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Tax reduction and tax deferral are the primary benefits of obtaining a cost segregation study. Income taxes are a substantial burden for most real estate investors. Tax deductions help with this burden. While some level of taxation is necessary, it is both inappropriate and imprudent to pay more than your fair share.

Income tax is based on net profit or taxable income. The basic formula for calculating taxable income is revenue less expenses (tax deductions). Expenses can include both direct payments to third parties (labor, rent, supplies, etc.) and non-cash deduction. The primary non-cash deductions are depreciation and amortization. Tax reduction (tax cuts) are a direct result of increasing tax deductions.

The tax deduction benefit real estate owners gain from cost segregation is a higher level of depreciation. This non-cash tax deduction reduces taxable income and income taxes. For example, if the amount of depreciation increased by $100,000 (as result of a cost segregation study), taxable income would decrease by $100,000, and the owner experiences a $35,000 reduction in taxes (based on 35% tax rate).

Most real estate owners depreciate real estate based upon splitting the cost basis between land and improvements. The property owner or tax preparer typically estimates the portion for the land and attributes the balance to long-life improvements. Long-life improvements depreciate over 27.5 years for rental residential property and 39 years for commercial property

While this simplistic method is lawful, it cheats the real estate owner of tax deductions. A cost segregation study identifies up to 130 short-life components. (Cost segregation is different than component depreciation, which was available until the early 1908s. However, the result of both is to increase depreciation and tax deductions during the early years of ownership.) These short-life components typically comprise 20-50% of the improvement cost basis and are depreciated over 5 years (20.0% per year), 7 years (14.29% per year) and 15 years (6.67% per year).

Depreciation effectively changes the character of income from ordinary income to capital gains income. While the maximum income tax rate for ordinary income is 35%, the maximum rate for capital gains is 15% (less than half the ordinary income tax). This affects substantial income tax reduction.

Increasing depreciation also affects deferral of payment of income taxes. Instead of paying taxes (at the ordinary income tax rate) in the year income is earned, taxes are paid (at the capital gain rate) in the year the property is sold. Cost segregation effectively generates an interest free loan (until the property is sold) and reduces the tax rate (from 35% to 15%).

Cost segregation produces tax deductions and reduces federal income taxes across the country and in every size market. Below are just a few examples of where cost segregation generates meaningful tax deductions.

City:

• Miami, FL
• Bridgeport, CT
• Washington, DC
• San Francisco, CA
• Atlanta, GA
• Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX
• New Orleans, LA
• New York, NY
• Baltimore, MD
• Hartford, CT
• Indianapolis, IN
• Wichita, KS
• Detroit, MI
• Charleston, SC
• Providence, RI
• Grand Rapids, MI
• Jacksonville, TN
• Boise, ID
• Santa Rosa, CA
• Columbia, SC
• Columbus, OH
• Oxnard, CA
• Greensboro, NC
• Allentown, PA
• Harrisburg, PA
• Louisville, KY
• Fresno, CA
• Akron, OH
• Chicago, IL
• Portland, OR

Cost segregation produces tax deductions for virtually all property types.

Property Type:

• Manufacturing/processing
• Tennis club
• Retirement home
• Auto service garage
• Mini-warehouse
• Single-tenant retail
• Medical facility
• Hotel
• Retail
• Vacant land

Almost every industry, including the following, can generate cost-efficient tax deductions by using cost segregation.

Industry:

• Wood product manufacturing
• Warehousing and storage
• Truck transportation
• Transportation equipment manufacturing
• Textile product mills
• Textile mills
• Real estate lesser
• Publishers
• Printing activities
• Plastic and rubber products manufacturing

O’Connor & Associates is a national provider of investment property consulting services including cost segregation studies, due diligence, insurance valuations, tax reduction, property tax, market research,expert witness,private bond activity,taxes,residential property appraisals,Tarrant Central Appraisal District,Tips and Tricks for Appealing Your Property Taxes in Dallas,Dallas county appraisal and Federal tax reduction. Our appraisers are competent to appraise virtually all types of property including land, neighborhood shopping centers, warehouses, bowling alleys, motels, mobile home parks, self-storage units, retirement homes, multifamily housing, movie theatres, veterinary clinics, single-tenant retail centers, funeral homes, bars, amusement parks, hospitals, schools, night clubs, apartments and medical facilities.

As the credit crisis deepens, many borrowers are realizing that working with a commercial mortgage broker makes a lot of sense and is more important than ever. Virtually all banks and lenders have severely tighten their credit standard to the point that most borrowers are having a very difficult time finding any banks that will even consider their loan request.

