Marcgoedden Real Estate

Posts Tagged ‘Consulting’

Are you and your family interested in buying a new home? Buying a new home is an exciting, yet expensive purchase. If you are interested in moving in or around the Los Angeles area, did you know that you can find discount real estate listings? Discount real estate listings are a great way to find a new home for a reasonable price.

As a new home buyer, you have a number of options when it comes to finding a discount real estate listing. Los Angeles is a popular city. This popularity has made it a great place to live. When searching for a discount real estate listing, it is likely that you will find a number of homes available for sale. Sorting through each home may be a long and difficult task. If you are interested, you may be able to receive assistance from a real estate agent.

When seeking assistance from a real estate agent, there are many individuals who are unsure as to how the process will work. When it comes to obtaining the services of a real estate agent in Los Angeles, there are a number of services that you could receive. Understanding these services is important to ensure that you get the best assistance available.

It is possible that you could use a real estate agent to help you find the perfect discount real estate listing. Los Angeles has a large number of agents that work to assist individuals and families with choosing a home to buy. If you are interested, you can also perform your own search to find the perfect discount real estate listing. Los Angeles real estate information can be found online, in many local newspapers, and in real estate brochures. These resources may allow you to search for a home on your own.

Even if you decide to examine discount real estate listings on your own, you are still encouraged to seek assistance from a real estate agent. You may need this assistance when completing the final transaction of purchasing your new home. Many homeowners are required to seek legal guidance or assistance from an accountant. This professional assistance can get costly. With a real estate agent, that assistance may not even be needed. Most Los Angeles real estate agents will handle the legal aspects and financial transactions associated with buying a home.

Whether you choose to seek assistance from a real estate agent or not, it is important that you know that there is such a thing as a discount real estate listing. Los Angeles has a number of listings that are considered discounted, for one reason or another. If you are interested in moving in or around the Los Angles area, but fear being able to afford the move, you are encouraged to examine discount real estate listings. You never really know how much money you can save until you look.

Most millionaires today have been made through investing in real estate. Real estate investments are also popular because each one made provides financial security to an individual for the future, which proves to be more than just a monetary assurance. Many people now are deciding on real estate investments, especially after the equity market volatility that has been taking place over the last few years. As novice investors have averted from investing in the stock market when stocks fall, real estate enterprises are offering a very enticing alternative. Nevertheless, not many are aware of the guidelines and rules of the real estate trade, hence, this article provides some tips as applied to the South Florida real estate market.

First and foremost, investors should more or less have a clear idea about the market prices of a particular South Florida real estate property. It is imperative to compare the market value and the prevailing prices of the estate in order to carry out a careful evaluation with respect to one’s budget and needs before proceeding with the deal. Since many investors deal in South Florida real estate property primarily to save on the taxes, basing one’s investment on the current tax laws is absolutely not recommended as these could change. An optimum financing scheme combined with the suitable South Florida real estate property is an essential necessity for those who plan to invest in South Florida.

Assess the current South Florida real estate market for various types of investments before deciding on the particular type of property to invest in. For example, condominiums, apartment buildings, low down payment properties, or foreclosures could be ranked at the top of the list because these types of properties are generally considered safer equity bets. Novice investors who do not yet have sufficient knowledge about the South Florida real estate market may seek the advice of a local real estate consultant.

Another helpful caveat for investors concerns about signing any contracts before seeing the place and examining the property personally. This is only recommendable if one is investing in a Real Estate Investment Trust or similar marketable product. Otherwise, it is mandatory to conduct a walk-through of the property before entering into any contract signing.

Investing in one’s own property needs the evaluation of operating costs and revenues. Investing in real estate requires one to keep a tab on the entire profit and loss statement and calculations that go with it, right from vacancy costs, operating expenses, taxes and management expenses to balance sheet and cash flow statements. How much the property is going to cost and what charges would be incurred for its maintenance should also be ascertained before investing.

The rent roll generated by the property is also an important factor that the investors should consider. One needs to check the neighboring tenant contracts to know the current rent rates in South Florida. Utility expenses should be calculated based on history but factoring in the changes being made to the property.

The tax laws in South Florida , as mentioned earlier, are subject to change. Hence, an investor should keep up and adapt with the amendments that could affect one’s deals. A tax consultant can report real estate deals in a way that generates the maximum benefit. Hiring one would be beneficial.

Most of us can’t wait to find out what our project will cost. I bet that’s top on your mind if you’re thinking of remodeling or building a home.

