ProAPOD® Real estate Investment Software has just added a mortgage payment calculator to its site that will enable visitors to make mortgage payment calculations with a full amortization schedule.

The mortgage payment calculator is easy to use. Simply enter a loan amount, interest rate, and loan term then click Calculate. ProAPOD instantly computes a monthly payment and total interest amount for the full loan as well as creating a monthly amortization table that shows the principal, interest, and remaining loan balance after each loan payment.

You can try our new mortgage payment calculator at http://www.proapod.com/calculator/mortgage_payment_calculator.php

If you would like to include this mortgage payment calculator on your own website, please contact James R Kobzeff. We are happy to let you put it on your site, but we do want our footer information to remain intact.

by Dr. Green

Investing in real estate can be very profitable if you know what you’re doing.Typically, people invest in residential homes and land. However, investing in commercial real estate can also be beneficial.

Commercial Real Estate Investing Tools

You are going to need a very high-tech calculator, preferably a mortgage calculator. You want to have one that has specific features for real estate related expenses. You will also need a computer that has Internet access and enough RAM to download some programs for estimates and whatnot. If you can afford to, hire an attorney-mainly for transaction guidance. Most important, however, you need to have the desire to invest in commercial real estate.

Considerations When Investing In Commercial Real Estate

Investing in commercial real estate is totally different from residential. Contrary to popular belief, it is not so easy to assess the value of commercial properties. There are many details that you need to take into consideration. The value is determined in an inverse proportion to the possible risk and income stability. This sounds simpler than it is because each commercial property (i.e. office or retail space) has different value. To put it simply, you need to know what kind of commercial real estate investment you are looking to make before you actually search properties.

Offices create a huge part of commercial real estate, whether it’s in the heart of the city or in the suburbs. Oftentimes office space is handled purely through leasing, but there are some times where there can be a sale and the return is usually large. If you’re going to be dealing with local and national businesses, you need to know about real estate and marketing. Don’t just jump at the opportunity to invest in an office, find out the details about it first.

Retail is another type of commercial property that offers a large turnover. When you’re planning to invest in a retail property, there are more details that you have to pay attention to. For instance, location can be key. Retail stores thrive on location because in order to succeed, customers need to come there. So many brilliant stores have crumbled in the past due to a bad location. Before investing in retail real estate, research and analyze the demographics and traffic flow.

The industrial part of commercial real estate has also grown increasingly popular over the years. This includes warehouses, manufacturing, high tech and processing facilities. Investing in industrial real estate involves a lot more in depth planning. For example, you must know the environmental, legal and zoning laws involved. When investing in industrial real estate, you can own or rent out your properties, whichever will make you more money.

Risks And Returns When Investing In Commercial Real Estate

Lately, investors are weary because no one knows where this economy is headed. However, risk should be embraced when investing in commercial real estate. When there is a high risk involved, there is also opportunity for a higher return. You need to know how to determine the actual risk involved and not just your own assumption. Look at concrete evidence and examine the factors involved. Don’t Make These Mistakes!

Do not ignore the local market conditions. There are two main types of due diligence when investing in commercial real estate-market and property. In other words, even if you have the most amazing property, if it is in a bad market you will probably fail. Research demographics and decide whether or not the property can be successful.

While market conditions are of utmost importance, property conditions should not be ignored either. This includes the physical aspects like building systems, environmental factors, structural factors, and the more behind-the-scenes aspects like title, survey and zoning regulations. If this is your first time investing in commercial real estate, don’t try to analyze all of these things on your own ask an expert for help.

One of the most important factors that have deemed failure on commercial investors is messing up on the math. There are some particulars that you need to figure out pertaining to actual numbers. Don’t get a projected gross income and expenses because you can be way off. Profits are dependent on the net income, which is the net operating income minus debt service. If you over or underestimate any of these figures, you can suffer a huge loss.

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The sinking fund factor provides the annuity payment that must be made each conversion period at a given rate of compound interest to have available a specified sum at some given future time period.

This calculation for a sinking fund is used to make real estate investment decisions such as how much money must be placed on reserve to have a specified sum at a given future time period to take care of scheduled capital expenditures or other expenses.

In other words, when a real estate investor wants to start setting aside money so he or she has enough available at some future date to replace, let’s say, for a roof on an apartment complex he or she owns, the investor would create a sinking fund.

The formula:

P = 1 / Sn

Where:
P = Cash flow payments of equal size at equal intervals
Sn = Future value of a series of annuity cash flows

Example: A real estate investor needs $10,000 in 5 years to replace refrigerators in an apartment complex that he or she owns. If the investor starts an ordinary annuity fund (payments made at the end of each year) that yields 15% per year, the investor would use the sinking fund factor to calculate what each annual payment would have to be to accumulate the $10,000.

Use of Excel Spreadsheet:

PMT (15,5,,10000,0) = $1,483.16

Use of HP-10B/12C Calculators:

N = 5
%i = 15
FV = 10,000
PMT = -1,483.16

Note: The HP-I0B/12C calculator must be set for payments to be made at the beginning of each conversion period to make this calculation.

Use of ProAPOD Mortgage Calculator:

Amount = $10,000
When Needed (years) = 5
Frequency (select from menu) = Annually
Type of Annuity (select from menu) = Payment at end of the interval
Compound Rate = 15.00%
Compounding Period (select from menu) = Annually
REQUIRED DEPOSIT = $1,483.16

A sinking fund is a prudent way for real estate investors to plan for future capital expenditures. The idea is straightforward, start depositing some amount of money into an account with compound interest at regular intervals so you have the total amount of money you need at some prescribed future time. Read the rest of this entry »