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Today's "best place to buy" is tomorrow's rentals.

By
Real Estate Broker/Owner with Crescent Realty, Inc. Spanaway, WA.

If you stick around this business long enough - and in the same market area - one of the things about most parts of your residential market that you'll eventually see is that the properties that are hot today soon become tomorrows rental properties.

Nothing new here, just the wheel spinning.


These are today's hot areas. Everyone wants to live there.  These areas generally attract buyers with a long term goal in mind.  You know, burn the mortgage and live here for ever.

However, after the kids have left home (20 years or so) and the house becomes too big - or has too many stairs - Mom & Dad decide to relocate. Or perhaps they pass on and leave the old homestead to the kids.

Many home owners or their family members will tend to keep the home as a rental rather than sell it.  Generally because they can't afford to update the property to sell it.

So renting the home is at least a wise income decision to make.

The formerly coveted owner-occupied sub-division eventually becomes a rental neighborhood. Homes all in dis-repair, and all the rest of those ghastly things that happen to landlords.

The properties in these areas obviously don't keep pace with appreciation or desirability.  Eventually the schools that were there for the original families close down due to a lack of enrollment.

Things look bleak.

But inevitably these old parts of town become the best value for the first-time home buyer.  The "old architecture" has appeal, the area has amenities, and the price is right!

As your market area expands into new sub-divisions, these older parts of town become affordable to younger families that want to own a home, and an area for their kids to grow up in.

Keep your eye on your market to see if there have been positive changes to an older area, and encourage your first-time buyer to jump into the mix.

Before you know it, the "old" part of town becomes the first time buyers paradise.

Comments (3)

Mary Macy
Top Agents Atlanta Metro - Roswell, GA
Top Agents Atlanta Metro

Larry, you are so right this is just a cycle and things will change, rentals will be a gold mine right now!!!

Oct 05, 2010 03:49 PM
Beena Shah
Keller Williams Realty-Hoover - Birmingham, AL

Thanks for the insight from your experience, it all makes sense. I am seeing this happen in my own neighborhood. now we are beginning to see young families moving in. Schools are back to improvement again and neighborhood homes are becoming affordable with hugh price drop...

 

Oct 05, 2010 03:58 PM
Keisha Hosea- KASIHomes.com
KASI Homes - Chino Hills, CA
Real Estate Solutions For Real People

Larry, you are speaking of "basic economics." As one homeowners makes their way into a higher home bracket, it leaves room for someone else to get into the lower bracket. This is what creates a steady stream of growth.

Oct 06, 2010 11:52 PM