Making money through real estate investing can be a
fickle business. Here's a surprising trend that can put
money into your pocket.

Traditionally those of us who own rental property looked
upon condos as competition. They offered a relatively
low cost way for renters to move into home ownership.

This demand for condos has fooled many of us. With low
rates of interest on home loans and plenty of money
available... the logical expectation would be that instead
of buying condos, buyers would move into the single family home
market.

Of course... many of them have done that and home prices continue
in an upward trend in many areas. But thousands are choosing condos
rather than a detached home.

The National Association of Realtors reports that condo
sales averaged less than 200,000 annually in the 1980s.
That number jumped to 500,000 in the 1990s... and over
the last three years has rocketed to over 800,000 sales each
year.

Take note of this.... In quarter number two of 2004,
condo sales nearly hit the 1 million mark.

Right now the condo market is hot in most parts of the
country. Prices have reached record levels and
continue to climb.

While condo values go up... the rental market has gone soft.
That has prompted many of the biggest apartment owners to
begin converting apartment complexes into condos.

They are converting their own complexes while looking for
other existing buildings to buy and convert.

The business has become so profitable that many of these
big guys are slowly moving out of the apartment business
by either converting owned properties, buying others... or
building new condo developments.

This is a wake up call for the small real estate investor.
Start looking for motivated condo owners!

But watch out for this! Many lenders will stop financing
condos if the percentage of non-owner occupied units building
reaches a level they consider dangerous. This means that you
could have trouble selling units you own at some time in
the future if you're not careful.

Stay in touch with the condo association and
be ready to move quickly if too many investors are buying
units in the development.

You can use most of the same tactics you use to buy single
family homes with condos.

Two of the most powerful tools are lease/options and buying
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About the Author
Mark Walters is an investor-entrepreneur helping other investors from his Web pages at
http://www.Lease-Option-Sub2.com