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Nuclear Bomb Resistant Siding Included!
Sep 24th
Talk about solid construction…
If you’re one of those doomsday freaks or just want to brag to your friends about the quality craftsmanship of your new crib, you might want to try this house on for size. A former US intercontinental ballistic missile base, equipped with a vast underground network of tunnels and rooms but no atomic warheads, is for sale in Washington State.
After your buy this palace, please don’t forget to bring your checkbook and your SK IV Sanitation Kit which has a plastic toilet seat that fits on top of the fiber drum to make a dandy fallout shelter latrine.
You also might want to bring these handy-dandy items as well:
- 14 pounds of Civil Defense survival biscuits. Yum
- Civil Defense emergency water rations to wash those biscuits down.
- Some booklets about surviving the nuclear holocaust.
Another Province Of Petoria?
May 17th
I was speaking with my financial adviser friend Erle over at UBS Financial yesterday about the Chinese Stock Markets. He then asked me if I had heard of the story of the couple in China who did not want to move when a new development wanted to buy their house. I did some searching and found the article. It absolutely reminded me of the Petoria Episode of Family Guy. You be the judge.
From Jamie Starr:
In the good ol’ U.S. of A, we have eminent domain laws that allow the government to take land from citizens as long as they pay the dispossessed a fair market fee for the “taking.” Yang Wu and Wu Ping, a couple living in the Chinese city of Chongquing, have been holding out in the most extreme sense to a real estate developer who wants to build a shopping mall where their neighborhood once stood. The conflict has been going on since 2004, when the developer paid the couple’s 280 neighbors to vacate their domiciles– as you can see in the photo, it has gotten to the point where their two story dingzihu (or “nail house”) is now perched precariously on a little spire of land around which the developer has begun to dig the mall’s foundation. A local court recently ordered Yang and Wu to vacate their home, but they nevertheless remain, holding out for more money, despite being offered around $450,000 USD (a very high amount for that particular region)– utterly determined to exercise their rights as property owners. They’ve garnered the support of fellow citizens and are getting a boat load of media attention. Any thoughts about this? Do you think the couple is justified in their actions? Or do you think they’re beyond reason?
Bad Credit? Give Your Credit Score A Spring Cleaning!
May 15th
Back in the day I admit I had not-so-great credit. At that time I literally had a 530 FICO score. I didn’t understand what good credit was and why it was so important. I had amassed credit card debt, didn’t pay on time and frankly was lazy about my personal finance situation. I’m not sure what actually changed my perception on all this. It might have been when I started to read more business books or just wanted to learn as much as I could about how “The Big Boys” got to where I eventually wanted to be.
I learned that utilizing “other peoples money” is key in attaining financial success, especially in real estate. In order to get “cheap money” from lenders and have bankers Kish-Meir-En-Touchas (Yiddish for Kiss My Rear-End), I needed to have a good credit score.
My brother-in-law told me about a company called Lexington Law Firm that had repaired his credit dramatically in just a couple of months. I was skeptical at first, but then I gave it a try myself. $30 a month, cancel when you want to, no questions asked. You just needed to follow through with their easy instructions.
After just 6 months use, I raised my credit score from 530 to 700!! Really! Today after working hard to maintain my credit worthiness, it is at 801.
Try them out for yourself and let me know if it works for you too!
Investing in Apartments…Now’s A Great Time To Start!
Apr 27th
Thinking about what to invest in next? Apartment Buildings might just be your best-bet investment in the Twin Cites area. Very promising economic signs are pointing towards the Twin Cites Apartment Investment industry as investors flock to buy-up buildings (even the rundown ones). With vacancies low, increases in rents and owners virtually eliminating concessions, there might not be a better time than now to start increasing your portfolio size.
Rehabbers are swallowing up a large portion of the market with their eyes and hands-on abilities to repair outdated properties. You can read more about it here at the Minnesota Real Estate Journal.
When you’re ready to increase your net worth and gain a piece of the Twin Cites Apartment Market let Ladin Ventures help guide you down the right street…
…Easy Street!
Pay Your Rent Now Or Face The Wrath Of…
Apr 22nd
Sometimes collecting rent can be a very tough task to accomplish. Our good friend Derrik over at Flippingrich.com has found a great way to collect rent.
Watch this 2 minute instructional video. It’s worth it!
Tales of a Property Manager-The Overview…Do You Know Who Your Renter Really Is??
Apr 19th
Do you own investment properties? Apartments, Single Family Homes, Duplexes, Triplexes, etc.? As a Real Estate Investor your #1 goal is to make as much money as possible on rent, keeping your vacancies low as can be along with keeping your expenses in check.
I have known many investors who will accept any person that walks in the door without any sort of background check. Unfortunately for them, that is the one of the biggest mistakes a Real Estate Investor can make. Rental times might be tough, cash-flow can be a trickle and creditors might be calling. Your faced with a very tough decision; “To Rent or Not To Rent”.
Tenant Screening is the most effective way to curb any misjudgments you might make in finding the “right” renter for your property. After personally managing over a 1000 units, i’ve seen and heard every story in the book. In future posts, I plan on telling you some anecdotes of things i’ve done and seen as property manager. Please keep your eyes out for future posts on the subject.
In the meantime, if you don’t or even if you do currently utilize a Tenant Screening Service for your Investment Properties, contact Lee at Rental Research Services, Inc. They are a nationwide company and absolutely the very best in the business. Do you want to protect your investment? Take it from me, it will be the best choice in real estate investment you’ll ever make!
MLS vs. NON-MLS Listings…What’s the difference?
Apr 11th
You’ve all heard of the MLS or Multiple Listing Service. If not, it’s a database that allows Real Estate Brokers (like Ladin Ventures, LLC) to widely share information about properties with other real estate brokers who may represent potential buyers or wish to cooperate with a seller’s broker in finding a buyer for the property. You must be a member of the National Association of Realtors as well a member of your local board to participate and have access to MLS.
The Minnesota Association of Realtors or MNAR is the main board for Residential Real Estate in Minnesota. The Minnesota Commercial Association of Realtors or MNCAR is the main board for Commercial Real Estate. To your benefit, Ladin Ventures, LLC is a member and has access to both MLS systems.
Ok. So what’s the difference between MLS and Non-MLS listings?? The MLS is a great resource for finding properties. However, sellers sometimes choose to market their properties as NON-MLS. They do this for a couple of different reasons.
First, a property owner may not want the wide exposure and attention that the MLS brings. Secondly, typically MLS properties are usually picked through prior to hitting the MLS. Long before a property actually goes on the MLS, many people have already been notified that this property is about to go “main-stream.” That is why NON-MLS or Pre-MLS properties are fantastic finds and where you’ll most likely seek out great properties.
Ladin Ventures specializes in identifying NON-MLS and Pre-MLS properties for its clients both on the Buyer and Seller sides. Over the years, we’ve developed an Exclusive Network of both buyers and sellers who get the “first crack” and “inside information” on hot properties which we utilize prior to mass marketing on the MLS.
Remember…
“It’s All Who You Know!”