A
ll successful scams and cons have two things in common:
1) All scams involve a ‘hook’ designed to play on our natural greed and opportunism by asking us to do something that seems only slightly unethical (on the surface) in exchange for a huge monetary pay off. 2) All scams then count on our shame at accepting illicit terms to make sure we don’t report the crime or pursue justice.
Discussion forums can be an excellent way of determining the true state of a market. Unfortunately, many so-called “discussion forums,” are populated almost entirely by real estate agents – and do not give a true picture. One of the research tools we use to sift through the sales pitches when discussing prices are forums. This is a brief list of forums that are populated by genuine people talking about the “for real,” situations they find themselves in. If there is a market I have missed that You are interested in, please drop me a line and I will see if I have one on my collection – Contact IPI.
The US housing market is in a slump, no one would question that, but a slump offers bargains as well as disasters. What was an un-affordable property just a year or so ago, may well now be within reach and many real estate investors are on a bargain hunt at the moment.
Would you buy a used car from this man?

This is Paul Owen, founder member and CEO of the Association of International Property Professionals. The AIPP gets an awful lot of good press. This article in the Daily Mail recently being one such example and the recent write up on citywire being another.
More on Association of International Property Professionals – Scam Artists or Genuine?

Many ordinary people have already made a killing by investing in realty. They were probably very apprehensive about buying the first investment home, but as long as that goes well, it is easy to get hooked! In case you keep mulling it over and wonder about the risks, here is a starter kit of very basic pondering points.
If you’re ready to invest in residential investment property, you are about to set off on a juicy, long-term investment that will bring you big bucks in the years to come – if you manage your money wisely. The first step on your way is to get an investment property loan.
More on Residential Investment Property Loans – Crunching Numbers
Despite massive cuts in price ( Las Vegas developer KB Home started slashing prices several months ago and in the 1,400-home Huntington community, a subdivision of two-story stucco houses west of the famed Strip, homes that started at $320,000 a year ago are now listed for $270,000,) the US housing market continues to decline.
According to the National Association of Home Builders, sixty percent of builders cut prices last month to no avail. The reasoning is that buyers are wary of buying a new home for fear that another price cut may be in the offing afterwards and they will have to eat a portion of the sale price immediately. There’s a certain twisted logic to this thinking that’s leaving builders in a no-win situation.
What are FSBO homes, and can you really make money flipping them? First some definitions. “Flipping” refers to buying and selling real estate for a profit over a short period of time. Some “flippers” are looking only to make money from buying low and reselling quickly, while others repair and improve or otherwise add value to the property before selling it – an important distinction we’ll get back to in a moment.