Author Archives: Sharon Brown

When you’re just getting started with a new venture, particularly those that revolve around skilled investments such as real estate, you tend to commit a great deal of mistakes.

Most people who develop an interest in real estate investment end up looping from one mistake to another for years, even after devouring tons of ebooks, videos, and training courses on the subject.

What is the missing link stopping most wannabe real estate investors from attaining financial freedom with real estate investments? Why do some people achieve massive financial success while others see not even an iota of success?

Reasons Why Ebooks And Courses Simply Serve To Mislead You

Some hard-working investors have been able to get started on their own and make lots of money, but they are the exception. When you find yourself failing continuously, what you need is a real estate coach.

E-books and training courses drag you in different paths, but a real estate mentor sets you on the right path to success. You gain substantial knowledge from their expertise, and through their coaching, you are able to focus on one goal at a time, which is paramount to success.

They can also notice errors you’ve neglected and guide you on what to do as an alternative. It’s like they’re a teacher, gripping your hand and telling you exactly what to do. With that type of help, your chances of success rise significantly.

The Only Real Estate Mentoring Program I Recommend

You’ll find numerous real estate coaching programs on the internet, all with similar claims of helping you become a six-figure realtor in as little time as possible.

Every one of these programs are clearly expensive, so choosing the best one is of vital importance. Choose the bad one and you’ll probably wind up regretting wasting time and money you simply cannot really recover.

I’m a successful real estate professional, and I got my education from my coach, Phil Pustejovsky. Phil Pustejovsky owns the Freedom Mentor coaching program – a program that shows you the ropes on how to accomplish financial freedom in real estate. Here are some Freedom Mentor reviews to help you guage the effectiveness of the program.

The Freedom Mentor coaching program is not a program you can just buy any time you wish. You have to apply first, and you’ll only gain access to the program if your request is approved.

The actual fact that Phil Pustejovsky screens applications goes to show how much he wishes you to succeed. He’ll solely accept coachable, action-oriented, and positive thinking applicants.

Phil was once an amateur as well. He started from an all-time low and only started to achieve success after he met his coach, Tom.

Ever since, he has been able to close 10s of millions of dollars worth of deals while earning millions of dollars in proceeds throughout the process.

If you believe Phil’s knowledge will have a positive effect on your real estate venture, then you need to pay special attention to the next paragraphs as I explain his Freedom Mentor program in more detail.

Why Freedom Mentor?

By subscribing to the Freedom Mentor coaching program, you’ll gain access to premium tools and resources to help you finalize your first real estate deal.

These consist of access to a lender list, an instruction/lead-generating program to aid you get deals faster, and a customized investing plan.

That’s not everything, though. You’ll also receive 3 real-time mentoring calls monthly with Freedom Mentor’s instructors, 2 conference calls every week, and the ability to ask questions and immediately obtain answers from the mentors through an instant messaging platform.

There are two really good attributes of this coaching program which allow it stand out from the competitors. The first feature is the array of experienced mentors and coaches it includes.

You won’t get access to just Phil Pustejovsky’s coaching once you become a registered member. Freedom Mentor is made up of a team of mentors and coaches directly trained and mentored by Phil.

Such are the coaches you’ll be getting help from. You’ll get access to a combined pool of knowledge and experience from many of the best coaches in the industry.

The second attribute that makes this program so impressively good at assisting aspiring realtors gain success is its 50/50 split.

This essentially implies Phil shares all of his priceless real estate tricks with you, and you share 50% of the profits from your first couple of deals with him.

Once you’ve closed your first few deals, you can then carry on to become an independent property investor, equipped with all the knowledge you’ve obtained from the mentorship program.

If you possess a talent for teaching or mentoring, you could even set up your very own mentoring program and show your students the steps needed for success just like Phil does.

A few of Phil’s past students are presently running their own mentoring programs after becoming successful real estate investors.

Note: I know the program offering improvements from time to time as they continue to fine-tune it and improve it. However, this is current as of this writing.

Conclusion – Action Takers Desired

The Freedom Mentor coaching program is geared towards individuals who are 100% dedicated to becoming successful real estate investors. If you aren’t prepared to treat real estate investing just like a business, this specific program might just not be for you.

