About a year ago I read a CNN Money article about the latest signs that rents continue to climb while home price remain stagnate in certain metro areas. CNN Money article: http://cnnmon.ie/HkhXyT
My take?
Great Time To Invest In Rentals
What a great time to be a landlord these past few years. I mean even in an average market with average rents and average home prices (whatever that means in your area) it is a good time to be a landlord. But today?! Are you kidding me? It’s unbelievable.
Let me just say this: I hope you’re at least thinking about buying more properties. And if you are, think now (not later) before you buy them just exactly how you plan to market your houses or apartment units to attract great, new residents. 3 tips to think about as you’re looking at investment properties:
3 Tips For Buying Rental Investment Property
1.) Location is key.
No surprise here, but your property’s location says a lot about the type of residents you will attract, the length of vacancies you might have and the rent rates that you can expect to get. This doesn’t mean all of your rentals can be in the nicest area. That’s probably not practical or affordable. But it does mean you need to be aware of how the location of your property affects your marketing of it (both the pros and the cons).
2.) Service is everything.
As landlords, the product we’re offering is rental housing. That’s the same across markets and price points. So, how then can you differentiate yourself? With your service. Seek to solve your residents’ biggest needs or pain points better than any other landlord they’ve ever had. Don’t know what those pain points are? Then, ask your residents! Do a simple email survey or collect their feedback on your property inspection to find out what they’re really thinking, how they feel about your place and what you can do better to meet their needs.
3.) Add single-family housing to the mix.
If you’ve always bought multi-family houses or apartment buildings with dozens or hundreds of units, consider adding a few single-family houses to your portfolio. Single-family housing helps diversify your real estate investments, can lower your vacancy rates and give you a path to keep a great resident in one of your properties even longer! Plus, it gives you another option: eventually owner-financing the house to an excellent resident who wants to become a homeowner. A classic win-win.
My question: What does today’s housing market mean to you?
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