The most confusing thing about the so-called “Social Web” has been that it’s too often thought of as an entirely separate Web unto itself. It’s as though Facebook and Twitter are different planets in the solar system – digital orbs that we can shuttle to and from with the flick of a click. And, sometimes, it’s almost as if they aren’t even in the same cyber-galaxy.

Until today.

That’s because Facebook today advanced its “Open Graph” integration with the rest of the Web, releasing a new set of media-oriented features, and finally tying its own planet inextricably to — if not outright annexing — the rest of the digital universe.

Over the last several months, as a Beta partner in this initiative, it’s become clear to me that this is far more than just an end-user feature. If you look closely at these enhancements, and use them — as I have — you realize that Facebook is making a giant leap forward in the media cosmos; and you sense, meanwhile, that Google could easily be left on its Earth-bound launchpad, held back by commercial gravity.

What makes all this so Earth-shattering?

Simply said, with a few extra lines of code on any Web page, Facebook now becomes the hub for every user’s action — watching a video, reviewing a recipe, clicking a page, reading an article, and much more.

But beyond that, those same lines of code are driving a powerful and fundamental transition underneath the pages themselves: transforming them from the bits and bytes of abject HTML code, text, and images into much-needed, and much sought-after, meaning. In essence, Facebook is taking these enhancements and initiating the first major advance in deciphering the Internet since the hyperlink itself.

And, in the process, Facebook is confirming the fact that it’s the new and undisputed “social operating system” on today’s people-centric Web.

To be sure, Facebook now controls the ebb and flow of human connectivity, inter-personal sharing and relationships on the Internet.

The end result is that Facebook will now do what Google can’t. Or, put another way, Facebook will now be able to fulfill Google’s very own mission better than Google itself can, succeeding at a whole new level of organizing and making accessible all the world’s information — not to mention its activities and human participants.

Simply writing good content, if you follow Matt’s advice, will not get you good ranking in Google’s search results for competitive keywords and terms.

There are some great comments to the post that attempt to explain what the reality actually is – that link-spamming works well to fool Google into giving great (but undeserved) rankings to sites that know how to play the game.

Adamb suggests using an alternative SEO approach – offline, real-world SEO:

A little tired of seeing these types of posts pop up.

I’m not saying I don’t agree with it, but the reality is – SEO done the above way = no rankings – at least for anything worthwhile.

I’ve tried it, my neighbor tried it, my moms brother’s cousin tried it.

It doesn’t work. Unless you’re trying to rank for your name, or you’ve branded yourself somehow – you will not rank for anything worthwhile by just writing good content and making sure your on-page is done correctly.

Welcome to the real world of SEO.

Google is the one making the rules, not your Personal Code of Internet Ethics.

Until they start rewarding the above tactics, spammers will be spammers. It worked 10 years ago and it works today.

It would be nice if we lived in a Google world where genuinely good content was ranked higher than link-spammed-to-death sites were, but that’s not the case – I’m sorry but it’s not.

Scenario #83156A: Mom-and-Pop shop that sells legitimately good products that wants an online presence literally has no chance to make it using the above tactics, assuming their “niche” is moderately competitive – as most lucrative niches are.

So what are they left to do? 2 Options:
A) Hope and pray that sometime Google will get it’s act together and stop rewarding the exact people their building the algorithm to devalue. Which will probably never happen, at least not the next decade or two. Or…

B) Do what everyone else is doing to stay competitive and get some real world SEO done – and get the exposure they want and deserve.

Is anyone going to naturally link to mom-and-pop shop? Probably not. At least not enough to stay competitive. Does that mean they should be ranked #348 for their money keywords. Google seems to think so.

Dan DeFelippi adds:

While I share your sentiment Matt, you’re not looking at it from a practical business perspective. Businesses exist to make money. If there is exists a way to increase the amount of profit your company can make without breaking the law, it often makes sense to do it. This applies to everything, not just SEO. Giving your company an edge over the competition is how you make it successful.

You and the commenters act like you want to take the high ground by condemning the use of tricks to game the system, as if this technique is wrong or immoral. Unless Google says no, you should say yes. So long as a company can do something like this that won’t damage their long term growth or income, they should do it. It’s how free markets operate, for better or worse.

Back to SEO, posting well structured, quality content is great. But as others have said, if you’re in a competitive niche where everyone is fighting to rank you need an edge over your competitors. Using all methods that aren’t banned by Google can give you this edge. Using site or link networks as you discuss is a technique that has been around for years. I guarantee that many of the sites that rank at the top for competitive keywords are already using this or a similar techniques.

In the end it’s up to you to decide if you want to take that step to get an edge.

Weezer gives an example of how bad, but well-spammed content ranks better than good content:

The problem with SEO advice about just writing “good and compelling content” is that it doesn’t work.

