Archive for the 'Investors/Landlords' Category
RE/MAX Chairman Dave Linger Comments on Market in Personal Investor Magazine
September 3rd, 2010 categories: Investors/Landlords, Real Estate Market
Dave Liniger, Chairman & Co-founder of RE/MAX offered some comments on the real estate market for investors in the September/October edition of Personal Investor Magazine. Click here to read the full article
Of particular interest to me are his comments on the major demographic trends in real estate:
Liniger says that Millenials will be buying homes sooner than people in Gen X (my generation); however, with the first wave of Millenials in their early to late 20’s, we haven’t seen that yet. The logic used to be that the Millenials would be the beneficiary of their parents’ wealth (Baby Boomers) and would have Mom & Dad help finance their home purchase. But with the economy, pensions, employment prospects all on the decline, I think Millenials are just as happy to stay home with Mom & Dad for a while and Mom & Dad can’t afford to contribute.
Colleen Edwards interviewed generational researcher, Chuck Underwood, on her blog, The Real Story, and he also thinks is the case…for now.
However, this leads to another trend I’ve talked about for a few years: multi-generational housing. What type of houses do 2-3 generations of a family want to buy? It needs to be large enough to accommodate everyone. It needs to have separate living areas. Maybe it’s a multi-family home or a home with an in-law? Maybe it’s a large home with two levels and two kitchens?
Liniger calls this “cross generational,” and thinks it will have an impact on our housing market. I think, however, it’s not only a trend among recent immigrants. If your family history included a time where family members of a different generation lived together, even if it was 50 years ago, the idea isn’t that unusual.
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Another Bad Idea from From Fannie Mae - Tenants Can Stay in Foreclosed Properties
December 16th, 2008 categories: Investors/Landlords, Mortgages & Finance, Real Estate Industry
From the people who brought you the massive boom in subprime and Alt-A mortgages and the predictable crash that followed, comes one more equally bad idea:
Allow Fannie Mae (the government) to become a landlord to thousands of tenants and thereby delaying or preventing the sale of properties altogether. The size and scope of this decision won’t be as large or devastating as the aforementioned but it’s just as poorly thought-out.
Who will buy a foreclosed home with tenants in it?
Buying a home with tenants in place is a catch-22. While you may be getting paying tenants, you are also trusting the person who placed the tenants (the same person, by the way, who just got foreclosed on) to pick qualified, responsible people to live in your investment.
What if the landlord in buying to live in the property or wants to place their own tenants or raise rent? Will Fannie Mae agree to then evict tenants or does the new owner have to take on this additional financial burden?
Who will maintain the property while tenants are in it for months or possibly longer?
Who at Fannie Mae is going to be taking the inevitable 2 AM toilet is backed-up calls? Who is going to replace the smoke alarm batteries? Of course, they’ll hire a property management company but who at Fannie Mae knows anything about managing property management companies? Property management companies will be salivating at the opportunity to rip-off, I mean, work with Fannie Mae.
How will agents schedule showings?
Showing rental properties with tenants is hard enough, never mind when they’re mad. Setting up a typical showing for an occupied rental property goes like this: call the office 2-3 days prior to showing, the office calls tenants who almost never call back to confirm, the listing agent calls the owner to get them to call the tenants and then a showing is scheduled for one floor only. 50% of the time, the tenants still claim to not know about the showing and sometimes refuse to let agents in.
Now imagine that you have tenants who are disgruntled (Fannie Mae is now the landlord and probably not all that responsive) or who are nervous that the house may be sold to someone who can evict them (Fannie Mae may not call them back but at least they won’t evict). Who will agents call to get in? With so many homes on the market, I think investors will just pass these properties by knowing they’ll be a headache.
Will tenants trash the home and make it worth even less?
Bank-owned properties are targets of theft and vandalism when they’re vacant but does Fannie Mae actually think this will end when they allow tenants to remain? Tenants will know that no one is watching the store. Use your imagination.
The End Result
Investment properties owned and managed by Fannie Mae will be harder to sell and therefore, worth less, and will then negatively impact the value of surrounding properties. Fannie Mae will mismanage properties, tenants will not be happy with Fannie Mae as their landlord and some will purposely destroy or vandalize properties.
I want to be optimistic but I fear that this bad idea will sound like a good one to other lenders (or worse, legislators) which will only compound the problem.
What’s the alternative?
I think it’s unfair to demand that tenants leave their home with little notice. However, if Fannie Mae can find the tenants after the foreclosure to evict them, can’t they find them before the foreclosure and notify them at least 30 days before the actual foreclosure is to take place?
And if the tenants can’t find housing prior to the foreclosure, Fannie Mae would then give them an additional 30-day grace period before it begins the eviction process. The reality is that eviction, at least in CT, takes several months so the tenants would have that additional period to find housing.
Fannie Mae should pay for moving costs, any additional rent if tenants can’t find an apartment for the same rent, and should pay the new landlord directly for the security deposit (since the previous landlord isn’t going to give it back).
Fannie Mae should stick to the time honored and tested tradition of being in the business of real estate lending, not real estate investment.
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Updating a Rental Apartment’s Bathroom With Style
December 4th, 2008 categories: Investors/Landlords
When updating a rental apartment, you have to balance a few things: budget, quality, quick turnaround and marketability. Landlords have a hard time with this. The approach many take is to forget quality and focus on the budget. Personally, I think you can achieve all of the above - budget, quality, quick turnaround and marketability - with style.
Here’s how I did just that last month when I remodeled a bathroom in a rental. As you can see from the before pictures, it was definitely time.
Before the Bathroom Remodel
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Connecticut Cities Avoid List of Forbes Next Foreclosure Capitals
October 20th, 2008 categories: Home Buyers, Home Sellers, Investors/Landlords, Real Estate Market
Forbes.com just released their predictions for the next round of cities to be hardest hit by foreclosures. Move over Stockton - hello, Jacksonville.
The good news is that no city in Connecticut is on the list - the bad news is that such a list exists.
The cities named are:
1. Jacksonville, FL
2. Fresno, CA
3. Naples, FL
4. Miami, FL
5. Orlando, FL
6. Santa Cruz, CA
7. Merced, CA
8. Oxnard, CA
9. Deltona, FL
10. Santa Barbara, CA
RealtyTrac.com ranks the Top 100 metro areas for foreclosures in the 2nd quarter of 2008 as New Haven/Milford rank #57, Stamford/Norwalk/Bridgeport is #64 and Hartford is #74.
For August of 2008, CT ranks as the 17th top (worst) state for foreclosures.
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HUD Homes For Sale in Hartford County
August 28th, 2008 categories: Home Buyers, Investors/Landlords
There are a number of HUD properties for sale right now in Hartford County.
HUD owned homes are those that the Department of Housing and Urban Development foreclosed on after an owner defaulted on an FHA-insured loan.
Any HUD registered broker can show you a HUD listing (My office is a registered broker and therefore I have access to these listings). You do not have to contact the listing agent directly.
Here are some of the properties:
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