There has been a lot of talk about where you can get a better Real Estate Deal.  I think a more important question is where in the heck to you get a good Real Estate Agent?

My dad always used to say that in life you need three things:

• GOD
• A Good Doctor
• A Good Attorney

I would add a good Realtor as well.  Not that we are as educated or qualified as any one of those three.  But I would say that being able to use another’s money(the banks) to purchase an item that will gain value, more so than typical earning ability, that is something that we want to keep an eye on and have someone that is sharp representing us.  Sharp, not like a spoon, but like a Samurai sword that has a blade that has been folded over 300 times, sharp.

When you are purchasing Real Estate, you might be doing it for the Tax break that is important no doubt.  But in the long run what is going to happen?  You will be making money.

Just ask you parents what they paid for their home.  Mine paid $7,000.00.  Today it is only work $75,000, but that is in a small town in the Mid West.  I have heard of some of the homes in Southern California selling for the low teens.  Today the owners have to bear the burden of that property being worth over 1 million dollars.  Even today in this depressed Real Estate market. 

Not such a bad return.  Even when the market was very hot recently - we saw housing prices increase thousands of dollars a month.

You now have a chance to buy near the bottom of the market.  Interest rates are low and the house prices are on the decline.  That will leave you in a fantastic position, one that will not return for several years.  So you might want to take advantage of that.

With all my best - CONNOR MacIVOR - The Realtor that keeps you at the center. 

Let me do the hunting.  Let me set you up with a search for properties that would make good investments.  Let me work the numbers and speak with you about properties that cash flow themselves.  We are members of 4 boards of Realtors - I am sure we can find something in one of those databases that does that very thing.  Make you money.  My Best…. 

Have you ever wondered if you have the essential elements in the "flipping houses" game?  What does it take and what do you need to know.  Is there some guy with a sports coat covered with questions marks that has the answers?  Well Paris and I and the 911 Team have put together some tid bits of information that might help you with your quest.  Call if you have any questions and want a one on one presentation.  Also you can register for our Real Estate Investment Seminars coming to a local venue near you - www.REIS911.com - Real Estate Investment Seminars - By THE 911 TEAM 

Most real estate investment gurus will tell you that “Anybody can do it.” “Anybody can flip houses and earn a hundred thousand dollars in their spare time, buying, fixing, and selling run-down homes.” Well, that’s not exactly true. If it were as easy as these gurus claim it is, everyone would be doing it. Unfortunately, the sheer number of people who have tried to become wealthy real estate investors and have failed proves that not everybody has what it takes to succeed.

The following list describes the most basic qualifications you need to get started:

•           Nights (or days if you work the night shift) and weekends off: Flipping houses is like moonlighting at another job. Part-time flippers, often called weekend warriors, can succeed as long as they are committed to treating flipping as another job.  This is great for Fire Fighters and Police, Deputy Sheriff’s with the compressed work schedules.

•           Financial stability: You should be paying all of your bills on time, including the mortgage on your primary residence, before you consider taking on another financial burden. Don’t look at flipping as a way to solve your financial difficulties – you may end up digging yourself into a deeper hole.

•           Energy: Couch potatoes need not apply. You need plenty of energy to work on a home while fulfilling the responsibilities of your day job.

•           Ability to function in a crisis: Flipping a house is more complicated than it seems and always more of a challenge than it looks on TV. If you commonly feel overwhelmed already, taking on another burden may not be prudent.

•           Organizational expertise: With flipping houses, time is money, so you need to execute the flip as quickly as possible. This requires an organized mind. You have to act as contractor to make sure all materials are delivered on schedule and that your subcontractors aren’t tripping over one another.

•           Basic math skills: To be relatively certain that you will earn a profit, you need to be able to crunch some numbers. Overestimate expenses and underestimate profits to give yourself a safety buffer.

•           A supportive family: If you’re married, make sure your spouse supports this new venture. Otherwise, you will not only be fighting the world to flip houses for a profit, but you will also be fighting your partner. This often leads to failure both with the new venture and with the relationship.

You may notice that some skills have been omitted from the list, such as the ability to rehab a home or the ability to list and sell the home yourself. You do not need to have all the skills required to flip a home yourself. However, you do need to be able to fill the gaps with people who have the essential skills. For example, if you are not very good at estimating the costs of repairs, you may want to hire a contractor or professional home inspector who is aware of repair costs to inspect the home and provide you with detailed estimates. A real estate agent can often be indispensable in assisting you in determining how much to pay for a property and how much you can eventually sell it for.

Although many people who flip houses fly solo, you do not have to take that approach. In fact, you can often flip more homes and do a better job of it by building a team, complete with an agent, home inspector, mortgage broker, attorney, and handyman/contractor. This approach is particularly beneficial for those who are just learning the ropes.

Ralph R. Roberts, GRI, CRS is an experienced real estate investor and consultant and the author of Flipping Houses For Dummies (John Wiley & Sons).

