Analyzing A Real Estate Investment

Life Insurance or Mortgage Life Insurance?

When buying a property with a residential mortgage (loan), you may be bombarded with solicitations from various companies offering you “mortgage life insurance” that offers to pay-off your mortgage if you or your spouse dies.  These policies are usually much more expensive than a term-life policy and decline in value over the term of your […]

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Going Green For Under 20 Bucks

Join the latest trend in housing – Go Green! Installing a “photocell or dusk-to-dawn lights” on your exterior lighting can cut your electricity bill by over $100! A photocell will automatically control the lights so that they turn-on at dusk, and turn-off at dawn. This provides safety and security as well as eliminates the waste […]

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Renovation Loans – FHA 203K or Fannie Mae?

Renovation loans are a great way to purchase a property that requires rehabilitation or renovation prior to occupancy.  Buyer’s can use a renovation loan to update, rehabilitate or renovate a property. There are currently two types of loan programs:  FHA and Fannie Mae. The FHA program requires: Current seller on title for 90 days For […]

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1031 Tax Deferred Exchange

“No gain or loss shall be recognized on the exchange of property held for productive use in a trade or business or for investment, if such property is exchanged solely for property of like-kind which is to be held either for productive use in a trade or business or for investment. ”  IRS, IRC Section […]

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Home Maintenance

Buying a home has its rewards and drawbacks.  One of the biggest drawbacks to home ownership is the regular home maintenance needed to keep a home operating at peak efficiency. Properly maintaining a home increases the homes value as well as minimized operating costs.  Deferring maintenance is not a good practice and may also be […]

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Cosmetic or Serious Deficiency Issues

There are many properties available at a significant discount.  For the typical buyer that can tackle cosmetic repairs (paint, carpet, windows, doors, drywall and light remodeling) staying away from properties with structural defects/deficiencies is important. To help identify structural defects, buyers should have an agent that is familiar with the major systems of a property […]

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Analyzing an Investment Property

There are many methods and tools  to help analyze a particular property to determine if it is a good/bad property to pursue.  A good spreadsheet (CRS 204 or the CCIM 101 by Todd Thorpe) is critical.  I use the CRS 204 spreadsheet to do a quick analysis (it assumes you only pay interest on the […]

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