Yachts Rescue Monaco Real Estate

April 20th, 2011

Monacos annual yacht show which ran Wednesday 21 September to Saturday 24 September attracted over ninety of the worlds finest yachts and five hundred of the worlds best yachting companies.

The show has grown in popularity over the fifteen years since it began, and this year attracted over twenty thousand visitors to the Principality.

The luxury yachting market has tripled in the last eight years, and helped along by orders from Russias nouveau riche, the industry has seen an increase in orders of over a quarter in the last year alone.

But while luxury and Monaco are often associated, poor sales and a possible drop in property prices havent been seen in the Prinicpalitys real estate sector for over a decade.

Monaco Real Estate

In contrast to the highly successful Yacht Show, property sales in Monaco have been unusually slow in 2005. Although only a square mile in size there are over a hundred estate agencies battling for buyers to choose their services, and at times it seems that every third or fourth retail unit has been commandeered by a property company in Monte Carlo, the best known and most sought after area of Monaco.

According to Monte Carlo property specialist Henri Boulanger some estate agents are being squeezed, and viewed the yacht show as the last opportunity to turn a dismal year into a good one.

The yacht show attracts a wealthy clientele in considerable numbers, and the type of person who might be buying a luxury yacht might well be thinking about buying a property in Monaco as well.

While it wouldnt have been etiquette to actively pursue buyers, many estate agents in Monaco were desperately hoping to see their doors open and for one or two potential buyers to call into their offices.

With good two bedroom apartments starting at over a million Euros, and penthouses with Mediterranean views often over five million and some of them over ten million, it can take just one sale to turn a bad year into a good one.

Monacos property price inflation has often risen by over ten per cent a year in the last decade, but a combination of events have conspired this year with a possible stagnation in prices for 2005, and potentially even a fall.

The passing earlier this year of the popular Prince Rainier, Europes longest reigning monarch, cast a cloud over the area which it is just emerging from, but economic factors have also played a significant role in the downturn of the real estate market.

The strength of the Euro against the American pound has led many of our potential buyers from the US to delay their viewing visit from this year to next, and earlier this year another source of important buyers from the UK held back until after the election to see what the outcome would be, explains Henri, adding and now with the uncertainty of the economy after the recent US hurricanes it is quite possible that some US buyers will delay their visit even more, or possibly to cancel buying in Monaco altogether.

Monaco Grand Prix

No surprise then that while the tourists were in Monaco in increased numbers than last year, the prospect of several dozen potential property buyers descending upon Monaco and staying in her best hotels over a few days was seen as an opportunity not to be missed by the realtors.

But what is surprising perhaps is that the Yacht Show is viewed as a better opportunity than the Monaco Grand Prix for her realtors.

The Grand Prix attracts tens of thousands of people to Monaco every May, explains Henri, And every April we get a lot of new enquiries for property in Monaco, with the buyers asking to view apartments in Monte Carlo with views of the race circuit during the Monaco Grand Prix weekend. But what they dont realise is that many of the apartments for sale have been rented out for the weekend, and viewing is impossible.

Even if an apartment hasnt been rented out for corporate hospitality it would take all day to get from one apartment to another. The Grand Prix is a great tourist event for Monaco, and some of the estate agents go away for a few days. They werent doing that during the Yacht Show!

Wisconsin Real Estate Making The Dairy Land Look Good

April 13th, 2011

Wisconsin Real Estate Making The Dairy Land Look Good

Wisconsin Real Estate Making The Dairy Land Look Good

It might surprise you, but Wisconsin is home to one of the highest rated and most in demand towns in the United States. More and more people are starting to realize the Dairy Land is a good place to live.

Wisconsin Real Estate Making The Dairy Land Look Good

Wisconsin likes to promote itself as America’s Dairy Land and it isn’t far off. The state has a strong rural, farming influence. This leads to friendly people and communities living at a pace of life you will not find in more stressful states such as New York and California. Wisconsin, however, does hold a gem of a small city within its borders.

Madison is the capital of Wisconsin and home to the University of Wisconsin. A sleepy college town for years, Madison has long offered a great way of life. National publications started noticing it a few years back and it is regularly listed in top 10 rankings for desirable places to live in the United States. The reputation is well earned as Madison manages to have all the amenities of a large city while maintaining a small college town field. Madison gets a big thumbs up from us.

If you prefer living in larger cities, Milwaukee is as big as it gets in Wisconsin. It is located on the shores of Lake Michigan and is roughly 90 miles from Chicago, a city with which it maintain a natural rivalry and love-hate relationship. Over the last few years, the city has undergone major redevelopment and upgrades which is making it an attractive place to live after long periods of stagnation and decline.

The Wisconsin real estate market is vibrant and compares with any in the country. A single-family home in Madison will set you back roughly 160,000 while the same home in Milwaukee will run you roughly 110,000. Appreciation rates are a steady six to seven percent across the state.

All and all, Wisconsin offers a both a good place to raise a family and real estate market you can afford. The Dairy Land has never looked so good!

Why You Should Choose Loveland Colorado Real Estate

April 6th, 2011

More Americans are becoming homeowners now than at any other time in history. Purchasing a house is often seen as financial investment. But it is also a place to live and raise children and an investment in the community. Everyone should have the opportunity to enjoy living in their own home, and one way to ensure the most from your new place is to not only focus on the details of the home but to also consider the location and the surrounding area during the buying process. Before purchasing a home it is smart to do a little research on the surrounding area. It is these kinds of details that will really make your place feel like home sweet home.

Loveland, Colorado. It is a great town that offers a superior quality of life in a great location. It is nestled in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains and is often referred to as the Gateway to the Rockies because of its exquisite location and unparalleled scenic beauty. It is the natural beauty of Loveland that inspires its traditions and plethora of outdoor recreational options, including boating and hiking.

Traditions
Loveland, Colorado is probably best known nationwide as the home of the Valentine Re-mailing Program. Every year hundreds of thousands of Valentines are packaged inside larger envelopes and sent to Loveland where countless volunteers hand-stamp each letter with a Valentines verse and send them on to the intended recipient. Each year a contest is held through the local newspaper for residents to submit their verses. The winners have the privilege of seeing their prose stamped on Valentines letters. In the weeks leading up to Valentines Day, the city of Loveland allows residents to place red hearts embellished with personal messages on light poles and other fixtures on the downtown streets. What a love-ly tradition.

Boating
Boating is a great family vacation that gets you out of the house and away from your busy life. Boyd Lake State Park, located near Loveland, Colorado, is the most modern water sports facility in Northern Colorado. It includes over 1,700 acres of water for boating, fishing, sailing and swimming and plenty of sandy beaches for picnicking. This park also has some incredible wildlife. Pelicans are often seen gliding across the lakes surface.

Hiking
Hiking is one of the most relaxing and carefree experiences you can give yourself. There are often no schedules to keep, no deadlines to meet, and definitely few worries for hikers. If you love hiking and crave the adventure that it brings, then Loveland, Colorado is the place for you. Let your curiosity take you around the next bend or up the next hill to magnificent views that will take your breath away. Enjoy beautiful waterfalls, turquoise lakes, cascading creeks, and incredible rock formations that can only be seen by foot in this gorgeous Colorado landscape. You may even get lucky and see some wildlife off any one of the heavy-wooded trails. Whats great about hiking is that no matter how many times you hike the same trail, the experience is always different, with new wildlife, new colors, and new views. And if you love hiking, you may also want to try snow shoeing or rock climbing here in this serene area.

Loveland is fortunate to be located near Lory State Park, just along the edge of Horsetooth Reservoir. This park offers incredible scenery that can be seen from any one of its extensive trails used for mountain biking, hiking, or horseback riding. Visitors can enjoy the wildlife and beautiful wildflowers along any trail.

So whether its the traditions, boating, hiking or any number of other reasons, let Loveland Colorado be your next choice when considering real estate.

Why Real Estate Investors Have Their Own Investment Criteria

March 30th, 2011

Writing down your real estate investment criteria means writing down your needs and wants in a real estate deal. It means outlining what you are looking for in a real estate opportunity. Having written criteria can help you grow as an investor and can make it easier for you to land the best real estate deals.

If you to join the ranks of real estate investors, you might want to have formal written investment criteria set out for yourself. Putting your investment criteria in writing allows you to see at once whether possible investment opportunities do or do not fit your future plans. This allows you to quickly sort through potential opportunities to pinpoint the right ones.

Writing down your investment criteria also hones your focus and ensures that you have an easier time finding the best possible deals. Having written criteria also allows you to share your criteria with other real estate investors, so that you can learn from them. If you haven’t yet outlined exactly what your criteria are for selecting an investment property, now’s the time to put pen to paper.
When developing your written criteria, consider when you do not want to make an investment. What is the bottom line? Do you not want to make an investment at any time if you don’t understand it? Do you want to never make investments that you cannot pay for if everything goes wrong? Do you never want to make an investment where you cannot handle the worst-case scenario? Determine your comfort boundaries and the level of risk you are willing to accept or not accept, and put this in writing.

Next, when developing your written investment criteria, consider what your ideal investment would be like. What do you do to make sure that your investments are the best possible deals for you? Do you do a certain amount of research using specific sources? If so, write this down. Outline on paper the best real estate deal you ever put together. What were the steps you to that in to be an outstanding investor in that situation? What if you applied the same steps to every real estate deal you made? Would you generate more success from other opportunities? If so, outline exactly what you do when you are at your investment best, and add this to your written criteria. This will help ensure that every deal will at least have the opportunity of becoming as successful as your best deal ever.

Write down your money criteria. Where are you willing to go for financing? How much capital are you willing to put at risk? How comfortable do you feel taking risks with your money? What levels of risk are you willing to take? How are you going to secure your deals? Knowing how you will handle money is very important to you as an investor.

Finally, and maybe most importantly, outline the standards by which you wish to live as an investor. What are the ethical boundaries you’re not willing to cross? What you want to stand for as an investor and what sort of person do you want to be as an investor? This may seem abstract and very much up in the air, but it will help you outline exactly the sort of investment opportunities you want to capitalize on. The best real estate investors have a code of conduct, so you should, too.

Why Commercial Real Estate?

March 23rd, 2011

Every day I am approached by people in residential real estate, by people in different professions such as medicine and law, and others who are not too informed on commercial real estate and what it is really about. When they discover my profession, they always ask me, Why? Of course they acknowledge the most obvious reason, the amount of money that can be made. However, I am quick to inform them that there are so many other wonderful reasons why ANYONE should be involved in commercial real estate.

Here I have compiled the top five reasons why I am involved in commercial real estate, and why you should too.

The first is really my favorite, the concept of synergy. Synergy is the idea that you put in the same amount of effort, but yield a larger result. 1 + 1 = 3. This is definitely present in commercial real estate. Many of the deals you might be involved in require the same exact process and amount of work, regardless of how large the property is, how much the property is worth, what its best use is, and how much of a return you can make from it.

A 15,000,000 deal can literally require the same amount of work as a 3,000,000 deal! Because of this reason, I always urge my colleagues to think big, and always go for the gusto! Why exert the same amount of time and energy on a low yielding deal, when you can put the same amount of time and energy, and yield 10 times what that single deal would? I am not a rocket scientist; however, this seems pretty clear to me.

The second reason is leverage, and how it can maximize your return on properties. In commercial real estate, you always want to examine how you can decrease your invested capital while returning the most money. A good way is to borrow part of the initial investment and pay a certain percentage on the borrowed money. The total cost of initial investment can be much lower when you use other people’s money (OPM), and it, therefore, increases your overall return. There are not too many businesses that function is this fashion, and you can definitely use it to your advantage.

The third reason why I chose commercial real estate is the impact I can have on communities. Creating more affordable housing, renovating old, large apartment complexes so that people actually want to live there, finding places for companies to establish a customer base and employ jobs, and increasing the economic welfare of cities are all fantastic reasons to get involved in commercial real estate! You can really have an effect on the communities you work in, and everyone will benefit.

The fourth reason is abundance. There is an abundance of properties, types of properties, ways to create wealth, professionals to work with, other people’s money to borrow, and money to be made. There is enough for everyone in this constantly changing industry. It makes it an exciting place to work, as there is always a new and different opportunity for you to pursue!

The fifth reason includes all the various skills you get to use in commercial real estate. It is not like an accountant’s job where you primarily deal with the same math and the same clients day in and day out, with little varying tasks. In commercial real estate you must problem solve, be creative in constructing offers and what to do with properties. It requires negotiation, which is fun, building relationships with other professionals that can lead to friendships and lifelong business partners, and, of course, the ability to create massive wealth and happiness that many others never experience!

