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The New York Real Estate Expo is held annually at the New York Marriott Marquis Hotel, to provide an opportunity to agents and brokers for targeted networking and connection with the agents ideal clientele. The N.Y. Real Estate Expo is the single largest event concerning real estate in the country. Everything and everyone an investor or agent needs to succeed can be found behind its doors. Architects, bankers, contractors, credit specialists, landscapers, real estate bankers, mortgage bankers, real estate insurance companies, all be present, just to name few.

The New York Real Estate Expo Agenda: Imperial Room

The N.Y. Real Estate Expo will happen in stages, even though those stages won’t be noticed by most, it is happening. In the early hours of the Expo, from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m., registration will be held, as well as exhibitor set up. After that, from 9a.m. to 10:30 a.m., the Imperial Room is opened for the commercial observer forum, the topic will cover, New York investment sales in 2011. The moderator will be Tom Acitelli, and will show case Moses Sioni, managing director of Sioni & Partners; Sam Chandan, President and chief economist of Real Estate Econometrics, along with many others.

The seminars don’t stop there, though. From 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., the Real Estate Weekly Forum will start. The topic will be: Amid the Economic Uncertainty, What Lies Ahead for the Real Estate Investor. The moderator will be Dan Geiger, from Real State Weekly. The forum will showcase owner and investors such as, James R. Wacht, President of Sierra Realty; Paul J. Massey, Jr., Chief executive Officer and founding partner of Massey Knakal Realty Services; and Ralph Herzka, the President and CEO of Meridian Capital Group LLC.

A real estate seminar for effectively marketing and selling green properties, will be held from 3:30 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. The keynote speakers for this seminar are, Alison Novak, of GreenHomeNYC and The Hudson Companies Inc. Speaking with her, is Alanna Martin, of Green Properties New York.

A CCIM forum will be held from 4:15 p.m. to 5 p.m., covering the topic of, what are the rules in office, retail, development, and lending. The experts that have been scheduled to speak are, Paul G.W. Fetscher CCIM, SCLS; Craig T. Evans, CCIM and Cassidy Turley; Wayne D’ Amico, CCIM and Property Politics; and Jimmy Vattes, CCIM and Mortgage Bankers.

Bolasco Room

Other seminars in the Bolasco Room include, Ethical Considerations for the Real Estate Practitioner, Foreign investment in US Real Estate: Challenges and Opportunities, and the History of CO-OP’s in NYC / NYC Condo History, to name a few.

Those were just some of the seminars and activities going on at the New York Real Estate Expo, dozens others are taking place in the Carnegie Room, Booth Room, and Edison Room. The final seminar ends at 5:30 p.m., so if you chose your learning options poorly, you’ve run out of time. Use your experience here wisely, and you’ll be one real estate investor who comes out with more leads for clients, lenders, and contacts with other agents and brokers. To see the full schedule of the New York Real Estate Expo, go to their website at, http://www.nycrealestateexpo.com/Agenda.html.

If you want to do well in the real estate business, you need to have a lot of contacts with possible prospects.  The marketing system for real estate works like a funnel. Here’s the breakdown of the necessary steps that you have to take.

• Initially, you have to start your marketing with a huge number of people who‘s never heard of you before. Marketing to strangers is building awareness to a group of people and letting them know that your real estate exists. Since these people don’t know you yet, your advertisements, website as well as marketing materials should be centered on their concerns and problems so that you can market effectively to these people.
• Once you have successfully reached out to these strangers, your next step should be getting their contact information and you should also get a permission to do a follow up with them. Through constant communication, you should be able to build rapport so that you can establish your credibility through educating these suspects.
• The selling process starts when your ‘suspect’ becomes a probable ‘prospect.’ This happens if the person’s mindset shifts from just being interested to being ready to sell or buy. The selling process should not be hard. As long as your marketing was done well and the education of your suspects regarding the benefits was well rounded. You will know if the selling has already started when your suspect starts communicating with you solely. For example, sending you emails or perhaps asking for a consultation with you. Remember, do a good job and this will end in a signed working agreement.
• Keep in mind that the marketing process does not end when your prospects becomes your clients. Once they’ve become your client, you have to find them the perfect house or get them the best price for the house they’re selling. In a working relationship, an outstanding client service is very important. Every interaction that you have with them is considered as a marketing opportunity.
•  In the marketing system for real estate, a happy and satisfied client becomes your advocate when it comes to client service. These advocates will surely tell other people about you. That is why it is a must to provide an excellent result so that they will refer business to you in the future. Think about establishing a referral reward system for these advocates so that you can promote any referrals.

