Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Real Estate 101: A Guide for Military Personnel
    Real Estate 101: A Guide for Military Personnel
    Real Estate 101: A Guide for Military Personnel
    Ebook84 pages50 minutes

    Real Estate 101: A Guide for Military Personnel

    By David L. Ruffin

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    One of the biggest real estate questions you will face several times throughout your military career is whether to rent, buy, or sell a home at a given assignment.

    Done properly, real estate can be a wonderful investment that outperforms many other types of investments including stocks, bonds, or mutual funds. Done poorly, however, buying and selling real estate can lead to significant stress and potential loss of money.

    Lt. Col. David Ruffin (USAF Ret.), a licensed real estate broker, has spent years developing a network of the best, most trusted real estate professionals nationwide. His wife Mary, a top-producing agent in Oklahoma, has dedicated over a decade of work assisting our military members and families with real estate. This booklet, focused for active military personnel, walks you through how to:

    • evaluate home ownership as an investment, both short and long term;
    • objectively decide whether to buy or rent at a given location;
    • understand the process and fees involved with buying or selling a home;
    • decide whether updating your home makes sense, and which updates to make.

    This booklet provides a basic foundation so you can maximize your chances of real estate success and minimize as much risk as possible. Welcome to the exciting, and hopefully profitable, world of real estate investment!
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherLulu.com
    Release dateSep 7, 2020
    ISBN9781716932953
    Real Estate 101: A Guide for Military Personnel

    Related to Real Estate 101

    Related ebooks

    Investments & Securities For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Paul’s Verdict

      Dec 1, 2021

      You haven’t missed the bus. You will be jumping on at a later bus stop than you might have done with hindsight, but I’d still like to see you on the property bus. So let’s look forward. The reason I have consistently spoken about owning a home is lit

      3 min read

    • Article

      Why ‘Rent vs. Buy’ Is the Wrong Question

      Aug 11, 2020

      In the world of personal finance, there are a handful of disputes that may never get resolved. There’s the question of whether credit cards are dangerous, or whether they’re valuable tools we can all benefit from. And I don’t know about you, but I’ve

      5 min read

    • Article

      Safe As Houses

      May 24, 2020

      buying or owning a home comes with a lot of shoulds. In Australia, our culture is one where owning your home has more cachet than renting and most people (approximately 70 per cent) have purchased a home. So it’s little wonder that many people believ

      4 min read

    • Article

      Q & A

      Jul 31, 2019

      Q My partner is 51 and earns $70,000 and has super of $200,000. I am 42 and earn $62,000 (I work at a not-for-profit and salary package $18,550), plus investment property income of $18,000 with superannuation of $160,000. We bought our principal pl

      6 min read

    • Article

      Does It Make Sense to Buy a House Now?

      May 21, 2021

      With the U.S. vaccine rollout progressing nicely, we are finally able to take a collective sigh of relief and begin thinking about a post-pandemic future.  The housing market is hotter than ever, despite millions of Americans losing their jobs in 202

      4 min read

    • Article

      Your Finances Are Strong, So There's No Need To Compromise

      Aug 2, 2023

      Thank you for your kind words, Cassidy. I was reading over your question on a plane, heading back to my home town of Griffith, very sadly for a dear schoolmate's funeral. Not the best of occasions. You cheered me up. My wife, Vicki, also made me laug

      3 min read

    • Article

      As Singapore And Hong Kong Residents Grapple With Inflation And Rising Interest Rates, Is It Better To Rent Or Buy?

      May 20, 2022

      As inflation hits and the world faces a recession, today's aspiring homeowners are struggling more than ever to get on the housing ladder. People are in a quandary as to whether to buy a house now, or to rent and hold off buying until house prices co

      4 min read

    • Article

      Q&A

      Sep 2, 2020

      Q I am looking to get the most returns out of my assets. I am 52 years old with a partner and three small children. I work in IT with a salary of $105,000 and my partner does not work. I own one property in London worth about $800,000, which receiv

      9 min read

    • Article

      Paul’s Verdict: Buy The Home You Would Like To Live In And Rent It Out

      Dec 2, 2020

      Your question very much reflects the world we live in, Nathan. Your situation is typical of the work environment that has developed over the past couple of decades. The good news, though, is that this presents some powerful wealth-creation opportunit

      2 min read

    • Article

      Investor Myths Busted

      May 2, 2019

      Investor Myths Busted
      6 min read

    • Article

      Paul’s Verdict

      Feb 26, 2020

      As much as I like numbers, facts and statistics, Kiara, one of the most misused is “average”. At present, the average Australian family has, I am told, around 2.3 children and 11% of a golden retriever! My industry loves “average returns”, even thoug

      2 min read

    • Article

      Q & A

      Apr 28, 2021

      QI am desperately seeking advice with regard to premiums I am paying for life insurance, which have now reached a ridiculous level that I can no longer afford. But before I contact the insurer to find out what my options are, I would welcome any sugg

