Property Manager Qualities – Proactive
Is your PM someone who is chronically busy with many properties? Doesn’t respond when you ask what you should be investing in? Or are they hitting you up with ideas, …
Just closed? What’s first
… what you’re often buying with a neglected property is trashy grounds, cracked sidewalks, visually painful color schemes, poor or nonexistent signage, unsecured mailboxes open to the elements, and nothing at all attractive to the tenants you’ll be looking for.
How much do you keep in a reserve account, and what is it for
That gorgeous apartment building you’re buying, how is the roof? When will the HVAC units die? Did you put dollars away to be able to pay for it? And what else could fail?
Make Friends With Your Tenants?
Getting to know tenants is one of the most effective ways to head off the bad surprises. And walk-throughs are key to that.
What to spend on improvements
When you spend $4,000 to renovate a unit, are you looking at how much more per month you get, say $50, and deciding it will take you over 6 years to get back that investment? Or – are you looking at market cap rates, where $50 a month, $600/year, in a 6% cap rate market, produces $10,000 of additional value?
Choosing Your Investment In-Town Versus Out-Of-Town
The debate over in-town real estate vs. out-of-town is full of strong preferences as well as great unknowns. Investors seek multi-family properties, wanting to generate steady income and steadier equity. However, choosing the right location for these properties proves all too difficult, with small local markets contrasting sharply with distant options.
Keeping the Outside of Your Apartment Building Clean
As a landlord for an apartment building, most of your concerns will lie with finding plenty of tenants who pay rent on time and care for their units responsibly. However, there is another component to your role that, unfortunately, many landlords fail to realize: keeping the apartment building looking great.
Fundamentals of property investment
Looking to buy property? Investing in real estate can be an exciting moment and a smart investment, but getting the ball rolling can feel overwhelming. There’s a lot to learn about property investment. For example, how do you know you’re making smart choices?