5 Reasons to Invest in Real Estate—Now

5 Reasons to Invest in Real Estate?Now

You don?t need a wide, kids, and a station wagon to buy a house. The popular image that portrays home buying as the first step towards settling down and establishing a family is outdated. Real estate, as the very name implies, is an investment. It is a capital asset that can be used to make you money?now and in the future.

In the year before I graduated high school, I met a young, single, successful business man who had recently moved to my city. One of the first things he did was to buy a large house in the suburbs. Until that time I associated such a move with getting married. I asked him why he had bought a house rather than lease an apartment, as most of the other young men I knew did. He told me that paying mortgage on a home was cheaper than paying rent, that buying a home was like buying stock but was safer as an investment, and that he had chosen an area and was putting in place improvement plans that would ensure the house increased in value: so that when he was ready to sell, he would get an extraordinary return on his original investment.

This response has stuck with me. Even if you already have a healthy portfolio, you should look at real estate as a good investment opportunity. You must, of course, be willing to play the long-game in getting returns on it. However, you can collect rents on your homes while you wait for the opportune time to sell.

This article lays out 5 good reasons why it is a good time to buy real estate?now. They are as follows:

• ?Interest rates are still low
• There?s more inventory
• Home prices are going up
• Rents are sky-high
• Employment on the rise

The Federal Reserve has recently announced that it plans to end some of the emergency measures it took during the recent economic downturn. It is still keeping interest rates low, but this is likely to change as the economy improves. You should take advantage of the recession-level interest rates while you still have a chance.

The fact that rents are sky-high means more people will be looking for housing that is cheap and terms that are flexible. Having a home, or even two, that you do not occupy gives you the opportunity to open up a revenue stream through renting.

The full article can be read here. Given current conditions, buying real estate is one of the best investment decisions you can make. The market is at one of those sweet spots for buyers. Prices are still low, inventory is still plentiful, and everything indicates that the value and demand for homes is just about ready to take off.