Real Estate Investment – The Perfect Guide For Beginners

by Kausar Khan

Those people who don’t know anything about real estate, for them this concept can be a very intimidating theory. However, those people with experience in the real estate field as well as through their own research learned about its basics, they do benefit a lot from this concept. Nonetheless, those people might need some starting steps, which are new to this area. Therefore, I have written this article for those people, in which I will provide you few tips through which they could not only learn about real estate investment but also will be able to feel comfortable doing so.

Research about your subject, which is the real estate, this is the very first tip you must consider. The basics of the real estate area are necessary to be understood before one start investing. Various forms related research of this concept is one thing you can engage yourself in. Furthermore, you can also find information about this concept online, you can also read books about it, or you can even go to classes for this concept. Buying and selling real estate must be the first thing you should research about, before moving further in advanced research to arrange your investment in such a manner so that you could gain from it either through renting or selling of a property.

The second tip is that you must determine your targets related to real estate investment. Moreover, you must also determine that what you have planned to obtain through investing in the real estate. The choice is yours, what is it you want, either it’s the enjoyment or the money or both. Furthermore, also decide whether you are going to buy the property by yourself, or you want to have partners. Moreover, you must also decide whether you want to fix up the property and sell it to gain money, or you want to rent the property by keeping it and gaining money.

Advice of real estate attorney and investment advisor is the third tip for you to consider. In order to do everything correctly while investing in real estate, advice from the professionals can be immensely helpful. In terms of handy, real estate attorney and investment advisor are the best people who could help you while your investment process. Whether the purchase is legal or not is what a real estate attorney tells you, while how to structure your investments is what an investment advisor tells you. If you want to be on the right track of real estate investment, then the advice and support of these two people are the most important for you.

What is the fourth tip? The fourth tip is determining the amount of money you contain and could spare for investment in real estate. Why is that so important? It is important because during the life of investment you will have to spare some money for repairs, improvements, taxes and other such things. Hence, you must have a spare fund available to tackle such kinds of encounters during the life of investment. What are the fifth and the last tip? The fifth tip is keeping your eye on your main goal of investment. What does that mean? That means you must remind yourself constantly to keep yourself on track and could climb the ladders of success of the real estate investment.

I am Kausar Khan. If you having any query about Prince William homes for sale or general real estate problems, please visit my website house for buying. I also give some really interesting and proven tips on getting perfect and dreamed real estate.

Tax Sales, Tax Certificates, Tax Deeds: Due Diligence Matters!

By: Darius M. Barazandeh, Attorney at Law / M.B.A.

We have all heard the ‘infomercial’ and the Internet claims regarding tax foreclosed property:
• “You will own the property FREE and CLEAR!”
• “
All other liens and interests are WIPED OUT!”
• “You will hold the FIRST PRIORITY security interest!”
• “The Government Guarantees these properties!”
• “All liens, interests, and encumbrances are ERASED!”
• “You can do this part-time with nothing down!”
• “You don ’t need to set up a company … just get out there and make a deal!”
While this can make great marketing material it is not in accord with the reality of tax foreclosure purchases. As an attorney, I learned in law school that every rule of law has an exception. Knowing how these exceptions work will mean the difference between success and failure as a real estate investor on the grandest of scales! I don’t make that statement lightly, rather I make it with as much of the emphasis and weight that the English language will allow. Please read it again, “Knowing how these exceptions work will mean the difference between success and failure as a real estate investor on the grandest of scales!” If you intend to be successful you must be able to separate marketing fluff from well researched and analyzed fact. If you rely on marketing materials and hype your failure is nearly certain, however if you rely on well researched information formulated into a methodology then the keys to success in any endeavor are in your hands.

What Does This Mean to Me and Why Should I Care?
What this means is that you must forget about blanket marketing statements when dealing with tax foreclosed property. For every statement that is contained in the bulleted list (at the top of the page) there is an exception and just like any business what you don’t know WILL hurt you. If you have contacted me by email or purchased one of my courses you know that I absolutely believe in covering all the positive and negative aspects of investment techniques. This does not mean focusing ONLY on the benefits or making wild claims about investment techniques. It DOES mean thoroughly covering what could go wrong and a relentless approach to risk reduction.
In the following sections we will review some of the areas that you must consider when researching and evaluating tax sale properties. I call them due diligence areas #1 through #5. These are not an exhaustive list but they do set out some of the areas which are typically left out of most people’s analysis. For a complete list please review my course materials.

Due Diligence Area # 1:
What Liens Will Survive Foreclosure?
One area that really upsets me is when I hear a general rule of law blindly applied to every tax foreclosure situation with reckless abandon. Whenever you hear that the foreclosure of a tax lien ‘wipes out all over liens’ or that the property is now ‘free and clear of all other liens’ a general rule has been overstated. The general rule can be found in the property code of every state and the UCC (Uniform Commercial Code) which covers commercial transactions. The general rule can be stated as: The foreclosure of the superior lien will eliminate the rights of any junior interests in the realty or personal property. This general legal rule stands for the proposition that: that when a superior lien (one that was recorded or ‘perfected’ before all others) is foreclosed (i.e., through the state’s legal foreclosure guidelines) any junior interests will lose their interest in the property. Remember that there are exceptions to this general rule.
Let me give you an idea of some of these exceptions:
1) Federal Tax Liens – Since most liens on a property will likely be liens from the state or a municipality within the state you must be aware of the possibility of a federal tax lien. You can ask your title company to search for this, however a good title company should spot this lien pretty quickly.
2) State Income Tax Liens – Some states which have a state income tax may give priority to any liens for unpaid state income taxes. As the purchaser of the property or the holder of the lien you could still have these liens surviving as encumbrances on your property even after foreclosure.
3) State Sales Tax Liens – Unpaid state sales taxes can result on a lien which attaches to the property of the delinquent taxpayer. You should contact an attorney to find out if your investment state has a sales tax lien which could survive foreclosure.
4) Mechanics Liens and Materialmen’s Liens – Work performed on the property where improvements or repairs are made can result in a mechanics lien if payment is not made by the party who contracted for these services. You will find many different names for this type of lien, for example: mechanics liens, materialmen’s liens, artisans liens, workers liens, etc.
Don’t forget to learn more about your investment state as your state could include others or exclude some of these liens. Don’t be scared off by this list, BUT glad that you are now informed about this potential risk. Since you have the knowledge you need only perform adequate research to avoid the risks in this area.
Due Diligence Area # 2:
Are Environmental Risks Associated with the Property?
In some instances you can run the risk of purchasing someone else’s environmental liability. Congress passed the ‘Superfund Act’ (42 U.S.C. 9601 et seq.) which made every landowner liable for previous environmental contamination on a property regardless of whether they caused the damage or not. There is some good news for lienholders since Congress has given them an exception from liability if you are a lienholder not considered an ‘owner or operator’. Court rules and interpretations have been changing regarding this issue so don’t risk it. I want to be sure my liability is limited therefore I believe in being extra cautious when dealing with commercial properties in the tax sale setting. If there is some question as to the area or type of business conducted on the parcel you should contact an environmental specialist and ask some preliminary questions about the area and property you are investigating.
If you want to steer clear of the whole issue then you should avoid commercial properties all together. The chances of environmental damage found on residential properties in zoned subdivisions is much less. I do tell my students to avoid commercial properties unless it’s a really good deal. Naturally if it is a good deal you can afford to do the extra research to make sure there are no environmental problems on the property.

