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.
Tools for Property Management Mean Profit Growth
“We are an instant society,” Linda Liberatore, founder and president of SecurePayOne, started out in her presentation on saving hundreds of dollars each month by making simple adjustments to your property management strategies. “Did you ever see [the way people act] when they do not have internet?” she continued; “They ...
The Importance of Transparency in Passive Investing
When it comes to transparency in real estate, it seems like everyone boasts how they offer it, but few people are able to fully deliver on their promises. After all, just as chefs have their “secret sauces” and search engines have their “proprietary algorithms,” real estate investors who provide investment ...
California Settles with Mortgage Servicer Over Alleged Misconduct
After a long and drawn-out battle with the state of California, Ocwen Financial Corporation has finally reached a settlement with California’s Department of Business Oversight (DBO). Ocwen agreed to pay nearly $25 million to the state as well as providing nearly $200 million in debt forgiveness through loan modifications made ...
Rent Control Breeds Crime – MIT Research Study
MIT researchers are adding to the debate on rent control with a new paper on the relationship between rent control and crime. While many people feel rent control keeps people off the streets and away from a life of crime, this study found that by eliminating rent control, the city of ...
Future of REI: Google Designing a Private Utopia
If you could own a home inside a metropolis boasting floating parks, perfect weather, and the option to work from home every day with the simple touch of a button, would you? Google thinks you probably would and, furthermore, that you would be a happier, healthier person as a result ...
California Wildfire Damages to Exceed $1 Billion, Exacerbates Housing Crisis
California wildfires have killed nearly four dozen people, destroyed nearly 7,000 homes and other buildings, and caused at least $1 billion in damages, so far, said northern California officials late last week. State insurance commissioner Dave Jones reported that his office had arrived at the preliminary dollar amount of losses ...
Top 5 Most Expensive States for Property Taxes
According to WalletHub’s “2017 Property Taxes by State Report,” the average American household spends more than $2,000 on property taxes each year. Perhaps of even greater interest to real estate investors, nearly $12 billion of those property taxes go unpaid each year according to the same study. Interestingly enough, the ...
Hyperloop Could Hyper-Value Real Estate
Disruptive technologies are changing the face of the globe, and one that could revolutionize transportation would also be a monumental game changer for real estate. The high-speed Hyperloop system would make it possible to commute from distant locations that could suddenly skyrocket in value. The Hyperloop is a futuristic system ...
Top 25 Zip Codes for Buying Single Family Homes
ATTOM Data Solutions, released its Q3 2017 Single Family Rental Market report, identifying the top 25 U.S. ZIP codes for buying single family rental homes based on potential rental yields and cash flow, vacancy rates, home price appreciation, population growth, neighborhood quality, and average property age. The report analyzed the ...
Bitcoin Appears in More Real Estate Closings
Cryptocurrency has been slow to take hold in real estate, making an appearance mainly when a seller hopes to garner media attention for a listing rather than as a serious form of payment. However, the controversial currency bitcoin, which is now accepted in many retail locations and restaurants in the ...
How to Maintain a Profitable Investment Portfolio in a Shifting Housing Market
“Live where you want, but invest where it makes sense.” Marco Santarelli, founder and CEO of Norada Real Estate Investments, is known for saying. Santarelli, who invests in cash-flowing turnkey rental properties in markets around the country, has maintained a profitable investment portfolio for more than two decades thanks to ...
The Critical Question You Must Ask Before Investing in a Fund
When real estate investors place money with an equity fund or other investment provider, they do so with the expectation that their capital will be used to fuel productive, profitable investments. However, warned GreenZone Properties CEO Pete Asmus during a recent educational breakout session at a Think Realty National Conference ...
Think Realty to Partner with Information Management Industry Giant
Think Realty members will soon reap the benefits of a new partnership between the Information Management Network (IMN), a global organizer of financial and investment conferences, and Think Realty. The two groups share the goals of providing excellent educational, networking opportunities to real estate investors and are dedicating to expanding ...
A Detailed Guide to Investment Process Mapping
Real estate investors know all about waste and how much it can hurt an investing business. Gary Harper, founder and CEO of Sharper Business Solutions, knows all about how to identify hidden sources of waste and eliminate them to improve real estate investing operations. “We help scale real estate businesses,” ...
3 Reasons to Invest in Residential Assisted Living
“The silver tsunami is unstoppable,” Gene Guarino, CEO of the Residential Assisted Living Academy, is fond of saying. He follows that with some pretty incredible numbers, including that there are 1.4 million people turning 85 every single year and 10,000 people turning 65 every single day. “They’re going to need ...
Should You Invest in Areas Hit by Natural Disasters?
In the wake of Hurricane Harvey, signs of the storm damage are everywhere. Not all those signs are related to property damage, though. While there are plenty of homes devastated by flood waters and mold, mildew, and other water-related damage, there are also a number of bandit signs on the ...
2017 Think Realty Honors Winners
Each year, Think Realty honors the leaders and change-makers of real estate who represent the best the industry has to offer. These individuals are nominated by their peers, and the finalists are determined by an independent panel of judges who are former Think Realty Honors recipients themselves. Their stories range ...
11-Year Low in Foreclosure Activity Rounds Out Q3
ATTOM Data Solutions released its Q3 2017 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, showing a total of 191,824 U.S. properties with foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions or bank repossessions — in the third quarter, down 13 percent from the previous quarter and down 35 percent from a year ago to ...
Crowdfunding for a Down Payment?
Although there are certainly plenty of programs out there designed to help homeowners avoid the dreaded 10% or 20% down payment, years of buyer surveys from the National Association of Realtors, lenders, and consumer advocates show that buyers still believe they will need a huge chunk of money in order ...
Foreclosures Up from Reverse Mortgages
The federal government is raising the premiums and lowering the loan limits on its reverse-mortgage program. It may sound like a take-away for seniors, but according to the Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the changes are needed to protect the Federal Housing Administration's (FHA) entire insurance fund. The HUD says ...
Pricey Seattle Market Also “Most Affordable”
When you think of Seattle, Washington, you probably do not immediately think “affordability” in terms of its housing. After all, a metro area with a median home price of $610,000 is not necessarily accessible to the average home buyer. However, when that average buyer is, more than likely, an IT ...
Amazon’s New HQ Could be the Key to Buying your Next Property Investment
When Amazon announced it would be accepting proposals from cities around the country wishing to host the internet behemoth’s second headquarters, savvy real estate investors took notice as things got pretty wild pretty fast. It seemed like every major metro area in the country tweeted, Facebooked, and even turned to ...
Think Realty Event Prep Checklist
Attending an event is not only exhilarating but also a bit intimidating. Get the most out of our events or other events you decide to attend by using this prepared checklist provided by Think Realty. The checklist gives you pointers on how to make the most out of the events ...
How Tax Reform Could Affect U.S. Homeownership
Will President Trump’s tax reform proposal put a major dent in the housing market? Some experts say by doubling the standard deduction, the mortgage interest deduction will lose relevance because taxpayers won’t bother to itemize, and that will, in turn, discourage people from buying homes. But are tax savings the ...
Is There Hope for Housing Affordability?
According to a recent report from ATTOM Data Solutions, one in every four housing markets in the United States are becoming less affordable all the time. ATTOM’s Q1 2017 U.S. Home Affordability Index indicates that nationally, consumers are finding they must spend just about a third of their income in ...
