RENTAL
PROPERTIES ARE A GREAT INVESTMENT
Cash Flow, Appreciation & Significant Tax Benefits
For your personal introduction into Rental Property
Investing
Call Ron Brown /
Owner - East Mesa Realtor
602-618-9512 /
Ron.Brown@TrailsAndPaths.com
Trails and Paths Premier Properties: East Mesa Realtor has
structured many successful Real Estate investments. 15 years helping customers Buy,
Sell and Manage Rental Properties.
This brokerage is among the largest real estate offices in the valley
employing Professional Las Sendas Realtors and Associate Brokers
PROTECT YOUR SELF AGAINST RISING
INFLATION: The US
economy is beginning to enter a period of stagflation and many are predicting a
rise in inflation in the coming years. Real estate investments are able to
offer highly competitive yields and act as a hedge against impending inflation
without excessive risk associated.
Rental property remains one of the
best classes of investments available:
Good properties offer a unique
combination of capital growth, ongoing cash flow and significant tax benefits.
The key to success in rental-property investing is to buy properties the right
way.
10 things you should consider when searching for the right
rental property.
- Neighborhoods: The quality of the neighborhood
in which you buy will influence both the types of tenants you attract and
how often you face vacancies. For example, if you buy in a neighborhood
near a university, the chances are that your pool of potential tenants
will be mainly made up of students and that you will face vacancies on a
fairly regular basis (during summer, when students tend to return back
home).
- Property
Taxes: Property
taxes are not standard across the board and, as an investor planning to
make money from rent, you want to be aware of how much you will be losing
to taxes. High property taxes may not always be a bad thing if the
neighborhood is an excellent place for long-term tenants, but the two do
not necessarily go hand in hand. The town's assessment office will have
all the tax information on file or you can talk to homeowners within the
community.
- Schools: Your tenants may have or be
planning to have children, so they will need a place near a decent school.
When you have found a good property near a school, you will want to check
the quality of the school as this can affect the value of your investment.
If the school has a poor reputation, prices will reflect your property's
value poorly. Although you will be mostly concerned about the monthly cash
flow, the overall value of your rental property comes in to play when you
eventually sell it and retire someday.
- Crime: No one wants to live next door to
a hot spot for criminal activity. Go to the police or the public library
for accurate crime statistics for various neighborhoods, rather than
asking the homeowner who is hoping to sell the house to you. Items to look
for are vandalism rates, serious crimes, petty crimes and recent activity
(growth or slow down). You might also want to ask about the frequency of
police presence in your neighborhood.
- Jobs: Locations with growing employment
opportunities tend to attract more people - meaning more tenants. To find
out how a particular area rates, go directly to the U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics or to your local library. If you notice an announcement for a
new major company moving to the area, you can rest assured that workers
will flock to the area. However, this may cause house prices to react
(either negatively or positively) depending on the corporation moving in.
The fall back point here is that if you would like the new corporation in
your backyard, your renters probably will too.
- Amenities:
Check
the potential neighborhood for current or projected parks, malls, gyms,
movie theaters, public transport hubs and all the other perks that attract
renters. Cities, and sometimes even particular areas of a city, have loads
of promotional literature that will give you an idea of where the best
blend of public amenities and private property can be found.
- Building
Permits and Future Development: The municipal planning department
will have information on all the new development that is coming or has
been zoned into the area. If there are many new condos, business parks or
malls going up in your area, it is probably a good growth area. However,
watch out for new developments that could hurt the price surrounding
properties by, for example, causing the loss of an activity-friendly green
space. The additional condos and/or new housing could also provide
competition for your renters, so be aware of that possibility.
- Amount
of Listings and Vacancies: If there is an unusually high amount of listings for
one particular neighborhood, this can either signal a seasonal cycle or a
neighborhood that has "gone bad." Make sure you figure out which
it is before you buy in. You should also determine whether you can cover
for any seasonal fluctuations in vacancies. Similar to listings, the vacancy
rates will give you an idea of how successful you will be at attracting
tenants. High vacancy rates force landlords to lower rents in order to
snap up tenants - low vacancy rates allow landlords to raise rental rates.
- Rents:
Rent
will be the bread and butter for your rental property, so you need to know
what the average rent in the area is. If charging the average rent is not
going to be enough to cover your mortgage payment, taxes and other expenses,
then you have to keep looking. Be sure to research the area well enough to
gauge where the area will be headed in the next five years. If you can
afford the area now, but major improvements are in store and property
taxes are expected to increase, then what could be affordable now may mean
bankruptcy later.
- Natural Disasters: Insurance is another
expense that you will have to subtract from your returns, so it is good to know
just how much you will need to carry. If an area is prone to earthquakes or flooding,
the extra insurance can add up and eat away at your rental income.
For your personal introduction
into Rental Property Investing
Call Ron Brown /
Owner - East Mesa Realtor
602-618-9512 /
Ron.Brown@TrailsAndPaths.com