Real Estate Tidbits: Gardens More Than a Labor of Love
Green Happiness
“He who plants a garden, plants happiness†is an old saying. However, things have changed a lot nowadays. Today, the proverb could be thought of as “He who plants a garden, plants money!†When it comes to selling a house, landscaping is an important factor that determines the value of the property. Real estate gurus believe that gardens around a house can contribute more than 10% to the total value of the property. Moreover, the houses with attractive gardens, particularly mature trees, are easily saleable when compared to the other houses with limited or underdeveloped landscaping. Investing a little time in tending your garden can really pay dividends when it comes to selling your home.
Enjoying Green
Houses with gardens around them are excellent choices for those who wish to enjoy time outside, while not travelling far to do so. It is always refreshing to open the door and go out into the garden and smell the flowers, plants, and trees. Most of us spend less time enjoying the greenery in public parks and sanctuaries since they are becoming more scarce and because of urban sprawl are often far away. Since most of us will never have a chance to visit the tropical rain forests of Central America why not invest a few dollars and house and have your own piece of nature right outside your door?
Green can be healthy
Plants not only contribute value to the property, but gardens also have great health benefits. The health benefits of gardening are impressive. According to medical experts, gardening is a great exercise for legs, shoulders, arms and neck. Gardening also helps to strengthen the joints in our body. Recent researches indicate that gardening lowers blood pressure, reduces cholesterol levels and also prevents diabetes and heart diseases. Gardening is also an ideal physical exercise for people who want to reduce their weight. Gardening helps to burn fat and as an added bonus, creates some healthy, organic fruits and vegetables for your entire family to eat.
Green in real estate
Based on a recent survey or property owners, it was noted that 95% of residential homeowners and 86% of commercial property owners believe that good landscaping adds more value to their properties. Also real estate brokers around Austin think that merely having a garden is enough to attract the buyers. Moreover, gardening has lots of benefits like offering a healthy body, fresh air, a fresh mind, fresh food, bringing birds, attracting butterflies, sustaining beneficial insects and added value to your property. Finally, gardening and makes your property look its best. So plant gardens around your home and grab the sure ticket to quick and valuable resale!
Watch the video related to Real Estate Investing
In this video flipping homes expert Steve Cook begins a walk through of one of his latest "full cosmetic rehab" projects, detailing his investment strategy, estimated rehab costs and expected profit.
Help answer the question about Real Estate Investing
What Are Your Top 5 Challenges In Investing in Commercial (or Residential) Real Estate?Hi Guys,
I was hoping to possibly stir up some interesting conversation and get some honest feedback from everyone about our common topic of interest: investing (commercial or residential) real estate.
Regardless of the level of experience you have in real estate, what would you say your top 5 (or more) challenges are in real estate investing?
I would appreciate everyone else's input on this when you get a chance.
Thank you in advance for all your feedback!
About Author
Joe Cline is a professional real estate broker, investor, and REALTOR with RE/MAX Capital City, Austin, Texas. Joe believes in providing world-class service to his clients through educating and coaching them through their real estate transactions.
Joe's commitment to education and service is reinforced by his achievement and participation in the Austin Board of Realtors, Council of Residential Specialists, Accredited Buyer's Representative's Council, Texas Association of Realtors, and National Association of Realtors.
Joe holds his Broker's license, the Accredited Buyer's Representative designation, the Certified Residential Specialist designation, the Certified Home Marketing Specialist designation, Cendant Mobility Marketing Specialist designation and the Cendant Mobility Referral Specialist designation.
Find out more about Austin real estate and new homes in Steiner Ranch .
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July 21st, 2009 - 17:23
NO they are all scams – enlist the services of a realtor or real estate attorney and find a really smart mortgage broker who is a member of the National Association of Mortgage Brokers. Several of those "get rich quick investing programs" are under investigation by the states and federal Attorney generals offices-
http://www.FTC.gov
July 21st, 2009 - 17:51
Have you heard of Robert Kiyosaki, who wrote a book called Rich Dad, Poor Dad? check out one of his books @ the library, read it, and then go signup up for RichDadWorld.com – there is free information there on how to start. Best of luck to you.
