Real Estate Investing 101

Section 8 Housing and the Benefits to Landlords In Arizona

Section 8 Housing is one of the rental vehicles available to landlords. In our opinion, it has received an unwarranted bad reputation. Many feel the program will bring bad tenants and problems when in fact, most landlords who utilize the program are happy.

The city of Phoenix Housing Department, the largest provider of Section 8 housing in Arizona, have a web site dedicated to information about this program. Among the many topics are the benefits to landlords that we have summarized below.

There are several benefits to landlords who participate in the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program, from free advertising for your unit to annual inspections of your property.  There are no fees or charges assessed to property owners for services provided under the Section 8 HCV program.  Also, there is no application process required for potential landlords.

The Housing Department does require that all owners joining the Section 8 HCV program register their property with the Maricopa County Assessor’s Office Residential Rental Registration program.  The Housing Department also encourages certification of properties in the Phoenix Police Department’s Crime Free Multi-Housing program.

 

How the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program Works

The Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program provides assistance, in the form of a Voucher, to qualified families, seniors and persons with disabilities for rental units chosen by the tenant in the private market.

The city of Phoenix Housing Department provides monthly payments directly to participating property owners to offset the cost difference between tenant payments and unit rent.  Tenant rent payment amounts are determined based on their adjusted income.  Program applicants may choose from a variety of housing options including apartments, condos, duplexes, single-family homes and townhouses.

 

We encourage interested landlords to talk with the appropriate people in the City of their interest. If you have properties in the Phoenix area, you can visit the City's section 8 housing web site for more information.

 

We are planning a meetup.com group meeting in March that will focus on Section 8 housing in the Phoenix area. Visit our meetup.com group page for meeting announcements.

 

Best wishes for success

 

Ron Urban & Gene Urban
The Urban Team at Realty Executives
602-234-5777

Rent Concessions & Broken Leases

Many landlords offers rental concessions as a way to attract new tenants. The signs are everywhere… “Free Rent”, “1/2 Off First 3 Months” and even “Free Plasma TV with 1 Year Lease.” When the market is saturated, like the current Phoenix market, landlords get creative.

We gotten some emails asking what damages a landlord can ask the court to consider regarding concessions and evictions.

As with all things legal, we turn to people with the “JD” thing behind their name and that person is most often Phoenix landlord/tenant attorney Andy Hull.  Regarding concessions and evictions, Andy says:

The normal lease agreement usually will have a provision for rental concessions that were given to the tenant as an inducement in signing the lease. These rental concessions then would be repayable as unpaid rent in the event the tenant does not fulfill the lease agreement.

The courts have seemed to be consistent in allowing rental concessions in evictions. The lease must specifically state that the concessions must be repaid as additional rent if the contract is not fulfilled. Most of the courts will also prorate the concessions for those used as of the date of the eviction.

We hope this info has been of help. If you need a knowledgeable landlord/tenant attorney in the Greater Phoenix Market, Andy Hull is a well known quantity. Just go to his web site for contact info and such.

Best to you,

Gene Urban & Ron Urban
The Urban Team at Realty Executives
602-234-5777

November Rent Rates Fall Slightly In Phoenix Area

According to rentBits, a rental search engine for apartments and rental homes, the average rental rates for Phoenix have seen a slight decrease November over October. Collectively, across all bedrooms (3,541 listings), the average rental rates has decreased from $788 in October to $786 in November.

"Demand for rentals in Phoenix has not caught up with supply." says Dan Daugherty, CEO of rentBits. "This is putting slight downward pressure on the rental rates in this area."

In most other cities across the US, rental rates for apartments are seeing a slight decrease for the year. Much of this is due to a decrease in demand. Many renters for apartments are either moving into a single family home rental, moving back in with Family or sharing rooms with friends. This transitional period has put downward pressure on most apartment rental rates.

Source: http://rentbits.com/rb/t/rental-rates/phoenix-arizona

Hope you have a great weekend…

Gene Urban & Ron Urban
The Urban Team at Realty Executives
602-234-5777

Visit our other blogs and sites:

Search for Homes in Phoenix... an incredible property search site
Short-Sale-Phoenix.com… Info site for short sales in Phoenix
Urban Life … the downtown and central Phoenix real estate Blog

How Do I Determine Rent Rates For My Vacant Home?