Bottom line, 95% of all commercial mortgage loan requests are being turned down cold. So one of the keys here for the borrower is to figure out which banks are still really funding deals and how to structure the loan request so that it has the highest likely hood of closing. And good commercial mortgage brokers knows both.

Tapping the experience and resources of a commercial mortgage broker is an excellent way to do this. A knowledgeable commercial mortgage broker is in essence shopping banks and lenders everyday and everyday for years. The good ones know what is going on behinds the scenes with banks as they have long term relationships with associates that inform them of any internal issues. The folks in the bank know how important the broker is to their personal success and will not miss lead the commercial mortgage broker, in fear of destroying future business. So a commercial mortgage broker worth his “salt” should be able to take you to a bank or lender that’s in a valid position to fund your loan.

An important point here is that commercial mortgage brokers are in essence on the same side of the table as the borrower. They get paid when the loan closes. Most do not make hourly consulting fees, etc. They invest their time, effort and resources into your deal and are betting they can get it done. If they are experienced, they will only take your deal to a bank that can really close it.

Keep in mind one of the annoying problems out there for borrowers shopping banks on their own is that many bank loan officers have many quotas besides closing loans… most of these quotas go against the borrowers goal of closing their loan. For example, bank loan officers have weekly meeting and loan application quotas. So they may try to schedule a meeting with you and get you to fill out a loan application and send in all tax returns/financials even though they know they can’t get the loan funded.

They are trying to save their job. Again, they get to justify their job with their manager at your expense and your time.

Good, experienced, commercial mortgage brokers can save you a lot of time and energy by taking you right to the most viable banks from the beginning. And, believe it or not, they can also save you a lot of money as well.

Jeff Rauth is President of Commercial Finance Advisors, Inc out of Birmingham, Michigan a national commercial mortgage brokerage firm. 248 885-8797. He also has a STORE for commercial loan brokers. Contracts, spreadsheets, books, etc. Products starting at $5. Check it out commercial real estate loans or commercial mortgage brokers

PT, for those of you who are not familiar with the initials, stands for many things. Some of the more popular are Perpetual Traveler or Permanent Tourist. Others are Prior Taxpayer, Privacy Thinker, or Prepared Thoroughly. But what is PT all about?

In a nutshell, a PT arranges his or her business and personal affairs as a Sovereign Individual, by unfurling various ‘flags’ or country bases and by treating governments as service providers instead of rulers. For example, there would be a citizenship flag (”second passport”), an official residence flag, a banking flag and so on. Each of these would be from different jurisdictions. That way, you are not bound to any particular country.

The ultimate PT goal is not to be resident anywhere! That is how you become a Permanent Tourist, at least on paper. You might for example spend five months of the year in one home, five months in another, and a couple of months vacationing, visiting friends or taking a cruise in between. That way each country treats you as a tourist and does not consider you a tax resident. You then keep all your assets stashed safely offshore, earn your money over the internet in other countries, and live totally tax free completely legally. If you drive cars, own real estate etc they are all held in company names, or simply rented or leased. So you don’t appear on any government ‘Big Brother’ style databases.

PT is based on the theory that most countries treat tourists better than citizens.

In fact, the beauty of this idea is its simplicity. As a ‘PT’ wherever you are, you always appear to be from somewhere else!

You can usually live and travel in better style and for less money than it costs to remain where you are. You can also chose to enjoy places that encourage the lifestyle and social norms you have always wanted to live.

PT will appeal to a wide spectrum of people who dream of being able to disappear when events and times in life make it convenient to do so. As a PT, a Perpetual Tourist, you run your own life. Using freedom tools such as the flags theories you can put a significant distance between yourself and bureaucrats that want to determine what is best for you, ‘for your own good’ of course!

A Brief History of the PT Theory

The PT theory was, according to urban legend propogated in the books, inspired by Harry Schultz, a Monaco-based newsletter publisher of North American origin who first coined the “three flags” theory back in the 1960s. Schultz’s claim to fame is that he is quoted in The Guinness Book of Records as the world’s highest paid investment consultant.

Later, a writer using the pseudonym W.G. ‘Bill’ Hill wrote a series of books including PT1, PT2 and The Passport Report which were published by Scope International Books in Hampshire, England. This same company published books by authors including Adam Starchild, Reinhard Stern and Jon Golding and Bob Beckman, also under the imprint ‘Milestone Publications.’

Scope went out of business in the mid nineties and was absorbed by an American direct marketing company who are still using much of the material today. The majority of it however has been toned down somewhat, not surprisingly as it is published from within the USA.

Other writers have taken up the PT theme in books like The International Man by Doug Casey, The Internationalist by Nicholas Pullen, and most recently in 2006 by a group mysteriously calling themselves “Grandpa and Others.” They wrote an attractive-leather bound three-volume set of limited edition books known as Bye Bye Big Brother. Or simply “BBBB.”Bye Bye Big Brother is also available in an abridged, paperback version from Vera Verba, a Chicago-based imprint. But hardcore readers should be aware that the abridged version has edited out some of the more cutting edge, controversial material included in the original.

From Three Flags to Six Flags

 The original theory espoused by Harry Schultz and Harry Browne (”How to Find Freedom in an Unfree World”) talked about three flags:

• Have your citizenship somewhere that does not tax income earned outside the country.  
• Have your businesses and speculations in stable, low or no tax countries.
• Live as a tourist in countries where what you esteem is valued, not outlawed.

Later W.G. Hill added two more flags – business havens where you make your money, and playgrounds where you spend your time, as a separate flag to your official residence – thereby creating a five flag theory – the level of complication or sophistication is up to you! Finally, in Bye Bye Big Brother, a sixth flag was added – cyberspace, where all the other five flags come together, a place where you can be everywhere and nowhere at the same time!

Shortcomings and Concerns about the PT Theory – and the Dangers of Camouflage Passports!

View on the PT theory is that it’s a great idea, provided you treat it as what it is: a slightly tongue in cheek knock at the establishment with a wicked sense of humor. A client of mine recently read it and said it was riveting, like reading a novel.

PT is a well thought out idea to break free and escape, especially if you like international living and the traveling lifestyle. It’s probably aimed more at those with well over a million safely tucked away in a Swiss bank seeking the kind of asset protection arrangements that their lawyers would not tell them about… while being less useful (but nonetheless interesting reading) for those who are just starting out on their quest for offshore wealth building opportunities.

PT is certainly not a step-by-step plan you should follow blindly. Indeed, it’s clearly not for everybody. We say, “by all means read the literature.” It’s an idea you can read about, absorb and enjoy… and then adjust to your own situation.

 always had a slightly different vision, and still do today.  What’s the difference? Well it’s not easy to live out of a suitcase, or to have to worry about counting the days you are in a certain country due to limited tourist visas or the concern that you will become a tax-resident. There are more sophisticated plans available today, and we write about them in our newsletter for members. We also tend to focus more on opportunities for creating wealth.

An Important Warning about the Legalities of the PT ‘Six Flags’ Theory

Here’s an important warning. Some of the tactics in the original PT books might have seemed like harmless fun back in the eighties, but in today’s world they could get you into hot water.

By way of example, one of the products frequently promoted was the so-called camouflage passport. Camouflage passports are booklets that look like passports from countries that used to exist but don’t any more – the intention being to fool anyone who might have learned about countries like Ceylon, Dutch Guiana, British Honduras or the U.S.S.R. in their school history classes, but who didn’t know that those countries today are called Sri Lanka, Suriname, Belize and Russia. Camouflage passports were promoted as a way to avoid terrorist attacks, by confusing terrorists in a hijacking situation into thinking that you came from a neutral country rather than a target country like the USA, UK or Israel. However in the current environment merely having a camouflage passport in your possession is more likely to get you labeled as a terrorist than anything else!

Indeed, it has been said that ‘Big Brother’ thinks PT stands for Potential Terrorist!

Peter Macfarlane is an author and lecturer on offshore finance, investment, due diligence and wealth creation matters. He is joint editor of The Q Wealth Report http://www.qwealthreport.com

Have home prices become so low that consumers have lost their minds? My recent experiences have led me to believe that there may be a lot less logic out there in the real estate market than I once believed.

A new home buyer recently explained to me how he had moved at just the right time to escape the upcoming Michigan freeze and take advantage of our 70 degree winter months in Nevada. He also explained to me that he had taken advantage of a very big home price discount given by a lady who needed to move back to Chicago. He had enough money from his IRA to not need a mortgage, but he did take a small seller carry-back loan. What a deal I thought, it must be nice to have such great timing to be able to benefit from the depressed market and low housing prices.

The conversation with the new home buyer became much more interesting when he told me how he did it. Without hesitation he told me that he abandoned his home, after the printing company that he worked for closed its doors, then he packed up the moving van and pointed his car southwest. That was it, and there was not a tinge of regret or concern in his voice when he said it.

