Do you want to add value to your home? Maybe you are doing so because you are going to put it on the market soon enough. No matter your reason, you should know that there are several easy interior replacements that are right up your alley. And in most cases you do not even need to obtain professional help. (more…)
Archive for March, 2009
Easy Interior Replacements that Add Value
Tuesday, March 31st, 2009Flood Disaster Preparations
Monday, March 30th, 2009Natural disasters and hazards hit every region of the United States in varying degrees and it’s your responsibility as a property manager or a landlord to make sure that your property is as ready for a disaster as it can be. One of the most common hazards you will encounter is flooding, use the following information to get your property ready in case there is a flood in your region.
Your first step is purchasing flood insurance, which isn’t included in most standard homeowners’ insurance plans. You’ll have to know the flood susceptibility of your property and where the floods will come from.
Then prepare your home by elevating your electric panel, water heater and furnace as much as possible to protect them from flood damage. Install check valves in sewer traps to prevent flood water from backing up into your home and causing more damage.
If a flood is coming and you have to evacuate, move valuables to the highest floor if possible. Turn off utilities at the main switches or valves, unplug electrical appliances, but don’t touch any electrical equipment if you’re already standing in water.?
If you are evacuating try to avoid driving and walking in moving water, it only takes about six inches of moving water to knock you off your feet or to cause stalling and loss of control in your vehicle. If you have to walk about use a stick to probe the ground in front of you so you can be as sure on your feet as possible.
If you have had flooding problems in the past, you may want to create a packet for your tenants giving them information on what steps to take in case of a flood and how to escape safely.
Tips for Being a Good Property Manager
Friday, March 27th, 2009Whether you’re the landlord and managing your own property or if you’re a property manager handling someone else’s property and tenants, the following simple suggestions should always be followed. If you adhere to these guidelines things will run more smoothly for you and your tenants.
- 1) Screen Tenants - every single prospective tenant should be screened with a written application that lists their employment history, references, and authorization to check their credit report. Then, you have to follow through and check references, current and past employers and their credit worthiness.
- 2) Have Everything in Writing - in addition to having your lease in writing you also need to have any additional clauses or agreements formalized in writing and signed by all parties concerned.
- 3) Respond to Tenants - whether your tenant is complaining or calling to ask a question, you need to respond to them immediately and then follow through. If a repair needs to be made it should happen as soon as possible, if there are disputes you need to resolve them as well as you can.
- 4) Be Fair with Security Deposits - Be fair and reasonable when assessing damage and withholding security deposits, return any amounts due to the tenants as soon as possible, and give them a clearly documented itemization for any amounts withheld.
Follow these basic suggestions and you’re on your way to becoming an effective property manager who will be respected by your tenants.
Basic Drywall Repair
Thursday, March 26th, 2009
A quick rundown of basic drywall repair techniques will put you well on your way to being a plaster-encrusted drywalling expert. One of the most common types of damage left by tenants is holes, both minor and enormous, that must be repaired. Save the cost of hiring a professional drywaller by following these steps
- Cut away damaged drywall until only solid material remains. Most timber frame walls are constructed with supports every 16 inches. Your best bet is to cut away the old drywall until the hole spans halfway into one support across to halfway into the other. This will provide a place for you to secure the new drywall. If you wish to only replace a small piece of drywall, take a thin strip of wood that is a few inches longer than the hole you are filling. Secure it to the back of the existing drywall with screws driven through the drywall so that the wood crosses the hole. You’ll be able to secure your small piece of new material to that wood. Avoid silly-shaped holes as they make more work for you.
- Cut out a piece of replacement drywall in the appropriate shape and secure it with drywall screws. You may use nails or an adhesive if you don’t have screws available but screws are the most reliable method to secure drywall.
- Once you have the new drywall in place, the next step is to make the wall look like nothing ever happened. With a wide putty knife, press a thick layer of joint compound into the space between the old and new drywall. Once the space is filled, scrape any excess away and press a strip of drywall joint tape over each line. The tape provides additional strength to the new joint while helping to reduce the amount of work it takes to make a drywall joint disappear. Once the drywall tape is in place, skim a light coat of joint compound over the tape and surrounding area. Once the compound has dried, sand it lightly, wipe with a dry cloth, and apply another coat of compound. When you are satisfied with your work, apply a coat of primer paint and allow to dry before painting the repaired drywall to match the rest of the room.?
?photo?credit:?d70focus
Easy Exterior Repairs that Add Value
Wednesday, March 25th, 2009
To increase the value of your home you should consider making a few repairs here and there. And to start, you should look at the exterior of your home. After all, this is what you see when you pull up to your property as well as what others see when they drive by. Fortunately, there are many easy exterior repairs that will add value to your home.
To start, if you have siding you will want to make sure that it is in very good condition. Are there any pieces that are sticking out? Are there any marks that can be removed? Even if your siding is old you can still repair it to look better as opposed to spending a lot of money to get it replaced.
Moving on, don?t overlook your front door, screen, lighting, and mailbox. In most cases these are things that will standout. Unfortunately, they can also become damaged and ?old looking? soon enough. In most cases, you can easily repair any of these areas. For instance, if your front door is peeling a new coat of paint is all you need in order to fix this problem and in turn add value.
As you can see, there are many exterior home repairs that you can make. Consider those that you can easily complete on your own, and in the long run you will find the value of your home sky rocketing.
Tenants Decorating
Tuesday, March 24th, 2009
It’s a topic of contention for landlords and tenants, as tenants want to decorate their apartments in a way that reflects their individual sense of style and personal tastes, but you want to retain the integrity of your property and avoid having to spend time returning your property to a neutral palette.
