Are you looking to dive into real estate investments? When you play your cards right, you will reap many benefits from investing in the real estate market.
For beginners, becoming a real estate investor can be overwhelming. There is a lot to learn about the different real estate investments available.
You will need to learn and specialize in a few real estate investments to build a fortune. A smart investor can sift through every property type to see which one will profit.
So, which properties and real estate sectors are the best moves today?
Continue reading to learn the different types of real estate investments.
Buying and Holding: Short-Term Vacation Rentals
We have seen Airbnb and other vacation-rental-by-owner websites gaining popularity in recent years. Now, many landlords are trying their hand at the ever-growing hospitality industry.
Like all real estate investments, this one comes with pros and cons. Some markets will allow landlords to earn more profits, but with a lot of labor.
The rooms need cleaning after each guest’s stay. The owner must provide utilities, furniture, and decorations. But, landlords must do their math right before committing to furnish a unit and launch a micro-hospitality business.
Pay attention to the vacancy rates and get accurate numbers every month. Note that vocational rental markets are often seasonal. A property owner can outsource labor through a property management company.
Include property management fees along with expenses like vacancy rate and maintenance cost.
Buying and Holding: Long-Term-Leasing
Long-term leasing signifies the most common buying and holding real estate strategy. The strategy involves signing a lease agreement for your tenant who is planning to stay for at least one year.
You should expect a lot of costs and headaches during turnovers. So, the best thing to do is find great tenants and keep them for as long as possible.
You should also expect benefits from rental property tax deductions. All costs are deductible. From property management fees, insurance and property taxes, and mortgage interests.
The best realtor will also buy turnkey properties that are ready to rent. But you will need a turnkey rental guide to aid you in investing in this ever-changing housing market.
Nowadays, real estate investors have many financing options. You can choose to work with a conventional mortgage or portfolio lender. You can compare all the available investment property loan options.
Of course, never over-leverage because you can find yourself with a negative cash flow. One huge advantage of rental property investment is forecasting your average monthly cash flow. You can do so with a rental income calculator.
Flipping Houses
The housing bubble of the noughties brought about house flipping which is now a popular real estate investment. But it later went down after the bubble burst.
Over the last 7-8 years, flipping is becoming more popular due to the explosive housing growth after recovery. When done right, flipping houses will lead to predictable and fast returns.
But, when you do wrong, you can experience disastrous and expensive mistakes. Flippers run into trouble when overestimating after-repair value (ARV) and underestimating expenses.
Investors do not consider the surprise expenses along the way. Also, underestimating marketing costs and carrying costs can lead to potential big losses.
Are you interested in flipping a family home? Try to find good deals on the property and hire, manage, and negotiate with contractors. Note that you need to budget a buffer for a higher cost in renovation and a longer time to renovate.
Financing is not a challenge with this type of real estate investment. You can receive short-term fix–and–flip loans from many lenders.
Live-In Flips
Doing a live-in flip is another house hack that involves moving into a house, updating it over about two, and then selling it for a profit. You can make the repairs at your own pace.
If you plan to save some repair money, doing the repairs yourself will help. Another advantage is avoiding the short-term capital gains tax and all capital gain taxes.
After owning a property for over a year, you will pay a lower long-term capital gain rate on your profits. The downside is that you must live in s semi-permanent construction and renovation state.
Do you love home improvement projects? Are you also interested in real estate investment? Live-in flipping is the best and fun strategy to start your real estate career.
Wholesaling
When inexperienced investors first hear about real estate wholesaling, they think this sounds too good to be true. That is so because they don’t know how hard it is to find good properties deals.
But, the real estate investment type makes a great model. Here, you find a good property deal, put it under contract, and then sell the contract rights to a real estate investor.
As a wholesaler, you won’t take any title to the property you are selling. Do not worry about financing and property loans. You will also not be screening tenants or repairing property damage.
A wholesaler does not pay closing costs, and you will not experience property ownership headaches. But, there are two things to do with precision. They include:
- Finding excellent deals
- Building an investors network
An example of a wholesaling will look like this – you find a fixer-upper deal worth $150,000 and place it under contract for $130,000.
You then send many emails to your investor network and offer the property for $140,000, and then end up selling for $135,000. You will earn a spread of $5000 over your contract price.
That is not a bad business model.
Consider Learning About Real Estate Investments
New real estate investors often underestimate the wide range of options available in this market space. Several property investments will result in high-profit margins.
But, the best real estate investments depend on your short and long-term goals—also, your willingness to learn the dos and don’ts and risk tolerance.
Be careful not to bypass any available option when looking for a potential deal.
We hope you’ve enjoyed reading this article. If so, be sure to check out our other informative blog posts.
Main image by mastersenaiper
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