The Undeniable Benefits of Investing in Real Estate
Are you looking for a great way to make a little extra money each month? Investing in real estate is a great way to do it.
It does take a lot of money to get started, but once you do, you’ll have a continuous cash flow coming into your bank account each month. You’ll also get to take advantage of some pretty sweet tax breaks.
You may have to take out a loan to pay for the properties, but if you’re renting them out, someone else will be paying the loan for you.
These are only a few reasons to dip your toes into the real estate market. Check out this guide to learn more.
What Does Investing in Real Estate Mean?
Before we get into the benefits of becoming a smart investor, let’s talk about what it means to get into real estate. There are a few ways you can make it big in the housing market.
You can buy residential houses. Pick up a few older houses and spend money to fix them up, or you can make it big by investing in commercial properties.
Residential Properties
Investing in residential houses can be pretty lucrative, but you’re going to have to play a serious game of chess to make it happen. The first step is to take out a mortgage.
From there, you can either live in the house you buy or rent it out to someone else. There are benefits of both options. If you buy the house, you can sit on it and live there until it appreciates in value.
This is sort of playing the long game, but you can get a great return on the property if you invested in a home that’s in a great location.
If you rent the house out, the tenants will pay for the mortgage each month. Once the home has appreciated in value and the tenants move out, you can sell it for the return.
House Flipping
If you want to make money a little faster, you can go the house flipping route. This is where you buy an older property, fix it up, and resell it for a higher price than what you bought it for.
To make a profit, you’ll need to do a little research. You want to make sure that you’re not going to dump all your potential earnings into the repairs.
Like with buying a residential home, you’ll need to choose a house that’s in a lucrative area. Bottom line? It’s about quality, not quantity.
You’re not going to make a lot if you flip a bunch of random houses. You’ve got to be a little choosy.
Working with an investment company can help you pick places that are worth the money. You can go here to learn more about how the professionals can assist.
Commercial Properties
The last type of investment you can make is commercial properties. It works a lot like buying residential homes. You’ll take out a loan and purchase the building.
After you buy it, you’ll rent it out to tenants that need a building to run their business out of. They’ll pay you rent money that you can put toward the monthly mortgage.
Once the place appreciates in value, you can sell it for a hefty profit. The benefit of investing in commercial buildings is the amount of choice that you have.
You can go with strip malls, warehouses, or retail stores. Whatever you think will bring the most profit to you.
Benefits of Investing
Now that you know what your options are, it’s time to learn why you should dip your toes into the real estate market. It’s not all about charging rent and financial security.
Tax Breaks
The word taxes is enough to make anyone groan in frustration. For many people, it’s the biggest money suck that they experience each year. Investing in real estate is a great way to reduce some of the financial stress.
You can write off some of the expenses that you spend on owning and maintaining the property. The building could depreciate in time. When that happens, it also becomes a deductible expense.
Let’s say that you sell your property for more than you bought it. This counts as capital gains rather than taxable income. You’ll still have to fork over money at the end of the year, but the rates are much lower.
Investment Portfolio Diversification
When it comes to investing, you shouldn’t put all your eggs in one basket. Let’s say that all you have in your portfolio is stocks. During times of economic turmoil, these stocks may reduce in value.
Having a little variety in your portfolio will stop this from being a total loss. Your stocks might not be making money anymore, but if your real estate investments are still going strong, it sort of makes up for it.
Cash Flow
Cash flow is the amount of money that you have left after you’ve paid for maintenance, the mortgage, and other operating costs on the property. Out of all the investments you can make, housing offers the most amount of cash flow.
If you have a family renting out a place each month, what they pay will cover most of if not all of the mortgage costs. The more you have leftover, the more that’s going into your pocket.
Regular Income
As we sort of stated above, real estate investments keep a constant string of money coming into your bank account each month. You’ll have to spend some of the money on upkeep and loan costs, but this isn’t as big of a loss as you may think.
You’ll still have plenty of money that you can add to the cash that you’re already making with your 9-5 job. It will give you some income that you can spend on extra things such as that vacation you’ve always wanted.
If you’ve entered retirement, you can add what you’re making from real estate on top of what you’ve already saved.