Due Diligence Area # 3:
What About Other Fees Not Included in the Foreclosure?
You should always get an idea of whether there are any other fees or dues not included in the foreclosure purchase price. I know this sounds odd but it can occur if an entity that is owed money was not included in the tax foreclosure lawsuit. If they did not get notice or did not decide to ‘join’ themselves in the collection lawsuit then the money simply won’t be added to the opening bid amount. The purchaser of the property would still be responsible to pay for these fee amounts.
Here is what I suggest that you do:
Contact the tax collection entity or authority (typically the tax assessor)
Ask them which entities they collect taxes for
Then ask which entities are outside of their collection area
Create a list of entities whose taxes are not collected by the assessor BUT may still be owed by delinquent taxpayer
Call and ask the entity the amount of back taxes, dues or fees
Add this amount to your bid analysis

Again, by following a simple step-by-step methodology you can greatly reduce you risk and boost your success rate ten fold. Make sure you go through this checklist of tasks with every property you consider purchasing.
Due Diligence Area # 4:
Bankruptcy of Delinquent Property Owner
You must check to see if there is a looming bankruptcy associated with the property. I see very few tax sale products covering this issue. This is an ABSOLUTE MUST in your analysis of any property. You can access federal bankruptcy records through the federal bankruptcy court in your state. Some of these records may be online. There are generally two main possibilities that you must be wary of:
1) A Bankruptcy has occurred prior to purchase – Sometimes you will find that a property is tied up in a bankruptcy administration while it is being prepared for tax sale. You should avoid properties which are on a tax sale list which have a pending bankruptcy suit.
2) A Bankruptcy has occurred during the redemption period – This scenario can be problematic as well. Here the property has been sold to tax sale investor but while the redemption clock is ticking the delinquent property owner has declared bankruptcy. Now a trustee has been appointed to protect the assets of the estate. The biggest risk to the tax sale purchaser is that the trustee will attempt to argue that the tax sale purchase was a ‘fraudulent transfer’. For such an activity to occur there must at least some dealing or scheme between the debtor and the purchaser such that an attempt is made to avoid liquidation of the estate by transferring property to a 3 rd party. While the tax sale purchase really should not be classified as such a transfer if the trustee raises this argument it can interfere with the tolling of redemption period, your ownership rights and the final disposition of the tax sale property or lien. Keep in mind that if the trustee wins this argument you won’t lose your initial investment, but you will lose any of the anticipated profit. It is not an easy argument for the trustee to win but just be wary of this possibility.
The best thing to do is to avoid situations where you know the property is involved or will be involved in a bankruptcy. You should check in the owner’s district of residence for any bankruptcy filings. Lastly, don’t be too frightened by this issue because doing your research will help you greatly reduce your risk of being affected by a bankrupt estate.
Due Diligence Area # 5:
Doing Deals in Your Own Name
This is an area that is very critical to apply and apply correctly. If I could refuse to sell my products to someone who does not have a legal business entity from which they will make these purchases, I would do it. That means that if I find out you are buying tax sale property in your own name I will come and take my course from you! No seriously…this is a very critical issue and I just want you to understand how much it worries and keeps me up at night knowing that some of you will ignore my advice and buy tax deeds as ‘John Jones’ instead of ‘Jones Real Estate, Corp.’
Why is this such a bid deal? The reason is that when you purchase a property as an individual you are now personally liable for the anything that goes wrong with the property. This could include someone getting hurt on the property (yes, even a trespasser can sue you), environmental issues with the property, liability from ‘unknown’ liens, and a myriad of other problematic scenarios.
However, when you form an entity you generally will not be personally liable for these acts, omissions, or hidden liabilities. What will happen is that the corporation, partnership, or LLC will take the hit. Now why did I say that ‘generally’ you will not be liable? I said that because if you do not maintain the entity using the proper formalities you will lose that protection. In a landmark business law case the courts determined that to “preserve equity and prevent injustice” it could “pierce the corporate veil” and hold the shareholders or owner(s) liable for the acts and/or omissions of the corporation if proper formalities were not met.
If you go to any real estate investing seminar and they tell you, “Just do a deal or two then worry about forming your company”, please run out the door! It will only take one bad deal to make you liable thereby risking everything you own. Before you attempt a deal you should find an attorney to help you determine which form of business entity will serve you:
Corporation – C-corp or S-corp.; or
Limited Partnership (LP); or
Limited Liability Limited Partnership (LLLP); or
Limited Liability Partnership (LLP); or
Limited Liability Company (LLC)
You should then have the entity up for you and teach you how to maintain its formal status in the eyes of the law. I have helped individuals with the matter and I can tell you that you must have an attorney who will listen to your needs and spend time educating you. The reason I think education is important is that if you don’t maintain the entity correctly its the protective shield will not exist in the eyes of the law. It will be as if you never incorporated at all. What good will the slick corporate minute book and fancy company logo be if the attorney did not teach you how to keep the entity separate from your personal dealings? Unless your attorney takes the time to teach you how to maintain your entity status it will be worthless.
I want to wish you the best of luck in your endeavors and email me if you ever need help!

Article Source: http://www.taxlienlady.com/duediligencematters.htm

Trying to Sell Your Home by Yourself? Know About FSBO

By James K Allen

People who want to sell their home would sell through for sale by owner if they want to save some money and have a successful sale. People try very to save the money in any way possible. They never want to spend on real estate commission if they don’t have to. Many people don’t believe that FSBO is like a big opportunity for them to sell their home. They don’t even try to know how it helps them in the selling process of their home. Sometimes, they even afraid of selling their home by themselves because they think they might mess up something very important. Reasons for these doubts could be anything. Hearing a sad FSBO story or following the status quo and get help from real estate agent in the selling process. But they never think how this FSBO process helps them to sell their home.

Selling your home through FSBO is not an easy process but once you know the details, steps how you can proceed to succeed then it becomes very easy for you to sell your home and also you can do the sale by yourself without any help from real estate agents or brokers. If you are selling your home through FSBO, it is not just a single benefit of getting the price you want for your home, it has also some other benefits like selling your home faster than you expected, no stress in the selling process, finding the buyers who actually love your home like you, finding how actually advertising helps you in the selling process of your home and many other benefits.

This FSBO process is often criticized by many real estate agents and brokers because this process creates a parallel real estate network in which house owners are the real estate agents. Because of this reason, they don’t even show houses that are being sold using “for sale by owner”. The main reason for this s that they think they will have to do twice as much work. In many cases they are right. It is an excessive burden for the buyer’s agent to have to hold the seller‘s hand and educate them through the selling process.

So if you want to sell your home through FSBO successfully, please take time and learn what you needed to know before even starting the selling process.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=James_K_Allen

IRA Tax Liens

Buy Tax Liens With IRA Money

It’s a little-known fact that tax liens can be purchased with retirement account funds. By self-directing your IRA investments into tax liens, your profits are tax-deferred back into your retirement account. And if you hold a checkbook tied to your “self-directed IRA,” the purchases can be made on the spot. Tax liens are already an underappreciated money-making gem. But they can shine even brighter if acquired through an IRA.

Tax Liens and IRAs: The Perfect Combo

Go to almost any site that discusses tax liens, and you’ll invariably come across expressions like “undiscovered gem” and “amazing returns.” Despite their less than glamorous name, tax liens deserve your attention because they are, indeed, full of potential profit.

The purchase of tax lien certificates is a surprisingly safe investment; it’s ideal for those with limited funds, and the transaction is a rapid one. This latter characteristic makes tax liens perfect investments for those holding self-directed IRAs.

The use of a self-directed IRA is one of the most efficient ways to finance your tax lien purchase. Thanks to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), retirement account holders can “self-direct” their account investments into everything from traditional stocks and bonds to more unconventional investments like real estate, hard-money loans, overseas rental properties, and, yes, tax liens.

Some self-directed IRA account structures will allow you to literally carry a checkbook tied to your retirement funds. This is particularly useful when it comes to tax liens: with a self-directed IRA checkbook in hand, you can make tax lien purchases the moment they become available.

These unique self-directed IRAs can be set up by a handful of institutions skilled in these specialized account structures. Many offer free advice on how to utilize such accounts to purchase tax liens. Guidant Financial Group of Bellevue, Wash., one of the industry leaders, offers free phone consultations, and extensive educational materials are available on its website: http://www.guidantfinancial.com.

Avid investor Michael Hepps of Cherry Hills, N.J., recently hired Guidant to structure a self-directed IRA due to the tax advantages it provided. “I’ve been investing in tax liens for awhile now, and I’ve been very happy with my returns,” he says. “I started a self-directed IRA account primarily because the profits on my tax lien investments will now be [tax-deferred].”

Tax-lien investments and self-directed IRAs are a winning combination. Take the time to study and explore this excellent means for growing wealth. Like a jelly-filled donut, tax liens are much more exciting once you sink your teeth into them!

Tax Lien Investing Basics (Part Two)

by Lillian Villanova

Once you know the date, time and terms of a tax sale, get a copy of the list and start researching properties. I realize you may be holding a list with descriptions of hundreds–even thousands of properties. And I know that if you are unfamiliar with real estate it looks like page after page of unintelligible words and numbers.

It is actually fairly simple to read once you “crack the code” so to speak. This may seem like an impossible task, but it works if you just break it down into manageable parts. As you look at the list, get beyond the fact that there are thousands of parcels and get over the feeling that you will never get through all of it.

Think of it as a treasure hunt for interest rates that are double or triple what you are earning now. You don’t have to get through all of them, just find the ones you might want to buy.

For many counties, you can do much of your research on the Internet. Each parcel that has an unpaid real estate assessment on it is identified by a number. As you get more proficient in looking at these lists you will be able to pick out neighborhoods just by looking at these numbers.

Start narrowing your list

Whether it is called a Tax ID #, or a Folio #, or a Parcel #, or a Real Estate # or something else, the function is the same–to identify that parcel and to assist anyone trying to obtain information on that parcel. That number will normally be all you need to:

1. Find the legal description if it is not already set forth on the sale list
2. Find the property address
3. Find the owner’s name
4. Find the assessed value
5. Find the size of the parcel and what if any structures or improvements are on it

Sometimes you can look up similar sales and come up with a fair market value by looking at comparables. How do you narrow down the list? Start with your own initial investment budget. You may want to try and buy more than one certificate to “diversify.”

If you only have a few thousand or even only a few hundred dollars to invest, you can immediately eliminate the larger properties. Remember that although statistically more than 95% of tax lien certificates redeem, you may be one of those whose certificate is not.

Think about this when you are deciding which tax lien certificates to buy: Do you want improved or unimproved property? Do you want residential or commercial property? Do you know which parts of town are more or less desirable? The property descriptions will give you the answers to these questions.

Once you have narrowed your list to the tax lien certificates you are actually interested in, you can either go Online to the county web site or visit the County Land Records office to continue your search. Take into account that there may be tax liens from previous years attached to the property.

Ensure your success

Your goal is to find properties that are worth far more than the back taxes owed. This would virtually guarantee one of two things: Either the owner will find a way to pay the taxes to avoid losing the property, or you will obtain a property that can be sold at a profit. If you keep to that conservative mindset, you are assured success.

Make sure you understand the bidding process and how it will works in your state. In some states, such as Florida or Arizona, the bidding starts at the rate set by the statute and each bidder bids a lower interest rate.

For example, as of this writing, the maximum allowable interest charge on a tax lien certificate in Arizona is 16%. So, the opening bid on each certificate would be 16%. Participants would bid 15 1/2% , 15%, etc. until the lowest interest rate someone is willing to accept is reached. That person has now purchased that tax lien certificate at that ending rate.

The delinquent taxpayer still must pay the full statutory rate, and the county keeps the spread. In some states the auctioneer is auctioning the percentage of interest in the property. If the face amount of the certificate (representing the back taxes) is $5,000, the certificate cannot be for more than $5,000.

The opening bid would be that $5,000 amount. If there is competitive bidding at this point, the bidders will bid for a smaller than undivided interest in the property. The person willing to take the smallest interest in the property will become the certificate holder.

Under this system, bidders who want certificates paying the statutory rate, competitively bid down the amount of property he or she would actually control in the event of a foreclosure. If bidders bid down the amount of interest they control in the property, they could own only a less than 100% down to 1% interest in the delinquent property to the owner’s 1% to 99%.

It’s important to understand that the bidder is buying delinquent taxes. They are buying an interest rate and in the unlikely event of a foreclosure, they would own only the portion they bid down to. The tax lien certificate the bidder purchased would still pay the full statutory rate the state mandated by law.

In Colorado, the system results in a premium bid in many cases. In states using this system, the law allows the amount of the certificate to be bid up. There is a statutory rate of interest that is paid on the face amount of the certificate, but the bidder may pay more than the face amount for that certificate.

For example, a $5,000 tax lien certificate could be bid up to $6,000. The excess or surplus bid would reduce the bidder’s yield. The bidder will receive the highest interest the law allows, but the premium paid (in this case $1,000 surplus overbid) goes to the county general fund. Thus when a bidder overbids and pays the bid amount but only receives the face amount back that bidder automatically has a decreased yield.

This is one of the reasons why it is so very important to understand the process BEFORE you bid. Lastly, a tax lien certificate could be bid up to a higher dollar amount and the total bid price returned to the property owner, plus interest. So if the price of a $2,000 certificate is bid up to $3,000, the property would have to pay back the $3,000 plus statutory interest to redeem the property.

It is not a complicated process once you understand it, and it makes much more sense if you attend an auction and see how it works firsthand. Even if you do not plan to bid, you should attend at least one auction. It is the best way to see how simply it works.

You don’t need a ton of money to get started

If you do not have money to invest but want to get started, ask friends or family if they might want to invest. You will be surprised at how many people will be interested when they hear how they can make a secure 16% (Arizona), 18% (Florida), or more (Iowa) on their money.

Treat the arrangement like the business venture that it is, and enter into a written agreement. Even with the best of intentions unforeseen events can create problems. Did you mention everything? Did your investor understand exactly what they were agreeing to do?

Think about arguments you have had where there had obviously been a miscommunication. Think about the times when you started a project with someone having the best of intentions and had something unforeseen happen to create a problem. Remember all the stories you hear about problems other people have had because they were sloppy about setting up an agreement?

Learn from their mistakes. You want your investor relationships to be long-term and run smoothly. Lay the proper foundation and odds are they will.

