If you are interested in investing in real estate, you might have thought about purchasing a fixer-upper and "flipping it." If you have been putting it off, you should know that there are a few reasons why now is the ultimate time to get a fix and flip loan.

While recent market trends and media coverage have made fix and flip investing a more visible option for those looking to make money in the housing market, buy and hold strategies are a time-honored way of amassing wealth. If you are thinking of trying your hand at real estate investment, you may be wondering if a buy and hold strategy is right for you.

Home improvement shows on HGTV always involve making a tiny bungalow open concept and adding bathrooms. Installing engineered beams, replumbing a house, and knocking down walls require a licensed contractor and building permits. Some flips don't warrant that degree of investment and frankly are in good enough shape that modest cosmetic fixes will provide a generous return. These 8 renovations can be made without a contractor and offer a good bang for the buck.

If you're a real estate investor, working with a hard money lender makes a lot of sense. The many benefits of using hard money loans mean that, despite their name, they can actually make things quite a bit easier for you.

Before we even begin, a facing-facts session is necessary. The prime days of fix and flip may be behind us. A decision needs to be made. Do you want put down anchor and wait for the next cycle to begin? Or do you want to rev your engine and search out unexplored territory? If you favor the second choice, come aboard, but keep it hush. You're about to learn of 5 less-traveled tips to find hot real estate deals before your competition.

Investors in single-family properties, at some point, wonder about multi-family properties. From a management point of view, after all, you have one to four homes instead of just one on a single piece of ground. First-time investors might have the same questions for the same reasons. The issue becomes, then, real estate investment property: How to evaluate a multi-family home vs. a single family home?

You’ve found the perfect distressed property to fix and flip. You’ve done your due diligence. The price is right. The rehab is doable and can be done on a timely basis. The profit is just waiting for you.

When you first begin to plan a fix and flip investment strategy, it is likely that you will be looking for a lender to help with financing. While more traditional banking institutions may be an option, it is often the case that a better fit for fix and flips is a hard money lender. Because hard money lenders fund loans faster and base their lending decisions on the merits of the property more than your own credit-worthiness, they have more flexibility than do traditional lenders.

Hard money loans are not for everyone. They are the province of a chosen few - lenders, as well as borrowers. Just the word ‘quick’ eliminates traditional lenders who subscribe to the longer the better philosophy, preferring to finance a loan for the long-term since interest payments are their bread and butter. Once a loan is paid off, their stream of revenue ceases.

Gone are the "good ole days" when the loan business was easy to understand. Regulations limited the number and types of loans and the businesses who made them. Unless they had rich relatives, borrowers depended primarily on banks or the government for loans.