Still Paying for Your Tenants’ Electricity?

Writen by Victoria Pankhurst

I am.

There’s no doubt about it. When you have to pay for your own power, you learn pretty fast about the value of conservation (and I’m not just talking about the environment!). It costs a pretty penny to keep a unit warm, cool, lighted, etc. I have properties where the tenant is responsible for their power and others where the cost is included in the rent. I can say for sure that those tenants living in an “all inclusive” scenario are the tenants most likely to keep windows open in early spring and late fall, to invite people over to do their laundry and even keep their front doors open in the middle of summer with multiple A/C units running!

Keeping in mind that the cost of power is going up (my area experienced provincial deregulation a couple of years back), and rents can only go up by a set percentage per year (check with your local rental and housing department), that means less profitability for my income properties and ultimately less passive income!

I very recently heard about No Cost Submetering and I’m excited about the possibilities!

Offered by Ista in the United States and Europe, and by Stratacon in Canada, currently over 1 million suites are being serviced by submetering units.

What is submetering and how does it work?

Submetering measures the electricity usage of each suite in a multi unit building allowing each tenant to be billed separately for the power they use. Unlike many other submetering systems, rewiring of your building is not required. Instead, current sensors are attached to the wiring coming out of the main electrical panel to measure the electricity being used by each suite.

The Billing Process

1. The hydro company sends the building owner a bulk bill like they normally would.
2. Stratacon (Ista) reviews the consumption information transmitted from each unit.
3. Stratacon (Ista) collects payments from the tenants and remits the payments to the building owner.
4. The building owner pays the entire bill (covers the cost of building common areas).
5. Stratacon (Ista) administers the account and provides monthly account reports to the building owner.
6. Stratacon (Ista) handles all collections and assumes all bad debts.

By charging the tenants an administrative fee, Stratacon (Ista) recovers the capital costs of the equipment (over a 10 year period).

Highlighted in a recent CNN article, “No Cost Submetering can reduce overhead costs, make tenants accountable, help to identify possible Marijuana Grow Ops and ultimately save energy (analyses show annual savings of 15% 26%).”

…and that means more money in your pocket!

www.ThreePennies.com

With 9 years experience in Real Estate Investing and Interior Design, Victoria Pankhurst invites you to follow along on her journey to financial freedom at http://www.ThreePennies.com.

Reinventing Real Estate, Part 1: Online and Empowered Consumers Are Taking Charge and Paying Less

Writen by Charles Warnock

For decades, the real estate world turned in a predictable manner. The roles of buyers, sellers and real estate professionals were fairly well defined and transactions followed a predictable path of yard signs, newspaper ads, open houses and miles of paperwork.

Recently, online and empowered consumers have changed the game. Real estate professionals now face issues similar to the ones that have transformed the retail, personal finance and travel planning industries. As technology advances and new business models evolve, the real estate industry has begun to transform itself from providing traditional, carefully controlled “agent centric” transactions to new “consumer centric” practices. The following is a look at some of the recent industry trends and how buyers, sellers and investors can expect to benefit. The “Five Ds” that are driving change in real estate are:

1. Disruption - Over the past 10 years, the Internet has matured into a powerful platform for delivering real estate information, forever changing the interaction between buyers, sellers and real estate professionals.

2. Displacement - The popularity and acceptance of self service and consumer direct business models is being felt by real estate professionals, who are striving to develop attractive new offerings for Web savvy consumers.

3. Demanding consumers - You now have more real estate knowledge, tools and resources at your fingertips than ever before. More savvy consumers tend to be more independent and demanding.

4. Downward pressure Traditional real estate commissions of 5 6 percent of a property’s sales price are facing downward pressure.

5. Developing alternatives - The real estate industry is transforming itself to provide targeted services and exciting new options that add value for consumers. Disruption

“We are going to see our industry go through dramatic transformation via the Internet and consolidation of agents and companies.” - eRealty Times Columnist Dirk Zeller

Some industry observers have adopted Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen’s term “disruptive technology” to explain recent developments in real estate. Though it’s easy to point to the World Wide Web and advancing technology as the main changes in real estate, that’s only part of what’s shaking things up. Essentially, the real cause of disruption is not just technology, but technology enabled real estate consumers.

