real estate investor loans Texas - Investor Loan Source

A new year is the perfect time to reflect on the past year and celebrate your achievements, identify areas with room for improvement, learn from the setbacks and move forward. It’s also the perfect time to set new goals and come up with attainable resolutions both personally and professionally. For real estate investors looking to grow their business and achieve financial success, setting new, tangible goals is imperative.

For many of us, 2020 seemed to drag on due to COVID scares and shut-downs. It came with many speed-bumps, hurdles and other uncertainties and discouraging events. Ready for 2021? We all are. Here are some useful resolution ideas to help this year be a more lucrative one for your real estate investment business.

Work to Increase Your Return on Investment

For new real estate investors, this means staying focused on finding opportunities with low risk and high profit. Looking at your expenditures, monthly and yearly costs to see if there are areas you could save money is critical for both seasoned and newer investors. One easy step is to ensure you aren’t overpaying for utility services. Another is to review rental rates on a regular basis to be sure you are charging rent consistent with the local market. Smart investors will also learn how to efficiently schedule contractors, pre-apply for permits, pre-order supplies and aggressively price and market their properties for quick sale. Each day saved equates to less money towed to your lender in interest. Evaluating the cash coming in and the amount of cash going out regularly will help you identify ways to increase your return on investment.

Mix Up Your Strategy to Find New Properties

Using MLS may be easy, but it won’t usually allow you to get ahead of your competition in finding hot investment properties first. Consider hitting the streets in your car to find for sale by owner signs this year. Focus on networking and growing your contact list. Be sure to include realtors, investors and contractors. A good contact list may help you learn about new foreclosures and opportunities before anyone else.

Improve Your Time Management

Improving your time management can help you both personally and professionally. Consider waking up an hour earlier each day and setting that time aside to answer emails and planning your daily list of items to get done that day. Stay focused on accomplishing that to-do list before you get sidetracked. You may find that you get more done in the day if you plan it out carefully. For those that simply don’t time for the more mundane tasks of answering emails and making phone calls, think about hiring a virtual assistant to help free up your time for tasks that could be used for making investment deals.

Improve Your Marketing Strategies

Thoroughly planned marketing improvements will generally lead to a more profitable investment business. If you are not on the social media bandwagon, hop on in 2021! If you already have a social media presence, set a goal of increasing your followers by 10% this year. Streamlining your websites, direct mail and mass email can all also help you grow your business.

Refine Your Investment Portfolio

Last year you may have found your niche. Now is the time evaluate your portfolio and identify properties that just don’t fit anymore. Or maybe you’d like to diversify your portfolio and invest in single family notes. Look over your portfolio and plan how you want your portfolio to grow this year. Decide which markets you’d like to explore. Carefully planning your strategy and talking with your investment advisor will help you refine your portfolio successfully.

Learn Something New

Personal growth can be achieved through learning something new and expanding your knowledge. Interested in learning more about commercial real estate investing? Join an in-person or online group or attend webinars. Take a course or read a book about something you’ve always wanted to learn. The possibilities are endless. Hopefully you’ll enjoy the process as well.

Improve Yourself

Need to drop 10 or 20 pounds? Want to exercise more? Stay committed by joining a health club, or sharing the goal with a friend or fitness group. Stay more organized this year by using a planner, app on your phone or cleaning out your office. Communicating proactively and more often is also a great resolution that will also help you as an investor. Improving yourself can reduce your stress level and lead to a more positive 2021. Decide what areas of your life are bringing you down or need the most improvement and focus on that. You will thank yourself later.

Most resolutions are easy to set and harder to keep. The key is making small improvements each day. Whatever went wrong in 2020, learn from that and move on. Don’t let the past hold you down. You have a cleaner slate and a fresh opportunity to build a better real estate investment business and ultimately a better you. Ready to dominate in 2021?

Having a great lender to partner with you in 2021 is essential. Let Investor Loan Source help you by walking you through our loan products. Contact us at 409-735-6267 if you have questions or email our loan specialists at [email protected] for more information.

Investor Loan Source, a hard money lending company, provides high-quality investment property loans to private real estate investors at the lowest costs possible. Our process for providing real estate investors with private lending is unique. We place emphasis on the hard asset and value of the collateral (property) and less on the borrower. Our asset-based real estate investment loan model means we can provide more money lending to more investors than is available from standard bank loan models. At Investor Loan Source, providing real estate investors hard money loans is our business; it’s all we do. We offer several business real estate loans products designed to serve a variety of investors and property profiles, including hard money lending for properties to sell on owner finance.

To learn more about Investor Loan Source, visit our website or follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. To apply for a loan, click HERE.

Red Flags to Look for Before Buying Your Next Fix and Flip Property

For fix and flip real estate investors, there’s nothing better than finding that perfect “diamond in the rough” property. It’s like a dream come true. It’s in the perfect location at the right price, but is what we like to call “an ugly duckling.” It has an overgrown lawn, outdated light fixtures, horrible paint colors and lots of small cosmetic items that scare off most buyers. It is by far the ugliest home on the block. With a fresh coat of paint, a little bit of work and some new light fixtures this house could generate some big profits. It may be tempting to make your move right away, but before you do, be sure to do your due diligence. Look for these red flags that could turn your next real estate investment flip into a big flop.

1. Too Long On The Market

If the home has been sitting for too many months (or even years) on MLS, this could be a sign that something is wrong with the property. Be especially cautious if it is showing pending sales that fell through. This could indicate that previous homebuyers or real estate investors noticed serious problems with the home during inspections.

2. Foundation Problems

Major foundation issues can scare off potential buyers and cost thousands of dollars to repair. Look for cracks in the bricks, walls, flooring, foundation, sidewalk and driveway, as they could indicate some foundation problems. Uneven floors are also tale-tell signs that the home might require foundation repair.

3. Sewage and Draining Issues

Sewage and drainage problems can quickly turn into a bad situation for flippers. Drive by the house after a rain before buying the home. If you see puddles of standing water, the yard may have a drainage issue. Puddles near the foundation are especially concerning. Standing water in the yard and heaved walkways may also be signs of a blockage or break in the underground sewer line.

4. Roof Damage

Replacing a roof is expensive. A new roof can cost anywhere between $6,000 to $20,000 or more depending on the size of the roof and type of roofing materials. It pays to check out the roof carefully. Shingles that curl up at the corners, missing shingles, cracked shingles and exposed nail heads are all signs that the roof may need to be replaced.

5. Mold

Moisture leads to mold, which is the bane of every homeowner and real estate investor. Not only can it cause health issues and respiratory problems, but It can be costly to remove. Some mold growth is obvious, but it can also be lurking out of site and be more difficult to detect. When checking for mold in the home, look for water stains on the ceiling, walls and floors – including in the attic and basement. Dark, fuzzy stains and musty smells can indicate there might be a mold problem in the home and should not be ignored when inspecting the home and estimating repair costs. There’s a chance of it returning if the initial work wasn’t done right. Mold elimination should also include fixing the water source.

For many real estate investors, flipping homes can be an enjoyable experience. It can also be very lucrative. Keep in mind that due diligence is one of the most important things to master when it comes to real estate investing. There are hidden costs you need to take into consideration when deciding if a home is a good investment. Some repair costs are manageable, while others may exceed your budget. The next time you are looking at investing in a fix and flip property, be aware of the red flags that can help you distinguish the money makers from the money pits.

Ready to purchase your next fix and flip property? Investor Loan Source, a private lender based out of Texas, is here to help. Visit ILS.cash to learn more or apply now to get started.

New Year’s Resolutions for Real Estate Investors

Money Maker or Money Pit?