Walnut Street Finance Blog

For many individuals considering getting into real estate investing, they’ve been inspired by the prospect of building their personal net worth and amassing a fortune sufficient enough for them to retire comfortably - or to continue living in the style to which they’ve become accustomed. However, a quick glance at notable real estate investors might make people think that real estate investments are only for those that already have a substantial amount of disposable income available to them. The good news is, that’s completely untrue!

Once you’ve decided to make the leap into real estate investing, one of the most challenging aspects can be what type of investing to get involved with. You may choose to own various properties and take the landlord route, or purchase properties to renovate and sell. You could also choose to simply invest your funds with hard money lenders, sit back, and wait for your return checks to roll in. And all of these options are great, but they aren’t all for everyone.

When considering what types of property to invest in, there are seemingly endless options and things to consider. Are commercial properties the best bet? What about single-family homes, land development, or becoming the landlord of a multi-family real estate investment? And then there’s your level of involvement to consider (in addition to your abilities). If you’re ready to dig in and get your hands dirty, perhaps land development is the perfect choice, whereas if you’re looking for something a bit more hands off, maybe owning commercial property is more your style. There’s also the opportunity to passively invest in real estate - that is, investing your funds with a company that provides financial backing to borrowers who will be the ones actually undertaking the building or renovation projects.

Whether you’re new to real estate investing or an experienced real estate investor new to the area, it’s important to to network. Meeting with fellow real estate investors in your local community who share your interests is a terrific way to learn and share opportunities. It’s important to make connections and build relationships. Here are four real estate investing meetups in the Northern Virginia/Washington, DC metro you should check out...

Believe it or not, investing - whether it’s in real estate or the stock market - is for everyone. It’s just a matter of knowing what type of investor you are and what level of risk you’re comfortable in taking so that you can make investing decisions that don’t leave you in a constant state of worry or feeling as if they aren’t making the impact you had hoped they would. The same can be applied to a real estate investor. Research compiled by the Psychonomics Society illustrates that an investor can be classified into a number of different types which are determined by various factors including initial personal or familial wealth, age, profession, education, and comfort with risk. 

Deciding whether or not to invest in real estate is most definitely a personal decision, and it’s one that can be a bit tricky. When you choose to passively invest via an investment firm, instead of giving up your time and energy (in addition to your funds) on landlord responsibilities and legal obligations or as a fix-and-flipper, it’s important to determine if the firm you’re planning to invest with is making smart lending decisions in their target markets. Of course, every developer wants to get in on the ground floor of the next hip new city neighborhood or suburb, but what about areas that are already well known and established, like Virginia Beach, Virginia? Is investing in Virginia Beach real estate a profitable endeavor? 

With all of the shifts the economy has faced, both in the United States and globally, in the last couple of years, many individuals who are nearing retirement age have become concerned that they may not actually be able to retire “on time,” while those younger than them are wondering if they’ll ever see retirement at all. This is because, unfortunately, a lot of people were hit hard in 2008 when the real estate market collapsed and the stock market took a huge hit. Passive real estate investing may hold the answers as to how to get back on the retirement track quickly, or how to plan for retirement if it’s still a long way off.

Our CEO Bobby Montagne recently chatted with Michelle Goldchain of Curbed DC about home improvement tips for the D.C. area...

For many individuals, the goal of passively investing in real estate is to grow their personal wealth, whether it’s to gain financial freedom, shore up their retirement plans, or simply increase their existing bank balance to ensure they can continue living in the style to which they’ve become accustom. One way to help get yourself well on your way to achieving that high balance goal is to begin educating yourself on ways to grow your wealth, whether it’s by starting your own business or diving head first into real estate investing. In fact, one of the best things you can do for your real estate investing endeavors is treat them as a business in the first place.

One of the keys to making a sound real estate investment is ensuring that you’re choosing the best neighborhoods to invest in. At Walnut Street Finance, we’re very cognizant of this fact and we thoroughly review our borrowers’ proposals and plans to make sure that the properties they’re interested in are in areas that will yield a high return on the investment and, thus, continue high returns for our investors. We do this by examining a number of factors in the areas in which the proposed properties are located and we make the lending decision based on these findings (as well as a few other factors)... 

Can passive real estate investments really help you retire? The answer is most definitely, but it’s not likely to become a “get rich quick” plan, unless you’ve got a substantial amount of money to invest right off the bat. To understand how passive real estate investments can help though, it’s important to take a look at what has happened in the past, and how that has informed the present in terms of investing. 

In most cases, any investment you make is going to carry some sort of risk. So when you make the decision to invest your hard-earned money, it’s important to look for the lowest risk option possible. At Walnut Street Finance, we do everything we can to help ensure that our funds offer a low-risk and high return for our investors by following our proven processes. 

The nation’s largest living generation and largest group of home buyers are millennials. However, according to a new analysis conducted by RENTCafe, the 55+ demographic is the fastest growing segment of the country’s rental population. 

Let's look at the stats...

End of year bonuses are exciting - they open the door to so many possibilities. Are you going to put it toward a remodel? Buy a new computer? Perhaps plan a well-deserved vacation? Maybe you’re a bit more practical and just want to sock it away in savings. All of these are great options, but there’s one more we’d like to propose: invest your year-end bonus into real estate. 

There are many ways to make money from real estate investing. From long-term property ownership of a single-family home to residential/commercial rental property, to fix and flips - how do you know which investment strategy is right for you? Do you know about all of the available real estate investing options? A great real estate investment delivers a great return on your money without much effort.