Over the past few years, more and more people in the United States have been offering real estate notes for sale. Selling real estate is an easy way to turn one's monthly receivable payment into an immediate and large sum of cash. A real estate note for sale can be a mortgage note, a contract for sale or a land contract.

The best way to find real estate notes for sale is to look for real estate note listings. Several websites provide information on real estate notes for sale. They usually list real estate notes from different states. These websites also provide information on various categories of real estate notes. You can approach real estate note brokers who generally have up-to-date information on the real estate note market. They can also simplify the process of transaction. Local newspapers and magazines are other places to look for real estate notes for sale. Real estate investment clubs are a good forum to discuss matters related to real estate notes.

Competition in this field is very high. Earlier, it was easy to buy real estate notes for huge margins of profit. With several financial institutions and companies hunting for real estate notes, individual buyers often find it hard to buy and sell real estate notes. Most real estate note sellers do not sell their entire lot of real estate notes at once. This can place individual buyers in certain tricky situations. Generally, real estate notes sold partially would not generate immediate income. It is better you go for professional help, as the transaction can sometimes be confusing.

The real estate investment clubs provide tremendous resources for both beginners and experienced real estate investors. The real estate investment club is a place to meet and network with other investors. Patient and skillful application of investment knowledge and information is required for a successful real estate investing. For success in real estate, there should be a combination of the power of investing knowledge and the power of market information. A real estate investment club through its thoroughly researched real estate investment ideas can arm you with all the necessary information to invest wisely in real estate.

As the competition in the field of real estate are high, Real estate investors need to keep themselves updated constantly on the new trends and developments in real estate investment. There can be new laws and taxes governing real estate. All this is hard to maintain if you are not a full time real estate investor. A real estate investment club is then the ideal place for you. All issues regarding real estate investment can be discussed and sorted out through the medium of real estate investment clubs. Being a part of an experienced and efficient real estate investment club in itself should form a part of the strategy to become a successful real estate investor.

Details regarding all other aspects of investments related to real estate like mortgage investments can be discussed in real estate investment clubs. The real estate club members bring out several publications to guide real estate and home buyers. Most real estate club members also provide information through Internet. Today, there are several different real estate software programs available in the market to help real estate investors. Before selecting software, you can discuss it with your real estate club members as some of them might have already used it and have opinions on it. A good real estate investment club can act as a good forum to clear all your doubts regarding real estate investment.

Flipping through late-night infomercials recently, I saw two real estate get-rich quick schemes, and I couldn't help but wonder--why do people still fall for those old scams? Has anyone really talked a seller out of his home for no money down with owner financing lately?

Real estate infomercials do great harm to beginning investors, who waste hundreds of dollars on old information. Worse yet, those beginners soon get discouraged and miss out on the true (and profitable) adventure of real estate investing.

One of the most popular late night infomercial shows tells beginners that it's possible to make a fortune by buying houses with no money down and then renting them out to cover the monthly payments. It's true that you can buy a home for no money down, but the requirements include having good credit, good income, and the home should be owner-occupied.

Rentals don't normally qualify for no money down financing. Institutional lenders aren't supposed to make no money down loans on investment properties, and even if you could buy an investment home with no money down, the monthly payments would generally eat up the rent.

Late-night scammers also claim that investors can get owners to pay the closing costs, including the down payment. But when a lender asks where your down payment will be coming from, saying, "the seller" is not the right answer! Today's sellers are also fairly savvy, and understand that with no money invested in a property, a buyer could easily walk away and leave them with a home that's been ruined by careless tenants.

Another TV program offers a bogus system for buying houses at ridiculous prices, but think about it: has anyone bought a home, free and clear, for $345.00 at a tax sale recently? Hordes of investors flock to the tax sales in the area where I live, bidding up the prices of foreclosure properties far beyond a few cents on the dollar. It just doesn't happen.

Today, another real estate investment scam is popular in Southern California. Here's how it works: a young person we'll call Charles charged $4,000 on his credit card to hire a real estate "mentor," after the mentor wined and dined him at a fancy Beverly Hills restaurant.

In exchange for the fee, the mentor instructed Charles to find distressed houses by driving around the area and writing down the addresses of ugly houses in nice neighborhoods. Once Charles had given him the addresses, the mentor obtained the owner's address and sometimes a phone number. Then it was up to Charles to call the owners and talk them into selling their houses for no money down, and carrying the paper (mortgage), too!

I met Charles when he called me about buying a property that my husband and I had on the market for $1.2 million. When I asked him how such a young man was going to make the payments on $1.2 million home, he told me that he planned to rent the house out for enough to make the payments.

As a real estate investor myself, I tried not to laugh at his naivete, and after talking to Charles and listening to his frustration about trying so hard to follow his mentor's advice, I offered to help him find a property, and I'm happy to say that Charles now owns his own home. But he'll still have to spend years paying off a $4,000 credit card bill.

If you want to make money as a real estate investor, a good first step is to buy your own home, like Charles did. You can do that for no money down if you have good credit, or for a relatively little amount of money down if your credit is poor. Once you've purchased your own home, fix it up and then either sell it or refinance it and use your profits as the down payment on an investment property.

Don't pay hundreds of dollars for out-dated methods that may have worked in the middle of last century! They're a waste of your time and money. Real estate investing is truly a great way to make a fortune, but you must stick to tried-and-true proven strategies, ones that work in today's real estate market.

Real estate investing with no money down, yes its possible and widely practiced by several creative investors, as they say where there is a will there is a way. This is creative real estate investing at its best. There are so many ways that these enterprising investors use, it just boggles the mind!

Some investors use notes to invest in real estate with no money down. Let's say the investor gets hold of a note whose face value is $100,000 and purchases it for $80,000. He uses the note as collateral for its full value to get a property worth $100,000. He can sell the house for $100,000 and can pocket $ 20,000 or more if he sells the property at a profit! He not only got back the $80,000 but also made quite a profit. Some investors with no money for down payments offer to take over the seller’s loan or mortgage payments in return for the title deeds of the property.

Flipping Properties; Flipping properties is another way to invest in real estate with no money down though it just earns them a modest cash assignment fee. Investors can borrow money from hard money lenders, use a home equity loan or get a line of credit, get the loan from a private lender and secure it with a mortgage, find partners who supply the money needed, etc.

Lease Options; Using lease options or lease purchase options is another way to invest in real estate with no money down. The lessee agrees to buy the property from the seller at a fixed rate at some fixed time in the future, where a portion or at times all of the rent paid will be credited towards the purchase price of the property. The lessee has to pay monthly installments until the end of the lease.

Seller Financing; Using seller financing is another way to invest in real estate with no money down. The seller may agree to get higher monthly installments rather than a lump down payment or may offer to finance the buyer to close the deal quickly.

Tax Certificates; Tax certificates such as tax lien and tax deeds are also another form of investing without money down. People just pay a nominal amount to purchase the certificates and if the owner defaults, the investors could foreclose on the property!

The investor may combine mortgages of your home as well as the property you want to purchase and give cash to the seller without using your own money! The possibility of investing in real estate with no money down is endless for people who use creative investing techniques. once investors learn the knack of investing without money down, they rely on using those techniques again to make a better profit. There are firms that offer help and products to run a small business successfully.