real estate investing Being

Getting real about real estate investing - Nov. 17, 2004 Web CNN/Money Buying & Selling Investment Property Home Improvement Million $ Life Financing Best Places Getting real about real estate investing Being a landlord can be profitable -- or a big headache. Take some advice from these investors. November 17, 2004: 4:03 PM EST By Jon Birger , MONEY Magazine. Additional reporting by Joan Caplin and Amy Feldman. NEW YORK (MONEY Magazine) - Successful real estate investors sometimes make what they do sound almost too easy. "Rentals freed me from ever having to get a job again," says Orlando Rodriguez, a 38-year-old San Antonio landlord who makes about $100,000 a year off the 90 apartments he owns. "I'm a high school dropout -- seventh-grade dropout, actually -- so my story should tell people this isn't rocket science." Yes, landlording isn't science (which is not to say it isn't often a lot of hard work), but if you're willing to put in the time and effort, buying and operating rental properties can pay off big. Try this math on for size: You purchase a $100,000 condominium with $30,000 down and a $70,000 mortgage. If the condo rents for $1,200 a month, your net profits -- after costs such as mortgage, maintenance and property taxes -- should be in the $2,000-a-year range. Conservatively invested, that sum should earn enough to pay off the entire mortgage within 14 years. You'd have turned $30,000 in equity into $100,000, even if rents didn't go up and property values didn't appreciate. Factor in 4 percent annual rent increases and price appreciation, and the property's net value to the owner would be closer to $200,000. A stock fund would need to return 15 percent a year for 14 years to beat that performance -- and funds don't give you any of the tax breaks that can come with being a property owner. The key thing to remember, though, is that buying rental properties is not for point-and-click investors. Even landlords who hire out the plumbing, painting and rent collection to contractors and management companies typically make a big time commitment. Rick Lionhardt of Dallas, a 55-year-old retired telecom worker, owns 33 properties with wife Helen, 49, a secretary. Even when he was working full time, Lionhardt says, he spent 70 to 80 hours a week on real estate. "I'd make calls during lunch and drive around at night looking for more things to buy." For the first-time landlord, there is plenty to learn -- about taxes, financing, dealing with difficult tenants -- and usually there are many mistakes to be made. The payoff can be terrific though, even for investors who own just one or two properties. Doing it right will get you extra income now and a valuable addition to your retirement nest egg down the road. What does "doing it right" mean? Read on for some key tips and secrets -- as well as pitfalls to avoid -- from successful investors who had to learn the hard way. Know how to take your market's temperature. When considering a rental property, your top concern should be whether you can make money renting it out now, not how much its price might appreciate in the future (although that's important too). All you're doing is speculating on real estate prices if you're shelling out more than you're taking in -- and that can be dangerous, especially if you're doing it with borrowed money. "You never want to buy a property where every month you have to feed it," says Neil Binder, co-founder of New York City's Bellmarc Realty. So before you buy, add up your projected property taxes, mortgage payments and maintenance costs, and make sure the total is less than your expected rental income. Experienced real estate investors say they generally look to pay anywhere from 45 to 85 times monthly rent for a property. That means annual rental revenue should be about 15 to 25 percent of the property's value. Finding places with those kinds of yields can be difficult. Take California, probably the most bubblicious market in the country. A condominium renting for $1,200 a month in Southern California sells for $350,000 today, according to veteran California real estate investor Bruce Norris. A $1,200-a-month condo in the Dallas/Fort Worth area can be had for $95,000. To a landlord, that's the difference between an annual return on investment of 4 percent vs. 15 percent. Mortgages and home equity loans Search for rates from hundreds of lenders. No points only Select Loan: Select a Mortgage 15 Yr Fixed Jumbo - $385K 15 Yr Fixed Conforming - $165K 30 Yr Fixed Conforming - $165K 30 Yr Fixed Jumbo - $385K 1 Yr ARM Conforming - $165K 1 Yr ARM