Real Estate Selling

Something that investing in real estate full-time gives you is flexibility. It gives you the flexibility to choose when to work, where to work, and who you want to work with. You can literally choose the people with whom you do business, the people with whom you will spend the majority of the time.

In fact, if conditions are right, you may even decide to work with your spouse.

In this article we will discuss working with the person who may you most important business partner, your spouse. We will focus on the following: 1. Deciding to work together 2. Setting ground rules and expectations 3. Pitfalls to avoid 4. Lessons Learned 5. Division of Labor 6. Pros and Cons 7. What about the children?

Deciding to Work Together

Deciding to go into business for yourself is never a decision that should be made lightly. Deciding to go into business with your spouse is one that should be considerable thought as well.Deciding to go into business for yourself is never a decision that should be made lightly. Deciding to go into business with your spouse is one that should be considerable thought as well.

There are several reasons why we say this. Any new business ventures will be full of the unknown. You may be figuring things out as you go, or things may not be going the way that you had originally planned. When both you and your spouse are in the business together, any tension from the business may seep over into your married life as well. Because it is a very personal decision to go into business for yourself, you may take it personally if there are challenges. Too often, frustration can also be taken out on your spouse.

Of course, there are some very compelling reasons to go into real estate investing with your spouse. First, the reason that most people decide to get started investing in real estate is because they want to make a change in their lives. They may want more money, more free time, and/or to improve their quality of life. Those are very powerful reasons, and they create a very powerful image in the mind and heart. Imagine how powerful that vision is when it is shared by two people whose very futures are intertwined. Everything that they do will impact their future, their home and their family. They both see where they are going, and are willing to make the sacrifices to get there. Two people who share a common goal can make a lot happen. We know this from experience.

As you know, things will not always go as planned, but two working together can weather anything. This is not to say that real estate investors who have their own business cannot make it work. Rather, it is to say that, when spouses work together, they can help to lift each other up; to encourage each other not to give up the vision. There is a support structure built into the business.

Finally, it makes it a lot easier when both of you are on the same page. We have talked to countless people who are investing in real estate and want to get their spouse involved. Their spouse might not have any interest in real estate, they might have misconceptions about the market and what it takes, or they just might not be interested. To those people, we recommend that they help their spouse to get educated. Take them to a seminar or workshop, listen to CD’s together. Even late night infomercials are a great way to expose a spouse to what real estate investing.

Setting Ground Rules and Expectations

Once you and your spouse decide to work on and in your business together, it is very important that you sit down together to discuss your expectations, and lay down some ground rules. Whether you are doing the business full-time, part-time or a variation of the two, it is important that you treat your real estate investing as a business. This starts with the two of you sitting down and writing out your goals, expectations and ground rules.

In most cases, one of you guys will know more about real estate investing than the other. You will find yourself in a position of “authority,” simply because of your knowledge base. This was the case with us when we got started. Charles had begun researching real estate investing while still in law school and had begun to build an educational foundation. Kim, on the other hand, had no real knowledge of or interest in investing in real estate. It was up to Charles to convey the vision - all of the things that real estate investing had to offer, all of the life changing things in store.

Things would have gone a lot more smoothly for us if we had set our ground rules from the beginning. But, we didn’t. That is why we know it is so important to do. You need to have a plan of who will handle each part of the business. Think about the job that you may hold right now, or a job that you have left. In either case, you have known what was expected of you each day. You had measurements and goals, and you knew what you needed to do to be successful. Investing in real estate is no different. When spouses work together, this is even more important. We tend to have assumptions when it comes to our mates. We may think that we know what they can do, or what they want to do. But everything should be explicitly spelled out, by both of you. Try not to limit each other, or put yourselves in a box. You would be surprised at the ideas that you come up with when you give each other the freedom to grow, think of new ideas and try things out. In fact, we got involved in wholesaling because of a suggestion that Kim made. We decided to try it out, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Lastly, you have problem heard the saying that you can’t have more than one boss. In answer to this, we would just like to say, that how you divide your labor is up to the two of you. One of you may feel more comfortable taking on the majority of the responsibility, and the other may want to give that responsibility away. Or, you may decide that one of you will be the boss. Or, you may even decide to divide your business in two parts, and each of you is the boss of that area. The key is to discuss it, write it down and make it happen.

Pitfalls to Avoid

Being aware of the following potential pitfalls will help make your real estate investing a lot more profitable and enjoyable.

