Real Estate

September 30, 2009

Why Should You Buy Investment Real Estate In College Towns?

Filed under: Real Estate — Tags: , , — admin @ 11:11 pm

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Real Estate Advisor asked:


Now seems to be the best time to invest in properties in college towns where housing demand is high due to a soaring rental market according to the New rules of real estate by Business 2.0 Magazine. With home prices still out of home buyer’s range, and homeowners selling their homes due to rising interest rates, rents are expected to increase nationwide. This makes buying investment property in rental markets such as college towns an attractive option, one that is already being pursued by investors. Rents are expected to rise by 5 % by the end of this year according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), and investors are looking at college towns with increased interest.

There are two major reasons why it is prudent to buy investment property in college towns now. When compared with other rental markets, the rentals in apartment buildings in college towns are much stronger and hence more profitable. This has been augmented by the fact that apartment buildings in college towns are fewer in number. This demand for apartment buildings has also increased due to the rising admissions in colleges mostly from the Gen Y or the echo boomers, which has further increased the asking rates in the college town rental markets. These properties have a low vacancy rate, especially in buildings located near the campuses. Investors in commercial apartment buildings also get to increase their rent with the mounting demand making such investment a highly profitable venture.

So if you are a prospective landlord who has decided to encash this favorable situation, then you can start with choosing the college town that has the lowest ratio of university-owned beds to the student population. As Michael Zaransky, co-founder of Prime Property Investors in Chicago says, prospective investors would do well to pick the college towns that have the ratio of university-owned beds to students at 30 % or lower. One should also look into colleges that propose to expand their student ranks by 2 or 3 % every year.

Investors should also need to take into consideration the disadvantages involved in owning commercial apartment buildings in college towns. The business could be trying sometimes, and involves risks with college policies liable to changes and the difficulty involved in predicting volatile student demand. However, considering the high rate of returns that the investment has to offer, the pros seem to far outnumber the cons making buying investment property in college towns a smart option.



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U.S. Real Estate Foreclosures Increase Nationwide

Filed under: Real Estate — Tags: , , — admin @ 2:23 am
Real Estate Advisor asked:


Foreclosures continue to rise across America. According to the latest annual report of http://Foreclosures.com, the number of foreclosures filed nationwide in 2006 had increased by 51 percent from the previous year, with foreclosure filings nearly topping one million. When compared to 641,000 foreclosure filings made in 2005 nationwide, almost 971,000 foreclosure filings were reported last year.

Among the States, California reported the highest number of foreclosure filings in 2006 with 157,417 foreclosures filed, which is an increase by 94 percent from the year before. California is followed by Florida with 120,989 foreclosure filings. Nevada struggled with the largest percentage increase in foreclosures in 2006 of 175 percent.

The Northeast region reported 96,101 foreclosures in 2006, an increase of 64.6 percent from 58,394 foreclosures filed in 2005. Still, a few states in the region, such as Maryland and Delaware, saw a decrease in foreclosure filings.

Foreclosure filings in the Midwest region of the nation went up beyond 70 percent with many states including Illinois, Michigan, Missouri and Nebraska facing increases of 80 to 96 percent. Industrial layoffs and a tough economy have spurted the number of foreclosure filings in this region, with foreclosure figures in states such as Iowa and Kansas increasing beyond 100 percent.

The Southwest region was the most affected with one out of every 2.2 foreclosures in the country taking place there. The region closed the books for 2006 with an increase of 37 percent from 162,259 foreclosures in 2005 to 220,189 foreclosures. Foreclosure filings in Colorado increased by 55.4 percent, while foreclosures in Texas increased by 35.2 percent. Although the region struggled with the high foreclosure rates, the figures are not all bleak for the region with a few states showing a decrease in foreclosure filings. Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Oregon reported fewer foreclosure filings in 2006 when compared to 2005. These states have particularly reported a drop in foreclosure filings in the last quarter of 2006.

Although the foreclosure reports are not very cheerful, Alexis McGee, president of http://Foreclosures.com anticipates the housing market to improve soon. Overextended homeowners, who have been struggling to keep up with heavy debt loads, rising interest rates and property taxes, can soon look forward to some relief as home inventories come down and the market start looking up again. McGee also adds that the current housing market may be the best opportunity for home buyers in the next six years.



