Anthony Kiedis Buys Petite Sunset Strip Villa

BUYER: Anthony Kiedis
SELLER: Waldo Fernandez
LOCATION: Los Angeles, CA
PRICE: $3,650,000
SIZE: 2,679 square feet, 3 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: A little birdie we know on the down low that's often in the know about celebrity real estate doings recently chirped in Your Mama's ear that the new owner of A-list decorator Waldo Fernandez's latest property flip above the Sunset Strip is none other than Red Hot Chili Pepper lead singer/lyricist Anthony Kiedis who just shelled out $3.65 million for the petite and pedigreed villa. The walled and gated residence, built in 1940 and nestled into a steep down slope on a curvaceous and narrow street just above the Sunset Strip, was originally designed by architect F. Pierpont Davis and re-worked by Hollywood Regency honcho John Elgin Woolf. The house has popped up in the glossy pages of Architectural Digest "at least thrice" according to the kids at Curbed.

In late June, 2012, after a couple of years on and off the market with a cornucopia of price tags as high as $3.695 million, the property was purchased for $2.4 million by the renown and regularly published Waldo Fernandez, a Cuban-born decorating dervish who's worked over rooms and homes for a panoply of celebrities like Brad Pitt, Darren Starr, and Tobey Maguire.

Mister Kiedis—now fifty, fit, and still sexy in that dangerous, middle aged rock star sort of way—spent his early years in Grand Rapid, Mi with is mother and teen years in Los Angeles with his bit-part actor father, Blackie Dammett. Poppa Kiedis, whose autobiography, Lords of the Sunset Strip, was recently released as an e-book, moonlighted as a drug dealer for rock stars (and others). He famously palled around with high profile peeps like Cher and Sonny Bono, the latter of whom, may he rest in peace, was named young Anthony's godfather. How's that for a whackadoodle Hollywood pedigree?

As Mister Kiedis grew up fast and loose on the gritty streets of Los Angeles he eventually hooked up with his future Red Hot Chili Peppers band mates. In classic rock star fashion, Mister Kiedis dabbled in drugs—okay he more than dabbled he developed a raging addiction, and, along with his band mates, earned a special kind of notoriety in the early 1980s for performing in nothing but a jock strap and boots or, even more suggestively, wearing nothing but boots and a tube sock tied around his junk. Naturally he bedded and dated and hooked up with a beautiful battalion of lithe and lusty young models, musicians, actresses, and other female hangers-on. There was Nina Hagan, Ione Skye, Sinéad O'Connor, supermodels Heidi Klum and Jessica Stam, actress Laura Prepon, and, most recently, a stunning and very young looking brunette usually identified in the tabs and gossip glossies as model Helena Vestergaard. Along the way Mister Kiedis, sober for more than a dozen years, and his Chili Pepper pals won three AMAs, eight VMAs, one BMA and seven Grammys. Last year (2012) the band and all is members were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The most recent digital listing details for the Sunset Strip property recently acquired by Mister Kiedis don't indicate the square footage. The L.A. County Tax Man puts it at 2,679 but that may or may not be accurate. Listing do, however, show the sophisticatedly staged, two-story Euro-style villa has three bedrooms, four bathrooms, three fireplaces, and garage parking for two cars.

High walls, locked gates, and a closed circuit t.v.-equipped security system that will record your ass if you so much as slow down in front of the house enhance the privacy and security of the residence that sits below street level down a serpentine, wrought iron-railed brick stairway.

A compact foyer leads into the main living room that isn't particularly large but is undeniably grand and voluminous with a 14-foot hard-carved ceiling imported from a cathedral in Europe, a 10-foot tall solid limestone fireplace that was probably snatched from some old building in Europe, too, and an arched window that extends to the floor and almost reaches the ceiling is flanked by normal-height glass doors that lead out to an awning-shaded and wrought iron-railed dining balcony with a perfectly lovely but hardly overwhelming over-the-tree-top city view.

A archway—it looks to be the exact same height as the arched window in the living room—leads into the groin-vaulted dining room where Mister Fernandez replaced a ticky-tacky wall of mirrors with an aged-looking mural that depicts what appears to Your Mama to be—but is surely not—a Victorian-era Florentine street scene.

The adjoining kitchen is oddly shaped and quite tight given the property's $3.65 million sale price, but it is well-equipped with high-quality stainless steel appliances, rough-edged stone counter tops, and cabinets that appear to be—but may not be—constructed of—or maybe faced with—some sort of rustic, reclaimed barn wood.

