Great Tips For Buying Real Estate In Today's Market

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Buying real estate? At first glance, this process is complex and daunting. However, armed with the right knowledge, the process of buying real estate can be an enjoyable and rewarding experience. Read this article to familiarize yourself with the world of real estate, and you will see that there are many opportunities for you to find good investments.

Purchasing a home is a big decision and a large investment. To make sure you know all there is to know, consider a course in home buying. Many local real estate offices offer these classes as ways to educate potential clients about the process from beginning to end.

If you cannot afford a new home, you should look into financing. With mortgages, you can easily get a house now and pay for it little by little over the years. if you have a good credit report it should be easy to get a mortgage. Go to different banks to find the best mortgage possible.

To make money off real estate, look for thriving areas in a promising metropolis. You can buy a home there at a reasonable price and sell it years later once the prices on the local real estate market go up. Ask the advice of a professional if you are not sure about investing.

First-time home buyers should consider not only the home they're looking at, but also the neighborhood. What are the schools in your new neighborhood like? How convenient are shopping and entertainment sites? Questions like this are important to ask so you can establish or maintain a lifestyle that works for you.

So, in reality, purchasing real estate is not as difficult as it might seem. While much time will be invested in research and inquiries about the property, the end result is worth it! Keep these tips in mind to make good decisions in real estate.

Tax Lien Investing Pros and Cons

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Tax lien investing has long been a popular method of investing in real estate but it should not be taken lightly. Although potential returns are huge, so are the risks.

Approximately $425 billion in state and local real estate property taxes are owed across the U.S. each year. Of that, about $6 billion goes delinquent. In 28 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands these delinquent taxes allowed to be sold to private investors. The reward to investors is the chance to collect the delinquent tax, a penalty, and interest. Depending on the state, the accumulative return on investment can range between 12% and 36%. If the taxes and penalties remain unpaid, the investor can potentially end up owning the property through foreclosure but regulations for this vary greatly from state to state.

Pros to Tax Lien Investing Tax lien laws vary greatly from state to state and you absolutely must understand the laws in the state and even the county before investing. Basically, a lien is placed against a property when the owner fails to pay the property tax. Counties are highly dependant on property taxes to deliver the services people depend on. To maintain a reliable income stream from property taxes, many counties sell these liens to investors. These liens carry a high interest rate that then becomes owed to the investor. That’s on the pro side of tax lien investing.

How long property owners have to pay the delinquent taxes varies across the county from six months to three years. Also, the final solution to collecting the taxes varies. Some states allow the lien holder to foreclose on the property. Taking ownership can be attractive to investors if the property is significantly more valuable that what was paid for the tax lien. Other states auction the property and repay the investor for the back taxes plus the interest owed.

But there can be serious cons to this…

Cons to Tax Lien Investing

The biggest risk when paying someone else’s property taxes is the property owner could very well be going into or already be in bankruptcy. You might think that’s no big deal since the property can be auctioned. However, people in bankruptcy typically also owe IRS taxes. The IRS will place its own lien on the property and IRS liens override all other liens. If the property doesn’t sell for more than what is owed to the IRS the investor ends up with nothing and a loss on the back taxes he or she paid.

Also, consider why an owner might not being paying the property taxes. The value of the property may be significantly less than it once was. The owner may have been trying to sell the property for months or even years. The property simply will not sell or is worth less than what is owed on the mortgage, so the owner stops paying taxes and allows the property to go into foreclosure. If this is the case, the probability of the investor recovering the tax lien is not realistic.

Tax liens are auctioned off. Reality is there is stiff competition for these liens. These auctions are handled differently in different states and counties. At some auctions, you bid the amount of taxes you’re willing to pay and at others you bid down the interest rate you’re willing to take. Any interest owed that you don’t get, the county receives instead.

Other risks include other liens on the property or a clouded title. While investing in tax liens can be very lucrative, be sure you fully understand the downside before handing over your investment money. Tax lien investing can be very lucrative but you absolutely must understand the local regulations. Successful investors tend to specialize in specific states and counties or at least in states and counties with similar regulations.

