Selling Your House As Countrywide Property: Tips for Homeowners

 

Selling Your House As Countrywide Property: Tips for Homeowners

As you plan to sell your property, preparing is the best way to do first. In preparing your property for a sell, take a look at your property with the eyes of buyers. What is your first impression? What part of the house needs renovation? In the garden, what needs to be repaired? When a property for investment requires repairs, organizations and decoration it can add extra income to your property market. The following paragraphs are some of the important tips to help you sell your property in the quick way.

Remove your emotions from your property. Keep in mind that you are about to sell your property with a goal of earning money. Sometimes, selling your property seems hard as it became part of your life. And as you prepare your home for sale, you will have to send away your personal necessities such as photos and other valuable things for you.

Remove clutter and reorganize. Cleaning your property for sale is a vital way as it will assure that your property will look attractive in the eyes of buyers. You must clean your house from top to bottom including the appliances. Reorganize the closets and make sure that you remove your personal belongings. Another important factor for buyers is space especially when it comes to storage. If you are using extra room for storage, remove the mess and ensure the space is well furnished.

Furnish your empty rooms and properties. Remember that people are looking for a home and not for a house. If your rooms are empty, it will be difficult for buyers to imagine the space. Empty large rooms seem spacious and empty small rooms seem smaller. Strange-shaped rooms with odd designs make it hard for buyers to imagine how to arrange the room. Thus, staging your empty room with correct appliances and furniture is important to ensure that they will be able to see living in the space.

Don't make your house too unique. Keep your house décor simple yet modern with neutral wall colors. Put accessories that are based on the buyers' needs and wants.

Luxury Bedroom Furniture- Majestic Bedroom

The first furniture set my husband and I looked to buy when we were getting married was nice bedroom furniture. We decided that since our bedroom was a place where we would spend a lot of time, considering people sleep about a third of their lives away, we wanted comfortable and stylish bedroom furniture which would last us a long time. Thinking that this was going to be a large purchase, we planned to look around a lot and consider all of our options before we would make the purchase. We looked at antique furniture, discount furniture, traditional furniture stores, and American made North Carolina furniture as well.

• The Living Room Everyone Wants
• Decorate Living Room The Contemporary Way
• Modern Inspirational Chinese Interior Design
• Luxury Interior Design Gold Palatial House

• The Living Room Everyone Wants
• Decorate Living Room The Contemporary Way
• Modern Inspirational Chinese Interior Design
• Luxury Interior Design Gold Palatial House

• The Living Room Everyone Wants
• Decorate Living Room The Contemporary Way
• Modern Inspirational Chinese Interior Design
• Luxury Interior Design Gold Palatial House

In our quest for just the right bedroom furniture set, we considered whether we wanted to go with a solid wood or a more modern lacquer or painted look. For our needs, we decided on hardwood, specifically something made of cherry wood, and began our search looking for just the right bedroom furniture set.

The first consideration we had while selecting our bedroom furniture set was the quality of its manufacture. We were looking for a bedroom set to last our lifetime and not something made of particle board which we would have to replace in a few years. While composite wood products are fine for some things, we wanted well-made, hardwood furniture which would last for generations. For this quality, we were prepared to shell out a decent chunk of money if we had to.

• The Living Room Everyone Wants
• Decorate Living Room The Contemporary Way
• Modern Inspirational Chinese Interior Design
• Luxury Interior Design Gold Palatial House

• The Living Room Everyone Wants
• Decorate Living Room The Contemporary Way
• Modern Inspirational Chinese Interior Design
• Luxury Interior Design Gold Palatial House

Like many people do, we went to our local North Carolina furniture stores and walked around, felt the furniture with our hands, and sat on the beds and chairs. We were trying to get an idea of which pieces we would want and which would fit into our rather small apartment bedroom. Our first choice was a large cherry wood four poster bed, large dresser and two night stands. We took some measurements and went back to our apartment to check to see if everything would fit. Alas, our potential bedroom furniture set was perfect for us; however, it was not quite so perfect for our small space.

After this short set-back, we went out again looking for some similar bedroom furniture which would fit in our apartment-sized bedroom, but would be something we could add more pieces to as we bought our first home in a couple years. We found a similar set, by the same furniture manufacturer, and wrote down the model numbers and decided to think over our purchase after we returned home.

• The Living Room Everyone Wants
• Decorate Living Room The Contemporary Way
• Modern Inspirational Chinese Interior Design
• Luxury Interior Design Gold Palatial House

• The Living Room Everyone Wants
• Decorate Living Room The Contemporary Way
• Modern Inspirational Chinese Interior Design
• Luxury Interior Design Gold Palatial House

At home, we went on the Internet to see what we could find about the specific manufacturer we had selected. Online we found that this maker had a great reputation and people who owned their furniture were happy that they had purchased it. This made us feel like we were making a good decision.

While reading about our potential bedroom set online, we stumbled upon a website which sold the same set, and it was selling for a nice discount in price. Even with shipping, we were able to buy our bedroom furniture from this online discount furniture store for less than the local store.

 
luxury bedroom wardrobe with ornaments and gold holding

 
Majestic Bedroom Royal luxury bedroom writing desk expensive wood and crafts Woods and Interior Design

When you are in the market for your own furniture you will want to take into consideration your budget, the style you like, and what options you have for making the best purchase. The easiest way to do this is to touch and feel the furniture locally, and then look online to see what's out there and how much the costs are. You might be pleasantly surprised, as we were, and get a great deal!

Handcrafted techniques and design. Constructed with genuine inlays and wood veneers throughout the structure of this fine and elegant bedroom collection. Decorated with rich gold highlights. The name says it all: The Majestic Bedroom - true to form of the ancient Europe. 

Majestic Bedroom from www.luxuryfurnitureandlighting.com

• The Living Room Everyone Wants
• Decorate Living Room The Contemporary Way
• Modern Inspirational Chinese Interior Design

Green Property Developers Make Higher Profits

 

Green Property Developers Make Higher Profits

 

Today, land developers are turning to environmentally friendly methods to keep construction costs down and still provide quality construction.. This technique is referred to as conservation land development. Conservation land development is a combination of developing the land while conserving and protecting natural resources yet still generating revenues. Based upon the increase of environmental awareness in the past decade, land development is changing. There are cost saving methods that can be used in land development that still allow for building affordable environmentally friends properties.

