Top 5 Landlord Tips Winston Rowe and Associates

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Landlords come from all walks of life, and they can be pros or reluctant landlords who couldn’t sell their home. Whether you’re considering rental property investment, can’t sell and need to rent out your home and move, or you’re already a landlord, these five tips can help you sleep at night and keep a smile on your face on your way to the bank.

#1: The Right Rent

Take the time to study your area’s market rents and property types. Compare apples to apples, not apartments to single family homes. Call and ask about rents and features. Check the rental ads for promotions like free rent. A lot of this type of marketing may signal high vacancy rates. Be objective about your property’s features and location, and set a competitive rent rate. Being just 5% over market rates may still get you a tenant, but if it causes too much turnover you’ll lose that and more in lost rent between tenants.

#2: Be Legal

We don’t live in a simple world anymore, and landlord-tenant laws can be pretty complicated in many states. Even if you must get some legal advice from a real estate attorney, be sure that you’re using legal application and lease forms. They should be legal, but there will be room to draft them to favor your interests and protect your investment.

Misunderstandings cause a great deal of landlord-tenant stress, and using clearly worded and comprehensive leases can go a long way toward eliminating problems. When rent is due, what constitutes poor tenant behavior, and explaining the difference between “wear and tear” and damages are all important for a good relationship. It’s every bit as important for you to abide by the rules as it is for the tenant. If you legally must give notice before entry into the unit, do it the right way and with the right timing. When you don’t follow the lease, tenants don’t feel obligated to do so either.

#3: Screen, Screen … and Interview

Once that lease is signed, if you let the wrong tenant into your property it can be an expensive and painful process to get them out. You want to check their credit history, rental history, job and landlord references, and even do a criminal background check in most cases. Letting a previously convicted drug dealer into your property can create some major problems for you if they lapse into old habits. There are services that pull together these background and reference tasks, and you can find them online with a search, or there may be local companies.

Think back to the previous tip and be legal. Don’t ask for information you aren’t legally allowed to gather, or don’t ask questions that cross the line when it comes to anti-discrimination laws. This is another area where you may want some legal advice and a script for your interviews so you stay on the right side of the law. That said, if your gut is telling you that there’s something not quite right about a prospective tenant, especially in the interview, then you should reject them for any legal reason.

#4: Maintain for Comfort and Safety

The best way to avoid late night “no heat” calls is to have regular maintenance performed on heating and cooling systems. Maintain all of the equipment in your rental and you’ll have a happier tenant and fewer emergency repair visits. For safety, do regular checks of smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, even changing the batteries at your expense. On a side note, this is a great way to get access every three to four months to inspect for damage or problems when you’re doing a courtesy safety battery change.

#5: Make it a Home

Be nice to your tenants. Send them surveys or call them now and then to see if they’re happy or experiencing even minor problems. Be proactive and address their concerns. Whenever you can add a feature or amenity at reasonable cost, do that. When the end of their lease rolls around, you have two possible situations:

1. They give notice and move on to another rental, or
2. They make a rent concession necessary to keep them, or
3. They’re happy, and want to stay, even if you must do a minor rent increase.

The first two cost you money in lost rent and possibly rehab between tenants. The last one takes almost none of your time and keeps the cash flowing.

There are a lot of details involved in these five tips, but keeping them top-of-mind in all of your landlord activities will keep you in a better mood and add to your bank balance.

Nationwide Apartment Buildings Rents Rise Steadily For 2015

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Since the recession, the demand for rentals has continued to rise steadily, and real estate experts are predicting that rents will continue to rise for the foreseeable future.

The 2014 Property Owner and Manager Report claims that 85 percent of property managers raised their rental rates over the past year, according to a report from Rent.com released earlier this month.

“They don’t expect things to slow down either,” Rent.com noted in a press release, as 63 percent of property managers predict that rental rents will continue to rise by an average of 6 percent in the next 12 months.

Here are four reasons why rents will continue to climb:

Gentrification. In cities like San Jose, San Francisco or even in Brooklyn, New York, the tech bubble, as well as hipsters, have pushed rents higher, making it harder, even for middle-income residents to afford living there.