I was stunned by the simplicity of the act, but I couldn’t help but ask, why wasn’t he concerned about the consequences of leaving his home in Michigan for bank foreclosure? “Why worry” he explained, they won’t make the effort to chase me across the country. In his mind, it was just one more foreclose in a sea of foreclosures, and there was nothing to be concerned about.

While I’m not an “establishment” kind of guy, there seems to me to be a serious flaw in the belief that you can dump your current home and its mortgage because now is the right time to buy, or because you simply don’t have the patience to wait for the economy to change. While I’m not in touch with the long-term consequences of abandonment, foreclosure and deficiency judgments, it’s hard to believe that you can continue your life without consequences after making a decision of this type.

Take a suggestion from a person who has dealt with bill collectors in the past, you don’t want to live with someone chasing you on a daily basis for tens of thousands of dollars, especially if you have purchased a “new” home in another state and have wages that can be attached. It is likely that they will come after your assets. While a lot of people would like to move, for various reasons, most have bitten the proverbial bullet and are waiting for times to change.

Copyright 2008, Glenn J. Rigdon http://www.horizonvillageappraisal.com

The author, Glenn J. Rigdon, BS, BSCS, MA, ASA is a Realtor, a commercial broker and a commercial appraiser with 30 years of experience working in the real estate industry. Mr. Rigdon has held the position of Economist with the Arizona State Land Department and Staff Specialist – Legal with the Nevada Department of Transportation. His office is located in Henderson, Nevada.

Located in Transylvania County, Brevard North Carolina is is literally the crossroads between Pisgah National Forest, Dupont State Forest, Gorges State Park, Bracken Mountain Nature Reserve. It is a place to easily reach premiere hiking, wildlife, kayaking, biking, and some of the most beautiful waterfalls east of the Mississippi.

Brevard, North Carolina has a bustling local economy, nicknamed the “Heart of Brevard”. This pride in downtown business and preserving the local economy makes Brevard a smart place to start a business, raise a family, or visit for vacation. Four festivals are held annually in Brevard. These are: The White Squirrel Festival, Fourth of July Celebration, Halloweenfest, and The Twilight Tour.

The largest city, Asheville, is less than an hour away and puts you close to the Biltmore Estate and Gardens in Asheville, The Folk Art Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway, Chimney Rock Park on U.S. 74, and Grandfather Mountain in Linville, just to name a few. Additionally, you are approximately 3 hours from major metropolitan areas: Charlotte, NC; Knoxville, TN; Atlanta, GA. And you’re just minutes from natural wilderness!

Brevard and Transylvania County are steadily growing, with excellent opportunities to invest in real estate and Brevard, NC homes. It is becoming a desirable retirement location as well.

The beautiful mountains of Western North Carolina are home to a wide array of real estate investments. Brevard, NC real estate, so close to Pisgah National Forest has various types of property to suit your needs. Whether it’s a cabin in the woods, a retirement home on a golf course or lake, or a condo or villa in town Brevard has it all, while still maintaining quaint downtown charm.

If you are a music fan, the Brevard Music Festival might be something you would enjoy. Located in downtown Brevard in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina, the Brevard Music Center (BMC) has been providing young musicians with the opportunity to develop their talents for sixty-eight years.

Each summer more than 400 students, ages 14 through post-college, join professional musicians to eat, breathe and sleep music for seven weeks. In addition to a rigorous schedule of instruction, students collaborate with faculty and guest artists in more than eighty public performances.

Brevard’s excellence also extends to their county schools. Brevard schools (part of the Transylvania County School District) provide comprehensive educational needs to about 3800 students K-12. They consistently rank in the top ten in the state in performance and endeavor to ensure each student receives a world-class education. Brevard High School has received excellence awards four years in a row.

From their quaint downtown full of delicious restaurants and charming shopping, to the Brevard College’s Paul Porter Center of Performing Arts and the world renowned Brevard Music Center, Brevard offers small town charm with big town culture. Over one-third of their county is National Forest land. Enjoy great hiking trails, many waterfalls and acres of untouched forest to enjoy all outdoor recreation.

You owe it to yourself to explore the wonder of Brevard, NC.

Zach Baker is a resident of Brevard and often writes on the local real estate market. He recommends Beverly-Hanks.com for any information on the area, including Brevard homes.

