How Would You Do Re If You Have Cash Avail?
I know the idea of being a re investor is to use little or no money, so how would you do investments with say 50,000 dollars? would you do forclosures? tax leins? and how would you try to structure it? I have a freind that can afford to throw money into r.e. but is not shure on what way to do it. So I thought i could get some ideas to put together. I guess im asking for brainstorming ideas. 
This depends on your goals and interests. My preference would be to take advantage of a strong cash position by buying at a discount with cash and then refi the cash back out so you have picked up an equity with net no money down. Bank REOs, foreclosures , pre-foreclosures, Rehabs ($50K may not be enough depending on where you are willing to invest) might be possibilities.
Regardless of how you decide to invest your money, you need to make sure you research that avenue in depth and know your every move. Always have an out and go for it! There are numerous ways to do what you want, but only you can decide what will work for you. You can certainly purchase quite a few properties with that much cash on hand and you are in a good position to bargain. Good luck.
how about auctions on forclosures or tax leins? how would you use the money wisly to invest?
I would buy some shares from Lufos and retire
There is a recent post on tax liens indicating that the promised return is not often realized. Your success on foreclosures may depend on area. Out here very few actually go to sale if they have any equity. My preference would be pre-foreclosures or bank REOs. Again, this depends on where you are investing.
Am I correct in assuming you are looking for a passive investment where you don't have to put a lot of time involved? You could find a good investor to deal with consitantly earn 6-12%+ on your money.
I personally structure private lending in that price range and am putting together a deal now that would allow for profit sharing. Let me know if you have questions or such as I may be able help steer you in the right direction.
However, if you want to actively invest in real estate, you simply need to learn what you are comfortable doing and work to get the experience and knowlege it takes to be sucessful! You can get much greater returns than the numbers above but you also have to put in a LOT more time.
I would invest in a daily list web site that gives you listing of homes being forclosed on. I woul also subscribe to a service that gives you prices of homes. I woul then contact owners by knocking on their doors and asking them to sell their home to you. I would offer no more than 80% of market value. I would fix them and sell them. You do not have the money to run many concurrent deals by paying cash at the auction.
[addsig]
I'd tell your friend to post his name and phone number on this site as an angel investor.
He can achieve several things.
A. Monthly cashflow on the interest only payments.
B. Get his original principal back on a short term (24 to 48 months) plus a good percentage over and above.
C. None of the hassles of dealing with the real estate process themselves.
Since its my idea, can I have first crack at his money? I'll pay a great return.
First I would like to thank all who have responded. And second the reason I came up with this wasd to see if there was still ways to invest with your money in RE. . Wich there is but so far I really got the idea its best to do with out your money. This thursday I will bid on a condo wich is a tax lein. i wouldnt bid more then 60% on this condo. If I would win this bid I would then sell it at retail price, if not I would lease it to own not an option to own. But my friend part is that She works to hard for her self and I see she can get more time out of her life by investing in RE. But when I think about it I explained to her a couple of creative ways to do it( or at least how i plan to do it) but I figured if I can show her a little bit more traditional way about it she might really think about it. But I think I shouldnt even bother to try because working 10 hours a day and then take 2 hours to go home from work and still have 2 kids to deal with, who in there right mind would think this is how i became successful i should stay this way
But yeah I am the one who is 50,000 liquid to invest. so thats why I am going to the auctions. I had been watching them for a while and seeing how people are coming out winning with equity, makes me want to invest this way. I do have an ad out in this paper that circulates thousands of readers, I get about 2 calls week from it. But it got slow for the holidays dont know why?
With your responces I wanted to present to her about the other ways to do it in RE Investments. She has a very well paying job with a high position in the co.
So you guys change your opinion or got a comment ?
Well yesterday I whent to an auction on tax lein property and someone else won the bid. I could not use the bank checks from my brother because i was the one biding and the bank check(s) were from my brother and me. it had to come from the person bidding. oh well live and learn .