When you buy a home, you want to know your monthly housing costs will remain stable throughout the duration of your mortgage terms. This is an especially important concern if you are on a relatively tight budget.

When buying a home, you should always go for a fixed rate mortgage. This will enable you to retain the same monthly payment until you have completely paid for your home. Since the terms of most mortgages last for 30 years, you will receive mortgage stability for many years.

Even if you wind up with an adjustable rate mortgage, your rate will remain within a certain range for the duration of the mortgage life. Since interest rates have become less volatile over the years, this range won’t vary a whole lot.

Stop for a moment to consider what homes rent for now as opposed to five, even ten years ago. Rent typically goes up ever few years and many apartment complex managers and home landlords strive to meet market rates. If you rent an apartment or a home, you can count on the rent going up on a regular basis. This definitely makes for an unstable housing payment where leasing is concerned because the decision is always up to the landlord and the amount you pay monthly can vary largely from the time you move in to the time you move out.

When you pay rent, you are also not going to see a return on your investment. This is important when you consider the difference between renting for 30 years and paying off a 30 year mortgage. When you rent a home, it never belongs to you unless you have a lease to buy option. When you buy a home, it is completely yours at the end of the 30 years.

Think of your new home as not only an investment, but also a savings account of sorts. As you pay on your home, a part of that money goes toward the principle. Though this isn’t much at first, it will most definitely add up over time.

Your home will also appreciate over time. This is part of what makes it one of the best financial investments you can ever have in your lifetime. While the rate at which it will appreciate will vary from year to year, the average is approximately five percent. Depending on upkeep and various other circumstances that may occur along the way, some years may actually show depreciation, but as a whole, it will increase in value over time. This makes owning a home unique, as the value of most items decreases as time goes by.

Buying a home is a big decision, but one man6y people decide to make because of the many perks that come with ownership. While you will be locked into a regular monthly payment for the duration of your mortgage, usually 30 years as stated above, you can rest easier knowing your payments will remain relatively stable. This will go a long way toward helping you feel good about your investment.  

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Recession and expansion influence all types of business. Each helps determine the products you buy, how much, and even whether you purchase anything at all. All aspects of business are affected and real estate is certainly no exception.

There are many factors that go into determining the best time to buy a home. Obviously, you want to buy during what is known as a “buyer’s market”. This is when lower offers are most likely to be accepted. Though this may not come around often, it is something to consider when you first begin your search.

When the economy, people generally feel confident about their money situations. During these times, purchases are made without much deliberation because many aren’t concerned about losing their jobs and going into extreme debt. On the flipside, when the economy is down, the opposite is true. People usually don’t make purchases and are very careful about how money is spent.

If the economy is up and you are looking to sell a home, you will stand a good chance of coming out on top. You will be able to ask the price you want because you know someone out there will probably be willing to at least come close to paying it.

When the economy is suffering setbacks, people are less likely to make a huge investment, thus entering into a debt they may or may not be able to pay off. They may, however, be in the market for a home. When this occurs, the seller may wind up having to accept an offer that is much less than the actual asking price would otherwise be just to make the sale. The buyer wins here all around because the final price for the home won’t be as high and neither will the monthly payments.

While it isn’t always necessary to sell a home during an economic downturn, there are many reasons why some people may find themselves needing to sell. Perhaps the family is growing and more room is needed to accommodate the situation. Maybe one or more family members have experienced a job change and it has become necessary to change locations. Others are unable to continue making mortgage payments either due to job layoffs or high bills that have become unaffordable. Whatever the reason, it is sometimes necessary to sell at home at a lower price just to get rid of the debt.

The buyer can benefit greatly from purchasing a home in a “buyer’s market” for several reasons. The obvious is the lower cost and lower monthly payments. A fixed mortgage rate will enable the buyer to continue enjoying those lower monthly payments even when the economy begins to incline once more. The buyer may also be able to get more square footage and premium property for a lower price. This would be a great choice for families who are looking for a larger home, but can’t really afford the higher cost.

