http://www.stlagent.com/buy/ St. Louis Resources for Home Buyers Thu, 11 Jun 2026 13:49:26 +0000 en-us http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?The-Changes-to-the-Truth-in-Lending-Act-44 The Truth in Lending Act, commonly referred to as "TILA," was originally enacted in 1968 based upon a Congressional finding that economic stabilization would be enhanced and competition between financial institutions and other lenders engaging in the extension of consumer credit would be strengthened by borrowers' informed use of credit. Congress specifically found that the informed use of credit arises from the consumers' awareness of the cost of that credit. Mon, 08 Mar 2010 02:09:00 +0000 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?The-Changes-to-the-Truth-in-Lending-Act-44 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Photovoltaic-Shingles-Are-Great-For-New-Construction-43 Solar power is rapidly becoming the alternative energy choice for a lot of people and many new products have been launched to make adding one of these systems easier and better looking on your house. Fri, 26 Feb 2010 22:03:00 +0000 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Photovoltaic-Shingles-Are-Great-For-New-Construction-43 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Should-You-Rent-or-Buy-42 Despite what a lot of Real Estate Agents may tell you, buying a home isn't the right decision for everyone. And since a home will probably be the most expensive thing you will ever buy, it should also be a decision you don't take lightly. Wed, 13 Jan 2010 11:47:00 +0000 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Should-You-Rent-or-Buy-42 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Should-You-Buy-a-Home-on-Your-Own-or-Use-an-Agent-41 Many buyers ask if they can buy a house on our own or if they need to use a Real Estate Agent. The answer is yes, you can do it on your own. The real question may be "do you really want to do it on our own?" Tue, 12 Jan 2010 23:47:00 +0000 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Should-You-Buy-a-Home-on-Your-Own-or-Use-an-Agent-41 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Old-vs.-New-Should-You-Buy-a-New-Construction-Home-or-an-Older-Home-40 Some people just know whether they prefer a brand new home or an elegant older home. But in case you're undecided, here are some points to consider. Tue, 12 Jan 2010 10:33:00 +0000 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Old-vs.-New-Should-You-Buy-a-New-Construction-Home-or-an-Older-Home-40 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Why-You-Should-Still-Invest-in-Real-Estate-38 If last year wasn't what you had hoped, planned, or dreamed now's the time to make a fresh start. Here is a main reason why now is still the best time in your lifetime to start learning the ropes of the fantastic business of Real Estate Investing. Tue, 05 Jan 2010 18:39:00 +0000 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Why-You-Should-Still-Invest-in-Real-Estate-38 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Home-Building-Recovery-Predicted-For-2010-35 The recession has put quite a damper on new home construction industry. But it appears that economics are preaching a new message -- recovery in 2010. Thu, 31 Dec 2009 22:27:00 +0000 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Home-Building-Recovery-Predicted-For-2010-35 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Home-Loans---Use-a-Mortgage-Lender-Or-Broker-36 Some people just have a preference based on experience and others need to research as to whether they want to use a broker or lender. There are some distinct differences between the two, and it is always good to be informed before you buy. Before subprime lending bit the dust, it used to be a greater advantage to use a mortgage broker. Thu, 31 Dec 2009 18:39:00 +0000 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Home-Loans---Use-a-Mortgage-Lender-Or-Broker-36 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Baby-Boomer-House-Plans-33 Baby Boomers make up a huge sector of the population when it comes to home buyers and those who are looking to build a home. Wed, 30 Dec 2009 21:31:00 +0000 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Baby-Boomer-House-Plans-33 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Energy-Efficient-Windows-For-Your-New-Home-Construction-34 Of particular importance in your effort to build an environmentally-friendly home is the windows that you will choose. Wed, 30 Dec 2009 10:15:00 +0000 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Energy-Efficient-Windows-For-Your-New-Home-Construction-34 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Free-Home-Buying-Guide-23 In today's ever-changing real estate market, St. Louis home buyers require more tools and resources to find their dream home than previous home buyer's needed. Wed, 01 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Free-Home-Buying-Guide-23 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Luxury-Home-Plans-101-37 Luxurious homes with alluring amenities are more attainable than you think. You don't have to be a wealthy