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ONLINE EVENT FOR OUR INVESTORS: Learn About Brand-New, Turnkey Properties to Add to Your Rental Portfolio

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Dear Realty411 Investor,

It is always our top priority to educate our readers on the benefits of real estate investing. As such, we encourage everyone to take action and begin to build a portfolio of rental properties. With this in mind, we are please to announce our newest live webinar.

On this informative online event being held on Saturday, August 24th at 10 AM PT (1 PM ET), guests will gain insight on exclusive property opportunities in the Kansas City market.

Join us as Elux Homes discusses their new-construction, single-family, turnkey investor offering, Woodlands Crossing, in Spring Hill, Kansas. These brand-new homes consist of 3 to 5 bedroom units.

Rental properties to include property management plus tenants will be in place at the time of closing. First Colony Mortgage will be providing a special financing offer for this exclusive project with a 30-year fixed at 5.99% (APR 6.249%).

Don’t miss this unique opportunity in one of the fastest-growing communities in the Kansas City market. This is your chance to purchase an off-market property that is truly turnkey. Don’t miss this exciting LIVE webinar! To reserve your space, please register below.

As these photographs reveal, Elux Homes has constructed beautiful homes that are open and bright; rental homes with quality appliances, walk-in closets, and other classic details.

We hope you can join us for our special live webinar, CLICK HERE, as we discuss some of the unique features found in Woodlands Crossing and the larger Kansas City market.

Since 2007, Realty411.com has assisted top companies expand their visibility and grow their business. Contact us for a complimentary marketing session. Investors, do you have questions about real estate investing? Are you looking for a turnkey rental? Need a solid REI referral?
Book a meeting with a Realty411 team member: CLICK HERE.

Licensed Agent in California
DRE #01355569
The REAL Brokerage
DRE #02022092

ROI on Renovations: How Smart Upgrades Impact Home Sale Prices

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By Michael Alladawi

Starting a home renovation project can be a great way to inject your own style and personality into the space you live in. When doing a DIY project, renovations can also be a great way to learn new skills while helping you to save a bit of money on various improvements around the house.

However, when it comes to making smart choices about the types of renovation projects you take on, it’s important to have a good understanding of the potential ROI (Return on Investment) you can expect to get. This is especially the case if you’re looking to add long-term value to your home while minimizing your spending to only changes that will make a significant impact.

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The Importance of Understanding Renovation ROI

Before you start diving headfirst into a new renovation project, it’s important to understand how to calculate the potential ROI. This represents the total profit you’re able to gain from home improvements in relation to all of the costs you put into a project.

This ROI can be calculated by finding out how your home’s value differs when calculating it before and after a project is completed. Knowing this factor will help you to avoid moving forward on a renovation project simply out of personal preference, and instead consider how it could benefit you if you decide to sell the home in the future.

Factors That Can Affect ROI

Not all renovations are created equal, and there can be a wide range of factors that contribute to whether or not you see a positive ROI. These factors can include:

Property Location

The real estate market is highly dynamic, and the local area will dictate a property’s value and the importance of certain renovations to homeowners in many ways.

In certain areas, higher-end kitchen remodels may be needed to keep up with comparative listings, while in other places, energy-efficient appliances or upgrades may be more needed. By comparing your home with other properties in the area, you’ll be able to better understand the preferences of the target market.

Cost vs. Sales Prices

Of course, a big part of ensuring positive ROI in your home renovation project is managing your spending. Depending on the suggested sell price for your home, you may or may not have funds left to invest in costly repairs without taking a financial hit.

Quality of Work

The increased value your home receives after a renovation project will also depend on how well the project was managed. If you chose to handle all renovations yourself, and there were areas of the renovation that could have been done a bit better, there’s a good chance you’ll see less of a return on your investment than if a professional contractor handled the project.

Top Renovation Ideas With Good Returns on Investment

If you’re looking for inspiration on certain home renovation ideas that typically provide a higher ROI, below are some options you can consider:

Kitchen Remodel

Kitchens are a highly functional room in the house that almost everyone uses regularly. Because of this, making sure your home has a modern, optimal layout can be essential when trying to receive maximum value for your property when you sell it.