July 22nd, 2009 - 00:03
cash flow, cash flow, cash flow, cash flow and cash flow.
People that get into investment real estate hear all the stories about NO MONEY DOWN. But the problem is, that you lose money every month. Rents are less then expenses.
My rule of thumb is that my PITI equals 50 percent (or less) of my gross monthly rent. The other 50% is NOT profit, but covers up keep and other expenses.
On all my properties I have a positive cash flow and a ROI of around 14% per year (before taxes and tax breaks).
July 22nd, 2009 - 09:31
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July 22nd, 2009 - 19:37
I think you should wait until you are able to be more aware of what is happening in that state you want to invest in. It's kind of like being blind to what's going on if you can't be there for a while. I think you should wait. The market will always have a favorable time again to buy if it changes.
July 23rd, 2009 - 09:20
Most government grants are in blighted areas where they want to spur rehabilitation of neighborhood properties. As far as I know there are no federal grants avalable unless you are revitalizing a property which will end up on the national register of historic properties, but these would have little to no profit potential due to the high cost of rehab to get the property to standards. The local programs generally only give 5-20k for help in rehabbing homes, but unfortunately come with so many strings attached that you will be begging them to take their money back just so you can get them out of your hair. Once you invite them in, you many times lose the grandfather clauses on any number of code requirements that have been put in place since the particular home was built and you have to spend as much if not more than the grant money to get the place up to the government standards that they require in exchange for the grant.
In my honest opinion, better to just get your own loan and go it alone….
July 23rd, 2009 - 23:52
Check out your local Real Estate investment Group ( http://www.reia.org/ )
or check out the Cashflow Clubs from Richdad.com
-Angela
http://www.ratraceclub.com
July 24th, 2009 - 00:10
since each state has different laws and taxes, you did not say where.
i bought some apartments in pennsylvania years ago, very good return
and the write off each year is amazing. thing is, i have them very close to where i live so i can keep an eye on the maintenance and upkeep. i'm not a slum lord nor do i want to be.
i had a rental house in florida, but it was too much of a pain. when it was rented it was profitable but you need to count on Realtors to rent it and they never keep an eye on it after they get their 2 months.
no matter how bad the economy got, people still needed places to rent especially when they could not afford to buy. i am one of the few landlord that allow pets. sometimes that bites me in the butt, but in general people who would rather move than give up their pet, seem to be more responsible. my 6 apartments have been rented by the same people for the last 5 years…when i have a good tenant, i tend to lower their rent a few dollars, everyone is happy.
good luck…whatever you put your money in, keep an eye on it yourself.
July 24th, 2009 - 00:37
Yes, you can, but if you have never owned real property previously, you need to learn a lot before you get started. You will be dealing with people who do this type of work day in and day out. You will be dealing with Mortgage companies, Title Companies, your County (taxes and deeds), as well as everyday people who might know more than you do. There are forms, contracts, not to mention home inspectors, etc …
If I were just starting out now in real estate, I would do these three things first -
1. Learn how things are done in your part of the world. This includes all of the paperwork involved.
2. Find out how much it really costs! Title companies charge more fees than just about any other business I have ever seen, but they are very good at what they do, you definitely get what you pay for. This is not the area to cut corners.
3. Make sure you don't overlook the best deals. When I started out, I worked the area within 10 miles of my home and missed out on a lot of opportunities. If I had been willing to do a little more driving, I probably could have had an easier time because I would not have been limiting myself geographically.
July 24th, 2009 - 01:56
Your best bet are duplexes for rent or buying a house that needs a lot of cosmetic repairs. You just need to make sure you have enough money to pay the mortgage until it sells. The "real investors" purchase now and hold on until the market is high. Buy low, sell high pertains to real estate investor too. A real investor does not buy high and sell a little higher.