If you plan to invest in real estate, there's a key real estate investing rule you should follow. It's called Buy Utility, Rent Luxury or BURL for short. Using the BURL method, you increase your chances of making a higher return on your real estate investment while also maximizing your capital for a better lifestyle.
Let me first share some of my experiences investing in real estate since 2003. Next, I'll explain in detail what BURL is why you should follow this real estate investing rule.
Part of the reason why I bought a smaller house in 2014 was because I wasn't willing to be a renter of my own house for its market price. At that time, the market rent price was ~$8,500/month. Crazy high, I know!
The price to rent my house had grown from about $5,000/month when I first bought it in 2005. If I had kids and a penchant for throwing tons of money away on rent, maybe I would have stayed.
BURL is a way for all real estate investors to stay disciplined when looking for the next property. As we exit the pandemic, the real estate market is very strong. As a result, even more discipline is necessary to get a good deal.
Rental Opportunity Cost And BURL
To optimize my finances, I figured I should buy a new house more suitable to my house-spending desires. At the time the max I was willing to pay to rent was ~$5,000/month. Next, I should rent out my old house at market to those willing to pay $8,500/month in rent. This way, economic waste is eliminated, and everybody is happy. This is the BURL rule in a nutshell.
Conduct the same mental exercise with your existing home. If you haven't rented in a while, you may be surprised by how much your primary residence can command for rent in the open market. Inflation is a beast, which is one of the reasons to own real estate over the long term.
The cost of living in your home isn't the actual money you are spending to live there. The actual cost is the opportunity cost of not renting it out at market rate.
Real Estate Investing Rule To Follow: BURL
Let me share with you why it's important to follow the real estate investment rule of Buy Utility, Rent Luxury (BURL). If you want to maximize your lifestyle and your net worth it's more important than ever to pay attention to this rule.
Buy Utility, Rent Luxury (BURL)
A common real estate investing rule a savvy real estate investor follows is to pay no more than 100X the monthly rent as the purchase price. In my example, an investor wouldn't pay more than $900,000 for my now $9,000 a month rental house.
That said, it's IMPOSSIBLE to follow this real estate investing rule when buying in expensive cities such as New York, San Diego, LA, and San Francisco. Even finding properties priced at 150X monthly rent is extremely difficult to find.
Lifestyle And Capital Appreciation
Why? Because there is excess demand looking to buy property for lifestyle and capital appreciation. Housing becomes more than just basic living expenses, it becomes a luxury option. A Honda Civic takes you around just fine, but some people like to buy classic Ferraris.
I've chosen to live and remain in San Francisco because I believe it offers a great combination of wealth creation and lifestyle. The average temperature is in the low 60s and six-figure jobs are a dime a dozen.
In addition, consulting opportunities are endless, it's picturesque, and the food is amazing. Plus, there's tremendous diversity, and there are plenty of outdoor activities thanks to the topography. San Francisco is amazing, which is why it's so expensive.
I'd love living in Hawaii, but it lacks a robust domestic economy. With tourism as its main industry, the economy is subject to the whims of others. Unless you are a doctor, lawyer, or entrepreneur in Honolulu, there just aren't many six-figure jobs. You need to already be rich or have a location independent business to comfortably afford a sweet home.
Rent Luxury Example For BURL
Spending $9,000/month ($108,000 a year) on rent sounds expensive. But, it's actually good value since you need to spend roughly 303X the monthly rent (25.25X annual rent) to buy my house at market price ~$2.7M. The 100X – 150X monthly rent rule gets blown out of the water.
Even if you owned the $2.7M home outright, you'd still have to pay $33,000 a year in property taxes ($2.7M X 1.2%), $2,500 a year in insurance, and around $5,000 a year in maintenance costs.
Meanwhile, your $2.7M could earn a 2.5% annual rate of return risk-free = $68,500 for a total cost of roughly $109,000 if you had no mortgage.Knowing the numbers is very important when following a real estate investing rule.
Most Homebuyers Only Put Down 20% Or Less
But the reality is that most homebuyers only put down 20% or less. Let's say a buyer put down 27% and got a $2M mortgage at a 3.5% interest rate. His annual mortgage interest cost would be $70,000 on top of $33,000 in property taxes, $2,500 in insurance, $5,000 in maintenance = $110,500.
Then you must bake in the opportunity cost of not getting a 2.5% risk-free return on the $700K and you get $17,500. The total gross cost of ownership is therefore $110,500 + $17,500 = $127,500 after putting 20% down.
Obviously, renting for “only” $108,000 a year versus owning for $127,500 a year is a financially cheaper option if you don't include the tax benefits, not to mention the benefits of less maintenance stress.
The only way the owner comes out ahead is through principal appreciation and tax deductions. The problem most people have is coming up with the 20% downpayment. Meanwhile, getting approved for a mortgage is much more difficult post financial crisis and post pandemic.