Jumbo - $385K 3/1 Yr ARM Conforming - $165K 3/1 ARM Jumbo - $385K 5/1 Yr ARM Conforming - $165K 5/1 ARM Jumbo - $385K 7/1 Yr ARM Conforming - $165K ARM Jumbo - $385K State: Select State Alaska Alabama Arkansas Arizona California Colorado Connecticut Washington DC Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Iowa Idaho Illinois Indiana Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Massachusetts Maryland Maine Michigan Minnesota Missouri Mississippi Montana North Carolina North Dakota Nebraska New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico Nevada New York Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Virginia Vermont Washington Wisconsin West Virginia Wyoming "The only reason you'd be a California landlord at today's prices is because you're expecting price appreciation," says Norris, who thinks prices in the state are due for a fall. "Monthly cash flow would be almost impossible to achieve without an enormous down payment." Another tool experienced investors use to measure the profitability of a market is price-to-rent -- that is, the ratio of median home price to annual rent for three-bedroom homes. The bigger the number, the less likely you are to make money as a landlord. California has a price-to-rent ratio of 25 these days, the highest in the country. Hawaii (23) is second from the top, and Massachusetts (19) is third. Far more inviting to investors are states like Delaware, Missouri, Texas and Vermont, where the price-to-rent ratios are 11 or 12. For more information on median home prices and market rents in your area, visit realtor.org and huduser.org . Find smart ways to cut your financing costs. Borrowing to buy real estate as an investment is more expensive than borrowing to buy a home. Lenders generally think they are taking more of a risk on buildings that the owner doesn't live in. Consequently, the interest rates they charge tend to be 0.5 percentage points or more above those for traditional home mortgages. Not only that, but borrowers need excellent credit scores to qualify for the lowest rates. In addition, the minimum down payment is usually 20 or 25 percent, instead of the 10 percent for standard home mortgages. There are a couple of ways around the higher rates and steeper down payments. To qualify for a traditional mortgage, you are required by most lenders to live in the property for a minimum of one year. But there's nothing stopping you from buying a home or a condo with a traditional mortgage, living in it for a year and then renting it out afterward. YOUR E-MAIL ALERTS Mortgages Personal Debt Real Estate Loan Markets or Create your own Manage alerts | What is this? If the down payment rather than the rate is the stumbling block, ask the seller whether he's willing to self-finance the mortgage. With owner financing, the buyer signs a promissory note in which he agrees to make his mortgage payments directly to the seller. In exchange for forgoing a down payment, the seller typically gets a premium rate -- 8 to 10 percent, perhaps. Why would a seller take the additional risk implicit in skipping the down payment? "It's a lot faster to sell a house owner-financed than conventionally," says San Antonio landlord Rodriguez. (There are also brokers who buy owner-financed notes from sellers who want their money up front.) Click here to learn about interest-only mortgages and some of their advantages. Learn to take advantage of the many tax breaks. For tax purposes, what you make in rent is generally taxable as regular income. Real estate taxes and mortgage interest on an investment property are fully tax deductible though. Operating expenses such as utilities, insurance, repairs and condominium common charges are also deductible. So are rental fees paid to brokers, although they must be spread out over the life of the lease. Even better, the federal tax code entitles rental-property owners to a depreciation deduction even though housing prices usually go up, not down, over time. (There are, however, numerous conditions and catches, which is why it is essential to consult a tax adviser before you invest a cent.) Anticipate problems (they will be numerous). Reliable, prompt-paying tenants do up and leave suddenly. Minor leaks have a way of becoming expensive repair jobs. That's why it's smart to line up inspectors and contractors before you buy. And why it's important to establish rainy-day funds. Two or three months' rent is usually -- but not always -- sufficient. Just ask Marla Renee, a 55-year-old semiretired hairdresser who owns six rental properties in the Detroit area. Five years ago Renee bought