Related Articles

• Redemption Period for Buying Tax Liens Certificates (brighthub.com)

Tax Lien Investing (Part 1)

Image by niallkennedy via Flickr

by Lillian Villanova

If you take the time to learn the ropes, you’ll discover why real estate is the best wealth-builder in the universe–the safest, most accessible, most lucrative investment you can make. You’ll also find out how to use your real estate investments to create multiple income streams and have a river of money flowing your way every day.

As an example, do you know how to invest in Tax Lien Certificates and Tax Deeds? Briefly, state, county and local governments raise money to provide benefits and services via taxation. One type of taxation, is a tax on “real property.” Pursuant to statute, the owner of a parcel of real property is assessed a dollar amount to pay based on the value of that real property.

This tax, in virtually all cases, is collected by the county where the property is located. If the owner of the property fails to pay the tax, the amount of the tax becomes a lien against the property. A lien against the property, however, does not help the county and local governments pay for the services and benefits they have promised to provide for their citizens.

The county needs the money now, not some time in the future. It needs that money in order to fulfill its budgetary obligations. By state statute, each county is authorized to collect the taxes due that remain unpaid by selling at public auction, either a Tax Lien Certificate or a Tax Deed.

Learning how to buy these Tax Lien Certificates and Tax Deeds is a very real way to achieve financial independence. The aim of this and the following articles is to help you understand, in layman’s terms, how the process works and how you too can learn to use it successfully.

If you ask most people, you will find that very few of them even know that this form of investment exists. It is not well publicized; banks and brokerage houses have no incentive to tell you about it; and people who are doing it consider you competition.

So how do I get started?

How do you acquire the information and skills you need to make money? While the process is not difficult, it does take a consistent and focused effort. You are the only one who can create your success, and you can do it. Start by learning everything you can about investing in either Tax Lien Certificates or Tax Deeds. Don’t try to learn everything all at once.

There are over 3,000 counties in the United States, and each one of them has something a little different about the way they do things. There are some good books on the subject, including my own, and many of the counties have a wealth of information you can obtain for free. A good place to access the various counties across the US is www.naco.org

There are a number of approaches you can take at this point. If you have very limited capital or are strictly looking for a guaranteed rate of return on your savings or investment portfolio, you may wish to concentrate on Tax Lien Certificates.

If your ultimate goal is to buy and sell real estate or to build a portfolio of investment properties, then you may wish to concentrate on attending Tax Deed Sales. As you become more comfortable with the materials and your knowledge of how they can work for you, your strategy can be modified. But for now let’s keep it simple.

Set up a series of simple steps designed to get you to your ultimate goal, and then go for it. Try this as a start. Contact the Tax Collector or Treasurer’s office in your county and find out the answers to the following questions:

1.      When will the county be conducting the next Tax Sale?

2.      Where will the sale take place? (Get the address, room, and time of sale)

3.      How can I get a list of the Tax Liens/Properties to be auctioned? (Sometimes, the county will have copies available at their offices. Most likely they will refer you to a local newspaper that prints the sale notice and list of properties or liens to be sold)

4.      How can I get the Rules of the Sale? (The terms and conditions of the sale including pre-registration requirements and methods of payment).

5.      If a it’s a lien sale, what is the interest rate? How is it calculated?

6.      Does the county have any unsold Tax Lien Certificates or properties from the last sale?

The answer to the above question is usually “yes.” At which point, you should ask how to see a copy of that list. Then go review the list! Many counties have THOUSANDS of unsold certificates.

I recently picked up a list of unsold certificates from one county in Florida, and it was 905 pages with approximately thirty-two liens per page. Just that list represented millions of dollars worth of delinquent taxes.

If the answer to this is “no,” ask the next question: What happens to any unsold Tax Lien Certificates? Many times, they will respond in a manner that gets you the answer you want. “Such and such department keeps that list” or “They are held by the county.”

Don’t be intimidated or discouraged if initially you get the answers you need to move forward. Be polite and persistent. Again, call and ask for this information from more than one county. The information you get will vary from one county to the next, and you will start to become familiar with the terminology used in your state and counties.

There are a number of counties in Florida with no unsold Tax Lien Certificates. If I had stopped at one call, I may not have gotten the opportunity to buy thousands of dollars worth of certificates at 18%. Now that you have gathered the information, part two talks about how to get ready for a sale.

S Corp. vs. LLC: Which Structure is Right for Your Business

by Chrissie Mould

Determining the type of legal structure for a new business can be daunting for entrepreneurs and small business owners. Corporations and limited liability companies (“LLCs”) are preferred business structures because, unlike sole proprietorships and partnerships, both offer liability protection. This means that the owner of a company cannot be held personally responsible for the company’s debts. The personal assets of an owner are shielded from company liabilities. In researching the various business structures, one inevitably comes across the S corporation. S corps and LLCs are similar in that they are both “pass-through” entities for tax purposes; the income of these companies are passed through to their owners and reported on the owners’ personal income tax returns, thereby eliminating the double taxation incurred by owners of a standard corporation, or C corporation. (With a C corporation, the net business income is subject to corporate income tax, and the monies remaining after the corporate income tax are taxed a second time when they are distributed as dividends to its owners who must then pay personal income tax.)

So what is the difference between an S corporation and an LLC? And which structure is right for you?

The answer depends on your own unique situation. If operational ease and flexibility are important to you, an LLC is a good choice. If you are looking to save on employment tax and your situation warrants it, an S corporation could work for you.

Business Ownership & Operation

There are restrictions on who can be owners (called “shareholders”) of an S corporation. An S corporation can have no more than 75 shareholders. None of the shareholders can be nonresident aliens. And shareholders cannot be other corporations or LLCs.

An S corporationis operated in the same way as a traditional C corp. An S corp. must follow the same formalities and record keeping procedures. The directors or officers of an S corp. manage the company. And an S corp has no flexibility in how profits are split up amongst its owners. The profits must be distributed according to the ratio of stock ownership, even if the owners may otherwise feel it is more equitable to distribute the profits differently.

LLCs offer greater flexibility in ownership and ease of operation. There are no restrictions on the ownership of an LLC. An LLC is simpler to operate because it is not subject to the formalities by which S corps must abide. An LLC can be member-managed, meaning that the owners run the company; or it can be manager-managed, with responsibility delegated to managers who may or may not be owners in the LLC.

And the owners of an LLC can distribute profits in the manner they see fit.

Let’s say, for example, you and a partner own an LLC. Your partner contributed $40,000 for capital. You only contributed $10,000 but you perform 90% of the work. The two of you decide that, in the interest of fairness, you will each share the profits 50/50. As an LLC you could do that; with an S corporation, however, you could only take 20% of the profits while your partner would take the other 80%.

Employment Tax: Savings vs. Paperwork

A major factor that differentiates an S corporation from an LLC is the employment tax that is paid on earnings. The owner of an LLC is considered to be self-employed and, as such, must pay a “self-employment tax” of 15.3% which goes toward social security and Medicare. The entire net income of the business is subject to self-employment tax.*

In an S corporation, only the salary paid to the employee-owner is subject to employment tax. The remaining income that is paid as a distribution is not subject to employment tax under IRS rules. Therefore, there is the potential to realize substantial employment tax savings. Case in point:

Mary owns a print shop. In keeping with the industry standard, Mary decides that a reasonable salary for a print shop manager is $35,000 and pays herself accordingly. Mary’s total earnings for the year are $60,000: $35,000 paid in salary and the remaining $25,000 paid as a distribution from the S corp. Mary’s total employment tax is $5,355 (15.3% of $35,000).