You Build Equity
If you take out a mortgage to purchase your properties, it will build up something known as equity. If you find yourself in a financial pickle at some point, you can cash in this equity to take care of it.
You will have to pay back what you take, but you can use the money to invest in other properties and expand your portfolio out even further.
Large Returns
As soon as your properties appreciate in value, you can sell them for some great returns. Keep in mind that appreciation is never guaranteed.
There’s a small chance that the buildings you invest in will never increase in value. That’s why you have to be choosy about the places you sink your money into.
You’re in Control
When you begin in real estate, you’ll become your own boss. In fact, many people quit their regular 9-5 jobs because of the kind of control property investment gets you.
You’ll get to come up with your own selling strategies. You can choose who you want to live in your properties. You pick which buildings you want to put your money towards.
You get to decide how much you want to charge your tenants each month. You’re in charge of which vendors you go through for repairs and maintenance.
Keep in mind that with great power comes great responsibility. If you fail to screen your tenants or you pick a home that’s in a bad location, you might not make as much money from the investment as you would like. You’re in charge of both your failures and your successes.
Protection Against Inflation
As the economy picks up, it becomes more expensive to invest in stocks. Your dollar doesn’t go as far as it could. Real estate actually provides some protection against inflation.
You see, when investment prices go up, so do rent and home values. This means that housing sort of moves with inflation instead of the other way around.
Someone Else Is Paying Your Loan
Not a lot of people have money in their pocket that they can use to buy a property outright. If this is the case for you, that means you’re going to have to take out a loan to get started.
If you go the route of renting out the properties you buy, someone else is paying for that mortgage that you took out. As long as your tenants pay you on time, you’ll get your loan paid off in time.
You Improve the Community
When you purchase properties, you’re not the only one that benefits. Your entire community can get something out of it. You’ll provide housing for families that need it.
You’ll also keep your local economy moving, and you increase your city’s tax revenues. When your community does well, your properties will appreciate. It’s an endless cycle of good.
Leverage
In the real estate world, leveraging means that you’re using someone else’s money to buy a property. This means taking out a loan with a bank and paying them back.
This system can allow you to buy a home that costs more than the funds you have available. You can even sink your cash into multiple housing projects if you want to.
How to Invest in Real Estate
After reading all this are you ready to get started with real estate? We can’t blame you. Before you purchase your first property, there are a few things that you need to take into account.
Pick the Right Location
The house can’t pay off if nobody rents it. To ensure that you find an interested party, you’re going to have to purchase buildings that are in a favorable location.
There tend to be a lot more jobs and amenities in cities. That doesn’t mean that you can’t make a decent profit from investing in a house located in a rural area, but you may have better luck somewhere larger.
You also want to look for areas with reasonable property taxes, great school systems, and a low crime rate if you want to attract families.
Prepare for the Downpayment
Even if you have decent credit, you won’t be able to buy houses without having some kind of downpayment on you. When it comes to investment properties, there’s a greater risk involved.
That means you’re going to have to have more money upfront. There are also some seriously stringent approval requirements that you have to meet.
We’re not saying this to discourage you. We’re only saying that the costs may catch you off guard if you’re not prepared.
Pay Your Debts
You’ll be able to get lower rates and smaller downpayment requirements if your credit score looks decent. This means paying some of your past debts.
If you’re dealing with student loans and maxed-out credit cards, you’ll need to take care of these before you start dipping your toes into real estate.
Beware the Intrest Rates
An interest rate is the amount of money that a bank charges you to borrow cash. The rates on investment properties tend to be sort of high.
You’ll need to look for lower mortgage payments if you want to avoid spending all your profits on paying off the loan. You’re trying to make money here.
Is Investing in Real Estate Worth It for You
If you find that you need a little extra money in your pocket each month, you should consider investing in real estate. Getting started can be a huge money sink, but once you get the ball rolling, it may be lucrative enough for you to quit your day job.
All you have to do is know which locations are going to turn the best profit. If you follow the steps that you’ve read here today and do your research, you’ll be well on your way toward making riches.
If you’re looking for more ways to succeed in real estate, we’ve got you covered. Visit the business section of our blog for all the latest tips and tricks.