Real Estate Industry News

If you have ever found yourself struggling to pay the mortgage or know someone who has, the question of "What would actually happen if I just stopped paying my mortgage?" probably has come across your mind. While walking away from a mortgage should be avoided at all costs, there are a growing number of homeowners and investors who are doing just that. Some out of simple frustration, others out of a...

Courtesy of the friendly neighborhood tax collecting organization we all love (you love the IRS right?), comes the top ten most important issues for any home seller to consider. While most of these probably won't apply to a majority of you, they fairly helpful nonetheless. via Inman...

If you are a real estate investor in the State of Missouri who rehabs homes for resale, read carefully.  As of November 1, 2010, if you will be performing any significant renovation work on a property for the purpose of resale, you will need to file an official notice in recognition of this fact. Specifically, you must file a Notice of Intended Sale and have it officially recorded in your local...

In this market of tight budgets and shrinking profit margins, minimizing your expenses when selling a property is essential.  Upon closing a real estate sale, any unsheltered capital gains will be subject to significant taxation, which can take a bite out of your profits. One way for a real estate investor to avoid this problem is to utilize a 1031 tax deferred exchange. If used properly, this method is...

When determining whether or not a property is worth purchasing, one of the traditional reference points is the cap rate. For real estate, a cap rate is the ratio between the yearly net operating income of a building to the cost of that building. The higher that number is, the better the deal. When determining your net operating income, you'll need to tally all the income from rents and other sources over...

So you're on board with the idea that investing in real estate is profitable and think you have the right personality to be an investor? Great! Now comes the hard part: Paying for it. This is THE issue that makes or breaks your ability to be an investor. There are opportunities around every corner, but if you don't have access to money, your investing days are over before they begin. Unless you are going...

For the last two weeks I have been in a pretty upbeat mood. I had finally got my rehab project at 3969 Humphrey under contract and a smooth closing looked to be all but a sure thing. Now, the contract has fallen through and the property is back on the market (a steal at $127,750 if you are looking for a house ;-) ) . So what happened? The appraisal came in last night. It came in at $101,000! For my...

The grass is always greener, right? When you hear so many stories about people making a killing on real estate, it can be hard not to feel a little envious.  There is no doubt that real estate can be very profitable,  just don't fool yourself into to thinking that it is easy money. It isn't.  When it comes to real estate investing, it takes a lot of work to be successful, and not everybody is cut out...

Real estate investing can be a lucrative and rewarding enterprise. It can also be a frustrating and profitless exercise. You could write a 1,000 instructional book on all the dos and don'ts of investing, but perhaps the first and most important question to as is simply "Why?" "Why should I invest in real estate and not put my money in savings or stocks?" The most important benefits of real estate...

I'm certainly no stranger to visiting shady buildings. I have been going into vacant houses all over the area for years. Mostly by myself. I understand the risk and accept it. But that doesn't mean that property owners and their real estate agents don't have some level of responsiblity in making sure the property is safe....

Since your house isn't your biggest investment and you are using this mentality as a springboard to get out of the endless cycle of dumping your money into the bank's coffers, there is one big question looming in your mind: "What do you do with this new found money you have saved?" The short answer... invest it....

So if your house isn't your "biggest investment," what is a person to? You have to live somewhere. That's an important question, but there is no easy answer. If the solution had to be narrowed down to one thing it would be "responsible money management."...

In the world of real estate you often here people touting that a person's home is their single biggest investment. If you subscribe to this idea, perhaps it's time a dose of reality....

Other than which building to buy, the most important question to ask yourself when investing in real estate is "How am I going to pay for this?" If you're loaded with cash and have a ton of equity built up in your house and other investments, this is a pretty easy question to answer. But for most of us, things aren't quite so simple....

*NOTE - This article was originally written in September of 2006 for the newsletter. All investors realize sooner or later that their credit score can have a major impact on what type of financing can be acquired when purchasing new properties. It happens all too frequently: the perfect property has been identified, an offer has been made, but the financing terms aren’t agreeable because the credit...