When markets are booming, condominiums are often snatched up quickly by invisible buyers and flipped soon after for big profits. This past year, however, a new breed of investor has emerged, one that is being dubbed “The Investor Next Door”. People are buying two and sometimes three units in the buildings where they currently live as investment properties.

Our own Stephen G. Kliegerman says that “these are people who are looking for investments they can understand and somewhat control”. Because the stock market is becoming more and more difficult for the average person to understand, people are reverting back to investment opportunities that make sense and real estate is at the top of the list.

Interest rates are low making it a great time for people to buy and rent out these investment properties. The convenience of being able to watch over rental properties is very attractive to some investors; rent checks are slipped under their doors and they can personally oversee their tenants. Elisabeth Kovac (seen below) owns two apartments at Fifth on the Park, one she lives in and the other she rents out. She has watched the units get snatched up in her building over the years making the decision to invest in a rental property even easier.

These investments are not to make a quick buck, according to a research company in West Chester, Pa., people interested in purchasing these properties as investments should plan on sitting on them for a while. We think this is a great trend in real estate and recommend taking a further look if this sounds like something you might be interested in!

Images + Article Source: NYTimes [Read full article here]