Operations

Your operations define your long-term success in real estate investing. Fine-tune your process with: Asset Management | Asset Protection | Deal Analysis | Fundamentals | Growth | Lead Generation | Risk Management

Back To: All Topics 

Operations

Your operations define your long-term success in real estate investing. Fine-tune your process with: Asset Management | Asset Protection | Deal Analysis | Fundamentals | Growth | Lead Generation | Risk Management

Back To: All Topics 

How to Maintain a Profitable Investment Portfolio in a Shifting Housing Market

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

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 ...
A Detailed Guide to Investment Process Mapping

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,” ...
Should You Invest in Areas Hit by Natural Disasters?

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 ...
11-Year Low in Foreclosure Activity Rounds Out Q3

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?

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

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”

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

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 ...
How Tax Reform Could Affect U.S. Homeownership

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 ...
Affordability

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 ...
7 Truths about Networking in Real Estate

7 Truths about Networking in Real Estate

We’ve heard the old adage hundreds of times: “Your network is your net worth.” If you’re active on social media, you have probably seen it in memes, tweeted out accompanying images of various friends and acquaintances hanging out with self-titled industry “influencers,” and hashtagged to infinity. While you might be ...
3 Ways to Prepare for the Next Real Estate Correction

3 Ways to Prepare for the Next Real Estate Correction

It is common knowledge that the housing market is cyclical, but while most investors agree this is the case, they do not have firm plans in place to help them adjust their investment strategies when downturns occur. Certainly, some investors thrive in down markets, snapping up great deals and setting ...
Home Affordability Increases in Q3

Home Affordability Increases in Q3

ATTOM Data Solutions’ Q3 2017 U.S. Home Affordability Index, released October 5, indicated that home affordability in the third quarter improved compared to the previous quarter in 60 percent of 406 U.S. counties analyzed in the report — although affordability was still worse than a year ago in 79 percent ...
Think Realty Welcomes Julie Ziglar Norman as a New Contributor to Magazine

Think Realty Welcomes Julie Ziglar Norman as a New Contributor to Magazine

The Think Realty Team would like to warmly welcome Julie Ziglar Norman as a monthly contributor to Think Realty Magazine. Every month Julie will be sharing her motivation and inspiration through her column on varying subjects related to the entrepreneurial spirit and real estate investing, in hopes of sparking drive, ...
Labor & Material Shortages Equals Slow Rebuilds

Labor & Material Shortages Equals Slow Rebuilds

With the devastation of Hurricane Harvey and Irma, came images depicting streets filled with personal property; the guts of beloved homes and business lay in heaps of trash. Many individuals have had to turn to friends and neighbors to help with clean up instead of turning to contractors who coordinate ...
Think Realty Magazine October 2017

Think Realty Magazine October 2017

+ WHAT'S INSIDE Think Realty |  Where We’re Thinking Realty • Coaches Corner Cover Feature |  Leveling the Playing Field Design Point |  Beautifully Engaged Market Update |  Atlanta, Georgia Regional Spotlight|  Memphis, Tennessee The Big Picture|  Entrepreneurialism: A Smart Pathway to Success • Net Zero in Cost Rica • ...
A Closer Look at Industrial Real Estate

A Closer Look at Industrial Real Estate

Industrial real estate, which includes warehouses and distribution centers, is among the most profitable categories of investment properties. These types of properties offer yields as high as 7.5 percent, compared to between four and five percent for office space and five and six percent for retail space. Furthermore, long-term agreements, ...
Shining Bright with ENERGY STAR

Shining Bright with ENERGY STAR

You’ve seen the sticker thousands of times on your own appliances and on those for sale in retail stores. Among the aisles and aisles of appliances there is one universal name, ENERGY STAR. You probably already know that the ENERGY STAR sticker displayed on appliances shows you how much you ...
A Hidden Gem: The Kansas City Land Bank

A Hidden Gem: The Kansas City Land Bank

As other real estate investing markets are reaching their plateaus, the Kansas City, Missouri, market is just getting started. Thousands of potential real estate investments, residential and commercial, are waiting to be put back into productive use in Kansas City. That is great news for real estate investors aware of ...
The “20-Percent Down” Myth

The “20-Percent Down” Myth

Mortgage rates are slowly and steadily rising. These current market conditions make buying a home particularly attractive in today’s market. Homeownership has always been viewed as one of the central pillars of the American dream and, because your home is often your largest asset, it can be an incredible means ...
The 401(k) Mistake that Can Easily Cost You $30,000

The 401(k) Mistake that Can Easily Cost You $30,000

As an individual retirement account (IRA) custodian, I often encounter investors who have been using their IRA or 401(k) accounts to buy and sell real estate in ways that are costing them serious capital. These sticky situations do not always lead to the so-called “implosion” of a retirement portfolio that ...
Running the Numbers on a Vacation Rental Home

Running the Numbers on a Vacation Rental Home

If you’ve always wanted a vacation home but couldn’t afford one, you’ve probably considered obtaining that property via the Airbnb model: buying your vacation property and leasing it out as a short-term rental when you’re not using it in order to cover ownership costs. While this is a fantastic investment ...
Effective Networking at Real Estate Investor Association (REIA) Meetings

Effective Networking at Real Estate Investor Association (REIA) Meetings

Attending a networking event can induce dread, anxiety, and the cold sweats, but don’t be tempted to skip that local real estate investor association (REIA) meeting! The reality is that business and real estate investing require you to build a team. The fastest way to build an effective one is ...
When the 1940s Meets the Modern Rehab

When the 1940s Meets the Modern Rehab

When a housing market heats up and home values start heading northward, the first thing to go is “affordable housing.” While this might seem like nothing more or less than conventional wisdom, when a market loses its affordable housing sector it tends to lose its lifeblood, the first-time buyer, in ...