Real Estate

Things To Be Doubly Sure About When You Rent Your Place To Someone

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A lot of us buy property and rent it out. At times it turns out to be highly beneficial, but it takes not so long to turn it into a nightmare if not done carefully. Renting, also known as hiring, is a concurrence where a payment is made for interim use of a good, services or property that is owned by another. Some reasons why renters can have better financial deals than homeowners are:

No maintenance or repair bills.
There is a definite advantage that renters don’t pay maintenance bills.

Access to convenience.
This is one more financial benefit to renting, over buying a house of your own is having access to amenities.

No need for big down payment.
Another field where renters have the better economic deal is signing. When purchasing a house with a mortgage, you always require a sizeable payment.

Diminishing property value.
The value of the property is changeable, and this affects homeowners in a big way, as this decides the amount of taxes you need to pay.

Rent amounts are fixed.
For the span of the lease agreement, rent amounts are fixed.

It is not easy for you to handle the keys to your house over to a complete stranger for care, there are decisions you need to make. Despite, the decisions that you take now, before even searching for a tenant, will make the biggest effect on the success of your rental. There are some questions to answer before you rent out your house:

Why rent your house?
Despite, it is very important to decide whether or not renting your house is a good idea. If you are confused about renting vs. selling your house, then renting is the best decision you could ever take, as it has more financial benefits.

How to rent your house to the best tenants?
This is the most important decision that determines the success or failure of your rental is the person you allow in.

A shady tenant can potentially cause years of stress, headache, and economical loss-while an eminent tenant can provide years of security, peace, and repose. Therefore, don’t underestimate the importance of renting to only best tenants

Pre-screening the tenants.
As soon as you receive a phone call from a respective tenant, always pre-disguising them before time. This means to try out and qualify the tenant over the phone before spending time without going out and showing a house to them.

After having a look at our complete guide to renting, you will understand the process of seeking an attention-grabbing listing, managing tenants’ interest and impressing potential tenants as you show your unit.

It is as important to generate interest; it is also responsible to pay a closer look as you get to know your respective tenants. Will they be responsible tenants who will pay rent and won’t destroy your property?

So hopefully this guide will help and also make your job as a landlord as easy as possible.

Knowledge Based Articles NL Builders Real Estate 

9 things to do on the weekend if you are left alone

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Weekends do not necessarily have to be the time for a huge party or outing, sometimes you can just have a little downtime. It is great to let your hair down and spend some quality time with friends, however, some alone time to be just by yourself is really important in real life.

Here are 9 things that you can do on your weekend if you are left alone.

1.    You finally get the chance to read the book your friend suggested.

In this modern life, we all are very busy and it is very easy to make a list of things that we want to do if we had enough time for it. You may want to read that book but after a busy and tiring day, things like reading books get pushed to the back of your priorities. Take the alone time that you have got and spend it doing something for yourself.

2.    Eat without judgement

Having as much as food as your heart desires with absolutely no judgement what can be better than this? Eat as much as you like and use the excuse that since you were home alone you did not want the food to go to waste.

3.    Have an endless movie or TV marathon

With no one disturbing, stopping or making you miss the important part of your favourite show and no judgement that you are completely wasting your day in front of the TV, you will have endless hours of laziness and you can enjoy feeling completely content.

4.    Taking over the kitchen and cooking

Alone time is a perfect time for experimenting in the kitchen obviously with precautions. Try all those recipes that you have seen in the magazines and on YouTube.

5.    Take a long bubble bath or shower

Peace and calmness in the entire house is the perfect environment for you to relax. Light up some candles, for yourself a glass of wine and let yourself in a long bubble bath.

6.    Sorting your things

Having some alone time is the perfect opportunity to get yourself together and make sure that everything is in order. Clean up your cupboard, room and throw out what you no longer need. Having a clean room will make you feel fresh and will also help you have a mind as tidy as your house.

7.    Get some fresh air

Being cooped up all day at work can easily become quite boring and you may find yourself a bit fidgety. Simple things like a brisk walk will help you get fresh air that you need for your brain to calm down and it will also make your weekend more satisfying.

8.    Online shopping

After a long and busy weekend, you need to reward yourself. Rather than going outside in the crowd, snuggle up in your blanket and order yourself some lovely treats from the online websites in the comfort of your home.

9.    Exercise

While all the above points may seem enjoyable, it is very easy to become restless when you have a day on your own. If you do not like to workout in the gym you can always get a yoga, Zumba or workout DVD that will help you feel good about yourself.

