Help With Investing - Selected Resources For Help With Investing

by Steve Gillman

With a job that paid $3.40 an hour, I saved $5,000. I used $3,500 of it to buy my first piece of real estate - 2 acres near where I lived. As you can guess, this was many years ago.

A few hours removing brush, and it was ready to sell. I hand-painted a sign, and two weeks later sold the land for $4,750, with $250 down, $100 per month, at 11% interest. With the capital gain, my annual return on investment was over 20%. Not bad, for my first time investing in real estate.

Creative Investing Means Solving Problems

I bought the land a little under market, because the seller needed fast cash. Problem one solved. I sold the land a little over market value because the buyers needed easy terms. Problem two solved. Creative real estate investing is about solving problems.

Radio stations and others need hill tops for their towers, but can't tie up their capital. One creative investor got options on hill top properties for a few hundred dollars, then found those who needed them, and signed long term leases. With the leases in hand, it was easy to get financing to buy the properties. He invested a few hundred dollars to create years of income.

Lumber mills need trees. A friend of mine helped solve this problem by letting a company cut trees on his small property. They paid him $4,500, and you know what? I couldn't see the difference when they were done. The property is residential, and was worth as much the day after the cut as the day before. He lived there, but a creative investor could buy property like his, sell half the trees, maybe clay or gravel too, and then re-sell the land.

What do people need? Easy terms? Cleared lots? Lumber? Better access to a piece of property? Smaller pieces of land? Condos instead of apartments? The list goes on. When you think creative real estate investing, think problem solving.

About the Author

Steve Gillman has invested real estate for years. To learn more, and to see a photo of a beautiful house he and his wife bought for $17,500, visit http://www.HousesUnderFiftyThousand.com

Yahoo! News Search Results for help investing
Yahoo! News Search Results for help investing

Important Things To Consider When Investing Rochester Homes (Turks.US)
10 Mar 2010 at 5:22am
Investing your own home today is a little bit easier. There are already a lot of mortgage lenders that can lend you the amount that will help you in buying the home that you dream of. No there are different financial lenders that can help you to have a loan that has affordable interest rates.
Pletschet: Debunking myths about retirement investing (Contra Costa Times)
12 Mar 2010 at 11:12am
As you contemplate retirement, whether it's around the corner or years away, you probably feel intimidated by a slew of retirement myths that pop up in the news or are fed by investment advisors, analysts, economists and sociologists.
How Goldman Sachs Can Help the Little Guy (New York Times)
10 Mar 2010 at 2:02pm
Ex-Goldman Sachs employees are sharing their ideas about what their old firm can do to help small businesses.
Managing Director Of Software Research Firm Reveals Top Stock Winners In The ...
12 Mar 2010 at 8:08am
67 WALL STREET, New York - March 12, 2010 - The Wall Street Transcript has just published its Business & Application Software Report offering a timely review of the sector to serious investors and industry executives. This 19 page feature contains expert industry commentary through in-depth interviews with public company CEOs, Equity Analysts and Money Managers. The full issue is available by ...
Let The Process Be Your Guide (Forbes)
12 Mar 2010 at 4:01am
Discipline is the fundamental ingredient of successful investing.
Market Trends: Objective Investing Decisions, Part 1 (Optionetics.com via Yah...
11 Mar 2010 at 10:50am
This article is targeted towards those investors who are concerned about market returns given lower risk tolerances in light of market volatility over the past few years, shorter-time horizons, or both. While many of my articles are geared towards traders with a technical bent, this two-part series will provide more detail on specific tools and approaches. It also provides a slightly different ...
Do-it-yourself sites to help your bottom line (Stuff)
12 Mar 2010 at 9:17am
The starting point for getting a better grip on one's personal finances is budgeting. Knowing how much is coming in and how much is going out, and where the leaks are, is essential to gaining greater control over one's finances.
Berkowitz Gets ?Long Leash? at Fairholme to Pursue Mall Offer (Bloomberg)
11 Mar 2010 at 6:00am
March 11 (Bloomberg) -- Bruce Berkowitz ?s bid to help take mall owner General Growth Properties Inc. out of bankruptcy isn?t the first time the manager of the $11.2 billion Fairholme Fund has strayed from conventional mutual-fund investing.
What's new in the business scene (Poughkeepsie Journal)
12 Mar 2010 at 1:05am
Broker to lead investing office ? Scottrade, an online investing firm, hired James Jones to manage its Poughkeepsie branch office at 2020 South Road. With 425 branches nationwide, Scottrade provides tools and research to help people make investment decisions. As branch manager, Jones is responsible for managing personnel, providing personalized customer service and educating customers about ...
Intel, AOL, Others Help Betaworks Round Up $20M (ReadWriteWeb)
12 Mar 2010 at 1:14pm
As we profiled in our Never Mind the Valley series last month, New York is increasing its stronghold on the east coast startup scene. The city's rich media and international business ecosystems make it the perfect launch pad for startups looking to leverage these markets. One other reason the city has seen successful growth of entrepreneurship is the holding company Betaworks , which shows no ...

Creative Real Estate Investing Techniques