Real Estate

The reluctance of many millennials to buy a home has been well-documented over the last few years, but that is changing. millennials now account for the largest share of loan volume — 42% in December of last year. Time is on your side. The tax benefits are significant too, due to the write-offs you may take for mortgage interest on loans up to $750,000, and on property taxes up to $10,000 annually. There is one caveat: A buyer needs to commit to owning a property for generally at least three years to allow for market appreciation to outweigh the closing costs of buying and selling. A place that needs some cosmetic work may be more affordable and give you the opportunity to add value with home improvements over time. These costs include insurance, property taxes and closing fees, and can add up to 5% of the home price. Location matters: Before making an offer on a home, make sure you also like the neighborhood. If you don’t like to drive, make sure you are close to good public transportation. It’s important to understand that where you live plays the largest role in determining the value of your home.

Great Starter Home-You Just Move In! No Work Needed! Price: $87,500 Renovation in Progress-House will be ready April 5th (2 Beds/1 Bath). Great starter home that only needs for you to move in....

Our affordable housing collaboration officially launched in Evansville, Indiana with Mayor Lloyd Winnecke and Evansville Promise Zone. We are thrilled to have such amazing coverage by 44News on how we are making an impact on families quality...

If you are available please join us on Monday, February 11th at 1:30 pm CST to announce our new affordable housing partnership. The Promise Zone has formed a partnership with TruVest...

Realtor.com® analyzed markets where at least 20 flipped homes sold for more than $1 million from January to October 2018. They defined flip as a home that sold twice for a profit within a year. The markets seeing some of the largest number of luxury housing flips are in California, particularly the Los Angeles, Long Beach, and Anaheim areas, with the percentage of luxury home flips increasing from 3.4 percent in 2017 to 4 percent in 2018. "It was one of the fastest-growing luxury markets last year overall, so it’s a function of sales being higher and growing at a healthy pace, which can result in flips growing at a healthy pace," Javier Vivas, director of economic research at realtor.com®, told Mansion Global. "The share of inventory above $1 million in Los Angeles is large, too, and above most other markets." International buyers are targeting the area for flips as well, says Santiago Arana, a broker with The Agency in Los Angeles. "Tech companies are moving in, there’s been a gigantic investment in the new football stadium, George Lucas is opening a new museum, and there is incredible growth and development downtown." Luxury home flipping in many markets could taper off though this year, too. Housing analysts point to changes in the U.S. tax code from last year that could make investors more reluctant to take on bigger purchases this year. “We’re already seeing a lot of that with price reductions and increases in the amount and types of price cuts happening above the $1 million mark.”

“The rumors of my death are greatly exaggerated.” The famous quote attributed to Mark Twain can apply to homeownership in the United States today. After the crash, that percentage continued to fall for the next ten years. That led to speculation that homeownership was no longer seen as a major component of the American Dream. That belief became so widespread that the term “renters’ society” began to be used by some to define American consumers. However, the latest report by the Census Bureau on homeownership shows that over the last two years, the percentage of homeowners has increased in each of the last eight quarters. Going forward… It appears the homeownership rate will continue to increase. The 2019 Aspiring Home Buyers Profile recently released by the National Association of Realtors revealed that 84% of non-owners want to own a home in the future. That percentage increased from 73% earlier last year. Bottom Line In the United States, the concept of homeownership as part of the American Dream is very much alive and well. Members: Sign in now to set up your Personalized Posts & start sharing today!