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Knowledge Based Articles Real Estate 

10 Things to do to Remain Financially Independent in the Long Run

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Holding cash in your bank account to have a secure and safe future is a thing of the past. The returns that you would receive from keeping your money in the bank is far lesser than the earning that you would get after investing in bonds, all FDs, any kind of stock market, SIPs and mutual funds. Investing is the main key for the people who want to be successful unsuccessfully independent in their future. investing is not the only thing, you will have to keep track of investment return and stay in there for long term investment.
Here is a list of advice that all the professional investors have suggested so to help you stay independent financially in the long run.

  1. Try and keep the things simple and do not run for quick money
    The professional gamblers always advise the investors to invest in things of which they have proper knowledge. If you are not a professional and you do not have proper knowledge about the investment, you must always stick to your limitations.
  2. The rich and the poor philosophy
    A popular convention in the field investment market is that you need to save a little amount after all this spending that you have invested and then invest the savings.
  3. The careful approach
    When you are overcoming with guilt for spending too much at the end of the month you usually start thinking plans of how you can cut down the expenses on frivolous things. Frugality is not basically about cutting down your expenses, it is mainly about spending on things that you love and then mercilessly cutting down the cost on things that you don’t.
  4. Limit the amount of borrowing
    The credit cards that users can be quite alluring. Borrowing the amount that seems impossible right now would be affordable within a few months. You are sure to fail in your financial part if you increase the leverage.
  5. Chalk out a plan
    We spend a lot in a certain month and then we try to cut off the expensive in the next month thereby falling in a vicious circle of debt. Try and make a simple expenditure plan as well as an investment plan.
  6. Invest in long terms
    If you are in the habit of keeping in and out of the market, you are sure to lose due to the upheavals of the market.
  7. SIP usually takes away the human bias
    A systematic investment plan is something which the experts love to create. It is always believed to be a disciplined part of the long-term investment. Famous investors and managers say that SIP is the easiest way to gain wealth.
  8. Reviewing your portfolio is an important part of the investment
    A sound investment plan is simply matching your liabilities and your assets. The main purpose of planning is to come from personal biases and invest in the long-term rationally.
  9. Do your homework
    While there are thousands of investors available in the market, it is very easy to gather the knowledge on your own in the internet market.
  10. The answer lies inside of you
    If you have planned to invest only for a couple of weeks, then do not think for long-term investments.
Real Estate 

Why Paying EMI is Better Than Paying Rent

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Why Paying EMI is Better Than Paying Rent

A common refrain heard is that“it is better to pay an EMI and own a home, rather than pay a rent and make someone else rich”. While this argument does have merits of its own, there are certain times when paying a rent makes more sense. So, for taking a decision of buying/renting after carrying out an analysis of your financial position,debt-income ratio, need vs want of owning a home, expected trends in the property markets and other factors. But here we will see some of the benefits of paying Equated Monthly Installments(EMI) in buying a home over the rent.

Tax Benefits:

Besides getting to own an asset the principal repayment of your home loan is eligible for deduction under Sec80C. It means you are better equipped to make use of the entire deduction allowed. Also, interest payable of up to Rs 2 lakhs is deductible from your income. If it is a joint home loan, both the spouses are eligible to claim deductions up to Rs 2 lakhs, if the loan repayment is done in equally by both.

Source of Additional Income:

One can always rent out the property if not occupied by self and paying the EMI. This could lower some burden of EMI payment.

When EMI Makes Sense Financially:

The first factor to evaluate in the rent vs EMI debate is your financial position. You may have found the perfect house – which is close to work and school and has all the amenities you need for a good life close to you. Find out the approximate price with all additional costs. Paying EMI will be better if this sum is more than 75% of your proposed EMI.

How much Upfront Payment can you Afford?

Generally, you may be eligible for a home loan that covers up to 80% of the cost, means, you have to pay around 20% to 25% of this amount upfront as your contribution. For example,with your down payment, you will get a loan amount of Rs: 48 lakhs for a Rs: 60lakh home. This would put your EMI at approximately Rs: 50,000 per month, based on current rates of interest. If you can pay over 50% of the value of the home as your contribution, then that will be a good idea for you to invest and pay EMI.

Will you be Ready for Pre-Payment?