a run-down duplex for $28,000. She figured the house needed $10,000 worth of work, but three months later the tally was nearly three times that. "The last tenant had turned on the water on purpose and flooded the whole place," she says. "The floor, ceiling and walls were all messed up." Finally, don't skimp on fees should you decide to hire a management company to tend to your rental property. The typical fee is 5 to 10 percent of rental income. Experienced landlords say it's not worth it to be cheap: Property managers often work harder to fill vacancies and to maximize rent when they are better compensated. Put potential tenants under the microscope. Picking tenants may ultimately be the most important real estate decision you make. This is where listening to the voices of experience really pays off -- although you should be discreet about how you apply their lessons. Elderly people are better tenants than college kids, as everyone knows, but in many states, landlords acting on that type of common sense judgment would be running afoul of fair-housing laws. Michelle Bizik, 35, of Lake Ariel, Pa. owns two small apartment buildings with her husband Goran, 30. For the most part, they've had lots of success finding good tenants. They require potential renters to provide Social Security numbers, ostensibly for criminal and credit background checks (which are a good idea), but Bizik says it's more about renters proving to her that they have nothing to hide. She also checks references with employers and prior landlords. If prospects pass those tests, she and her husband always meet them in person. "I need to get a vibe off of them," she explains. These are all good ideas for screening tenants. Here are a couple more. When checking references, don't stop with the most recent landlord. Contact the second or third most recent as well. "The current landlord may just want him out of the property," says Ellis San Jose, a 39-year-old real estate investor from Los Angeles. Also, consider making an unannounced visit to the prospect's current residence. Marcia Glantz, a Coldwell Banker broker for 27 years in Yorktown, N.Y., says, "Explain that your house is important to you, and that you want to get a sense for how they live." Saying no can be tough when a vacancy is burning a hole in your wallet. Stay strong. The one time Michelle Bizik caved proved to be a big mistake. "We were both against him," she recalls, "but the apartment was empty and he was a friend of another tenant." Soon after the guy moved in, his pregnant girlfriend, five cats and two friends did too. And he was late with the rent. "All the tenants were complaining," Bizik says. "The hall smelled like cat urine. The music was so loud, tenants were calling me at 11 o'clock at night." The Biziks offered to pay him to leave. He declined, so they had to go through the aggravation and expense of having him evicted. Think about investing in REITs instead. If you want to buy into real estate but don't want to deal with all the headaches that can come with managing it, you may want to consider a real estate investment trust (REIT). These are publicly traded building-management companies that pass the bulk of their earnings on to shareholders in the form of hefty dividends. That makes them a great choice for retirees and other income-hungry investors. One catch is that REIT dividends are taxed at higher rates than regular corporate dividends. REITs offer several advantages over buying properties on your own. First, there are economies of scale: On a per-square-foot basis, REIT maintenance costs are much lower than those of most individual landlords. The management expenses of a typical REIT are only 0.5 percent of total assets under management, says Russell Platt, manager of the Dividend Capital Realty Income fund. Another plus is diversification, since REITs typically invest in many markets and sometimes different types of property -- residential, commercial and retail. And finally, there's liquidity: You can sell a REIT whenever you want, and your brokerage commission will be a drop in the bucket compared with the 6 percent charged by most real estate brokers. A conservative REIT bet would be Equity Residential Properties ( Research ), run by Chicago mogul Sam Zell. Equity Residential is the nation's largest landlord, which makes it something like an index fund for apartment buildings. Earnings have taken a hit lately owing to, among other things, the Florida hurricanes. But occupancy rates have been ticking up, and Equity Residential still offers a juicy 5.1 percent dividend yield. A more aggressive