How do I start investing in real estate?

[corn18]

The Fair Housing Act may have a different answer:

http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/program_offices/fair_housing_equal_opp/FHLaws/yourrights

"1.)What Housing Is Covered?

The Fair Housing Act covers most housing. In some circumstances, the Act exempts owner-occupied buildings with no more than four units, single-family housing sold or rented without the use of a broker, and housing operated by organizations and private clubs that limit occupancy to members.

2.)What Is Prohibited?

In the Sale and Rental of Housing: No one may take any of the following actions based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status or handicap:

Refuse to rent or sell housing
Refuse to negotiate for housing
Make housing unavailable
Deny a dwelling
Set different terms, conditions or privileges for sale or rental of a dwelling
Provide different housing services or facilities
Falsely deny that housing is available for inspection, sale, or rental
For profit, persuade owners to sell or rent (blockbusting) or
Deny anyone access to or membership in a facility or service (such as a multiple listing service) related to the sale or rental of housing."

[Singuy]

The Fair Housing Act may have a different answer:

http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/program_offices/fair_housing_equal_opp/FHLaws/yourrights

"1.)What Housing Is Covered?

The Fair Housing Act covers most housing. In some circumstances, the Act exempts owner-occupied buildings with no more than four units, single-family housing sold or rented without the use of a broker, and housing operated by organizations and private clubs that limit occupancy to members.

2.)What Is Prohibited?

In the Sale and Rental of Housing: No one may take any of the following actions based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status or handicap:

Refuse to rent or sell housing
Refuse to negotiate for housing
Make housing unavailable
Deny a dwelling
Set different terms, conditions or privileges for sale or rental of a dwelling
Provide different housing services or facilities
Falsely deny that housing is available for inspection, sale, or rental
For profit, persuade owners to sell or rent (blockbusting) or
Deny anyone access to or membership in a facility or service (such as a multiple listing service) related to the sale or rental of housing."

Yes yes yes yes yes

No one cares about the law when it comes to this. Unless it's a renters management service, personal landlords who have full control over their property will rent their apt to whoever they see fit..and there's no way to prove that this landlord is renting the place out based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status or handicap. If you think the landlord is following the law then you are just way too naive. There are 35 applicants..you only want to interview 5 out of 35....who knows what is going on in that little mind of yours when you weed out the other 30? There's no way to prove that there's a pattern when you don't know any of the other applicants. I put this law under all the other laws that are followed only in fairy tales. You think he advertise his rentals by stating "females only?". You cast a wide net and only cherry pick the people you want.

[corn18]

Not hard to figure it out if all your rentals are full of single white females.

[Singuy]

Not hard to figure it out if all your rentals are full of single white females.

1. It's not all white females. He has 3 females and 1 male before..just never 4 dudes. And I never said they are all white.

2. It's college, it's not hard to imagine only females are staying in a house..I mean they have same sex dorms, so this is not extraordinary in any way.

Tom, if you want to start renting out your property to people and want to be 100% straight about things..then I say good luck to you. My parents had a motel, and of course did not discriminate. We had drug dealers hiding needles in the light fixtures, had people dumping water all over our carpets because we didn't want to refund their money after 3 hours(you know why there were there for 3 hours). Others smeared feces all over the room because they were not happy when they saw we were Asian and there's a sign on the windows from the previous owner that said "American Owned". It's fine to not vet these people because they are there for one or two days...not when it comes to one or two years. You really have to be really careful who you trust your 150-300k property to.

So be prepared to deal with all sorts of nonsense. People can literally hold your house hostage when THEY don't have any money for rent. A realtor friend of mine said one of her rentals became a weed harvest house..with the second floor set up as a greenhouse with irrigation systems IN the house..causing all sorts of mold problems.

This is why I am into Reits and peerstreet. I give money, you give me a return. I hate dealing with renters...

[corn18]

1. It's not all white females. He has 3 females and 1 male before..just never 4 dudes. And I never said they are all white.

2. It's college, it's not hard to imagine only females are staying in a house..I mean they have same sex dorms, so this is not extraordinary in any way.

Tom, if you want to start renting out your property to people and want to be 100% straight about things..then I say good luck to you. My parents had a motel, and of course did not discriminate. We had drug dealers hiding needles in the light fixtures, had people dumping water all over our carpets because we didn't want to refund their money after 3 hours(you know why there were there for 3 hours). Others smeared feces all over the room because they were not happy when they saw we were Asian and there's a sign on the windows from the previous owner that said "American Owned".

So be prepared to deal with all sorts of nonsense. People can literally hold your house hostage when THEY don't have any money for rent. A realtor friend of mine said one of her rentals became a weed harvest house..with the second floor set up as a greenhouse with irrigation systems IN the house..causing all sorts of mold problems.

This is why I am into Reits and peerstreet. I give money, you give me a return. I hate dealing with renters...

This is what keeps me from diving in. Apparently it's not all rainbows and unicorns.

[TexasHusker]

This is what keeps me from diving in. Apparently it's not all rainbows and unicorns.

That is correct.

Rentals truly are a business, and if you aren't that keen on running your own business, I would stay away.

My mother is a bleeding liberal, bless her heart. She got into the rental business for retirement income and bought 3 single family houses. At first, she was very excited that she could have a small part in promoting the liberal social agenda through her houses.

