Best Practices Archives - Page 10 of 10

FBS Rent Sense RE Investor Alert in 92120 north of I-8: SD County Apartment Association Reports Lowest Vacancy in 12 yrs

June 28, 2014by Neil Fjellestad's Blog

Making headlines this week, the San Diego County Apartment Association's Spring 2014 Vacancy and Rental Rate survey has been featured in local and national news about the region's rental housing market. Commentators noted the recent data indicating that the San Diego region is at near-record levels for low apartment vacancies and consumers agree with many complaining it has rarely seemed more difficult to find a rental unit. The survey joins a local debate about what policymakers can do to avoid a rental housing crisis in San Diego and encourage development of new rental housing stock.

The Vacancy and Rental Rate survey is made available to SDCAA members in the RentalOwner magazine.

SDCAA's popular survey was featured in national and local outlets. Check out a few from the collection below.

Click here to read the Trulia Property Agent's blog on the state of the tight San Diego rental market.

Click here to see George Chamberlin's take in "Money in the Morning."

Click here to read analysis from the San Diego Daily Transcript's real estate reporters.

Click here to read UT San Diego's Jonathan Horn on the difficulties of finding a rental in San Diego today.

View the Times of San Diego piece on our survey by clicking here.

10 News San Diego featured the vacancy rate drop as a lead story in this week's newscast.

Rent Sense: FBS & BBB Warn Against Rise of Rental Scams During Shortage

To be a successful property management company in the modern economy you must become a respected rental housing provider in your market. Experience is imperative and solid reputation within the industry is important but beyond this you must engage the consumer audiences within your market.

We maintain ourselves accessible as rental housing experts throughout the 69 zip codes in which we operate rental properties. We do this by writing an informative column for local newspapers, service several large blog audiences and participate in the Better Business Bureau to raise integrity standards. We also provide leadership to the San Diego Apartment Association.

As a partner of the BBB, we value their continued support and education. The BBB is a trustworthy source to consumers. Read below a recent BBB article!

http://sandiego.bbb.org/article/hand-over-the-keys-avoiding-apartment-rental-scams-43448

We have built a healthy San Diego business out of advising independent real estate investors, acquiring and managing rental properties for clients while providing superior housing alternatives for qualified renters. We've accomplished daily for longer than four decades. Our rental vacancies change daily. Take a peek today www.fbs-pm.com/rentals

Best Practices Legal Questions Rent Sense

Manage Roommate Situations well

November 18, 2013by Neil Fjellestad's Blog

Rent Sense: Manage Roommates
By Neil Fjellestad and Chris De Marco
FBS Property Management

You and two friends decide to lease an apartment together. Things are going well until one or these friends loses their job and moves out because he/she can no longer afford the rent. What if a roommate damages the property or has a pet that damages the property and after move-out you get the bill for the excess damages? Who pays? Who is liable? The answer is that ALL of you are liable for the damages or lost rent even if it’s not your fault. This is because most rental contracts contain the language that the tenants “will be held joint and severally liable”; all tenants are each responsible for the full execution of all the lease terms.
So, if your roommate doesn’t pay their share of the rent on time, you are in violation of the lease and subject to late charges and eviction. Your credit may be negatively affected for a very long time due to your roommate’s bad behavior and/or poor judgment.

Here are a few things you can do to protect yourself:

• Every roommate should be able to demonstrate good credit, responsible past performance as a roommate and provide a guarantor if needed. Don’t be bashful about asking for details and be willing to share your own circumstances.

• Make sure that all roommates have an application on file and have signed the current lease. Don’t move roommates in and out without proper written notice. Promptly attend to updating documents. You want roommates that are legally bound just like you are.

• Make sure that everyone adheres to all the terms of the lease. Examples: pets, guests, noise, parking, etc. Insist that you and your roommates sit down with the owner’s representative and thoroughly review the leasing documents together. Ask questions and present “what if” scenarios so everyone starts with the same understanding.

• Make sure that everyone holds up his/her end of the arrangement: rent payments, other charges, utility bills, etc. All roommates should acknowledge condition at move-in and requirements at move-out.

