Saturday, 31 May 2008

Real Estate Investing Made Simple

By Phyllis Wheeler

Real estate investing may be a lot of things, but it isn't easy. At least that's what a lot of people think.

Buying a property and hoping to re-sell it quickly at a gain isn't a workable scenario in the current business climate.

As far as long-term appreciation goes, you can buy a property, looking to purchase one at a price that allows you to pay management fees. Otherwise, you can manage the property yourself. But what about the tenants?

Depending on the local market, commercial real estate can be pretty risky too. So you are thinking about residential real estate. If you manage it yourself, you worry about excess maintenance costs. You worry about finding the right tenant. You worry about creating a lease.

A real-estate investment trust (REIT) is the real hands-free alternative. You simply purchase shares in a publicly traded fund that owns property, often commercial property, and possibly mortgages. When the stock market goes up, these funds tend to go down, and vice versa. This helps balance your holdings.

But REIT funds, like mutual funds, charge management fees. Are these taking away your profits? Perhaps you would prefer a property with a deed as your real estate investment.

Here's a proposition to consider: an assisted investment where you are given a choice of new single-family houses for rental from low-cost local markets. You can also take advantage of negotiated contracts with reliable property managers, insurers, and loans at 5 to 10 percent down.

Using such a system, You can set up an investment with known costs, and then let the tenants pay off the mortgage for you. It's a great way to start a college fund for your young child. All you will have to do is sell the house in 15 years and extract the equity.

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