Entries from Dan Melson's Website tagged with 'investment property'

New Consumer Article: Segmented Real Estate Markets And Taking Advantage of Them

The new consumer article for today is Segmented Real Estate Markets And Taking Advantage of Them. I've written about how hot the current market is in San Diego. But if you break it down into market segments and micro...

New Consumer Article: Rental Fraud, Landlord Fraud, and Prospective Tenant Scams

The new consumer article for today is Rental Fraud, Landlord Fraud, and Prospective Tenant Scams. As with everything else out there concerning larger amounts of money, there are rental frauds that renters need to be concerned about, more and more...

State of the San Diego Real Estate Market March 2009

Reminds me of this gold rush movie (one that I recommend watching if you have a chance) Okay, it's not quite like that, but correctly priced properties are flying into "Pending". It has to do with supply and demand. At...

New Consumer Article: Confusing Past Performance and the Present Situation with Future Planning

The new consumer article for today is Confusing Past Performance and the Present Situation with Future Planning. If you are sitting on the sidelines thinking about buying property, you need to read it. If you have a property you're thinking...

New Consumer Article: Selling the Property You Should Never Have Bought

The new consumer article for today is Lipstick on a Pig: Selling the Property You Should Never Have Bought. It talks about general techniques for selling properties with issues that make them less attractive to buyers....

New Consumer Article: Investment Property and Loan Qualification

The new consumer article for today is Investment Property and Loan Qualification. It has become exceedingly difficult to get credit for rental income when you apply for a new mortgage, with the upshot being that when the lender won't agree...

New Consumer Article: The Return of Portfolio Lending

Today's new consumer article is The Return of Portfolio Lending, on the subject of what a portfolio loan is and the differences between portfolio and security based lending, and what the return of portfolio lending means, even to those who...

What Remodeling is Likely to Show a Profit on Sale?

My general rule of thumb is "Remodel for your own enjoyment. If you're lucky, you'll get some of your money back when your sell." The remodeling industry has made a very large amount of money seducing people into believing...

California's Home Equity Sales Contract Act

A while ago a reader gave me a heads up that Illinois HB 4050 was hurting residents of certain poverty stricken Illinois Zip Codes. Now I have to pick on our own state: California law generally requires special handling of...

What $5 (and Higher) Gas Means to Suburban and Exurban Real Estate

Most of the articles and things I read about the price of gas seems to be based upon an implicit assumption that the price of gas is only as high as it is temporarily. This is not the case....

Investing Exclusively in Real Estate?

Is there any problems with having all your money in only real estate? That was a question I saw. The answer is YES there are problems! 1) No diversification. The real estate market tanks, like it has right now,...

Flipping vs Fixing vs Investing

I get occasional questions about the difference between these three kinds of activity. Well, there are subjective parts to the answer, but here are some general guidelines: A true flipper is looking for a quick turn on the property, usually...

Buying Investment Property - An Example of the Issues

My aunt is going to move to a new condo and wants to sell her old one. I would like to buy her old condo as an investment and rent it out (as I am already a home-owner). This...

First Time Buyer Programs and Multi-Family Housing

Can I qualify for first time home buyer financing if I buy a duplex and live in one and rent out the other? I thought if I bought a duplex, lived in one side and rented out the other would...

Investment Property and Sophisticated Users

The majority of the protections that folks have are aimed at helping non-professionals have a chance in the complex and nearly incomprehensible maze that is real estate. The legal presumption is basically that you are a babe in the woods,...

Problems with Multiple Mortgages

We have several rental properties that we own (more than 10). When we were younger, before we got married, we both moved around a lot and bought houses, moved, stayed a year or so and did it again. I...

Negative Amortization Loan Issues on Investment Property

Read your article on negative arm loans, and for the person who only owns a residence and most real estate investors it will not work. I own several properties, and the parcel to be refinanced is ocean front...so is...

Investors Aren't The Only Ones Who Can Fix Ugly Properties

About a year ago, I took a look at a lender owned property a few miles from my office. It was ugly. I mean ugly. The yard was a mess, there was a deck that was rotting. The facade looked...

Low Equity (or Worse!) Relocations in a Buyer's Market

Hi, Dan! I just came across your website and you strike me as the type of guy who has answers for our situation: My husband and I built our home 2.5 years ago. We took out a second mortgage...

Lump Sum Payments on a Mortgage and Alternative Investments

This one came from a search engine: amortization of real estate loans early payoff based on a lump sum payment This is one of the smart things you can do. Not necessarily the smartest, mind you, but smart. The question...