Top Real Estate Articles

Improve Work Order Management

Aug 17, 2009 Real Estate

Investors know that managing an investment property is a difficult task. It involves dealing with upkeep, keeping tenants and collecting rent payments. This can turn into more than a full-time job. Appliances breaking at odd hours and having to solve tenant complaints can take up valuable time. The time and money it takes to maintain an investment property can build up, and investors can become weighed down with the task. There is a solution for investors in this situation, and that is to contract a reputable property management company.

An excellent property management company frees the investor?s time and keeps excellent records and maintenance in the property. Hiring a company to manage the property will modernize your business if they present the services you need at an approved upon cost. So, what should you consider if you are interested in hiring a manager for your property?

One important fact you want to know is how much the company fees are. The national average is around 4 percent on the income from a large rental property, while single homes are often over 12 percent. Be aware of the fees charged, the necessary cost schedule and what services are included before you sign an agreement and exchange some cash. Do they deduct their cost from the monthly rent collected? Spend several times finding out how they deal with additional expenses as fine. Will they send invoices to you to be paid and other expenses in their fee?

It’s a good idea to hire a reputable property management company, so find out about other properties that they have managed. Ask for the addresses of these properties and see how they are doing. Also, the property management you hire should have experience with the type of investment you own. A manager with experience in single home management may not be a good match for a job with an apartment building.

Direct approach to the person-in-charge is always recommended.Good rapport with those you hire is always needed. Also know about their previous experiences. Ads appearing in newspapers,television and online about the company should also be verified. Questions must be raised that about their presence in the web and can prospective tenants apply online?

Other questions to be enquired are of hiring cleaning contractors for preparing vacancies and can the cleaning be done quickly to ensure you are not losing valuable time and money while the place is prepared for tenants?,do they have contractors for repair and landscaping needs?,what are the hours the property management company is available and if they are available after working hours for emergencies?,how close is the management office located to the investment property?.Also their viability of approach.Another aspect that should be kept in mind is their proximity to the investment property to solve the problems as they occur.

Hiring a property management company to oversee your property saves your time wasted on daily problems.The company also allows the owner to find time for other deals which can be passed onto the same company to manage them as well.

Tags: c, computer;internet, f, finance, i, INVESTING, management, n, o, p, property, property management, r, Real Estate, Real Estate Management, real;estate, rental management, s, software

Why Self Help Evictions Are Bad

Aug 13, 2009 Real Estate

Self help eviction is when you take your own actions to kick out a tenant without going through the courts. There are procedures you have to go through with the court and that is the only legal way you can evict a tenant.

Any one of the following actions could be viewed by the courts as a self help eviction: changing the locks to prevent tenant from entering the property, turning off the gas, electricity, or phone, threatening the tenant, and removing the tenant’s personal property from your home.

Do not even threaten to lock the tenant out or to shut off the utilities. Most states have statutes that clearly state that threats of a self help eviction are illegal.

If you are accused of self help eviction, a judge could care little if your tenant was behind on his rent. If the tenant is in possession of your rental home, he has certain rights and protections. You need to go through the correct eviction procedures with the court.

Let us say you have to go to court because you engaged in acts that fall under self help eviction. You could be fined $20,000 and more. There are many cases where a landlord has removed a tenant’s personal property from the premises and they were fined $30,000 or more. A judge will not require receipts from the tenant either because the landlord could have disposed of such receipts while removing the tenant’s property from the premises.

You can also be sued for the common law intentional torts of conversion (the exercise of control over an item in a manner inconsistent with the rights of its owner which permanently deprives the owner of its value); trespass to chattels (the exercise of control over an item in a manner inconsistent with the rights of its owner which temporarily deprives the owner of its value); and trespass (the unlawful entry upon the property of another enjoying right to possession). Since these claims for relief are intentional torts, if the court finds liability and awards any actual (or even nominal) damages, the court may award punitive damages to the tenant as well as attorneys fees.