A few suggestions on ways to achieve environmental friendly properties are as follows:

Cleaning and Grading

Developers are challenged today with rising costs to clear and dispose of debris. One way to reduce landscaping costs is to preserve as much of the natural area of the land as possible. Local ordinances were created to make more functional and attractive communities. However by doing this, community regulations sometimes create environmental problems. An example is strict limitations on street slopes, driveways and finished lots with limited options to clear and regrade parcels. One way to preserve natural areas is to find ways to design and build properties on slopes with steep grades. It is recommended to follow the natural contours of the land as much as possible. Your architect or engineer will recommend conservation methods for your particular project. For instance, in home development, minimizing the disturbance of the land is the best solution while combing with other approaches such as clustering. By using the clustering technique, you get higher density in a smaller area of the parcel of land. The rest of the site can be left in its natural state. Sometimes it can be more productive to dedicate uncleared land to be used as a park or a permanent open space. Grading can contribute to runoff on a site. Following simple practices to reduce runoff such as having water flow across grass or natural areas is an alternative option. Again this is where your development teams' expertise comes into play.

Storm Water Management:

Today developers need to be concerned with the quality of water leaving a site as well as how to get the water off the site without causing downstream flooding. There are several cost effective approaches to developing land that limit storm water runoff and reduce pollutants. The first step is to minimize the amount of the runoff area. This can be done by eliminating sidewalks on one or both sides of streets, using non-paved driveways, running roof drains to natural swales or grassy areas and making sure that the width of streets are minimized. However, sometimes communities have ordinances that require excessively wide streets. You may be able to negotiate changes.

Waste Management:

Using alternative methods other than conventional sewer or on site disposals is recommended whenever possible. Developers should balance their decisions against buyers' demand and needs. The other benefits to land conservation are you may receive industry or public recognition for your conservation efforts which gives you increased market exposure. Land conservation and natural preservation are influencing the way properties are being developed today more than ever. Finding innovative methods of land conservation is extremely important to the development process.

A great resource for understanding the property development process is Property Development Source. From real estate due diligence checklists and determining land feasiblity, to hiring your team and estimating the costs and value of a project, property development source will teach you all you need to know.

Background Checks for Property Managers

 

Background Checks for Property Managers

 

Property managers are entrusted by their employers to rent only to tenants who are the most likely to respect the owner's property and pay their rent on time. Their main job is to keep the rental property filled to capacity to earn maximum income for the owner. If you are a property manager, you need to know that the best way to do this is to require background checks on prospective tenants. Background checks can provide a great deal of information that you could not possibly know without one. An example of information that a background check can provide is; social security number check, date of birth check, evictions, liens and address verification. An applicant for rental property who is trying to prevent you from seeing their actual personal information may not even give you this basic information in its true form, but they may alter their information.

As a property manager, you may feel somewhat limited in making sure that those you rent to will make good tenants. Background checks can ease your mind, knowing that you have taken every possible step to ensure that you have rented to the most qualified tenants. With a background check, you can find out if the renter has any criminal record, as well as their rental and credit histories. Chances are that you may make a very wrong choice, if you were to rent to a sex offender or felon, yet if this information is discovered before the lease is signed, you then have a better gauge of this tenant. If you skip the background screening and this did happen, the consequences could become a nightmare for you as the property manager. The fallout of a bad tenant we all know. If you have hired a company to do a background check on all tenants, you are being more responsible, and have a stronger assurance that you have made a more informed decision

As a manager, the first thing that probably comes to mind is the extra expense that background screening will cost you. Many property managers and landlords charge an application fee to cover the cost of screening. The amount of the fee depends on how much information you need to gain. In the large scope of renting or leasing, the Fee for tenant checks is nominal. In my research you can find tenant checks for a very low investment. A background check will cost, however the cost will be less than 1% of the cost to evict a bad tenant.

If you are a property manager for commercial buildings, you can still hire a company to do a background check on the business that you might rent to. This is a commercial check, and is just as important as a check on individuals renting a one bedroom apartment. A commercial background check will let you know the credit standing of a small business so you can decide if it will be a risk to lease the property to them. You will be able to discover the company's number of employees, annual sales, and information about the business owners.

In conclusion, 15 years ago, Tenant checks or background checks were harder to come by and certainly more expensive than today. In 2010, the way to security is being secure from day one. Spend a little and save a fortune with proper types of information. For a few dollars, you can sleep better at night, and save yourself time and money by doing a simple background screen.

How to Develop a Rehab Strategy for Your Buy to Rent Property

 

How to Develop a Rehab Strategy for Your Buy to Rent Property

 

Buy to rent homes can need a lot of work and depending on your resources, you may need to do most of the work yourself. When determining your rehab strategy it is important to prioritize the tasks needed to get the property cash flowing as soon as possible.

After assessing the list of projects, your mission is to rank them in order of importance with regards to making the home safe and habitable for your tenants. Plumbing and electrical issues need to be high on the priority list and should be taken care of by professionals unless you are well versed in these areas.

1. Take care of infrastructure based repairs first will allow you to make your repairs without needing to worry about the cosmetic issues that can come with cutting open walls and ceilings, because these areas will be addressed later in your priority list.

If the home has "good bones" and just needs to be dressed up with new paint and cosmetic repairs, your priorities need to be focused on the kitchen and bathrooms to ensure they are in tip top shape before bringing your first tenant through the home.

2. Once you have resolved the infrastructure repairs, the next task is to develop a plan to enhance curb appeal of the home. You want to make sure that the tenant's first impression when the walk up to the property is positive. Scrape and paint from the gutters, add new plants in the flower bed and dress up the home to become warm and inviting to whoever walks to the front door.

3. Lastly, you can address small cosmetic repairs once the big projects are done. Some of these might include, adding lights and ceiling fans, wall plate covers and new door handles. Small cosmetic adjustments can add a final touch to the home for your new tenant.

