As I kick off the first of blog entries on the new site I would like to address why you as an investor or buyer should be putting your hard earned cash into the real estate market as opposed to the numerous other places that would happily take your money.  As we enter a new age in our country financially, we are seeing a historically unique market in real estate.  Prices have been driven down to extreme lows, not because value isn’t there, but because inventory of must sell homes(foreclosures) has sky rocketed and taken over the market.  Just like the values were artificially driven too high with absurdly loose lending practices, the pendulum has tipped the other way and I believe you are seeing artificial lows. At least in the Detroit area since we have been dealing with this foreclosure problem for about 2 years(twice as long as the rest of the country).  One thing I know for sure about the real estate market is that foreclosures will NOT always dominate the open market.  When this changes you will see prices go up, and probably in a big way.  All this means; is that the investments you make in real estate now, will have long term equity built into them.
If you are a number cruncher and looking for percentage based returns on your money take this into account.  Right now being very conservative and not assuming the best deal in the world I can put 40k into a home and have a rent ready property that will get 800/month or more.  Assuming 200/month in taxes and an inflated 100/month carrying costs I would generate 500/month positive cash flow or 6k or an astonishing 15% return on my money.  Imagine how that percentage goes up if you assume any equity at all. The choice is yours, but it is clear to me.