weight around the seller’s neck, into a jewel on your crown. Let me tell you how it’s done.

First define the type of property you are looking for. Different properties are going to be “hot” in different areas, depending on the type of growth areas they are going through. When you do research on these trends and find which properties are desired, this will give you leverage. When doing research, make lists of the different attributes being sought out, in your area: office or retail, vacant or rented, and of course, the location.

This is the third helping on how you can raise real estate funds through private investors.

Why would a Private Lender want to invest with you?
Private lenders have many benefits, when they lend money as a private investor.
1) Flexibility – They get to negotiate their own rules and loan terms, giving them the flexibility they want in the investment.
2) Higher Return – They can demand higher interest rates and return on investment, due to the demand and timing requirements, which they can meet differently than large institutional lenders.
3) Fixed Income – Most transactions of this nature result in fixed mortgages, which are attractive when stocks are volatile.
4) Security – Loan and/or mortgage is secured by real estate.
5) Tangibility – Investment is tangible, limited liability and requires minimal effort.
When you consider the benefits private investors have, compared to rigidly structured investments, they choose an investment in real estate. Your services provide them with a hands-off investment with flexibility, higher rate of return and secured by real estate. With these factors, you are easily recognized as a legitimate vehicle to earn money.
What are the sources of private lending?
1) Personal Savings – people have long term savings tucked away and not working for them.
2) Home Equity Lines – money borrowed at 5% and earning 15% gives investors a unique opportunity to use credit to gain return. Remember the 50% of all real estate is free and clear.
3) Self-directed retirement accounts – this is a huge source most retirees are losing money on their IRA’s. There are companies that will facilitate this process for you.
4) Groups of partners – many professionals form groups such as Doctors and Lawyers to invest in real estate.
What is the market for Private Lenders?
There is a great demand for private money especially, in today’s market and surprisingly enough, there are numerous private lenders looking for safe secured investment, collateralized by real estate. It has become so popular, you are now seeing private lending, where groups of people have partnered to lend money or in some events, wealthy families provide full-time private funding services. In these cases, it is a full time business, lending money, similar to the bank, with the benefits outlined herein.

Should I establish term of the money?
As we discussed in Lesson 5, when you establish your investment criteria, you will also establish the rate of return estimated for your investor. Along with these criteria, the investor wants to know the term of loan, payment terms and marketing information to support the investment. There will also be first and second mortgages, loans for repairs and possibly other needs for funding. Therefore, you should establish a basis of return for each of these scenarios, because in some cases, savvy private lenders will play with the rates. Typically a 2nd mortgage pays a higher return on investment due to less security. Short term loans may have a higher rate of return due to length of the period. If the property is fully leveraged at 100% they may require a higher interest rate. When you have a basis for these types of lending, the private lender will see that you have attempted to organize and streamline the returns and would prefer not to negotiate, however you must always be open to negotiations. Your goal is to get the money.
What do private investors look for?
1) Experience – the private investor would like to see a seasoned support “Dream Team”.
2) References – have a reference list of people like me help you bridge the gap if it’s your first deal.
3) Adequate Information to Make a Decision – provide an executive summary of the key elements of the investment such as investment, term, interest rate and ownership interest.
4) Profitable Investments – be sure that your investment presentation is attractive, meets your criteria and profits for the investors.
This is where you put on your game face and make it happen. Investors like to see organization and structure. Your executive summary must outline the investment and nature of the project. You should include a brief market and demographic paragraph, duration of investment and financial summary that indicates cash-on-cash return, equity required and total investment. This will most likely answer 90% of all major questions, which will allow the investor the ability to focus on confirming information and performing due diligence on market concerns.
Understanding the documentation
It is typically an open-end mortgage, where you pay profits based on each investment for this individual, while you keep their equity at work. The concept is to roll-over the equity after the conclusion of each investment term, after satisfaction to your investor with fixed income and profits. Once this cycle is accomplished you repeat it over and over again. It’s that easy!
Here are two documents that will save you over $5,000 dollars in time and money. These two simple documents allow you to borrow money secured by real estate. The last piece is the operating agreement for the Limited Liability Company which was given to you in the bonuses. You will form an LLC for each investment to minimize liability. It also protects other investments, when you structure each deal separately. If you have any questions, please send them to me by email. The first document is the mortgage agreement which outlines all the specifics.
A) Commercial Mortgage Agreement

This document reinforces the mortgage with a promissory note.
B) Commercial Note

Conclusion
Private lending is easy. You simply have to ask for the order. The principles outlined herein apply to all of the methods of private lending, which will be broken down for you in future lessons. If you want to accelerate please give us a call. Whether you are seeking individuals, forming a partnership or leaning towards securitized investments in the form of private placement memorandums, all of the principles apply across the board. Take the time to implement this process into your daily life, because having private lenders in real estate investing, is the key to success.

Wisdom and wealth are what you truly want in your life and the ability to contribute to others, with either money or knowledge. The ability to invest in real estate and to earn a boat load of money, gives you this opportunity to help the big picture. Consider yourself a leader who can provide the vehicle to wisdom and wealth. This is your chance to make a difference in the world.
“Your Financial Future is Based on The Decisions You Make Today!”

This week I want to give you some of the basics to private lending, focusing on one-on-one relationships, so we can begin to build your foundation of fund raising techniques which will apply for each method described above. Remember, it only takes one investor to set you free.