In summary, prioritizing your project list for your new buy to rent home can allow you to market your home and fill the vacancy quickly so you can begin generating revenue from your new property.

Three Qualities of Excellent Property Management

 

Three Qualities of Excellent Property Management

 

Whether you own a single executive office building or a string of apartment buildings, you want to make sure you are getting the best possible return on your investment at all times. Smart real estate investors use a property management service to handle the upkeep on their properties as well as keep them filled with quality tenants. Like anything else, not all property management companies are created equal. So here are three qualities to look for to make sure you're getting the most for your money.

1. Focus on Occupancy: The bottom line is you need to make payments to the bank and simply cannot afford to have offices or rentals lie vacant for prolonged periods of time. An excellent team will employ various strategies and market your property on the right venues to ensure high occupancy rates. A service understands that quality is as important as quantity and will do everything possible to draw in desirable tenants.

2. Impeccable Building and Grounds Maintenance: If you want tenants to become long-term tenants, the buildings and grounds on your property must be well-kept and made to look as attractive as possible year-round. The best property management teams contract only with quality and dependable services and repair providers so you can be sure that everything will be ship-shape at all times.

3. Excellent Customer Service: You shouldn't have to worry about the daily ins and outs of operating your properties; after all, that's what you hire a management team for! Monthly financial statements, timely rent collections, annual reports and other customer service essentials are a must.

If your current management team is simply not cutting in with one or more of the above, it may be time to look for a new one. After all, your real estate investment is too important to leave to chance

How to Define Your Target Market for Your Buy to Rent Property

How to Define Your Target Market for Your Buy to Rent Property

Buying to rent is a long term strategy that real estate investors use to create annuity income and eventual long term wealth. Buying a home with the intent to renting it out for positive cash flow is a very successful business model that can help replace your full time income over time.

Unfortunately, managing a rental property can be difficult. Before buying your first property, it is important to accept the fact that you will be dealing with various personalities and situations that may be challenging to say the least.

Managing rental real estate is not for everyone, but generating positive cash flow can make a huge difference in your attitude in dealing with the issues that come with the owning rentals.

Developing sound marketing practices can keep your property full and minimize vacancies. Remember that any empty rental is a liability and can easily suck up your profits if not marketed effectively. Advertising for tenants can be difficult in a market saturated by rentals and being creative can be the difference to getting a tenant or losing them to your competition.

1. Students and Professors - If you are near a college or university, then your target might include students or professors that teach at the local college. Student housing can be difficult to manage unless you are nearby to deal with parties and other "tenant issues" that come with renting to students. Professors may be a better target if your rental is more upscale and requires a more mature tenant.

2. If your home resides in a very well known school district, a family may be a good choice to target. Utilizing the district as a key benefit, may also allow you to fetch a bit higher rent base.

3. Vacation homes can bring more transient tenants, but if your home is in an area that is desirable for vacationers, your strategy may target this audience for specific times of the year. Long term tenants may also be interested in these types of homes if they work in the industry.

In summary, your target market can determine how you market your buy to rent property and the ultimate goal is to generate a pipeline of prospects that you can select from when you need to fill a vacancy. The more interest you have the more selective you can be.

 

Property Background Searches

 

Property background searches can be performed efficiently and effectively on the Internet. It is the responsibility of the county office to keep information about the properties. You can either contact the county office directly for getting information about properties or you can find any online resource which provides property records. Some county offices also provide online resources for the assistance of people who need to know about properties. You should try to find a resource offered by the county office and give priority to using it. If you don't find this kind of resource then you can look for any other resource.

You would require doing property background search when you would have to get any property. The property background records would tell you about the previous owners of the property. The detailed information on each owner would be provided. You would also find the contact information of each owner. It means that you can contact any ex owner in order to get to know about the property. Moreover the details of the property agreement between different owners would also be provided by the online resources. The details of the agreements would tell you whether the deal between different owners of the property was made legal or there was something wrong with it. It is necessary to make sure that property was lawfully transferred to the existing owner of the property.

A property background search would also give you the information about the tax payments made in past. You would be able to get to know about when a payment was made and what the amount was. These tax details would tell you about the amount of tax that you would have to pay after the acquisition of the property. Getting this kind of information would tell you whether you can afford to pay that tax amount or not. Furthermore, the tax details would also tell you how much tax amount is still pending and need to be paid. If there are pending taxes then you can not buy the property until the current owner of the property clears the amount.

By performing a property background search, you would also come to know how many owners were changed in previous few years. Majority of the online resources would give information about previous twenty years. However, this duration may vary from one resource to another. You can choose any resource by considering your requirements.

Pune Developers Cash in on Trendy Homes

Pune Developers Cash in on Trendy Homes

India's premier IT-city, Pune, is bracing up its infrastructure to keep up with the pace of the rapid development happening in the city. Civic authorities along with private developers are building various parts of the city.

Some of the prominent real estate developers operating in Pune are Gera Developers, GK Developers, Mutha Group, Sanjay Developers, Pride Purple group, AV Bhat & Co, Amit enterprises, Samarthshree Promoters & Developers, Bhujbal Brothers Construction Co, Achlare Associates, Aditya Builders among others. However, an interesting trend has come into the picture. Most of the new developments are happening on the city limits, thus uplifting the profile of the peripheral areas of the city.

The main areas of growth are Pune-Satara Road, Baner Raod, Kothrud, Bahavani Peth, Talegaon among other regions. One reason for choosing peripheral areas is that spacious land banks are available at reasonable prices. Also the transport corridors, like the Baner Road and the Pune-Satara Road, are more active than before. The private builders see it as a good investment opportunity.

The Mutha Group, one of the most active property builders, has its projects all over the place. It has six projects in Salisbury Park, three projects in Bhavani Peth and Viman Nagar each, two projects in Kothrud, and projects in Dhanukar Colony, Narayan Peth and Gultekadi.

Another prominent real estate builder, Gera Developers, has three projects, namely Greensville SkyVillas, Emerald City and Regent Park in Kothrud. Regents Park is being touted to be the first child friendly city in India where all the child-friendly amenities will be developed. The city would have schools, museums, hobby centers, and amusement parks with in city itself.