Web enabled consumers

According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), more than 72 percent of homebuyers now begin their home search online. The popularity of online real estate ads surpassed newspaper property listings back in 2001, and the gap is widening. Less than one percent of buyers first learned about the home they purchased on the Internet in 1995, while in 2004, that number passed 20 percent.

According to a California Association of Realtors (CAR) survey, 97 percent of respondents said the Web helped them understand the buying process better and 100 percent said using the Web helped them understand home values better. Web enabled homebuyers like you are taking a more active role in researching homes and neighborhoods. You also now spend less time with real estate professionals once you have completed your research. Internet homebuyers also used the Web effectively to filter out properties that did not interest them, visiting 6.1 homes on average versus 15.4 for traditional buyers.

Today, you can view photos and detailed information for hundreds of properties in the time it used to take to visit a single one. And the Web provides much more opportunity than simply moving print listings online. The growing availability of residential high speed Internet connections has boosted the popularity of virtual tours and interactive maps, providing consumers with powerful and flexible visual search tools.

In addition to making home searches easier, automated valuation model (AVM) software is making a big impact in how properties are evaluated. AVMs, which generate valuation estimates by analyzing and comparing property information data, are becoming increasingly sophisticated and accurate. While not considered a substitute for human appraisals, AVMs are gaining popularity because they are inexpensive, easy to use and produce valuation estimates in minutes. Now AVMs, used extensively in electronic mortgage approval processing during the recent refinancing boom, are becoming available on real estate Websites aimed at consumers. This is a significant development for independent sellers, who often find it challenging to price their properties correctly when selling on their own.

The MLS goes public

“In real estate, MLS data sits at the apex of the change, specifically the MLS information that is pushed to the Internet every minute of the day.” - Bradley Inman, Publisher of Inman News

Once an exclusive tool for real estate professionals, the multiple listing service (MLS) has in recent years become a very public platform for real estate listings. The MLS is the nation’s most comprehensive database of properties for sale - four out of five homes sold in the United States are listed on the MLS. MLS properties are available to agents and brokers worldwide, and are now accessible via consumer Web sites such as Realtor.com, WSJ.com, Excite, Netscape, AOL and MSN. MLS listings also appear on local, regional and national brokerage Websites through Internet Data Exchange (IDX) agreements that allow participating Realtors to share listings and display them to consumers. Even though only licensed realtors can list property on the MLS, the system has begun to figure prominently for the $110 billion independent seller (for sale by owner or FSBO) market. About 13 percent of real estate sales are now FSBO, conducted without a broker’s assistance.

Type “flat fee MLS” into any major search engine, and you’ll see dozens of real estate professionals willing to list your property in the MLS for a fee. If you are willing to pay a commission of 2 3 percent, you can attract the attention of thousands of agents who will show your property to prospective buyers. You can then reduce the cost of the sale to about half a traditional 5 6 percent sales commission, plus the cost of the MLS listing. If you find an independent buyer working without an agent, you could make a sale with no commission at all and pay only an MLS listing flat fee. Displacement

Currently, about 2.4 million real estate licensees operate nationally, according to the Association of Real Estate License Law officials. The NAR has more than one million members, up from about 760,000 members five years ago. Many real estate professionals and industry observers expect a significant decline in this number because some tasks traditionally performed by agents and brokers can now be done more quickly and easily by Web enabled consumers.

“Historically the fundamental driver of the real estate industry was the control of information. The real estate agent and the real estate office were the only sources of comprehensive information on which properties were for sale and those who might be interested in buying them. With this control revenues were practically guaranteed.

Moreover, because this exclusive control was akin to a monopoly by virtue of the multiple listing service (MLS) any firm of any size could serve the customer equally well. As a result, the number of real estate companies grew without regard to market efficiencies.

Simply put, the traditional model is too inflexible. Consumers are seriously questioning the value of a real estate agent. They frequently feel that many of the traditional tasks undertaken by the agents are now either no longer required or can be done by the consumer themselves.”