What is Private Lending?
Private lending refers to a transaction whereby the party that invests the money is an individual or company and is not your typical institutional lender, such as a bank or insurance company. It is basically a loan secured by the real estate. Just like a car loan or a home mortgage only private.
Like a bank, private lenders are prepared to invest with you, after you have found a property, negotiated the price and have put the property under contract. Identical to banks, a private lender must agree to the terms of the money which include loan amount, term, interest and payment terms. Once agreed upon, they will place the investment funds in an escrow account in preparation for the closing. At the closing, the private lender will receive a mortgage security and a document that outlines the terms of the loan, which is secured by the real estate.
What are the advantages of using a Private Lender?
1) Private lenders can move more quickly – most private loans can close much quicker than a bank or institutional investor.
2) Private lenders have no hidden fees – private loans are typically clear cut fixed interest rate, no application fees or points.
3) Private lenders like fixed rate loans – when other investment vehicles are challenged such as the stock market, private investors enjoy the fixed income.
4) Private lenders can fund 100% of purchase price – no banks are going to lend you 100% in today’s market. Loan-to-value is as high as 50%.
5) Private lenders will not run credit checks – there is no board approval, credit scores or nerve racking nights, awaiting the response.
6) Private lenders are much more flexible – once you have established a relationship, private investors are flexible to meet your needs because they see the profit potential.
7) Private lenders don’t require massive paperwork – they are only interested in the recorded mortgage and payments on time.
Bottom line, getting a private investor saves you time and effort, considering the stressful wait one goes through when borrowing from the bank.

Starting out in real estate isn’t only having the eye to spot real estate properties that are worthy investments, you must have extra money to finance the purchase. You need fund raising techniques to be a success in real estate.
For starters, ask yourself these questions:
1) Are you willing to share the wealth?

2) Would you like another source of income?

3) How would you invest unlimited funds from Private Lenders?
If you answered YES to any of the three (3) questions, then now is the time to think about your ability to become a master fund raiser in real estate. Imagine if you could provide high yield returns to investors, throughout the country? What would you do if you were the go to person, for a secured real estate investment? This is why I want to teach you, how I’ve succeeded raising unlimited funds.
Once you have established your deal criteria, it will dictate the range of percentage return; you can market to your investors. Your ability to offer opportunities to investors, by giving them a share of the wealth, will bring you many prosperous real estate investments. It will also enable you to earn fees for managing the funds and the business.
Typical fees to raise money are 2-5%, 2-3%, to manage business and 5-10% additional fees, to manage the investment, development and/or construction. The fees add up quickly and this does not include your net profits. Managing money can be a very lucrative business when you break it down in this fashion.

Types of Private Lending
There are a few private lending methods we’ll discuss in our funding lessons, which will include:
1. One-on-One Private Lending
2. Group Investments in LLC
3. Private Placement Memorandums
Next week, I want to give you some of the basics to private lending, focusing on one-on-one relationships, so we can begin to build your foundation of fund raising techniques, which will apply for each method described above. Remember, it only takes one investor to set you free.

Let me share  7 Steps to help you with your new beginning. There are many different ways in which you can become your own personal phoenix, rising from the ashes of past failures and defeats creating a new life out of the old.

Applying these practices now, will not only create this new beginning, but also serve as a blueprint for a set of destiny changing habits, that can help you develop and realize the life you dream, desire and deserve.

Charles Reade once said, “Sow an act and you reap a habit. Sow a Habit and you reap a character. Sow a character and you reap a destiny.

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Investors typically choose real estate for a number of reasons: cash flow, appreciation, tax benefits, and leverage. A real estate investor holds property for personal or commercial investment reasons. This differs from real estate dealer who holds property primarily for resale to potential clients. An active investor typically buys a property and then makes repairs or improvements with the intention of selling the property for a profit. A passive investor usually hires an investing firm to find and manage potential profitable opportunities, and is not actively involved in any improvements or negotiations related to the property. Unlike a professional realtor who has to pass a series of exams and be licensed by local and state agencies, an investor simply needs capital and confidence.

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With the steady appreciation of property values, the tax benefits, and the possibility of huge profit margins thousands of individuals are searching for ways to enter the investment business. While investing requires no prior experience or special certification, it is advisable to learn the basics before you begin your new career. There are several ways to gain this knowledge, including books, online guides, and group presentations. However, the easiest and most thorough method to learn the ins and outs is to attend real estate investing classes. These classes can be found at a local technical or community college, through a specially developed series, or by accessing online programs. All choices offer the same basic knowledge. Therefore, it is a simple matter of deciding which option suits your needs and schedule.

Technical colleges are great places to find real estate investing classes. They cater to non-traditional students (such as retirees, returning students, and those looking to gain further training) and offer diverse classes and flexible class schedules. With the popularity of real estate investing increasing, many colleges are beginning to offer training classes. These are led by experienced investors or former banking employees, and are usually held in the evening. This means that you can attend these classes without affecting your current employment schedule. To find out whether your local college provides these opportunities, simply contact their admissions office. They will be able to provide you with a class schedule and current tuition rates. Typical tuition rates are traditionally paid on a per credit hour basis and can vary for fifty to one hundred dollars.

If you do not have access to a community college or the college does not provide real estate investing classes, then you may turn to an online program. With the advent of the internet and the increasing capabilities of personal computers, web sites abound that offer investment training. This method is even more flexible than attending classes at a college. Therefore, you can access the website twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. While there is usually an upfront cost associated with these online databases, this method should be less expensive than attending live classes. Be cautious of sites that boast of easy money or earning guarantees as these may simply be schemes to gather your personal information and money.

If you live in a larger city or metropolitan area, you may be able to find an individual offering group lectures. These group lectures are usually held in large auditoriums and can have thousands of people attending. They are usually led by an experienced investor who is trying to illustrate how easy it is make money through real estate transactions. While impersonal and volume oriented, these lectures can be a great substitution for institutional classes. They are usually open and free to the public. However, lecturers often offer additional materials and video recordings of the current and previous lectures for a small fee.

With the increase in popularity of real estate investing, a number of options have become available to learn the ins and outs. From community colleges to online programs, classes abound and are easy to find.

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