At the bottom of a stair well that looks dark and narrow in listing photos, there's a library/den/possible bedroom outfitted with a quaint corner fireplace and a spine-tingling, sky-lit 16-foot ceiling. Elsewhere there's a small guest bedroom and a second, much larger bedroom with a private sitting area, an awning-shaded Juliet balcony, and a full wall of windows—floor-to-ceiling and wall-to-wall—that overlook the swimming pool. The third bedroom suite is smaller and cozier with a fireplace, private terrace accessible through two sets of French doors, and an en suite abutting facility.

The lower level of the house opens at the tree- and shrubbery-ringed backyard where a series of wrought iron-railed red brick terraces step down the hillside. A corkscrew spiral stair links the dining balcony off the upper level living and dining rooms to the plunge-sized dark-bottomed swimming pool and spa.

As one might expect, often mustachioed and sometimes soul-patched Mister Kiedis maintains a rock-star size property portfolio that in addition to his latest acquisition above the Sunset Strip also includes: a gated mini-estate with a blade-shaped swimming pool in the Point Dume area of Malibu purchased in October 2005 for $4,825,000; An ocean front house near Hanalei Bay on the North Shore of Kaua'i picked up in April 2005 for $2.6 million; A two bedroom and 2.5 bathroom townhouse type residence in a affluent guard-gated development in Las Vegas that he snatched up in December 2005 for $570,000; And a lake-front residence on the outskirts of Grand Rapids, MI bought way back in 1996 for $220,000.

listing photos: Everett Fenton Gidley for Westside Estate Agency

José Reyes Keeps a Real Estate Toe in New York

BUYER: José Reyes
LOCATION: Old Brookville, NY
PRICE: $4,578,000 (list)
SIZE: 7,669 square feet, 6 bedrooms, 6 full and 2 half bathrooms

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: Just because Dominican Republic-born professional baseballer José Reyes now plays for the Toronto Blue Jays* doesn't mean the former New York Met doesn't plan to keep a significant real estate toe hold in the New York area.

In 2007 Mister Reyes and his wife, Katherine, shelled out $3.25 million for an approximately 5,000 square foot house in a gated enclave in the affluent Long Island community of Manhasset and now, thanks to a real estate canary we'll call Harry Hasthedish, we've learned that the deadlocked four-time All Star shortstop is about to buy a bigger house in the wealthier (and more waspy) Long Island village of Old Brookville where the (2010) median household income surged above $245,000 per year. As of this morning property records don't yet reflect a transfer of ownership so we can't say how much Mister Reyes agreed to pay for the place but our brief research shows the the estate-sized spread was originally listed in mid-2011 at $4,999,000 and last listed with an asking price of $4,578,000.

Of course, Your Mama don't know a thing about professional baseball so we had to consult the internets and our boozy, ball crazy b.f.f. Fiona Trambeau for a little background on Mister Reyes who, turns out, really knows how to hit the damn ball and steal bases. He hit more triples than anyone else in the major leagues in 2005, 2006, 2008 and 2011 and he stole more bases than any of the other professional baseball jocks in 2005, 2006, and 2007. In late 2011, after eight seasons with the New York Mets, Mister Reyes signed on for a six year stint with the Miami Marlins in a package deal worth $106 million. Just a year later, in an effort to decrease their overall payroll, the Marlins traded Mister Reyes to the Toronto Blue Jays who assumed the same pay package as he had in Miami.

Listing details for Mister Reyes' new residence in Old Brookville that Your Mama teased out of the interweb clearly show the red brick and cedar shingled quasi-colonial was built in 2006 on just over 3.5 acres but it does not indicate the square footage, which the Nassau County Tax Man puts it at 7,669 square feet. Listing details do show, however, that the two (or more) story house has six bedrooms and six full and two half bathrooms as well as 10-foot ceilings, extensive mill work, custom wood floors throughout, and a fully finished basement.

Formal living and dining rooms open directly off the double-height foyer and adjoining stair hall, the former with a fireplace and French doors and the latter with flesh-toned walls above a waist-high chair rail and a glimmery, palace-worthy crystal chandelier. Also in the general vicinity of the front door are a den with fireplace surmounted by a flat screen t.v. and a dark paneled library with another fireplace surmounted by a flat screen television.

The nearby kitchen is certainly large and well equipped with a Subaru-sized center island, granite counter tops, two-tone distressed raised panel cabinetry, and top-quality appliances but—frankly—it looks like the high-end kitchen of about 400 million other high-end kitchens in upscale suburban mansions and macmansions across the country. An adjoining breakfast room is wrapped on three sides by large windows and looks out over the flat (and featureless) football field-sized backyard.

