by Barker Realty, Inc. | Oct 4, 2018 | Property Selection, Raleigh Investment Property, Raleigh Property Management, Tips for Property Investors
It’s time to invest in Raleigh real estate
Raleigh is a booming city that offers numerous amenities and business opportunities to its residents. In fact, Forbes recently named it one of the best places in the country to start a career. Here’s why now’s the best time to start planning your move to Raleigh, or even invest in some Raleigh real estate!
Business is booming
As the economy improves, the price of Raleigh real estate has increased drastically, as has the pricing in the surrounding towns and cities like Cary, Apex, Holly Springs, Durham, Chapel Hill, and Wake Forest. Even though the cost of living has substantially increased, however, it’s still relatively affordable when compared to other major cities in the United States. Since the property values are likely to continue increasing, now’s the perfect time to buy a Raleigh home or apartment, in order to reap big benefits later.
Why you should raise your family in Raleigh
Not only does Raleigh have great business opportunities, but it’s also a great place to raise a family. Many of the schools in the city and surrounding towns are nationally-ranked, and there are plenty of public and private options to choose from. In addition, the abundance of parks, trails, museums, historical attractions, and shopping centers means there’s plenty of things to do for everyone. Raleigh’s robust infrastructure and continued improvements and additions to roads and highways make it easy to navigate.
How to locate the right investment property
There’s only one downside to Raleigh’s increasing popularity–the real estate market is extremely competitive. According to state data, Wake County is growing around a net of 63 people per day, and every day, thousands of people search for homes. Anyone who wants to purchase real estate in Raleigh or the surrounding markets must be prepared to act quickly and come in with a strong offer–and an experienced Raleigh property management company like Barker Realty can help. Contact us today for more information concerning trends in the real estate market and strategies that will help you find your perfect property for a fair price.
by Barker Realty, Inc. | Sep 28, 2018 | Landscaping & Grounds, Safety & Security, Tenant Management, Tips for Landlords
The Labor Day weekend offers many people one last opportunity to celebrate summer fun. Before the resumption of daily school schedules and the need to prepare for colder, blustery autumn weather, numerous households participate in friendly barbecues, large family gatherings, and pool side parties. Property managers in Cary, Apex, Raleigh and surrounding areas concerned about rental maintenance, may find this quick holiday checklist useful:
1. Prepare Recreational Facility Entrances in Advance
Do you anticipate a raucous end to summer rental maintenance with the arrival of numerous Labor Day guests? It makes sense to prepare for holiday celebrations at apartment complexes and trailer parks well in advance. Post property rules clearly at the entrance. If tenants can only admit a specific number of visitors, let everyone know in advance property managers expects to enforce those rules!
2. Supervise Pool Area Activities
Similarly, property managers in Cary need to ensure pool side area regulations also command a prominent, visible location. If your property requires everyone to adhere to basic safety guidelines (e.g. no running or rough horseplay beside the pool), post these rules clearly. Let tenants know about your overriding concern for safety. You’ll make your summer rental maintenance obligations much easier by ensuring everyone enjoys a happy, accident-free Labor Day Holiday.
3. Maintain a Clean Picnic Area
If tenants and their friends plan outdoor reunions at your site, make sure you mow the grounds surrounding the grill and picnic area before the holiday commences. Also ensure you’ve placed public trash cans for litter collection close at hand. Arrange to check the area from time to time if necessary to prevent overflowing garbage receptacles.
4. Respect “Quiet Hours”
Finally, let tenants know in advance you enforce facility rules relating to quiet hours. Other residents deserve consideration from noisy neighbors. The burden of enforcing these rules ultimately rests with you! By limiting noise levels after dark you’ll enjoy easier rental maintenance.
We hope you enjoyed our quick Labor Day tips for a peaceful and uneventful holiday for your investment properties or those you may manage.
by Barker Realty, Inc. | Sep 3, 2018 | Local Property Management, Property Management Blog, Tenant Management, Tips for Landlords
Educating Tenants at Move-In to Avoid Unnecessary Work Orders
Real estate is a significant investment that can potentially yield high profits. As a property owner, you need to educate yourself with the necessary information about your rental property, the housing market and the region in which you have your rental(s) in order to build a better, more healthy relationship with your tenants. Building these relationships gains their trust and your credibility to ultimately reduce and avoid unnecessary work orders.
The best way of educating a tenant and maintaining them for longer periods of time is by hiring the services of a local real estate management company, like Barker Realty, who have experienced rental property managers on staff with years of experience.
Companies like Barker Realty should be in a position to handle any tenant need and make sure that your investment property is kept up efficiently and in your best interests.
Let us share some basic tips in dealing with tenants to ensure a healthy, balanced relationship:
1. Provide Utility & Home Service Information
As a rental property manager, tenants should be provided information about important local service providers, such as utility companies, phone, TV, internet and city/town contacts before they move in. Providing these details to your tenants shows value and benefits in proving you care about their smooth transition. Your tenants should have enough time to make the calls to get tech’s scheduled and services activated at their new home (your rental).