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Real Estate Online Listing and Their Reliability

Filed under: Real Estate — Tags: , , — admin @ 12:59 am
Roberto Luongo asked:


Real Estate means land and anything which is stationary, or which can not be moved, for example buildings. This term consists of two words viz. Real and Estate, former is very common word and latter means everything one owns, all of one’s assets and liabilities. So, Real Estate is nothing but real property, which can’t be moved easily.

In last few years, real estate market has flourished significantly, both in domestic and in commercial properties. And with boom in IT, a new domain of online marketing has come forth. With this, term Internet Real Estate also emerged. Internet Real Estate is nothing but Real Estate Listing Online.

Real Estate Listing Online is nothing but it facilitates searching of estate by making search online and expedites whole process. With this listing Real Estate Broker Listing came into the picture. Real estate broker means an intermediate party who acts as intercessor between sellers and buyers, and list of same means Real Estate Broker Listing. After this comes, Online Real Estate Directory, which caters links for Real Estate Listing Online and Real Estate Broker Listing. Online Real Estate Directory is being maintained by many websites and they have defined their own rules to add a link in their Online Real Estate Directory. Getting listed in Online Real Estate Directory helps a lot to Real Estate Broker as people trust directories more than they trust advertisements.

As, it is very clear from the above discussion that real estate business going online has loads of benefits, to name a few – Faster Deal, Better Searching. But with every pro there is a con, and same is in this case. With Real Estate coming online, it seems like it is ubiquitous. Now, a big question comes, Is Online Real Estates Listings Reliable? As, Online Real Estates Listing has become common, there are very high chances of getting fraudulent listings. Chances of getting phishing scammed are also high, where the page looks like original but it is not original. According to a report, Real estate boom will continue in smaller cities in developing countries. So, Online Real Estate Listing will become more common. Like frauds occur in daily life, they do occur in Online Listing also, and chances are high in online listing, because it is not easy to track team on the other side. So, while dealing online, it is onus on the buyer to be very careful, check the listing of the website from where he is buying estate, in famous and trusted directories. After this, buying party should also check past record of the same website and contact the past customers.



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Real Estate Photography- Ultimate Exposure to Earn Profits From Your Property Firm

Filed under: Real Estate — Tags: , , — admin @ 12:56 am
real estate asked:


Real estate photography is a new, exclusive initiative to promote international property business to inspire by the theme Development, Nature and Architecture. Real estate photography leads to increased competition in the photographic market. Most of time people would likely visit their property for sale because of the attractive images.

Tips of good real estate photography

- A good source of light.

- Wide angle lenses make real estate photos appear spacious, inspirational and motivational

- Digital formats cut down on printing and developing expenditures and makes photos available immediately.

- Same images should be available in different sizes so that according to the specifications you can provide it.

- take a shot of every part of house for sale including living room, kitchen, dining room, and other parts of the house.

- highlight the best features of your house.

- clean the entire house before taking its photos.

- hire a professional real estate photographer.

Real estate photography is of following kinds:

- Standard real estate photography,

- Elevated pole real estate photography,

- Exterior twilight real estate photography,

- Interior real estate photography services,

- Real estate photography for builders and architects.

Real estate firms have totally booming nowadays. If you are a property agent, you have probably faced a lot of competitions. Over few older years, when all you require is a well written advertisement to sell a real estate. Currently in order to fully publish your listings, you need to attach a good real estate photographs. With the emergence of digital cameras, the realestate that you are selling can be photographed and placed online. Potential purchasers from different parts of the world can actually see your listings with the images in it. Don’t underestimate the value of these photographs because a purchaser can definitely decide to check out the real estate based on the pictures that you have.

Real estate photography makes the property images impressive. If you have a house which looks unattractive and you want to sell that but because of appearance no good investor wants to buy it. Through the technique of real estate photography you can make your house to appear better and most of the investors search online for real estate images to buy it. Based on recent estimations, the number of individual searching home for sale online has increased. Almost half of these property seekers found their dream property instantly online through the help of real estate photography. An image is worth a thousand words. Especially when your words may be limited by the Multiple Listing Service use real estate photography techniques to express your quality difference in properties.



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September 29, 2009

Real Estate Success

Filed under: Real Estate — Tags: , , — admin @ 10:28 pm
Mark G. Estates asked:


The best measure of real estate success is definitely the amount of profit that you can make on a given investment. Knowing when to buy, what to buy, and for home much are all key in maximizing your returns, and there are numerous ways in which to ensure that you make the most money possible on any investments that you make.

