When Investing in Real Estate, Stick to Your Strategy

If you have been doing groundwork with an eye toward investing in Charleston area real estate, chances are you’ve also been watching some new national movement in housing sales. Last month’s Real Trends Housing Market Report showed U.S. sales of 5,880,000 units (a 5.1% increase over June 2013 numbers): “a substantial improvement over the five prior months.” Prices also continued to rise across most of the nation, though at a slightly slower rate. It’s the consistency of the appreciation that has continued to attract investors.

Those investors are drawn for differing reasons—since investing in real estate in Charleston, SC can advance a variety of financial strategies. For investors who purchase residences in order to rehab and flip, any continuation of price appreciation and rising sales volume is encouraging news. For others who plan to hold long term to maximize rental income potential, still low mortgage rates continue to undergird a historically attractive environment.

Whether investing in Charleston real estate becomes the high point of a portfolio or a footnote depends on such a wide variety of factors that entire books continue to be written about them. Here are a few—with a couple of the ways they can be viewed:

Not only does location play a critical part in how the underlying property is valued, it also can be the deciding factor influencing rental income where rental income is the main goal. Some of the best performing rental property investments can be those located close to transportation and other amenities like restaurants, shopping and parks: key attractions to tenants (and buyer-investors) alike. On the other hand, a good deal in an iffy location can pay off—but only if it passes a critical analysis.

A storied strategy for winning a higher ROI on a Charleston, SC real estate investment is to target properties situated in less-developed areas—areas promising a better-than-average pace of development in subsequent months or years. Such properties hold the likelihood of outstanding appreciation for the long term investor with ample time and patience.

Investments can be acquired only when sufficient capital is available–but successful investing is about more than just finding the least expensive property. Success means creating a budget in line with the expected return, leaving padding for unexpected expenses, and then scouring the available properties that can realistically fit that template. It’s a simple truth that hard-headed budgeting is a skill worth developing: often the best deals materialize from the best plans.

Whether you’re looking to buy and flip or buy and hold, investing in Charleston, SC real estate can be both profitable and exciting. The assistance of an experienced and well-connected agent will prove invaluable when it comes to uncovering potential Charleston area real estate investment opportunities.  If you’re looking for such an agent, I hope you will contact me today.

Interested in selling your Charleston area home? Visit: www.jeffcookrealestate.com
Interested in buying a Charleston area home? Visit: www.discovercharlestonareahomes.com

-Jeff Cook

Jeff Cook Real Estate

Charleston, SC