play is Archstone-Smith Trust ( Research ), an apartment building owner with a big presence in suburban Washington, D.C. and other East Coast markets. Archstone-Smith also has a dividend yield of 5.1 percent. The company has profits from condo conversions, and high occupancy rates, which put it in a good position to raise rents. And that's a very nice position for any landlord to be in. --* Disclaimer Try an issue of MONEY magazine - FREE! More on REAL ESTATE • How to buy and build on rural land • Most overvalued housing markets • When booms go bust... TODAY'S TOP STORIES • Most overvalued housing markets • Risks to the economy in 2006 • Which was the worst ad of all in 2005? CNN Money contact us | subscribe to Money magazine advertising -- | site map | glossary | RSS | press room OTHER NEWS: CNN | SI | Fortune | Business 2.0 | Time © 2005 Cable News Network LP, LLLP. A Time Warner Company ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 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B2B Real Estate Investment Opportunities in the Yahoo! Directory Search: the Web | the Directory | this category B2B > Real Estate Investment Opportunities Email this page Suggest a Site Advanced Search Directory > Business and Economy > Business to Business > Business Opportunities > Investment Opportunities > Real Estate CATEGORIES Real Estate Investment Trusts@ SPONSOR LISTINGS ( What's this? ) Creative Real Estate Investing - offering teaching and training in various techniques, including foreclosure, no money down, rent to own, lease option, fixer uppers, hard money loans, and more. SITE LISTINGS By Popularity | Alphabetical ( What's This? ) Sites 1 - 40 of 76 Real Estate Promo - lists local investment clubs and provides education, training, mortgage calculators, and a weekly real estate investing newsletter. Top-Invest - real estate in Germany and Citrus County, Florida, plus investment opportunitues. Offers in English and German. Creative Real Estate OnLine - "how-to" resource for anyone who wants to make money in real estate. Articles, money-making ideas and much, much more. U.S. Land Company, The - offers real estate investing resources including free leads, articles, bookstore, investing clubs, and more. Real Estate Investing Depot - directory of real estate investing resources. RealEstateCourseReviews.com - read and write reviews of the most popular real estate investing courses. Also offers products, articles, and links related to real estate investment. Access Investment Property - find real estate property for sale throughout the world. REIClub.com - provides real estate investing resources such as how-to articles, discussion forums, newsletters, online chats, books, clubs, and more. RealEstateInvesting.com - offers information, books and courses on real estate investing with no-down-payment, lease options, flipping houses, and more. Carleton Sheets - offers products, software, newsletter, audio programs, videos, and more about their real estate investment program. Lease 2 Purchase .com - offers tips and strategies for creative real estate investing. Real Estate Investment Forum - features an investment guide and field reference manual for investing in apartments, houses, and commercial buildings. Pierre & Vacances Conseil Immobilier - designs, builds, and manages holiday homes and apartments throughout Europe. Wiltshire Properties - offers news, reviews, and how to articles. Home Business Solutions - offering information on lease purchasing and homebased businesses. Aaron's Investments - offering tax defaulted land, lien certificates, and foreclosed property deeds. Cash Flow Institute LLC - presents fresh investment plans for real estate investing including foreclosures. Resultsnow.com - offers free real estate investor tips, a book, a newsletter, and information on creating monthly streams of income to generate greater wealth. Fast Home Offers - offers leads for real estate investors with mortgage calculators, a glossary, and homeowner information. Tax Lien Certificates Network - for investors who buy, sell, and trade tax lien certificates. Flipping Homes - offers articles and an active newsgroup on no money down, foreclosure, rehab, fixer upper, and other forms of real estate investing. Creative Real Estate Investing [SPONSOR] - offering teaching and training in various techniques, including foreclosure, no money down, rent to own, lease option, fixer uppers, hard money loans, and more. Note Investors Group - offers programs focused on real estate investment strategy and the discounted cash flow business. B&B Online: Inns for Sale - U.S. bed & breakfast and country inns for sale. Aminoff & Co. - real estate investment opportunities. Invest In Belize - Assisting investors in the purchase, development, and management of Belize real estate and business opportunities. Exodus Island Ventures - specializes in Dominican Republic real estate investment opportunities, Caribbean luxury villa and condo development projects, and property management services. 