In any given city there are many neighborhoods where you can buy real estate. Each neighborhood will have a particular character, both of itself, and of the people who choose to live there. When real estate prices rise across a city, they start to go up in the best areas, because these are always people’s first choice when it comes to finding somewhere to live.

There are two places where you can make a lot of money in real estate for a smaller investment. By buying the worst house on a good street, you can enjoy real estate success as a developer by bringing the property up to the standards of other homes in the neighborhood, and then selling at a profit.

The other way to enjoy success is more speculative, but generally offers better returns in the long term. By buying the best house in a bad street, you will need to make less capital investment in the property and any upgrades, but you will still be able to sell at a higher price over the length of your investment due to the rise in property prices over time.

The most important factor that goes into ensuring long term real estate success and maximum returns on your investment is research. By knowing everything about every area you are targeting, you will be able to arm yourself with the right information to be able to negotiate a better deal at either end of the process. If you know that an area is ripe for redevelopment, you should buy in at the beginning, while if you hear that an area where you own property is likely to suffer from external developments, or face over supply of housing in the future, it is time to make a quick sale to get the best price at the peak of the market.

By being careful and investing appropriately you can ensure your success in the world of real estate, and give yourself a great income as either a developer or speculator.



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Roth IRA Investments in Real Estate. Hot in 2008 Believe it or Not

Filed under: Real Estate — Tags: , , — admin @ 10:21 pm
Peter Clark asked:


You’ve got a Roth IRA and you’re thinking a lot lately about returns on your IRA when times get tough, like now. One of the best investments for any IRA, including a Roth IRA, is in real estate.

Believe it or not Roth IRA investments in real estate are STILL the single best investment you can make right now in 2008, when the economy is terrible and the real estate market in turmoil.

But surely you wouldn’t make a Roth IRA real estate investment in the current market? The real estate market is in meltdown. Why would you invest your retirement plan in a real estate market that looks a little like the Titanic, going down.

Real estate as an investment is alive in well in 2008, whether you’ve got a Roth IRA or any sort of employer sponsored retirement plan.

Of course you always need to examine your plan and see what investments are allowed. With many plans you have a limited or non existent right to invest your own retirement funds yourself, or if you do you can only invest in a limited range of investments.

For example many IRAs are with custodians that allow only traditional stocks and bonds and CDs as investments, and usually they try and direct your retirement funds into investments in their own products.

So the first thing you need to do before investigating investing your retirement plan is to make sure you’re allowed to invest in real estate, yourself. So you may need to do a rollover if you’ve got, say, a traditional IRA or perhaps an employer sponsored retirement plan or even a 401(k). Rollover into a fund that allows you to invest yourself, into real estate, and you’re way ahead preparing for your retirement.

Of course you should get some solid financial advice from your financial advisor before you undertake any rollover to make sure you do it right, and there are various Roth IRA websites you can use to educate yourself on rollovers and Roth IRA rules.

If you’ve got a self directed Roth IRA right now you should be able to invest in real estate now, but check with your financial advisor first.

So, back to Roth IRA investments in real estate in 2008. Why would you?

Firstly, real estate investments have created, it is estimated, around 80% of the wealth in the US today. Real estate offers a better long term opportunity for a good return on investment, both from rental returns and capital growth, than any other form of investment. Real estate allows you to borrow larger amounts more safely, and if you’re investing through a Roth IRA it also allows you to invest tax free due to the significant tax advantages afforded to formal retirement funds like IRAs and 401(k)s. Even on a marginal tax rate there are significant tax advantages to investing for your retirement through a formal retirement fund.

And real estate offers excellent returns even in 2008. Because, although the real estate market is in general decline, there are pockets of the real estate market that still offer significant opportunities for an excellent rate of return from an investment, income tax free.

But be warned, unless you’re an extremely experienced investor you’re likely to get burned. Professional real estate investors know where to look and how to buy to make significant gains in a market like this, but unless you’re a professional real estate investor you’re playing with fire.

One professional real estate investment company is hitting some solid home runs right now. Investing in simple middle class housing and refurbishing each home, adding value to the neighborhood by building parks and playgrounds and making homes more attractive to prospective tenants and buyers, this company is creating it’s own capital gains. Investors, including Roth IRA investors, are securing no money down properties with immediate equity of 15% – 20%, guaranteed returns and the backing of a respected, solid, listed US public company that has an envied record in real estate.