Finding a real estate agent can be very easy in today’s level of advertising availability and internet usage. Be alert when searching for an agent, you don’t want any real estate agent, you want one that’s in the business for you as much as he or she is for themselves. Real estate agents can make the buying and selling of a property as smooth as the state legislature allows. The best real estate agents working today don’t have to come from the big name companies. At the end of this article there will be a small list of very successful and impressive individual mentors available to start you out in the right direction. 

1. Be sure your “realtor” is an actual realtor registered and certified by the National Association of Realtors. Only realtors qualified by the NAR can bare their logo. They adhere to a code of ethics that cover 17 different articles and standards of realty practice. Surprisingly, less than half of the realtors in business today have bothered to become an official Realtor. Get more info about realtors at, http://www.realtor.org/

2. Ask the agent you’re investigating for referrals. Most realtors of any size or income stay in business by using multiple sources of advertising. One of the most important is mouth to mouth referrals. Ask for direct referrals from past customers, or to have the agent put you in touch with some of his former clients. This may seem like bad form to some, but when spending the type of money needed to invest in real estate, or even buy a median priced home, every attempt to be 100% sure of your decision is never a waste of time.

3. Go to open houses, even the some of homes you’re not interested in. This will give the you the opportunity to explore new choices. It is up to you to decide which are the best options and which are the worst, refer to the end of number 2, on the list.

4. Go to an agent who does not specialize in the type of real estate you want. It sounds like a trick, but most agents will happily refer youl to a quality agent who does specialize in the type you’re looking for.

5. Check the selected agent on the web. Doing a background check about the agent using their own website can be very effective at sorting out the bad apples. Look at their listings, were they sold long ago, or are they kept recent. If the website is in disarray, then chances are the agent is as well.

Using these tips and a little common sense, anyone looking to buy real estate can make an informed decision on who they should choose for an agent.

One of he best real estate advisors, agents and investors is Dean Graziosi. Take him on as a mentor, or just follow his blog at, http://www.aboutdeangraziosi.com/.

For more information about Dean click on any of the following links…

http://www.deangraziosireview.com/

http://www.aboutdeangraziosi.com/

http://www.totallyfulfilled.com/

The United States Midwest region, namely the Iowa, Wisconsin and Illinois real estate markets, have been slowly suffocating under the assault of a world wide recession.

Wisconsin: Residential Wins Big

The percentage of Wisconsin residents who are currently home owners is an astounding 61.46 percent. Renters in Wisconsin, reached 28.34%, leaving just over 10 percent of the Wisconsin homes vacant. The most common type of real estate in Wisconsin, is the single family detached homes, with 65.99 percent of the real estate falling into that category. Apartment complexes, otherwise known as high rise apartments, are the next best bet for the real estate investor in Wisconsin, consuming 14.03 percent of the total real estate owned in Wisconsin.

Wisconsin’s apartment real estate markets are on fire, the high rise apartment properties are a large chunk of Wisconsin’s real estate industry. That becomes more apparent, with the next revelation of Wisconsin’s real estate numbers. The amount of real estate being consumed by small apartment buildings in the state are nearly the same as the high rise apartments. Mobile homes sales in the state, also,  makes an impact on the real estate markets and economy of Wisconsin, small as it may be. The amount of real estate being owned by mobile home owners and sellers rests at 4.37 percent.

The median home value in the state averages out to be just under, $186,000. The price paid by most homeowners, 43.75 percent, paid between $170,000 and $339,000. The majority of the rest of the real estate sold in the state of Wisconsin, 33.83 percent, are homes selling in the $84,000 to $169,000 range. The average rental rate for a Wisconsin apartment, crunches out to be $696.00, per month. After reflecting on these numbers, any agent can see that the largest real estate market in Wisconsin is, easily, the residential markets.

Iowa Real Estate

The state of Iowa has been one of the best real estate markets in the country. Since 1990, the appreciation rate of Iowa real estate has risen 6.37 percent, and in the last 12 months, it has risen 0.82 percent. Residential real estate prices in Iowa fling from the bottom rung, all the way up to the top shelf. The cost of residential real estate in central Iowa is much heavier than that of the western and northern regions of the state. In Des Moines, residential homes can range from $129,000 all the way up to, $168,400, for the average single family home. In the northern cities, such as Dubuque, the housing costs are fairly low, in the range of $35,000 to $79,000.

Iowa’s median income reaches the 60 thousand dollar range, which is needed by Iowans just to maintain the mortgage on a lower priced $70,000, home. 

