The Best States for Business

The Tax Foundation’s 2011 annual report for State Business Climate ranks each state on how friendly they are to business according to their tax systems.
The Top Ten are:
10. IN
9. UT
8. DE
7. NH
6. MT
5. FL
4. NV
3. WY
2. AK
1. SD

The Bottom Ten:
41. NC
42. RI
43. MN
44. MD
45. IA
46. OH
47. CT
48. NJ
49. CA
50. NY

Where does your state rank?

307 Red Fox Ln. Goose Creek, SC 29445
Handyman Special

This property has been sold. A great deal for the buyer and seller!

A 3 BR, 2 BA 1188 sqft home for sale in the Foxborough subdivision. Needs some work. Priced right at $75000. Check out the property here.

Is Investing in Real Estate a Bad Deal?

Interesting perspective. Housing is a good investment if you look at the four benefits of investing in real estate: appreciation, depreciation, principal reduction, and income. Appreciation is really not the main reason for investing in real estate anyway, but should always be considered as a bonus – gravy – for a well thought out investment.

Bank Owned Properties, a growing Number

Here is an interesting quote by Thomas Lawler, an economist and housing consultant, “My best guess right now is that REOs held by Fannie, Freddie, and FHA, and other government entities, and banks and thrifts is just under 600-thousand, but unfortunately it is on the rise.”

That basically means that there continues to be ample opportunity to buy investment properties. The statistics for the rising number of foreclosed properties gives credence to this fact. Additional number crunching shows that at the current pace of 150K units of distressed properties sold per month in the last few months, there is roughly a 4 month supply. But of course that’s assuming that the actual number doesn’t increase – unfortunately, highly unlikely given current economic conditions.

For those who can invest, this real estate market may be a once in a generational occurrence, Happy Investing.

Facts and Myths about the Real Estate Bubble

Understanding Context: Housing Boom & Bust and excellent article about the housing market – its causes and subsequent collapse.

During this run up it was so very easy to buy real estate including investment property with very little to no skin in the game. Finding mortgage brokers to approve no-doc loans was not a difficult thing to do. Fortunately (depending on which side of the fence one is standing on), some sanity about the real cost of money, the value of money by lenders and borrowers is coming back to the market. It may be hitting some people like a sledge hammer, but at least it’s a start. Once we hit bottom, we’ll all start figuring out the new (and better) reality. Investing in real estate is still a great way to build wealth.

Welcome S.Kelly Electric – Electrical Contractor for the Charlotte Mecklenburg Area

S.Kelly Electric
Skellyelectric@aol.com
704-807-7478

Former Mecklenburg County Inspector
30+ years in the field
residental specialist
NC State Electrical Contractors License
Bonded
Insured

REITs and a forecoming decline – Be ready for a quick profit?

This is a follow up on a previous post about REITs. Since May 6th the following REITs: VNQ, REZ, FIO, RWX have bounced around, but the prices have been relatively flat.

A new wrinkle that is adding negative pressure to the REIT as a predictor of the real estate market can be found in the following article from Daily Wealth. It talks about the precipitous fall in home builders stock values and also the fall in lumber prices. With the number of foreclosures still increasing and unemployment stagnant at high values, the values of REITs should be falling. The author of the article suggests shorting REITs for a near term profit.

Always ask advice from licensed professionals before making trades of this sort.

Welcome Southwestern Illinois Real Estate Team, Melissa & Chris Lee

Southwestern Illinois Real Estate Team
Melissa Lee & Chris Lee
RE/MAX Preferred
1668 Windham Way
O’Fallon, Illinois 62269
618.233.5399

Search for Investment Properties, homes for sale, and other real estate in and around Belleville IL, O’Fallon IL, Scott AFB IL, Collinsville IL, Highland IL, Edwardsville IL, Alton IL, Waterloo IL, Breese and the more rural parts of Southwestern Illinois.

ProPropertySearch.com

Published Ezine articles

There are some published articles on EzineArticles.com. The topics vary from home inspections to living without a mortgage, and questions to ask a property manager. Check them out!

As Featured On EzineArticles

Opportunities for Real Estate Property Investors

The Window of Opportunity is Still Open for Real Estate Investors – There has never been a better time for real estate investors to get into the market and buy!

Unlike past recessions, the current housing recession, is going to be long and flat in a lot of areas. Recently, at a presentation to the National Association of Realtors in Austin, TX, Stan Humphries, Chief Economist for Zillow.com spoke about the housing recession. He discussed that, how after the housing market actually hits bottom, the second phase of the housing recession will kick in – that is one of flat prices. It’s evident that some real estate markets have not hit bottom yet and, that when they do, it will be a long time that prices will remain flat. This is partly due to the backlog of foreclosures that have been held up due to the governmental pressure on banks to hold off on forcing homeowners in default out of their homes.

While the housing recession has not been a good thing for the majority of American home values, it presents a great opportunity for real estate investors who are interested in building and growing their porfolio of properties. The time to buy is now ripe for investors. With so many foreclosure deals and short sales on the market, there has never been a better time in recent history for investors to increase their wealth. Some economists are predicting that foreclosures will peak towards the end of this year and then remain high for a good while. They also are estimating that foreclosure activity may not stabilize until late 2011.

If you are a real estate investor comparing properties for the best benefits is a vital part of deciding which properties to purchase. There is an easy to use investment property calculator that will assist you in determining if a property will yield the results you are looking for to achieve your real estate investment goals.