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Plenty of residents of the UK and Northern Europe are discovering that purchasing property abroad is an attainable and desirable goal. Since these properties have a good level of capital growth, coupled with low airfares and European interest rates, these Spanish properties are very attractive. Spain has a lesser air time, great climate, and much prosperity. It may not have been a good idea to buy in Spain in the past, but it can be done more safely if you understand some general guidelines. If you are considering purchasing real estate in the country of Spain, you should first look to arrange your finances.

• Before you sign any binding contracts, seek expert legal advice.
• To save yourself from becoming financially strapped, you should spend wisely and frugally.
• Be ready in case time deadlines are stretched.
• Wait until you have the funding before committing yourself to a private purchase contract.
• The Spanish purchase process is not the same as it is in the UK and other places than it is in Spain, so be prepared.
• Completely comprehend how taxes are incurred depending on the type of ownership status you select.
• Don’t be persuaded to do anything you wouldn’t normally do.
• Hire an attorney that is not involved with the sales agent you are using. To ensure that your own best interest considered at all times, you must seek the opinion of an unbiased party.

Prior to deciding to buy, you should present a list of questions for your attorney in Spain to provide answers to. Many examples of people buying foreign property have negative results because they didn’t ask the right questions before they consummated the transaction. Before signing on the dotted line you should get answers to some of the following questions and another others regarding where the entire sum of this Spanish purchase is legally register?

• The purchase sits on land that can be registered in what way, urbanized or rustic? What are possible consequences of buying on property that is listed as rural?
• You need to know what costs will be including standard legal costs and taxes.
• Are licenses already in place, for instance property contracts or first liens of residency?
• Do less than decade old buildings have decade long warranties?
• Is this a result of a foreclosure or direct sale? So what exactly is the basis of the purchase?
• When completing this purchase, will there be any need for a declaration?
• Be sure to ask what extra costs you might be liable for, such as taxes on capital gains, inheritance taxes or income tax.
• Are there any deposits to pay? When is the non-refundable point of the process?
• What are the attorney’s fees and additional legal expenses that will be incurred?

International Mortgage Solutions offer a full Spanish Property finding and purchasing service

An insightful real estate investor made the following comment in response to Bryan Ellis‘ commentary about the effects of unemployment on tenants and the direct results that show up in the businesses of landlords.

Here is the comment:

“I would much rather have a vacant property and receive no rent than a occupied property and receive no rent. The process always goes like this..”I am running late on the rent but you will get it later this month.” “I missed the rent last month but I will be able to get caught up by months end.” “Things got crazy, but I will get you a payment this month and be caught up by next month for sure.” And finally, “Ring, Ring, Ring, Ring, Ring…..and now it’s find me if you can.”

Jack Willstead understands that we are an unsecured creditor and tenants take care of themselves just as we are to take care of ourselves as landlords. I hate the process of being a landlord and the bad guy that now I just lease option properties with gooooooood downpayments. Five months of working with a tenant and then the eviction process can add up to $5,000, $10,000 or more very quickly because once they’re out than it’s tine to clean it up and find another tenant.”

More information: Real estate expert and policy analyst Bryan Ellis

Property prices in North Cyprus are between a half and a third those in the South of the island, despite the fact that the North benefits from the same blissful climate, boasts the warmest sea temperatures in the Mediterranean and is covered in unspoiled, ancient countryside. During 2004, when the Annan plan was still on the table, property prices began to rise and, even though the plan did not succeed, values remained higher.

Under the new round of talks between North Cyprus and South Cyprus property prices are booming, and many developers are now undertaking projects in the North, as the country- with its currently low property and land prices- offers an absolutely fantastic investment opportunity for those who act quickly enough.

There are many reasons to feel optimistic about the current round of negotiations that are taking place between Mehmet Ali Talat, the Turkish Cypriot leader, and his counterpart from the south of the Green Line, Demetris Christofias. For one, unlike the previous Greek Cypriot president, the conservative and anti-reunification Tassos Papadopoulos, Christofias has broadcasted, and ran to office on, a strong personal desire to unify the long-divided island. In contrast, Papadopoulos attempted to extend his presidency on a nationalistic appeal, and had promised to continue his rejection of any attempts at reunification.

The impetus that Christofias has bought to the revived peace talks became obvious on the president’s first visit to the Brussels, where he was met with affection by EU heads of state. His election was also greeted with favour by the Turkish Cypriot administration, who welcomed the chance, after five years of stalled attempts at reunification under Papadopoulos, to push forward with reunification.The newly assured attitudes in both North Cyprus and South Cyprus have not been confined to the election period.

