Due Diligence

Watch out for floodlines when inspecting foreclosed properties!

by Jay Castillo on September 26, 2011 · 4 comments

in Due Diligence, Real Estate Investing

I visited the Registry of Deeds in Binangonan a couple of weeks ago and on my way there, I noticed something that every real estate investor or anyone buying a property should watch out for as part of due diligence, BEFORE buying a property in any area – floodlines! Incoming search terms: hazard map of [...]

7 questions you need to ask to avoid investment scams

by Jay Castillo on June 2, 2011 · 89 comments

in Due Diligence, Real Estate Investing

While there are so many real and legitimate opportunities out there, there are also a lot of scams. Sooner or later, you will encounter what may seem to be a very enticing investment opportunity, but you need to be prepared to discern what is real and what is not. Be ready to ask the right [...]

The risks of real estate investing and how to manage them

by Jay Castillo on March 11, 2011 · 31 comments

in Due Diligence, Real Estate Investing

Do you really wan’t to know the bad side of real estate investing? Although I believe it’s not a good idea to focus on the bad because we attract more of what we focus on, we should still be aware of the risks  in order to be able to effectively avoid or manage them. Incoming [...]

How to compute for the ARV of foreclosed properties

by Jay Castillo on September 14, 2010 · 5 comments

in Due Diligence, How to do the Numbers, Real Estate Investing

Real estate investing is a numbers game and one such number that a real estate investor who is into flipping properties needs to determine before buying a property is the ARV. ARV can stand for Approximate Retail Value, After Rehab Value, but the common term often used is After Repair Value. Incoming search terms: arv [...]

How NOT to invest in foreclosures

by Jay Castillo on October 17, 2009 · 30 comments

in Due Diligence, Foreclosure Buying, Lessons learned, Real Estate Investing

Update dated June 2, 2011 – After much thought, I have decided to leave Trace Trajano‘s local coaching program and my role as one of the local coaches. I would also like to inform everyone that I am not part of Trace’s other programs. For those who don’t know, I was once a student of [...]

Always check service entrances when inspecting foreclosed properties!

by Jay Castillo on August 6, 2009 · 17 comments

in Due Diligence, Real Estate Investing

I just realized something when I inspected a foreclosed property recently and I would like to share it here. While doing inspections of foreclosed properties as part of due diligence, always check the condition of the service entrances for utilities like the electricity and water.  I failed to do this twice for foreclosed properties I [...]

31 Questions you need to ask when inquiring about a foreclosed property

by Jay Castillo on March 18, 2009 · 52 comments

in Due Diligence, Foreclosure Buying

Have you ever tried calling up a bank to inquire about a foreclosed property that interests you and you found yourself forgetting a lot of questions that you were supposed to ask? You then quickly say thanks and just hang up but when you finally compose yourself and remember what you wanted to ask, you [...]