Illinois real Estate

Illinois has been doing a bit better in this respect, than Iowa, but not nearly as strong as Wisconsin. Illinois appreciation rates have climbed over the past 10 years , 6.4 percent, but across the last 12 months, the residential real estate in Illinois has plummeted 2.92 percent, including a loss of 0.16 last quarter. In 2010, the all important median value of a residential piece of real estate, namely a single family home, lists at just below $184,000, making it the 21st in the United States. The average monthly mortgage in Illinois is $1,455. The median income of Illinois home owners was $61,174, ranking it 14th, but per capita, the state averages a poultry 26,307, making that $1,500 mortgage payment a little harder to fathom.

Most of the Illinois economy is industrial based, that includes farming, soft coal, mining, oil production and refinement. It manufactures everything from iron and steel, and chemicals . If the industry markets of Illinois are crushed by state and national legislations, as many politicians wish to do, the Illinois’ real estate industry will crumble as the legislations grow.

The Overview

After researching and reading all the real estate facts for Iowa, Illinois, and Wisconsin, the only conclusion that can be reached is, the most commonly bought and sold pieces of real estate in the entire midwest, is residential homes and apartments, specifically high rise apartments. For in more information on these states and others go to… http://www.neighborhoodscout.com.

Dean Graziosii, self-made real estate millionaire, has been very busy lately. He’s been trying to get the best ideas, systems, and strategies to help you get the most return out of your real estate investments. Against Deans better judgement, he’s released some of his most prized ideas along with some common sense tips that every investor needs to know. When you visit Dean Graziosi’s Real Estate Investment Academy, the average investor can get the know how he needs, and the experienced investor can learn a thing or two they didn’t know the day before. Oh, and did I mention before, it’s absolutely free. Every post, every hint, every lesson, absolutely free of charge.

To go there now just click… http://www.totallyfulfilled.com/

What Does the Real Estate Investment Academy have to offer

The Real Estate Investment Academy covers 14 categories from a-z, including agents, banker, brokers, buying and selling real estate, foreclosure, and many others, Every topic will be briefly covered so you can get a clue as to what Deans Graziosi’s Real Estate Academy teach you. If you click… http://www.totallyfulfilled.com  you’ll learn of the direct affects the internet has had on the tactics of real estate agents and how they make themselves more accessible. Also, in the agents section, you will learn some easy ways to locate and get first call on pre-foreclosed properties.

When you read on, keep in mind these are some of the best tips, lessons, and ideas you’ll ever get for free, so keep note and visit often. There are two dozens past episodes and podcasts available to read and watch. Keep your mind open and free to new ideas and you’ll be able to make real use of the in-depth real estate information currently available at Dean’s Real Estate Investment Academy.

In the banker section, http://www.totallyfulfilled.com/?cat=75, You’ll learn about the current difficulties with mortgage bankers, and what the expiration of the  homebuyer tax credit has really done to the real estate markets all across the United States. In the foreclosures link, http://www.totallyfulfilled.com/?cat=56, of Deans Real Estate Investment Academy, you’ll learn the rights of tenets residing in your real estate properties. What happens if the property is foreclosed, along with the process the tenets must endure in order to stay in spite of the foreclosure.

When you visit the homeowner page, discover the latest foreclosure stop plugs being put in place by the Pennsylvania states legislature, and signed into law by President Obama. In the very useful, making money link, http://www.totallyfulfilled.com/?cat=5, Dean Graziosi explains his four step plan for keeping the home you live in from being someone else’s house.

On the Real Estate Investment Academy podcast link, listen to Dean Graziosi’s weekly podcasts, which include cash saving tips on closing costs, the $7500 government tax credit, along with countless other topics. The Real Estate Investment Academy’s short sale page, http://www.totallyfulfilled.com/?cat=70, offers experienced advise for real estate investors and how to determine if the potential buyer is considered to be serious. One of the Academy’s best kept advertising secrets is available for all to see on the uncategorized page, http://www.totallyfulfilled.com/?cat=1, go there now to find out what it is.

All this and much more is available at Dean Graziosi’s, Real Estate Investment Academy. Don’t miss out  much longer, when you’re not getting the edge against your real estate investment competition, they’re getting the edge on you.  Act now and act fast, increased profit may be passing you by!

The NAR has a long history, stretching over 100 years. It’s members have grown from just 120 in 1908, to tens of thousand. Below you will learn a little bit of their history and most importantly, their code of ethics. You’ll learn exactly what they are without the hassle of the nonsense in between.

A Brief NAR History

The NAR was founded on May 12, 1908, but not originally as the National Association of Realtors. The organization was created as the National Association of Real Estate Exchanges, at a YMCA in Chicago, Illinois. The original group was made of only 120 members, 19 boards and a single State Association. The NAR, originally known as the AREE, described its objective as to, “unite the real estate men of America for the purpose of effectively exerting a combined influence upon matters affecting real estate investment.”  One can see, almost immediately, why the image over haul was done.

