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.

Stan Humphries, chief economist for Zillow, says more low-end homes will come on the market in 2015.

Many lower-end sellers now in a position to put homes on the market

Many homeowners in the bottom third of their markets are finally in a position to sell, just in time for Millennials to enter the housing market in greater numbers in 2015, Zillow Real Estate Market reports predicts in the release. Homes in the bottom third of home values bottomed out ...
Affinity Enterprise Group

Affinity Media Group acquires Personal Real Estate Investor Magazine

Affinity Media Services (AMS), a division of real estate investment market leader Affinity Enterprises Group (AEG), announced Friday that it has entered into an asset purchase agreement with NEXZUS Publishing Group, the publisher of Personal Real Estate Investor Magazine, PREI Investor Review Series and The Invaluable Investor Study; and promoter ...
3 steps to overcoming fear in purchasing your first real estate investment property

3 steps to overcoming fear in buying your first investment property

Many times people thinking about buying their first investment property are anxious or scared. So how do you overcome the fear factor? I guarantee there are many people out there who put down on their resolutions and goals for 2015 that they want to buy their first investment property. You ...
Rick Sharga of Auction.com says real estate investors more likely to flip when buying at auction

Flipping slightly edges out buy-to-rent investing when buying at auction new study says

A new study shows a slight inclination for real estate investors to lean toward flipping rather than buying to rent, although investor intent varies by the type of auction and the investor's individual profile and business model. The nationwide survey of real estate investors bidding on properties at auction in ...
10 current trends real estate investors need to know blog by Larry Arth

10 current trends real estate investors need to know about

Real estate is like anything else that is cyclical in nature, with trends always changing. Over the years I have learned what is important to watch for, not just for today but also what is coming down the pipeline, sort of like having a dashboard perspective of the investing arena ...
7 ways to keep the tenants you already have

Rehabs, gurus and tenants: the top 5 real estate investing blogs of 2014

Here are the top 5 real estate investing blogs of 2014 as selected by the users of our website:   The 7 best renovations for your rental properties The two biggest variables in rental property ownership are dealing with vacancies and how long it takes you or yourproperty manager to ...
Doug Duncan chief economist for Fannie Mae says consumers are not yet ready to move on housing

Consumers not ready to move on housing despite improving economy

Americans are becoming more optimistic about the economy, but consumer confidence toward the housing market is lagging, according to results from Fannie Mae's December 2014 National Housing Survey. Likely bolstered by a strengthening employment sector, the share of consumers who believe the economy is headed in the right direction improved ...
2015 real estate outlook from Local Market Monitor

2015 real estate outlook from Local Market Monitor

By Ingo Winzer Local Market Monitor Despite low interest rates, low inflation, and an economy that has steadily expanded, new and existing home sales - and therefore mortgage and home equity lending - have languished. Part of the reason is a high level of consumer debt that keeps many potential ...
Stan Humphries, chief economist for Zillow, gives his 2015 predictions for real estate growth for real estate investors

4 predictions for real estate and investors in 2015

Home value growth will slow to around 3 percent per year instead of the 6 percent seen recently, and that will make real estate less attractive to many investors, says Stan Humphries, chief economist for Zillow. “It's been a tough market for home buyers," Humphries said in a story in ...
real estate a business

7 must-have items that make up a great real estate investment

My investors are always looking for the high performing yields which are found in the spread between the cap rate of a property and the interest rate for a financed property. The spread of the two reflects your positive leverage on the property. Today, with such low interest rates and ...
5 reasons you may find you best investments buying from other investors

5 reasons you may find you best investments buying from other investors

| Larry Arth | Article | Operations
Struggling to find good real estate investments with my Realtor, I was convinced he simply did not understand what I was looking for. So I decided to take a real estate course for the sole purpose of having access to the Multiple Listing Service. By getting my real estate license, ...
HomeVestors passes 60,000 home purchase milestone in 2014

HomeVestors reaches 60,000 home-purchase milestone

HomeVestors continued as the leader in home buying in the U.S.,  passing the milestone of 60,000 homes purchased since the company was founded, according to a release. The company also reported a surge in new company franchisees during 2014 passing the mark of more than 500 in 41 states. Co-Presidents ...
The 10 commandments of real estate investing by Larry Arth

The 10 commandments of real estate investing

Setting goals for 2015 Every year I personally purchase or assist in the purchase of hundreds of real estate investments. Over my 35 years of real estate investing there are things I have learned that work great and have pledged to do again and again. There are, of course, things ...
5 real estate investors indicted for bid rigging at foreclosure auctions

5 real estate investors indicted for bid rigging at foreclosure auctions

A federal grand jury in San Francisco has returned a nine-count indictment against five real estate investors for their role in bid rigging and fraud at real estate foreclosure auctions in the east bay area of California, according to a release from the FBI. The indictment charges northern California real ...
one in seven home appraisals have been inflated by 20 percent or more according to new study

One in seven home appraisals have been inflated, according to new research

One in seven home appraisals done between 2011 and 2014 were inflated by 20% or more, according to data collected by Digital Risk Analytics, a subsidiary of Digital Risk, LLC, and provided to the Wall Street Journal. The mortgage-analysis and consulting firm, based in Maitland, Fla., was hired by some ...
Home price gains continue to slow in latest Case-Shiller Home Price report

Home prices continue slow down through August

Data through August 2014, released today by S&P Dow Jones Indices for its S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices continue to show a deceleration in home price gains. The 10-City Composite gained 5.5% year-over-year and the 20-City 5.6%, both down from the 6.7% reported for July. The National Index gained 5.1% annually ...
Emerging trends in real estate survey lists top 5 cities for real estate investors for 2015 with Texas cities topping the list

Texas wins in the top markets to watch in 2015 for real estate investors

A new survey, looking at the top locations for real estate investment prospects in 2015, has Texas cities topping the list, according to 1,000 leading real estate experts, investors, fund managers, developers, property companies, lenders, brokers, advisers, and consultants who participated in the study. According to  Emerging Trends in Real ...
Tight credit supply for borrowers will be fixed, Watt says

Tight credit supply for borrowers will be fixed, Watt says

Mel Watt, federal housing financing agency director, said in a speech Monday that Fannie Mae , Freddie Mac and lenders had reached an agreement in principle that could expand access to mortgages for many Americans which is good news for real estate investors. Meanwhile mortgage data and analytics firm RiskSpan  ...
Student loan debt may prevent young people from getting mortgages or investing in real estate

High student loan debt stopping some young people from real estate purchases

A new study shows that high student loan debt is stopping many young people from buying houses or investing in real estate as more than 50% of those ages 20 to 29 have student loan debt averaging more than $25,000,  indicating they may continue to have to rent housing for ...
Home equity from Corelogic showing fewer underwater homes

Almost two million homes gained equity and emerged from “underwater” in the last year

 A new analysis shows nearly 950,000 homes returned to positive equity in the second quarter of 2014, bringing the total number of mortgaged residential properties with equity in the U.S. to more than 44 million, according to a release from CoreLogic on PRNewswire.Nationwide, borrower equity increased year over year by ...
5 Tips On Communicating With Your Contractor On Your Rental Property Renovation

5 Tips On Communicating With Your Contractor On Your Rental Property Renovation

At any given time, I have multiple projects running that place me at the service of someone else. It puts me in both a vulnerable and sometimes frustrating position because I know that I can’t do everything and they know that I really need them. So, for this blog I ...
Michael Stoll, UCLA, on moving trends in U.S, in summer 2014

New moving trends study may help investors know where jobs and top rental markets will be

Moving trends studies can help show real estate investors where rental property and jobs may be in more demand, and a new one just released shows Chicago, Washington, D.C., Atlanta  and Dallas were the most popular moving destinations this summer, according to a release from PRNewswire of a study of ...
Americans see owning a home as a safe investment

A majority of Americans see owning a home as a safe investment new poll says

Despite periods of volatility in the real estate market over the past few years, over seven in ten Americans (72%) see owning a home as a safe investment, according to a new Harris Poll released by PRNewswire. Majorities agree on this point across generations, albeit with considerable shifts from one ...
CoreLogic home prices

Home prices nationwide increase 7.4% year over year new report says

Home prices nationwide, including distressed sales, increased 7.4 percent in July 2014 compared to July 2013, according to a new report from CoreLogic.This change represents 29 months of consecutive year-over-year increases in home prices nationally. On a month-over-month basis, home prices nationwide, including distressed sales, increased 1.2 percent in July ...
Home price growth continues to slow in all cities

Home price growth continues to slow in all cities

Home prices across the U.S. continue to slow this year, according to a release from the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index report. The home price index covering the entire nation increased 6.2% in the 12 months ended in June, according to the release. In the past the national index was published ...