Google search quality was not improved any by Panda, it just shifted results around, pulling up articles from brand name publishers.

Check out keywords like “Best Free iPhone Apps” and you’ll see poor quality results from both black-hat SEO blogs alongside poorly written blog content from brand names like Time.

Google and blogs like these can say that writing quality articles will lead to good SEO results, but all independent evidence suggests otherwise.

Christian Boyce explains why the “writing new, great content all the time” method doesn’t work for certain kinds of websites:

Interesting article. For a writer trying to reach a wide audience, what you said (be genuinely relevant) makes sense. I completely agree. For someone for whom a website is a brochure, or an introduction to the company, advising “keep writing” is not relevant advice. Take my friend the general contractor. He has a website showing pictures of his best projects and describing how he works and how much experience etc. That’s his whole site. He’s not doing a “remodeling blog” because the point of his website is not to get a lot of eyeballs. The point of his website is to show potential customers what he does. He’d like to be found when someone googles “best general contractors in los angeles.” “Keep writing” isn’t the answer for him.

Your site, and the general contractor’s site, are completely different animals. Yours is a work in progress, continually growing. His is done. He might add more pictures someday but to his way of thinking, he has a website and the stuff that is on it is as relevant today as it was last year. Your website is never done, and it can’t be, because the business you’re in changes all the time. The contractor’s business is the same this year as last year as ten years ago.

People like the general contractor want to be found, and they are probably even more likely to be in the dark when it comes to black hat/white hat methods. I don’t know for sure, but I’d guess that this sort of person would pay for improved search engine results and not know that it’s wrong.

None of this changes the fact that I agree with you. SEO should be unnecessary– do good work and let Nature run its course. You’ll be found that way, eventually. Cheating the system is bad. But, the advice to “Keep writing” only works for some people. It works for you and your blog, it works for me and my blog (christianboyce.blogspot.com). But it doesn’t work for people for whom the website is more of a brochure.

A possible response in case you actually come across this objection… (in response to the question: “Most people don’t make it past Google Places when looking for a local business. It’s difficult to persuade a business owner on site rental when Google Places takes up the entire first fold of Googles results page.”)

“Being on the first page of Google with a listing on Google Places is great, but it’s no substitute for having your own website.

A Google Places listing contains very limited information about you and your services.

If the prospect isn’t convinced by that limited information and goes in search of your competitors (who have websites), you’ve probably lost that lead forever.

With a website, however, you can provide unlimited content about you, your services, and how your prospects can benefit from doing business with you.

You can promote specials.

You can CAPTURE LEADS, keep in touch, and turn those leads into paying customers.

Most importantly, with a website you have control.

A Google Places listing, on the other hand, is not owned by you, it’s owned by (and at the mercy of) Google.

My suggestion is that you have both.

A great Google Places listing that links to your website!”

Forms created are based on HTML5.

Captured data is saved to Google Spreadsheets. Data an login credentials are stored securely with Google.

You are allowed to create unlimited forms for free, but only the first 100 data entries per month are free.

Links to the online forms are shortened to make them Twitter-optimized.

12 beautiful themes for the forms are included free of charge.

While it seems recycled, (Combat system from Splinter Cell, Jumping from Avatar / Hero Of Sparta 2 / Prince of Persia, AI from Most of their previous shooters) Shadow Guardian takes the best parts of certain games (except multiplayer!) to make a really good game. Obviously copied Uncharted 2 and for some reason the base story line reminds me of Black Ops, where you are tied down and tortured to help remember memories in strange orders. I’m surprisingly impressed however because of these recycled and unoriginal components I feel they spent hardly any time into the development of this which disappoints me and makes future content updates even less likely than usual for Gameloft.

Graphics – 8/10
Graphics are great, large detailed environments and nice character models, probably the best from Gameloft. My only complaints are the textures of large environments especially rock walls are low quality and the damn characters mouths can’t move while they speak, even in the cut scenes, something done by BC2.

Gameplay – 8/10
Gameplay is good however the balance between shooting and platforming isn’t particularly good with 5mins jumping followed by 5mins shooting, instead of a blend (something Uncharted did brilliantly). The campaign is reasonably long and challenging however being unable to die while jumping / climbing and getting constant hints of what to do next that take the fun and problem solving out of the game are annoying. The addition of multiplayer would have been brilliant for this game and that is a disappointment as well. Overall this is the best single-player in a Gameloft game tied with splinter cell for me, and at least the best action adventure game on the App Store.

Sound – 4/5
The sound effects and music in this game are reasonably high and stays at the standard of Gameloft games however small things like the dialogue not matching the words on the screen and the main character’s attempts to make witty remarks after EVERYTHING he does is frustrating.

