You Know it is the Bottom When...

In a shocking display of just how bad the foreclosure crisis got in California, a Texas bank decided that it was more cost efficient to destroy 16 brand new homes in a development they took back through foreclosure than to try and finish and sell the homes.

This is true evidence of exactly how far prices have crashed and is the perfect indicator of what happens when a crash begins to reach the bottom. When the decisions like this can be made and are sound business decisions it can be a sign of that things have gotten about as bad as they are ever going to be.

This is called capitulation and it is what many experts have been looking for in order to 'call' a bottom. This is exciting because positive signs after this may be not be false positives. Future positive market activity may be the real thing.

Stay tuned.... Ben Bernanke speaks today, analysis tomorrow.

Roller Coasters and The Ride

http://strategysessions.blogspot.com/

Remember those really great roller coaster rides you experienced as a child? After zooming around several twist and turns and being jerked from side to side, your cart would slow as it approached the really large hill.

You hear the chu-chunk of the hook as it locks onto your cart and then you experience a slight jerk as you are pulled reluctantly forward. Clink-clank, clink-clank; you here the ‘song of the chains’ as they grown to pull the weight.

It’s just the carts, you and 50 others behind you, anxiously awaiting what comes next. The exhilaration, the anxiety …your breathing is no longer rhythmic but comes in big gulps of air and wind. Sweat on your temple as you near the top!

You can’t see over the edge, you feel as if you are dangling in space with nothing but this flimsy bar strapped across your thigh. You notice a loose bolt and the bar jiggles. You think, oh my, that’s not good!

Suspended in time, animated at the top, you wait. And then it happens. You roll over the precipice and you are staring straight down! Sky above and earth below! God I hope this thing has breaks or a parachute is the only thought rushing through your head!

Before you know it your flying, heart racing, down, down, and down, faster and faster! Everyone’s screaming bloody terror, a few fools have their hands in the air, you hang on to the bar for dear life praying that the loose bolt doesn’t unscrew any further!

Then you are at the bottom! Whew, everything levels out. You are still moving faster than the speed of light and you are still being jerked from side to side but you know the ‘ride’ is almost over! There is hope! Whew!

That’s how I felt the first time I ever rode the Scream Machine at Six Flags Over Georgia. I’m sure everyone has experienced their own Scream Machine in their own town and hopefully my description evoked the same sensational memories I have.

I give you this experience as an example of what has happened in the real estate industry. We’ve heard the cha-chunk, we’ve experienced the ringing clink-clank and we’ve endured the precipitous fall to our inevitable doom!

But now we are in the jerky part of the ride. It’s still a little scary, we have some more hills to climb and fall from and we have a few more harrowing hair pin turns to endure, but the end is near.

If you are an investor you should be prepared. Get ready so that when the cart pulls into the station you can hit the ground running. There are new rules and if you can figure out what they are and prepare yourself to operate in the new environment the opportunity will abound.

Stay tuned for what the new rules are, changes are coming fast and furious again. But this time it will be for the good.

Michael Gross is the President of Dividend America Mortgage and has been in real estate for over 20 years. He has been a builder, a Realtor, an appraiser, and currently he is a lender and an active real estate investor. He uses all of his experience and knowledge to show individuals how to properly use a mortgage as a tool to help create greater wealth through real estate investing. For more information on residential and small commercial loans please call 770-350-7373 or email mgross@dividendamerica.com

Learn What Banks Want

Banks are crumbling all around us. The Royal Bank of Scotland is receiving a $41 billion dollar bailout.... That's Billion with a capital 'B'! The EU is crumbling, the Bank of Japan needs more liquidity and CitGroup is trying to divide itself again.

With all these problems with banks, how does anyone get a loan. It's simple, there are three things that banks are looking at right now. Provide the bank with these things and the underwriter will say yes to your loan.


If you are tired of chasing dollars, pay heed to this advise and you'll get the loan you need.

1.) Decent Credit: You don't have to have perfect credit, but you do need decent credit. If you have some problems you need to begin to make the effort to solve them. Showing the bank you are concerned about your credit and doing what it takes to set things right will go a long way!

2.) Low LTV: LTV means Loan To Value. The banks want security and they want you to invest in your property. You can get a loan if you have some down payment. In cases where you are needing a refinance, show the bank you are willing to leave some equity in the home and you'll be the golden child! Approval here I come!

