Local real estate investors include a subset that’s more common than you might think: the unplanned ones. The press calls them “accidental investors”—but that’s unfortunate. Let’s face it: when you read “accidental investor,” it conjures up mental images of a car crash. Or falling down stairs. Or failing to smell a gas leak…
The phrase is inappropriate. When you think of accidents waiting to happen, the last thing you think of is west coast real estate. Yet the phrase “accidental real estate investors” continues to pop up to describe individuals made property owners through happenstance—even though that turn of fate does, in fact, turn out to be beneficial. More than anything, that’s a happy accident!
Accidental real estate investors can be created because of any number of common situations. Sometimes, inheritance plays a role. If a family home is willed to children whose careers have taken them far from town, time may need to pass before a clear-headed decision is best made about the disposition of the property. Perhaps the accidental investor will ultimately choose to sell. In that case, because distance can cause a special complication, it’s important she or he team with a Realtor® who knows how important prioritizing communication can be.
In some cases, the “accident” involves a sudden promotion or other unanticipated life change calls a homeowner away from home for an extended stretch of time. Whether or not it’s clear that the owner will return, the best course of action could be to become an accidental landlord. That’s eminently doable when there are reliable property management professionals in the area—and our area is fortunate in that regard. From rehabbing, painting, and renovating to screening potential tenants and handling emergency calls 24/7, we can help assure that potential landlords—accidental or not—have access to professional property management services that not only remove the burdens of remote ownership, but provide consultation services aimed at improving the ROI of ownership.
Town’s accidental real estate investors would better be described as fateful, or fortuitous, or even providential real estate investors—but that’s not going to happen any time soon. What might happen any time at all is your own decision to join the prosperous ranks of our local intentional real estate investors. A deliberate, premeditated first step is to give me a call to check out the inviting possibilities that are out there this spring. They’re waiting, right now!
Craig Reger Group
503.893.2022
We sell more because we do more.