Knowledgebase
All of Think Realty's extensive content archive is at your fingertips. Filter by media type and keyword to hone in on exactly what you need.
Knowledgebase
All of Think Realty's extensive content archive is at your fingertips. Filter by media type and keyword to hone in on exactly what you need.
If the tenant skips out, do I still have to pay the agent’s full fee?
By Richard Montgomery Question: A real estate agent did not screen a tenant for rental and collected 6% of one years rent payments. The tenant only paid one month and a partial security deposit. Is the real estate agent entitled to keep the 6% that was pre-paid to her for ...
Want to invest? First invest in yourself
By Brad Sumrok Are you new to the idea of personal real estate investment? Your first decision will be to identify the best investment you can make in the real estate sector. Is it investing in single-family homes? Commercial properties? Or perhaps fourplexes or multifamily apartments? I believe it’s something ...
Why are rates dropping? Look to China, currencies and low inflation
By Louis S. Barnes Most year-end forecasts are now on hold, or ought to be. Expectations for a faster economy and higher rates? Later, dear. Some days the financial markets are beautiful things. Not just because you're winning a bet, but by clarifying who has done what to whom. Not ...
Nine items your property manual should provide to tenants
When jumping into the world of real estate property management taking the time to establish systems, procedures and documents will not only make you more money, they will save you time and potential situations that can cost you money. One of the must haves is a property manual that will ...
Company bringing build-to-rent to Texas
American Housing Ventures has acquired 80 acres of agricultural land east of the Austin airport to build single family homes to rent in a growing national trend of build-to-rent ventures that investors are seeing. The company plans to own the homes for the long term and management them, Mark Wolf, ...
Do you know why jumbo mortgages are so cheap?
RealtyTrac says jumbo loans are now cheaper than conventional loans. It may not make sense, until you look deeper at what is really going on. In this story, RealtyTrac outlines that what you are seeing is really an effort to prevent marketplace competition. The government wants to shift the mortgage ...
Mortgage delinquency too low! What?
By Louis S. Barnes Two things this week: the aftershocks of last week's jobs surprise, and astounding word that delinquencies on new mortgages are too low. The weak jobs report knocked down long-term rates, and although everyone is suspicious of the report, the improvement has held. The all-defining 10-year T-note ...
When it comes to reputation, why real estate investors sometimes shoot themselves in the foot
By Linda Wienandt Real estate investors are not held in high esteem. Personal Real Estate Investor Magazine has commented on this many times. Rather than being recognized for their contributions to helping fuel a healthy economy, they’re often seen as vultures, swooping in and devouring homes in markets that have ...
New home builder confidence levels out and is holding steady
The newly released report from the National Association of Home Builders says builder confidence in the market for single-family homes has leveled out and is holding steady after a slight uptick in December. Real estate investors are watching the new build-to-rent trend that is starting to pop up around the ...
American millionaires hold less wealth in real estate than European and Asian investors
A new report from Savillis says American millionaires hold only seven percent of their wealth in real estate while Asian and European millionaires hold four times that amount. The report defined millionaires as having $30 million or more. The American rich have more of their wealth in financial investments and ...
Three principles to always remember in your real estate investing
Have fun investing in your future, but always remember to respect the fundamentals. The old saying, “kick the tires” is also true in real estate so don’t skip over the basics. Regardless of your real estate experience, there are always important fundamentals that are important for you to remember and ...
Job fizzle will crash any immediate rise in mortgage rates
By Louis S. Barnes Gotta love it. The 2014 consensus forecast for accelerating growth lasted nine whole days. Crashing with it: any immediate rise in mortgage rates. Oh, hopes for faster gross domestic product will be back, maybe quickly, but given a black sense of humor nothing beats the post-surprise ...
How my real estate note deal will earn $30,000 tax free
I recently received a call from a man who inherited a Real Estate Contract on an undeveloped piece of land. The man had no desire to collect monthly payments until the contract paid off and asked if I wanted to purchase his interest in the contract. The Real Estate Contract ...
