Last week, I shared some information about why title insurance is so valuable. This week, I’ll share a few more compelling reasons to get the best title insurance you can afford. As a reminder, title insurance isn’t like other insurance. Instead of paying ongoing premiums for protection against some problem in the future, for a … Read more
Recently, a Gallup poll indicated that Americans are losing some of their enthusiasm for investing in stocks after U.S. equity markets dropped in the wake of COVID-19. In July, only 21 percent of people considered stocks the best investment, down six percentage points from last year and the lowest Gallup has recorded in almost a … Read more
As the headline implies, this is the third column in a series about real estate investing. I started with single-family homes, moved to duplexes and four-plexes, and now I’m on to small apartment complexes (residential real estate with 5-12 units). These come with advantages and disadvantages; they have a better price-to-income ratio than the smaller … Read more
Last week I shared information about investing in real estate, specifically purchasing a single-family home for use as a rental. This week, I’ll share why duplexes and four-plexes can be even better investments if they fit within your budget. Let’s use a four-plex as an example. In Ukiah, you can purchase one for about $650,000 … Read more
Years ago, I wrote a series of columns about investing in real estate. Since I’ve recently gotten questions on this topic, I thought I’d dust off the old columns and bring them out for an encore. The most important question to start with is this: why should anyone invest in real estate? The answer: because … Read more
Last week, I shared information about hard-money loans, which are loans that often work when conventional loans won’t. This week, I’ll talk about buying and selling notes secured by real estate, a close cousin to real estate-backed, hard-money loans. If you sold a property and carried the financing, you are now the proud owner … Read more
Each week I ask for recommendations for column topics, and this week I received an excellent suggestion from Realty World agent and Ukiah’s rookie agent of the year Tanya Gilmore, who wants to help people of her generation think ahead and make wise investments. She rightly pointed out that many people are waiting until their … Read more
Whether you’re investing in real estate, the stock market, mutual funds or loans backed by real estate, you want your money working for you, maximizing your overall financial health. If you’re an investor, at the very least your goal is to find an investment with a rate of return higher than the bank would pay … Read more
If you are in the fortunate position of having a little money to invest, or if you are just curious about investing, here’s a bit on real estate as an investment. Before I get started, I’ll remind you that I am neither a financial advisor nor a tax professional. I am not advising any action; … Read more