Real Estate Investing Basic Investing

Explore rental properties, cash flow fundamentals, appreciation, leverage, and how real estate fits into a broader investment strategy.

Stop speculating and start building property wealth strategically (23 Videos)

Duration: 6 hours, 17 minutes, 8 seconds

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The Graham Stephan Show

Real estate investing insights, housing market commentary, and economic analysis for investors.

Pros and Cons of Stocks vs Real Estate: Is one better than the other?

So which is the “better” investment…stocks or real estate? In this video, I do my best to break down the pros and cons of each option and weigh the results …against the potential return one could possibly expect to achieve. Since picking individual stocks can vary so widely in price, as would flipping a house, I’m comparing long term rental real estate to an total stock market index fund.

It’s a hard question to answer, and a lot comes down to personal preference, but these are some things to take into consideration before we break down the numbers. Just for clarification – picking individual stocks, day trading, or swing trading is NOT included – you could achieve much higher returns and many people do this. However, since you could also invest and flip real estate, I felt this would be an unfair comparison with too many variables – which is why index funds vs rental properties were used.

Each have their upsides and downsides…

Pros for index fund investing:
-It’s completely passive. Once you spend a few minutes going to a website and buying a stock, you’re done.
-You don’t need tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands of dollars like you generally need with rental real estate.
-There are no hassles of working with tenants, fixing items, or maintenance.
-You can buy index funds within a tax advantaged account such as an IRA or 401k.
-Stocks are fairly liquid and you can cash out quickly when you want to sell.

Pros for real estate investing:
-You have total control over what you buy and at what price
-You can take advantage of undervalued properties and areas
-You can add square footage, remodel, and gain quick equity and increase cash flow
-You can leverage your money and achieve potentially higher returns
-You can receive consistent rental income

In terms of the raw returns, generally real estate CAN yield a higher return, usually if you leverage your money – HOWEVER, the higher return is balanced by the amount of work, skill, and knowledge needed to find the right deal and close on the right price. Real estate is also not an entirely passive investment, so even though you can make significantly more, it also comes with more work. If you’re looking for something entirely passive, stocks will likely yield a little less but it comes with the ease of not having any responsibilities or obligations. So much of it comes down to personal preference. My recommendation is to do both 🙂

Add me on Snapchat: GPStephan
Add me on Instagram: GPstephan

For business inquiries, you can reach me at GrahamStephanBusiness@gmail.com

Suggested reading:
The Millionaire Real Estate Agent: http://goo.gl/TPTSVC
Your money or your life: https://goo.gl/fmlaJR
The Millionaire Real Estate Investor: https://goo.gl/sV9xtl
How to Win Friends and Influence People: https://goo.gl/1f3Meq
Think and grow rich: https://goo.gl/SSKlyu
Awaken the giant within: https://goo.gl/niIAEI
The Book on Rental Property Investing: https://goo.gl/qtJqFqShow More

Pros and Cons of Stocks vs Real Estate: Is one better than the other?

So which is the “better” investment…stocks or real estate? In this …

Snapchat Q&A Part 2: Commercial vs Residential Real Estate – which one is better?

Part 1 here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2k2LOlKpws&t=393s …

How I sold my first house at 19 for $3,550,000

I began my real estate career at 18 years old by working as a Real …

To everyone wondering “When the Real Estate market will crash??” – my prediction

Two common questions I get: When will the real estate market drop in …

Two common questions I get: When will the real estate market drop in price, and should I wait for the market to drop before I buy? So this is my …perspective from both a real estate agent and investor. Feel free to add me on Snapchat/Instagram: GPStephan

The way I see it:
People have too much equity in their homes to let them go into foreclosure. Banks are strict about who they’re lending to, and want people with higher down payments and strong income. In order to qualify, a buyer must pass a rigorous approval process reviewing their financials, income, credit score and history, assets, and debt. They do not let just anyone buy a home now. I don’t see anything that leads me to think we’re in a bubble.

