How Net Present Value Evaluates Investment Property Price



Net present value (or NPV) is a real estate investing measure widely used by investors in an investment real estate analysis for a specific purpose: Net present value tells the investor whether a property will achieve his or her target rate of return and therefore should attract the investor’s capital into that investment.

Here’s the technical interpretation.

The net present value model is based on a decision rule that states if the discounted present value of future benefits is equal to or greater than the cost of those benefits it is a profitable opportunity. Whereas, if the present value of the future benefits is less than the cost for those benefits, the rate of return will not be achieved and chances are good that the investor should take another look.

Okay, let’s frame the idea with a simple illustration.

When you place your money into a savings account (i.e., invest your capital) you expect it to earn interest (i.e., provide future benefits). The bank dictates the return and you are either willing or unwilling to tie up your capital based upon your acceptance of that return. For example, whereas you might deposit $10,000 to earn 3.8% interest, you might not make the investment to earn 1.2% interest.

Fair enough. But suppose that the bank doesn’t quote an interest rate. Only what amount of money you’ll be able to collect in the future. Only that next year you will collect $10,300 with a deposit of $10,000 today. If there were no mention of an interest rate, how would you know what yield your investment is earning?

That’s the dilemma real estate investors face when analyzing income property. There’s a projection for both an investment amount and future benefit, but there’s no mention of yield. The investor has no idea what rate of return is achieved based upon that data alone, and therefore no way to compare it to other potential investment opportunities adequately.

This is where net present value comes in.

NPV lets you plug in a target yield for a property and then informs you whether the future cash flows (benefits) generated by that property will be enough to achieve that yield on your capital investment or not.

How It Works

NPV discounts all future cash flows by the desired rate of return to arrive at a present value of those future cash flows and deducts that amount from the initial equity (or capital invested). The result is a dollar amount that will always be either negative, zero, or positive.

How to Interpret

1) Negative dollar amount – This means that the present value of future benefits is less than the amount invested and that the specified rate of return is not met. In other words, you might want to move on to another property.

2) Zero dollar amount – This signifies that the present value of future benefits equals the amount of the investment and that the desired yield is perfectly met. In other words, the property will achieve the return you want but with no room to spare.

Knowing What an Investment Property Loan Is



Do not get confused, the term investment property loan simply means a loan for investment of properties. These properties to be invested on are deemed to be profitable in the future that is why people loan to buy them. Presently, the real estate industry has become a lucrative business. A lot of realtors have testified on how they have come from rags to riches after getting into the real estate business. Depending on your talent and the circumstances, loaning to invest on a property may provide you with a good chance of building equity while nurturing the potential of capital gains as the value of the property appreciates over time. If you have the ability, it is definitely not a bad endeavor to try.

An investment property loan can be generally classified into two: residential and commercial. A residential loan is associated with investing residential properties like apartments, condos, buildings (with at least 5 units), stores, or warehouses. They are usually bought for expected future appreciation and rental income. On the other hand, a commercial loan is the one associated with investing on business and commercial areas. They are often more costly since bigger income is also expected to come from them.

Individuals are not the only ones loaning to invest on properties though. Quite a number of real estate investors in the U.S. make use of investment property loans in acquiring real estates too. There are two basic advantages on this. They can benefit form capital growth and tax deductions. Another important benefit comes from “negative gearing”.

In essence, the word “gearing” means borrowing for investment. A negatively geared investment means it is a property purchased using a loan where the expected income (after all the expense deductions) from the investment is less than the annual payable interest. This gives the investor a substantial tax benefit since they may deduct the cost of owning an investment property from their income which is taxable.

An investment property loan can come in different shapes and sizes depending on the requirements of the investors. They may be offered as interim, long-term or short-term loans. If you are interested in engaging into this kind of investment, you should make sure that you are knowledgeable of the terms of the loan. Make sure that you understand the interest rate and the time period of it. You must also keep track of the schedule. You want extra profit and not bigger credit.

There are quite a number of reputable investment property loans in the U.S. Most of them do not provide any limit on the number of properties you could own. They also offer adjustable mortgage rates and they have low down payment options. This is a great help because you can simply use the spare money to repair or renovate the property for future profitable use like reselling it or having it rented. A lot of loan providers also offer application online meaning you will not have to waste time setting an appointment with them or going to their office. Their online service allows quick and easy processing of your application for loan.

Asset Management Companies’ Guide



Be it any area or any sphere of life management is the key to success. Management of simple things such as your day-to-day activities etc. might not require much consideration but lot of planning is to be done when it comes to managing assets.

Asset management basically refers to managing money for individuals through stocks, bonds and cash equivalents etc. The asset management system has sprung from maintenance management systems and its aim is to optimize asset use and manage all maintenance efforts involved in making the assets as confidential, accurate and efficient as possible. The principles of asset management apply equally to all physical assets such as infrastructure, property, heritage, plant and equipment.

The strategy of asset management depends on financial aspects of ownership such as calculating the entire cost of ownership, depreciation, licensing, maintenance and insurance. Asset management can be in different spheres. For instance asset management in the field of property is known as property asset management, asset management in IT, in finance or investment asset management and asset management in inventory and physical stock.

Varying with the kind of an asset management strategy a firm or an individual can add value to his business, improve investment performance, manage financial risk exposure and reduce costs to business.

Keeping the incredible significance of asset management in mind, various asset management companies have mushroomed these days. An asset management company is a firm that invests the pooled funds of retail investors in securities in line with the directed investment objectives. By offering more diversification, liquidity and professional management service, an asset management service holds a niche above the individual investors.

A leading name in asset management and investment management services is Lazard. Lazard is known for investment banking with offices in more than 16 countries across the world. Lazard provides multiple services such as advisory services that include mergers and acquisitions, asset management and restructuring to corporations, partnerships, institutions, governments and individuals.

Similarly the Asset Intelligence unit of General Electric’s Equipment Services has earned commendable name in providing intelligence based asset management and logistics services for commercial and transportation equipments. Hardcat is a leading asset management solution provider in UK, Australia and USA.

The joint venture between UK’s top ranking insurance company Prudential Plc. and India’s recognized financial institution, the ICICI Bank Ltd. has resulted in the ICICI Asset Management Company to supplement the Indian investor mutual fund products with different growing needs of investment.

All these proficient companies keep in mind the fact that investment is quite a challenging task that requires tremendous planning and risk. These companies function in a way to produce better risk-adjusted investment returns and present investment solutions to the clients.

Recently the prizes of traded asset management companies have touched the sky primarily due to two reasons- rising stock markets and industry consolidation. A paradigm instance here is that the Legg Mason shares increased by 76% due to the news that it was taking over Citigroup’s asset management business.

All in all asset management companies are ideal resources to drive costs out of your business operations, increase profitability and get access to vast information database for making a prudent choice