- Swanepoel & Tuccillo, Real Estate Confronts Profitability

The quotes above, from a popular report on emerging real estate business models and dwindling profit margins, highlight a number of issues traditional real estate professionals are now facing. And if the real estate industry has grown historically without regard to market efficiencies, the issue has only been compounded since 2001, as new agents signed on in droves, lured by low interest rates and skyrocketing home prices in many areas. It’s likely that the number of traditional real estate agents will decline, while new types of real estate jobs will be created to deliver value to Web savvy customers.

NEXT in Part 2 of 2: Demanding Consumers, Downward Pressure and Developing Alternatives

Charles Warnock is Marketing Communications Manager at Homekeys in Miami, Florida. Homekeys is a non traditional real estate Web site that helps consumers buy, sell and save thousands on real estate. Learn more at http://www.homekeys.net. Charles writes frequently on real estate, finance, advertising and marketing communications.

Small Town Stone House with a Long History

Writen by Mercedes Hayes

As a native Midwesterner, the first thing I noticed when moving to the Delaware Valley was the enormous number of fieldstone houses. Frankly, I’d never seen such a thing. What people in the East take for granted is a matter of wonder for the rest of us who grew up in much younger cities.

This house is currently offered for sale, and it’s a delight to visit a residence that has been restored with every attention to detail. But the transformation didn’t come easy! The depth of knowledge (and pockets) to pull off such a project can be daunting. However, this magnificent stone house in the small town of Sergeantsville, NJ proves that such a renovation can have tremendous rewards, and it is waiting for a new owner who will carry on the tradition.

The current owner, Charles Frischmann, was just the man to take on the project. Organist, music professor, historian, antique collector, Charles had already restored two stone houses and was ready to take on the third. He had learned much from the previous undertaking, and this one didn’t even give him pause.

The previous owner had already begun some of the restoration. The 10 foot wide stone fireplace had been turned into a closet; the panels needed to be removed, and the wood stove was installed. An expansive kitchen/dining area was added on to the rear of the house, using antique barnwood beams in the ceiling and exposing the stone on the interior wall. Because the only entrance to the basement was originally an exterior entrance, it has now become a trap door in the kitchen floor.

But that was only a first step. All the old doorways and window frames needed replacement. “The new windows are all hand built in the 18th century style, and have early glass in them,” Charles explained. He found period hardware for the doors and windows, and added working shutters that are so tight they practically create a vacuum seal when closed. He also fitted removable custom storm windows to the inside of the frames, to make this period house more energy efficient.

Although probably original, the front doors had been cut and fitted with windows, which didn’t really work for the house. To improve this look, Charles commissioned new doors and period style paneled doorways to take the place of the weathered jambs.

When removing the old door frames, they discovered that early on probably in the 1830’s someone had done a significant renovation to the house. The floor had been raised about nine inches, apparently to make more headroom in the cellar. Although the owner has not been able to trace the house sales back farther than 1857, this renovation dates the house closer to the turn of the century, making it one of the oldest surviving structures in Sergeantsville.

Then, on to the stone walls. It is commonly thought that the raw stone exteriors were exposed, but in reality, unless the builder was using “dressed stone” these walls were considered unsightly rubble, and only the poorest homeowner would refrain from covering them with plaster. Charles decided to at least stucco the front wall to make the house look more appropriate to the period. But in order to please the modern eye, he left the sides of the house exposed.

As one might expect from a 200 year old roof, the rafters needed to be shored up. Indeed, they were actually splayed from the weight, and Charles decided to remove the roof altogether. Once the old roof was off, the carpenters actually winched the rafters back into place, then added additional rafters that cannot be seen when coming up the steps. He also decided to add a new pent roof to replace the small porch that formerly shaded the two front doors; all that was left of this porch was an oddly placed cornice above the doors. Both the pent roof and house roof were shingled with cedar shakes, cut thicker than is usually done with today’s materials. A molded cornice has been added to the eaves, matching the details of the doorways.

