I occasionally write editorial pieces on real estate and real estate investing for the Business Journal Network. I recently provided a column on avoiding fraud scams that appeared in several markets. Here’s the article as it appeared in the Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal.
This column emphasizes points that I’ve emphasized recently in blog postings on fraud and scams.
The SunshineCoast, to anyone that
Expect to see more of this issue…
As the presidential election looms, the issue of immigration - particularly illegal immigration - will move into the spotlight.
It is expected that the Australian real estate investing market will continue to grow in the near future, however, the rate of growth is expected to slow in NSW and Western Australia where the markets are expected to correct themselves.
Although, some regional areas of NSW such as the Newcastle / HunterValley area will probably continue to grow at a steady rate and Western Australia is still experiencing a high demand which is largely dependent on the resources boom.
Queensland, particularly South East Queensland, is expected to maintain strong capital growth in the residential property market as a result of continued migration from other states. However, rental yields are not expected to increase substantially despite low vacancy rates.
I got some interesting emails from readers responding to my recent posts on real estate fraud. Here’s one of them (posted w/ permission from the author, with names and minor details changed):
Chris,
I was approached by an acquaintance, Phil, to invest into a get rich quick scheme. I was to be the buyer and mortgage holder for two houses, but all documents and paperwork would be mailed to Phil’s residence and Phil would be responsible for all mortgage payments and monthly maintenance fees. I was promised a gift of cash in exchange for using my good credit. All was good for several months, and then I started receiving calls from American Servicing Company for non-payment.
There’s a conventional wisdom out there that higher-end properties bring good tenants and lower end properties bring problem tenants.
I’ve often stated that one of the most important factors in your success as a real estate investor is your ability to select, screen, and retain quality tenants. This is something that I think I’m pretty good at, which has helped me as an investor.
I was going to write an article about this not to long ago when, bam, I ran into a problem: tenants who stopped paying.
The tenants were a flaky young couple that I knew I might be taking a chance back when they signed the lease in May. But I decided to rent to them and mitigated my risk by signing a short lease (six months, with renewal contingent on timely payment), charged them first and last month’s rent upfront, plus one month’s rent as deposit. I won’t go through the boring details, but they ended up breaking the lease and abandoning the property while they owed me money. If you find yourself in a situation like this one here are some points to keep in mind.
The normally laser-focused Pat Kitano showed me yesterday that it’s actually okay to write the occasional off-topic post. So here’s mine: a word of warning to you unsuspecting consumers who might be considering purchasing a Gateway (soon to be Acer) product.
The customer experience when you’re buying something from Gateway is brilliant. Smooth, efficient, friendly – my representative had me whipping out my credit card in a jiffy.
