OfflineWhile the good news is found per the media... the good news for investors is that more opportunities are opening up everyday at better prices. The market may never be the same again but the fundamentals of the business never change.
This article was found at: http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1873081,00.html
There's good news in the housing market--for renters. What you pay is on the way down. The average rent in the U.S. fell 0.4% in the last three months of 2008, according to a survey of apartment buildings in 79 metropolitan areas by real estate analytics firm Reis. That's the first quarterly drop since the beginning of 2003
Even though home-ownership is on the decline, apartment buildings aren't swamped with interest, since the demand for rentals is largely linked to employment. When people don't have jobs, they're more likely to stay with family or find a roommate. Plus, with escalating foreclosures, slow condo sales and investor properties sitting unflipped, there are new sources of competition. Real estate intelligence outfit Property & Portfolio Research (PPR) projects that in 2009 the average apartment rent will drop 2.1%. Says PPR's Hans Nordby: "If you're looking for an apartment or want to renegotiate your lease, you should keep in mind that you have bargaining power."
...(Go hard or go home).
That is why I buy houses not apartments.
You've got to find your obstacles and call them out! Unsheath the sword, and do battle with whatever it is that holds you back!
Rent for houses seems soft too. Softer than I have ever seen it. I dont have much of an explanation for it.
Hard to imagine that the "double up" factor is all of it..