By Anne | March 10, 2009
This was a home that we helped our investor find and purchase in January. It was a filthy mess. We cleaned up the house, repainted, replaced the flooring, changed a lot of the light fixture, and put the home in rental service.
By Anne | March 10, 2009
When thinking about putting a home into rental service with a property management company, there are several things you will want to consider before you sign a contract with a property management company.
What are their guidelines for accepting a tenant? Are you comfortable with those guidelines? If not, find a property manager who you are more comfortable with.
The guidelines should address the following:
Credit – While most tenants have fair to bad credit, the property manager should evaluate the applicants’ credit to see what areas are delinquent. For example, if an applicant has a lot of medical debt, but paid all their other bills timely, that should be a consideration. If however, they are constantly late paying the basic living expenses, this should be a concern.
Criminal Background – In today’s world, a landlord is responsible for the occupants of the home. It is very important to screen tenants for violent crimes and previous drug arrests. While DUI’s and misdemeanors may be overlooked – crimes against people and drug related crimes should be carefully screened. Length of time since conviction and severity should be reviewed as this history follows them throughout their lives even after they have changed their lifestyle. Who hasn’t made a mistake in their youth?
Previous Rental History – Has the applicant been a good caretaker of other landlord’s property? It is very important to review rental history back several years in order to get an accurate picture of the prospective tenant. Some property managers only get a reference for the last year of residency. What if they was an issue and the landlord wants to get rid of the tenant – do you think that they would be honest with you if they are trying to get rid of them? Probably not. Therefore, if you go back several years, you will normally get a better picture. The property manager should look at several factors – number of late rents, bad checks, neighbor complaints, any damages to the property, proper notice provided, and if the landlord would rent to them again. One thing that you should also review is that the person verifying the information is the manager or owner of the home. Creative tenants provide false names to provide rental history, so if you don’t check carefully, you can get a false report.
In addition, you will want to check the county records to see if there has been a dispossessory action filed against the prospective tenants.
Proper screening is so important. A tenant that is not properly screen will cost you a lot more in damages, evictions, and lost rental payments.
If you have a property in Gwinnett, Cobb, North Fulton, or Forsyth counties, please consider Solid Source Property Management.
By Anne | March 8, 2009
A professional property manager will handle all the details regarding your rental property, but what exactly does that mean? Here what you can expect from your property manager.
Evaluate the property and determine an accurate rental rate
Perform detailed documentation of the home
Make a list of any recommendation for repairs or enhancements
Take multiple pictures of the property
Research the area for rental rates
Review sites on the Internet
Call the other rental homes in the neighborhood and surrounding area
Make recommendation of a rental range to the owner
Discusses the pros and cons for accepting pets
Collects keys from owner
Install a lockbox for easy viewing
Market the property for rent
Provide a professional marketing campaign for the rental home
Advertise on several websites to gain maximize exposure
A manager should use a combination of paid and free sites to attract tenants
Have a way for prospective tenants to view your property 7 days per week
Take calls from prospective tenants for viewing and questions
Provide applications for prospective tenants
Collect application and application fee for processing
Tenant Selection
Once the prospective tenant has completed the application, the manager should review the application for the following:
Tenant’s Ability to Pay – Income to rent ratio
Credit worthiness by reviewing the applicant’s credit report
Past Landlord analysis
Employment verification
Confirmation tenant is not on the Specially Designated Nationals list
Confirm past rental judgments if any
After all the information has been collected, the property management company should approve, deny, or approve with additional deposit.
