I found this video on youtube, and it reminded me of my first flip. Off of a $50,000 dollar investment we only took home $2,000. This video is super funny!

Many first time flippers are so caught up in the rush of flipping a house that they do not research the tax laws to see how much this flip is going to cost them in capital gains taxes. When you flip a house you will owe capital gains tax on the total profit off of the house.

Example:

• Purchase House $100,000
• Fixing House $25,000
• Sell Price $200,000
• You Owe Capital Gains Tax on $75,000

In case you did not know capital gains tax varies from 15% - 35% depending on different variables. So, if you blow your $75k, or reinvest all of it back into real estate then you could be in some serious trouble at tax time. If your capital gains was 25% than you would owe the IRS $18,750. I love to flip, but I also think people need to be informed so that they don’t find themselves in trouble with the IRS, because that is trouble that you just don’t want.

If you want to avoid capital gains tax all together you can rent the property for 2 years, and then flip it, and not have to pay capital gains tax.

By K. Kleinholter

You usually don’t hear people talking about “hidden” costs when flipping houses, rather, you hear about how much money they made.

“And we really didn’t have to do much either!”, you’ll hear them say.

While there are flipping jewels that do indeed fall into people’s laps, the reality is that those flips are few and far between. If you’re considering flipping, you certainly want to go into it with a lot of enthusiasm, but with a healthy dose of caution as well. Learning to “read” houses when inspecting them before buying will help you see more clearly what possible repairs might be needed to make the house ready for the market. Not paying attention to certain warning signs of structural problems could mean the difference of making, or losing money altogether.

If you’re relatively inexperienced at flipping, or considering your first flip, pay attention to what the house is “telling you”. You could go into it thinking you will make some great money, only to spend any profits on major repairs. Remember, in many flips, you are buying foreclosure property, property with tax liens against them, etc. So, understand that you are buying the property as is, warts and all.

Some major repair signs to be on the lookout for, are the following:

Having this particular increased-awareness mindset makes good business sense when evaluating any piece of property. Consult with a professional such as a general contractor or realtor and have them help you assess any possible repairs and related costs. When you have all of the facts and figures in front of you, can you then make an informed decision. When you do, in fact, submit a bid, you’re price will reflect any necessary repair expense.

If you’re relatively new or considering entering the house flipping business for the first time, please visit http://www.House-Flipping-Helper.com for more information regarding all things house flipping and remodeling.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=K._Kleinholter

Having finished your coveted college degree with sheer determination and some help from your student loans, you have to make sure that you handle your finances well. You have to remember that the way your financial management works, in and out of school, has consequences that your credit history and credit score will retain.

Everybody knows the importance of having a well kept financial rating. In addition everyone knows that a credit score drops faster than it can go up. It will also take years and years of exemplary financial management again in order for you to get back on track of a good credit rating. That is the reason why for students who have multiple student loans, they need to search for the best student loan consolidation package available.

Graduates and students who are looking for the student loan consolidation are usually those who have incurred more than one student loan in their quest to finish their college education. If you think that funding a college education stops once you have paid for the tuition fees, then you might as well think again. There are more educational necessities which sustain a college student. Among them are dorm rent, meals, transportation and books as well as those unplanned for out of the blue miscellaneous expenses.

Albeit the fruit of having a college degree is sweet, students need to plan ahead on how they can manage the existence of multiple student loans. Hence, searching and applying for the best student loan consolidation should be a priority. The process involves the merging of several student loans into one major account with one interest rate. In loan consolidation, the monthly repayments may be lowered considerably..

In addition you can frequently find a lower interest rate when consolidating your student loans. Of course this will also help to lower your monthly loan payment as well.

Aside from the comfort and convenience of having to ensure that you only have one regular loan payment. Reducing the number of loans will generally increase your credit score.

It should be obvious that finding the best student loan consolidation package is a smart move. It could save you a lot of money over the life of your loan and may increase your credit score.

Sometimes, I forget that people need to be reminded of the basics in house flipping. A major rule is that you NEVER EVER pay your contractors upfront. I might pay them for materials and some laborers, but that is about it. If you pay your contractors upfront then your stuck with them for the whole job because they are not going to refund your money. But, the worst is a recent experience we had with one of our buyers of a house that we flipped. The man that purchased the house wanted a drive way, so we looked up in the phone book and found a contractor for concrete, and got a couple of quotes, and turned it into the buyer. Then, we rolled the funds into Escrow, so that we could proceed with closing the house. After that, we signed the papers and went home, but the buyer started calling us after about one week later wanting to know where the concrete guy was. We told him that since it was rolled into Escrow that we had nothing to do with having the concrete poured, and that he needed to contact him.

Turns out that the title company or the buyer released all $3,000 upfront to the contractor for the concrete job, and the guy took the money and ran. So, the lesson from the story is don’t every pay the contractors up front. If they say they don’t have any money then that should be a Red Flag that they have problems with their company. Plus a job that would take 3 days could take 2 weeks because they have already been paid, and are no longer in a hurry. House Flipping takes common sense, and if you don’t have enough common sense to not pay your contractors then you need to find another way of making money.

Our buyer still does not have a Drive Way, and is trying to take legal action against the contractor, but it has been several months now, and it will take several more months before he will get his driveway.

Although many people look back on the time they spent in college as the best years of their lives, and someday you might do the same, if you are currently a college student struggling to keep up not only with your studies but with the payments on your student loans, your college experience is probably not much fun

If you arrange your daily college schedule not around the next big event on campus but around your next loan payment, you are probably desperate for a way to get your debts organized and under control. And there is a solution for you which will not only relieve you of having scare up several loan payments each month but also reduc4e your loan payments by lowering your interest rates.

Education load has become a lifesaver for thousands of students in situations similar to yours, and all you need to do is find a student loan consolidation service which will let you borrow enough to pay off all your current loans at a lower rate, allowing you to roll all your monthly payments into a single one which will be less than the total you are used to paying.

Getting Organized

Before you try consolidating, however, you will have to organize all the information on your existing education loan to present to your prospective lenders. All the information is available at www.nslc.org, the site of the National Student Clearinghouse, and the website of the US Department of Education will also give you lots of information on loans.

In Education, financial investment can be done through banks or credit unions which are members of the FELP, or Federal Education Loan Program. But if you have taken all of your loans from the same lender, consolidating those investments will have to be accomplished through that lender.

Avoiding Scams

Because so many students are looking into consolidating their education investment, there are some less than scrupulous lenders willing to take advantage of their situations. If you approach a lender about consolidating and are told you need to pay an application fee or have a credit check done, run the other way. You will never be asked for any up front fees or credit reviews by any legitimate lender.

Consolidating should go smoothly because requests for consolidation are seldom denied. You will be able to consolidate while you are still an undergraduate, and even if you decide to cut your student status from full to part time. Consolidating your educational investment while you are in school, or no more than six months following your graduation, in fact, will usually get you better interest rates than if you wait until later.

When you approach a lender about consolidating your student loans as an undergraduate, you are required to tell the lender if you want your loan to be marked for early repayment. Doing so will lock in a reduced interest rate, but will also mean that you have to start making payments right away, instead of postponing them until after you graduate. But if you run into trouble, you can request a payment deferment while you remain in school.

Doing Your Homework

As a student, you should appreciate the value of research and apply your research skills to consolidating your educational needs. You need to get it right the first time, because you are allowed only one consolidation. Most lenders will not offer a consolidation for less than $7500, but you can find a list of reputable lenders to contact from your school’s student financial assistance office.

Consolidate Your Student Loans Today