BiggerPockets Daily

Let’s face it. It would be tough to become a local expert in every market where you are interested in buying an investment property. It takes a great deal of time and effort to become an expert in your own neighborhood. You need to build relationships with contractors and real estate agents and learn about zoning, permitting, city ordinances, development rules, and short-term rental regulations– this is all in addition to constantly staying up to date on what homes are selling for in your neighborhoods.It’s time well spent on your business. And investors looking to expand and grow their fix-and-flip or buy-and-hold rental business eventually realize that building a team becomes crucial for sustainable growth. And sanity, of course. Hiring a CPA, real estate attorney, and virtual assistant are pretty straightforward additions to help you organize and operate your business.   But there are seven crucial relationships you need to develop to truly become a local market expert. How they can help you, however, might not be obvious. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I recently asked an agent what they were doing for lead generation. Zillow was one of their sources. Here’s how the conversation went with one prospect.Agent: “Hello, this is Luke Skywalker (names have been changed to protect the innocent). How can I help you?”Lead: [weird, heavy breathing] “Hi, this is Darth. I had a question about 123 Tattoine St.”Agent: “Great, I know that property well! What would you like to know?”Lead: “Is that wallpaper in the dining room green or gray?”Agent: [facepalm]Not all leads are created equal, but this is often par for the course when it comes to online real estate leads. In this article, I’d like to put forth to you that not only are investors (and investor leads) easier to deal with, but they are also considerably more valuable. Plus, I’ll give you some tips to finding more investors to work with. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Strong demographics have fueled the U.S. demand for housing over the last several years. As millennials, now the largest generation alive in the country, hit their peak home-buying age, demand for home purchases and rental units has surged. This demographic strength has been one of the several variables that have pushed up home prices since prior to the pre-pandemic period. But demographics isn’t everything when it comes to demand—economics matters too. And with persistently high inflation, and a great deal of economic uncertainty, there is the risk that demand for housing could slow in the coming years. What happens to demand over the coming years will have big implications for real estate investors.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It was bound to happen, and it finally did. Last month, according to a new report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR), real estate prices finally went negative, “The median existing-home prices for all housing types in February was $363,000, a decline of 0.2% from February 2022 ($363,700), as prices climbed in the Midwest and South yet waned in the Northeast and West. This ends a streak of 131 consecutive months of year-over-year increases, the longest on record.”All good things, right? Though at first, this might sound odd. I myself wrote back in September last year that prices had finally started to decline. But those were month-over-month prices. In normal times, even when the market is flat, prices tend to increase in the summer months and decrease in the winter months.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When it comes to investing in real estate, you may be tempted to stay close to home, and this is understandable. You’re more likely to understand the market and feel more comfortable being nearby while looking for tenants or collecting rent. It may seem daunting, but several real estate investors find it lucrative to seek out markets in other cities or states in order to secure more affordable investment properties. Now, there are several options available to you when it comes to the management of real estate investments: managing yourself, hiring a property manager, or hiring a property management company. Regardless of what you choose, chances are in our tech-driven world that some type of software will be employed to conduct business operations. Setting up software or tech to manage your properties ensures that when it’s time to place a tenant in your rental and deal with finding tenants and collecting rent, you’re able to present yourself as a capable and professional landlord—even from miles away. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The annual percentage rate (APR) and interest rate are two critical metrics affecting the cost of borrowing money. Although both figures are related, knowing the difference between interest rates and APR is vital when comparing mortgage offers. For example, learning how APR is calculated could save you thousands of dollars on your home loan. APR versus interest rate gets confusing because some people use the terms interchangeably. Also, some mortgage lenders prominently display their loan interest rates — usually because the interest rates are lower than the annual percentage rate. So typically, you must hunt for the APR in the small print of loan terms. What’s the deal with calculating interest rates and APRs? How can you decipher these figures to determine the actual cost of your mortgage? What is a good APR for loans when comparing mortgage rates? This article helps you know how to compare lender fees to get the best deal on your mortgage.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Biden’s proposed Budget for the Fiscal Year 2024 seeks to promote expanded access and improved affordability in healthcare and education while cutting taxes for low-income families and shrinking the deficit, but the proposed funding comes from increasing taxes on wealthy families and eliminating an important tax break for real estate investors, which Republicans will likely reject outright. Depending on your politics, you might have different views on taxation. But most Americans agree there’s an issue with the distribution of wealth in the United States, and 84% of those think the government should raise taxes on the wealthy to solve the problem, according to Pew. Disparities have widened over the past three decades—the wealthiest one percent of families now hold 34% of the nation’s wealth, up from 25% in 1989. Families in the 20th to 40th percentile of wealth distribution have seen their net worth decline 39% since 2007, while families in the top 20% have watched their net worth grow 13%.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A low-income home loan could be your answer to homeownership if you have below-average earnings. Unfortunately, insufficient income is why banks and lenders reject conventional mortgage applications. However, several home loan programs have great financing options to make purchasing a home possible for low-income families. Let’s face it—buying a home is tough at the best of times. Even with a sufficient down payment, a mortgage lender will refuse a home loan application if they think you cannot afford the monthly mortgage payments. In addition, if you are a first-time homebuyer, qualifying for a home loan can seem impossible due to the large deposit. If these scenarios affect you, what options are available to afford to buy a home?Popular low-income home loan programs include USDA, FHA, VA, Home Possible, and HomeReady. These programs have options like zero to three and a half percent down payments, less stringent minimum income requirements, or lower credit score thresholds. Therefore, a low-income home loan may suit you, depending on your situation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Any tax person will tell you that you should save a receipt for every business-related purchase, no matter how small. Even so, many landlords are not keeping a paper trail of what’s often their most significant form of monthly income: rent. A rent receipt is a simple document that shows that your tenant is paying rent. In this article, we’ll walk you through why you need a rent receipt, how to fill one out, and how to accept rent payments online. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Commercial real estate is facing stress from several directions. The primary stress is rising interest rates, which are putting upward pressure on cap rates (which pushes down asset values), making refinancing costs increasingly difficult and expensive to come by. But there is another risk arising, specifically to the multifamily niche of commercial real estate: oversupply. Recent data suggests that there may be a short-term glut of multifamily units hitting the market at an inopportune time.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices