In this article Isaac Toussie discusses the real estate business, an industry in which he has several years of first-hand experience. Isaac Toussie often shares his knowledge with others online in the form of helpful blog posts and articles just like this one. This time, however, let’s consider a different aspect of it all.  Why, exactly, should one even own any property?

It’s an absurd question for a land developer such as myself to pose, maybe, but not so crazy for those of you who are considering real estate but may not be fully aware of all the dirty details that are involved.  But as with most things in life, there is an inescapable yin-yang to real estate, too – that is to say, inevitable pros and cons associated with the ownership of property, even in this most fierce and proud bastion of capitalism and private property that is the United States!

So, let’s consider some pros, along with their corresponding cons, over the course of the next two paragraphs, respectively.

It goes up, up, and up.  Real estate has historically seen much less fluctuation in value than other forms of investment.  After all, a growing population only fuels demand, and frankly there is never enough room, especially in the metropolitan areas.  Indeed, unlike other purchases, the value of real estate tends to go up over time.  And if you’re a home-owner, you needn’t worry about rising rents every year or two, as all your costs are fixed, aside from the possible exception of property taxes.  But, speaking of taxes, there are many tax benefits to owing property, as this is a social good that the government is keen to encourage (rather too keen, as recent events in the sub-prime mortgage industry has shown!).  For example, you can deduct the cost of all kinds of repair; just be sure to save your receipts in case of an audit!

By the same token, however, those great benefits can very well be just the source of great problems, too: real estate values can certainly tank, and in fact they have tremendously these past two years.  And you can be foreclosed on, as many people have found out the hard way as they find themselves with homes worth less than their mortgages, which they are unable to pay off.  And then there are those taxes, which can go up from year to year, given the political winds.

Note first of all that LLC stands for Limited Liability Company, and as the name implies, it limits the liability of the owner or owners of the company. A LLC would then allow for more than one person to become owners of that company without having to form a joint partnership and without one being the sole owner or proprietor of the business. Because of the potential liabilities with real estate, an LLC may be the best option for those in the industry. While such things as title insurance and appraisals from outside sources protect a realtor from what is called errors and omissions, there are still times when he or she may be liable for what a home buyer perceives as inaccurate information or even downright misrepresentation. While it’s very rare for a realtor to be sued by a home buyer, it does happen in certain circumstances. By forming a Limited Liability Company you are giving yourself and your company an added layer of protection above and beyond your Errors and Omissions Insurance.

There is also some leeway in the tax structure of a Real Estate LLC. If you have multiple members that are forming this company, you may choose to be treated as a C corporation, as an S corporation, or as a partnership when it’s tax time. With a C corporation, there is usually taxation of the company’s income and dividends. With an S corporation, the company itself does not pay taxes but rather the revenue is divided among the owners of the company and they report it as income on their personal taxes. Depending on your own personal tax structure and base, and the advice you receive from your CPA, a Real Estate LLC may result in you paying far less by way of taxes than you would pay if you were working under an Assumed Name or Doing Business As. There are of course restrictions on whether or not your Limited Liability Company actually qualifies as an S corporation, for example, you may not exceed 100 shareholders. If this or other restrictions are disregarded, your LLC immediately reverts back to being treated as a C corporation.

Forming a Real Estate LLC is no more difficult than forming any other basic business. Typically business paperwork is filed with the county in which you live. Most counties today have business paperwork available online; you can simply print off the necessary forms, have everyone involved in the Limited Liability Company sign the papers, and send it in to your county clerk’s office with a small check for their processing fee.

While a Limited Liability Company may be a very simple structure for a business, it’s always important to speak with an accountant and possibly even a business lawyer before you decide what to do, and follow his or her advice carefully. With today’s volatile real estate market and with so many mortgage companies being investigated for out-and-out fraud, you definitely need to protect yourself, your family, and your business partners. Forming a Real Estate LLC is a great first step in doing just that, but of course you should view it as only a first step. Make sure you’re following your accountant’s and your lawyer’s advice and you’re sure to have success in the real estate market.

David Cowley has created numerous articles on real estate investing. He has also created a Web Site dedicated to real estate investing. Visit Real Estate Investing

Dallas real estate prices are quite reasonable when compared to the real estate prices of other large cities around the country. The median Dallas real estate price is just over $280,000 which is about a three quarters to half of the median prices in most other cities that are comparable to Dallas.

So if you want to move to a city where you will still find all the benefits that a large city has to offer but still has homes that you can afford then you should move to Dallas and buy some Dallas real estate.

Since the median home price in Dallas is lower than the median price in most of the country there are a lot of home for sale in Dallas that have great value for the purchase price. Amenities that you would not be able to afford in a home that is for sale in another city you can afford when you buy Dallas real estate.

There are so many homes for sale in Dallas real now that you can negotiate a great price on some prime Dallas real estate. New homes are popping up all over Dallas because so many new businesses are choosing Dallas a base of operations.

The growth of the city combined with the great weather and low real estate prices are convincing many new businesses and new homeowners to move to Dallas. So if you want to take advantage of the great prices on Dallas real estate you should make plans to move to Dallas soon. This kind of a market won’t last forever.

As Dallas becomes more and more popular and the city continues to grow housing prices and Dallas real estate prices will continue to climb making owning Dallas real estate out of reach for some people that would love to be homeowners. But if you act now and start making plans to buy a piece of Dallas real estate then you can still get a great deal on Dallas real estate and find the perfect family home or even a commercial building for your new business.