New developers are binging in new trends in the market. Facilities like eco homes, child friendly homes, wi-fi homes are catching the users' fancy. All these developments make Pune property market very active and a trend setter for the rest of the country's real estate segment.

How To Flip A House

How To Flip A House

With the growing popularity of shows about flipping houses on TLC and Bravo, the craze is getting larger. More and more people are deciding to take on the daunting task of renovating a house to possibly turn a profit in the end. However, many people jump into the project without knowing the proper steps to take to complete a successful flip.

One of the most important things to review before deciding to flip a house is financial stability. If individuals need to take various loans and mortgages on their own house, then this job venture may not be for them. Since flipping a house takes a large chunk of personal time, individuals should be flexible and willing to work long hours in order to get the job done. Timing is everything in this business, and individuals must pick the right time for them in order to have a successful experience. Although this is a large investment and the risks are high, there is great potential to make money and have a profitable career for many years.

After deciding they are able to make the required commitment, the individuals should turn their heads to the real estate market and see if its conditions are in a place that will allow for a successful flip. An ideal market would be after an inflated market goes down and properties are at their lowest prices. For those people who are experienced in the business, this is the time they purchase several properties at once, in order to make the most profit possible. Of course, that practice is not for beginners and could lead to serious financial problems. It is a good idea to consult with a real estate agent before purchasing a property in order to get an inside look at the market.

There are two fees that most people flipping houses will be assessed. These fees are legal and lending, which come from lawyers and notaries who are required to write up contracts and other paperwork before a house can be flipped. Although the fees can go into the low thousands, the lack of hassle and knowledge that everything being done is legal is worth the cost and generally adds even more to the value of the property.

Once individuals have decided they are financially and physically able to begin the process of flipping a house, then they must lay out a clear plan with a start and end date. Once this is finished and they have researched everything thoroughly, then they may begin the search for the perfect property to flip. Individuals should have a certain area in mind where they want to purchase a property, and they should watch several properties before deciding on one. Flippers should strive to purchase a property at a price that will allow them to break even if they are forced to sell unexpectedly.

Once a house has been selected and purchased, it is time to take extra precautions before beginning the flip. First, a professional inspector should go through the house and point out everything that needs to be fixed to ensure the house is safe. The inspector can also provide expert advice on which renovations would garner the most profit. After the initial inspections, the renovations can begin.

The last big decision is whether they are going to hire others to do the renovations or if they will tackle the job themselves. Many individuals choose to do some of the work themselves to save money but end up losing more because of mistakes and lack of experience. It is a general rule to hire a professional to do any labor that the flippers have not successfully completed before. In some cases, professional flippers will find a team of workers to join them and work on each of their flips, thus establishing a valuable working relationship. Once the renovations are complete the flippers should choose the market they are going to target in order to sell the house the fastest. Many people have open houses or hire realtors to bring in potential buyers, while others choose to sell the property themselves. Either way is fine, but it is important to have a clear plan for the house to sell.

If individuals take the proper steps in choosing and purchasing a property and renovate it in a smart way, they will be on their way to making large profits. Although the task can seem daunting, many individuals who have learned the basics have gone on to make millions flipping houses. The risk is high and the stress level even higher, but the market is filled with possible properties just waiting to be turned from a sub par house into a beautiful home.

Flipping Houses Can Make You A Fortune

Flipping Houses Can Make You A Fortune

Even in today's current economic condition, people can still make a fortune flipping houses. A while back everyone wanted to get into this market, but when the economy took a downturn people slowed down on house flipping. There is still a fortune to be made with real estate investing creative real estate flipping houses. The fact that house values have fallen means that you can purchase a home for much less money and make even bigger profits than you could before the economy dropped.

How do people make money investing in real estate? They purchase homes below market value. These can be foreclosed homes, quick sale homes, or homes that are in bad need of repair. The investors fix up the house on a shoestring budget, and then sell the home for a lot more than they paid for it. Something as simple as new paint, new carpet, and a little landscaping can add tens of thousands of dollars in profits.

A person wanting to get into real estate investing and house flipping should be creative and money driven. Look for a house that needs a good scrub down and cosmetic work. Be prepared to get your hands dirty fixing the place up, because the more work you are able to do on the home the less you have to pay a contractor. Set a time frame, and write down a time line on paper. Try to reach ever goal ahead of schedule, and get the house back on the market as soon as possible. Each and every month that the house is still in your possession is money you are paying towards the mortgage and taxes. The faster you can fix it up and sell it, the faster you have your house flipping profits.

Many people invest in real estate as their only form of income. They are good at what they do, and they don't mind putting in a little effort to flip a house. Some people treat real estate investment as a side hobby, and flip one or two houses a year. Each person needs to decide how much time they can invest, and even if house flipping is right for them. The potential to make millions of dollars per year is there in this field.

Your Investment Property Loan Options

 Investment Property Loan Options

 

If you don't have sufficient funds to sustain your investment property, you can still have an opportunity to get an investment property loan. Your money may not be sufficient for an investment fund and you may need a big sum to add some capital to buy a real estate property. You may be able to pay for a down payment but the rest can be provided through an investment property loan. If this is the road you would want to take, then its time to check at different alternatives available for you. Here are the few examples that you can look into:

1. The Flexible Interest Only Loan

An interest only loan is one alternative you can take to fulfil your monetary needs. This is specially applicable for properties that you will see to have a huge potential. With this kind of investment property loan, you will just be paying for the interest as part of you payment each month. Needless to say, there is no need to make payments for the principal sum just yet. It is merely at the end of the term that you will be required to pay the full amount of the loan.

The core benefit of this loan is flexibility that you can have on a monthly basis. If you don't have cash at the time, you only have to pay off the minimum interest due and you will be good to go. On the other hand, if you have some cash, you can start paying extra for the principal balance. So if you think that this kind of set up will work well for you, then you should go for it.