Against my advice, she rented her first two houses to people living together, not married. These are the very worst renters - shack-ups are typically short-lived, one party moves out, and the other can't afford the rent.

She was out to prove me a right wing tea-sipper once and for all. Without going into a lot of detail, she quickly figured out that using the houses to propagate her liberal social agenda proved to be very unprofitable, and her tune changed.

[disneysteve]

This is what keeps me from diving in. Apparently it's not all rainbows and unicorns.

Same here. As much as I read about how rental properties are such a great investment, the horror stories are endless. I don't need that drama in my life no matter how much money I could earn.

[TexasHusker]

Same here. As much as I read about how rental properties are such a great investment, the horror stories are endless. I don't need that drama in my life no matter how much money I could earn.

I actually did a cost/benefit analysis of rentals versus the stock market.

What I found is that the rental produces an occasional headache. Once, twice, or three times a year something needs fixing. Find a new tenant every couple of years, fix up the house about every 8 years.

What I found when invested in the equity markets was that it was a mild, yet ongoing headache. I would think about it daily. Corporate scandals, bombings, the Fed, inflation, deflation, what's up, what's down. Whereas my rentals, I would think about maybe once or twice a month, sometimes not even that.

Any time you go investing money, you're picking your headache. I found that real estate headaches pale in comparison to stock market headaches, and the returns are a lot better, too.

I've had rentals for 11 years, and I don't recall any horror stories per se. Some interesting stories, though!

[blankcheck]

I actually did a cost/benefit analysis of rentals versus the stock market.

What I found is that the rental produces an occasional headache. Once, twice, or three times a year something needs fixing. Find a new tenant every couple of years, fix up the house about every 8 years.

What I found when invested in the equity markets was that it was a mild, yet ongoing headache. I would think about it daily. Corporate scandals, bombings, the Fed, inflation, deflation, what's up, what's down. Whereas my rentals, I would think about maybe once or twice a month, sometimes not even that.

Any time you go investing money, you're picking your headache. I found that real estate headaches pale in comparison to stock market headaches, and the returns are a lot better, too.

I've had rentals for 11 years, and I don't recall any horror stories per se. Some interesting stories, though!

Definitely sounds like a personality difference. I can just as easily point out that the damage to modern economic society via multiple recessions has yielded the greatest returns for those that literally did nothing but keep investing broadly the way they always did. I've also met plenty of real estate investors that seemed glued to their phone, waiting for the next call about a complaint.

[disneysteve]

What I found is that the rental produces an occasional headache.

What I found when invested in the equity markets was that it was a mild, yet ongoing headache. I would think about it daily.

Definitely sounds like a personality difference.

I agree it is a personality difference. I virtually never worry about my investment portfolio. When Brexit happened, for example, I didn't even peek at how it affected my portfolio until a few weeks later when I found that we had actually made money. When we were younger and just getting started, I looked weekly. Now I only look every couple of months. It's all pretty much on autopilot. There are zero headaches to deal with. And it is all electronic and impersonal. If I do want to buy or sell, it's just a couple of clicks on the computer.

I don't have to deal with someone not paying. I don't have to react quickly to get something fixed. I don't have to worry about finding tenants or getting a call in the middle of the night that there's a leak or whatever.

You're right that you are choosing your headaches. And everyone's definition of a headache-inducing problem is different. I'm not cut out to take on the real estate headaches. We all need to know our limitations.

[97guns]

you can mitigate a lot of RE headaches by buying as new as possible, all my properties were built in the early 2000's and all have gone through water heater replacements already, 1 of them an A/C replacement but other than that they have been virtually headache free.

[Fishindude77]

Renting housing to individuals or families is not your only option in rental real estate investing. Consider a commercial rental instead.

You can do a triple net lease where they are required to take care of all of the upkeep and maintenance, pay taxes, as well as keep the place insured, getting you out of a lot of the minor hassles and late night calls. You can also frequently sign commercial tenants to 5-10 year leases, so you don't have to worry about constantly finding new renters.

I've had a commercial rental for approx. 16 years now that requires very little time and effort. Just periodic check in with the tenant to be a good landlord, make sure they aren't having any problems, etc. Annual inspections, collect a rent check every month, make sure they are keeping insurance current, etc. It's very easy.

[DaveInPgh]

you can mitigate a lot of RE headaches by buying as new as possible, all my properties were built in the early 2000's and all have gone through water heater replacements already, 1 of them an A/C replacement but other than that they have been virtually headache free.

This makes sense, but a lot of people looking to get into REI can not afford to buy in areas such as this.

[DaveInPgh]

My best friend tried to talk me into buying a property in a neighborhood near where we grew up. I think he ended up paying $15k for it. Half of that certainly isn't burn money for me, but it is something I could have afforded. I have had a desire to get into REI for many years, but I knew based on all of my research that I didn't want to invest in low income neighborhoods.

He said he made a nice return on the property but was happy to get rid of it. Tenant was a constant pain in the ass. Ruined a brand new stove. Didn't pay the sewage bill. Was short on rent, late or both on a regular basis.

I love the idea of REI, but I don't want to invite that type of nonsense into my life.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Fishing how do you find commercial RE to invest in? Get a realtor? Go in with friends? How do you qualify for it? Shouldn't it be more expensive than normal RE?