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The 5 BIG reasons why it is now a good time to be a landlord.

By
Real Estate Agent with The Oscar Group, a Keller Wiliams team

By now you've probably all heard about the big fall-out last week... numerous sub-prime lenders are going down.

What does that affect?

Well, firstly, all other lenders are running scared.... lending programs aimed at sub-prime borrowers are all being amended on an almost daily basis. Requirement credit scores are now moving higher.... before you might have been able to get 100% financing with a score of 560. Good luck with finding that now. Your score is more likely to have to be around 650 or higher.

Also, 100% financing for sub-prime borrowers was fairly easy to find... now, not the case any more. You now actually need to have some money if you want to buy a house. Novel idea I know but people in other countries seem to be able to do it without too much of a problem.

Anyway... there are huge implications for investors.

Firstly, if you're a "flipper", your pool of prospective buyers has just been reduced quite dramatically in the last few weeks.

Secondly, if you're a landlord, you should be feeling a warm glow as the sun is now turning it's rays toward you. Winter is over, literally & figuratively.

The 5 BIG reasons why it is now a good time to be or become a landlord.

  1. Now that sub-prime tenants are no longer able to buy a home with easy 100% money they're not going anywhere fast. 
  2. 2007 is going to be a big year for foreclosures, those homeowners are going to be tenants for a while to come.
  3. With the increased demand for rental accommodation, the vacancy rates should diminish significantly.
  4. With the increased demand for rental accommodation, the rental rates will harden and increases will stick more easily.
  5. With increased rental income, the value of your portfolio will increase.

So, do we have any good landlord deals out there right now?

Yes... we do.

I still have two duplex investments in Conroe that are available right now. They're fully leased. The cash-on-cash return in year 1 is almost 19% with a 10% deposit and assuming you qualify for a mortgage rate of 8% with your good credit.

Click here for a detailed analysis that also contains photos of the two duplexes.