As featured in Eye on Inglewood
Real estate is a funny business; everything we deal with in our day to day lives is attached to the field of Real Estate yet most of us only think about real estate from the aspect of owning a home or condo.
We talk about the value of our homes, the equity we have gained and the changing neighborhoods that surround our homes but we don’t talk about all the things that make the land under our homes so valuable.
As owners, buyers and sellers we have to start thinking about what we are really paying for and that is ‘location, location, and location.’ We are paying for where that land is and what surrounds it, not the fixtures, the amenities or the size of the home.
When you think about buying a property you have to understand that the more opportunity that surrounds the area and the better the future prospects are for that community, the more expensive that house/condo will be.
I say all this to address the many people who speak to me and ask where they should buy. My answer is always, “What is your overall goal? Are you looking to buy your forever home and raise your children? Is this your starter home? Are you looking to buy a piece of investment. Each one of these questions comes with a different answer.
If this is your forever home my answer is to always buy the best house you can afford in a neighborhood you can see yourself growing old in. If this is your starter home, look to buy the cheapest house in the best neighborhood you can afford at the time. It is better to buy in a safe neighborhood you don’t love and build equity than to keep renting hoping to one day save enough to buy in your dream community. Lastly, when looking to buy an investment property there are so many moving parts that you should be aware of.
For example:
- How much do you know about the area you looking to buy in?
- How stable is the workforce in the area you want to invest in?
- If the area is such a great investment, why are there so many under-valued properties available?
- Where is your tenant pool and how will you access these renters?
- Does the area you are looking to invest in have too much available open land to build on?
Essentially, if you can’t answer the questions above, you should realize you are gambling not investing.
Real Estate is about knowing the questions you should ask and having enough conviction to make sure they are answered before you move forward with any transaction. There is always going to be a Real Estate deal to invest in, you just have to make sure that deal is the right one for you and your family.
My name is Odest T Riley Jr and remember it’s Monopoly not Chess