Buy Utility Example For BURL
Now let's look at the other side of my BURL real estate investing rule. In the MidWest, there are actually $100,000 properties that can earn you $1,000 a month in rent. The value you get in the heartland is partly why I'm so bullish.
An $80,000 mortgage at 3.5% after putting down $20,000 only costs the homeowner $359.24/month or $4,310.88 a year.
Add on $200 a year in property taxes, $1,000 a year in maintenance, and $500 a year in opportunity cost for not earning a 2.5% risk-free return on the $20,000 downpayment costs only$6,010/year to own compared to $12,000 a year to rent.
If you live in the Midwest, you need to be a buyer of real estate since it's cheaper and you can cash flow immediately. Capital appreciation is slow compared to coastal city property, but that's OK because the income generation is so much higher if you begin to accumulate rentals.
So why doesn't everybody just buy all the Midwest property they can? It's partly because many people in the past believed that in order to buy Midwest property, you had to live in the Midwest.
Benefits Of Investing In Real Estate Crowdfunding
It's natural to want to be able to see and manage the property you want to own. Given half the country lives in the coastal cities, half the country focuses on accumulating coastal city real estate. But now, you can surgically buy specific Midwest property through real estate crowdfunding, which makes following my real estate investing rule so much easier. This is financial arbitrage at its finest.
The solution for half the population living in expensive coastal cities such as SF, NYC, LA, San Diego, Boston, Washington D.C. and Honolulu is to therefore rent where you are and buy in the Midwest and South to maximize income and net worth.
What Determines Luxury And Utility?
We can qualitatively say without prejudice that coastal city living can be considered Luxury living while non-coastal city living can be considered Utility living.
Who doesn't want to be near the ocean, see the ocean, fly direct to other countries, eat a wide assortment of food, be constantly entertained, and take advantage of the highest concentration of job opportunities? There's a reason why expensive cities are expensive.
But of course, non-coastal city people will balk at this classification given there's so much non-coastal city living has to offer too. There's something great to be said about a slower pace of living, much lower costs, and lots of space.
We're all biased for where we currently live or where we come from. Therefore, the easiest solution to determining what defines Luxury and Utility is to utilize objective math.
According to data compiled by Zillow, the national Median Price to Rent Ratio is around 11.44 (see dotted horizontal line below). Therefore, we can say the higher a property is valued above 11.44X annual gross rent, the more it is considered Luxury and vice versa.
If we use one standard deviation to determine the Luxury and Utility Median Price to Rent Ratio, the breakpoints are roughly 13.3X and above for Luxury and 9.6X and lower for Utility. In other words, roughly 68% of homes in America trade within 9.6X – 13.3X annual gross rent, which makes renting or owning a wash.
As you can see from the chart, San Francisco (Zillow includes Contra Costa and Alameda counties) trades at a Median Price To Rent Ratio of 20.51X, way above the 13.3X ratio I've determined to equal Luxury.
However, my rental home trades at 26X annual gross rent, therefore, I decided to sell my rental property in 2017. I used the proceeds to reinvest in lower-cost areas of the country, buy stocks, and municipal bonds for 100 passive income.
Invest In Properties That Trade Below 9.6X
On the flip side, check out properties in Raymondville, Texas with a Median Price to Rent Ratio of only 5.2X. In other words, the median $60,000 house commands almost $1,000/month in rent ($60K / 5.2 = $11,538/year). In other words, in just 5.2 years, you can have your renter pay back your entire property assuming you took out a 100% mortgage!
Raymondville, Texas clearly is considered Utility, and a savvy real estate investor should be buying Raymondville property all day long if their job market remains stable. The problem is that access to the market hasn't really opened up yet.
Not to worry though, since there are literally hundreds of other towns and cities with properties that trade below the 9.6X Utility classification ratio if you look at the CrowdStreet platform. CrowdStreet specifically focuses on real estate opportunities in 18-hour cities where valuations are lower and rental yields are higher. CrowdStreet is free to sign up and explore.
Alternatively, you can check out the Fundrise platform. Fundrise focuses on diversified eREIT funds to give investors more broad exposure. Their returns have historically been stable and consistent.
Related: Real Estate Crowdfunding Learning Center
The Optimal Investment Lifestyle Combo
Of course, real estate is a very personal situation for each individual. We live where we want to live mainly due to our families, friends, and jobs. Not everything is about money.
But given this is a blog about ways to optimize our finances, a savvy real estate investor should seriously consider my real estate investing rule advice of Renting Luxury, Buying Utility.
Here's a scenario I've been pondering now that I'm in the second half of my life. I want to be closer to my parents and live it up like a boss before I die.
Another Luxury Vs Utility BURL Example
For the sake of dreaming big, there's this sweet 5 bedroom, 5 bathroom, 6,400 sqft new construction home in Honolulu with a killer view asking $6.95M. Think how many sweet blog posts I can write from the pool!