Before you buy a home, consider the current state of the economy. Weigh all your options carefully. Talk to realtors about the market and make your decisions based on the information you gather.  

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One way that a short sale is a good thing is that everybody involved wins. If you are the homeowner and you sell your home for less than you owe, then you are able to get out from under a mortgage that you cannot pay. The person who buys your home will be able to buy it at a lower price than they would have otherwise. The lender does not want to be in the real estate business and does not want to have to deal with a property. By allowing you to do a short sale, the lender is able to get at least a little money. If the lender does not allow a short sale then the lender will have to take care of the property and run the risk of never getting any of the money owed, so it is easy to see how a short sale is a winning situation for everyone.

Another reason you might want to do a short sale is because short sales do less damage to your credit than a foreclosure does. Both foreclosures and short sales are negative marks on your credit report. The difference is that a foreclosure does a lot more damage to your credit and it stays on your report for seven to ten years. A short sale on the other hand will only remain on your credit report for around three years. Your score does not drop as low with a short sale as it will with a foreclosure because you do not have to wait to miss payments before you do a short sale. If you can prove you are having difficulties you can avoid the 80 or more points that will be deducted for late payments and that will always come with foreclosures.

A short sale is not for every homeowner and not all lenders will approve one. Short sales get especially tricky if there are other lenders involved in some way. A real estate agent should be able to help you negotiate with the lenders so that you can get a short sale approved if you need it. Keep in mind that it can take longer to sell your home with a short sale than going the traditional route because the lender has to approve the price you sell the selling price.

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Many real estate investors own rental properties at one time or another. Many times, it is a conscious decision to go out and buy real estate with the purpose of renting it out. If this is what you have in mind, consider all the different types of rental properties before you make that purchase.

Single Family Detached Homes

Pro: It is usually easiest to obtain financing for an individual house, especially if you are a new investor. This makes it easier for you to start small and increase your real estate holdings a little at a time.

Pro: Each home is individual. Since there are no shared walls, the possibility of one tenant’s noise and activities disrupting the other tenant is minimal.

Pro: There is usually less cost in fixing up a single family dwelling to rent than a multi-family dwelling.

Con: The difference in mortgage payment compared to a multi-family unit is relatively small, but the profits will usually be lower.

Con: It would be harder to manage several single units that are spread out than it would be to manage a single building in one location. In fact, you might even need more than one building manager, depending on how far apart the houses are.

Duplexes

Pro: The cost for a duplex is about the same as the cost for a house of the same quality and size, but you can get roughly twice the rent.

Pro: The chances of having both sides empty at the same time are slim, so that you have fewer worries about security. You will also have fewer problems with cold-weather related plumbing incidents.

Con: Finding two people that are compatible to occupy the two sides of the duplex may be difficult. Since they are the only two people or families living in the building, it is best if they get along.

Con: Parking can be difficult because there are usually more cars for the number of people in a duplex as opposed to a single family home. Yet it is not big enough to have a parking lot.

Apartments

Pro: The more units, the less likely they will all be vacant at once. Even more than with duplexes, this contributes to greater security and helps with plumbing concerns.

Pro: You can provide more security features, including a locked entrance and security cameras. This will benefit the tenants, but it also helps you keep your property safe.

Con: A problem with one unit can create problems for all units. For instance, a plumbing problem in one unit may cause plumbing problems throughout the building.

Con: Pest control can be difficult. When one apartment is treated, the bugs may flee to another apartment. Then, when that apartment is treated, they move on to another or back to the first. It is hard to get rid of pests once they appear.

Choosing rental properties to invest in can be difficult, but it can also be exciting. Learn all you can about the rental properties you want to invest in, and think about whether they offer the best advantages. Then, you can start looking at properties seriously and making profitable deals.

