Rental House Hunting-Equal Opportunity

Do you own rental property or hope to have rentals of your own someday?  Finding the perfect rental property can be tricky. 
First off, are you going to use a management company or run the property yourself?  If you run the property yourself you need to make sure when finding a tenant you are following all the fair housing laws and regulations.  You don't want to end up in a law suit before you can even start collecting rent.  Fair housing comes into play with any housing related transaction- sale of a home, renting of a home, and financing of a home.  You can NOT under any circumstances discriminate against any one based off of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, or disability.  Everyone inquiring has to have an equal right to see the property available for rent and the ability to apply for the property.
Secondly, Are you going to be able to make any repairs if problems arise or will you have to hire a professional.  A professional can be costly but might be the best choice. They tend to have warranties if the fix needs to be repaired or something else breaks due to their negligence. You will want to have several different companies you trust in the line up to call if something happens. Sometimes the professionals are scheduled up and not able to make it in a timely manor, or don't have the proper parts to make the fix.  It doesn't hurt to have a back up! If you don't use a management company you might consider purchasing a home warranty at closing.  The warranty will cover a lot of the major mechanicals in a home.  When something happens you simply call the warranty company (available 24/7) and a tech charges the original agreed upon service fee unless the items are not under warranty.
Thirdly, Are you going to be able to take calls and get back with tenants in a timely manor? If you have a hectic schedule and not able to take the tenant phone calls or don't want the calls at all hours of the day, you should highly consider a management company.  Let the management company deal with the problems and only contact you in an emergency or for approval on a costly repair.
Fourthly, What price range will you buy?  What is the return on investment to make it worth your time and money?  Gain from Investment/Cost of Investment= ROI.  There are tons of systems/calculations that landlords use to determine if the property is a good deal. 
Fifthly,What kind of investment property will you purchase- multiple unit housing, single family housing, a ranch style, 2 story, downtown, acreage etc. LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION- you want to make sure you are buying a home in an area where people want to BE.  If its a desirable location there may be potential for higher rents.  Plus it will be easier to rent if the location is right.
Will you by using third party services to run credit, rental history, income, and criminal background checks?  It is extremely important to make sure they qualify financially.  You want to make sure they will be able to pay the rents owed monthly.
Contracts..... if you are going to be renting without a management company you will want to make you have contracts that set the rules for the property.  If you don't have access or want to customize a rental agreement you should probably meet with a lawyer to make sure you are not making any requirements that cant be made or interfere with local or national laws.

P.S. Make sure you have an insurance company that will work with rental housing/secondary homes before purchasing.  You may be shocked by how expensive they can be.  Its also not a bad idea to require your tenant to get rental insurance!  Then you and the tenants are covered in the event of an accident.

Happy Rental House Hunting!

Entertaining Real Estate Ads/Signs

Check out the short video below - Ellen DeGeneres, extremely entertaining real estate ads:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnB4FOCgfKs

Refinance- To do? OR Not To Do?

Should I refinance?

When you refinance at a lower interest rate, you usually pay refinancing costs including points, fees, and closing costs. This calculator will tell you if the amount you save in interest will exceed these refinancing costs. The calculated results depend on how long you plan to keep this property.

Existing Loan
	Original loan amount
	Original mortgage length	MonthsYears
	Date of loan	JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec 1984198519861987198819891990199119921993199419951996199719981999200020012002200320042005200620072008200920102011201220132014
	Current interest rate
New Loan
	Amount you wish to cash out upon refinance
	New interest rate
	Points
	Fees and closing costs
	New loan term	MonthsYears
Other Information
	Your income tax rate
	Your savings rate (or investment rate of return)
	How long you will keep this property	MonthsYears

Graph
Current Payment Schedule
Refinance Payment Schedule

Refinancing will immediately cost you $2,000.00 to cover the loan origination fees. It will take 31 months before the savings in interest offsets the origination fees. If you plan to stay at this property for 15 years, you will save $9,337.31.

Financial Details Current Loan Refinance Savings Monthly Payment $1,073.64 $1,025.29 $48.35 Origination Cost $2,000.00 ($2,000.00) Total Loan Cost (PV) $329,023.96 $319,686.65 $9,337.31

Make sure it makes since for you to refinance.  If you roll the closing costs into the loan it typically take between 2-3 years to break even on the costs.  If you are only staying for a year or so, this typically is not beneficial.    Rates are still low, but slightly on the rise.  Contact a mortgage loan officer today for more accurate information.  In the mean time, fill in your loan information to see if this is the right move for you today:

http://www.timevalue.com/products/tcalc-financial-calculators/refinance-calculator.aspx

House For Rent- Inquire Within

This Johnny on the Spot was just down the street from my house when the city
was doing a bunch of road construction in the area.  I had to get out of my
car and take a photo! If you look closely under House For Rent it states,
"Inquire within."  Enjoy!

Dig Safely- 811

Thinking about doing some digging in your yard in Kansas? It is extremely important to call 811 before you dig on your property or get on the internet and request markings on your yard (www.kansasonecall.com)  You should always call, even if your project is as little as replacing a fence post.  They will come out and mark your yard with different colored spray paint indicating what is buried underground (see chart below).   Its FREE, and could ensure you are not interfering with important utility wires/pipes that could affect you and your neighbors.  Your neighbors probably wouldn’t be happy if the utility company had to shut off utilities to your area to fix a problem you created or if you are not careful where you are digging there is always a potential of hitting gas pipes.  There was a recent incident on the Plaza where a gas pipe was hit while digging and it created a huge explosion killing one of the employees at a near by JJ's. There were several missed steps in this dig (currently under investigation).  When proper measures are not taken you are putting yourself and others in danger by not making an easy phone call to 811.

Below shows the breakdown of what is underground by color: