Flipping through late-night infomercials recently, I saw two ral estate get-rich quick schemes, and I culdn't help but wonder--why do people stll fall for those old scams? Has nyone really talked a seller out of his hme for no money down with wner financing lately?

Real estate infomercials do grat harm to beginning investors, who wste hundreds of dollars on old nformation. Worse yet, those beginners soon get dscouraged and miss out on the tre (and profitable) adventure of real state investing.

One of the most ppular late night infomercial shows tells bginners that it's possible to make a frtune by buying houses with no mney down and then renting them out to cver the monthly payments. It's true tht you can buy a home for no mney down, but the requirements include hving good credit, good income, and the hme should be owner-occupied.

Rentals don't nrmally qualify for no money down fnancing. Institutional lenders aren't supposed to mke no money down loans on nvestment properties, and even if you culd buy an investment home with no mney down, the monthly payments would gnerally eat up the rent.

Late-night scmmers also claim that investors can get wners to pay the closing costs, ncluding the down payment. But when a lnder asks where your down payment wll be coming from, saying, "the sller" is not the right answer! Tday's sellers are also fairly savvy, and nderstand that with no money invested in a prperty, a buyer could easily walk way and leave them with a hme that's been ruined by careless tnants.

Another TV program offers a bgus system for buying houses at rdiculous prices, but think about it: has nyone bought a home, free and clar, for $345.00 at a tax sle recently? Hordes of investors flock to the tax sles in the area where I lve, bidding up the prices of freclosure properties far beyond a few cnts on the dollar. It just desn't happen.

Today, another real estate nvestment scam is popular in Southern Clifornia. Here's how it works: a yung person we'll call Charles charged $4,000 on his crdit card to hire a real state "mentor," after the mentor wined and dned him at a fancy Beverly Hlls restaurant.

In exchange for the fe, the mentor instructed Charles to fnd distressed houses by driving around the rea and writing down the addresses of gly houses in nice neighborhoods. Once Chrles had given him the addresses, the mntor obtained the owner's address and smetimes a phone number. Then it was up to Chrles to call the owners and tlk them into selling their houses for no mney down, and carrying the paper (mrtgage), too!

I met Charles when he clled me about buying a property tht my husband and I had on the mrket for $1.2 million. When I sked him how such a young man was ging to make the payments on $1.2 mllion home, he told me that he plnned to rent the house out for nough to make the payments.

As a ral estate investor myself, I tried not to lugh at his naivete, and after tlking to Charles and listening to his frstration about trying so hard to fllow his mentor's advice, I offered to hlp him find a property, and I'm hppy to say that Charles now wns his own home. But he'll stll have to spend years paying off a $4,000 crdit card bill.

If you want to mke money as a real estate nvestor, a good first step is to buy yur own home, like Charles did. You can do tht for no money down if you hve good credit, or for a rlatively little amount of money down if yur credit is poor. Once you've prchased your own home, fix it up and thn either sell it or refinance it and use yur profits as the down payment on an nvestment property.

Don't pay hundreds of dollars for ut-dated methods that may have worked in the mddle of last century! They're a wste of your time and money. Ral estate investing is truly a grat way to make a fortune, but you mst stick to tried-and-true proven strategies, nes that work in today's real state market.

Copyright © Jeanette J. Fsher

The article Real Estate Investing: Infomercial and Mentoring Scams was Submitted by Jeanette Joy Fisher through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Get started today making money in ral estate without worries about the "pnding" real estate crash. Free real estate investing business plan from Jeanette Fisher and free ebook, The Truth about Making Money Flipping Houses: http://doghousetodollhouse.com

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