3.) Income!: How are you going to pay the loan back? The bank wants the answer to this question. They calculate all of your monthly debt payments (including the mortgage you are applying for) and divide by your income. They want to see a debt to income ratio of 40% or less.

Now there are some compensating factors. Having a lot of money in the bank as a reserve will help and showing continuing declining balances on revolving debt over a period of months and big bonus. The bottom line is that banks are making loans, you just have adjust to the new lending realities.

Michael Gross is the President of Dividend America Mortgage. Dividend America provides all types of loans to all kinds of people in every type of situation. Visit http://www.dividendamerica.com/ or email Michael with your questions. mgross@dividendamerica.com or call 770-350-7373.

Its the Economy Stupid

After a fairly frustrating week of hyper active rate fluctuations I collapsed on Saturday, tired, worried and spent. Interest rates are at their lowest level in years yet nobody is willing to pull the trigger on a refi to lower their rate.

Housing prices are at their lowest level in years and no one is willing to make an offer to buy. Rents are rising, foreclosures are rising and the only good news is gas prices are falling. So what's the problem. It's this economy!

I remember talking about this day way back in December 2007. Back then I said we were in a recession and back then everyone, including my wife, just about clobbered me saying I didn't know what I was talking about.

But as it turns out, this stupid hick with a high school education from the southside of Atlanta was right! http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/US-Q3-GDP-down-05/story.aspx?guid=%7B282E197A%2DAE1C%2D47AE%2DB0EB%2D7C9F6C8C951F%7D
As reported on MarketWatch.com, a division of The Wall Street Journal; " Economists now say that a recession began December 2007..." Boo-ya! Sorry for the glee, but I love it when I'm right.

So why my glee? Not just because I'm right, but because business is cyclical. Once business and government realizes and admits that there is a problem, solutions begin to happen. We've been through a tough year and may have a little longer to go, but ultimately our economy will turn around.

Between now and the summer of 2009 we will hit true bottom. After that the economy should begin a slow rise out of the doldrums. We should remember our history. Other than The Great Depressiona, no other ecomomic downturn has lasted more than a couple of years including the huge recession at the end of the Carter administration.

So after some thoughtful introspection I've come to a realization. It's the economy stupid, that's why business is slow and that's why people make some of the poor economic decisions they make. But the smart players, the ones who don't let fear guide their decisions, will be happy that they refinanced their homes and made offers and bought new property for their portfolios during these scary times.

Michael Gross is the President of Dividend America Mortgage and has been in real estate for over 20 years. He has been a builder, a Realtor, an appraiser, and currently he is a lender and an active real estate investor. He uses all of his experience and knowledge to show individuals how to properly use a mortgage as a tool to help create greater wealth through real estate investing. For more information on residential and small commercial loans please call 770-350-7373 or email mgross@dividendamerica.com

Being Short Ain't So Bad

Being short can be tough. You can't see over things and in large crowds. You need someone to let you sit on their shoulders if you want to watch the parade. It's a tough life being short! Unless you're this kind of short...

I've been a traditionalist most of my real estate investor life. I find foreclosed listings, make a low offer and dicker-n-bicker until I get what I want or until I'm forced to move on. But lately a new strategy has caught my eye and some folks that may be way brighter than me have got me to thinkin'! .....hmmmm.....

There are many ways to purcahse properties at a discount. One way is the short sale process. If you are not familiar with short sales, you need to get educated. A short sale could be an additional strategy you use to locate opportunities.

Remember that historically the real profits in real estate are generated at the purcahse. Then more profits are generated over time. You should also deploy as many strategies as possible to locate properties that you can purchase at a huge discount.

One of those strategies should be the short sale strategy. So what is a short sale? Simply put, a short sale is when you, the investor, get a lender to agree to take a payoff that is less than the what is currently owed on the property.

Now there is a process and you must understand the steps in the process in order to be successful. I suggest investing in a course about the process. They should give you the contracts and scripts you need to make deals happen.

You can find courses at most real estate investor associations. Some real estate schools even offer courses on how to be successful in this lucrative field. So in this case, if you are a real estate investor, being short ain't so bad!