The tools, resources, and mentoring provided in the program are sufficient to set you on the best path to financial freedom.

Since you’re sharing your first few profits with Phil, it is really in his best interest to make you succeed, and you have as much resolve to accomplish just that. It’s a jointly beneficial agreement, so you practically can’t go wrong if you put in the energy and time to make this work.

Overall, the Freedom Mentor program is the best way to get started in real estate investing. You’re getting all the support you want from a veteran in the field. There’s really nothing more you need to have to make your real estate ambitions come true.

Practical Suggestions When Thinking Of Selling a House

Many individuals are now investing in real estate so if you’re likely to sell your property, you must do it today. The only concern here is that selling a house is quite difficult.

You might have seen a lot of articles saying that selling a property is simple or you’ve seen some advertisements telling you that they can sell your house within a certain amount of time. If you’ll opt to lower the asking price of your house, it could be more desirable to the buyers, but it is not an advisable thing to do.

In the real estate market, the supply surpasses the demand, but there are tons of methods to sell your property effectively. Below are a few of the tips on the best way to do this.

Take Note of Curb Appeal

First impression lasts so your house should have a specific impact when a customer sees it the very first time. You should put yourself in the shoes of a customer and appraise the curb appeal of your home.

You must look at your house very carefully to see all of its weak points. You should determine if it’s desirable enough for the prospective customers and you should also check everything that have to be maintained.

The prospective buyer would see the exterior of your house as soon as he goes out of his car and many of them always pay attention on how the new house would look like in the outside. You need to prepare everything and repair everything.

Make The Correct Enhancements

You will have to make the right upgrades outside and inside of your home to draw in your potential buyers. They want a complete package where they will not need to make repairs on certain parts of the house.

If you’re the seller, you have to make sure that you will check anything that needs fixing and improvement. Nonetheless, you must never over improve the house because some improvements will not make a huge difference in the asking price of your home.

Improvements can improve the price of your house and its odds to be sold, but you can’t make an improvement that would not pay in the end. You need to do your research and only invest in things that could give you the best roi.

Depersonalize Your House

Most of you would state that adding more design can make it more desirable to the customers, but this is an error as your personal items, art works and collectibles will not attract the customers. You may get rid of all these items and leave out the essential furniture to help make the rooms a bit larger. The main aim is to enable the customers to picture themselves in the house.

They will begin pointing at the various parts of your home while visualizing what they want to put in there if they are going to buy it. It only signifies that your personal items have to be removed in the house because it’s going to make it difficult for them to imagine.

Put a Competitive Price For Your property

If you’re likely to sell a home in Orange County, California, you must put a realistic value for the house. It you will actually place a lower value, it’s similar to leaving money on the table, but putting a high value is a not recommended either because the customers will overlook it.

When it comes to home buying, most customers will take a look at the homes that are similar to yours and compare the costs. If your house is very costly for them, they will just ignore your house.

Most of the buyers today are only depending on home financing so you could assume that they will not pick a house that is too costly. If you value it too low, you will probably be able to sell the house, but don’t expect that your investments will probably be returned.

Look For A Real Estate Agent

You are certainly making a mistake if you actually believe that you could sell your house on your own. If you are not a professional real estate agent, do not sell your house on your own, specifically if you do not have the knowledge and experience to do this.

If you’ll do it on your own, it is possible that you will not be able to sell your house or you won’t get a good deal. You could get fortunate and find a good deal for your house, but you need to keep in mind that selling a house is not about fortunate since we are speaking about a lot of money.

Employ an agent and permit them to handle everything for you. You’ll have to pay them, but it’s better than acquiring a bad deal for your house.

Before you decide to do anything, make certain that you recognize how to sell your house successfully. The real estate market is definitely complex so you should know how this works before you sell your house.

Everyone wants their home to feel like theirs. And, why shouldn’t this be the case even if you are only renting? No, you can’t knock down partition walls or remodel the kitchen. But there are still tons of ways that you can make the house more personal to you, and reflect your tastes and personality. Here are some of the rules, though, when decorating in a rental.

