I've received quite a few questions relating to the mortgage crisis as of late. Good for business? Bad for business? Well, that all depends on the kind of real estate business you plan to get into. Don't look at all real estate as one blanket market.Luxury home markets aren't suffering, naturally since the people buying homes in the million plus range rarely need a mortgage. But it's your lower to average priced home that's going to see a decrease in value and that opens oppurtunity for the best time to buy. My first bit of advice will be wait until September to buy homes, I see this recession going deeper and deeper. Don't wait until a new president is elected, you never know what bill could be passed and ruin your buying opprunity. The recession only shows signs of getting worse, so if you buy today - you could be losing money.
Don't buy urban properties, concentrate on suburbs. With the outward growth of dwellings, cities are losing residents to the suburbs steadily. When the mortgage crisis blows over, those with urban properties are going to be hurting to sell. Those with suburb properties are going to be turning a quick dollar. Make sure you get each home you buy reevaluated by the city before you buy, you'll be saving yourself thousands of dollars.
Government checks aren't going to do anything to ease the mortgage crisis. Thousands of dollars are needed and hundreds are being given out, right now would be a great time to buy multi-family and apartment properties. Look for people to be looking for low-rate housing within the next couple months as more and more will have to hand their assets over to the bank.
Here's a checklist of ways to make money off the current housing markets, if done correctly, you'll be rolling in the dough:
1. Don't buy single-family homes until September.
2. Buy multi-family properties right now.
3. Don't use a lender, if possible, gather investors.
4. Let people live it up! If you buy a multi-family property, buy a decent one and fix it up. Remember the people that will be renting/leasing just moved out of a home three times more expensive than their budget allows, they will be picky!
5. Don't become a slum lord, stay out of the $300-$400 apartment game. Look into condos or apartments in the $500-$700 range. You'll save plenty of headaches, time and most importantly, money.
6. If you get involved in multi-family properties, offer amenities other in the area don't. Do other condo owners in the area make residents mow their own lawn? Do the apartments down the block have secured number pads to gain access? Maybe all it takes is a laundromat in the basement. You get the idea, the smallest thing can make a buyer choose between your property or the competitors.
7. Advertise now! I've preached it my entire life, don't advertise when times are good, advertise when they're bad. If the money starts rolling in the door, save your ad budget for another down slump.
8. Build now, buy later. If you can afford to build, now is the time to do it. Don't take face value construction deals, these companies are hurting as bad as the home sellers, talk them down.
9. Join online rental networks. There are so many great sites out there to rally apartment buyers, take advantage of them and eliminate the middle man.
10. Be nice. A mean landlord can result in everybody skipping payments and leaving you high and dry, being the nice guy can leave you with a waiting list of people that want in!
If you're looking at investing outside of where you live, don't look to the bustling cities. Look towards states like Wyoming, Minnesota (hours from Minneapolis), North Dakota, South Dakota, Kansas, Missouri (stay away from St. Louis and Kansas City), and Idaho. You'd be amazed at the towns popping up due to blue collar jobs. People are leaving their big city life for a piece of the american dream in all of these states, just make sure you're focused on the right area.
As always, good luck... and may you be successful!
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