According to research firm RealFacts, “the East Bay and North Bay are ‘echo markets’ where rents are rising and likely to go higher,” reported the San Francisco Business Times on Monday. “That’s especially true as residents are forced out of increasingly wealthy enclaves such as San Francisco.”

Not enough supply. Even in Southern California, where the availability of housing has typically been plentiful, it has become more challenging to find affordable rental properties as new construction isn’t keeping up with demand.

“Rents continue to rise throughout the region as the demand for rental housing outpaces the completion of new units,” according to a study from the University of Southern California’s Lusk Center for Real Estate released at the beginning of October. “The average rent in all four regions [Los Angeles County, Orange County, Inland Empire and San Diego County] is projected to increase every quarter for the next two years.”

Related: The 9 Most Expensive U.S. Rental Markets

Job growth. This is also true in the Las Vegas area, where low supply of rentals coupled with substantial job growth has increased demand and prompted landlords to increase rents.

“Housing experts say as more people get jobs, rental rates go up,” KLAS, Las Vegas local TV station reported last week. “What used to go for $700 a month, for a two bed, two bath just a few years ago, we’re seeing things go up between $850 and $950 a month now for the same thing,” leasing agent Karen Sommer told the station.

Fewer Americans are buying. If millennials aren’t living at their parents’ home, they’re likely renting and piling like sardines in apartments to make monthly payments. Additionally, even older Americans who did own prior to the recession are now renting for various reasons including lower credit, lower wages or simply unemployment.

“The recession caused an influx of homeowners swapping their large homes for smaller apartments,” said Rent.com, noting that 50 percent of property managers noticed an increase in former homeowners seeking apartment rentals since 2013. “With the millennial generation underemployed and facing high student loan defaults, it’s not surprising most are unable to afford mortgage payments or may lack the credit to apply.”

Why Invest In Commercial Real Estate

Any type of property, whether it’s commercial or residential, can be a good investment opportunity. For your money, commercial properties typically offer more financial reward than residential properties, such as rental apartments or single-family homes, but there also can be more risks. Understand the full pros and cons of investing in commercial properties is important so that you make the investment decision that’s right for you.

What Is a “Commercial Property?”

Retail buildings
Office buildings
Warehouses
Industrial buildings
Apartment buildings

There are nuances to managing each of these types of properties. To paint a general picture of what it’s like investing in commercial property, let’s examine the pros and cons of investing in a single-story commercial retail building, such as a community “strip mall”.

Here are some of the pros of buying commercial real estate over residential property.
Income Potential:

The best reason to invest in commercial over residential rentals is the earning potential. Commercial properties generally have an annual return off the purchase price between 6% and 12%, depending on the area, which is a much higher range than typically exists for single family home properties (1% to 4% at best).

Professional Relationships:

Small business owners generally take pride in their businesses and want to protect their livelihood. Owners of commercial properties are usually not individuals, but LLCs, and operate the property as a business. As such, the landlord and tenant have more of a business-to-business customer relationship, which helps keep interactions professional and courteous.

Public eye:

Retail tenants have a vested interest in maintaining their store and storefront, because if they don’t, it will affect their business. As a result, commercial tenants and property owner interests are aligned, which helps the owner maintain and improve the quality of the property, and ultimately, the value of their investment.

Limited Hours of Operation:

Businesses usually go home at night. In other words, you work when they work. Barring emergency calls at night for break-ins or fire alarms, you should be able to rest at night without having to worry about receiving a midnight call because a tenant wants repairs or has lost a key. For commercial properties it is also more likely you will have an alarm monitoring service so that if anything does happen at night, your alarm company will notify the proper authorities.

More Objective Price Evaluations:

It’s often easier to evaluate the property prices of commercial property because you can request the current owner’s income statement and determine what the price should be based on that. If the seller is using a knowledgeable broker, the asking price should be set at a price where an investor can earn the area’s prevailing cap rate for the commercial property type they are looking at (retail, office, industrial, etc.). Residential properties are often subject to more emotional pricing.

Triple net leases.

There are variations to triple net leases, but the general concept is that you as the property owner do not have to pay any expenses on the property (as would be the case with residential real estate). The lessee handles all property expenses directly, including real estate taxes. The only expense you’ll have to pay is your mortgage.

