Yesterday I showed a duplex house to a potential client. He is very interested in investing in real estate. Before visiting the house I gave the listing agent a call for showing instructions but the agent didn't to reply until this morning. We decided to go over there anyway. The property is located in a rather narrow and crowed street. The houses in the area are mostly old and the area is considered not a great neighborhood. So, my client didn't make any offer. To my surprise, when the listing agent called me back, she told me the house is already under contract however the seller will consider backup offers.
I am not a real estate investing expert yet, but I believe that duplex is a good investment. The selling price is $280,000. Each unit has two bed rooms and the rent is $800 each. As I see it, this is how the rich people are getting richer. They invest in income producing properties. $280,000 is really not much money for those who have the dough, especially for those people in the San Francisco Bay area who pay double and even triple the amount for similar houses. Anyway, the investor will get two returns on his investment. First is the appreciation of the property. As I mentioned elsewhere on my website, even a modest 5% appreciation will yield a very good return on the investment. The second is the cash flow generated by rents. $1600 a month is not bad for this duplex. Just imagine you own three or four of this kind of income producing properties... Anyway, if you are interested in learning how to invest in real estate, I strongly suggest you to get started with this free online course by Bill FitzPatrick which I also mention and have the link on my website. You can also find more real estate resource and links on my website.
To be honest, wanting to learn more about real estate investing is one of the reasons I want be a real estate agent and a loan officer. If you have any question or need help in investing in real estate, please feel free to contact me. And if you are a savvy real estate investor, I like to learn from you too. Let's grow and prosper together.