Finance Your Real Estate Investment Properties

Unlike traditional residential real estate mortgages, real estate investment financing is way more creative and offers more options than you think. The golden rule in real estate investment is OPM (Other People’s Money).

I have enough money; shouldn’t I buy my real estate investment for cash? No, I absolutely advice against investing large sums of cash into a single real estate investment. There are two reasons why not. First, you give away most of your profits by not leveraging your real estate investment. Second, it is far too risky to put every egg into one basket.

Let me explain the leverage issue for a moment. I will give you an example of a $100,000 investment property that typically increases its value (appreciates) by 7% average a year. Maybe more, maybe less depending where you live. Paying all cash for this property will yield in a 7% appreciation profit plus the net profit from renting the place. Now you’re looking at roughly 15% of returns.

If you’re conservative with your investments you might be satisfied with this kind of a return. These days you might get equal or better returns with other conservative investments minus the hassle of being a landlord. But you don’t mind being a landlord, because you understand and utilize the leveraging method with financing your real estate investment.

With the example above you will make roughly $15,000 a year in profits from your investment. Now let’s take a closer look at what leveraging can do for you. Today a typical real estate investor can get financing as high as 95% - 97% of the purchase price. Occasionally 100% financing is available as well. But this would be totally unfair in this example to compare this with all cash purchasing.

15% return sounds like a lot, but wait till you see this. Let’s assume that the rental income will cover all your expenses including the mortgage payments. Taking the same example from before your net return would be the 7% appreciation profits of your property. This would translate into a $7,000 a year profit. With a 95% financing in place you would get $7,000 return on $5,000 (your 5% down payment) invested. This is a whopping 140%
return on investment.

With the same $100,000 you can go out there and get 20 investment properties, finance 95% of it and make an amazing $140,000 profit a year. This beats the projected $15,000 profits with an all cash transaction any day.

Of course you will have a lot of trouble to get financing for 20 properties in a single year. Typically 5-6 new rental property mortgages are the maximum lenders will allow these days. This is the signal to get creative with your financing structures.

In this case sellers financing would be your key to achieve your goal of maximum leverage of your investment dollars. Despite the message from all these late night infomercials, seller financing is harder to get than they want you to make believe it is.

It all depends on the seller’s ability to offer seller financing and the seller’s motivation. Only about 1 out of 20 properties for sale are able to get seller financing. That means that there’s no mortgage balance on the property. From this narrow selection the seller must be motivated to sell under these conditions. This could be tax reasons, time constraints, personal reasons and many more.

As you can see this translates into a lot of work to achieve your goals. But let me tell you one thing. This separates the tire kicker real estate investors from the real go-getters. Wouldn’t you agree that a little bit of hard work and determination is well worth it to build a real estate empire?

I think it is well worth the trouble and hard work. At the end of the day you keep building your real estate investment portfolio and sooner than later you will be able to cash in.

Best Stock Market Simulation Games

A stock market simulation game is a great way to practice your investment skills before actually investing any "real" money in the stock market.

Simulation games are usually played on the internet, where people can experience the thrill of investing in the stock market without any risks, costs or any fear of losing money when and if they make a poor investment decision.

Many teachers and professors of banking and finance are now using stock market simulation games to teach their students about the rudiments of investing in stocks. Most stock market simulation games come with a fee to get started, but there are some that are free of any charge. One does not need have prior knowledge about the stock market to join.

This is how stock market simulation games usually work:

First, players must register. After registration, players are given an initial sum of "virtual" money to invest in companies of their choice. Players build a portfolio of stocks by buying and selling shares in companies. Most stock market simulation games use real-time market data.

The objective of most stock market simulation games is simple:

To increase the value of your portfolio of stocks so that it is greater than that of the other game players.

Below are some tips on choosing a stock market simulation game:

• Choose a stock market simulation game that is used and recommended by reputable colleges, high schools, middle school, investment clubs, brokers in training, corporate education courses and any other group of individuals studying markets in the U.S. and worldwide.

• Choose a stock market simulation game that is comprehensive and easy to implement in any Finance, Economics, or Investments class. A good stock market simulation game should feature trading of stocks, options, futures, mutual funds, bonds from the U.S. and many of the world's major markets.

• Choose a stock market simulation game that provides a valuable, reliable, and realistic trading simulation at a reasonable price to members and other individuals who are interested in learning more about investing and trading. The simulation game should also have some capability for testing a variety for investment strategies.