2. The Reliable Fixed Payment Loan

Another loan opportunity that you may consider is the fixed payment loan, from a typical lender. As usual, an exact amount is set to be paid monthly until the full loan is paid off. This one gives you enough stability to make room for other endeavors. The good thing about this is that, not only will you have a fixed payment, but you will also be able to pay to the loan balance. The difference between this sort of loan and the "interest only" is that your payment every month can help you pay off your debt by the end of the term. While "interest only" will require you to pay off the lump sum at the end in order to be done with the loan.

3. The Amiable Private Loan

This one is provided by a private investor and this is one more kind of investment property loan that you can look into. There are individuals that have a lot of extra resources and they use it to fund the other investors. Some of them may even take interest in helping you buy an investment property. Considering that they work on their own, you will discover them easier to deal than a bank. They are flexible and easier to work with that's why there are a lot of people who are drawn to getting a private loan.

The Worst Mistake You Can Make When You Apply to Rent a Home

A whole new class of people has become renters and potential renters in America during the last three years.

Who? Home owners who were left by the side of the road by Runaway Foreclosures.For tens of thousands of the new renters, the process of looking to get permission to live in a house owned by someone else is daunting. What to say, how much to reveal of events they would like to forget.

As a landlord who has talked to far too many of these people who should have still been in their homes enjoying life, my answer is simply be yourself and tell the truth and do not give the impression that everything is someone else's fault.

Landlords often have the potential to be people too. And, anyone of them that you would like to be associated for the next year or two or more, understands what has happened in the real estate market, needs to rent their properties and will be willing to work with someone who appears willing to be a good partner.

I recently got a call from a man looking to rent one of our houses. After some rapport building dialogue, right out of the pages of 911forlandlords, he proceeded to tell me most of his life history. He was renting now. It wasn't his fault that he was not in his home any more. The bank was a crook.

He had water damage in the rental bath room. The landlord was not cooperative.

The landlord had come to fix the bathroom and had left the home without fixing anything after the tenant wife asked the landlord a few innocent questions. Landlord lacked communication skills.

Landlord had then sent him a notice that his lease had expired and he had 30 days to move. Obviously the landlord had broken the law and he was going to sue the landlord.

Let me compare this brief conversation with one had two weeks earlier.

The caller said she was calling on the house at 123 Main Street that she had seen listed on our web site. She said she had been served a three day notice to vacate. The reason was she had fallen behind in the rent six months ago, had worked out a payment schedule with the landlord. Had made all required payments under the agreement... She explained why they had fallen behind and took responsibility for falling behind. The landlord has sold the apartment building where she lived and the new landlord would not honor the previous agreement.

She said she had all the documentation. The agreement from the previous landlord and the three day notice to vacate and the current lease and proof of payments for the last year. She also told me more than two dozen landlords had already turned her down.

If these two applicants were used to illustrate the biggest mistake you can make the case, it would appear that the second person had failed to find a place to live because she told the truth and the first guy was simply obnoxious. But I think a second look and projecting into the future gives a totally different view.

In the first example, the tenant in his conversation took no responsibility for anything that had happened. I have seen and heard about some reeeeeally bad landlords, but few of them are always bad, all of the time. I would believe someone who always thought the landlords was scum, would probably think the same of me. And probably soon.

The second admitted mistakes. Which mostly makes her human. She claimed she had tried in a cooperative way to work the problem out and by admitting she had been repeatedly turned down made me believe she would be truthful about things in the futures and would strive to be cooperative with me.

I checked out here story. I never bothered to check on anything the first person said. (And I did not lie when I told him I would email him if I had a home in the future that would be right for him. My guess is I will not find anything, ever for a person who is always right and never has done something wrong.

In the current market, where almost everyone had major stress fractures in their credit history, the worst mistake you can make as a prospective tenant-or landlord-is to lie to the other person, realizing you will have to deal with them over a long period of time. A lie by the second prospect might have gotten her a home before she found me, if the landlord had failed to check out the application thoroughly.

But the truth is today it is pretty easy and cheap to check out an application.

So, she told the truth up front, some people said "no."

When she got to "yes" it was yes under the right conditions. She had not presented anyone else's bad actions as the reason for her need to move. She appeared to be responsible person who had had several bad things happen to her. Some her fault, and some not.

After my check, I believed she was honest, responsible and willing to work cooperatively in solving problems. Pretty good traits.

For landlords and tenants both, the best advice today is Never Lie, Take responsibility for what you have done. And, show that you are willing to listen and work with others.

It may take a little longer to find a home or a renter, but it should make the relationship longer and smoother.

Property Developer Incentives for Landlords Looking to Invest in New Build Property

 

Property Developer

 

Property market gloom throws up incentives for landlords

The gloom surrounding the housing market has caused many potential purchasers to hold back from buying, resulting in sales volumes contracting significantly. This is all hitting house builders hard depressing sales volumes and future profits. We only have to look at the way the share price of the large house builders such as Barratt Developments & Taylor Wimpey have fallen off a cliff to see how bad the market expects things to get.

Despite this property gloom, most builders resist selling at 'silly' prices far below the asking price. Instead they disguise any price reductions by providing incentives to property purchasers and investors.

I decided to have a look at the new housing market and see what types of incentives are available to property investors and where the best deals are in the market. We also ask the question should these incentives be enough to tempt adventurous property investors back into the buy to let market?

The incentives

In recent weeks, there have been reports of discounts on new homes of 30%-plus - particularly in urban centres supposedly crammed with high-rise apartments.

But actually finding bargains on this scale might be difficult. This analysis suggests most builders - at this stage - are simply allowing a bigger margin for haggling over price, and most will look seriously at offers within 5%-10% of the asking price.

However, most are reluctant to entertain price reductions instead preferring to entice purchasers and investor with a range of incentives.

Steven Lees of website Smart New Homes comments that: "there are a lot of incentives out there". The type of incentive will depend on the type of property being sold.
Examples of the incentives developers use are:

* Solicitors fees paid

* Deposit paid on exchange

* Stamp duty paid

* Furnishing packages

* Cash backs

* Discount sales

* Part exchange

* Rent guarantee

How to drive a hard bargain

Many developers will provide a package of these incentives. The other thing landlords need to appreciate is that the type and extent of the incentives being offered even by large national developers will depend on the locality & the specific development. This means in developments where the builders are struggling to sell or only have a few units remaining the incentives are particularly attractive and you as a property investor should be able to drive a hard bargain.

