Real Estate Investing Infomercial Tax Sales And Mentoring Scams

F lipping through late-night      income, and the home should be     infomercials recently, I        owner-occupied.                    saw two real estate                                                get-rich quick schemes, and I         Rentals don't normally qualify     couldn't help but wonder why          for no money down financing.       people still fall for those old       Institutional lenders aren't       scams? Has anyone really talked a     supposed to make no money down     seller out of his home for no         loans on investment properties,    money down with owner financing       and even if you could buy an       lately?                               investment home with no money                                            down, the monthly payments would   Real estate infomercials do great     generally eat up the rent.         harm to beginning investors, who                                         waste hundreds of dollars on old      Late-night scammers also claim     information. Worse yet, those         that investors can get owners to   beginners soon get discouraged        pay the closing costs, including   and miss out on the true (and         the down payment. But when a       profitable) adventure of real         lender asks where your down        estate investing.                     payment will be coming from,                                             saying, "the seller" is not the    One of the most popular late          right answer! Today's sellers are  night infomercial shows tells         also fairly savvy, and understand  beginners that it's possible to       that with no money invested in a   make a fortune by buying houses       property, a buyer could easily     with no money down and then           walk away and leave them with a    renting them out to cover the         home that's been ruined by         monthly payments. It's true that      careless tenants.                  you can buy a home for no money                                          down, but the requirements            Another TV program offers a bogus  include having good credit, good      system for buying houses at        ridiculous prices, but think          number. Then it was up to Charles  about it: has anyone bought a         to call the owners and talk them   home, free and clear, for $345.00     into selling their houses for no   at a tax sale recently? Hordes of     money down, and carrying the       investors flock to the tax sales      paper, too!                        in the area where I live, bidding                                        up the prices of foreclosure          I met Charles when he called me    properties far beyond a few cents     about buying a property that my    on the dollar. It just doesn't        husband and I had on the market    happen.                               for $1.2 million. When I asked                                           him how such a young man was       Today, another real estate            going to make the payments on      investment scam is popular in         $1.2 million home, he told me      Southern California. Here's how       that he planned to rent the house  it works: a young person we'll        out for enough to make the         call Charles charged $4,000 on        payments.                          his credit card to hire a real                                           estate "mentor," after the mentor     As a real estate investor myself,  wined and dined him at a fancy        I tried not to laugh at his        Beverly Hills restaurant.             naivete, and after talking to                                            Charles and listening to his       In exchange for the fee, the          frustration about trying so hard   mentor instructed Charles to find     to follow his mentor's advice, I   distressed houses by driving          offered to help him find a         around the area and writing down      property, and I'm happy to say     the addresses of ugly houses in       that Charles now owns his own      nice neighborhoods. Once Charles      home. But he'll still have to      had given him the addresses, the      spend years paying off a $4,000    mentor obtained the owner's           credit card bill.                  address and sometimes a phone                                            If you want to make money as a        Don't pay hundreds of dollars for  real estate investor, a good          out-dated methods that may have    first step is to buy your own         worked in the middle of last       home, like Charles did. You can       century! They're a waste of your   do that for no money down if you      time and money. Real estate        have good credit, or for a            investing is truly a great way to  relatively little amount of money     make a fortune, but you must       down if your credit is poor. Once     stick to tried-and-true proven     you've purchased your own home,       strategies, ones that work in      fix it up and then either sell it     today's real estate market.        or refinance it and use your                                             profits as the down payment on an     Copyright "© 2006 Jeanette J.      investment property.                  Fisher                                                                                                   About the Author: Jeanette Fisher offers FREE How to Start Real Estate Investing Teleseminar, free ebook, The Truth about Making Money Flipping Houses http://doghousetodollhousefordollars.com/ Source: www.isnare.com