Okay, so the unemployment rate is soaring. And we all hear that real estate prices have fallen through the floor. But not so quick. I've just looked at the median homes sales data published by the National Association of Realtors for the 2nd quarter of 2008 and it paints a slightly different picture for those of us living in the DFW area. Okay, so there was a decline year over year from 2007 in the median sales price ... a whopping 4%. Considering that the Dow Jones Industrial average has dropped 41% over the past 12 months that 4% decline doesn't really look so bad.

And when you consider that during the 20 year period from 1988 through this year there have only been two (2) years that we saw a decline in property values, I'd say that's a remarkably comforting statistic.

And is so often the case, hard times means opportunity for those that know how to capitalize on the situation. The much ballyhooed credit crunch has done very little to reduce the opportunities that still exist for residential real estate investment. The guy that didn't have a penny in savings with a sub-600 credit score may now have trouble buying a home. But for the vast majority of Texans that have conscientously maintained a favorable credit score, the oppotunity to invest in real estate with little or no capital investment is still a real possibility.

When you consider that the average rental rate in Garland for homes ranging in size from 1,200 to 1,700 sq ft has increased more than 5% year over year in 2008 that makes investment in residential real estate look all the more appealing. During the same period rental income on homes ranging in size from 1,500 to 2,000 sq ft in Frisco increased more than 7%.

Our company has dozens of homes that can be purchased with little or no cash outlay that will cashflow from the first day they are placed in service. Yes ... you need a job. And yes ... you need pretty descent credit scores. But if you have those two things you probably can qualify to purchase a residential rental property that will yield a rate of return that is better than ANY stock you've ever purchased.

So the question remains ... Why haven't you bought an investment property?