Published Sunday, February 7, 2010 at: 7:00 AM EST
With real estate prices stabilizing or improving in many parts of the country, you may be thinking about jumping in to this market as an investor, perhaps in the interest of diversification and asset allocation. After all, the mantra is “buy low, sell high,” right? However, there’s another old saying that also applies: “Look before you leap.”
First and foremost, you need to determine if you should be buying real estate at all given the various management, liability, cash flow, and other issues associated with it. A simpler and often lower risk alternative could be to purchase shares in real estate investment trusts (REITs), which usually invest in commercial real estate rather than houses but which are more liquid and easier to manage within your overall portfolio. You could also buy stock in construction firms, housing suppliers, or other companies likely to benefit as real estate rebounds.
If you can tolerate the risks and responsibilities of buying a property and can do so while maintaining sufficient diversification in other assets, be sure to consider the following factors.
All real estate is local. Prices may (or may not) have hit rock bottom in terms of the national average, but that doesn’t mean the carnage has ended in your neck of the woods. While home prices stabilized in most areas of the country during the second half of 2009, overbuilt areas and those facing the highest unemployment levels continued to see declines, most notoriously in Las Vegas and Detroit.
To determine whether your target market has a good chance of seeing prices recover, take into account the current number of foreclosures on the market, how sharply prices rose during the good times, and economic factors such as local employment. Regions with relatively stable job markets and that didn’t experience the most extreme booms may recover value more quickly.
What’s the foreclosure rate? To determine the level of foreclosure turmoil in your target community, you need up-to-date information, and the only way to obtain that is to contact local organizations that have the pulse of the community. These groups include the Association of Realtors, Mortgage Bankers Association, city or county housing departments, and state agencies that deal with housing, banking, or economic development.
Ask for figures that let you compare the current level of foreclosure with past figures. The bigger the difference between past and present, the more influence higher foreclosure rates are likely to exert over home prices in coming months and years.
Buying a foreclosed home. Banks will sometimes sell foreclosed homes at a significant discount in order to clear them off the books. But buying distressed property carries extra risks. These steps can help you limit the danger.
While it may be tempting to plunge into today’s housing market as an investor, it’s a rough-and-tumble arena, and buyers are subject to a wide variety of sometimes hidden risks. We can help guide you through the process, working to minimize risks and maximize results.
There are special risks associated with REIT investments including but not limited to: * The value of the units or shares of the trust will fluctuate with the portfolio of the underlying real estate properties. * Redemption will be at a price which may be more or less than the original price paid for the units. * There can be no assurance that the issuer will maintain a secondary market for REITs. Therefore, there is the risk that a REIT investment may be illiquid. * Special risks of investing in real estate including market risk, company risk, real estate investing risk, real estate securities risk, interest rate risk, small-cap risk, credit risk, income volatility risk, prepayment risk, extension risk, and foreign investment risk.
This article was written by a professional financial journalist for Preferred NY Financial Group,LLC and is not intended as legal or investment advice.
An individual retirement account (IRA) allows individuals to direct pretax incom, up to specific annual limits, toward retirements that can grow tax-deferred (no capital gains or dividend income is taxed). Individual taxpayers are allowed to contribute 100% of compensation up to a specified maximum dollar amount to their Tranditional IRA. Contributions to the Tranditional IRA may be tax-deductible depending on the taxpayer's income, tax-filling status and other factors. Taxed must be paid upon withdrawal of any deducted contributions plus earnings and on the earnings from your non-deducted contributions. Prior to age 59%, distributions may be taken for certain reasons without incurring a 10 percent penalty on earnings. None of the information in this document should be considered tax or legal advice. Please consult with your legal or tax advisor for more information concerning your individual situation.
Contributions to a Roth IRA are not tax deductible and these is no mandatory distribution age. All earnings and principal are tax free if rules and regulations are followed. Eligibility for a Roth account depends on income. Principal contributions can be withdrawn any time without penalty (subject to some minimal conditions).
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