4 Tax Lien Certificates - tax lien certificate sales and tax deed sale directories and property listings. Fuller Apartment Homes, LLC - An $8,000,000 offering of Limited Liability Company Shares to construct a 138-unit apartment home telecommunity in Bakersfield, California. Available to California Residents only. BnBForSale - features bed and breakfasts for sale. Kilimani Development Holdings - manages investments in small to medium sized residential, retail, and commercial properties in South Africa. Lennox Group, The - specializes in tax lien certificate investments, offering security through collateralized loans secured as legal liens over asset-based property. Operation Enterprise - for commercial and industrial businesses seeking competitive advantages through affordable and strategic site locations. Eastern Consolidated Properties - a commercial real estate brokerage company and commercial real estate investment banking firm. Investment Property Guide - offers advice on investment property in Spain, Dubai, France, Portugal, Thailand, Cyprus, and the United States. Nosy B Resort Hotels Construction Project - features construction plans and information about Andilana, Palm Beach, and Nosy Iranja resort hotels off the north coast of Madagascar. Seaquest Ventures Real Estate, BizOps & Telecommunications Abode Federal Foreclosed Homes - provides reports on homes for sale through bank and government institutions. Euroasian Equities Limited - international mortgage banking, equity capital, and project financing. Ted Thomas Tax Lien Certificates - offers a audio interview and a wealth conference tele-seminar. 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real estate loan fraud

Inman Real Estate News - Loss from real estate loan fraud soars to $1 billion FBI launches mortgage fraud-fighting initiative Loss+from+real+estate+loan+fraud+soars+to+%241+billion FBI+launches+mortgage+fraud-fighting+initiative %3ca+href%3d'http%3a%2f%2fwww.inman.com'+target%3d'_blank'%3eInman+News%3c%2fa%3e 2005-12-16T00%3a00%3a00.0000000-08%3a00 49246 HOME | NEWS | JOIN | PRODUCTS | CONFERENCES | ADVERTISE | ADVICE | ABOUT US | CONTACT US | SUBMIT A TIP Member Resources Members Home Search Inman News Content Warehouse Cartoon Database Weekly Newsletter Special Reports Audio Files Inman Blog Feedback Connect Registration Audio Conference LETTERS TO THE EDITOR There's no denying real estate bubble Re: ' Worst-case scenario for housing next year ' (Dec. 28) Dear Editor: I have been a real estate investor since I was 19. I am now 54. To deny a real estate bubble is to ignore the obvious market fundamentals. Obviously, there are different factors in different markets, but as a longtime investor/Realtor/broker there is no logical argument against real estate prices declining 10 percent to 30 percent in the "hot markets." The South Florida condo market will be a blood bath. The median income cannot buy the median house in most markets; interest rates will continue creeping up; speculators have driven prices to insane levels and when the going gets rough they will walk from a lot of residential properties. Most "hot" areas are becoming alarmingly overbuilt with residential inventories rising; lenders have ticking time bombs in their ARMs, negative equity and interest-only mortgages. Do your homework. Be wary of those whose opinions are tainted by the fact that they or their company have a stake in this insane market continuing. Michael H. Mosieur Mosieur Business Brokers Re: ' America closes doors to architectural expression ' (Dec. 26) Dear Editor: This is one of the most insightful articles I've read in a long time. We might add, "And what are we doing to our children as we worship at the altar of the mundane?" Years ago I read that about 1,000 children were tested for creativity just prior to entering kindergarten. Eighty-five percent of the children tested "creative." Twelve years later the same group was tested, and only 35 percent of the students tested "creative." What happened to the children along the scholastic way, and does the country even care? Where's the outcry? Isn't the creativity of our generations one of our most precious resources? It's been