In order to try and stop scammers, we are now requiring that all advertisers confirm that the phone number they use sign up with us is a valid US phone number and that they answer the number. Many rental sites are using this to help combat these scammers. We think it will go a long way in helping.
We are actively working to remove scam ads from our site. If you learn of any, please send us an email to questions@househitz.com and let us know the full address of the property in the ad, including city and state so that we can investigate and remove scam ads as quickly as possible.
We continue to work to make your search for houses for rent and houses for sale as productive and legitimate as we can.
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August 14th, 2010
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Be careful out there folks. Rental websites like ours have been fighting off rental scammers for years. Historically, they have listed their fraudulent houses for rent on free sites like Craig’s List, and unfortunately, even some like ours. However, today, they have somehow tapped into a stolen credit card source (sorry, we don’t have any idea which one) and are using those cards to pepper the housing rental websites with premium paid for ads. They are getting their ads placed all over the web without regard for cost. Why not? It’s not costing them anything.
What does a Scammer do?
They take a legitimate rental house ad from any place they find it, make a bogus copy with their email address on it and put an incredibly low price for the rent. When you email them, you get a story about how they are away (typically out of the country) and, gee I’m sorry, I have the keys with me. They offer to send you the keys for a small deposit. Just a hundred dollars or so.
How can you protect yourself?
- Never give anyone money if you have not toured a house you are interested in. A legitimate landlord will want you to tour the inside of the house and will arrange to get you inside. If they can’t they most likely don’t really have the keys.
- Never deal with anyone with an out of country phone number. They feel safe. Who are you going to complain to that will go find them?
Can’t the house for rent websites do something?
We are working on it. Unfortunately, it’s not easy. We can’t verify ownership of a property, those tools just aren’t available today.
Many of us are implementing phone confirmation systems. We are verifying that people advertising properties on our sites have a phone number that we can confirm by calling it and having them provide a response. HouseHitz is working to not only confirm phone numbers of advertisers, but we are going to limit the phone numbers we accept to US phone numbers.
Please be careful out there. Protect yourself. If it looks too good to be true and they want money, look somewhere else.
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July 24th, 2010
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For new homeowners and even those purchasing a second property, the process of getting home insurance can often be quite daunting to say the least. With such a varied selection of insurance package offered, finding the right insurer and package for you and your property shouldn’t be something you rush into blindly. Here are a few pieces of advice that we have put together to get you started, and hopefully find the package that is perfect for you and your new home.
With a world of information available at our fingertips via the internet, you should definitely be taking advantage of the various resources available online. Resources such as InsWeb.com will allow you to get quotes from up to 8 different insurers at once. There are a plethora of resources like this that can be found quite quickly and can greatly cut down on the amount of time you would otherwise spend on the phone with a number of different insurers.
One thing that you are always going to want to keep in mind is requirements for insurance as well as specific coverage options are going to vary from state to state, and of course, country to country. Those that live in areas where environmental conditions may pose a risk to your property, insurance conditions will most likely be affected. For instance, those that live in San Francisco will more than likely have to invest in earthquake insurance. This is something you will definitely want to keep in mind or ask insurers about if you are in a location prone to natural disaster or harsh environmental conditions.
Remember to get 2 to 4 quotes at the absolute minimum before ultimately making your decision!! You may find the majority of your quotes are quite close to one another, but its better to weigh your options as sometimes packages can vary quite greatly from one insurer to the other.
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July 10th, 2010
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It’s quite easy for me to tell you that the key to getting noticed and standing out from the rest as a real estate agent is all about creating lasting client relationships. The question is, what’s the best approach for one to go about doing this? Of course a few things might quickly come to mind, whether it’s getting referrals or simply doing your best to be remembered among the competition. However, there are a few specific techniques that many agents have employed for years that should definitely be part of your agent-client relationship, if they’re not already.
Building relationships with your clients is one thing, keeping those relationships long after providing your services to them is another. No matter what market you may find yourself in, maintaining client relationships long after the sale of a property is absolutely crucial to eventually making your dream come true of working completely off referral. This is why you want to be remembered and there are easy ways you can do exactly that and be in the minds of your clients when they or their friends are considering selling months, or even years down the road.
Have you branded yourself as an agent? A great way to do this is by using varying gifts that represent your personality and display your thoughtfulness. This is a great way to stay in the mind of your clients long after a sale. While many agents will bring cliché gifts such as a bottle of wine to clients after a sale or purchase, sending a unique, personalized gift around the holidays can be the perfect way to be remembered. This will definitely pay off in the long run and lead to referrals down the road.
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July 4th, 2010
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Purchasing home insurance is typically as painful as shopping for any type of insurance and is certainly just as important. This is why we have compiled a list of the top 8 things that home-buyers need to know when shopping for home insurance.
1. Knowing the value of your property
There is no point in shopping before you fully understand the replacement cost of your home. Establishing the value of your property before hand will be essential throughout the entire process.
2. Understanding how the insurers work
Don’t get confused about your place when insuring your property; to the insurers you are nothing more than a statistic. The only thing that matters to them is the criteria or risk factors, which typically include what you own, how you make your income, and your overall lifestyle.
3. Not all insurers are equal
Comparison shopping is absolutely crucial throughout the process of purchasing home insurance.
4. Don’t settle for the basics
Simply going with the cheapest option is most likely never going to be the right decision. A basic homeowners policy might not cover you for everything you would like to be covered for incase of emergency. Keep this in mind.
5. Looking past price
Going with an insurer that has extremely low prices might cause problems down the road, as they will typically take much longer to payout your claim. Always look into the insurer’s history of payouts to get an idea of what to expect.
6. Hunt down deals
Like any industry, there are tons of insurers competing for your money. Demanding discounts can be a lot more effective than you might think in the home insurance industry.
7. Be prepared to make a claim
When it comes time to make a claim, your insurer will be looking out for their best interest. Be prepared to prove the exact value of your losses.
8. Stay on top of your policy
Read your policy carefully, keep it updated, and before filing a claim, reread it again. Understanding the ins and outs of every aspect of your policy is key to ensuring you protect your best interest.
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June 26th, 2010
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If you are looking to buy a home, one of the best ways to get exactly what you want, and have a guiding hand in the process is to get a real estate agent. Not only is this going to be a person who knows the market to help you, but they are able to help connect you with reputable companies and they can be some very good assets to have when you are looking for the best way possible to save a whole lot of money on the home buying process.
With a buyer’s agent helping you to shop for a home, you are paying nothing out of pocket at all, the fee for the agent is paid by the seller when the home sells, so skipping the usage of a buyer’s agent just to save money is typically quite foolish since they can more than make up for any fees that are charged. If you are looking to really ensure that you end up with the best deal possible, then a buyer’s agent is going to be one of your greatest and most trusted allies.
By using a buyer’s agent, you can typically negotiate a lower purchasing price, find better financing rates, plus get a trusted team of professionals helping you to find the home of your dreams, at a price that you can afford without taking too much of your time to search around for the best deal possible. As you can imagine, there are a lot of ways that you can quickly and easily get your money’s worth from a buyer’s agent, and since they cost you nothing, it is going to be a good investment of your time to have someone helping you to navigate through the buying process to ensure that you really do end up with a home that you are proud of and happy about instead of unhappy and regretting not long after purchase.
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June 17th, 2010
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As a homeowner, trying to remodel your home to get the best return on your investment possible is not always easy. You have to balance what you want, with what will actually help you get your money back. For some people, it is quite easy to do, while for others, it can be much harder than the y ever expected, or imagined. Of course, getting the best return means putting your money where a future buyer of your home is most interested.
Typically the best return possible will come from getting a bathroom or kitchen remodel done. However, it is important to be careful that you are watching your spending to ensure that you really are getting a good return. If you take the expensive route and get only the highest quality counters, make sure that it is something that will still get you a good return, or at least a better return than only a medium quality counter. Keeping this in mind will help you to balance the needs that you have your wish list for your remodel, plus your actual budget.
When you are pricing a remodel, keep in mind as well that the money that you actually spend on labor will typically not be returned, while the cost of the materials should be recovered. If you are uncertain, consider consulting with a real estate agent to see exactly what their professional opinion is before making any final decisions so that you can be sure you are really putting your money into the right areas.
Another common area to invest money into is the landscaping. A beautifully landscaped home will fetch quite a bit more money than a home with a yard that looks unkept and unattractive. By taking the time to really invest in a nice looking yard, you will ensure that you have a yard that is inviting to potential shoppers, instead of discouraging people. Additionally, while you actually live in the home, you will be much happier with the look o f your home, and proud to show it off to friends and family.
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June 7th, 2010
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The process of screening tenants to make sure you both get the most out of the experience is often easier said than done. Its safe to say that there is probably no perfect tenant, however the investment of spending a considerable amount of time screening applicants for potentially problem tenants is definitely well worth the effort. Unfortunately, landlords all over the country continue to make the same mistakes that are often easily avoidable with the use of a careful screening process. Here are a few great tips that will allow you to avoid problem tenants before they really become a problem.
Always Verify Salary and Job Claims - This may seem like an obvious tip, but you’d be surprised by how many landlords do not verify employment status during the application process. It’s quite apparent that tenants providing fraudulent employment information are more than likely going to be problematic in the future.
Performing Background Checks – This tip goes hand in hand with the first tip, however performing background checks is something landlords often bypass even if they are diligent enough to verify salary information. You will be surprised by how much pertinent information you can find by performing background and credit checks on applicants.
Avoid Late Rental Fees – Tenants that are never on time with rent and continually pay late rental fees are often not financially stable and can put stress on your own finances. This is why you should always contact their previous landlords in order to get an in-depth report on their payment history.
The Early Warning Signs – Sometimes a tenant will get through the application process but quickly become a problem shortly after. There are, however, a few signs early on that will let you know if a tenant will become a problem in the future. The number one thing to keep an eye out for is destruction of property and just the overall way in which tenants treat the rental property. If tenants are not following rules or keeping up the appearance of the residence early on, its best to nip it in the butt before it ends up costing you money.
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June 1st, 2010
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If you are looking to really score a great home to move to, there are a few important things that you should keep in mind. By being extremely picky about your next home, you will ensure that you are getting as many things on your wish list as possible, but also getting the ability to capitalize on what you are looking to really spend.
Of course, if your budget is unlimited you can be sure you will get exactly what you want. However, if you are unsure of what you want, then actually getting results can be a bit difficult. Sadly, most people don’t have an unlimited budget so they have to make some decisions and prioritize the wish list in order to cover as much of their wish list as possible.
Your first things to really consider is what is most important to you? Are you determined you want to live in the big city? Perhaps you absolutely cannot budget on a 3 bedroom home? Knowing what is the most important factors to you will allow you to start really looking at homes that fits your essential needs first, then begin looking at the smaller details that are nice to have. The way that you approach this will play a huge role in exactly how successful your overall search is, but also how happy you are with the final result.
After all of the searching that most people do they generally discover that by prioritizing their wish list they could have been done searching for a home sooner. Discovering this after the fact can be a bit discouraging, but it is still important information to know since it can play a huge factor in actually getting the results that you want, and still ensuring you have a home that you actually can afford, instead of something that really does not make you happy and creates a bit of a financial burden for you to work with.
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May 27th, 2010
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April 9, 2010- Landlords and property owners of estates of all sizes can greatly benefit from hiring a property management company or service that will significantly reduce the stress of managing their rental properties. These services can extend well beyond typical maintenance and upkeep that most landlords take advantage of. In fact, many property management companies will allow you to completely hand over the majority of the tasks associated with managing your property and day-to-day liaisons with tenants. Essentially allowing you to do little more than deal with the property management company itself and manage your own profits and finances.
Here are a few examples of the typical tasks that a property management company will perform on behalf of landlords.
One of the most productive things you can hire a property management company to do is deal with your tenants. This can include everything from advertising rental properties, handling the application process and screening potential tenants to acting as a liaison between you and the tenants. They can even enforce lease and property agreements as well as file for evictions.
A property management service can also handle all upkeep for your rental properties including interviewing and hiring contractors and/or handymen, overseeing renovations, repairs, and general maintenance, and even restocking general supplies.
Another great service that a property management company can provide is submitting monthly budgetary reports. This can make your job as a landlord much more stress free by providing you with a breakdown of expenses; deductions, revenues, and an overall look at your finances for the month. Management companies can also handle all notices, complaints, and inquires from tenants and give you a report at the end of each month to keep you informed of everything you, as the landlord, should know.
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May 24th, 2010
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