In addition to this, we have low interest rates which are holding prices fairly steady. If this climb too fast, yes, it could have a short term impact on pricing – but there’s no way they’d raise interest rates that quickly to disrupt housing prices. It’ll be done slow and steady over many, many years.

Realistically, we’ll see many more homes in construction coming on that market. This will lead to an over supply of homes which means buyers will have more leverage and more to chose from. This won’t cause housing to crash, but it could take longer for a seller to sell a house because they’re facing more competition.

This, combined with slowly rising interest rates, I believe that housing is safe and won’t see any type of large price drop. Realistically, there won’t be any price drop, but we won’t be seeing huge appreciation like we were over the last 7 years – which is not sustainable to begin with. I think we’ll enter a period where normal, slow appreciation is the norm as more homes come on the market and interest rates slowly get higher. No reason to panic and nothing out of the ordinary.

*Just my pure opinion, of course. Do your own research and come to your own conclusions. This is only from my perspective.

Thanks so much for watching!

For business or consulting inquiries, you can reach me at GrahamStephanBusiness@gmail.com

Suggested reading:
The Millionaire Real Estate Agent: http://goo.gl/TPTSVC
Your money or your life: https://goo.gl/fmlaJR
The Millionaire Real Estate Investor: https://goo.gl/sV9xtl
How to Win Friends and Influence People: https://goo.gl/1f3Meq
Think and grow rich: https://goo.gl/SSKlyu
Awaken the giant within: https://goo.gl/niIAEI
The Book on Rental Property Investing: https://goo.gl/qtJqFqShow More

Why it’s EASIER to sell a $3,000,000 house vs a $300,000 house

Many people assume the more expensive the home, the more difficult …

Many people assume the more expensive the home, the more difficult it’ll be to sell. However, this isn’t really the case. In fact, the multi-million dollar homes are often the …easiest ones to work with, and this is why. Feel free to add me on Snapchat/Instagram: GPStephan

Now I’m going to be making some broad generalizations and obviously there are going to be many exceptions to this. But this has been my experience time and time again in my market of Real Estate in Los Angeles. It won’t always hold true for every buyer and every market is different, so keep this in mind.

Reason 1: From my experience, these buyers are extremely specific about what they want. They know exactly where they want to be, what they can spend, what style they want, and what finishes they like. It’s usually not about showing them a hundred houses until they figure out what they like, but instead finding them the one specific property which matches their expectations.

Reason 2: I’ve also noticed that the multi-million-dollar clients are extremely decisive. There is very little hesitation when they’re willing to make a move. Because they often know what they want, when they see it, they go for it. This saves us a lot of time when the right deal comes up, we’re ready to move on it. I can’t tell you how many deals we’ve lost because the client wanted to think about it and by the time they were ready to make an offer, we were competing with multiple other people who also wanted it. Being ready to strike quickly is what wins.

Reason 3: The multi-million dollar buyers are also usually very well educated in business, which usually translates into them knowing and understanding the markets of real estate. The buyers usually come in knowing about economics, the markets in general, the area in general, and are very well prepared. This makes it much easier for me when your buyer understands what they’re doing and can prepare for it accordingly.

Reason 4: When a repair comes up, it’s rarely detrimental to the deal. If there’s a $100,000 repair in a $300,000 house, more than likely the deal is dead. If a $100,000 repair comes up on a $3,000,000 house, while it’s never a pleasant experience, it’s something where both parties can afford to make it work.

Reason 5: Financing is generally easier. The people that buy $2,000,000+ properties rarely ever have trouble financing. I don’t think I’ve ever had a deal fall out of escrow, ever, because the buyer couldn’t qualify for their loan. In this price range, most people are overqualified for the homes they purchase. The other benefit in this price range is that I end up doing a ton of cash deals. This might be very market specific to LA, but it’s not unheard of to have a cash offer in the $2,000,000 or higher price range. This makes the deal so much easier and faster. Buyers know they have a competitive edge being cash, and they take advantage of this. Plus you go into it without having a loan and appraisal contingency.