As with many houses from the 19th century, this house has two front doors. There’s a very logical reason for this. One door leads into the “keeping room”, where the family keeps house. The keeping room contains the large fireplace for cooking, and of course a table and chairs for the family to relax. This is not the room you want to introduce your guests into! So a second door would lead into the living room, which was probably only used for special occasions.

Jersey Winder or pie shaped stairs lead up to the two second story bedrooms. These stairs are stenciled, as are the floors in the master bedroom and bath. The upstairs hallway still shows the exposed stone wall. The upstairs closet and bathroom doors are finished with faux graining, and you have to touch them to know the difference.

Sergeantsville is located just down the road from Green Sergeant’s Bridge, the last surviving covered bridge in New Jersey. The bridge was built around 1750, and it is thought the town was established around 1830. Route 523, which passes through Sergeantsville, was the original Old York Road which linked Trenton to Flemington, then on to New York. This village is located in Delaware Township, Hunterdon County, not far from New Hope PA and just a few miles east of the river.

Mercedes Hayes is a Realtor licensed in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. I specialize in Log Homes and Specialty Homes. This house is offered by Weidel Realtors. You can see more information about this charming property at http://www.HunterdonRealtor.com

Buying a New Home: Ten Point Checklist

Writen by David Carter

When buying a new home (not newbuild) for peace of mind remember to check out these points.

Has any building work been carried out on the property since the current owners moved in, and if so, who was it done by, and is it still under warranty? Warranties are usually transferable and you may as well grab them if you can.

What is the average cost of the utility bills, the gas, electricity, heating, water, and local government taxes? These can vary hugely from place to place, and could make a big difference to your total outgoings. You need to know.

Does the garden or yard get sunshine, and if so at what time of the day, or is the area prone to flooding at certain times of the year? Take particular interest in this point if the property is located close to a river or the coast. Placid rivers in the summer can be torrential beasts in winter. Lapping waves can soon become giants. Imagine that, as you stare out across the shimmering blue sea.

Are there any trees planted close to the property? These can undermine foundations and cause serious damage. Never buy a thatched cottage situated below large trees. The constant dripping will quickly damage and rot the roof, and if there are trees overhanging the house, check out if there are any restrictions in pruning or removing them. A leafless tree in winter can go unnoticed, but that same tree in full leaf in high summer may make the property oppressively dark inside.

What are the neighbours like? This is not always an easy question to answer, but we have all seen programmes about impossibly awful neighbours, and believe me, you wouldn’t want to pitch up next to the neighbours from hell. A little research will give you some peace of mind, and remember this is definitely not a point your legal eagles will always answer satisfactorily. It is certainly something you are best doing yourself

Is vehicle parking in the area easily and freely available for you and your visitors? If it isn’t, you might find your visitors visit less, though only would know if that was a good thing.

Has the property you are buying, or indeed any of the neighbouring houses ever been robbed. Is it located in an area known for house breaking and burglaries? If the owner seems strangely reluctant to answer that, you might wonder why, and you could ask your local police sergeant.

How quickly do the owners want you to move? This might suit you, but equally it might not. Check it out for peace of mind.

How long has the property been up for sale? If it has been on the market for many months, or even years, that’s a sure sign that something may not be right. Perhaps the price is too dear, perhaps the house is falling down, perhaps the neighbours are appalling. Whatever the reason, you need to know. Delve deeper.

If you have children, are there good schools close by? You don’t want a twenty mile drive across the busy city, or difficult terrain every morning and afternoon. Good local schools are one of the first things families look for when buying a home.

Some people leave everything to be checked by their legal team, and are then surprised when they run into problems. Fact is, legal teams don’t check all these items, so it is up to you to do so. Remember, for greater peace of mind, you can’t check too many points, too thoroughly, when buying a new home.

