Real Estate Market
by Brendan O'Brien
| October 5, 2009
Last week, I started looking into the Washington, DC Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), which consists of the District of Columbia, Northern Virginia and parts of Maryland. Given the growth in the federal budget over the last few years, I wasn’t surprised to see that the DC MSA was “the most educated and affluent metropolitan area in the United States,” according to Wikipedia.
The District of Columbia itself has made great strides in recent years, including greatly reducing the rate of violent crime. You may recall that it was known as America’s murder capital during the crack-filled 1990s. However, the city’s unemployment rate is actually fairly high, at 11.1%.
Maryland and Virginia, on the other hand, are very prosperous. Both are among the most economically successful states in the country.
Maryland’s Doing Pretty Well…
Maryland, DC’s (mostly) northeastern neighbor, has seen fairly consistent population increases and has a well-below-average unemployment rate of 7.2%. It actually has the highest median household income of any state, although this can be deceiving – the cost of living is also very high there. (The second highest median household income is in New Jersey, which is not currently an economic paradise.)
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Learn Real Estate
by Kyle Koller
| October 4, 2009
In today’s society, the possibility of becoming wealthy exists but remains a lofty aspiration for most. While many have come to understand that real estate is one of the most effective mechanisms by which one can attain wealth, many would-be real estate investors are held back for one reason or another. If only there was a way such an investor could more easily cross the bridge into the wonderful world of real estate…
Bridging the gap
One viable option is to participate in a syndication. A syndication is simply a group of like minded investors that pool their resources together in order to participate in investments larger than they otherwise would have been able to alone. These resources may include liquid capital, expertise, project management, and a variety of other valuable things. Similarly, syndications come in a variety of flavors. Let’s look at reasons one might want to participate in a syndication before discussing the various types of syndications and common pitfalls to avoid.
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A couple of years ago, I was talking to a customer for my property management software who was based in Ulan Bator, Mongolia. “Mongolia!” I said. “Holy cow! Why are you investing out there?”
If you’ve read through a couple of Real Estate Investing books, purchased a course or two, and/or frequently read Real Estate websites, then you’re more than familiar with the typical life events that create motivated sellers of Real Estate.
I hate running. I pretty much hate any form of exercise. I have no problem doing my real estate work, but when it comes to working out, I’ll admit I’m very lazy and lack discipline.
Joshua Dorkin
Charles Feldman
Ted Karsch.
Why You Need To Stop Acting Rich…
by Jason Hanson | September 30, 2009Well, you need to stop. Thomas Stanley who’s the author of “The Millionaire Mind” (which was fantastic) has a new book out called “Stop Acting Rich and Start Living Like a Millionaire.” Now, I have not read this new book yet, but I do have some advice which could save you thousands of dollars in the long run.
Why Not To Buy A BMW
I started investing in real estate in college and was able to make some decent money in my early 20’s. Then again, any money in your early 20’s is decent. And I ended up wasting a lot of it by doing immature things. For example, I had a BMW. I only had it for a short time because I realized it wasn’t me and I felt stupid driving the car around. I’ve also wasted a good amount of money on going to Atlantic City and Las Vegas.
Yes, I certainly believe in having fun, but you need to be smart and save your money–at least 10 percent of it. However, I’m not writing to you to try to get you to save your money. That’s common sense. The reason I want you to stop acting rich is to protect your assets and keep yourself from being a target of fraudsters.