If applicant is denied, then follow proper notification per guidelines for declining tenant
Tenant Move In
Once the tenant has been approved, the property manager confirms a move in date
Reviews the lease and other company guidelines with the tenant
Perform a detailed move-in inspection with the tenant
Operations
Your property manager should have a means to communicate the monthly billing amount due to the tenant
Collect the rents from the tenants
Provide monthly owner statements that detail income and expenses
Provide payment to the owner with an option for direct deposit
Monitor insurance requirements to protect the homeowner, the management company, and the tenant
Have a maintenance policy to minimize repair expenses on the property
Monitor a 24 hour emergency repair hotline
Have negotiated contracts with vendors to utilize the purchase power of all the owners to save money
Take care of repair requests in a swift and cost effective manner to minimize rent loss to the owner
Offer a lease renewal to the tenant at the end of the initial lease term
Provide written notice of termination of lease at the end of the lease term if owner doesn’t want to renew
Tenant Move Out
Once the tenant has either given or received notice of non-renewal, the manager inspects the property within 3 business days of move out.
Manager makes a detailed report of the status of the property and provides a copy to the tenant along with a list of estimated damages
Prepare the property to put back into rental service or turn over the owner
Return the balance of the security deposit to the tenant within the guidelines of landlord/tenant law.
Forward any portion of the owner’s portion of the tenant deposit to the owner or hold in owner reserves for repairs.
Put the property back on the market for rent
Tenant Relations
When there are issues with the tenant, the manager works on your behalf to resolve them
Evictions
The manager performs the specific tasks associated with evictions if necessary.
Advice
The property manager serves the interest of the property owner. As such a property manager will provide information and recommendations for the best interest of the owner at all time.
If you have a property in Gwinnett, North Fulton, Cobb or Forsyth, we would welcome the opportunity to serve as your property manager. Contact us at info@SolidSourcePM.com for further information.
By Mark | March 1, 2009
We have found a great opportunity for people who want tax relief by purchasing investments in the GO-Zone. We have turn key solutions including new homes, property management, builder lease backs and more.
If you want some additional information – contact Mark at 404-886-8789.
By Anne | March 1, 2009
Here is a property that we helped an investor purchase. It obviously needed a lot of work, but we will keep you up to date on the progress.
For more information about purchasing real estate investments in Atlanta – you can go to www.TheREiTeam.com.
Anne
www.SolidSourcePM.com
By Anne | January 27, 2009
The Atlanta rental market is starting to pick up. We have seen a great deal more traffic and better yet – applications than we have in the past couple of months. We actually approved 3 applications this week for end of the month move-ins.
While rental rates in the metro Atlanta area are still lower than we would like – we still believe that there has never been a better time to get started in purchasing investment homes. If you have ever wondered about getting started in purchasing investment properties – I encourage you to go to www.RealEstateMadeMeRich.comand sign up for one of the free CD’s or one of the many investing seminars that we offer.
If you are a tenant and want to understand how you can improve your credit – we provide monthly credit seminars for people who are interested in home ownership. Just go to www.SolidSourcePM.com and then search for Credit & Home Buying Seminar tab and register.
By Anne | January 20, 2009
Last night was a great night meeting with other investors and talking about issues that are affecting them, their properties, tenants, and profitability. Mark and I met with about 20 investors last night and talked about a wide variety of topics – here are some highlights:
GWINNETT COUNTY GARBAGE DEBACLE- Some of you may know that Gwinnett county tried to implement a county mandated garbage solution in effect billing the property owners at a higher rate than what most people are paying now and demanding recycling. The issue comes into play as to how to transition the tenants from paying the garbage providers over to the landlord. This effects the leases as well as keeping track of an additional line item. We will see how this plays out over time.
HIGHER VACANCY RATES – Most of the investors are seeing a lengthening gap in vacancies. We believe the increased competition is due to the housing crunch and less construction workers here needed work. We will continue to monitor the vacancy rates for our owners and determine how we can best resolve our owners vacancies. Older homes, Condos & townhomes are much slower to rent. New homes (1995 and younger) are still renting when in great condition and price appropriately.
SEC 8 – We talked more about the issues in Dekalb County and the lawn maintenance. We talked about tenants that wanted to “pay the difference” and how that could land them in Federal Prison for fraud. We talked about how the voucher amounts are established and how some landlords were getting into trouble by not properly screening Sec 8 tenants like all others.