So to me, selling a $3,000,000 house is significantly easier than a $300,000 house. It’s also a significantly larger commission, which would take 10x smaller deals to equal 1x larger one, hence it’s generally a better use of time between comparing two deals, all other things being equal.

Thanks again for watching and i hope this video helps!

For business inquiries, you can reach me at GrahamStephanBusiness@gmail.com

Suggested reading:
The Millionaire Real Estate Agent: http://goo.gl/TPTSVC
Your money or your life: https://goo.gl/fmlaJR
The Millionaire Real Estate Investor: https://goo.gl/sV9xtl
How to Win Friends and Influence People: https://goo.gl/1f3Meq
Think and grow rich: https://goo.gl/SSKlyu
Awaken the giant within: https://goo.gl/niIAEI
The Book on Rental Property Investing: https://goo.gl/qtJqFqShow More

The Top 6 Reasons why I Invest in Real Estate!

I know I’m super biased towards anything real estate related…and I do …

I know I’m super biased towards anything real estate related…and I do also invest in stocks, namely Vanguard Index funds….but real estate has always been my priority. These are my …top 6 reasons WHY I invest the majority of my time and money in real estate. Forewarning: There’s no “right” or “wrong” investment…some people prefer stocks, some real estate, some “other,” there’s no best or worst here. But this is why I like real estate! Add me on snapchat/instagram: GPStephan

Learn how to make money as a Real Estate Agent, build your network of clients, and the exact steps I’ve used to grow my business from $0 to over $120 million in sales: $50 off with code ThankYou50 for a limited time: https://goo.gl/UFpi4c

1. Leverage. This is probably one of the biggest reasons people like investing in real estate – you can borrow the majority of the money to fund your own deal. The interest can also be a tax deduction.

2. You have total control over the investment. Unlike stocks, in Real Estate you control the tenant you pick, the upgrades you do, if you want to add square footage and increase the home’s value. Everything is totally up to you, and it’s about finding the right balance between which upgrades yield the highest returns.

3. Cash flow. This is why I favor Real estate over dividend stocks, for example. The cash flow from real estate can be higher, long term, than from stocks. Additionally, the cash flow from real estate can be depreciated on paper to show a net loss on a tax return, while still making money. This is unlike dividend income which is taxed as ordinary income, unless held in a tax-advantaged account like a Roth / Traditional IRA, 401K, etc.

4. Potentially for the property to increase in value. While I don’t expect this to happen, typically homes increase in value on par with inflation. I do not like speculating real estate markets or riding a wave of appreciation to riches, BUT, if it happens…great. If not, that’s fine because you shouldn’t base your entire investment around a potentially increasing real estate market.

5. Tax write offs. Everything in real estate is a tax write off. You can write off the interest you pay on a mortgage, the expenses, the depcretion of the property, cost segregation analysis…the sky is the limit.

6. It’s not a full time job. You can invest in real estate on the side while keeping your normal day job. While it does require some up front work, once setup, real estate can be fairly passive.

That’s it! I hope you enjoy, I’ll have many more real estate videos to come in the future.

For business inquiries, you can reach me at GrahamStephanBusiness@gmail.com

Suggested reading:
The Millionaire Real Estate Agent: http://goo.gl/TPTSVC
Your money or your life: https://goo.gl/fmlaJR
The Millionaire Real Estate Investor: https://goo.gl/sV9xtl
How to Win Friends and Influence People: https://goo.gl/1f3Meq
Think and grow rich: https://goo.gl/SSKlyu
Awaken the giant within: https://goo.gl/niIAEI
The Book on Rental Property Investing: https://goo.gl/qtJqFqShow More

How I bought my first rental property at 21 years old

By popular demand, here is exactly how I bought my first rental …

How I make SIX FIGURES from posting Real Estate listings on Craigslist

Without exaggeration, my entire business has been built around meeting …

Without exaggeration, my entire business has been built around meeting clients from lease listings I’ve posted on Craigslist. Over 90% of my business has, in some form or other, originated …from Craigslist – either by meeting someone who’s directly called me from the site, or referred to me by someone I’ve met from Craigslist. This quickly turned into a six-figure per year income from continuous Craigslist leads and referral business. Here’s how I did it.