      9 min read

    • Article

      NEWS & VIEWS

      Jul 28, 2022

      NEWS & VIEWS
      6 min read

    • Article

      Doors Open For First-timers

      Nov 30, 2022

      Doors Open For First-timers
      4 min read

    • Article

      Keeping the House Post-Divorce Has Gotten More Affordable

      Feb 12, 2020

      Typically, financial advisers have recommended against keeping the marital home. In the past, it became too big of a financial burden for one spouse to incur all the costs associated with keeping the house on only one household income. Couples in div

      4 min read

    • Article

      How I Bought My First Home

      Jan 31, 2018

      After more than five years in the Washington, D.C., area, three apartments and eight roommates, I became a homeowner last summer. Sharing the rent with others had kept housing costs affordable, and I made several good friends along the way. But ultim

      2 min read

    • Article

      Q&A

      Dec 2, 2020

      Q Hi Paul. I have just done a review of our super and changed providers. But I am wondering how to evaluate what insurance amounts (TPD, income protection, death cover) we need. Do you have any guidelines to work from?  Yep, let’s run an unbiased e

      9 min read

    • Article

      Buying a Home Could be a Bad Career Move

      Jun 13, 2018

      Most of the time, the buy-vs.-rent debate revolves around the best financial decision. That's for good reason: As you've undoubtedly heard more than once, buying a home is the biggest purchase you'll probably ever make. Most people need to borrow hun

      4 min read

    • Article

      The "Real" Cost of Buying a Home

      Aug 2, 2021

      What's up, everybody? This is Brandon Copeland, aka Professor Copeland. You are now tuned in to another episode of Cope'ing With Money. On this episode of Cope'ing With Money, we're looking at something, as usual, very near and dear to my heart, but

      8 min read

    • Article

      In Your Interest

      May 8, 2019

      In Your Interest
      3 min read

    • Article

      Q&A

      Jan 27, 2021

      Q I have been “pink recessioned”. I was earning $60,000 a year and then overnight I lost my casual job. I was fortunate to have enough in savings to clear all my debts, but in my panic to do that I didn’t really think about what was going to happen n

      11 min read

    • Article

      Should You Rent or Buy Your Next Home in Retirement?

      May 24, 2021

      The housing market is hot, and it’s a great time to sell your home. Still, if you’re thinking about renting your next one, consider the tradeoffs. Renting temporarily is fine if you want to try a new location or if you anticipate moving frequently ea

      3 min read

    • Article

      No Place Like Home

      May 3, 2022

      No Place Like Home
      5 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Real Estate 101

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Real Estate 101 - David L. Ruffin

      RUFFIN

      Copyright © 2020 David L. Ruffin.

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored, or

      transmitted by any means—whether auditory, graphic, mechanical, or

      electronic—without written permission of the author, except in the case

      of brief excerpts used in critical articles and reviews. Unauthorized

      reproduction of any part of this work is illegal and is punishable by law.

      ISBN: 978-1-7167-0228-0 (sc)

      ISBN: 978-1-7169-3295-3 (e)

      Library of Congress Control Number: 2020909398

      Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or

      links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may

      no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those

      of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher,

      and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

      Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are

      models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

      Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

      Lulu Publishing Services rev. date:   07/30/2020

      Introduction

      AT THE TIME OF THIS writing, the United States is experiencing very unique and volatile financial markets associated with the economic turmoil created by the COVID-19 virus, including those related to housing and mortgage investments. I believe this to be a temporary condition and fully expect the markets to return to a more stable order consistent with the past decade (2010 – 2020). Because of this, I have confidence in the underlying principles discussed in this book and believe them to be applicable in the future.

      Welcome to the world of real estate! In some fashion or another I have been involved in real estate for over thirty years, either as an owner, investor, flipper, or a broker. I know of no other industry that is so diverse, offering any number of opportunities to invest and receive both the tax benefits and returns that many real estate investments do. First and foremost, real estate fills a basic need – shelter! An obvious fact is that you (and your family) need a place to live. As a military member, you will likely be searching for a home every three or four years, and you will need a comfortable, enjoyable, safe place to live. Note that I did not mention that you need to find the perfect home.

      For most of you this home is not your dream retirement home. You need to find the home that will be the most marketable, for either sale or rent, to the largest segment of the population, three to four years down the road. I have made many mistakes over my thirty years of real estate, but fortunately none of them were horrible mistakes. A perfect example from my early real estate life was that even though I didn’t need much for my first home (I was single with a dog), the majority of prospective buyers or renters did have a larger family and needed more space. My 1400 sq ft, 3 bed, 1 ½ bath home was not very marketable to the couple with two young kids. Likewise, since I was single, I paid little attention to school districts, and that was a big mistake. Probably the number one consideration for most young families (for either purchase or renting) is ensuring their kids are going to a good school. It doesn’t have to be the very top school, but it sure cannot be in the bottom tier of schools.

      As you go through the home search process, please keep in mind the end-objective for this home you are considering buying; will it be for resale or to rent as an investment property. I don’t want to use the term generic, but you should be tailoring your search for the 1700 – 2200 sq ft home with three bedrooms and an office or four bedrooms, minimum two car garage, and probably a fenced back yard for kids or pets. Each one of these home purchases you make throughout your career will be a stepping stone to eventually buying or building your dream retirement home when that day arrives! Congratulations again on taking the first step into the fantastic world of real

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1