If you own one or more properties, and you are thinking about renting these properties, you may need to do some tenant screening. For those of you that are new to the whole rental process, this article will help explain exactly what tenant screening is, and whether or not you should be doing it.
Should I be screening my rental tenants?
This is a rather silly question to be asking yourself. You should most definitely be doing some sort of tenant screening. If you are not, then you are not protecting yourself, or your property. The idea of offering a home for rent is a great idea. It is an even better way to make some truly passive income, but you must protect your investment, and your property is your investment.
There are some people out there, some renters who are looking to take advantage of people that are offering homes for rent. These people are very smart, and they are even sneakier. They know exactly what they are doing, and they are out for nothing more than a free ride. If you are not screening your rental applicants, then you could be allowing one of these modern con artists into your home where they can cause massive damage and at the same time, manage to avoid paying you one red cent.
How can you screen your rental tenants?
The first thing that you should do is get all of the important information before you let them move in. This information will help you determine if your possible renter is nothing more than a scammer trying to take advantage of you.
You should have a solid rental application that covers all of these possible problems. You should at minimum be asking for a name, place of employment, living history, and some personal references. This is where the smarter scammers can pull the wool over your eyes by providing you with false information that will pass all of your screenings.
As a property owner you will be responsible for following up with your rental application and actually checking that everything is what it appears to be. Verifying all of the information on the rental application is as simple as making a phone call and asking a few questions. Don’t be shy. This is your property. You need to make sure that it is protected. If anything seems a little fishy, explore it further, but never ignore it.
Pre-screening your tenants is a must if you are offering your properties for rent.
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May 15th, 2012
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So you are thinking about getting into the rental game. Buying properties and then renting them out can be an excellent way to make a good bit of money, but everything has a dark side, even being a landlord. It may sound like roses on the outside, but there are still plenty of pitfalls that you are going to have to keep your eyes open for.
The very first thing that you are going to need is money. Without any money you can’t possibly purchase any type of property. Properties are not cheap. There is a really good chance that you will not have enough money in your piggy bank to purchase a house, so what do you do? You have to turn to a bank. You will need a loan, which means that you will need financing. It all sounds pretty easy, but if you do not have all of your ducks in a row, no bank will give you the financing that you need to purchase a house.
Getting the financing that you need is much more difficult today than it was just ten years ago. Banks are not approving loans as easy as they used to, but if your credit looks good, and you are earning a pretty good income, then you will not have any problems getting the financing that you need to purchase a rental home.
There are two basic types of loans for rental properties. The first type is called a Non Owner Occupant. This is when you own the house, but don’t actually live on the property. This type of loan is much more difficult to get. The other type of loan is called a Owner Occupant. In this case you will be required to live in the house for a certain amount of time before you can start renting out the property. This time period is usually only 12 months. Living somewhere for 12 months is not that difficult, and if that is what you need to do to get started with rental properties, then by all means, do it.
Being an Owner Occupant will make getting a home loan much easier. You will be able to get much better financing and you will also be able to get a much lower interest rate.
Understanding your financing options will make it much easier to get financed for your rental properties.
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May 13th, 2012
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There are several key signs that always point to a very healthy real estate market. Knowing what these signs are can really help anyone that is interested in what the real estate market has to offer. You could be a first time home buyer, or you could be a seasoned real estate investor. The simple fact is this. Everyone benefits from a prosperous real estate market.
So what are some of these magical signs that point to a healthy or growing real estate market?
The first good sign is less houses on the market. If there are a lot of homes for sale it can quickly flood the market. Everything will then become diluted and worth less. The real estate market is your typical supply and demand market. Both the supply and the demand have to be equal in order for the market to thrive and prosper. When there are too many houses listed, then the market becomes over saturated, and many homes either won’t sell at all, or they will sit on the market for a very long time. Having less homes on the market is a good sign. It means that the demand is keeping up with the supply. People are buying homes.
Another great sign that goes right along with fewer houses on the market is a nice fresh inventory of homes for sale. People and real estate investors get tired of looking at all of the same houses all of the time. When houses sit on the market for months at a time it is not a good sign. A new and fresh homes for sale inventory shows that homes are being sold. This is always good news.
Prices also have a huge affect on the current market. When all of the home prices are too high it can create a saturated market. The prices need to be good to keep the buyers doing what they do best, buying. If the prices on all of the homes are too low, then there may not be enough properties to meet the demand. It all goes back to that supply and demand scenario. When the average list price on homes slowly starts to increase, it means that the housing market is doing better. The average price must rise slowly. If it does rise too fast, then it will force people to stop buying which can lead to a saturated housing market. Everything needs to be perfectly balanced. That is why we see so many housing market fluctuations throughout the years.
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May 11th, 2012
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There are some areas of the country that are seeing much better real estate sales. This is partly due to smaller for sale inventory. A larger inventory of homes for sale can really make it difficult to find a home, and the longer that a home sits on the market, the harder it becomes to sell, and it is not just homes either. Condominiums, apartments, town homes and any other type of property that you can think of all fall into the same real estate market pool. When there are too many choices, the market suffers. When there are fewer choices, the market will grow. Here are a few markets where the for sale inventory has dropped. These may be the best markets to buy a home.
