advice for buying an investment property and renting it out?
831888
Make sure you research your rights and responsibilities. There should be a local government website that will cover your rights and responsibilities as a landlord. In Canada there is a Landlord and Tenant Advisory Board which is accessible thru the net, phone or fax and are available free of charge to both landlords and tenants for information as well as settling disputes. Read as much information as you can but nothing beats getting a good tenant. Do credit checks, if possible, on all tenants. Make sure you check their references. See how long they've been employed, how long they were at their last address, etc. Good luck!
152512
I think you got the wrong idea about renting, the type of answers in this section deal with renting real property, not personal property.  You may get better answers by posting in Other- Business & Finance or in the Small Business section.
409633
Go around to all the fisbo in your town and ask them if you could bring them a buyer that would net them the same, could you list their house. Call all the landlords that are advertising apartments for rent in the newspaper and ask them if they would be willing to cash in on all the hard work they have done on their property. Personal observation will be your number one source of leads.
305129
Don't listen to idiots who tell you to play with stocks. I don't believe in investing in common shares of anything. Use your money to buy land. \nWith decent credit and $20k liquid cash you are able to control around $200,000+- worth of property.. \n  \n       Buy large parcels of land and parcel it out. \nYou can usually at least double your money that way.\nMake sure you do some research and see that zoning will allow it,\n    If that doesn't work out you could always flip residential property.
288215
Well, first off you need to figure out how to get the capital so you can have cash on hand at all times to be able to buy properties when yu see them, rather than waiting on a mortgage to go through.  \n\nThe best way to start is a couple ways.  1.)  Find a money partner.  Someone that has the money on hand and make sure that his split is more than yours for the time being until you have your own money.  2.)  You could finance the first couple of homes.  I deal with a couple investors and this is how they have started.  I do these types of loans, so if you would like more information, feel free to contact me at timothy.kazee. com and we can talk about this more.  \n\nFinancing the proerties is going to be your best bet for right now.
164477
As you have realised, your portfolio is very heavy on property.\n\nOne of the fundamentals of investment risk management is to diversify. When you are diversified when one investment type experiences a decline another might go up. \n\nIf you are carrying no debt on your 2 properties you are actually in a good position but might need to move things around. Are all of your properties currently rented? What is happening to the income from that?\n\nYou may want to consider buying some shares as an additional investment. They will provide you with a semi regular income and can be sold very quickly and in small parcels, unlike property. \n\nYou'll obviously need some money to purchase shares. Would you consider selling one of the units in your complex for this purpose? Or taking a loan against the units? \n\nAnother investment category it sounds like you should be strongly thinking of is cash. You should have a "rainy day" account that could keep you going for at least a couple of months.\n\nI would suggest you talk with a financial planner. Shop around for a decent one and understand what services they offer and how they get paid e.g. are they going to just flog product from one place. \n\nSounds like selling the unit block and converting the proceeds to a smaller block or less units and shares and cash may be a good idea.\n\nI am not an expert and don't know anything about your situation so it's hard to comment
54011
Yes you can. In this instance I would suggest finding someone in your area who buys properties for rental purposes. See if they will talk to you about how they purchase propery. There are a few who constantly buy property with little out of pocket capital. There are also books by Robert Kyosocki, and Cources by Carleton Sheets that do work that can teach you how to do this. \n\nYou can even find small trailer park communities in your area. and purchase them for $1,000 to $6,000 clean them up and resell them at double the price and offer financing with 10% interestes for couples trying to find the first home. you can quickly flip several of these and creat a significent down payment for a home of your choice and just use a bit of "Sweat equity".
145285
I would go online or visit a large book store as they have a variety of books as to real estate investment, the reference to NOLO is also a great resource, especially for California Landlord type references.\n\nYou may wish to contact a real estate brokerage, that has knowledge of investment properties or contact a local commercial brokerage such as a CCIM and see if you could interview a broker that could open a few doors for you.\n\nYou are wise to explore this specialty in real estate.
207299
Lease the land if you want an immediate begin to profits. Otherwise, depending on the economic development of the area, it may be best to just keep the land cleared and wait. It's value may increase greatly and you can then sell. The best thing would be to talk to a real estate developer.
847555
If the deal is right and stacks-up it is ALWAYS the right time to buy property - foreclosure or otherwise.\n\nIf you are buying for investments:-\n\nDoes the rental potential in the area mean it will cover its own mortgage costs?\nAre you buying at LEAST 15% below market value?\nIs the area up and coming?\nIs the property in good general condition?\nWill it be easy to rent?\nCan you get an interest-only mortgage for a competative rate?\n\nIf you can tick all of your boxes, then it is hard to see when there could be a bad time to buy property.\n\nIf you buy AT LEAST 15% below market value (ideally 25%+) then even if house prices fell - you are still on a great deal with built-in equity.
