Real Estate Investing

Do you know that there are people out there that will tell you that it takes money to make money. That you can't make money in real estate since we are in a recession, and that anybody that invests in real estate is a con man and will take advantage of people in dire straits.

Well, these are all false. There are several ways you can make money in real estate withou the use of your own money or very little of your own money. Lease options, subject-to, seller financing, and private investors will give you an opportunity to purchase a house, condo, or land and be able to sell it, rehab and resell it (flip), or keep it as a rental and gain some monthly income from it.

The plan I like the best is the subject-to deal. It allows a home owner to sell or transfer their home to an investor that is able to sell, flip, or keep, and give the seller the chance to save his or her money by not have to make anymore payments for the house. They can move on with their lives and not have to worry about getting behind in their mortgage ever again.

The trick to subject-to deals is that you are literally taking over and paying the monthly mortgage payments yourself and by virtue of this, taking possession of the house as well. Although the seller still has the obligation to keep up on the payments, you are bound, by contract, to do so for him.

Once you take ownership of the house, by quit claim deed, you can do whatever you want with the house. If you sell it quickly to an investor, landlord, or home buyer, you just releived the original seller of any financial obligation to make the payments you are making. You then give the original home owner the selling price you decided on, you pay off the remaining mortgage, and you keep the rest. Many times, depending on the original agreement, it can be a very nice amount of money. Another thing you can do is to find a rent-to-own buyer, have them give yo payments for rent along with a additional sum to go to the purchase of the home. This allows you to make a monthly income along with the down payment of the contract to purchase the house.

With these options, you are then using no money out of your pocket, you are making money in this economy, and you are not taking advantage of a distressed home owner, but are helping him or her out of a jam. That is a win/win/win in my book.