Flipping a home is tough work. Aside from the research, the investment, and the construction, you still have to attract the right buyers at the right time! In an ideal world, a flipped home would sell itself and give you time to sit back and relax. Unfortunately, the real estate market isn't ideal, and you're going to have to take on a couple more tasks to stay ahead of the competition. The question that's on every investor's mind is: just how do you make your flip more appealing in today’s competitive marketplace?

Whether you are a real estate investor who prefers to fix and flip houses, or a landlord who prefers to use rental properties for long-term passive income, working with contractors is simply a part of doing business. In the real estate investment world, however, horror stories abound about contractors who have turned potentially lucrative property deals into complete disasters. As a real estate investor, it is important to know how to avoid these situations altogether. Here are 4 ways to avoid having contractor horror stories of your own.

Real estate investors are asking themselves, "What does the 2016 California housing market look like?" The informed and educated investor knows there are opportunities no matter the market conditions. Armed with the correct knowledge, one can develop a successful strategy.

The practice of flipping homes is gaining steam across the state of California and the United States. Prior to flipping your first, or your next project, there are a few things to consider. That’s why we have come up with seven reasons to use a small local contractor.

Like many Southern Californians this time of year, I was ready to book my annual trip to the mountains after repeatedly hearing radio ads for Big Bear Mountain and Snow Summit. In the past, my options in Big Bear Lake were limited to a few lodges and hotels that had websites or ran ads. Now, vacation rental websites like VRBO.com and AirBnB.com have forever changed the hospitality industry. Travelers can easily locate their ideal vacation rental property by going online and sorting through hundreds of privately owned and operated vacation rental properties. At Trust Deed Capital we are seeing more borrowers that want to purchase real estate in vacation destinations to take advantage of the new investment opportunities these new technologies create. Before you start making offers on that beautiful cabin in Big Bear or that beach bungalow on the Mission Beach peninsula in San Diego, here is what you should know about financing these types of properties:

D­-Class properties are homes or apartments located in neighborhoods considered "bad" or unsafe.

These properties are usually run-­down or even outright decrepit, and require a considerable amount of work to achieve livable standards. Though these properties may seem like a good investment because of their cheap prices, here are five reasons to avoid D-­Class properties.

By no means do I consider myself an expert in real estate analysis, however, I do know enough to be dangerous. Over the past five years, I have discovered several tools that have given me more confidence in analyzing real estate deals. In my experience, there is no other online tool as valuable as Propertyradar.com. Here are 5 features within the Propertyradar.com software that I consistently utilize over any other real estate evaluation tool:

Financing flip properties can be a very tricky proposition, especially with banks having tightened their belts since the housing crash.  Luckily, it is not an entirely lost cause.  While some of the more advanced methods might require significant capital, that doesn't mean that they all do.  

While it may seem, to the inexperienced, that hard money lenders operate in a "no man's land," the reality is, the top Hard Money Lenders have certain key characteristics in common. If you do decide to retain the services of a hard money lender, here are some of their best practices that you should be on the lookout for:

Let's start with the basics. When you invest in a trust deed, you loan money and secure the loan with a first lien on the real estate as collateral. Called a "deed of trust", it works like a mortgage; a private mortgage recorded by the county recorder that shows the investor as the beneficiary. Sometimes, the borrower's personal guarantee secures the loan in addition to the deed of trust. Trust deed loans involve three parties: the lender, the borrower, and a trustee selected by the lender. The trustee acts on the lender's behalf, holds the lien on the title to the property, and takes possession of the real estate if the borrower defaults. Trust deed loans are particularly popular in California because it is a non-judicial foreclosure state and the process can take just three months. Oh, the best part is that it costs nothing to invest in trust deeds.