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.
Is It ‘The End’ for the Luxury Rental Market?
If you own luxury rental properties and have been enjoying the hefty monthly cash flow that they can generate, you may need to prepare yourself for a dock in pay. According to the Wall Street Journal, you could find yourself cutting rents and offering concessions to either keep tenants in ...
3 Reasons to Run Away from IRA-Held Real Estate
Individual retirement accounts (IRAs) were created to protect investors and enable them to engage in different types of investing that might not be considered entirely “the norm.” Not surprisingly, this includes real estate, historically one of the safest, simplest, and strongest types of investments not usually included in your options ...
Open Playing Field in Arizona for Airbnb
Arizona is blazing a new trail for the future of short-term rentals. As cities across the nation restrict or even ban the renting of properties on a short-term basis, a new Arizona law allows them anywhere in the state, without limits. The bill was passed by Arizona state lawmakers in ...
U.S. Foreclosure Activity Drops To 10-Year Low
ATTOM Data Solutions' just-released the Year-End 2016 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report shows foreclosure filings down 14 percent from 2015 to the lowest level since 2006. Foreclosure filings, default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions were reported on 933,045 U.S. properties in 2016, down 14 percent from 2015 to the lowest ...
Home Value Perception Reverses Course
A gap between appraisals and owner estimates has widened for the first time in six months, according to a report released in January 2017. Quicken Loans’ National Home Price Perception Index shows appraised values were 1.33 percent lower than homeowners estimated in December 2016. Home values fell 1.19 percent in ...
Homes in Minority Neighborhoods Twice as Likely to be Underwater
A new analysis shows different effects of negative equity on racial groups in the United States. The Zillow analysis shows 20 percent of homeowners in predominately African American communities were underwater in Q3 2016, nearly double the national rate of 10.9 percent. In half of the largest U.S. metros, homeowners ...
Winter’s Hottest Single-Family Markets
Orlando, Palm Beach County, Fort Lauderdale and Tampa, Florida; and Dallas, Texas, top Ten-X’s just-released list of the top wintertime single-family housing markets. The winter’s hottest single-family markets each demonstrate a vigorous combination of consistently strong demand, home price appreciation and economic and demographic growth. The Top Single-Family Housing Markets ...
Ohio Bans Plywood Usage on Vacant Homes
Ohio Gov. John Kasich’s signing of H.B. 463 on Jan. 4, 2017, makes Ohio the first state to outlaw the use of plywood to cover windows on vacant residential homes. “This is a significant advancement for those engaged in the battle against neighborhood blight in Ohio,” said Robert Klein, founder ...
Voice-Controlled Properties Trending in 2017
Voice control is set to be the next smart-home amenity home buyers cannot live without. If the idea of just speaking to your house and asking it to lock doors, turn off lights, or activate the security system makes you think a little bit of “The Jetsons” and then get ...
Don’t Let Bedbugs Kill Your Real Estate Deals
Only a decade ago, bedbugs were virtually unheard of in the United States. While many homeowners had probably heard the saying “Don’t let the bedbugs bite,” the majority were largely unconcerned with the reality of such instruction. Today, however, nearly everyone knows someone who has experienced issues with a bedbug ...
2016 Tax Changes for Real Estate?
Donald Trump and the Republican majorities are coming into office with plans to change the U.S. tax code. It’s not clear, however, how real estate might fare under some of the changes being discussed. Earlier Blueprint Now Ready for Launch A sweeping platform for overhauling most of U.S. tax laws ...
3D Printing to Disrupt Construction Industry Within 3 Years
The future of home construction is on the verge of what could be a huge transformation. 3D printing technologies are advancing rapidly for the construction of homes and other buildings. And according to some ambitious entrepreneurs, we may see widespread use of that technology in the not-too-distant future! One of ...
Oakland Warehouse Landlord May Face Murder Charges
The tragic warehouse fire that killed 36 people in Oakland on Dec. 2, 2016, should never have happened. The building was never fit for habitation. The first lawsuit has been filed against the landlord and eight other defendants, all of whom may face murder charges. This is going to be ...
Buying More Affordable than Renting
Buying a home is more affordable than renting in 66 percent of U.S. housing markets analyzed in the 2017 Rental Affordability Report issued by ATTOM Data Solutions, parent company of RealtyTrac. The analysis incorporated recently released fair market rent data for 2017 from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban ...
Are You ‘Helping’ Hackers Scam Your Clients?
Are you unwittingly helping hackers scam your clients? More and more real estate professionals are reporting that their clients are finding themselves victims of hacking and identity theft, thanks to real estate transactions. Hackers have discovered that breaking into a single real estate professional’s email account yields a treasure trove ...
Truth or Comfort? Real Estate Market Bubbles
Truth or comfort? Which do you prefer? Several years ago, someone I respected very much asked this question to a group of real estate investors. We were surprised. Why should we have to choose? Real estate was going well, so we had the comfort of great investments and the truth ...
Housing Credit Index Shows Movement
The Housing Credit Index, which measures new loan risk, has seen some decreases in the latest HCI National Overview by CoreLogic. Among the highlights of the Q3 2016 report: New loan risk, as measured by the HCI, is down year over year and compared to 2001 The share of home ...
Your Property, Tenants and Drugs
This excerpt is part of the article “Don’t Let Drugs Cook Your Investment Property” by BreAnn Stephenson of Affinity Loss Prevention Services. It can be found in the December 2017 issue of Think Realty Magazine. The editors of Think Realty hope you find this information useful and hope this will ...
Real estate investors are exposed daily to an ever-changing market. Sometimes these changes are favorable, and sometimes they are detrimental. The only certainties related to the real estate market are that it will change and that investors should expect the unexpected. Given this fact, doesn’t it make sense that investors ...
So you have your first property under contract, and you’re ready to get started and hire a contractor. What now? This was the question that confronted us on our very first project. We had already done the business basics: formed an LLC for our company and got our EIN number, ...
Members of the National Association of Residential Property Managers (NARPM) gathered recently in Hawaii for the group’s 28th annual convention and trade show. The three-day event was highlighted by presentation of the organization’s 2016 awards and the installation of its incoming board and 2017 President Steve Schultz, MPM, RMP. Awards ...
Profile: Greg Rand of OwnAmerica
Greg Rand is founder and CEO of OwnAmerica, a real estate technology and services company that provides rental property owners a detailed analysis of their portfolio and enables them to buy and sell properties with other owners. Prior to becoming an entrepreneur, Rand was managing partner at Better Homes and ...
When Michael Jordan looks around his hometown of Detroit, he just can’t help seeing opportunity and growth. Jordan is the founder and president of Strategy Properties, a turnkey real estate investment company. Strategy buys and renovates residential properties in high-demand Motor City neighborhoods, particularly three-bedroom homes near desirable schools. The ...
As a real estate investor, are you an investor, or are you a speculator? There is a significant difference. Speculating is when you form a theory or conjecture about a subject without firm evidence—for example, investing in the stock market. You’re buying shares of a certain stock in the hopes ...
Real Estate Investing in Orlando, Florida
It’s all about the numbers in Orlando, Florida, these days, and the numbers are looking pretty hot. The city recently made headlines as the fourth-hottest market in the nation, the “28th-Best Place for Careers and Business” and third-best city in the nation for job growth, per Forbes and online real ...
