Could you give us your real estate prognoses for 2010?

will it be a good year for the investors? 

I am curious to since we are house hunting, wanna take advantage of that $8,000 govt offer.

Hi neaksre,

I've been very busy working full time, run a gas station and build four houses (for rent) at the same time. If you never have to deal with city inspectors, I hope you will never have to.  They gave me tons of headaches.

Besides, I play a role of General Contractor myself (to save a lot of money) but there are many problems associate with it.  I get into that in more detaisl later on.

Back to your question, I don't know much either. People who put their houses on the market keep dropping the asking price but still have no offers.  It is sad. 

I build rental house because I know if they (potential home buyers) cannot get the loan to buy, they can still rent.  It is very hard to get a loan now.

When ever the time is right, I will unload them one at a time.  I still have a plan to build a strip mall on my empty 1.3 acre lot in the future but do not know when.  I listened to the real estate experts and they said it will take many year (5 ~ 10 years) for the housing market to bounce back.

Lastly, to answer to Sui curiosity, it is a good time for buyers, if you can get a loan

May you have a Merry Christmas and I hope I will be talking to you before the end of 2009.

double WOW. I don't even know u but I already admire u.

double post

We are looking for multiple units to rent out.  So far everything looks good including credit score, income, job security and down payment. The bank should okay us with the checks above for a loan. We have a family member who is a housing inspector and another who does home improvement. They are offering their assistance. We are just trying to find a apartment complex in the Providence area.

Sui,

if you have not done so, you should look in riliving.com. 

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We are looking for multiple units to rent out.  So far everything looks good including credit score, income, job security and down payment. The bank should okay us with the checks above for a loan. We have a family member who is a housing inspector and another who does home improvement. They are offering their assistance. We are just trying to find a apartment complex in the Providence area.

[/quote]

Sui, Im pretty sure the tax credit is for owner occupied properties only. Also you have to stay in the house for X amount of years or you have to pay it back. Dont plan on getting it back promptly. We submitted our amendment in early June, as of last week it was received, but not processed.

Thanks neaksre and backpacker.

Sui,

I believe October is right.  You can use it for primary residence only and you have to live there for a minimum of three years.  With that said, if I were you, I will apply for that tax credit (actually 10% of the total cost) and purchase my first home, build a good credit, and pay it off as soon as I can.  Then prepare myself for the next move, which is to buy another property (single or multiple units) for rent.

The first one is very hard but once you get the ball rolling, many options will be available to you.

She can get a triplex or a duplex live in one until satify the law and rent the rest out.  Consult with Fannie Mae or FHA for clarification.

Yes we know. The apartment will be our primary residence and we do intend to live there for at least 3 yrs. We see this as part of a long term investment. In the 3 yr time span, I can finish school and start my career. We can also work on repaying the loan given to us by family.

We also don't want to buy a single family home since we have not decided as to where we want to settle... west coast or east coast. Another problem is if we purchase the apartment and own a home, it will be seen as a commercial property. We don't want to do that.

Yeah that's the idea!  

KleangUpLand,

I am sorry that I did not have time to answer your question over the weekend. I saw you asked me some question but I forgot where.  But I still remember what you asked.  I hope you don't get upset at me.  I am not ignoring you or anybody in here as long as I think your or their question are legitimate.

I've just sent you a message. Please login and check it at your convenience.  Thanks.

Vandy,

No problem at all. We're human being, sometime we're right and wrong...It depends how we feel and situation.

I know most business owners are bussy, cuz they try to organize this and that, in order to fascinate all customer feeling on their stuffs.

I, myself is busi on night and free time on day. Thats why you see me sitting infront a screen all days.

Thank you so much!!! Vandy.