Controls – 8/10
I won’t look into controls much as they are fairly standard for all Gameloft games but I would say they are decent however some of the ‘multi action’ buttons will perform the wrong action at the wrong time.

Overall – 28/35 ****
Not the best game on the AppStore (cough…Aralon…cough) however this is far from the worst and for Uncharted fans and action adventure fans this is a must have.

kiranb28 compares Shadow Guardian to similar games, and adds some comments:

I finished Uncharted 2 just last month (yeah, i was a bit late) but it quickly turned into my favorite game of all time. As I fired up Shadow Guardian and played the first few levels, I could also note the obvious similarities between this and Black Ops (the SP plot, torture, memory flashbacks, etc).

That aside, how does it play? Bloody fantastic, in my opinion, for an iDevice game!! There’s virtually no skill involved as far as aiming is concerned on the basic/normal difficulty level; it’s as simply as getting yourself in position (cover), tapping the (auto)aim icon, and shooting. Bam bam bam, 5 enemies down.

The graphics, environments and overall feel of the game makes this one of the top single-player experiences on my iPhone already, after only playing 3 levels. It’s amazing to feel as if I have a miniature version of Uncharted on my iPhone; two thumbs up.

Seeing how amazing Uncharted 2′s online play is on the PS3, I could only wish Gameloft put in a multiplayer mode in this as well. Oh well… c’est la vie.

Links to two video demo / walkthrough, by arta.

Gameplay video example by Der-Kleine.

Big Albie’s game impressions:

Last year when I reviewed Real Racing, it was the hands down winner in delivering a realistic, eye-popping racer. Since then, a number of racers entered the spotlight. Frankly, I didn’t think anyone could improve on the thoroughly entertaining experience that Real Racing brought to the iPhone/iPod Touch platform…that is, until Real Racing 2.

Often in game reviews, we get lost in the minutiae such as features and numbers of levels, but what really matters is whether the game is fun. Regardless if you’re a hardcore gamer or simply a casual player, Real Racing 2 at its core is all about fun—intense fun. Real Racing 2 is a combination of evolutionary and revolutionary, creating a familiar yet new experience for fans of the first Real Racing, while simultaneously delivering console-quality graphics and racing depth within the Mint 3D engine that would make any gamer salivate. And, for those worried about whether you’ll get your money’s worth, I don’t think you need to worry about that.

If you don’t read any further, four things set Real Racing 2 ahead of the pack: graphics, mechanics, content and AI.

Real Racing 2 offers 30 officially licensed cars which by themselves would take up too much space in this review, but to give you a taste, you’ll have a good selection of BMWs Chevrolets, and Jaguars to choose from. Visually, you’ll be amazed at the detail, colors and fluidity of the graphics. By changing views and angles, you soon develop an appreciation for the work that went into Real Racing 2. From the different vehicles to the track scenery, it’s really something to behold with Real Racing 2 as graphics and animation pop off your mobile device. Frankly, it’s the little things that Firemint does so well. Whether it’s the shading and textures that run across your dashboard as you drive under a sign or the smoke from spinning wheels, Real Racing 2 delivers that immersive, all-encompassing experience.

5 different camera angles—cockpit, chase, far chase, front bumper, bonnet—are available that you’ll want to experiment with and fortunately are easy enough change at any time during a race along with changeable replay camera angles. From little things such as dust getting kicked up to skid marks, the details are there. In the audio department, Real Racing 2 incorporates a steady stream of high-energy music tracks that get the adrenaline flowing.

Before diving into the content, we need to talk about the mechanics or controls because the success of any game especially a racer lies in the driving experience and the responsiveness of the controls. Firemint incorporates 7 control schemes, 2 of which are flipped versions and various settings for acceleration and braking. Methods A and B provide steering by tilting. Methods C and D which also offer flipped versions utilize an on-screen touch steering wheel. Method E enables steering by touching sides of the screen.

I tested the different schemes for responsiveness and ease of use, and I found them all remarkably smooth and fluid. I prefer the accelerometer controls for steering in Methods A and B. Method A was ideal when I was just getting the feel for a new track, while Method B provides more of an actual driving experience with manual acceleration and braking. The other methods provide a wheel for steering, which is equally as smooth. You can also calibrate your device, and adjust Steering Sensitivity, Steering Assistance, Anti-Skid and Braking Assistance to suit your driving style and experience level.

For racing novices (or those simply uncoordinated to a fault), Real Racing offers 3 difficulty settings: Easy, Medium and Hard. More on that later…

Of the racers I’ve played with on the iPhone/iPod Touch platform, Real Racing 2 probably offers the most variety and content. With tracks based in 15 locations, I felt overwhelmed by the diverse scenery that comes with a good mix of day and night racing. The game has 5 game modes—Career Mode, Quick Race, Time Trial, Local Multiplayer (8 players), and Online Multiplayer (16 players)—and Career Mode by itself should keep the average player engaged for quite a while. With a purported 10 hours of play in Career Mode, I’ve spent about 6 hours (yes, there is a gauge that keeps track) and thus far haven’t reached halfway into the 44 races and 83 races. Of course, time spent will vary based on skill level, but for me, that’s a lot of time spent by myself.