2. Provide Parking Information
Parking can be a pain anywhere, but it shouldn’t be at your tenant’s new home. Some tenants may have cars and others not, but those who do should know where they can and cannot park and if there are restrictions on time of day or night as well. Allowing your tenants time to check out the area to find parking or use a lot or a driveway is key and will also cut down on possible neighbor or neighborhood complaints.
As a property management company, our team at Barker Realty knows to ask tenants how many cars they have as well to help identify a potential issue before it arises or give the green light that everything will be fine.
3. Provide Important Details About Payments, Maintenance Requests, and Any Deadlines
When it comes to rental payments, many landlords face challenges from tenants who may be late or delinquent or provide false excuses on why they can’t pay on time. Same applies to maintenance requests or needs from tenants over the days, weeks, months, years. Property owners don’t want to be hassled with this each month, so that is where hiring a property management company becomes of great value.
Your rental management provider, like Barker Realty, will be able to give clear guidelines to your tenants regarding the date of payment, and consequences of delaying the payment. Also, in case of property damages by a tenant, tenants need to understand they are liable. Alternatively, if an issue arises with the property that is not caused by the tenant, then you the landlord are responsible to fix in a timely manner to uphold your end of the lease agreement. Tenants have rights too, and abiding by these situations to help each other out makes for a long lasting relationship.
Supplying your tenants with the above three pieces of quick, useful and helpful information may reduce unnecessary work orders and tension between you and those occupying your rental property.
Contact our Raleigh property management company today to speak with us about your rental management needs or to discuss any of our services. It’s our goal to provide each and every one of our clients the best service!
by Barker Realty, Inc. | Aug 4, 2018 | Property Management Blog, Repair & Upgrades, Tenant Management, Tips for Landlords
Owning an investment property in Cary could be a great long-term investment option. While there are benefits that come with owning investment real estate, it can also be a challenge at times. Even when following the best tenant retention tips and choose qualified tenants, there issues that arise things that need to be dealt with. Fortunately, there are tips that you can follow that could help you to better manage even the most challenging situations.
Consistent Approach
One of the most important things to do is follow a consistent approach. You should have policies and procedures set up to follow if a tenant falls behind on rent. Our Cary based property managers are experienced in these processes.
Keep Records and Documentation
When struggling with a tenant that consistently falls behind on rent, or threatens lawsuits, our experienced Cary property managers make sure to keep proper records at all times. It is very important that you document interaction with emails, letters, and other forms of correspondence. This could be valuable in the event the case goes to trial.
Deposits and Insurance
Another headache for landlords is rental property damage. Accidents do happen. Make sure that you are covered in the event of rental property damage by contacting your insurance agent to discuss options to protect you and your home. Require your tenants to carry a renter’s insurance policy. Require a security deposit up front in certified funds to cover damages at move-out.
If you are a property owner in Cary, contact us today to learn more about the services Barker Realty can provide you on managing your investment property the right way.
by Barker Realty, Inc. | Jul 20, 2018 | Property Management Blog, Raleigh Investment Property, Taxes & Financing, Tips for Property Investors
It is important for rental property owners to know and understand how to manage cash flow. Cash flow is an important item in your budget that allows you to project income over the year. As an investment property owner you may find out your profit is 8% after expenses when it should be, say 10%. As an investor, you may come to a conclusion that a particular property will not be profitable, and it may be better to invest money elsewhere. Your cash flow creates opportunities as well as explained below.
Investors who are looking to refinance or sell a property also need to have a consistent stream of income. Properties that have a strong cash flow are more attractive to investors. Buyers may ask to see a rent roll in order to confirm that the rent has been consistently paid showing properties are in good standing and helps build investor confidence.
If you have a larger property, then a dip in cash flow may not hurt you much. They usually have enough income coming into to deal with dips. However, it can be difficult to manage cash flow at a single rental property versus a portfolio with multiple properties as dips are harder to take and overcome.
Our team at Barker Realty helps our property managers and also our clients who invest in properties work to understand and maximize cash flow for each and every property.
Reduce the Impact of Vacancies
You will likely have vacancies at some point. You can reduce the impact of vacancies by including a marginal vacancy rate in your budget. If you do not have a vacancy, then you will be able to offset unexpected costs.
Stagger Lease Expirations
Many property managers are tempted to have all of their leases on the same schedule. However, this may cause a cash flow problem if people move out, and their unit is not re-rented. Change the dates so that you are not hit with multiple vacancies at one time.
Review Your Contracts
If it has been a long time since you reviewed your property management contracts, then now is the time to do so. Have your insurance premiums increased? Is it time to refinance? Is your mortgage interest rate competitive with other rates? Are you getting the best rate for your service? Those are some of the key questions you need to ask yourself.
All recurring expenses you have should be evaluated in order to determine if you are getting the best rates. You will be able to increase your cash flow by reducing your monthly costs and our team of investment property managers in Apex is ready to help. Contact us today for more information or to schedule a meeting!