celebrity or billionaire mogul to live in a luxury home. Customized floor plans make it possible to live your dream life without breaking the bank. Thu, 30 Oct 2008 19:43:00 +0000 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Luxury-Home-Plans-101-37 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Buying-a-Home-After-a-Foreclosure-39 Buying a home after a foreclosure is not an impossible task. With some careful planning and some savvy shopping, you can secure a mortgage loan even with a foreclosure in your credit history. Mon, 23 Jun 2008 06:48:00 +0000 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Buying-a-Home-After-a-Foreclosure-39 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Real-Estate-Investing-101-3 There are many great books and web sites devoted to real estate investing, but most of them concentrate on one specific area of investing. It's often hard to find a general description of real estate investing, one that lists the various real estate investing strategies and how to get started. That's what this article will set out to do. Wed, 11 Jul 2007 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Real-Estate-Investing-101-3 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Residential-Investing-with-a-Lease-Purchase-15 One of the most efficient ways to invest in residential real estate is to do a lease/purchase. The reason a lease/purchase is so effective is because it provides a win-win situation for both the seller/landlord and the buyer/tenant. For the owner, it provides a potential buyer and a tenant that will be willing to take care of the home. For the buyer, it provides the right to purchase the home for a fixed price, and time to save money and improve their credit. Sun, 03 Jun 2007 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Residential-Investing-with-a-Lease-Purchase-15 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?How-to-Build-a-Profitable-Property-Portfolio-16 As more and more of us look for better ways to secure our financial future than investing into stocks and shares or relying on our government to provide for us in our old age, so interest in purchasing property as an investment asset is increasing. Sat, 12 May 2007 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?How-to-Build-a-Profitable-Property-Portfolio-16 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Seven-Reasons-to-Use-a-Real-Estate-Agent-22 Some people choose to use a real estate agent and some people choose to go it alone. One thing I have noticed over the years is that a number of seasoned buyers looking in a new city will seek out a good agent while novice buyers will frequently go it alone. Why do some people choose to work with an agent? Thu, 10 May 2007 12:36:00 +0000 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Seven-Reasons-to-Use-a-Real-Estate-Agent-22 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Diversifying-Through-Real-Estate-18 We should all diversify our investments over different asset classes. Real estate is an excellent vehicle for diversification. Real estate rental properties used to be a perfect investment for high wage earners. They were able to deduct all the losses generated by the property - and when you added up mortgage payments, property taxes and maintenance, the losses could be substantial - from their gross incomes. Thu, 12 Apr 2007 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Diversifying-Through-Real-Estate-18 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Locked-and-Loaded-My-Real-Estate-Investment-Strategy-8 There are multiple strategies for making money in real estate. You can do the no money down thing, flipping, buy and hold, and for a few lucky ones sell CD's and tapes on how to make money in Real Estate. I haven't made enough money in real estate to make an infomercial or interview people on the back of my yacht about how they used my strategy. I have accidentally found a strategy that has increased my net worth exponentially on every single property I have bought. Wed, 21 Mar 2007 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Locked-and-Loaded-My-Real-Estate-Investment-Strategy-8 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Four-Real-Estate-Investment-Tips-that-you-can-learn-from-Warren-Buffet-and-other-Stock-Investors-10 Some of the most successful stock investors ever have based their investing principals on value investing. Investors such as Benjamin Graham, Irving Kahn, and Warren Buffet, have used value investing to build vast empires of wealth. This article will show four things that real-estate investors can learn from value investing... Tue, 06 Feb 2007 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Four-Real-Estate-Investment-Tips-that-you-can-learn-from-Warren-Buffet-and-other-Stock-Investors-10 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Flip-that-house-style-real-estate-investing-4 I love those TV rehabbing shows like Flip That House. On the show people buy a house needing to be seriously updated and repaired. It's realistic to do what they show in a high dollar housing market like California to make the huge profits they usually get on