Property investors shouldn't be afraid of negotiating. It's a buyers market out there and developers are in some cases pretty desperate to shift units. The advantage an investor has over a home owner is that because they are not buying a home, they can play developers off against each other for their business. Landlords looking at buying in Reading for instance can express an interest with a number of builders and see which one is prepared to offer the landlord the most attractive incentive to complete.

David Bexon, managing director of Smart New Homes, says:

"House builders are being ever more creative with their incentives, and some of these offers can be a great benefit to buyers, such as 100 per cent part exchange, paying contributions to costs, and the inclusion of all sorts of extras."

The headline news is the return of part exchange, which had been out of favour for several years. The concept here is simple. The developer buys your old home, freeing you to move quickly and secure your new home and cutting out the need for an estate agent. This is obviously attractive in a slow market, particularly for those having trouble selling.

But to use part exchange you must be "upwardly mobile" - your new home must be considerably, usually at least 25 or 30 per cent, more valuable than your present one. The developer will want to sell your house quickly, and so the price on offer may be up to 10 per cent less than the full market value. On the other hand, there are no estate agents' fees, and many people are willing to sacrifice the chance of a few thousand pounds' extra profit to gain a fast, chain-free sale.

Part exchanges are aimed at owner occupiers. However, landlords with an investment property that they are finding difficult to let either because it is in the wrong location, requires updating or are having problems selling may want to consider this as an alternative to trying to sell up completely into a stagnant market. Landlords can potentially use a house builder's keenness to sell their new property on certain developments to unload their investment 'dog'.

The advantage to a property investor is that they get rid of a poor performing property investment relatively easily and replace it with a property that should be highly lettable. In some cases it may even be possible just to transfer a landlords existing buy-to-let mortgage from one property to another without incurring any financial penalties from the btl mortgage lender. A landlord should inquire about the specific details of the buy-to-let mortgage before committing to a property investment.

I would caution against buying an apartment in a city centre. Landlords should instead look at buying small houses in areas of high rental demand.

Guaranteeing a landlord's rent

The other sales incentive that is particularly appealing to a landlord is the rent guarantee. This scheme being run by a number of property developers will guarantee a landlords rental income for a fixed period of time. Taylor Wimpey which owns the Wimpey, Bryant Homes and Laing Home brands to name but a few is offering investors that purchase one of their properties a guaranteed gross rental income of 6% until 2012. This offer is only available on certain development and providing that the landlord uses the nominated letting agent and financial advisor. However, it does insulate a landlord against any void period and 6% gross yield is above the current average. However, a landlord will be hooked into using a nominated letting agent with their management charges likely to be in the order of 12-15% of the gross rent, the resulting net yield is likely to be significantly below this. A landlord purchasing a new property outside a city centre would generally expect it to let well and for their voids to be correspondingly low anyway.

An example of one of the properties being offered with large incentives is a scheme of micro apartments called 'ipads' built by Barratts. The development near Cardiff Bay is being offered with some hefty incentives implying that Barratts are struggling to sell them.

The evidence is that according to a recent report builders may even be succeeding in keeping property investors in the market place by offering these incentives. For the first time in five months, says the journal House Market Report (HMR), demand for new homes from home owners and first time buyers is lower than demand from property investors - though it was widely assumed property investors would quit the market for new homes as soon as prices began to weaken so there is some evidence of property investors being seduced by these deals.

My verdict

Property investors need to be very wary about diving in thinking they have secured a bargain. One thing that property developers won't tell prospective landlords is that new houses tend to be 10-15% more expensive than equivalent 2nd hand properties to start with. This means that any discount will need to be significant to make the figures stack up initially. There are advantages of buying new properties for a landlord, namely the property can be instantly let and should be attractive to professional tenants. However any landlord needs to make sure that they stay focused on the figures and make sure that they have done their investment calculations before committing to anything.

Tips on Real Estate Investing

Tips on Real Estate Investing

       Normally a down real estate market is a heaven for investors. There is a variety of properties available for sale and many homeowners are desperate to sell and negotiate a price that will get them out of high waters. In such market, there is also a good amount of foreclosures and pre-foreclosures available and investors can play their game with the scale tipping to their side. The present economy is a good testament of those conditions. However, despite the large amount of properties in the market, competition between investors is always there - every perceptive investor wants to snatch the best deals.

Sometimes, those deals may be easy to spot, and sometimes it will take more digging and market research. However, an investor must be ready to act and have the necessary capital or systems available to grab such opportunities if he/she wants to be successful in real estate investing.

One important issue is to know the area of your specialization as an investor because different types of properties require different capital and different management requirements. Are you specializing in single-family homes, condominiums, multi-family dwellings, raw land, apartments (1-4 families), farms, special building types such as abandoned churches or commercial buildings? Having this issue clear is the first step before looking into properties. It will help the investor focus on the type of property they want to invest in and not waste valuable time in properties that do not match their investment goals and budget, as well as their investment plan.

Investor can find properties in many ways. They can do drive by's in neighborhoods where there are plenty of homes for sales and interview with neighbors, even those that do not have a for sale sign, but may be thinking to sell in the future. Research the neighborhood well before committing to any deals.

Other ways are to advertise yourself as an investor willing to buy properties. This will give homeowners the chance of calling you first before they put a for sale sign and pay a commission to a real estate agent. This will cut out the competition as well.

Look for properties in newspaper, publications, and local flyers. For sale by owners are a possibility, especially to negotiate price in a desperate market. Sometimes, homeowners are willing to walk away from a property without making any money as long as they can satisfy their bank loan.

Do not discount people who are having large garage sales, most likely they are thinking of moving in the near future. Real estate investing requires considering all possibilities.

