We swear we don’t have a crystal ball hidden beneath Jason’s desk. It only seems that way. While recently perusing a list of America’s Most Affordable Places to Live, we couldn’t help but notice we already own property there and have been recommending it for years to our clients.
Our name is Empowered Investor Network, a free referral service for those sick of playing Wall Street Russian Roulette and ready to finally create real wealth in their lives through income property investing. It turns out that we’ve been unwittingly recommending three out of the top five best places to live as recently listed by Forbes.
Number one on the list is Indianapolis and here’s a hearty shout of agreement from us. The 1.7 million strong people of the metro area find themselves smack dab in the most desirable place to live this year, based on housing affordability, unemployment, and cost of living. Nearly 95% of homes are affordable to families earning the median salary and unemployment is low (8.2%) compared to the nationwide average of 9.4%.
Empowered Investor Network has been a fan of Indy for quite a while now. We have an area manager in place who keeps us in the know about great investment opportunities in this excellent city. From an income property investor’s point of view, Indy has provided a low cost way for clients to get into the scorching foreclosure market. The national housing mortgage meltdown hit the Indianapolis area hard and left a nice pool of newer model houses available for purchase at low prices.
Another interesting area is the Austin – Round Rock area in Texas. Coming in at number three on the affordability list, this is one of the fastest growing areas in the country. High demand and low prices? How does that happen? Lots of available land and plenty of financing for ambitious developers. As might be expected, Texas does not throw a fifty pound regulatory code book at you when you want to build a property. The regulatory climate there is easy on the builder. Here’s one amazing statistic – one suburb area north of Austin, Hutto has grown to a population of 17,000. This is up from a measly 1,200 recorded in the 2000 census.
If you think we have a few properties we could turn you onto in the Austin, Texas area, you would be right. We’ve been buying and recommending there for a while now and have an excellent grasp of the local market. If you want to get started in income property investing, it would be hard to find a better place than here.
St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Pittsburgh round out the top five on the affordability list. Notice a trend here? We’re pulling cities from right out of the heart of the United States. It’s no coincidence. Food, utilities, transportation, and health care have always been more expensive in coastal regions. Even with slightly higher unemployment numbers, cities like St. Louis and Cincinnati still come out on top due to comparatively cheap housing.
It appears that Empowered Investor Network has been sending clients to the right places to buy income properties. We are firm believers in this investment strategy and have historical numbers to back it up. With the proper use of leverage you can safely put down 20% of the purchase cost and control an asset worth much more. For example, if you put $20,000 down on a $100,000 property, you control $100,000 worth of assets. Not so in the stock market, where 20 grand buys you exactly that – 20 grand worth of stock. To be nitpicky, yes, you can buy stock on 50% margin but it’s a risky play and you might get your account automatically liquidated if a crazy market day results in a margin call.
Need a quick guide to creating all the wealth you can stand the rest of your life? Check out our website at https://www.jasonhartman.com. In particular, listen to the Creating Wealth in Today’s Economy podcasts to learn about The Complete Solution to Real Estate Investors™. This is a simple, five step process where we teach you everything you need to know to begin income property investing for financial independence. It’s one of the few legitimate ways left for the small investor to become wealthy in a few short years.
For more in depth information, you can also call one of our expert financial counselors at 714-820-4200. They’ll be glad to answer any questions you might have and guide you to the free learning resources that can change your life in a big way if you let them. Who knows? You might become the next property owner in great areas of this country like Indianapolis, Austin, or St. Louis. The opportunity is there to escape the drudgery of a 9 to 5 job and do something truly special with your life.
