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Years ago I watched a late-night television infomercial selling some course on creative real estate investing. As I recall, the author of the course suggested – among other things – that you could use your car for a down payment and get sellers to finance everything. You could also split a home into a duplex he said. He really did have a lot of creative ideas for investing, but it wasn’t clear that any of them had ever worked for him or if they were just ideas he had. For this article, then, I want to stick to true stories – creative techniques that have actually been used.

An investor I know used to buy run-down houses, fix them up and sell them for a profit. He was always looking for new ways to buy for less or add more value to a home. In a competitive market with many investors looking at the same properties he had to take creative real estate investing very seriously to find the opportunities.

One project that I helped him with was a bi-level home with two bedrooms. Like many homes of this type, the lower level was unfinished, a basement of sorts, but with larger windows than you normally get on a basement. Other investors had passed on the property because there wasn’t enough profit to be made cleaning it up and reselling it. My friend saw the potential of that lower level.

He chose a corner with a window and had two walls built. An outlet, a ten-by-ten-foot piece of carpeting, and a door completed the bedroom. Total cost: $1,500 or so (this was more than fifteen years ago). Now it was a three bedroom home. He made repairs and improved the landscaping, but that bedroom alone probably added $10,000 to the value of the house. Few investors at the time were thinking about adding bedrooms to homes, because they assumed that doing so was a $10,000 project. They didn’t notice that the corners of basements already had two walls, a floor and ceiling – most of a bedroom.

This same investor met his match with a small house that had no place to park a car. When he bought the property he assumed the city would approve paving what little front yard there was. They refused. Between the house and the neighbors fence there was about six feet of space. My friend tried to buy five feet of the neighbors property (promising to pay the cost of moving the fence as well) to create enough space for a narrow driveway. The neighbor refused. A home without a place to park in a town where it was illegal to park on the street at night was a tough sell. He managed to make a couple thousand dollars anyhow after cleaning up the house and wholesaling it to another investor.

The other investor found the solution. A month later I rode by and saw that he had actually removed the living room wall and moved it in four feet. Higher up it angled back out to the roof line. Sure enough, there was a car parked in the space created below. I’m not sure what the engineering challenges or costs were for this, but I do know that he sold the home for more than twice what he paid. That’s a great example of creative real estate investing.

Creativity At Every Step

Many books and articles on creative real estate investing focus on financing. That does seem to be the biggest challenge for many investors, but don’t limit your creativity to how to borrow. As the examples above show, you can also get creative in adding value to the investments you make. In fact, look for creative alternatives at every step.

For example, to save money selling a small piece of land, I skipped using a real estate agent in favor of just offering good terms. I got a higher price in that way too. And then I closed the deal sitting with the buyers in a restaurant (not recommended these days), to save the cost of a closing company.

A friend bought a home and soon after sold half the trees on it (they were too thick for his tastes) to a lumber company for several thousand dollars. It looked the same to me afterwards. It made me wonder if there were some opportunities around to buy land, sell the resources (another local sold the gravel that made up a hill on his land), and then sell the land for as much or more as the original purchase price.

To find properties you might train your kids to screen listings online for you. To help finance deals you might buy a smaller home to free up equity for investment. Offers can include services or things other than money as part of the down payment. Property uses can be changed to increase value (making a duplex into a single-family home sometimes makes it more valuable – or vice-versa). Creative real estate investing is definitely not limited to finding new financing options.

Home improvements can mean tax savings when you sell. This requires some consultation with a professional, but can result in a tidy sum being saved on your taxes.

You can’t usually claim property improvements on your taxes on a yearly basis, but when you sell your house, these improvements can mean tax deductions. You have to know what is considered a repair and what is an improvement. Rental property that you own is subject to tax deductions as well – repairs and improvements can be deducted as a business expense. Keeping track of all financial records and receipts can result in a significant tax reduction the year you sell a property.