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A REIT, or Real Estate Investment Trust, is made up of a group of individual and sometimes small investors. These people pool their resources in order to purchase properties together that these investors would not be able to buy alone. Often, REITs put their money into apartment complexes, commercial buildings, and shopping centers. REITs are not all alike, however. Choosing the one that is best for you might take some study and research.

Types of REITs

The three main types of REITs are the Equity REIT, the Mortgage REIT, and the Private REIT. Equity REITS are called by that name because that is what they are all about. Rather than purchasing land to resell, the Equity REITs buy income-producing properties such as office space or apartments with the intention of holding it, running it, and watching it grow in equity.

The Mortgage REIT also has a nearly self-explanatory name. An MREIT gets its income from the interest gained from property financed. Most of the property is usually residential.

Private REITs are owned by individual groups. They are subject to less regulation, and you have to decide whether this is an advantage to you or a disadvantage.

Real Estate Stocks

Most REITs are publicly traded, with the exception of private REITs. Equity REITs stock dividends are determined by the occupancy income the properties generate, as well as realized equity after sales. Mortgage REITs stock dividends are tied to the interest rates. Since these two types of REITs are publicly traded, it is simple to buy the number of shares you want, and sell them whenever you please.

Expense Ratios

Expense Ratios refer to the administration costs of the REIT. They are expressed as a percentage. You may want the lowest expense ratio possible. Yet, there may be circumstances in which you will settle for a significantly higher ratio.

Active vs. Passive Management

Actively managed REIT funds are constantly being researched and reevaluated. Sales and purchases are made as deemed appropriate throughout the year. A passively managed REIT will be managed according to an index and will not see much change throughout the year. The expense ratios vary the most when comparing REITs with active or passive management. Actively managed REITs require more work, so there is a need for higher administration costs. Passively managed REITs do not need as much attention, so the costs of running them are less.

Redemption Fees

Before you purchase a REIT share, take the time to find out whether there will be a redemption fee. Learn what the penalty would be if you sold the share early on, and how soon the REIT managers consider “early.”

When choosing a REIT, it pays to evaluate not only the type of REIT you are buying into, but also the nature of the individual trust you are considering. REITs provide a great way to make money and a hedge against inflation. By making the right choice, you can see even greater gains for your circumstances.

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Whether you are buying a home for yourself or you are investing in real estate on a grand scale, it is important to know about easements. Many people have heard about easements in real estate, but few really understand them. The subject can actually be very technical and involve a ot of legalese. However, it is not hard to get the basic idea.

Q: What is an easement?

A: An easement is, in simple terms, a right that is given to someone to be able to use property that does not belong to them.

Q: Do I sign a contract for an easement?

A: for many easements, there is actually a contract negotiated. This is often done when the property changes hands. It can also be done when someone develops a need to use your property.

Q: What are some easements that most people give up without realizing it?

A: Any utility usually has the right to an easement on any real property so that gas lines, sewer lines, electric lines, cable and other utility equipment can be installed and maintained.

Q: What is an easement by necessity?

A: This is an easement that occurs when there is no getting around the fact that the other person needs to use your land. One example is when someone’s property is completely surrounded by other properties and he needs to get to and from his property by going through another person’s property. In such cases, a road or path might be granted as an easement.

Q: What is a prescriptive easement?

A: Beware of the possibility of prescriptive easements being created. The way this happens is that someone uses your property without your permission on a regular basis, over a long period of time. If you do nothing about it, that person can be granted a prescriptive easement on the basis that he has already been using the land for a long time.

Q: Q: If I give someone an easement, does that mean they can do anything they want with my land?

A: No, it does not. An easement is given for an exact purpose. It might be given for hunting on land or for driving through the land to go to another property. Also, they cannot do anything that would significantly detract from the value of your property.

Q: Can the property owner still use the land?

A: Yes, but with limitations. For instance, the property owner cannot build something permanent on that piece of real estate.

Q: How do I know if there are easements on the land I want to buy?

A: The truth is that you might not find out about all of them immediately. However, established easements are often listed in the property deed or other documents you receive during the purchase of the real estate.

