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.

Note-Taking

Note-Taking

Scott Carson, founder of We Close Notes, never intended to invest in nonperforming notes despite previously working as a mortgage broker and a financial adviser. Like so many others investing in real estate, he started purchasing properties and transitioned into short sales. But a phone call to a bank to ...
Within Reach

Within Reach

| James Hart | Article | Profiles
Time for a little myth-busting: You don’t have to be an institutional investor to succeed in the world of commercial real estate. The Kansas City-based Block Real Estate Services and its affiliate, Block Funds, are opening doors to investment opportunities that many individual investors would otherwise have a hard time ...
With a Little Help

With a Little Help

Rodney Pike knew from the start that he loved making real estate a reality for others, thanks to his longtime association with Habitat for Humanity and experience in the construction sector. When he decided to start making his own real estate dreams reality, however, “I just didn’t have all the ...
Dallas-Fort Worth: Ensuring Economic Diversity

Dallas-Fort Worth: Ensuring Economic Diversity

The Dallas-Fort Worth area undeniably relies heavily on the oil industry for its economic health and well-being, but regional and state policy-makers have spent more than a decade designing programs, incentives and policies to ensure that the local area continues to grow and evolve regardless of gas prices. Here are ...
The 'Moat Theory'

The ‘Moat Theory’

For the longest time, I thought financial freedom was only for the wealthy. But everything changed for me after I read this sentence: Financial freedom happens when your wants and needs are exceeded by your passive income. The minute I read that statement, it spoke to me. It said there ...
Good, Better, Best

Good, Better, Best

Flipping real estate requires access to capital. Most investors fall into one of two categories: investor/deal sponsor or lender/gap funder. Regardless of which side of the coin you are on, it is important to understand the various options available when using financing. The last thing you want to adopt is ...
Seasonal Safety

Seasonal Safety

I have a cornucopia of memories of holiday family gatherings. Many begin with me standing on the thawed porch near twilight at my aunt’s and uncle’s house. Their gift for hospitality extends to details that often go unnoticed: the walks are always cleared, driveways empty so we have places to ...
Debt Financing and 1031 Exchanges

Debt Financing and 1031 Exchanges

The fundamental rule of all 1031 exchanges is: In order to defer all income tax liability, you must trade: 1. equal or up in value (minus direct selling costs) and 2. equal or up in equity. The IRS reasoning behind this rule is that you, as seller, usually receive two benefits ...
Only the Strong Survive

Only the Strong Survive

Think landlording is simple? Think again! It’s not for the fainthearted, and it’s certainly not for those who aren’t prepared! This isn’t to say that it’s not worth it. It can be. Rental properties are in demand—something that’s only expected to grow over the next 15 years. Renters are on ...
A Virtual Revolution?

A Virtual Revolution?

In today’s fast-paced world where friends, family and colleagues are no more than a Snapchat away, where you can deposit a check via smartphone instead of visiting the bank, it is not surprising that more and more investors are looking to the internet for investment opportunities. Increasingly, individuals are seeking ...
Rehab

More than Makeup

The “lipstick on a pig” model is all but dead. Gone are the days of investors purchasing a house, putting in new carpet and paint and waiting a short period of time for the price to appreciate. For a house flipper, competition is increasing, and you need to make sure ...
Adding It All Up

Adding It All Up

Open any browser window to any news outlet of just about any persuasion and the headlines will scream at you: The Bust is Coming! The Next Housing Crisis! Read the coverage associated with these headlines and you’ll learn that the “new” housing crisis is composed of two separate but entwined ...
The Entrepreneur Corner: Lifelong Process

The Entrepreneur Corner: Lifelong Process

| Ben Rao | Article | Operations
From the time I was a kid, I knew I was an entrepreneur, always selling something to the other kids or coming up with solutions for problems. For a time, I worked in the corporate world, then in 1997 I left behind those comforts, and I haven’t worked for another ...
Real Value in Serving RVs