How to buy property in Spain has been a popular question for UK buyers for some decades. Now US investors are catching on. Spain has a magnetism that is hard to explain and that few other countries possess. It’s not only the spectacular scenery, fantastic beaches and year-round sunshine. It seems to be something about the easy, relaxed pace of life and the exuberance and happiness of its people, that draws people back year after year and makes them reluctant to leave. Plus, of course, it has the lowest cost of living in Europe!

But of course it’s exactly this magical quality that you need to beware of when it comes to buying property! It’s fatally easy to fall in love with a house that’s bathed in sunshine, with a sensational view, and let all common sense fly out of the window – as thousands of British buyers have discovered to their cost. Stranded with no property and no money, many are wishing they had never heard of Spain.

So if you are serious, you need to understand how to buy property in Spain in a way that will enhance your lifestyle, and won’t leave you out of pocket. Here are ten suggestions to point you in the right direction.

1. Once you have chosen an area, book into an hotel for some days and explore. Ideally, do this at the least attractive time of year weatherwise. Pretend you are a journalist and try to find as many downsides as you can. If it’s in a resort area, would you fancy it when most vacationers have gone home? If it’s in a rural location, would you feel cut off in the winter months? If one of its attractions is that it’s near an airport, how would you feel if your airline stopped flying to that airport? (This does happen and makes a huge difference to the property’s usefulness as a vacation home.)
2. This one’s a biggie. Hire an attorney whom you can really trust and who really understands all aspects of Spanish real estate law, including planning/zoning laws. Your consulate may be able to provide you a list of recommended attorneys. Do you know how many people have been left bankrupt, with their dreams in shreds, because they didn’t check planning regulations? Either they didn’t check that they had full title to the land, or they failed to ensure that the property they were buying was legally built on that land. If this happens, the authorities will simply demolish the property, leaving you with nothing. And this has happened to plenty of people.
3. Remember also that in parts of Spain, even if the property is legally built on the land, the authorities can take back the land if they decide they want it for municipal development. And there is nothing you can do about it. This is known by English speakers as the “land-grab” and has happened, for instance, in areas of Valencia including the Costa Blanca. Although this was declared illegal under European law, many foreign property owners are still threatened with loss of their property. So do take very clear and thorough legal advice before proceeding.
4. Before you start your search for a property, write down your budget and keep looking at it. In the Spanish sunshine, after a few glasses of Rioja, it is easy to be seduced by a gorgeous property that you really can’t afford. Be clear about your budget and stick to it.
5. When you have started in earnest on your property search, view the properties as often as you wish. If any owner wants to restrict you to a single viewing, walk away. Be careful to check such details as telephone connections, and broadband if this is important to you. After your initial viewing, plenty of questions will occur to you so write them down before next time. Try to visit in different weather conditions and at different times of day.
6. For financing, the easiest way to raise a mortgage is often by going to a Spanish bank. You can usually get up to 80 percent of the purchase price that way. Alternatively, you may prefer to re-finance your existing property.
7. Don’t forget that in Spain there are initial charges that have to be paid up front. These include transfer tax, stamp duty, fees to the notary public, and name changes to the deed. You should allow about 10 percent of the purchase price to cover these.
8. When you have finally got to the point of purchasing your property, the first thing you do is sign a “reservation” agreement. This means the vendor has to withdraw the property from the market. Once the lawyer’s search is complete, you and the vendor sign the “sale and purchase” contract. This is legally binding and all the details of the property have to be correctly entered.
9. On completion day, you and the vendor, both with your lawyers, attend the office of the notary public to sign the final contracts. The process is now complete.
10. Relax with a glass of wine (or three) and enjoy your new property!

These tips about how to buy a property in Spain should ensure that the process goes smoothly – and that you don’t fall into any of the pitfalls which many expatriates have encountered. Just make sure that you have covered all the legalities, that you can trust your lawyer/attorney, and that all the paperwork is correctly filed. It seems a hassle at the time. But it will enable you to enjoy and profit from your new property for the rest of your life.

Elaine Berry is the owner of the Bizwrite Real Estate Service. For a wonderful selection of the best properties in Spain, come and visit http://www.bizwrite.co.uk/realestate/propertyabroad.html If you would like to find out how to refinance your home in order to buy your Spanish property, visit us at http://www.bizwrite.co.uk/realestate/lending.html

Did you know there is a ratio by which the default of banks can be predicted? This ratio is being pointed to as the predictor to the collapse of Indy Mac Bank because of its Texas ratio.