If Mary were the owner of an LLC, she would have to pay employment tax on the entire $60,000, equaling $9,180. But as an S corporation, she realizes savings of $3,825 in employment tax.

One might assume that these savings could be further manipulated by reducing the salary to an extremely low amount and attributing the rest of one’s earnings to distributions—but this would be an incorrect assumption. In practice, the IRS is careful to notice whether a salary is reasonable by industry standards. If it determines a salary to be unreasonable, the IRS will not hesitate to reclassify distributions as salary.

Still, while the potential employment tax savings may make the S corporation an attractive structure for your business, bear in mind that you would then have to deal with all the paperwork associated with payroll tax. The payroll tax is a pay-as-you-go tax that must be paid to the IRS regularly throughout the year–on time, or you will incur interest and penalties. The paperwork alone can be an overwhelming task for someone who is not familiar with this; and if you expect to incur losses or otherwise experience a cash flow crunch during the year that would hinder you from paying the payroll tax when due, this could present a problem.

Owners of LLCs pay their self-employment tax once a year on April 15 when income taxes are normally due. Income tax filings are also relatively easy for the owners of an LLC: A single-member LLC files the same 1040 tax return and Schedule C as a sole proprietor; partners in an LLC file the same 1065 partnership tax return as do owners of traditional partnerships.

The comparison chart below sums up the similarities and differences between the two business structures:

	S Corporation	Limited Liability Company
Liability Protection	Yes	Yes
Operational Control	Board of Directors/Officers	May be member-managed or manager-managed
Federal Income Tax	Pass-through	Pass-through
Flexibility/Ease of Operation	No; subject to some formalities and record keeping rules as traditional C corps	Yes
Ownership Restrictions	Yes	No
Flexibility in Profit-Sharing	No	Yes
Employment Tax	Employment/payroll tax on salary; no employment tax on dividends paid to shareholders	Self-employment tax on total net income *

There is no one, magical entity that works for everyone. A CPA or a specialized tax attorney can assist you in choosing the right structure for your business. The important thing is to consider the operational, legal and tax aspects of each structure as they apply to your unique situation.

* The self-employment tax rate for 2009 consists of two parts: 15.3% for social security and 2.9% for Medicare. In 2009, only the first $106,800 of total net income is subject to the social security portion of the tax. All of the the total net income is subject to the Medicare portion of the tax.

*For those who prefer the tax treatment of an S corp but like the simplicity of an LLC, there is an alternative worth considering: Forming an LLC that is taxed as an S corp. An LLC may make a special election with the IRS to be taxed as an S corp. This election is made on IRS Form 2553 and must be filed with the IRS before the 16th day of the third month of the tax year in which the election is to take effect.

An LLC that is taxed as an S corp is still a limited liability company from a legal standpoint (subject to the laws governing limited liability companies in the state of formation); however, for tax purposes it is treated as an S corp.

A word of caution: Certain nuances of S corp taxation can be confusing to some LLC owners, especially do-it-yourselfers and/or those who prepare their own tax returns; for example, an LLC owner might easily make the mistake of referring to an IRS publication that addresses LLCs when, in fact, such a publication would not apply to an LLC that is taxed as an S corp–and such an error could lead to negative tax consequences. It is therefore highly recommended that you consult a CPA or other qualified tax professional for advice and/or assistance.

101 Ways to Make More Sales Online

If you’re trying to make money online, sooner or later you have to face it. Conversion. That intimidating topic: how to get more buyers from the same amount of traffic.

The only reason conversion is intimidating is that there are a lot of places you can go astray. Most of them aren’t that hard to fix, but any one of a thousand little problems can keep you from getting the conversion you should have.

I don’t have a thousand tips for you today, but I do have 101 to get you started.

Here are 101 fixes, some small, some big, for making more sales online.