Career Mode is categorized into 5 tiers—Club Division, State Showdown, Grand National, Pro Circuit, World Series—each containing events which are unlocked based on prize money and reputation points earned and car type/engine class. Within each tier, there are 5 events—Cup, Head to Head, Championships, Time Trial Challenges, and Eliminations.

1. Cup Races – One-off races against 15 opponents
2. Head to Head – Races against a single opponent
3. Championships – Series of races against 15 opponents
4. Time Trial – Races with a time component
5. Elimination – 3-lap race with 4 competitors with last place finisher for each lap eliminated

Of these, the Cup races and Championships are wholeheartedly what set Real Racing 2 apart from other racers. There simply is nothing out there beyond Real Racing 2 that brings the intensity and fun that you get from racing in a field of 16 vehicles.

Among the many things that Firemint succeeds in is providing a realistic experience. Rubber banding is sometimes an issue with racing games because it takes away from the realism. The AI in Real Racing 2 brings the right level of challenge especially in medium and hard modes, and often, I was losing patience with myself for spinning out or getting bumped off by other cars. Easy mode provides a less chaotic, albeit intense experience with racers that you’re more likely to bump off rather than the other way around.

For example, in the Cup and Championship races involving a field of 16, you can more easily steer and maneuver from behind the pack to the front with the Easy setting. You still need to drive like you have a brain, but it’s much more forgiving. On Medium and Hard settings, the AI is much more aggressive, blocking and smashing into your car and plays much faster.

Physics wise, Real Racing 2 just like its predecessor does a terrific job. Making hairpin turns feels nerve-racking, while slamming into a guardrail can provide quite the jolt. Weaving in and out of traffic just feels real and engaging, and ultimately, that does matter in the overall experience. For the masochists out there, Real Racing 2 includes collision and vehicle damage. Crashing into other cars or sideswiping guardrails will not only slow you down, but create some havoc to the appearance your vehicle. Side mirrors and bumpers will show visual damage and even fall off if you’re not a careful driver, and you will see sparks as you careen into a guardrail. This is one area I wish Real Racing 2 would have gone more overboard visually in terms of adding more smoke and engine fires, but again, that is a matter of taste.

The sound effects in Real Racing 2 are more than adequate with the vroom vroom of the engine to the skidding around corners. Paired with the high-energy music tracks, you have a pretty solid audio racing experience. One area where I was slightly disappointed is the lack of sound effects related to collisions and crashes. While there are collision noises related to crashes involving your vehicle into walls and other stationery partitions, collisions between vehicles is almost a non-event sound-wise. There were times when I felt like it was more of nudge than an actual sideswipe. Hopefully, this is remedied in a future update because that would certainly complete the racing experience.

The standard HUD includes completed laps, speedometer, assists enabled and time elapsed. An optional mini-map appears in the top part of the screen displaying the shape of the road ahead as well as the location of other drivers. It’s a minimalistic design, I sometimes found it difficult to see the location of other drivers since the representative icons tend to be small.

Depending on your finish, you unlock additional tracks and earn points and money to purchase cars and customize them. From changing the color and wheels on your vehicle to boosting the engine and handling, there are plenty of ways to customize your vehicles. All of this is managed in Pitlane, which also provides access to cars bought and sold and allows for transactions to add new ones to your collection. Under Profile, you can view your racing stats such as races won, money earned, and achievements accomplished. Real Racing 2 includes 27 achievements covering milestones for rank and money to completion of the perfect race without damage.

While accessing the menu items is simple enough, figuring where things are isn’t exactly the most streamlined. While I was able to figure out where things were, I couldn’t help but feel the menus were a little clunky. For example, when first starting up the game, the interface for accessing the various areas such as Pitlane and Profile isn’t the most intuitive. In fact, you have to tap around the various boxes to figure out what they are. It’s not a big deal by any means, and you do remember where things are after a while.

Firemint set the bar last year with Real Racing, and sets the bar even higher with Real Racing 2. This is one fine action-packed, full-featured racer that hits you over the head with eye-popping graphics, counterpunches with a ton of content and responsive controls, and slaps you with an immersive racing experience. You want your money’s worth? You’d be hard pressed to find another racer that does just that like Real Racing 2 does.

Albie Meter: 5 Stars (enough said)

Frederic P.:

A real estate agent might be able to help you locate properties and if he is an investor himself or know how investor think, he might be able to bring you some deals that could fit your criterias but you will be the one who has to decide if a deal is good for you or not.