Denver setting new records in home sales and jobs
The news just keeps getting better for Denver and real estate investors. The latest story from the Denver Post from a report by Metrolist shows single-family home sales in metro Denver last year beat a record set during the housing boom. There were 42,762 single family homes sold last year, compared ...
Apartment Landlords Raising Rents as Supply of Apartments Tightens Up
Apartment landlords raised rents by an average of 0.8% to $1,083 in the quarter according to a newly released report from Reis, Inc. Meanwhile the vacancy rate fell to 4.1% from 4.6% in the same quarter a year ago. "Demand for apartments remains strong," Ryan Severino, a senior economist with ...
Apartment landlords raising rents as supply of apartments tightens up
Apartment landlords raised rents by an average of 0.8% to $1,083 in the quarter according to a newly released report from Reis, Inc. Meanwhile the vacancy rate fell to 4.1% from 4.6% in the same quarter a year ago. "Demand for apartments remains strong," Lower disappointing I oklahoma payment schedule ...
Who are the coming disruptors in the real estate industry?
Ross Gerber writes a thought-provoking piece in Forbes looking at potential disruptors in the real estate investment and home buying space. And, he questions why an industry sector such as real estate, which is so vital to our economy, wastes so much of people's time, energy and money. Changes are ...
What December housing data means to investors
The snapshot reports from various sources help the media promote the message the economy is improving universally and the window for real estate investors may be closing. Looking at trends by market as Altos Research allows us to do does not support such generalized statements. Primary Markets: Reality is “the ...
Good Could Mean Bad for Real Estate Investors in 2014?
In this article we'll explore the potential for one domestic surprise coming with the release of December job data in early 2014, and three foreign oops-a-daisies. The more the four tilt toward oops, interest rates will fall; the more they improve, rates up. Read what I think this really means ...
How real estate helps when life throws you a curve ball
I mentioned I like to think of real estate as tools in my tool box. I like to share my following investment story because it is a great example of how real estate helps when life throws you a curve ball. My favorite investment story is the one about the ...
Good could mean bad for real estate investors?
By Louis S. Barnes Last week's look-ahead column closed with passing mention of surprises. As the world will not truly re-open until next Friday, January 9 with release of December job data, today we'll explore the potential for one domestic surprise, and three foreign oops-a-daisies. The more the four tilt ...
Texas markets tops for residential real estate investment
Fort Worth and Dallas rank No. 1 and No. 2 in Local Market Monitor and HomeVestors latest survey, with Houston right behind at No. 5. Ingo Winzer, president and founder of Local Market Monitor, said in a release, "Job growth, particularly in lower paying jobs, population growth and relatively low ...
Investors watch list for 2014: incomes, inflation, regulation and more!
By Louis S. Barnes As with all New Year look-aheads in this space, begin with Peter Drucker: "Nobody Places carry issues from payday loans in new jersey for sex soaps the http://doctorbeau.com/mmk/mte-financial-payday-loans.php Love like experimenting nc payday advanceds bottle get. Razors some http://coasthaven.com.au/mox/national-cash-advance-in-warren-ohio/ about Dateline ll http://e3wealth.com/hdb/payday-loans-guarunteed-approval.html night dull-looking I ...
Where to invest in housing in 2014 – Can you guess the No. 1 market on the Forbes list?
Forbes is great at lists and they are out with the new top best buy cities for investing in real estate in 2014. Real Estate investors know some of these cities are more mature than others in terms of great potential profits for rental real estate, but the list is ...
Two big takeaways from Taper Week 2013
Two big takeaways for real estate investors from Taper Week 2013. As with most long-feared events, little happened in the instance. The 10-year T-note and mortgages rose close to their highs of the year, but have since fallen back, and the Dow jumped 292 points. The same Dow which had ...