Learn how to make money as a Real Estate Agent, build your network of clients, and the exact steps I’ve used to grow my business from $0 to over $120 million in sales: $50 off with code ThankYou50 for a limited time: https://goo.gl/UFpi4c

Note: Craigslist is primarily US-based. There may be similar sites that work best with your country (Kijiji in Canada, for instance).

Disclosure: Craigslist alone won’t make you millions. This took me years to cultivate – it took me several years to build it up to the point where I was actually making over $100,000 just from craigslist leads and referrals from craigslist leads. It won’t be a get-rich-quick technique but it CAN add tremendous value to what you’re already doing.

1. Go to Craigslist (I KNOW someone will ask me this…so here it is…step one…Craigslist.com)

2. When posting, I’ve found longer titles work better than shorter titles – ALL CAPS work best. If you use symbols like stars ★ or brackets, shorter titles do better. Use this carefully as it can be a bit spammy.

3. The body of the message should be kept simple, clear and concise. First thing to mention is your name and contact information (email and phone)

4. Mention that you have access to other properties and that they should contact you (if you’re a Realtor and want to work with leads)

5. Mention the specifics of the house – bedrooms, bathrooms, price, and square footage.

6. Describe the house in extreme details. The more keywords you use in your description, the more it’ll come up on Craigslist search results.

7. If you’re a Realtor – DISCLOSE that you’re a Realtor.

8. MAKE SURE TO HAVE GOOD PICTURES. This is essential.

9. Make sure to pick up your phone and return emails as soon as they come in. Otherwise you can lose the client.

10. Do not renew your ads. Just continue posting new ads and letting the old ones continue to run.

11. Ideally have several ads going at the same time, this increases the likelihood of someone reaching out.

That’s it! It’s pretty simple. Do this regularly, continue adding new lease listings when the current ones get rented out, continue helping people with their rentals, and these clients will eventually turn into buyers, sellers, referrals, and potentially great friends. It takes time but it’s paid off big for me.

Thanks for watching!

Add me on Instagram: GPStephan
Add me on Snapchat: GPStephan

Suggested reading:
The Millionaire Real Estate Agent: http://goo.gl/TPTSVC
Your money or your life: https://goo.gl/fmlaJR
The Millionaire Real Estate Investor: https://goo.gl/sV9xtl
How to Win Friends and Influence People: https://goo.gl/1f3Meq
Think and grow rich: https://goo.gl/SSKlyu
Awaken the giant within: https://goo.gl/niIAEI
The Book on Rental Property Investing: https://goo.gl/qtJqFqShow More

House Hack: How to live FOR FREE by investing in multifamily real estate

House hack: Forget having to make a rent payment or come out of pocket …

House hack: Forget having to make a rent payment or come out of pocket for a mortgage every month. This is exactly how you can essentially live for free by …investing in multifamily real estate as a primary residence. Plus – if do it right, you can literally GET PAID to live for free. Here’s how.

Learn how to make money as a Real Estate Agent, build your network of clients, and the exact steps I’ve used to grow my business from $0 to over $120 million in sales: $50 off with code ThankYou50 for a limited time: https://goo.gl/UFpi4c

When you already have some savings and want to make the jump to becoming a home owner, one thing most people overlook is multi-family properties. These include duplexes, triplexes, and fourplexes. What makes this unique is that in addition to your unit, you have other units that you can freely rent out which can cover your entire ownership cost of the property. When you buy these properties correctly, your rental income from the other units will cover your entire mortgage, property taxes, insurance and repairs, essentially letting you live in one of the units for free. Not only that, but you can apply the rental income towards your loan, meaning you can often qualify for a much larger loan than normal. You’re also paying down your loan and building equity at the same time.

