Monthly Archives: September 2012

Thursday, September 27

A guest post by Jason Hetherington, Property Pursuit, Brisbane, AustrailiaHave
you ever heard the saying, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know”?
When a close friend or family member holds a certain position of power,
those who know this person tend to feel that they now have an “inside
connection.” In the case of a property manager, their friends and/or
family will often come to them the next time they are looking for a
place to live. Although this may seem like a great idea at first, it may
be worthwhile to think about some of the reasons why it might not be such a good idea to rent to friends and family.Rental Property Management Guidelines Property
managers are required to follow certain guidelines when renting to a
new tenant. These guidelines … Continue Reading What a Property Manager Needs to Know Before Renting to Friends & Family

Thursday, September 27

1.    Hire a professional!  Don’t try to do it alone in today’s market.  Buyers are now savvier than ever therefore you need a Realtor looking out for your best interests and negotiations.2.    Realtors have access to countless hundreds of websites that you as a home-owner do not. Most buyers find their home on the internet; a good listing agent will make sure your home is visible to as many buyers as possible.3.    Properly prepare your home!  De-clutter, organize, clean, and make any necessary repairs or upgrades in order to show off your ‘prize property!’ Your Realtor can help you with professional must-do items.  Remember this market holds no room for thin skin, therefore if your Realtor tells you ‘it’ has to go or you need to clea… Continue Reading HOME SELLERS: A PLAN THAT WORKS!!

“Free Rent” For Your Property Manager Could Cost You

Thursday, September 27

 If you own a multi-unit complex chances are you have an onsite property manager.  Typically these arrangements consist of base pay and free rent, where the amount of pay is commensurate with the number of units and the amount of work.  If living on site is a perquisite to being a property manager, then federal income taxes are not a concern for either the property owner or the manager. As an employer you can exclude the value of free rent provided to your apartment manager provided his employment meets three conditions:
You must furnish the lodging on the business premises, i.e., the property being managed;

You must have a valid business reason for providing the housing, i.e., you want the manager o… Continue Reading “Free Rent” For Your Property Manager Could Cost You

Just for fun, I’d like to suggest that long-term landlords should carefully distinguish the difference between making repairs and rehabbing their rental.

And when they have an opportunity to make an upgrade, they should follow a sequence for maximum benefit.

The above graphic is a landlord-centric version of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.

It’s my attempt to illustrate Maslow argument that:

1.  Our needs can be grouped and prioritized

2.  Our needs must be sufficiently satisfied before we can aspire to satisfy the next higher set of needs

3. It’s our nature to want to climb the pryramid

Would you agree that a tenant won’t full appreciate their landlord’s holiday card (love) if they climb wobbly stairs everyday (safety)?

Do … Continue Reading A Long-Term Landlord’s Guide to Rehab a Rental

Thursday, May 10

I’ve read and heard numerous opinions of real estate licensees comment on the Realtor vs. “just an agent”, and I am about to share my own (warning: if you’re offended by blunt or cynical, you will be offended by this post):First, to set the background: I am a licensed agent in two states (covering parts of Ohio and Indiana). I am also a real estate investor. I wear both hats because I like it, and I’m on the side of the fence who believes it’s easier to have a license for some investing activities.I also have the Realtor designation – not by choice, but solely by requirement. That’s because it’s mandated in order to have access to the respective Board of Realtors’ MLS systems. I am required to pay dues to each MLS system in order to use them, and that’s fine. Bu… Continue Reading One Very Honest Opinion of “Realtors”

If you invest in real estate, I sure hope you’ve been following the Stimulus bill as it makes its way through Congress. Yesterday President Obama signed into law The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and it contains a provision that could help a lot of investors. Here’s how CNN described the provision I’m talking about:
Homebuyers: First-time homebuyers who purchase this calendar year get an $8,000 tax credit which does not have to be repaid like a similar measure last year. This phases out for people making more than $75,000 individually or $150,000 jointly. “First-time homebuyer” is defined as someone who has not owned a home for the past three years. Cost: $6.63 billion.
You should be aware that buyer’s will have to repay the credit if they sell the home within three… Continue Reading Why the Stimulus Bill is a Boost for Real Estate Investors

Allow me to rant for just a moment. This week President Obama hatched what he calls the “Making Home Affordable Refinance and Modification” program. Apparently the historic plunge in real estate values hasn’t made homes affordable, so he has a program that will in theory stabilize home values. We here at The Two Wise Acres’ School of Real Estate Investing (impressive, I know) are baffled at how slowing the fall of home prices will make them more affordable. I mean, exactly how does using our tax dollars to artificially prop up the price of an asset make the asset more affordable? But then again, we thought Joe the Plumber asked a very good question. Then Senator Obama promised to spread the wealth, and here we are.
With that rant out of the way, let’s look at the Home Affor… Continue Reading Obama’s “Making Homes Affordable” Program and Evil Real Estate Investors

Tuesday, August 21

Every month, if not every week, I go to Real Estate
Investment meetings all around the tri-state area and recently the New York
area as well.  I usually attend these
meetings to network with investors and many times speak on a multitude of
subjects. Working in nearly every capacity of the real estate business, I get
asked a lot of the same questions by people new to investing.  Having raised millions of dollars for
multiple companies (including my own) I’m always asked for advice on raising
private money.

How I got started

When I first started raising private money, I learned from fundraising
for a company that wasn’t even my own.  I
came into the job by chance when I ran an extensive Real Estate networking
group in Philadelphia.  This ne… Continue Reading The Best Ways to Raise Private Money

Every real estate investor has received The Call from a tenant who is late paying rent. The Call takes different forms, but the end result is always the same. Here are some examples:
“Hi, this is Frank, your tenant. Sorry I missed the rent payment last week. We had a medical emergency and I missed some work. I’ll mail a check by the 20th.”
“This is Susan, your tenant. I was let go from work so am having trouble paying the rent. But I should be able to catch up next month.”
And of course there is the very common No Call. Rent was due by the 5th, it’s now the 10th or 15th of the month, and you’ve not heard from your tenants at all.
The big question here is–what do you do? The answer to this question turns out to be really, really simple. And the answer is the same r… Continue Reading How to Respond to Late-Paying or No-Paying Tenants

Thursday, August 16

More Photos of project. Master Bedroom:

Comments

Will Barnard

Reply

about 1 month ago

Some wall reconfigurations and improvements to stairs coming up are being made here.
I should say, have already been made to date.

Remington H.

Reply

2 days ago

I’m new at this but how are you funding the project?

Jon K.

Reply

1 day ago

Remington, Will must be really busy on rehabs because he hasn’t posted much in the last couple of weeks. He primarilly uses private money and his own funds on his rehabs. I do the same, but use some bank financing, too. I don’t think Will uses much bank d… Continue Reading Sherman Oaks Rehab Flip 2