David Carter’s latest published work is SPLAM! Successful Property Letting And Management. Splam! contains over 240 pages of hints and tips on how to start your own property business on a limited budget, and how to successfully let residential property. You can view actual extracts of the book at http://www.splam.co.uk and order a download or a hard copy at this site, or you can go direct to the publishers at http://www.lulu.com/dc He also runs a holiday cottage website where you can access over 7,000 holiday cottages, apartments and villas worldwide at http://www.pebblebeachmedia.co.uk Don’t you deserve a holiday this year? Well of course you do! You can contact David on any matter, any time, at supalife@aol.com

Flipping a House for a Real Estate Profit

Writen by Dean Novosat

House Flipping is the term used by investors who purchase a home for the sole purpose of quickly relisting the house for a profit. In many hot markets, a house can appreciate in as little as a few days! In these markets, it doesn’t take long to realize a profit. However, this is the exception rather than the rule.

More commonly, an investor purchases a home in a hot market, performs some general repairs, fixes obvious problems, paints, and replaces flooring. This means that the investor must hold onto the property for a few weeks to a few months. In this case, you must be able to afford to pay the mortgage for a few months.

When searching for an investment that you want to flip, you must find the right property. Not all homes are good candidates for flipping. Certainly, buying a home in a depressed area would not be a wise decision. You should look for an ugly home in a nice neighborhood.

Many potential investors ask whether they need to be a handyman or contractor to successfully flip a house. Not at all! You can be the “general contractor” and manage the house repair while you get it ready to resell. Of course, much of your profits will go to the people doing the work on your home, but you don’t have to give up your “day job” to get the work done.

When budgeting for your flip, a good idea is to get estimates from several contractors. Ask them to quote the price for the fix ups, and more importantly, the amount of time it will take to complete the job. Remember that the longer the project takes, the more you’ll be paying on your mortgage.

Once you have several firm quotes, double the amount of the quote as a closer estimate to what you’ll actually spend. Unknown problems will be uncovered during the remodel and you’ll need to have some extra capital and have extra time available to complete the job.

Once you complete the project, get the house back on the market! And sell for a profit. Many people are successfully flipping houses as you read this. And many are making huge profits. But the first step is to start! So go buy a property and get it fixed up. Good luck!

Dean Novosat writes and hosts the site http://www.NewsRealEstateSite.com

Mistakes to Avoid in Real Estate Investing Part 2

Writen by Adam VanBuskirk

Entering the real estate market as a real estate investor can be a challenge; Receiving funding, getting the residence rented, setting up bank accounts, figuring out how to handle utilities, etc. The list doesn’t end. Of course, if one has done their research before beginning, the above tasks aren’t near as complicated as they sound. However, often the same mistakes plague new investors as they begin to experience the field of real estate investing instead of just reading about it. Below are five more of the most common mistakes that people new to the game tend to repeat.

1.) Taking on the Role of Maintenance Man If one is mowing lawns, showing properties for rent, meeting with tenants to sign leases, fixing leaky toilets, etc then they are not spending time looking for more properties or fishing with their family. Although it is a good way to save money (doing all of the work), it quickly turns the investment properties into a part time business, and lets face it, if we wanted a part time job, we could bag groceries at the local supermarket. Manage the finances well, but when the time comes that one can afford to pass the day to day work onto a part time maintenance man and/or property manager; do it!

2.) Getting Caught up in Material Things Many people want to have what the Jones’ have. Don’t spend the profits from the real estate investments on new cars, clothes, and junk; at least not at first. Just like any other business, one must be an entrepreneur to start form scratch and create an empire. This can’t be done if all of the profits are getting blown on material things that do NOT build wealth, rather they deteriorate it.

3.) Buying High Just like stocks, most of the money in real estate investing is made during the purchase. If one pays to steep a price for the property, their profits will be damaged until they either sell the property or pay it off. Be very, very careful and intelligent when purchasing a property. If time is taken and a valuable deal made, the property will produce a profit stream and steady rent increases for years to come.

4.) Cheap is Good There are times when cheap is very good, but there are also those properties that are cheap for a reason; they’re health hazards that need to be bulldozed. If a property appears to be listed extremely cheap, make sure a professional plumber and/or electrician inspect the home thoroughly. This will ensure that one doesn’t get stuck with a property that initially cost $25,000. but in the end cost $50,000.