that show. In a lower priced market rehabbers are looking to make $20-30,000 per house minimum. In California and on that show they are looking for $50,000-150,000 per house. Sun, 07 Jan 2007 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Flip-that-house-style-real-estate-investing-4 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Home-Foreclosures-and-Big-Profits-Just-Another-Myth-25 Everyone would like to find a way to make a lot of money without doing a lot of work. Getting rich quickly seems to be the American dream. And if you watch a lot of late night television, you might think that you have found the ticket to fast riches by investing in foreclosed homes. There are advertisements that offer to tell you the "secrets" of buying distressed property with no money down and five figure profits in as little as 48 hours. Wed, 03 Jan 2007 07:59:00 +0000 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Home-Foreclosures-and-Big-Profits-Just-Another-Myth-25 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?The-Language-of-Real-Estate-Investing-Use-the-F-Words-to-Succeed-2 If you're new to real estate investing, you probably haven't figured it out yet. But you will. It's inevitable. Stick around long enough and you'll discover that successful real estate investors have their own lingo. Yes. Their own language. And if you ever talk to these investors, most of them will quickly resort to certain "F" words to explain their success. Tue, 05 Dec 2006 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?The-Language-of-Real-Estate-Investing-Use-the-F-Words-to-Succeed-2 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?What-To-Do-When-The-Banks-Say-No-7 Is it more traumatic to be told no by a date or a bank? Actually, I 'm not sure but I can tell you I've gotten a lot of no's from one of them...I'm not saying which. For many investors the no from the banks can be a serious problem. How can one possibly do real estate investing without a lender or a large amount of money in the bank? Tue, 14 Nov 2006 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?What-To-Do-When-The-Banks-Say-No-7 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Real-Estate-Investor-Question-Rehab-and-Sell-or-Rehab-and-Keep-5 Why bother keeping property after it's rehabbed? Why not sell it after the rehab and GET PAID! Of course, the first questions that you must answer is how emergent is your need for quick cash? You can likely generate the most SHORT TERM cash by selling a freshly rehabbed house. But, you will give much of it away in taxes come next April. Tue, 31 Oct 2006 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Real-Estate-Investor-Question-Rehab-and-Sell-or-Rehab-and-Keep-5 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Is-Wholesaling-Better-Than-Rehabbing-Real-Estate-1 I look at real estate like a triangle. On one side of the triangle we have rehabs, on the next side we have rentals and on the last side we have wholesaling. I think wholesaling is the bottom side of the triangle, the foundation. That foundation is what keeps everything strong. Wholesaling is the foundation of all real estate investing in my world. Fri, 22 Sep 2006 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Is-Wholesaling-Better-Than-Rehabbing-Real-Estate-1 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Foreclosures-When-to-Buy-24 Get-rich-quick scams seem to be a dime a dozen when it comes to the business world. Real estate ventures are no exception, although if you play your cards right there is a chance to come out on top. When considering investing in a foreclosed home, be sure you know what you are up against so you get the most for your money, and ultimately, the most for your investment. Tue, 29 Aug 2006 15:00:00 +0000 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Foreclosures-When-to-Buy-24 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?How-to-profit-from-real-estate-by-rehabbing-and-retailing-6 Buying houses low and selling them high is called retailing. This is the most easily understood method of investing in real estate. It's the art of buying at a low price, often doing some repairs, and then selling at retail price and usually cashing out. A lot of money is made through this method. Some people do it part-time, turning 2 or 3 houses a year, and make more money at it than they make on their regular jobs. Others do it full-time and turn 40 to 80 houses a year with an average profit from $20,000 to $35,000 per deal. Wed, 19 Jul 2006 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?How-to-profit-from-real-estate-by-rehabbing-and-retailing-6 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?5-Rock-Solid-Real-Estate-Investment-Strategies-13 Investing in real estate is more complex than simply buying and selling homes. To help new real estate investors to decide which strategy might work for them I put together 5 rock-solid strategies. It is up to you which strategy you feel more comfortable with. Sat, 03 Jun 2006 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?5-Rock-Solid-Real-Estate-Investment-Strategies-13 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Second-Home-Investment-12 