The master suite has a private sitting room with fireplace, roomy bedroom and a very beige bathroom with twin pedestal sinks, a glassed in steam shower and a free-standing soaking tub set below a strange and unnecessary raised fireplace. Think about that fireplace, children, who wants to flip that thing on and sit in the tub where you can't even see it? Pleeze.

A finished basement, which probably adds a couple thousand more square feet to the total size of the house, includes a wine cellar, a small (carpeted) room the sellers used as a fitness suite, and a gigantic (barely furnished) game room with a carved wood bar that looks like an expensive (but boring) replica of a bar in an Old Timey saloon.

listing photos: Shawn Elliott Luxury Homes and Estates

Those Crazy Quaids Do It Again in Pacific Palisades

BUYERS: Dennis and/or Kimberly Buffington-Quaid
LOCATION: Pacific Palisades, CA
PRICE: $5,100,000
SIZE: 6,114 square feet, 5-7 bedrooms, 9 bathrooms

YOUR MAMAS NOTES: Thanks to both real estate yenta Yolanda Yakketyyak and our eerily well-informed informant Lucy Spillerguts, Your Mama has learned why the soon-to-be-divorced May-December duo Dennis and Kimberly Quaid—he's 59, she's 45—unexpectedly flipped the contemporary Pacific Palisades pad they'd only purchased seven months earlier* back on the market two weeks ago with a fifty thousand dollar mark up: In early July (2103), through a vexatiously named trust, the estranged but co-parenting couple surreptitiously shelled out $5,100,000 to acquire a 1920s Spanish-style mini-mansion set privately and securely behind high hedges and an electronic drive gate on a sweeping curve of Sunset Boulevard in the ritzy Riviera area of Pacific Palisades.**

Property records indicate the 6,114 square foot residence has three bedrooms and nine bathrooms but digital listing details Your Mama scrounged up show there are six bedrooms and nine bathrooms. Making matters more confusing, the listing description parsed the bedrooms count as such: four bedrooms suites on the upper floor including a master suite with dual closets and bathrooms (shown above) and a fifth bedroom suite on the main level plus two additional staff rooms. As all of the children who can perform basic arithmetic can easily figure, that makes for a total seven bedrooms. Anyways...

The gated motor court at the front of the property has grass growing between the flagstone pavers and can accommodate up to ten cars, according to online marketing materials. A stout pair of mature palm trees frame the stained glass window flanked front door that opens into a circular foyer that steps down to a reception gallery. The hotel-lobby sized space sports an unfortunate and vaguely Medieval style with stone flooring, an ill-advised faux-stone wall treatment around the front door, numerous stone-framed doorways, and antique chandelier and half a dozen or more matching sconces, wrought iron stair railings, and what appear to Your Mama to be at least three—three!—stone and/or tile encrusted fountains.

An ever so brief hall with arched niches connects the foyer to the grandly proportioned step-down living room with dark brown wood floors, large windows on three walls, a colossal carved stone fireplace and chimney breast, two antique chandeliers, and a vaulted, exposed wood ceiling. Multi-paned glass and steel doors join the living room to the formal dining room where an over-sized, essentially square-shaped stained glass window sits colorfully between two tall and narrow ten-pane leaded glass windows.

The roomy, center island eat-in kitchen is fully updated with a vintage vibe and is dressed with marble counter tops and white subway tile back splashes the extend all the way to the ceiling and expensively equipped with two glass-fronted fridge/freezers, two dishwashers, a super-sized commercial-style range set into a subway tiled niche, a built-in coffee maker, a built-in vegetable steamer, and at least one under-counter wine fridge.

Double arched doors at the back of the reception gallery open to a small but state-of-the-art media room with terraced seating, a high-def projection system plus a large flat-screen t.v. set in to the wall, and a giant, pane-free window that overlooks the backyard.

Other notable features and creature comforts include a snazzy home automation system, a restored powder room with vintage tile work, a circular second floor sitting room, a ground level yoga/work out room (that was probably originally designed as a staff room). Listing details indicate there are two laundry rooms, a compact one just off the kitchen and another much larger one on the lower level that's kitted out with two washers, two dryers, two side-by-side slop sinks, and a stainless steel topped table in the center of the room.

The house sits tightly on a .37 acre sloping parcel but, none-the-less, outdoor living spaces are many and include a sun-baked tiled terrace atop the attached two car garage, a central courtyard embraced on three sides by the towering rear façade and at least one more dining/lounging terrace plus a flat patch of lawn ringed by a thick wall of trees and shrubs and a large swimming pool and spa girdled by a basket weave pattern red brick terrace.