5.) Too Little Cash Cutting one’s cash flow to close is a mistake that can cost them their entire empire. Don’t get caught with a property that needs immediate attention (roofs, furnaces, walls, bathrooms, etc) and funds that you don’t have. Always keep at least 10% of each property’s monthly rent as a reserve for future repairs. Try and keep 5% of the rent set aside for any future vacancies that may arise, and always keep at least a full month’s rent on hand for paying mortgages. Often the tenants’ checks are not received before the mortgages are due, meaning that their needs to be extra money in the bank account to pay mortgages before the rent checks are received.

Be aware of the above five snags that beginning investors often make. Everyone learns form mistakes, but if one can learn form the mistake by reading it here instead of with their first property, then that’s one massive migraine that won’t happen.

The author is the founder and owner of LandLordDocuments.com

Need a Guide in Buying a Tampa Real Estate Property?

Writen by Cleo Capili

Nowadays, investors and homebuyers as well, drool over Tampa’s real estate properties. This place has become their favorite when choosing a profitable home purchase. That is because when a property or any house is offered for sale “as is,” it means that the buyer will not have to make any repairs on the property bought. This is how guaranteed a buyer is when buying a house in Tampa, Florida.

Although, this is not an excuse for any buyer not to ask for some professionals to make a detailed inspection on the property being bought. This is for any buyer to avoid any bad house purchase in the end, no matter how good a property may look. That is because, if a buyer does not ask for some information, the sales representative or the seller does not tell them of course. Especially, if there are flaws in the property.

Tampa is among the many states in the United States to have been required to make available all the information disclosure on some of the defects of the property prior to making and signing an agreement. If by chance a seller in Tampa, Florida real estates failed to write all the damages involved, and the buyer has proven such defects, the seller is liable to make the repairs or pay for the repairs.

The best way to know if the seller in one of the Tampa real estates is telling everything that a buyer needs to know is to ask the neighbors. They often could tell almost everything as the seller could.

But sellers from Tampa can be relied on this one. They see to it that they also hire the best and professional home inspectors prior to putting the property or homes for sale in the market. That is if they found any defects right from that moment on, they would have to make sure they are fixed to avoid causing any injury to their sales in the end.

But as buyers of one of Tampa’s real estate properties, make sure to hire personally hired home inspectors. These professional fees could be around $250 to $300. This is cheap than buying a property only to realize the defects in the end, which could cost thousands of dollars for repairs and a lot of wasted time.

Buying a property in Tampa can be an exciting yet a nerve racking one. They keys to succeed when doing so is hidden in careful planning, gathering of the right information, and enough preparation. The scenery and Tampa itself is a great buy. That is why knowing the budget to be spent is very important. Information about the taxes in Tampa, the insurance policies for each Tampa real estate property, the maintenance and closing costs should be prepared to be understood as well.

Get to know the future Tampa neighbors and decide on the kind of home there is to buy. Some opts for a condo unit while others still prefer a classic Florida stucco. The water views, the pool, and even the amenities included in the community plays a big role in completing the need for a Tampa home. List down the items needed and most importantly, a Tampa Real Estate professional is made aware of such demands.

Cleo Capili

http://tampa realestate.biz

Florida Real Estate Expert Cleo Capili specializes providing assistance to buyers in Florida. She guides families who would like to invest and purchase their dream home in the exciting warm paradise of the Real Estates in Florida. Her skills in negotiating and inventory to make sure that sales and experience bring out the best for each purchase sets her apart from the different common realtors in her location.

Cleo have good background in marketing, business, real estate financing, and advertising to give clients the best options when buying a Florida property. No matter what your needs are, Cleo could share her professional and interpersonal skills for outstanding results on each of your property purchase in Florida.

Why Homeowners Get the Wrong Rental Applicant

Writen by Carolyn Gibson

When you buy a piece of rental property, whether you live in it or not, it is a huge financial investment. Why then, do owners end up with tenants who do not pay their rent, destroy the apartment, and cause owners to pay massive legal fees, loss of rent money, inflict extreme stress, then leave your building to move into another newly prepared unit? What can a homeowner do to prevent renting to an irresponsible or high risk tenant?

