A Good Time to Invest in Real Estate in the Dallas Area - Assignment Example

SLP Questions Word Count: 1637 words total SLP Question Investigate the economic conditions in your community and identify if you believe this to be a good time to invest in real estate in the Dallas area. State your position. Is this a good or bad time to invest? Support your position with facts and reference where you found this information.  (100 words) Now is a great time to invest in a home in Dallas. This is the position that is going to be argued for. According to Dallas Dirt Magazine (2010), “Despite the worst about [various neighborhoods in Dallas],  folks always clamor to live there” (pp. 1). Property values are apparently suffering because of unethical treatment to animals in the area. Additionally, Dallas has difficulties with its housing market due to the fact that sometimes, commercial areas are notorious for not being separated from residential living areas. This poses a serious problem and must be ameliorated, or else the community will suffer. SLP 1 Question 2) Identify an area you believe to a sound area in the Dallas MetroPlex for real estate investment. (Dont just say "Dallas" or "Dallas Area" - try to be more specific - identify a particular area of town.) Explain why you chose this area. 

http://recenter.tamu.edu/ 

(100 words) According to Dallas Dirt (2010), some of the more desirable neighborhoods include “who is doing the best in this market…[including neighborhoods such as] Park Cities, Westlake, Southlake, North Dallas/Preston Hollow, despite the Dallas City Council [problems]. Also[, other good areas in which to live include] Coppell, Irving, Oak Lawn” (pp. 1). These cities are preferred by the people who chose to live in them due to their high popularity. Basically, people currently prefer to live in areas where the people in the neighborhood are understanding, compassionate, and feel like genuine neighbors who care about the person moving in next door. SLP 1 Question 3) Discuss your selection in (2) based on price ranges of homes in the general geographic area.  Give specific values on the ranges and tell me where you found the data to support the range you cite.  (131 words) The certified estimated value report for 2010 based on market value of real estate in the University Park neighborhood in Dallas is estimated to be “$6,863,828,520,” according to the Dallas CAD (Central Appraisal District) Estimated Value Report (2010, pp. 1). The average value of a home in University Park, for example, is $856,797; of course, this is not necessarily representative of the area. Homes in Dallas tend to range between $53,000 and $200,000 in general, although there are some homes ranging up to $200K to over a million dollars (Dallas CAD Average Values for Single-Family Detached Residences, 2010, pp. 1). “One of the most desirable neighborhoods in all of Texas, University Park (UP) is known for having some of the most beautiful Dallas homes” (Dallas Texas Real Estate, 2010, pp. 1). SLP 1 Question 4) Discuss your selection in (2) based on affordability of homes in the general geographic area.   Affordability refers to the cost of the home relative to the earnings of the local populace.  You may want to reference the Texas Real Estate Research Center Housing Affordability Index. (100 words) The Texas Housing Affordability Index (THAI) Publication 1926 helped determine the housing costs relational to income. “With mortgage interest rates at historically low levels and a large supply of available properties for sale, afford- ability for the next several years should be at a favorable level [in Dallas] for households that can qualify for financing… Even down times have an upside. Decreasing home prices, the higher volume of foreclosed homes available, tougher mortgage lending standards and reluctant buyers are combining to make Texas homes more affordable than anywhere in the United States” (THAI Publication 1926, 2010, pp. 3). SLP 1 Question 5) Discuss your selection in (2) based on anticipated future appreciation in value and/or rents.   What has been the recent appreication in the value of homes?  Where did you find the information to support this estimate of future appreciation?
 (109 words) The recent appreciation in the value of homes has been skyrocketing in Dallas. This is mainly due to the fact that there have been multiple families moving into Dallas due to the reasonably-priced homes that are available. A bunch of homes happen to be situated in the triangle of the areas of Irving, Mesquite, and Garland, which surround Dallas. This information was obtained through the Trulia dot com web site (Trulia, 2010, pp. 1). Several single-family homes are available, and it is thought that these homes will serve as a catalyst for change in terms of raising the amount of people in the area who want to live there. SLP 1 Question 6) Discuss your selection in (2) based on geographic proximity to your home or place of business.  How close is your home or place of business to the area you selected in (2)?  
(107 words) Basically, the geographic location that is being discussed is not necessarily very close geographically to where I live. However, my home is in a neighborhood very similar to that being described in item #2. Although I am not a rich person by any means, nor do I live in an $800,000-dollar house, my standard of living is very high, and I am very fond of the area I live in. I am glad to live in a place where I have collegial neighbors, a nice setting in terms of living in a clean, diverse, and beautiful environment with lovely surroundings. I will not comment further than that. SLP 2 Question 1) Investigate the sources of real estate investment financing in the community you identified in SLP 1. Name possible sources of financing and the type of financing offered.  (150 words) Possible sources of funding would include Wells Fargo Bank (Wells Fargo Mortgage Rates, 2010, pp. 1). Wells Fargo Bank is a nationally-recognized bank which gives out several types of loans. They offer various mortgages, including ARM mortgages (adjusted-rate mortgages), as well as 30-year mortgages. Adjusted-rate mortgages are dangerous because, basically they are increasing the monthly fees of the bills of the mortgage on a sliding-scale stepping fee. Adjusted-rate mortgages are dangerous to possess because they are harmful to families, and heads of families, who are struggling just to pay their bills every month and they can’t afford payments that get steadily greater in price while their incomes remain the same. Adjusted-rate mortgages are also harmful because they are like subprime mortgages which were dealt out by lenders which weren’t credible, such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Thirty-year mortgages are safer investments in which to build equity. This is key. SLP 2 Question 2) What rate(s) and terms are available for real estate investors in single family rentals? Be specific.  Provide at least three different scenarios.  For example, one scenarion might be, "8% interest on a 15-year fixed-rate loan with no points."  (34 words) There are a few different scenarios: 5% interest on a 30-year fixed rate loan with points; 10% interest on a 5-year fixed-rate loan with points; and 6% on a 15-year fixed-rate loan without points. SLP 2 Question 3) Describe a typical down payment requirement and monthly payment amount for a sample home in the market area you chose in SLP 1. Give me specifics.  Provide the price, the down payment, the monthly payment and tell me how you came up with the monthly payment amount. (50 words) In the Find a Home article on Realtor dot com, there is a typical down payment described as $40,000, which is commonly 20% of the house price (Find a Home, 2010, pp. 1). The house price would be about $200K. The monthly payment on such a house would be roughly $4,617, based on the fact that someone I know bought a house with a similar price and that is what they had to pay on their home in Dallas. SLP 2 Question 4) From your study of Chapter 2, if you were to purchase a single family home for rental purposes, would you purchase it as a individual owner, as a corporation, as a partnership, or some other form of ownership. Relate why you chose this form of ownership. (56 words) According to Dallas News, it would probably be very helpful to purchase a house as an individual owner (2010, pp. 1). That way, one actually gains equity in a home, and pays down a mortgage, thus also improving or maintaining a good FICO score, improving or maintaining a good credit score, and simultaneously creating credit history. The purpose of SLP 4 is to help you perform a financial analysis on a property. For SLP 4, assume you are a real estate investor looking to purchase the single family rent house you identified in SLP 3. 


