Economics

The term real estate investing likely brings a number of things to mind. Depending on how familiar you are with real estate investing already, you might think of real estate portfolios and real estate retirement plans, or you might focus on short sales, bulk reo investing and virtual real estate investing. Likely you also wonder how these things will factor into your life as a real estate investor in the current economy.

You will need to know a lot about real estate investing. Getting the most out of real estate investing education involves being familiar with basic RE info. Whether you are interested in short sales, bulk reo sales, virtual real estate or just improving your abilities as a real estate investor, you need to know some real estate investing basics in order to succeed. Review these three real estate investing basics that even some experts don’t yet know:

1. Real estate investing education always yields positive. Each real estate deal can represent thousands of dollars in potential wealth. Understanding how to get that wealth will be the key to your success. Knowing more about real estate betters your odds of success when you do a real estate deal. Small investments in education yield big results upon implementation.

2. You have the ability to succeed in real estate investing in any economy. Often people think that you can only be a success in real estate when the economy is good. In reality, poor economies are great for real estate investors. You can often find properties to buy at deep discounts. In addition, you can find deals that simply would not exist in a booming economy. Real estate investing may also turn the tide for a poor economy. Short sales, bulk reo sales and virtual real estate all thrive when the economy is less than thriving. You can save yourself from financial difficulty along with others by knowing how to do these deals.

3. You do not need lots of your own cash to be a successful real estate investor. You can make a success of real estate investing no matter how much or little money you have. There are many deals that will let you use other people’s money to do them. If you are a good investment private lenders may let you use their money. A good investment will know as much as they can about real estate investing. Then you will represent a good investment to other people who have money for real estate investing but do not know how to use it.

A good deal of wealth can be generated with real estate investing. You can create a good income no matter what the state of the economy. Using knowledge of real estate investing, short sales, bulk reo sales and virtual real estate you will be able to create success for yourself. Knowing real estate investing basics will help you succeed as a real estate investor.

With money being hard to keep to ourselves, with bills and everything, is it possible for us to still embark on a luxury holiday. Saying that, things seem to be looking up on the holiday side of things, prices have fallen and all inclusive holidays have become more available.

However does this really help us, although holiday prices are coming down the odds are we still won’t be able to afford luxury holidays. Bills and mortgages do take a large sum of our money, but will a luxury holiday cost all that much? If you look around you will find more and more deals coming in, with travel agents trying to send you all over the world for as little as possible, even on Caribbean holidays where you have the clean white beaches and 5 star hotels, all of the pampering that you would ever need from a holiday.

Looking around for the best deals will help, but because competition is so tough they are all bringing their prices down just keep up with each other. Even if bills are taking up most of our money, one of the mopst important things for us to do is get away from everything every now and then, and luxury holidays are now cheaper and more available.

Some people are even having their weddings abroad because the prices are even cheaper abroad than they are at home, this shows that holidays at home might not be that cheap either. The best way to get away from the stress of it all is to go on a luxury holiday and now it’s becoming more available to us. Yes then, luxury holidays are easier for us to afford and they have come down in price, so will you put a little more cash into a holiday to have a bit more luxury?

sales forecasting software

Fewer than 50% of businesses survive beyond five years. Head over to government census or Depart of Industry web sites and if you look hard enough you will see irrefutable evidence

The industry experts most obvious reason for death is the failures basically ran out of funds. This deliberation is of no value and so I decided to seek out individuals directly and indirectly involved in failed businesses to see if I could discover the details, establish any consistent reasons for failure and post them on the web in the hope that my discoveries would help others avoid a similar fate. I found eight consistent reasons for business failure. Here are three of them:

No Vision, mission or strategy

“If you have not decided where you are going then how are you going to get there?” You must have a clear picture of what you want to achieve and how the future will be for your business if you achieve it. To achieve anything you it is essential to have a strategy. Strategy is very similar to a road map it tells you how to get to where you want to go. It’s a structured list of actions. To make a strategy work you have to create a business plan that not only contains the key actions and milestones but can used to measure business performance against. A key tool for tracking and measuring business perfomance is the sales forecast.

Lack of a system for marketing or sales

Marketing is about exploring markets and trying out strategies to position your proposition in the minds of prospects and drawing them into your sales funnel. Sales is about engaging the prospect and getting them to buy your product or service. Marketing is a process of measuring and refinement of the tactics you employ to attract prospects. selling is the process of getting leads, forecasting sales and closing business. In successful organisations a decent marketing and sales system is usually underpinned by a well designed sales forecasting software system. Systems like these enable you to track and measure the actions and results in the sales and marketing processes. Outcomes arederived from reports produced by the system which can then be used to compare planned vs actual results. The point I am making is what gets measured gets improved or discontinued. This is the critical formula for success.

