Real Estate Investment Tips

Real estate investment can be extremely profitable! IF someone has the funds, then real estate will be one of their investment options.  If you are planning on investing on properties for profit in the near future, then you will find these 5 tips handy:

1.  Define Your Target Market

You have to identify what type of tenants you would like to have. Are they students? Young Professionals? Young families? This aspect is very important, because it will help you decide on which location your real estate investment would be.

2. Do Your Research 

Research is one of the most important step in investment - in any type of investment. You need to study the market trends before investing your hard earned money.  You need to do your pricing research (how much your target market is willing to pay), the best location, risk analysis and the CMA (Comparative Market Analysis). This will help you determine whether a property is worth investing on. 

3.  Focus on Promising Areas

Location! Location! Location! It's better to invest more money in a home located in a central area. Focus on finding your property in areas where people would like to live and raise their children.

4. Never Spend More Than You Can Afford

Golden rule in property investment - never spend more money than you have. Real estate investment is very unstable - it has its ups and downs.  Sometimes, you can earn significant amount of money but there will be times that you can lose money. You must be aware of all the risks in investing in real estate.  If you cannot afford losing money, then you need to set your budget and stick to it.  Overspending may lead to bankruptcy and it will not look good on your portfolio.

5. Negotiate a Price Reduction

Every penny reduced is a penny saved. The lower the price of your home the faster you'll get your return on investment.  Knowledge is power in negotiations.  Again, research will play a big role in negotiating for a price.  When buying a home, ask for a CMA (Comparative Market Analysis) to get an idea of the price of the homes being sold within the same area.  Use that knowledge to negotiate back and forth until you and the seller agree on the acceptable price for the both of you. 

If you're asking when is the right time to invest - a possible answer would be to invest in an investment property when the housing market is strong and showing signs of increasing appreciation.    It's also advisable to focus on median-priced investment properties (not too high, but not not too low) as long as they are located in central areas with high rental demand.  Contact us today for more information on the current housing market and available properties.

Real Estate Investing

If you are hesitant putting your hard earned money into the unstable stock market or frustrated with the bank's interest rates then you might want to consider real estate investment to supplement your retirement income. Real estate investing is exciting and rewarding, there are always risks to every type of investing though and following the tips below are beneficial should you decide to invest in real estate.

1. Know your goals.  The trend of buying real estate and selling it for a quick profit is long gone.  Rental real estate can provide you with a steady income for a long time, but you need to put in a lot of time and effort to make it work.  First, you need to find a property in a good location that will attract tenants to rent your property.  Second, you need to compute for the final rental price that will be beneficial for both the renter and yourself.  You have to take into consideration your mortgage payments, taxes and the depreciation of the property.  Third, will you be able to maintain the property yourself? Who will do the plumbing, fixing the electricity, cleaning the carpets and applying a fresh coat of paint for the new tenants. If you are going to hire someone to maintain your rental property, you must also add that cost to your rental price.

2. Familiarize yourself with the neighborhood. As you know, LOCATION is one of the most important factor in choosing a home.  As a future landlord, you must be the neighborhood expert.  Is the property near parks and good schools? Having your property within the close proximity of parks and schools will be a good plus if your future tenant is a couple with children.  Is the property in an established neighborhood? You can take a drive-by to check out the neighborhood and talk to the locals. Get their feedback! Furthermore, you can go online to Trulia and Zillow for more information about the neighborhood. You cannot predict what the property will be worth in 5 years, but you have to know if you can rent it out next month and at what price.

3. Buy local. It is easier to maintain a property if it's nearby. And your tenant will feel at ease knowing that you will be easily available in case a problem pops up.  

4. Best Real Estate Investment is a one bedroom condo or  a triplex/fourplex.  There is a HUGE market for a 1BR condo unit! From young singles, divorced middle-agers to retired couples. It's a great starter home for the young singles that want to live independently. Retired couples would like a smaller property because it's very easy to manage. With their children gone, they do not need a big house that's hard to maintain. They also do not need the burden that comes with the big house such as high electricity bills and high real estate tax. 

 Another way to capitalize on a hot rental market is to invest in a 4plex (1-3 bedroom units) so that you are able to take advantage of Residential financing criteria.  The key is to reduce expenses and maintain a positive cash-flow. Investing in a fourplex or triplex, will require you to put in minimal down payment for the property. While the expected rental income will help you qualify for a loan, because lenders qualify and approve loans based on the ability to repay the debt itself.  You can even live in your investment, making it easier for you to manage your investment since you will be living in the same building as your tenants. 

    A fourplex or triplex can easily generate income that can be applied to your mortgage        

    payments and it can even give you profit from the rentals.  Even if one unit is empty,     

    the other units will still be able to produce income.  

   You can even have extra income from other services you can provide to your tenants 

   such as vending machines or laundry services.

5. Scout for a good price! A few years back, if you purchase a property twelve times the amount of its annual rent, then you're getting a good deal. But with the current market, you can recover your investment in 10 years. A good tip - your monthly cost in mortgage and maintenance must be less than or equal to your monthly rent!

6.  Keep some cash for emergencies. There will be times that something will break in your own home or your unit becomes unoccupied. You need to put the emergency fund into your calculation to help you decide if investing in Real Estate is worth it.

I hope that these tips were able to enlighten you into investing in real estate wisely. If you are interested in investing in Real Estate, please don't hesitate to contact me.