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Archive for May, 2009

Landlords on the Web

May 15th, 2009

If you’re a landlord you may have already hopped on the bandwagon or you’re considering hitting the internet with your own website. A website is a great tool for landlords as many people shop via the internet and it’s a great opportunity for you to be out there highlighting the benefits of your property. If you want to get the most out of your property take heed of the following tips.

Use Photographs of your Property

As they say, a picture is worth a 1000 words, so emphasize property highlights, show the inside of units and fill the website with photos to let prospective tenants know what you have to offer.

Be Positive but Honest

If writing really isn’t your thing, hire a freelance writer to help you create great text for your website. You want to be as positive as possible and sell the property but whatever you do, don’t lie, it will not only come to light in the future but may cause a load of problems.

Feature the Tenants

If you can get tenants to agree, have some of them give testimonials of how much they love living there and how nice the facilities are. Include photos of the tenants and try to show the diversity of the property to emphasize that you do not discriminate.

Convenience for All

Include downloadable application forms and other information so prospective tenants can take care of themselves as much as possible. You can also use the website to reach out to your current tenants and take their critiques and praise as well as maintenance requests. Your website can do a lot of the work for you and cut down on phone time.

The Proper Landscaping can add Value to your Home

May 14th, 2009

Are you trying to add value to your home? There are many ways of doing this. Many people focus all their attention on the interior of their home including upgrades to bathrooms, the kitchen, etc. While interior upgrades can go a long way, adding value to your home can also be accomplished via the proper landscaping. Many homeowners find this hard to believe, but it is true. (more…)

Constructive Eviction

May 13th, 2009

Constructive Eviction can actually be a good thing for a tenant unlike a traditional eviction which can be quite traumatic and leave you stranded without anywhere to go. Constructive Eviction is when the landlord has rented someone a place that is so substandard or unlivable that you are legally considered evicted and the lease no longer applies, leaving you free to move without further obligation.

Some common Constructive Evictions include a landlord that turns off the heat or water or if there’s an environmental health hazard that is not property attended to. In these situations tenants are able to move without fear of legal repercussions, but each instance should be documented as well as your attempts to inform the landlord of the problem and his or her attempts to remedy it, if any were made.

Quite often you’ll hear small claims cases on court television where one tenant changes the locks on another tenant, this too is a form of Constructive Eviction which will leave the remaining tenant entirely responsible for any rent bills and typically will get sued for this action.

If you’re a landlord its important to take care of any complaints your tenants bring to your attention, especially health hazards. And if you have a troublesome tenant it may be tempting to have the heat and water shut off but as soon as you do that you lose your legal upper hand. If you’re a tenant, know that you have the right to leave if your landlord performs a Constructive Eviction and you are no longer tied to the lease.

How to Communicate with Tenants

May 12th, 2009

As a landlord, there is no way around communicating with tenants. This is part of your job, and something that you will have to “settle into” sooner rather than later. If you are not confident in your ability to communicate with tenants you don’t want to get involved with this area of the real estate industry. (more…)

Condos: The Worry Free Option?

May 11th, 2009

Before buying into the sales pitch used by realtors, developers or anyone selling a condo, take a real close look at your obligations. The main selling point to a lot of people is that condos are a worry free option. If you buy a condo you don’t have to worry about maintaining the property, fixing external damages or wear and tear, or mowing. The truth of the matter is that you absolutely have to worry about these things.

Owning a condo is not like renting an apartment, you are responsible for maintaining the property and the exterior but typically this is taken care of through your regular condo fees, special assessments and under the direction of a property manager or condo president. In a good situation you don’t think about this regularly, if at all, because your manager is doing a good job and your fees are being used appropriately. In a bad situation this may not only cause you worry but may cause financial hardship and even foreclosure.

Having a bad condo manager can result in huge unnecessary expenses that are not covered by your condo fees and special assessments can be more than you can afford. You could also be stuck with a bad batch of owners or no condo owners. If your condo is not full or you have a lot of owners that are defaulting on their condo fees there isn’t enough money in the “slush fund” to pay for repairs and routine maintenance and unfortunately the responsible condo owners typically get stuck with the bill.

So before you fall for the worry free line, take a good look at the condo and evaluate its occupancy and the foreclosure rate in the area. Worry a little now and you may save yourself from panicking in the future.

Smoking Ban in Condos

May 8th, 2009

With all of the smoking bans popping up across the United States, Florida just recently had an interesting situation that could lead to banning smoking in privately owned condominiums.

Florida’s Clean Air Act initially contained a provision that banned smoking on common elements of a condominium. But this provision didn’t stay in effect for long and the anti-smoking restriction was removed. It’s unclear exactly why this was removed from the law but the initial step in that direction may be a harbinger of things to come.

In addition, there have been some situations in Florida where secondhand smoke which seeps into another condo unit has been considered a nuisance. The courts have stood by the neighbors and declared the secondhand smoke a nuisance and banned the smoking condo owners from smoking in their own homes.

It’s easy to see where this is headed and how quickly smoking could be banned across the United States. So if you’re a smoker and wish to continue to be a smoker you may want to dig deeper into local laws and regulations before you move into a housing unit that shares common walls and heating and air conditioning vents with other units. Public sentiment is definitely not on your side.

Extremely Common Landlord Mistakes

May 7th, 2009

xAs a landlord you are going to make mistakes; this is natural. That being said, you cannot afford to do anything that is going to harm you, your tenants, or your property. Below are three common landlord mistakes to avoid: (more…)

Most Expensive Home for Sale

May 6th, 2009

Aaron Spelling’s Holmby Hills mansion is up on the market for a mere $150 million – that’s right, $150 MILLION. Apparently no one informed the Spelling estate that we’re in a housing slump and homes just aren’t going for what they used to. The $150 million asking prices for the Spelling mansion, known as “The Manor”, makes the property the most expensive home for sale in the United States.

If you’re interested, the home was built in a quaint French chateau style and has 56,500 square feet on 4.6 acres and is the largest home in all of Los Angeles County. Built in 1991 the home is a lavish display of excess with three stories, a winding driveway and some 30 foot high ceilings. There are estimates that there are more than 100 rooms in the home but no official count could be found. Beyond the regular rooms the Spellings home features a bowling alley, wine cellar, wine tasting room, gift-wrapping room, silver storage room, China room, a barber shop and beauty salon, a library, gym, media room and a screening room.

The exterior of the home rivals the interior with tennis courts, fountains, a waterfall, pool, spa, reflection pool, pool house complete with kitchen, 16 car ports, an 18^th Century styled garden, a citrus orchard and a rooftop rose garden.

The home counts as its neighbors the LA Country Club and the Playboy Mansion, which could be part of the reason the price tag is so high.

Successfully Rent any Vacation Property

May 5th, 2009

Do you own a vacation property? Do you want to make some money when you are not there? If so, you should learn what it takes to successfully rent a vacation property? This may seem like a long, difficult task, but nothing could be further from the truth. From the day you buy your property you should be thinking about how you can rent it in order to bring in some extra money. Who knows, you may be able to earn enough in rental income to cover part or all of your mortgage. (more…)

Home Appraisals

May 4th, 2009

This is a great time to dive into the home ownership pool if you’ve never owned a home and have a steady income. One big part of the home purchase process is the appraisal. A home appraisal is required to get your loan and typically the lender will only loan you somewhere between 80 to 90% of the appraised value of the home.

Lenders have their own licensed real estate appraisers who will come to the property and do the assessment. The appraisal is actually an arbitrary opinion but it is based on a complex set of criteria.?

If your property appraises for less than the purchase price then you may not qualify for the loan amount that you need and you’ll have to come up with the balance on your own. If the appraisal comes in where you need it to or even higher then you’re in the clear and the purchase should go through as planned.

Sometimes you will get an appraisal that seems too low, in this situation you can ask your lender if there is another licensed real estate appraiser that they would be willing to have look at the property. In some cases this can solve the problem and the second appraisal may come in in the price range you need it to so you can get your loan.