• Choose a stock market simulation game that has a toll-free customer service phone number and excellent e-mail support for members. The support function should be able to quickly answer any questions that members/players may have.

• Choose a stock market simulation game that is easy to use and easy to teach even to those who have never had any real hands-on investment experience.

Small business investments

State laws have been relaxed to make it easier for small business to raise start-up and growth financing from the public. Many investors view this as an opportunity to “get in on the ground floor” of an emerging business and to “hit it big” as the small businesses grow into large ones.

Statistically, most small businesses fail within the first few years. Small business investments are among the most risky that investors can make. This guide suggests factors to consider for determining whether you should make a small business investment.

Risks and investment strategy
A basic principle of investing in a small business is: Never make small business investments that you cannot afford to lose! Never use funds that may be needed for other purposes, such as college education, retirement, loan repayment, or medical expenses.
Instead, use funds that would otherwise be used for a consumer purchase, such as a vacation or a down payment on a boat or a new car.

Above all, never let a commissioned securities salesperson or office or directors of a company convince you that the investment is not risky. Small business investments are generally hard to convert to cash (illiquid), even though the securities may technically be freely transferable. Thus, you will usually be unable to sell your securities if the company takes a turn for the worse.

In addition, just because the state has registered the offering does not mean that the particular investment will be successful. The state does not evaluate or endorse any investments. If anyone suggests otherwise, they are breaking the law.

If you plan to invest a large amount of money in a small business, you should consider investing smaller amounts in several small businesses. A few highly successful investments can offset the unsuccessful ones. However, even when using this strategy, only invest money you can afford to lose.

Analyzing the investment
Although there is no magic formula for making successful investment decisions, certain factors are considered important by professional venture investors. Some questions to consider are:

Ø How long has the company been in business? If it is a start-up or has only a brief operating history, are you being asked to pay more than the shares are worth?
Ø Consider whether management is dealing unfairly with investors by taking salaries or other benefits that are too large in view of the company’s stage of development, or by retaining an inordinate amount of equity stock of the company compared with the amount investors will receive. For example, is the public putting up 80 percent of the money but only receiving 10 percent of the company shares?
Ø How much experience does management have in the industry and in a small business? How successful were the managers in previous businesses?
Ø Do you know enough about the industry to be able to evaluate the company and to make a wise investment?
Ø Does the company have a realistic marketing plan and do they have the resources to market the product or service successfully?
Ø How or when will you get a return on your investment?

Making money on your investment
The two classic methods of making money on an investment in a small business are resale of stock in the public securities markets following a public offering, and receiving cash or marketable securities in a merger or other acquisition of the company.

If the company is not likely to go public or be sold out within a reasonable time (i.e., a family-owned or closely held corporation), it may not be a good investment for you – despite its prospects for success – because of the lack of opportunity to cash in on the investment. Management of a successful private company may receive a good return indefinitely through salaries and bonuses, but it is unlikely that there will be profits sufficient to pay dividends in proportion with the risk of the investment.

Other suggestions
Investors must be provided with a disclosure document – a prospectus – before making a final decision to invest. You need to read this material before investing.
Even the best small business venture offerings are highly risky. If you have a nagging sense of doubt, there is probably a good reason for it. Good investments are based on sound business criteria and not emotions. If you are not entirely comfortable, the best approach is usually not to invest. There will be many other opportunities. Do not let a securities salesperson pressure you into making a decision.

It is generally a good idea to see management of the company face-to-face to size them up. Focus on experience and record of accomplishment rather than a smooth sales presentation. If possible, take a sophisticated businessperson with you to help in your analysis. Beware of any information that differs from, or is not included in the disclosure document. All significant information is required by law to be in the disclosure document. Immediately report any problems to your state Office of the Commissioner of Securities.

Conclusion
Greater numbers of public investors are “getting on the ground floor” by investing in small businesses. When successful, these enterprises enhance the economy and provide jobs. They can also provide new investment opportunities, but the advantages must be balanced against the risky nature of small business investments.

Do you want to generate extra dollars and new friends in the stock market?

What is an Investment Club?

The definition of an investment club is simple: a group of people who share an interest in the stock market pooling their resources into one large investment. Defining how an investment club works is more complicated.

The majority of the time the investment decisions will be made after some research has been done regarding the stock that is under consideration. This will be discussed at length further in this book.

An important feature of an investment club is that the members are there to have fun as they invest their money and learn about the stock market. Making a profit isn’t the only goal of the club and members are encouraged to have fun as they invest their money.