Chennai Property Developers

 

Chennai Property Developers

 

       Chennai is an important metro city in India. Located on the shores of the Bay of Bengal and it is home to the second largest natural beach in the world. Like all over in India, the real estate market is growing at fast pace in Chennai. With more and more industries and companies setting up their base in Chennai, demand for commercial as well as residential space is increasing very fast. To cash in on this demand, many real estate developers are launching their projects. These residential and commercial property projects are bringing huge fortune for the developers. Most of the leading builders in Chennai start their housing projects at few acres of land. They construct well panned and aesthetically beautiful housing societies.

Some of leading property developers in Chennai are:

Golden Homes Pvt. Ltd.

Golden Homes is among the well reputed property developers in Chennai. It is known for successfully completing ore than 100 housing projects all over the city. Some of the most prominent projects from this builder include Golden Fortune, Golden Altius, Golden Tassles, Golden Chime, Golden Kingsmead, Golden Quarter and others.

Appaswamy Real Estate:

The Appaswamy Group of Companies is appreciated in Chennai for developing various leading housing projects. The Group has diversified in many fields apart from property development. It deals in construction, Chit& Finance, Hoteliers and Generation of No-Conventional Power through Wind Mills. The Appaswamy Real Estate has created a niche for itself in the real estate market of Chennai on account of its quality of work, meeting deadlines, customer satisfaction and the affordable prices.

Jain Housing & Construction Ltd.:

Jain Housing and Constructions are known among the prominent builders in Chennai. They are known for offering quality work at affordable prices. They have built numerous projects and some of them are Jains Ankush Prakash, Jains Kences Retreat, Jain Amrit Kalash, Jains Anusruta, Jains La Gardenia, Jains Antariksha, Jains Eiffel Gardens, Jains Abhishek, Jains Anumita and Jains Green Acres and more.

About Berkeley Homes

About Berkeley Homes

 

Berkeley is the largest division within the Berkeley Group and one of the UK's best known developers of new homes, with a reputation for creating highly individual, high quality homes in carefully chosen locations, and customer service standards that result in consistently high levels of customer satisfaction.

Berkeley was founded in 1976 and its first homes were typically large executive style properties. Today the Berkeley portfolio reflects the aspirations of a much broader range of home buyers, encompassing medium to large-scale developments in towns, cities and the countryside, mixed use schemes, riverside apartments, refurbished historic buildings and urban loft spaces - as well as the traditional executive homes. The company has also gained considerable experience in creating sustainable communities within complex regeneration schemes and today all building takes place on brownfield sites.

The vision has been the same since the beginning: to be a dynamic and innovative company with a passionate commitment to provide superbly designed and built homes in excellent locations in London and the South East of England. We are also renowned for exemplary levels of Customer Service which makes the entire purchasing process enjoyable as well as efficient.

Steel Buildings, A Proficient Choice

 

Steel Buildings, A Proficient Choice

 

By the end of Second World War Steel buildings replaced the conventional structure buildings. At that time steel was cheaply accessible to the public. Durability and cost effectiveness are the two main attractions of Steel structures. These have widespread application in commercial, industrial and domestic purpose as they require only a low maintenance.

Steel buildings are coming in a variety of 20 shades which makes it more attractive. Regarding the texture also great innovations has taken place. You can even have a stone finishing look to your steel structure with the help of a light weighing compound called rigid rock. They use a variety of panels to create different texture looks to the steel/ metal building like stucco plus, stucco lite wall panels and the RW-5000 Embossed wall panel. The cost effectiveness will make them to be used in municipal projects like building community centers and recreation centers. These buildings will also be a considerable help to agriculturist and farmers. These economic buildings can be used for storing the agricultural products and can also be used as a shelter for domestication of animals. Garage for your car or for other household purposes can be build within less time using steel as the building material.

On a higher level, for government applications like the installation of fire stations, first aid post, ambulance garage etc this is a great choice. The market offers you pre-engineered kits for building a steel structure which will be a great help to build your dream project. The manufactures also provide steel erection manuals along with the pre-engineered kits. The builder will consider the application and suggestions of each customer and plan the building accordingly. For ensuring safety and integrity of the steel buildings constructed, there are certain laws mandated by the government of the respective locality. Request the help of a professional for building a steel building for your personal requirement.

The Most Common Pitfalls of Managing Projects

 

The Most Common Pitfalls of Managing Projects

 

Project Management is the field dealing with the study of the processes involved in the managing of projects, whether they are complex and of high value or simplistic and of a small budget. A project is an endeavor by a group of people working towards completing the project in the scheduled time and cost with the prescribed quality.

Today, we have many complex tools for managing our humongous projects With the sophistication in these tools, contract documents for projects are getting more stringent and punitive. With the increase in value of projects, their complexity increases and the requirements for sophisticated tools to manage them increase. With an increase in the value of projects, the inherent risks in the project also increase. The more complex the projects get, the more the people required for managing them, and the more sophisticated the tools being used therein. An increase in underlying risk also calls for an increase in financial jurisprudence.

These sophisticated tools serve the following purpose:

    * Plan arrangement of finance at the prescribed intervals,
    * Procure materials and equipments at the designated time for the construction,
    * Arrange for men to work on the project.
    * Arrange for sales of the project facility.

Tools like MSPROJECTS, PRIMAVERA, etc, help plan the project. Not only do these plans quantify the time and cost required for the projects, but they also provide information regarding the time of requirement of finance during the project duration. We also have SAP and ERP, which facilitate efficient procurement and delivery. Not only do these tools help us implement JIT principles, but they also reduce inventory holding costs, along with a reduction in space requirements for holding work in process and finished goods inventory.

With such sophisticated tools at our disposal, one would think that projects could be managed more efficiently, within the allocated time and cost and in the desired quality. Unfortunately, that is not the case today. I can cite numerous instances where, in spite of the use of sophisticated tools, projects have overshot their budgets and timelines. There are numerous instances where projects have gone over budget and surpassed their deadlines due to various reasons.

At times there is a problem of rehabilitating project affected people, at other times, the title to the land on which the project is being constructed is not clear. At still other times, there is a shortage of labor to work on these projects. There are instances where the client does not pay the contractor on time, resulting in a delay in the construction process. At times the drawings for the project may be delayed. There can be many more reasons for delay in project timelines.