Oakland, California has seen the largest drop in for sale inventory. The homes for sale inventory in Oakland is just under 52% lower. The city of Oakland has a population of just under 400,000 people. That could quickly change when people start seeing how well the housing market is growing there.
There is more than one place in California that saw such a huge drop in for sale inventory. Bakersfield, California has also seen a very dramatic drop in for sale inventory. With a drop of just over 50%, the Bakersfield housing market is looking up.
If you like the idea of nights full of stars and some of the best painted sunrises and sunsets then set your sights on Phoenix, Arizona. The housing market in Phoenix is also showing some great signs of growth. The for sale inventory in this city has dropped 48%. Fewer homes for sale mean that more people are buying, and less people are selling.
As if the two cities in California were not enough, a third city is also showing some great signs of improvement. The for sale inventory has dropped about 45% in the last year, and the average price for homes for sale in Fresno is $159,500.
One of the hottest spots in the United States is also showing massive improvements. This city is not hot from heat because it has the cool waters of the Atlantic ocean on one side. This city is hot because of its popularity. Can you guess which city this is? If you guessed Miami then you are right. The for sale inventory in Miami has dropped around 42% This is making the town of Miami even hotter.
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May 8th, 2012
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The whole concept of buying and selling a home is exactly like match making. It takes a perfect match of buyer and seller to complete the deal. Making this perfect match is the key, and that is where the similarities of match making and real estate are exactly the same. You have to find two like minded people who are interested in the same things. The buyer should have something that the seller wants, and the seller should have something that the buyer wants. When the two meet, there is a match, and there is a successful transaction. This is how real estate transactions should work, but just like dating, it can be very difficult to have a successful match.
In the real estate market, who is the match maker? It can be anyone. It could be the person that is selling the house. It could be the person that is buying the house. It could even be the home inspector. Most of the times the real estate match maker is the real estate agent. That is their job. It is what they do for a living.
If you are buying a home, then you need the best match maker on your side. You need a real estate agent that has been established for quite some time. A seasoned real estate agent should have a huge mailing list of prospective clients. This list is where the match making begins. The real estate agent will know exactly what customers are looking for and they will be able to pair your home with a home buyer. That is how real estate match making should work.
People that are selling their homes are not the only ones that can benefit from a little bit of real estate match making either. If you are selling your home then having a real estate agent on your side can be a huge advantage. The real estate agent will have connections, and it could be as quick as just a few days before your house sells with the help of a real estate agent. Again, this is how real estate match making should work.
With today’s technology real estate match making happens even faster. Web sites are helping people make the match that they deserve. There has never been a better way to pair up a home buyer with someone that is selling a piece of property.
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May 6th, 2012
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There is a child’s story, a nursery rhyme if you will, where a chicken named Chicken Little runs around exclaiming, “The sky is falling! The sky is falling!” This caused plenty of unneeded panic. Today there is a better announcement for chicken little. That chicken should be saying this. “Mortgage rates are falling! Mortgage rates are falling!” It is true, they are falling, and now is a great time to take advantage of these falling rates.
Lower mortgage rates don’t always mean that it is time to purchase a new house. People that currently own property can also benefit from lower mortgage rates. Lower mortgage rates are also an excellent time to lower your existing rates. You can refinance your home and enjoy some significant savings, and the savings can be felt for years to come. Take a closer look at how you can benefit from the lower rates by refinancing your existing mortgage loan.
In the example, let’s say that your mortgage payment is an even $800.00 per month. Let’s say that taking advantage of the lower rates and refinancing allows you to lower your monthly mortgage payment to $600.00. $200.00 a month may not seem like a lot of money at first, but let’s start adding it up. In year you would have saved $2400.00. Now that is starting to sound like some significant savings. Now take that years worth of savings and apply it to rest of your mortgage. Let’s say that you have ten years left on your mortgage. You would have saved $24,000! That $200.00 a month sure does add up over time.
Now is a great time to take full advantage of the lower mortgage rates. If you don’t act now, you may regret it because the falling mortgage rates can easily start to rise again.
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May 4th, 2012
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Technology is growing. It can be difficult to keep up with all of the latest high tech gadgets that are currently available on the market today. There are two major mobile devices that are competing for your business. There are Apple powered devices like the iPhone and the iPad, and there are Android powered smart phones and tablet computers. These little wonders of technology have made it easier to do business in the real estate world, but these devices on their own are practically worthless. They need good programs to help real estate professionals get their jobs done, and these programs are called apps. Here are some of the most popular real estate apps today.
The first App is available for the iPhone, and it is called TourNarrator. This handy little tool will make it easier for real estate agents to manage their clients, properties and contact information all in one easy to access spot.
The iPad has its share of really good apps too. Here is one that real estate professionals will enjoy. Things for the iPad is a very powerful task manager. It manages all sorts of tasks and helps you keep your day on track. It is better than a calendar, and it is also better than a whiteboard.
We can’t leave out the Android. It has quite a market share of mobile users as well, and here is one Android app that real estate professionals seem to love. Suburb Scout. This great little tool tells you what most realtors won’t. It will tell you where all of the bad things are in the neighborhood. It will list things like sewage plants, prisons, landfills and nuclear power plants. These are all things that we could stand to live a few hundred miles from, and this app will tell you if your home to be should not be.
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May 1st, 2012
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In today’s real estate market it is always a nice welcome to hear some good news. Everywhere you look or turn there is someone telling us that there are massive problems with this, or a huge problem developing in that industry. Bad news travels really fast, but this post is doing something good. It is highlighting the good news that is currently happening as you read these words. There are some real estate markets that are blooming better than Spring flowers. In these real estate markets property values are seeing a nice steady rise. This is not just good news. This is great news for everyone. Anytime there is growth in a particular market that has seen such massive drops, it is a very good thing.
Pheonix, Arizona – This is one real estate market that has been battered worse than a child surrounded by bullies. There were massive foreclosures filed in Phoenix, and there were also some pretty steep property value drops. It looks like this could be changing. There has been a very slight increase in home values in Phoenix, and this is good news for everyone that is living in this metropolitan area.
Fort Meyers, Fl – That land that some say is nothing but a giant retirement community has also seen some growth. This is more good news for the real estate market in general. Home values in Fort Meyers have increased by as much as 3.7%. This may not seem like much, but when it comes to real estate any improvement is great news.
Morristown, Tn – Folks that are enjoying the southern life in the hills of the wonderful state of Tennessee will be happy to know that home values in their state have also seen a good increase. The was an improvement of as much as 5.5%. This is a pretty big improvement and great news for anyone that owns property in the great state of Tennessee.
That is a small amount of good news, but any amount of good news is better than all of the bad news we have been hearing.
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April 29th, 2012
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Is the housing market making a come back? Have we seen the end of the massive amount of foreclosures that have been happening since the housing market took a turn for the worst a few years ago? If the years current foreclosure numbers are any type of indication of the housing market, then yes the market could very well be making a very strong come back.
Foreclosures have hit an all time low since their numbers blossomed like weeds almost four years ago. A recent report that was release by RealtyTrac shows that the amount of foreclosed houses for sale is dropping. In the fourth quarter of the year 2007 527,740 properties filed for foreclosure. The first quarter of the year 2012 shows that their were 572,928 filings. This is the lowest amount of foreclosures since the fourth quarter in 2007. March must have been the month of foreclosures because over 37% of the entire quarters foreclosures were filed in March.
The month of March also had the lowest monthly total of foreclosures since July of 2007. March was also the first month since July of 2007 to have under 200,000 filed foreclosures. Only 198,853 foreclosures were filed in March of 2012.
Real estate professionals are still speculated why the amount of foreclosures has dropped. The nation’s unemployment rate has not decreased all that much, and the current state of the economy has not shown any signs of improvement, but the lower amount of foreclosures could be the stepping stone towards a more stable economy.
There are still a massive amount of homes that have not gone through the foreclosure process yet. They have not simply vanished. March was just not a very productive month for the companies that have been handling all of the foreclosures. Hopefully the numbers will stay down, and the housing market will go up.
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April 27th, 2012
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Jim has just made a huge life changing decision. He has decided to move out of his parents house, and he has decided that getting an apartment is the best choice given his current situation. Good for Jim. It is about time that he grew a set of wings and left the nest.
Jim is 19. He knows everything, and he thinks he knows the best way to find an apartment. He has something to prove to everyone. He looks online, and finds an excellent deal on an apartment that has a move in special. He will only be required to pay the first month’s rent. This sounds like a great deal to Jim. He knew that it would not be that difficult to find an excellent apartment.
He immediately goes to the apartments complex and heads for the office. He is greeted by a smiling young woman who runs the office. She tells him that he has to fill out some paperwork before he can move in and he must sign a two year lease.
Jim has no idea what a lease is, but he knows that he has to move into this apartment. He hands over the first month’s rent, and then signs on the dotted line. Jim just made several mistakes that may possibly haunt him for a very long time. Do you know what mistakes Jim just made?
The first and most obvious mistake that Jim made was signing the lease without knowing what he was getting in to. Now he has to live in this apartment for at least two years. If he breaks the lease, he will be responsible for the entire remaining amount that is on the lease. This could easily exceed several thousands of dollars. Let’s hope that this does not happen to Jim.
Jim also made another huge mistake. He never even looked at the apartment. He was so eager to move out, that it simply slipped right by him, and unfortunately his apartment is a dump, and to make matters even worse, there is a set of train tracks just ten feet from the window in Jim’s new apartment and every single morning at 6:15 sharp, a train comes barreling down those tracks.
Don’t do what Jim did. If you are thinking about moving into an apartment complex, make sure that you know exactly what you are getting into. You could be making a huge mistake that could have easily been avoided.
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April 24th, 2012
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