Archive for May, 2008

Analyzing What Kind of Investment Advice you need

Thursday, May 22nd, 2008

Oftentimes, when dealing with a Sonoma investment adviser, you have options as to how many meetings you need to cover the financial advice you desire.

Do you need someone to handle your finances on a regular basis? Or how about an adviser to control your investments? In these types of cases, hiring a Sonoma investment adviser to meet with you on a regular basis would be ideal. Working together regularly will keep both of you informed of the financial decisions that are being made with your money. When both of you are informed, smart decisions are made.

But there are plenty of instances where you would not need such regular meetings. Do you need someone to help you move some money around – maybe from a 401(K) to an IRA? Or maybe you want a Sonoma investment adviser to help you reach a certain short-term financial goal. It’s entirely possible that you just want help setting up that investment portfolio, but you want to manage it on your own. In these instances, it may only take one or two meetings to do the job.

A Sonoma investment adviser is a smart move to make when dealing with your money. Make sure you maximize the benefits by analyzing what types of services you actually need.

Using a Self Directed IRA to invest in the Plentiful Foreclosure Market

Saturday, May 3rd, 2008

With home foreclosures on the rise, those with money just sitting earning pennies in a Self Directed IRA account can put their money to work for them. Why is now a great time to be investing in the foreclosure market? There are three reasons.

3 Reasons Now is a Great Time to Invest in the Foreclosure Market

Buy Low: The key to investing in the foreclosure market is to find “good deals.” What is a good deal? Simply speaking, a property that has enough equity in it for you to buy it and make a profit. Right now, the market is flooded with properties that have a lot of equity.

As adjustable rate mortgages adjust up, the economy worsens and more people lose jobs, homeowners become more willing to negotiate. This means the elusive good deal is easier to come by.

Banks Don’t Want to Be Landlords: Piggybacking off the aforementioned point, banks don’t want to be landlords or property managers. As the market is flooded with more and more properties, banks are trying to sell them off as fast as they can.

If they don’t sell them, they have to maintain them, eg, cut the grass, remove furniture left behind by previous tenants, deal with broken windows from vandals, etc. In short, the longer a property sits empty, the more it costs the bank. So they’re really losing money in two ways. One, in lost mortgage payments; and two, by having to carry the upkeep until it’s sold. If you have money sitting in your Self Directed IRA account, now is the time to put it to work.

Long-Term Gain: Real estate is a patient man’s game. If you use your Self Directed IRA to invest in foreclosures now while the marketing is bottoming out, so to speak, you’ll be well positioned to really maximize your investment when the real estate marketing gets red hot again.