Steve Gillman

New Ideas For Creative Real Estate Investing

Years ago I watched a late-night television infomercial selling some course on creative real estate investing. As I recall, the author of the course suggested - among other things - that you could use your car for a down payment and get sellers to finance... Read >

Five Real Estate Investing Tips

There are always new things to learn about real estate. Hopefully one or more of the following real estate investing tips will teach you something new and useful. 1. Time Your Sale For Tax Savings We once had a December closing on a property that we... Read >

Flipping Houses - How To Find The Deals

So you're ready to start flipping houses for a profit. How do you find the properties that make sense as an investment? Here are some of the ways others have done it. 1. Check The MLS Listings Browse the MLS listings online at sites like Realtor .co... Read >

Flipping Houses Quickly

Any time you are flipping houses it is less risky if you can complete the project more quickly. This is especially true now (2009) when prices may fall even further as you wait to sell the home. But at any time there are good reasons to move fast. One obv... Read >

Finding A Real Estate Agent - Six Tips

Of course it isn't difficult to find a real estate agent, but there are good and bad ones out there. The following tips should help you find the right one for you. Your Real Estate Purpose Which agent is best for you depends on your goals. If you a... Read >

Build A Great Real Estate Investment Club

A good real estate investment club helps its members find investment opportunities. It also helps bring people together in profitable partnerships. It can be a place to find alternative sources of financing as well. Here are some tips for making your club... Read >

Real Estate Investment Ideas

The following real estate investment ideas revolve around the general theme of gaining some special advantage. This is more necessary that normal at the moment (2009) because it is unclear whether home values will continue to fall. Having the right approa... Read >

Cheap Homes For Sale - But Where?

Where can you find cheap homes for sale? Add "that are also in a nice town" and that was the question we were trying to answer when my wife and I hit the road in 2002. Leaving Michigan early in April, we checked out towns from New Mexico and Arizona to Ca... Read >

How To Sell A House Fast

When people think of how to sell a house fast, they often think of how to advertise it better, or how to make it more presentable. That can be a good start, of course, but it ignores the single most important factor: price. Generally, if homes are selling... Read >

The Best Jobs In A Recession?

What are the best jobs in a recession? That depends on what you goals are. Mostly they are the same jobs as at any other time. If you are working to make the most money you can, they are high-paying jobs. If you are working to train yourself for a future ... Read >

Two Speed Reading Techniques

There are a number of speed reading techniques that you can learn quickly. The key to their effectiveness is not just in how well you understand the idea, though, but in how much you actually practice them. Here are two to get you started. Forced Spee... Read >

Do It Yourself Survival Kits

Typically wilderness survival kits have first aid items, ways to make fire, a blade of some sort, and some water purification tablets. That's the minimum in any case, and there are certainly other items in almost any kit that you buy. But of course not ev... Read >

Real Estate Values - Where To Now?

As I write this (mid 2009) home prices appear to be falling still and, of course, recent experience shows us that they do not always rise from year to year. But not even the most pessimistic analysts think they can keep dropping for too many years. So wer... Read >

Political Manipulation Through Implicit Premises

There is an old joke that starts by asking you, "Have you stopped beating your wife yet?" Whether you answer yes or no it sounds like you are admitting to being a wife beater. It's a practical joke based on the use of an implicit premise - that you beat y... Read >

New Ideas About Retirement

The very concept of retirement is flawed. It is based on several false premises. First is the premise that at a certain age you are no longer able to provide economic value. That is clearly nonsense as shown by the many millionaire entrepreneurs and busin... Read >