INVESTORS DEFAULTING – We discussed the problem with owners not paying the mortgages and how this was affecting tenants. We also discussed the new Fannie Mae guidelines about allowing the tenants to stay month to month and the ramifications of that positive and negative. We will be calling on some of the banks to discuss how we as a property management company can assist them in this process.
There were a lot of other topics that were discussed as well, but these were the highlights. If you are interested in working with us either as a tenant or owner – visit our website at www.SolidSourcePM.com for further information we service the North Metro Atlanta Area.
By Anne | January 7, 2009
So often people get started with the New Year with great intentions. They want to do better and change their life. It is great to want to change your life but without a plan – you will end up spinning your wheels. Here are some ideas that will help you as you think about starting off 2009.
Look at your life from several different areas -
- Financial
- Career
- Family
- Spiritual
- Physical / Health
- Community Outreach
- Personal Development
A well rounded life includes all of these aspects so you should look at them all and determine what changes you would like to make in each category. I recommend that you don’t try to tackle more than 1-2 goals per category or you could get overwhelmed.
Goals should be S.M.A.R.T. – Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, & Time Specific.
For example, let’s talk about financial goals. Maybe you want to acquire long term passive income. The best way to do this is through the power of rental real estate. So one of your goals may be to purchase 2 houses a year for 10 years. That’s a SMART goal. Now what makes a goal successful is not just writing the goal down – but putting together a written action plan once you have formulated your goal.
In our example – how are you going to go about acquiring those houses? You need to put together the action plan to make that happen. Something like – January – Meet with my mortgage lender and determine if I can finance the properties. Interview and hire a team of professionals – Real Estate Agent, Property Manager, Loan Officer, Real Estate Attorney, Accountant, etc. Then once you have your team – prepare for the business. Yes real estate investing is a business. Plan for asset protection, etc.
Once you have everything ready to go – your action plan should include the number of houses you plan to see each week and the number of offers you need to submit to get to your goal.
Each week you should evaluate your action plan. Don’t just keep your goals in a drawer. Look at them in the morning and at night. Evaluate your progress every week. This will help you get and stay focused!
Happy 2009! We hope it is your best ever!
By Anne | December 13, 2008
So you’ve decided to start a real estate investing career by purchasing properties and renting them to tenants. If you’re new to investing, you might have assumed that you will take on all of the property management tasks involved with rentals yourself. However, it is important to understand how much time and effort it can take to manage rental properties, so you can make an informed decision about how you will handle your property management tasks.
First, you will be responsible for marketing your properties to locate tenants for your properties. While this might seem like an easy task, the challenge is to find tenants who are qualified to rent from you – that is, who have sufficient credit and incomes as well as have a positive rental history. By adequately screening tenants up front, you will help minimize the time you spend collecting rent and making repairs to units damaged by irresponsible renters.
In addition to finding tenants, you will be responsible for managing your renters. You will need to collect deposits and rental payments, respond to service requests, and deal with tenants who cause disruption in your properties. These disruptions can come in many forms, from domestic arguments, to all night parties, to HOA violations, not caring for the lawn, etc.
You will also need to manage repairs and upgrades to your rental properties. Your property management duties may include interior repairs, building upgrades, and maintenance of lawns and landscaping, among many others.
It is easy for real estate investors to spend the majority of their time on property management tasks, rather than on activities that are direct money makers. You might find that hiring a property management company to handle these tasks will allow you to be more productive, and to make more money with your real estate investing ventures. When you are looking for investment properties, it is a good idea to consult with an experienced REALTOR who owns and manages their own rental properties. Then that can help you navigate the process of either assisting you or can provide assistance in locating and hiring a reputable property management company.
By Anne | December 12, 2008
Just when you think it can’t get any harder to be a landlord- Read this in the AJC about evictions. I am actually quoted in the article too-
Fulton puts holiday hold on evictions
By D.L. Bennett
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Friday, December 12, 2008
Nothing says Happy Holidays during hard times like the marshals knocking on your door to serve an eviction.
