Real Estate Services

By Linda Rolandis

In today’s world, crime affecting landlords directly is at an all time high, and landlords need to feel they can trust the person they are handing the keys over to.  There has been a remarkable increase in tenant fraud, involving property damage, unpaid monthly payments, false credit reports, and criminal activity.  Tenant screening with a proper tenant background check is an essential endeavor to ensure the correct identity and record of the renter.  Proper screening involves many different steps, which will be outlined below.

1. Obtain adequate identification from the tenant.  This step is a first round screening attempt to match the entries on the rental application for verification.  Names, addresses, social security numbers (where applicable) should match and be double-checked for accuracy.  Adequate identification includes drivers licenses, birth certificates, or a valid US passport.

2. Require the tenant to fill out an extensive rental application.  The application should include at a minimum the name, current and previous addresses, primary and secondary phone numbers, work and salary information, and bank accounts.  Also included should be a section on credit history, with questions directly related to their ability to make payments with their current salary and expenses.  In addition, the prospective renter should be able to list at least two references the landlord can contact for further verification.  These items are essential; the rest is up to the jurisdiction of the landlord.

3.The next essential step is to obtain an accurate tenant background check. These checks will alert the landlord to a number of major issues that should raise red flags.  A proper background check will include previous criminal activity and sex offender status.  It should also include arrests nationwide, not solely in the state of application.

These checks will also display employment history, previous addresses, and alias information.  As stated previously, these fields should be double-checked against the rental application to detect any possible errors or possible forgeries.  This information could raise some red flags if certain fields are misrepresented or inaccurate.

4. Obtaining a credit history is imperative and should be included with the tenant background check.  These reports will list the future tenant’s credit mishaps, late payments, bankruptcies, and previous addresses.  This information should be a major part of the decision-making process.

Sometimes landlords neglect to run a background check due to the fees involved.  In the real estate market, it is a common, if not a mandatory practice to charge the renters the fee for the check in the rental application fee.  All fees should be paid upfront and should cover all aspects of the process.  The landlord is not responsible for these fees.  If the renter complains, then a landlord should consider this a part of the screening process, and should seriously consider the character of this individual as a possible tenant.

You do not have to become a victim of tenant fraud if you carry out these essential steps.  They are not difficult to perform and they could potentially save you thousands of dollars and hours of heartache.  Today, good renters are hard to come by; however, you do not have to rely on your intuition.  Tenant screening with proper tenant background checks will detail all of the information you need to make an educated and researched opinion in order to protect your property and your family.

By Preston Guyton

Renovations are always a good idea if you are trying to add some value onto your home to increase its selling price. In today’s real estate market you need to be able to set your property apart from the majority or other homes that are available and new rooms are a great way to do it. It’s a difficult thing to figure out which rooms will be best served by a facelift. As usual there are a few likely and stereotypical candidates, these being the bathrooms and kitchens. The fact that these rooms can sell homes aside, don’t allow yourself to get sidetracked into focusing solely on these rooms. If you feel that other rooms need the attention, go right ahead and make the changes.

Houses with a distinct theme can be some of the most beautiful homes on any given market. A cohesive and unified theme to a home is more inviting than a mismatch of differently themed rooms. If you are thinking about your bottom line asking price then one thing you will have to consider is new appliances. Updating tired old stoves, sinks, refrigerators, washers and driers will raise the asking price significantly and give cleaner and more attractive lines to the rooms that they are in. Other good ideas for these rooms are new countertops and fixtures. Over years, countertops can become stained, discolored and marked by knives and other objects. New countertops can light up a room like nothing else. If you really want to boost you home’s asking price, opt for granite countertops. They are well worth the expense.

Another good idea for renovations is to redo that tired old deck. If you deck has seen better days then this is a great place to refurbish. Even though decks are a seasonal luxury, they play a big part in the exterior appearance of a home and as such, their appearance can easily alter a home’s value.

Preston Guyton is a professional Realtor® serving the Myrtle Beach real estate market. For more information on Myrtle Beach homes & properties, contact Preston today or visit http://www.prestonguyton.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Preston_Guyton

By John H. Resi

With the rapid urbanization of the 1990s and the optimism and opportunism of the millennium, condos began piercing the sky in major cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami and Las Vegas. The condo trend was new and exciting as buildings were offering amenities and features that made everyday condo-lifestyle feel like four-star hotel treatment.

This business of building condos became so profitable condos began popping up outside of downtown areas and into the suburbs. But this condo party came to an end as buyers trying to live outside of their means began buying luxury condos on meager salaries. The disillusioned condo market began to realize that their demand was much less than the buildings being supplied and disaster struck some of the country’s most lucrative condo markets.

Fort Lauderdale suffered the greatest losses as condos dropped thirty percent in value from just one year ago. Las Vegas, Miami and West Palm Beach experienced similar declines and prices continue to drop. Many speculate results like this foreshadow the end of the U.S. condo trend but evidence is to the contrary. While the condo market has oversupply issues, buildings and investors will likely abandon their projects and bring the supply closer to the condo market demand.

