Real Estate Investing Advice & Information

Real estate investing has many opportunities, even in a depressed economy. Many new investors automatically look into the prospects of buying single family homes or land and completely miss the very lucrative apartment building market. Most find themselves intimidated by the prospects though as the details of buying and apartment building are very different than they are with a home or piece of land. Single family homes, comparatively low cost, and apartment buildings are a much heavier investment. Selecting the right apartment building can also be a daunting prospect and the thought of maybe becoming a landlord can be distressing.

There is a fundamental difference however between the two. When you buy and sell a house or piece of land, your profit on that deal is a one time thing and you will have to go look for more deals to continue to make money. With an apartment building, once the deal is closed and your building is occupied, the money comes in on a regular basis for as long as you own the property. If you have no interest in the day to day operation of your property it is simple to turn it over to a management company and let them do the work will you reap the profits. continue reading…

With Slovenia’s accession to the EU and its impressive economic performance between 2000 and 2007, its capital Ljubljana has become a vibrant business center in Europe, attracting growing numbers of international investors. Since it is the capital, Ljubljana is also home to foreign diplomats on assignment. Over the last few years, the demand for apartments, houses and offices on rent has led to the development of quality residential and business premises in and around Ljubljana. Most foreigners who do business in Slovenia live in Ljubljana or the nearby cities of Maribor, Celje and Koper.

For someone new to Slovenia, renting real estate in an unfamiliar environment may cause some apprehension initially but that soon wears off when one acquires a preliminary understanding of the market. It is important to use reliable sources in your search for a home or office and to acquaint yourself with the facts and legalities of the deal before you commit to it. A number of real estate agencies assist businessmen and diplomats in identifying a suitable apartment or office and in finalizing the deal. For these services, they charge a commission, which is normally equivalent to two monthly rents. What you need to ensure is that the real estate agent you wish to work with is well-established and has a reputation for efficiency and reliability. Agencies that claim to locate real estate for foreigners were established in mid 90s and are one of the most reputable. Their websites has details of apartment and office rentals. Besides real estate agencies, the Internet and advertisements in the print media can also offer useful information. One of Slovenia’s most well-known property portals has current details of average monthly rents. In general, rents for residential and business premises are highest in Ljubljana, Celje, Maribor and Koper. continue reading…

What constitutes a good deal is determining your exit strategy. This could mean something different every time your property scenario changes. For example, say I buy a property that is in very poor shape and I do not plan on being a landlord. A good deal would be getting this property under contract for about 70% of its as is value and wholesale it to another investor for a fast cash profit. Another example is say I find a 30 unit apartment building for a huge discount of 75%, if my exit strategy is to not be a landlord this is not a good deal because few wholesale buyers want this type of property due to rehab.

A major equation that determines what a good deal is to you is your financial resources. This includes cash and credit you have available. For example, a good deal for someone that has no cash and bad credit would be, finding an owner who will finance you with no money down if you pay one hundred percent of the value of the home. Now this is a good deal if and only if you can still rent this property resulting in a positive cash flow. However I don’t recommend you begin with deals like this one until you take a few landlord training classes. continue reading…

It’s important that you understand that when somebody applies for your apartment or house, that if you decide to decline them that you do it in such a way that it’s not going to get you in trouble.

Obviously, you cannot decline somebody based on sex, on race, on religion, things of that nature, so you’re aware of that. Family status, obviously, we talked about that last week. There are a lot of reasons why it’s perfectly legitimate to decline a perspective tenant. We’ve listed those out and I’ll go through them.

False application. Obviously somebody put something false on their application. That is a clear and easy way to eliminate that person from living in your property.

Too many people. If there are six, eight, 10 people that want to live in the house, obviously it might not work. You’ve got to live within zoning regulations and things of that nature.

Pets. You can decline somebody because of pets. If they have pets and you don’t want them, you’re perfectly right to decline them. continue reading…

Contemporary options for several individuals are influenced by the current economic condition and other factors affecting decisions on home purchase and ownership. Due to crisis in the financial sector, many are finding refuge in the idea of renting a residence or home instead of buying one. For home owners, who want to maximize their available resources such as their properties, opting for rental or leasing their houses is one reliable notion of generating extra income. Hence, it is important to know what are converted and included in a standard lease contract to have a smooth and productive landlord-tenant relationship.

The lease contract especially intended for residential rental agreement is essentially important in creating a binding contract between the tenant and landlord as regards to leasing and renting an apartment unit or a single-family home. It is primary requirement in the beginning of every transaction in order to secure the welfare and interests of both parties. The leaser or landlord is the one to provide the lease contract and clearly explains its contents and the terms and conditions to his prospective tenant. Hence, it is imperative to provide a clear account of everything you want to include in your agreement to avoid any misunderstandings in the future.

The standard lease contract contains several components salient in the process of renting the property. It actually depends on the home owner and landlord how many pages the document would be as long as the full terms and conditions are all stated in the document. It also depends on his discretion whatever important terms he would like to include in the agreement. However, some of the basic elements that are commonly found in all standard lease contracts are observed. continue reading…

Finding an apartment in Boston and Cambridge should seem easy enough that there wouldn’t be a need for an article written about it. With hundreds of websites and brokers in town, there is no shortage of places to search to find apartments. What most of websites won’t tell you, is when you should be looking in order to get the best deal possible.

Rentals are especially seasonal in Boston and Cambridge because of the number of students that live there. With school starting right around September, the peak rental season usually ends just after September 1st. In simple economic terms, this means that while supply is up for late Summer and early Fall rentals, so is the demand, which generally leads to higher prices and less in terms of concessions. Some luxury apartment buildings, like Dexter Park in Brookline, do offer students up to 1 month free rent if they get on a waiting list as early as February for a September move in. However, in general the most concessions and the lowest rents will show up in off peak times. Think October, November, December, or February if you want a chance to lower that sticker price. Should you decide to heed this advice, you will notice that there are obviously fewer listings available, but these might have been on the market for a while and the landlord or management company is likely to either be flexible with the rent or offer you some sort of concession like a free month. Buildings like the Atrium in Packard’s Corner (BU West), Mezzo Design Lofts in Charlestown, the Watermark in Kendall Square, and the Archstone Avenir in the North End all tend to offer significant discounts (some are currently offering 2 months free rent!) to renters that move in around these times. Individual landlords tend to accept lower offers for their rentals as well; scared that their property will remain vacant through the Winter. continue reading…

If you are in charge of the maintenance for apartment complex expenses or even several apartment complexes then this can be gold and silver mine for you! What we’ll take about here is how to cut down a good eight to ten thousand dollars a year off your bottom line if you’re having your maintenance people take care of this expense.

If your furnishing the filters then it’s time for a change. Most all apartment complexes have gone this route. Let the tenants furnish their own filters. You figure at $.40 a filter (example six hundred units) six hundred apartment units twelve times a year.

This is if you were changing them once a month. Another thing to consider is the quality or grade of filter you’re using. There is a cheap grade then a pleated grade. You just saved yourself a bottom line of three thousand bucks a year. This is just the cost of the filter at a wholesale cost. This is just one filter. Many apartments today have two, three or even more filters. continue reading…

If you have ever had to deal with a building inspector that isn’t in a good mood, going through a divorce, having problems with their children or in general an extremely arrogant person, you might find this story interesting. If you haven’t, you’re definitely going to find this story interesting.

I was remodeling a recreation center for an apartment complex that I was working on, but I wasn’t ready to call the building inspector yet. The building inspector decided to show up unannounced one day and introduced himself to me.

I could tell that this building inspector was pretty full of himself and for whatever reason, wanted to show me how intelligent he was. Before I could blink, he was telling me about all of the structural reinforcing hardware that would need to be installed, before he would pass the inspection.

I could hardly get a word in edgewise, but finally did. I told him that I was only going to do what was required by the structural engineer and architect. The building plans had already been approved by the building department that this particular individual worked for. continue reading…

The idea of moving to a new place is very exciting at first, but once you begin the process of it, you may begin to regret ever finding an apartment. The need to come up with an appropriate budget, followed by having to visit each and every place can be very stressful. Friends and relatives can make this experience much more tolerable by providing their wisdom and advice. Make sure you understand what you can afford, where you want to live, and what your options are.

An important aspect of finding an apartment is understanding your available funds. If you don’t keep a monthly budget, now would be a good time to sit down and map out exactly what you can afford. You need to take a look at expenses like a car, food, work expenses and school expenses. You need to subtract these from your monthly income as well as any miscellaneous expenses that will also reduce your available funds. Once you’ve figured out what you can afford you need to look up the average cost of utilities so that you know what to add or subtract from your funds when you hear what is and isn’t covered by the rental company.

Now you need to create a list of a dozen or so apartments you will visit. The first place to start building this list is from friends and family; they will have lived places they regret and ones they wish they could return to. The knowledge garnered from them will build a solid base for places to go look at. The newspaper as well can show you recent local apartments that are available and give good descriptions of what you might be looking for. The largest repository for finding apartments will be the Internet. You will be able to look up plenty of apartments on a apartment locator site. They will have pictures, floor plans, and lots of good info. continue reading…