said that we're only one generation away from losing our freedom. Could it be that with escalating offshore competition in view, and stultifying U.S. scholastic models utilized, that the above advisory could also apply to our economic freedom? A. Bruce Belfield III Associate real estate broker Hurricane, W.V. FREE website content! Make Inman.com your homepage Get the Inman News Toolbar Link to Inman News Consumer News Commercial News Real Estate Articles from Inman News Already a Member? Log in below to view full story: User ID: Password: Lost Password? Loss from real estate loan fraud soars to $1 billion FBI launches mortgage fraud-fighting initiative Friday, December 16, 2005 Inman News To read this article, become a Member of Inman News now! JOIN NOW TO BECOME AN INMAN MEMBER 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed Group discounts available First Name: Last Name: E-mail: User Name: Call 1.800.775.4662 x128 8am - 5pm Pacific Time to order by phone or to get a discount group membership for your company or colleagues. View News Article Sample Hear Sample View Newsletter Sample Connect Info View Audio Conference Schedule Back Top © 2005 Inman News Home | Privacy | Editorial | Legal | Site Map

Investment Property

Investment Property Databank IPD Home About IPD Portfolio Analysis Services Events Indices and Market Information Indices for Derivatives Online Services -- Download Index Download 2004 full series (pdf) IPD South Africa Information Valuation Guide 2004 Publication Samples Multi Country Index Spreadsheet IPD South Africa Index IPD is now in its tenth year of reporting on the South African market. The project was co-ordinated by SAPIX (The South African Property Information Exchange), which was created in 1997 to develop with IPD an authoritative databank on property investment performance in South Africa. IPD South Africa, a wholly independent subsidiary of IPD, was established at the beginning of 2003 to provide property data to the local market. Total returns - % per year All Property Retail Office Industrial 2000 11.1 10.3 12.7 7.0 2001 10.5 13.2 7.8 7.5 2002 9.6 11.0 5.0 8.8 2003 15.3 17.3 8.9 17.7 2004 23.4 26.1 16.7 24.4 annualised over: 3 yrs 15.9 18.0 10.1 16.8 5 yrs 13.8 15.4 10.1 12.9 10 yrs 13.4 16.0 9.9 12.2 South African commercial property delivered the highest return seen in the last ten years. Total returns for South African commercial property accelerated to 23.4% in 2004, up from 15.3% in 2003, breaking the previous record of 17.4% set in 1997. In the process property as an asset class outperformed most others with the exception of equities, which did slightly better, year on year. The return on bonds came a distant third at 14.1% in 2004, compared to property’s 23.4% and 25% for equities. Commenting on the results, Simon Fairchild, IPD UK Director, says that this was another fantastic year for commercial property in South Africa and on a risk adjusted basis direct property is certainly holding its own against the other asset classes. Fairchild further believes that the continued upswing in the South African economy is also being felt in the property sector, which is now starting to deliver results. Over the ten year period property performance has ranked between that of bonds and equities, although the position of these asset classes has been reversed. Bond returns annualised at 18.3% per year, are comfortably ahead of those on property and equities, at 13.4% and 10.6% per year respectively. This performance hierarchy has also been maintained over five years, although property and bonds are tied for first over the three year period ending 2004. Putting it into context, the South African results are the seventh set of results of sixteen to be published by IPD in 2005. Comparatively the South African results are extremely positive both in nominal and real terms. The UK achieved a total return of 18.3% and Canada a total return of 12.9%. At the other end of the scale, Finland achieved a total return of 5.6%. Similarly, in 2003, South African direct commercial property outperformed all other countries measured by IPD. For more information please contact: IPD: Richard Wetherell - tel +44 (0)20 7643 9266 IPD South Africa: Stan Garrun - tel +27 (0)11 883 4977 Total return 2004 - % End 2004 net income yield - % 1 St. John's Lane London EC1M 4BL Tel: +44 (0)20 7336 9200 Fax: +44 (0)20 7336 9399 Privacy Policy | © 2005 IPD Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Home | About IPD | Portfolio Analysis Service | Events | Indices and Market Information | Indices for Derivatives | OPD Designed by Webrepro