Networks help out real estate investors a lot by plugging them into good property deals.  It’s very easy to build your own network when you are just starting out as an investor.
When you first start out in the real estate investment business you’ll find that having a network of other investors and buyers is a valuable source indeed.  In fact, it can help you in all areas of your business from finding good properties to buy to finding the investors to buy those properties from you.  It’s fairly easy to build up a network as you begin buying properties, even if you don’t know anyone when you start.

Network your way to profits
Naturally, you won’t pick up every property that you look at in the real estate investment business.  However, just looking at properties brings you into contact with other property investors and helps you to build your network.

As you begin to make more and more deals in the business, say with REO agents that hold bank properties are in post-foreclosure, you are also networking.  You’ll find that you get a lot of repeat business with those investors with whom you make successful deals. 

It’s not uncommon to only make a deal on one out of every 15 to 20 properties you look at in real estate.  However, you’ll find that as you buy those properties you’ll make connections with the REO agents and investors you deal with and they’ll keep you in mind.  So after a while, you begin to find that you are being handed deals that fit your criteria because the agents and investors know what you are looking for.  Eventually, it’s possible to start picking up one out of every four or five properties you look at, simply because your network will be handing you the perfect properties to invest in.  See how easy it is?

Record the Information of those you Meet!
One real estate investor claims that up to 65% of his properties come from repeat clients.  Networking is easy when you choose to work with these repeat clients.  To make the most of those repeat clients and past investors you’ve worked with, try to remember to take down their names and numbers or keep their business cards and add them to your address book.  Be sure to add all pertinent information about each person you meet, such as whether they are looking to invest or sell properties.

Networking is an essential part of the real estate investment business.  However, you don’t need to feel intimidated if you are starting out with little to no network.  As you make deals and look through properties in the local area you’ll also gradually be developing your very own network.

The Simultaneous Close sounds like a perfect real estate investment deal.  However, there are a few drawbacks to this foreclosure investor’s dream deal.

It’s part of the dream, the possibility of being able to make thousands of dollars with out using any of your own cash as an initial investment.  Well, it has been done and can still be done with a variety of real estate sale practices.   One of these popular sales in real estate investment is the Simultaneous Closing, which basically involves you purchasing the property with your investor’s money and then selling that property to your investor all in a matter of moments.  It’s legal and requires paying close attention to the numbers on all sides of the deal.

One Minor Drawback with this Real Estate Sale
There is a small problem with using the simultaneous close in order to make a property sale.   A lot of title companies are hesitant to insure the title that’s been sold using this method.  In recent years there have been many problems with mortgage fraud and predatory lending.  Many of those fraud deals have involved a simultaneous close on a property title.  Plus, the business of foreclosure investing and real estate investing has a bad reputation.

So, to try and cut back on the incidents of mortgage fraud and predatory lending title companies have made a blanket rule stating that they just won’t insure a title in simultaneous close. 

This doesn’t sound like a big problem in wholesaling, but it basically means that the title company won’t perform a simultaneous close.  Hence, you can’t buy the property!  This is a bad deal for all the good real estate investors out there who are putting in their time and effort on wholesale deals, but who don’t have the money to invest on their own terms. 

Not all title companies have this rule, but it’s something to keep an eye out for.  This practice has just taken effect in certain areas.  So, it’s to your benefit to see if the title companies you will be working with are still performing simultaneous closings.  You’ll want to do this research before you make an offer on that next big real estate investment. Don’t cast aside the notion of a Simultaneous close entirely because this is still an excellent method for wholesaling property.

You may feel that you need a lot of capital before you can start investing in mortgage notes.  However, it’s possible to use someone else’s money to make the deal go through and still get your profits!

Mortgage notes are a great way to invest in property and make an even higher return that with other types of property investment.  Plus, there is a way you can buy a homeowner mortgage using someone else’s money.

How to Find the Money
When you are working as a property invester with a mortgage owner to buy their mortgage from them, you’ll have the owner sign a “Note Purchase Agreement” to lock them into selling you the mortgage to a property for a certain amount of money. 

In this note purchase agreement, make sure that you include a certain period of time for due diligence.  This is to allow you to get your trait report and head down to the court house to check for any other liens on the property.  Make sure that your due diligence period is between 45-60 days to give you plenty of time.

While you are carrying out due diligence, you will also be looking for another real estate investor to give you cash to buy that mortgage note.  There are plenty of places to find investors, one mortgage investor in particular goes to her local real estate investing club.  Here she gets a chance to present potential mortgage note purchase deals and get investors. 

So, you attend your local club and meet a real estate investor who is looking for a 14% percent return on her investment. 

Quick Tip:  The investment and the return are inversely proportional.  The less money you invest, the more money you make on your return. 

How it Works Out
Say, you are buying someone’s $87,000 mortgage note for $70,000, that means you’ve just earned $17,000 profit in the long run.  That’s about a 24% return on your investment.  All you need to do to continue making money without spending your own is find another real estate investor who is looking to invest their money and get a slightly lower rate of return.

At the real estate club, you meet just such an investor.  She only wants a 14% return on her money investment for the property mortgage. 

So, you buy the mortgage note from the owner at $70,000, then turn around and sell it to the investor for $74,820.  That leaves about $4,000 in profits for you to pocket from your involvement in the deal.  The investor is going to make a profit too, because her mortgage note is worth $87,000 even though she only paid about $74,000.

By looking for your own investor for your mortgage note purchase you can still make money on the differences in percentage.  You’ve got to pay careful attention to the percent of return for yourself, the mortgage owner and your investor, but you can make money by setting up the sale!