Companies like Walgreens, CVS, and Starbucks typically sign these types of leases, as they want to maintain a look and feel in keeping with their brand, so they manage those costs, and you as an investor get to have one of the lowest maintenance income producers for your money.

Strip malls have a variety of net leases and triple nets are not usually done with smaller businesses, but these lease types are optimal and you can’t get them with residential properties.

Leases section of this site.

More Flexibility in Lease Terms:

Fewer consumer protection laws govern commercial leases, unlike the dozens of state laws, such as security deposit limits and termination rules, that cover residential real estate. For more on commercial leases, see the Nolo book Negotiate the Best Lease for Your Business, by Janet Portman and Fred Steingold.

The Downside of Investing in Commercial Property:

While there are many positive reasons to invest in commercial real estate over residential, there are also negative issues to consider.

Time Commitment:

If you own a commercial retail building with five tenants, or even just a few, you have more to manage than you do with a residential investment. You can’t be an absentee landlord and maximize the return on your investment.

With commercial, you are likely dealing with multiple leases, annual CAM adjustments (Common Area Maintenance costs that tenants are responsible for), more maintenance issues, and public safety concerns. In a nutshell, you have more to manage; and just as your tenants have to worry about the public eye, you do as well.

Professional Help Required:

If you are a do-it-yourselfer, you better be licensed if you are going to handle the maintenance issues at a commercial property. The likelihood is you will not be prepared to handle maintenance issues yourself and you will need to hire someone to help with emergencies and repairs.

While this added cost isn’t ideal, you’ll need to add it on to your set of expenses in order to properly care for the property. Remember to factor in property management expenses when evaluating the price to pay for a commercial investment property.

Property management companies can charge between 5-10% of rent revenues for their services, which include lease administration. Evaluate beforehand if you want to manage leasing and the relationships yourself, or if you want to outsource those responsibilities.

Bigger initial Investment:

Acquiring a commercial property typically requires more capital up front than acquiring a residential rental in the same area, so it’s often more difficult to get your foot in the door. Once you’ve acquired a commercial property, you can expect some large capital expenditures to follow.

Your property might be humming along for a few months and wham, here comes a $10,000 bill to address roofing repairs or a new furnace.

With more customers there are more facilities to maintain and therefore more costs. What you hope is that the gains in revenue outweigh the gains in costs, to support purchasing a commercial property over a residential one.

More Risks:

Properties intended for commercial use have more public visitors and therefore have more people on the property each day that can get hurt or do something to damage your property. Cars can hit patrons in parking lots, people can slip on ice during the winter, and vandals can spray paint the sides of the building. Incidents like these can occur anywhere, but chances of experiencing something like these events go up when investing in commercial properties. If you’re risk adverse, you may want to look more closely at putting your money in residential properties.

When you call Winston Rowe & Associates, a principal is always available to speak with prospective clients. They can be contacted at 248-246-2243 or visit them on line at http://www.winstonrowe.com

How To Get A Rental Property Mortgage

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A portfolio lender can lend on multiple properties, because they are using in-house loans that are considered commercial loans.  Commercial loans don’t have to be used on commercial properties and are much more flexible than residential loans.

Residential loans typically have much more regulation and stricter guidelines than commercial loans.

In the past investors looking to finance more than ten properties have had to rely on local portfolio lenders, but there are now companies like Winston Rowe & Associates offering commercial products for investors looking to finance many residential rental properties and they have loans nationwide.

All of Winston Rowe & Associates portfolio financing solutions are offered at competitive rates, so owners and investors can spend less on interest and fees and turn an even bigger profit from their investments.

Rental Property Lending Solutions:

No upfront or advance fees

Loan amounts starting at $250,000 with no limit

Refinance, purchase and cash out

National coverage

Long term conventional

Short term hard money

In many cases, Winston Rowe & Associates can develop  custom solutions in days – not week or months.

Winston Rowe & Associates is there to help, when speed and experience is important and crucial to your rental property investing success, a principal at Winston Rowe & Associates is always available to speak with prospective clients.

They can be contacted at 248-246-2243 or visit them on line at http://www.winstonrowe.com

Winston Rowe & Associates has residential non owner occupied loan solutions in the following states.

Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine,  Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Washington DC, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming

California Apartment Loans No Upfront Fees

The California real estate market is dynamic and requires an apartment lending specialist that can adapt to the environment and provide competitive apartment financing solutions for borrowers irrespective of the market.

With Winston Rowe & Associates unique access to different loan programs, they consistently provide the lowest rates available.

All of Winston Rowe & Associates apartment building financing solutions are offered at competitive rates, so owners and investors can spend less on interest and fees and turn an even bigger profit from their investment in an apartment building or complex.

There are flexible loan terms and payment schedules available to fit the needs of any owner or investor, whether the funding is used on the purchase of an existing building, the construction of a new building, or the renovation of an existing structure. Refinancing loans are available to save current owners money on their mortgage loan payments.

California Apartment Financing Solutions:

No upfront or advance fees

Loan amounts starting at $500,000 to $100,000,000

No recourse available

Close in a few weeks hard money

Conventional rates starting at 3.25%

Fixed rates for up to 10 years

In many cases, Winston Rowe & Associates can develop a custom solution in days – not week or months.

A principle is always ready to speak with prospective clients; they can be contacted at 248-246-2243 or check Winston Rowe & Associates out on line at http://www.winstonrowe.com

How To Get A Loan To Buy An Apartment Building

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Owning an apartment building can be a lucrative investment if it is done right. A good investor will choose the right building, get the best advice and gather all the information about the business.

A great investor will get to know local real estate agents, will mix with other investors and will get a mentor. Savvy investors will act wisely and won’t allow emotions to govern any final decisions.

A skilled investor will do the math, will make sure loans can be paid back on time, and will have a limited liability if loan repayments cannot be met.

The best investors will have a property portfolio that grows over time.

Winston Rowe & Associates Expertise:

A key benchmark of Winston Rowe & Associates is they can provide an Apartment Building financing solution to clients within days, not weeks or months.

Many of their clients find this extremely advantageous when they are considering opportunistic Apartment and Multifamily investments or in need of a discount pay off of their current commercial loan.

Apartment Building Financing Solutions:

No Upfront or Advance Fees

Capital Deployment Nationwide

Loan Amounts Starting at $500,000

Fast Hard Money Available

Conventional Rates Starting At 3.25%

No Recourse Loans

In these times of tightening credit, it is more important than ever to have a specialist working to secure the apartment building financing you need.

Winston Rowe & Associates specializes in difficult to place loans, providing private funding solutions when needed, and securing institutional financing.

They can be contacted at 248-246-2243 or visit them on line at http://www.winstonrowe.com

The True Difference between Alternative Capital Sources and Banks

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A lot of misconception has arisen around the alternative lending field as it relates to conventional bank financing.

Part of the issue is that alternative financing can refer to a plethora of different programs.

Bridge loans, equipment financing, merchant cash advances, crowd funding, and hard money loans all can be classified as “alternative”. In general, there are four characteristics that separate an alternative lender from a bank.

First, the source of capital. Banks use one of two sources to lend: deposits and/or “warehouse” lines of credit.

The warehouse L.O.C.’s come from other, larger, banks, often through the federal system. Private lenders generally draw from a private pool of capital.

That private pool can consist of several wealthy investor individuals, a family office(s), or institutional money (e.g., insurance firms). The primary difference is that the bank capital is highly regulated, whereas the alternative lender capital is not.

Second, the flexibility of the lender. Since alternative lenders are not subject to FDIC regulations they can be more creative in structuring their transactions.

While they still have to fully underwrite (document) their loans, in order to protect their investors, they are able to craft solutions that banks cannot because of their FDIC restrictions.

Third, the requirements for repayment methods are less stringent with alternative lenders. A bank will generally require verification of three different ways to get the loan repaid.

For instance, in a commercial real estate loan they may want to see that the property produces enough revenue to make the loan payment.

As a backup to that they may want to verify that the borrower has enough personal income, or assets to liquidate, to make the payments should the property stop producing enough revenue. And as a further backup to that they will make sure that there is enough equity in the property (Loan-to-Value) that should they have to repossess the property they can sell it for enough to make themselves whole. Alternative lenders generally will look for a solid exit strategy, verify that, and satisfy themselves with a single backup option.