Take a look at WILLIAM SPANO v. HANNA ABDALLA South Carolina Superior Court (October 3, 2002) Hanna Abdulla engaged in the act of self help eviction by changing the locks and removing William Spano’s personal property from the premise to the sidewalk. Hanna Abdulla’s defense was that she thought the tenant had abandoned the premises (she should have posted an abandonment notice but she did not). The court was not convinced that she was telling the truth and awarded Spano $1,800 for the three months of rent expense he incurred to live elsewhere. The court further awarded $1,200 in punitive damages and attorneys fees.

In the case of Gordon v. Morris, 2001 Ohio App. (February 2, 2001) the landlord changed the locks just before the end of the month upon learning that the tenants had shut off the utilities and removed most of their belongings. The trial court awarded the tenants only $96.77 in actual damages (they had paid rent through the end of the month but were deprived of the use of the apartment, and this was the prorated amount). But the trial court further awarded $1,000.00 in punitive damages and $1,462.00 in attorneys fees.

The purpose of the courts for not allowing “self-help” evictions is to preserve the peace by preventing disturbances that frequently accompany struggles for the possession of land. If you could just change the locks and throw a tenants belongings out in the street or worse, in the trash, that same angry tenant could come to your home and put a bullet in your head. While at face value it may not seem like the courts are protecting you, they actually are.

Tags: b, business, business and finance, business;finance, d, e, Education, management, p, property management, r, Real Estate, real;estate, rentals, resources, s, self help

How To Buy Bank Repossessed Properties on a Bond?

Aug 10, 2009 Mortgages

The recent rate hikes on home loans have negatively impacted many homeowners. While some people struggle to make their bond repayments, others struggle to make ends meet. In the end, there are a few that are forced to sell their homes. Selling your home when you’re having financial difficulties is not really the answer. Due to high interest rates and the large deposits banks require, people are simply not looking to buy anything. Homeowners who struggle with meeting their bond payment, are often trapped with a property they cannot afford; these are the kinds of situations that generally lead to repossession.

Banks simply do not have options. When a bondholder fails to meet their financial obligations, they have to step in. If a property owner misses several payments, they will be afforded a pre-foreclosure grace period. Sometimes that might be a few weeks, sometimes a few months. After that, if payments are not brought up to date, the banks seek to cut their losses.

If you are a buyer and wish to purchase a repossessed property, it is much like buying any normal property. The purchaser will not have to pay the transfer fee, and the bank will take care of any outstanding debts. This would include property taxes and IRS. That way, they can sell the house with a clean and clear title. If property goes through repossession, it is generally sold at a reduced rate. Also, because they really need to find a buyer, insurance companies might just relax their lending criteria. Because of this, loans for repossessed homes is affordable.

Buying a repossessed property is very similar to buying any other property. If you want to finance the home, you just apply at any bank for a bond. This is just as you would do on any home purchase. All banks have a listing of their repossessed properties, and you can look this over. Normally, you will want to deal with the bank directly. It’s the better option, especially if you are going to need a bond to purchase the repossessed property you wish to buy.

Don’t be hesitant about asking to see the property, and don’t allow a cut price to overshadow your common sense. Repossessed homes are sold as is. That means, you are responsible for any repairs needed. So, find an expert to inspect the home. They can give you an estimate on costs involved for repairs, and that can be factored into your loan, if you wish. Also, take a look at property location. What are the crime rates? What about the schools? There are lots of good questions you need to ask, and it is is information you should acquire prior to purchasing the property.

Once you have made your decision, and you wish to purchase the repossessed property, you complete an offer to purchase. Once you submit this to your bank, you can apply for your bond. This can be done at any bank. Once the bank accepts your offer, the financing must be approved. From this point on, the transfer of property will proceed just as it would for any kind of property purchase.

Tags: "mortgage, business;finance, finance, Mortgages, s, Susan Reynolds

Software That Benefits Homeowners Association

Aug 10, 2009 Real Estate

You can rule out 50% of the properly management software on the market if you focus first on what you ?really? are looking for. the two main mistakes many people make is (1) buying software that is overkill for the or needs (thus wasting money and time) or (2) going for the cheapest alternative and getting software that has defects and doesn?t fit their need (thus wasting time and money). Let?s look at the differences:

Overkill: Do you hardship software to cope your properties and your position too? Let your assets management software do what it does best - control estate. For your task accounting and payroll, there are ample of inexpensive yield that are entirely good for both large and small businesses.

However, if you use another accounting software for your position expenses, you may want your hire estate software to export your turn deposits and checks to your staff management software. Other skin that added to the sacrifice that you may not want contain budgeting, amplify-statement accounting, asset and liability accounting, and boarder background scrutiny. Some skin, such as occupant background scrutiny are very done by well-known Internet companies, but the software vendor just buys the advantage first, and script up the charge to you.

The prices for property management software can range from $100 to $10,000 (or more), so don?t buy more than you need. However, if you do buy a version that supports a smaller number of rental units, make sure that you can easily upgrade to the larger version at a reasonable cost (hopefully the different in cost between that smaller and larger version) and won?t be required to re- enter any of your precious information again.

Under kill: Anybody with some web software can make an impressive looking web site. But underneath may be a piece of junk software. Look at the product, make sure you can run a full demo, and better yet a ?trial version? that allows you to ?try before you buy?. Make sure the software can do the basic things you need: (1) maintain a separate ledger for each tenant and each owner (2) write bank checks and deposits (3)maintain a vendor file (4) automatically post rent , management fees , and late fees (4) easily update your information.

Make trusty the software will finger a mixture of release family homes, multifamily homes, condos, and commercial without having to buy spare modules. Look for the ability to grip add-ons, such as work order modules, online rent payment modules, or tax connected modules — you may need them in the outlook as your affair grows. Be definite to bill the rate!

Some things may not be critical in your property management software, but are great to have. These are features, such as a reminder system to keep track of appointments, log conversation and interactions with your tenants, and to pop up a list of tenants and owners that owe you money. Look for the ability of the software to transfer your tenant information to an inactive file, so that you can later look up your tenant info for credit references and to log back payments. Look for features such as the ability to automatically update rent amounts, automatically post amounts to each ledger, and to update your account names. Speaking of account names, you might want to find software that uses ?real? names for your accounts like ?Rent Received?. Instead of an account number, such as ?300021 ? Rent Received?.

Tags: c, computer;internet, f, finance, i, INVESTING, management, n, o, p, property, property management, r, Real Estate, Real Estate Management, real;estate, rental management, s, software

Real Estate From the Front Line - Has the Market Hit Bottom in San Diego

Aug 7, 2009 Foreclosures

Has the San Diego housing market hit bottom? The answer is yes and no. The portion of the market that is comprised of first time home buyers and investors looking for a great deal has hit bottom. The segment looking to upsize or is interested in a luxury home has remained a buyers market. If you are looking for a great bargain than it is time to get moving, because your days of the deals may be numbered.

For example for Carlsbad homes there are 468 active, 249 pending (homes that have an accepted offer and are in escrow) , and 112 contingent homes (short sales or foreclosures that have accepted offers but have not opened escrow) in Carlsbad while Im writing this update. If I look at homes priced under $700k, than there are 198 active, 187 pending and 86 contingent. The reason I wanted to illustrate this is that the lower my price range the more of a sellers market it is.

For the 2nd quarter sales numbers have been pretty solid and we haven’t seen a lot of volatility. There was a spike in March and April, but that’s to be expected with the seasonal variations of the market. There has also been a change in how the stats have been recorded.

The system for keeping track of the real estate data in San Diego has changed. There is a new category that is listed as “contingent”. This is new listing status that has come about because of foreclosures and short sales being different than a conventional sale. The contingent status is used to show that a property has an accepted offer and is waiting to be approved by a lender or is in need of completion of pending paperwork. Why is this important? Well these listing which were once counted as active or pending are now being put in the active category which skews the consistency of the number used in the past. Also this category is making up around 30% of our entire market.

