In recent years, investing in real estate has become extremely popular. With some practice, patience and help coming from industry experts like a property management group, real estate can provide you with great returns, especially on things like rentals and property flipping.
However, real estate comes with a unique set of challenges that can make it unreliable as a sole source of income and difficult for some people to get involved in.
Maintenance Demand
Even when you are making money off of real estate, you need to constantly be paying for maintenance to keep your properties competitive and valuable. In rentals alone, the average cost for maintenance is usually around 1.5% of the monthly rent price.
That means that you are losing hundreds to thousands of dollars each month on maintenance. Additionally, renters are known for not keeping good care of rental properties. So, you will probably find yourself having to do serious and costly maintenance very regularly.
Bad Tenants
Having tenants is theoretically a perfect way to make money. If your tenants pay on time and in full each month, you will have a consistent amount of income that can help towards paying off your home loan or other expenses.
However, not all tenants are that reliable. Many of them miss payments or don’t pay in full. Additionally, tenants can go against things outlined in your contract with them. It may be wise to consult an attorney when dealing with difficult tenants.
Timing the Market
When investing in real estate, you will probably be purchasing or selling properties multiple times. The price of properties can fluctuate greatly within a year or even within a few months. This means that if you don’t time the market correctly, you can be paying far too much for a property that isn’t truly worth that or not getting enough money when selling your own property. To maximize your success in real estate investments, you need to have the patience and the time to time the market. If you have a full-time job outside of real estate or other time-consuming responsibilities, this might not be feasible for you.
If you are interested in investing in real estate, make sure that you research it beforehand to know what you are getting into. Talk to real estate professionals to know what you will need to do to be successful. If you do decide to invest in real estate, start small at first and make wise financial decisions. If you’re ready to build your dream home, you should hire a custom home builder to help you achieve the home design and style that you want.
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