Friday, April 30, 2010

Is The Worst of Florida's Real Estate Crash Over?

Florida real estate experts believe the worst of the downturn is over. That's according to a quarterly survey by the University of Florida's Bergstrom Center for Real Estate Studies. The center asked appraisers, commercial real estate brokers, bankers, investors and others to take stock of the state's real estate market. Their verdict: Commercial and residential property have hit bottom.

This said, we need to be realistic in our real estate investment decisions. I do not expect an immediate bounce back in the Florida market. This state is battling record-high unemployment and tight credit that continue to hinder any recovery. This coupled with weak economy in the state, will keep increase in housing price down for a while.

The positive notes for the real estate market are:

1. Apartments. As former homeowners lose their homes to foreclosure, they need to live somewhere.
2. Life insurers and real estate investment trusts are beginning to buy investment properties again. Those real estate investors had taken a hiatus, but they have cash to spend and don't need mortgages to buy commercial properties.

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Home prices post 1st annual increase in 3 years http://ow.ly/1EXHo

Saturday, April 17, 2010

3 Steps Towards Improving Your REI Business

Many are seeking for ways to improve their real estate investing business. Here I will share with you three simple steps towards improving your real estate investing business.

1.Do not over-commit. Many, specially beginners, are guilty of this of this common mistake. Consider your budget carefully. Allow time to relax and family.

2.Take action. The faster you act, the better position you will be in. Do not commit the sin of paralysis analysis. Do not over analyze but make a lot of plans.

3.Research. Take time to research about your lender and the market you are planning to invest. Locate those financial institutions that can finance your real estate investment business. Get the financial backing under control and become knowledgeable of your local real estate market.

Action a Key Element for Success

Action is a fundamental key to all success. Many times when I have time to read the posts in real estate investing websites, such as real-estate-investing.com and realestateinvestor.com, one of the common posts I see is about how to get their business going. How do I get started?

Many beginners suffer of fear which causes them paralysis. There are many reasons for this fear, fear of failure and fear of the unknown are a couple of them. One way to address this fear, as mentioned before, is to parter up with someone else who has the financial backing and/or experience to create a stronger team.

I am believer that uncertainty will always be part of our profession. There are no guarantees of the future and it does not matter how many courses you buy, there is always uncertainty. None of the course you buy can give you 100% guarantee. If what you are looking for is a 100% guarantee that you will invest and get 200% ROI in one year, then put your money in the stock market, oops no I mean put your money in a bank account, yikes!

Let me share something with you, real estate investing is a business of taking action. Nothing happens in real estate investing, actually in any business, without taking action. Right now, I am in Colombia a foreign country with foreign rules. The only way I have been able to succeed here by taking action. I must confess, not all my deals have been profitable. However, when I add up all of my deals the results are positive.

Real estate investing is not easy. However, if you take the proper steps to mitigate the risks associated with real estate investing you increase your chances of success. The most important step you can take towards your real estate investing success is to take action. Start small, consider bird-dogging for a while until you gain enough capital and experience. The bottom-line is to take action.

Friday, April 9, 2010

30-Year Home Loan Rates Increase

30 Year home loan rates increased last week to the highest level in eight months. The home loan rate increased from 5.08 to 5.21 percent this week. In December the rates dropped to record low of 4.71 percent due to a campaign by the Federal Reserve to reduce borrowing costs for consumers. This program ended last week.

Saturday, April 3, 2010

There is reason to be concerned about a Hong Kong real estate bubble

Concern over Hong Kong real-estate bubble are warranted. Recently there has been much speculation about the price bubble in the Hong Kong residential property market. Many have wanted to brush this away. However, Hong Kong Financial Secretary John Tsang recently announced significant measures that will be taken in order to mute the real estate trading activity. Some of the measures announced will include a higher levy on luxury properties, adjustments to the rate of land auctions and tighter scrutiny on bank lending.

According to a report issued by the University of Hong Kong’s Residential Real Estate Series (HKU-REIS) indicated that, in January, the price of residential properties continued to rise increasing 1.53% since December and 29.57% since January 2009. The HKU-REIS is a report based on similar methodology to the S&P/Case-Shiller indices yet suited to the Hong Kong property market.

If you had $200,000, How would you invest it in real estate?

If you had $200,000 to invest in real estate right now, how would you go about it? Share your thoughts and advice on how would you approach real estate investing in today's market.