This system was developed by Gerard Cassidy and some co-workers at RBC Capital Markets, they conceived that by dividing the value of the lender’s non-performing loans by the sum of its tangible equity capital and loan loss reserves gives a measurable ratio.

While analyzing Texas banks during the early 1980s recession, Cassidy found that banks tended to fail when this ratio reached 100% or higher. There was a similar pattern among New England banks during the recession of the early 1990s.

The Texas ratio for Indy Mac bank was reported as 140% and pointed to as the reason for the failure, yet the same people making these claims fail to mention the banks that have ratios in the 200 to 300% range yet still in business.

Was Indy Mac in trouble? Maybe yes, maybe no, did it help that a New York Senator leaked a letter to the press about his concerns that Indy Mac was in trouble. Why would a New York Senator be concerned about an California bank? In an election year it should not be hard to factor. That letter caused a run on the bank and the attempts of Indy Mac to gain a loan to make themselves more solvent was thwarted by the good senator’s actions.

So do we trust the Texas ratio or is it another Canadian bankers numbers game that really doesn’t take into account the actual banks business and tries to over simplify a way to make predictions in matters that really can’t be measured by a simple ratio.

Bank failures are on the rise and many people feel they can not trust their money with the banks. Remember banking laws are such that your bank does not have to keep but 10% of its assets in reserve. If you run down and withdrawal your savings, CDs, and other investments because of rumors and innuendo of some power hungry politician you’ll be playing right into their arm.

The fact is most banks will not be able to pay you that day if your asking for a significant amount of money, the days of thousands of dollars in bank vaults is a thing of the past. If the withdrawals are greater then 10% of the banks assets because the word leaks out and hundreds of bank customers like you go running down to the bank for their money, the bank will have to borrow the funds to pay you back (if they are able), this will cause their Texas ratio to climb and the sky is falling crowd will feel vindicated their system works. Banks can not liquidate their investments like you can by heading to where they placed their money and ask for it back right now to pay you.

Our banking system is built on trust, we trust the bank will have our money when we go and ask for it back. We trust the bank will pay us interest on the money we invest with it. But banks are a business like any other, run by people. Some smarter some not, do they make mistakes? Of course they do. All that means is you as a consumer must do your due diligence. It is your responsibility to make sure you know where you are parking your money, you are the first line of defense for your money.

Here is what I would recommend. The basic rule for individual accounts is that FDIC insurance covers up to a maximum $100,000 per depositor per bank. One way to guard larger sums is to hold accounts under $100,000 at a few separate banks, remembering that accumulating interest could push an account over the limit jeopardizing the amount above the 100,000.

There are other products, so diversify your money, take a serious look at guaranteed investment vehicles like indexed UL’s or believe it or not real estate. Remember buy low sell high. Now it’s a buyers market and finding great deals is very easy. Return on investment can be significantly higher and much more secure now that prices have fallen. Finding homes in locations where rents are steady and there is an abundance of renters since most have lost their homes, they need to rent. Finding ways that make sense in times like this is tricky but with right guidance and without panicking it should not be a problem for you.

An accomplished business owner, entrepreneur, radio talk show host, developer of super green sustainable homes and a mortgage and real estate expert. Having worked through thousands of financial transactions has given me the expertise to couch people with most types of financial matters. From securing a loan to retirement planning and asset protection. For more information please email me at dean@premiercitizensfinancial.com or visit my website http://www.premiercitizensfinancial.com/home.html

‘Seek and ye shall find’. Yes, yes, that’s all well and good, but how does one go about seeking, huh?

You may have assembled the bucks but have as yet no idea whatsoever as tax how you are to go about finding the property of your dreams. Don’t worry, we’re here to help. To fully understand how to find the perfect investment opportunity, in terms of real tax you need to start off by looking at what the ‘pros’ do and then applying their techniques to your situation.

Hence, you need to first pay close attention the listing service. By this we mean the list of properties that are posted by realtors in your area as well as those posted by real estate groups. In addition, you also need to make tax mistakes part of your daily reading, the listings provided in local newspapers and magazines. Usually, the free magazines you find in coffee shops and restaurants are ideal for this purpose.

Meanwhile, you will also want to lookout for FSBO (pronounced ‘fizz-boe) properties, i.e. the ‘for sale by owner’ properties. Usually, you can get a great deal on such properties as the owner is himself trying to save money by avoiding the middlemen. Hence, it is highly recommended that you try calling back the owner or better yet, go and meet him/her, as not only will this help in your learning curve, but you might just find the deal of your dreams.

