Buying rental properties can be a great way to build your wealth. However, as in most real estate investment, it is sometimes difficult to know if you've found a good deal - especially the first time. Here are some things to look for to be sure that rental is a great investment.
1. Location. If traffic is heavier, rentals are easier to rent. A sign will often pull more response than an ad in the paper. If it is a nice locale, it will usually rent faster. This is also true of places close to amenities.
2. Numbers. Run the numbers. Get every last expense figured into your calculations, and be sure that you will have positive cash flow from the start.
3. High home prices. Look in towns with high home prices, as this creates rental demand. What do people do when they can't afford to buy? They rent.
4. Low maintenance buildings. Avoid cedar-shake roofs, and wood-sided buildings. Look beyond current expenses to how much maintenance the building will need. Low maintenance means less headaches and more profits.
5. Good rental history. Ask to see the rental history. Note how long residents are staying on average, and how well they pay on time.
6. Below market rents. Buying rental properties with below-market rents means you get to raise rents. Raising rents means you imediately raise the value, because rental property values are based on income.
7. Complies with zoning and fire codes. Have it inspected, and ask local officials if there are any problems.
8. Less than 20 years old. This is somewhat arbitrary, but if you limit your search to newer buildings, you will be less likely to have building code and maintenance problems.
9.Owner/manager that is out of state. These properties are often the best deals, because it is tough to manage a property from far away. An out of state seller is often more concerned with a quick sale than a high price.
10. Neighborhood is stable or improving. Stable is okay, but if you can buy in a neighborhood that is improving, you'll rent the units more easily, and therefore get automatic appreciation in value with time.
Cologne PheromoneWeight Loss SupplementBreast Enlargement PillEasy Weight LossSign of MenopausePremature Ejaculation CureStop Premature EjaculationWeight Loss SupplementNatural Breast EnlargementMenopause TreatmentPrevent Premature EjaculationHangover CurePerfume StoreBreast Enlargement SupplementCologne PerfumeQuick Weight LossHangover CureStop SmokingSign of MenopauseWholesale PerfumeCologne PheromoneCologne PheromoneCologne ManWholesale PerfumeWays to Quit SmokingBuild Muscle FastWays to Quit SmokingHerbal Breast EnlargementOvercome Premature EjaculationHangover PillPrevent Premature EjaculationCologne ManCologne PerfumeOvercome Premature EjaculationBreast Enlargement CreamPrevent Premature EjaculationMenopause ReliefNatural Weight LossFragrance PerfumePrevent Premature EjaculationBreast Enlargement PillPerfume StoreControl Premature EjaculationNatural Weight LossBreast Enlargement SupplementPheromone PerfumePheromone PerfumePremature Ejaculation CureHangover RemedyWholesale Perfume
Sometimes at night, while I sleep, I dream that I am the point guard on Michael Jordans Chicago Bulls. Other nights, I bat cleanup for the Chicago White Sox. If that isnt busy enough, I still often find time to quarterback Jimmy Johnsons Dallas Cowboys.
The bad thing about my dreams: they end.
By no means am I a professional athlete. Yet almost every night, I watch myself on TV draining three pointers, hitting towering home runs, and throwing sky scraping touchdown passes with the best in the game.
I realize all my sports dreams are make believe. I live for lifes little pleasures.
The tiny light at the end of my tunnel is thanks to todays digital technology. I can become a professional athlete by creating myself in a video game.
Im not the only person to do it, or to have ever done it.
Joffrey Lupul is a winger for the Anaheim Mighty Ducks. In addition, he is also a featured athlete in EA Sports NHL 2004.
I used to create my own player and try to make it look as much like me as possible, said Lupul in an interview with John Gaudiosi of ESPN Gamer. I guess now I wont have to do that.
Sports video games have been evolving since Pong, a tennis-like game where two players use long bars to defend their end of the screen from what vaguely resembles a ball. It debuted on the Atari game system in 1976. In 2003, the top-selling game of the year was EA Sports Madden NFL 2004, which sold over 1.3 million copies in its first week.
Unlike me, many athletes today do not need to create a digital image of themselves to be featured in a game. Todays popular sports video games have the characteristics of all active players. Professionally licensed games even have players accurate height, weight, and hometown. The best games even feature individual trademarks of certain players, like Vince Carters classic double-handed sky point after a furious dunk, or Ichiros bailout first step as he swings at an inside pitch.
When I was a little kid, everybody could do the same dunks and lay-ups, said Jay Williams in an interview with Patrick Hruby of ESPN Gamer. Williams, formerly an NBA point guard, plays video games daily as a diversion from the rigors of rehabilitating his left leg following a 2003 motorcycle accident. I remember last year, the game version of me was doing the same hand gestures I do.
