When you’re investing in a new property, a buyer’s closing costs include a number of fees and charges you should be prepared to pay leading up to and upon closing. Buyers can expect to pay between 2 and 5 percent of the total home cost. For a home being purchased for $150,000, you can expect to pay between $3,000 and $7,500 in average closing costs. To help you understand where that money goes, we’re breaking down which tasks and fees are covered in the average closing costs for buying a home.

One of your primary goals as a real estate investor and landlord is to create stability with your tenants. Frequent turnover takes money out of your pocket. While the ideal tenant will sign a minimum lease of one year and want to stay beyond that initial period, there are moments when tenants want to break a lease, or move out before the agreement expires.

A competitive real estate market naturally makes it harder to find good deals on investment properties. Whether your concentration is commercial, single-family homes, or multi-unit structures, having a few real estate tricks up your sleeve can help you avoid competition that can drive the price beyond what you’re willing to pay. Buying an off-market property means you spend less time and money fighting for a property.

The idea that title insurance is just an unnecessary “added cost” that’s tacked on to a property purchase stops some home buyers from protecting themselves and their investment. The misconceptions about title insurance can have devastating affects on buyers and prevent them from obtaining the coverage they need. As a trusted industry leader in Texas title insurance, Patten Title Company is dispelling the five most commonly expressed myths about title insurance.

Today’s most successful real estate investors know they can’t depend on just one or two marketing methods to grab a buyer’s attention and continue to grow their portfolio. Social media for real estate investors is an area of ample opportunity, but the strategy must be right in order for the marketing effort to make a measurable difference.

It can cost up to $2,500 to find a new tenant for your rental property, so when it comes to deciding if it’s time to raise rent, you need to weigh the pros and cons. While 99 percent of landlords say they look to a lease renewal with current tenants before seeking new ones, part of that lease conversation may involve the need to raise rent. Before you interject the new rate into your conversation, consider these questions to help you determine if it’s worth the risk to increase rent and risk tenant turnover.