Next, you need to distinguish between the two types of listings available and thus, use each listing to gain the maximum possible benefit from it. Active listings will provide you with a list of properties that are available for sale. If you find a property to your liking in this list, make sure to carry out the required follow-up, such as calling the owner or the realtor, seeing the property and so on.

However, more importantly, you also need to review the closed/expired listings on a regular basis. To the novice investor, reviewing the expired listings might seem pointless, but as any real estate expert will tell you, expired listings have a lot to offer. For those unaware of what expired listings are, expired listings refer to those properties which have not sold while the original listing has expired. Why these listings become important is, firstly because the same property may be listed again at a later date, or better yet, the owner may be giving up hope. Hence, these properties can be attained at a lower price if the investor has it in him to pursue them. If you like a property in the expired listing, then try and find out why the property hasn’t sold thus far and whether you can overcome the obstacle which dissuaded other investors.

In addition to the property listings, you also have another option at your disposal in the form of the local tax assessor. Almost always these tax assessors will keep detailed record of properties in their local community. As most of these professionals hold county level positions, contacting them becomes a non-issue. Moreover, you can even search online as some tax assessors tend to publish their information online.

Hence, you can see that a world of options is open to you if you choose to go on the hunt for your dream property. Remember, as always, that if you keep your eyes and ears open at all times, you will sooner rather than later succeed.

http://blog.ira-401k-realestate.com

John Krol http://blog.ira-401k-realestate.com

Boomers-Bank The Investor’s Guide to Commercial Real Estate and Retirement Planning How to Invest In Commercial Real Estate Using Your IRA or 401(k)…Maximize Your Profit…and Save For Retirement & Positive Cash Flow

You would probably have to have been living on a remote desert island for the better part of two years to not see any signs of the slowdown in the economy of the United States. Since August of 2007, the real estate market has been reeling from plummeting house prices, due primarily to increasing defaults on sub-prime mortgages. While these mortgages were issued to millions of borrowers with patchy or relatively poor credit ratings over the past several years, interest rates remained unusually low before the Federal Reserve began to increase rates over 2005-2006.

Up until late 2006, this process was self-reinforcing, mainly due to the delayed impacts of interest rate changes, not to mention encouraging profits for lenders, who would often repackage the loans into securities which could be sold to investors globally. Many analysts called it a new era in risk management, justifying the arcane nature of many of these new investment entities with ever-larger profits.

But just as higher interest rates began to take their deflationary effects on the larger economy, millions of sub-prime mortgages began to reset, their rates immediately dependent on available credit. Moreover, many borrowers were not made aware of the insidious nature of their home loans.

Often, their interest rates are artificially low for some period of time, usually one to two years, and then change to reflect market rates afterward. These “teaser” rates were designed to lure more potential homeowners, and they worked: all estimates of the amount of sub-prime mortgages number in the millions, and many consumer advocacy groups have decried the skyrocketing incidence of “predatory loaning” leading up to the credit crunch. Defaults have continued to increase, which has forced the financial institutions which invested in mortgage-backed securities to write down billions, eventually leading to the spectacular collapse earlier this year of Bear Stearns, formerly Wall Street’s fifth-largest investment bank.

Since the securities made from these increasingly worthless mortgages have been so widespread, any effort towards recovery must first be focused on stabilizing borrowers, who are increasingly behind on payments. In this respect, the government has taken several different courses of action. In an effort to stop unnecessary foreclosures, the US Treasury has begun an initiative to freeze mortgage payments at current levels for qualified recipients. However, its restrictions make less than 5% of homeowners eligible for the program.

In addition, the Treasury has introduced a plan to reorganize and regulate the lending industry over the next several years, which should help streamline the financial system in the future. However, its greatest effect so far has been to distract from more immediate economic problems.

By far, the greatest player in the recovery effort has been the Federal Reserve, which reversed its previously hawkish view to drop mortgage interest rates multiple times, from 5.25% last summer to 2.25% now, with a further cut of 25 basis points highly likely at the next meeting. They have also taken the unprecedented move of making its “discount window” rate loans available to investment banks. This access has historically only been available for commercial banks up until this point as a matter of last resort, but by bailing out Bear Stearns, the Fed made a commitment to help troubled investment banks weather the credit crisis. A recovery will require a combination of liberal monetary policy, further government intervention on behalf of mortgage holders, and enforceable regulation in order to prevent another bubble.

