Minimize your exposure to Wall Street by investing in real estate

Local investors turn to alternative asset classes that do not correlate with the wild swings of Wall Street by Gary Bailey, President Build. Real Estate Investor Services What a week.  For those of you who were keeping track, the DOW plunged 698.63 points, or 5.75%.  The Nasdaq Composite fared even worse as it plummeted 8.13%.  If you are someone who is actively investing in real estate or are considering purchasing your first investment property, weeks like this make it painfully obvious that diversification through investments backed by tangible assets are a smart move.  While completely exiting traditional asset class investments such as stocks, bonds, and treasuries might be a bit of an extreme strategy - diversification through local investments that do ...

Investor Success Story - College Hill

  Purchase Price: $39,900 (6/24/10) | Sale Price: $89,000 (8/23/10) | Days on Market: 83 Tim is an experienced investor who owns a number of rental properties, but didn't have time to complete a rehab for resale.  What he needed was a property priced right for resale, and contractors to complete all of the work.  Build was able to provide Tim with a 4/1 brick house in College Hill, and put him in touch with one of our preferred General Contractors to complete the work.   The result was that the rehab was completed in under 60 days with Tim only having to visit the property 3 times total.  The property was listed on the market during one of the toughest markets in recent years.  However, it sold in only 94 days ...

Investor Success - Mount Washington

  Purchase Price: $49,900 (7/16/10) | Sale Price: $95,000 (1/21/11) | Days on Market: 96 Mary is a retired school teacher who wanted to get started buying, fixing up, and selling real estate.  Her biggest challenge was that she didn't know where to start and wanted to limit her risks.  What Mary needed was education and training on how to manage a rehab and a property that didn't need too much work close to where she lived.  We were able to provide Mary with complete coaching and education on proven rehabbing techniques - from budgeting to color and material selection.   We were also able to provide her with a property near where she lived that was priced for her success. The result was that Mary purchased a ...

Investor Success Story - Hyde Park

     Purchase Price: $159,900 (10/27/10) | Sale Price: $285,000 (4/15/11) | Days on Market: 14 Barb is a seasoned veteran when it comes to real estate investing.   When Barb came to us, she was looking for a way to find properties that weren't listed on the MLS.  However, she didn't have the time to spend trying to track these types of deals down.  Within a few weeks, Build was able to provide her with a property in a very desirable area (Hyde Park) that wasn't listed on the market.  The result was that she purchased the Hyde Park property, renovated it, listed it on the market and sold it in only 2 weeks!  Would it help you if when you were looking for your next investment property, you had access to properties that weren't ...

Investor Success Story - Golf Manor

   Purchase Price: $29,900 | Rehab: $33,000 | Resale Price: $94,500 | Days on Market: 54 New investors Tonya and Bryan were having a difficult time finding their first investment property. They were looking for a property with a total project cost of not more than $60k in an area where they would be able to rehab and sell a property with relatively low days on market. They had previously been unable to find a property because they weren't familiar with areas outside of where they lived, and neither of them had a lot of time to spend looking for properties. After sitting down with a Build Associate, we were able to provide them with a property in Golf Manor from our current inventory, coaching and consultation from start to finish, access to contractors to ...

Investor Success Story - Anderson

    Purchase Price: $74,900 (12/15/10) | Sale Price: $140,000 (3/18/11) | Days on Market: 8 Congratulations to Chris on a great buy and a great rehab!  This is an excellent example of how a killer rehab trumps any type of worry about market conditions or time of the year.  Chris is executing his investment Strategy that is bringing him closer to his Vision of real estate success.  Build is in the business of helping real estate investors maximize their return on investment while limiting their risk.  How can Build help ...

More Vision Planning

I know by now you are probably thinking that I am a broken record.  Having a strong Vision is crucial to the success of your real estate business. 

Below is a link to an article from Inc. magazine about how to establish a vision for your company.  Good stuff. 

Creating a Company Vision [via Inc.com]

Sales of Existing Homes Gain Ground in November

By: Carrie Bay

Existing-home sales got back on an upward path in November, resuming a growth trend since bottoming in July, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported Wednesday.

Sales of previously owned homes rose 5.6 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.68 million, according to the trade group’s market study. That follows a 2.2 percent drop during the month of October when the annual sales rate was at 4.43 million units.

Having a Vision is crucial to your business.

The Man Behind Under Armour - Video Kevin Plank is the CEO of Under Armour, a highly successful athletic apparel company that continued to grow through the latest economic downturn. In this interview, he discusses the value of having a vision, the power of believing in your dreams, and how having the right attitude can... help your business develop a competitive ...

Don't do these 10 things, you'll be like everyone else but won't like what happens.

Cincinnati housing market regains its legs

  Thursday, August 5, 2010 Cincinnati housing market regains its legs   Business Courier of Cincinnati Greater Cincinnati’s housing market has gotten back on its feet, according to a monthly national housing report. The Cincinnati metro area ranked as the 14th-best housing market out of 50 metro areas around the country, according to a monthly national housing report from Clear Capital, a Truckee, Calif.-based real estate valuation analysis firm. Local housing prices jumped 10.2 percent during the four months ending in July compared with the prior quarter. That beat the national average of a 7.9 percent increase. Greater Cincinnati housing prices rose 11.5 percent from the same period a year ...

Blah house? Dress it up with dormers.

Blah house? Dress it up with dormers Get familiar with these tiny 'houses,' which add extra headroom, light and ventilation to attics and upper rooms. By Robert Martin of Southern Living   more from our partners Create an entertaining backyard Do it yourself and save big No-money home makeover ideas Like other features in the architectural and design world, dormers take on many shapes and sizes, depending on the style of home they complement. Get familiar with these most common types. Dormer pointers If you're thinking about adding dormers to your house, keep these guidelines in mind.  The location of the rafters in your home is crucial because a dormer's sidewalls must rest on top of them. It is best to double ...

Senate Grills Officials Over Progress on Foreclosure Prevention

source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124775888931452225.html JULY 16, 2009, 12:06 P.M. ET Senate Grills Officials Over Progress on Foreclosure Prevention By JESSICA HOLZER WASHINGTON -- Senators expressed bipartisan outrage over the Obama administration's poor progress on stemming foreclosures, which continue to mount at an alarming monthly pace. Senators, speaking at a Banking Committee hearing Thursday, were at times harshly critical as they grilled two senior officials over the tepid results of the administration's $75 billion foreclosure prevention effort. "If you can't tell us what you're headed to -- what you're goal is in terms of the number of properties you're going to deal with each month -- we'll be flailing around with this two years from ...

Fannie Mae Revises Investment Property Guidelines

Fannie Mae, seeking to break the logjam in the housing crisis, loosened its loan restrictions for real estate investors and second homebuyers last week, issuing a new set of selling guidelines. On February 6, 2009, Fannie Mae released Announcement  09-02, a five-page document that outlines the new rules for real estate investors who own multiple properties. “Fannie Mae is committed to providing financing opportunities for high-credit quality, bona fide investors,” said Fannie, which accounts for 40 percent of the $12 trillion in U.S. residential mortgage debt. “Experienced investors play a key role in the housing recovery and Fannie Mae’s continued support for investor borrowers is consistent with its mission to provide stability, liquidity and affordability ...