Michael Gross is the President of Dividend America Mortgage and has been in real estate for over 20 years. He has been a builder, a Realtor, an appraiser, and currently he is a lender and an active real estate investor. He uses all of his experience and knowledge to show individuals how to properly use a mortgage as a tool to help create greater wealth through real estate investing. For more information on residential and small commercial loans please call 770-350-7373 or email mgross@dividendamerica.com

Spice up Your Investing

As the Spice Girls so aptly wrote in their song .....So tell me what'cha want, what'cha really, really want. I wanna, I wanna, I wanna ...... I tell you what I want! I want some sense and sensibility to be put back in the markets!

And, I finally think that is going to happen. In my BrainsNotIncluded blog (http://www.brainsnotincluded.com/) I've railed against the way that the Feds and the Sec. Tres. have handled this crisis. But I think what they have been trying to do is finally taking hold.

Secretary Paulson threatened the banks to 'apply for and recieve' the government infusion of $250 billion of the American people's money and then forced them to start lending it to each other. This seems to be loosening things up.

With the Feds in charge of Fannie and Freddie and with some sensibility is coming back into their underwriting guidelines, credit markets are becoming unstuck.

So what does this mean for you and I, the real estate investor and professional. Here's what it means, 100% programs have come back. Now people with a 620 credit score can get 100% financing again. It comes in the form of a 90% first mortgage and 5% second mortgage.

So how can this be done? It's part of an affordable housing program and since the first mortgage has MI on it, the lenders feels safe. Now this loan is for the purchase of a primary residence, so how does it help investors. Simple, it allows us to start acting as dealers again.

So here is what I want! I want some smart investors to get out there and start buying again. I want some deals myself. If you can't buy because you don't have the money then give me a call and let's do a deal together. I have the money players and i can bring it to the table.

I want people aren't greedy, who want to share the wealth and who want to grow together. I want people that can do short sales, that understand the bird dog concept and that will stay away from the risky areas of town. I want someone that understands the suburban markets and the starter homes.

Are you what I want? Are you what I'm really, really, really lookin' for. If so, respond to this post and let's talk!

Michael Gross is the President of Dividend America Mortgage and has been in real estate for over 20 years. He has been a builder, a Realtor, an appraiser, and currently he is a lender and an active real estate investor. He uses all of his experience and knowledge to show individuals how to properly use a mortgage as a tool to help create greater wealth through real estate investing. For more information on residential and small commercial loans please call 770-350-7373 or email mgross@dividendamerica.com

No Closing Cost Loans – The Truth

It is 3:00 AM Eastern Standard Time and I’m wide awake. I can’t stop thinking about that ad. It keeps rolling through my mind and I can’t stop it. You know the one….

‘Don’t pay closing costs. Don’t give those pimps your money. We’ll close your loan for free, No Closing Costs! Then we’ll manage your loan for you. We’ll sit back, watch the market and the when the time is right, we’ll do it all over again. It’s the biggest no-brainer in the history of man!’

Well, he’s right. It is a no-brainer! It’s a no-brainer for many reasons, but let me point out a few of the biggest reasons why.

No-Brainer #1:
What bank, mortgage company, lender or broker do you know that works for free? I can’t think of one. You are paying for that loan somewhere.

It is usually in the form of a higher interest rate. Even though the ad says they don’t raise the rate, check it out. Get their GFE (notice I didn’t say their rate quote, get a valid Good Faith Estimate) and compare it to someone that is charging you closing costs.

There WILL be a rate difference of between 0.250% and 0.500%. That equates to a lot of money over the next 7-10 years, probably much more than you would have paid if you would have just rolled the closing costs into the refinance loan amount and got the lowest rate.

Think about it this way. If the closing cost equated to $4,500 but you take a no closing cost loan with a payment that is just $50 per month more and you stay in the home 10 years then you just paid $6,000 for your closing cost. Does that make any sense at all? Now imagine the payment is $100 per month higher, that's $12,000 for closing costs that should have cost you $4,500.

No-Brainer #2:
If you are purchasing a home don’t do a No Closing Cost loan with any lender. There is no need to take a higher rate. In this buyers market most sellers are willing to pay your closing costs for you! Now that is the REAL No Closing Cost Loan.

No-Brainer #3:
Manage your mortgage for you? What kind of lunacy is this? Sure the mortgage is a financial tool, but its not a mutual fund or a stock portfolio. It is DEBT!

Who knows how to manage debt? Well, almost everybody with any since knows how to manage debt. If you think you don’t then here’s a true FREEBIE for you! I’m not going to charge you a dime for this little gem. Ready?.....