So if you’re wondering about your retirement, and concerned about current financial conditions, there are options. Roth IRA investments in real estate are a solid, long term stable investment strategy, even in current economic conditions.

But unless you’re an experienced professional real estate investor don’t start making any Roth IRA investments in real estate yourself. Let the professionals who know how to create value in the current market do it for you.

Don’t get your fingers burnt. Let the professionals do your real estate investing for you.



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Carmel Valley, San Diego, Real Estate Market Trends, School & Community Information, August 2006

Filed under: Real Estate — Tags: , , — admin @ 8:44 pm
Real Estate Advisor asked:


COMMUNITY INFORMATION

Carmel Valley is a master-planned community located in northern San Diego County within the state of California. The community of Carmel Valley within San Diego is not to be confused with the Carmel Valley region in Northern California.

Carmel Valley lies within the 92130 Zip Code. There are approximately 34,471 residents in this Zip code and 12,387 households. The median age of the population is 35.16 years.

TEMPERATURE

The temperature in Carmel Valley is relatively moderate. The warmest time of year occurs in August during which temperatures reach an average high of 72°F. The coldest time of year occurs in December with average temperatures falling to 56° F.

HOME AND REAL ESTATE PRICES

The housing options in Carmel Valley include single-family homes and properties, condominiums, townhouses, and apartments. The price of housing is as follows:

·One bedroom townhouse / condo starts in the high $200,000s

·Two bedroom townhouse / condo starts in the high $300,000s.

·Three bedroom townhouse / condo starts in the low $500,000s

·Three bedroom single-family house starts in high $500,000s

·Four bedroom single-family home starts in low $700,000s

REAL ESTATE MARKET TRENDS

As with most products and services in the United States, price shifts in the real estate industry are subject to the forces of supply and demand. Whether it’s a buyers market or a seller’s market, it is useful to evaluate home sales data for the most recent month available (June 2006), compared against the same period in the previous year (June 2005).

The median price of single-family homes reached $1,080,000 in June 2006, which was a 13.74% increase over June 2005. In contrast, the median price of condominiums and townhomes decreased to $580,000, which was a 7.2 decline from the year before.

Homebuyers and home sellers should keep in mind that the data above is simply a snapshot in time. Therefore, the data must be evaluated over a longer duration to understand enduring market trends.

SCHOOL INFORMATION

There are two School Districts that serve residents of Carmel Valley. The Solana Beach School District covers the elementary schools in the northern part of Carmel Valley, and the Del Mar Union School District covers the southern region.

Students in Carmel Valley schools undergo annual testing to evaluate their academic performance. The results of these tests are combined by the California Department of Education into a composite score known as the Academic Performance Index (API), which has a range of 200 to 1000. The statewide goal for schools is to achieve a score of 800 or above.

Based on the most recent data available as of July 31, 2006, the highest-ranking elementary school in the Carmel Valley area was Sage Canyon Elementary (API = 963), followed by Torrey Hills School (API=950), Carmel Creek Elementary

(API=946), Solana Pacific Elementary (API=945), Ashley Falls Elementary (API=943), and Carmel Del Mar Elementary (API=917). Carmel Valley Middle School earned an API of 931. For high schools, Canyon Crest Academy had an API=842, and Torrey Pine High had an API =821.



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2006: U.S. Cities With Affordable Real Estate And Homes

Filed under: Real Estate — Tags: , , — admin @ 8:43 pm
Real Estate Advisor asked:


The price of housing is a major challenge in the United States. Some estimates note that more than 50% of the population cannot afford a median priced home. According to National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), of the total number of new and existing homes sold nationwide during the third quarter, only 40.4 percent were affordable for families earning the median U.S. income of $59,600.

But it is good news that housing affordability on the national level has not changed much in the third quarter in spite of a rise in the mortgage interest rates during the last quarter. This was because many markets saw a slight decrease in their home prices, which helped offset the rise in mortgage rates.

Indianapolis (Indiana) is the most affordable city for homes in America, based on the 2006 third quarter report of the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI). The city achieved this status for the fifth consecutive quarter.

Of the total number of housing units sold in Indianapolis during the third quarter, 86 percent of homes were priced at or below the U.S. median household income of $65,100. Homes in this metro area had a median sales price of $122,000, which is slightly higher from $120,000 of the previous quarter.

