All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

I know that you can't prevent tenants from installing satellite TV, but can a landlord require a satellite TV company to remove the wire, and restore the holes? Similar to handicap installs.

My tenants just moved out, and left me a crappy satellite installation, with wires run though holes in the wall.

Mike,

Each broker has their strong and weak areas. You want to look for a broker who has knowledge in the area of real estate that you will be most active. For example, you're a landlord who wants to manage your own rental properties, so look for a broker who does a lot of property management, many do not.

A real estate license allows you to sell everything from skyscrapers to funeral plots, and schools just scratch the surface of all areas of real estate. I really think that there should be several licenses: residential, property management, land, and commercial. But I digress.

At the very least, you need to learn legal, writing contracts, and how to keep yourself out of trouble. In Arizona, an agent is preforming the tasks that an attorney would do in other States. And now that you have a license, you come under the thumb of the Department of Real Estate. The DRE strikes fear in the hearts of agents and brokers.

My experience has been that the commission split companies are better learning brokers than 100% companies. But being an investor may pose a problem for a split broker, because you don't charge yourself a commission. I ran into this.

Good luck.

It's not always growth that effects values of an area.

Neighborhoods change. And they usually to go through a three stage cycle: integration, equilibrium and disintegration. It's important to know what part of the cycle your potential investment is in. Of course, the overall economy can blow up this whole cycle.

Integration is the first stage for a neighborhood, with the new construction or rehabilitation of properties in the area. Generally property values increase during this period of everything being new and shiny.

The second stage is equilibrium, where property values stabilize. The shine has worn off. It's not a new community anymore, and some properties are showing wear.

The third stage is disintegration. Many properties now show signs of deterioration. Homeowners begin to sell their homes and move from the community, pushing property values lower.

Hope that helps with your decision.

I'm by no means a HUD expert, but I don't think that is true. My brokerage is registered, and I have submitted bids on their website. I can't imagine with the thousands of agents at Homesmart that someone doesn't have a HUD listing. I would ask HUD about that one.

"Option Two: A Realtor who sold my own personal townhouse and was very professional ad did a great job but will charge me about 2.4% commission."

I assume that this is the listing side only. Cheapest is not always cheapest. A good agent will usually bring a higher selling price as much or more than their commission. I believe relationships are very important in business. If the agent did a good job for you before, why wouldn't you use them again? I would ask the agent if there is anyone in their office who speaks Spanish that they could co/list it with.

As an agent, the email blasts often gets annoying. Most agents block them. If you do choose a new agent: Ask how many listings they have sold in the area in the past year? Ask for previous MLS listings and references. Look at the "professional photography". What were the days on market? If high, why? List to sale price? It's not always the agents fault, sometimes you have unrealistic sellers. If you are unhappy, can you cancel the contract without paying them a commission? Length of contract?

A couple of things to look out for that I have run into by a few less than honest agents: "The interested buyer". I have a buyer who would be interested in buying your home. I just need you to sign the listing agreement before I can show it to him. After signing the contract, he brings the buyer over, who decides the home isn't right for him. The "buyer" was a friend or coworker used to get you to sign a listing contract that you can't get out of. "Buying a listing". An agent brings you an inflated CMA with bogus information. The seller picks him/her just because they brought the highest number, and signs a long-term contract. The agent knows that the property will never sell at that price, and soon starts to advise the seller to lower the price. The property sits on the market and becomes "market worn", until the seller lowers the price to were it sells, usually less than if it were priced correctly to begin with.

Good luck.

You will discover that finding money is easier than finding good contractors. In real estate investing, I have sometimes worked my butt off and lost money.

I have had my license for about 14 years, and it has pluses and minuses as an investor. Keep in mind that it sometimes puts you at a disadvantage: You must disclose that you are an agent, and many people do not want to deal with agents. As a licensee, you are held to a higher standard by the State and NAR, and if you end up in court, you could be looked at as taking advantage of someone because you are assumed to have more knowledge. You will have added liability listing personal properties. And you will only be able to give/receive referral/finder/bird-dog fees to/from licensed agents, anyone else is illegal.

My recommendations for a broker:

Ask if they have a problem with you being an investor. Many don't want the added liability. They also don't make much money from you if you're only selling a small amount of your own properties (transaction fee based broker), compared to an agent representing many clients. Some brokers also like to brag in advertising that their agents sell an average of X amount of homes a month, and you'll drag the average down as a small investor.

Ask if they allow dual agency. Many will not allow you to sell your own property, and some will not allow any brokerage agent to sell the property. If it's a small brokerage this wont be much of a problem, but if you're with a large broker, or one that dominates an area, you may be unable to accept many offers.

Ask if their E&O insurance covers your own investment properties.

What is their fee structure? If you go with a high fee, low transaction cost broker, you may be paying a high price for each transaction if you are doing low volume. It may be best to go with a low-fee, higher-transaction cost structure. It just depends on how many transactions that you will have.

And now for the most important. What type of training does the broker offer. The schools teach a little about a lot. You come out knowing just enough to make you really dangerous. I started with a small brokerage, where the broker's office was literally next to mine. If I had a question, I just knocked on his door. There were only about a dozen agents in the office, most of whom were doing real estate when the ark landed, and without their help I probably wouldn't have made it. In the large brokerages you will be a small fish in a very big tank. I'm with Homesmart now, a very large company, but I can't give you a beginners perspective of the company, although I do know that they have training classes. The best thing to do is interview many of them. And when your ready to make a move, you might want to look up some of their current and past agents at the Department of Real Estate, and ask them what their experience with the company was like.

Good luck.

I became a reluctant landlord when the housing bubble burst, and the home I just bought sunk underwater like the Titanic. I was a real estate agent, and my income quickly went to almost zero. I had to decide whether to $%!*can it back to the bank, or rent it. For better or worse, I decided to rent it. That was about six years ago, and I still have the original tenants. Fortunately, I screened my tenants carefully. Unfortunately, the home is still underwater.

Inventory has increased, and appreciation has slowed, especially in the lower price end of the market. The market always slows during the holidays, but we will have to see if we get the after holiday boost. If not, be careful.

I'm currently working on a flip in Buckeye.

In early 2007 I was on the fence about closing on a new home. I was seeing many cracks in the market, and asked my broker for advice. "How much could the market fall?" was his response. Turns out that 60% is how much.