With record numbers of tenants falling behind and homes being lost to foreclosure, it’s become an increasingly common scene.
One metro county, Fulton, has decided to do something about that, giving some residents a holiday gift through an at-least three-week ban on evictions. Fulton County Marshal Antonio Johnson said he won’t evict anybody from Dec. 19 through Jan. 5. Commissioners meet on Wednesday and will consider whether they want to extend the ban.
Nearby counties like Cobb, Gwinnett and DeKalb aren’t being so generous.
Each reports no such long-term reprieve planned, though DeKalb is planning a three-day break around Christmas and New Year’s when most of its marshals will be off.
The move is being hailed by Anita Beaty, an advocate for the homeless, who said shelters are being overrun with folks who are being forced from their homes. She suggested a stay on evictions to Fulton commissioners last week.
Commissioner Robb Pitts said he’d take that to his colleagues on Wednesday. He wasn’t sure how much of an extension he would seek.
“It seems to be a real important victory,” Beaty said.
Through the first three quarters of 2008, Fulton marshals had served 5,446 evictions and another 9,196 had been settled before marshals showed up on someone’s doorstep. The county saw more than 31,000 dispossessory cases filed last year.
Beaty said Fulton and other counties need to find a way to keep folks from being evicted and foreclosed on as the recession and housing crisis continue to run their course. She plans to attend the commission’s meeting Wednesday and advocate for an extension.
Not surprisingly, the idea is being met with resentment and anger by already-stressed landlords who say stalling evictions will only make bad situations worse.
“Putting a stay on evictions is going to put a burden on property owners,” said Anne Lackey, who runs a company that manages more than 200 rental homes all over Atlanta. “I certainly understand that during the holiday season nobody wants to put people out. The reality is these people haven’t paid. If you don’t pay, you can’t stay.”
Sheriff’s deputies and marshals across metro Atlanta all say they are seeing a surge in requests for evictions that tend to fall into three groups —- renters who haven’t paid, folks who have been foreclosed on and didn’t leave when the property changed hands, and tenants with their rental property under foreclosure.
Because of the surge in work, local officials say they are anywhere from two to six weeks behind on actually serving orders to evict. The standard order gives a tenant one week to leave. But the backlog in service means most tenants really have at least a month or more before marshals or deputies will be at their door.
That doesn’t count the time before the landlord filed for eviction when the tenant was behind on payments or the time for the case to be heard.
In Fulton, evictions cases are heard twice a week and draw a standing-room-only crowd. The Tuesday and Thursday sessions in front of Magistrate Louis Levenson draw about 250 cases per day.
Johnson, the Fulton marshal, said his office historically offers the holiday break as an act of kindness toward folks in need.
“It’s really hard when you’ve got a mother and kids,” Johnson said. “I tell my staff be understanding, be professional. We have to perform our duties. We can do it with honor and respect.”
Officials in the other major metro counties say there are so many cases pending they can’t delay the process at all.
“If it’s a workday, we have evictions scheduled,” said Nancy Hobson, with the Gwinnett sheriff’s office. “We’ve got them coming out of our ears. We do as many as we can every day.”
Landlords say any slowdown is going to hurt their business at a time when rents are down, taxes are up, water bills are skyrocketing and non-paying tenants are on the increase because of the down economy.
Brent Sobol of Atlanta, who owns several rental homes and a 344-unit apartment complex off Campbellton Road in south Atlanta, said he has about 20 or 30 evictions pending in Fulton County every month.
The process is so slow that many tenants get weeks, if not months, of free time in his units before marshals show up to escort them out. He added there’s attorneys’ fees.
“To not allow us to evict tenants we feel are never going to pay is unfair,” Sobol said. “We are not just arbitrarily kicking people out. We don’t like having to file evictions, but it’s necessary.”
