Kelvin Humenny of North Vancouver has created inHabit which designs, builds and installs small prefabricated dwellings for art, music, work and living. Could be a good for a place like Whistler or a cabin that is in need of an extra room.
Would you buy a second investment property in a building that you already own one?
Is that putting all of your eggs in one basket?
or
Is it smart to continue to invest in a building that you know and own in?
What do you think?
Real Estate Investing interests me and I’m always looking for more information on the topic. Here is an article that I found this morning. (marketwatch.com)
Realty investing books; what about seminars?
By Lew Sichelman
Last Update: 7:28 AM ET April 8, 2005WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — Issues on people’s minds this week: What books are standards on real estate investing, are realty seminars worth the money and do rental-investment numbers add up?
Q. It appears that “A Random Walk Down Wall Street” (Malkiel) and “Stocks for the Long Run” (Siegel) are standards on equity investing. Do you have any recommendations for books on real estate investing? Noel Serrano, Cerritos, Calif.
Answer: I have been writing about real estate for a long, long time, and the one thing I have yet to do is review books. Honestly, I just don’t have the patience, which is why I have never written one, either. However, I do keep a large library as references. And what appears to be one of the better tomes I’ve added of late is “Real Estate Investing for Dummies” by Eric Tyson and Robert Griswold.
This one ought to get anyone started — or, as the authors suggest — stopped. “Real estate investing is not a fail-proof guarantee for wealth,” says financial counselor Tyson. Bet you won’t read that kind of admonition in many other books, especially those by the get-rich-quick con artists who say anyone can become a millionaire practically overnight by investing in real estate.
Q. With all your experience in real estate investing, what is your opinion regarding home study courses and infomercials regarding real estate investing? Eric Paba, Arlington, Texas.
A: Frankly, I don’t have a high regard for most of them. Near as I can tell, those who aren’t in jail or haven’t declared bankruptcy are making more money — lots more — buy selling seminars and books that they ever did in real estate.
My favorite guru grump is John T. Reed, a newsletter publisher and not-so-successful (if I read him correctly) former investor who has been quoted far and wide on the topic. Check out his website — www.johntreed.com — for his thoughts. They are both enlightening and entertaining. Visit the site.
Q. I am one of those people who has been investigating the sanity of making a first investment in some type of rental property (specifically, a single-family detached home). So I asked these same folks to work up a hypothetical investment home in an affordable area, like Arizona. On a $300,000 home that I keep for 10 years, assuming hefty appreciation of 10 percent a year (by no means guaranteed) and taking into account the seemingly-unavoidable fact of running negative [cash flow] even with a $50 per month increase in rent each and every year, zero vacancy periods, no tenant nightmares, a management company that takes about 10% to12% off the top of the rent, etc., here’s what I keep coming up with: An investment in such a rental property will pay the same as putting about $1,200 per month into some kind of indexed mutual fund that provides an average return of 6 percent annually over a 10-year period. I admit that saving $1,200 a month is no easy task but it may be no more difficult than everything that goes into the “best-case” investment property route. Am I nuts? Do I need to take an accounting class? Dave Wiener.
A: The numbers don’t lie, and you are not nuts. Except that the mutual fund does not offer any kind of guarantee, either, and house-price appreciation could top 10 percent. Also, think of all the fun you’ll miss out on by not being a landlord.
Several other flaws in your thinking, at least as I see it: One, do you have the discipline necessary to put away $1,200 each and every month? Two, a $300,000 house doesn’t cost you $300,000, only what you put up in cash. After that, your only cash outlay — other than for spot repairs and the like — is the difference between what you earn in rent and your mortgage payment. Three, your tenant is paying your property taxes and interest, yet you get to deduct them. Four, your gain should be figured on your cash outlay, not the total cost of the property. And finally, five — a thought which bears repeating — think of all the fun you’ll miss out on by not being a landlord.
