Real Estate blog

Archive for the ‘Real estate news’ Category

(more…)

In any market, but particularly a buyer’s market, the listing that looks the best, shows the best and feels the best will sell faster (that is given the listing is also priced properly!). The best staged home will sell faster when all other things are comparable (price, terms, location).

(more…)

There’s a multi-factorial equation brewing out there that is going to impact real estate investors.

More and more young people are getting into real estate investing.

I’ve often stated that one of the most important factors in your success as a real estate investor is your ability to select, screen, and retain quality tenants. This is something that I think I’m pretty good at, which has helped me as an investor.

I was going to write an article about this not to long ago when, bam, I ran into a problem: tenants who stopped paying.

The tenants were a flaky young couple that I knew I might be taking a chance back when they signed the lease in May. But I decided to rent to them and mitigated my risk by signing a short lease (six months, with renewal contingent on timely payment), charged them first and last month’s rent upfront, plus one month’s rent as deposit. I won’t go through the boring details, but they ended up breaking the lease and abandoning the property while they owed me money. If you find yourself in a situation like this one here are some points to keep in mind.

(more…)

Real estate investors looking for a realtor in Houston should check out Eurika Coleman, a real estate professional that I’ve been working with for the past few years.

Ok, so I’m in the middle of a 1031 tax deferred exchange, the result of a New Years resolution to cash out of a high-end townhouse that had generated some equity and reinvest into a property(ies) that generates better income.

Real estate books are a mixed batch. There are those that I recommend, such as Eldred and McLean’s excellent Investing in Real Estate, now in it’s fifth edition. On the other end of the spectrum is Robert Kiyosaki’s bestselling fable Rich Dad Poor Dad, a dangerous and misleading book if ever there was one.

(more…)

I’ve written that I’m not a big fan of the legislation currently making its way through congress that would require lenders to cut homeowners a break as they look into the chasm of foreclosure. While I’m not against the idea of giving consumers a helping hand – particularly when doing so shores up the economy – I am against the idea of trying to characterize such moves as free, tax-neutral bailouts funded which the banks will fund. These costs are always passed on to the consumer.

(more…)

Real estate investing is all about relationships and dealing with people. In this column I’ve written about the need for trust in order to build long term symbiotic relationships. I’ve also written about using contracts to build a solid legal safety net.

So…which is it? Back in the ‘60s a management theorist Douglas McGregor originally wrote about two theories about managing relationships: Theory X, which is a negative view that assumes that people are inherently lazy, dislike work, and need (want) to be controlled, and Theory Y which argues the opposite – that people are self-motivated and will choose to seek responsibility and do good work.

(more…)