What to Know About Buying an Investment Property - NerdWallet (2024)

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What to Know About Buying an Investment Property - NerdWallet? ›

Buying an investment property can come with challenges, such as maintenance costs and more stringent financing requirements — including higher interest rates and a larger down payment — compared with mortgages on primary homes.

The 2% rule is a rule of thumb that determines how much rental income a property should theoretically be able to generate. Following the 2% rule, an investor can expect to realize a positive cash flow from a rental property if the monthly rent is at least 2% of the purchase price.

Analyzing the 4-3-2-1 Rule in Real Estate

This rule outlines the ideal financial outcomes for a rental property. It suggests that for every rental property, investors should aim for a minimum of 4 properties to achieve financial stability, 3 of those properties should be debt-free, generating consistent income.

The 50% rule or 50 rule in real estate says that half of the gross income generated by a rental property should be allocated to operating expenses when determining profitability. The rule is designed to help investors avoid the mistake of underestimating expenses and overestimating profits.

The 1% rule of real estate investing measures the price of an investment property against the gross income it can generate. For a potential investment to pass the 1% rule, its monthly rent must equal at least 1% of the purchase price.

What is the 80/20 Rule exactly? It's the idea that 80% of outcomes are driven from 20% of the input or effort in any given situation. What does this mean for a real estate professional? Making more money in real estate is directly tied to focusing your personal energy on the most high value areas of your business.

It was during this period that Corcoran developed what she calls her "golden rule" of real estate investing. This rule calls for investors to put 20% down on properties and then get tenants whose rent payments cover the mortgage.

When it comes to insuring your home, the 80% rule is an important guideline to keep in mind. This rule suggests you should insure your home for at least 80% of its total replacement cost to avoid penalties for being underinsured.

In fact, in marketing, there is a rule that people need to hear your message 7 times before they start to see you as a service provider. Therefore, if you have only had a few conversations with the person that listed with someone else, then chances are, they don't even know you are in real estate.

The 100 to 10 to 3 to 1 rule is a guideline for real estate investors that suggests a property's monthly rent should be at least 1% of its total purchase price.

What is the 7 year rule for investments? ›

Let's say your initial investment is $100,000—meaning that's how much money you are able to invest right now—and your goal is to grow your portfolio to $1 million. Assuming long-term market returns stay more or less the same, the Rule of 72 tells us that you should be able to double your money every 7.2 years.

Future outlook: Real estate offers a more stable investment environment, making it suitable for risk-averse investors. However, the stock market's potential for higher returns comes with increased risk.

The break-even ratio for a property is the percentage of its gross operating income that the property needs to break even, i.e. for costs to equal expenses. It is calculated using the formula: Debt Service + Operating Expenses/Gross Operating Income = Break-even Ratio.

Keep in mind, when it comes to real estate cash flow, calculating your expenses and rental property income will be your number one key to success. Anything around 7% or 8% is the average ROI. However, if you'd really like to succeed, you should always aim higher at around 15%.

Most of the time, you can get positive cash flow right from day one with your rental. Figuring out your profit for the year is a matter of taking how much rent comes in and subtract how much money goes out for expenses like taxes, insurance, and mortgage payments. What you're left with is your profit for the year.

In real estate, this means that a property is only a good investment if it will generate at least 2% of the property's purchase price each month in cash flow. This 2% figure should be the baseline; if a property will generate more than 2% of the total monthly, it is definitely a good investment.

Investment rule #1 says that given two assets with identical returns, you select the one with the least amount of risk. Investment rule #2 says that given two investments with the same amount of risk, you select the one with the higher return.

One popular method is the 2% Rule, which means you never put more than 2% of your account equity at risk (Table 1). For example, if you are trading a $50,000 account, and you choose a risk management stop loss of 2%, you could risk up to $1,000 on any given trade.

What is the 2% rule? The 2% rule states that the expected monthly rental income should equal or exceed 2% of the purchase price. Using the same example, a $200,000 rental property should generate a monthly rental income of at least $4,000.

To calculate the property's ROI: Divide the annual return by your original out-of-pocket expenses (the downpayment of $20,000, closing costs of $2,500, and remodeling for $9,000) to determine ROI. ROI = $5,016.84 ÷ $31,500 = 0.159. Your ROI is 15.9%.