Ross H.:

Out of 10 agents, 5 will hurt your business, not help it, 3 will add no value, 1 will be helpful and 1 will actually be of benefit to your business.

I highly recommend that you find a successful investor in your area of investment and find out who that investor uses as an agent.

You’ll find that the successful investor uses multiple agents – many for finding deals, one or two for selling deals.

Tony S.:

When interviewing an agent, I would ask them if they have any income property themselves. In my experience, there is a big difference in the way agents that are investors and non investors think.

Real Estate Agents vs Real Estate Lawyers – Frederic P.:

Real estate agents cannot write a contract from scratch, it would be practicing law and unless an agent is also a lawyer they cannot write anything themselves or could be held liable for it if something happens. In some state, agent don’t even have the option to fill out a pre-written contract, the contract has to be written by a lawyer.

In a commercial real estate transaction, there is no pre-written contracts. Anything agreed upon between the buyer and the seller has to be written in the contract and an agent cannot write such a contract. If you are looking for someone to write some custom contracts for you, a real estate lawyer might probably be more what you are looking for.

The two types of real estate agents – J S.:

There are essentially two types of agents:

1) Those who work for the seller and are contractually obligated to help the seller get the best deal possible;

2) Those who work for the buyer and are contractually obligated to help the buyer get the best deal possible.

The important thing to keep in mind is that if you don’t have a specific contract with an agent that calls for that agent to represent YOU, then by default they will represent the seller.

The seller’s agent (known as the “listing agent”) can certainly write up your offer for you, do all the paperwork, get you to closing, etc. In fact, he/she will do everything you need an agent to do to buy that house. But, the reason that agent recommends that you find your own agent is that, while he/she will take care of all the paperwork for you, he/she is still contractually obligated to help the seller get the best deal.

In other words, if you say to the listing agent, “I’m willing to spend $200,000 for this house, but let’s put in an offer for $150,000 and see if I can get the seller lower…”, the listing agent will be legally bound to let the seller know you said that. And that’s not good for your negotiating stance.

So, while you don’t need to find your own agent, it’s in your best interest to do so. It doesn’t cost you anything (the seller pays all commissions), and this way you have someone who is familiar with the process, and is also looking out for your best interest and can help you negotiate.

Purchasing property for resale – MyTwoCents:

Before I purchase a property, I think about resale – regardless of the market. That’s my little check to make sure my money is spent on a desirable property.

When I bought a condo, I purchased the least expensive one with low fees, on the highest floor in a very desirable complex. It was a one bedroom in downtown Kirkland – perfect for singles or a couple without kids. I was able to sell it in one month for a very tidy profit to a single person. (BTW, the expensive ones were a much harder sell, especially since they cost so much to begin with).

Years later, I bought a 4 bedroom house in Seattle at the height of the market in 2006. I chose a very desirable area for families with children (excellent schools). Then, I picked a house that had been on the market for a very long time, knowing the flipper was anxious to sell. I was able to negotiate an excellent price, and although this isn’t any guarantee on a future sales price, I am still ahead in value according to Zillow.

SFH / Single Family Home / Single-family detached home – Wikipedia:

A single-family detached home, or single-family home or detached house for short, also variously known as a single-detached dwelling or separate house (see below), is a free-standing residential building.

Most single-family homes are built on lots larger than the structure itself, adding an area surrounding the house, which is commonly called a yard in North American English or a garden in British English.

Garages can also be found on most lots. In older homes, they are typically detached, standing as a separate building, either near a driveway or facing an alley in urban areas.

Newer homes in North America favor attached garages, often facing the street, as most recent developments do not include alleys.

A Northern European single-family home in Denmark:

Is the slow down in housing sales a sign NOT to buy rentals? – Rich W, responding to a suggestion that the economic slow down means that this isn’t the right time to purchase rental properties:

However, I’d also differ with you on investing now.

Do you really have a problem finding renters in your area?

There have been job losses everywhere, but that doesn’t reduce the number of people that live there – unless they moved.

In my previous area of s. TX, we were approaching 9% unemployed, yet the rental market is stronger than EVER.

NO BUILDER is building, and that reduces overall inventory.

Many families have been foreclosed on, and that creates more folks that HAVE to rent.

Banks are holding the foreclosures and WON’T rent them. That also reduces inventory. It creates the perfect storm for rentals.

My occupancy is near 100%.

I’m finding the same thing in FL where I now live. Amazing demand for rentals.

Same situation. Simple Economics 101. When demand is high and inventory is low, price (or rent in this case) goes up.

I haven’t heard of areas where the rentals are hard to rent, unless you’re talking Flint, MI type areas.

I would expect every investor to do his homework on the area he’s buying in before jumping in.

You seem to be trying to “time” the market on when to buy. That never seems to work well. BUY BUY BUY, I’ll repeat.

