David Tal has been a regular real estate contributor to the San Diego Business Journal for over a year now.
Here’s an excerpt from the latest SDBJ story featuring Home Reach founder, David Tal.
While average mortgage rates are still hovering below 5 percent,at levels unseen for five decades, local real estate brokers say it is not the critical factor in the homebuying process.
Click here to read full article in San Diego Business Journal.
Investing in real estate can be a very rewarding experience. My clients often ask me, “What would you do with this condo, house, or fourplex?” The answer is simple. It depends.
The truth is there are different investment opportunities for different people. Buyers are not created equal, nor are their goals. Below I illustrate a few different approaches to investing in real estate.
I’m a first time homebuyer.
If you’re in the housing market for the first time, it’s important to have the proper guidance so you can be fully protected and advised. If you’re single or can get away with a small amount of space, you can pick up a small condo or home and begin to build some equity, while keeping your payments low for yourself. There are many opportunities in San Diego where you can find a buy a condo or small home with as little as 3.5% down (FHA Approved) and have your monthly payments be equal or very close to your current monthly rental expenses. In other words, you can start paying yourself instead of your landlord. Not only will you benefit from tax breaks, but it’s a great time to pick up a good deal and build equity as the economy starts to rebound and rebuild.
I’m a cash buyer.
If you’re looking to buy a place for cash, then you need to identify the places that will give you the most return on your money, and also be in an area that will grow in the years to come. In today’s real estate downturn, cash buyers are king, and they can demand the best prices and for the best terms. A good way to locate a prime location to invest in is to see what the trends are in the area. Are there new business or restaurants coming to the neighborhood? What reputation does the area have? Is it around other growing communities? Are there any city redevelopment plans? Once you have this info, you can start to identify rental rates and run simple mathematical calculations to see what will net you the most each year for your investment. Of course, there are many other factors to consider, like comps, sales trends, HOAs, etc; this is where a good real estate agent/broker can really come in handy.
I want to flip homes.
For the savvy investor with the vision to remodel a distressed foreclosure property, there are plenty of opportunities. With a record amount of bank owned listings, distressed homes have flooded the market. The ones with the most potential are the ones that need the most work, but since lenders are hesitant to lend on these properties, cash buyers usually consume them. If you’re one of those cash buyers, lucky you! Yes, it is possible to flip homes in this market. If a home needs $50,000 of work, it may be under market by as much as $100,000 simply because it can only be bought by cash buyers, who have all of the cards in their favor. That means you can fix it up and flip it, pay an agent’s commission and still have a nice profit at the end of the day. Flip a few of these a year and you can do pretty well for yourself. I have many cash clients who have had a lot of success flipping homes in this market. Remember to always get professional advice and quotes from contractors when you’re making these decisions.
I’m really rich!
Ok so if these single property investments bore you, you may want to consider buying a bank owned apartment complex, between 20-100 units. Buying in bulk works just like Costco. You end up paying a much lower per unit cost than neighboring condominiums. Since you are buying these for rental income to start, you can simply take them over, remodel them and demand higher rents in the short term. In the long term, you can convert the complex into condos and sell individual units for huge returns. Then you can roll those profits into an even larger complex.
Want to discuss your personal real estate investment goals? I’m happy to help.
David Tal
Broker/REALTOR®/President
mobile: (619) 955-7706
Last Wednesday marked the 1st Annual HomeReach.com “One Round. One Cause.” Golf Tournament Presented by PING. We would like to thank everyone who came out to play, volunteer, sponsor and who attended the dinner and wine tasting banquet. It truly was an incredible event which brought awareness and raised funds for a phenomenal organization; Solutions for Change. We look forward to sharing our upcoming events for the rest of the year with all of you, which are all part of the “Your Home. Our Community.” Campaign. Click on the album below to view pictures from the golf tournament! Once again, thank you to everyone who enabled this day to take place!
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| One Round. One Cause. Golf Tournament |
HomeReach.com CEO David Tal speaks about the upcoming 1st Annual HomeReach.com “One Round. One Cause.” Golf Tournament, benefiting solutions for homeless families in San Diego County.
On April 8th, CEO of HomeReach.com, David Tal was on San Diego Living with Rich Mundy form PING Golf, the presenting sponsor of the tournament. April 28th is soon approaching! Click here for complete details.
Get $3,000 to short sale your home?
April 8, 2010 – In an ongoing effort to stave of foreclosures, the government has been coming up with new ways to help troubled borrowers. Their newest program may just do the trick!
A short sale is when a troubled borrower owes more on his home than it is actually worth; therefore, he can’t even sell it, but rather is forced to foreclose. Short sales help the borrower sell the home, once approved by the lender to accept a short payoff. Lenders like this method because it saves them tens of thousands of dollars in most cases to avoid the foreclosure process and sell it while it’s in a better condition.
Tragically, only a small number of homeowners have been approved for a short sale by their lenders, and the small percentage of people who were approved had to wait for a 6-9 month short sale process. In many cases, they lost their homes to foreclosure during this tedious and time straining attempt.
On April 5th, the government enacted the new Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives program, known as HAFA. Under this new legislation, borrowers will receive $3,000 to relocate. Short sale servicers will earn $1,500 for handling the transaction. The holders of the mortgages, or investors, will receive $2,000 for participating and helping to share proceeds with any secondary lien holders.
Lenders that participate must make it clear to the homeowners as to what market price they will be willing to accept, and they must approve offers that meet the guidelines within 10 days.
There is no doubt this program will help thousands of people, and speed up the short sale process. In many market areas, it’s been estimated that up to 2/3 of all transactions this year will be from short sales. A foreclosure does twice as much damage to your credit score than a short sale, so homeowners should really consider this option before they just walk away from their homes.
Consult your local agent to discuss your options and alternatives to foreclosure!
Visit us online at HomeReach.com to view all San Diego homes for sale.
We would like to thank Channel 6 News for their amazing participation in our upcoming golf tournament as the official media sponsor!
Click Here to Register for the Tournament!
Thank you for your support!
On March 22, 2010 the San Diego Business Journal wrote an excellent article on the San Diego Real Estate Market. HomeReach CEO and Real Estate expert, David Tal provides valuable commentary in the published article. To read the complete article, click on the following image below.
A new $10,000 housing tax credit for CA homebuyers!
March 25, 2010 – Last March in California, a $10,000 tax credit was enacted for homebuyers who purchased new construction homes in an effort to stimulate the housing market and help developers that were stuck with a glut of inventory on their hands. The state allocated $100,000,000 for the program. It was a huge success. It was too popular in fact, because 4 months later, the fund ran out.
A new bill has been introduced in the California State Senate that would reintroduce this tax credit incentive as early as May 1st, coinciding with the end of the Federal first time homebuyers tax credit that ends April 30th.
With resale homes getting absorbed at rapid rates, many buyers are turning to new home sales which can offer great incentives from the developers like credits for upgrades, waiving Home Owner Fees for a given amount of time, major price reductions, and more. If the state tax credit gets a new lifeline, so will developers of new homes, and homebuyers alike.
Stay tuned for more information on the California State Senate’s $10,000 tax credit for new home sales.
Visit us online at HomeReach.com to view all San Diego homes for sale.
On Thursday, March 18, 2010 Real Estate Expert and CEO, David Tal of HomeReach.com appeared on the FOX 5 evening news to speak about the current state of the San Diego Real Estate Market.