1. Does your product or service solve a problem people actually care about? How do you know? If your basic offer doesn’t appeal to your prospect, you’re sunk before you begin. Make sure you’re selling something people want.
2. Let prospects know they’re buying from a human being. Keep your language personal, friendly, and (for most markets) informal. Sound like a person, not a pitching machine.
3. Tell a story about how you solved this problem for yourself before you started selling the solution to others. Let readers put themselves in your shoes. Let the prospect feel, “Wow, this person is a lot like me.”
4. Fix your typos, make sure your links work, avoid grammar mistakes that make you look dumb. Reassure your prospect that you know what you’re doing.
5. Test two headlines. When you find a winner, run it against a new headline. Keep eliminating second-best. Google Adwords is a quick and efficient way to do this.
6. Try testing an “ugly” version of the sales copy. Boring fonts, not much layout, no pretty colors. Weirdly, sometimes a bare-bones presentation works better. Don’t just run ugly without testing it, though, because it doesn’t always win.
7. Instead of sending traffic right to a sales page, put them through a six- or seven-message autoresponder first. Give them enough information to build their trust and let them know you’re the best resource.
8. Strengthen your call to action. Make sure you’ve clearly told readers exactly what to do next.
9. Make sure you’ve described your product or service in enough detail. If it’s physical, give the dimensions and some great photos. If it’s digital, tell them how many hours of audio you include, how many pages are in the PDF. Don’t assume your prospects already know any details — spell everything out.
10. Getting traffic from advertising, pay-per-click, or guest posting? Be sure your landing page is tied to your traffic source. If you’re running a pay-per-click campaign for “Breed Naked Mole Rats,” make sure the words “Breed Naked Mole Rats” are in your headline for the landing page.
11. Master copywriter Drayton Bird tells us every commercial offer should satisfy one or several of these 9 human needs: make money, save money, save time and effort, do something good for your family, feel secure, impress other people, gain pleasure, improve yourself, or belong to a group. And then of course, there’s the obvious #10 — make yourself irresistibly sexy to the romantic partner of your choice. I guess Drayton is too much of a gentleman to include it, but it’s about the strongest driver we have once eating and breathing have been taken care of.
12. Now that you’ve identified your fundamental human need, how can that be expressed in an emotion-based headline?
13. Have you translated your features into benefits? I bet you’ve still got some benefits you could spell out. Remember, features are what your product or service does. Benefits are what your prospect gets out of it.
14. Put your photo on your sales page. Human beings are hard-wired to connect to faces. If prospects can see you, it’s easier for them to trust you.
15. If you have a dog, use a photo of you with your dog instead. There’s something about a dog that lowers nearly everyone’s defenses.
16. You can try just using a photo of the dog. Believe it or not, sometimes it works.
17. Simplify your language. Use something like the Flesch-Kincaid readability scale to make sure you’re keeping your wording clean and simple. (Please note that simple writing is not dumb writing.)
18. No matter how emotional your appeal, justify it with logic. Give people the facts and figures they need so they can justify the purchase to themselves. Even the most frivolous, pleasure-based purchase (say, a pair of Jimmy Choo shoes) can be justified with logical benefits (superior workmanship, rare materials, giving the wearer a boost in confidence).
19. What kind of tasty bonus could you offer? Peanut butter is good; peanut butter with jelly is great. Find the jelly for your peanut butter, the bonus that makes your good product even better.
20. Are you getting your message to the right people? A list of people who really want what you offer, and who are both willing and able to buy?
21. Listen to the questions you get. What are people still unclear about? What’s worrying them about your offer? Even if you outsource your email and/or support, it’s a good idea to regularly read a random selection of customer messages.
22. Keep your most important sales elements “above the fold” (in other words, on the first screen, without scrolling, when readers go to your page). Usually that means a compelling headline, a great opening paragraph, and possibly either a wonderful product shot (to create some desire) or a photo of you (to build trust and rapport). Eye-tracking studies suggest your most important image should be at the top left side of the page.
23. Check the dual readership path. Do your headline and subheads tell an intriguing story if you read them without any of the rest of the copy?
24. How’s your guarantee? Could you state it with more confidence? Can you remove any of the weasely stuff? Does your guarantee remove the customer’s risk?
25. Do you take PayPal? PayPal has its issues, but it’s also “funny money” for a lot of customers. They’ll spend freely from PayPal when they’d think twice about pulling out a credit card.
26. Have you asked for the sale boldly and forcefully? Is there any hemming and hawing you could edit out?
27. What’s the experience of using your product or service? Could you make that more vivid with a testimonial video or a great case study?
28. Is there any reason your prospect might feel foolish for buying from you? Are they afraid they’ll kick themselves later? That their friends, spouse, or co-workers will give them a hard time about this purchase? Fix that.
29. Are you using standard design conventions? Links should be underlined. Navigation (if you have any on your sales page) should be immediately understandable.
30. Got testimonials? Got effective testimonials? (If these are hard for you, check out Sean D’Souza’s great advice.)
31. Does the prospect know everything he needs to know in order to make this purchase? What questions might still be on his mind? How can you educate him to make him more confident about his decision to buy?
32. Does the link to your shopping cart work? (Don’t laugh. Go test every link onthe page that goes to your cart. And make a point of testing them once or twice a day the entire time your shopping cart is open — even if that’s 365 days a year.)
33. Is your marketing boring? Remember the great Paul Newman mantra. “Always take the work seriously. Never take yourself seriously.” If your marketing is putting customers to sleep, it can’t do its job.
34. Social media isn’t just about talking – it’s also about listening. What are your potential customers complaining about on Twitter, on Facebook, on LinkedIn, in forums, in blog comments? What problems could you be solving for them? What language do they use to describe their complaints?
35. Have you answered all of their questions? Addressed all of their objections? I know you’re worried the copy will get too long if you address every point. It won’t.
36. Have you been so “original” or “creative” that you’ve lost people? Remember the words of legendary ad man Leo Burnett: “If you absolutely insist on being different just for the sake of being different, you can always come down to breakfast with a sock in your mouth.”
37. Can you offer a free trial?
38. Can you break the cost into several payments?
39. Can you offer an appetizing free bonus, one the customer can keep whether or not she keeps the main product? An incredibly useful piece of content works perfectly for this.
40. Does your headline offer the customer a benefit or advantage?
41. How can you make your advertising too valuable to throw away? How can you make the reader’s life better just for having read your sales letter? Think special reports, white papers, and other content marketing standbys.
42. Have you appealed to the reader’s greed? Not very pretty, but one of the most effective ways to drive response. (The nice way to put this is “be sure you’re offering your prospect great value.”)
43. Is your message confusing? A bright nine-year old should be able to read your sales copy and figure out why she should buy your product.
44. Can you link your copy to a fad? This is particularly effective for web-based copy and for short-term product launches, because you can be absolutely current. Just remember there’s nothing more stale than yesterday’s Macarena.
45. Similarly, can you tie your copy to something a lot of people are really worried about? This can be something in the news (an oil spill, climate change, economic turbulence) or something related to a particular time in your prospect’s life (midlife weight gain, anxieties about young kids, retirement worries).
46. Try a little flattery. One of the great first lines of all sales copy came from American Express: “Quite frankly, the American Express card is not for everyone.” The reader immediately gets a little ego boost from assuming that the card is for special people like him.
47. Is there a compelling, urgent reason to act today? If prospects don’t have a reason to act right away, unfortunately they have a bad habit of procrastinating the purchase forever.
48. Are you visualizing one reader when you write? Don’t write to a crowd — write for one perfect customer who you want to convince. Your tone and voice will automatically become more trustworthy, and you’ll find it easier to find the perfect relevant detail to make your point.
49. Tell the reader why you’re making this offer. In copywriting slang, this is the “reason why,” and it virtually always boosts response.
50. Can you get an endorsement from someone your customers respect? Celebrity endorsements are always valuable, but you can also find “quasi-celebrities” within your niche that hold as much sway as a national figure.
51. Can you provide a demonstration of the product or service? If it’s not something that can be demonstrated on video, try telling a compelling story about how your offering solved a thorny problem for one of your customers.
52. How often are you using the word “You”? Can that be bumped up?
53. How often are you using the word “We”? Can that be eliminated? (“I” actually works better than “we,” which tends to come across as corporate and cold.)
54. Stay up late tonight and watch a few informercials. Keep a pen and paper handy. Write down every sales technique that you see. In the morning, translate at least three of them to your own market. (Remember, you can change the tone and the sophistication level to match your buyers.)
55. Have you made yourself an authority in your market?
56. Is there an “elephant in the living room?” In other words, is there a major objection that you haven’t addressed because you just don’t want to think about it? You’ve got to face all inconvenient truths head on. Don’t assume that if you don’t bring it up, it won’t occur to your prospects.
57. How’s your follow-up? Do you have the resources to answer questions that come in? Remember, questions are often objections in disguise. Prospect questions can give you great talking points for your sales letter. You may want to bring on some help in the form of a friendly VA or temp to help out with email during a big launch.
58. Is there a number in your headline? There probably should be.
59. Similarly, have you quantified your benefits? In other words, have you translated “time saved” to “three full weeks saved — plenty of time to go on a life-changing vacation — each and every year.” Put a number on the results you can create for your customers.
60. It’s weird, but “doodles” and other elements that look like handwriting can boost response — even on the web. There are hundreds of handwritten fonts available, which can be converted to visual elements with PhotoShop or simple logo-generating software.
61. Does your headline make the reader want to read the first line of copy?
62. Does the first line make the reader want to read the second line of copy?
63. Does the second line make the reader want to read the third line?
64. (Etc.)
65. Throw in some more proof that what you’re saying is true. Proof can come from statistics, testimonials, case studies, even news stories or current events that illustrate the ideas your product or service is based on.
66. Compare apples to oranges. Don’t compare the cost of your product to a competitor’s — compare it to a different category of item that costs a lot more. For example, compare your online course to the cost of one-on-one personal consulting.
67. For this reason, it’s always a good idea to have at least one platinum-priced item for sale. They make everything else you sell look nicely affordable by comparison.
68. Make your order page or form easier to understand. Complicated order pages make customers nervous.
69. Remember to restate your offer on your order page. Don’t expect the customers to remember all the details of what you’ve just (almost) sold her. Re-state those benefits.
70. Include a phone number where people can call for questions. I know this is tricky to handle, but it can boost your response by a surprising amount.
71. Include a photograph of what you’re selling, if you can.
72. Is there a lot of distracting navigation leading your customers away? (Worst of all are cheap-looking ads that pull people away for a penny or two.) Get rid of it. Focus your reader’s attention on this offer with a one-column format stripped of distractions.
73. Put a caption on any image that you use. Captions are the third most-read element of sales copy, after the headline and the P.S. The caption should state a compelling benefit to your product or service. (Even if that benefit doesn’t quite match the image.
74. While you’re at it, link the image to your shopping cart.
75. Make the first paragraph incredibly easy to read. Use short, punchy, and compelling sentences. A good story can work wonders here.
76. Does your presentation match your offer? If you’re offering luxury vacations, do your graphics and language have a luxury feeling? If you’re selling teen fashion, is your design trendy and cute?
77. Are you trying to sell from a blog post? Send buyers to a well-designed landing page instead.
78. Halfway through a launch and sales are listless? Come up with an exciting bonus and announce it to your list. Frank Kern calls this “stacking the cool.”
79. Are you asking your prospect to make too many choices? Confused people don’t buy. You should have at most three options to choose from — something along the lines of “silver, gold, or platinum.”
80. Look for anything in your copy that’s vague. Replace it with a concrete, specific detail. Specifics are reassuring, and they make it easier for the prospect see herself using your product.
81. Numbers are the most reassuring details of all. Translate anything you can into numbers.
82. Look for any spot in your copy that might make your prospect silently say “No,” or “I don’t think so.” Rework that spot. You want the prospect to mentally nod in agreement the entire time she’s reading your letter.
83. Don’t be afraid to repeat yourself. Prospects often don’t read every word of the sales letter. Find ways to restate your call to action, the most important benefits, and your guarantee.
84. Hint at a genuinely exciting benefit early in the copy, then spell it out later in your sales letter. (Be careful of curiosity-based headlines, though, as traditionally they don’t convert as well as benefit- or news-based ones do.)
85. Use the two magic words of persuasive copy.
86. Successful marketing doesn’t sell products or services — it sells benefits and big ideas. What’s your big idea? What are you really selling? If you’re not sure, go back to our ten human needs in #11 above.
87. If you offer something physical, make sure there’s a way they can get expedited delivery. The ability to place a rush order lifts response, even if the customer doesn’t take advantage of it.
88. Put a Better Business Bureau, “Hacker Safe” seal, or similar badge on your sales page.
89. Could you be underpricing your offer? A surprising number of buyers, even in a bad economy, won’t buy a product or service if it seems too cheap to be worth their time.
90. Are you using the wording “Buy Now” on your shopping cart button? Try “Add to Cart,” “Join Us,” or similar wording instead. Focusing on word “buy” aspect has been shown to lower response.
91. Allow your prospect to picture himself buying. Talk as if he’s already bought. Describe the life he’ll now be living, as your customer. If you want a delicious example, go to the J. Peterman website. Few have ever done it better.
92. Cures sell vastly better than prevention. If your product is mostly preventative, find the “cure” elements and put those front and center. Solve problems people already have, rather than preventing problems they might have some day.
93. If your funny ad isn’t converting, try playing it straight. Humor is, by its nature, unpredictable. It can work fantastically well, or it can destroy your conversion. If you can’t figure out what else might be wrong, this could be the culprit.
94. Are you the king of understatement? The sultan of subtlety? Get over it. At least in your sales copy.
95. How’s your P.S.? (You do have a P.S., right?) Is it compelling? Typically you want to restate either the most interesting benefit, the guarantee, the urgency element, or all three.
96. Cut all long paragraphs into shorter ones. Make sure there are enough subheads so you have at least one per screen. If copy looks daunting to read, it doesn’t get read.
97. Increase your font size.
98. Include a “takeaway.” No, this isn’t a hamburger and fries — it’s the message that your offer isn’t for everyone. (In other words, you threaten to “take away” your great offer for those who don’t deserve it.) When you’re confident enough to tell people “Please don’t order this product unless you meet [insert your qualification here],” you show that you’re not desperate for the sale. This is nearly universally appealing.
99. Are you putting this offer in front of cold prospects? What if you put some variation of it in front of people who have already bought something from you? Your own existing customer base is the best market you’ll ever have. Make sure you’re regularly sending them appealing offers
100. If they don’t buy your primary offer, try sending them to a “down-sell.” This is a lower-priced product that gives the prospect a second chance to get something from you. Remember, even a very small purchase gives you a buyer to market to later. Building a list of buyers is one of the wisest things you can do for your business.
101. What is it about your product or service that makes people feel better about themselves? Ultimately, everything has to boil down to this.

