Have you ever wondered what exactly is up with Real Estate Agent? This informative report can give you an insight into everything you’ve ever wanted to know about Real Estate Agent.How can you put a limit on learning more? The next section may contain that one little bit of wisdom that changes everything.If you are looking to buy or sell real estate, do not get caught like millions of other people out there, in thinking that you don’t need a real estate agent. Most people who buy or sell homes, generally think that a real estate agent is a waste of money. Those who choose to buy a new home, think that real estate agents only add to the cost of purchasing the home.I am not a real estate agent but I can tell you that most people aren’t aware of the fact that real estate agents are normally paid by the seller, not by the buyer. As a buyer, you’ll get to work with a professional real estate agent without really having to pay for it yourself. The policies can vary greatly from state to state and company to company, which is why you should always check any paperwork or contracts that are provided to you to ensure that you know what you are jumping into. When you are interviewing agents, be sure to ask about any other type of fees as well.A lot of real estate agents may work with both buyers and sellers, although most specialize in working with either the buyer or the seller. If you are buying a home, make sure that the agent you choose has prior experience of working with buyers and transactions that involve no money down. This way, you can count on your agent to be there when you need him the most – especially if you don’t have a down payment.Top 3 things to consider when looking for a real eatate agent:1. What you need to look out for when you are interviewing a real estate agent – if he or she isn’t familiar with down payment assistance programs, you shouldn’t hire their services. Those agent who aren’t familiar with these types of programs generally aren’t on the level, or they may lack the experience necessary to help you purchase the home of your dreams.2. Interview as many real estate agents as you can before you make the most important decision in this process. Get a list of real estate agents that you can interview based on referrals from friends, lenders, and even family. Lender’s referrals are normally a great choice as most lenders have worked with their recommendations in the past and both are already familiar with each other. Choosing a lenders referral can also prevent you from encountering any obstacles or surprises.3. When you interview a real estate agent, ensure that the agent explain his fees upfront. This way, you’ll know exactly how much he will be getting from the purchase. It is wise to find out how much experience he has in the field, and how long he has been working with real estate. It also help to ask about sample contracts as well. If you are buying a home, you should make sure that the agent works with buyers. If you happen to be selling your home, then you’ll want to make sure that the agent works with sellers. Agents that are dedicated to one or the other are the best choice, as they will have more experience than agents who work with both buyers and sellers.So, you see, finding a real estate agent is not such a difficult task after all – providing you know what to look for. If you take things one step at a time and carefully make a decision, chances are that you’ll end up with an agent who has the experience you want. You should always be careful when you choose, and never rush the process. Real estate agents are easy to find, although finding one who fits your needs and has your budget in mind is a little tougher to locate. When you make that final decision, you should always choose an agent who has your best interest in mind – and isn’t just after the money.As your knowledge about Real Estate Agent continues to grow, you will begin to see how Real Estate Agent fits into the overall scheme of things. Knowing how something relates to the rest of the world is important too.