Let's say the real price is $6.2M since it's been sitting for a while. Based on a 25X Median Price to Income Ratio, this means I can rent the house for approximately $248,000 a year or $20,500 a month.
$20,500 is a lot of money. But think about how much rental income $6.2M can earn in Raymondville, Texas.
First, check out this picture and short video highlighting the $6.2M property. I'm happy to throw a pool party for readers who want to stop by and hang.
If the $6.2M was deployed in Raymondville, Texas, I could theoretically earn an insane $1,192,307 a year in gross rental income since the annual gross rent to price ratio is only 5.2X.
After spending $248,000 a year living in a sweet home in Hawaii, I'd still have $944,307 left over in cash flow if I followed my real estate investing rule of Renting Luxury, Buying Utility.
Seriously, the last thing I want to do is own a humungous house with tons of ongoing maintenance to deal with. But renting it is a different story. Besides, I don't have $6.2M laying around!
Real Estate Investing Rule Shortcut
Here's a shortcut to decide whether it's better to rent than to buy. The chart below shows the share of homes in each city that can be rented out for more than their monthly expenses according to Zillow's database.
Of course, you just can't buy every single property above the rental profitability line. You must still carefully run the numbers and do your due diligence.
Below are the 10 markets where the greatest percentage savings come from buying vs. renting according to Zillow:
Detroit: -48.9 percent(it's 48.9 percent cheaper to buy here than to rent)
Baton Rouge, LA: -47.6 percent
Columbia, SC: -45.5 percent
New Orleans: -44.5 percent
West Palm Beach, FL: -43.5 percent
Greenville, SC: -43.4 percent
Charleston, SC: -42.8 percent
Philadelphia, PA: -42.6 percent
Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL: -42.4 percent
North Port-Sarasota, FL: -42.1 percent
And below are the 10 markets where the percentage savings from buying vs. renting are the smallest according to Zillow:
San Jose, California: +12.2 percent(it's 12.2 percent cheaper to rent here than to buy)
San Francisco: +5.8 percent(5.8 percent cheaper to rent)
Honolulu: -2 percent(2 percent cheaper to buy)
Seattle: -10 percent
Portland, OR: -13.8 percent
Madison, WI: -14.7 percent
Milwaukee, WI: -15.5 percent
Sacramento, CA: -15.8 percent
Oakland, CA: -16.3 percent
Las Vegas, NV: -16.8 percent
However, after two years of price underperformance during the pandemic, I think big cities such as San Francisco and New York City are buys.
My 2022 housing market forecast called for a 8% median home price appreciation. I think many people will rush back to big cities to network and find the highest-paying jobs. However, real estate prices are starting to the client due to higher mortgage rates. So take your time finding a new property and bargain aggressively.
Plentiful Real Estate Investing Opportunities
The opportunities are plenty to buy cash flow generating properties around the country. Specialized REITs and the rise of real estate crowdfunding companies like Fundrise are making this move easier today. You just need to figure out what type of real estate portfolio mix you want.
For 15 years I've been 100% long luxury growth markets. Now I'm shifting towards a balance of growth and income (utility) because valuations are stretched in expensive coastal cities. Plus, I no longer want to spend so much time managing rental properties now that I have kids.
As a result, I sold a San Francisco rental home for $2,742,000, equivalent to 30X annual gross rent in 2017. I reinvested $500,000 of the $1,800,000 in proceeds in heartland real estate crowdfunding.
The $500,000 has the ability to generate the same or more amount of passive income as my entire $2,742,000 exposure given net rental yields are so much higher. I re-invested the remaining $1,200,000 in stocks and municipal bonds.
If you can remove emotion, pride, and prejudice from the equation, you should be able to maximize your lifestyle, cash flow, and net worth. Ready to BURL?
Explore Real Estate Crowdsourcing Opportunities
If you don't have the downpayment to buy a property, don't want to deal with the hassle of managing real estate, or don't want to tie up your liquidity in physical real estate, take a look at Fundrise, one of the largest real estate crowdsourcing companies today. Fundrise manages over $3.5 billion and has over 350,000 clients.
Real estate is a key component of a diversified portfolio. Real estate crowdsourcing allows you to be more flexible in your real estate investments. You can now invest beyond just where you live for the best returns possible.
For example, cap rates are around 3% in San Francisco and New York City. But cap rates are over 10% in the Midwest if you're looking for strictly investing income returns.
Fundrise returns have been especially strong during bear markets. Hence, if you want a good way to diversify your investment portfolio, consider Fundrise. It is my favorite platform.
The other excellent real estate crowdfunding platform is CrowdStreet. Most of their commercial real estate deals are in 18-hour cities for faster growth and lower valuations. I've met both platforms over the course of the years. Both provide a smart way to diversify into real estate.
I've personally invested $810,000 in real estate crowdfunding to generate more passive income and diversify my real estate holdings. I plan to continue following the BURL real estate investing rule as demand for real estate heats up post-pandemic.
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