Fairly regularly I have people tell me “if you see a good deal, keep me in mind!” I really appreciate hearing this and I do really try to keep them in mind but the days fly by with a thousand details that need attention immediately, it’s easy for me to let something
Make Money the old fashioned way, buy an investment and rent it!
slip by me.
Here is a way to help me, your Realtor, be a little more proactive and work together to get a good investment.
First, it’s a great time to buy investment real estate! Prices have been flat for 5 or 6 years. There are some foreclosures in some areas and some of them are distressed and in need of fix up. This is one area that people can make money at, providing they can see beyond the current distressed property mess and envision the property cleaned up and in good shape. Sellers that want to sell, have to price their properties in line with the competition of other similar property being offered for sale. There is plenty of “active” property on the market so a buyer doesn’t typically have to move fast on most properties. There is time to shop and compare.
Interest rates are good. This means if you keep the property and rent it, your payments are going to be lower with today’s rates than they would have been a few years ago when rates were higher. Our tax laws allow investors of real estate to write off interest and taxes as well as the costs of improving and maintaining the property. You are also allowed to depreciate the property on your taxes, which is allowing you to write off some loss every year on your taxes, a big tax benefit to many investors.
Rents haven’t declined, in fact, they may have increased some because builders aren’t building any competing units and our population has increased, therefore less supply and more demand. This means it’s not hard to “pencil” your investment to break even or even make some money each month.
To really put a point on looking for an investment, the best thing for me would be for you to figure out what it is you would be interested in owning, such as a small condo that would be easy to rent and not have much maintenance? Or a single family house? Or a duplex or four-plex? Maybe you are ready to go to the “big league” and get a building with 15 or 25 units in it?
Once you’ve got that part in your head, a visit with a lender, or two, will help give you some money guidelines so you can have your cash goals set.
Then, you can have me send you specifically the sort of property you are interested in exploring. Then, you start by driving by the locations to get a feel for the area, the neighborhood and if you feel it would be convenient place for people to rent. Once you narrow it down a bit, it’s time to actually get inside some property and start working through the selection process.
For me to keep an eye peeled for a good deal is too broad of a criteria for me to focus on. Over the years I’ve told people when I saw a good deal, but because they haven’t been educating themselves along the way, they don’t know a deal when they see it.
I was at lunch yesterday with a friend who commented that “if I don’t buy something in this market, I’ll be kicking myself in the future when prices recover, always wishing I would have bought when interest rates were low and the market was lower.”
When you are ready to take advantage of the market and invest in real estate, let’ s form a game-plan and start working that direction!