489396
You need a business plan.  Investors and lenders will want to know how you intend to make money.  They will want to see all the details, from where you will be located, how much rent you will pay, how many employees you will have, how much will you pay them, how much will employee benefits and insurance cost, where will you get the raw materials for your widgets, how much will the raw materials cost, what are your projected sales, projected cost of goods sold, tax liabilities, interest expense, return on investement, marketing plan, etc.\n\nIf you can prepare a 5-year plan, working out all the details and showing that you know how you will make money and how much money based on projected sales, then people may have the confidence in you to invest.
870611
Spread your investment - interest rates just got boosted, to anything tied to the BOE base rate is going to rise in value, but the property market shows no sign of tailing off. However, 70k is not a great deal of money and there's no point in just getting a two bed terrace in the middle of nowhere just for the sake of it.\n\nKeep the money close at hand by investing in something which doesn't tie it up for too long. 1 - 3 year stepped rate savings bonds which allow you access to your money a set number of times per year are probably your best bet. Other than than, anything tied to the FTSE is going to have to rise faster than 9% per year in order to outperform fixed income products, so stick to managing a small portfolio if you want to rather than shoving the lot into shares.\n\nIf, after three years, you haven't spent a penny and you've got 77 - 80k, then you've done well.
794772
Investing in Real Estates is as simple as it is complicated.\n\nInvesting in Real Estates is in its simplest form, similar to investing in anything else... stocks, gold etc...\n\nThe idea is always in trying to buy now hoping that prices will increase sometime in the future while making sure your returns from renting out that property (similar to collecting dividends in shares) makes you a significant yield.\n\nNow, some characteristics of good value real estates that all real estate investors like myself look for are :\n\n- Located in a state or area that has good potential of future growth. (example are states or places that are slated for some big time government development)\n\n- Located in a preferable lot in that state or area. If it is a residential real estate, you will want to make sure it is a conducive area for living in and has convenient traffic in and out of. If it is a commercial real estate, you will want to make sure that it has a good human traffic and located in a central area.\n\n- Selling at a significantly cheap price versus market price. There will always be someone throwing away good properties in good areas below market price. Find these properties and you will at least hedge yourself against any unexpected downturn in property prices and be able to make a higher profit when you sell it in future.\n\n- Yielding a good rental. Yes, if the rental value is high, then you are likely to recover your initial capital faster. Reasonable yields that full time professionals like me look for are at least 8 to 10%. Calculate yield by taking the annual rental return and divide it by the value of the property. To find out how fast you can recover your initial outlay, you need to find out its Internal Rate of Return which is simply calculated by dividing the net annual rental return (monthly rental minus monthly mortgage installment)  by your initial outlay. That will tell you how many years it will take for this property to be free. As a bottom line, you will want to make sure that the monthly rental at least covers your monthly mortgage payment.\n\nIf a property fulfills all of the above criteria, you would have assured yourself of a good monthly return and an eventual good profit on selling the property in future.\n\nAnother rule of thumb is that investing in many small units usually makes a much higher yield than putting all your money in one big unit and it diversifies your risk better.\n\nFor more ways of investing in both properties and other instruments, please see some of the books that I have read at http://www.bestoptiontradingbooks.com \n\n\nHope these helps and good luck.\n\n\n\nhttp://www.mastersoequity.com\n\n\n\n.
526519
I have great success renting out my properties by visiting the nearest office buildings to my rental and putting up a sign in the employee breakroom that says "Live close to work!". I include a map of my place so they can estimate the distance and know the area. Of course, add pictures and give your contact info. While you're there, you should see if any of the companies are interested in corporate housing. \n\nThis works great cause you know the applicant has a job and people are willing to pay market (or even above) market value to spend time with their families or being able to walk/bike to work.\n\nRegards...
1065155
I would buy an investment property or two, then put the rest in some type of money market fund earning an average of 10% or more. The Rule of 72 states that any money invested @ 10% will double every 7 years.\n\nIf you used 100k of that 400k, on down payments on one or two investment properties to create you some month to month cash flow, and build long term equity. Then the other 300k in a fund, in seven years you'll have 600k, 14years 1.2mil, 21years 2.4mil; geez your retired good for you!!
43542
Of course, you need to understand how the numbers work and when it is better to invest long-term or short-term. BUT GENERALLY, purchasing a four-plex, living in one and renting the others is a good strategy. The really great things is that lenders usually consider this a “single family” loan rate as opposed to a commercial loan. Also, if the units have a rental history, you can count the rental income as part of your income to help you qualify for a larger loan. You can get an “owner occupied” rate on the loan, stay in the complex for year or two, then move to another one and just keep collecting four-plexes. If you keep this strategy up for many years, assuming your area is appreciating at even an average rate, you will be able to retire on passive income within15 years, perhaps sooner!\n\nThe bank counting the income from the other units toward your annual income, is reason enough to purchase existing units at this point in your investing program\n\nI wish you the best in all that you do.
850370
Check the newspapers and go to a local Real Estate agent. The best rentals are in their portfolios.