There are many more reasons why I enjoy commercial real estate, but I don’t want to spoil it for you. You will develop your own reasons to love the business of commercial real estate.

Commercial real estate can be rewarding personally and financially, and it is a benefit to the community. Think about all the reasons why you want to do commercial real estate and visualize how you can reap all these exciting benefits too! You can make it happen!

Where to Locate Potential Commercial Real Estate Deals

March 16th, 2011

Locating potential commercial real estate deals can be the most important aspect of commercial real estate investing. In fact, without solid deals, you do not have any property in which to invest. It is really necessary to find the best deals you can so that your invested capital is maximized in its return.

When you locate only great deals, you can do fewer deals per year and make an exorbitant amount of money. Great deals are characterized by a return that equals three to four times the amount of your investment. However, if you find only average deals, the return per deal can be considerably less, causing you to either not make as much money, or do more deals per year. It takes the same amount of work and identical processes for each deal, so you might as well do less work and see a greater return.

You must use trusted and solid resources to locate your deals. Although there are many options to find properties, as they are available in every city and state, you must use resources with updated and accurate information. Below you will find the best resources to assist you in finding deals. You can use each resource to locate the properties that fit within your property investment criteria. Some resources may work better than others, depending on your area of specialization.

One of the best and most common places to find commercial property is through commercial brokers. This would make sense, as they are the ones who actually have the properties listed. You can go to them with a criteria sheet or specific information on the type of property you would like to purchase.

You can find brokers on a local or more widely spread basis, even going as far as calling brokers in other states. Most will be more than happy to call other brokers and find listings that best fit your criteria. They will bring you properties as they become available.

Another great advantage of a commercial broker is their ability to find pocket listings, or listings that are about to go on the market, but have not yet officially been listed. You can get a jump ahead of the competition and find excellent deals. Get in contact with a few brokers every day, and watch targeted properties roll in!

Another place to locate properties is on the internet. There are many sites that have hundreds of commercial properties for sale ranging from raw land to large retail and apartment complexes. These sites have information on both the property and the broker, so you can easily get in contact with the broker and learn more about the property. You can filter the information as you see fit, usually according to your specific criteria.

One of the best sites is Loopnet.com. This site houses hundreds of brokers all over the United States who post their many listings. You can filter through deals very quickly and reach a larger audience than you would in just your own community. Your ability to build contacts also increases with so many brokers and agents at your fingertips. I urge you to check out these commercial real estate sites and see what deals you can find.

Auction houses are great places to locate properties of all conditions and types. Many times you can get excellent deals on properties that you may otherwise have to spend a lot more for if they were listed with a broker. You can get on mailing and e-mail lists of different auction houses so they notify you of properties that will be going to auction. This allows you time to investigate the property as an investment, before the actual bidding day.

Auction houses also sometimes provide the option to purchase a property at a certain price before it goes to auction. You never know what opportunities will come along, so it is a good idea to stay in contact with several auction houses to be privy of the properties moving through their hands.

Although there are many ways to locate deals, these are among the best offered to the commercial real estate industry. The properties are abundant, and contacts can constantly be made, allowing for an ease of influx of other possible deals. A secret in this business is that the more contacts you have working for you, the more opportunities will be brought to your attention.

If you are working locally, and using only local resources such as newspapers, listings, and magazines, I urge you to use these other options. You can find local deals this way as well. It might even give you incentive to move out to your comfort zone and into areas where you will find even more opportunities.

Use these resources- commercial brokers, internet commercial real estate sites, and auction houses to find targeted, up to date, and numerous properties that could possibly bring your next big commercial deal!

What I Look For In a Neighborhood When Buying Investment

March 9th, 2011

What I Look For In a Neighborhood When Buying Investment Real Estate

I often get the question, What do I look for in a neighborhood?

My answer is always the same. Easy. Value!

I usually get a strange look, but it’s true. In a neighborhood, I am looking for clues to assess the value of the property, plain and simple.

Well, maybe not so plain and simple, I know. So let me explain.

Normally, my rehab properties are not in the expensive areas of town. It’s rare that you’ll find a rehabber meeting his or her investment goals buying in the expensive parts of town. There are generally fewer homes needing rehabbing and the fixer-uppers that are there are going for top pound. It’s safe to say the bulk of the investor activity is taking place in the mid-to-low range of home prices.