Survey Shows Current Attitudes to Smart Homes

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Lowes recently released a survey on smart homes, and discovered that more than 70% of Americans who have smartphones would like to be able to control some feature within their home, without having to move. According to the article in RisMedia, the survey looked at people’s attitudes towards home automation as well as their experiences.

It also examined the most important features for home automation, and people’s reasons for owning or wanting to own particular smart home products. Overall, the study found Americans are generally open towards the idea of smart homes, and 62% thought a smart home would be a beneficial way of being able to monitor security and home safety. The Smart Home Survey was an online poll of more than 2,000 adults aged over 18, and it found that just over half of those surveyed feel that having a smart home is somewhat important. When it comes to purchasing the equipment required for smart home automation, some 26% say the overall cost of equipment is important, while 31% feel this way about the monthly fees. Some 13% feel the ease of use is important and just 11% think this about security.

The survey found that Americans generally feel positive towards products that could make their homes easier to manage, more energy efficient and more secure. When it comes to actually purchasing smart home products, Americans more than twice as likely to prefer a solution they can fit themselves and which doesn’t have a monthly fee associated with monitoring the system, or an installation fee. Around 40% feel the benefit of owning a smart home would be to make the home more energy-efficient, and to cut down on energy bills. Out of those polled, 62% felt home monitoring and security was the most beneficial reason for choosing a smart home. Americans aged 65 or older were more than twice as likely as those aged between 18 and 64 to rank ease of use as being the most important factor when considering a smart home purchase.

Most Americans aim is to be able to control something in their home without having to get out of bed. Nearly half would like to control the temperature of the property, so it is perfect when they get home. Other wishes includes being able to control lights and door locks. Not surprisingly, these wishes are the top three things most of us forget to do before leaving home, as 18% forget to turn off the lights, while 15% don’t adjust the thermostat and a worrying 5% fail to lock the door. Over half of those surveyed admitted to forgetting to do something when they went out.

Pending Home Sales Fell Slightly in August

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Even though pending homes sales fell slightly in August, contract signings were at their second highest level over the past twelve months, according to an article in Propertywire. These figures were based on data from the National Association of Realtors. Just one region bucked the trend which was at the West, where pending home sales increased for the fourth consecutive month. With the exception of the West, all major regions saw pending home sales figures decline. The index dropped from 105.8 in July to 104.7 in August, and was 2.2% to the below figures seen in August 2013 when the index was 107.1. In spite of the decline, the index is still above 100 and has been for four consecutive months. Anything above 100 is considered to be an average level of contract activity.

Real estate experts point out that even though figures did drop slightly, the number of contract signings is holding steady. The reason the figures declined is likely to be due to less investor activity and fewer distressed sales. Fewer distressed homes are available at knockdown prices, and this factor combined with the likelihood of rising interest rates may be causing investors to hesitate over purchases. The declining numbers of investors means the market is returning towards more normal conditions, relying on first-time buyers and traditional buyers who need a mortgage to purchase a home.

The National Association of Realtors Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers shows that 81% of first-time buyers who purchased the home last year used an FHA or conventional loan. During the housing market recovery first-time buyers have accounted for less than a third of all buyers every month over the last couple of years.

It’s expected that the numbers of first-time buyers should gradually rise, in spite of increasing interest rates and tight credit conditions. This is because employment prospects for young adults are beginning to improve and their incomes are increasing. More disposable cash will help them repay student loans and should lead to higher sales growth in this area during the next two years.

Levels of pending home sales in the North East fell by 3% to an index of 86.5 in August, but this figure is still 1.6% higher than a year earlier. In the Midwest levels fell by 2.1% to an index of 102.4, 7.6% lower than in August last year. In the South pending home sales fell 1.4% giving an index of 117 which is unchanged from a year earlier. In the West, figures rose for the fourth consecutive month by 2.6% to reach 102.1, but this is still 2.6% lower than August last year.