According to the International Crisis Group’s report Reunification Cyprus: The Best Chance yet a recent poll showed that ‘after two months in power….three quarters of Greek Cypriot [were still] backing Christofias’ pro-solution approach.’ And it’s not just the people of the island who are supporting the move toward reunifying North and South Cyprus. According to the same International Crises Group report, Lynn Pasoe, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, following a visit of Cyprus in March 2008, noted that ‘the manifest commitment of the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders to seek a solution is extremely encouraging.’

Anyone asking themselves where the best place to buy investment property is should really keep a good eye on North Cyprus at the moment. Christofias and Mehmet Ali Talat are now meeting each week, and their friendship, along with their joint leftwing political standing, reinforce their commitment to reunification, and the fact that Turkey will be having its EU membership negotiations officially restarted next year means that Ankara can’t be on the sidelines during this round.

If you are the average homeowner or investor, you will lose 80% or more of the equity in your property when you sell!

We will show you why and what you can do to prevent it.

The National Association of Realtors reports that their sellers discount their properties an average of 9% in negotiations with prospective buyers.

Take off another 5-7% for the broker’s commission.

Add an additional 3% for the carrying costs, mortgage, taxes, maintenance etc. over the 60-120 days between listing the property and the closing of the sale.

That’s f you are one of the lucky people to actually have your property sell this quickly. I’ve met sellers that have not had even 1 offer in over a full year of trying to sell their property with and without an agent.

Finally subtract another 2% for seller’s closing costs and you will see that approximately 20% of your property’s market value is ripped off in the selling process.

If you are the average homeowner with 25% or less equity in your property, that 20% of the property’s value equals 80% of your home’s equity.

Instead of walking away with $25,000 on the sale of your $100,000 property with a 25% equity, you will be lucky to net $5,000 at the closing; Ouch!

OK, Slick, I hear you; you sold without a realtor, you walk with about $11,000!

This comes as an unexpected and unwanted shock to most sellers.

The consequences of having so much of your equity wiped out by the sale can mean more than the loss of the money, as much as that hurts.

If you have purchased your property or refinanced it recently, it is likely that you have less than 25% equity in it.

You are in a precarious position.

If you were forced to sell your property for personal or financial reasons, you would be trapped because you would not be able to sell it without digging into your life savings to bring cash to the closing.

Let’s say your property was worth $200,000 and you owed $180,000.

Damn, that’s $20,000 in equity, not bad for a property you just purchased!

Or is it?

If you sold the property the traditional way, you would have to BRING $20,000 in cash to the closing to buy your way out of that property!

If you did not have 20 Grand in your piggy bank, you would be trapped in that property. If you were facing foreclosure, as a record number of middle class families are today, you would have to go down with the ship.

Down into a financial quagmire that would probably haunt you for years to come and thousands more dollars, even after the bank threw you and your family out of the house! (See our article, “Foreclosure Dangers”).

One way to avoid this predicament is to NEVER “Payoff your high interest credit cards” with a HELOC (Home Equity Line of Credit) or with a refinance of your mortgage, no matter what Suzi Ormand says!

You are putting your family’s home in extreme jeopardy by both decreasing your equity; your financial cushion in your home, while piling on debt to your home that cannot be removed with bankruptcy as credit card debt can.

The banks love it when you do that.

Your best bet, if you don’t want to lose 80% of the equity in your home when you sell, is to find a lawyer or other real estate professional that can help you set up an Illinois Land Trust.

The trust will allow you to sell in a manner that will avoid 90% of the costs associated with a conventional sale, letting you net Hundreds of times more cash at closing!

Copyright 2006 Bill Young. Bill is a former bank mortgage officer and licensed financial consultant. His company, Metropolitan Business Council is experienced in the use of Illinois Land Trusts in real estate investing. You can learn more, here: http://MotivatedSellersOnline.com/LandTrust
If you are facing foreclosure, get our free, 5 part Mini-Course, “How to Stop Foreclosure” at http://MotivatedSellersOnline.com/Mini

If you are a loan officer or mortgage broker on the market for mortgage leads, you will have a few different varieties to choose from.

For starters, your budget is the most important thing to consider. If you are on a limited budget, you will need to take a look at the lead companies that allow for low minimum deposits to get you started.

In the mortgage lead industry, a low minimum deposit is considered to be around $100.00.

The two most common leads out there are known as exclusive and non exclusive leads.

Exclusive leads are sold only one time. The lead will go to you and to you only.

Non exclusive leads are sold up to five times on average by mortgage lead companies. So if you are going to buy your lead’s non exclusively, be prepared to compete with other loan officers.

One of the most popular methods of buying mortgage leads is to cherry pick your leads. Cherry picking your leads allows for you to look at the lead before you purchase it.

Real time leads are another popular type of lead to buy. Real time leads are delivered via a streamline process to your e-mail box.

It works like this . . .