Don’t give anyone the majority of the dirty work. In business, as in life, there will always be some things that are not pleasant to do. Be sure that these types of tasks are divided between the two of you. No one person should be stuck doing the junk. Of course, what is considered junk can vary by couple, so you need to decide this for yourselves. But remember, you should be having fun. As you change your life, you want to both be happy doing it. It doesn’t matter if one of you is working the business full-time, and the other is part-time, neither of you should have the majority of the undesirable work. Do your best to divide it as equally as possible.

Don’t let issues in the business affect your marriage. When you are working closely together day after day, this can be easier said than done. And, of course, when things are running smoothly, this is not an issue at all. But when things are a little bumpy, this can be a totally different story. You have heard the expression “Don’t bring your work home with you.” This is so true when you are working with your spouse, even if work is the office you created in the guest room.

Your marriage is a very sacred entity. You want to protect it at all costs. This does not mean that you will never argue or disagree. But, try not to do so about your real estate investing business. Not only will it make your off-work hours stressful, it will also make your working hours less enjoyable. You don’t want to get so upset with each other that you lose appreciation of the opportunity in front of you.

Lessons Learned

One of the biggest lessons that we learned is to give each other the freedom to make mistakes. Again, nothing happens perfectly. In fact, some things flop. But, we love each other, we know our commitment to each other and the business and we do our best to support each other at all time. Again, this freedom that we give each other allows us to try new things. Sometimes, we just brainstorm about new things that we could do, new ways we can help people, exciting ways to grow our business. We are able to do this in a non-judgmental atmosphere and we have seen some tremendous fruit because of it.

Of course, you have to have good communication. This is very important in your marriage anyway, and you definitely want to carry this over into your business relationship. Don’t come down hard on each other. Watch your tone of voice (or your tone of e-mail). This person is your spouse; they deserve the same amount of respect that you would give your co-worker or employee in any other situation.

You should also structure your business so that you are each utilizing your strengths. Whether or not the business consists of just the two of you, or if you decide to hire staff, you still need to play to your strengths. Each of you should do what you do best. If that happens to be the exact same thing, you probably want to look into hiring someone else to do the other stuff.

Division of Labor

We have touched on this briefly in the previous sections. In order to maintain a strong relationship and to have a fun, profitable business, you both need to enjoy what you are doing. The best way to do this is to decide what your strengths are and divide the jobs up within your company along those same lines.

For instance, Charles loves to look at houses. He can look at a “fixer upper” and see it as it will be after repairs. Kim, on the other hand, doesn’t particularly care for rehab houses. She sees them as they are, and smells them as they are too. So, it makes sense that Charles is the one who evaluates properties.

Kim is more of a detail person. Charles is the visionary, who looks at the big picture. Even though she doesn’t work in the main office, Kim oversees the employees, pay roll, book keeping and the nuts and bolts that keep the business running. We are both very creative, in different ways, and are involved in the marketing. Even here, we have different strengths and enjoy different things, and we divide our responsibilities accordingly.

Remember, we grew to this point. It wasn’t crystal clear to us the way it is today. That is one of the reasons that we wanted to bring you this message. If you are thinking about working with your spouse, or you have started it, and things are kind of bumpy, we want you to be able to use our experiences to make it work for you.

Pros and Cons

As you can see, there are pros and cons to working together. Some people cannot see how we can spend so much time together, every day. We know that this is a challenge for some people. We feel very blessed that this is not the case for us.

Some people would consider the fact that you are both doing the business full-time to be a con. You might not want to be together that much. At the same time, you could consider that fact that you can both take vacation together, without having to ask anyone’s permission to be a pro. Again, some of these things are going to depend on you, your relationship and your goals.

What about the children?

Whether you have children or are thinking about them, being in business for yourself provides you with a wonderful opportunity to open up new worlds. Charles’s parents own their own business. Even though he has both his JD and his MBA, he has always wanted to run his own business. He saw his parents doing it, and he wanted to do the same thing.

We have three young children (ages 2, 4 and 6) with a fourth on the way. Investing in real estate has given us the freedom not only to have these wonderful children, but to spend time with them. They have all been on airplanes and they have been places that we did not visit until we were much older. They see how much is out there in the world, and they know that it is theirs for the taking.