*At least one report from the time of the purchase indicates that although title was held in both their names Missus Quaid, a real estate agent in Texas, and the couple's five year old twins retained exclusive use of the property until the children turn 18.

**Your Mama has no idea if Mister and Third Missus Quaid plan to reconcile and cohabitate in the Sunset Boulevard mini-mansion or if, more likely, the acquisition is part of soon-to-be-third-ex-Missus Quaid's settlement.

listing photos: Coldwell Banker (via Hot Pads)

Did Y'all Hear...

...that in 2008 an as yet unidentified 40-something year old Belgian art dealer bought the last home of Spanish surrealist Pablo Picasso in the historic village of Mougins, about 20 minutes from the Promenade de la Croisette in Cannes, for between 10 and 12 million Euros—that's $13 to $16 million U.S. dollars—gave the well-situated Provençal pad a striking minimalist make-over and popped it back on the market with a hair raising and hoopla-ensuring $220,000,000 asking price?

Current listing details and previous reports in the newspaper Nice Matin (via the hardworking kids at Curbed) show the stone-walled 35-room hillside villa, once known as Mas de Notre-Dame du Vie and now dubbed Domaine L'Antre du Minotaure, stands three stories high, has 10 bedrooms and 8 bathrooms, a guest house and a guard house, two swimming pools, a tennis court, an extensive gardens.

Now children, this property has an impeccable pedigree and it is certainly something to behold even if the austerely finished and sparely furnished day-core ain't your thang but 220 million George Washingtons? Well...Your Mama thinks it's probably best to let the gloriously opinionated children and any prospective buyers decide whether the 14-17 time mark up over the reported 2008 sale price makes a lick of real estate sense, even with the no-doubt time consuming and costly renovation and restoration.

1,2,3...Go!

listing photos: Corcoran

Your Mama Hears...

...From a trusted canary deep inside the Platinum Triangle real estate world—let's call her Heidi Hearsay—that Will and Jada Pinkett Smith recently floated their epic compound in the Santa Monica Mountains near Calabasas (CA) as a whisper listing with a very loud $42 million asking price.*

The Tinseltown power players, who are forever insisting they are not splitting up or having some sort of unconventional open relationship, spent four years and heaven only knows how many millions to custom construct the 150-plus acre Calabasas area complex that includes an approximately 25,000 square foot adobe-style mega-mansion that bends around a plaza-sized central motor court before it branches off to accommodate garage bays for at least eight cars with additional living space above.

Some of the children may recall that the Smith's humongous, hand-crafted domicile was featured on the cover and in the glossy page of the September 2011 issue of Architectural Digest. The multi-winged house was described in A.D. by the home's Santa Fe-based architect, Stephen Samuelson, as "various interpretations of adobe in Persian, Moroccan, Spanish, as well as Southwest American cultures."

The article elaborates on the "deeply personal" and sensually curvaceous interior spaces that include decorative this and thats such as hand-troweled plaster walls, miles of exposed ceiling timbers reclaimed from old barns and homesteads, hammered wrought iron accents and stair banisters, floors and ceiling with spiral and infinity knot patterns pressed into the stucco or fashioned from river stones, brilliantly colored stained glass windows, and antique hand-carved wood doors from around the globe.

The Smiths first worked with esteemed nice-gay decorator Waldo Fernandez, according to the  A.D. article, but at some point switched to L.A.-based lady decorator Judith Lance who filled every nook and cranny with hand-crafted bits and bobs from around the globe as well as scads of bespoke pieces, including a bed canopy in the master bedroom painstakingly made entirely of tiny ball chains. It's a bit much for Your Mama's less show-stoppy personal taste in day-core and it's certainly something our house gal, Svetlana, would not even dream of dusting without a guarantee of a sizable bonus but it's certainly an impressive construction and conversation piece.

The double-height main entry spills easily into a double height living room with massive carve stone fireplace, a dozen or more towering jute wrapped columns, and a retractable skylight. That's right, a retractable skylight. There are numerous other secret nooks and cozy crannies throughout the house that provide more intimate spaces for private chats and solitary moments.

The dining room has rich vermilion walls and another kiva-ish fireplace plus an adjoining circular lounge with cushioned built-in seating that's perfect for taking in a palette cleansing aperitif or satiating digestif. The kitchen has cabinets crafted from 19th century oak panels, double fridge/freezers, a built-in pizza oven, and an adjoining breakfast room where an over-sized picture window frames a long view across a vast lawn toward a lakeside gazebo.