Nationally syndicated columnist Lew Sichelman has been covering the housing market for 35 years. Because of the volume of mail he receives, he cannot answer individual questions, nor can all questions be answered in this space. E-mail lsichelman@aol.com
Although low mortgage rates are enticing Vancouver-area young people to purchase their first homes, many of them need help to de-mystify the process. What location is best? What type of home is best matched to needs? What mortgage type and term to choose? What are the legal considerations? What are the benefits of builder licensing, warranties and homeowner protection?
These and other key questions will be answered by a panel of housing experts at the 11th Annual Seminar for First-time Home Buyers presented by the Greater Vancouver Home Builders’ Association (GVHBA) on Tuesday, April 5 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Guildford Sheraton Hotel Ballroom, 15269 104 Avenue, Surrey.
Admission to the seminar is free thanks to the sponsorships by The Vancouver Sun, The Province, Homeowner Protection Office, Canada Mortgage & Housing Corporation, Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver, Genworth Financial Canada, TD Canada Trust, National Home Warranty Programs, Shaw Cablesystems, CKNW, Rock 101, MOJO Radio and 99.3 the FOX.
Speakers are Cameron Muir, senior market analyst, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation; Ken Cameron, chief executive officer, Homeowner Protection Office; Jason Neziol, regional director, Genworth Financial Canada; Geoff Willis, residential mortgages manager, TD Canada Trust; Adnan Habib, partner, Baker Newby Barristers and Solicitors; Georges Pahud, president, Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver; and Ray Windsor, chief executive officer, National Home Warranty Programs. GVHBA Chief Executive Officer Peter Simpson is moderator.
“Seminar presenters will help first-time buyers to complete their homework by investigating all available options before they take that important first step into homeownership.” said Simpson.
“More than 800 people attended last year and, because real estate is still a hot topic, we expect a similar attendance this year. Doors open at 6 p.m. to allow attendees time to view displays of new homes, financial choices, warranties and other housing products and services,” said Simpson.
Pre-registration is required. Call 604-588-5036 from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday. Registrations will also be taken by answering machine at the same phone number on weekends.
Do you need renters for your investment property?
Akbar Nimji, a Realtor in Calgary (who just signed up with Combustion) told me about placesforrent.com and said that it was an excellent place to find renters. I have used craigslist.org and had some success but will try placesforrent.com next time I am looking.
Live from Real Estate Connect: What’s Next for Craigslist
Monday, January 10, 2005
Things heated up at Real Estate Connect when Craigslist founder Craig Newmark crashed the first panel of the day. Under fierce cross-examination, he revealed some hints about the future of Craigslist’s real estate listings:
Craig Newmark: “We’re strongly thinking about [charging for listings]. Brokers are asking us to do that to improve quality. The first step will be opening up a broad discussion of how to do it right. That’s going to be a fascinating discussion that will increase my customer service work a great deal… Right now the newspapers are perturbed by the fact that we seem to be getting classifieds that they aren’t. I tell them that’s not their big problem. The big problem for them is loss of trust. People don’t trust mainstream media to ask difficult questions and be persistent. The most trusted name in news is Jon Stewart and the Daily Show. But the whole nature of mass media is changing and will probably change abruptly in three to five years.”
More after the jump, including Craig declaring, “I have no Batman fantasy.”
More snippets from Brad Inman’s conversation with Craig Newmark:
Craig: “We now see a lot of for sale listings on the site, for sale by owner and brokers posting. We might have to split that up into a couple of different categories…”
“The problems we’ve seen are brokers charging a fee for apartments posting in no-fee section, some not disclosing who they are. Sometimes subtle forms of bait-and-switch. This is becoming the exception. We’re hearing that things are getting better… People only cut corners when they think everyone else does… I’m trying to dress in black more and be more cynical, but it’s not working.”
“People post a property and then to get to top of browsing list, they post it again a couple of days later. We’re working on improvements to that now that we hope to see in a few months.”
“People are generally responsible for their own ethics. I have no Batman fantasy, professionally. [laughter] But the deal is that things are getting better in that regard. I have however recently been bitten by a radioactive spider and now feel like I can stop a subway out of control myself.”
For a very, um, unique point of view on the issue of Craigslist charging for its real estate ads, we suggest a perusal of DramaNYC poster Peter Everhard’s screed, “I am the Anti Craig.”