In an ideal scenario, you should be prepared for a total pre-payment of your loan amount within a few years of beginning it. Keeping in mind that making regular EMI payments will get you a good discount when you work on pre-payment. So, calculate your finances and make a projection of where you will stand a decade or so after taking the loan. Pre-paying even a small amount of around Rs: 10,000, in a reducing EMI scheme,will help you make some good savings while buying a home. This will help you making a decision on buying a home with EMI.

Investment Knowledge Based Articles Real Estate 

10 Things You Must Understand About Investment

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10 Things You Must Understand About Investment

Every year, Inflation lops an average of3.87% of the value of your money. Investment is the only way by which you can grow your money and outpace it. So, investing is important. Investments can be done in various forms and you must decide where to invest your money. For the help in navigating through the investing field 10 basics need to understand about investment.

For Stock Market investment don’t rely on the past behavior to predict for the future. Though professionals can make educated guesses on the market’s future predictions no one can reliably predict the market.

Investing is always risky. Either you could earn money or loss it. Professionals recommend you should not invest money if required in next 5 years, for if the market falls you won’t have enough time to recover it.

For investing you do not need to be an expert. A lot of information in books and podcasts and even financial planners,wealth advisers and robot-advisers are available. Simply to start with you can invest in your office’s retirement plan, if available, following it can go for Roth IRA or traditional IRA and so on.

The earlier you start, the more you gain.The biggest asset is time for all kind of investments even retirement savings as it grows in compound interest and nothing can match it. In addition, if you lose in the market you will have more time to recover it before you required.

Set a goal for your investment based on reason. purpose and objective. Once you established the objective then your investment time frame will be known, and you can plan out how to invest.

Investment is dependent on your time availability and reaching your goal. Based on these you can set your strategy. For investment there are 3 types of asset classes: cash, bonds, and equities and each of them have their own expected rates of return ranges over a time-period which helps determine how to invest. If your money requirement in:

0 to 2 years – Cash asset. It has some sub-categories like savings accounts, CDs, and money-market accounts. These have a low return rate and stable.

2 to 5 years – Bonds asset. Normally, they generate from 3% to 8% high over a time-period. These are more stable than stocks and generate a higher income than cash. They also fluctuate but not like stocks.

5 or more years – Stocks asset. They eventually outpace the inflation and brings the most return. They have a huge range of returns from -38% to even +30%. In a time of 70 – 80 years, it can reliably generate about 8% return.

Never invest in one place, always diversified your investment.

Investments come with a cost like fees and taxes.

Don’t get emotional on your investments and move them constantly. Just leave them alone and avoid getting into the anxiety of constant market updates.

Don’t forget your investments forever. A sin time, your selected portfolio may not suit your current situation and need to be re-balanced.

Investment 

Row House or Flat? Choose Wisely

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If you are stuck between choosing flat or row house for your new home, we can understand the dilemma. There are many pros and cons on both side and you have to think as per investment point as well. So here is the list of things you should consider before buying a row house or flat, choose wisely.

  • Privacy: one of the main reasons the new couple wants to go to a new home is the privacy. Now in the flat, you will have the total privacy of your own and doesn’t need to worry about who lives next doors. Although occasions you will find that person who lives above you have love to dance or next to you have big stereo, which could ruin it. On the other hand, row houses are totally separated from other house. So you will have your personal space.
  • Area: when you go for the row house, you need to select a better area for it. a place from where you can get everything easily and those property are costly. But the other one which is cost-effective is far away from the city. On the other hand, flats are available everywhere and you can choose to buy any place you seem feet.
  • Space: flats have limited space, you can get a big balcony and turn it into greenhouse but apart from there, you cannot do anything else. On the other hand, row house has a garden and a place for their vehicle. They can even build a room upstairs if they want to expand. They have total control of the house.
  • Economical: it’s a fact that flats are more economical than a row house. You don’t have to worry about piles of paper that need to be approved before you lay one brick. In flat, all the papers are come prepared and don’t need to pay for anything else as the building owner has taken care of it.
  • Maintenance: flats get much cheaper maintenance cost than own house. Also, they just need to pay this amount to the building owner and they will take care of the rest. If any day you have face problem like a broken pipe, you can call the building management and they will send a handyman. Maintaining a row house is a bit costlier in that term.

If we conclude this, flats are much better than row house, but on the other hand, row houses are last much longer than flats. Row houses, if maintained properly could last up to 50 year but flats can go for 30-year maximum. Now it’s up to you on which type of property you want to buy.

Knowledge Based Articles Real Estate 

What are the Best Ways to Invest?