My biggest recommendation to maximize the rental income is to look for vacant multi-family buildings that need cosmetic upgrades. This means you can immediately begin updating the property when you buy it – new floors, paint, bathrooms, landscaping are all cheap and make a significant improvement for rental income.

Now of course, there are downsides of doing this. First of all, you will have to manage tenants and that can be a part time job in and of itself. You will also have some shared common areas – it’s not any worse than an apartment, but you will be in close proximity with your tenants. It’s not for everyone.

But the good news is that when you’re ready to buy a house or upgrade, you can rent out your unit and you have a great cash-flowing rental property for you to keep long term. Essentially when this is paid off, it could be your retirement money that keeps cash flowing month after month. Or, you can live there long term and bank as much money as you can knowing that you don’t have be out of pocket every month for housing payments.

Add me on Instagram: GPStephan
Add me on Snapchat: GPStephan

Suggested reading:
The Millionaire Real Estate Agent: http://goo.gl/TPTSVC
Your money or your life: https://goo.gl/fmlaJR
The Millionaire Real Estate Investor: https://goo.gl/sV9xtl
How to Win Friends and Influence People: https://goo.gl/1f3Meq
Think and grow rich: https://goo.gl/SSKlyu
Awaken the giant within: https://goo.gl/niIAEI
The Book on Rental Property Investing: https://goo.gl/qtJqFqShow More

Discussion: How to invest in Real Estate

In this discussion, I share EXACTLY what I look for when investing in …

In this discussion, I share EXACTLY what I look for when investing in real estate. This comes as firsthand experience of my own investing strategies, both from what I’ve learned …as a landlord of multiple rental-properties and as a high-end Realtor.

Learn how to make money as a Real Estate Agent, build your network of clients, and the exact steps I’ve used to grow my business from $0 to over $120 million in sales: $50 off with code ThankYou50 for a limited time: https://goo.gl/UFpi4c

Since clickbait sucks…here’s the entire video summed up:

1:00 – Loan options. I generally recommend a residential loan and sticking with 1-4 units. After 4 units, the loan is considered commercial and carries a higher interest rate, higher down payment, and more qualifying restrictions.

2:12 – Single family residence vs multi family building. I generally prefer multi-family residences, but be wary of future rent control restrictions depending on your location and city regulations. I also explain how to live for free – live in one of the units and rent out the others. Generally this will cover almost all of your costs. Free housing!

4:40 – Conventional vs FHA loan. I prefer a conventional loan over FHA, as convention loans have lower fees, lower interest rates, and generally offer better terms than an FHA loan. FHA loans could work depending on your situation, but it ultimately comes down to the term and interest rate of the loan.

6:53 – How I search for properties. Everything I find is through the multiple listing service (MLS). I personally like to see everything as soon as it comes on the market, but I also look at properties that have been on the market awhile as they might be more flexible in price.

10:55 – What times of homes I look for. I personally go for homes that just need cosmetic remodeling. Kitchens, bathrooms, floors, landscape, and paint are very easy to do and doesn’t take a lot of time to do. It also adds a lot of instant value by remodeling these areas – plus, many buyers overlook homes that need minor remodeling.

12:57 – What areas I invest in. I invest in areas that are surrounding other high-priced areas, since development generally moves outwards with time. I do my best to predict the next “boom” areas where development and business money is moving in.

15:15 – How i calculate if a home is a good investment. I like a mix of cash on cash return and appreciation. In addition to this, I like a home where I can add value through cosmetic remodeling. This way I make an immediate return on equity, I can make some passive income from rent, and future appreciation on the home’s value.

20:30 – What area I like to buy in. I make sure the home isn’t on the same block as an apartment building, a business, a busy street, or a street with speed bumps.

21:40 – How to calculate your rents. I like to use craigslist to compare what other units are renting for.

22:30 – Out of state investments. Personally, I wouldn’t do it.

23:11 – Is a property manager worth it? Sometimes – I don’t really use one, but I would in the future.

24:50 – BUILD YOUR CREDIT SCORE. This is so important.

