"They just aren’t built like they used to be."
People say it about practically everything that’s been around for more than a few decades — cars, houses, furniture, blue jeans. Usually it's said disparagingly in reference to a lack of quality and a nostalgia for “the good ol’ days,” but there have been improvements to some of the old ways. After all, we used to have lead in our paint.
As much as we all want our real estate investments to go smoothly all the time, reality is full of setbacks, missteps, pitfalls and even disasters. Real estate investors won’t experience success all the time. In seasons of troublesome tenants, complications and the losing of bidding wars, even profitable investments might seem like they’re not worth the headache.
Real estate investing, at least investing successfully, has always been about finding good opportunities and understanding what is driving that opportunity. We always hear about investors who land the big deal and take home an enormous payday. Sometimes those scenarios are luck and others they are a mix of luck and skill.
A good property manager can be enormously beneficial for your real estate investments. He can keep you from becoming overwhelmed with taking on too many responsibilities when you’re looking for passive income in your investments or if investing isn’t your full-time job. She plays a vital role for investors buying real estate as a method for diversifying their over-all portfolio. Many invest in real estate for passive reasons and they really have no desire to be an actual hands-on "landlord."
The classic debate returns. The “rent vs. buy” issue has been around for ages, but the answer is never as clear as one would think. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t distinct pros and cons to both renting and homeownership. In fact, many of these points transcend location, from the hottest metropolitan areas to more modest suburbs.
Real estate investing has been a very popular topic over the last few years. Real estate investors with rental properties have been in a good place during the last few years. The surge of homes in foreclosure meant that properties were ripe for the taking - and at record low prices. As the housing market recovers, however, the number of homes available is dwindling and some investors are choosing to leave the business...it just isn’t as easy anymore.
Millennials don’t have it as easy as we like to think. Recent college graduates deal with a slew of financial stresses thanks to the state of the U.S. economy and it appears that buying real estate is only one of those stresses. It feels nearly impossible to attend college without incurring some amount of student debt, and the job market, while improving, is still challenging. It’s hard to start a life and find success if you can’t find a job with that new degree. If you can't find a job, then you sure can't buy a first home much less invest in real estate.
Some investors have ongoing concerns regarding the real estate market, particularly when it comes to a relatively weak demand for homes. There’s some news to be celebrated right now, however. The number of lenders that have initiated real estate foreclosures has fallen to the lowest level it’s been in almost 8 years.
For real estate investors, property renovation can be a tricky business. In most cases, repairs and renovations are done primarily to boost the property value of an investment property. Investors go to great lengths upgrading kitchens and adding on an extra bath to see gains in their bottom line. In some cases, the repairs and renovations are being done to boost the rental rates of properties.
Not everyone is cut out to be a property manager. If you’re a real estate investor who has decided not to take on the responsibilities of property management yourself, it’s vital to make sure your properties’ day-to-day duties are in good hands. On the flip side, maybe you’re an investor wondering what it takes to be an effective property manager. Do you have the right qualities for the job? Or how to you make sure you know you’re putting your investments in the right hands?