Q: How long do easements last?

A: Easements are generally said to last forever, unless a document expressly states otherwise.

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If you’ve recently decided to put your home on the market, the next step is deciding which repairs should be done in order to help it sell faster.  Many of these improvements are things that you may have put off doing, but now that your home is listed they need to get done.  Some of these improvements may be as simple as throwing some paint on the walls, while others may be more expensive and time consuming. 

By making some of the harder and more expensive repairs or improvements to your home may seem like a big headache, it may end up boosting the value of your home.  For instance, if your air conditioning system isn’t working properly buyers will want to take some money off of the price; but if you replace the faulty unit with a new one you will be able to state that in your listing and the value of your home will increase.

Improvements and repairs go a long way in attracting potential buyers.  After all, wouldn’t you rather look at a home that boasts new cabinets and countertops as opposed to a listing that says some work needed.  By making these repairs now, you will be able to increase the asking price of your home as well as attract more traffic to your home.  The more you do now, the better your chances of selling later. 

Being able to list your home as move-in ready will increase its appeal to a wider group of potential buyers.  Most buyers want a home that requires little or no work to be done on their part; they want a home that will allow them to simply unload their belongings and be done.  The simpler it is on the buyer, the easier it will be on you to sell your home. 

Homes that are in the best physical condition tend to be moved to the top of many realtors’ lists.  This will help insure that your home is viewed by as many potential buyers as possible and may even result in a bidding war where you come out the winner.  Even if you are not bombarded with offers, you can rest assured that your home will sell, and in most cases will sell quickly.

In the case that a repair is too big or too expensive for you to accomplish before it is listed; you should disclose the problem to your agent so that they can pass the information along to anyone who is interested in your home.  While this may result in the price not being as high as you would have liked, you will be able to sleep knowing that a potential buyer is not walking into the situation blindly.  In this case honesty is the best policy.

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It is important to plan for your retirement. Most people need more than social security and a small pension to live on when they retire. This is why so many people retire from their jobs and then wind up working in some fast food restaurant. If you don’t want to wind up like that, you will need to make sure that you have a retirement plan.

Part of your retirement plan can and should include real estate investments, and now is a great time to get into them. With interest rates ultra low, but the economy still supporting fairly high rental rates, now is a great time to invest in real estate for the purpose of becoming a landlord. You can easily charge up to twice your mortgage payment for rent if you buy real estate now with low interest rates. The average mortgage payment on a $100,000 home on a thirty year mortgage is under $500 per month. A three bedroom  home in the suburbs can be found for around that price, and can be rented for an average of $700-800 per month, depending on location. That gives you $300 per month additional income that you can use to save toward your retirement.

In addition, the real estate investment continues working for you long after you make it. Even after you retire, that property will be making you that $300 per month income as long as you own the property and keep tenants. This means that you have added $300 a month to your retirement income, in addition to whatever you are able to save from the rental before you retire.

Now, consider what this would mean for your retirement plan if you were to get more than one real estate investment. What if you had two rental properties running at the same time? This would give you up to $600 a month or more in additional income. Make it three properties, and you have enough income to pay your own home’s mortgage as well as your utilities. This frees up your other retirement income and your savings for doing the things you always dreamed you could do in your retirement.

All in all, it is easy to see why real estate investments and becoming a land lord are so appealing, especially now while interest rates are at an all time low. If you have more than fifteen years before retirement, you might consider getting a fifteen year mortgage instead. You’ll have less profit after making the mortgage payment now, but the house will be paid off and rent will be pure profit when you retire. This is just one way you can turn the tables on real estate investments and take full advantage of the low interest rates going on right now.

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When you are looking for your next real estate deal, you need to find a way to get real estate listings first, before any other investor does. The most common ways people get real estate listings are via the Internet and newspaper. If you are looking for a way to get deals quickly, the Internet is your best bet.