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Best Ways to InvestFor a good investment you need to know why, how and when to invest. So now is the right time to invest. By the power of compound returns in investment you can grow your money. Comparably there are 4 best ways to invest your money.

Though many people do not trust the financial markets but historically it’s a fact, investing in Stock Market actually paid off. Invest in small sum by a method called “dollar cost averaging” over a length of time. The method works like when the market is high you are buying fewer shares and when it is low, vice-versa. So, over a time, one can have lower average share price using this method. Some tools we can use to invest:

A typical suggestion is to invest in mutual funds or ETFs. For mutual fund you can use a financial-advisor who on your behalf will sort out the well-performing actively managed funds from the other non-performing funds else you can cling to an existing brokerage-account. There are also few companies who will help you to invest money in ETFs based on your appetite for risk, investing goals and other factors without any charge for managing. You can also find very low charge robo-advisers for this purpose.

The index funds which are not actively managed but have a good long history of solid investment and can be used for retirement purpose. These funds hold every stock in an index like the S&P 500, including big-name companies such as Apple, Microsoft and Google. As these companies offer low turn-over rates so their fees and tax bills tend to be low also. The trick here is to buy all the big companies through the S&P 500 consistently in a very low-cost way and not picking up the right company. Even, say in a period of 10 years, low-cost index funds could outperform hedge funds.

Peer-to-Peer Lending is a method to lend money to individuals in small increments as if you were the bank and getting interest from them using platforms like Lending Club and Prosper.

In Real Estate investment, not necessarily requires dealing physically and going through the hassles of a landlord. There are many ways by which you can invest without dealing with the physical property like real estate notes or Fundrise. These are all hands-off investments where you will be a part of the owner without dealing physically. You can earn good returns but there are risks too, for trusting third-party on your investments.

Investing in yourself is one of the best ways for investment. There are few ways to do so like, read a lot of books on successful personal finance strategies or leadership skills which will make you absolutely smarter in a course of time, investing into material that you can learn from other people, personal coaching and don’t think about the idea of going back to a business-school. Though this kind of investment might sound cliché but it’s a bet that could absolutely pay-off.

Finance & Economy Investment 

How to Make Investments in Your 30s

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How to Make Investments in Your 30sIf you’re in your 30’s, many life transitions happen like from moving up in your career to buying a home. So, getting started in your 30’s and making smart moves with your money will help achieving your future financial success and will provide you with plenty of time to save for retirement and the future.

The priority is to set your goals and diversified your investments i.e., don’t invest all your expenses in one kind of investment only. Invest in various type of investment plans based on your needs and for meeting your goals.

Below some of the advises for investing correctly when you are in your 30’s:

  1. Taking care of the immediate needs by yourself: Ensure that you have at least 6 months of emergency funds already saved and be financially organized i.e., keeping accurate records of your finances and know where your money is. So, spend time on tracking and reviewing your money. This will let you know if you are moving in right direction or not. Keep on re-balancing your investment as per your current situation.
  2. Ensuring of taking care of your family: It’s to assure not leaving your family screwed when you die. So, invest in Life Insurances which will replace your income and your family won’t become homeless. Investing in Disability Insurances, this can replace your income, so your family can leave, if you gone disabled for unfortunate misfortune. Invest in Child Plans for securing the future of your children’s education and other purposes. Invest in good Health Insurance Policies for all family members which will save a lot of your hard-earned money during hospitalization and other medical expenses.
  3. Saving for the future: Once you have the essential tools for your family protection, now you can go for your future savings. Start saving systematically. Embrace Stocks, invest in various pension plans available which are tax free, etc. If you have any excess money invest in standard brokerage accounts. Investing on a set schedule will make you a better long-term investor. Focus on the percentage of income saved and not the amount of money. By saving based on percentage of income will help you saving more as you earn more. But don’t take risks that you cannot afford while investing.
  4. Planning for big event expenses: Once the above items are taken care-off now you can look for balancing life events. Pay off all your debts that are continuing like student loan, credit card debts, etc. Then use the left-over money after saving for retirement and investments to plan for things like vacations or weddings as these expenses are flexible.

