Landlord Tips
	Do not get sentimental over the holidays when it comes to collecting your rent. You are not doing your tenant a favor by allowing the rent to get in arrears. If your tenant has an income, he or she can pay the rent. Send an eviction notice if you have not received the rent in the first three days of the month.

The Most Dangerous Dog Breeds

You can be sued if a dog bites or otherwise harms a visitor to or tenant at your property. This liability can be covered under an umbrella insurance policy for bodily harm to others. The list of dangerous dog breeds according to Geico Insurance as shared by one of MrLandlord.com contributors are: Akita Alaskan Malamute American Staffordshire Terrier Bull Mastiff Chow Chow Doberman Pinscher Great Dane Husky Pit Bull Presa Canario Rottweiler Staffordshire Bull Terrier Wolf Hybrid   Call your property insurance agent, and ask if your property is protected from dog bites under your current liability insurance policy.

The Top Five Mistakes That First Time Homeowners Make

Buying your first home is stimulating, and full of hope. It is also the most expensive purchase you will make besides your first car. A considerable amount of thought should be put into your first home purchase before you hire a real estate broker. With some thoughtful investigation, here are some mistakes you can avoid before buying your first home.   1.         Be Clear About The Kind of House You Want. Make a list of those attributes that are important to you. For example, do you want porches, a fireplace, a large back yard, or central air conditioning? If you do not know what you want, the broker will show you what he has available. This may not necessarily be the type of home you are seeking, and it will waste both your time and that of the broker.   Decide if you want a single-family home, or one with tenants. If you buy a rental income house, how much of a landlord do you want to be? Will you buy a two-family or a three-family house?  Calculate how much monthly rental income you will need to help pay the mortgage. Resist the efforts of your bank or real estate broker to buy a more expensive house than you can afford. Resolve to stick to your own priorities in a home.   2.      Get Pre-Qualified for Your Mortgage. The preferred agency should be your bank or mortgage entity rather than your real estate broker’s finance company. Your broker will try to commit you to as much house as you think you can afford. A bank in turn, will want to make sure you can afford a house for the long term. Regardless of how much house you are told you have the funds for, always decide to get a house for a few thousand dollars less than what you are told you can afford. Think of your first house as a starter home. You want a house that you can live in comfortably for at least the next five to ten years.   3.      Have More Money Than Just the Down Payment. Do not spend every dime of your life savings on the down payment. There will always be something you will need to have repaired or replaced after you purchase your home. You need to have a reserve of money for emergencies. The hot water heater may go six months after your purchase. You may decide to remove the wallpaper in several bedrooms and paint them. Unless you were able to obtain warranties or written guarantees to repair or replace specific items up to a certain period of time, in the first year, you will have to come out of your pocket to take care of miscellaneous repairs.   4.      Have the Home Inspected By a Professional. This is not the time to have your friend who owns a few buildings look over the house you plan to buy. You need to hire someone certified to inspect real estate, a person who knows what to look for. The inspector will be able to determine if the house has termites, if the heating system or pipes are in bad condition, or other conditions not noticeable by the naked or unprofessional eye. An official home inspection will put the seller and broker on notice that you plan to buy a house in good condition.   5.      Do Not Let Fear Rule Your Decisions. You finally find a house you love. You love the house, the street, and the neighborhood. The real estate broker is very positive about the condition of the house, and talks about the ability of the property to increase in value. At the same time, the broker tells you there are several interested parties that also like the house. Perhaps if you offered a little more than the asking price, you could get a leg up on the competition.   Remind yourself of your initial goals for a house. Review your list of financial priorities. Is the broker working for you, or for the seller of the house? Depending on which person he or she represents, paying more for the house may only be in the broker’s best interest.   You cannot be afraid to lose a house just because you have been looking for a long time, and you are afraid the seller will pick someone else’s bid over yours. Especially if raising your bid will put your outside of your pre-determined, affordable monthly mortgage payments.     Avoid these five mistakes, and it could save you thousands of dollars in unanticipated expenses or losses.

How to Rent Your Apartment in a Highly Competitive Market

The real estate market has risen to the point that such an investment is not a guarantee of an increase in value. Rental income properties have the potential to help ride out an escalating real estate economy. Rents can be lowered and increased as building and apartment values decrease or become more financially competitive.   Value for the dollar is on everyone’s mind. The primary goal of rental income is to keep an apartment occupied on a long-term, paying basis. If you treat a prospective tenant like you are courting her business, this is one way to set yourself and your property apart from other landlords. Gone are the days where you have an open house, and wait for the throng of people running to rent it out. Like competing furniture and car stores, you must emphasize why your vacancy is the best bargain for the amount of rent charged. You have to accent what is different from your apartment and others on the street or community.   You can charge whatever you believe the apartment is worth for rent. It doesn’t always mean you will get an applicant who is willing to pay that amount. Especially if the unit is in a neighborhood where rents are considerably lower. So to be competitive, you must increase the value of the apartment in the tenants’ eyes. You must answer the question every rental applicant wants to know. Why should I rent this apartment from you?   Small additions or changes to your apartment could convince a rental candidate that you care about your property and its tenants. Investing a few hundred dollars could provide you with a stable, long-standing tenant who loves the apartment, and brags about the amenities provided.   Here are a few suggestions of amenities that could make your apartment more attractive than your competitors. A few dollars spent could give your apartment years of advantage.   Before you consider renting out your apartment, take an honest look at the property. It is maintained in a way that is attractive to prospective tenants? Does it invoke curiosity to see what is inside the building? Advertise your property by keeping it in top shape, and establish an attractive curb appeal reputation.   In an environment where homeowners are not allowing tenants to smoke in their apartment, giving permission to a tenant to have a dog or cat may soon be an amenity. To ensure the family pet will not despoil the property, sign a pet clause addendum to the lease.   Ceiling fans in the living room and master bedroom will add ambiance as well as summer comfort. For less than $300, your tenant will feel good about paying a little extra rent.   For less than $100, plant perennial flowers that grow every year like tulips, zinnias, and daffodils, and colorful shrubs like dogwood or hibiscus around the property.  If you find a tenant that loves to garden, you will have great curb appeal and a gardener for many years.   Flat, white paint is out. When you repaint your vacancy, use a pastel, eggshell finish.  Paint the walls with colors such as off-white, light beige or cream. Tenants like to think you put thought into marketing the apartment, that you don’t treat your units in assembly line fashion.   If you have wood floors, have them treated between every vacancy. A sanded, refinished wood floor is much better than an old, unevenly colored waxed one.   If you want to be competitive, you will have to think out of the box to what attracts tenants. In particular, the kind of tenants that can and are willing to pay your rent. And, appreciates the financial investments you have made to ensure the tenant’s comfort and retention.