Property Investment Good, Property Speculation Bad

Property speculation is the purchase of property for profit and is short-term in nature, while property investment seeks to obtain income in the form of rent and is long-term. Property speculation is frowned upon as it raises the price of houses, which is an emotive subject when first-time home buyers experience difficulties. The issue of property speculation in Taiwan came to prominence after property hot-spots appeared in Taipei, where prices repeatedly reached new highs due to competition ...

Renting Versus Buying – How to Plan Your Future

For years there has been an ongoing debate regarding whether it is better to buy or rent a home. It seems that both sides have valid points – and both have benefitted at different times – depending on which way the market is moving. Today, however, our economy is in an odd position. While many are still reeling from the massive “loss” of equity in their homes as compared to the values in the mid-2000s, there could still be something to be said about the benefits of home ownership. Learnin...

Profiting From Property

When it comes to investing, bricks and mortar has been a popular choice for decades. However, with the world still reeling from the effects of the global recession and the horror of property price plunges still fresh in everybody’s mind, property investment has fallen in popularity. With daily news reports of the bailout in Europe and the slowdown in recovery in the USA, many would-be property investors are getting the jitters. However, this is exactly the time to be brave and invest. The next p...

Real Estate is Still Ripe for Investment

Most people don’t consider real estate to be an investment which generates return and income, they think of it as a home. However, for most people the single largest investment they make in their lives is a piece of real estate, and it will likely comprise a third of their net worth. This is part of what makes real estate a unique investment market, that there are two kinds of buyers. An ideal real estate market for home owners and an ideal real estate market for investors would probably look qu...

How to Reduce Your Property Taxes

Even though the real estate market is soft these days, which means property values are probably less than they could be, the decrease in what your property is worth might not to be reflected in how much you pay in property taxes. Property assessments for tax purposes are done on a regular basis, but generally not every year. Instead local governments do their assessments every few years, which means you may be paying more property tax than you really should because your home is worth less than i...

Property Investment

Investment in property or real estate if made in the right place at the right time can prove to be a boon. It is an excellent investment avenue where one does not need to ponder over the outcome at the end of every financial year. The word “Property Investment” may sound intimidating to rookies in this field, but one need not spend months on understanding the pros and cons. Efficient research and consideration of the key points may facilitate the process of investing in real estate. Before goin...

Who’s Investing in Real Estate?

In the world of investing we often hear talk about being a contrarian, not following the crowd, buying low and selling high. There is currently a subprime mortgage debacle and a housing downturn. So, with real estate as out of favor as it is right now, I'd like to know who's investing in it. Recently REITs, on average, have been selling for about 20 percent less than their net asset values. In her article, It's REIT Time, And You Can Buy Low, Kathy Kristof suggests that at these discounte...

Real Estate Mania – A History of Home Values

This graph is pretty amazing. It's pretty obvious that the real estate mania was out of control and that a correction was necessary.(Click for full size, and think twice when considering property investing)

What are REITs?

A real estate investment trust (REIT) is a real estate company that offers common shares to the public. In this way, a REIT stock is similar to any other stock that represents ownership in an operating business. But a REIT has two unique features: its primary business is managing groups of income-producing properties and it must distribute most of its profits as dividends. Congress created REITs in 1960 to make investments in large-scale, income-producing real estate accessible to smaller invest...