Contract documents today stipulate heavy fines for delay in project timelines. A project worth 150 crore had a liquidated damages condition in the contract, which stipulated a penalty of 10% of the contract value per day of delay. Still another project had a stringent damages condition at 20% of the contract value per day of delay, for any delay above 90 days from the scheduled completion. With such stringent penalty clauses, and the still occurring delays, one would wonder how useful the sophisticated tools for project management have been.

The above question will give rise to a debate among people who are in favor of using sophisticated tools for projects and those who are not in favor of these tools. But all in all, my personal opinion is that these tools have only helped us to record the times and costs of projects that we undertake, and not actually reduce them.

Benefits Of Using Metal Buildings

 

Benefits Of Using Metal Buildings

 

The Internet makes it very easy to review the benefits of metal buildings, preview prefabricated designs, explore the possibilities of customized construction, and compare prices and services offered by the many online sites. Competition is high and new manufacturing methods are expanding the range and appeal of steel buildings.

A quick search will bring up words and phrases such as durable, maintenance-free, and 35 year warranty. Websites offer brochure downloads, design galleries, instant quotes from quick entry of specifications, free delivery and installation, and discounts of up to 60%. You have the choice of do-it-yourself kits, using professionals to assemble prefabricated parts, and options for using your own designs for buildings from one thousand to one million square feet in area.

Barns, warehouses, mini storage units, carports, garages, stables, and even churches are now made of metal. The costs of construction are far less than for structures of similar size made of more traditional materials. It also takes less time to have a finished building when working with metal. Future maintenance expense is also a factor in assessing the practicality of metal buildings.

If you are thinking of a long, low, rectangular shape with no windows and wide loading doors at each end, you really must visit the web to look at modern designs. Architects have all the freedom of design they need to mingle form with function, since metal buildings may be as minimal as needed or as elaborately attractive and comfortable as desired. For instance, warehouses and barns may be simple, unheated shelters for machinery and storage, but also may be partially or completely insulated for the comfort of the humans who will work in them in all weather conditions.

Churches made of metal are one of the more recent uses for this type of construction. Beautiful, distinctive exteriors with soaring steeples and huge windows grace many a large, modern place of worship. Even the congregation may not know that the building is made of steel. No matter how many uses the building is put to, using steel makes it affordable enough to have room for all. Even the needs of future expansion are easy to take into account.

These days it is important to many individuals and to many companies that the construction be 'green'. You can find metal buildings that either meet or exceed requirements for recycled content(some may be made of almost 90% scrap), solar reflectivity, and the ability to be recycled in future if abandoned. The energy efficiency of well-designed metal construction is very high.

Maintenance costs are as important as the initial investment when balancing the budget. Metal buildings, with factory corrosion protection, baked-on paint, and properly sealed seams will last for years with no need for repainting or roof repair. Weather proof, wind resistant, and safe in lightening storms, metal buildings are designed for years of trouble-free use.

In conclusion, choosing a metal building is an option that increasing numbers of people are choosing as a way to get the space they need. It can be done without sacrificing energy efficiency, pleasing outward appearance, or custom design. Finally, you will find a cost effective way to get the designs needed.

Real Estate Development Financing Creates Critical Situation For Developers

 

Real Estate Development Financing Creates Critical Situation For Developers

The real estate development industry has created a negative impact on today's economy. Throughout the United States real estate developers are experiencing many concerns with their development projects. These concerns are mostly related to the lack of financing available and lenders unwillingness to extend or restructure current obligations. Whether you are a residential developer, homebuilder, commercial developer, or any other related real estate development professional without the proper financing terms and structure the projects will remain stagnant or be sold.

The news has hit Wall Street and Main Street that real estate developers and homebuilders require financing, restructuring, and more time to manage through this cycle. Lenders, investors, and other financial institutions have scaled back their lending programs to developers and builders due to the risk associated with real estate development. Many real estate developers rely on financial leverage to make their respective projects successful. In today's economy the term "leverage" has been a word many people feel has created this current crisis.

The impact has created partially built stagnant projects filled with graffiti, damages, and hazards facing the immediate communities. The citizens of these communities are demanding that police patrol the projects, fire departments monitor access to water, and local municipalities ensure that the integrity of the community. The cities are also being negatively hurt because they relied upon projections of tax revenue created by these real estate development projects.

The real estate development industry has developed alternative contingency plans to adapt to the current real estate environment. Some of the most successful alternative strategies include; raising equity, developing joint venture partnerships, negotiating with their current lenders, and to secure additional debt. Real estate developers that can raise equity can reduce their leverage position and can satisfy lenders needs for paying interest or paying down principal. Real estate developers in turn give up equity into the project. Joint venture partnerships entail teaming up with other real estate development partners or investors to provide additional equity or relationships that create value for the project. Negotiating with lenders has also proven to be successful; however, many lenders are having a tough time with how they restructure the loans. Finally, securing additional debt to either refinance the entire project or pay down the existing debt and hold funds for interest carrying costs has been a strategy for real estate developers.

There are other issues and concerns facing real estate developers besides financing such as finding homeowners, builders to develop projects, and end tenants to occupy the projects. The residential mortgage industry has been experiencing an enormous increase in bankruptcy filings, foreclosures, and lack of funding available to create mortgages to buyers of new homes. The government has been creating programs and ideas to help keep homeowners in their homes and to also stimulate new buyers to the market.

The retail sector of commercial real estate has seen retailers scale back their operations in terms of growth and expansion. The retailers are also struggling to secure financing for tenant improvements for their locations. One of the most troubling concerns for retailers has been the lack of consumer spending. Office tenants have also had to scale back their operations, reduce staffing needs, and cut expenses as much as possible. Office tenants are also experiencing opportunities to move into more desirable locations at more affordable prices causing vacancies in many submarkets.

The recent economic indicators and stock market trends are showing some signs of strength in the economy while others believe that the economy is still due for a slow recovery. As the credit markets start to thaw out and lend to real estate developers the projects will start to get back on track and create momentum. There will be many learning experiences real estate developers will take away from this current real estate market and hopefully will not repeat in the future.