Posts

How to Become a Real Estate Investor

/in , , /by

Image from Pixabay

Special from Stratton Equities

While, technically, anyone can become a real estate investor these days, what does it really take to become a real success and what are the steps to get there?

Image from Pixabay

Before you get started, there are a few things to keep in mind that will help you determine what kind of real estate investment you want to be a part of. The first of which is figuring out what kind of real estate strategy you want to be a part of. The spectrum of which ranges between being an active investor and a passive investor.

An active investor will typically involve themselves in fix and flip strategies, wholesaling properties to investors, finding and managing a rental property themselves, or working as a licenced real estate agent in their area in order to build commissions for other future investments. An active investor is likely working non-stop, on multiple projects at once, and is always in need of funding.

ADVERTISING

On the other hand, a passive investor can engage with real estate investing through buying shares of a property portfolio, partnering with other investors, or just generally investing in other real estate investments schemes.

The choice between being an active or passive investor is really up to the individual and how much they want to be part of the day-to-day operations and rewards of a property. Aside from some monetary constraints or a license to become a real estate agent, there are no barriers to entry to become a real estate investor as anyone can participate, they must first figure out what kind of investment strategy they wish to become a part of first.

Image from Pixabay

Once you have committed to and figured out an investment strategy, you can then move on to learning up about the properties itself. This next step will require a lot of research information as your end goal is to become a realistic competitive expert in the real estate market.

Some of the key subjects to know are what kinds of properties are there and which ones to focus on, and what is the property’s situation in terms of structural support, renovation, location, community, real estate laws and taxes.

ADVERTISING

It is important to note that many properties are very different from each other. For example, what might the investment differences be between a multi-family rental property in rural New York compared to urban New York? Or how about a single-family property? Or a commercial property? Or the difference between the exact same property in the mountains compared to the beach? The point is you must be able to distinguish between all the different categories of real estate on top of all the different legal, geographical, and cultural factors that may arise in order to become an adequate expert in your field.

To start off, you might want to focus your skills and knowledge on a particular specialized segment of real estate investment to give yourself a potentially unique advantage.

Overall, unlike many other career paths, earning a degree is not required to become a real estate investor; but if you want to become successful at it, you will have to teach yourself and it will take a lot of time and patience.

Image from Pixabay

Once you have mastered the realm of real estate in relation to your investment strategy, you can move on to mastering the market itself. The market is not too difficult to observe itself as it simply is determined by the nature of buying and selling property. However, the difficulty arises in figuring out the right properties and the right prices.

As you probably understand, the market is not perfect. There are some properties that are overvalued and some that are undervalued. Hence the practice of real estate investment. However, understanding the market will require one to observe these properties for what they are actually worth and determine whether the process of fixing-and-flipping, or whatever investment strategy you are using, is actually worth it. And that itself is the challenge as you not only have to take into account the property itself, you also have to account for the market as a whole and where you think it is heading, which may not always be the case.

Image from Pixabay

After you have mastered the real estate market, you can move on to acquire financing, again, depending on your investment strategy of choice. Here is where your research can finally start to gain you ground in implementing your project.

As one begins to enter the industry, it will be more challenging to find other investors or people who will give you loans as you have not built the relationships yet or had the experience to prove your success. But you have done enough research to register a plan to showcase to investors to get them hooked on your idea.

It is important to know that most investment projects require a lot of capital on your end so you will want to get as much cash on hand as possible. That is where other investors and private money lenders can come in as they can give you enough money to fund your project so that you can live out your real estate investment dream.

Just make sure your strategy is sound and well-presented when trying to acquire more funds. Over time, this process will get easier as you have a longer history, reputation, and credibility within the real estate investment world.

Image from Pixabay

Lastly, just before you go out and purchase your first property, you should read up on the local and state laws so that you are prepared for any legal situation that could stand in your way. No matter how experienced one is, there are always going to be challenges you did not foresee, but the better informed and knowledgeable one is about the property, investment strategy, and local customs and legalities, the better your chances are at overcoming the adversities present towards you.