You open up an account with a real time lead company and set up a filter specific to the type of lead you are looking for. Lead type, ltv, loan amount, credit rating, specific state, etc.

Once a lead comes in matching your filter scenario, it is delivered to you via e-mail. The lead arrives in your e-mail box literally seconds after the customer submits their on-line application.

The benefit to buying real time leads is that you can count on the quality because the lead is fresh.

Try to steer clear of recycled leads, or what is better known in the mortgage industry among loan officers as junk leads.

These leads are bought and sold from one lead company to the next, than sold to loan officers at a profit.

The chances of turning a junk lead into a loan are slim to none, so stay away from these types of leads.

Perhaps the best way for you to determine the best lead company for you is to do your research. Speak with someone in customer service and ask a lot of specific questions. If you are not happy with the customer service or the answers you get to your questions, than more than likely you won’t like the leads.

Jay Conners has more than fifteen years of experience in the banking and Mortgage Industry, He is the owner of http://www.jconners.com a mortgage resource site. You can also check out his blog at http://wwwmortgagespot.blogspot.com for more articles

Real estate agents are gearing up to face the biggest shift in their industry since it’s beginning. No longer the first in the path of homebuyers and sellers, agents have gone from top feeders to the bottom feeders with real estate consumers in just a few years.

I started in the real estate business when agents were top feeders and the keepers of the information. Multiple Listing Services® began migrating to the Internet at the millennium. Most agents in my first realty office said the Internet wasn’t going to change anything, because we still had the telephone like books with available homes for sale. Consumers had to call us to start their search to purchase a home.

Buyers started calling from out of town on a property and they hadn’t driven by it, they saw it on the Internet. This started the shift of the consumer having access to the same information as the agent. Proactive agents and virtual brokerages saw the writing on the wall and began Internet marketing efforts and captured new market share by being early adopters and listening to their new web-based consumer.

Today traditional brokerages and their agents are scrambling to get in the path of Internet real estate consumers, who number seventy-four percent of all buyers in 2004 according to the National Association of Realtors® Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers. Many of these late adopters have to compete with thousands of real estate websites and e-marketers who have been honing their position for the last five years to be the first in the consumers path when they start their home search. Large newspapers hold brokerage licenses and own real estate websites to capture real estate consumers and sell these leads back to agents, now the bottom feeders.

Real estate trade associations are fighting back against the Internet real estate pioneers with changes to state real estate license laws to restrict and define their roles in lead generation and interactions with consumers. Large Internet powerhouses with non-traditional real estate brokerage business models will give a whole new face to residential real estate by the year 2010.

Mark Nash is a residential real estate author, broker and commentator. He has been featured on CBS The Early Show, Bloomberg TV, CBS Dow Jones Market Watch, and Smart Moves by Ellen James Martin. His latest book 1001 Tips for Buying and Selling a Home is available online and in bookstores nationwide.

In the rental property business, it is vital that the person interviewing or showing properties to tenants be able to notice any signs that the tenant is or will become a dead-beat tenant. Dead-beat tenants are among the top factors in real estate that can cost the property owner lots of money. They are also the number one reason that many people never get into owning rental properties or have and have since gotten out of it. Below is a short list of five signs that people can use to detect the dead-beat tenant before it is too late.

(Property owner and landlord are used interchangeably throughout this article)

1.) Rental Application - The rental application is an obvious first step in determining whether a tenant is no good or not. The application contains information that projects dead giveaways to bad tenants, such as, poor work history, prior evictions, bankruptcy information, financial information, and so on. Many landlords don’t use rental applications, which is a mistake because they miss all of the warning signs that are mentioned above.

2.) Attitude - If the landlord is showing the property to prospective tenants and their attitude is less than well-behaved, imagine how it will be once the property owner is gone. Visual gestures, also known as body language, say far more than their mouth ever can. It is also much harder for people to lie through their body language than it is when they speak.

3.) Appearance - Although there are always people that are an exception to the rule, appearance does matter. If the prospective tenant is dirty, wearing worn clothes, smells in any way, or has any other noticeable hygiene issues, don’t even consider them. If they cannot take care of themselves, what makes one think they will take care of their property.

4.) Credit Report- Another very powerful tool, credit reports can be acquired online on literally hundreds, even thousands of web sites for as little as $5.99 per report. These reports aren’t always neccessary, but if one is considering renting to a tenant that they feel may be a border-line dead-beat tenant, than running the report could be the difference between getting a good tenant and one that will cost you weeks of time and money.

5.) Word-of-mouth - WOM (word-of-mouth) is a useless tool if one is in a big city or medium-sized community. But, if one is lucky enough to have a grasp on a college or university town, or a small town of 10,000 or so, WOM can mean everything. If one has a tenant that looks or acts interesting (in the negative sense), ask around town about the tenant(s). Ask people that went to school with them, ask other landlords, ask anyone, chances are you’ll find someone that knows the people but doesn’t have any personal ties to them.

