Two Legs of the Table in Place…

Falling prices and rising rents in some areas mean good news for real estate investors ready to buy property.  This also means short-term resale prospects are brightening, especially if the purchase price is low enough. 
 
But investment capital is still scarce.  Unless you’re Warren Buffet, there is a finite amount in your mattress stuffed with cash, and you need other people’s money to do additional deals.
 
Even if you have good credit, cash strapped and failing banks are unlikely to look at your deal twice, especially if you are a full-time investor.
 
With one in five homeowners underwater (according to Zillow), owner financing can be tricky to pull-off.  Sellers with equity are stressed and skeptical, many would rather take their market discount, cash out and be done with it.
 
The majority of hard money lenders are done licking their wounds, and we are starting to see a resurgence of expensive money coming into circulation.  Well, at least it’s available…
 
Everybody is looking for the golden goose: “long-term” private money.  By “long-term,” I mean longer than a rehab and cash out, maybe a year or two, so you can hold until everyone can actually make a decent profit on the deal.
 
But how in demand are these rare birds?  In this economy, people are clutching onto whatever they have for dear life, fearing the worst.  Retirement accounts and home equity are shrinking.  If you have investment money in spite of all this, you can dawdle and cherry-pick your way through countless prospects.
 
Conditions are improving, but for now just a word of caution to the dreamer investor who thinks their deal will turn private money heads.  Get in line, and you better have a honey.