The NCAA prohibits endorsement by its amateur athletes, but that doesnt mean collegiate athletes are less fortunate. All the player attributes are there, only the names are deleted to protect the unpaid.
Jason Colson is a 61, 215 pound, sophomore tailback who proudly wears No. 24 at West Virginia University (WVU). In EA Sports NCAA Football 2005, his name has been changed to HB #24, but the height, weight, and class rank are all the same. When No. 24 steps into the backfield, the game player knows they are about to hand off to Mr. Colson.
As a youngster, I never pictured myself being in a video game, said Colson. Its cool playing as yourself.
Todays younger athletes have grown up in the video game generation. All of them have memories of playing games as kids and teens. Many still play.
One of my favorite game players growing up was Terrell Davis in the Madden games, remembers Kay-Jay Harris, another WVU tailback you can find in NCAA Football 05, starring as HB #1. [Davis] never looked like he was running that fast, yet no one could catch him. Our running styles are similar.
Most athletes play video games the way most gamers play: as entertainment, for fun. In WVUs football player lounge, a PlayStation2 (PS2) is plugged in next to the team TV. Several players take the games they play on the screen as serious as the games they play on the field.
Ray Lewis, whose spastic pre-game dances and primal, near death-causing hits on the field make him one of the most intimidating players in the NFL, is also known to be one of the most competitive video game players in the league. Lewis hates to lose at anything he does. Thanks to his competitiveness on the field and in front of the screen, Lewis became the first defensive player to be chosen as cover man for the 2005 installment of EAs Madden NFL series in August.
Video game popularity with athletes has soared because of the free time they have in the off-season.
[Games are] relaxing. Its pure entertainment. This is the way you kill four, five hours, Lewis said in an interview with Matt Wong of ESPN Gamer. You have your boys over, you have your kids over, and you have a big tournament. We might have three TVs going.
I played [EA Sports] MVP Baseball 2004 all summer long, and Rasheed Marshall and I played MarioKart on [Ninetendo] Gamecube for a week straight, said Harris. I could play games like that all day, 10 straight.
Games are clearly the best cure for the off-season blues, but many athletes see the benefits video games have as recruiting tools.
Video games can be a positive influence for younger kids, who might not have started skating yet, said Minnesota Wild center Pierre-Marc Bouchard, in an interview with Gaudiosi. If you get into the realism of the video games, kids might try street hockey and eventually graduate to the rink.
The National Hockey League has been entrenched in a lockout since Sept. 16. With no end in sight, holding the interest of young fans will be crucial to its future. While it seems possible that the entire 2004-2005 season could be cancelled, fans can still find excitement by turning on their PS2.
Its tough to replicate the battles along the boards in video games, said Eric Staal in an interview with Gaudiosi. Staal plays center for the NHLs Carolina Hurricanes. But if kids dont know anything about hockey, [video games] are fun to play because its up and down action and scoring goals.
Microsofts Xbox, PS2, and GameCube allow sports to be played year round. Fans can get their fix at any time of the year with a simple flip switch. Indeed, they are simulated, but the World Series can go on in the dead of winter, and hockey games can hit the ice in the scorch of summer.
For athletes, video games can help them stay entertained, or distracted, when they arent on the field.
For future athletes, gaming consoles provide the ultimate first step to falling in love with a sport.
Video games allow all who play to live outside themselves. Armchair quarterbacks become heroes. On the field quarterbacks get the opportunity to dominate their most hated rivals. Everyone can live out dreams in cyber world they never could on the field.
Hangover CureSign of MenopauseFragrance PerfumeControl Premature EjaculationBreast Enlargement PillFragrance PerfumeEnd Premature EjaculationNatural Weight LossBreast Enlargement SupplementWholesale PerfumeWholesale PerfumeStop Premature EjaculationStop Premature EjaculationBreast Enlargement CreamHangover CureQuit Smoking supportBreast Enlargement PillStop SmokingNatural Breast EnlargementQuit Smoking supportWholesale PerfumeBreast Enlargement PillPerfume StorePheromone PerfumeControl Premature EjaculationNatural Breast EnlargementWeight Loss SupplementBuild Muscle FastBreast Enlargement CreamHangover RemedyStop SmokingHangover PillStop Premature EjaculationQuick Weight LossQuick Weight LossBest Hangover CureHangover PillWays to Quit SmokingWeight Loss SupplementOvercome Premature EjaculationMenopause SymptomQuit Smoking supportHerbal Breast EnlargementSign of MenopausePremature Ejaculation TreatmentCologne PheromonePremature Ejaculation CureMenopause SymptomBreast Enlargement PillBreast Enlargement Pill