First things first, know that you’ve got to get written permission for any changes you make that include anything other than rearranging furniture. Second, know that you’ll be spending your own money toward decorating. Your landlord isn’t going to reimburse you. If you want to change the faucets, or cabinet knobs, ask the landlord. If they say O.K. then you’ve got the green light. But they aren’t going to pay you back for those cabinet pulls. Landlords are also looking to save money, and they aren’t going to spend it on new cabinet hardware.

This is the time to bring your your thrifty, DIY side. Don’t feel like everything you have in your house has to be expensive in order to look expensive. You’ll find that people with money love to mix expensive items with non-expensive items. Find a great second-hand furniture store; you’ll be amazed at the pieces you’ll find there. Go to garage sales to find books that you can use to fill your bookshelves.

Do be careful when you buy any upholstered furniture. Bugs live everywhere. You don’t want to end up with someone else’s bed bugs. If you buy upholstered furniture, you should buy it from a store. If you buy it on Craigslist, or at a garage sale, that’s fine. But you need to re-upholster it. You never know who’s been sitting on it.

Add accessories! Lighting fixtures (even lamps), area rugs, flowers, and brand new hardware can transform a home from dated, to trendy. If the apartment you’ve rented has old, accordion blinds, hide them with gorgeous curtains. Of course, if you remove any fixtures that are the landlords, keep them in a closet, or somewhere where you won’t lose them. When you move out, you’re going to have to put everything back the way it was when you rented it.

Do not use wallpaper. Yes, this one might upset you. But your landlord is likely not going to approve you wall-papering the house. Wallpaper is a very personal thing. People have strong personal preferences to wallpaper. Your landlord might find it hard to rent the apartment to someone else when you move out, depending on what wallpaper you’ve chosen.

Never paint the baseboards, or any other wood in the home. If you’ve got a bare-wood fireplace and you want to paint it, don’t. There are some things you’ve just got to accept about your rental. Most landlords are going to let you paint the walls, and almost any color that you’d like to. Sometimes they will require you to paint them back when you leave, but most of the time, not. Again, you’ll be paying for this expense. The landlord doesn’t care that you love green walls. If there’s nothing wrong with the walls, they aren’t going to put money toward fixing something that’s not broken.

Lastly, embrace your apartment! Don’t spend the whole lease wishing some aspect or other was different. Savor your renting days. They’re great stories and memories for when you look back, when you own your home. You’ll miss these days!

People often clean out their closets, empty their makeup drawers every once in a while, clean out the junk drawer, empty out their trunk, as well as many other things that get avoided but eventually get done. But how about those really dirty things, that no one ever takes the time to clean? Like caulk in the bathroom for example. Or those tiny crevices in between tiles in the kitchen. We are talking here about things that don’t necessarily look stained, but are definitely dirty in every other sense. Here are things that you should definitely be cleaning, and that you should add to your list if you aren’t.

All door handles & knobs throughout the home
Most people probably can’t recall the last time they cleaned their door handles, knobs, and pulls. Everyone remembers to windex their bathroom mirrors, and wipe off the countertops. But, doorknobs? These are something that you absolutely should be cleaning. After all, our hands are the dirtiest parts of our body. We touch things with them all day. The average person touches their face even, over 1,000 per day. Doorknobs are breeding grounds for germs, and they should be cleaned on the reg.

Your hairbrush
You need to clean your hairbrush. You don’t think you should, but you do. Your scalp sheds, just like every other part of our body. It’s unsanitary not to clean it every once in a while. And, no, we don’t just mean pull the hair off of the brush. Actually clean it.

Your toothbrush holder
Your toothbrush holder is probably the most germ-infested item in your bathroom. It is also one of the easiest to clean. What’s ironic, is that it’s best to use a toothbrush to clean the toothbrush holder! All you need is a toothbrush, disinfectant, and water. It’s not hard to do.

Your trash can
Trash cans are full of germs and bacteria. The outside of them, especially. People spill things constantly down the sides when throwing away trash. All of that builds up over time. If you have a trash can that has a lid that you have to lift up on your own, the handle should be being cleaned CONSTANTLY. Usually, when you throw something away, you’re lifting the top with your other hand that is also holding trash. Every once in a while, you should take your trash can outside and hose it down.