There's a meditation lounge with circular skylight, a billiards room, a luxuriously appointed screening room, and a state-of-the-art recording studio where a then 9 or 10 year old Willow Smith recorded her brilliantly catchy if terrifically annoying Platinum certified single Whip My Hair.

The master suite has high ceilings with exposed timbers, a raised hearth fireplace, and towering arched glass doors that link to a private terrace with built-in lounge seating. There's also a custom-fitted closet/dressing room that Your Mama would bet our long-bodied bitches, Linda and Beverly, is bigger than all the bedrooms in our house put together plus a sculptural bathroom with an over-sized flesh-colored soaking tub and a shower cave lined with glimmering pebbles.

Outdoor recreations and amusements include a man-made lake with a small island accessible via a narrow footbridge, a multi-pronged lagoon-like swimming pool complex with poolside cabana/changing room, a sunken trampoline, a sand volleyball court, and side-by-side basketball and tennis courts. The landscaped areas that surround the house give way to scrubby, undeveloped hillsides, rugged escarpments, and a distant view of Saddle Peak.

We're not sure if Mister and Missus Smith are looking to significantly lighten their real estate load or if they're simply looking to cash in the currently electrified upper end real estate market but it was recently revealed that the Smiths surreptitiously sold their 7-acre Hawaiian hideaway on the island of Kauai in an off-market deal for around $20 million to Russian real estate baller Dmitry Rybolovlev. Mister Rybolovlev is the very same fella, in case any of y'all somehow don't know, who paid brash real estate mogul Donald Trump a brain freezing $95 million for Maison de L'Amitie—a 33,000 square foot beast of a house on 6.26 acre ocean front acres in Palm Beach that he would like to raze and subdivide. He's also the same guy who shelled out $88 million dollars for financier Sandy Weill's terraced penthouse at 15 Central Park West in New York City and last year dropped another $150+ million for the Greek island of Skorpios and the neighboring island of Sparti.**

Your Mama's research shows Mister and Missus Smith's still impressive property portfolio that includes several properties in Pennsylvania—he was raised up in and around Philly—including a 3.34 acre estate with an 8,000+ square foot mansion in Bryn Mawr, PA. In the Los Angeles area the couple own a 4,100+ square foot mock-Med mini-macmansion in Woodland Hills that they snatched up in August 2010 for $910,000 and way back in 2003 the pampered pair quietly shelled out $3.4 million for a 4.66 acre equine-friendly estate in the guard-gated, star-stocked and equestrian-friendly community of Hidden Hills. It's here, Your Mama thinks but can't confirm, that the Smith family lived while their Calabasas compound was under construction.

*Use yer noggins, nuggets. Although our informant Heidi Hearsay is a hardcore mover and shaker in the real estate game and has provided us with eerily accurate top secret intel many times in the past, Your Mama can't currently vouch for the accuracy of this particular chewy morsel. So, for now, of course, this ain't nuthin' but mouth watering celebrity real estate rumor and gossip, at least until it pops up in of the more respectable property gossip columns.

**At least one of the three purchases listed here were acquired through trusts associated with Mister Rybolovlev's 20-something year old daughter, Ekaterina, but most property gossips assume Poppa Rybolovlev is the the real owner or at least the money behind the brutally pricey purchases.

aerial photo (Calabasas): Bing
photo (Hawaii): Houses.com

Poor O.J. Simspon...

...As The Juice whittles away his days in a Nevada penitentiary doing 9 to 33* on a 2008 conviction for robbery and kidnapping the bank has seized his Spanish hacienda-style house in Kendall, FL after he failed to make mortgage payments for the last two or three years.

The disgraced former Heisman Trophy winner purchased the property in 2000 for $575,000 and court papers parsed by South Florida celebrity and property gossip Jose Lambiet at Gossip Extra reveal he now "owes  the bank a grand total of $892,283.11, including the $660,000-principal, fees, interests and court costs." The house, assessed by the Miami-Dade County appraiser at only $481,000, is scheduled to be auctioned on October 29 (2013).

Property records and aerial imagery show the single story 4 bedroom and 4 bathroom residence sits on 1.65 landscaped acres with a circular motor court, a half-court basketball court and a swimming pool.

What Your Mama wants to know is how come it took the bank three years to foreclose? They don't normally wait that long to foreclose on less (in)famous people, do they?

*Mister Simpson was recently granted parole on a few of his many convictions but will remain in prison for at least four more years.

aerial photo: Bing

100 ways to acquire real estate

This is the best time to purchase real estate whether you are a first home buyer or an investor before the market turns around and properties start becoming unaffordable again. There are many different ways to acquire, finance and sell real estate whether you have cash or not. Having money helps you negotiate a better deal because you can close quicker and eliminate financing fees.

The following are 100 ways to acquire real estate:

1. One of the favorites for investors is for sale by owner (FSBO.) As a buyer you negotiate directly with the seller and are able to find out his needs thus getting a better price
2. Having bird dogs that scout for properties for you to review and purchase and pay them a specific amount when the deal closes. These can be friends, fellow investors, neighbors and others
3. Rental homes are another source of houses for sale. Most landlords are willing to sell a vacant property rather than wait to put another tenant in.
4. Knocking on doors to ask owners if they are interested in selling their property in the future is another way. You may get a call down the line when the owner is ready to sell
5. Probate properties are another great way of acquiring real estate. Find out from your probate department where these properties are usually listed
6. Estate sales can found through antique dealers who may have great contacts
   
7. Government Auctions can have cheap properties
8. Expired Listings can get you sellers that are motivated
9. Some investors sell deals at wholesale prices
10. A good relationship with an investor real estate agent can lead you a good deal
11. Buying the remainder interest of a life estate and have the owner deed you their rights
12. Signs out on the road can lead motivated buyers to you
13. Flyers are very inexpensive and can be distributed to homes in the area you want to invest in
14. The more traditional way of driving neighborhoods can help you locate homes that are in bad or desperate condition where the owner might be considering to sell
15. Door hangers in your neighborhood can generate calls from sellers
16. Fire damaged property can be a great deal if you have rehab experience
17. Divorce can force a couple to sell their property
18. Relocating owners are very motivated sellers
19. Judgements that the owner cannot afford can force him to sell his property
20. Out of State owners are more motivated to sell their properties
21. Model Homes can be purchased and then leased back to the developer
22. Vacant Lots purchased can be used as down payments to acquire other properties
23. You can put down reservation on lots and sell them later for a profit
24. Great deals can be found in abandoned home if you are able to track down the owner
25. Bug controllers can refer properties to you that they worked on and have found out the owner want to sell
26. Sheriff’s Sale also have good deals on properties
27. With so many properties on the market, real estate auction companies have become popular and some houses are sold at very good prices
28. IRS also sells homes to recover unpaid taxes
29. The county also sell homes that property taxes are unpaid
30. Estate Sale
31. Veterans Administration also has homes for sale that have been foreclosed on
32. Bank Owned properties are also another source and can be very profitable if the are sold for less than their fair market value
33. Eviction courts have names of landlords who might be considering selling their property
34. Properties with code violations may have owners who do not have funds to correct them and wants to get rid of the property
35. Properties with mechanic liens are also another source of motivated seller
36. Foreclosed properties can be great if you are able to negotiate with the owner
37. Lawsuits can also force an owner to sell his property to free up some cash
38. Partnership liquidation that owns real estate can help you secure great deals
39. Trading homes can be another way of acquiring a property
40. Private lenders can sell you their bad loans or let you take over properties that have been foreclosed on
41. Some people prefer to own a nice car and would prefer to sell their home to purchase it. Car sales men can be a great source of who is wanting to sell their house
42. Reverse mortgage can help you take possession of a property by paying the homeowner until he moves out or passes away
43. If the owner needs cash you can give it to him for part of the equity in the home
44. Assumable loans is one of the ways to acquire a property with little cash down
45. Inheritance is another source of finding great deals on properties. Most children do not need them and can be great for seller financing if they are free and clear
46. Investor bundles are properties being liquidated by investors because they investing in something else
47. Large companies with high a turnover can make great referrals for owners wanting to sell
48. With the world going online a lot of good deals can also be found on the internet
49. Natural disasters can lead to an inventory of homes that need little work to be sold for large profits
50. Other liens placed by the city or county can let you acquire the property if you pay off the lien
51. Tax notices for increased taxes may force owners to start considering selling their homes if they cannot afford the payments
52. Right of redemption can be purchased from the owner after the property has foreclosed and you can purchase that home for yourself at the cheap auction price
53. Title companies can also be a great source of properties that fell through escrow for various reason and you can go acquire them at a great cash price
54. Insurance companies can let you know properties that they do want to pay claims for and you can acquire them for a good price
55. Carpet cleaners can also give good referral for properties going for sale
56. Newspaper Carriers know and see a lot in the neighborhoods and can be a great source
57. Postal workers get move in and move out notices and can provide you with many referrals
58. City Inspectors may know properties that owners may want to sell
59. Divorce Attorneys can refer you clients who want to sell their homes
60. Bankruptcy Attorneys can also refer you clients who want to sell their homes
61. Remodeling Contractors are usually used by owners getting ready to sell
62. Missing Meters can mean utility companies have shut of power  and the owner may be selling his home
63. Bail Bondsman sometimes have properties placed as collateral that are for sale
64. Homeowners Association have liens, deed restriction  and code violations that may force the owner to sell
65. Landlords with section 8 tenants may want to unload at low prices
66. Local Investment clubs have other investors who may also have deals
67. Landscape Companies are can also lead you to great properties
68. Police may have property that need to be auctioned
69. Gambling dealers are also a great referral source
70. Pizza Delivery also see a lot in the neighborhoods and can be a great source
71. You can pay an owners car payment to prevent it from being repossessed for an option to purchase the home
72. Bankers have a lot of contacts and can lead you to some great properties 
73. Funeral Directors may choose to offer your services to bereaved family members
74. Bartender hear a lot and may be a great source of motivated sellers
75. Marriage Counselors may have a divorcing couple who want to sell their property
76. Dentist and Doctors have lots of contacts and can be a great referral source
77. Accountants may have clients who want to sell their properties
78. Subcontractors learn of sellers when performing their contract work and can refer their clients to you
79. Handymen are called for repairs before the sale of the property and also can give you great leads
80. Building Inspectors know of sellers who would prefer to sell than correct a violation
81. Local cable companies provide their service on a move in or move out and can be a great source
82. Private investigators can provide useful owner information on abandoned properties
83. Moving companies can let you know on owners moving and planning to sell their home
84. Churches and charitable organizations receive property as donations and can be a great source of great deals
85. Furniture Rental Stores’ customers usually move eventually and sell their properties
86. Retirements homes have retirees who need to sell their property
87. Foundation and Concrete companies know properties that cannot afford their services and the owner may be willing to sell it
88. Rental Management Companies know when property seller wants to sell and can notify you
89. Hardware store clerks are in touch with owners making some improvements before selling
90. Parent Teacher Associations know a lot about who is moving out of town and you can offer your services to purchase property
91. Window washing companies may also be a great source for leads
92. Garbage men see a lot and can give you good leads
93. Rent to own gives you the opportunity to control the property with little cash down and purchase it at a later date.
94. Flood zones can make an owner uncomfortable with the high insurance payments and may consider selling
95. Water and Sewer hookups can let you know who is moving in or out for owners that may sell their home
96. Check cashing companies can also be a great source for leads of owners with financial trouble that need to sell their home
97. You can offer to pay for roof repairs for an option to purchase the owners home
98. You can also offer to pay college tuition for someone else for the option on the owners property
99. Contractors can refer properties that have rejected their bids as the owner may decide to sell instead
100. Properties with encroachment may not be fully insured by the title company and the owner may consider selling

