New Year, New Investment Opportunities and Strategies
New Year, New Investment Opportunities and Strategies
With the new year, comes new real estate investment opportunities and strategies to starting implementing and exploring. Now is a perfect time to re-evaluate your current investment situation and make positive changes that will affect your long term investment portfolio. Whether or not you got caught up in the mortgage meltdown, the foreclosure crisis, credit crunches of 2007-2008 or the Wall Street financial crisis, it’s a good time to make changes and seek new investment opportunities. Or if you are a new investor, it’s a great time to start investing.
Why Working With a Mentor or Coach is Beneficial
Before you make any investment decisions these days, it is important to educate yourself and learn as much as you can about how to make the best choices for your financial situation. I have found over the years that one of the best ways to do this is to work with an experienced mentor or coach.
Yes, it’s a buyer’s market right now and you might be wondering why do I need to work with a coach? One of the reasons is that if you don’t know the basics of real estate investment and what not to do, your mistakes can cost you for years down the road. I coach my students on a one to one basis so that they can learn my proven systems, obtain their financial goals and dreams and avoid making those costly mistakes.
2009 Real Estate Outlook
HousingPredictor.com, an online real estate research firm located in Destin, Florida predicts that housing prices nationwide will fall 12.5% in 2009, compared with an estimated 11.1% in 2008. This means more investment opportunities for real estate investors.
Now is a Good Time to Invest in the Florida Real Estate Market
Whether you are an experienced investor or a new investor, now is a good time to invest in Florida real estate. Areas such as Florida, California, Arizona and Nevada have already seen substantial home-price declines since 2007, as much as up to 30% in fact. The majority of the foreclosures were as a result of the sub-prime mortgage mess, which has created a record number of foreclosures and short sales. Also, the state of the economy and the high unemployment rate, have contributed to the foreclosure rate as well.
However, the current real estate market condition in Florida has created a climate for some of the best investment opportunities. Low interest rates, rock bottom prices, and a large source of inventory are all perfect real estate conditions for buyer/investors considering investing in Florida real estate.
Florida real estate markets such as Naples, Orlando and Tampa have seen some slowing down in declining prices, and many investors have already taken advantages of these at or near rock bottom prices. Miami prices are still continuing to fall. In fact, Florida was number one in foreclosures at the end of the third quarter 2008, with Nevada leading in second place.
Industry experts are predicting a new wave of foreclosures hitting this year, which could be triggered by the Alt-A and option adjustable rate mortgages given to borrowers with good credit starting to readjust.
Option ARMs allowed borrowers to make minimum payments that don’t even cover the accrued interest. The majority of these loans were made in Florida, California and Las Vegas. Real estate financial experts are expecting about 45% -50% of the option arm loans made in 2006 to default. The 2007 option ARMs, which were originated right at the time home prices started declining are also expected to perform badly.
It appears that foreclosures are going to continue to influence 2009 real estate prices and the market for awhile that is one of the reasons I relocated to Florida.
What You Need to Know About Today’s Investment Strategies
With the opportunity to purchase affordable real estate throughout the country, including luxury real estate, real estate investors have realized that now is the time to seize the moment and buy. Whether you are a new investor or a seasoned one, buying with a long term investment strategy in mind is a smart investment choice. However, there are some other strategies I want to discuss as well.
Many of my students are also having great success with the rent to own real estate investment strategy. With the rent to own program, my students purchase a discounted property using my Real Estate Junkie strategy. The property is then offered to a tenant for lease with an option to buy. My student gets a large upfront deposit which is nonrefundable if the tenant/buyer does not purchase the home. The tenant’s a small portion of the monthly rent is applied as a credit towards the purchase of the home.
Also, a number of my savvy students are following my advice and making their tenant/buyers responsible for the all maintenance due on the property after the first $100.00 of repairs each month. This strategy works well for you as the investor/owner because it reduces your property maintenance and upkeep costs. The tenant/buyer has more of a vested interest in the property because they are spending money to maintain the property. Since they are making a financial investment in the property, they are less likely to decide that they don’t want to buy the property.
With so much uncertainty in the job sector and the economy, you can no longer afford to rely on your job for your sole source of income. Now is the time to make changes that will have lasting long term affects on your financial independence.
This is Kimberlee Frank the Real Estate Junkie wishing you a Happy New Year. Please visit my website at www.RealEstateJunkie.com.
Leave a Comment