The most important task for a property management company is collecting rent. So make sure to do anything in your power to have your clients put their monthly rent as their number one financial obligation. That means when they move in, it should be understood where the rent payments are to be sent, what date the rent is due by, and that late payments will not be acceptable. To impress this on them, call them, or send a correspondence a week before the first month’s payment is due as to how much is to be paid, where to make the payment, and the last day they can make the payment without incurring a late fee.
Make rent payment as easy as possible for the tenant. Besides a mailing address, they should also have a place where they can drop of payment. Many times clients might want to pay with cash, and being that it’s a bit of a hassle to get a money order, stamp etc, they miss the payment deadline. Then, they spend the cash on something else, and to whole problem gets started. Some landlords even have websites to accept credit card payments. It could run 2.9% or so in credit card fees, but they might wind up better off because they have less tenants falling behind, and less legal fees in the case of eviction. Another overlooked simple tip. Self addressed envelopes that are already stamped. Even if you saved only one or two tenants from falling behind, it’s a worthwhile investment.
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Want to have your own property but cannot decide if this is a good investment or not? No worries. Property owners have been there and done that too. Let us face it, choosing what kind of business to get into is not an overnight decision.
People say that investing in a property is a wealth-building endeavor. It is true. Having a hour or home is a necessity and it will always be for years to come.
In Tampa, Florida for example. More and more people have moved in that location not only to start a business but to relocate the whole family. No doubt that it is a great location for settlement. Big businesses and nice environment. Perfect to raise kids and earn a living.
When deciding to buy a property in Tampa, take note of a couple of things. These things might help you make the right decision and finally decide to enter into this business with no fear and reservation.
To start off, make sure you know your goals for your real estate investment. Is it long term? When you are thinking long term, you should also think of other expenses that you have to extract for property maintenance and improvement.
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10. Don’t Get the Free Audit – Energy Audits are like all other things in this world. You get what you pay for. If you’re willing to take a day or a half day off work to have an energy audit on your home. Then it’s presumed that you intend to generate enough data to either satisfy an outcome, or solve a pesky problem that you may be having. Auditors who perform free audits do not get paid very well, think sub 40K per year. As so, they may not be as professional or as motivated to serve you as an auditor for hire.
9. Gather Your Records – An Energy Audit without clear usage histories on both your home’s heating fuel usage and the electricity associated with cooling, operating appliances, and lighting. Is likely to become an audit filled with anecdotes, probables and maybes. For instance, the auditor may very well miss the three space heaters you run in the deep of winter that costs $700 per year, or that your base-load domestic hot water usage cost is way too high. Most utility companies have at least a one year history of usage on each bill. So even just your most recent bill will really help out.
8. Be Prepared to Answer Questions – A good audit should always begin with the auditor taking the time to ask questions. He should be concerned with the history of the house, behaviors of the occupants inside the home, as well as finding out about any specific concerns that may have prompted the audit. And of course what sort of desired outcome there is for the findings of the audit.
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Unfortunately, it seems that everything that is beneficial to people tends to carry a higher price tag with it. For example, the checkout receipt from a simple trip to the grocery store seems to double if the items that were purchased include fresh fruits, fresh vegetables and fish; instead of chips, cookies and canned foods. Just when a lot of people are seriously thinking about trying to help preserve the environment by building an eco friendly home, a few disadvantages to this type of construction are slowly beginning to rise to the surface. Of course, the primary concern is the tremendous initial cost that is usually associated with the whole “building green” process. Therefore, it is a wise thing to spend a little time and effort thoroughly sorting out and searching through all of the variables that may be connected to this fairly new style of constructing a home.
The most important stumbling block in this endeavor might just be the availability, or rather the lack of, adequate funding. This is something that will have to be quickly dealt with. Obviously, since this construction method is a fairly new concept to many people, the conditions and restrictions of such building loans might make it very difficult for the average homeowner to even be able to obtain a mortgage. Secondly, any potential green house builder also has to remember that since “building green” is a relatively newly introduced technique, the demand for these types of building materials has been very low up to this point in time.
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The term green home is being used more and more often in the residential building industry, but what does it really mean. According to the Green Building Council of Australia a green house is “a high performing home that is energy and water efficient, has good indoor air quality, uses environmentally sustainable materials and also uses the building site in a sustainable manner”. A green home also requires a holistic approach, beginning at the design stage and continuing on through the construction process and the eventual day-to-day running of the home. The main goal of these characteristics is to reduce the environmental impact a home will have over the course of its lifetime.
As mentioned above, a green house should begin at the design stage. Incorporating green design elements at the initial stages of a home construction will ensure the home can take advantage of the surrounding natural environment. By utilising the topography of the site, sunlight and breezes a green home can significantly reduce its dependence on additional heating and cooling sources. This saves the occupants money on their energy bills and reduces the production of greenhouse gases.
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