In the Inland Empire, which has suffered the worst of the housing market meltdown, renters caught a relative break as landlords raised rents at half the pace found in neighboring counties. Although rental rates rose across the Southland, some analysts said they had been expecting to see even higher prices given the housing market meltdown, which turns many potential home buyers into renters.

“The supply and demand for the housing market are interrelated with the supply and demand of the apartment market,” said Delores Conway, director of USC’s Casden Real Estate Economics Forecast. Now, with tougher lending standards and a shaky housing market, “more people are choosing to rent rather than to buy.”

Source: usc.edu

During the past five years, Spain’s real estate market has undergone an unprecedented boom that, nevertheless, has begun to take a toll on companies in that sector. The anticipated slowdown of business at home has begun, and it promises to go further. That is why many business people from Spain have decided to cross the Atlantic and try to repeat on the other side of the ocean the successes and high profits they enjoyed at home.

Fadesa, Grupo San José, OHL, Grupo Mall, Lar, Sotogrande, Salvago and Anida (the real estate arm of BBVA bank) are the vanguard of this trend, Spanish companies that have laid the cornerstones for their operations in Latin America. Many other companies will arrive, as was revealed at the latest SIMA, the most important real estate conference in Spain, which took place in Madrid in May. Fully 17% of the properties marketed at SIMA were from outside Spain. Most of those were in Latin America. Spanish companies are now the second largest investors in that region.

Are we dealing with a new real estate boom? “The boom is in its early stages. It seems that the warming up process will be a gradual one, and it will depend on how long-term demand reacts to it,” notes Miguel Hernández, director of the advanced program for real estate management at the Instituto de Empresa business school. In his view, “Spanish developers are investing in Latin America for three reasons: The exhaustion of the Spanish real estate market; the enormous liquidity that has been generated in recent years; and the Latin American region’s economic stability and demographic potential.”

Learn more: wharton.universia.net

How do you know if you are suitable to rent a house? Factors lie in different areas such as lifestyle, habits, and current status. If you are a person that finds interest in changing locations once in a while, then renting a house would be better for you. It makes it easier for you to look for other places and find the adventure that you want.

Another factor is your financial status. It is as simple as this: If you don’t have the money to buy a house, then it’s not for you. While you are still incapable of buying a house, you have no choice but to rent one.

The last factor is your job, if you’re a freelancer or someone who frequently attends business trips, then, renting would be so much better and convenient.

There are 3 major factors that one or a group of people must consider before getting a new place. These are: location, condition of the house, and the price.

Make sure that the location of the house is of convenient distance to your daily engagements such as work or school, marketplace, or church. Next on the list is the condition of the house. Make sure that the quality of the house satisfies both your knowledge about it and your attraction to the house.

Lastly, check whether the price is just right or worth the spending. Where you allocate your money is very crucial. Therefore, one must make a wise decision.

Though buying property is an expensive pay, it also has some benefit on it. Once the realty is yours, you save yourself from the monthly pays of rental fee. You can be assured that rental fees won’t be raised because you have already paid for the price in full. Another advantage is that when you die, your relatives could immediately inherit your property. When you invest in buying a land, you do not only invest for yourself but also for your whole bloodline. Not only can benefit from it, isn’t that great news to hear? Why not try investing now?

Indeed, brokers and other real estate personnel are getting a bit techie and creative when it comes to promoting their listings and services. Numerous multiple listing services or MLS, exist nowadays and these sites promote the exchange of valuable real estate information among sellers and buyers. The MLS of the Washington D.C. area, that goes by the acronym MRIS (or Metropolitan Regional Information Systems, Inc.), came up with an idea to make their website “alive” they had a comic character to represent the MRIS. People called the character ‘Mr. Is” and that character’s becoming the voice of the MRIS in Washington D.C.

Photo taken from http://www.inman.com

Photo taken from http://www.ussa.com