You Don't Have To Be An Expert Stock Broker To Get Started Today!

How Investment Plans Work

More people are choosing investment plans than ever before. With the rising cost of living and the growing insecurity about the availability of many retirement funds, many individuals are looking to investment plans to begin a nest egg or to make some additional money via investment without having to spend a lot of time purchasing stocks and bonds.

Investment plans allow individuals to simply purchase a specific amount of stocks, bonds, or indices on a regular repeating basis, cutting out a large part of the hassle while allowing for some of the main advantages of investment.

If you've been considering an investment plan but aren't completely sure what they might entail, the following information might help you to decide whether or not an investment plan is the right investment option for you.

The Mechanics of an Investment Plan

Basically, an investment plan is a method of making multiple investments over time at regular set intervals. The funds for the investment are taken from a cheque, savings, or money market account automatically, and are used to purchase stocks or bonds that you have decided upon beforehand. In most cases you can change the amount, frequency, or purchased stocks or bonds of the automatic investments at any time, though depending upon the broker through whom you're doing the investments you may be subject to fees or penalties especially if changing details relatively close to the next investment date. Most online investment firms offer investment plans that you can change at any time free of charge.

Deciding How Much to Invest

When deciding how much to invest each cycle with an investment plan, you should take care not to overextend your funds and bring yourself up short. Make sure that the amount that you choose is available and that you'll have it to spare each time your investment comes up… it can be difficult to plan for events in the future, and just because you have a surplus now doesn't mean that you won't find money running tight a few investment cycles from now.

If you feel that you're reaching a point where you won't be able to afford your regular investment, go ahead and reduce the investment amount or put a hold on the next scheduled investment… better to put less in than short yourself afterwards.

Choosing What to Invest In

Making the decision of which stocks and bonds to invest in can take some time, but it's worth it… this is your money that you're dealing with, and you shouldn't invest it without putting some thought and research into your decisions. Find stocks or bonds that have performed well over time, and that are likely to continue doing so… they may be expensive at times, but you aren't making your total investment all at once so it doesn't matter as much.

Don't be afraid to add new stocks or bonds to your plan later, either… this can help to diversify your portfolio.

Deciding On an Investment Interval

You also need to decide how often you wish to make your investments… this will largely depend upon the cycle of your paycheques and your monthly bills and expenses. You may decide to invest once per month, after everything has been paid, or you might want to invest a little from every paycheque.

The more often you invest, the lower the amount of each investment can be… after all, two or four small investments per month might end up purchasing more than one larger one.

Decide on what works best for your lifestyle, and modify it as needed later if it doesn't seem to work out for you.

Entrecard E-Book Release

Entrecard is a fairly new free exchange network. As usual I was skeptical at first, but after doing a little research it looked like it would be worth.

I like to try most of the social networking / link exchanging systems.

I installed Entrecard 1 month ago and started researching their site. I have been very happy with,
Entrecard has realeased new e-book, If you’re new to Entrecard, and wondering what to do first, this E-Book will guide you along the way. And if you’re an intermediate or advanced user, it’s packed full of strategies you can use to get the absolute most from our service. Download from the link above..

http://entrecard.com/static/entrecard_official_ebook.pdf

How to Rank N1 in Google for a HIGHLY competitive keyword

source http://www.essam.org/index.php/2008/06/04/
how-to-rank-n1-in-google-for-a-highly-competitive-keyword/

I am using TNX.net from one month. This post is review of my experience with them. This is also an information on how am I using them for my benefit and also how can you use them.

When I read about TNX on Digital Point forum, I thought, oh no, not one more text link selling/buying website. But when I studied it thoroughly to find out how it is different from text-link-ads.com and similar other link buying/selling websites, I found out that it has a major plus point, which is missing in all others. The plus point in TNX is that you can sell links on any website and any page even when the page has PR0 page rank. Most of the other text link buying/selling networks don’t accept such sites.

So, if you have a site which has less PR and not able to get into Text-Link-Ads or similar other networks, you can still join TNX.net and earn some revenue. No need to wait for your website to get higher page rank.

Now, that said, how did I used it and how much did I got paid?
Well, first of all I put it on a website which did not had much unique content but had a page rank of 4 and around 5000 pages indexed. I hope everybody knows how easy it is to create such non-unique sites, but those sites do not get search engine traffic. But I did not need search engine traffic. I added the code from TNX in my template so the links were sold for every page. In one month, I made around 160,000 TNX-points.