Image from Pixabay

Okay! You should now know all that there is to get started as a real estate investor. That being said, these are summarized guidelines that merely point out the general steps it should take to get started and become a successful investor. There is a lot to learn and a lot to keep in mind when practicing real estate investing. Just know that more likely than not, it is probably not going to go the way you expect. It could be that managing a rental building is much more costly and demanding than you expect. But, don’t fear. The smarter the strategy, the better the plan, and the more aware you are of the real estate market, the better your chances of success are. Good luck!

If you’re looking for financing on your next real estate investment, Stratton Equities is the leader in Nationwide Direct Hard Money and NON-QM Lending in the real estate market. Reach out to a member of our team today by applying now at www.strattonequities.com

South Florida investments soar in popularity in Q3 of 2021

/in /by

Image from Pixabay

By Stephanie Mojica

South Florida is rapidly becoming one of the most-desired places in the United States for real estate investors, according to Redfin. In the last quarter of 2021, investors bought nearly $2.2 billion of real estate in Miami alone.

Four of the top 10 cities in the United States for real estate investments are in Florida and three are in the southern part of the country. The complete list, in numerical order, is:

1. Atlanta

2. Charlotte

3. Jacksonville

4. Las Vegas

5. Phoenix

6. Miami

7. Orlando

8. Tampa

9. Nashville

10. Fort Lauderdale

At the national level, about 18% more real estate properties were purchased as investments in 2021 compared to 2020.

Image from Pixabay

One of the advantages of investing in South Florida is “lucrative tax breaks,” Carolina Gerdts, executive vice president at RelatedISG Realty in Florida, said during an interview with Go Banking Rates.

“…cities such as Miami and Fort Lauderdale are being transformed into house-flipping hotspots where everyone is trying to grab their own piece of paradise through the existing inventory,” Gerdts added. “Given the current prices of existing inventory, those who are willing to put in the extra effort to remodel properties are more likely to snag deals and prime locations within South Florida’s hot real estate sphere.”

Image from Pixabay

While the Sun Belt in general has become more popular due to lower prices than the West Coast and Northeast, cities such as Los Angeles, Anaheim, and New York are still popular, according to the report.

While practices such as buying low and selling high at a later date and flipping houses are still popular, some investors are purchasing higher end properties to rent, according to Redfin economist Sheharyar Bokhari. Part of this shift is the lack of new construction in recent years, a lack of low-priced housing in an increasingly competitive market, and rental housing shortages.

Image from Pixabay

Join us in South Florida, and network live and in person. This is our FIRST live event in Florida in two years. Network with amazing local and national leaders. 

Are you ready to Grow Your Real Estate Business, Portfolio and Network? JOIN US >>>> https://www.eventbrite.com/e/230614573397

Short-Term Rentals and DSCR Loans

/in , , , /by

Image from Pexels

By Rick Tobin

Over the past several years, most short-term and long-term rental property owners created the bulk of their wealth from the annual equity gains related to buying and holding their properties as values increased anywhere between 10% to 40% per year. In California alone back in 2021, it was reported that the average home statewide increased in value $11,000 per month or $132,000 for the entire year. If so, I doubt that many Airbnb or VRBO hosts collected more than $132,000 in gross or net rent profits.

Image from Pixabay

Did you know that San Diego, California was ranked as the #1 for having the highest gross revenues of any Airbnb region in the world in 2021? Please see the complete Top 10 list of the highest grossing rentals in the world later in this article.

Let’s look next at just some of the short-term rental listing companies which assist vacation rental property owners with the leasing of their properties:

  • Airbnb
  • VRBO (Vacation Rental By Owner)
  • Booking.com
  • TripAdvisor
  • Expedia
  • HomeToGo
  • Tripping
  • Homestay.com
  • Atraveo
  • OneFineStay

The prominent travel booking company named Expedia purchased VRBO back in December 2015. As a result, Expedia continues to be one of the most dominant short-term rental companies in the world.