That’s not to say I wouldn’t look in, or buy in, the swank neighborhoods. Occasionally there are bargains to be scooped up there, but not with enough regularity to focus on.

But, there are some places I definitely WON’T invest in.

I won’t TOUCH the urban war zone. Let me describe what I mean.

You don’t go there because it’s common knowledge that you shouldn’t. If you happen to wander in that area, you are given suspicious looks by all the folks walking the streets and sitting outside their houses. Your car definitely doesn’t belong there! It seems nobody takes any pride in their dwelling, and trash seems to be a normal part of the dcor.

Do you know of places like that? If you are living in a town of any size, you probably know of a neighborhood that fits the above description.

Watch out for is neighborhoods in serious decline. If the area looks like it soon WILL BE an urban war zone, pass on the deal. You don’t need a property that is hard to rent or sell. The holding cost can take your good investment into the red! You can drive through and pick up many clues in this regard.

– See if there seem to be a high number of for sale signs. If a mass exodus is in progress, you DON’T want to be where everyone is trying to get out.

-Check crime statistics with the local police

– Check recent real estate sales if you can get a peek at the MLS.

– Ask an appraiser about what values have done in that area over the last couple of years. Areas in decline usually stand out in your appraiser’s mind, so an appraiser can be a wealth of information.

-Talk to other investors and wholesalers.

– Talk to your title company contactthey often know trends for a given area very well!

Another tactic is to work it the other way. Find out what’s hot before you start driving and looking!

Talk to your investor friends, wholesalers, appraisers, and title company contacts about what areas are hot for investors these days. That way, you start learning positive areas and you have the benefit of someone else having gone before you. Of course, do your own checking but find out where investors are putting their money will give you clues about where you want to invest.

I would recommend against asking family and friends not related to the real estate industry about neighborhoods. This is often the worst assessment of value you’ll ever find. The reactions you’ll get to areas from uninformed family and friends will often be negative based on hearsay. Get your information from reliable sources and ensure it is based on fact.

True enough, there are LOTS of neighborhoods that are much better than war zones, yet not in the expensive areas of town. That’s where my best investments live.

So, what do I mean by value?

If a property is in an area where you WILL invest, it comes down to the deal itself. For me, the better the deal, the less I worry about the neighborhood. As a refresher, here are the basics of property analysis:

-What can I buy it for?
-What will it be worth all fixed up?
-How extensive is the rehab?

Those are the basic questions that must be answered in an individual property analysis, but that’s an articleperhaps a bookfor another day.

In conclusion, determine whether you will invest in a neighborhood, then evaluate the deal itself. You will probably find that there are some neighborhoods where you won’t invest unless the deal is a home run. By the same token, there will likely be areas that you feel confident enough about that you’ll take an average deal because you like that particular area.

You are the investor, and these are the kind of exciting decisions that investor get to make! Isn’t that what makes this fun!

