Understanding Real Estate Investment

Buying real estate is about more than just finding a place to call home. Investing in real estate has become increasingly popular over the last 50 years and has become a common investment vehicle.

Unlike other investments, real estate is dramatically affected by its surroundings and immediate geographic area; hence the well-known real-estate maxim, "location, location, location." With the exception of a severe national recession or depression, residential real estate values in particular are affected primarily by local factors, such as the area's employment rate, economy, crime rates, transportation facilities, quality of schools and other municipal services, and property taxes.

There are key differences in residential and commercial real estate investments. On the one hand, residential real estate is usually less expensive and smaller than commercial real estate and so it is more affordable for the small investor.

On the other hand, commercial real estate is often more valuable per square foot/meters and its leases are longer, which theoretically ensures a more predictable income stream. With greater revenue comes greater responsibility, however; commercial rental real estate is more heavily regulated than residential real estate and these regulations can differ not only from country to country and state by state, but also vary in each county and city. Even within cities, zoning regulations add a layer of unwanted complexity to commercial real estate investments.

How to Invest in Real Estate

One can invest in real estate directly by buying actual properties (Building) or parcels of land; or indirectly, by buying shares in real estate investment trusts (REITs) or mortgage-backed securities (MBS)/Mortgage Banks.

• Basic Rental Properties

This is an investment as old as the practice of land ownership. A person will buy a property and rent it out to a tenant. The owner, the landlord, is responsible for paying the mortgage, taxes and costs of maintaining the property.

Perhaps the biggest difference between a rental property and other investments is the amount of time and work you have to devote to maintaining your investment.

When you buy a stock, it simply sits in your brokerage account and, hopefully, increases in value. If you invest in a rental property, there are many responsibilities that come along with being a landlord. When the furnace stops working in the middle of the night, it's you who gets the phone call. If you don't mind handyman work, this may not bother you; otherwise, a professional property manager would be glad to take the problem off your hands, for a price, of course.

• Real Estate Investment Groups

Real estate investment groups are sort of like small mutual funds for rental properties. If you want to own a rental property, but don't want the hassle of being a landlord, a real estate investment group may be the solution for you.

A company will buy or build a set of apartment blocks or condos and then allow investors to buy them through the company example EKO Atlantic, thus joining the group. A single investor can own one or multiple units of self-contained living space, but the company operating the investment group collectively manages all the units, taking care of maintenance, advertising vacant units and interviewing tenants. In exchange for this management, the company takes a percentage of the monthly rent.

• Real Estate Trading

This is the wild side of real estate investment. Like the day traders who are leagues away from a buy-and-hold investor, the real estate traders are an entirely different breed from the buy-and-rent landlords. Real estate traders buy properties with the intention of holding them for a short period of time, often no more than three to four months, whereupon they hope to sell them for a profit. This technique is also called flipping properties and is based on buying properties that are either significantly undervalued or are in a very hot market.

Pure property flippers will not put any money into a house for improvements; the investment has to have the intrinsic value to turn a profit without alteration or they won't consider it. Flipping in this manner is a short-term cash investment.

If a property flipper gets caught in a situation where he or she can't unload a property, it can be devastating because these investors generally don't keep enough ready cash to pay if their is mortgage on the property for long term. This can lead to continued losses for a real estate trader who is unable to offload the property in a bad market.

A second class of property flipper also exists. These investors make their money by buying reasonably priced properties and adding value by renovating them. This can be a longer-term investment depending on the extent of the improvements. The limiting feature of this investment is that it is time intensive and often only allows investors to take on one property at a time.