TV remote(s)
TV remotes rarely see a cleaning product in their lifetime. And yet, they are covered in bacteria. They aren’t hard to clean, just annoying. Make sure your TV is off when you do. Because you’ll be pressing down hard on the buttons, try to go into a different room, and not stand in front of the TV while you do it.

Drying racks
Your dish rack should definitely be cleaned. You know that water that leaks into the tray? Talk about breeding grounds for mold. Over time, that accumulation of moisture leads to a pool of germs.

Drapes
Curtains should be vacuumed often. Depending on the fabric, you should throw them in the washer and dryer if you’re able to, and fairly often. In fact, one of the reasons some people don’t have curtains is that they hold so many germs, dust, and bacteria.

Kitchen sponges
Sponges should be thrown out and replaced frequently, especially in the kitchen. It’s shocking how many months people use the same, exact sponge in the kitchen for.

Shower heads
These are yet another group that are left out when it comes to regular cleaning. What happens is that mineral deposits build up over time, and clog them, thereby reducing the pressure of the water.

Fan Blades
This might actually be the #1 overlooked item in the house to clean. You’d be disgusted if you took a dust rag, and just do a once-over on one blade. Fan blades are one of the easiest places for dust to accumulate.

What are some of the reasons that people choose to refinance their mortgage?

Refinancing can save a homeowner a lot of cash, and years of having to pay off mortgage debt. Homeowners should know, though, that it takes lots of work to do it. You can’t simply walk in and tell the bank you want to refinance, and that be that. Here are some reasons that you might want to consider refinancing your mortgage (if you can).

Refinancing your mortgage is going to shorten your loan term. For example, i you’ve got a thirty year mortgage, now is a great time to consider refinancing it. When interest rate are low, you’ll see that a fifteen year mortgage actually isn’t all that more costly than the thirty year mortgage you’ve got right now.

What you should do is begin by calculating your mortgage  so that you can get an idea of what the new payment would be. If the new payment looks good, and you think you can handle the payment financially with no problems, then you should talk to your lender. to get an idea of what your new payment might be. If your new estimated payment is feasible, consider contacting a mortgage professional.

Another great reason to refinance is to lower the interest rate on your mortgage. When interest rates are low, it is wise to take advantage of it, as it doesn’t happen all that often. If your current mortgage has a very high interest rate, refinancing is probably a good route to take. You can actually save thousands and thousands of dollars by taking the few simple steps it takes to get your mortgage refinanced.

Refinancing will get you a lower interest rate as well. If your loan currently comes with hefty interest payments, you’ll want to take advantage if the interest rates have lowered. You can save thousands upon thousands of dollars

Consider refinancing as well, if you want to lower your monthly mortgage payment. Again, you’ll save thousands just by not paying the high interest rate, alone. If you lower your mortgage payment, you’ll have more money each month left over to either spend, save, or invest. Lowering your payment obviously is going to increase the length of your loan; it will all depend upon your lifestyle. Everyone’s situation is different.

Yet another reason for refinancing is to switch from an ARM (adjustable rate mortgage) to a fixed rate mortgage. If you currently have an ARM, you may want to get a fixed rate. The reason is that a fixed rate locks you in for a specific amount regarding interest; this means, no matter if it moves up (and down), you’ll pay the same. It’s also easier to budget this way, since you know what the payment will be each month.

Lastly, you can refinance in order to get equity on your home. It is always tempting to “cash out” your home equity by refinancing. In some ways, it can be a smart move. For example, if you’re looking to start a business, or invest in properties. It depends on each individual and their goals. Remember, that while you’re deciding if you should refinance, note that you might not qualify anyway. You have to meet the following requirements in order to qualify for a refinance on your mortgage:

• The mortgage must be owned or guaranteed by Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae.
• The mortgage must have been sold to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac on or before 2009.
• The mortgage cannot have been refinanced under HARP previously unless it is a Fannie Mae loan that was refinanced under HARP before 2009.
• The current loan-to-value (LTV) ratio must be greater than eighty percent.
• The borrower must be current on the mortgage at the time of the refinance, with a good payment history within the past year.

There are many things to consider before refinancing your mortgage. Most importantly, you should weigh the pros and cons of your particular situation and decide, based on what your life looks like right now, and what would benefit you. For more information, read this article on When to Finance Your Mortgage.