Family and church are very important to us. Investing in real estate, together, as partners has allowed us to nurture both of these. We can go on fieldtrips, attend Bible study and just spend time together, because we work together and we make our own rules. We set our goals and we are responsible for making things happen. We love each other and the challenges and rewards of working together. When Kim was pregnant with Hannah, our first child, we decided that she was not going to go back to corporate America. That same December, Charles decided that he no longer wanted to work in the law firm. He knew that, if we invested in real estate full time, we could make some significant changes in our life.

It was an exciting time. It was a fun time. It was a scary time. But every day, we are so glad that we did it, together. No matter what has happened, or what will come, we know that we are working our real estate business - together.

Decorative bathroom wall tile is a great way to add character and elegance to your bathroom. Look to add it to your home.

Considering decorative bathroom wall tile? It is a great way to add a lot of character to the bathroom. If you are considering adding these tiles to your walls, start with the largest wall within your bathroom. You can choose products such as porcelain, limestone, and even marble, although ceramic is the most commonly used.About bathroom wall tiles you can find more “http://www.home-decorating-reviews.com/magazine/replacing-bath-tiles-part-1.html”>publications about bathroom wall tiles at his website. In the past, small tiling was done here, but even larger pieces can be used to create a unique look. You can find a number of great patterns to use to create the look you are after. More so, you can find tiles of a variety of cuts giving you even more options to take advantage of. When using these decorative bathroom wall tiles, concentrate the most color or pattern in the areas that you need to draw attention to, such as your shower or tub area.

Using Them In Your Bathroom Design

How can you use decorative bathroom wall tile in your bathroom? You could consider tiles that will frame the area with a border. The theme of your bathroom can also be used. For example, an Oceanside theme could have tiling that features seashells on them. Or, if you want something more ornate, consider porcelain tiles that are painted by hand instead. You can use colored glass tiles if you are looking for this type of look, too.

Don’t Forget The Finish

Yet another way to add character to your decorative bathroom wall tile is through the type of finish used on them. Some offer a shine that is unique while others offer a more matte finish or even a rustic look. Doing this over the top of plain tile can be an amazing finish or, look at the type of marble or product itself. Use a variety of tones to create a unique look all to your own bathroom. For earth tones for your bathroom tiling, consider colors such as sage, creams and even camel based colors. You will find that natural stone adds depth of character to the space as well. Or, tumbled marble can be used. Use as you see fit for the look you are most interested in.

Looking towards the project, when using decorative wall tiles, be sure to use the right amount of various types of materials to get the shades and the textures that you want. Plan out the design on paper so that you can see how the finished product will look in the end. This way, your decorative bathroom wall tiles works perfectly!

There are a lot of factors that are involved in a successful rehab real estate investing transaction. You need a property, a reputable appraiser and contractor and a funding source to purchase the property. Depending on what you plan to do with the property, you may also need a good mortgage broker to refinance you, a motivated REALTOR to sell the property or a good property management company to locate and interview tenants and manage the property for you. This doesn’t include other possible service providers, such as a surveyor, landscaper or handyman..

A good real estate investor will make sure that they have all of these components line up. However, you can’t forget the most important part of the equation - YOU!

Isn’t this a No-Brainer?

You would think that it would be. Purchasing an investment property is serious business. However, many real estate investors actually abdicate responsibility to everyone else who is involved in the process. They assume that, because they are surrounded by professionals, that they do not have to concern themselves with the details. Nothing could be further from the truth.

As creators of the Ultimate TurnKey Real Estate Investing System, we know first hand the value of setting up a system. This is why we did it. If you have ever spoken with us in person, you will know that we created the system to make real estate investing an easier process for other real estate investors. We didn’t see any point in other real estate investors having to re-invent the wheel, and start from scratch. So, we put together a team to help ensure our clients’ success. Again, if you have spoken with us, you know the story.

The System was created as a support for real estate investors, not as a replacement for their active involvement in their own transactions. We have talked to other wholesalers who have experienced the same phenomena. The funny thing is, they do not even offer the support system that we do, but they have run into several clients who want to push responsibility back onto them.

Whose Responsibility is it Anyway?

Simply put, it is your responsibility. Probably 99% of investment properties are sold AS-IS and earnest money deposits are non-refundable. This means that, if something is wrong with the house, or needs fixing, it is the responsibility of you, the buyer, not the seller. This differs greatly from transactions where you are buying a house to live in yourself. Those types of homes are typically not fixer-uppers. If they are, they are probably sold as is, and you are going to get the house for a lot less than you would if it did not need fix up.

