Category: Real Estate Taxes & Consulting

Who hasn’t been affected by the coronavirus? No one! Everybody experienced something from the coronavirus. Some were infected by SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, while others were emotionally affected by it. Some experienced psychological turmoil. 

There is one thing, though, that everybody uniformly experienced from the COVID-19 pandemic: everybody was economically hit by it. Yes, everybody! Even rich people and large corporations. Fortunately for them, they have a lot of funding to get them through the pandemic. 

However, some of these wealthy individuals and companies had to let go of some employees. There was a time when economies all over the world were halted in a bid to stop the spread of the virus. People lost their jobs. In the US, 40 million people apparently claimed unemployment assistance from the government. 

Lessons from the pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic taught people the importance of having savings and investment. In case the world turns into shambles again, at least there will be a cushion fund so that one doesn’t have to depend on government aid. 

This cushion can be created through the passive income via real estate investment. Not only can this allow people to have their own savings in case of another similar situation to a pandemic when there is possibility that income will be gone, it can also be used in retirement. 

First, what is passive income? It is money that a person earns with little effort on their part. Unlike with work, a person really has to make a lot of effort in order to earn money. With a passive income, one may invest on something and you earn from it without doing anything at all, hence, the term. 

The best way to make a passive income is through real estate investment.

How does it work? 

The first step is to really analyze expenses. It’s actually quite surprising that many people actually spend more than they earn. One logical reason for this is the credit cards. They give the people the impression that they have more money than they can actually spend. Now, a person has to be more meticulous with their expenses. They should stop buying unnecessary expenses and get out of unused contracts.

For example, a lot of people have gym memberships but they don’t actually use it. Some also have cable connections that they don’t get to maximize the use of because they also have Netflix. One has to get rid of unnecessary expenses so they can use the money to invest in real estate. 

Now, how to choose a real estate investment? It should be something that fits a person’s lifestyle. If a person has a lot of time, then they can build their own building that they can eventually lease to people and businesses. Those that don’t have the time and energy can find something that is already for use. They can purchase this building and have the spaces rented out either for residential or commercial purposes. 

Anyone interested in real estate should be guided by rules and strategies. They should have the right information on how to go about getting passive income. A person can have substantial earnings when they do real estate right. 

The earnings are good enough, but that’s not the only benefit from investing in real estate. Among them are appreciation and depreciation, mortgage paydown, inflation projection, and tax deductions.

This was the good news: 2020 was supposed to be the year California starts ending homelessness. It was right on track, too.

At the start of the year, Gov. Gavin Newsom spearheaded the passing of a supposed “production package.” He was backed by a number of lawmakers. The goal was to have more housing projects with priorities on affordable homes.

In February, Newsom delivered his State of the State address and said that it was simply unacceptable that the state is not building enough houses. That would change, he promised. Unfortunately, at that time, there were no concrete plans or details yet.

Then the pandemic hit. California Legislature closed. Businesses were shut down. Many people lost their jobs and businesses. Thousands of Californians could not afford to pay their mortgage. It was a terrible timing.

Housing bills

Despite the pandemic, some bills related to the goal of building more houses in California moved forward. Many, though, failed to take root.

There were three bills aimed at advancing various homeless programs that were killed. These were the bill to spend $2 billion annually for homeless programs, a bill for permanent funding for homeless programs, and the bill that requires local governments in California to reduce homelessness to as much as 90% by 2028.

Related bills that are not necessarily focused on homelessness were similarly axed. There was that proposal to approve housing on lands identified as commercial and another that will allow denser and taller housing developments in some regions. There was also a bill that would allow rezoning of small areas for small developments even without environmental assessment.

Some of the proposed laws were obviously controversial, which prompted some infighting in the legislature. The legislators and the policy advocates needed more time to discuss the details of the bills and perhaps, make a deal.

Unfortunately, there was no time for it and focus was needed elsewhere. There were also policies that need to be made in the fight against the pandemic.

One of the more urgent matters that needed attention was the possible evictions of people who failed to pay their rent. In a way, this is related to housing, just not in the context that the earlier-mentioned bills pertain. Still the government’s intervention against eviction is a way to prevent more situations of homelessness.

The Assembly Bill 1436 prevented landlords from evicting their tenants who failed to pay their rent due to COVID-19-related financial distress. The eviction ban, though, will end on September 2.

Dense buildings

At least, California was able to pass bills that promoted the building of duplexes and four-plexes. These types of buildings allow multiple families to be housed in just one building. These types of buildings are now allowed in communities supposedly identified solely for single-family homes.

A lot of single-family areas were also determined to be big enough for duplexes, hence, they could be transformed as such. A duplex is more affordable than a single-detached house because one unit is smaller. Also, it would mean that families would be sharing a wall or floor-ceiling in the case of an up-and-down duplex.