As per published Airbnb data, here are the Top 10 states for average annual host or property owners earnings for 2021:

  1. Hawaii: $73,247
  2. Tennessee: $67,510
  3. Arizona: $60,448
  4. Colorado: $58,108
  5. California: $54,461
  6. Florida: $53,209
  7. South Carolina: $49,641
  8. Utah: $48,568
  9. Oregon: $42,964
  10. Alabama: $41,937

Image from Pixabay

If a rental property owner confides in you that he or she collected $50,000+ in gross income from Airbnb last year, this number may only represent a small percentage of their overall total revenue collected from both short-term and long-term tenants (30 days+) because they may have multiple income stream options by way of VRBO, Booking.com, or other companies that help supply them with consistent tenants. This is especially true when the property is located in a populous metropolitan region or a prime vacation getaway area like those found in San Diego, Santa Barbara, or Miami.

No Income Verification Loans for Rentals

Most real estate investors usually need third-party mortgage financing to purchase one or more rental properties even if they are very wealthy themselves. Many years ago, it was quite challenging to qualify for a rental property because you were asked to provide two years’ worth of tax returns, a detailed profit-and-loss statement, and the mortgage underwriters would only give you credit for 75% of your gross monthly rents when attempting to qualify or deny your loan request. This 75% number was due to the fact that lenders assumed that you had property management fees, vacancy rates above 0% throughout the year, and operating expenses for repairs.

As a result, that $2,000 gross rent turned into just $1,500 (75%) and many investors were later denied because few lenders wanted to lend on a rental property with negative monthly cash flow if the proposed monthly mortgage payment (principal, interest, property taxes, insurance, and homeowners association fees, if applicable) was $1,501 or higher.

Image from Pexels

Today, many investors are qualifying to purchase short-term and long-term rentals by way of non-QM or DSCR (Debt Service Coverage Ratio) programs which don’t require borrower applicants’ tax returns, W-2s, or other formal income documents to qualify. Now, some lending programs take the closest look at the subject property before determining if the rental property can at least break-even at a 1.0 DSCR number where 100% of the gross monthly rents are at least equal to the proposed mortgage payment. In these underwriting scenarios, 100% of the gross rents are used to qualify instead of just 75% like was more the norm in years past.

For a DSCR loan, it allows borrower applicants to use the market rent (actual or future, in some cases) of the property to qualify rather than the borrower’s business income. This is especially beneficial for self-employed business owners or investors who have a lot of tax write-offs and minimal net income shown on their tax returns.

Some of these DSCR program highlights include:

  • 640+ FICO
  • Up to 80% LTV
  • Available on investment properties only
  • Finance up to 20 properties
  • Loan amounts up to $2M per property

Some of my other lender programs allow negative cash-flow for rental properties up to 70% LTV for cash-out or purchase transactions while not requiring any additional income from the borrower applicant.

Airbnb Statistic

Image from Pexels

Because Airbnb is the biggest name in the short-term rental business sector, let’s review some of these shocking numbers that confirm how successful this investment property model has been for Airbnb corporate and for individual hosts or property owners.

Airbnb History

  • An average of six guests every single second check into an Airbnb listing.
  • Airbnb listings represent 19% of the total demand for lodging in the US.
  • Over 150 million people have booked over one billion nightly stays.
  • The average US Airbnb occupancy rate is 48%.
  • The average stay is 4.3 nights.

2021 Data

  • The global Average Daily Rate (ADR) was $137 per night in 2021 as compared to $110/night in 2020.
  • California properties had a much higher nightly average of $258 per night.
  • In December 2021, there were 12.7 million listings worldwide.
  • There were 2,249,434 listings in the US in 2021.
  • 356.9 million nights were booked on Airbnb in 2021.

Highest Gross Revenues Worldwide for Airbnb Properties

Image from Pixabay

Surprisingly, these populous metropolitan regions such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York City, Paris, London, or Hong Kong weren’t ranked #1 for being the most profitable Airbnb region in the world with the highest gross revenues. No, the honor for the most profitable Airbnb region in the world in 2021 was San Diego, California.

In 2020, seven of the Top 10 highest gross revenues for Airbnb properties were all in the US. One region that stands out is Big Bear, California, which is the best-known mountain resort community in Southern California. Listed below are the 2020 gross revenue numbers for the Top 10 regions in the world:

Compounding Wealth With Equity Gains

There are many individual or family investors across the nation who have acquired 5, 10, 15, or 20+ short-term rental properties. The bulk of their family’s net worth doesn’t usually come from the net annual rental income. No, the family’s net worth is compounding each year with double-digit appreciation rates like we’ve all seen for several years now.