Of course, the fact that the property needs repairs is what makes it a good candidate in the first place. Remember, your best investment properties are ones that need repairs. So, you should go into the project with the mindset that you will be painting, replacing carpet, fixing drywall, and possibly even adding on bathrooms or replacing kitchens. The key here is to know all of this when you go into the purchase. This is your responsibility.

So, how can you do this? You might be a new investor who has no idea what repairs would even be involved. Or, maybe you don’t have time to get that involved. We would suggest that you take the time to find out, and you educate yourself where needed. This is not because anyone is going to try to take advantage of you, but because you need to have your knowledge base intact before going into your endeavor. If you still feel like you don’t know enough, or you are still too busy, you are probably correct.

However, if you are ready to get started, make sure that you have a quote on hand from a licensed contractor and see what repairs they are going to do. Make sure that you walk through the house or see interior photos. This way, you will know if there is something else that you think should be done or that you just want to do. This way, you can have the bid adjusted before you begin the process. If you wait, any increase in repair funds will have to come from your pocket, because they will not have been escrowed in the beginning.

What Else Do I Need to Know?

You really need to be involved in every aspect of your transaction. Of course, some things will have greater bearing on your success than others.

You definitely need to know how your up-front financing works. The vast majority of rehab real estate investors use private funds or hard money to purchase their property. But, depending on the lender, the programs vary. Make sure that you know your interest rate. What is the term of the loan? Are there any pre-payment penalties? Do you have to make mortgage payments during the life of the loan? If so, how much are they? These are questions that you need to know the answers to. A reputable lender will go over all of this information with you. However, it is your responsibility to make sure that they do. You also need to make sure that you remember what you agreed to. You shouldn’t allow yourself to be surprised later by something that was explained to you at the outset.

Something else that we recommend is that, if you plan to refinance your property, that you get qualified for your refinance at the same time that you get qualified for your purchase loan. Why? Because you want to make sure that you will be able to refinance and get out of your loan. Remember, if your goal is to do a cash-out, you need to make sure you will be able to do so.

You also need to make sure that you stay in touch with your mortgage broker throughout the process. This way, if anything changes, you will know about it right away. For example, you can make sure that you know what programs that your mortgage broker has, and what you qualify for. There may be a new program that comes out that is more advantageous for you, or the program that you may have thought you were using may no longer be available. Either way, you need to be informed of all of your options.

By the same token, if anything changes about your financial or employment situation, you need to let your mortgage broker know as soon as possible. The changes may not affect your ability to close on your refinance, but they may. You may have to pursue a different strategy, and it is good to know this in advance, rather than at the last minute.

This Actually Makes Sense.

Yes, it does make sense to be informed when you are purchasing an investment property (or any major purchase). But remember, you should be proactive, as well as informed. Legitimate businesspeople will not have a problem with you asking questions or being involved. In fact, we welcome this. It shows that you are concerned, involved and take responsibility.

While everyone involved in the process does what they can to ensure that everything runs smoothly, this is not guaranteed. But, if you remain involved, there are few surprises and you are well equipped to handle anything that does come up.

Because, at the end of the day, this is your property.

Our whole homes should be a reflection of our personalities, our kitchens are no different. They are very personal rooms that are considered as the heart of the house. In order to impress people with your kitchen you should make sure you get exactly what you want.

There are two ways to get what you want when you are having your kitchen renovated. The first is doing it yourself, now this is obviously very difficult, but you are guaranteed to get exactly what you want. The other easier way is to hire a contractor and guide him closely. You could even use kitchen design software to lay out your kitchen and help to make sure your contractor knows exactly what you want.

Discussing Your Choices With Your Contractor

Before you rush out to buy some software to remodel your kitchen you should decide what you want to gain from your kitchen remodelling project. Carry out some research to find out what would work well for your kitchen, investigate all of the current trends and see which you like. You can research these things in magazines and even on the internet. There are lots of websites where you can get this information for free which will save you the price of a magazine!

There are many different designs of kitchen available, you should start by making a list of everything you need in your kitchen. Do you need a dishwasher? Do you need a microwave? Continue in this fashion until you have listed all of these things. You will need to make sure you leave enough space for these appliances when you are fitting your new cabinets and remodelling your kitchen. Try to cater for everything that will be found in your kitchen, even including somewhere to store your utensils.

If you are renovating your kitchen using home renovations software I should warn you it can be contagious! Just watch you don