2. Explore creative financing options. During the home loan pre-approval process, ask about ways to get creative with your financing. Low down payment options, first and second mortgage combinations and first time buyer programs might help you afford more funding. Many lenders are now offering interest-only home mortgages; just make sure you thoroughly evaluate the terms for this type of home loan. Down payment grants are also available in some instances and might be worth investigating or discussing with your realtor.

3. Sell your existing home first. Although selling your existing home before finding new real estate to buy can be a little nerve wracking, any inconvenience will be offset by your ability to make an offer with cash in hand. Contingent purchases are not the best when negotiating to buy a home. Having your financing in order and your bags packed will give you the advantage in a competitive market.

4. Look for vacant real estate. Perhaps a sellers job has transferred him out of the area. Or maybe a family purchased a new home before putting their existing one on the market. In any case, a vacant home could be just the deal for a savvy home buyer, so have your realtor look for vacant property in your preferred neighborhoods. And keep in mind, the longer a house stays empty, the greater your negotiating power will be.

5. Consider cosmetic fixers. If youre handy with a paintbrush, a toolset and gardening equipment, consider buying real estate in need of cosmetic fixing. Property that lacks curb appeal needs minor handiwork or the yard overhauled could end up being the home of your dreams for a price you can afford. You just need to look beyond the ho-hum to see the potential of a cosmetic fixer.

6. Buy a home thats a major remodel project. If you want to live on Lake Washington, but cant afford a $2M home mortgage, consider buying a dilapidated cottage on a fabulous lot with western exposure. In time youll need to gut the existing home and build from the ground up or contract significant home improvements. But in the end your property value will skyrocket. And if your carpentry and other construction skills are well-developed, you can save even more and accrue sweat equity during your remodel by doing much of the work yourself.

7. Dont discount bank foreclosures. One persons loss could be your gain if you buy real estate in foreclosure. Although the search for a decent foreclosure may take a while, your realtor should be able help. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (http://www.hud.gov/) can be an excellent resource for foreclosed properties. Because HUD houses are sold at market value, your best bet will be homes that need cosmetic work or even major repair.

8. Land with a manufactured home. Sometimes, to buy a home on a budget, you need to look beyond convention. Even if your wish is to buy real estate, you may have to settle for a piece of property in an outlying area with a mobile or manufactured home. Discuss this option with your real estate agent and try to keep an open mind about this possibility.

9. An older, smaller home. Older homes are typically priced much less than newer construction and dont tend to create buyer bidding wars. If you can enjoy life in an older and smaller home in a neighborhood or suburb off the beaten path, this could be your ticket to real estate ownership.

10. The cheapest house in the best neighborhood. You have your heart set on a specific – and expensive – neighborhood. Maybe its the schools that youre interested in. Or perhaps its the close proximity to downtown or the waterfront. In any case, a budget-savvy buyer will look for the least expensive home for sale in the neighborhood. If youre not in a hurry, you can even play the waiting game to see what properties come on the market. Your real estate agent can be a real asset in this case by investigating potential sellers.

