Landlord Business Insider

A 3 1/2 year eviction…

LBI.MRP — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 12:00:25 +0000

Back in January 2012, we posted a link to an article by Barry Carter/Star-Ledger (see here: http://managerentalproperty.com/when-tenants-abuse-the-legal-system-and-get-away-with-it/) who wrote an excellent story about a Newark man who knew how to skirt the landlord-tenant laws and not pay rent for years causing major economic (and emotional) damage to landlords in the area.

Here is a link to the outcome… an eviction that took 3 1/2 years. http://blog.nj.com/njv_barry_carter/2012/10/carter_notorious_newark_tenant.html

Both of these articles are a must read for landlords and property managers… and even landlord attorneys, at any level of experience. It’s a cautionary tale that should strike fear into even the most hardened landlord.

What do you think? Any nightmare eviction stories you would like to share with us? (if you do, please leave out tenant names and any personal information, etc.)

Landlording can be a profitable and rewarding business, but hazards abound! Be smart, know your landlord-tenant laws, follow good procedures and rely on experts to help make your business sustainable… and not cr

umble up the property portfolio that you build!

Monopoly Where Landlords Win! Pay Rent or Go To Jail

LBI.MRP — Wed, 13 Feb 2013 14:09:18 +0000

Very interesting law. What do you think? Fair or gone too far?

Arkansas law jails tenants who don’t pay their rent (via Raw Story )Under a state law in Arkansas, renters can be imprisoned for failing to pay their rent. According to a report by Human Rights Watch, titled “Pay the Rent or Face Arrest: Abusive Impacts of Arkansas’s Criminal Evictions Law,” hundreds of tenants each year are taken to court, fined and jailed under…

Do you have a Property Management/Landlord related business? List it here… free!

LBI.MRP — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 19:19:41 +0000

If you have a property management related business or offer a service that otherwise benefits landlords at large, you can now list it in our ManageRentalProperty.com Business Directory. We are currently offering the ability for you to list your business FREE!

Although we have no plans in the foreseeable future to charge for this service, we retain the right to modify the directory at any time( for example: charge a fee for new listings, discontinue free listings, offer enhanced listings for a fee, or even discontinue the service, etc.).

However, at this point in time, we are please to offer it free and have no plans to make it a paid directory. We ask that all members/users “play nice”: please do not spam it. We also ask that you only list services that directly relate to buying and managing rental properties.

We welcome your feedback. You can visit the ManageRentalProperty.com Business Directory at http://managerentalproperty.com/business-directory/

LBI Poll: Do you use a property manager?

LBI.MRP — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 12:30:49 +0000

Having been involved in landlording for over a decade, the topic of whether to use a property manager has been a question that I have not only been asked advice on… but wrestled with myself. Landlord Business Insider will be doing a series of upcoming posts on property management and I wanted to start things of with a “perpetual” poll that simply asks the question…

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

So please answer this short poll. (Note: IF you use a property manager for some of your properties and manage some of them yourself, you can check both boxes.)

Also feel free to chime in or rage a debate in the comments section on why you prefer one way over the other. We look forward to your participation and stirring up discussion on the “best practices” for landlords to manage their properties… after all, this site is ManageRentalProperty.com!

Pet friendly buildings and top 5 pets renters choose…

LBI.MRP — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 13:00:43 +0000

Nice article on the demand for pet friendly rental housing. If you you haven’t taken our poll on whether you rent to tenants that have pets, you can do so here: http://managerentalproperty.com/polls/ (Answer the survey and you can see what other landlords, who have taken the poll, do at their properties!)

Apartments.com Finds Furry Friends Are A Factor In Where Renters Live (via PR Newswire)

CHICAGO, July 26, 2012 /PRNewswire/ – Summer is one of the most popular times of the year for people to bring home a new pet, and renters are among this pack of pet lovers. A survey conducted by Apartments.com found 43 percent of respondents are current pet owners, with more than a quarter planning…

So what do you do? Join our Forum and start or participate in a discussion. Or, if you you haven’t taken our poll on whether you rent to tenants that have pets, you can do so here: http://managerentalproperty.com/polls/

College town rentals… Investing where your kids go to college

LBI.MRP — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 11:43:07 +0000

One area in which landlords can specialize is in the student rental housing market. It can be profitable, but also is often more intensive in maintenance issues and leasing. However, if your child is also going to college, it may be a way to find not only suitable housing for your student, but also a way to own a rental property. The article below discusses some of these issues and more, however, we would also caution that even in this real estate sector holding on for the long term is an essential mindset. If your student graduates or leaves that college area and the real estate market is in a decline… you may find yourself holding onto that real estate investment for a prolonged period of time or facing the prospect of taking a potentially sizable loss…

-LBI

Back To School Real Estate Rules – College Towns Primed For 2012 Investors (via PR Newswire)

CAMPBELL, Calif., Aug. 21, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — As parents across the country prepare to send their college-bound students to school this fall, many quickly find housing can be a huge financial undertaking. Some are now considering buying homes for their students to live in with classmates, while other…

Selling you investment property vacant… to do or not to do, that is the question.

LBI.MRP — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 12:34:35 +0000

Here’s one view on the best way to sell you rental property from a real estate agent who deals with investment properties. What do you think?

Selling your investment property for top dollar in any market (via WHF Blog)

Best way to sell your Rental Property for the most money! If you are a property investor, owning a rental property, chances are that at some point you will want to ‘flip’ one or more of your properties. This may hold especially true in a hot real estate market, but can also be true for other…

Is “smaller” the new answer for NY apartment housing demand?

LBI.MRP — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 14:11:43 +0000

If this pilot housing project takes off, Ikea will probably be very happy. If you look across the globe, some of the large cities in Japan and China have had success with variations of the “micro” apartment concept…

New York City mayor promotes ‘micro’ apartments (via AFP)

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg launched a tender for the construction of “micro-apartments” in the Big Apple, where rents are exorbitant and the number of singles is on the rise. A pilot project slated for construction in Manhattan’s Kips Bay section will feature rental apartments ranging from…

Apartment rents are increasing… is your rental income going up?

LBI.MRP — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 13:22:08 +0000

Apartment rents rise at highest rate since 2007: Reis | Reuters (via Wall Street Examiner)

Renting an apartment in the U.S. became even more expensive during the second quarter, as vacancies set a new 10-year low and rents rose at a pace not seen since before the financial crisis, according to real estate research firm Reis Inc. The average U.S. vacancy rate of 4.7 percent was the lowest…

Still Cheaper to Rent… Will Housing Prices Tumble Further?

LBI.MRP — Fri, 25 May 2012 11:17:59 +0000

Like any other business venture, the real estate market can be a boon or a bane to those who decide to become rental property owners. From a landlording perspective, the increase in renters COULD be a good thing by helping keep vacancy rates low. However, from the equity aspect of the buildings that you own… housing market prices may be eroding your investment…

Don’t Believe What They Say: Home Prices Are High Compared To Rents (via http://mortgagespectator.com)

Despite growing consensus that it is now cheaper to buy a home than rent one, Gary Shilling, president of A. Gary Shilling & Co. says by previous standards home prices are still high relative to rents.In his latest editorial in The Wall Street Journal, Shilling writes that while home prices have fallen…