What to Look for When Youre Buying Real Estate

March 2nd, 2011

When youre going shopping for real estate in the middle of an economic recession you can pretty much guarantee that whatever you purchase, youre going to be able to make a profit. There are certain parts of the country that take a little longer to be affected when a recession strikes, but sooner or later every place is going to start to feel the pinch-which means you can basically stick a pin in the map when youre trying to decide where you want to make your investment.
Of course, just because you can make a profit just about anywhere doesnt mean that you shouldnt take measures to maximize that profit. If you were sitting in the middle of a giant room of sweets that were yours for the taking absolutely free, would you go for the Godiva chocolate or the M&Ms? When you have the choice between a property that youre going to make a minimal investment on and a property that you will make an incredible profit on when the economy starts rising up again, go for the property thats going to bring you the best return!
Where are you going to find the best deals? Urban properties and homes in the suburbs of these urban areas are always more highly in demand than those that require a lengthy commute to get to lifes essentials. Homes in the suburbs of Washington, D.C. are going to sell for a greater profit (and much more quickly) than a home in a small town like Rexville, NY. (Dont worry if youve never heard of it-most of the rest of the world hasnt either!)
When you first begin investing its usually recommended that you pick a property close to home, where you know the neighborhood, the general ambiance and, most importantly, what sells! If you choose to do your own rehab this is particularly important, as there are many areas in the country that are particularly prized for their historical value and which will bring a much lower return on your investment if theyve been stripped and decked out in the latest style than if theyd been carefully restored. An experienced rehabber will know this. A beginning investor will not.
Other factors you may want to take into consideration before closing the deal are:
The quality of the neighborhood. Unfortunately, all urban areas have their slums. An area with a high crime rate, a wide-spread amount of graffiti and property damage, regular drug activity and daily visits from the police is going to be much less desirable to a prospective buyer than a home situation in a nicer part of town, where they can safely allow their children to step out the front door without having to worry that they wont come home.
The condition of the house. There have been many, many investors that have plunged right in to the world of real estate and rehabilitation and bought a handymans special only to discover that by the time they got done paying for the repairs to the property the profit margin was considerably less than what they were hoping for-and what they would have made investing in a property that needed a little less work.
Before you commit to buying a property, take the time to have the home inspected carefully. Certain factors, such as a leaky roof, faulty foundation, termites and extensive mold, are going to be both difficult and expensive to fix. Unless you can quite literally get the property for a song, justifying the amount of time and expense youre going to put into the restoration project, it may be best to allow that one to pass you by.
What you plan to do with it afterwards. This is probably the biggest factor when it comes to real estate investing, because what you plan to do with the property after you purchase it makes all the difference when youre determining what types of properties are suitable and what are not. If youre planning on rehabilitating a property, then reselling it as a single family residence, purchasing a small ranch house on the edge of the city may be a perfectly profitable proposition. Youll likely be able to sell the property for more than you paid for it and justify the investment.
On the other hand, if youre planning on renting the property out youre going to want to investigate the current rental rates of the neighborhood before youll be able to determine the success of the investment with any degree of accuracy. There are some areas where income based housing drives the average rental price of the neighborhood down, which is good news for renters but could result in major inconvenience for the investor who has paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for a property that they are only going to be able to rent for a couple hundred dollars a month.
The moral of our story? Take the time to carefully consider your options and do your homework before closing the deal, no matter how appealing that deal may be.
Of course, if youve been investing in real estate for the past ten years none of this is news to you! Experienced investors who are familiar with things like market trends and identifying weaknesses in potential properties will find the buffet of low priced real estate spread out before them a tempting proposition, and reaching beyond their immediate demographic boundaries may offer a new wealth of possibilities for tremendous profit gain.
Just remember that investing during a recession is a slightly different proposition than investing when the economy is booming. Youre going to hear me say this over and over again, because it cant be emphasized enough-when youre investing in real estate during a recession youre investing in the long term. Many of todays real estate investors have made their fortune in the market by taking advantage of todays Now, now, now! mindset and investing in and disposing of real estate in a very brief amount of time. When the economy is strong its not at all unusual for an experienced investor to be able to purchase and flip a property within the space of a week-experienced rehabbers in a month of less. Any property that you invest in during a recession may remain in your possession for several months before you are able to realize a maximum return, because the whole point of investing during a recession is to purchase an asset at the lowest price possible and sell it when the economy goes back up.
Its rare for the experienced investor to find themselves in this situation, but its entirely possible to spread yourself too thin when the temptation of pages upon pages of available property was just too much to resist. Suddenly theyre responsible not only for the amount theyve paid for the initial investment to purchase the property in the first place, but for the taxes, rehabilitation and maintenance required to keep it maintained and prepare it for sale.
Try to limit yourself with a realistic expectation of what you can afford in the long term. If as the recession continues you find you have more than enough capital in hand to pick up a couple more properties you always have that option, but disposing of a property you can no longer afford during a recession can be more difficult than taking a submarine and going diving for Atlantis-which is the reason that investing in real estate during a recession is so lucrative to begin with.

Vallejo California Real Estate

February 23rd, 2011

Vallejo, California, is located in Napa County, 26 miles N of San Francisco, California. Vallejo has a population of 116,760 and serves as a gateway to the beautiful Napa and Sonoma countiesthe famed California Napa Valley wine country. Vallejo is an active waterfront community making it a popular destination. Many come to visit Six Flags Marine World as well as to sample the citys unique restaurants that reflect its residents cultural diversity.

Vallejo Homes

With a strong local economy and affordable housing, Vallejo has become a popular place to live. Civic improvements have provided renewed interest in historic home preservation, so countless Victorians abound.