The great thing is that you can make a wide range of improvements that have a strong ROI. These upgrades include refacing cabinets, installing modern countertops, or updating major appliances to energy-efficient and stainless steel models.

Bathroom Remodel

Another major selling point for modern homes is having a great-looking bathroom. Many older homes have relatively basic or outdated bathroom layouts with older-model fixtures. Bathroom remodels can be another great way to completely change a small room in the house and see a big return in terms of increased value.

Curb Appeal Enhancements

When getting ready to market and sell a property, the first impression you give off can be a major deciding factor for home buyers.

Because of this, you may want to consider investing in certain exterior improvements of the property to give it better curb appeal. This could be done in a number of different ways, such as maintaining the lawn and planting flower beds, upgrading the front walkway, or installing a gazebo.

Energy Efficiency Upgrades

Most modern home buyers are looking for properties that will help them live more sustainably. Energy-efficient homes are a great way to save significant energy consumption costs while assisting individuals to reduce their carbon footprint.

Evaluating your property and looking for ways to upgrade HVAC systems, lighting, solar panels, or other energy-efficient add-ons can be a great way to attract additional buyers to your property.

When to Consider Selling a House As-Is

Although it may seem that all types of renovations can improve a home’s value, not all projects may be worth taking on before selling your home. In a seller’s market where demand is high, you may not need to consider making too many improvements in your home and could simply sell the house as-is.

Some properties also have certain architectural details or historical significance that are highly sought after on the market. In these situations, home buyers may prefer to keep the home in as much of its original state as possible. Before committing to a certain type of renovation, it can be wise to speak with a real estate professional who can provide practical advice on where and how to prioritize your renovation projects.

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Make the Right Choices When Renovating Your Home

Choosing to renovate your home can be a great investment in the long-term value of your home while letting you enjoy updated living spaces and improved functionality on the property. However, it’s important to make sure you’re making the right investments when it’s time to start a new renovation project.

By taking the time to understand the potential ROI of your renovation projects, you’ll make sure you’re making smarter decisions about the look and feel of your home while helping to improve the value of your property over time.

Michael Alladawi

Michael Alladawi, CEO & Founder of Revive Real Estate, is a Southern California real estate veteran with a proven track record as a builder, investor, and respected home flipper. Michael created Revive Real Estate to share his industry knowledge and help homeowners maximize their profits when selling their homes. Michael’s passion for his work is as big as his desire to create lasting partnerships. For Michael, it all comes down to how much value one offers, both in business and life relationships.

ESCAPE Classic That Launched ESCAPE Homes Makes Return A Decade Later

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Escape Classic – the tiny home design that launched ESCAPE Homes ten years ago – is back in a new and improved design. Tiny home enthusiasts should take note that a limited quantity are available for purchase and delivery in the U.S. and available for vacations or purchase at Canoe Bay ESCAPE Village.

ESCAPE Homes founder, Dan Dobrowolski, first unveiled ESCAPE Classic over a decade ago as a smaller version of the Prairie-style cottages (many designed by Frank Lloyd Wright protege John Rattenbury) at his Four-Star Wisconsin resort, Canoe Bay.

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“Guests raved about the clean lines and open floor plans and the tiny home movement was just beginning to take shape, so ESCAPE Classic was born,” says Dobrowolski. “It was an instant hit with more than 25,000 inquiries the first 48 hours and the 400 square-foot cabin constantly sold out when it debuted at Canoe Bay.”

Over time, ESCAPE evolved into designing even smaller, portable versions of the initial prototype – ranging from the 175 square-foot ESCAPE Vista to the 388 square-foot ESCAPE One.

And, now, Dobrowolski returns to his roots with an enhanced 480 square-foot ESCAPE Classic King that measures 12 feet wide by 40 feet long and features a king-sized bedroom suite (up from queen), a larger kitchen, increased storage, redesigned screened porch with glass French doors and all-electric capabilities that align with the company’s sustainable practices – – all for under $120,000.

