All Forum Posts by: Dustin Ruhl

A magazine has ranked Indianapolis as the most favorable city in the United States for renters in 2017. This is based on the fact that the median rent in this city is only $807 per month. This figure amounts to just seventeen per cent of the average income in Indianapolis. The only lower city found was Kansas City, at sixteen per cent. In addition, the rate of vacancies in Indianapolis is 5.6 per cent. As a result of the relatively low demand, landlords have been unable to raise rents beyond 2.5 per cent. The magazine researched forty-six cities for this report. It found that median rent was $1284.00, or 27 per cent of average income. Finance experts believe the ceiling for affordable rent is thirty per cent of income. The median vacancy rate for the forty-six cities was 3.9 per cent. The magazine noted the trend among younger people is to rent rather than to buy. Younger people are no longer buying into the assumption that a home will only appreciate in value after the housing crisis. The ownership rate in Indianapolis is 58.87 per cent, which is actually pretty high. Apartments in this city have grown by 2,000 to 3,000 units per annum over the past decade.

Key Takeaways:

• Indianapolis is the best city for people to rent in the US in 2017 because the city is very affordable, and rents are very low.
• After the recession, it makes more sense to rent than to buy a home than it did before the recession
• If you are paying too much in rent, it might make sense to move to Indianapolis

"Indianapolis tops our list of the best cities for renters this year thanks to astonishingly low average monthly rents and astonishingly high levels of affordability."

Read more: https://www.forbes.com/sites/samanthasharf/2017/03/08/indianapolis-is-the-best-city-for-renters-in-2017/

Homeowners all across America wonder how much their home is worth. A new trend discovered by Quicken Loans, and their National Home Price Perception Index, has many homeowners estimating their homes higher than they are actually being appraised at. What is the cause of this trend? One word, neighborhood. Many Americans believe their home is worth more than it is, and a large part of this has to do with the neighborhoods they are in. On average a homeowners believes their home is worth about 1.69% more than their home is actually being appraised at. Bill Banfield, the vice president of capital markets for Quicken Loans, says that a customer will tell them what they believe their own is worth at the start of the mortgage process. Once the home is appraised, Quicken Loans will then compare the data. The trend began in February 2015, and has just been increasing every month. In Denver, homeowners are, on average, overestimating the value of their home by three percent. Banfield is hoping that consumers will take advantage of this information, so they have a better understanding of what their home is actually worth. So remember when buying or selling a home, it is all comes back to location, location, location.

Key Takeaways:

• Homeowner estimates of their property’s value remains above the appraised value in some areas.
• In some metro areas, homeowners estimates of their property’s value are actually below the appraised value.
• Low levels of home inventory persists as the main driver of home value growth.

"Homeowners tell us what they think their home is worth at the beginning of the mortgage process, then we compare that with the appraiser’s opinion of value."

Read more: http://www.housingwire.com/articles/39568-are-you-overestimating-your-home-value

While there was a seasonal increase in home sales and inventory, the housing economy is still struggling compared to last year. The median home price, however, has steadily increased. This seems to be good news but makes the homes out of reach to many consumers. The supply of homes for sale is also low. It seems that while there is increase in prices and increase in foot traffic, the real estate economy will still take a while longer to recover. We are still suffering from the effects of the real estate bubble bursting. All of these statistics and metrics can be confusing and seemingly conflicting, but the overall message remains: the real estate market is making a comeback. Albeit a slow and uneven come back, it is a come back nevertheless. It will just take time for things to even out to get back to the steady increase in real estate values that we have seen historically. Investors take note, there are still deals and values to be had and investing in real estate is still a worthwhile venture. Stay tuned to see what real estate market gurus think will happen in the future. My prediction is the future is bright!

Key Takeaways:

• This indicator is thought to be a good measure of demand in the real-estate sector
• Higher prices are increasing equity for homeowners and might encourage some to put their homes on the market, but they could be hurting first-time buyers
• High inventory means smaller price increases and slightly higher sales, and less inventory means lower sales and somewhat larger price increases.

"Realtors are reporting stronger foot traffic from a year ago, but low supply in the affordable price range continues to be the pest that’s pushing up price growth and pressuring the budgets of prospective buyers."

Read more: http://www.housingwire.com/articles/39642-existing-home-sales-come-down-off-10-year-high

Low income home buyers Paying Cash For Homes It's reported by Pennsylvania Association of Realtors President Kathy McQuilkin. That 1 in 3 buyers with incomes under $50,000 are buying homes with cash. Especially the lower-income citizens reported in cash-only purchase over 50 years old. Key Takeaways:

"The association’s Welcome Home survey also discovered that 23 per cent of homeowners are unsure how long they will stay in their current home, rising from 14 per cent in the last quarter of 2016."

Read more: http://www.mpamag.com/news/morning-briefing-low-income-homebuyers-more-likely-to-pay-cash-62722.aspx

Hey @Jordan Santiago you can go thought this topic. 

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/20/topics/168...

Hope It will help.

@Jasmine Norris that is a really good idea.

Yes, I have been flipping houses in the Indianapolis market for the last 6-7 years.  I got in like everyone else.  Started with my first rental, was scared to death, it went fairly well and then did another rental.  Then I did my first flip in 2011 did decent, not great but didn't lose because I bought it right.  As the old saying goes you make money on the buyside.  I now own a construction company, and wholesale company.  We sell turn key rentals, wholesale, and Flip.  So I am fairly active in my market at I typically operate off that formula.  In regards to what wholesalers sell their houses for it varies per market but in Indy we are all fairly collective with each other so we can't get to crazy with what we sell our houses for.  Typically sell around 65-70% of retail value here in Indy for buy and holds and probably around 40-50% of retail value for Flips.  

Thanks for the post @Will Barnard, I learned something from that.

When thinking of the best investors compared to Star Trek, Vulcan's would make the best investors compared to Mr. Spock who would be more of a irrational decision maker. There are many emotions that can affect a humans decision. It can be simply the day of the week, the feeling you have at the moment, or as simple as watching a movie to make up your mind. The moods that humans have affect the decisions we make and can impact the world. People's emotional decisions can add fuel to the economy. A study was conducted in which they had the subject watch 3 different movie clips. These movie clips evoked different emotions such as: scary, exciting, and calming. After the videos were viewed by the subjects, they entered into a game in which they had to trade a fake asset for real money they had been given for the study. The people who watched the exciting video witnessed assets that prices increased faster and were at a higher peak than those who watch the other videos. Those who watched a calming video witnessed their asset prices in case the least. Excitement can increase and make assets grow faster. It is very important to make investing decisions before you experience great emotions such as extreme highs and lows.

Key Takeaways:

Researchers determined that people's investing strategy is influenced by their emotions. The mood people are in can have implications on the worldwide investment market.

Growing asset bubbles can cause excitement leading to an emotional high that will make people take higher investment risks against their better judgement.

In the study participants watched an exciting, calm, or scary movie clip before a trading game. The ones who watched the exciting clip were willing to take higher risks.

"Make all of your important investing decisions before your emotions kick in."

Read more: http://www.bankrate.com/financing/investing/avoid-investing-while-aroused/

To find an ideal deal, you need to-

• Determine the ARV (After Repaired Value)
• Estimated Repair Costs
• Calculate for Closing and Holding Expenses

Cost like purchase or selling closing, holding financing.

• Determine Your Offer

To calculate offer-

1. (ARV) - (Repair Costs) - (Closing and Holding Costs) - (Desired profit) = Offer Price

2. ARV x 70% - Repair Costs = Offer Price