Vallejos proximity to San Francisco and the East Bay make it a place in which to live and work. The citys Ferry Terminal and ferry service whisk off commuters to San Francisco and the East Bay.

Vallejo properties pool is 39,560 residential properties including Vallejo new homes. The median age of real estate in Vallejo is 1970, with the average household size is 3.43 people. 6% are one bedroom homes, 21% are 2 bedroom homes, 44% are 3 bedroom homes, 24% are 4 bedroom homes, and 4% are 5+ bedroom homes.

Vallejo Mortgage Statistics

Homes With No Mortgage 18%
Homes With Mortgage 82%
First Mortgage Only 61%
First & Second Mortgage or HELOC 21%

Vallejo Area Real Estate Tax

Vallejo Real estate Tax: Median Real Estate Taxes (2000) were 1,294 comparing to 1999 Median Family income 56,805. Compare to USA median yearly Real Estate Tax 1,300 and USA median Family Income 42,000 (1999).

Vallejo School District: Children make up 27.6% of Vallejo population. Vallejo has 32,219 under 18 years old residents, or 0.64 kids per one worker, or 0.81 kids per one household.

Vallejo Real Estate & Vallejo Homeownership

There are 9098.8 or 23% one person households, 11076.8 or 28% two person households, and 6725.2 or 17% three person households in Vallejo, California. Median residents age is 34.9, Senior citizens (65+) make up 13,115 or 11.2%% of Vallejo population.

There are 50,230 workers (over 16 years of age) in Vallejo. Of these, 89.54% drive to work. Approximately 4.99% of workers in Vallejo take public transportation, including a ferry service to outlying cities. An estimated 1.24% walk to work.

Median Vallejo homeowner’s housing expenses are 22.6%

Crime in Vallejo (2003), crimes per 10,000 residents per year
Violent Crimes 85.39
Robberies 29.03
Aggravated Assaults 52.24
Property Crimes 498.2
Burglaries 87.44
Larceny-Thefts 310.98
Motor Vehicle Thefts 99.78

Invest in Vallejo Properties

When making a decision about buying real estate in Vallejo California area, you should consider following statistical data:
Near Medium City
Near Large City San Francisco, California
Vallejo Zip Codes 94503, 94589, 94590, 94591, 94592
Vallejo Area Codes 707
White population 35.97%
African-American population 23.69%
Asian 24.16%
American Indian & Alaskan
Hispanic (of any race) 15.92%
Median Family Income (1999) 56,805%
Population Below Poverty Level 9.92%

Use Real Estate to Pay Off Your Mortgage Early

February 16th, 2011

If you live in an average market and paid 200,000 for your home just four years ago, it is now likely to be worth more than 292,000. And if you were able to purchase just three more houses, then in four years, you could have sold those three homes and made enough money to pay off your mortgage.

If you think this is impossible because you are worried about finding the money to use as a down payment or qualifying for a loan, or are apprehensive about becoming a landlord, read on to learn about the everyday secrets used by investors to overcome these hurdles.

The easiest way to buy a house without a down payment is with a lease purchase. Search online to find lists of out-of-state landlords who may be looking to sell their houses once their tenants move out, and contact them by mail. Out-of-state landlords typically are motivated to sell because they live far away from the properties they own.

Offer to lease the home for an amount that is high enough to cover the seller’s entire house payment including principal, interest, taxes and insurance. Make sure that you also get an option to purchase the home at or below today’s value at any time during the next five years.

Try to arrange for your payments to begin after 60 to 90 days so that you will have time to find someone who is willing to buy the home on a rent-to-own basis.

To find this person, who is called a “tenant buyer,” put up plenty of rent-to-own signs in the neighborhood. Your tenant buyer will typically pay a little more in rent each month than you are paying to the seller. Set your tenant buyer’s purchase price at around 75 percent of the amount the home will be worth four years from now.

In addition, your tenant buyer should be responsible for any maintenance or repairs to the home while living there on a rent-to-own basis. Encourage him or her to have the home professionally inspected.

If three of your tenant buyers purchase their homes after four years, you should be able to make enough in profits to pay off your own mortgage 20 to 25 years before other people. The best part is that you can accomplish this without needing any money for a down payment or qualifying for a loan.