over the holidays I had to deal with a fire in one of the apartments that I own. I am relieved that the resident was not killed and thankful that the damage was not to the entire building! Fires can wreck a real estate investment luckily this one is insured so the damage will not be as large as it could have been, but nevertheless it is a big distraction when you want to start the new year on a positive note. Check out some of the pictures of the fire
after the fire Continue reading FIRE!!!
an article in the austin business journal outlined the current state of new construction in Austin. You can find it by clicking the link below
Austin home starts down 26% in 4Q
2011-01-04 12:40 PM CST
Click here to read this article
For the existing housing stock this is good news as it means that builders are not adding to our existing inventory of homes and that as demand continues to build and as those living at home and doubling up move less and less inventory will be available for them to chose from. Continue reading Home starts down mean?? Increase in rents!!
Ron’s sayings and things # 2,857 to make you a better real estate investor.
This is one of the fundamental real estate investment concepts that most people seem to misunderstand or to miss apply to themselves. Buy low and sell high plays a part in this concept. It sounds easy enough but the application of this wisdom contained in the instructions is a complex concept. To do this you must understand market fundamentals and take your time to study who the pessimists are and who the optimists are. When the market is ugly and no one wants to be a real estate investor, foreclosures are everywhere, and everyone who has something to sell and there are no buyers or very few who want to buy real estate because of the general state of the economy. In this market the pessimists are ruling. The trick is to buy something that you can fix or that is in need of the specific skills that you can easily provide. Continue reading Buy from pessimists and sell to optimists
I recently read an interesting article in Realty Line Newspaper (www.realtylineonline.com) The article was analyzing austins affordable housing needs. It was written by David Tandy of Gracy Title. The article was highlights one of Austins Austins affordable housing not-for-profit organizations “Foundation Communities (http://www.foundcom.org/)” and their efforts to assist those who need affordable housing.
Please check out the article attached to this post as a pdf and go to foundations communities website and support a not-forprofit organizaiton by giving back to those less fortunate this christmas season! Follow the link: austin affordable housing
I recently stumbled across a new website for comparing rents. www.Zilpy.com If you have rentals you should definately check it out. I typed in some of my property and it did a decent job of pulling back comparables that allowed me to see how my rental property compares to others around me. I am adding it to my checklist of things that I must do to stay on top of my property management duties.
The wall street journal recently published an article about the banks policies concerning loans for commercial properties that have come due and now cannot be refinanced. The title of the article is….
You can find a link to the article by clicking the following link.
Continue reading Extend and Pretend is still in full effect…..
From the Texas Association of Realtors:
“Many of us have been very concerned about the implementation of federal legislation known as the SAFE Act that would severely limit an individual’s ability to seller finance their property in Texas.
We are working on numerous regulatory and legislative solutions to this affront to private-property owners, and have some good news to report. At our urging, the chief regulator over the SAFE Act in Texas, the commissioner of the Texas Department of Savings and Mortgage Lending, has taken significant steps to allow Texas property owners to continue to seller finance up to five transactions in a 12-month period. Continue reading Owner Financing in Texas
How Does If Feel To Fill Up An Apartment Complex In 45 Days
Exhausting! Exhilarating all at the same time
In the last 45days or so we have rented 27 apartments evicted 2 people and re-rented their units bought. 6+8 refrigerators and need to buy more, 13 stoves and microwaves fixed countless plumbing leaks, fired 1 employee and hired 4 more, cut so much brush the city is looking at the property and wondering when will he stop. We have aggravated a neighbor and pleased them in the same day. One neighbor is so pleased with the work going on a the property that he said we could cut some brush on the property line and he would pay to have it hauled off! We have also Disposed of 2 dead cats, Gotten 1 bad check, and Taken 100’s of calls. I am tired! I am excited at the same time.
Why Many Investors Keep Fooling Themselves
by Jason Zweig
Tuesday, January 19, 2010 of the wall street journal penned a great article about How high most investors returns are. You can check it out at http://finance.yahoo.com/retirement/article/108608/why-many-investors-keep-fooling-themselves?mod=retire-planning
To summarize the article says that most investors cant earn over 5% or so on thier investments.
Can it be true? Will we see a drop in what property owners owe the Tax man in Austin TX? According to the Austin American Statesman we should see a 5.3% drop in tax values in our lovely city. What does that mean to revenues for the City, County and School districts? Big trouble! Thats what! Continue reading property tax values decreasing in Austin?