You manage debt by paying it off! And in this economy you pay it off as quickly as possible! You can’t get the return in the stock market equal to getting the lowest rate possible on all of your consolidated debt and then starting a 25, 20, 15 or (if you can handle it) a 10 year repayment schedule.

As I said, I can go on and on. The No Closing Cost loan is a huge no-brainer. For the lender it’s a huge no-brainer because they actually make MORE money off your loan because they can hide what they actually make in the loan. They never tell you how much money they are really making on your loan.

It should be a huge no-brainer to most of the public because it makes no financial sense at all. The only reason this type of loan exists is for those who plan to be in their home for 3-4 years at a maximum. For longer term stays you should look at low- and full-closing cost loans.

So don’t get tricked by fancy ads put out by slick operators. You don’t need a debt manager or a mortgage manager. Instinctively you already know what to do. Get the lowest rate with the lowest payment and then eliminate the debt as quickly as possible!
That’s the BIGGEST no-brainer in the history of the Universe!

Michael Gross is the President of Dividend America Mortgage and has been in real estate for over 20 years. He has been a builder, a Realtor, an appraiser, and currently he is a lender and an active real estate investor. He uses all of his experience and knowledge to show individuals how to properly use a mortgage as a tool to help create greater wealth through real estate investing. For more information on residential and small commercial loans please call 770-350-7373 or email mgross@dividendamerica.com

Ladies and Gentlemen, Elvis has Left the Building

Do you remember the old saying; 'Ladies and gentlemen, Elvis has left the building!' The reason that the saying exists is because after an Elvis concert the concert hall would stay packed and people would not leave. They would linger, not knowing what to do next. Would he come back, was it all over, they had no ability to make a decision.

Well, a similar thing has happened in the stock market and in the credit markets and everybody is milling around and wondering what to do. Wonder no more, some important changes are happening and you need to take advantage of them.

The recent take over of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the failure of Lehman Brothers and even the lifeline thrown to AIG have a positive side. Even though our retirement accounts and stock portfolios are taking a beating, the stock market and bond market are finally working in unison.

Traditionally, when the price of stocks decline it causes the price of bonds to increase. This ying and yang of the financial world is caused by a desire by investor to find safe investments when the economy goes bad. Traditionally the fixed income Treasury Bond market has been the safe haven. But recent ‘structural’ problems related to the credit crisis had left investor with no place to hide.

Enter the Feds! The take over of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac helped to right the markets. The take over caused a reduction in the spreads between the yields on Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS) and the Treasury Bonds. The actions by the government sent a clear message that our government would support our banking system and this caused the spreads to decrease to normal levels. Now this gobblee-gook doesn’t mean a whole lot too many people and explaining why this is important could take a whole day. We’re not here for an economics lesson so suffice to say that this is how the markets are supposed to work.

Many investors seeing that the markets are now working properly have begun to pour their dollars into the safety of government debt…..i.e. Treasury Bonds. As more and more investors purchase these bonds the price of the bond increases and as the price of the bond increases its yield decreases! Guess what happens to interest rates? That’s right, interest rates follow the yield. So as the yield decrease so do the interest rates.

This structural change in the market place has provided another great opportunity for home owners. Right now interest rates are below 5.5% - today they are as low as 5.25% on a 30-Year Fixed!(this is for a primary residence, of course the interest rates on an investment property would be slightly higher.) We don’t know how long this will last. Any sign of inflation, a weakening dollar or oil climbing above $110 per barrel could make all this opportunity melt away like butter in hot iron skillet.

If you know of any one looking to buy or who needs to refinance, they need to do it now. Don’t wait, get moving or get them moving before it’s to late. Elvis has left the building and the entertainment hall is in turmoil.

Don't look back and regret not making a decision. The exit signs are well lit. You can be the one outside standing beside Elvis' bus getting the autograph and adding value to your day just by being one of the first to make a decision.

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to give me a call or to shoot me an email. I am here to serve.

Michael Gross is the President of Dividend America Mortgage and has been in real estate for over 20 years. He has been a builder, a Realtor, an appraiser, and currently he is a lender and an active real estate investor. He uses all of his experience and knowledge to show individuals how to properly use a mortgage as a tool to help create greater wealth through real estate investing. For more information on residential and small commercial loans please call him at 770-350-7373 or via email at mgross@dividendamerica.com

Playing The Real Estate Game - The Offer Phase

Today I want to talk about making offers. I often think I should devise a game to teach people how to make offers. I'm not talking about negotiating, just making a plan old, vanilla, down and dirty offer.

