Speak splain: I think Ricky Ricardo once told Lucy to “speak splain English.” As an investor, you should listen to Ricky’s words of wisdom. It’s often too easy for us to switch from speaking English to the other language we speak- legalese. By definition, legalese is the formal and technical language of legal documents that is often hard to understand. It’s the language we speak when dealing with…
Does a refi make cents? I got a call recently from an investor named Brad that had a conundrum. He was looking at refinancing a mortgage from a 30-year fixed ARM (adjustable rate mortgage) to a 15-year fixed mortgage. A fixed adjustable rate mortgage sounds like an oxymoron. They work like this- for the first five to ten years the rate is fixed. After that, it can…
A/C Repair Yields Over 31 Percent: Financial calculators aren’t normally a hot topic, even in real estate circles, but I took the opportunity to attend an information session on the subject sometime ago, and I haven’t regretted it. The instructor’s name was Gary Johnston, and the night of the session, he forever changed the way I look at investments by introducing me to the financial calculator. Consequently, I…
Yo… Flippin Ain’t Easy: Flipping is one of the first things people think of when they consider getting into real estate investing- “flipping” being the process of buying a house for below market price, fixing it up and selling it to make a BIG chunk of money. Shows like “Flip or Flop” on HGTV, make flipping look like a piece of cake. The truth is it’s a tough job….