By 1913 an official code of ethics was put into place. The theme of their code of ethics was termed the Golden Rule. When 1916 rolled around, the AREE realized their organization was in desperate need of a modern face lift. The first thing any company does to change its image is to change their name. The name they chose, unfortunately, didn’t get better. The name was changed to the National Association of Real Estate Boards, or the NAREB, not a catchy tune. It wasn’t until 1972, that the NAREB got the sense to shorten their name and mainstream the product by changing their name to its well known form, the National Association of Realtors.

The NAR Code of Ethics in Short

There are 17 articles under the realtors code of conduct. They are available to view in their full text at, http://www.realtor.org/realtororg.nsf/files/R_COE-Pledge-of-Performance.pdf/$FILE/R_COE-Pledge-of-Performance.pdf.

1. Be honest and protect their clients interests

2. Do not exaggerate

3. Cooperate with other real estate pro’s for their client

4. Always make clear their true position or interests

5. Do not give professional assistance where it is already being provided

6. Disclose any and all financial gains that will be received

7. Receive compensation from only party, except when they receive full consent from the client

8. Keep trusted funds of clients and customers in separate escrow accounts

9. All contract details must be in writing with multiple copies

10. Do not discriminate for any reason

11. Be knowledgeable in the real estate field they practice

12. Be truthful in advertising

13. Don’t engage in unauthorized practice of law

14. Willing participate in ethics investigations

15. Make only truthful and objective comments

16. Respect other realtors and their relationships with their clients

17. Arbitrate financial disagreements with other realtors and with their clients.

If this list of ethics is any standard for the NAR in reality, it seems you can count on them to help you with almost any realty interest you have. If you want REO’S, help with a foreclosure, or just buying your first home, the NAR representatives are a safe avenue to travel.

Let’s take a look at two ways of ramping up a rental property investment portfolio.  First, there’s Sam, a really happy real estate investor who was so happy with his first single family rental home investment that he decided to leverage his skills and money and grow his business with more single family home purchases.  Sam has purchased five more homes in nice neighborhoods around town, and all are providing a positive cash flow, as well as the other benefits of rental property ownership, like tax advantages.

We’ll also take a look at Jane, who began in the same way, with a couple of rental single family homes.  However, Jane decided to sell those and roll her investment funds into a six unit apartment project.  She’s renting out six units, the same as Sam is doing.  They’re all cash flowing well, just like Sam’s homes.  However, Jane’s return on investment for all six units is several percentage points higher than Sam’s.  Why?  Economy of scale is the primary reason.  Economy of scale is when an investor saves on costs due to the size of the project or number of units in one location.  Here are some savings points:

·         Initial Cost – While Sam is paying for individual structures built in different locations, Jane is paying for a single roof, and apartment units with common walls.  There is also some savings on land cost, as Jane’s six units are sitting on roughly the same size lot as two of Sam’s homes’ lots.  The cost/square foot for Jane’s apartment construction is about 25% lower than Sam’s.

·         Repairs & Maintenance – Jane gets some discounting by maintaining one property’s landscaping, a single exterior, and by keeping interior finishes common in colors and styles for all six units.  Sam is maintaining six very different homes in different areas.  Jane has negotiated repair service discounts as a multi-unit property as well.

·         Management & Accounting – Sam has six homes across town to keep an eye on and manage.  Six spread out properties to drive by at least once a month, and six different addresses to pay taxes on.  Jane has a single location, can watch it closely without driving around, and has a single address for taxes and other accounting purposes.

There are other ways in which concentration of rental properties in one location saves the real estate investor on costs of operation.  The key is to understand the concept of economies of scale and decide if the next logical growth plan for your real estate investment business is a multi-family property.

Remember all of the songs and derogatory press about the “suburbs,” or “burbs” in the 80s?  The suburban lifestyle was depicted as one of blandness, and generally a really boring existence.  Huge tracts of same-looking homes in rectangular blocks created the “tract living” environment.  People went off to work in the city in carpools and came home to their cookie cutter homes every night to do it all again tomorrow.

However, “times they are a-changing,” as Bob Dylan sang.  In today’s real estate markets, prices in the suburban areas have dropped along with everywhere else, but many times a lot more.  With home prices in these areas down, some communities have developed plans to revive their “burbs,” and the 72 million+ baby boomer generation is playing prominently in some of these plans.