A repair is considered something that maintains your home’s value, like painting, replacing a cracked window pane and other minor repairs. An improvement is something that materially improves your home’s value. Completely replacing your window with a new, energy-efficient one is a definite improvement. A garage is an improvement. A pool or hottub is an improvement. While most repairs don’t qualify as improvement, simultaneous improvement and repair may qualify, so replacing a malfunctioning toilet while you remodel the bathroom may well mean savings.

Consulting a professional is the best idea. Good pros to approach are your tax consultant or an IRS representative. These people can point you to resources that you can use to find more about property improvement claims. The IRS website at irs.gov also has some good information for the home

Tax credits reduce tax itself, whereas tax deductions reduce the amount of income upon which tax is payable. Either way, it means savings, but it also means that you should educate yourself on both, so you have a better idea of just what you are paying and what kind of money you’re saving.

Energy tax credits can also take a chunk out of your taxes. Installing energy-efficient appliances and energy saving devices like solar panels may mean a tax break for you. Improvements that are directly related to a medical condition may also qualify for a tax break.

Keeping track of all expenses, receipts and other information about home purchase, maintenance, repairs and improvements. Find out about your state’s definition of what repairs vs. improvements are to get the best idea of what you can claim. Ask a tax professional for advice. You may be able to claim more than you think.

To build a house, repair or remodel, you need home building materials and the right tools.  With the material and tools available today, you can get your project done in less time and possibly for less money than you might have thought.

You can download plans from the internet.  You can even customize them to suit your own tastes or to make the house of your dreams.  

While you are at it, you could start thinking about how you would like your outdoor living area to look.  You can do some virtual landscaping, just for fun.

Of course, right now, you need the basics.  So, what does it take to build a house?

Lumber, nails, hammers and saws, planes, miter boxes and levels, measuring tapes, rulers and blueprints.  Those are some of the basics.  Drills, screws, siding, insulation, roofing material, doors and windows are some of the others, all these you can get from a home improvement store near you.  But, the first two things that you need are a plan and a list.

Any experienced builder starts with a plan.  A list of necessary items is made.  A builder will often have many of the necessary tools already.  You might have some of them, too.  So, you take a look at what you have and then decide what home building materials you need.  That’s part of the plan.

Another part of your plan is the budget.  You will want to try to get an idea of how much all of this is going to cost.  Depending on your experience, your estimate might not be exact.  Even the most experienced builders come in “over budget”, sometimes.  

You might be tempted to cut corners, if you have a tight budget, but you will save money in the long run by buying higher quality, more energy efficient materials.  Skipping luxury items like more expensive tile or designer flooring is okay.  But, your basic home building materials should be of the quality necessary to do the job.

Think about the future.  If you buy a lower quality grade of lumber, you may need to replace it more often.  It might not be resistant to insects or mold.  Something like that could cause you a lot of problems and cost you a lot of money in the future.

Functionality is what is most important here.  So, when you are comparing the material available and creating your budget, focus on the functional aspects.  That way, you will get home building materials that last.

In these days, a credit score is a wonderful thing to have. Unfortunately, the vast majority of consumers do not fit that credit score description. It is imperative to know how to get your credit score back up. If there are future plans to obtain Bad Credit Home Refinance Loans, credit ratings must be evaluated and repaired.

Although you may already can to able to get Bad Credit Home Refinance Loans with your present credit scores it is always good to improve your credit scores.

High credit scores equal low interest rates. If a borrower’s debts out weigh the amount of income received, the lender will most likely have a problem receiving payments from the borrower. Waltzing into a lending agency with bad credit and insufficient income is wasting time and not a very good idea.

Rebuilding credit scores involve several steps. First of all consumers need to know there credit score rating. Thoroughly reviewing ones credit reports will give enough information to answer questions such as how much is owed and to whom.

The next step is to figure out how much you will have to pay of in order to obtain Bad Credit Home Refinance Loans. Knowing these facts will assist in keeping a mortgaged home and lessen the overall financial burden. Nevertheless,  the consumer must determine the amount of the monthly payments. After accessing all this, a sound plan must be put in to action to start paying off the debts.