Federal Incentives: 1. $8K for first time home buyers

2. $10,000 CA state tax credit for purchasing a new construction home (split up over 3 years). By the way last time I checked over $80 million of the $100 million allocated for this had been spent. The federal tax credit is good for any homes closed prior to November 30th. There is talk about extending and modifying this credit, but we have nothing more than hearsay to report on this matter.

Historically low interest rates: Yes there is financing available! The first thing I hear from people now is “no one is able to get a loan”. That’s just not true, there are great loans available and the money is flowing. Rates are currently hovering around 5-5 1/2 percent. That’s an amazing historically low rate that many buyers are taking advantage of.

Are these great loan rates here to stay? We all know that inflation usually effects rates in a negative way, and we may see the effects of inflation soon. Rates also follow the stock market, so if stocks go up usually rates go up and vice versa.

Market stratification - luxury vs. lower-end: Luxury prices continue to drop, while low-end homes appear to have hit bottom. I may mention this concept a lot, but it is the core factor of what Im seeing in this market right now. The market is based on what you’re in the market for. You have to understand your price range and the micro market of the area you’re interested in.

Tags: business;finance, carlsbad homes, carlsbad real estate, e, economics, Economy, f, finance, Foreclosures, h, home, homes, housing market, money, n, north county san diego real estate, r, Real Estate, real;estate, s, san diego homes, san diego real estate

Senior Citizen Housing

Aug 7, 2009 Real Estate

Have you just retired or are coming upon retirement soon? You may want to start thinking about moving into senior citizen housing. Senior citizen housing is a community where residents are aged 55 or above.

Life in senior citizen housing can be great. The residents there are around the same age and would like doing the same things you do since everyone is liked minded.

Finding the right senior citizen housing is essential. You want to consider what types of amenities the housing complex offers. Do they have programs for their residents? Is there a golf course?

Even though a senior citizen housing has a lot of amenities, you should still do some calculations and find out what you can afford. You want a balance between what you can pay for rent and the amenities that you want.

After you have done your calculation, start looking for senior citizen housing that fit into your budget. Begin online and go to senior housing websites. These websites allow you to search for senior citizen housing by your criteria.

If using the internet is not your thing, you can ask around your buddies who are living in senior citizen housing for a place that they recommend. Nothing beats moving into senior citizen housing along with your friends.

Before you move into that senior citizen housing you think is wonderful, check out the reviews on it online. The reviews are from current residents and can tell a lot about a complex. Just because a complex looks pretty on the outside does not mean that it is a good place to live. Maintenance could be poor and staff could be very unhelpful.

When you go looking for senior citizen housing, be sure you find one that you really like. Since you could be spending the rest of your years there, it is important that find one that is suitable for you.

Tags: assisted living, e, elderly care, f, family, finance, h, home & family, i, o, r, Real Estate, real;estate, retirement, s, senior citizen housing

Secrets To Look For When Choosing A Mortgage Lender

Aug 6, 2009 Mortgages

Maybe you are seeking to purchase your first home. Or maybe you already own a home, and need some extra money. In either case, you will want to research the different types of home loans to find out what best suits your needs.

Home loans and mortgage refinancing work by exchanging property for money. Lenders love home loans because they’re getting the most valuable collateral of all — your home. The way they see it, you’re less likely to break the terms of the loan agreement if you risk losing your residence in the process. Because home loans are such a safe bet, there are multitudes of anxious companies waiting for consumers in trouble.

Most home loans and mortgage refinancing can be obtained without ever leaving the luxuriousness of your living room. Thanks to the Internet, its entirely conceivable to go through all the steps of securing a home loan right at your desk. Gone are the days of traveling to a bank and meeting with a loan officer. With so many online companies offering you the ability to apply for home loans and mortgage refinancing online, its fast and easy to get the money you need, when you need it.