The question of how to determine rent rates comes up often, especially in a market as saturated as the Greater Phoenix area. You could gaze into a crystal ball for the answer or read at few ideas we've collected over the years. Your choice.

Ask The Vacating Tenant:
Your current tenant can be a wealth of information. Tenants often know the market better than landlords. They often have friends who are renters in the area and probably monitor the rent rates in the neighborhood.

Knowledge is Afoot:
Walk the neighborhood. You'd be amazed how much you can learn by walking around the area your place is located. Rental signs on other properties often have amounts and certainly a phone number you can call. If people are outside working on cars, playing and such you can ask them what rents are like in the area... don't wear fine duds unless it is appropriate for the area.

Keep Your Comps Relevant:
Some people use apartment rates to determine single family home prices and visa versa. They are not the same animal. At the same time, it can help give you a sense of the competition.

Is Your  Phone Ringing:
A silent phone is often the sign of too high a price. Be proactive and lower the price in small increments often until you start getting calls.

Greedy Can Kill Over Time:
Turnover is one of the biggest causes of lost cash flow... unless you get the tenant from hell you Craig's Lists all your cabinets, appliances and such. If  a tenant feels he or she is paying way above market value they will not stay long. They'll shop around and find a better deal. Since loss of rent, turnover repairs and marketing are costly, you may want to balance those costs in our rental rates. In a competitive market you may not want to do annual rent increases. This may be tough for the old timers who are used to 3 - 5 percent increases each year but we're not in Kansas anymore Dorothy.

Check Online Comps:
Craig's List and Rent.com can give you insight into current market values. Stop at your local grocery store too and pick up  a few of the rent magazines. This is something you should do every 3-4 months so you keep your pulse on neighborhood values. If rents have dropped in your area substantially, you may want to lower the rate to encourage your tenant to stay another year or two. Remember to keep you eye on the long term value of renters who stay with you for many years.

Know Thy Neighborhood Property Managers:
Do you know any property managers in the area. sure they might be the competition and they also can be invaluable help. A cup of java or a happy hour toast can be just the right thing to nurture a relationship.

We hope these ideas are helpful to you. Keeping your investment rented with quality tenants is the name of the game and proper pricing plays a major role.

Best to you,

Should I Buy A Foreclosure or a Short Sale?

Many investors are asking the big question... should l be looking at buying foreclosures or short sales.

The answer is not cut and dry. However, in many cases short sales may be the right choice for three reasons. First, they are priced similarly to foreclosures. Second, at this time there are more short sales to choose from than foreclosures. Third, they are often better condition since the home owner usually lives in the home and can augment your inspection with full property disclosures.

The third factor is important since most investors are not general contractors and have to pay retail or near retail for fixing up a property. The lack of disclosures and AS IS condition of a foreclosure can lead to some ugly post close of escrow problems. This simple factor can make a big difference to your bottom line. 

The BIG downside to short sales is time. It still takes a long time to close escrow on a short sale. The other caution is the seller's lender may come up with some surprise fees at the end like back HOA dues.

We all know investing in real estate is a gamble. That's part of the fun for many hard core investors... throw the dice and see what come up.  Short sales are simply one of the games you can choose to play.

We have a lot more information about short sales on our dedicated short sale web site... www.Short-Sale-Phoenix.com. 

Best to you,

Gene Urban & Ron Urban
The Urban Team at Realty Executives Phoenix
602-234-5777

Urban Team Launches New Real Estate Search Site for Greater Phoenix

Greetings on a rainy Monday in Phoenix. Rain is such an uncommon event here it is worth noting.

We, The Urban Team, are excited to announce our latest specialty web site for people searching for homes, condos, land, and investment property in the Greater Phoenix area. WWW.SearchForHomesInPhoenix/com not only features the spectacular Diverse Solutions search tool, it has a bevy of specialty pre-built searches designed to save you time.

Among the many specialty searches are:

• Search by zip code.
• Search by subdivision (Many of the most popular subdivisions are included)
• Search for foreclosures and bank owned properties.
• Find short sale homes, condos, land.

Don't forget to look at our Tips for Better Home Searching page too. It has info for both investors and regular home hunters.

Have a great day and even more fun as you search and find the best homes in the Phoenix Arizona market.

Ron Urban & Gene Urban
The Urban Team at Realty Executives
602-234-5777