Are you looking to get your feet wet in real estate but don’t know how to begin. If you ask the more creative and experienced of investors, they would suggest that you look for financial institutions that finance investment property. That is, the golden rule of real estate is to use other people’s money to leverage your investments.

Seasoned investors advise against investing scads of money on a single real estate asset, even if you have the funds to do it – simply because it is too risky a proposition. Moreover, you forego the benefits of leveraging.

Nowadays, several reputable lenders offer finance for up to 95% of the purchase price of the property. The most alluring feature of such schemes is that they cut back on your out of pocket costs when acquiring an investment property. Moreover, the finance is typically available in the shape of a single loan, which can be used to invest further in other properties.

The benefits of financing can be better understood with an example. Let’s assume that you purchase an investment property, without financing, for $150,000. If your expected yield from the property is 10%, then you would get returns of $15,000, which is a 10% return on your investment. On the other hand, if you get your property financed up to 95%, then you would effectively make the same profit on a mere investment of $7,500, which amounts to be an overwhelming 200% return on your investment.

Lenders that finance investment property up to 95% normally offer loans with a 15-year or 30-year term. These loans may either be fixed-rate or adjustable-rate. Lenders verify your credentials, such as your income source, savings and credit score, prior to offering finance. Though low credit scores are permissible by many financial institutions, a healthy credit score does help acquire finance at low interest rates.

While choosing a financial institution that will finance investment property, ensure that you are thorough with the terms of the finance agreement. Although financing your investment property seems like a profitable option, you may not be able to acquire finance for just about any property you desire. Reputable lenders offer finance for no more than 5 investment properties. And this too can be rather tough to accomplish. You need to be eloquent enough to persuade the lender into offering finance.

All in all, it is prudent to seek lenders that finance investment property. Financing empowers you to leap ahead in your real estate career at a rapid pace. It helps you augment your investment portfolio, which leads to significant profits in the long run.

Copyright © 2006 Joel Teo. All rights reserved.