Today's Cheat Sheet is brought to you by Web Success Agency:
http://websuccessagency.com/
Most affordable homes are posting the biggest gains nationally & locally:
Bottom Line: In the most recent local real-estate info we saw year over year price increases of 16% for single family homes and 46% for condos/townhomes. We’re seeing a smaller but similar trend nationally.
Nationally the average lower prices properties have risen by just over 10% compared to 7.6% for the luxury counterparts. So what’s at play and what are the takeaways?
- Investors are top buyers of affordable properties
- Condos and townhomes depreciated the most during the housing crisis and therefore are perceived to be the most undervalued & are the most affordable
Let’s take a closer look at the investors of affordable properties. There are two types:
- Those looking to refurbish & flip
- Those looking to build a portfolio of affordable properties and rent them out
Here are a couple of takeaways / considerations for us to consider:
- If you own a condo or townhome and think you’re underwater – you might be pleasantly surprised
- If you wanted to move up buy but didn’t think it was possible because you were underwater – that may now be a possibility
- If you buy real-estate for the purpose of renting out and building a portfolio for income be strategic and diversify
I’ll pick up on the third point. Often when buying multiple properties we’re inclined to buy them close together and close to home. There may be good reasons for that thought process (we understand the area and risk factors, we have more personal control day to day, we understand the value of the property and rental market better than unknown areas, etc.). If you’re buying for income needs over the longer term however it’s at least as important to diversify your holdings in real-estate as it is in equities. Consider the following:
- What happens if you have concentrated real-estate holdings and a natural disaster hits the area?
- What happens if the local economy suffers greatly and unemployment spikes?
- What happens if the city, hoa, or even state sees political change that affects carrying costs?
Those are just for starters. Building a real-state portfolio for income can be a good strategy – but be wise when constructing it.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2012/12/03/lower-priced-homes/1736035/
Just how important Federal policy is to your financial success:
Bottom Line: I think it’s safe to say that most Americans don’t truly understand the role that Federal policy has on their pocketbook. Further – I don’t think most Americans realize that the conditions set by our Government dramatically affect our ability to achieve success financially.
Whatever one’s vision of the American dream is these days; it likely includes a need to obtain financial success. WealthInsight (a financial research firm) released information yesterday that articulates just how impactful the fiscal cliff issue is to prosperity in this country. Here are a few key take-aways
- If we go over the fiscal cliff we’ll actually lose 315,000 millionaires in this country and $240 billion in wealth will be destroyed
- If we advert the fiscal cliff we’d grow an additional 230,000 millionaires next year and more than $1 trillion dollars of wealth
- If we didn’t have a debt crisis at all we’d grow 443,000 new millionaires and create an additional $1.6 trillion in wealth
Hopefully that illustrates the impact of our irresponsible Federal Government. The failed policies of the Federal Government are the biggest impediment to the American Dream and biggest wealth destroyers in world. It serves as a reminder that the United States of American didn’t become the most prosperous country in the world because of its Federal Government. It was because of the economic freedom we were provided by a less oppressive Government.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/100270710
Can you imagine 27% unemployment?:
Bottom Lines: 4.5 Years ago no one is