Finally, the decision making process. Bank applications start with a loan officer. Then the loan request is sent through the underwriting department. If it is acceptable from that point it is then sent to a loan committee for review. The committee consists of several officers of the bank.

Finally, if the committee approves it then the Chief Credit Officer has to sign off on it. An alternative lender will often mimic the first two steps but thereafter differs. Often there is a fund manager who holds sole approval power.

If not, they may have a very small loan committee of 2-3 people who can decide quickly. Banks have regularly scheduled loan committee meetings; alternative lenders make loan decisions as the underwriting is completed. This makes them much more responsive.

In short, because they do not have to deal with multiple regulating bodies and burdensome compliance issues, alternative lenders can be much more flexible and timely than a bank.

The need for alternative sources of capital in the commercial real estate industry has never been greater. Winston Rowe & Associates is a capital source that provides flexible, reliable and timely solutions for owners of commercial real estate nationwide.

When is Factoring a Good Idea – Winston Rowe & Associates

In these times of tightening credit, it is more important than ever to have a specialist working to secure the apartment building financing you need. Winston Rowe & Associates specializes in difficult to place loans, providing private funding solutions when needed, and securing institutional financing.

Many small and middle market companies experience cash flow issues at some point during their existence. While circumstances and solutions may vary widely, one of the options for companies in this situation is factoring, otherwise referred to as receivables financing.

Factoring has some perception issues for certain business owners. Because payments go through a third party account they worry that customers will perceive their business as failing.

The truth is that factoring is an effective method for improving cash flow and managing receivables. Customers of the business still make payments to the small business, merely sending it to a different address. Factoring can detect problem accounts more quickly, accelerate working capital intake to fuel growth, and make planning easier for the entrepreneur by making the timing of his cash intake more predictable.

What are the situations where factoring makes sense for a business? There are a number of scenarios that factoring can be used to make a positive impact on a company. Companies that suddenly experience a rapid increase in orders and do not have the available cash or borrowing ability to produce those orders can factor invoices to generate the cash needed to fill those orders. Young firms that have revenues but need working capital for further business development can get the necessary cash quickly to accelerate growth.

Finally, firms that experienced a temporary decrease in revenues that drained its financial resources but have a solid turnaround plan in place can use factoring to provide the cash necessary to implement that plan.

Factoring is an effective financial tool that provides an alternative for companies that need working capital but cannot obtain it from their bank.

Winston Rowe & Associates has some of the most aggressive rates and terms available, while managing every step of the financing process from document collection to commitment negotiation and closing.

They can be contacted at 248 246 2243, a principal is always available to take calls or visit them on line at http://www.winstonrowe.com

Top 10 College Towns to Buy Rental Properties Nationwide

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RealtyTrachas ranked the top 10 college towns for buying rental properties, and you just might be surprised how many Ohio cities made the list.

For these rankings, RealtyTrac looked at public four-year universities with a total 2012 enrollment of 20,000 or more based on data from the National Center for Education Statistics and located in counties with an unemployment rate below the national average of 6.2 percent in June 2014.

The top 10 college towns for buying rental properties were ranked based on annual gross rental yield, which is the annualized rental income — using average fair market rents for the town from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development — divided by the average of the median sales prices in the city during the first eight months of 2014.

With an average rental yield of nearly 14 percent, the city of Akron, home of the University of Akron, tops the list of top college towns for buying rental properties.

Following closely is Trenton, N.J., home of Thomas Edison State College, with an average gross rental yield of 13.20 percent, Gainesville, Fla., home to the University of Florida, with an average gross rental yield of 11.34 percent.

Top 10 college towns for buying rental properties:

University of Akron, Akron, Ohio (2014 average rent for 3-bedroom apartment: $929; annual gross rental yield: 13.81%)
Thomas Edison State College, Trenton, N.J. ($1,596; 13.20%)
University of Florida, Gainesville, Fla. ($1,148; 11.34%)
University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio ($1,020; 11.28%)
Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio ($1,037; 10.97%)
Northern Illinois University, Dekalb, Ill. ($1,070; 10.46%)
University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pa. ($1,092; 10.26%)
Kent State University, Kent, Ohio ($960; 10.09%)
University of Nebraska, Lincoln, Nebraska ($1,039; 9.70%)
Broward College, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. ($1,730, 8.79%)