If you’re a landlord struggling with a tenant who wants to decorate you have to realize that anything you let this tenant do you may have to let other tenants do. So one tenant that seems to be very responsible and tasteful may be a safe bet for some interior decorating but the flighty and garish neighbor may expect the same considerations. It’s very important that you treat your tenants in the same manner, you could face discrimination suits if you don’t.
The one thing that tenants most often want to change is the paint color of a rental unit. You can hold fast to your neutral paint colors or you can establish some compromises that might work for both your tenants and you, consider a policy that requires them to repaint the apartment in the neutral color of your choice before they leave so they can add their own fun colors while they live there. If you still are a bit hesitant, how about requiring that they hire professional painters to restore the property to its previous color.
In regard to other decorating issues, consider writing up a document to include with the lease that will let your tenants know what is acceptable and what isn’t. You may even want to do a little research and give them some interior decorating guidelines that fit within your limitations.
Renting to College Students
Monday, March 23rd, 2009Many people are hesitant to rent their property to college students and in some cases that caution is a good idea, but not all college students are irresponsible and inconsiderate. If you’re going to rent to college students you have to be meticulous about your screening process and make sure that you or your rental agent meet with each of them individually to get a feel for each prospective tenant.
Part of that initial screening process should include a credit check and a phone call to the student’s current employer, if there is one. If you don’t think the student makes enough to afford the rent then you may want to consider requiring a parent as the co-signer.
You may want to ban the college party entirely from your property but this is probably not reasonable in most cases. Instead you should add a clause that clearly states that if the police are called they will immediately be evicted.
Make sure you check with local tenancy laws as many cities have a limit on how many unrelated people can reside in one apartment, you don’t want to set up a situation where you’re immediately breaking the law.
Also make sure you ask for a large security deposit. Whereas most tenants may not do enough damage to warrant keeping even a portion of the security deposit, college aged students may do so much damage that it requires more than one month’s rent to repair.
The most important part of renting to college students is doing the research and making sure they’re a good credit risk and come highly recommended by former landlords or employers. Look for students that are responsible and have proven this in the past.
Is Being a Landlord for You?
Friday, March 20th, 2009Some people are great landlords and are able to build a decent amount of wealth through this business. Others are poor landlords and eventual lose their reputation, their financial security or both. Obviously, if you’re going to venture into the landlord business you want to belong to the first category. To do this you need to approach the venture with the right mindset and the willingness to work at it.
Start your venture by being realistic. Don’t expect to make it rich immediately and with little effort, like most things in life, success takes time and effort.
Do your homework on all fronts from finding the property to finding the tenants. It’s a business proposal and there’s really no room for gut feelings ore speculation. Make wise choices based on information and facts.
Be fair and firm with your tenants and employees. Treat everyone in a fair way but don’t be too flexible with the rules as there could be financial and legal implications. Make an effort to keep open all lines of communication and respond promptly.
And be willing and able to handle as much work as you can by yourself. This isn’t to say a sub par job will suffice, but fix everything you can to save yourself some money. This also keeps you in touch with the property and the tenants. It shows you care.
Are you the Remodeling Type?
Thursday, March 19th, 2009
Are you thinking about remodeling your home? How about an investment property? No matter what, you need to realize one thing: this is a big undertaking. No matter if you are remodeling one room in your home or the entire thing it is important to note that this is a process that is not to be taken lightly. Ask yourself this question: are you the remodeling type? If you don?t know how to answer it you need to think long and hard about what you are doing.
First things first, the remodeling type is somebody who knows what they are doing. For instance, if you are going to remodel your kitchen you better have an idea of what you are doing, what you may face, and how to move forward. If you don?t, you may be better off turning to a professional.
Of course, becoming the remodeling type is something that you need to learn. In other words, if you never attempt to make your own repairs and upgrades you will never learn how. That being said, you don?t want to jump the gun and start with a huge project. Instead, build your way up to a large remodel by learning how to complete smaller jobs.
If you are not the remodeling type, but need to do work on your property, you have a few options. You can move forward and learn on your own if you are confident in your skills, or you can opt for hiring a professional. Both options work, and you need to decide which one is best for you.
How To Deal With Angry Tenants
Wednesday, March 18th, 2009
On the list of things most aggravating to a property manager, an angry tenant comes second, if not in a dead heat for first with lazy staff members. Tenants can sound angry about many things. The more quickly you can find out what they’re truly angry about, the faster you’ll be able to find a solution. Most tenants get angry for the following reasons:
- Physical problems: Physical issues can be anything from leaky pipes to icy sidewalks or smelly garbage. Ask the angry individual to give you their story and as you are listening, think in terms of a doctor running down a checklist of symptoms. This is important because many people make a point to avoid complaning and the one person who makes a fuss is possibly presenting you with a way to serve all of your tenants in a better fashion.
- Community problems: One of the rotten, or beautiful (depending on how you look at it) facts of life is that we will always encounter people we find distasteful. When you get a group of people living together, issues are bound to come up. How you respond to those complaints and concerns will make a huge difference in how well a problem is resolved. Make a point to listen to community complaints while making it obvious that you are not taking sides. As you build trust with your tenants, you’ll find that they solve more problems on their own and that when they do come to you, issues are resolved quickly.
- Communication problems: At the basis of most anger is the overwhelming conviction on the part of the angry person that he or she is not being heard by others. If you want to develop your conflict resolution skills, it’s important to make an effort to truly hear what others are saying. If you are easily insulted or listen poorly, you’ll probably just cause more frustration and lose a tenant, or possibly your job. But if you take the time to discover the root cause of a complaint, pay attention to your community, and listen effectively, you’ll be well on your way to managing even the sourest tenant with a flourish.
