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Creative Real Estate
Investing
By Steven Gillman
With a job that paid $3.40 an hour, I saved
$5,000. I used $3,500 of it to buy my first piece
of real estate - 2 acres near where I lived. As you can guess, this was
many years ago.
A few hours removing brush, and it was ready to sell. I hand-painted a
sign, and two weeks later sold the land for $4,750, with $250 down, $100 per
month, at 11% interest. With the capital gain, my annual return on investment was over 20%. Not bad, for my first time
investing in real estate.
Creative Investing Means Solving
Problems
I bought the land a little under market,
because the seller needed fast cash. Problem one solved. I sold the land a
little over market value because the buyers needed easy terms. Problem two
solved. Creative real estate investing is about solving
problems.
Radio stations and others need hill tops for
their towers, but can't tie up their capital. One creative investor got options
on hill top properties for a few hundred dollars, then found those who needed
them, and signed long term leases. With the leases in hand, it was easy to
get financing to buy the properties. He invested a
few hundred dollars to create years of
income.
Lumber mills need trees. A friend of mine
helped solve this problem by letting a company cut trees on his small property.
They paid him $4,500, and you know what? I couldn't see the difference when they
were done. The property is residential, and was worth as much the day after the
cut as the day before. He lived there, but a creative investor could buy
property like his, sell half the trees, maybe clay or gravel too, and then
re-sell the land.
What do people need? Easy terms? Cleared
lots? Lumber? Better access to a piece of property? Smaller pieces of land? Condos instead of apartments? The list
goes on. When you think creative real estate investing, think problem
solving.
Steve Gillman has invested real estate for
years. To learn more, and to see a photo of a beautiful house he and his wife bought
for $17,500, visit http://www.HousesUnderFiftyThousand.com |
