Robert Irwin

Robert Irwin

"Robert Irwin's career in the real estate industry encompasses more than three decades of experience as real estate broker, landlord, and consultant to lenders, agents, and investors. He is the bestselling author of more than 50 books on real estate, including The Armchair Real Estate Investor, Fix It, Stage It, Sell It - Quick!, Buy Your First Home, The For Sale By Owner Kit, McGraw-Hill's Tips & Traps series, and the latest edition of Buy, Rent, and Sell. A long-time voice of authority, Robert Irwin addresses landlording, investing, and homebuying issues with crystal clarity."

    Robert Irwin's Articles

    • The Flip Side of Flipping

      Many investors were burned this year and last by the falling real estate market. Playing the previously profitable flip game that started in about 2002 (where they would buy at a moderate price, then quickly resell for a profit at a higher price), these flippers suddenly discovered they were in trouble. Real estate they had bought (often multiple properties) was now going down in price, not up. The flippers suddenly, and disasterously, found themselves unable to resell, refinance, or make the payments. As a result, many were forced into foreclosure and some lost their entire investments.The plight of the flippers…

    • REO or Pre-Foreclosure?

      That’s the big question for many investors looking to buy foreclosures – Should I buy an REO (bank owned property) or a pre-foreclosure (still owned by borrower, but in default)? How you answer that question can determine how easy or how difficult a time you have with your foreclosure investment.Most investors, your author included, feel that buying an REO (an acronym for real estate owned) is a cleaner deal. Typically you are assured of good title to the property including title insurance. That means that usually you don’t have to worry about the old borrower/owner coming back trying to claim…

    • A Modest Proposal for Curing the Housing Crisis

      Nine billion for IndyMac bank, 80 billion for Fannie and Freddie, 60 billion for AIG, hundreds of billions more for an RTC-type fix – as Everett Dirkson (former Senate leader) used to say, “A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you’re talking about real money!”With the number and size of government bailouts increasing and with no end in sight, one has to wonder how will it end? Will the government ever get a handle on the deepening financial crisis?While our political leaders seem to be running around plugging the leaking financial dike one hole at a time, many…

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