Not quite.

That’s where a partnership with Jason Hartman and Platinum Properties Investor’s Network (PPIN) comes into play for the savvy real estate agent. In addition to gaining access to the best properties in the best markets around the country, courtesy of PPIN’s innovative screening process, you also can offer more than 12 other real estate related products for sale on YOUR website and earn a nice commission on all of them.

Step #1
Follow the simple process at BonusCommissions.com to set up your individually branded website that is powered by literally gigabytes of content – blogs, white papers, podcasts. The kind of stuff that keeps people coming back for more. Jason has spent years building his website into a massively helpful educational resource and now his sweat equity is yours at no cost.

Step #2
Drive traffic to your Bonus Commissions website. You can be as proactive as you want to be. Read through the descriptions of our other real estate products. Chances are there are at least a few that your clients would be interested in. Anything they buy following a link from your website earns you a 50% commission.

Step #3
Educate your customers about income property investing. Keep in mind that we don’t compete with you for California property listings in any way, shape, or form. We don’t recommend buying in California at all. Our sights are set on a handful of nearly 40 other diverse markets around the country that we monitor looking for great investment. When you send us a person who eventually buys one of these out-of-local-market investment properties, we happily pay you a 25% commission.

It’s never been easier to diversify your real estate business than partnering with a proven brand, Jason Hartman. Why not get started now?

The Bonus Commissions Team

But leveraging property purchases through down payments and borrowing the rest is a critical ingredient to increasing real estate returns. The following scenarios use real numbers to see how it works.

Scenario #1 – Pay full cash for $250,000 property
* $26,400 rents – $3,300 expenses = $23,100 profit
* $23,100 / $250,000 cash down = 9.2% ROI
* Paying full cash for the property yields an annual return on investment of 9.2%

Scenario #2 – Pay 50% down on $250,000 property
* $26,400 rents – $10,488 payments – $3,300 expenses = $12,612 profit
* $12,612 / $125,000 cash down = 10.1% ROI
* We’re beginning to see the value of leverage here. By putting down only 50% of the purchase price and borrowing the rest, ROI increases by nearly a full percentage point.

Scenario #3 – Pay 20% down on $25,000 property
* $26,400 rents – $16,781 payments – $3,300 expenses = $6,319 profit
* $6,319 / $50,000 cash down = 12.6% ROI
* By only putting 20% cash into the deal, your ROI increases nearly three and one half percent over an all cash deal, which ain’t too bad. The next scenario, 10% cash down, used to be common but such deals are getting harder to find in today’s lending environment.

Scenario #4 – Pay 10% down on $250,000 property
* $26,400 rents – $18,879 payments – $3,300 expenses = $4,221 profit
* $4,221 / $25,000 cash down = 16.9% ROI
* Comparing a 16.9% return (ten percent down payment) to a 9.2% return (pay full cash) reveals that we increase our annual return by 84% with the lower down payment. And that’s how leverage increases your real estate returns.

The Bonus Commissions Team

Flickr / -Marlith-

If you want property investment to be a calling rather than a job, DON’T do this…

* Get hung up on flipping houses

* Beat the streets for quick turnaround short sales profits

* Bird dog unlisted properties for cash buyers

The funny thing is that each of the three methods just listed can work great and earn you a nice bit of money to live on with a little pocket change left over. The problem we see is that this type of property investor spends a prodigious amount of time and effort earning a bit of money, maybe a few thousand dollars, per real estate transaction. But the big money in real estate is found in holding onto a property and profiting from each and every one of the multiple ways real estate done the right way offers.

To transcend the job market by taking advantage of the multiple profit opportunities in keeping a property, DO take advantage of this…

1. Price appreciation – consider this the icing on the cake at the end of the day.

2. Cash flow – rather than flip that house for a quick five thousand bucks, why not reap the rewards of monthly passive income by renting it out for decades to come?

3. Tax advantages – The IRA has made real estate the most tax-favored asset in America. With taxes taking such a big chunk out of everyone’s pocketbook, it makes sense to seize these benefits.

For more information on how to turn your property investments into financial independence, visit JasonHartman.com, one of the real estate industry’s most innovative voices.

The Bonus Commissions Team

Flickr / openpad

A better strategy would be to invest in capitalism which, to our way of thinking, is personified by income property investing. This real estate strategy has not only proven to be the most profitable historically but is also the face of the sort of rugged individualism that makes America run. The income property you buy stands on the very earth that makes up our planet, and the house or apartment built upon it represents the culmination of risk and reward. Some construction firm took the chance that if it expended money and resources to add value to a piece of vacant land, investors would come, and here you are.