Before doing anything, take the time to research options of credit repair services.

Some services are free. Take advantage of all the information available. There is virtually no easy way out of debt. Any of the Bad Credit Home Refinance Loans will most likely require that your credit rating be within a range that the lenders can work with.

Without an acceptable credit rating, borrowers will be forced to take measures that may end up hurting their situation rather than helping matters. Another important thing borrowers should not do is submit a lot of applications for other types of credit. Some consumers do much better by leaving credit alone all together. This is especially important while trying to rebuild credit scores.

Although it may be true or beneficial for consumers to refrain from obtaining more credit when they are already in debt, a secured charge card may help build a credit score. If charge amounts are paid off monthly without missing any payments, this could help.

If you have already have a FHA mortgage loan then one of the best ways to refinance your mortgage is a Bad Credit FHA Mortgage.  You can have lower credit scores and usually the interest rate is also lower.

You may qualify for Poor Credit Home Refinancing with your present credit scores, but it always improve your chances and reduce your interest rate if you improve your credit scores.  You can do most of your research for Bad Credit Home Refinance Loans on the Internet.

If you’re arranging a do-it-yourself project for your house you want to take a step backwards and spend some to think over the whole project. There are a number new of things you can do to make your house improvement project a lot less complicated and less costly.

First of all that you need to be certain that you do research on the project you are planning. One of the finest places that you can start your research is thru the arena of the Net. There are a selection of different articles you can read which will help you plan out your effective home improvement , and also some have step-by-step instructions that you’re going to be in a position to follow as well. You may also find plans for various projects online too. You may also make a visit to either your local library or Waterstone’s.
You’ll be capable of finding an a good variety of books on all sorts of do-it-yourself projects together with step-by-step instructions. A last place you can do your research is thru your local DIY store they are going to be able to help with handy info, show you diverse DVD’s on differing kinds of projects, and they may also have pamphlets and books available too.
Next you will want to consider if you happen to feel you can do the project on your own or if you happen to feel that you’ll need help from a pro. There are DIY kits that are currently available for a good spread of different projects and they can be discovered at your local DIY store. Nevertheless you have to be sure that you won’t only have the talents but also the time required to finish the project. If you’re able to perform as many of your house improvement as you can on your own you could save a ton of money.
If you happen to feel that you can’t do some of the renovation projects in your list you’re going to need to find the assistance of a pro. You will find many of those thru your phonebook or you can also perform a search in your neighborhood thru your internet. You have to be sure you are sticking to your neighborhood however because, you’ll be ready to see other houses that they have worked on and you’ll be able to have a quicker service time. Once you’ve done all of the above steps you are now prepared to take a seat with the pro, if that is how you are doing your project, and develop a plan.
The pro that you select may be able to give you a preliminary notion of the way in which the finished project will look together with a basic price. You want to be certain you’re looking over their quote meticulously to make sure that everything in the basic plan is included. You must be aware nonetheless this is simply a guess of how much the project is going to cost the final cost will alter a touch. Also if you’re performing an enormous job then you could have a contract drawn up between you and the contractor. Regardless of if you have tight budgets when talking about do-it-yourself you should have a finished project that’s top quality. If you take the time to think about the above steps you may achieve that goal each time.
For this very reason, it is advisable that one takes the time to read up on the many home improvement tips and ideas which are available on the internet before taking on this mammoth task. By doing so you might be able to find a few ideas which may be better suited to the type of improvements you envision making and perhaps a couple of cost effective tips which will save you a lot of money.
We all tend to think that we have our own unique ideas surrounding the improvements we wish to make to our homes, but it is almost guaranteed that it will have been done before and there will be words of valuable advice as to how to go about them correctly which will spare you the arduous task of working by trial and error.
Home improvement is such a varied field and while sifting through all the ideas and advice which you will find on the internet, you too will be inspired with new ideas and vast amounts of valuable knowledge which will help to improve your home and benefit your investment at the same time.