Lack a system to monetise their existing customer base

There is a common saying that eighty percent of your sales should come from 20% of your customers. Your focus is to achieve or exceed this figure. Customers that have previously bought from you are simpler and cheaper to persuade to buy from you than prospects that haven’t. A combination of decent web based crm software and sales forecasting software should give you the knowledge of past activity and enable you to search for opportunities in your current customer base.

You might think that during a global recession people would be cutting back on their spa treatments. You might be under the impression that because everyone is watching what they spend very closely, there would be no room for loose spending on sheer luxuries. You might be surprised to learn then that the International Spa Assosication (ISPA) has suggested recently that health spa are recession proof. This was backed up by the staggering statistic that as a whole, health spa visits increased by 18% last year on the previous year figures. So how and why is this case?

Officials from the ISPA have said that spas will always be able to cater for the current demands of the consumers and adapt their game to match the market. What they mean by this is that during times of prosperity, when everyone is feeling good about themselves, spa market themselves as somewhere they can treat themselves. They offer luxury manicures and indulgent body wraps, selling the concept of ‘why not? You’ve earned it’.However, the same offerings would not go down well in a recession. You will not get people to spend money on things they consider ‘treats’ when their finances are uncertain. So spas then need to use another angle.

When people are suffering from stress or financial worries the spas can offer the perfect remedy. A full body massage is usually the first thing they push, along with the suggestion that it will remove all the tension from your body and get you back on your feet again. Instead of pampering facials, you can now get a invigorating exfoliating scrub to get rid of all that old bad skin and emerge a brand new butterfly with a fresh outlook on life and a positive attitude towards any problems you may be facing

Communication is clearly the life blood of any trading organisation, you only have to ask anyone in the city to realise this. It is vital for them to have open channels of communication with others and be connected to the latest business information. This information tends to come from a great deal of sources, including mediums such as press releases, business statements, cable news channels and many more. These mediums have served traders well previously but they are always on the lookout for more convenient and pioneering methods for getting and giving information. Twitter is something that has been used by the masses for a few years now and according to the National Australia Bank (NAB) has recently caught the eye of traders who are using it to get info from the horse’s mouth.

Twitter is a micro-blog tool that works by people uploading ‘tweets’ which are of 160 characters or less. This keeps the ‘tweets’ short and concise, “which is what traders like” says Henry Allan of the London Lite Trading Group. Users within a certain niche, such as the alpha wire sector, can follow other Twitter members who they want to receive updates from, and can themselves be followed. The financial sector operates in a global market these days and people need to be able to stay in touch with lots of different people who are in different countries and different time zones. Twitter allows groups of people from various sectors such as the media, banking and business to alert each other of the latest updates or discuss predicted market trends.

Some people have voiced concerns that Twitter could be used as a platform for insider trading as messages can be sent out privately to people using the site. Although supporters such as this multicore cables business are quick to point out that this was always possible via email and the real power comes from the ability to alert hundreds of thousands of people publically, which of course can be monitored for underhanded dealings if necessary

Aussie's may not have made it through the financial crisis without falling victim through a recession, as a leading survey suggests that they could be headed towards a recession this year.

Bill Evans - Chief economist at Westpac said the figures from the latest Westpac/Melbourne Institute leading index of economic activity showed signs of significant improvement, but despite this the economy could still fall into a recession.

The figures showed the annual rate of contraction forecast in April was not as severe as it had been in previous months.

According to the survey, April saw a 0.7% increase to the index – down 3.5% for the year.

However, the index – used to predict the pace of economic activity between 3 - 9 months in the future, is still below the long-term trend growth rate of 2.8%.

According to Mr Evans, In February the index saw its lowest reading since 1992, but he showed optimism through his predictions that the economy would grow 'modestly' by early next year.

A recession is usually defined by two consecutive quarters of negative growth in the economy, as measured by gross domestic product (GDP) – the total output of goods and services produced by the country.

Mr Evans said in a statement: “Its current pace is still consistent with the Australian economy contracting in the June and September quarters, but if this rate of improvement in the growth rate continues we can look to positive growth in the first half of 2010.”

“That profile is broadly consistent with Westpac’s own forecasts with the economy contracting by 0.6 per cent in the June quarter and contracting at an annualised pace of around 1.5 per cent in the second half of 2009 before recovering to a growth pace of one per cent in 2010.”

Mr Evans also said that he expected further rate cuts to come from the central bank.