Understanding the real estate investing terms and formulas is extremely helpful (if not crucial) for brokers, agents and investors who want to service or acquire real estate investment properties.This is not always the case, though. During my thirty-year experience as an investment real estate specialist I often encountered far too many that had no idea, and it showed – both in their performance and success rate.As a result, I felt it needful to list what I deem are the top 20 real estate investing terms and formulas worth understanding categorized as either primary or secondary. The primary terms and formulas are the very least you should know, and the secondary terms takes it a step further for those of you who are seriously planning to become more actively engaged with real estate investing.Primary1. Gross Scheduled Income (GSI)The annual rental income a property would generate if 100% of all space were rented and all rents collected. GSI does not regard vacancy or credit losses, and instead, would include a reasonable market rent for those units that might be vacant at the time of a real estate analysis.Annual Current Rental Income+ Annual Market Rental Income for Vacant Units= Gross Scheduled Income2. Gross Operating Income (GOI)This is gross scheduled income less vacancy and credit loss, plus income derived from other sources such as coin-operated laundry facilities. Consider GOI as the amount of rental income the real estate investor actually collects to service the rental property.Gross Scheduled Income- Vacancy and Credit Loss+ Other Income= Gross Operating Income3. Operating ExpensesThese include those costs associated with keeping a property operational and in service such as property taxes, insurance, utilities, and routine maintenance; but should not be mistaken to also include payments made for mortgages, capital expenditures or income taxes.4. Net Operating Income (NOI)This is a property’s income after being reduced by vacancy and credit loss and all operating expenses. NOI is one of the most important calculations to any real estate investment because it represents the income stream that subsequently determines the property’s market value – that is, the price a real estate investor is willing to pay for that income stream.Gross Operating Income- Operating Expenses= Net Operating Income5. Cash Flow Before Tax (CFBT)This is the number of dollars a property generates in a given year after all cash outflows are subtracted from cash inflows but in turn still subject to the real estate investor’s income tax liability.Net Operating Income- Debt Service- Capital Expenditures= Cash Flow Before Tax6. Gross Rent Multiplier (GRM)A simple method used by analysts to determine a rental income property’s market value based upon its gross scheduled income. You would first calculate the GRM using the market value at which other properties sold and then apply that GRM to determine the market value for your own property.Market Value÷ Gross Scheduled Income= Gross Rent MultiplierThen,Gross Scheduled Incomex Gross Rent Multiplier= Market Value7. Cap RateThis popular return expresses the ratio between a rental property’s value and its net operating income. The cap rate formula commonly serves two useful real estate investing purposes: To calculate a property’s cap rate, or by transposing the formula, to calculate a property’s reasonable estimate of value.Net Operating Income÷ Value= Cap RateOr,Net Operating Income÷ Cap Rate= Value8. Cash on Cash Return (CoC)The ratio between a property’s cash flow in a given year and the amount of initial capital investment required to make the acquisition (e.g., mortgage down payment and closing costs). Most investors usually look at cash-on-cash as it relates to cash flow before taxes during the first year of ownership.Cash Flow÷ Initial Capital Investment= Cash on Cash Return9. Operating Expense RatioThis expresses the ratio between an investment real estate’s total operating expenses dollar amount to its gross operating income dollar amount. It is expressed as a percentage.Operating Expenses÷ Gross Operating Income= Operating Expense Ratio10. Debt Coverage Ratio (DCR)A ratio that expresses the number of times annual net operating income exceeds debt service (I.e., total loan payment, including both principal and interest).Net Operating Income÷ Debt Service= Debt Coverage RatioDCR results,Less than 1.0 – not enough NOI to cover the debtExactly 1.0 – just enough NOI to cover the debtGreater than 1.0 – more than enough NOI to cover the debt11. Break-Even Ratio (BER)A ratio some lenders calculate to gauge the proportion between the money going out to the money coming so they can estimate how vulnerable a property is to defaulting on its debt if rental income declines. BER reveals the percent of income consumed by the estimated expenses.