Moore Anthony's Blog

You’ve probably heard trivia like this before: “Your smartphone has more processing power than NASA did when it put men on the moon in 1969.” That's a pretty incredible fact – isn't it? Even more fascinating, is that mobile phones are starting to surpass many laptops on performance benchmarking tests . All that processing power, combined with humanity’s combined knowledge available instantly with internet access, is sitting right in your pocket day in and day out. And you probably use it for watching cat videos. (Don't worry: We all do.) But what else can your smartphone do for you as a real estate investor? How can it help give you an unfair advantage over all the other investors out there failing to use the gadget and its abundance of apps to advance your businesses and bottom line? Here are twenty amazing apps that all real estate investors should consider — including several that aren’t real estate “apps” per se, but will help make you become a more nimble inv...

Real estate professionals play an important role in shaping the quality of living that their clients experience. As an industry expert, it’s your job to make your client’s real estate buying or selling experience as smooth and painless as possible. You must establish yourself as a versatile professional who can provide and create solutions for every need, leading to a complete and successful sale or purchase of a home. This is why anyone who aims to stand out and make it big in the competitive real estate industry set their sights on key skills needed to excel at the job. Below, we break down five essential areas of expertise that every real estate professional must develop: Deep Industry Knowledge and Experience Chances are, you’ll be working with clients who are clueless about the steps involved in buying a home. Help them make sense of everything by offering hands-on assistance to turn an intricate process into a comfortable, pleasant, and rewarding experience. As a real e...

A 6% commission on a $200,000 property looks like a juicy expense to cut out when you’re flipping houses. After all, your listing agent did little more than take a few photos! And you have to shell out $12,000?! And doesn't being a Realtor bestow countless blessings and advantages upon you as a real estate investor? The thought crosses nearly every new real estate investor’s mind: “Should I get my Realtor’s license to get direct MLS access and save money on agent fees?” But the answer isn’t quite that simple. Here are the pros and cons of getting your Realtor’s license as an investor and how to decide if it’s a good fit for you. Pro: You Can Save (Some) Money on Realtor Fees When you go to sell a flipped house or a rental property, yes, you can list your own property for sale without the aid of a certified Realtor. This, in turn, will help you save some money, but not as much as you may assume initially. Let’s assume a 6% Realtor fee. First, half of that fee will likely...

Earlier this year, I decided to get into the coffee farming business through a company called International Coffee Farms . Of all the things in the world – why a coffee farm?? There are a lot of reasons (most of which I explore in this blog post ), but to sum it up in a few bullet points… The money I invest with a company like ICFC goes to create fair-paying, socially and environmentally sustainable jobs for the local farmers in Boquete, Panama . Aside from the upfront investment, owning a coffee farm requires literally nothing from me. I just sit there and get paid each year, for as long as I own the property and the farming operation produces income. There are literally no ongoing expenses to pay (no maintenance, no upkeep, no property taxes, no mortgage payments – zero). Any ongoing costs are covered by the revenue generated by the farming operation. This investment is not tied to the US real estate market or economy. Even if the US economy takes a nosedive tomorrow, there...

Successful REALTORS® know that a website is crucial to building their real estate brand. That’s why Placester is extending our partnership with the National Association of REALTORS® to offer new and improved free and Pro versions of our NAR Edition websites . Built on Placester’s new Highland template , our free NAR Edition IDX websites offer a cutting-edge design to help REALTORS® make a strong first impression, as well as new tools to help you capture leads, including contact forms and the ability for visitors to save listings and searches. Plus, the new NAR Edition comes stocked with valuable content and pages to help engage potential customers, including high-resolution images, pre-written blog posts, and a customizable featured area page. Do More with NAR Pro Edition If you’re looking to do more with your REALTOR® website, Placester’s Agent Pro Edition for NAR members adds a wide variety of benefits to help you engage potential customers and stand out from competitors, ...

For years now, I've wanted to invest in farmland. Farmland has a lot to offer real estate investors, and it's also one of the most overlooked types of buy-and-hold real estate I've encountered. As one of the few real estate investments that is truly passive, and can be owned from anywhere in the world with virtually no need for an on-site property manager, I honestly wouldn't mind having a portfolio made of entirely of farmland… but one of the tricks to getting started in this niche of real estate is to figure out which market(s) you should be investing in, what risks and rewards come with each market, and which areas typically deliver the best return on investment. Why Invest in the United States? There are a lot of areas around the world with have high-quality farmland with ideal growing conditions, but farmland in the United States is some of the most ideal in the world for at least two key reasons: The U.S. Government Respects Property Rights Something we t...

For years now, I've been fascinated by the idea of owning  farmland . Why farmland, you ask? In my opinion, farmland is a mixture of all the best things real estate has to offer. With farmland, I can generate income that is truly passive . Because of the stable, predictable, hands-off nature of farmland, this stream of income  isn't going to disappear on me, and it won't surprise me with HUGE, sporadic expenses like a rental property will. Regardless of whether I decide to get out of bed in the morning, the property will behave itself . As long as the property is occupied by a good, reliable tenant, the money will keep coming in. Even within the niche of land investing , most of us think of “passive income” in terms of seller financing – when we sell a property on terms and then collect the buyer's payments over the course of many months. This generates a recurring source of income that doesn't last forever , but it does last for many months into the future. ...