20 Ways to Rent Out Your Home Faster

While running a successful rental marketing company and renting out my numerous rental properties. I have picked up a few tricks along the way.

Below are 20 ways you can rent out your home faster 

(There are plenty more ideas and if you have some please comment and I can add to the list):

1) Pricing Matters
There are many ways to price your home competitively in the marketplace. Some tools to help you along the way are: RentSlicer.com, RentOmeter.com and Oodle.com

2) The time of the Month Counts
The best times to gain a tenant are March, April, May, June, July and August. These are the main months when renters move due to seasons, schools, etc.

3) Throw some Make-up On
Have you ever toured a model home for sale? What do you notice? Are there magnets on the fridge? Are there clothes in the hamper? Are the walls scratched? The answer is no. Why? This is what sells homes. Touch up with paint and remove all clutter and you will see a big difference.

4) Replace Light bulbs and Fixtures
A rule of thumb is more light is better than less. Make sure all lights actually have light bulbs. If you were like me, I had 1970’s fixtures. Do you still wear 70’s clothes? I hope not. Your old fixtures should go too.

5) Good from Far, Far from Good
When you went on your first date, did you wear the same dirty old sweatpants as you do now. Don’t worry,
I still wear mine. We all know first impressions count and people DO judge a book by its cover. With that said, make sure your address numbers are hanging straight, you touch up the paint, you mow the lawn and pull the weeds. Add a few fresh plants, it won’t kill you but it will help rent your home faster.

6) The Internet is Dead
Actually it is far from dead. The internet is the most cost effective way to advertise your property. There are many great sites to post to including some favorites like RentVine, RentalHomesPlus, Craigslist, BackPage and others. Go here for a list of comprehensive rental websites and utilize Rent Marketer as a rental advertising resource. Rent Marketer takes the pain out of posting to many rentals sites as they do all of the posting for you to currently over 80 rental sites.

7) Would you Like an iPod with That?
A trick from apartment communities is to offer an incentive to sign the lease now. Some ideas on incentives are offering 1 month free, receive a free iphone or other electronic goodies, free pizza certificates, etc.

8) My Granite, Stainless Steel Beauty
Doesn’t the sound of ‘Beautiful”, “Charming”, “Great Location”, “Spacious”, “Attractive”, “Gorgeous”, “Fantastic” and “Lovely” feel like nails being dragged down an old chalk board. According to Steven D. Levitt, the author of “Freakonomics“, he suggests that homes that tend to not have many specific attributes worth describing, like those above, correlate to a lower sales / rental price. “‘Spacious’ homes are often decrepit or impractical. ‘Great neighborhood’ signals a buyer that, well, this house isn’t very nice but others nearby may be.”


What are some of the words or adjectives that are used to help increase the value of ones home and decrease vacancy rates for rental properties? Here’s the breakdown: Granite, State-of-the-art, Stainless Steel Appliances, vaulted Ceilings, Maple, Gourmet, Corian, Wood Floors.

9) Clean Your Room
Did your mom ever tell you to keep your room clean? It wasn’t for sanitary reasons but rather just in case she left your father she would be able to sell the home faster. I need to stop projecting. No, in all seriousness, be sure to dust and clean everywhere, including behind the fridge. You never know where people might look.

10) Toilet Paper (not the kind in the airport bathrooms)
The small things count. Women in particular like it when the toilet paper is rolled nicely and if it has a triangular shape towards the end like you see in hotels. Men are just glad it has a bathroom.

11) You Smell Good
Fragrance is extremely important when a tenant is touring the home. View 10 tips on making your home smell better.

12) Photos are Worth, well You Know
Adding photos to your online and offline ads are very important. Studies have found that photos can increase lead generation by more than 400% as compared to not having photos at all. All of the suggestions within the top 20 need to be applied when taking photos. No clutter, clean, lots of light, etc.. Top rooms tenants are most interested in when viewing photos are front of property, kitchen, living, master, bathrooms and backyard if it has one.

13) Virtual Tours Make Momma Happy
We are not quite to the futuristic virtual tour I proposed here but virtual tours are becoming better. You can use a professional service or do one yourself and upload it to youtube.

14) I am old and Don’t have that Internet!
Those young whipersnappers with their internet thingie. If you don’t have access to the internet and you just don’t care to learn, there are some off line tips you can do to generate more awareness for your property. You can add a sign in your front yard. You can add an ad in the local paper. You can send out flyers to all of your neighbors. You can add flyers to your local grocery store.

15) Water the Lawn
A dead lawn is a dead rental close. Don’t attract the bad tenants with a dead lawn.

16) Clean the Windows
Windows get dirty over time. Windex them before a showing to enhance the properties look and feel.

17) Let There be Light
A mistake when showing a property is to not open the blinds up enough to let light in. This is an easy way to let more light in.

18) Are you Going to get That?
According to the National Association of Realtors, 50% of email leads are never even opened. A majority of phone leads go unanswered. Studies also show that if you respond to emails immediately and answer phone calls, you are much more likely to get tenants to fill vacancies.

19) Get a property manager
I personally use a property manager to manage all my properties. This makes it much more easier for me to concentrate on other things like acquiring new properties. A property manager has lots of contacts and past tenants that they can contact to help fill your vacancy faster. Total cost of a property manager is usually 1/2 of first months rent and then 10% of gross rent each month after that. For more information on property managers go to NARPM.

20) Rent to Own Option
A rent to own option could be a good way to get quality tenants into your home. Each month a percentage of their rent can go towards their down payment to purchase the home at a predetermined amount over a predetermined amount of time.

A Simple procedure to Sell Your Houses Fast in Today's Market

If you are entered into the real estate marketplace, you found a provoked seller who was actually feeling a financial pinch brought on by the economic crisis. They reached the conclusion that their chances of saving their home was next to nil, so they chose to take the consolation prize: to walk away under their own terms with their pride intact and their credit report in better shape than they projected.

Your real estate investing education you were able to get their property with a topic to transaction.  The rental agreement lays out the terms of the rental how much they'll pay each month for the privilege of living in your home. When the occupant buyer decides to pull the trigger and exercise their option they'll obtain credit for the choice consideration fee and any rental credits they've earned along the way.