One of the most important decisions a homeowner with vacant apartments will make is to choose a tenant who will pay the rent, respect the property and the other tenants, and obey the laws of the land and the rules of their lease. However, around the country, there are countless numbers of homeowners who are keeping their vacant apartments empty. The primary reason is fear, or past negative experience of renting to the ‘wrong’ tenant.

If you have rental property, you want to get the most income out of it, while keeping expenses low on your investment. You may not always have the funds or the desire to use an outside real estate broker. There are also owners who like to rent their own apartments in order to control who will live either with them and their family in the same building, or in an investment apartment.

Homeowners need to learn the basic and effective methods of the tenant selection process used by professional property managers. Landlords need to learn from the experiences of professional apartment renters, who can recommend which decisions and procedures work best, and advise which poorly used techniques will not get you the kind of tenant you need and desire. Over my career, I have rented thousands of market rate and subsidized apartments, rooms, investor condominiums, etc. I have three primary reasons why I think homeowners, landlords, and/or managers end up with poor choices of tenants. For the most part, there are three areas of omission:

1. Owners do not check or verify all of the applicant’s information through a rental application;

2. Owners accept the rental applicant’s explanations and excuses instead of searching for the facts;

3. Owners do not ask the right questions or enough questions by interviewing each candidate

Some homeowners allow a total stranger to occupy their real estate financial investment. They take the minimal amount of time and spend as little money possible to investigate a rental applicant. If the applicant is friendly, smiles a lot, is personable, and appears to be ‘neat and clean’, he or she can get the keys to an apartment with little else than a security deposit and the first month’s rent. There are owners who will rent their apartments to their relatives and/or friends of their children or neighbors, without checking anything at all.

Rental applicants come to you for a roof over their head on a month to month paying basis for a pre determined amount of time. There is a cost to having shelter provided to an individual or family. Those who do not pay for their shelter must be asked to leave the premises, so that a more responsible family may benefit from the housing.

There are costs associated with providing decent, safe, and sanitary housing. A homeowner needs to check out a rental applicant’s information in order to attempt to ensure that you will receive the rent every month, on time, and that the tenant will respect the condition of the apartment and building. The return in spending the time and money in checking out a rental applicant as thoroughly as possible in advance of handing out the keys, will be the long term stability of your property, and especially your finances from that property.

It is important to remember what we gain from using a practical approach to renting out a vacant apartment. Here is a short list of what you can avoid when you take the time to choose a good tenant for a vacant apartment:

Aggravation; Frustration; Bank Foreclosure; Feeling of Helplessness; Bankruptcy; Legal Expenses; Repair Expenses; Prolonged Vacancy; Confrontations; Irritation; Anger; Loss of Savings; Resentment; Fear Desperation; Arguments; Stress; and Headaches.

When you take the ‘lazy’ approach to picking a tenant, when you cut corners, spend less or no money to verify application information, when you listen to excuses, or just do not pay enough attention to the answers, you can rent an apartment to your peril. Many owners realize too late they have allowed an applicant to slip through the process. Perhaps the unit has been vacant for a long time. Maybe the unit is not one of the most desirable in your portfolio, or is in a neighborhood that makes renting it out difficult. Whatever the reason, the time and money spent checking out every piece of information on the rental application is rewarded with a low risk tenant. It is certainly cheaper than the eviction process.

This is an excerpt from Carolyn’s book, “How to Pick the Best Tenant” (ISBN #1 4107 66268), available at http://www.Amazon.com. Carolyn Gibson holds the Certified Property Manager (CPM), and an Accredited Residental Manager (ARM) designation from the Institute of Real Estate Management. She is also a property management consultant, speaker, and trainer (http://www.Synergyprofessionals.com) who has been featured in the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, the Journal of Property Management, and talk radio shows.

