How To Know When The Rent ISN’T Too Darn High

The challenge facing the owners of rental properties was underscored by a man named Jimmy McMillan, who once ran for governor of New York on the-rent-is-too-(darn)-high platform. In fact, that was what he dubbed his party: The Rent Is Too (Darn) High. (Footnote: He was later evicted from his rent-controlled apartment in New York City [...]

The Local Watering Hole: Neighborhood Anchor or Lodestone?

At their best, neighborhood bars serve as the social hubs of their neighborhoods -- vibrant places that draw people in and draw them together. At their worst, they are nuisances, producing excessive noise, littering, vandalism, etc. The question, then, is this: What are the pros and cons of investing in real estate near such places? [...]

Multiple Ways to Add Value to a Multi-Family Building

  As I wrote in my 2007 book Purchase, Rehab and Reposition Commercial Investment Property, repositioning multifamily apartment buildings has long been my passion, and has proven to be a pathway to profitability. It’s hard work, as investments go, but it has always been worthwhile. Most of the success our company has seen comes from [...]

Four Indicators of An Up-and-Coming Real Estate Market

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 [...]