There are so many providers offering these types of loans and services online, it is often difficult to know who to choose. You will want to make a exhaustive Internet search and make a list of potential companies you might want to deal with. Then, perform another search on each single company to see if you can dig up some consumer complaints or documents filed with the Better Business Bureau in your area.

Not always, but usually, you can tell a lot about a mortgage company by their website. Is their site professional in appearance? Is there a lot of information about the company and the types of home loans and mortgage refinancing services that they offer? Is there clear contact information listed where you can get in touch with a customer service representative if you have questions? If the answer to any of these questions is no, you should think hard and long before proceeding.

With most of the lenders online today, you can obtain quotes and rates for home loans, personal loans, student loans, bad credit loans, loans bad, and mortgage refinancing from competing banks. This is a great idea since you can be sure you are getting the best deal by comparing the offers of several different providers. These quotes can be obtained in a tolerable fraction of the time it would take to get the same information in person at their office.

Checking the information on home and finance related message boards and chat rooms can go a long way in pointing you towards the right lender or lenders to suit your needs. By hearing the experiences and recommendations of others, you are more likely to make an educated decision when choosing the right provider for home loans or mortgage refinancing. And the right provider can make all the difference between a painful experience and an easy one.

Tags: "mortgage, a, b, business;finance, Consolidation Loans, f, family, finance, h, home, i, l, Loan Consolidation, loans, Mortgages, o, s, society, Student Loans

Property Management And Accounting Software

Aug 6, 2009 Real Estate

There’s the image of making money by investing in real estate, the one we see on TV in the wee hours, and then there’s the way it really is when you are actually doing it. When you are the one who has to be responsible for all the maintenance, finding and screening good people to rent to, and take care of all the emergency problems that crop up, it no longer looks quite so easy.

Many investors deem facts care to be an unpleasant and time-consuming job. It gets done last, or only modestly, or not at all. Nevertheless the depositor who fails to assert suitable report is surely parting money on the move, and may find himself in acute mess. If he is hauled into attract and strained to adjust himself, decorous minutes are an important apology.

Keeping good records will enable you to maximize profit and also protect you should you get into some kind of a legal situation.Should you decide to sell the building, you will need to show exactly how much money comes into and goes out of the property, and how much general upkeep costs. If you are unclear on your numbers, buyers will try to take advantage and you will just be making it easy for them to do so if you keep sloppy records.

Although there is a lot of software available in the market that claim to be estate management software, but most of these software’s are narrow in provisos of its capabilities, further besides all this it is proposed for large management companies and is far too posh and complicated for the exclusive depositor. There are just few handful of food in the market which are reasonably priced, insincere able, and yet adequately clean to set up and use, and the normal sincere estate financier is not a laptop skilled and has a very tiring time taxonomy out which is the best or most appropriate present for her.

A too-simple program may lack features that you need while still being hard to figure out. The idea of using software is to save time, not spend it figuring out how to do things on your computer or on the phone to tech support. So what do you need the program to do? It should let you store information about each building and tenant, so you can see both the income and the expenses associated with any given unit at a glance. Ideally it should also keep track of information about vendors as well. It should let you link maintenance requests to the record of expenses associated with making the repairs.

It is important that the software not only give a thick number of practical built-in rumor, but also gives you the capability to spawn your own news. The software should be expandable to accommodate the varying wants of a mounting matter. The software parceled should simplify your boarder screening - a very important activity that is often overlooked by the novice depositor - and should certainly cause acceptance/rejection writing and leases for applicants that have been screened. A “finicky to have” credit license processing built into the software. This enables the investor fully to automate the collection of rent for those tenants who will billboard up for it (most will, presuming they have a credit license).

In summary the investor who owns commercial properties should understand the commercial goods capability of the envelop under consideration and try to find answers to these questions. Does it sustain heart charge/prohibit failure? Does it help CAM? Percentage of retail sales? Automatic escalators? Percent of CPI (or other guide) escalators?

