This is from my interview on KXL this morning.

With prices and interest rates at lows and rents rising real estate investing is hitting new highs. Here to talk about this dramatic change is real estate expert Nick Krautter with Keller Williams and sellpdx.com

Q. Just how much have investment purchases gone up?

A. It’s huge. In 2010 it was about 750k sold and last year it jumped to almost 1.25 million. That’s close to doubling.

Q. Why is the jump so dramatic?

A. There’s a fundamental shift back to a larger part of the country renting. Add in low prices and interest rates and rents which are up 8% in Portland over last year and cash flows are looking great.

Q. Isn’t it hard to get financing for rentals?

A. The down payments range from 10-25% and interest rates are slightly higher but half the investment homes purchased in 2011 were bought with cash. A lot of people are using 401k and IRA money to invest in real estate.