This is how you invest in capitalism. We would be the first to agree that a Wall Street investment also qualifies because the stocks you buy provide operating capital for small and large businesses around the world. There’s no denying those businesses need your money. The problem with sinking your resources there is that the buy/sell game is controlled by insiders and the honest truth is that the average investor gets soaked when he plays in the stock market. From outright crooks to ridiculous transaction fees and administrative costs, the whole thing is rigged against you from the start.

Considering the anemic stock market returns in the recent short term – 1.7 percent annual since 2000 – it’s just a bad investment right now, though will likely improve at some point. But the purest, most profitable way to invest in capitalism remains real estate.

The Bonus Commissions Team

Flickr / DonkeyHotey

Those of you with longer memories might recall how Phoenix used to be a strong recommendation from PPIN, up until about 2005, when we stopped recommending it – the numbers simply didn’t make sense any more. Now six years have passed and those with a finger on the pulse of the real estate industry realize it’s been a bloodbath in the Valley of the Sun. Phoenix foreclosures are everywhere you look.

Call it bottom-feeding if you like. The truth is that the time to buy in Phoenix is now. That’s why we’re organizing the luxury motor coach tour. Guests should plan to arrive at The Ritz Carlton in the Biltmore area on Friday afternoon. We’ll take it from there. All your meals are covered, as are two nights at these ultra-swanky digs. The name Ritz-Carlton speaks for itself. Saturday and Sunday will be filled with property briefings, tours, and one-on-one meetings with the PPIN Local Regional Manager’s Team.

The cost to attend is an impressively low $597. We’re not making money. Just breaking even. The kicker is that you get the entire amount refunded if you choose to buy one of the Phoenix foreclosure that weekend. If you’re interested about this historical opportunity to add income properties to your portfolio at rock bottom prices, learn more about the Phoenix Foreclosure Property Tour here

Keep in mind a single night at The Ritz goes for $300. We’re including six meals and a tour of foreclosures with two nights lodging for less than the cost of two nights stay if you called up and booked it yourself – and they don’t feed you. Here’s an excellent opportunity to mix business with pleasure and, though we hate to be the ones to say property prices might never be this low again in our lifetime, property prices might never be this low again in our lifetime!

The Bonus Commissions Team

Flickr /

Too many make the mistake of viewing real estate as a one dimensional asset. You buy it, wait for it to appreciate, then sell it for a profit. That’s nice but completely misses the logic of investing in real estate because it is a multi-dimensional asset. Pinning all your profit hopes on simple appreciation is what investors do with stocks, bonds, and mutual funds, and is precisely why they are such sub-standard investments.

We can list three solid ways to profit off real estate just off the tops of our heads. Appreciation? Nice enough but nothing special. It is passive, meaning you don’t have to do anything for it to occur. Next? How about tax advantages? Too many people underestimate the power of real estate when it comes to saving on taxes. Folks, this is a Big Deal and you should recognize it as such. This is THE most favored asset class, bar none, when it comes to the IRS. Ever heard of a 1031 Exchange? This alone is worth the cost of admission.

Last but not least we come to the bottom line. Can you rent out your stocks, bonds or mutual funds? Err, no, have you guys at Bonus Commissions been smoking the funny grass? Renting out your investment, as is done with great regularity in real estate, is a passive way to exponentially increase your income. Think of that income from a tenant as getting a free mortgage payment each month. By the time it’s paid off, 20 or 30 years down the road, it’s like someone literally gave you the property.

It doesn’t get much better than that. When it comes to passive income – game, set, and match – real estate wins.

The Bonus Comissions Team

Flickr / pheezy

We’ll wait while you recover from the laughing fit. Don’t believe us? Try these five chunks of economic data on for side.

1. Lowest unemployment – While the Boaster-in-Chief brays about the amazing March unemployment numbers that show we’ve finally made a move below 9 percent nationwide, North Dakota is cruising along at 3.8 percent, the best of all 50 states. It’s much easier to undertake the task of wealth building if you can actually find a job.

2. GDP Growth – 2010 numbers aren’t available yet but the 2009 figure of 3.9 percent trailed only Oklahoma and Wyoming. We’ll go out on a limb and predict it’s still looking better in North Dakota than most other states.

3. Best growth – In the aftermath (sort of) of the Great Recession, a measure of economic recovery is the hiring to firing ratio, a statistic that North Dakota ranks best in for 2010.

4. Stable housing market – With most states looking at 1 out of every 4 homeowners stuck in an underwater mortgage, the North Dakota rate is 1 out of 14, and the home foreclosure rate is third best in the nation. Part of the stability is due to the low cost of housing. Zillow reports the median house price at around $150k, which is less than three times the state’s annual household income. By comparison, foreclosure fallout zone California is mired with house prices more than five times the household income. Not a pretty sight for those looking to get ahead.

5. Low crime – In North Dakota, you don’t have to worry too much about violent crime, which is 60 percent below the national average. In other words, you have few worries about getting knocked in the head and all your valuables stolen.

