Is It A Good Time To Invest In A Rental?

The answer to that question is going to be different for each individual. There are a few factors to consider before investing in a rental. As a general rule, lenders are going to require that you have some money to put down on your investment. A rental can provide some tax breaks and write-offs, an accountant can tell you the different ways you might benefit. In the end it comes down to the bottom line, how much return will you see from your investment? It is important to know what your expenses will be. Your expenses included mortgage payment, taxes, insurance, any utilities you might pay, management fees(if you chose to have a company manage your building), any HOA dues, times of vacancy, and other miscellaneous expenses. There are different ways you can see a return. You can break even on your annual expenses, but sell the building at a profit in a couple of years, or make a profit from the rent received, or both.

Right now in Grand Junction the vacancy rate is 1.8% (almost nonexistent), but the asking prices sometimes make it hard to profit from the rents received when very little cash was put down on the mortgage. However, the rents being received, across the board, are continuing to increase due to lack of availability. I just rented a 2 bedroom 1 bath apartment for $950/month in the Redlands area, with a 1 year lease. When looking at investment properties it is important to see if the rents currently being received are low or if improvements can be made to the building. If you can raise the rents or improve the building and then raise the rents you could realize even more profit. This is an investment definetly worth considering, especially when compared to some mutual funds. The following websites and recent newspaper article may help you with your figures. You can, also, search investment properties on my website at http://www.bringingyouhomeonline.com/. Feel free to send me an email or give me a call if you have any questions.

Daily Sentinel article - Apartments Difficult to Find

A Local Lenders Blog - http://kevinwade.blogspot.com/2008/07/grand-junction-rentals-should-you-buy.html

http://www.catholicoutreach.org/AlmostHome.html - Click on the Almost Home Report and you can view available rentals and the monthly rents.