Posts Tagged ‘real estate investor education’

Do you know your defensive interval ratio? Most novice short sale investors don’t’ have a clue what this even refers to while veteran investors have probably already rattled off their ratio. If you aren’t the accounting type don’t worry – a defensive interval ratio Is really quite simple. It’s the level of liquidity that reflects the ability of your business to meet current debt obligations. Plain and simple – how prepared are you to withstand a little period of insecurity? It’s a good number to know and something to keep an eye on in order to preserve your spending power and look good at the bank.

How to Calculate

Calculating the defensive interval ratio is easy; simple use the following formula to plug in your own numbers:

Defensive assets (anything you can sell or access when in need including money owed to you by others)/Projected daily operational expenditures – noncash charges

For example, let’s assume you have cash on hand of $50,000, access to bonds in $25,000 and expect to receive another $25,000 from debts, deals and other income for a total of $100,000. Your daily cost of sales, operating expenses and other income requirements amount to $1,000 per day giving you a projected daily expenditure of 100 days

How to Use

Keep an eye on both your personal and business defensive interval ratio. As a rule of thumb, more is better but it is possible to have too much cash sitting on the sidelines. Financial managers and short-term creditors pay special attention to defensive interval ratios so they are of particular interest to those seeking OPM or outside funding for quick cash deals or other relatively short term transactions.

Personal – Strive for at least a 90 day defensive interval ratio up to whatever makes you happy.

Professional – Calculate independently of your personal ratio. 30 days is a solid score but anything above 180 days tends to work against you by reflecting an overly cautious investing style with money sitting on the sidelines. Put the money to work in order to demonstrate your ability to formulate solid returns and mitigate risk. If you are unable to find appropriate investment instruments due to a relatively minor sum of money, try pooling it with others or use it as collateral when approaching deeper pockets than your own. In either case, show that you know and understand the concept behind the approach.

Research – Finally, take time to perform your own research with potential partners and others prior to sealing any deal. Obtain a quick look at their position before lending money or going into a partnership with anyone. Looks can be deceiving especially when it comes to elusive ideas like short sales.

Make sure they have the staying power requires to become equitable partners rather than a burden which weighs you down in the long run.