An Oakland, California real estate investment fund is carving out a niche that might work in other areas with roughly similar demographics: Acquiring and turning around lower-cost single family houses in neighborhoods outside San Francisco with strong mass-transit connections to urban employment centers and good job-growth potentials.

But rather than flipping the houses it acquires and fixes up, McKinley Partners is renting them out for as long as five years in a two-step strategy – pocketing solid cash flow in the interim, and banking on a stronger sales market down the road.

McKinley has raised $6 million for purchases in targeted neighborhoods: It scrupulously avoids subdivision houses, it pays no more than $80,000 to $90,000 cash per unit – prices that are often drastically below what the same properties commanded four years ago.

The fund budgets about $19,000 per house for a two-stage renovation process, says managing partner Gregor Watson, who talked with Realty Times last week. The first $9,000 goes toward the basic fix-ups needed to attract tenants willing to pay $1,200 to $1,500 a month.

Several years after purchase, the houses will get another $10,000 of improvements to reposition them for sale – assuming market demand has improved.

The houses all have been victims of the boom and bust cycle, and illustrate the “over-correction” in pricing that’s been underway in the Bay area. In one recent case, McKinley Partners purchased a three bedroom, 1 _ -bath property for $84,000 – a massive discount from the $412,000 a buyer paid for it just four years ago.

McKinley’s strategy, says Watson, is based in part on an investment model that incorporates detailed property valuation and employment data back to 1985. McKinley cherry-picks houses that meet its strict locational, price and physical criteria, then manages the rental intensively.

source: Realty Times

As I’ve traveled around the US speaking on the subject of my book, Rightsizing Your Life, and talking to audiences about the obstacles standing in the way of a midlife move–any move!–I also have had a chance to do a quick survey of the cities and towns I pass through.

In the process, I have been introduced to scores of wonderful communities designed for the 50-plus crowd that “New Nesters” like my husband and myself might want to live in, once we finally “simplify our surroundings while keeping what matters most.”

Given the ongoing mortgage crisis and the difficulty in finding buyers for the family homes many would like to sell in order to start this new chapter in our lives, I hit upon what I think is a great way to “try out” other communities while waiting for this housing disaster to right itself.

So, surely you’ve heard of Vacation Rental by Owner?

If you have, would you consider listing your own home as a short-term rental on such an Internet service (there are several to choose from), and then search online for the kind of residence you’ve been considering for the next phase of your life?

Image source: San Francisco Chronicle

My husband of thirty-two years and I live within view of the San Francisco Bay…a wonderful place that visitors from all over the world want to experience. I also love high desert climates–but am unsure if I would really want to make New Mexico, Arizona or Nevada my permanent home, despite many cost savings compared to living in California.

A friend described how she rents out her place in the maritime village of Sausalito when she plans to be away for more than two weeks, so it occurred to me that if my square footage was in “show place” condition (meaning ALL clutter banished), then I could rent it out at the same time that I signed on for two-week to month-long furnished rentals on VRBO in spots like beautiful Santa Fe, New Mexico—which has been on our “short list” for years.

Here’s one listing I found for a darling “casita” right in the heart of town:

I realize, of course, that Rightsizing one’s home to rent to perfect strangers may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but what a great opportunity it provides for finding an economical way to experience a new locale without having to make a big decision about moving until you were sure a community felt like the right fit?

Now, another place I’ve always wanted to live is Venice, Italy….

Hmmmm…..on VRBO you can check it out and have a wonderful time imagining the possibilities!

At least in Kenya, moving can be quite an ordeal. 

Nairobi is a so-called modern city, and with its modernity comes all imaginable obstacles to overcome.  My parents and I recently moved from one side of Nairobi to the other, and experienced just how frustrating moving in a modern African city can be. 

With a tight deadline to move out of our now former abode, the house hunt began.  The methods of searching where many.  Check the classifieds in the Daily Nation, daily.  Make the rounds of notice boards (for those wishing to know where to look, check Sarit Centre in Westlands, it seems to have the most notices.  Yaya Centre also carries a far share).  Call agents (especially the ones who you have already handed some cash). 

These methods and the subsequent phone calls to the many numbers you have collected, will without a doubt get you a chance to see houses.  The next problem however comes from the issue of finding a suitable house at a suitable price. 

Our budget was set at a maximum of 60,000 Kenyan shillings (approximately $1,000).  In Nairobi this is a very small budget for finding a house large enough for a family and one that meets with mzungu (American) standards.  Add the fact that we were hoping for a small play place for my younger brother, 3-4 bedrooms and small room for “staff.” Result…lots of unsuitable houses. 

Most that met the standards were far and beyond the budget, the rest…unsuitable.  Unsuitable can be read to mean…old, with kitchens and bathrooms that were built in the 70’s and hadn’t been renovated in the slightest….non-existent play areas….no “staff” housing…tiny bedrooms…no storage space…the list is endless.

Finally however the multiple visits to the notice board at Sarit Centre paid off and we found a house.  It has just enough bedrooms, nice neighbours, plenty of light coming into the rooms, a SQ, a decent kitchen and bathrooms, and a great price. 

Of course after finding the house, there was the whole process of moving out things from one side of the city to the other…but then that is another story. 

Renting houses are becoming very popular these days. It has gained a lot of business these days. Well it is also a good idea to rent your property so that you can earn some extra income. That extra income can help you a lot in paying your debts and also help in your expenses which are made in your day-to-day life.

Renting the house as it has a lot of benefits for those landlords who live nearby some education institute like colleges or universities, or some business hub. As these days many students are going outstation to study in other countries there primary need is to stay near the college or university in which they are studying. If they found one they are even ready to pay a good amount to the landlord beacuse hat they save is the transportation and harrassment to travel from the far off place to their colleges.

Although it is very hard to find one house or apartment nearby beacuse at times they all are full or some people do not want to rent their property or houses. So if students find any chances to get a house near there university or colleges they don’t want to lose it. Because of this demands for students, landlords also take benefits by renting their houses to students as they are much safer renting the house to students. They can also ask for a good rent to them. Mostly these days a group of students say 2-4 students hire a house or apartment and share the rent so that it does not effect too much on their pockets as there source of income is limited.

Sometimes you find people who come from other country on a project work or on a work visa so they obviously don’t have their own homes. Generally these type of people often come for a long period of about 2-12 months or longer depending on the project they are handling. So they have to look for a house or an apartment which is nearby the workplace, so that they can conveniently go to their workplace and save the money. If the person who wants to rent a house finds one near to his/her office than the landlord for that particular premises can judge all the aspects and come up to a nagotiable rent.

Generally landlord’s would prefer married couples, or students to rent their house for the aspect of security and reliability. The landlord would not have to face many problems if they both agree to pre-specified terms & conditions in the long run and on daily basis.

The most important and major aspects are the benefits that the landlord enjoys :-

Tax Benefit

Landlord enjoys the tax benefit which he gets when he rent his property. He can also get some relaxation on the interest rate which he is paying may be on the mortgage of the house.

Regular Income

As the landlord rents his property to any one which he feels like, he is going to enjoy the regular income which would be coming in the form of rent. He can also save that extra bit to his savings by it and use it also for other daily expenses.

From today, Madrileños under the age of 30 can get special help when renting a flat. Called the ‘Renta Basica de Emancipación’, it is available to those between 22 and 30 years whose annual gross earnings come to less than 22,000 euroweenies per year. It can amount up to 210 euroweenies a month for the rent, plus 600e a year for the deposit (‘fianza’) and another 120e a year for the guarantee (‘aval’).

Housing, or at least the cost of it, is one of the main political issues in Spain and is particularly acute in Madrid, where prices have sky-rocketed in line with the UK and Ireland. Rarely a week goes by without the media reporting on a demo from economically illiterate students demanding cheaper accommodation or a political press conference on the subject and each month the breakdowns by district (barrio) of average rents is scrutinised in bewildering depth by commentators from all sides of the political spectrum. This ‘Renta Basica’ was a response by the ruling socialist party (PSOE) to a perceived weakness in its support from this demographic of the electorate. Or, to put it more simply, it was a bribe to make ’em vote PSOE.

However, landlords are no fools and, as always happens when you artificially distort a market, the providers (the house owners) have surreptitiously started to raise costs (rents) prior to today’s deadline – thus making it harder for those not in the target age-bracket but looking for similar types of accommodation to rent. Thus we are getting artificial inflation plus more tax impositions for the general working public.