Elaine Zimmermann

Elaine Zimmermann is a nationally recognized foreclosure book author and investor. She began her career in real estate investing over 12 years ago after going through a painful divorce. She had to rent out her house and she was broke. She kept asking herself, "How am I going to get ahead"? She obtained a government foreclosure list and made her 1st investment.

Her primary goal was to reach $1 million in assets and she achieved that goal within 5 years. Elaine read everything she could about investing in real estate. She advises that anyone beginning their investment journey to perform plenty of research, speak to other investors and join real estate investment clubs. It is also important to build good credit to have access to immediate financing.

When deciding on a property to invest in, Elaine says you must act quickly. In virtually all cases, the earliest bidder gets the property. Many novice investors will lose a deal because they were fearful of taking the plunge. Elaine reveals that people who do not own any real estate are 43 times worse off financially than those who possess real estate as part of their assets.

An additional recommendation on choosing a real estate investment is "to choose the worst dog in the best location." If you catch sight of a property with a few broken windows, or is painted an unappealing color, think about your return on investment. If you acquire the property at a $40,000 savings and you have to paint the house and fix a few windows, you will have still made a sound investment.

When Elaine 1st started out, she wanted to build a fence around one of her properties. She did not have the additional $3000 cash at the time to build the fence. She was at a local superstore in the middle of winter and saw some large bushes askew in the garden center. There were no tags on the bushes and the clerk said she could have them for $1 a piece. She thought that the bushes would grow to be a great alternative to a privacy fence and she grabbed them. She made a wonderful profit.

Elaine enjoys the challenge of new investments. Her real estate investments have bought her some freedom and piece of mind. She has sold off her smaller properties and presently invests in larger waterfront properties. Her endorsements include The New York Times, MONEY magazine and many others. She has appeared on hundreds of television and radio programs and is featured regularly in more than 200 financial Web sites.