Florida-based real estate investor named David Oberlander was surprised to learn three years ago that one of his rental properties was falling just short of a five-star rating on Airbnb. As he related on the website biggerpockets.com, one of his tenants called to tell him of the comings and goings at an adjacent property -- [...]
The CNBC headline, from July 2017, still stuns: “There Are More Renters Than Any Time Since 1965.” The piece, which cited a Pew Research Center report, goes on to note that in 2016, 36.6 percent of U.S. households were headed by renters, the most since 37 percent did so in 1965. The other bullet point [...]
As is the case across the country, the real estate market in Chicago is ablaze, for the simplest of reasons: Demand has outstripped supply. That is, of course, great news for agents and brokerages, who are moving more properties at higher prices, and doing so more quickly than is typical. There are challenges, [...]
Securing a multifamily property is a wide-ranging proposition, a matter of locks, lighting and landscaping, of entrances and elevators, of fencing and fire escapes. Things like concentric circles of protection and Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) must be considered. And then a fine line must be walked, between what looks good and what is [...]
For any real estate professional, the competition represents more than a sign in somebody’s lawn, and more than a website. It represents opportunity. Opportunity to learn, to gauge, to grow -- to recalibrate one’s own approach to the profession. Competition, far from bad, makes you better. It reveals weak spots and gives you a chance [...]
Believe it or not, a lot of work goes into real estate projects--in particular, the decision over whether a property should be renovated and refurbished, or demolished outright to make way for another structure. Personally, I much prefer renovation and refurbishment: I find it more cost-effective and efficient, and I’ve made much of my career [...]
Even though I’ve built my career on rehabbing and repositioning large, multi-family apartment complexes, I’ve always remained fond of single-family homes. After all, there is plenty of opportunity for renovating and reselling single-family homes--to the point that there are many articles, TV shows, websites, and magazines that have covered the topic. And renovating (and then [...]
Look before you leap, as the old saying goes. Nowhere is that more true than real estate investing. After all, when you’re sinking hard-earned capital into an investment, success is always balanced by some degree of uncertainty. The trick, then, is to do your due diligence on the forces influencing any given housing market; factor [...]