“It’s perfect timing with the 10th Anniversary of ESCAPE Homes & 30th Anniversary of Canoe Bay to bring back this beloved design,” says Dobrowolski. “Ten years later, customer still ask about ESCAPE Classic. We’re thrilled to re-introduce the it as a full-time residence, vacation home, vacation rental property & more.”

The inaugural Classic King is situated at Canoe Bay ESCAPE Village, a tiny house development located adjacent to Canoe Bay resort on more than 100 acres of rolling mixed hardwood forests with wetlands and two private lakes on the property, Mallard Lake and Lost Lake

Customers have the option to either stay in or purchase the first unit and future units at the Village for personal use. The unit can be used year round, or for potential rental income when not in use by putting the unit in the existing rental program.

A limited quantity of  ESCAPE Classic King tiny homes are also available for sale for delivery to the public.

For more information, visit ESCAPE Homes.

The California Gold Rush Boom

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By Rick Tobin

The California statewide median home price reached an all-time record high of $908,040 in May, which was more than $500,000 higher than the national average price of $407,600. Through June 2024, the median home price average remained above $900,000 for three consecutive months in California.

By the end of the 1st quarter of 2024, California homeowners saw the largest year-over-year equity gain in the nation at $64,000. Los Angeles metropolitan region homeowners had even larger gains while netting closer to $72,000, according to the CoreLogic Homeowner Equity Insights report.

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The CoreLogic analysis showed that homeowners across the nation with mortgages (approximately 62% of all properties) had total equity gains of roughly $1.5 trillion dollars between the first quarter of 2023 and 2024, an annualized percentage gain of +9.6%. Massachusetts had the #2 overall state equity gain at $61,000 and New Jersey was ranked #3 at $59,000.

By comparison, the median national home price hovered between about $430,000 and $445,000 through May and June 2024, according to multiple sources such as Realtor.com. The typical home listing nationwide took 45 days on average to sell, which is still well below the historical average time to sell listed properties.

These massive equity gains each year for most states have dropped the average loan-to-value (LTV) for mortgaged homes nationwide to a record low 48.3% LTV. While other types of consumer debt are currently near all-time record highs for credit cards, student loans, and automobile loans, many American homeowners have never been wealthier.

No matter how fast national home prices are increasing each year, California home prices continue to remain at least twice as high as the national average.

Two Top California Home Regions

There are several booming housing regions across California. Yet, two of the best overall housing markets remain here in Southern California: Orange County and San Diego County.

1. Orange County, California: Through June 2024, Orange County topped a ranking of home-price gains for 30 U.S. cities for the fourth consecutive month, according to data released by First American Title. Orange County price gains grew by +10.2% in 12 months. By comparison, the #2 and #3 national home price gain leaders were in Miami (+8.9%) and Pittsburgh (+6.5%).

The home value trends in Orange County through July 2024 were as follows:

● Median listing home price: $1.3 million
● Median listing home price per square foot: $704/sq. ft.
● Median sold home price: $1.7 million

2. San Diego, California: In May 2024, home prices in San Diego County surpassed $1 million for the first time ever, as per both the San Diego Union-Tribune and CoreLogic. The total overall price increase of more than 9% year-over-year was the largest spike of any of the Top 10 metropolitan regions in the nation.

With most coastal regions in Southern California now averaging well over $1 million dollars for home prices, a larger number of home buyers are looking at inland regions such as those found in Riverside and San Bernardino counties where some homes can be found at prices closer to the much lower national average.

Low Home Sales Volume

In May 2024, there were 4.11 million home sales, according to the National Association of Realtors. During this same time, there were 3.7 months of available home listing inventory, a median sales price gain of +5.8% year-over-year, and the inventory percentage increase was just up +0.6%.

The May 2024 home sales numbers for the nation dropped to one of the three lowest home sales months over the past decade. The slowest home-selling month was back in May 2020 during the pandemic lockdowns and back in October 2023 when mortgage rates were reaching peak highs.

I can’t think of any other time in U.S. history when near record low sales volume happened as home values reached all-time record highs. Generally, lower sales volume tends to lead to falling home prices.

