Condos Attack Housing Market!
Making money through real estate investing can be a fickle
business. Here's a surprising trend that can put money into your
pocket.
Traditionally those of us who own rental property looked upon
condos as competition. They offered a relatively low cost way
for renters to move into home ownership.
This demand for condos has fooled many of us. With low rates of
interest on home loans and plenty of money available... the
logical expectation would be that instead of buying condos,
buyers would move into the single family home market.
Of course... many of them have and home prices continue in an
upward trend. But thousands are choosing condos rather that a
detached home.
The National Association of Realtors reports that condo sales
averaged less than 200,000 annually in the 1980s. That number
jumped to 500,000 in the 1990s... and over the last three years
has rocketed to over 800,000 each year.
Take note of this.... In quarter number two of 2004, condo sales
nearly hit the 1 million mark.
Right now the condo market is hot in most parts of the country.
Prices have reached record levels and continue to climb.
While condo values go up... the rental market has gone soft.
That has prompted many of the biggest apartment owners to begin
converting apartment complexes into condos.
The are converting their own complexes while looking for other
existing buildings to buy and convert.
The business has become so profitable that many of these big
guys are slowly moving out of the apartment business by either
converting owned properties, buying others... or building new
condo developments.
This is a wake up call for the small real estate investor. Start
looking for motivated condo owners!
You can use most of the same tactics you use to buy single
family homes.