It is interesting to note that the most affordable U.S. cities for homes, condos and other real estate are largely from the northern industrial metro areas. The other larger cities that top the list for affordable homes in the third quarter after Indianapolis are Youngstown-Warren-Boardman (Ohio-Pennsylvania); Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn (Michigan); Buffalo-Niagara Falls (New York); and Grand Rapids and Wyoming (Michigan).

The report also lists the top seven smaller cities in America that have the most affordable housing markets. These are: Bay City in Michigan, Springfield in Ohio, Mansfield in Ohio, Lansing-East Lansing in Michigan, Lima in Ohio, Battle Creek in Michigan and Canton-Massillon in Ohio.

For both major metros and small metros, many of the least affordable cities are located in California. The least affordable major metro areas are Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, Modesto, Stockton, and San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, in that order. The least affordable smaller metros (less than 500,000 people) include: Salinas, Merced, Madera, Napa, and Santa Barbara-Santa Maria.

The good news for homebuyers is that there are many affordable cities in the United States. Moreover, even for cities that rated poorly for affordability, there may be some communities within the larger city that have affordable housing. For example, although the San Diego metro in California rated poorly overall for affordability, there are some communities in San Diego priced to meet the needs of lower-income home buyers. A good real estate agent can help you choose a community where you want to live based on your housing budget and needs.



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Punta Cana and Dominican Republic Real Estate – What to Expect in 2009!

Filed under: Real Estate — Tags: , , — admin @ 5:53 pm
Scott Medina asked:


December 2005 was a different time in Punta Cana and the Dominican Republic. At that time, the Punta Cana and Dominican Republic real estate markets were experiencing what some would consider atypical growth.

Demand was far greater than the supply, a thriving influx of international buyers, lowest interest rates in the history of the Dominican real estate market, both US dollars and Dominican pesos, national and international economic stability, high rental income, mega tourism developments sprouting like wild flowers, international financing, bonds were issued, free favorable press, and tourism numbers at an all time high. Buyers were looking for anyone developing or selling near the tourism hubs of the island.

Those were the good ol’ times! It was about being in the right place at the right time.

Many considered that there was no reason for the Punta Cana and Dominican Republic not to be known as the “Home of the World”; however, it was also emphasized that it was imperative for the real estate industry to take some necessary measures in order for development to continue in an organized fashion.

Fast forward to the end 2008. Today, the real estate industry is also experiencing a completely atypical situation, which unfortunately can’t be called positive, but can’t be called negative either. It is going back to what is considered a normal, standardized real estate market. Supply and demand more in balance than in years past.

Any real estate developer can tell you that it is not normal to sell an entire development in less than a year. Normal would be for at least two years to sell a small to medium size development and perhaps more time on the larger more ambitious developments within closed gated communities. Of course, it is normal to think that things are cooling off after coming out of the “BOOM” we have been experiencing for the past few years. Instead of cooling off, I would call it business as usual, going back to normal, supply and demand in equilibrium!

At the moment it is important to sit down and analyze the “foundation” of our market as we take the necessary corrective measures based on lessons learned.

First, let’s look at the foundation. Why the Dominican Republic? Why Punta Cana? What makes us so special? Why are Punta Cana and the Dominican Republic relevant investment markets? Why alternatives for second home buyers? Why should it be considered ideal places for retirement?



Excellent geographical location that allows us to have year round tropical climate. The cold countries remain cool.



We continue to have some of the best white sand beaches and turquoise colored crystal clear waters



Legal Framework – No Restricitions for Foreigners, Equal Ownership Rights



Economic Stability



Social Stability



Personal Safety, Dominican Republic crime rates are low in comparison to other Caribbean Neighbors



Modern and adequate transportation and telecommunications infrastructure (airports, seaports, highways, telephone, internet). There is room for improvement, but we are headed in the right direction.



Extensive complementary offer (water sports, golf, restaurants, grocery stores, resorts, casinos)



Ecotourism



The Dominican People – Always friendly and hospitable!



Beyond these points, we must recognize that there has been encouragement for foreign investment by the local government. Foreign direct investment more than doubled in 2008, according to statistics from the Center for Exports and Investment (CEI-RD). Investment in 2008 totaled US$2.35 billion, for a 55.1% growth from 2007.