Have your own favorite conversion-booster that you didn’t see here? Let us know about it in the comments.

How to Buy a House Using a Lease Option

If you’re ready to buy the home of your dreams, but your credit or savings isn’t quite ready yet, a lease with option to buy (often simply called a “lease option” or, somewhat inaccurately, “rent to own”) may help you move in. Lease options, in which you lease (rent) a property and have the option to buy the property at the end of the lease term, can allow you to control a home that you want even if you don’t have enough money for a down payment yet. A lease option may also be helpful if you need some time to improve your credit before you can get a good mortgage rate.

Determine if a lease option is a good option for you. Lease options can be useful home-buying tools, but they’re not for everybody. In fact, some of lease options do not end with the lessee (the renter or prospective buyer) purchasing the home, and while that’s sometimes for a good reason, ask yourself a few questions before you decide to pursue a lease option in general or before you sign one on a particular house..

Can you afford the option money? The option money or option fee is required for a lease option contract to be valid. This upfront payment may be quite small (equal to one or two month’s rent, for example), or it may be 3-5% of the purchase price. All of this money should go toward the purchase price or down payment on the home if you decide to buy the house at the end of the lease term, but unlike a security deposit, you don’t get the option money back at the end of the lease if you can’t purchase the house or decide not to.

Do you plan to stay in the area? You should be fairly certain that you want to buy the house at the end of the term. If you don’t, you lose your option money that you’ve paid in your monthly payments.

Will you be able to secure financing at the end of the lease term? Most of the time, the buyer will need to find his or her own financing by applying for a loan. A lease option can help you get a more favorable loan than you otherwise would be able to, but it’s no guarantee, so you’ll want to be reasonably sure that you’ll be able to qualify for a loan at the end of the term.

Can you afford the monthly payments on the lease. Typically (but not always) the monthly payments on a lease will include the fair rental value plus option money that will go toward the purchase of the home. Thus, the monthly payments under a lease option will usually be more than you would pay if you were renting the same house.

Find a house you want to buy. Keeping the above considerations in mind, look for a house that you like and that you can afford. There are some companies that specialize in lease options, and in some places government programs will buy a house for you and then offer you a lease option. More typically, however, you can just find a house for sale and see if the owner will consider a lease option.

Negotiate the terms of the lease option. The purchase price, term of the lease (usually anywhere from 6-24 months, but can sometimes be as long as 10-years), the amount of initial option money, and the amount of the monthly payments that will go toward the purchase price will all be negotiable.

Make monthly payments. You will make monthly payments just as you would make rent payments. In many cases, however, a portion of the monthly payment will be designated as option money. This money will go toward the purchase of the home if you decide to exercise your option to buy. It may be a small percentage of the monthly payment.

Make improvements on the home, it is probably in your best interest to try to take care of these things. By increasing the value of the home with improvements during the lease term, you earn equity (so-called “sweat equity”) in the home because the agreed-upon purchase price stays the same. This increased equity may help you get a more favorable loan if you exercise your option to buy. In essence, by increasing the value of the home you are increasing your down payment.

Apply for a loan. Don’t wait until the last minute to apply for a loan. You should begin your application process no less than 45 days in advance of the end of the lease, and to be safe you should probably start a full two months or more before you need to buy the house. A lease option will qualify you for a refinance loan with some lenders, and these are usually cheaper and quicker to process than new purchase mortgages, but in any case it’s essential to have a mortgage ready to close on the home by the date specified in the lease option contract.