You’re correct on good deals available in all markets, and research is needed as well as holding capital.

I just disagree with the doomsayers. They are always late to the party and will be this time also, in my opinion.

If you choose to wait to buy, so be it. I would continue to suggest the opposite.

BUY BUY BUY!

Example of an exit clause involving REO purchase post inspection – Eddie Z.:

As stated before, Banks are hard to negotiate with when it comes to REO purchase post inspection.

Also, some banks require 10% earnest money in cashier check for any cash buy. That could potentially put you in a substantial loss should you decide to opt out the deal.

Here is an exit clause I always put in my contracts and you can modify it to your own needs:

“The Purchaser will hire a licensed home inspector to inspect the property within five business days of the acceptance of this agreement. Should the inspection conclude that the property possesses fundamental flaws which renders the property uninhabitable and / or the repair costs of those flaws would equal or exceed the sale price of the property, the Purchaser then reserves the right to remove himself from, and all his obligations of, this contract and the seller agrees to refund the earnest money to the Purchaser in full.”

Re-Negotiate The Price After Home Inspection? – Scott R.:

Normally re-negotiating after the inspections is a great idea but it depends on a lot of factors if you should.

I represent REO properties right now and even though prices are falling the inventory is not the same as it was 1 year ago.

Banks hate to re-negotiate after the inspections. In those cases I tell my clients if they are willing to walk away from the deal if they don’t get at least some relief, then ask for the repair/credit.

But if they would go ahead with the deal, but the bank says no, then don’t ask. One of my bank clients cancelled a deal for the simple fact that the buyers asked for repairs and they were within their rights in the contract.

It also depends on how you offered to purchase the property. If you said you would buy it AS-IS then take it AS-IS. Unless again if the repairs are so much that you would walk away if the seller does not give a credit.

In a normal transaction ask for the credit. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

But be reasonable. The things you mentioned sounded reasonable but some people take this to extremes and think that it is an opportunity to get the seller to buy you a new home.

Even new homes are not perfect.

Does the “No cash / No credit” creative financing for real estate investments really work? – There are two ways, according to Scott M.:

Of course it is possible – that is how I got started in this biz – no cash and no credit. I found partners with cash and other partners with credit – I did all the work and split the profit 50/50 until I had enough to work on my own.

A lot of those guys also talk about a sub2 deal – where you find a distressed homeowner who needs to sell and you lock up their home on a sub2 deal and then you do a lease option with a buyer or sell to an investor and you make some cash in the middle.

You can search sub2 in this site for lots more info.

But yes – it can be done – but as others have said not the easiest way but a way lots of us started out.

Louis B. adds:

Sub 2 is the best way to accumulate a portfolio of properties based on no cash – no credit.

But realize this, if you don’t have a buyer lined up, you will have to make (up) the payments to the Lender.

So make sure you have a solid and extensive buyer’s list, and you’ll be just fine.

Sub2 / Sub 2 / Subject To Real Estate Deals – What is a “Subject 2” Deal?:

The typical sub2 deal involves having a seller deed the property to you while leaving the existing mortgage in place. There is no “formal” assumption of the loan, you just start making the payments. There are many variations to this type of deal and as many ways to “take one down” as there are investors doing it.

Anatomy of a Sub2 Purchase: William Tingle shares the 5 steps he uses.

Frequently Asked Questions About Sub2 – William Tingle:

There are many ways to buy property. In the almost 3 years that I have been investing, I have bought with cash, bank loans, via sandwich lease options and my personal favorite, “Subject-To”.

In my opinion, subject-to is the easiest, fastest, cheapest, least complicated way to acquire property, although contrary to what some will tell you, it is not without risk. Although in a lot of cases you CAN buy without having cash, I would not recommend doing so without cash or access to it. Agreeing to make payments on someone’s loan is a huge responsibility, and I think everyone that utilizes this way of buying should look at each loan as if he himself had personally signed the mortgage.

Sub2 Real Estate Investing – Lori Kimble, on the subject of “How to Obtain a Property Without Bank Financing”:

Sub2 is real estate investing lingo for ‘subject to’. It means you are just taking over the payments for the existing mortgage, and the seller will deed the property over to you. This way you are not taking out any formal financing, but you and the seller will have a written contract that the deal is subject to you taking over payments on the original mortgage. Since most banks do not issue assumable mortgages anymore, this is a way of making it assumable on your own. You can then agree to give the sellers a lump sum when you sell the property.

SubjectTo.com:

Buying real estate “Subject To” is a technique that can allow you to acquire a property with virtually no cash by leaving the seller’s existing mortgage in place. This means that you do not have to get a loan to buy the property because you have purchased the property “subject to” the existing loan or loans. Practically, this means that the owner deeds the property to you and you both agree that you will make the payments on his mortgage. Since the owner’s name is still on the loan he does remain liable for the payments however.