Even though the newspaper is still widely used, it is also very time consuming. You have to read through lots of listings to find properties that may be worthwhile to bid on. Then you have to contact the seller or broker to get all the information on the property. By the time you have done this, another investor (who found out about the property online) may have already put the property under contract. Now let’s look at how the Internet compares to the process of looking at newspapers for real estate listings.

Internet real estate listings are usually update more frequently than newspaper listings. If you are looking at a decent site, you get new listings daily or even weekly. The reason this happens is because the person running the website does not have to wait for a newspaper to get printed. It is a lot easier to update a website than it is to print out a whole new newspaper when you get a new listing. If you use the newspaper only, you may miss out on deals. Deals may appear online a full two or three days prior to a newspaper. This is just enough time to cause you to miss out on a property.

You can even save time when you use the Internet to find real estate. You can filter by state, zip code, type of property, and price. Therefore you don’t have to flip through pages and pages of properties that you aren’t interested in. There are some sites that will even allow you to track your progress with certain properties. Some sites even allow you to email the seller directly via the site. Some listings even have photos and video walk throughs of the property.

The Internet is a tool you absolutely must add to your arsenal of real estate investing tools. You can find out so much more about real estate investments when you use the Internet than you ever could just by looking at newspapers.  You can even join networks that put you directly in contact with motivated sellers and investor friendly lenders. That’s something else you can’t do with a newspaper. I am not saying that you should completely abandon the newspaper as a source of finding deals. There are some people that are afraid of technology and only use old fashioned methods to sell their properties. You certainly don’t want to miss out on those properties. Just keep an open mind about what YOU decide to use to find properties and you will not miss a deal because you were behind the times.

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Selling your home is one of the most important decisions a homeowner can make.  And now that you’ve made that decision, you want to attract prospective buyers to your home.  There are some simple things you can do to enhance the areas that many buyers tend to focus on. 

First of all, you will want to focus on your front yard.  It is the first thing that buyers see when they arrive at your house, and first impressions are important.  Having a plush manicured lawn can automatically entice a buyer to choose your home over others.  Before you have showing scheduled you should take the time to mow your lawn and freshen up any mulch in the flower beds that doesn’t look as pretty as it used to.  These are small things, but it will show buyers that you took great care of the yard and that it mattered, it wasn’t just an afterthought.

You should also trim any low or overgrown shrubs that may bump into buyers as they assess your property.  This attention to detail goes a long way in improving the attractiveness of your home.  Check to make sure that there aren’t any hoses or yard tools lying on the ground, this makes the yard look unkempt and can be dangerous is a buyer should happen to trip or step on a rake.

The next area that you should focus on is the kitchen.  Buyers love kitchens and having a clean and tidy looking kitchen can go a long way in changing the mind of a buyer.  Prior to a showing, clear the counters and table of any debris that may have been left on them throughout the day.  Presenting clear and shiny surfaces are important to the buyer, this will allow them to see how the counters look and it will let any tile work that has been done stand out.  If you have pets and you keep their bowls in the kitchen, you may want to move them until the showing is over.  This way they will not be in the way and there is less chance of tripping or knocking them over. 

If you display your children’s art work on the refrigerator you may want to temporarily relocate it.  Having too much stuff on the refrigerator makes the kitchen look cluttered.  You should also inspect the fridge for any food that may be beyond its use date, this will reduce the chance of an unpleasant odor arising if a buyer should happen to open the fridge.

Next you will want to focus on the bathroom, next to the kitchen, the bathroom is the second most important room that buyers look at.  When preparing this room for showings you should make sure that there are no clothes or towels lying on the floor.  Having a clean and shiny bathroom floor can say a lot to prospective buyers.  Your shower doors or curtains should also be kept clean, no prospective buyer wants to be exposed to soap scum on their tour.  You will also want to clear the sink and counters of any cosmetics or hair styling tools, this presents a less cluttered space and makes the room look bigger.  The cleaner and nicer your bathroom looks, the better of an impression it will have on a buyer.

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