To better understand how the acquisition of multiple rental properties is more likely to create the bulk of your net worth, let’s take a look at a fictional California property owner who saw each of his rental homes appreciate $11,000 per month or $132,000 for the entire year in 2021:

Investors can apply any excess net rental income each year to paying off their mortgage faster. With consistent annual rents, a 30-year mortgage or a shorter-term 5-year or 7-year interest-only mortgage with much lower monthly payments than the best 30-year fully amortizing rates can be paid off much faster as more principal is paid off with extra payments.

The sooner that your homes are free and clear, the earlier you can retire and live off of the monthly cash flow while not touching your equity gains. A fairly consistent plan of buying and holding short-term and/or long-term rental properties is a prime example of letting your money work hard for you instead of the other way around.

Rick Tobin

Rick Tobin has a diversified background in both the real estate and securities fields for the past 30+ years. He has held seven (7) different real estate and securities brokerage licenses to date, and is a graduate of the University of Southern California. Rick has an extensive background in the financing of residential and commercial properties around the U.S with debt, equity, and mezzanine money. His funding sources have included banks, life insurance companies, REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts), equity funds, and foreign money sources. You can visit Rick Tobin at RealLoans.com for more details.

Learn live and in real-time with Realty411. Be sure to register for our next virtual and in-person events. For all the details, please visit Realty411.com or our Eventbrite landing page, CLICK HERE.

Realty411’s Virtual Investing Summit

/in , /by

Join Realty411’s complimentary investing summit and learn from experts who are sharing important knowledge about real estate investing.

About this event

Register for Our NEW VIRTUAL Virtual Investing Summit on APRIL 23RD AND 24TH, 2022

Attention savvy real estate investors, it’s time for another educational and exciting Realty411 Virtual Investing Summit uniting readers for an amazing day of information and motivation.

This NEW 411 VIRTUAL event will begin at 9 AM PT until 1 PM PT, April 23rd and 24th.  Guests can join Realty411’s complimentary investing summit and learn from experts sharing important knowledge, strategies and insight.

Realty411 will virtually unite some of the most successful, knowledgeable and savvy investors in the REI (Real Estate Investing) industry to help our readers make educated and informed decisions.

Since 2007, Realty411 has produced real estate-investing events and expos throughout the nation.

Our mission to educate and empower individuals to invest in real estate. Our virtual events have united hundreds of new and sophisticated investors in real-time from 42 states so far — in total representing 356 cities across the United States.

Join us for an amazing day of real estate education. Every online event we produce is unique, be sure to reserve this day for REI learning at its best.

OUR COMPLIMENTARY VIRTUAL CONFERENCES HAVE REACHED THOUSANDS OF INVESTORS – THIS IS YOUR CHANCE TO LEARN EXPERT STRATEGIES ONLINE.

  • Learn from Leaders & Industry Pros
  • Chat with Local + Out-of-Area Investors
  • NON-Stop Tips for Real Estate Success
  • Learn with Long-Term leaders in the REI Industry
  • Receive the Latest REI Knowledge from Real Investors
  • Discover the Power of Leverage with OPM and Creative REI
  • Save money with Realty411VIP.com‘s Merchant Discounts
  • Gain Access to Realty411’s Private VIP Network for FREE
  • We Have Been Sharing Life-Changing Information for 15 Years

RSVP for this awesome event today!

Join from a PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone or Android device:

ZOOM URL LINK WILL BE SENT TO REGISTERED GUESTS.

Realty411’s Virtual Investing Summit – Day 1

Realty411’s Virtual Investing Summit – Day 2

A Primer on “Creative Financing”

/in /by

Image from Pixabay

By Bruce Kellogg

History

Modern awareness of “Creative Financing” began about 1980 with Robert G. Allen’s famous book, Nothing Down (Fig. 1). For the next five years or so, a flurry of books were published on related subjects (Fig. 2 and 3). I “grew up” in real estate during this period, and accumulated the library shown in Fig. 4 in addition to closing over 600 transactions using these techniques. In the process, I became known as a “leverage mechanic”. Now, I am preparing a comprehensive book titled, Leveraging Real Estate – Your Guide to Creative Financing. This article is a primer on the subject.

