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.

property

Is Your Property Dressed Appropriately for Winter?

I went to college with a kid born and raised in Alaska. He still wore shorts and t-shirts when the fall weather ushered in highs in the 40s. All of us Midwesterners thought he was nuts. That was sweater weather! While he may have adapted to the colder temperatures just ...
event

5 Indicators a Real Estate Event is Worth the Investment

One of the most frustrating things that active real estate investors can encounter is a wasted real estate event. We don’t mean an event you paid for through the nose on credit, and then found yourself still unable to invest. Those are an entirely different topic, and not one we’re ...
investment

Real Estate Investment, a get Rich Slow Strategy?

| Andrew Syrios | Article | Operations
One of my favorite analogies for business was given by Jim Collins in his book Great by Choice. It involves Roald Amundsen, who was the first explorer to ever reach the South Pole. In 1911, Amundsen and his team faced off with Robert Falcon Scott and his team in the ...
tax

3 Effects Tax Cuts Could Have on Economy & Housing

When President Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act on December 22, 2017, he accomplished a number of things with a single swipe of a pen. Those things included: Cutting the corporate tax rate from 35 to 21 percent Cutting the top individual tax rate to 37 percent Reducing ...
live

64 Percent Live Where Cheaper to Rent than Buy

ATTOM Data Solutions, today released its 2018 Rental Affordability Report, which shows buying a median-priced home is more affordable than renting a three-bedroom property in 240 of 447 U.S. counties analyzed for the report — 54 percent. The analysis incorporated recently released fair market rent data for 2018 from the U.S ...
reform

Reform Boon for Commercial Real Estate

Starting this week, new tax rules will usher in the New Year with a big win for residential and commercial real estate investors. It’s still too early to know the full impact of the legislation, but many tax professionals say real estate investors and other property owners have hit the ...
luxury

Luxury Real Estate Lags Behind Mainstream Housing

According to Realtor.com, U.S. luxury housing lagged behind the mainstream real estate market in 2017 and is likely to continue to slow in 2018. Of course, that does not mean that the sector is not still growing. In fact, analysts reported that average sales price in the luxury market, defined ...
1031

Section 1031: West Coast vs East Coast

The history of the tax code pursuant to IRC Section 1031 is striking when viewed against one simple critical factor that runs through real estate: Real Estate is a local business. In some ways this explains why a Federal Tax Code called Section 1031, which has so much value for ...
economy

Global Economic Rankings Will Affect U.S. Real Estate

When the Center for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) announced in early January that China’s economy would surpass that of the United States “by 2032,” the reaction from the U.S. media was not surprising. The U.S. has been a dominant economic force in the world for a very long time ...
loans

FHA May Refuse to Insure Loans on Energy Efficient Properties

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) recently released new restrictions on the types of mortgages it will insure and eliminated certain energy-efficient homes in the process. In early December 2017, the FHA reversed a policy from the previous presidential administration that allowed the FHA to insure mortgages on homes carrying liens ...
renting is cheaper, for rent sign

Rents Continue to Rise into 2018

Although rental rate growth slowed over the course of 2017, Zillow reported at the start of 2018 that rates were starting to rise again. Over the past 12 months, median rents nationwide rose about 2.4 percent. This manifested in a median rental price of $1,435 per month, which, Zillow analysts ...
Grow Your Network

7 New Ways to Grow Your Network – Week 2

Last week we kicked off the new year. With new goals comes new activity to reach those new heights. It seems all tasks are better when you have support to encourage you along the way. So, this month let’s focus on growing your network of real estate investors. Read on ...
gary harper

Gary Harper Joins Think Realty Resident Experts

Effective leadership is not only a necessity in our society, but it is also a necessity for a successful business. Gary Harper, president and founder of Sharper Business Solutions and founder and CEO of Monster House Deals LLC, just to name two of his affiliations, is someone who understands what ...
Home Values

Home Values Record High in 2017

At the end of 2017, the total value of all the homes in the United States reached $31.8 trillion, which is more than one-and-a-half times the gross domestic product (GDP). This is almost $2 trillion more than the value of all U.S. homes at the end of 2016, and a ...
2018

2018 Perfectly Positioned to Bring Buyers Off Fence

2018 will likely bring a number of homebuyers out of the woodwork, to the benefit of real estate investors prepared to work with them. Although many would-be buyers have remained on the sidelines since the housing crash, a number of factors are likely to force their hand in the New ...
tax

Tax Cuts & Jobs Act May Help Marketplace Investors

The commercial real estate industry clearly benefits from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act recently passed by Congress and signed into law by President Trump. Even changes to the individual mortgage interest deduction and other limits on homeowner deductions may actually end up aiding the market for value-add multifamily projects ...
2018

Fewer Homeowners Start 2018 Facing Foreclosure

Fewer homeowners are starting the New Year off with a foreclosure this year than did last year, according to a report from CoreLogic. Analysts attributed the decline to “strong job growth and prudent mortgage underwriting.” The decline in foreclosures is not just an indicator of stronger financial health on the ...
My1031Exchange

Pay No Taxes on Investment & Owner Occupied Properties

*Sponsored Content Taxpayers are earning record gains on both their investment real estate and personal residence, which means potential record taxes. But did you know you can avoid all taxes on a sale through creatively combining Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Sections 1031 and 121? When you both live in and ...
Hiring an Agent, FT or PT?

Hiring an Agent, FT or PT?

Let’s face it; there are many of us who’ve found it difficult to sell or buy a home through regular marketing, the internet, or other advertising channels without the help of a representative. If it has never occurred to you why, here’s the obvious reason: When it comes to buying, ...
management

Property Management: DIY or Hire?

| Andrew Syrios | Article | Operations
It is the age-old question every landlord must face: Should you manage yourself or hire a property manager? It’s not an easy question to answer and it depends on all sorts of different factors including your available time, money, inclinations and personality. To help make that decision, it is helpful ...
Lead Generation: Evolve to Beat Your Competition

Lead Generation: Evolve to Beat Your Competition

| Mitch Stephen | Article | Operations
I’ve been hunting bargain properties for decades. Just like everything else in life, the process has evolved. In a lot of cases, what used to work doesn’t work anymore, and what works today wasn’t even on the radar last year. If you want to be competitive in today’s market, you ...
staging

3 Staging and Design Mistakes to Avoid

| Aimee Breeden | Article | Operations
As a professional stager, I see gorgeous homes that have been beautifully remodeled and upgraded by the investors who purchased them in hopes of selling for top dollar on the retail market. I also meet a lot of owner-occupants who have carefully staged their lovely properties with painstaking attention to ...
coinbase

Coinbase Victory for BitCoin Users

Digital currency marketplace, Coinbase, is celebrating a partial victory in its fight to keep Uncle Sam out of customer accounts. A broad ranging request for user account information has been reduced to a fraction of the original request with far fewer pieces of information. Crypto leader Bitcoin has grabbed the ...
Grow your REI network

Grow Your Network Every Day This Month – Week 1

It’s a great time to grow our networks. Many of us have just committed to, or reaffirmed, our real estate investment goals for 2018. There’s no doubt that successful investing takes a village – that’s where your network comes in. From sourcing deals to finding a partner, there’s not much ...
self-directed

Insider Insight: Self-Directed IRAs

Real estate investors love discovering new sources of capital to fund their deals, but sometimes getting to that capital can be a little complicated. Think Realty Magazine sat down with Kaaren Hall, founder and CEO of self-directed account administrator uDirect IRA Services, to learn more about how real estate investors ...