Escapeso Realty is a real estate company in Austin Texas. They run a site filled with information about Austin real estate. Their site provides information on mortgage interest rates along with a search of the Austin MLS.

Many new Forex traders have a naïve sense that Forex is easy. Ofttimes, this impression originates from hyped Forex advertisements like “How I made 300% per month in Forex!” and “Earn like professionals do! Use 100% Automatic Forex signals’… to ‘Earn Thousands of Dollars Each Day!”. These hype mongers distort the realities of Forex trading. They create a false sense of trading ease and in doing so are building an impressive army of new and ambitious Forex losers.

If you have spent any time researching Forex you have likely come across the statistic that 90% of Forex traders ultimately lose money in Forex. While, I don’t know if someone has ACTUALLY commissioned a study to prove that statistic’s accuracy, my experience in most every financial endeavor, including Forex, is that 90% of people do fail. Take selling Real Estate as an example, the common saying is that 10% of the salespeople make 90% of the money. And why is that? Because making money requires EFFORT. So it is with Forex, beating the market in Forex requires more than just a computer program that takes the trades for you. It takes more than just opening a demo account and practicing for a week. The traders in Forex that are successful long-term are those that take the time to truly understand what moves the Forex market, execute with complete discipline a strong trading strategy and management plan, and have learned to control the emotions that will destroy any trader.

With that said, I have compiled a list of 3 Easy Steps to lose it all in Forex. I have also included counter measures that will help you turn those losing steps upside down and make you money.

1) TRADE FOREX ON YOUR OWN. The simplest way to lose it all in Forex is to say to yourself: “I don’t need anyone else’s help. I bought this ‘Forex auto trader robot monster thing’” or “I read ‘Forex Guide to Making Billions’, This is going to be easy.”
Counter Measures -Don’t stop learning. Interact daily with other Forex traders by visiting Forex Forums or chat rooms. Join a signal service and try to figure out why and how the signals are chosen. Read blogs written by other Forex traders and market analysis by Forex professionals. And if you don’t have the time, find someone successful who KNOWS how to trade Forex and hire them to trade for you.

2) UNDERCAPITALIZED – OVERLEVERAGED. Want to lose it all in Forex? Open a “micro account” at your broker and trade with $250 or open a “mini account” and trade with $2500 or a “standard account” with $25000. Most pros trade a standard lot for every $50,000 and a mini-lot for every $5000. But the loser says, “Why trade with such low risk? I’m not going to lose it all.”

Counter measures – Continue to trade a demo account until you save up enough money to trade $1000 in a “micro account”, $10,000 in a “mini account” and $100,000 in a “standard account”. Design a system that does not risk more than 2 or 3% per day. I trade two strategies. One risks, on average, 0.25% per trade and takes about 8 trades per day (2% risk per day). The other risks 0.75-1.25% per trade and takes about 5 trades per week.

3) JUST GIVE UP. Lose confidence in your trading strategy. Stop believing in your money management plan. Give up on yourself and your ability to trade. This will not happen when you are winning, it only happens when you are losing. Here is how it goes: You start trading and soon find yourself in a winning streak. Your confidence builds and you come to believe that your system is invincible. Then comes the losing streak. After the first loss you say, “bummer”. After the second you say “that sucks”. The third makes you start to question your trade rules and the fourth loss has you throwing your arms up in the air and saying “This trade system just doesn’t work”. What all to often happens next is that the you STOP trading the strategy and return to the drawing board to find another system. The final result – you have given up and your account balance is smaller than when you started. This can turn into a deadly cycle. Each time, you build a new system only to give up when it starts to lose. Eventually you quit all together having lost significant money in Forex.

Counter measures – Remember that you WILL have losing streaks in Forex. Learn to understand why your system works and why it loses. Consult your system backtest and note the maximum drawdown and losses. Know your system and it’s limitations. Stick with your plan. The great American author, Harriet Beecher Stowe once said: “When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems as though you could not hold on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.”

You CAN lose it all in Forex. In fact losing it all is much easier than making it big. But for every nine Forex traders not doing the right things to win, there is one disciplined, educated, persistent trader sticking to his plan, using the right leverage for his trades and leaning on others for help. It is this one noble trader in ten that makes it in Forex.

Echo FX prides itself on being an experienced, honest, disciplined, and emotion-free Forex Account Manager and quality Forex Trading Education provider. For more information about the company, their Managed Forex Account Programs, or Forex Trading preparation solutions – visit http://www.echocurrency.com (Forex Managed Account) and http://www.AcademyofForex.com (Forex Education)