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tenant

Real Estate Investing

Transferring Utility Costs – Opportunities and Challenges

by Brendan O'Brien | July 25, 2009

Electric meterRising utility costs are one of the many challenges we multifamily landlords have been facing in this “perfect storm” economic climate.  Landlords who traditionally paid for utilities are searching for ways to transfer those costs to tenants.

If your utility costs are worse in the winter, as they are here in New Hampshire, now is the time to look into a submetering or RUBS (ratio utility billing services) system.  Of course, any benefits from transferring utility costs will begin as soon as you implement the system.

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Real Estate Investing

Real Estate Investors: How to Find Great Cash Flow Deals

by Ryan Moeller | July 21, 2009

The most important thing for beginner real estate investors is to find great deals. Not good ones, but great ones. Here are some steps that will help investors find those great cash flow deals.

8 Steps to Finding Great Cash Flow Deals

Note: Finding great deals takes time and patience. Often times, new investors get impatient and jump into the first property that gets them excited. Keeping emotion out of the equation and being methodical is key when buying rental properties.

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Landlord Tenant

How To Get Rid of Crazy Tenants

by Jason Hanson | July 14, 2009

Image by Mr. T in DC via Flickr

Do you know why most landlords think the rental property business is tough? Do you know why I and other investors make so much money off of these “tired landlords”?
It comes down to one thing: They don’t know how to properly screen tenants. And today I’m going to [...]

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Real Estate

What’s a One-Year Lease Really Worth?

by Brendan O'Brien | June 28, 2009

When landlords sit down with prospective tenants, they typically say something like this:
“You’re signing a one-year lease.  This is a contract for you to pay $9000 in 12 monthly installments for the use of the apartment.  In other words, it’s a one-year commitment.  You are responsible for the entire amount, even if you leave before [...]

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Commentary

Residency – A Frightening Case Study of Squatters Rights

by Tom Koziol | April 24, 2009

I will be the first to admit I thought I had a handle on residency, i.e. when and how it is established. I am taking excerpts from an article that appeared on April 21, 2009 in a Spokane valley newspaper under the headline:
Unwanted tenants may have moved on
and using it as the basis for this [...]

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Real Estate

If Your Tenant Can’t Pay the Rent, What Then?

by Brendan O'Brien | January 29, 2009

Last week, I wrote about a call we get all too often from tenants – telling us they can’t pay the rent, and asking for some sort of break.
As always in landlording, it makes sense to have some guiding rules in place to handle these calls. You never want to try to think of [...]

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Real Estate

Landlords: Don’t Get Axed By Your Tenants

by Brendan O'Brien | January 16, 2009

A couple of weeks ago, newspapers in my part of the world were buzzing with the news of a local landlord who had allegedly been attacked by his hatchet-wielding tenant.
The landlord, Edward Berthiaume, occupied one unit of his multifamily home, and the tenant, William Skarbinski, occupied the other.  At 1 a.m. on January 7th, Skarbinski [...]

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Landlord Tenant

Questions to Ask a Property Manager: Part 3 of 3

by Brendan O'Brien | December 27, 2008

Here is the third and last installment of “Questions to Ask Your Property Manager.” I am providing answers to some of the questions. However, in some cases, there is no one “right” answer. Actually, this was illustrated by the last installment, published three weeks ago. I had suggested that it is [...]

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Landlord Tenant

More Interview Questions For A Property Manager (And Some Answers)

by Brendan O'Brien | December 6, 2008

When I put up the first group of questions you should ask a prospective property manager, one commenter asked: what are the correct answers?He had a point and so I’m going to review some of the answers to last week’s questions first before I hit you with a few more questions.I am also thinking of [...]

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Landlord Tenant

Does Every Dog Have Its Day?

by Brendan O'Brien | November 15, 2008

Here are two fallacies that often strike new real estate investors.   The first one bugs me only a little – the second one bugs me a lot. 
The first fallacy is the one peddled by late-night infomercial stars.  It’s the idea that it’s really not that difficult to find an old house, buy it for [...]

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Landlord Tenant

Double the Tenants, Same Rent

by Brendan O'Brien | November 9, 2008

Boy, it would be great if the financial crisis and general economic slowdown meant I saw more qualified tenants to rent my apartments. The theory is that increased foreclosures and tighter credit will result in more people looking for apartments. The problem with this theory, at least in my little corner of New Hampshire, is [...]

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Landlord Tenant

When Your Tenant Wants a Roommate

by Brendan O'Brien | November 8, 2008

Your tenant calls. He’s having some money troubles, and he needs a favor. You think “Oh no.” But this request isn’t what you expected. He wants to… bring in a roommate.
Of course, your tenant had to ask your permission to do this because your lease specified that only those people named in the lease could [...]

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Landlord Tenant

Landlords: Learn How to Find Average Market Rents for your Area

by Troy Schuricht | October 31, 2008

If your in the market to buy a rental, knowing the expected rental rates should be part of your due diligence.   The following will help you find the average property rental price in your area.

Read your local newspapers. As you read through the classified adds, make sure you are comparing apples to apples.  Homes with [...]

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Landlord Tenant

Cold-Weather Landlords – Get Ready For Snow Removal

by Brendan O'Brien | October 30, 2008

This post is really for snow-belt landlords.  Here in New Hampshire, snow season can start as early as November and continue into May.  Unless you are renting SFRs, or have some other arrangement where the tenant is responsible for outdoor care, it is up to you to take care of the snow and ice on [...]

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Commentary

Foreclosure And Social Policy

by Tom Koziol | October 24, 2008

It would be a severe understatement for me to say everyone has an opinion on this mega foreclosure problem happening today. However, it wouldn’t be an understatement to say Sheriff Thomas Dart of Illinois actually expressed his opinion.
If you haven’t heard of him, use your friendly search engine and you’ll see many interesting articles. He [...]

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