property management: Health Care Reform and HOW it will affect Landlords, Property Managers and Property Management Companies - 03/29/10 12:52 PM
President Obama signed a sweeping health reform bill – The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act on March 23rd. According to the Congressional Budget Office, it is expected to reduce the federal deficit by $124 billion.
Meanwhile its long term impact on landlords, property managers, property management companies and real estate professionals is not clear. If you fall into one of the above categories, you have to consider whether you are an independent contractor, employee or employer as it has different impact on you.
How Health Care Reform rolls out and what happens to who and when:
In 2010 Insurance Companies … (4 comments)
|
property management: Tenants fight as smoking ban spreads - 02/12/10 01:21 PM
Smoke free ordinances are being passed by many cities banning smoking in multifamily apartment housing. In 2007, Oakland became the first city asking landlords to designate units as smoking and non-smoking. These ordinances being passed by many cities are controversial. Since smoking is legal, many tenants believe that they have the full right to smoke freely in the property rented by them.
The rationale behind this drive is the danger with the second hand smoke, which can affect the neighbors of the smokers.
Last year Santa Monica adopted an ordinance banning smoking in indoor and outdoor common areas of apartment … (6 comments)
|
property management: 4 Tips for Real Estate Investors and Landlords to Pick up Distressed Properties - 01/27/10 04:30 PM
1. Identify distressed properties.
2010 will continue to provide opportunities for picking up distressed properties. Over the next 3 years the commercial debt for acquisition of apartments is coming will be coming due and it will be difficult to refinance these properties in the new conservative lending environment. Owners who are able to add equity to the properties will be able to survive but others will have to walk away from their properties. This provides an opportunity to pick up some great properties at pennies. It is important to be continuously scanning the horizon to find valuable distressed properties and a … (5 comments)
|
property management: A Generational Opportunity? - 11/27/09 01:56 PM
Commercial Real Estate Investments – Is it a Generational Opportunity?
Current good deals for real estate investors and landlords are deals that turned bad for previous investors and lenders that provided financing to the investors. Commercial property values have declined considerably and in some areas, as much as 40%, which has led some of the experts to suggest that the commercial real estate market has hit the bottom.
Other real estate industry members are predicting that the commercial real estate will not hit the bottom until 2011 or later and it would be risky to make any investments earlier than 2011. … (2 comments)
|
property management: 3 Tips for Purchasing Real Estate Investment Property in the Current Market - 10/29/09 06:20 PM
Foreclosures and REO’s are bringing many investors out of the woodwork - and some of the new investors who are novices are making many mistakes in selecting and purchasing of undervalued residential real estate.
RealtyTimes published an article that discusses a situation where a novice investor purchased a property and outsourced property management to a property manager. The property had lots of defects and improving the property to get it ready for rental proved expensive for this investor. The investor was blaming the property manager for the expenses.
Before becoming a Do-It-Yourself or absentee landlord, the 3 tips that investors should follow … (11 comments)
|
property management: Property Management Lessons From a New Landlord - 10/29/09 06:16 PM
BusinessWeek editor Chris Palmeri got his first residential rental property in March and faced the usual challenges of property management. Many real estate investors, especially the ones who own properties far away from where they live - do the smart thing and hire a property manager so that they sleep well at night.
Chris, a new do-it-yourself landlord, was anxious to rent his property quickly, and skipped tenant screening. Once landlords are burnt by a tenant, they never skip tenant screening! Read 5 tips for tenant screening in today’s market to make sure that you do not make this error. Luckily, … (7 comments)
|
property management: Is your city in Builder’s List of Top Real Estate Markets? - 10/13/09 05:20 PM
Builder magazine has just updated its list for the Top Real Estate Markets in USA.
Since the list was published in early 2009, the economy seems to be staggering to recover the federal government $8000 tax credit along with real estate investors have been picking up real estate properties at discounts. Even though many economists are suggesting that the recession has ended, unemployment is running very high.
The magazine reports that right now no market is really healthy but some of the real estate markets are doing better than others. So the markets which are on the top of the list … (5 comments)
|
property management: 4 Tips To Attract Tenants In High Vacancy Market - 10/12/09 06:10 PM
Vacancy rates have mushroomed to a 23 year high, close to 8%. As inventory of vacant residential rental properties is increasing, rents are dropping. Even then, savvy do-it-yourself landlords and property managers are still able to attract high quality tenants and keep their residential rental properties occupied.
Are you able to attract high quality tenants or is one of your tenants leaving soon? Here are steps to take to have high quality tenant line up to rent from you making your experience as a landlord or a property manager enjoyable and profitable.
1. Approach your property from the eyes of the … (3 comments)
|
property management: Is Your Home Making You Sick? - 10/12/09 05:37 PM
The National Center for Healthy Housing released a study using Census Bureau data that states that 1 in 3 homes in metro areas have problems that could result in illness for the resident. Landlords, Property Managers, and residents can easily prevent some of these conditions that result in unhealthy homes.
Unhealthy homes have significant impact on residents. Americans spend more than 90% of their time indoors. It increases their chance of getting sick due to the health hazard that may exist in the property. For example, since 1980 asthma has tripled amongst children and the major factor driving this increase is … (3 comments)
|
property management: 3 No Cost Tips To Keep Property Crime-Free - 10/12/09 04:55 PM
Due to high unemployment and the worst recession since the great depression, crime numbers have picked up across the nation. Landlords and property managers have a higher probability of crime occuring on their residential rental property. Obviously, any crime including vandalism will result in a negative impact on the value of the property.
The good news is that landlords and property managers can take steps to prevent and even stop crime on their properties. Again an ounce of prevention is better than pound of cure which can protect landlords and property managers from expensive lawsuits. The following tips can eliminate the … (11 comments)
|
property management: California Court Rules Rents Not Collectible for Unpermitted Units - 06/24/09 02:11 PM
Today’s lesson of the day: “If you are renting out a unit that has not been permitted for occupancy, don’t count on being able to collect a judgment against a tenant who defaults on the rent.” Read More
Maria Espinoza had rented a unit to two tenants, Gudelia Calva and Jorge Soqui, and after three months of not collecting the $750 monthly rent, Espinoza had them evicted. The eviction action was upheld and the landlord was awarded possession of the premises, but the tenants had raised various claims about the sub-standard conditions of the unit, including the fact that it had … (7 comments)
|
;)
;)