If you’ve always dreamed of starting your own business the great prices on Dallas real estate could make it possible for you to buy a commercial building and get your dream business off the ground in Dallas. If you’re in the technology field then you should definitely consider setting up shop in Dallas. Dallas is becoming one of the hottest areas in the country for technology and computer based businesses and with the low prices of Dallas real estate you could buy some Dallas real estate and get your business established ahead of the pack, which would put your business in a better position down the road.

Price is always a big consideration when buying property and the low prices on Dallas real estate can’t be beat so if you’ve been thinking about buying some new property now is the time to buy some Dallas real estate.

This article is brought to you courtesy of Jordan Hashem who is a leading expert in the Dallas Real Estate, and Dallas Mortgage Markets

What basically is the Job of Estate Agent-

An estate agent can work independently or under a broker. There are many agents working under a broker. Most often agents are confined to the estates of a particular area. This job is best suited to those who have excellent interacting skills or those who like communicating with people. Estate agents have the advantage to work liberally. But it requires acute capital investment and endurance. Outlay comes in the form of opening an office, advertisements and making contacts.

What it takes to be an Estate Agent -:

Any 18 year old or above individual can become an estate agent. In order to be so, an individual has to join a training college, which will not only impart usual knowledge (rules and regulations and strategy to work) and skills to this business but will also facilitate him with a license. There are many colleges and courses available in this regard. However, try to join the best or eminent college in your area and the course that meets all your essentials. There is ample of information online and in yellow pages with respect to this.

Any individual meeting the age criteria and can apply for a license. The license is given on the grounds of performance in a test. In order to take the test, fees has to be paid. The amount of the fees and the format of the test vary from state to state. But everywhere this test comprises of questions on English, Math and your wisdom about the job of an estate agent. This license thus procured has to be renewed within a span of time like two, three, four years or so. The duration also depends on your state government.

The merits and demerits-

Like every job or business, the task of estate agent too has several pros and cons attached to it.

• There is an opportunity to work democratically as an estate agent. There is no pressure by seniors and thirst to impress your boss here but on the same hand large amount of money is needed to make your business a success story.

• Working independent makes you the sole master of your earnings. There is no sharing of it with other agents. But lot of risk is involved in running your own business for it is quite possible that even after some years of your work you may not be able to incur any great profits.

• The job of an estate agent requires you to be clever and hard working. There is lot of competition in this area. It is upon you that how you make the deal possible by outwitting the rest of the agents of your area.

• Those agents who endeavor to make money by hook or by crook do not flourish for long. Being adroit in business does not implicate cunningness. The state laws should be followed throughout and one should never aim to deceive the client or government. The amount of margins is fixed and legal on a deal. To accrue benefits apart from that is illicit in any case.

Money Making Method #1 – Purchase run down property and spruce it up

This method involves finding a run down property in a good area that you think has promise for resale and sprucing it up like some of the shows where people do an extreme makeover on the property. Bring along a good structural engineer or architect when you do look for such properties so as to ensure that the renovation works that you have to do will not be so extensive that it does not become worth your while to purchase the property. Since the property is may be rather run down, you need to redecorate and repair it and then you can resell this real estate for a much higher price. The key consideration when investing in this kind of real estate is to keep your renovation costs low but ensure that the basic utilities like the electricity , water and gas pipes are in good working condition. Thus this buy at undervalue and upgrade real investment strategy requires good investment property valuation skills and the ability to keep your costs low.

Money Making Method #2 – Find places with high rentals

Find areas with traditionally high rental returns that outperform the national average and then spend time looking for them and make money from the rentals. Here in this area of real estate investment, spending some time to find the real estate investment that is a bargain is a good idea so that you can get better return on investment.

Some people do not seem to get it that high rental yields are important to a real estate investor and think that most of their customers would pay anything to get a winter residence. I was at a property exhibition recently and spoke to a Spanish Real Estate Agent and when I asked her what the Return on Investment was on a piece of Bulgarian property that she was selling. Not only could she not even understand the concept of ROI but she even laughed off the question of rental yield when I asked her. I am sure she is not alone in his mistaken belief that people buy just because they like the real estate. Thus rental yields or return on investment is critical when you decide what type of real estate investment property to purchase.

Money Making Method #3- Purchase foreclosed property

Most people will know that foreclosed property usually fetches a lower price than the market value since banks are often eager to sell at a price that covers their mortgages or sometimes they just want to liquidate the property. Such properties tend to be auctioned off and you can then resell them for a higher value subsequently. However beware of hidden defects in auction properties and always arrange for a visit down to the property just to check it out.

Two people you should bring with you when deciding on a real estate investment is your professional engineer and your contractor. You want to check for hidden defects in your real estate investment to avoid buying a defective property that would cost loads of money just to repair. Thus purchasing foreclosed property may be profitable if you find a real bargain for your real estate investment portfolio.

Money Making Method #4- Cash Flow Investment

Robert T. Kiyosaki in his book explains this real estate investment strategy. He argues that the best investment you get is when you find a property at a bargain and then purchase it with as much debt as possible and then generate a cash flow from the difference between the monthly rent and the mortgage instalment. This method is highly interesting and requires you to really spend time looking for such a real estate investment that fits in that criteria.

Remember that real estate investment is dependent on rental and the higher the proposed rental the better your monthly cash flow is. You could also purchase the property at a lower price and this would mean that your monthly cash flow would improve. Note that once your property is partly paid up, you can refinance your loan and extract out some money and purchase a second property and so on. Soon you would have multiple streams of income from the purchase of one real estate investment property.

In conclusion, there are many ways to make money from real estate investment and what’s missing is massive action on your part. Take massive action and start hunting for your ideal real estate investment property today and start generating substantial real estate investment property profits.

Joel Teo takes a keen interest in real estate investment as part of a larger investment portfolio. For more tips on real estate investing check out our real estate investment success series