Just last week, December 12, 2008, Dominican Republic President Leonel Fernandez broke ground for US$1.4 billion dollars VistaCana Resort & Country Club in Punta Cana. President Fernandez and the project’s main promoter, Salvador Termín headed the groundbreaking ceremony, with Tourism minister Francisco Javier Garcia also present. Mr. Termin spoke about the world crisis we are experiencing, and emphasized that they have prepared themselves for the crisis. “We have decided to continue to invest, since that is what we do. We believe in the Dominican Republic since it continues to be a safe place to invest with lower risks in comparison to other places around the world”.

Venezuelan investors began construction of the tourist complex on six million square meters of land. The complex will have 6,000 residences, a 100 room business hotel, a 27-hole golf course and a 180,000 square meter artificial lake integrated to the beach area, and built at a cost of arond US$1.4 billion dollars. This will bring 20,000 new jobs to Punta Cana when concluded.

President Fernandez said “this development is proof that within the global crisis that we live today, foreign companies like the developers of VistaCana, testify that the Dominican Republic still has economic and financial security for world wide investors, developers and end users alike. 1,500 homes have been purchased by an investment fund for North Americans retirees out of Washington D.C. plus more than 200 units sold to individuals.” President Fernandez added that in addition to VistaCana, just last week he was in La Romana for the groundbreaking event for the mega development Playa Nueva La Romana by Spain’s Grupo Piñero, owners of the Gran Bahia Principe Resorts. This represents US$2.5 billion dollars in foreign investment. In addition, in the coming days, President Fernandez will be alongside the Prince of Monaco, in the groundbreaking ceremony for Punta Perla located in Cabeza de Toro near Punta Cana, with another US$1.6 billion dollars in foreign investment from the U.K.

That is a total of US$5.5 billion dollars of foreign investment in the month of December alone for the real estate industry. These are big numbers from world wide known companies and investors that have very deep pockets to conduct feasibility and market studies. They have decided that the Dominican Republic is the safest place with the best investment opportunities in the Caribbean and perhaps the western hemisphere.

In addition to encouraging foreign investment, local government has achieved:



Enactment of new laws that attract retirees and baby boomers. Incentive for pensioners and annuitants



Reduction of taxes related to real estate



Firm decision to improve communication infrastructure to the tourist areas



Efficient and better system for the approval of new developments



Public sector working hand in hand with private sector to help develop joint activities aimed at strengthening the real estate industry.



We can say that without a doubt we have a solid foundation for sustained growth in the real estate industry; however, no longer is location, location, location the most important part of deciding where to buy real estate in the Dominican Republic. Investors and buyers alike are looking for security, security, security.

First and foremost, the security and safety of their investment. Investors and buyers understand that property acquired in the Dominican Republic is not going to suffer the effects of devaluation that other world markets have experienced. This is for several reasons:



Historically in the Dominican Republic property values have always tended to go up and never down



The Dominican Republic does not have a secondary market for the marketing of securities where good and bad mortgages come together. We all now about the USA mortgage mess that has property values on a downward spiral.



Given our past experience with the banking system, the mortgages could be considered “healthy”, meaning that the market value of the property exceeds the value of mortgage.



Second, security of ownership rights, of course. Foreign buyers are guaranteed the same rights as those available to Dominican buyers.

Third, security of return on your investment. Real estate-tourism products have the potential to generate revenue because they can be rented to employees in the tourism sector and also because each day is further developed the so-called “residential tourism.” Refers to those tourists who prefer to rent a villa or apartment to take a more familiar experience and learn more about the area of access.

What do we need to do as industry leaders and real estate professionals?



Find end users: Avoid clients who seek an immediate capital gain. This refers to buyers/flippers who have neither the intention nor the ability to close on the real estate transaction. The best way is to ask for a significant down payment that the buyer/flipper will lose if decides to walk away from the real estate transaction.



Pre Qualify Buyers: Provide the buyers with the proper forms and contac information for pre qualification with local banks. This will prevent from future headaches in the future.



Perform target marketing plans for buyers and investors required for the particular development.



Carry out strategic alliances with government institutions to promote the Dominican Republic as a tourist destination, not just a real estate destination.



Join forces with high profile tourism developments for further commercialization of the Dominican Republic.



Be aggressive in marketing products in more than one way: create alliances with international real estate agencies, non traditional advertising, speaking engagements, eMarketing, and so on.