Buying real estate without breaking your budget will require research and compromise. On moving day, however, youll have the satisfaction of knowing that your homework paid off!
ZipRealty, Inc. ZipRealty provides www.ziprealty.comhome buyers and sellers with an innovative real estate solution. By using the efficiencies of the Internet, ZipRealty has streamlined the real estate process and is able to pass significant savings on to home buyers and sellers.br
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It may not seem obvious to many people, but the strategies involved in real estate investing and stock market investing are different from each other. Many people, disenchanted with the lackluster performance of their stock portfolio, first become interested in real estate investing after someone they know makes a large sum of money in real estate in a relatively short time.
If that sounds like YOU, be warned: investing in real estate in the hopes that the market will increase rapidly and steadily is, and always has been, a risky strategy, and can cause severe difficulty if you guess wrong about a piece of property–or if the entire real estate market begins to collapse, as has happened many times in the past.
If you can afford to buy real estate and hold on to it for five to fifteen years, you will nearly always realize a substantial profit. If you are savvy enough to buy a significantly discounted piece of property and then sell it within a year, you’ll make money, too. But buying an investment property at its fair market value that only gives you a break-even cash flow (or worse yet, loses money every month) can sink you in a relatively short time if you don’t have the wherewithal to feed it until you CAN make money on it.
It’s like riding a horse. If you don’t know how to ride, you’d better take some lessons before you sign up for a rodeo! The results could be disastrous if you make a mistake. And if you haven’t done your homework, you WILL make a mistake. The wrong real estate investment could cause not just financial hardship, but also financial ruin.
So know your real estate market, inside and out. Know where it is in its overall cycle, because all markets, no matter how hot, have ups and downs within the overall trend. There are always bargains available, regardless of the market. Watch your local housing market so you know how much rental income to expect and if there is a vacancy glut on the market. Two years ago you could buy an apartment building in Las Vegas for zero down because investors couldn’t rent the apartments. Some investors who could afford to make up the negative cash flow each month made a killing in appreciation. Investors with financing or cash who transformed the apartments into condominiums made even more money.
Finding the lowest-priced financing also helps make the most return on your investment. Unlike stock investing, you need strong credit to use other people’s money to finance investment property.
Even if you’re frustrated by a lackluster stock market, don’t expect to make a short-term killing in real estate to make up for it. In both cases, one of the best strategies is to buy excellent examples–and then hang on for awhile. It’s also a good strategy to maintain a cash reserve, especially when it comes to real estate. That way, even if the market heads south, you won’t find yourself being overwhelmed while you wait for the inevitable rebound in prices.
Real estate investing can carry more significant consequences than stock market investing if you guess wrong, since there’s generally a great deal more money involved. So take it easy, do your homework, and don’t rush into anything until you’ve learned as much as you can about how to become a prudent real estate investor.
Copyright ? Jeanette J. Fisher
Jeanette Fisher teaches beginning real estate investors how to find bargains, finance multiple properties, fix with designer touches for less money, and sell houses for top dollar. FREE “Interior Design Psychology for Selling Houses” ebook at http://www.doghousetodollhousefordollars.com

While real estate values have pretty much bottomed out it seems as though the insurance industry has not gotten the word.There is not an insurance company out there that is offering rebates on your house insurance for this year.It is not very easy to find cheap house insurance either.There are a number of things that you can do to make your premium for house insurance a little easier to stomach, but every single company that offers house insurance will not give you a discount unless you come right out and ask for it.It is the same thing every year.When the new house insurance bill comes it has at least a ten percent increase on it even though you never made a claim.The only way to see if you are getting the best deal is to call around and get quotes to see if you can find cheap house insurance.

Esurance.com, Insure.com and Insureweb.com are all excellent aggregate sites that allow you to compare insurance quotes on auto, life, home, boat or business needs.To find cheap house insurance you need some basic information to enter into the quote systems.Knowing which choices affect your premium will help you get the lowest possible quotes from the various aggregate sites.The first thing you need is your property address or the address of the property that you are looking at buying.This will be the full street address including zip code.Areas are rated based on geocoding and what the actuarial tables say is the likelihood of a claim being made in a certain area.

The next amount of information you need for your quote is what kind of property you are looking to insure.Is it a detached single family residence, co-operative, town home, multi family dwelling, or a condominium with either four or less floors or more than four floors?Condo buyers note that the average premium is twenty percent higher on buildings with more than four floors.Your next drop down choice on the quote will be how many smokers live on the property.Keep in mind that you need to be honest because the insurance company can deny your claim for fire damage if you do not disclose smokers when you buy your policy.

Another factor that will drive your premium up is whether you have dogs.In most cases, this actually has no effect at all, but if you keep any kind of the following breeds expect your premium to be about twenty percent higher (liability) – German Shepherd, Doberman, Rottweiler, Chow, Wolf Hybrid or any mix of these.The next questions are typical real estate questions – square footage, year house was built, number of bedrooms, number of baths, garage and type of garage, what kind of basement and what percentage is finished.You will also get questions on the type of home heating (oil heat is a greater liability due to the storage tanks necessary).

What kind of roof and exterior walls all affect your premium as well as how close to a fire hydrant the home is and how far away from the nearest fire station is the property.

Click here for information on House Insurance Quotes and getting the lowest cost House Insurance Coverage.