Archive for February, 2012
Recently on CNBC, Warren Buffett stated that he would buy “millions” of single family homes if he had the means to manage them. The more interesting comment he made during his interview was that houses will be a better investment than stocks over the long term. A powerful comment coming from a person who built his business (and fortune) selling securities. [Watch the video.]
Financial liberation is beyond most people’s reach because of the following four myths and destructive mind-sets:
1. The Retirement Myth
2. The Financial Freedom Myth
3. The Entitlement Mentality
4. The Fallacy of “Someday”
The Retirement Myth
The retirement myth is the idea that the purpose of life is to work for thirty years, save enough money, and then stop working and live off one’s savings. This destructive myth causes many people to stay in jobs they don’t like and that don’t allow them full expression of their best talents. It makes us sell our “birthright” for a “mess of pottage” in the form of golden handcuffs and benefits. It often leads to small lives built around limited dreams.
One of the most exciting things about being a real estate investor is knowing what markets will produce the greatest long-term returns – especially while in the middle of a challenging housing market.
In a down market, savvy real estate investors are eager to find out how they can best leverage their resources. And expert forecasts are some of the best tools they can use to back up their strategies. A good example comes from real estate consulting firm John Burns Real Estate (JBRE), which has recently predicted that homeownership will fall from 70.0 percent to 62.1 percent by 2015 due to a weak economy, weak consumer confidence, limited mortgage availability, higher rates of foreclosures and short sales, and other factors.
Bad tenants are a landlord’s worst nightmare. Between not paying their rent, trashing your rental property, allowing pest infestations, committing criminal acts in the property and a hundred other miserable acts, bad tenants can make a landlord’s life miserable. Fortunately, there are tactics you can employ to minimize the damage caused by bad tenants.
First Line of Defense: An Airtight Lease Agreement
Before you allow a tenant to move into your property, you can lay the groundwork for addressing future problems by using an airtight lease agreement. Every state has different landlord-tenant laws governing what your lease agreement can contain, so be sure to use a state-specific lease agreement. Sometimes they can be obtained through your state’s website, but more likely you’ll have to buy one online.