We have built a healthy San Diego business out of advising independent real estate investors, acquiring and managing rental properties for clients while providing superior housing alternatives for qualified renters. We've accomplished all of this daily for longer than four decades and currently operate rental properties (houses, condos and apartments) in 69 zip codes throughout the region. Our rental vacancies change daily. Take a peek today www.fbs-pm.com/rentals

If you're a qualified renter you deserve to be treated like the preferred customer you are.
Educate yourself www.RentSenseBlog.com

If you’re a local rental owner now you hold a winning ticket if you want a preferred retirement. A preferred retirement includes a personal residence plus rental properties held without debt and managed by professionals. This financial condition allows you some important lifestyle choices – where you live and how you live. The ONLY challenge according to Warren Buffet? Comprehensive and constant professional management of your rental business by FBS.

Best Practices

Should we sell or rent our current home?

November 7, 2013by Neil Fjellestad's Blog

Rent Sense: Should we sell or rent our current home?
By Neil Fjellestad & Chris De Marco
FBS Property Management

We get asked this a lot. The answer you settle on can literally make the difference between whether or not you have the kind of retirement you want for yourself including something to pass along to your next generation. So please take a moment to follow this example that came in from a local homeowner. Though our expertise is definitive for the San Diego region our advice should be considered elsewhere as well.

Question – “I have roughly 200K as equity in my current home in north San Diego. We are going to close escrow on a new home in a week’s time in the same area. I don’t need to sell my current home to buy the new home. Since I’m not sure about being a landlord and sales prices have gone up should we consider selling our home instead of renting it?”

Answer – You should definitely hold your current home as a rental if you do not need to sell. It might surprise you to find that many local independent rental owners got their start the same way. Of course this is a long-term proposition and you need to surround yourself with professionals that will provide consistent property management and constant real estate investment advice. Someone should talk you through your investment objectives and financial resources. This can prepare you with a long-term strategy for your real estate decisions. The first property management priority is to choose professionals to establish a competitive rent rate, get your vacancy filled with a qualified renter that wants to be treated like the preferred customer they are.

You should also know that if your estimated 200k equity does not represent at least 30% of current value then you need to start paying down existing loan balances though refinance or savings. You are going to be in the rental business for a long time and need to stay safely capitalized. Forget those books and infomercials that preach you can buy with no money and flip for scads of cash. Did we mention you’ll be rich and retired by the end of the year? Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it is. There’s a reason these exaggerations about real estate get started. It has history as the foundation of smart wealth and San Diego rental property captures the most advantages of this wealth strategy. There are correct methods that cannot be ignored.

We have built a healthy San Diego business out of advising independent real estate investors, acquiring and managing rental properties for clients while providing superior housing alternatives for qualified renters. We've accomplished all of this daily for longer than four decades and currently operate rental properties (houses, condos and apartments) in 69 zip codes throughout the region. Our rental vacancies change daily. Take a peek today www.fbs-pm.com/rentals

Best Practices

Some things don’t change (Part 2)

October 13, 2013by Neil Fjellestad's Blog

Rent Sense for RE Investors: Some things don’t change (Part 2)
By Neil Fjellestad and Chris De Marco
FBS Property Management

We have built a healthy San Diego business out of advising independent real estate investors, acquiring and managing rental properties for clients while providing superior housing alternatives for qualified renters. We've accomplished daily for longer than four decades. Our rental vacancies change daily. Take a peek today www.fbs-pm.com/rentals

Educate yourself www.RentSenseBlog.com

Here are key factors for successfully turning your rental ownership into the financial bedrock of your retirement prosperity:

Own well-located homes, condos and apartments maintaining at least a 30% equity position. Pay down loans to achieve this safe equity position as quickly as possible.
Repair and refurbish the property to maintain physical quality which attracts preferred renters that pay market rent while demanding quality conditions.
Carefully qualify applications from potential renters and retain quality residents by responding to legitimate service requests via a professional manager that keeps you buffered from the daily drama, personal liability and/or premature sale.
Keep good records to document expenditures and optimize your tax write-off.
Protect yourself with adequate insurance and control your liability with professional property management that inspects your property and respects your renters as customers.

Generally, rental property should be acquired, maintained, improved and held; never sold. Instead, periodically evaluate whether you should refinance existing property and purchase additional property but the end goal is rental ownership free of debt.
Don’t lose valuable equity to selling expenses. Rather, retire with tax-favored rental income and a reserve for contingencies.

Best Practices

BBB Article- Avoiding Rental Scams

August 26, 2013by Melissa DeMarco

To be a successful property management company in the modern economy you must become a respected rental housing provider in your market. Experience is imperative and solid reputation within the industry is important but beyond this you must engage the consumer audiences within your market. We maintain ourselves accessible as rental housing experts throughout the...

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