Many people are trying to call this the bottom of the housing market. While the loudest voices may be those with self-serving interests (namely, realtor groups), there is some real optimism creeping in.
The most recent Housing Opportunity Index - released by the National Association of Homebuilders and Wells Fargo Bank - shows that almost 73 percent of homes sold in the first quarter of this year were “affordable.” In order to qualify as “affordable,” the total costs of a home (mortgage, taxes, etc.) must not exceed 28 percent of the median family income (currently $64,000).
I almost missed out on making $100,000! My husband took me to see a rental property he wanted to buy - and though we could buy it without spending a penny of our own money, I didn’t really want it.
My husband and I recently turned down a tenant’s request for blinds in the living room of one unit of a triplex. (They were unhappy with the “dirty curtains” on the window.) At the same time, we agreed to put a new toilet in another unit.
Real estate investing has given my husband and me a great deal of freedom to do what we want with our lives. Whether we decide to putter around the yard, go mountain biking, or focus on our Internet business, we are making money from our properties. Many would say we’re earning passive income, but we no longer do.
When you start looking for a rental property to buy, you might find yourself overwhelmed by all of the places that are on the market. Your realtor may be sending you a bunch of listings, and you may have a list of properties you’ve found on websites like Realtor.com. How do you know which ones are worth looking at further?
Real estate can be an instant wealth creator… as long as you learn a critical lesson about deal making. When my husband and I purchased a duplex, we instantly added $20,000 to our net worth and $500/month positive cash flow to our pockets. And we did it simply by getting to the heart of the seller’s problem and offering a perfect solution.
Thanks to low interest rates and increasing rental rates, my husband and I are enjoying more cash flow from our rental properties than ever before. Sure, our properties aren’t worth quite as much as they were last year. But they are still making us money. And because we purchased in desirable areas, we know they will increase in value over time.
Real estate prices in the U.S. are becoming more attractive thanks to the huge dose of reality injected into the market by the mortgage bubble burst. But people still keep shopping in Mexico, Ecuador, Uruguay, Brazil… throughout Latin America. Throughout the world.
The main reason my husband and I were able to build a multimillion-dollar real estate portfolio in less than eight years is because we found a few trustworthy partners...
As a real estate investor, you can stand to make serious amounts of money. But these days, with 5.4 million Americans behind on their mortgage payments and pending home sales dropping, you might think real estate is a bad bet.
By Christian Hill | Sat, Jun 6, 2009
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