California’s Top 5 Global Economy

By 2018, California had surpassed the United Kingdom as the 5th largest economy in the world, as measured by Gross Domestic Product, if it were listed as a separate nation.

Listed below are the Top 8 largest world economies as of the end of 2023:

1. United States: $27 trillion (including California)
2. China: $17.7 trillion
3. Germany: $4.4 trillion
4. Japan: $4.2 trillion
5. California $3.86 trillion
6. India: $3.7 trillion
7. United Kingdom: $3.3 trillion
8. France: $3.1 trillion
Source: International Monetary Fund

Now, let’s take a closer look at the Top 5 states for largest output in the nation as of 2023:

1. California: $3.86 trillion
2. Texas: $2.6 trillion
3. New York: $2.2 trillion
4. Florida: $1.6 trillion
5. Illinois: $1.1 trillion

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California’s Finite Land Supply

As I’ve shared before in my 2021 article entitled California’s Gold Rush for Valuable Land, there’s a relatively small percentage of available buildable land in the state of California. Values for real estate or other types of consumer goods and services are generally determined by supply and demand. When the demand far exceeds the available supply of an asset or other type of consumer product, the values tend to rise much higher as we’ve seen with California real estate prices.

There are approximately 40 million residents in the Golden State. As of January 2020, the US Census Bureau reported that the U.S. had a population base of 330 million. This translates to California residents representing 12.12% of all U.S. residents.

The famous film and stage actor, writer, and witty humorist from Pacific Palisades, California named Will Rogers once said: “Buy land. They ain’t making any more of the stuff.”

Another historic quote by Harold Samuel, the founder of Land Securities, which was one of the United Kingdom’s most successful property companies, about the key to success in regard to how to make money in real estate is as follows: “Location, location, location.”

California is filled with an abundant supply of land that is adjacent to the majestic Pacific Ocean and includes scenic rivers, mountain ranges, and forests up and down the state which borders Mexico, Nevada, Arizona, and Oregon. Our state is 1,040 miles in length and 560 miles in width. There are an estimated 156,000 square miles of land and an additional 7,734 square miles that are covered by water for a grand total size of 164,000 square miles.

If you flew on an airplane between two airports in the state that didn’t fly over the Pacific Ocean, you’d probably see primarily empty land regions. Did you know that our 40 million residents live on approximately just 5.4% of the state’s entire available land supply?

Almost 95% of California has no people living on it due to very strict zoning and usage laws and incredibly high building costs like environmental-impact study and “sustainable living” or green home building fees. The combination of costly environmental-impact fees and rising supply costs are two of the main reasons why there haven’t been many affordable homes or apartments developed in the state.

If we divide 156,000 square miles of available California land supply by the estimated 5.4% of land that’s allowed to have residents living there, this means that only 8,424 square miles of California has residential or commercial real estate and residents on it. If so, this is equal to 4,748 California residents per square mile of the buildable land supply.

Let’s put this 8,424 square miles of buildable land in the Golden State into better perspective by comparing it to other U.S. regions:
● All of the Hawaiian Islands combined: 6,422 square miles
● The Big Island of Hawaii by itself: 4,028 square miles
● The state of Connecticut: 5,543 square miles
● Puerto Rico: 3,515 square miles

California’s Land of Opportunity

For so long as the state’s overall economy remains strong in spite of our massive state deficits, crime, traffic, and lack of affordable housing, we might just see a statewide home price average surpassing $1 million dollars in the near future if our annual home price gains remain at a pace well above our historical average.

Because most of California is not located on a beautiful beach, the fact that many inland properties are also rising to all-time record highs is validation or confirmation that the American Dream is more likely found within California than outside of our state’s borders.

Rick Tobin

Rick Tobin has worked in the real estate, financial, investment, and writing fields for the past 30+ years. He’s held eight (8) different real estate, securities and mortgage brokerage licenses to date and is a graduate of the University of Southern California. He provides creative residential and commercial mortgage solutions for clients across the nation. He’s also written college textbooks and real estate licensing courses in most states for the two largest real estate publishers in the nation; the oldest real estate school in California; and the first online real estate school in California. Please visit his website at Realloans.com for financing options and his new investment group at So-Cal Real Estate Investors for more details. 