Tags: c, computer;internet, f, finance, i, INVESTING, management, n, o, p, property, property management, r, Real Estate, Real Estate Management, real;estate, rental management, s, software

Why Warehouse Facility Are Gaining Popularity

Aug 5, 2009 Mortgages

Warehouses offer assistance to all types of customers varying from manufacturers, retailers, and even to individuals. All of us require warehousing services for different reasons. A retail trader would require a warehouse where he can pile up essential things that he wants to place for sale later, while a house owner can use it during a shift for storing household articles till the time he steps into his new residence. Things of almost every type, from unprocessed materials to processed items, can be stored inside warehouses, besides pieces of furniture and home appliances.

Generally, one requires a warehouse to store goods for a brief period. When the existing space within factories or offices is too short to fulfil the storage needs of a business, warehouses save the day and provide safe and efficient storage solutions. Warehouses are also effective in saving money for the businesses as they do not have to keep goods on their premises, which saves both the costly manual effort and the area that would have otherwise gone into keeping the goods.

Moreover, this requirement can be managed in a more professional and inexpensive way by a warehousing firm that will have the right expertise and mechanisms in place to give you a hassle-free storage experience. Storage companies have the best knowledge of how to utilize the ground space existing inside their premises for keeping different things, and they have their own modern techniques to track down and safely recover a particular object from a bulk of other stored items. These facilities are specifically customized to protect the things in the best possible manner, for instance, storage of perishable things like food items is done using climate control technology. In addition to this, offloading this essential yet non-core business need allows an organization to focus on its core activities and perform well.

You can’t do without warehousing during times when you are moving to a new home or office. To move all the massive pieces of furniture at the same time becomes very tiresome, and herein lies the importance of storage facilities. For this purpose, the alternatives of making use of both self storage and a proper warehouse are available. This erases any suspicion from your mind about the security and proper storage of your household items or other goods of value.

Some storage companies also provide a number of related services like source to destination freighting of your goods. This transportation service relieves you of your concerns about how your stuff will be freighted to your manufacturing facility or to your brand new office or home.

Nowadays warehousing facilities have become an integral part of both our personal and professional lives. All your storage troubles are managed by them in the most efficient and expert manner without you having to bother about anything at all.

Tags: "mortgage, b, business, e, f, finance, home;improvement, Mortgages, s, Self Storage, Storage, u, warehouse

How to Get The Best Deal On That Home Loan?

Aug 5, 2009 Mortgages

You want to look around to find the best rate. Have your credit pulled more than 3 times, you may have problems. And that is one of the risks of shopping around for the best rate.

If you credit is pulled to much, it looks like you are not getting qualified for a loan. This in turn will lower your credit score at any time. If your credit score is to low you may or may not qualify for the loan.

When you are looking for a loan you do not want your credit score to be low are you will not qualify for the loan. If you do not qualify for the loan , you will not get into the house. This can make for some big head problems. Don not have your credit pulled to much.

You will be thankful for it in the long run and it will save you money. So now that your credit has been pulled to much now what? Colorado Home Mortgage Your credit score will come back, if you wait long enough.

The usually wait time is about 3 months before you will see a improvement in your credit score again. This might be worth it. You may not qualify for a home loan now.

If you are getting a property, you will need to wait anyway. But what if that is not the case?

Cost of the loan if the rate is the same over the life of the loan is $36,000. It can add up over some time. If you do not waiting for your credit score to come back it can cost you $12,000.

Over some time It can add up. If you do not waiting for your credit score to come back it can cost you $12,000. You will need to look around for the best rate. You still will want to be careful with the credit score.

Every lender that you go to will want to pull your credit to make sure you qualify. So make sure you do not have your credit pulled more than 3 times.

You can all ways just tell the mortgage specialist what your credit score is when you find out.

Tags: "mortgage, b, business, business;finance, c, colorado home market, d, e, Education, financing, h, home, Mortgages, o, r, Real Estate, real;estate, s, self help