Wealth can be built by anyone if they willing to stick to some best practices for money management:

  1. a) Focus on the habit of spending and saving intentionally.
  2. b) Building of wealth needs time and doesn’t happens in days or months. So, avoid get rich quick schemes.
  3. c) Seeking guidance from experts or people who are successful in growing wealth.
Investment 

Things You Need to Know About Property Investment

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Things You Need to Know About Property InvestmentProperty or real-estate investment is also like any other business has associated risks. But there are many people who have earned a fortune from it. But it doesn’t guarantee that everyone can earn a fortune by investing in property. Whatever type of property you are purchasing, all these requires a large amount of cash which makes it a very risky business provision. There are many things you need to know before investing in real-estate.

When you are investing in property, you will always look for the profit outcome at the end. So, take it as a purely business investment and think logically about it and not let your emotions affect your decision. So, lower the price you get better the chance that you may get higher profit from it.

Always buy your property in well-researched areas based on your targeted clients. Make sure that the location has real economic growth drivers to sustain your investment in the future based on your targeted clients. Apart from research, using an analytical approach logically based on the financial factors will help you purchase the best property. A good investment is based on economics and not on emotions. The other factors like:

  1. Property Cycle: Aim to purchase at the lowest point of an area so to capitalize on growth. Not buying in a boom cycle.
  2. Capital Growth: To buy where growth in the market going to occur. Utilizing a buy and hold strategy and strong economic growth drivers will ensure the capital growth which will enable you to gain equity in your property and this keep you purchasing more properties.
  3. Solid Yield: Aim to buy property that has more than 5% yield. A solid yield will keep you in the market and you can maintain your investment. The equation is: ((Rent/Week * 52) / Purchase price) * 100.
  4. Knowing Market Value: To buy property on or below the market value of the region. This ensures that you are not paying too much, or it will stagnate your ability to purchase more. OFF THE PLAN purchases are not recommended for this reason as the true market values are not mentioned.

There are different ways that you can invest:

  1. Positive cash flow property
  2. Negative gearing for capital growth
  3. Do renovations to increase the value
  4. Subdivide a property
  5. Do larger developments
  6. Do a buy and hold
  7. Buy units

So, work out on what investment strategy suits you and invest likewise.

A calculation of expenses and profit must be worked out beforehand. Calculate the money you have, how much you can borrow, calculate the purchase cost based on your suitable investment strategy and the operations cost. Lastly, estimate the price you are going to list for the property and minus the expenses to get a rough estimate of the profit. This calculation is necessary to keep you in the safe zone.

Pay all your other debts if you have any, choose appropriate investment loan options and choose your partner carefully, if required.

Investment 

How to Finalize the Location of Your New Home

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How to Finalize the Location of Your New HomeChoosing the home of your dreams can be a nightmare decision for a person. It takes so much effort of putting in the research work, visiting sites, dealing with the agents. To go this daunting process, follow the steps below:

  • Start by looking at the accessibility and the proximity factor around the site you find attractive.

You would like to have a house from which transportation is easy, cheap and should be somewhat close to the airport or railway stations. Check whether the school is closed for your kids, and shopping centres and grocery shops.

  • Next on the list is fixing a budget. Factors like conveyancing, state taxes, duties and fees should be taken into account. Choose the right type of loan to suit your needs and obtain a pre-approval by contacting a mortgage broker.
  • Now it’s time to find the block of land in your desired area. It’s always thankful to get away with a cheap one however, you should consider whether you are ready to compromise if you find the land to be irregular, fall on the lot, positions, orientation, proximity to major roads, ease of access, whether the lot is titled or not. Check how the overall streetscape gets impacted by the Estate Design Guidelines.
  • With the land now meeting your fancies, it’s time to decide the home design and builder choice. Select the floor plan, façade to it on the lot, appoint a colour design consultant to get the interior designing, fittings and textures done. Be cautious not to fall for the extravagant stuff that might affect your budget.
  • With this its time for the building agency to take over. Design your home with all the latest upgrades as per your budget, including the final site costs in the Building Contract. It is almost mandatory to have a written contract in case of any future discrepancies.
  • Once the piece of land has been titled, it is high time for the builder to conduct a soil test and report any site costs as per requirement. After receiving the external approval, such as formalizing unconditional finance approval, obtain the building permits. Contact the building supervisor to initiate the building process.
  • As your Dream home starts to take shape, a percentage of the overall contract value would be invoiced as per required slabs, frame, lockup etc. After completion, builders will schedule Practical Completion Inspection.
  • Now as the building process and final inspection is over with all the finishing touches, the arrangement for the final settlement payment has to be done. Then finally you have the keys to your new home. It’s time to settle!!!

 

Investment Knowledge Based Articles