Top 14 Reasons to Invest In Real Estate Right Now

Investing in real estate today is one of the best ways to diversify your portfolio. Even if you have retirement savings and a taxable investment account, there's always room and reasons to invest in real estate.

Why Should You Invest In Real Estate Right Now?

Whether you're saving for retirement, setting up a legacy for your children, or just want to increase your monthly cash flow, investing in real estate may help you reach your goals faster.

Here are the top 14 reasons to invest in real estate now.

1. You Can Earn a Regular Cash Flow

Real estate provides monthly cash flow, something other investments, like stocks and bonds, don't provide. Your cash flow is the rent charged minus your expenses, including your mortgage payment, maintenance, costs, taxes, and insurance.

As you pay your mortgage down, your cash flow will increase. Whether you use the cash flow to supplement your income, or you save it to invest in yet another investment property you find on Roofstock Marketplace is up to you. Cash flow, no matter how you use it, is nice.

2. Real Estate Appreciates (Usually)

Real estate appreciates over time, usually. Even if you didn't pay your mortgage down (which you will), the home itself may appreciate it. If you buy and hold real estate for a while, you may walk out of the transaction with great capital gains, plus the cash flow you earned along the way and the equity you earn by paying the mortgage balance down.

3. It Will Always Have Value

Real estate doesn't depreciate, or usually, it doesn't. Even though it's a tangible asset, like a car, it appreciates rather than depreciates. Even if a home loses value, you can always count on it being worth something. Even rundown homes are worth something.

4. You Have a Say in the Property's Value

There aren't too many investments you can control or semi-control its value, but real estate is one. If you maintain or even improve a property, you may increase its value. Not every home improvement increases a home's value dollar-for-dollar, but many do and provide a decent return on the investment.

The most profitable renovations are kitchen and bathroom renovations, but not even full renovations. Updating the kitchen or bathroom to make it more modern or functional can improve a home's value, giving you around a 50 - 60 percent return on your investment.

5. Real Estate Investments Give Great Tax Breaks

Uncle Sam takes a portion of everyone's income, but you can lower your liabilities by taking advantage of tax breaks when you own a business. Real estate investors are business owners and can take advantage of those breaks.

Real estate investors may deduct the cost of owning and managing the property, including the cost of fixing it up or maintaining it. In addition, the IRS allows real estate investors to depreciate the property over its useful life, which is 27.5 years. This means you can deduct a portion of the cost of buying and improving the property each year.

6. You Can Earn Equity Which Increases Your Net Worth

As an investment property appreciates and you pay the mortgage down, you earn equity in the home. Equity is the difference between the mortgage balance and the amount you owe. As you pay the mortgage down, you increase your equity.

Since equity is the portion of the real estate you own, it increases your net worth. If you sold the home, you'd receive the difference between the sales price and the outstanding mortgage balance.

7. Investment Real Estate Provides Financial Security

Since real estate appreciates, it can provide financial security. You know you can sell the home for more than you bought it if you hold it for a while. Even if the market falls for a period, it should bounce back if you hold onto the asset long enough. 

But, if you need cash now, you can tap into any existing equity by refinancing with a cash-out refinance. This allows you to keep the property, allowing its value to continue increasing while you use some of the equity for your current needs.  

8. You May Earn Higher Returns than the Stock Market

The stock market provides an average 1 - 2 percent annual return, whereas real estate offers an 8 to 9 percent average annual return. 

While there's no way to predict 100 percent what any investment will do, there's a greater chance of decent returns with real estate. To maximize your returns, diversify your portfolio with stocks, bonds, and real estate to take advantage of all opportunities.

9. The Cash Flow Is Predictable

Stocks and bonds don't have a cash flow, and if they do, it's unpredictable. A dividend stock, for example, may pay dividends, but you don't know how much or when. When you invest in real estate, you know your cash flow because you determine the rent you charge and your monthly expenses.

It's easier to budget or monitor your returns when you know what to expect. This is especially great if you use the cash flow to supplement your regular income.

10. Real Estate Is a Great Source of Passive Income

If you charge enough rent and account for inflation through the years, your real estate investment can provide passive income. You don't have to work for it actively. Even though you'll have to perform repairs and maintenance, there won't be much to do if you keep up with it, yet you can enjoy monthly cash flow if you own the home. It all starts with finding the right property on sites like Roofstock Marketplace

11. It's Great for Retirement Income

Saving for retirement gets confusing. There are 401Ks, IRAs, and pensions. There are tax rules and maximum contribution limits that make it hard to reach your goal unless you start when you're very young.

Then there's the issue when you don't have enough money to save for retirement. When you own real estate, it's like a forced retirement savings account. As you pay the (required) mortgage payments, you earn more equity in the home, building your retirement savings.

12. You Can Use the Rent to Pay Your Mortgage

If you buy a multi-unit property and live in one unit, you can use the cash flow to pay the mortgage on your home. It's like having someone else pay your mortgage.

Want even better news?

Anyone can use this house hack and get an FHA loan on a multi-family unit. As long as you live in one unit, they consider it an owner-occupied purchase, which means you need only 3.5 percent down and have flexible underwriting guidelines.

13. There Are Many Options 

If you look at Roofstock Marketplace, you'll see the many options you have for real estate investments. Here are two common ways to invest in real estate:

 

  • Fix and flip - You buy a rundown home, usually for a low value, pay to fix it up, and sell it for a profit.

  • Buy and hold - You buy a home that's in decent condition (or even a fixer-upper), fix it up, and rent it out for years, earning the cash flow.

 

You can buy a single-family property, condo, townhome, or multi-family unit. You can even buy multiple properties and increase your real estate portfolio and profits even further. 

14. You Don't Need a Lot of Money

Many people assume you must be rich to invest in real estate. 

You don't.

You can start with little money. It can even be gift funds you use for the down payment or equity from your owner-occupied home. The point is you don't need hundreds of thousands of dollars to invest in real estate right now.

Many mortgage programs, including conventional, FHA, and subprime mortgage programs, provide you with the necessary funding.

If you're investing for the short-term (fix and flip), you can even use hard money lending to buy a home. Since you'll sell the home fast, you won't have the high-interest loan for long.

Use the Reasons to Invest in Real Estate Right Now to Create Financial Security

If you're looking for reasons to invest in real estate right now or you wonder if it's right for you, now is the best time to jump in. Interest rates are low, and home values are high. You'll get into the market in time to enjoy incredible growth while keeping your expenses low.