Learn live and in real-time with Realty411. Be sure to register for our next virtual and in-person events. For all the details, please visit Realty411.com or our Eventbrite landing page, CLICK HERE.

Realty411’s VIP Network Member’s Meeting

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Date and time
Saturday, August 31 · 10 – 11:30am PDT

Location
Online

About this event
Event lasts 1 hour 30 minutes

Dear Real Estate Investor,

Join our EXCLUSIVE online Realty411’s VIP Network and gain access to wonderful REI education, off-market properties, plus savings with major retail brands across the nation.

In addition, you’ll be invited to our private social media platforms to connect with other Realty411 members and readers. Members will also receive a print magazine mailed to them as well.

Join us for our VIRTUAL VIP Network Member’s Meeting to become a member of our national investor’s network. Each VIRTUAL meeting with feature a special speaker, plus members will have the opportunity to chat, ask questions anonymously or even join us on video to ask questions directly.

Our goal is to make a fantastic online and offline environment where learning and growing are key. We hope to assist as many estate investors as possible on their journey towards success. See you at the next virtual meeting!

5th Annual Los Angeles Real Estate GRAND Expo

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Date and time
Saturday, October 26 · 8:30am – 6pm PDT

Location
IMAN CULTURAL CENTER – COMMUNITY ROOM
3376 Motor Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90034 United States

About this event
Event lasts 9 hours 30 minutes

5th Annual Los Angeles Real Estate Grand Expo

We are very excited to announce our 5th Annual Los Angeles Real Estate Grand Expo. The Grand Expo returns on Saturday, October 26, 2024, 8:30 am to 6:00 pm.

Join us early and avoid crowds so you can focus on learning because we’re taking over the entire Iman Cultural Community Center for the entire day.

The North Hall (vendor exhibition area), the South Hall (workshops), and the middle parking lot (loaded with workshop tents and food trucks). The theme of this year’s Grand Expo will be “Hedge Inflation – Buy Real Estate”.

Last year, the Grand Expo was the largest real estate event in Southern California. We had over 800 investors, 64 vendors, and 12 national speakers…this year will be even BIGGER! An entire day celebrating real estate investing and you can be involved. Best of all, the Grand Expo will be FREE to attend.

This Expo is going to be big, really BIG! We are hosting investors from around the nation once again.

LAST YEAR’S EDUCATORS. There will be national guest speakers (in three breakout rooms). Here is a partial list of LAST year’s educators:

1. Jonah Dew – “The Money Multiplier”

2. Eddie Speed – “Buying Discounted notes”

3. Rusty Tweed – “1031 Tax-Deferred Exchanges”

4. Joe Arias – “How to Get Started Investing”

5. Christopher Meza – “Developing Raw Land”

6. Tony Watson – “Tax Advantages for R.E. Investors”

7. Dani & Flip Robison – “GET REAL: Stop Telling Yourself You Can’t”

8. Abbas Mohammed – “Investing in Multi-Residential Properties”

9. Marco Kozlowski – “How to Buy Lots and Lots of Houses”

10. Amanda Brown – “Invest in Commercial Real Estate”

11. Shawn Tiberio – “Marketing for Real Estate Investors”

12. Joseph V. Scorese – “How to Finance Your Next Deal”

13. Jeremy Rubin — “From Employee to $100M in Flips”

14. Steve Price (Keynote) – Vice President at Auction.com

15. Seth Phillips – BONUS SESSION — 8 AM PT – “Meet Mr. ADU”

INVESTMENT EDUCATION. An all-day in-depth educational extravaganza celebrating real estate investing. Most importantly, this will NOT be a sales pitch. So regardless of whether you are a new investor, already own properties, or are very experienced, our Grand Expo is for you!

THIS EXPO IS COMPLIMENTARY – BE SURE TO JOIN US TODAY!