Real estate can be a trying business at times. Especially at times like these. With tons of foreclosures on the markets and agents fielding calls from every nare-do-well on the block asking inane questions and basically wasting their time, it's tough to get anyone to accept your REAL offer to purchase a property.

Right now I'm playing the real estate game in the offer phase in hopes that I'll get to up the stakes and get into the negotiation phase. But first I have to get somone to take me seriously.

I've had several conversations with 'duty' agents who promise to call me back but the promise is never kept. I call the office to try and locate the listing agent but they will not accept any calls and will only deal with other licensed agents. Highly FRUSTRATING!

So what do we do? We play the game, and trust me, it is a game. Here's how the game works. Sometimes you are just dealing with inept agents or agencies that make their money off maintaining the listing. They can care less if the property sells, they make a fee to maintain the property.

Other times you are dealing with agents that see opportunity in a particular piece of real estate and they want to squelch offers on the property so that they can buy it for themselves at a future date. Unethical? You bet! Do they care, NO!

So it's a game and I understand the rules. So here's what I do. First, I'm tenacious! I bully, cajole, call-call-call and then call again. I'm relentless, I've got nothing better to do all day than to try and get my offer presented on this property.

I'm calling to gather information. I want to see the inside, I want to know the taxes, the MLS or FMLS number. I want details.

Once I've gathered the details, I call MY agent. I always teach that investors should use an agent. You should have a Team of Trusted Advisers and high on the team list should be a Realtor. Notice I said a Realtor, not just a licensed agent.

So the rules that the listing agent gave me were that they only deal with agents. Fine, I've got one! And she's tenacious just like me! If she feels like I'm offering to high, she gives me a cross look and shakes her head. Okay then, what? Lower! How low? Well, how about 50% of the asking price! LOL You go girl!

I'm playing the game. Now instead of being frustrated, I'm the one doing the frustrating. I'm winning, offers are being accepted. I'm playing the offer phase! When I win this phase of the game its on to the next phase, The Negotiation Phase. Stay tuned........

Michael Gross is the President of Dividend America Mortgage and has been in real estate for over 20 years. He has been a builder, a Realtor, an appraiser, and currently he is a lender and an active real estate investor. He uses all of his experience and knowledge to show individuals how to properly use a mortgage as a tool to help create greater wealth through real estate investing. For more information on residential and small commercial loans please call 770-350-7373 or email mgross@dividendamerica.com

Real Estate And Your IRA

More and more people are becoming frustrated with the lack of growth of their IRA and 401K investments. The stock market isn't doing well and niether is the economy but there is one growth opportunity out there that many are turning to .... real estate.

With the proliferation of foreclosures, homes can be purchased relatively cheap and in many cases can be rented for positive cash flow. The opportunity to purchase an investment at a discount and then have someone (a renter) pay for that investment for you is a huge draw in the current economic environment.

A large portion of the American investing public does not know that the IRA can be used to purchase real estate as an investment. Others think that this is a tricky scheme. The truth is that the IRS code allows for this type of investment through what is referred to as a Self-Directed IRA.

A Self-Directed IRA is managed by a custodian and the funds from the IRA can be used as a down payment to purchase an investment property. The funds can be used for other real estate related ventures like lending to an LLC or consortium where the loan is secured by real estate or a business. The funds can even be used to purchase mortgage notes.

The majority of investors use their IRA as a down payment to purchase a home. This helps them to leverage a $50,000 IRA to purchase $100,000+ property. Usually the benefits include positive cash flow of $150 to $200 per months as well as the ability to increase the value of the money invested in a relatively short period of time.

One scenario goes like this. The investor invest $50,000 as a down payment to purchase a $125,000 property. The property pays a return of $200 per month or $2,400 per year. That's a 4.8% return on the investment. The property increases in value on average 5% per year. The payments made by the renter provide the positive cash flow and reduces the balance owed on the mortgage. At some point the property is sold. If the property was held for 5 year then the estimated sales price would be $160,000 and the existing balance on the mortgage would be around $71,200.

Let's do the math. The investor's input was $50,000. He sold the property for 160,000. He owes 71,200 plus he has to recoup his original $50K. The gross profit is 38,800, plus the $2,400 per year for five years ($12,000) is $50,800. Subtract approximately 7% of the sale price for transaction expenses and the gross profit on the transaction is $39,600. The bottom line is the investor, using his IRA, has turned $50,000 into approximately $89,600. That's a 55.8% return over the 5 year period. Not bad!

To read more about IRA investing visit my favorite financial information site, marketwatch.com. Click this link: http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/housing-market-beckons-more-invest/story.aspx?guid=%7B4740F69A%2D1CDE%2D4825%2D9122%2D7D7528968B61%7D

IMPORTANT NOTE: A special type of financing is needed when you use your IRA to invest in real estate. But, you're in luck because I know exactly what you need and I can connect you with the people that can get it done for you! Just email me or give me a call.

Michael Gross is the President of Dividend America Mortgage and has been in real estate for over 20 years. He has been a builder, a Realtor, an appraiser, and currently he is a lender and an active real estate investor. He uses all of his experience and knowledge to show individuals how to properly use a mortgage as a tool to help create greater wealth through real estate investing. For more information on residential and small commercial loans please call 770-350-7373 or email mgross@dividendamerica.com

Credit Crunch! Making It Big In A Tight Market

There is one overwhelming truth about real estate. No matter how many times you hear the ‘no money down, no credit needed’ mantra, it takes money and credit to make it big in real estate. For those investors that have a buy and hold strategy and/or a lease purchase strategy, now is the time to make a move. If you look around you will find that those investors that make the most money and eventually become wealthy are those that buy and control real estate. Look at many of the teachers and gurus of our day and you will see that the truth of their success and wealth belie the facts they tout in their seminars, books, CDs and DVDs. They made their money and are currently wealthy because they bought and or currently buy and control real estate.

In the heady, fast paced market of the recent past where Hard Money and Private Money lenders handed out loans like candy and conventional lenders would provide 100% purchase financing to any human being that could fog a mirror, being a buy and hold specialist was a risky game. No one was renting because everybody could buy. Rents were declining and making a positive cash flow on property was a zero sum game. However the past 90 days have changed the game! It’s a buyer’s market now. The average home sits on the market for 120 days or more, and the glut of foreclosures on the market are dragging home prices down. Add to these facts the glaring reality that almost 50% of people that qualified for a home 90 days ago don’t qualify today and you’ll see that being a quick-turn specialist with an all flip strategy is a dangerous business model.

Hard Money lenders have taken huge losses and are holding large portfolios of homes with rehab projects that are half finished. Non-performing loan portfolios are causing conventional lenders to close their doors daily and large national companies are going bankrupt. The 100% loans of the past have virtually disappeared. There is a true Credit Crunch! And it is here right now!

So how does an investor stay ahead of the curve? You must know the rules and you must be informed about what is going on in the market. Rule one is to know your credit rating and credit worthiness. It is not enough any more to just have a good score, you must have decent scores and a little jingle in your pocket. Cash is king, whether that’s money in savings or your willingness to leave equity in the property. In today’s lending environment, whether the lender is a traditional lender or an alternative money supplier, they want to know that you have the ability to repay the loan or that they have equity in the property if you decide to bail out. Rule two is simple. You must be willing to buy and control property for the long-term. Lenders of all types want to know that you aren’t a quick-turn artist looking for the fast buck. You must be willing to show that you understand that real wealth in real estate is generated over the time and that you have a plan to create a more traditional business. Rule three; show the lender that you have multiple strategies and that all will be successful.

Hard money lenders want to know that you have qualified for conventional financing first so that they can be taken out when the rehab is complete. Furthermore, the conventional lender wants to know that you will own the property for at least a year before you liquidate it. Lease purchase strategies are the best for this market. With a combination of financing from Non-Traditional and Traditional lenders investors can receive some money now from a cash-out finance and some money later from the tenant buyer when they purchase the home. Real cash-flow can be created if investors are willing to hold and control real estate and eschew the quick-turn philosophy. Call and speak with competent professionals and use lenders that have coordinated relationships. You want your conventional lender and your private lenders to work together and have a solid business relationship, communication is the key. Staying ahead of the lending curve in this era of the Credit Crunch is not difficult. It just takes the correct strategy and the right professionals on your team.