Real Value in Serving RVs

| Pete Reeb | Article | Single Family
The RV industry is on pace for a record number of shipments this year. The Recreational Vehicle Industry Association (RVIA) estimates more than 400,000 RVs will be delivered in 2016. That includes travel trailers, fifth-wheel trailers, truck campers, folding camper trailers and motor homes. About 9 million RVs are now ...
Now You See It

Now You See It

True to its name, Infobrij seeks to bridge the information gap by providing all people involved in investments the transparency they need to complete successful deals. The company, based in South Coast Metro in Southern California, at first kept its technology platform “under lock and key by invitation only” and ...
Street Smart: Risk Mitigation

Street Smart: Risk Mitigation

Kris Taylor President, American Tenant Screen, Inc. 800-888-1287 One of the most basic steps to protecting your property is finding a qualified tenant. How you define and screen for a qualified tenant is critical to your success.  Set your criteria to determine which background check reports will give you the ...
Motivation...or Excuse?

Motivation…or Excuse?

If real estate investing is so great, why doesn’t everyone do it?” is a question that many wannabe or future investors ask themselves. I certainly did. Whether you’re already a full-time investor, a part-time investor or someone just considering whether to become one, it’s a question that you’ll have as ...
Building and Maintaining a Strong Credit Profile

Building and Maintaining a Strong Credit Profile

Want to buy notes, flip houses, or buy and hold? Your ability to access investment funds rests in large part on your FICO (Fair, Isaac and Company) score. FICO doesn’t share how its analytics assesses borrowers, but CreditSense has reverse-engineered the formula to help clients. In this Q-and-A with contributing ...
How Education Impacts Millennial Renters’ Creditworthiness

How Education Impacts Millennial Renters’ Creditworthiness

Higher education is a costly venture, and many who owe student debt wonder if the cost is worth the ROI. The following blog, reprinted with permission from data and analytics company CoreLogic, explains that education still makes a difference when it comes to ranking the creditworthiness of Millennial renters. Click ...
Does Your Property Have a Ghost of a Chance of Selling?

Does Your Property Have a Ghost of a Chance of Selling?

It’s that time of year when the veil between worlds is at its thinnest—or so “they” say. Superstition is steeped in most everyone’s bones, but the daily hocus pocus of real estate investing can unearth oddities in homes, especially ones that were foreclosed or have been vacant for a long ...
Home for Rent

Single-Family Rental Returns Down, But Investor Activity is Up

ATTOM Data Solutions’ just-released Q3 2016 Single Family Rental Market Report found that average single-family rental returns dropped to a nine-year low for homes purchased so far in 2016 among 473 U.S. counties analyzed for the report. At the same time, purchase activity by institutional investors is on the upswing ...
Happy young couple getting keys of their new house. Close up of female hand receiving keys from house broker. Closeup of the hand of a real estate agent who give the house keys to a woman while her boyfriend signing a contract.

3 Tips for Identifying a Good Long-Term Tenant

| Engelo Rumora | Article | Operations
Anyone landlord knows it's essential to find the right tenant for your rental. Sure, it’s important to get somebody into your property so you can start generating rent. But if you don’t choose carefully, you could end up with someone who is habitually late on paying – if they pay ...
Goldilocks Period for Housing Market?

Goldilocks Period for Housing Market?

The recent announcement that an earlier housing skeptic is now bullish on the U.S. housing market was stunning. The move was based on fundamentals, though—and is thus worth close review. Ex-Goldman Exec Makes a Big Bet on Housing Market Donald Mullen Jr., who a decade ago helped oversee the lucrative ...
SEO ranking

How to Avoid Regrets in Your Real Estate Investing

As real estate investors, we look back and all have regrets. I draw upon my own experience of investing here in the Dallas market for more than 10 years, and as I look back at my business, in retrospect there are definitely things I regret. My mistakes include things I ...
5 Insights into the Growing Single-Family Rental Market

5 Insights into the Growing Single-Family Rental Market

Real estate investors always are looking for insights into the growing single-family rental market. For example: What areas of the country are experiencing the best conditions for investing in rentals? And, what areas are showing a stagnating ability to make money from renting? Among the companies that analyze the data ...