Fig.1

What is “Creative Financing”?

The original use of the term “Creative Financing” applied to anything that was not “CTNL”, “cash-to-new-loan”, when purchasing a property. Then it got narrowed down to financing that was “created” as part of the transaction, such as seller financing. Now, it has opened up to mean all techniques that display imagination on the part of the parties. I like this definition best!

Seller Financing

The most common form of “Creative Financing” today is still “Seller Financing”, or “Owner Carryback Financing”. The following Realty411 magazine articles thoroughly present this subject.

REI Wealth Monthly #49 “Seller Carryback Note Terms”

Real Estate Wealth Vol. 1, 2018 “Seller Financing 101”

Realty411 Vol. 6 No. 4  “Seller Finance 101”

Realty411 Vol. 7 No. 2  “Seller Carryback Note Terms”

Best of Realty411  “Seller Finance 101”

Fig.2

Managing “Creative Financing”

In the process of using “Creative Financing”, problems could arise in two areas, negative cash flow, and balloon payments. These are thoroughly covered as follows:

REI Wealth Monthly #44  “Dealing With Negative Cash Flow”

REI Wealth Monthly #50  “Dealing With Balloon Payments”

Creative Acquiring Properties

There are other applications of “Creative Financing” besides the use of notes. The following series of articles describe 24 ways, many of which are creative.

REI Wealth Monthly, issues 34, 35, and 37.  “24 Ways to Buy”

Additionally, there are creative ways of partnering described in

Realty411 Vol. 9 No. 2  “Partnering For Profits”

Finally, there are the subjects of Options and Lease-Options which are outside the scope of this article. There is plenty on the internet.

Fig.3

Accessing the Articles

Realty411 does not have magazine back issues nor copies of past articles available. So, to provide readers a meaningful learning experience, readers can order email copies from the author as follows.

“Seller Financing 101” and “Seller Carryback Note Terms” $12.00

“Dealing With Negative Cash Flow” and “Dealing With Balloon Payments” $12.00

“24 Ways to Buy” (3 articles) $12.00

“Partnering for Profits” $8.00

Checks should be mailed to:

Bruce Kellogg

430 N. Second St. #A

San Jose, CA 95112

Additional Resources

Fig.4

For readers who are interested in learning more about “Creative Financing” techniques, some Resources (books) are included as an attachment. A internet search will be necessary because they will need to be purchased used if they are available. Of course, current books on the subject should be searched, as well. Anyone who applies themself should be able to become well-versed in “Creative Financing.”

CLICK HERE TO VIEW RESOURCES

Bruce Kellogg

Bruce Kellogg has been a Realtor® and investor for 40 years. He has transacted about 800 properties in 12 California counties. These include 1-4 units, 5+ apartments, offices, mixed-use buildings, land, lots, mobile homes, cabins, and churches.

Mr. Kellogg is a contributor and copy editor for two national real estate wealth-building magazines: Realty411, and REI Wealth Magazine. He is a recipient of an Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award, listed in Who’s Who in America– 2019.

He is available for consulting with syndication, turnkey, joint-venture, and other property purchasers and note investors nationally, and other consulting assignments. Reach him at [email protected], or (408) 489-0131.

Learn live and in real-time with Realty411. Be sure to register for our next virtual and in-person events. For all the details, please visit Realty411.com or our Eventbrite landing page, CLICK HERE.

Realty411’s Virtual Investing Summit – Join Us

/in /by

Join Realty411’s complimentary investing summit and learn from experts who are sharing important knowledge about real estate investing.

Date and time

Sun, April 24, 2022

12:00 AM – 4:00 AM AWST

Location

Online event

About this event

Register for Our NEW VIRTUAL Virtual Investing Summit on APRIL 23RD AND 24TH, 2022

Attention savvy real estate investors, it’s time for another educational and exciting Realty411 Virtual Investing Summit uniting readers for an amazing day of information and motivation.

This NEW 411 VIRTUAL event will begin at 9 AM PT until 1 PM PT, April 23rd and 24th.  Guests can join Realty411’s complimentary investing summit and learn from experts sharing important knowledge, strategies and insight.