Most people know that the best way to begin building wealth is to purchase real estate. After all, real estate is one of the few investment markets that is independent from other economic trends. Regardless of recession or inflationary periods, or wild rides on the stock market, real estate provides investors with a strong, steady increase in values. Sun, 28 May 2006 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Second-Home-Investment-12 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Condo-Conversions-Do-Real-Estate-Investors-Know-The-Pitfalls-19 Condominium conversions will become much more popular as the U.S. population ages, and the number of non-traditional families continues to grow. Real estate investors stand to make significant profits, as long as they avoid common investing mistakes, and take a methodical approach to converting apartments into condominiums. Mon, 17 Apr 2006 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Condo-Conversions-Do-Real-Estate-Investors-Know-The-Pitfalls-19 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Real-Estate-Investing-Strategy-Make-Money-With-Wholesaling-17 Your exit strategy is an extremely important part of your real estate investing business. In fact, it is one of the most important parts. Sometimes investors get excited because they learn how to buy properties, they find them and they get the money lined up to purchase them. But after the purchase, the excitement dies, as they have no idea what to do with their newly owned properties. Thu, 06 Apr 2006 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Real-Estate-Investing-Strategy-Make-Money-With-Wholesaling-17 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Real-Estate----Flipping-Not-Gymnastics-But-Lots-of-Exercise-11 'Flipping', in real estate investing lingo, is nothing more than buying a property and selling it again quickly, hopefully for a healthy profit. It's not illegal, it isn't even unethical -- it's just business, and that can be done either way. Sat, 25 Mar 2006 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Real-Estate----Flipping-Not-Gymnastics-But-Lots-of-Exercise-11 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Are-you-Unsure-about-Real-Estate-as-an-Investment-Strategy-14 Financial advisors are always telling us to invest our money and save for our retirement years. The problem is everyone recommends something different. It's great if you have enough to spread around into various enterprises, but if you have to make one choice, real estate is a win-win investment choice. There are several ways to do it, so do some investigating and find the perfect property to make your retirement years turn golden. Sun, 26 Feb 2006 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Are-you-Unsure-about-Real-Estate-as-an-Investment-Strategy-14 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Real-Estate-Investment-Clubs-9 Your local real estate investment clubs or associations will educate you. It won't be book education, but useful knowledge about your local real estate market. The people there are investors, many who have gotten wealthy investing right in your town. This means you'll get meaningful and specific advice on what is working in your area, where to go for an inspector or property manager, and many other tips and based on real experience. Sat, 28 Jan 2006 00:00:00 +0000 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Real-Estate-Investment-Clubs-9 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Finding-the-Right-Home-Where-to-Begin-21 Very few things in life are as exciting--or as nerve-racking--as the search for a house. All the good and bad emotions seem to converge when the house hunting begins. But don't worry, this is a normal reaction- even for seasoned home buyers. Wed, 12 Jan 2005 22:08:00 +0000 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Finding-the-Right-Home-Where-to-Begin-21 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Why-is-Loan-Pre-Approval-Important-20 It may seem logical to find the home you want to buy first and then deal with getting financing afterwords. However you should know that you run the risk of loosing your dream home if you don't stop and take a few minutes to get prequalified in advance. Wed, 12 Jan 2005 22:08:00 +0000 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Why-is-Loan-Pre-Approval-Important-20 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Lending-Programs-for-First-Time-Buyers-26 In order to spur new home sales, the Government has created several "zero down" home purchase programs that allow qualified buyers to buy a home with absolutely no downpayment. Thu, 01 Jan 2004 23:14:00 +0000 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Lending-Programs-for-First-Time-Buyers-26 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Zero-Down-Financing-Available-27 In order to spur new home sales, the Government has created several "zero down" home purchase programs that allow qualified buyers to buy a home with absolutely no downpayment. Thu, 01 Jan 2004 23:14:00 +0000 http://www.stlagent.com/buy/a.php?Zero-Down-Financing-Available-27