How real estate investors should build business relationships with bank loan officers – Ryan B.:

Probably the best advise I got was make friends with small to medium size bank loan officers.

Give them a call, stop in for a ten-minute conversation. A couple of days later, send them some donuts to share in the office. Take him / her out to lunch a couple weeks later. Those relationships will be the most valuable.

Just a side note with those relationships … this is just the salesman in me … when you are talking shop with them, the question should never be “DO YOU have …?”

Be specific with your question: “WHAT do you have …?”

It’s too easy for him / her to say “Aww nothin” simply because they may not consider what they do have to be of high interest for most.

Also ask, “WHAT do you have coming up?”, not, “Do you have anything coming up?”

It is just a psyche thing and human nature to respond better to open ended questions that require more than a Yes or No answer.

Finding real estate short sale opportunities from foreclosures – Ryan B.:

If you are able to find foreclosures, you’ve just found short sale opportunities. If you have a redemption period in your state, wait till the redemption period is nearly over so there is little risk of being redeemed.

You should, through the public notice, be able to find the attorney that was handling the foreclosure process for the lender. If you contact him he will often be able to give you the name and contact info of the employee at the bank handling the foreclosure. And if that particular individual at the bank does not have decision making ability for short sales, then they most likely know who does.

Finding Real Estate Deals: Go Through A Bank Or Agent? – Ryan B.:

First let me say that you are not wasting your time by going through a bank directly. This is often where the best deals are found.

Think of it this way, there are a bunch of individuals such as yourself that are trying to get an “in” with the banks, and many individuals already have an in. So the properties you see with agents have already gone through the first round of filters by investors.

The bank would much rather (in most cases) sell it directly to you and cut out the expense and time of using an agent.

BUT, not all of them will. Large banks often times will not sell them directly because they just don’t want to deal with it on their own. They would rather just set the parameters of the sale and hand it off to an agent.

Real Estate – Short Sale – Wikipedia:

A short sale is a sale of real estate in which the proceeds from the sale fall short of the balance owed on a loan secured by the property sold.

In a short sale, the bank or mortgage lender agrees to discount a loan balance because of an economic or financial hardship on the part of the mortgagor.

This negotiation is all done through communication with a bank’s loss mitigation or workout department.

The home owner/debtor sells the mortgaged property for less than the outstanding balance of the loan, and turns over the proceeds of the sale to the lender, sometimes (but not always) in full satisfaction of the debt.

In such instances, the lender would have the right to approve or disapprove of a proposed sale. Extenuating circumstances influence whether or not banks will discount a loan balance.

These circumstances are usually related to the current real estate market and the borrower’s financial situation.

A short sale typically is executed to prevent a home foreclosure, but the decision to proceed with a short sale is predicated on the most economic way for the bank to recover the amount owed on the property.

Often a bank will allow a short sale if they believe that it will result in a smaller financial loss than foreclosing as there are carrying costs that are associated with a foreclosure.

A bank will typically determine the amount of equity (or lack thereof), by determining the probable selling price from a Broker Price Opinion BPO (also known as a Broker Opinion of Value (BOV)) or through a valuation of an appraisal.

For the home owner, advantages include avoidance of a foreclosure on their credit history and partial control of the monetary deficiency.

A short sale is typically faster and less expensive than a foreclosure.

In short, a short sale is nothing more than negotiating with lien holders a payoff for less than what they are owed, or rather a sale of a debt, generally on a piece of real estate, short of the full debt amount.

It does not extinguish the remaining balance unless settlement is clearly indicated on the acceptance of offer.

FSBO / For sale by owner – Wikipedia:

For Sale By Owner, or FSBO, is the process of marketing, buying and selling of real estate without the representation of a real estate broker.

Many sellers who choose to sell via FSBO do so to avoid paying a commission to a broker, typically 6% of the selling price of the property in many parts of the US. Commissions can range between 5% and 7% in different markets across the U.S. as well as in Canada. In the UK, 1.5% is the average commission rate so sales by owner are rarer.

REO / Real estate owned – Wikipedia:

Real estate owned or REO is a class of property owned by a lender, typically a bank, after an unsuccessful sale at a foreclosure auction. A bank will typically set the opening bid at a foreclosure auction for at least the outstanding loan amount. If there are no bidders that are interested, then the bank will legally repossess the property. As soon as the bank repossess the property, it is listed on their books as REO – Real Estate Owned – and is categorized as an asset (non-performing).

Do Not Let Emotions Enter Into The Real Estate Investing Equation – rentec<:

If your buying for investment, there’s no reason to get emotionally attached to any property. There’s no such thing as “I better get it before it’s gone because there isn’t going to be another deal like this in my lifetime”. There’s ALWAYS another deal around the corner. If your in a small town, there’s going to be another deal available next week. There’s a $190 house that will take $130.

