Mortgage & Commercial Lending News.

It is never too late to get into real estate investing. Yet, as with many things in life, you must study and be diligent to be a successful real estate investor because, mind you, real estate investing is not as easy as some make it sound on TV: there are plenty of aspects that could go wrong when buying a property as an investment. In what follows, we give you some tips that might prove helpful to you whether you are a proven investor or are just considering getting into real estate investing.

Let us suppose that you are interested in getting a mortgage loan from us, so you call us to ask about our mortgage rates and loan terms. To make sure that we give you the correct answer, we need to know whether your potential application will be ranked "good," "fair," or "poor." One of the elements in your evaluation is pulling your credit report.

Many of our customers worry that pulling their credit reports will hurt their credit scores. So here we explain what happens to your credit score and suggest to you some tips you might want to follow when shopping for a mortgage loan. You might also want to read what the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), a US government agency, has to say about this subject on their website: https://www.consumerfinance.gov/ask-cfpb/what-exactly-happens-when-a-mortgage-lender-checks-my-credit-en-2005/ .

A lot has been said and written about “making your money work for you,” a colloquial, charming way to refer to passive income (that is, income that does not come from those employment or activities to which you dedicate most of your time in order to generate said income). Still, we think our faithful readers can benefit from being reminded that there are ways of generating passive income in the real estate industry, taking advantage of hard money loans.

Fears of rising inflation in the US have been garnering attention all over the news and in many other countries. The Economist (a magazine published in the UK) included in its November 13, 2021, edition an article entitled “A three-decade high in inflation sows concerns about America’s recovery”. The Australian (a newspaper printed in Australia) included an article with the headline “US inflation spike to record levels means mortgage rates in Australia are almost certain to rise.” Forbes published during September 2021 an article about inflation and mortgages^[1] and how it might be a good time to buy a house to protect yourself against rising inflation. And we could continue citing interesting inflation-related articles.

Better than just letting you navigate in the news, let us try to give you our point of view on what you as a borrower of real-estate related loans, be it a mortgage for your new home or a bridge loan for a fix and flip, should know about inflation and loans.

The 'fix and flip' investment strategy is one of several available to real estate investors. While some consider it to be relatively straightforward, it has its complexities as any other business endeavor. If executed poorly, it can lead to much lower returns than expected. In a competitive market where there is a shortage of houses to flip, workers and materials, flipping houses can become more difficult than usual. In this economic environment, investing in a distressed property that meets all the characteristics needed for high returns becomes essential. Furthermore, if you are new to fix and flipping, or if you already have done several, it is good to remember that seeking the help of professionals can make the entire process efficient and beneficial.

We had the nicest phone call a few weeks ago, and it made our day. A client who had just paid off his mortgage, after many years of having a loan with us, called to express his appreciation for the trust we placed on him (and the loan we gave him back then) and the excellent service we provided after having struggled, unsuccessfully, for years to get a mortgage for his Church. 

It just goes to prove once more what a friend once told us: that AMI Lenders is in the “hope business.” We give hope to borrowers that feel they have no hope. Another way to say it is: “here at AMI Lenders, we offer non-traditional alternative loan products.” Many of our clients cannot qualify for a bank loan or a loan from a traditional mortgage company. We not only help people, but we also go out of our way to be helpful. You would be surprised to know how much advice we provide to our applicants. 

The past two years have led to a new economic reality in the US: the evolving, work-related lifestyle in the post-pandemic economy—one where work is all about flexible hours and can be done away from the office, be it from home, the vicinity of your home (a coffeehouse, maybe?) or elsewhere! Employees have more flexibility on their hands regarding their working habits than they ever anticipated. They have been finding ways to spend this newly acquired flexibility for their benefit and for the use of their employers through increased productivity levels. An aspect that has attracted attention recently is that the option of "working from home" has allowed individuals to enjoy fresh air and quality time with friends and family in vacation-like settings without utilizing their vacation days. A new standard option for people who can work from home is spending time in what used to be considered "a vacation home," whether it be on the outskirts of town, at the beach, by a lake, or in a scenic area. You can come into work on time without ever having to commute, and as soon as your workday is over, you are in a "vacation setting." As to how this new trend impacts real estate, there seems to be a booming market as "vacation home" sales (or sale of houses in what we're up to a few years ago considered "vacation towns") continue to grow.

Our good friends at Moody Rambin recently posted a concise and exciting set of regional economic data entitled "Houston's Economy at a Glance."[1]. Reading their blog set us thinking about letting our faithful readers know what the near-future economy might look like in the Houston area. So without any further delays, we present some interesting information that might help you in your future business and real estate investment plans (we reproduce some information we borrowed from the cited article).

Covid-19 has had a significant impact on the global economy and, closer to home, on the Commercial Real Estate industry. Companies that carry on business in commercial real estate premises have had to make many changes due to the lockdowns and instructions to stay at home. This has led to companies digitizing their operations, conducting operations online, ensuring the health and safety of employees, and protecting their employees' financial health. 

It would be nice to have a crystal ball here at AMI Lenders to predict the future, but sadly we don't. In any case, given that the hot housing market is very much in the news these days, we would like to help you decide whether the time is right for you to invest in the real estate market in the next 12 to 18 months (we are writing this blog in early September 2021). So, with all the caveats in place and all the legal disclaimers that we are not fortune tellers, the following are some informed predictions about what you might expect to see in the next year and a half in the residential property market. Spoiler: now is the time to invest in residential property.