Once we have our project defined, and plans made, it’s time to contact builders and get quotes. Usually this means calling some General Contractors (GC) to have them put together a bid or quote. But, what is the GC actually doing and what’s included in the quote?

The General Contractor’s First Priority

The first thing to remember is that the GC is hoping to win your business. He can do that by making a good first impression, having excellent referrals to give you, and/or providing you a quote that beats all others.

For some builders, their tool of choice when it comes to gaining your business is to quote as low as they feel they can. But, they can’t shoot themselves in the foot. Quoting low means they have to build in wiggle room to up the quote during construction depending upon how the process goes.

Other builders will try to quote the top end price and let you know it could come in under. Everyone has his or her own style of quoting and doing business and they may or may not let you in on their process.

As simple as getting a quote can seem on the surface, it can really be quite complex. Confusing to you as the consumer, and complicated and tricky for the builder.

What You Need to Know About the Contractor’s Quote

Despite the complexity and flexibility of a contractor’s quote, we can break it down to its basic components and processes. Here’s what goes into a GCs quote:

The Builder needs a set of plans. He or she will either use the blueprints you provide or create them based upon your input.
From the plans/blueprints, the GC/builder will create an extensive materials list, price it out and then add a mark-up of an average of 20-40%
Labor costs are figured based upon the GCs experience and bids received either from subcontractors they know or random bids generated.
To account for fluctuations in materials and labor costs, the GC will either build in a contingency factor in the quote or explain the flexible nature of his quote.
Finally, they will build in their profit margin and mark-up the quote by an average of 12-30% depending on location, complexity of the job, and their own business practices.

Understanding this process will make it easier for you to discuss any quotes you get logically with your builder. A good builder will want you to know what’s involved in the quote and where the potential for changes might lie.

Always Get Competitive Quotes

I recommend that you get a minimum of three bids for your project. The price you get is not the only thing you’ll evaluate. Armed with these quotes and the information gained during your communications with them, you can now formulate opinions about doing business with them. It will become clear to you that it’s not just about choosing the lowest bid.

Keep reading and learning. The more you know about the bidding and quoting process, the better you’ll be at choosing the right builder for you.

Gas prices are high and the economy is down. That’s another good reason to save some money when you relocate. The best way to save money when moving to a new house or apartment is to do it yourself.

There are basically two kinds of do-it-yourself moving.

One kind is where you pack and drive. This one is the cheapest one. You basically just rent a moving truck and get the moving materials. The rest is up to you. If you don’t mind driving a big truck that’s totally fine. It’s cheaper than the other option.

The other option is that you pack and the a driver of the moving company drives the truck. This is a good option if you don’t want to handle big truck. However, naturally it’s also a bit more expensive than if you do it all yourself. Because you have to pay the driver for his time.

Nowadays there are also moving pods. The moving company just delivers those to your home and then you can load them. It usually can stay there for a couple of days. Then the moving company comes and picks it up for you and drives it to your new home where it gets unloaded. I like this oprion the most because it gives me time to load the moving container comfortably and safely and it doesn’t require me to do the driving.

One thing that you need to take into account when you move by doing it yourself is that it requires a lot of labor and physical work. Do you yourself have the physical strength it takes? Do your friends and family members who come to help you have the physical strength?

Even though I don’t know the statistics my estimate is that out of 10 moves that are not being done by professional moving companies at least four of them cause some kind of injury. This doesn’t have to be a major injury. Just something like back pain, a swollen wrist, a bad knee – something like this. Think about if that’s worth it to you.

Another thing to take into consideration is the size of the truck. Depending upon how much things you own you might need a bigger truck. Trucks come in many different sizes. While it isn’t a scientific formula that you can apply to determine which truck size is right for you take these as an orientation point:

if you have one to two furnished rooms a 10 foot truck should be fine.

If you have two to three furnished rooms a 14 to 15 five truck should be fine.

If you have four to five furnished rooms a 18 to 20 foot truck should do.

And if you have six to eight furnished rooms you should go for a 22 to 24 foot truck.

My personal recommendation is that you do the packing and let the moving company handle the driving of the truck for you. Get some help from friends and family and also hire some college students. College students are cheap labor, but they can do the heavy lifting. That way you drastically decrease the risk of being responsible for injury of your friends or family members. College students are also usually in much better physical condition.

How to find cheap labor? Post a classified ad on Craigslist or your local newspaper. Or just go to your local college and post a note up there on the bulletin board.

Now you know some ways on how to save money when relocating. We looked at the different options that are available to you. Now it’s up to you to choose the one that best fits your needs.