There are great opportunities that present themselves with every kind of Real Estate market imaginable.  We are definitely knee deep in a buyers market with sellers becoming the Banks hand over fist.  But in a reversed market, there were still huge opportunities for the "house flippers".  The 911 Team has helped several groups of professionals do this very thing and we know what to look for and where you need to have your numbers fall to make it worth your while and time.  Lenders and other professionals we have as well.  We do watch all parts of the process. 

Check out www.MoreThanForeclosures.com to get on our database so you can view all of the Distressed "on market" listings from one of the four boards of Realtors we are members of.  We have it down to a science now and please be patient, I am the only one that sees your information and that is the case until I move along to the next life..LOL - But I will get you the information you are requesting in a few days - I promise - CONNOR with HONOR - For an unlocked search engine to check on your own go to www.SearchRE911.com, then you can take the location of the property and its address and go to www.HomeValue911.com and punch that data into the corresponding widget.  It takes about 30 minutes for the report to generate, but after that you will have a lot of good information straight and hot from the server.

To flip or not to flip.  Is this something that is illegal?  Not if all parties are aware of what your intension’s are.  No double escrows or straw buyers - Keep it Straight.

As you probably have seen from the Current Real Estate market, it leaves you with a lot being desired.  Since the fall of the largest sub-prime lender back in early 2007, the market has been on a steady decline from it’s Past HIGH state.  The Real Estate market has started and continues to build in the amounts of foreclosures, short sales and other distressed properties including Notice of Defaults being filed.  We have several options when it comes to working the distressed properties.  Whether in the Santa Clarita Valley, Antelope Valley, San Fernando Valley, Ventura County, or the areas surrounding and including Los Angeles -I have put together some Virtual gateways to assist you on your quest - Check out www.REOTool.com and see what I have put together.  I think you will be happy with the result of this self-generating - self-updating list of Foreclosures and Short Sales in the aforementioned areas.  On to the information about Flipping houses - Santa Clarita Valley and Beyond.

During the housing boom, flipping houses was almost a national pastime. Shows like Flip This House, Flipping Out, and Flip That House attracted huge viewing audiences, and nearly every book in Amazon’s real estate top sellers category had the word “flipping” in its title.

If you mention house flipping to a real estate or law enforcement professional, however, they are more likely to think that you are talking about committing a crime. To them, the word “flip” is a nasty four-letter word. HUD (the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development) declared it so when it released its FR (Final Rule)-4615 Prohibition of Property Flipping.

So, is flipping good or bad? Legal or illegal?

Well, that depends which form of flipping you’re talking about. The illegal variety consists of selling a home multiple times over a relatively short period in order to artificially inflate the home’s value and cash out the inflated equity. To begin, a con artist will purchase a home (typically a dilapidated property that costs very little).

He or she will then obtain an inflated appraisal for the property – by finding an appraiser willing to go along with the scam, stealing an appraiser’s identity to forge a fake appraisal, or using a phony appraisal document. The con artist can then apply for a loan for the inflated amount. (Or, the con artist will apply for the loan and then, with the help of a cooperative loan officer, obtain the inflated appraisal to present to the lender.) In either case, the con artist usually takes out the loan in the name of a straw buyer (someone who owns the home in name only) or by using a fake or stolen identity.

Eventually, the house flipper either sells the home to somebody who is unaware of its true value or abandons the home.

That’s illegal flipping in a nutshell.

Legal flipping consists of buying a home for less than its true market value (usually at least 20 percent less), fixing it up, and then selling it at or near its true market value. This fix-and-flip approach is the type of flipping they do on TV shows like Flip This House and Flip That House. It is a shrewd and honorable way to earn a buck in real estate.

As a consumer, knowing the difference between the two types of flipping is important. Know the illegal form of flipping so you don’t break the law or get stuck with an overpriced piece of real estate that’s being used in a flipping scheme. Know the legal form of flipping, so you can fix and flip your way to wealth in real estate.

About the Author: Ralph R. Roberts, GRI, CRS is an experienced real estate investor and consultant and the author of  Flipping Houses For Dummies (John Wiley & Sons).

As you can see there is a lot to learn about Flipping homes and the key thing is how you identify a target property that would work good in the flipping arena.  Something that you don’t have to have the extra ordinary cash on file such as an auction.  $10,000 cashiers check for deposit to bid - 10% of the purchase price ready to go.  No inspections, cancellations, or other things that I would be screaming to you to do to protect yourself.  We aren’t kicking the tires and wanting to know the mileage.  We are purchasing something that is much more substantial. 

When have you every purchased a vehicle and had it increase in value when you drove it off the lot.  But in Real Estate that is something that is very common.  You can’t look at the last 1.7 years to see a good trend in the Real Estate market.  In fact, back in the early 1990’s the inventory is double what it is now, and the interest rates were through the roof.  Businesses were moving out of Southern California in droves.  Now they are clawing to come back.  People were fleeing the state due to crappy unemployment - But now are returning in the tens of thousands each day.  I know because I am blessed to be helping some of them find a home www.Renter911.com.

-CONNOR with HONOR