Business & Tech
House Hunt: Holiday Weekend, No Open Houses
Do you have what it takes to be a landlord?
Last week we reviewed some of the financial issues involved with being a landlord. Although the financial rewards can be great, not everyone has the personality or skills to be a successful landlord. By successful, we mean the ability to make money. Review these attributes and rate your probability of success.
One of the most important factors is the ability to keep good records and be organised. Not only do you need these to keep track of your profit/loss, they are necessary for the IRS.
You will have to wear many more "hats" to be a landlord. Obviously the more trades skills you have, the more you will save in repairing and maintaining the property. It's no surprise that if a tenant plugs a toilet and you have to call a plumber, it won't be cheap. Most house calls for plumbers start around $100 and go up from there.
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If you enjoy learning, then use the "rule of three" to figure costs. Usually you can do something three times yourself – and get it wrong, for the cost of bringing in a pro.
Probably the most overlooked skill is people skills. If someone is renting your property, then they are your customer. Most new landlords don't look at it this way. The tenant is paying you good money to live in your property and they expect certain things for their hard earned cash.
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A landlord has to understand the tenant's needs and be flexible. Maybe they need an ice-maker, or some leeway with the rent payment for a few days. A landlord should accommodate a good tenant as best he can, if you subscribe to the "customer comes first" theory. Even this rental driven market it is still not easy to find quality tenants.
The longer you can retain a tenant the more money you make. If your rental is a revolving door, you lose money, with carpet cleaning, repainting, repairs and just lost rents due to the vacancy.
Next week we will look at some other factors that make a landlord successful.
Listed below are the statistics for all properties sold in the Hillcrest area since the first of the year.
Bedrooms Bathrooms Square Feet List Price Selling Price DOM/CDOM Minimum 0 0.00 816 $29,750 $1,800 0/0 Average 3 2.35 1,902 $176,724 $160,573 135/185 Median 3 2.00 1,611 $134,700 $125,000 98/119 Maximum 6 7.00 8,332 $1,900,000 $1,750,000 732/1290 Total Dollar Value $47,208,488 Average DOM Breakdown and Average % of Listing Price received on Solds by Market time: 0-30 Days 31-60 Days 61-90 Days 91-120 Days 120+ Days No. of Listings 43 47 48 39 117 Breakdown % 14.63 15.99 16.33 13.27 39.80 Avg SP%LP 95.55 91.62 90.72 87.12 90.53
Average CDOM Breakdown and Average % of Listing Price received on Solds by Market time: 0-30 Days 31-60 Days 61-90 Days 91-120 Days 120+ Days No. of Listings 36 35 41 38 144 Breakdown % 12.24 11.90 13.95 12.93 48.98 Avg SP%LP 95.46 91.87 90.60 87.27 90.86