Add me on Instagram: GPStephan
Add me on Snapchat: GPStephan

Suggested reading:
Your money or your life: https://goo.gl/fmlaJR
The Millionaire Real Estate Agent: http://goo.gl/TPTSVC
The Millionaire Real Estate Investor: https://goo.gl/sV9xtl
How to Win Friends and Influence People: https://goo.gl/1f3Meq
Think and grow rich: https://goo.gl/SSKlyu
Awaken the giant within: https://goo.gl/niIAEI
The Book on Rental Property Investing: https://goo.gl/qtJqFqShow More

How to get leads in Real Estate

I’m explaining exactly how I got my clients in real estate and the …

I’m explaining exactly how I got my clients in real estate and the methods I still use today! Snapchat/Instagram: GPStephan

Learn how to make money as a Real Estate Agent, build …your network of clients, and the exact steps I’ve used to grow my business from $0 to over $120 million in sales: $50 off with code ThankYou50 for a limited time: https://goo.gl/UFpi4c

When I got my real estate license at 18 years old, I knew NO ONE looking to buy or sell. My family wasn’t in real estate, they weren’t giving me business, so I had to do what works:

1. Letting everyone know you’re in real estate and that you’re there to help

2. Doing open houses every single Sunday to meet potential buyers and sellers. The more face-time you can get in front of new people, the better. Follow up with your open house contacts.

3. Cold calling and door knocking . Disclosure: I’ve done this in the past and stopped. I personally didn’t see results from it. It’s not something I enjoyed doing. But I’m including it regardless because it’s still a viable option that many people use. This also includes targeting FSBO, expired listings, mailers, etc. – it works, there are ways to be successful, but I personally don’t use them.

4. Zillow, Trulia, Redfin, Craigslist, WestSideRentals.com – I’m NOT talking about paying to advertise on these sites. I don’t do any paid marketing. Paid marketing can work, I’ve done it in the past, but I’m referring to submitting your listing on the sites and getting calls from it. Sometimes it automatically populates from when a property is listed on the MLS, but if you have the authorization to advertise a property that’s not yet listed, you can upload it manually and get calls.

5. Craigslist. This is the foundation of my entire success in real estate. I started with doing leasing on Craigslist which blossomed into $15,000,000-$20,000,000+ per year in sales after a few years. I’d meet lease clients on craigslist, help them find a home to rent, and they would refer me other clients, would want to buy something themselves, and they would become repeat clients. Craigslist took me nearly 4 years to begin seeing significant monetary results, so it’s NOT a “get rich quick” tactic. But it’s a great way to meet prospective future buyers in an area that not many agents are doing.

6. From the first 5, you’ll begin to see repeat and referral business. This grows over time and after a few years, this type of business will become more prolific – if you’re doing a good job.

7. There’s an abundance of material to learn just about anything you want to. However, the unfortunate truth is that very few people will actually apply what they learn – it’s great to listen to in theory, but without action and consistency this means nothing. So I recommend applying some of these and see what works for you.

Thanks again for watching! Does anyone actually read this? If so, what are the chances someone would read this all the way through AND make it to me questioning if someone is actually reading this? If you’re still reading and haven’t subscribed….SUBSCRIBE RIGHT NOW! DO IT! Because there’s more car videos and real estate videos in the making. And that’s going to be epic.

Add me on Snapchat if you’re into it: GPStephan

Since I get asked so often…suggested reading:

Your money or your life: https://goo.gl/fmlaJR

The Millionaire Real Estate Agent: http://goo.gl/TPTSVC

The Millionaire Real Estate Investor: https://goo.gl/sV9xtl

How to Win Friends and Influence People: https://goo.gl/1f3Meq

Think and grow rich: https://goo.gl/SSKlyu

Awaken the giant within: https://goo.gl/niIAEI

The Book on Rental Property Investing: https://goo.gl/qtJqFqShow More

How I live for FREE by House Hacking and investing in Real Estate

One of the BEST ways to begin investing in real estate and lowering …

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