Realty411 will virtually unite some of the most successful, knowledgeable and savvy investors in the REI (Real Estate Investing) industry to help our readers make educated and informed decisions.

Since 2007, Realty411 has produced real estate-investing events and expos throughout the nation.

Our mission to educate and empower individuals to invest in real estate. Our virtual events have united hundreds of new and sophisticated investors in real-time from 42 states so far — in total representing 356 cities across the United States.

Join us for an amazing day of real estate education. Every online event we produce is unique, be sure to reserve this day for REI learning at its best.

OUR COMPLIMENTARY VIRTUAL CONFERENCES HAVE REACHED THOUSANDS OF INVESTORS – THIS IS YOUR CHANCE TO LEARN EXPERT STRATEGIES ONLINE.

  • Learn from Leaders & Industry Pros
  • Chat with Local + Out-of-Area Investors
  • NON-Stop Tips for Real Estate Success
  • Learn with Long-Term leaders in the REI Industry
  • Receive the Latest REI Knowledge from Real Investors
  • Discover the Power of Leverage with OPM and Creative REI
  • Save money with Realty411VIP.com‘s Merchant Discounts
  • Gain Access to Realty411’s Private VIP Network for FREE
  • We Have Been Sharing Life-Changing Information for 15 Years

RSVP for this awesome event today!

Join from a PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone or Android device:

ZOOM URL LINK WILL BE SENT TO REGISTERED GUESTS.

Realty411’s Investor Networking Breakfast & Conference

/in /by

Register for Realty411’s new IN-PERSON Investor’s Summit on March 26th, 2022.

When: March 26, 2022 @ 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
Where: Hilton Garden Inn Los Angeles Marina Del Rey
4200 Admiralty Way
Marina Del Rey
CA 90292
Cost: Free
Contact: Realty411.com 805.693.1497

Attention savvy real estate investors, it’s time for another educational and exciting Realty411in-person Investor’s Summit uniting investors and educators for an amazing day of information and motivation.

At this event we will be celebrating our new two magazines: Realty411 and REI Wealth. Our new magazines have over 200 pages of important resources. Join us as we start the day with a networking breakfast at 9 AM PT.

Our event will abide with social distancing guidelines and our breakfast will be held outdoors (weather permitting). This is the perfect place to connect with companies who care about your success as a real estate investor and/or top-producing broker/lender.

RSVP NOW – CLICK HERE!

Guests can join Realty411’s complimentary investing summit and learn from experts who have direct knowledge of real estate investing. Realty411 will unite some of the most successful, knowledgeable and savvy investors in the REI (Real Estate Investing) industry to help our readers make educated and informed decisions.

Since 2007, Realty411 has produced real estate-investing events and expos throughout the nation — now in 12 states across the United States. Our mission to educate and empower everyone to invest in real estate. Our virtual events have united as many as 500 sophisticated investors in real-time from 23 states — in total representing 266 cities across the United States. Join us for an amazing day of real estate education.

Every in-person event we produce is unique, be sure to reserve this day for REI learning at its best.

RSVP NOW – CLICK HERE!

OUR COMPLIMENTARY NATIONAL CONFERENCES HAVE REACHED THOUSANDS OF INVESTORS IN 12 STATES SO FAR – THIS IS YOUR CHANCE TO LEARN EXPERT STRATEGIES IN PERSON.

  • Learn from Leaders & Industry Pros Meet Local + Out-of-Area Investors
  • NON-Stop Tips for Real Estate Success
  • Bring Numerous Business Cards & Connect
  • Meet TOP Leaders in Real Estate Investing
  • Both Local & National Experts in Attendance
  • Meet Others with Common Goals and Mindsets
  • Learn with Long-Term leaders in the REI Industry
  • Receive the Latest REI Knowledge from Real Investors
  • Network with Other Professionals in the Real Estate Industry
  • Save money with Realty411VIP.com’s Merchant Discounts
  • We Have Been Sharing Life-Changing Information for 15 Years

United Country Real Estate Affiliates Raise $25,000 to Aid People of Ukraine

/in /by

Image from Pixabay

Live Auction Raises Total of $50,000 for Multiple Charities

United Country Real Estate affiliates raised more than $50,000 during a live auction at their annual Training and Awards Convention on March 11. The company is pledging $25,000 of that to aid the people of Ukraine while the rest will be donated to The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Marine Mammal Center and the Remember-A-Vet Wreath Project.

