All Forum Posts by: Louis Leone

@Jim Viens 

Thanks for sharing.  Interesting article.  It seems the combination of Millennials seeing some of their parents experience the real estate crash as well as over $1 trillion still outstanding in student debt is having them delay the decision to buy.  I think what's also hard especially if you have student debt is that many graduates don't make as much so savings take longer.

With over 77 million strong, I'm sure there will be a split of those who eventually buy and those who will continue to rent.  The question is what percentage opt to do one over the other and where (i.e. urban vs. suburban).  It will be interesting to see how it plays out.

The above answers have covered it all, so I'll just give my vote and why.

I would pick 30 years because I like options.  30 years gives you options.  You can pay it off in 15 if you want the effect of a 15 year mortgage or you can use the money in an emergency or if tough times come.  

When you do a 15 year, the bank is your discipliner.  If you worry that you may use the extra money and not put it towards the mortgage, then by all means go with the 15 year.  You both know yourselves better than anyone else, so go with what you know will work best for you.

Two other great resources if you're looking at apartment buildings (commercial) are:

The urban land institute report:  http://uli.org/emerging-trends/emerging-trends-rea...

and

The Dividend Capital Research Cycle Report - you need to search that in google and you will see a pdf file you can download.  If you have a problem, PM me.

Great visual map of the markets. Really surprised about Florida as well.

Thanks.

@Gary Dezoysa 

Take a look at this forum post.  A lot of good resources discussed on it:

http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/80/topics/1491...

It's great you can relocate anywhere...pick somewhere good!

Sounds like a nice strategy.  Here is a good article on the best college towns in case you haven't seen it:

http://www.realtytrac.com/content/news-and-opinion...

Interested to hear from others as well.  I guess if you're the US government you can always print money to pay your rent if you're a little short.  Couldn't imagine a more secure tenant.

Thanks for sharing Wendell.....great list.  It's interesting that many of them have above average vacancy rates compared to the average for the US.

@Niles Treber 

I would recommend getting involved with your local REIA by locating it at this site: (http://www.nationalreia.com/).  In addition, see if you there are experienced investors on Bigger Pockets in your area by searching under Network -> Find Members.  They can be invaluable.  Next, I would locate a very knowledgeable broker in your area who can get you up to speed on the market and the most recent transactions.

I find CPA's and the like are usually out of touch with the real estate markets as they don't see enough current market transactions.  That being said, most seem to have an opinion, however right or wrong they may be.

@Rob Slade 

Take a look at this blog post by J Scott:

http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2010/02/24...

My personally opinion is I would get it.  The disclosures are not a big deal and being held to higher standard isn't a bad thing in my opinion.