The most important thing is to understand that we have a good product. We are in a cycle of the market where change is inevitable and considered normal. There is no need to panic. Punta Cana and the Domincan Republic have become world destinations. We still have many great years of selling Punta Cana real estate and Dominican Republic real estate. We just need to roll up our sleeves, continue to work with ethics, be honest, creative and pro-active. We have no doubt, sooner or later Punta Cana and the Dominican Republic are destined to become the HOME OF THE WORLD!

We expect many good things to come in 2009 and are very positive that we will make a difference and separate ourselves from the rest of the crowd.  With the alliances that we are forming with real estate agencies from around the world, we will definitely position ourselves as the #1 real estate company for developers, buyers, sellers and investors that are looking for the right company to assist with buying or selling real estate in Punta Cana and the Dominican Republic. Hope we can be of assitance in 2009!  We will help you find the right home in Paradise!

La Costa Destinations International Realty provides detailed information about Punta Cana real estate, resorts, hotels, beaches, golf courses, weather, and the Punta Cana international airport. Dominican Hospitality & Market Knowledge with American Business Standards. Your #1 source for Punta Cana realty. Visit http://www.GoPuntaCanaRealEstate.com, home to the best realtors in the Dominican Republic.

 

 

 



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1031 Exchange or Real Estate Investment Trust?

Filed under: Real Estate — Tags: , , — admin @ 5:20 pm
Mike Trudeau asked:


Over the last several years, real estate has been as hot as any other investment. It wasn’t until recently that real estate cooled a bit. During this time, we’ve all heard the stories of the easy money made investing in real estate. When money was easy, and there was no end in sight to the real estate boom, people were flipping houses like crazy. For many of these individuals, the 1031 exchange money could not be any easier. However, the times have changed. The downturn has taught even the most bullish real estate speculators that real estate can also go down in value. More than ever, investing in real estate, takes professional know-how, time, and resources to successfully invest in real estate. So, how does the average person invest in real estate, this day and age?

Well, there is a way, and it’s been around for quite some time. It’s called a Real Estate Investment Trust, or REIT. A Real Estate Investment Trust is a way for the small investor to invest in big real estate. A Real Estate Investment Trust is an organization that is set up to manage and invest in real estate professionally. You can purchase a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) via the stock exchange in the form of a stock, or privately. Private Real Estate Investment Trusts typically require that certain suitability criteria be met. Also, private REITs are typically longer-term investments, with liquidity considerations. Public Real Estate Investment Trusts can be bought and sold on the stock exchange and are considerably more liquid than their private counterparts.

Investing in a Real Estate Investment Trust can come in many forms. You can purchase a Real Estate Investment Trust that focuses on large-scale commercial real estate, for example. This would allow you to take part in major real estate deals involving 100 plus story buildings, that would otherwise be available to the ultra rich. Some Real Estate Investment Trusts may have their focus in apartment buildings or even new housing construction. The point here is that you can choose your Real Estate Investment Trust sector through one of these REITs. If you want a more professionally managed approach there are a large number of REITs actively managed through the purchase of mutual funds. This can provide for diversification, and individual real estate sectors.

Properly set up Real Estate Investment Trusts are tax-advantaged. This means that they are not taxed at the corporate level. However, they must be set up properly. It is required that REITs invest 75% of their funds in real estate. These requirements are met by income derived from mortgage or rent interest. Essentially, you’re relying on other parties for their expertise in the real estate arena. Going at it alone is tougher than ever these days. You have the typical headaches, like qualifying for a 1031 exchange, property taxes, escrow, title insurance, and so on. But, that’s really the easy part. When the real estate market only went up, the biggest worry for speculators was how to take advantage of a 1031 exchange and save on capital gains. Now, there’s much more to worry about, as real estate not only goes up, but it can certainly come down.

It’s important to keep in mind that Real Estate Investment Trusts also come with inherent risks. If real estate values plummet, and you have a large percentage of your assets exposed to Real Estate Investment Trusts you may experience declines, as well. This is where diversification is very important. The standard Real Estate Investment Trust me diversify you within different types of real estate, but you should always practice further diversification. Investing in different asset classes, sectors, and the life will provide you with further diversification. Make sure to work with a qualified investment advisor or do your due diligence when investing in any type of Real Estate Investment Trust.



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