“We have recently seen a run of data, including today’s leading index, to suggest that the economy, while likely to contract in the near term, can be expected to be entering a period of modest growth from the end of the year

“However, rising unemployment, higher fixed interest rates and likely economic disappointment offshore will continue to make the case for more rate cuts in Australia,” he said.

OZ Price Comparison website – Which4U – Compare Credit Cards, Savings Accounts, Bank Accounts, Loans, Mortgages and Insurance to find the best OZ deals

Economic downturns aren’t ever especially fun, but as Adam Smith noted over two centuries ago, these cycles of paucity and plenty are a fact of life. Although none of us can say for sure when this latest slump will reverse, there are at least sure ways of saving your money in the meantime. Here are some penny-preserving techniques tailored to our 21st-century lives:

1. Plenty of people are in the habit of cutting out paper coupons, but even though many of us do part of our shopping online now, not as many of us seem to have learned to coupon-hunt online. Sites such as CouponCabin.com, CouponMountain.com, and DealofDay.com offer thousands of current offers at retailers all over the Web.

2. Use price-comparison websites such as Pricegrabber.com, Shopping.com, Google Product Search, and mySimon.com to find the best deals online.

3. When you’re at a store, send a text message to 46645 (Google’s text number) and enter the letter “f” followed by the name of the product you’re considering. Google will reply with a message quoting its online prices. To compare prices at stores in your area, check out ShopLocal.com.

4. If you don’t already belong to one, consider joining a warehouse club like Costco or Sam’s and buying things in bulk. This can be especially helpful if you have a large family.

5. Buy generic instead of brand-name products. A lot of the difference is usually in the marketing hype and not the product, anyway.

6. Withdraw your money from surcharge-free ATMs, which can be found on AllpointNetwork.com and MoneyPass.com.

7. Buy locally-grown food at farmer’s markets or stores that sell local produce and meats. Prices are usually lower there since the food doesn’t have to be transported very far.

8. Shop at dollar stores. You should have an easy time finding one since they’ve been turning up all over the place in the recent past.

9. Purchase discount prescription drugs from online pharmacies. You’ll often end up paying under half as much for the generic medicines carried by these discount prescription drug stores than you would for the same brand-name pills at brick-and-mortar pharmacies.

10. If your car is seven or more years old and/or worth less than $2,500, consider dropping comprehensive and collision from your insurance.  Your deductible may be approaching the value of your car anyway, in which case a major collision would send your car to the junk yard and you to the dealership.

11. Keep cell-phone expenses under control. Kids today love to text message, so save yourself from unexpectedly high bills by paying the flat monthly fee for unlimited texting.

12. Use online classifieds to buy used items. Sites like CraigsList.org and Kijiji.com are great resources for finding everything you need, from pre-owned furniture to baby gear. By buying from locals, you can save on shipping costs too.

13. Go to matinees. Matinee showings are often more reasonably-priced than peak-time showings.

All rights reserved. Article may be reprinted as long as content remains unchanged and links remain active.

Bulk REO

Editor’s note:  Due to popular demand, this article is now syndicated on hundreds of websites throughout the internet.  For more information, check out BulkREO.net

The recession in the U.S. economy has resulted in more foreclosures than experienced by any other generation of Americans. Yet as always, this challenge has given rise to a huge new opportunity for alert real estate investors.

The real estate investing strategy du jour is called ‘Bulk REO Investing‘ and is a a real monster.

Foreclosures are at the heart of the Bulk REO business, so let’s consider the foreclosure process.

You can’t understand Bulk REO Investments without understanding the process of foreclosure.

A home owner who misses one or more mortgage payments is faced with an ever-increasing volume of threatening correspondence from their lender. The formal process of foreclosure begins at the lender’s discretion. The name for this period is ‘preforeclosure’.

The defaulted property is ultimately auctioned, thus completing the foreclosure process. The lender regains ownership of the property if there are no buyers at auction. This property is then considered to be ‘Real Estate Owned’ by the lender, also known as an ‘REO’ property.

Local real estate agents are usually used to resale REO properties at retail price to the general public. But more and more, lenders are selling their REO properties for a greatly reduced price. Lenders are willing to do so in exchange for the buyer’s agreement to purchase a ‘package’ of REO’s rather than a single property.

These REO packages represent the potential to acquire huge amounts of equity for savvy real estate investors. The most successful Bulk REO Investors will have a well-respected source of funding for their transactions. Some sources of funding for these transactions are: personal funds, hard money lenders, commercial lenders and non-conventional sources such as private investors and hedge funds. One excellent source of funding for Bulk REO Investment transactions can be found here: Bulk REO Investment Training.

Economic downturns aren’t ever especially fun, but as Adam Smith observed centuries ago, these cycles of paucity and plenty are a fact of life. Though no one can say for sure when this latest slump will reverse, there are at least sure ways of saving your money in the meantime. Here are some penny-preserving techniques tailored to our 21st-century lives:

1. Plenty of people are in the habit of cutting out paper coupons, but even though many of us do some of our shopping on the Web now, not as many of us seem to have gotten into the habit of coupon-hunting on the Internet. Sites such as CouponCabin.com, CouponMountain.com, and DealofDay.com list thousands of current offers at retailers all across the Web.

2. Use price-comparison sites like Pricegrabber.com, Shopping.com, mySimon.com, and Google Product Search to find the best deals online.

3. When you’re at a store, send a text message to 46645 (Google’s text number) and enter the letter “f” and then the name of the item you’re interested in. Google will reply with a text quoting the online prices. To compare prices at local stores, check out ShopLocal.com.

4. If you don’t already belong to one, consider joining a warehouse club like Costco or Sam’s Club and buying things in bulk. This can be especially helpful if you have a sizeable family.

5. Buy generic instead of brand-name products. A lot of the difference is often in the marketing hype and not the products, anyway.

6. Withdraw your cash from surcharge-free ATMs, which can be found on AllpointNetwork.com and MoneyPass.com.

7. Buy locally-raised food at farmer’s markets or stores that sell local produce and meat. Prices there are usually lower since the food doesn’t have to be transported far.

8. Shop at dollar stores. You should have an easy time finding them nearby since they’ve been popping up all over the place recently.

9. Purchase discount prescription drugs from online pharmacies. You’ll often end up paying well under half as much for the generic medications stocked by these discount prescription drug stores than you would for the same brand-name medications at brick-and-mortar pharmacies.

10. If your car is seven or more years old and/or worth less than $2,500, consider dropping comprehensive and collision from your insurance.  Your deductible may be closing in on the value of your car anyway, in which case a major collision would send your car to the junk yard and you to the dealership.

11. Keep cell-phone expenses under control. Kids today love to send text messages, so save yourself from unexpectedly high bills by paying the flat monthly fee for unlimited texting.

12. Use online classifieds to find used items. Sites like CraigsList.org and Kijiji.com are excellent resources for finding everything you need, from pre-owned furniture to baby gear. By buying from local sellers, you can save on shipping costs too.

13. Go to matinees. The matinee showing is usually more reasonably-priced than peak-time showings.

14. Install Power Planners (see www.energycsi.com/energysmart) to lower the power consumption of your electrical appliances.

All rights reserved. Article may be reprinted as long as content remains unchanged and links remain active.

It’s very safe to assume that many US consumers are struggling right now because of the bad state of the economic system.  There are a number of moves that consumers can make to nicely help themselves prevail through these tough times and assist them in getting back on strong financial ground.  First is if someone finds themselves trapped with a bad home loan to look into obtaining a loan re-modification, second is to get hired with a recession proof job, and last but not least is to get out of debt.  

Making sure you have a payable home loan that you can afford should be the top priority, everyone needs a home over their head.  With the all the slimey business happening in the sub-prime mortgage sector a few years back, millions of consumers are left with extremely unaffordable mortgages.  However there is an answer to this problem, and that is to apply for a loan re-modification.  A lot of folks will find out they can get their mortgage re-structured to much more advantageous terms with a reduced APR that is set, not adjustable.  

One other very bad problem this economic collapse has brought is a very high level of unemployment.  So the wise move to make would be to find employment that can be prosperous even during a recession.  Jobs such as those in the computer related field are in demand.  Taking your time and studying the industry of the job you are trying to get into would be smart, you want to ensure that the business is not going to fail and you will have job stability.

Next what would aide most to clear up space in their monthly budget would be to get out of debt as soon as possible.  Paying monthly minimum payments on high interest cards each month for decades is not a advisable financial move and can make or break your bottom line.  One very workable debt solutions process is debt settlement.  This credit card debt settlement process assists consumers in saving income on how much they owe and become debt free in the shortest amount of time possible.  

If you can adhere the three guidelines above you are going to put your family in a much better position to survive the wavy economic storm and prosper once again.  Surviving this economic depression and coming out more resilient on the other side is imperative for many Americans.  By getting out of debt, ensuring the home loan is reasonable and ensuring that your employment is safe will go a long way towards helping to manage through these rough times.  So do not procrastinate and take action to get something done today.