Real estate investors like it when people rent. Obvious, right? After all, investing in real estate is a business and we have to treat it like a business. In a business, the goal is to make money. That, however, is an oversimplified version of the role of the real estate investors. We’re a business that deals with people — people whose lives matter and play important roles in the health of our economy and the real estate market.

This is a philosophy that plays into our role as a property manager.  So whether you are a landlord or you use property management companies to provide service to you, the success of a renter, your tenant, is vital to your success as a real estate investor.  Here at Premier Property Management, we hold four different sets of persons as vitally important to our company.  First, our team.  Second our clients.  Third our vendors.  Fourth our tenants.  These four groups are equally important and the tenant is the one who is so often overlooked.

We haven’t met a person yet who likes paying a mortgage. Both homeowners and investors who don’t pay for properties via all-cash offers have to deal with mortgages. No one likes them. In the years since the market crash, mortgage rates bottomed out to an all-time low, making it an ideal time for investors to snatch up properties and bring some life back into the real estate market. They did, giving the market the boost it needed to get back on its feet.

Looking forward to 2015, however, real estate experts expect rates to rise to 5% next year and 6% in the next two years, putting rates at the highest point they’ve been since the market crash. While that’s hardly the highest they could be, the real estate market is still in the middle of recovery, which could mean another slowdown if lenders don’t play it smart.

If you’re new to real estate investment, you’ll find out pretty quickly that the learning curve can be steep. One of the most important parts of real estate investment is to educate yourself on the legal aspects of the business. The last thing you want to happen is to find out you’ve made a legal mistake...after you’ve already made one.

It’s no secret that the real estate market and the job market are closely connected to one another. 

For instance, we know that the real estate market has been struggling due to a lack of first-time homebuyers — because the job market is making it difficult for them to have the resources necessary to purchase a home. Because of this reason, the housing market has remained more sluggish than it should in the midst of economic recovery.

Only three things happen naturally when investing in real estate. Confusion, under-performance and apathy.  The rest requires leadership!  If part of your real estate investing goals includes moving away from Turnkey investing for part of your portfolio and into an active role, you are going to have to provide leadership to the team you choose! I hope you enjoy this article.

So you’ve decided to become a real estate investor. Congratulations! If we had confetti, we’d certainly celebrate your decision. Joining the business of real estate investment is an exciting prospect that holds endless opportunities to make passive income for any number of reasons, from retirement to Aruba.

As exciting as it can be to join the community of real estate investors, it’s daunting, too. There’s a lot to learn and take in when you’re starting out — but you don’t have to do it alone.

"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.

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.