San Diego Home Evaluation

Writen by Brandon Bruce

The Southern California city of San Diego has all the attractions of a big city with the tropical feel of the coast. Covering nearly 350 square miles with over 1.2 million residents, the city has much to offer in all aspects of life. These offerings extend to the real estate field, which is good news to those who are looking to buy or sell a home. The population is growing as well, meaning more people need to buy San Diego real estate. If you are looking to sell your home in this seaside city, you have endless options.

First Things First

When first considering selling your home, you will want to set up an appointment with a qualified professional to have a San Diego home evaluation done. This process will take into account various factors and give you the estimated market value of your home. The value you get from your home evaluation will help you determine what you should list as your initial asking price for your home. This can be one of the most important things you do as you sell your home for a number of reasons. Many people try to estimate their home’s value on their own and then formulate their own asking price. While this may work sometimes, it many times leads to frustration as the asking price is much higher than what should be listed due to market trends, etc. This then causes the homeowners to drastically slash their prices, causing the home to sell for much less than it should. To avoid this kind of trouble, take the time to get a home evaluation done.

What Counts?

When performing your San Diego home evaluation, your professional will take a number of things into account. These include:

Size of the home (in square feet)

Age of the home

Intricacy and uniqueness of design

Quality of materials

Number of bedrooms and bathrooms

Specialty rooms (not found in an average home)

Amenities such as a swimming pool or fireplace

Amount of acreage the home is on and the condition it is in

In addition to these physical factors, there are other things that are beyond your control that will be taken into account as well. The actual location of your home in your neighborhood and its proximity to local attractions and business centers, the quality of local schools, and even the employment rate may be factored in to your home’s final market value.

One quick note about online home evaluations: there are many websites that offer a home evaluation online if you enter information similar to that listed above. While these pages can be used for reference, a final San Diego home evaluation should be performed in person by a qualified professional.

Once you have the results from your San Diego home evaluation, sit down with a realtor and discuss where to go from there. Once you take into consideration selling costs and other expenses (real estate agent’s fees, etc.), you will be able to accurately formulate a fair asking price for your home. This will attract many more buyers from your market and will lead to a quicker sale of your home.

Inside Real Estate in a network entirely devoted to real estate information. Our staff of nationwide writers has provided a library of over 25,000 real estate articles. Inside Real Estate covers several topics from the basic “how to’s” of real estate to city specific real estate information.

The Ultimate Short Sale Secret

Writen by Richard Odessey

Buying foreclosures can be extremely profitable for real estate investors. However, most of these homeowners are mortgaged to the hilt. They have no equity, and big loan payments. In fact, many actually owe more than the property is worth!

Most investors will walk away from these deals because they see no obvious profit. However, you can “create” your own equity by negotiating a “Short Sale” with the bank or lender.

Why Short Sales Don’t Work

However, even experienced investors fail to create successful short sales, because they do not know the most important secret of all when doing short sales. Without this secret, an investor with the greatest negotiating skill will fail. Without this secret an investor armed will all the right paperwork with fail. And without this secret, even an investor with an air tight case of low value including repair estimates, etc. will fail.

It’s not that negotiating, paperwork, and a convincing case are not important. It’s just that you’ve overlooked, the most important element that lenders use to determine what they will take for a property in default. It is therefore

The Ultimate Short Sale Secret

Ok, I won’t keep you in suspense. Here’s the secret: In order to get big discounts from a lender on a property facing foreclosure, you must control the Broker’s Price Opinion. (BPO).

What is a BPO? In short, it is a value appraisal. When a short sale package is submitted to the bank, they send out a real estate agent or Broker to the property to judge its value. The broker or agent handling the BPO is working with the bank. Their job is to simply visit the property and give their opinion on its value “as is”.

And here’s the key: it’s a broker’s price OPINION! And since opinions are subject, you have the ability to Influence that opinion. Learn how to do that and you can create $10,000’s in your bank account with little effort.

Step 1: Do Your Own Research

Before you’re ready to influence the BPO, you’ll have to start out with doing your own research and preparing your short sale package effectively. What should you include?

By this time, you should have already done a walk through of the property. If you have not done so already, inspect the property (preferably with a home inspector or real estate broker of your own) and gather the following: