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Many investors pay with all cash when they buy a rental property, but not everyone can afford to do that. Buying an investment home with a loan makes a lot of sense too. That’s because you’re buying an appreciating asset that grows in value over time while a tenant pays your mortgage. The return on that investment can be fantastic. Down Payments and Rental Income As an example, let’s consider a home priced at $200,000. As an investor looking for a mortgage, you’ll need to put down 25 percent of the purchase price. That’s $50,000 for the down pa…

Liability risks are present for all rental property owners, and you need to be prepared to manage any risk that comes with your property. This house may have been your personal home at one time, but things change as soon as it becomes a rental. Remember that we live in a litigious society and often the tenant knows the law better than you do. Today we’re talking about some of the areas you need to understand to better protect yourself. Fair Housing - Federal Fair housing laws cover many areas such as whether you can say no to a family with five…

Landlords who manage their own rental properties often run into problems and difficulties that owners who work with professional property managers don’t have to worry about. The simple answer to “Why shouldn’t I self-manage?” is that you don’t know what you don’t know, and what you don’t know is what often gets you in trouble. When things work right, a handshake can be sufficient. But when things go wrong, they can go very wrong. Property managers are experts in their field, and if you’re going to take care of your own rental property, you need…

When we talk about the cost of property management, it’s important to understand that there are different types of costs involved. There are both hard costs and soft costs involved. Hard Costs Hard costs are set dollar amounts that you can use to compare one management company to another. These include things such as the leasing fee, which is the commission you pay your property manager to cover all parts of the tenant procurement from advertising the unit through to the tenant move in. Typically this is the equivalent of one month’s rent. Ther…

Anyone who has ever considered renting out a property has wondered if they are in danger of having a tenant completely trash the house. It’s often the first question on any potential landlord’s mind. We can put this fear to rest by telling you that we have owned and managed rental properties since the 1980’s, and it has never happened to us. Could it happen? Yes, but there are many reasons why it hasn’t happened yet. Tenant Screening Protecting your property against tenant damage starts with quality tenant screening. You need to verify income a…