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There’s No Free Lunch With Minneapolis Duplex Ownership

October 23rd, 2009 categories: Multi-Family Property Investing

Among the many advantages of being a Realtor with a national and internationally known company like Coldwell Banker are the networking and educational opportunities available as a result of having a presence in so many diverse locations.

For example, today Coldwell Banker Burnet brought in Jon Swire, a multi-residential investment agent from Coldwell Banker, Beverly Hills, Calif., and author of the book, There’s No Free Lunch In Real Estate.

An income property owner himself, Swire stressed time and again in the day-long seminar why now is one of the best markets in years to get started in real estate investing.

First, interest rates on mortgages are at historic lows, meaning the cost of the debt on an investment property is cheap.

Second, due to the foreclosure crises and overall meltdown in the real estate market, prices are low.

Finally, Swire reminded us that all the money the federal government borrowed to fund the stimulus package will ultimately result in inflation. Inflation will cause the prices of everything to increase; including rent and the purchase price of the properties themselves.

Granted, after the binge and purge of the market the past few years, it’s easy to experience a loss of appetite for real estate investing. What if property values continue to decline?

However, many of today’s foreclosed duplex properties are the result of speculative buyers who failed to do adequate cash flow analysis at the peak of the market.

Remember, a property with a negative cash flow is a liability, not an asset. As long as a duplex, triplex or fourplex generates enough income to cover its debt and expenses, you can hang on to it indefinitely; regardless of what the market is doing.

If you’d like to learn how to do the numbers, drop me a line.

Spoken by Kari Lundin | Discussion: No Comments »

Another Lap Likely For Minneapolis Duplex Tax Credit

October 19th, 2009 categories: Tax Credits

For those hoping for more time to get around the track in order to take advantage of the $8000 first time home buyer tax credit , it looked like Congress was poised to keep their hands off the stop watch last week.

Both CNBC reporter Diana Olick and Realty Times columnist Kenneth Harney reported last week that sources indicate to them that the credit will be extended for several months past its November 30 deadline.

Chairman of the House Ways and Means committee, Congressman Charles Rangel (N.Y. -Dem.) also stated to Dow Jones Newswires, “There’s no question I think it should be extended. How long, I haven’t discussed.” When it comes to expansion to all home buyers, however, Rangel expressed his opposition.

Both the National Association of Realtors and the National Association of Home Builders have been advocating for a one year extension of the credit, expanding it to all home buyers and capping it at a maximum of $15,000.

Of course, Congress is rightly concerned about how to pay for it. The original tax credit was included as part of the governments stimulus package. To date, this component alone has cost the government an estimated $15 billion.

Having said that, it has repeatedly been credited as being responsible for the uptick in activity in the housing market, and, as a result, one of the most successful pieces of the stimulus package.

Some estimates for the cost of an extension range as high as an additional $15 billion. One solution for covering the additional cost has been offered by the Republican Senator from Georgia, Johnny Isakson, who suggests the extension be funded with some of the unspent money from the original $800 billion economic stimulus bill.

Of course, until legislation is passed, the deadline to qualify for the credit remains November 30. We’ll watch for news out of Washington in coming weeks for further evidence of change.

Spoken by Kari Lundin | Discussion: 1 Comment »