When people ask, “Is it still a good idea to buy real estate now?”, there are often two underlying problems. First, is a loss of direction. Second, “The Stock Market Mentality.” Put simply, in the stock market, timing is all important. If you don’t sell today, tomorrow your stock may be worth 50% less. If you don’t buy today, tomorrow it may cost 50% more. Fun, adventure and excitement. Keep away from it.
Researching Comps Online
Ever try typing your address into Zillow.com and wonder how the heck they value your home at $30,000 less than your neighbor’s that is smaller? Or type your address into Trulia.com and find it is $40,000 more than Zillow’s estimate?
The truth is, these sites are at best ballpark estimates and vary greatly depending on the market activity in your area of interest. These sites base their estimates on recently recorded sales from the county. What they do not take into account are things like condition, upgrades, and lot premiums paid for views or location. Within the same city there can also be value differences associated with the quality of schools, proximity to parks, recreation and shopping.
Do-it-Yourself (DIY) vs Turnkey Investing
Regardless of where you choose to invest, there are two opposite ends of the investing spectrum when it comes to your involvement and required resources.
DO-IT-YOURSELF (DIY)
Do-it-yourself real estate investing puts all the risk and responsibility squarely on your shoulders. Typically that involves everything from sourcing the property, acquiring it, funding it, renovating it, managing it, selling it, and coordinating every other step in between.
Do Zillow Zestimates Mislead Real Estate Investors?
We know Zestimates aren’t exactly accurate, but new real estate investors rely on those numbers all too often.
Zillow states on its website that it is a “useful starting point” to assist home-buyers with valuing real estate properties. Some real estate investors say that though Zillow is indeed a data resource, it can mislead investors about the real value.
Survey Finds Investors Thrive in Changing Market
A recent survey by Visio Lending found that real estate investors are optimistic about the next year of investing.
With home prices rising and foreclosures decreasing, investors are adjusting their strategies for buying investment properties by searching further from home and at higher price brackets, the survey revealed.
Of the nearly 700 respondents, 34 percent said they are broadening their searches for properties outside their home states, with Florida being the top state for investing, chosen by 67 percent of investors who searched multiple states.
Economic Impact of Every Home Sold [INFOGRAPHIC]
Every time a property is sold, the surrounding economy gets a boost. Local businesses and industries benefit at every stage of the process from the sale to post-sale purchases. These include aspects like home construction costs, real estate brokerage, mortgage lending and title insurance.
Hawaii leads the way with a $177,000 boost to their local economy. The national average is $57,500.
How to Track Your Real Estate Portfolio | Podcast
In this episode we talk to Joel Grasmeyer, a real estate investor, engineer, and entrepreneur who started PropertyTracker.com in 2004 to create user-friendly, yet powerful tools for real estate analysis.
Some of the topics we discuss include: [Read more…]
Tenants Find it Cheaper to Rent Than to Buy
In most areas of the country, homeownership costs more than renting. Many economists with calculators claim the opposite, but the calculations and conclusions are often highly misleading. As is often the case, the devil is in the details.
We recently reviewed one highly publicized calculation that owning was cheaper than renting in almost all markets. That calculation had a number of outdated assumptions, including: [Read more…]
Financing Your Real Estate Investments | Podcast
In this episode we talk to Aaron Chapman, an 18 year veteran in the mortgage industry with a focus on real estate investors.
Some of the topics we discuss include:
- The investor’s mindset and why that’s important.
- The landscape of mortgage loans for investors.
- What is loan sequencing.
- Mortgage loan products available today.
- Qualification requirements.
- How to finance more than 10 properties.
Rent Inflation Shows No Signs of Letting Up
Landlords keep cranking up rents, with annual increases far outpacing price growth elsewhere in the economy, according to recent data released this summer.
Rents in May were up 3.5% from a year earlier, while a gauge for overall consumer prices showed no growth according to the U.S. Labor Department.
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