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.
3 min read
College Grads Hit the Houston Real Estate Market
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.
2 min read
Real Estate Foreclosure Rates Fall Lowest Since 2006
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.
1 min read
Mortgage Pre-Approval Very Important Before Investing in Real Estate
As many of you know, if you want to use traditional financing when purchasing a property from any of the Memphis Invest companies, a pre-approval with one of a dozen different lenders is required. Why is that a requirement? As you can see with the infographic below, a pre-approval letter not only gives you a ton of credibility, but it also gives you peace of mind.
2 min read
What the State of the U.S. Economy Means for Real Estate Investors
Plenty of factors figure into the state of the U.S. economy. When the economy crashed a few years ago, the housing market was largely blamed. Very slowly, we’ve been climbing out of this economic hole. The general public opinion of the recovering economy, however, is still mixed and hasn’t changed much from 2009. In a study by the Pew Research Center in February of this year, a reported 61% of Americans were hearing a mixture of good and bad news surrounding the U.S. economy and its recovery, 33% heard mostly bad news, and only 5% heard mostly good news.
3 min read
Tenant Relations and Rent Collection
Rent may be a necessary evil for tenants, but for real estate investing, it's simply necessary. Rent is your positive cash flow, after all. Those savings are integral to having peace of mind in our uncertain and ever-changing economy.
4 min read
Real Estate Investing: Best Lease Renewal Incentives for Tenants
You have a vested interest in keeping good tenants around. After all, a good relationship between you, your property manager and those living in your rental property is something to be cherished and nurtured. You want to be and can be in this for the long term with your renters. If a lease on your property is running out, however, and the future is unclear for tenants, there is something you can do about it. Real estate investing has many moving parts, and long-term buy and hold real estate has even more. Profitability is not just about finding and buying property but also about how you manage that investment.
3 min read
How To Get A Portfolio Loan For Out Of Town Investment Properties
In the above subject line there are two assumptions that are generally misconstrued to the average real estate investor. For perspective, I’m an underwriter at a community bank that makes portfolio loans and other types of real estate investment loans.
Topics:
real estate investing
Memphis Investment Property
portfolio loans
bank financing
out of state investing
Continue Reading
4 min read
Older Housing Providing Big Opportunity For Real Estate Investors
Companies like Lowe's and The Home Depot may be really good bets right now if you are looking for a new stock for 2014. Why? Because America's housing stock is getting older and more and more homeowners as well as investors are buying fixer-uppers as well as choosing to update existing properties rather than buy new ones. On a national level housing stock is aging quickly and that can be a very good thing not only for home stores, but also for homeowners.
2 min read
Rising Interest Rates Seen As A Boost For Memphis Real Estate
Mortgage originations jumped to over 30,000 in2012 (the latest year with data) and when 2013 numbers are released, they are expected to show another year with over 30,000. That is almost 8,000 more originations than 2011 and the first time the city has gone over 30,000 originations since pre-2007. This activity in the Memphis market is a very good sign as the cities normal real estate cycles begin to shift back into focus.