Worthless tenants can give the business of investing in rental properties a negative name. One must do their part to make sure that these kinds of tenants don’t continually get into the rental system and destroy its worth.

The author is the founder and owner of ManageYourRentals.com and LandLordDocuments.com

NewMexicoHomeDirectory.com is proud to announce that over 2,500 New Mexico businesses have registered on its online directory. Developed by the leading New Mexico, Internet business solutions firm, PearsonKramer, the site was created to provide a one-stop shop for New Mexico homeowners to access information regarding everything related to homeownership and home maintenance in New Mexico. According to Chris Kramer of PearsonKramer, “My wife and I are homeowners that tend to do a lot DIY (do-it-yourself), projects around our house and other properties we own. We were tired of having to dig through the phone book or call numerous friends to get recommendations. We built the New Mexico Home Directory as a central point-of-contact to get information on businesses that provide support to homeowners.” The site was initially launched in 2007 and since it’s release has averaged over 1,000 unique visitors per month.

NewMexicoHomeDirectory.com is easily navigated as users are able to search for vendors according to their specific needs. Similar to Craigslist.org, New Mexico Home Directory is a community-managed site meaning the users are able to provide feedback and have a voice in who is in the online directory. NewMexicoHomeDirectory.com is yet another example of the many directory-based website that empower consumers with information in their buying decisions.

Nowadays, almost everyone buys his or her home using a mortgage. Sometimes, though, life can be unexpected, and sometimes it can be just plain expensive! At times like these, it’s frustrating to know that your house is worth so much more than you paid for it, and yet you can’t just take that equity down to the local store to buy groceries - or can you?

Well, you probably wouldn’t want to touch the equity of your home just for the groceries, but if you need to improve the house, start a business, pay off some expensive debts, or maybe put your kids through college, then a lump sum would be very handy. That’s where a second mortgage may prove to be a good option.

Basically, when you buy a home and take out a mortgage, that’s known as a first mortgage. That means that if you get into financial trouble, and the lender forecloses, they have “first” grab at the sale funds. If you then take out a second mortgage against the house, usually against the equity you’ve built up over time, then that lender will get “second” grab at the sale funds.

Because the lender who gives you the second mortgage is second in line, the risk to them is much higher. If the property is sold under foreclosure, and doesn’t fetch the expected price, then it’s the second mortgage lender who’s going to miss out - well, at least until they start chasing you personally, anyway. But all that means they’re opening themselves up to a bigger risk of losing money, or having a lot of hassle getting their money back.

So second mortgages are almost inevitably more expensive that first mortgages - both in terms of interest rates, and the fees charged. Quite often, too, a second mortgage has to be paid off in a shorter time frame. Your first mortgage might be for 30 years, but the second mortgage might only be for 10 years, as an example.

Apart from that, second mortgages come in almost as many different variations and have as many options as first mortgages. You can get fixed rates, adjustable rates, interest only, balloon payments - and the list goes on. So before you start trying to source a second mortgage, it’s a good idea to have a very clear idea of what exactly you’re looking for, and what you can afford to pay. If you’re not in a position to make high payments every month, then you might be able to source a second mortgage with lower payments and a balloon payment after 5 years. Hopefully by then (particularly if you’re doing home improvements) your house will be worth more, and you may be able to refinance both mortgages into just one, lower rate first mortgage.

There are a couple of different ways to set up a second mortgage, although technically they’re not all called second mortgages! Basically, what we’re talking about here is ways to access the equity you’ve gained in your home. So there’s a standard second mortgage, which means you have two loans against your home. Remember, though, that even the combined loans probably won’t be able to go above eighty percent of the value of the home.

You can also organise a home equity loan. This is mostly the same as a second mortgage, but is generally cheaper, both in interest rates and charges. Generally these are offered with adjustable rates, and quite often are taken out with the same lender as the first mortgage.

A variation of this is the home equity line of credit. This is where the loan funds are set up like a big bank account, and you can take out amounts periodically when you need them - for example, when the college fees are due.

All types of second mortgage will generally require an application, a credit check and a home appraisal. The criteria are often stricter than for a standard home loan, simply because the risk to the lender is higher. Even so, it’s unlikely you’ll be able to borrow more than eighty percent of the appraised value of the home.

In the end, only you can decide whether a second mortgage is a good idea for you. It can be enticing to suddenly have a windfall of a large lump of money, particularly when things are tight, but in the end it’s no different to any time of credit - at some point, you are going to have to pay it back. So think very hard about your financial situation and your ability to make repayments when considering a second mortgage.

There’s lots of great home loan information at Home Loan Zone Central