Administrator

Commercial vs Residential Real Estate – what should you invest in?

When considering to invest in real estate, you have to ask yourself: do I want to invest in commercial real estate or residential real estate?

investmentBoth commercial and residential real estate have their ups and their downs, it’s just about figuring out which one is more appealing for your situation. As far as timing, commercial real estate may be more time consuming in your search for a tenant. Residential real estate is a more stable market and easier to find a tenant for in the long run. If you have the time and really want to focus on growth rather than stability, commercial real estate offers significant room for growth because of the fact that commercial leases tend to run longer than residential leases.

Now, something that you need to consider is how both investments are valued. Residential properties are way easier to value than commercial properties and also allow for relative comparison. Comparing houses in the real estate market is not a difficult task, whereas comparing commercial properties is. Commercial properties are difficult to value, so if you’re looking to make a specific investment to reach an exact future value, consider this. If you’re looking to make a large investment that you know will pay off, definitely consider investing in commercial real estate.

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A Community Within a Community

community

As a property manager, it’s your job to ensure that your residents feel happy and at home where they’re living. For a lot of people, this sense of “home” is largely based on how integrated they feel within the community. Depending on your property and residents, there are a few different ways you can foster this community feeling within your property.

If you have a property with a lot of units, and therefore a lot of residents, your residents may feel that they don’t know all the people living among them. To fix this, you can hold social events for  residents to come together. You can have different dinners and barbecues for holidays and events throughout the year. A potluck would be a great way to bring all your residents together and have them all contribute to the night, giving it a more personal feel.

Another really great way to give your property a community feel is by having communal areas for your residents. If possible, you can have a community pool and sports areas where your residents can come together in their spare time. If a lot of your residents have kids, you can have child play areas and a playground for both the parents and kids of your community to come together. For properties with a lot of college students (or even millennials!), you can make work areas where residents can study, print, or just use the computer. You can even use this communal area to hold viewing parties for a big TV premier or awards show.

If your residents feel as though they’re truly part of the community within your property, they’ll feel more at home and more comfortable living there.

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It’s all about the listing!

The listing of your property is one of the most important factors in getting people interested and drawing them in. Whether you’re a real estate agent, property manager, or just someone looking to rent out your home, you need to make sure you have a good listing that accurately represents your property.

Be sure to mention things that will draw people in, like a swimming pool or fireplace; these are things that aren’t common among all homes, so they make yours stand out. It’s also very important to use good language when writing up your listing. Writing “beautiful kitchen with granite counter tops and island perfect for entertaining” sounds significantly more appealing than just writing “granite counter tops and island in kitchen”. 

 

Be specific in your listing! Putting all the necessary information saves you the hassle of dealing with tons of phone calls from people who have to ask you things about your listing, and also makes it easier for potential tenants to know what to expect when they look at your property. Be clear about the number of rooms and bathrooms, as well as things like the square footage of your home; make sure you have the details that you know people will want to know.

Pictures are also a huge part of the listing, don’t think that because your wrote a detailed description you can omit the visuals. Make sure you have pictures that look good and “flatter” your property. The pictures shouldn’t be too edited otherwise they don’t really give an accurate image of your property and can be misleading to people once they go see it.

You want your listing to make people say “WOW! Now this is something I need to check out!”, so be sure that you this is what you’re conveying!
New User Questions

Does your tenant have a secret roommate?

When you’re going through the process of making a lease agreement with a new tenant, it’s imperative to be clear on who will be living in your property. Many times people will sign a lease without telling their new landlord that their family member or significant other will also be living with them, which can later cause problems. When writing up your lease, make it known whether or not your tenant is allowed to have roommates, and what rules they have to follow  as well as any additional financial obligations that may come up.

roommate, shared space, property management

If you’re okay with more than one person living in the property (which is typically the case), make sure you’re aware of how many people it’ll be so the lease can be based off of that. You may also want to make the lease so that all of the tenants sign it, so that you know that they’re aware of the rules and guidelines they need to follow while living in your property.

In the event that your tenant doesn’t tell you about their secret roommate, it’s up to you to reach out to them and tell them that they’re going against the terms stated in the lease, and what the next steps are to better the situation. If you’re okay with your tenants roommate, you have the opportunity to add more to the lease as well as increase the price of rent. This may seem unfair to your tenant, but it’s the best way to guarantee any problems arising in the future.

Administrator

Negligence is Never Okay – The importance of maintenance

We recently talked about the importance of maintaining your property even when it’s vacant (check it out here); but before you start planning that maintenance, it’s important to make sure you’re not neglecting maintenance that needs to be done while your tenant is in the property.

Neglecting maintenance and repairs can not only end up being very costly, but it can also pose a big safety risk. If you notice some wiring that looks slightly frayed, change it! Waiting for the problem to worsen is never a good idea; in a case like this a fire could start and be extremely dangerous. Neglecting any sort of repair automatically creates a problem that’s just waiting to worsen. If you start to notice the flooring on one side of your attic going bad, you shouldn’t wait for it to collapse to change it.

It’s also important to constantly be checking up on things like alarm systems and fire/carbon monoxide detectors, and making sure the property has a working fire extinguisher at easy access to the tenants. By checking up on small ‘repairs’ like these, you’re potentially saving the lives of the your tenants. negligence

Neglecting maintenance isn’t entirely always the fault of the landlord; as a tenant you should inform your landlord whenever you think something needs to be repaired. If your landlord doesn’t know about a problem, they’re not going to be able to fix it.

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Maintenance Matters

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So, your tenant just moved out and you still haven’t found a new one and your property is vacant…sounds like the perfect time to stop maintaining your property, right? Wrong!

In fact, you should take advantage of your property being empty and do maintenance that can’t be done when it is being rented out. Use this time to paint walls, steam carpets and wax tiles, and perform more prolonged repairs, like fixing a staircase. These are things that you can’t do on any given day because people and furniture will get in the way. You should also continue checking that your smoke detectors and alarm system (if you have one) are in working order since they won’t be put to use as much as they normally would be.

Maintaining your property when it’s vacant is essential in finding a new tenant; if your property looks nice, people will be more inclined to rent it from you than if it looks unkempt. Consistencyis key in maintaining your property, you should always keep up the regular maintenance even if no one is living in it. Little things, like mowing the lawn and raking leaves, really impact the appearance of your house and can affect how they feel about. Consistent maintenance also shows potential tenants that you’re a good landlord. Consider someone is interested in your property and views it on multiple separate occasions and notices that the garden always looks nice and the bathrooms are always clean; they’ll feel that you’re a good landlord and will take care of problems that may arise.

 

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Security Deposits: Securing yourself from debt

Yesterday, on the Tenant File blog we talked about pricing tactics for choosing the right amount to charge your tenant for rent. When you’ve set the perfect cost of rent, you need to also think about how much you want to charge for the security deposit.

Some may think the security deposit isn’t necessary in cases where your tenant is someone you know from before, or if the lease is only for a short period of time, but the security deposit is something you should always require of your tenant. Just because it’s your friend or family member living in your property doesn’t mean that it’ll stay completely intact the entire time; life happensyour property for six months doesn’t mean that things won’t need to be repaired once they move out.

 

The point at which you decide that you’re not requiring a security deposit from your tenant is the point where you’re making yourself accountable for the cost of repairs that may be incurred when they move out. The security deposit covers (at least some of ) the repairs and maintenance that need to be done once your tenant leaves, so in requiring it you’re removing some of the financial burden from yourself.

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Pricing: It’s All Relative

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So, you’ve fixed up your property and now it’s time to put in on the market and find a tenant to rent it out to, the only question is: what pricing strategy should you use to maximize your income?

Pricing is relative, meaning that you should set your rental price according to the area, type of property, and the cost of investment. It’s important to do research on what similar properties in your area are being rented out for to make sure that the price you have in mind isn’t too high or too low based on what you have to offer. You also need to consider the income level of the people living in the area where your property it; you can’t set a crazy high price if most people in the area have low incomes, because you won’t find tenants. The cost of investment you incurred is also an important factor in determining how much to charge for rent because you want to make sure that you’re not selling yourself short and that you’re actually maximizing the income potential for the property.

Once you’ve done the research and have a general idea about how much you want to charge for rent you can employ a few other tactics to ensure that you’re getting the most out of your property. You should always make sure to set the price a bit higher than the desired amount you want to leave a little wiggle room for negotiation (people will always want to go lower, not higher). You should also consider ending the price with with an odd number instead of with ‘.00’. People would rather pay $3,995 instead of $4,000 even though the difference is tiny. This also helps when people are searching for properties and want to search for a property under ‘X’ amount because it’ll allow your property to fall under that window.

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College Students: The Expanding Market for Property Managers

If you live in a city or town predominately inhabited by college students and teens, you may feel as though you have difficulty finding tenants for your rental property. However, this market holds tons of opportunities just waiting to be taken!

In regions with large colleges or universities, there are thousands of students waiting to escape the dorms and live in real apartments and houses; this is where you come in! Targeting your rental property to the college student market can prove to be highly successful if you go about it correctly. It’s normal to feel a bit worried about renting out your property to a group of people who are so young and not fully aware of everything they need to do, but that’s where the lease agreement comes in. Make sure you outline all things that you don’t allow, and enforce a fee if the rules are broken; college students hate additional fees, so it’ll be an extra incentive to be on their best behavior. Also, you can require a guarantor, maybe a parent or guardian, that way you can guarantee you won’t have issues with your tenant.

The college market is also great because college students do not have a lot of requirements or specifications about where they want to live. As long as your property has a bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen, you’re good to go! College students are also good tenants because they can give you a realistic estimate about how long they plan on living in your property because eventually they’ll need to graduate or just relocate in general.

The fall semester for most college students starts in August, so if you do want to expand your market now is the time!

 

Administrator

Springtime is the Best Time

…to fix up your property!

This is the time of the year that we always associate with blooming flowers, green grass, and spring cleaning, making it the perfect time to beautify your property for the coming summer months.

If you’re a homeowner thinking of renting your home for summer, you can take this time to make sure that your home is ready for the upcoming months. If you have a pool, make sure the maintenance is up to date so it looks crystal clear when potential tenants see it. People love flowers! Do a bit of research about what flowers and plants work best in your region and add some foliage to make your home brighter and more inviting to those who are thinking of renting it out.

If you’re a property manager with multiple properties or units, take advantage of the fact that we haven’t entered the rainy season yet and do maintenance on bigger things for your properties. It’s not safe to be toying with electrical power and wiring when there’s a storm going, so use this time to do electrical inspections of your properties and fix what needs to be fixed. Painting the outside of your property definitely can’t be done when it’s rainy out; make it a point to use springtime to your best interest and do any exterior work that you need to do now, before it gets too rainy and hot to enjoy being outside.

Spring is one the best seasons to spend time outside,  don’t let it pass you by!

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