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Let’s face it, on  the low end housing prices are stagnating, mortgage opportunities are decreasing, and demand is just not  there after the run of flips and speculation created excessive inventory. To some this is depressing but to the landlords this is music to  their ears.

And thus, I declare 2007 The Year of the  Landlord. If the bubbly folks are right, the carnage of homes that  will  be foreclosed upon is going to increase drastically, and if they are wrong there are still going to be  many who last year could have qualified for a loan but are now out of the pool. The decimation  of the sub prime market has shown that it will be years before  the industry finds a way to lend to low end borrowers.

Since housing is a need, and low end housing is moving poorly, the opportunities for smart landlords will increase. The pure numerical increase in people renting will create a shortage of rental units in our present inventory. And where there is a shortage you will find the opportunity for increased rental rates.

So those of you that are looking to be a landlord, get out and learn the business. I have linked to an article at The Real Estate Journal about some of the things you need to know, but a great series of posts can be found at The Bloodhound Blog by Michael Cook. He is doing a great job of  creating a  blueprint on how to  be a successful real estate investor and landlord.

More Americans are hanging out “for rent” signs. Some were forced into the business after buying investment houses or condos at top dollar during boom times that they now can’t sell. But many are discovering their inner landlord on purpose, often buying properties well below prices from a year or two ago.

It can be lucrative. For the first time in several years, rents are rising in many places, in part because the subprime-lending crisis is making it harder for people with marginal credit records to secure mortgages, increasing rental demand.

Shantay Wakefield and Gerald Taggart, a couple in Fairview Heights, Ill., have bought two rental properties in the past two years. The two 30-year-olds figured they would be income-generating investments, though they didn’t foresee the pitfalls via the RealEstateJournal

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