Close on the home. If you’ve lined up your financing and decided to exercise your option to buy at the end of the lease, congratulations. You are now a homeowner.

EasyHomeBuy Canada provides listings for Canadian homes available for purchase by lease option, articles and references for Canadian lease option sellers. This site features customized searches and information that is specifically tailored to the Canadian housing marketplace.

A “lease purchase” usually refers to an arrangement that differs from a lease option in that the lessee is obligated to buy the home instead of merely having the option to buy it.

The lessee doesn’t have to buy the property under a lease option, but the lessor does have to sell (at the agreed-upon price in the contract) if the lessee fulfills the contract and exercises the option to buy. If the lessee decides not to buy the home, he or she simply forfeits all the payments made on it as if they were renting.

Keep good records of your payments and expenditures. You will need a record of your payments to help you qualify for a loan, particularly if you want to qualify the home as a refinance.

Some real estate agents are hesitant to deal with lease options and may discourage you from exploring this option either because they are unfamiliar with how they work or because their commission is deferred or, if option to buy is not exercised, is reduced or negated.

Lease options are typically better options for sellers than most people think they are, largely, if the lessee does buy the house, the seller has accomplished his or her goal of selling the house and In addition, lease option buyers are often willing to pay market value or even slightly higher due to their unique circumstances, so the seller can be sure to get a fair price for the home and during the length of the Lease option the seller is able to collect enough rent to cover the mortgage and not incur additional expenses associated with a standard rental. Usually the property is taken care of better because this person intends on it being their home.

How long should your lease be? It depends. If you want to improve your credit profile, a longer term is usually best. Lenders especially like to see stability over two years, so if you’ve been living in the same house, making payments on it, and working at the same place for that long, you may qualify for better loan rates. A longer lease can also help you build equity in the home if property values are increasing. For example, if the option contract specifies a purchase price of $100,000, but the property’s value has increased to $110,000 at the end of a two-year lease, you will already have $10,000 of equity in the home (in addition to your option money) if you decide to purchase it. On the other hand, if home prices might decline, a long lease can leave you with no equity, even after you’ve been paying option money for two or more years.

This article is a general guide only and is not intended to replace professional financial or legal advice.

Make sure your lease option contract specifies a fixed price for the purchase of the home. If the price isn’t fixed when the contract is signed, you’ll almost certainly get ripped off. Make sure, also, that the fixed price is reasonable. While it’s not uncommon to pay 5-10% more than the market value of the home–this is compensated by the convenience of a lease option and the potential for appreciation on the price during the lease term–it’s best if you can get the price fixed at market value, and you should definitely not have to pay far more than the fair purchase price.

Beware lease options that lock you in to high-interest financing, and make sure you’re getting a reasonable amount of credit (in the form of option money) toward the purchase price.

It can be difficult to find a house the seller of which is willing to do a lease option, but don’t jump at the first (or any) chance that you get without fully understanding the terms of your agreement and making sure you’re getting a fair deal.

Keep in mind that unexpected changes in your financial situation, such as the loss of a job or a medical emergency, may prevent you from qualifying for a loan when you need it. The same can be said if interest rates rise during the lease term. A lease option is not without risk.

Soft home prices boost affordability

Indianapolis is still the most affordable of big housing markets. Los Angeles is the least affordable.

By Les Christie, CNNMoney.com staff writer

August 21 2007: 6:37 PM EDT

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Midwest cities dominated the top of the most affordable, housing markets list, according to the latest survey from the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

The report covered the three months ended June 30 and Indianapolis retained its number-one rating among big U.S. cities for being most affordable. Indiana neighbor, Kokomo, ranks first among all 215 markets rated. The highest ranked market outside the region is Cumberland, Maryland, rated 12th.

Least affordable housing markets Metro area Med. home price Med. income % of affordable homes Los Angeles, CA $530,000 $61,700 3.0% Salinas, CA $556,000 $63,400 3.7% Merced, CA $296,000 $46,800 3.8% Santa Ana, CA $615,000 $78,700 4.4% San Francisco, CA $802,000 $86,500 5.7% Santa Barbara, CA $538,000 $67,100 6.2% New York, NY $510,000 $59,500 6.3% San Luis Obispo, CA $527,000 $64,200 6.4% Napa, CA $577,000 $75,800 6.6% Modesto, CA $330,000 $56,000 7.0% Source:National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo Bank

Most affordable housing markets Metro area Med. home price Med. income % of affordable homes Kokomo, IN $96,000 $57,200 90.9% Bay City, MI $89,000 $54,400 90.0% Lansing, MI $109,000 $64,000 89.8% Mansfield, OH $90,000 $52,100 87.7% Saginaw, MI $89,000 $52,300 87.5% Davenport, IA $90,000 $57,200 87.4% Springfield, OH $87,000 $52,500 87.0% Indianapolis, IN $122,000 $63,800 86.8% Lima, OH $85,000 $51,400 86.3% Detroit, MI $92,000 $53,800 86.0% Source:National Association of Home Builders and Wells Fargo Bank

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As for least affordable housing markets, Los Angeles is dead last.

Nationally, home affordability has improved quite a bit over the past year as many markets experienced price declines or stagnation and earnings have increased. To be deemed affordable, housing expenses must be no more than 28 percent of income. Expenses include property taxes and insurance as well as the mortgage payment.

The percentage of homes affordable to the median income household for the nation as a whole increased to 43.1 percent compared with 40.6 percent during the same three months of 2006.

The NAHB survey, done in collaboration with Wells Fargo Bank, bases its affordability ratings on the percentage of new and existing homes sold in the individual markets that were affordable to households earning the median income for that area. It also takes into account mortgage rates.

Thus, Indianapolis’s 86.8 rating meant that less than 14 percent of all homes purchased in the metro area were unobtainable by a typical family. By contrast, only 3 percent of Los Angeles homes sold could be comfortably afforded by an average family.

That’s despite the fact that median household income for the two metro areas was roughly the same – $63,800 for the Hoosier capital and $61,700 for Angelenos. The difference, of course, was in the median price of homes. In Indianapolis, $122,000 bought the median home compared with $530,000 in Los Angeles.

Nine of the 10 least affordable markets were in California. Salinas (3.7 percent), Merced (3.8 percent), Santa Ana (4.4 percent) and San Francisco (5.7 percent) formed the bottom five. The only outsider to crack the list was New York City with 6.3 percent of homes affordable to median-income households.

Detroit (86.0 percent), Buffalo (84.8 percent) and Cleveland (78.7 percent) were other large metro areas with high affordability numbers.

In a survey last week, the National Association of Realtors said that the median price for a single-family home sold during the three months ended June 30 fell to $223,800, 1.5 percent below the price a year ago.

Some of the results of the survey were more positive. More metro area markets – 97 of 149 – gained ground than lost.

One of the four U.S. regions, the Northeast recorded a slight price gain of 0.7 percent. The West lost 0.4 percent, the South 1.6 percent and the Midwest 2.2 percent.

NAR predicts home prices will turn slightly positive again by spring of 2008 and rise about 2 percent that year.

Among individual metro areas, prices in the second quarter plunged most in Elmira, New York, down 17.9 percent to $71,700. Other big losers included Palm Bay, Florida (down 15 percent to $183,300), Davenport, Iowa (down 11.3 percent to $103,300) and Sarasota, Florida (down 11.3 percent to $311,400).