Articles
Ready to get your read on? Dive into the article archive to help you build wealth through real estate investing. We feature top subject matter experts exploring every facet of the industry.
Articles
Ready to get your read on? Dive into the article archive to help you build wealth through real estate investing. We feature top subject matter experts exploring every facet of the industry.
Using IRAs to Invest in Real Estate
Your Self-Directed Retirement Account Albert Einstein is quoted as saying “Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it ... he who doesn't ... pays it.” At Think Realty, we celebrate real estate investment as an asset class that embodies appreciation or compounding value ...
Street Smart: Why Use Professional Property Managers?
Thoughts from pros in an age where a disgruntled tenant and a premises liability lawyer could cost you more to prove your case than your property is worth! Kimberly Smith CEO/Founder, AvenueWest Corporate Housing 800-928-1592 Yes, we can all manage our own rentals, but will this make us the most ...
Street Smart: Why is Integrity an Issue in Personal Real Estate Investing?
Nate Armstrong Founder, Calhoun Ventures 651-789-5386 The truth is, there is plenty of room in my business for unscrupulous people to make a quick buck. I must emphasize, though, that a quick buck can only be made once. We live in a world where people know what Kim Kardashian ordered at ...
5 Things To Do To Make 2016 Your Best Investment Year Ever
In the fourth quarter of the year, I always hear investors talking about closing the year’s investments strong and wondering what the next year will have in store for them. This reminds me of a consultant friend of mine who said, “Predict the future by creating it.” Wise words indeed ...
A number of active real estate investors have developed lucrative careers by investing in less-than-perfect residential properties, renovating them and re-selling (or renting) them for a profit. The real estate market has now turned around, and although foreclosures are on the decline, good fix-and-flip deals remain available. From my vantage ...
Remodeling spending expected to increase in 2016, Harvard study says
Spending on remodeling and home improvement show more optimism going into next year and are projected to more than double in 2016, according to a study from the Joint Center for Housing at Harvard. After several quarters of slackening growth, home improvement spending is projected to pick up its pace ...
Foreclosure starts jump 12% in October, largest month-over-month increase since August 2011
Foreclosures were started for the first time on 48,605 properties in October and there were 36,582 properties repossessed by lenders in October, according to a new report from RealtyTrac. The report shows: U.S. foreclosure starts increased 12 percent from the previous month – the largest monthly increase since August 2011 ...
The 7 Best Renovations for Rental Properties
Here are a number of renovation suggestions designed to help ensure that a prospective tenant will choose your rental. When dealing with rental-property ownership, two of the biggest variables are dealing with vacancies and the length of time it takes you or your property manager to re-rent the property. Marketing ...
New study says owning costs more than renting
By Erik Franks John Burns Real Estate Consulting 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 ...
Median home price in July at highest level since September 2008 new study says
Sales of properties in-foreclosure and cash sales were down from a year ago to multi-year lows while year-to-date U.S. home sales in 2015 are at an eight-year high, according to a new study from RealtyTrac.com. Data also showed the U.S. median home price in July was at an 82-month high ...
5 ways to find the value of investment property
Reader Question: We want to make our first real estate investment purchase. We have decided on investing in older two- to four-family apartments. It appears there are different ways to decide what a property is worth. How do you evaluate an old three-family property? — Julie and Rob P. Monty’s ...
Create your own full-time benefits from part-time real estate investing
In writing this blog post, I am going to draw on my own experience as a part-time real estate investor who was employed full-time in corporate America. Hindsight is 20-20. I will admit I did not see the full-time benefits I was building with my part-time real estate investing at ...
Foreclosures up 7 percent in July as banks flush distressed properties and bubble-era loans
Foreclosure filings in July 2015 were up 7 percent from the previous month and up 14 percent from a year ago, according to a new report from RealtyTrac.com. July was the fifth consecutive month with a year-over-year increase in overall foreclosure activity after 53 consecutive months of decreases. “The increase ...
Future uncertain for Chinese homebuying in U.S. in new home communities
By John Burns Real Estate Consulting Chinese homebuyers comprise roughly 2% of U.S. housing demand—and far more than that in the gateway metro areas with excellent airport access. According to the National Association of Realtors, 16% of international homebuyers come from China and spent $29 billion last year, surpassing Canada, ...
How a beginning investor became an investment company owner in five years
“I want to know everything you can teach me about real estate investing,” were the first words spoken by a gentleman who walked into my office. He said he had seen the words “investment property” underneath my office picture and wanted me to help him get underway. He said he ...
Home loan originations up 23 percent year over year new study says
Home loans originated on single-family homes and condos in the second quarter of 2015 were up 23 percent from a year ago, to the highest level since the third quarter of 2013, according to a new study from RealtyTrac.com. Highlights report show the loan types and how much each one ...
Real estate investors and real estate agents: a Win-Win for both
By Doug Clark Zillow for Pros Blog There are two groups of real estate professionals out there who might not realize how mutually beneficial their relationship can be: Agents, who are skilled at helping clients navigate all aspects of the buying and selling process, and investors, who are skilled at ...
The number of home flips is declining as available foreclosures decline, but profits are increasing, along with the time it takes to complete a flip, a new study from RealtyTrac.com shows. “Despite the rise in flipping returns in the second quarter, home flippers should proceed with caution in the next six ...
By John Burns Real Estate Consulting Builders and developers will now start building more detached homes for rent. For years, home builders have ignored 10 percent of housing demand, allowing resale homes to fill the demand. As shown below, 12.7 million of today’s 120 million households rent a detached home ...
4 Reasons Investors use Debt to Finance Real Estate
“Neither a borrower nor a lender be…” How could Shakespeare be wrong? Why should anyone take out debt, or other financing, on their real estate investments? Well, the quote from Hamlet is that of a father warning his son about the dangers of lending to friends, since hitching debt onto personal ...
Underwater homes have hit a plateau of 13 percent as home price appreciation slows
There were 7,443,580 U.S. residential properties that were seriously underwater — where the combined loan amount secured by the property is at least 25 percent higher than the property’s estimated market value — at the end of the second quarter 2015, according to a new report from RealtyTrac.com. This represents ...
Investor-driven sales continue decline as traditional buyers join the market
Distressed sales, cash sales and institutional investor sales in June were all down from a year ago to multi-year lows even as sales to first-time homebuyers and other buyers using FHA loans increased compared to a year ago in June and reached a two-year high in the second quarter, according ...
Foreclosures fall to 10-year low, but some markets still slow to work through the system
Foreclosures continued to fall in the first half of 2015, dropping to a 10-year low across the U.S. and further tightening available housing inventory, according to a new study from RealtyTrac.com. While foreclosures are now in some cases below pre-housing-crisis levels, some specific markets still have a higher than normal ...
3 tips for successful lifestyle real estate investing
By The Zillow Team There are three main categories of buying homes as a real estate investment: Cash flow investing — for people whose primary goal is rental income. Equity growth investing — for people whose primary goal is property appreciation. Lifestyle investing — for people whose goals include cash ...
Are rising rental rates by landlords encouraging renters to move?
By John Burns Rents in the highest-quality apartments rose 4.4% last year, including an 8.0% jump in one West Coast portfolio. With a very high occupancy level (95.8%) and job growth exceeding construction levels in almost every major market in the country, landlords will continue to raise rents throughout the ...
