Soooo, with all of the doom and gloom these days, are there any markets that are hot or are most of them not?
Any predictions on where the next big market will be?
Break out those crystal balls and tell us what you see?
Hi,
I can unequivically tell you the next hot market will be india and pakistan!
GR
Lots of fixer-uppers available in Pakistan!
Why do you think that those markets will be hot?
We have had our busiest 2 weeks here in two years. Construction companies, nurse staffing agencies and U.S. Border Patrol instructors have the phone ringing all day.
We are 100% full. People are now going into hotels for 1 or 2 weeks until the next vacancy, which they rent without seeing it.
We are talking about raising our rates just a little. But we are being conservative because this little boom, too, can end.
I always monitor the parking lots at hotels and restaurants. The parking lots are full. Three solar companies are here working on large farm projects. Life is good, and bills are getting paid.
Furnishedowner
FO,
Glad to hear things are looking better there for you.
My wife and I spent some time at a fairly upscale mall yesterday in Birmingham, AL. The parking lot was absolutely packed. Kinda makes you wonder “what recession?” but I wonder if it’s just people returning to their old spending habits.
Not sure about the next hot market, but we’re definitely enjoying the low prices. 2 houses under contract in the past week, one more in negotiations, and another one or two are looking promising…each for less than the cost of a reasonably priced new car.
justin,
Great to hear that! Reading your posts pushes me to consider moving out of my comfort zone. It makes me want to go out and buy now with low prices and low rates. But I still have 3 units sitting there vacant, unrenovated, unrentable. Two of them are partially done.
Maybe I just need to borrow enough to slam them with a contractor and get the big stuff finished–new bathroom, new kitchens, plumbing. Instead I just pay labor out of revenue monthly. Plug along conservatively.
We just finished converting our one unfurnished 2-bedroom to a furnished. It cost 2 months of time and about $3,000 in labor/furnishings costs. The time is because we continue running the business and the maintenance and cleaning on the other units at the same time.
The tenant, who was waiting in a hotel, has happily moved into “The Zen Cottage”. We furnished it in Japanese style–minimal, spare, Zen. There are sushi plates in the cupboard, chopsticks in with the silverware, framed pictures of semi-naked Sumo guys in the bathroom. Samurai warriors and plum blossom pictures in the living room. The TV remotes are resting in a lacquered tray of pebbles! There’s even a book of Zen sayings on the nightstand.
We went over the top, but had a lot of fun. I took my exhausted crew out to a big lunch of beer and steak at Applebee’s when we finished. The Japanese stuff was all old souvenirs and gifts from when we lived in Japan, didn’t have to buy any of it.
We went from unfurnished rent of $795/month to furnished at $2100. The tenant stays through November, a typical stay. After this effort, I can’t believe that we once did 3 houses in one month.
Furnishedowner
According to the Wall Street Journal Durham NC is #1.
http://online.wsj.com/article/NA_WSJ_PUB:SB10001424052748703791804575439871207245044.html
I know Durham, and I know Real Estate Locally there. And I strongly disagree. Raleigh is where it’s at. Lots of crime and vacant buildings in Durham. The high income earners that work there live in Chapel Hill or Cary. I was just over there yesterday and was cussing myself because I forgot to bring my gun.
Has it deteriorated that drastically?
So is the real estate boom moving to Asia’s side now? Kind of makes sense now that China is the way it is and India is about to follow suit.
Iraq! haha. There were a couple of college students who hired some bird dogs in Iraq fromcraigslist and are now seeling Iraq real estae from their website. Pretty funny eah?
But seriously, I think opportunities are around in every state. It just takes some deciphering.