Think-Realty-Magazine-December-2017

modernized in some cases by the tenants who sign the leases, are worth far more than owners ever thought they would be again. One landlord happily describes the day he realized that his cinderblock warehouse, which was literally crumbling around the edges, might attract a medical marijuana operation as the day he realized “he was sitting on a goldmine.” You do not have to already own this type of property to identify and then invest in your very own potential goldmine in this industry, but you do need to remember that just like the forty-niners, the term for the 300,000 people who rushed to California starting around 1849 to try and find some gold of their own, while the greatest gains are certainly to be had early in the game, there are also serious losses to be faced when entering an unexplored market. While you may not be facing the threats of cholera and fever that you would have faced during the Gold Rush when you enter the commercial real estate cannabis sector, you do need to take care that your business does not fall prey to unforeseen accidents associated with work- ing in a new industry. “We think a combination of real estate experts, secured resources, and associates with clearly developed skill sets best sets the stage for success in this sector,” said Asmus. “There is rare potential inher- ent in the cannabis industry at this point in time.” •

Kevin Simmons and Daniel Sutter suggest this is likely because most tornado damage is done to people in the form of injuries and fatalities, rather than to property. However, major storms, such as the twister that hit Joplin, Missou- ri, in May 2011, tend to have aftereffects on housing similar to those of a major hurricane. The researchers also sug- gested that buyers and sellers tend to simply accept tornado devastation and move on with rebuilding, although in areas of the country that are partic- ularly prone to these storms, buyers have a clear and stated preference for homes with basements. That feeling of inevitability likely stems from the simple fact that it is nearly impossible to avoid serious damage to life and limb, house and home, when 200 mile-per- hour winds get involved. Furthermore, tornados tend to cause a smaller scope of damage than other types of natural disasters, although they are sensational to cover in the media and also may cause much higher casualties than other disasters. “Tornadoes simply do not pose the po- tential for catastrophic losses that affect the functioning of insurance markets and raise homeowners’ insurance rates,” wrote Simmons and Sutter. The society noted that although there have been several tornado events that resulted in insured losses of more than $1 billion, “the potential for a $50 billion or $100 billion loss seemingly does not exist.” By compar- ison, Hurricane Harvey has been credited with losses estimated in excess of $180 billion. In short, if a tree falls in a forest because of a torna-

do, no one will hear it, but if a hurricane hurls it through your front window or a forest fire burns it up, your housing values may scream. AT THE HEART, IT’S THE ECONOMY Any time we attempt to make predictions about how a housing market will respond to various outside influences, the real heart of the predic- tion must lie squarely on the local economy. In an area hit by any natural disaster, the recovery hinges on the local economy’s ability to bounce back. Monitor public sentiment, track job market trends and growth, and watch to see whether the population is packing up or rebuilding to get the best sense for what will happen in a market after a natural disaster. • Most investors do not realize a postcard marked “return to sender” is one of the best leads you can get. SHOULD YOU “GO PRO?” The real lead generation professionals employ sophis- ticated skip search software: the kind of technology used by attorneys, law enforce- ment, and even the CIA and the DEA. You can run but you can’t hide! That same sophisticated skip trace technology is used > Continued from :: PG 61 The Secret to Beating Your Competition to Bargain Properties

to find the relatives and heirs to properties left behind. Be- lieve me when I tell you this is where the real deals are found. Long after everyone else has thrown away those “Return to Sender” postcards and letters, the professional house finder is just getting started. Don’t want to invest in your own skip-tracing soft- ware license? There are many other options. You can pur- chase a list of addresses from a company that generates such lists. You can also access the public record in a num- ber of creative ways using the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) to get the data you desire. You can even network at events where your target population of those relatives might also be in attendance or purchase advertising in media venues that heirs to estates, for example, might view regularly. The key is to identify what type of motivated seller you hope to reach, then figure out where that seller is likely to be found. And, of course, keep evolving. You can be quite sure that your competi- tion will. • > Continued from :: PG 86 An Introduction to Note Investing significant discount to the actual value of the loan. When you find a desir- able non-performing note which you can purchase at a substantial discount, the most common ways of profiting are: •  REHABILITATION: You work with the default- ed borrower to resume payments, bringing you a substantial yield

buying a vacation rental, then you want to be sure the property you buy is in the middle of activities, events, and sight-seeing that people wish to enjoy. Look for warm weather that is pleasant even in the winter, tourism, and recreation, especially golfing. Areas where tourism is a big economic factor are often good vacation-rental invest- ment venues. TAKEAWAY If a place is attractive to tourists, it might be a good location for a real estate investment in the form of a vacation rental. Just check the Airbnb policies on a city level! •

> Continued from :: PG 31 Is Green the NewGold?

> Continued from :: PG 110 4 Positive Market Characteristics that Make Any Market Better TAKEAWAY If you flip houses to retail buyers, they are likely to be more interested in a home with low property taxes. If you own rentals, then you need to remember you’ll be paying those property taxes yourself, and the lower they are, the better. GREAT INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR VACATION RENTALS If you are thinking of

•  FORECLOSE & FLIP: If the borrower can’t or won’t resume payments, you may choose to foreclose the property and flip it to a 3rd party for a quick and substantial profit •  FORECLOSE & HOLD: Similar to Foreclose & Flip, except you hold the prop- erty for appreciation or rental income rather than flipping it to a third party To be certain, investing in non-performing notes can be extremely profitable. But it requires education, because there are risks involved. For example, you can lose your entire investment by purchasing defaulted notes that are poorly secured or incorrectly documented. When you learn how to correctly understand and evaluate notes, whether per- forming or defaulted, you’ll see that both the profit poten- tial and potential for creativi- ty are nearly boundless. • > Continued from :: PG 99 How to Sell a Millennial (or Anyone) a Home: Make it Smart NO. 7 SOLAR PANELS While most people appreciate their cost savings and energy saving qualities, the solar panels of yesterday were often criti- cized for their lack of aesthetics. Today’s solar technology has re- sponded with frameless panels, clear solar glass, solar roof tiles, and even solar skin. In addition to the cost and environmental benefits, solar features add value to your home. •

that vertical integration unless a licensee is operating a testing facility. At present, MCRSA is prevailing, but either act can be applied to a situation. When evaluating a site, investors must also evaluate how local officials may interpret state laws that may allow for different en- forcement depending on local legislative preference. The due diligence for a retail outlet is a little more straight- forward than that for a cultiva- tion or processing site. “We’re looking for high consumer demand and for the property to be suitably located in an easily accessible and visible area,” said Asmus. His group also does due diligence on pro- spective tenants to make sure they are likely to establish and maintain a successful business. “Unfortunately, there are many people interested in getting into the cannabis industry with high ambitions, but little to no appreciation for running such a business,” he observed. YOUCOULDBE SITTING ONAGOLDMINE (ORA GREENONE) When John Sutter’s carpenter first found flakes of gold under his modest sawmill in 1848 and the California Gold Rush began, he probably could barely believe his good fortune. Similarly, today’s owners of neglected commercial buildings that have been languishing and vacant are finding inmany cases they can command rents far in excess of anything they ever dreamed of for their drafty, dilapidated warehouses. Furthermore, those warehouses, now upgraded and

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do not tend to affect home val- ues in the long-term. Authors

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