SLP 4 Question 1) From your previous SLP, what is the asking price of the house you are considering to purchase as a rented house? What would the house rent for? 
(33 words)
 The asking price of the house being considered to purchase as a rented house was $200K. The house would rent for approximately $2,500 dollars according to Dallas Real Estate Investments (2010, pp. 1). SLP 4 Question 2) You know from your earlier SLP what financing terms (interest rate and term of the loan) are available to investors. From Question (1) above, you know the Price and estimated Monthly Rent you can expect from the property you selected. Show me a Financial Analysis on your property. (67 words) Financially, this property is good to invest in because it is at a reasonable price compared to some other housing in the market which would be too expensive. $200K is the upper limit of what middle-income families might be willing to pay, assuming that both parties (if spouses buy the property) have two solid incomes that average $70K to $100K per annum combined when married filing jointly. SLP 4 Question 3) In a brief paragraph, summarize whether you think this property represents a good real estate investment, based on your Financial Analysis. Address the issue of Rate of Return (Cash on Cash),  Total Est. Annual Return (before taxes), and any other factors you deem relevant. Be specific. (63 words) This property represents an excellent investment, because not only is the rental fee reasonable, but if at some point the person renting the property wanted to invest equity in the property, he or she could do so by simply making payments to the bank if this was arranged with the lending institution that the renter would choose to work with, in this case. SLP 4 Question 4) (a) If you do NOT think the Property represents a good investment based on your analysis, what changes, if any, could you make to structure the deal where it would make sense to you, a savvy investor? In other words, what is the BEST offer you could make to the seller that would make the property a good deal for you? 