The novelty of condo living and its innovative services to residents like community pools, gyms, spas and maintenance create an irresistible appeal to urbanites around the U.S. The condo market has a long road to recovery; the big cities that were experiencing the most success in condo sales are now seeing the sharpest declines in condo values. However experts suggest that one of the most negatively impacted condo markets, South Florida, is likely to experience a more speedy recovery based on the foreign condo buyers market that remains strong.

For more information on this topic visit: http://www.magdasaltzman.com

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Tenants
By Mike Lautensack

For any residential property management project, having good tenants can make the difference between a profitable financial investment and taking a major loss. Having an experienced property manager assisting with the interviewing and review process of potential tenants is critical to the success- and peace of mind- of leasing a residential property. A professional property management company will have the tools and resources to properly screen a tenant pool to ensure the most responsible and reliable tenants are selected.

Property Owner’s have a lot at stake when it comes to their residential real estate investment, both financially and time commitment. If the wrong tenants are selected, the Owner is potentially left with unpaid bills or excessive, unnecessary house calls or even worse, damage that will require extensive repairs. A qualified property management firm will have minimum standards for tenant qualifications to help mitigate any potential risk for these adverse tenant issues. These standards typically have been established through historical evaluations of successful tenant relationships. These tenant qualifications standards can involve anything from credit scores, to employment history to reference feedback from previous rental contracts.

The time savings a residential property management firm can provide to a property Owner is extensive. An effective residential property manager will know exactly where to post advertisements seeking qualified renters. The residential property management firm almost certainly has pre-existing processes for screening tenants, seeking reference information and reviewing the property with the potential new tenants as well as having a prepared leasing contract that can be modified to accommodate any specific terms set by the property owner. These are all facets of leasing a property that an Owner would have to develop prior to being able to lease their property.

The cost advantages and time savings accrued from working with an experienced residential property management firm will assist an owner with their real estate investment. There are many benefits to contracting with a residential property management firm, including optimizing the outcome of the investment with high quality tenants which will improve the overall experience for a property Owner as well as increasing profits and minimizing the required time investment.

Mike Lautensack is the owner of Del Val Property Management LLC, a FULL service residential property management company located in Philadelphia, PA.

Mike advises real estate investors how to build wealth and financial security through hassle-free ownership of investment real estate with their “Total Property Management Program”. This proven management system allows owners to enjoy the financial benefits of cash flow, tax savings, and wealth creation while it GUARANTEES you will never receive a late night emergency call, deal with a lengthy eviction proceeding or ever have to interact with an irate tenant. To inquire about our services, or get a FREE estimate, please visit http://www.delvalproperty.com/

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By Donald Plunkett

What is an MLS listing service? An MLS listing service is a service provided by a licensed broker-member of your local MLS, whereby your property is placed on the MLS database for a flat fee. In many ways, it is like listing your property in the MLS while maintaining For Sale By Owner status. I say “like” because technically you are no longer a true For Sale By Owner. Being listed by a broker allows you a number of benefits, though. While you still can handle your own negotiations of contracts, you have access to state association-approved Realtor® purchase contracts and other forms. These forms have been refined and are catered to a particular state and/or area. Additionally, being listed in the MLS allows a seller to offer a commission to any broker-member who brings a buyer that successfully purchases the property. The amount is determined at the time of listing; 2.5 to 3 percent of the purchase price is not uncommon, although there is no set amount required. Some sellers do not like to be required to offer anything to a buyer’s agent, or like the flexibility to offer whatever they feel like at that time. It is important to understand how the system works, however, and that offering a set amount of commission upfront will allow not just one Realtor® but the entire Realtor® community to seek out buyers and show them your home with confidence that they will be paid an upfront, agreed upon amount. In a way, you are hiring an entire sales force to help sell your home.

It is important to understand that all MLS’s are local. Being placed on the Phoenix, Arizona MLS (called the Arizona Regional MLS) will not benefit a seller in Payson, Arizona very much; their home should be placed on the Payson, Arizona MLS (called the Central Arizona Board of Realtors® MLS). Even if your buyer is coming from Phoenix to relocate or to purchase a vacation home, they generally hire a local Payson-area broker to show them homes. If they hired a Phoenix broker without Payson MLS access, they would probably quickly get frustrated when they realized that broker had no access to the local MLS database. Websites that display listings for a particular area have data sharing agreements with the local MLS for that area to display those listings. For instance, various newspaper websites receive an MLS data feed from their local area MLS.

Another thing to keep in mind when it comes to MLS listing service, is that you want to make sure that the broker providing this service has experience providing this service and will continue to provide this service in the future. As many people are aware, becoming a real estate agent is a lifestyle choice as much as a job choice and false expectations and the sheer number of competing agents leads to tremendous turnover in the industry. Many agents join the industry, dabble in a few different niches with limited success, then drop out when they realize that reality does not match their expectations.

Donald Plunkett of Congress Realty is a leading MLS listing service provider in the Western United States. His flat fee MLS listing program was featured in Realtor Magazine, ABC News, MarketWatch and in other media. More info: http://www.congressrealty.com

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