One of the biggest topics in real estate investing today revolves around property management and the struggles landlords have with either managing their properties themselves or hiring quality property management.  It stands as one of the biggest and sometimes most confusing and hard decisions for a real estate investor to make.

As I was reading a report last week on the status of real estate investing in different markets around the United States, one number kept jumping out at me - the percentage of real estate investors paying cash was huge!  In some markets around the country, real estate investors paying cash made up more than 75% of the transactions.  Since real estate is a hyper-local industry, with each individual market able to vary wildly from the next, keeping an eye on the trends of investors before making assumptions is a huge task.

Memphis, Tennessee  - Chandler Reports, the leading provider of real estate data, research and consulting information in the West Tennessee area, released the final numbers for real estate transactions in the Memphis area for February 2011.  After leading the Memphis greater metropolitan area for home sales in 2010, Memphis Invest has started 2011 strong leading both January and February in home sales.

Memphis Invest was in Dallas, TX. on November 20th and found a room full of investors ready to take action!  After announcing that Memphis Invest and Fortune Builders would be in Dallas for a one-day event at the Embassy Suites in Grapevine, the room quickly filled up with 72 investors confirming their seats and getting ready to learn about Memphis real estate investing. 

Part 2 of 2

Back then, they flipped often and helped to bid up home prices into a froth. Now, the investors say, they can be a part of stabilizing neighborhoods.

“People are not in it to flip like back in the old economy,” said Matt Martinez, an investor and author whose new book, “How to Make Money in Real Estate in the New Economy” comes out next February. “The new economy dictates that you have to have a long time horizon.”

Did you see this article online this week about real estate investing?  This is EXACTLY what we do in Memphis, TN and why our clients are poised to do fantastic on their discount investment property portfolios.

Source: Les Christie, staff writer, On Thursday August 5, 2010,  CNN Money

No More Flips? RE Investors are now in Buy-and-Hold Mode

The real estate market is still dominated by distressed properties, and as opportunistic investors, we can’t ignore short sales, foreclosures, and defaulted note buying. One thing seems to be changing though. Whereas the preferred exit strategy used to be flipping a property or note for a quick profit, that strategy no longer works in many cases, due partly to new federal rules such as HAFA and HAMP, restrictions on same-day transactions, seasoning requirements, and general market factors.

I found this great news article at Forbes.com that I thought everyone should read as soon as possible to get an insight into what is continuing to take place in the housing market.  There is a sense of relief being perpetrated in the media including right here in Memphis that the worst of the housing crisis is behind us.  Let's hope that is true, the worst is over.