SLP 4 Question 4) (b) If you DO think the Property represents a good deal, what is the BEST offer you would make to the seller?  How did you come up with your best offer?  Be specific. (257 words) The best offer that I could make to the seller that would make a property deal good for myself is if I could offer the renter 2% of the purchase price of the home as a down payment. Additionally, it would be ideal if there were no down payment (also known as a zero down payment). This would be highly unlikely but there is no hurt in asking. The best offer I could make to the seller is to present the full amount of the house to the seller and be ready to close the deal on the home. The next best bet would be to have at least 20% of the purchase price of the home as a down payment. For a smaller house, one might be paying for the quality of the neighborhood. For example, in Arlington, Virginia, a very tiny, small home with rehab difficulties, including no central air—can cost as much as $800K. The particular couple buying this home happened to have that money stashed away, because the husband was an aeronautical engineer and the wife was a science magazine editor. It is very unusual that a couple would have so much money saved, and they definitely would not be considered middle-class. But it is astonishing that they were willing to settle for a home that had significantly less square footage than a $649K home which offered much more square footage, even though it had $50K in electrical repairs that needed to be done as well as have a bathroom be remodeled. SLP 4 Question 6) Locate a property you wish to purchase as a single family rent house to add to your real estate portfolio. (55 words) I located a property in Chicago that I would like to purchase. It is a single-family home in a high-class neighborhood with lovely parks and a good family-oriented atmosphere. It would be difficult to move into this neighborhood without having either a significant down payment (10% would be good, however 20% would be ideally better). Specific Tools for Answering SLP 3 Questions For SLP 3, the student is to write a paper that addresses the following issues. 

 SLP 3 Question 1) Provide the city and address of the property you selected. What is the asking price of the house? Are there any special terms or conditions given as a part of the asking price? If, so, what are they? 
(88 words)
 The city and address of the property I selected was in Chicago, Illinois. The address was 10623 S. Seeley Ave., Chicago, IL 60643. The asking price of the house is $200,000. There are no special terms or conditions given as part of the asking price except one must pre-qualify for the mortgage and have a steady income. The owner would preferably like to be paid with 20% of the down payment at least, which is $40,000. Either that or the owner would like to be paid outright.

 SLP 3 Question 2) In a brief paragraph, summarize why you selected this property as a potential rent house. Address the issues of Price/Value.  That is, what is the asking price of this home relative to the value of other homes in the nieghborhood?  Give me specific examples of at least two other homes in the neighborhood that are for sale.  Compare them in terms of asking price or tax-appraised value, square footage of the home and any other factors you deem relevant.  (86 words) Two other homes in the neighborhood are $1,000,000 and $150,000, respectively. The neighborhood is named Beverly in Chicago. Basically, the million-dollar home is in a better neighborhood with more square footage and this raised the asking price, as well as it being in a better part of the neighborhood, as opposed to the $150K home—which is on the border of being in a bad neighborhood. Property values are better on the hill in Beverly, because that is where the wealthier inhabitants of the neighborhood live. SLP 3 Question 3) What you believe to be the Rental Value of the home? Give me specific examples of at least two other homes in the neighborhood that are for rent.  Compare them in terms of what they are asking for rent, square footage of the home, and any other factors you deem relevant. (50 words)  The rental value of the $200K home would be estimated to be at least $2,500/mo. Two other homes in the area, the $1 million-dollar home, was available for $5,000/mo. The $150,000-dollar home was available to rent for $1,200/mo. The square footage of the homes were medium, large, and small—respectively. REFERENCES Dallas Central Appraisal District (2010). Average values for single-family detached residences. Available: http://www.dallascad.org/forms/2010AllsFRAvgCertDispRpt.pdf Dallas Central Appraisal District EVR (2010). Summary of certified estimated values report. Available: http://dallascad.org/forms/2010cert.pdf Real estate investments. (2010). Available: http://www.dallascad.org/SearchAddr.aspx/ Dallas Dirt Magazine. (2010). Dallas real estate home sales: rich hanging in there. Available: http://dallasdirt.dmagazine.com/ Dallas News Web Site. (2010). Available: http://dallasnews.com/ Dallas Texas real estate. (2010). Available: www.dallastexasrealestate.com/neighborhood.php?id=8 Mortgage calculator. (2010). Available: http://www.mortgage-calc.com/mortgage/simple.php

 Find a home. (2010). Available: http://www.realtor.com/ Texas Housing Affordability Index (THAI). 2010. Publication 1926. Available: http://recenter.tamu.edu/pdf/1926.pdf Trulia Real Estate Search. (2010). Dallas. Available: http://www.trulia.com/TX/Dallas/ Wells Fargo mortgage rates. (2010). Available: https://www.wellsfargo.com/mortgage/rates/ Read More