“United Country affiliates have made and continue to make huge differences in the communities they serve, across America and now across the globe. In the last 5 years alone, United Country affiliates have raised an amazing $35 million for charities and causes across the nation,” said Mike Duffy, president of United Country. “Last week, the unique items that were donated and auctioned furthered that effort and will importantly aid the people of Ukraine. I am proud of the leadership and generosity of our team and am in awe of their accomplishments.”

Among the unique items that were auctioned off were a Henry Rifle custom engraved with the UC Ranch Properties and Realtree United Country logos in a 24-karat gold inlay; a custom, beautiful “Ride the Wave” Charcuterie Board by Vierra Design Group; an original duck hunting American flag painting by Jackie Stocking; and a trip to the San Juan Islands in Washington. The items can be viewed on the United Country Real Estate Facebook and Instagram pages.

As the largest network of auction real estate professionals nationwide, United Country had professional auctioneers and ring men conduct the live auction. All proceeds from the sale went to charities selected by the donators. Each winning bid was then matched by United Country to aid efforts in the Ukraine.

“The United Country auctioneers assist with a tremendous number of charitable auctions each year,” said Jimmie Dean Coffey, auctioneer and director of business development for United Country. “Benefit and charity auctions have a long history in the world of auctioneering and with United Country auctioneers in local communities across the nation. I am very proud to see that our United Country affiliates have stepped up once again and raised more than $50,000 at our annual convention for some great non-profit organizations and causes.”

Learn more about United Country Real Estate at www.UnitedCountry.com or United Country Auction Services at www.UCAuctionServices.com.

Financial Freedom: Embracing Passive Income Investing

/in , , /by

Image from Pixabay

By Dr. Chandra Mishra

Financial freedom is crucial at any age. The genre of intelligent millenniums knows how to create variable income sources to gain financial freedom as soon as possible.

Passive income is the top contender for financial freedom which means no more worries about your ongoing bill payments or making rent. Once your basic needs are met you are left with enough to fulfill your desires; paying off debts, going on a long vacation, or indulging in luxurious recreation facilities.

Today we are clearing the dubious air about financial freedom as people have a misconception about investment fundamentals.

If you think working tirelessly and continuously is making you rich and financially free, you are mistaken. As being rich need not necessarily mean your financial freedom. Also you are losing time which you can’t buy.

Financial freedom comes when you build yourself multiple sources or streams of passive income that can pay for your expenses and leave you to live your life on your terms with minimal need to indulge in strenuous work.

Ways of Creating Passive Income

You are generating passive income when money keeps flowing in irrespective of your active working status.

Image from Pixabay

It may sound strange, but it does make a lot of sense as passive income can be made in two primary manners:-

1) Your Investment Works On Your Behalf

You invest strategically in projects that create monthly income with a fixed or standard rate of return.

The option here could be investing in instruments like bank and government bonds, corporate bonds, rental property income, multifamily/apartment investing that can quickly help you get out of the rat race.

2) Your Business Working On Your Behalf

Under this method of generating passive income, you indulge in a passive business income-making strategy. As a smart business person, you create a business that has the potential to run without your active participation. You hire and create processes to run the business. Following this strategy will offer continuous cash flow, whether you are parting hardship to your business venture or not.

Both investment and business work in synchronization for passive income generation for an entrepreneur.

Multifamily investing for busy professionals is one noticeable option that can create a consistent income without too many risk factors involved.

For busy professionals who cannot spare time consistently to keep track of their diversified investment portfolio, their entire investment portfolio can be constituted around multifamily real estate investments. It is a great foundation with very low volatility and opportunity to capitalize on passive income.

Why Multifamily Real Estate Investment Is A Sound Decision For Passive Income?