Ready to head for North Dakota and the wealth building phase of your life? The line forms to the right and, yes, as a matter of fact it does still get a bit nippy there on occasion. What’s that question from the back? No, there are no beaches. What do you want, utopia?

The Bonus Commissions Team

Flickr / afiler

Here’s where the Federal Reserve’s logic goes hazy.

“A little inflation is necessary.”

This is one of the favorite lies told by our central bank masters. Even though it has been proven time and again that a lot of inflation is invariably preceded by a little inflation, they like to insist that a “little” is necessary for economic health. The logical extension of that thought process is that they must engage in inflationary tactics like wildly printing and spending money to achieve their goals.

The trouble is that no economist has ever been able to pinpoint the exact place where a little bit of “good” inflation stops and a whole lot of “bad” inflation begins. Furthermore, it has been conclusively demonstrated that inflation feeds upon itself and always starts with a small brush fire. Do you give a kindergartner a match and can of gasoline and tell him to go outside and play? That’s what we do by enabling our the Federal Reserve through the practice of fiat money.

So what can you, as an investor, do to mitigate this dastardly chain of events? We have a sinking feeling in the pit of our stomachs because we know the Federal Reserve will inevitably tinker with inflationary tactics and, like the kid playing with matches and gasoline, eventually get a disaster started they can’t control. Here’s the answer. There is one asset on an entire planet that actually functions better in the presence of inflation. Guess where you won’t find it? Wall Street. Guess where you will find it? At www.JasonHartman.com.

So here’s to you, central banks. Happy inflating!

The Bonus Commissions Team

Flickr / Focal Intent

You’ve seen them all over the internet. Down home websites with homespun advice about how to save money. After all, times are tough, Mabel, and why throw away those slivers of used soap bars when you can save them up, mash ‘em together and have a whole new bar of soap? If you have nothing better to do, that might make sense. Most of us here on planet earth don’t have the luxury of whiling away the afternoon creating homemade soap balls.

Perhaps this is truer nowhere more than in the property selling business. 40 hour workweek? In your dreams. Dedicated real estate professionals might easily put in 50 or 60 hours on the job and then take calls at home when they’re done with that. Don’t fall hook, line, sinker for the idea that it’s worth it to drive clear across town to save a dime on a case of Ramen Noodles, or spend half an hour making tortillas for dinner for a total savings of seventy cents.

Consider blogger, Crystal Paine, who decided to do the math on that last little escapade to establish what her minimum wage should be. Sure, it is cheaper to make tortillas at home rather than splurge for the one dollar package of eight to ten tortillas. Ms. Paine priced it out and found that she saved that aforementioned seventy cents by making the things at home, which averages out to a wage of about $1.40 / per hour. Just because you’re making Mexican food doesn’t mean you should work for Mexican wages! The Federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour but, to us, it makes sense to price yourself considerably higher than that. Paine decided that if a frugal practice wasn’t saving at least twenty bucks per hour, she wasn’t going to do it.

How much is your time worth and what is your personal minimum wage? Consider carefully. Time spent tooling around town or slaving away in the kitchen could be better spent actually earning money. We’re not here to say that you should eat out all the time, because that REALLY burns a hole in your pocketbook, but don’t go Mother Earth on every suggested practice without running the numbers first.

The Bonus Commissions Team

Flickr / Jan Tik

But why are Australians, in particular, fascinated with owning a bit of the Yankee Kingdom? First you should realize that the Australian dollar just passed the United States dollar in value on the worldwide market for the first time since 1982. Good for them. Bad for us. Another shot to the solar plexus of our economic stature. A weak US dollar is combining with low mortgage interest rates to send the Aussies through the roof with enthusiasm for buying American real estate.

Home grown property investors know that, in the wake of the housing crisis, now is the opportunity of a lifetime to buy real estate. Savvy Aussie investors are no different. They’ve been paying attention to Uncle Sam teetering this way and that and have decided it’s time to step in and buy as much as possible.

Chew on this number. The average US median home price has declined 26% since June 2007. Can anyone say bargain? Can anyone say steal? Any investor with access to money should be scouring markets like Atlanta, Dallas, Indianapolis, Denver, Orlando, and Phoenix for potential income properties. While it’s impossible to reliably pick market bottoms, these areas are starting to show an uptick in demand, and the real estate selection is incredible.

Australian investment groups like Property Women have already arranged get acquainted tours of places like Florida. If you ever had a thought about getting into the income property business, now would be a good time. Tomorrow might be too late because there’s liable to be a whole slew of foreign landlords with cool accents and really large cans of beer, all kicking back and tossing a shrimp or twelve on the barbie.

This is one party you don’t want to miss.

The Bonus Commissions Team

Flickr / robinmcnicoll