(Operating Expense + Debt Service)÷ Gross Operating Income= Break-Even RatioBER results,Less than 100% – less consuming expenses than incomeGreater than 100% – more consuming expenses than income12. Loan to Value (LTV)This measures what percentage of a property’s appraised value or selling price (whichever is less) is attributable to financing. A higher LTV benefits real estate investors with greater leverage, whereas lenders regard a higher LTV as a greater financial risk.Loan Amount÷ Lesser of Appraised Value or Selling Price= Loan to ValueSecondary13. Depreciation (Cost Recovery)The amount of tax deduction investment property owners may take each year until the entire depreciable asset is written off. To calculate, you must first determine the depreciable basis by computing the portion of the asset allotted to improvements (land is not depreciable), and then amortizing that amount over the asset’s useful life as specified in the tax code: 27.5 years for residential property, and 39.0 years for nonresidential.Property Valuex Percent Allotted to Improvements= Depreciable BasisThen,Depreciable Basis÷ Useful Life= Depreciation Allowance (annual)14. Mid-Month ConventionThis adjusts the depreciation allowance in whatever month the asset is placed into service and whatever month it is disposed. The current tax code only allows one-half of the depreciation normally allowed for these particular months. For instance, if you buy in January, you will only get to write off 11.5 months of depreciation for that first year of ownership.15. Taxable IncomeThis is the amount of revenue produced by a rental on which the owner must pay Federal income tax. Once calculated, that amount is multiplied by the investor’s marginal tax rate (I.e., state and federal combined) to arrive at the owner’s tax liability.Net Operating Income- Mortgage Interest- Depreciation, Real Property- Depreciation, Capital Additions- Amortization, Points and Closing Costs+ Interest Earned (e.g., property bank or mortgage escrow accounts)= Taxable IncomeThen,Taxable Incomex Marginal Tax Rate= Tax Liability16. Cash Flow After Tax (CFAT)This is the amount of spendable cash that the real estate investor makes from the investment after satisfying all required tax obligations.Cash Flow Before Tax- Tax Liability= Cash Flow After Tax17. Time Value of MoneyThis is the underlying assumption that money, over time, will change value. It’s an important element in real estate investing because it could suggest that the timing of receipts from the investment might be more important than the amount received.18. Present Value (PV)This shows what a cash flow or series of cash flows available in the future is worth in today’s dollars. PV is calculated by “discounting” future cash flows back in time using a given discount rate.19. Future Value (FV)This shows what a cash flow or series of cash flows will be worth at a specified time in the future. FV is calculated by “compounding” the original principal sum forward in time at a given compound rate.20. Net Present Value (NPV)This shows the dollar amount difference between the present value of all future cash flows using a particular discount rate – your required rate of return – and the initial cash invested to purchase those cash flows.Present Value of all Future Cash Flows- Initial Cash Investment= Net Present ValueNPV results,Negative – the required return is not metZero – the required return is perfectly metPositive – the required return is met with room to spare21. Internal Rate of Return (IRR)This popular model creates a single discount rate whereby all future cash flows can be discounted until they equal the investor’s initial cash investment. In other words, when a series of all future cash flows is discounted at IRR that present value amount will equal the actual cash investment amount.So You KnowProAPOD’s real estate investment software solutions as well as iCalculator – it’s online real estate calculator – apply these formulas and make these calculations automatically.

What options would you be faced with as you contemplate a real estate job change? Love it or hate it, the Real Estate industry’s continued troubles will force even more once semi-independent and successful professionals, to make the inevitable real estate job change. First it was the residential housing sector which experienced record low declines in values only to be recently and temporally pent-up by government tax credits to try and force some good news from this sector. It will be interesting to see with the continued failed banks and residential housing foreclosures how long this “soft-serge” will last. As many of these government purchase programs will be coming to an end. And with governments continued and predictable slow responses to most financial crisis it will most likely leave a sizable void prior to any stabilized outcome. And, with the next wave of doom-and-gloom i.e. the commercial real estate sector which is just getting started leaving the Feds scrambling trying to force many banks into showing losses earlier rather than later, all or in part to merely skedaddle these losses early in hopes for some sizable gains prior to any primary election year.Lets first quickly just recap why you chose your real estate career albeit in the residential or commercial sector. You may have known someone or previously worked with someone who prior to, or during the early stages of the “bubble” made a job change into the real estate field who (prior to the last 12-36 months) most likely tasted some relatively easy success. Or, maybe you were fascinated by the tangible control, possibly the tax benefits, or maybe even the investor side of you took over gasping at the ability to leverage your money (or OPM) as well as the banks! And of course the lifestyle you enjoyed or would have enjoyed certainly plays a role (providing you were not a workaholic) in your independent lifestyle of freedom and choice of