Rockville, a suburb of Washinton D.C. was one of those areas maligned in songs for its boring blandness.  But today’s Rockville is quite different, and is reviving the “downtown” Rockville area’s shops and businesses.  The core of the town and the plan is shops, restaurants and apartments, all steps away from a subway station.  This creates a vibrant street life that’s fun and attracts and supports business.  Also, the nearby subway station provides the convenient and fast transportation to the larger city supporting major services and employment.

Baby boomers are buying and renting in Rockville now.  They like the sense of community created by the town square.  Neighbors and friends are meeting to enjoy the square, have a cup of coffee or shop in the boutiques along the way.   It’s no longer the “sprawl” growth of the past, now called “smart growth.”  Developing a mix of housing and businesses in and near existing cities creates a mini-community.

What does this mean for real estate investors?  Simply, if a real estate investor can get in on the front end of one of these new smart growth initiatives, there is opportunity to profit.  Whether it’s rehabbing older subdivision homes for resale, or holding them for rental, these areas are successfully rebirthing the old tired subdivision concept.

The Florida real estate market has been one of the hardest hit markets during the recession.  It will take years for values to get back to their 2007 values.  Since late 2008, Florida’s real estate activity can only be described as dismal.

Residential and commercial construction, once the heart of many Florida counties, is at a standstill and showing no signs of recovery.  Unemployment on Florida is among the highest in the country. 

After Hurricane Katrina, much of the construction in Florida involved the use of Chinese drywall.  The drywall has left thousands of homeowners and construction firms involved in litigation. 

In Florida in the first quarter of 2010, 39 percent of all homes sold were distressed or foreclosed properties.  Florida was one of ten states where distressed housing accounted for more than 33 percent of all sales.  In Nevada, a stunning 63.5 percent of all sales were distressed homes.

In Florida, 35,410 homes sold in the first quarter.  15.2 percent of all foreclosure sales in the country were located in sunny Florida.  Foreclosure sales rose by 9 percent in year-over-year comparisons, but were down 3 percent form the fourth quarter 2009.

Just three years ago, Florida real estate was in high demand.  Buyers flocked to the beach and to the sun for primary and secondary housing. Houses were selling at prices that will not be seen again for years.

However, investors are on the scene and in the Florida market.  Bank owned real estate sold at a 37.8 percent discount in the first quarter 2010.  The average selling price of pre-foreclosure and foreclosure homes in Florida was just $121,394 in the first quarter.  Nationwide the average selling price for foreclosure homes was $171,971.

Many REO’s and short sales in Florida are second homes.  Sellers want out.  The banks want out and investors are reaping big harvests.  Florida investors are approaching banks for quantity discounts.  In the Sunshine State, wheeling and dealing is taking place.

Investors are finding a strong seasonal rental market for short sale acquisitions and REO’s. It’s not too late to become a Florida investor.  

Negotiating a real estate transaction is an art form.  In days gone by, real estate agents were prone to be more involved in the negotiations.  Changes in the industry have pretty much removed agents from the negotiations.   

Typically the purchaser makes an offer.  The seller’s agent presents the offer to the seller and the negotiations begin.  Price, date of occupancy, remedial conditions and non-real estate items included in the sale are negotiable items.  Contingencies that need to be addressed are the structural inspection, the mortgage contingency and any other contingency specific to the transaction.

Most contracts today contain a contingency relative to the review of the contract by the attorney for the seller.  Negotiations can occur during this period.

Negotiating a real estate transaction is not complicated, but it is important that every detail be resolved so that the transaction can commence without surprises. 

Today, the real estate market is a buyers market.  Qualified purchasers have many properties from which they can choose.  Purchasers and their agents are aware of their strength in negotiations.

Buyers with pre-approval letters from a lender are hard to find and thus are in a strong position.  But, sellers with nice homes in desirable neighborhoods always have strength in that they reside where others would like to live.

Real estate negotiations are rarely about who has the upper hand.  They are usually about the perceived value of the real estate.  If the buyer wants to build a case for a lower selling price, he will need to support his claim with comparable properties.

The seller may be willing to provide certain incentives to get the purchaser to a higher price level.  At the same time, the buyer may be willing to make concessions to lower the price.  Finding the balance has saved many transactions. 

The key to successfully negotiating the contract is to first make clear what items both parties like.  After those issues are clear and resolved, create a list of the items that need to be agreed upon.  By identifying those items the parties resolve issues one at a time.  Unless one party is unwilling to negotiate, the transaction can usually be saved. 

The process can be nerve wracking and time consuming.  However, reasonable parties usually come together because one person wants to sell and the other wants to purchase.  If that basic principle does not exist, there is no way the deal will come together.