With more foreclosures now than ever before, America’s weak real estate market seems to set new dismal records each month. But smart real estate investors are turning these ‘lemons’ into ‘lemonade’ in an incredibly profitable new way.
‘Bulk REO Investing’ is the name of the new strategy, and it’s captured the attention of many well-heeled investors.
Let’s take a moment to analyze the basics of this incredibly lucrative business.
Understanding of the foreclosure process is central to understanding Bulk REO investing.
As a home owner misses a payment or two, the lender sends the predictable barage of threatening letters and warnings. The official foreclosure proceedings begin subsequently, as directed by the lender. The name for this period is ‘preforeclosure’.
To complete the foreclosure process, the property is auction to the public. If there are no buyers for the property at auction, the property is returned to the lender. The lender then categorizes the property as ‘Real Estate Owned’ – or ‘REO’ for short.
Lenders usually try to unload their REO properties at close to retail price by listing their REO’s with a real estate broker. However, REO properties are now frequently sold for far less than their ‘book value’. Lenders are willing to do so in exchange for the buyer’s agreement to purchase a ‘package’ of REO’s rather than a single property.
There is huge profit potential in these REO packages for qualified real estate investors. REO packages are easiest to buy and sell with a well regarded source of financing in place. There are many sources of funding for these transasactions including: hard money and commercial financing, as well as non conventional sources such as hedge funds and private investors. Additionally, one man is becoming very well known in the field of bulk REO investing, and his name is Sal Bushemi of Dandrew Partners, a hedge fund in New York.
Finance takes up a major aspect of our normal lives; we strive to make money so that we are able to live as we want to and purchase the things we want to own, but a few areas of the financial world need to be scrutinised with greater consideration than others and they should be given a good deal of understanding.
Something that many of us could have done over the recent few years is initiate PPI claims against a policy. PPI, or payment protection insurance, has become a troublesome sector of the financial world of late due to tales of the mis-selling of policies. Investigations discovered instances of such and more stringent regulations have been put in place to safeguard the buyer.
Top of the list of the problems with PPI remains the confusion surrounding the policy. Plenty policy holders have been unable to adequately understand the details of the policy and what it genuinely covers, and as such a number of consumers have found that they own costly PPI policies which have no purpose.
Not withstanding the recent discussion the fact stands that, when sold correctly, payment protection insurance can be a sensible consideration. With the new rules as defined by the industry ruling bodies, it is clearly possible to take out a policy that will cover many different aspects of an individuals financial well-being, with the emphasis being on seeing that you have the right cover in the event you find you are out of work for reasons covered by the policy.
When the financial authorities undertook their research they deduced that there were a number of instances of institutions – some of them well known names – falsely informing individuals that they needed to take the in house PPI policy that the brand provided. This is never the case, and the better directions have imposed a gap between the purchasing of insurance and the moment when PPI may be sold to the buyer.
Carrying out a mis-sold PPI claim these days is easy and there are a number of organisations who will support you when pursuing a claim. There is a plethora of advice on the internet on the topic and the appropriate financial authorities should also assist you with your claim. If you believe you might have a case for a claim then it is important to ask the help of an impartial expert as to the best way to start a claim.
Payment Protection Insurance policies are not whimsical, when sold right they are an necessary service that enables us to live the life we want. The way in which the mistakes with PPI have been investigated recently has brought the industry to find the correct way to treat such policies and such amendments can only be to the benefit of you: the customer.
Publicity around the financial industry has meant plenty being written regarding starting a PPI compensation claim. Add to this: the results of research done by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) seeming to confirm accusations of mis-selling in the industry and we’ve seen the instances of individuals making such claims increase rapidly in the past few years.
Some of you might think “Do I really need a point of sale system?”. Though cash registers and sales ledgers maybe affordable for making transactions, but is it really the an efficient way to run a business?
While it’s true that POS requires an initial investment, it’s important to understand the huge benefits a POS can bring to your business. Regardless of what industry you are in, your main goal is to have more sales and generate more revenue. POS can help set the groundwork for achieving those goals – and many others. Below are some of what POS systems can do for your particular business:
Allows you to concentrate more on your business - POS systems allow companies to concentrate on growing the business. When you’re not worrying about how your transactions are processed, you can spend more time working on new techniques, promotions, and other initiatives to take your company to the next level.
Functionality - POS systems are more than just sophisticated cash registers. They can also hold reservations, take special orders, get in touch with other locations, and provide guest beeper systems to maintain the flow of your business.
Work Efficiently WithYour Operations - There’s little room for error with a POS system. Everything is entered in clear, intricate detail so the lines of communication are always clearly outlined. With a POS, orders are quickly served to customers with improved accuracy! In return, it also improves your productivity and the level of customer service your restaurant can offer.
Improve inventory management - One of the most important task in food service industries is to check whether your supplies, perishable goods, are still in good state before you serve it to your customers and be able to stock enough supplies without letting them to go to waste when soldunsold. With a POS, you can always know when you’re running low on stock and which are your best sellers so you can plan ahead.
Reducing Shrinkage – Implementing POS can keep your staffers honest. With paper receipts and an old-fashioned cash register, the temptation will always be there to pocket a few dollars or give friends and families a free meal or special discounts. With a POS, your business is in good hands, providing an accurate account of where your merchandise (and money) are going.
Decreases The Chance For Errors – If you’re in the food service industry, you no longer need to decipher cramped hand-written orders from busy wait staff! POS allows you to easily key in orders, including specifics, to decrease the chances that it will come out wrong. You keep customers happy and save money by serving them the right orders.
