also related: National Association of Realtors, showed that nearly one in four U.S. homes bought in 2004 was purchased for investment purposes
source: "Middle Class Drives Soaring Purchases of Second Homes" http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1354649/posts
Real estate is a safe and profitable investment in certain areas only like the east and west coasts. Here in Texas home prices are stagnant and/or depressed.
It all depends on so many factors in so many neighborhoods. Each individual property must be asessed for it's potential and needed repairs, then the neighborhood itself, then the potential renters. And this over several cities. All would depend on the quality of the managers hired. To attempt this on a large scale, especially when it has apparently been tried and failed in the past seems risky to say the least. How can one man oversee such an operation the more it grows? How much of your portfolio would you be tempted to invest in such a outfit?
The taxpayer will come to the rescue of course whether it's FDIC or Fannie Mae or huge injections of liquidity that will translate into increased inflation.
This turned into an excellent thread Willie!
If he had done that in our area last year, those 1,000 homes would have found him with a gross profit of around $100,000,000 in just one year.
bttt - great thread, lots of good info.
and original source has a lot of good stuff which wasn't excerpt.
the tax code should be structured to discourage speculation in residential real estate. this kind of stuff drives prices up for people who actually need to live someplace. its just fueling the real estate bubble.
Ok... so the way I see it, after reading and reading in this forum- is that most if not all of you agree that real estate is a GOOD investment, but not for everyone.
So then, my question, and the reason I've surfed on over and found this site is this: We are seeking to relocate to Arizona, buy land and build... we own a home in California that we are paying a mtg on. Is it smarter (I guess this separates everyone here) to sell said property and reinvest starting fresh etc. or is it better to RENT out our home in California, let it pay for itself (we hope) and be in debt while we start over...? Any takers on this question? Appreciate any input.