real estate investment
Investing in Richmond
If you’re thinking about investing in real estate in Richmond, Virginia here are some good questions and answers that will get you started. Snipes Properties provides turn-key real estate investment solutions for investors, landlords, estates and REO Servicers including property brokerage, asset management and property management services. We help clients find great deals, sell properties quickly and keep their investments operating at peak potential.
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What neighborhoods have good rental trends?
Most areas in Richmond have strong rental demand and making a good real estate investment requires choosing properties with strong long term demand and steady rental income. Some areas in the Richmond, Virginia region have greater demand because of local factors like a university or college, large regional employers or centralized locations. VCU, UR, VUU and MCV are some of the regions largest universities and all have large student populations that benefit the neighborhoods around them in terms of rental rates and demand. These neighborhoods include: The Fan District and Museum District for VCU. Jackson Ward and Carver both serve VCU and VUU. Oregon Hill, Monroe Ward, Shockoe Bottom and Church Hill all serve VCU and MCV students. Westhampton, the Malvern area, and Carytown both serve UR and VCU students. Areas like Short Pump, the West End, Innsbrook, Midlothian, Mechanicsville and I-288 all have large concentrations of businesses near them so many people will relocate around these areas to be close to employment. You can also find strong rental demand in neighborhoods that are close to the major regional hospitals like St. Mary’s, MCV, Henrico Doctor’s Hospital, Memorial Regional and St. Francis Medical Center.
Developing your Real Estate Investment strategy.
Before you can begin investing, you need to determine your goals and develop a clear strategy. Do you want a turn-key investment or are you looking for a more hands on property? How much capital do you have to put down? What lenders are you going to work with and what kind of financing options are available to you? Are you interested in buying a multifamily or single family home to rent out or are you more interested in commercial real estate? It is important to be very detailed oriented and to research everything thoroughly upfront. Once you determine these key things then you can narrow down what types of properties are right for your investment portfolio and what areas are best suited for that property type.
How to Find Good Investment Properties?
There are several ways of finding good deals including both traditional and non-traditional methods. Many excellent investment opportunities can simply be found by using the right real estate agent or broker. In fact, most experts agree that the value that a good real estate broker can bring to your real estate investment activities will vastly outpace the commission brokers and agents charge. Other ways of finding real estate investment property are: For Sale by Owner properties, Bank Owned or Foreclosure properties, Trustee and Estate Sales, Auctions and Distressed Property situations like a Short Sale. Unless you have years of experience buying and selling properties you almost certainly need some kind of real estate professional involved in your transaction. Whether it’s a Realtor/Agent/Broker or a Real Estate Attorney depends on your experience and background, but you will almost always need someone to help prepare and coordinate the contracts, deed preparation and closing. Many entry-level investors immediately assume they can make money by avoiding real estate commissions, but this can be a big mistake. Most real estate agents do a good job of preparing contracts and coordinating the various tasks to ensure a deal closes smoothly. But some brokers actually specialize in working with investors and investment properties. These kinds of brokers often hear about good deals before they come on the market and will share them with their best clients first. So most long term successful investors usually partner up with one of these brokers to help them find and negotiate good deals. Not only does this give them access to attractive properties it also reduces the time and legwork required for your real estate investment portfolio.
What are some good Property Management tips?
Once you have purchased your real estate investment property, now you will have to manage the property so it consistently produces income. The two biggest keys to property management are finding good tenants and keeping the property well maintained. Finding and screening well qualified tenants is by far the single most important part of owning an investment property. Whether it’s a commercial property or single family home having a good steady paying tenant can make or break your investment. The other key aspect is to keep up with maintenance and repairs on your property so they don’t turn into large issues. Property Management is complicated and involves a whole range of activities from collecting rent, preparing well written leases, evicting tenants when needed, making repairs and having good book keeping procedures. Many investors don’t have the time to actively handle all of these activities for their real estate investment portfolio so they wil out source or hire someone to help them. Many use a local property management company. Property Managers will generally provide a turn-key solution which encompasses finding tenants for your property, collecting the rent as well as handling maintenance and book keeping.
Good Articles & Resources about Investing
Should I Put My Rental Property in an LLC
Basics Of Seller Financing & How to Use It
Real Estate Investment Software
If you would like to speak with our Investor Team call 804-482-4200 and ask to speak with Carter Snipes or email him directly at Carter@SnipesProperties.com