whom and when you wanted to work with. Needless to say, having a real estate career albeit agent, broker, appraiser, lender or investor has many perks, though I just mentioned a few.Making a real estate job change can be stressful, just the thought of it, especially if you made a serious career of it. What skills do you have that I may remind you of? Well for beginners, you are a self-starter and a motivator and for that matter a leader as you lead at least one or two parties to a closing, a rather large financial (and sometimes an emotional) agreement. Some of you have ventured into multiple million dollar negotiations/transactions (myself personally negotiating over $400,000,000). And if it wasn’t for you, these deals most likely would not have been closed without you.Second, you possess some level of organizational & computer skills and are most likely not afraid of understanding procedures within and out of the office. And although “Joe Public” may have voted every year otherwise, you do have a sense of character and ethics and feel a level of “duty” to the community and those you work with to provide and represent yourself as a professional and a good listener and help solve those needs of others.Now, what on earth would be a realistic and viable alternative job change for a real estate professional as I described above? Well, since you most likely understand the power of leveraging the banks money as most of you watched your buyers and sellers take part of that system, YOU should understand, or would be most open to want to understand the power of leveraging your time. How might one ask does one leverage the power of time?Well, what if you volunteered to make a real estate job change. What changes would you impose on your new adventure? And could you leverage your time similar to that of a real estate investor who leverages other people’s money but not by 3-5x, but by 10 or even 100 times more. To be open for business 24/7 every day of the year, and have clients in over 100 countries within 90-120 days of start up. By working less not more, by working smarter not harder, and by organizing yourself via automation, not just files and folders could provide such a freedom. Setting up such a system of automation would be an investment into yourself to provide a future and lifestyle you and your family may be deserving, and not just for your boss or co-workers benefit. To have such a business without the overhead of a lease or rental payment, no insurance, no utilities, no travel expenses, no employees nor payroll taxes and to work out of your own home w/a determination that you will never have to return to a politically driven office again. To work from your home, the beach, by working a few hours at night, or maybe in the morning, or to put in a few hours a day when you want and from where you want. To regain your dreams of the lifestyle that merely 1-2% of people can even fathom to experience.After spending over 18 years of loving my real estate career and the lifestyle it provided me, I found myself traveling more and working extra hours, all while my compensation was dwindling to a low 5 digits per month due to the negative changes that were impacting the real estate industry. Thus, I went searching much like you have, searching for the inevitable real estate job change. And after searching multiple real estate related online programs, paying thousands of dollars w/false promises of support and personal coaches I found myself w/my back against the wall, searching even harder as I was duped again.What I found may surprise you, but one thing was for certain, I found something that was real! With all the perks that by now, most people have given up on due to all the scams and false programs supporting such a cause. What I found was amazing, giving back to others while reaching my own goals as well (NO, it was not MLM!). What I found gave me back my hope and dreams and put all of my skills that I had learned as a real estate professional into motion w/little downtime in regaining my income levels held during the peak of the last real estate up-cycle.If a real estate job change is more of a reality than a choice, or maybe you need to see what else is out there in order to give yourself some peace of mind, then you need to seriously consider your own online business. Even Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki have recently stated that if they had to make their millions all over again, they would do it by starting an internet business. These highly successful people have built their fortunes on the power of leveraging other-peoples-money along with the banks and both see that they can leverage TIME and money more effectively than in any other way today by having an online business. And I must say, it’s amazing what I’ve learned over the past year in this field and how easy it is to share my knowledge with others and how to make it in this industry, regaining back your high income levels as well as with little down time providing you have an easy step-by-step online system to follow.Well, I hope I was able to give you something to think about whether you stay in the real estate field helping others leverage other people’s money, or if you choose to take the next step and learn how to leverage your time and money. So that you can one day soon, regain your dreams that somehow over the years were lost.