However, before you commit to a loan, you should research as much as you can about the loan program. Read it over to get a sense of whether or not this loan program is right for you. What is the Fannie Mae HomeStyle loan? The Fannie Mae HomeStyle loan is a conventional loan that is aimed at making renovations to an existing property easier for buyers. By combining these costs, you'll be able to save on interest payments and closing costs. How the loan works The HomeStyle loan is unique in that, rather than being based off the current value of the home like most other mortgages, it allows buyers to borrow against the "after repaired value" (ARV) of the home, which estimates what the home will be worth once all the renovations have been completed. The remainder of the funds is disbursed to the vendors once the work has been completed and inspected by a qualified professional. This loan does allow for the homeowners to take on a portion of the work by themselves. Pros and cons of the Fannie Mae HomeStyle loan Pros The renovation costs get bundled into your mortgage so you only have one monthly payment Cancelable mortgage insurance once you have more than 20% equity in the property You can use it on any type of property, including vacation homes and investment properties You can use the funds for any type of renovation, including those with luxury items Cons These mortgages can't be used to tear down and reconstruct a house, only to make renovations to an existing property Stricter qualifying standards in terms of credit score and debt-to-income ratio Borrowers must submit a construction plan for approval before their loan can close Due to the extra steps required with this loan, it often takes longer to close than a traditional mortgage The Fannie Mae HomeStyle loan vs. the FHA 203(k) loan Unlike the FHA 203(k) loan, the HomeStyle loan can be used to cover any type of renovation that you can dream up, including ones showcase "luxury" items like pools or hot tubs. In addition, the HomeStyle loan requires a down payment of at least 5%, whereas the 203(k) loan only requires a down payment of 3.5%.

When you purchase a rental property, it may come with tenants in place, and those tenants will suddenly become YOUR tenants. These tenants are known as “inherited tenants.” Inherited tenants can be beneficial, as you will not need to immediately spend time filling the vacant unit, and you’ll be receiving income from day one. However, inherited tenants can also be risky, as they were not put in place by you, and you don’t have a clear indication of how well they were screened or what type of tenant they are. For example, if you purchased a property and the existing tenant was three months into a one-year lease, you would be required to abide by the terms of their lease for the next nine months. Again, the leases go with the property. If the seller of the property will not let you speak with the tenants and get Estoppel Agreements, you might be dealing with a seller who is trying to hide something. In this letter we like to let the tenants know about some of the improvements that will be taking place at the property in the coming months. Related: What to Do as Soon as You Deny or Approve a Prospective Tenant Raising the Rent on Inherited Tenants Perhaps you purchase a property with existing tenants and you know that the rents are far too low. All the tenants were on month-to-month agreements, so we could raise the rent with just a 30-day notice. If we suddenly raised the rent on all the tenants, it’s likely many of the tenants would move, and we’d be left with a lot of units that needed to be rehabbed and very little income coming in to help with those expenses.

I think it’s great that these people are considering rental property, but most don’t know how to make the numbers work. For me, getting through the learning curve involved taking on board a number of lessons that I think are critical for people who want to use rental property as an investment vehicle for their future. Related: The Part-Time Investor’s Guide to Truly Passive Rental Income Lesson 1: A rental is a business. A large percentage of the time, when you look into market rents for your home, you’ll find that the rent you can expect to get cannot cover all of the expenses. Why do you even want a rental? This is how much gross income your rental could produce in a year once the mortgage is paid off. Then don’t forget that if you take this money as income, you will have to pay taxes on it. If you can’t do this, then you paid too much for the property and it will take years — sometimes decades — to make up for it. A rental is a property that is purchased at the right price. Would your house make a good rental?

Imagine if for every $10,000 you invested in your 401(k) $4,000 was lost to fees. Beyond that, your returns depend on the day, month, year, political climate, rumors on Twitter and Facebook and so on. If she had $500,000 in her retirement account, that would be a loss of $200,000 in retirement savings because of factors largely beyond her control. After you factor in fees, you could be netting as little as 5-7%. If you placed that same $70,000 and put it into a self-directed IRA or Solo 401(k), where you have more control and can direct your funds to be invested into a turnkey rental property, you could leverage those funds to purchase up to $280,000 in real estate. Even if you used all cash to purchase real estate for a total of $70,000, your return after 10 years would be approximately $219,000, nearly double what you would have in your mutual fund account — much better. Even better yet, with a self-directed IRA, you already have the ability to invest in real estate. Again, a 401(k) or IRA can be a great tool when it’s efficient. With real estate, you’re the owner of a tangible asset. Although traditional investments like a 401(k) and IRA can be great additions to your portfolio when used and monitored wisely, real estate investing offers a tastier, bigger piece of the American apple pie we all love.