Now after earning those points, I had two options, either get paid for those points or use those points for my benefits. I have chosen to do the both. I redeemed around 100,000 points for cash and using 60,000 points for launch my 2 new sites.

So, overall what I got in return of a useless (because of it non-uniqueness) PR4 sites are:

1. Cash of $66/month
2. Around 5000 to 6000 PR0 and PR1 back links for my new sites. (I did not need higher PR link for my new sites right now)

So, I am really happy using them and highly recommend them.

Yahoo reaches Google ad deal, Microsoft talks fail

By Michele Gershberg and Anupreeta Das Thu Jun 12, 7:09 PM ET

NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc (YHOO.O) and Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) ended talks as the Web pioneer agreed to let archrival Google Inc (GOOG.O) sell search ads on its site, the companies said on Thursday.

Separate statements from Microsoft and Yahoo signaled a more permanent rift between the two after months of on-again, off-again talks. It also heightened pressure on Yahoo to outline an alternative strategy. Yahoo shares fell 10 percent.

Yahoo said it had agreed to let Google put search ads on its site in what it called an $800 million annual revenue opportunity that would boost cash flow by $250 million to $450 million in the first 12 months.

Yahoo's ads and Google's would be pitted against each other in an auction style process that could make a deal easier to pass regulatory approval.

"Yahoo is being a reseller of Google whenever it makes sense and that is likely to be a lot of the time given how much more effective Google Web search ads have proven to be," Global Crown Capital analyst Martin Pyykkonen said.

The deal is expected to face a major antitrust review given the rising power of Google, and Sen. Herb Kohl, a Wisconsin Democrat and chairman of a U.S. Senate antitrust subcommittee, said he would investigate the deal.

Microsoft had sought a tie-up with Yahoo for more than a year and by early May had offered up to $47.5 billion, or $33 per share, to buy the Internet company.

Its latest offer included buying Yahoo's search business and paying $35 per share for a 16 percent stake in Yahoo, said two people briefed on the matter but not authorized to speak publicly about it.

After talks fell through, Yahoo shares fell to $23.52 on Nasdaq. Following details of the Google deal, they rose to $24.00 in after-hours trade.

Microsoft had hoped a Yahoo deal would accelerate its ability to capitalize on Web advertising growth and compete with Google, which is increasingly fighting for the same Internet audience.

Yahoo said on Thursday that Microsoft had made it clear in a meeting on June 8 that it was no longer interested in buying the company outright, even at the price of $33 per share Microsoft had most recently proposed.

That may not appease Yahoo shareholders, including billionaire Carl Icahn, who have been pressuring Yahoo to reach a deal with Microsoft. Icahn has called for Chief Executive Jerry Yang to be ousted.

Microsoft said it was not interested in "rebidding" for all of Yahoo, sending its shares up more than 4 percent as investors showed relief that the company would not be paying too high a price for a deal they considered risky.

On Thursday, Yahoo said that an alternative Microsoft proposal to buy only its search business did not fit into Yahoo's plan to grow search and display advertising.

Microsoft said in a statement that its alternative offer was still open for discussion. It said that its most recent discussion with Yahoo for a partial deal would have valued Yahoo at more than $33 per share.

THE END?

Analysts said they did not expect that Yahoo and Microsoft would try another round of negotiations.

"It certainly seems to be the end," said Derek Brown, an analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald. "In their most recent discussions, they were talking about totally separate visions of both a deal and the future."

Microsoft is expected to soon be on the prowl for other acquisition targets since it has not given up its goal for online advertising.

"Microsoft will keep trying," said Morningstar analyst Toan Tran. "Yahoo is one of most popular sites on the Web and there is no one else with as much traffic. AOL may be one option and it may not be as expensive."

Icahn, who has waged a proxy battle to remove Yahoo's board at its August 1 annual meeting, had urged Yahoo to secure a higher price from Microsoft. Icahn has said a partnership with Google should only be a second choice.

Icahn could not be reached for comment.

Yahoo shares sank as low as $22.50 on news of the talks failing and expectations of the Google deal. It was their lowest level since January 31, the day before Microsoft announced its offer for the company.

Google shares finished up $7.75 at $552.95, and Microsoft closed up $1.12 at $28.24.

(Additional reporting by Eric Auchard in San Francisco; Writing by Michele Gershberg; editing by Dave Zimmerman, Jeffrey Benkoe, Toni Reinhold)