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ALWAYS CHECK OUT YOUR TENANTS! If you don’t think that many tenants know the legal system and how to abuse it, the story below (see link) should leave a lasting, cautionary impression in your mind:

http://blog.nj.com/njv_barry_carter/2011/05/carter_newark_man_acts_as_his.html

This professional bad tenant knows the law probably better than most attorneys, avoids paying rent, trashes apartments and acts SUCCESSFULLY as his own attorney in court. His knowledge of how to bend the pro-tenant laws in New Jersey even further in his favor, are costing landlords thousands and thousands of dollars, mental anguish and lost time… over and over again.

I can’t do this story justice by paraphrasing it, so I won’t. Barry Carter’s long, but very well-worth-the-read article (published for the Star-Ledger May 15th, 2011) should be required reading before anyone is allowed to rent a property.

What if this happened to you? Let’s hope it never does to any of us…

-LBI

Although we launched our new free Classifieds section last month, we wanted to give businesses that would like to advertise directly to landlords a more professional and longer listing option. We gave it some thought and decided to create a Business Directory.

So, now you can advertise your business to thousands of landlords and property managers! For one low listing price of $9.97, you can have a 1-year, category specific, business listing in our Pro Finder Business Directory. Help your business grow by letting landlords/rental property owners and property managers find you fast when they need you! Submit your listing now and gain access to the landlording community!

Although our free Classifieds section is meant to offer goods and services that don’t really fit into a “Pro Finder” type Business Directory, we currently allow businesses to advertise in the Classifieds section, too. However, due to certain limitations, your ad is not formatted as professionally as it would be in the Business Directory, and you need to renew your classified ad every 30 days, as compared to the Business Directory listing of one year!

So either way, or both ways, your business has the ability to get the word out to landlords!

-Landlord Business Insider

ManageRentalProperty.com is excited to release our beta version of FREE Landlord Business Insider Classified Ads! We hope this classifieds section is a valuable resource for landlords, property managers and those who provide products and services to them.

All ads will initially have a 30 day expiration, unless the poster removes them earlier. They can be renewed for free, but we thought initially giving them a 30 day expiration keeps the classifieds section “fresh.” All Classified Ads will be reviewed by the site prior to being activated. This should help reduce SPAM and inappropriate content.

Our classified sections currently are:

Please feel free to try it out and don’t hesitate to suggest new categories or revisions! We decided to launch this part of our service to you during the Holiday Season for FREE… our gift to you for helping make our site a success! As we get your feedback and the number of ads and traffic increases, we will add new features and options. We hope you find our Landlord Business Insider Classifieds a useful property management resource!

Happy Holidays!

-The Landlord Business Insider Team

Vote and see how other rental property owners buy their properties.

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If you want to chime in with specific questions or comments about the advantages or disadvantages of one form of property ownership over another, be sure to join our free Forum and participate in our landlording and property management community!

-Landlord Business Insider

If you want to chime in with specific questions or comments about rental properties and pets, visit our new Forum and participate in our community!  

-Landlord Business Insider

Check out our page and get an idea of how other landlords handle issues and what they think about certain topics. Vote and give the community here an idea of where you stand on issues. Our Polls page is at http://managerentalproperty.com/polls/

We will feature polls that we think landlords and property managers want to get opinions on… and please feel free to use the comments form at the bottom of our Polls page to suggest topic questions that you would like to see us feature!

Don’t forget, we also have the ability for you to get detailed help from other rental property owners and managers! if you have more in depth questions, head over to our Discussion Forums at http://managerentalproperty.com/forum/

-Landlord Business Insider

http://www.ManageRentalProperty.com

You can find it here: http://managerentalproperty.com/forum/

We have started the forum off with categories that range from buying and selling rental properties, to management, product reviews and local association news. Please feel free to suggest forums and categories, or create your own topic specific discussions. The forum is a place by and for landlords and property managers. Please help us make it a valuable resource to the rental property owner and manager community-at-large.

The forum is free! Come join the discussion. Check it out at: http://managerentalproperty.com/forum/

We look forward to seeing you there!

Regards,

-Landlord Business Insider

Each year, one of the best ways for landlords to compare their rental prices to other similar units the area is to review HUD’s Fair Market Rent data. Although that sounds intimidating, it’s really very simple. Annually, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) reviews rental rates throughout the country and develops documentation to help determine what it will pay landlords for their government assisted housing programs, including Section 8 rentals. The resulting documentation is incorporated into their Fair Market Rents (FMR) System. Unlike most data provided by the government, HUD’s FMRs are not only easy to access, they are probably one of the most effective ways to review rents in your area.

Here is the link to HUD’s Fair Market Rent Documentation System:

http://www.huduser.org/portal/datasets/fmr/fmrs/docsys.html&data=fmr12

The link above will take you to hud.gov’s rental data section. Once there, click on the button that reads “Click Here for Final FY 2012 FMR Documentation.” On the next screen, simply choose a State and County (or you can just choose to view Statewide FMRs or a general Metropolitan Area).

Voilá… the system shows you the Fair Market Rents (FMRs) for Efficiency, One-bedroon, Two-bedroom, Three-bedroom and Four-bedroom units in that area! Scroll down further and you can even get HUD’s Fair Market Rent Calculation Methodology.

Easy to do, but these rent rates are priceless to your landlord business! These are the guidelines that local Section 8 Housing Program offices use throughout the year when paying landlords for rentals under their Housing Voucher Programs.  Be aware that in certain cases, HUD may pay more or less than these rates. For example, if tenants are paying some or all of the utilities, the rent that HUD negotiates with the landlord may be less. Conversely, you may be able to get a higher rent for your property if it has special features like in the case of a handicapped accessible unit. Remember, even with HUD, rental rates are negotiable! Offices generally must stay within a certain percentage or “band” of the FMR rate.

This data is a huge help to landlords and property managers who wish to keep their rents competitive. Whether or not you have Section 8 rentals, taking a look at HUD’s FMRs each year can help you gauge new rental rates you might be able to charge on vacant units, as well as, rent increases that you may want to consider on existing units.

-LBI.MRP

Here’s the link: http://www.appsgeyser.com/getwidget/Landlord+LBI.MRP

Or you can just scan the QR Code below:

We realize that as full or part-time landlords and property managers, you are often not at your desk! So, we wanted to give you a way to access our site that was easy to do “on the go” and still provide all of the excellent content that we strive to offer.

Please give us your feedback! As always, we will continue to enhance the site and applications based on your feedback. Landlord Business Insider (ManageRentalProperty.com) is a site by, and for, landlords!