Track Costs - If you don’t have prices clearly entered in a database, you might as well let customers shop with their own pricing gun. Using price stickers on items can make it too easy for thieves to swap labels. Using a POS, each item has a bar code so you can always know the right price of an item. And if there are changes needed, you can do all the changes at once using your POS termial!
Increasing Customers That Patronize Your Estanlishment - By limiting the time customers wait in line, you can have more customers flowing in your front door. When customers don’t have to wait for wait staff to calculate checks, collect payment, and clear tables, you can serve more customers and increase profit.
Get Accurate Reports - POS allows you to do more than you could with multiple ledgers and spreadsheets. You can record, track, sort, and organize data in any format and make revisions whenever necessary. Reporting is an important. It allows you to track what is sold, see what is needed to be restocked and reordered, and help you plan ahead. It’s also a helpful reminder tool when you’re running low on supplies.
Tracking Customers’ Data - POS can greatly help you increase customer loyalty. Every customer you will ever greet through your doors will be entered into the system when they order something. Keep tabs of the menus they order and how often they visit your location. You can use this data to compile information for targeted sales and other future plans. By this, you can identify and limit poor selling items in stock and earmark funds for the best sellers.
There are critical things to consider for your POS system purchase in any industry. Just be sure to meet with at least 3-4 qualified vendors before making a decision. In any case, you can always request for a free POS system quote, where vendors will be able to help you meet your your needs once you supply them information of your business’ POS needs. Provide them with the details of the information you wish to track and the features that are vital to you. Keep an open mind when the POS software appears to MAKE you do things differently. This is often the recommended set of procedures that allow the software to improve your business efficiency. With proper planning you will have a POS solution that makes your business more efficient, more profitable, more enjoyable, and keep your customers happy!
Need more information or an online resource?
Go to POS-For-Restaurants.com
The author of this article is the Vice-President of Customer Relations at POS-For-Restaurants with over 20 years of experience serving restaurants of all types throughout the U.S.
It is likely that you think of a number of things when you hear the words real estate investing. You likely leap to real estate investing as real estate portfolios and real estate retirement plans, and then you may expand to thinking of short sales, bulk reo investing or virtual real estate investing. Likely you also wonder how these things will factor into your life as a real estate investor in the current economy.
You can learn a lot about real estate investing. The best way to optimize your real estate investing education is to know the basics ahead of time. You will get the most out of anything to do with short sales, bulk reo sales, virtual real estate and just improving real estate investor abilities by knowing some real estate investing basics. Review these three real estate investing basics that even some experts don’t yet know:
1. Real estate investing education is a true investment that always has a positive yield. In any real estate deal, there will be thousands of dollars in potential wealth. Knowing about getting that wealth is the key in the end to your success. Knowing more about real estate betters your odds of success when you do a real estate deal. A small investment in your education can yield big results when you implement your learning.
2. You can succeed in real estate investing in any economy. Many people are under the misconception that success is possible in real estate only when the economy is good. In reality, a bad economic situation is not bad for real estate investors. You frequently can get properties at deep discounts. You might also find deals that simply would not exist in a booming economy. Poor economies can turn based on active real estate investing. Short sales, bulk reo sales and virtual real estate all thrive when the economy is less than thriving. You will be able to save yourself and others from serious financial difficulties if you know how to do these deals.
3. A lot of money is not vital to your success as a real estate investor. You can be a success in real estate investing no matter how much money you have on your own. There are many deals that will let you use other people’s money to do them. If you are a good investment private lenders may let you use their money. An investor who is a good investment knows as much as they can when it comes to real estate investing. This will enable you to show people who have money for real estate investing but may not know how to use it that you are a good investment.
A good deal of wealth can be generated with real estate investing. You will be able to create an income no matter what the economy. Using a knowledge base of real estate investing, short sales, bulk reo sales and virtual real estate you will be able to make success for yourself. You will be helped to succeed as a real estate investor by knowing real estate investing basics.
When you think of real estate investing, a number of things may come to mind. You might immediately leap to real estate investing being real estate portfolios and real estate retirement plans or you may think instead of short sales, bulk reo investing and virtual real estate investing. You may also consider what roles these things play in your life as a real estate investor in different economies.
You can learn a lot about real estate investing. To get the most out of real estate investing education, be familiar with basic information ahead of time. Short sales, bulk reo sales, virtual real estate and general real estate investor abilities all are improved by knowing some basics of real estate investing. You should review these three real estate investing basics to learn things even some experts do not know:
1. Real estate investing education always yields positive. Every good real estate deal represents thousands of dollars in potential wealth. Knowing about getting that wealth is the key in the end to your success. When you know about real estate your odds of success increase with each real estate deal. A small investment in your education can yield big results when you implement your learning.
2. You can succeed in real estate investing in any economy. Often people think that you can only be a success in real estate when the economy is good. In reality, poor economies are great for real estate investors. You will likely find properties that you can buy at deep discounts. You could also locate deals that would not exist in a booming economy. Real estate investing often is what turns the tide for poor economies. Short sales, bulk reo sales and virtual real estate all thrive when the economy is less than thriving. You can save yourself and others from major financial woes if you know how to do these deals.
3. You will not need lots of money to be a successful real estate investor. You can make a success of real estate investing no matter how much or little money you have. There are a lot of deals that you can do with other people’s money. Private lenders will lend you their money if they think you are a good investment. A good investment will know as much as they can about real estate investing. This will enable you to show people who have money for real estate investing but may not know how to use it that you are a good investment.
Real estate investing is a good way to generate a great deal of wealth. You can create a good income no matter what the state of the economy. By using a base of knowledge of real estate investing, short sales, bulk reo sales and virtual real estate you can create success for yourself. You will be helped to succeed as a real estate investor by knowing real estate investing basics.