While the government’s foreclosure moratorium and mortgage forbearance program provided relief to many homeowners during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, it created an unprecedented situation: historically high numbers of seriously delinquent loans and historically low levels of foreclosure activity. Despite this skew in data, Illinois still ranked #2 on the list of highest foreclosure rates,
I seem to run into new and wanna-be real estate investors almost everywhere I turn. Just last weekend a young woman named Kerry approached me while I was touring the NASCAR Hall of Fame with visiting relatives. She’d overheard me talking with the family about some of the up and coming neighborhoods in Charlotte,
It seems like it was only yesterday that I was debating whether I was going to buy investment property or not. I’d grown tired of the nine-to-five grind that left me too exhausted to spend time with family or enjoy my favorite hobbies. Planning how I was going to get to another rung on the
Some real estate courses, seminars, and coaches claim to be the best educational solution for new investors. But in reality, they’re actually little more than modern-day snake oil salesmen. Others may offer some applicable insight, though costs can range from a pittance to a small fortune. It’s enough to make your head spin! So
I frequently meet new real estate investors who are eager to get started, but they are confused about their financing options. Some believe that there are no loan products available for buying and rehabbing an investment house. Others are vaguely aware of rehab loans, but they assume that investors generally don’t qualify for them.
“The Happiest Place On Earth” is practically a wonder of the world, and the local economy runs on the goods and services that it provides to throngs of tourists. Chief among these services is real estate, and that’s why I’ve invested heavily in buying and building rental properties in the Florida area. Moneyed real
It’s not often that I take the opportunity to speak at a real estate investment club. Since I started building my real estate investment business in Boston about a decade ago, I’ve just been too busy. But, my success has attracted attention and, with that, a lot of requests to speak. So, I decided to take
Though Kenny and I live worlds apart—I call the Pacific Northwest my home, whereas he’s staked his claim down south in Florida—our lives, in many ways, couldn’t be more similar. We’ve both been married for a couple of decades, have two teenage girls, drive American-made pickups, and love living in the ‘burbs. We each
A cousin of mine was asking about getting into the real estate wholesaling business. He took me out to dinner to pick my brain and asked what the key was. I leaned back, contemplated for a minute, and told him that the key was to “sell a house for more than you bought it.”
If you’ve ever worked for yourself in New York, you already know the amount of time, the level of dedication, and degree of energy that’s required to get your business off the ground. Keeping that company running in the race is even more challenging. If you haven’t owned your own business, but have always
I’ve been flipping houses in Florida for years, which makes me an easy target for some of the tough questions that many new real estate investors, like Justin, have. Of course, I don’t really mind. I love the work I do here in the Tampa area, so am always happy to help just about
I like to think it wasn’t that long ago that I got curious about becoming an investor, when I started reading books on real estate investing, attending weekend introduction seminars, and chatting up anyone I could find on residential construction sites. Although it’s somewhat embarrassing to admit now, in the beginning, I was just looking
Yes, reading quarterly research and data on foreclosures, how many houses have sold, and their selling prices can be helpful. But keep in mind that you’re getting a story about what happened already. As a real estate investor, you need to be more forward-thinking than that. When deciding whether to buy investment property or not,
One of the most exciting—and most challenging—things about investing in Chicago real estate is that the market is always changing. Neighborhoods that were untouchable ten years ago now feature some of the hottest real estate in the city. Yesterday’s up-and-coming parish is now pricing out the young and working-class residents, who are moving into
As another summer beckons, Cubs and White Sox fans pin their hopes on one of those teams hoisting a World Series trophy in October. Baseball is in full swing (pun intended) and I get in the spirit of America’s national pastime by weeding out the baseball collectibles I’ve had for decades. At one time,
