5 Tricks To Achieve Financial Freedom Through Real Estate

With the subprime mortgage crisis and a sharp rise in home foreclosures in the United States. Have you ever thought of this might be the opportunity to retire early and wealthy?

Traditionally, real estate investing is one of the most attractive ways of making money and retire wealthy (that is if you do it correct). There are a lot of people practice real estate investing as their core profession and, in fact, make a lot of money through real estate.

Real estate investing is really an art and, like any art, it takes time to master the art of real estate investing. The key, of course, is to buy at a lower price and sell at higher price and make a profit even after paying all the costs involved in the two (buy/sell) transactions. Generally, people are of the opinion that real estate investing makes sense only when the rates are on the rise. However, real estate investing for profits is possible just about any time (and as I just said, real estate investing is an art).

Here is a list of tricks that can make real estate investing profitable for you:

1) Look for public auctions, divorce settlements and foreclosures (like now during the subprime mortgage crisis): Since quick settlement is the preference here (and not price), you might get a property at a price that is much lower than the prevailing market rate. You can then make arrangements to sell it at the market rate over a short period of time. However, make sure that the property is worth the price you are paying.

2) Looking for old listings: The old listings that are still unsold may provide you with good real estate investing opportunities. Just get hold of an old newspaper and call up the sellers. They might have given up hope of selling that property at all and with a bit of negotiation you can get the property for a real low price.

3) The hidden treasure: A really old (and dirty) looking house may scare off buyers. But this might be your chance for real estate investing that can yield good profits. So, explore such properties and check if spending a bit on them can make them shine. You can get these at very low prices and make a big profit in a short time.

4) Team up with attorneys: There are a number of attorneys who handle property sales on behalf of sellers or in special circumstances (like the death of the property owner). They might sometimes be looking to dispose off the property rather quickly and hence at a low price. Be the first one to grab such real estate investing opportunities and enjoy the profits.

5) Keep track on the newspaper announcements: Property sell offs due to deaths, divorce settlements, immediate cash requirements and other reason are frequently announced in local papers. Keep track of such real estate investing avenues.

Exciting update about Singapore housing market

S'pore residential market is world's hottest this year By Nicholas Fang.

SINGAPORE'S booming housing market is the world's hottest this year, with local home prices recording the fastest increase.

Residential property prices in the Republic surged 24.3 per cent, after adjustments for inflation, ahead of other bullish markets such as Shanghai in China and Bulgaria, said property investment research house Global Property Guide.

In a report published online, the firm said Singapore's strong performance, like those of Japan and South Korea, was due to robust economic growth.

The survey was compiled using the latest official data from 42 countries, though other statistics were used for a few markets, such as Japan and the Philippines, where such figures were not available.

The latest Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) numbers used in the survey show that Singapore home prices registered a 27.6 per cent annual jump at the end of September, significantly higher than the 7.6 per cent posted a year ago.

This nominal, non-inflation adjusted figure was below the 30.6 per cent recorded by Bulgaria in September and the 27.9 per cent recorded by Shanghai in October.

But in real terms, after adjustments for low inflation of only 2.66 per cent, the Republic leapfrogged these two markets to reach the top spot, said the report.

Singapore's strong showing underscored a more general recovery in Asia, where several markets gained momentum in the first three quarters of the year.

Global Property said this reflected, to some extent, continued recovery from the 1997 Asian financial crisis.

In contrast, the United States housing market crashed due to the sub-prime mortgage crisis, while high interest rates were behind the slowdown in European house prices.

'In Europe, most countries registered unimpressive year-on-year house price changes in 2007, aside from Norway and Estonia,' the report said.

Looking to the year ahead, Global Property said property prices in much of Asia are still undervalued compared with pre-Asian crisis levels, despite strong increases this year.

It expects potential improvement in rentals in Singapore.

'We believe gross rental yields are now too low, at 2 to 3 per cent.

'Nevertheless, Singapore is attracting and admitting more foreign-born workers - which is positive for prices,' it said.

Elsewhere in the region, Global Property also recommended Cambodia, Thailand, Japan, Australia and New Zealand to property investors.

It, however, cautioned against investing in Europe, apart from a handful of Eastern European states, because of high valuations after a long period of price appreciation.

In the Middle East, it found Egypt attractive for its high rental yields and low taxes, but warned of a possible oversupply in Dubai as more properties come on stream over the next two years.

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