The Importance Of Having A Proper Real Estate Investing System In Place – Trace Trajano:

To avoid any of the scenarios from happening to you, you have to have systems. You have to have systems for buying, selling, funding, even closing your deals. You have to have a pipeline of properties to sell and a pipeline of eager, qualified buyers competing for your deals.

Why Is Obtaining A Thorough Inspection Of A Potential Investment Property Crucial? – waziri:

Failing to have a complete and proper inspection can lead to disaster when the renovations begin costing extra money and time as efforts are undone in order to get to the root of the problems as you go. There are very few things that can save you the time or money that having a decent inspection can manage to save. Inspections can also make you aware of any structural problems, code problems, and other problems that may mean the difference between this property offering a possible profit or a probable loss. It is much better to be armed with this knowledge before ever making an offer on the property in question.

Why Is Location Important When Considering The Worth Of An Investment Property? – waziri:

Before placing a bid on a potential property for flipping you need to learn as much about the neighborhood as possible. You do not want to place a family home in the middle of a retirement neighborhood, nor do you want to place a potential bachelor pad in that type of area. You also want to avoid areas that are entering a state of decline, as the rehab efforts are unlikely to achieve the profits you are hoping to receive. Instead, look for bargains in areas that are approaching some sort of renewal or have very low crime and excellent growth potential.

What Kind Of Investment Property Is Ideal For Families? – waziri:

If you are rehabbing a home that is meant to appeal to families make sure the neighborhood is safe, has a relatively low crime rate, access to good schools, and entertainment opportunities that may appeal to families.

Where To Find Real Estate Bargains – waziri:

Another great place to find bargains of this nature is to search through foreclosures, auctions, and homes that are preparing to enter into foreclosure. While not always the case, there are many in these situations that are willing to be a bit more flexible with the price. Never offer full asking price first. Start low and negotiate up. This may lose some properties but in the end it will be a much more profitable venture if you can get the properties you want for a smaller investment.

How to Find a Good Real Estate Investment Property – Waziri::

There are many ways in which you can find a great property for your real estate investment. The problem lies in the fact that many would be investors aren’t exactly certain what specific types of investment they wish to make. Unfortunately, the type of investing will greatly affect the type of property that will best suit your real estate needs. This article focuses on finding a great property for the purpose of flipping or rehabbing a property.

Four tips to keep in mind:
- Seek Bargains
- Know the Neighborhood
- Get a Thorough Inspection
- Realize That You do not Need to Buy the First Property You See

Home Inspection Tips For The Property Investor – Michael Suess:

Here is a question… Why are you getting them inspected?

I haven’t paid for a home inspection for years.

If you don’t know what to look for when you go through a house, pay for one and walk around with the home inspector and ask A LOT of questions:
- Why are they doing what they are doing, what if the house had this that and the other thing, what would they look for?
- How do you make sure that the furnace is good, the hot water tank, the roof, chimney, etc.

Spend 3, 4, 5 hours doing the inspection, and make sure that the inspector gives you a very detailed report.

Once you have gone through one, you can pretty much do it yourself.

Sure, you might not catch EVERYTHING, heck I still don’t, but if you can get a good idea of the condition of the house, and what needs to be replaced and what is good, that few hundred bucks spent on the initial inspection will be worth it – call it a training seminar!

Should The Property Investor Pay For Home Inspections? – Greg:

Pay for professional inspections and do it right. If you lose $400 because a house has too many problems to fix, consider it money well spent not money lost. I have had inspectors find $30,000 in needed repairs.

Section 8 (housing) – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia<:

The Housing Choice Voucher Program is a type of Federal assistance provided by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) dedicated to sponsoring subsidized housing for low-income families and individuals. It is more commonly known as Section 8, in reference to the portion of the U.S. Housing Act of 1937 under which the original subsidy program was authorized. The United States Code (the compilation of current U.S. federal laws) covers this program in Title 42, Chapter 8.

NOLO, Debtors and Judgements – cjmazur:

Check out Nolo, they have great legal reference,

If you can serve the debtor after the judgement, you can request a court examination of all their assets.

Collecting Debts On Your Own vs Using A Collection Agency? – loon:

I don’t need a book [on debt collection].

I just hand my judgments over to my collection agency. They also do my credit checks.

Swallowed hard at their 40% fee (I paid the amount at filing as much as possible to offset this eventuality) and let them do the heavy lifting, garnishment, whatever.

One county (bless their heart) did the work for me, and I just got a check the other day, but that involved criminal charges and property damage.

Debtor Information at Accurint – uSonia:

Usually the hard part is obtaining financial information on the debtor. One good source is Accurint (a division of LexisNexis).