Image from Pixabay

Multifamily real estate can act as a catalyst for your investment career. And, this is not without the reasons:-

1) Easier Availability of Finance

If you think the enormous size of multifamily properties will call for difficulty in arranging finances, don’t let their size befool you. Multifamily properties are more accessible to finance than single-family homes. The price of multifamily properties is not the deterrent in fetching easy financing options. These properties are more likely to be approved by financial institutions like banks for a loan because these are more likely to generate cash flow month after month. This guarantees timely loan repayment.

2) A More Fabulous Kick Start

Acquisition of multifamily real estate is a better investment with low volatility which could be your fantastic end-games strategy too. You will retire with multiple streams of income. If you want to start small, A small multifamily property acquired, you can live in one of the units and pay down the mortgage you receive from the tenants residing in other units. Besides rent, you will earn appreciation on your investment capital.

3) Light Years Ahead Of Stock Market Return

Multifamily syndication returns have significantly gone down in the last two years. Yet you can lay hands on a 12-13% average annual return which is significantly higher than stock market returns.

Additionally, you are not even paying taxes (decreased taxes are the most extraordinary relief anytime) which means you are light years ahead of stock market returns.

4) Enjoy Cost Segregation Benefits

Image from Pixabay

Under the cost segregation, multifamily real estate investors enjoy reduced current tax liabilities which imply upfront cash flow. Without cost segregation, multifamily rentals are depreciated straight line for 27.5 years.

However, with cost segregation, the depreciation on specific real estate rentals’ components is faster (like in five, seven, or 15 years). The faster depreciation means you can save/make more money with depreciation and cost segregation applicable in multifamily investment projects.

Additionally, the government taxes income from multifamily investment properties at a passive income rate. This means no employment taxes.

Conclusion

Hope our little effort will help you embrace passive income investing for attaining financial freedom the soonest. Time is to start today, you can easily partner with someone or invest passively completely. What steps will you take in the coming weeks to create passive income?

For more information, contact your financial/legal advisor or financial counseling firm before investing.

Higher Chicago Foreclosure Activity Not A Problem

/in /by

Image from Pixabay

By Gary Lucido

I’m going to stay out on this limb that I crawled out on but apparently I’m not alone out there. According to ATTOM Data Solutions February Foreclosure Market Report the nation saw a 129% increase in foreclosure activity from a year ago. However, that percentage is kinda meaningless given that foreclosures were basically shut down last year. The graph below puts this dynamic in perspective for Chicago where there was a 328% increase over last year and a 29% increase over January. As you can see activity is probably no higher than it would have been had the pandemic never happened. As Rick Sharga, executive vice president at RealtyTrac which is owned by ATTOM, said:

This isn’t an indication of economic turmoil, or of weakness in the housing market; it’s simply the gradual return to normal levels of foreclosure activity after two years of artificially low numbers due to government and industry efforts to protect financially-impacted homeowners from defaulting.

In this foreclosure report both the Chicago metro area and Illinois got honorable mention for being among the top 5 metro areas and states respectively with high foreclosure rates. Of course, that’s because the rest of the country’s housing markets are so damn strong right now.

After a dramatic plunge following the pandemic foreclosure moratorium Chicago foreclosure activity has just now begun to resurge now that the moratorium has ended.[/caption] One of the reasons for our optimism is that delinquencies have dropped down to pre-pandemic lows as shown in this graph from Black Knight’s January Mortgage Monitor Report. That shouldn’t be much of a surprise given the strength of the job and housing market.

The nation’s mortgage delinquency rate continues to improve and seems to have recovered from the pandemic.

Chicago Shadow Inventory

The number of homes that are in the foreclosure process is holding pretty steady with only a 71 unit increase over last month. This pipeline of homes that might find themselves on the market sometime soon is ever so slowly trending up but it remains extremely low by historical standards.

The number of homes in foreclosure in Chicago declined with the moratorium during the pandemic and doesn’t seem to be rising since.

Gary Lucido is the President of Lucid Realty, the Chicago area’s full service real estate brokerage that offers home buyer rebates and discount commissions. If you want to keep up to date on the Chicago real estate market or get an insider’s view of the seamy underbelly of the real estate industry you can Subscribe to Getting Real by Email using the form below. Please be sure to verify your email address when you receive the verification notice.