Getting started with investing has never been easy. But it can be profitable. And today, there are tools and services that can help to make investing both simple –and extremely profitable as well.
In today’s podcast, Kevin Ortner and Mark Hanson, Renters Warehouse’s Leasing Consultant discuss the important yet often-overlooked steps that many first-time (and even experienced landlords) can overlook. From leasing the property to finding tenants, and pricing properties competitively –on to advice on scaling your portfolio, Kevin and Mark draw on their years of experience as real estate investors –and show how easy it can be to find success through single-family homes.
In this episode, they discuss how Mark first got his start with real estate investing –by buying foreclosed HUD homes, or government-owned foreclosures. But when the housing market went down, he realized that renting out that property would make more financial sense than selling it.
Mark has been buying and selling real estate for almost 13 years, and has been leasing properties for a couple of years as well, running a team of leasing agents in the Twin Cities.
To date, Mark has leased just over 300 homes, so it’s safe to say he knows a thing or two about what it takes to lease a property successfully.
Tune into Podcast Episode 05 for Mark’s top tips on things like:
- Finding the right tenant
- Pricing rentals competitively
- Advertising vacancies
- Which properties make the best investments (And why you shouldn’t invest in one-bedroom homes!)
Tips for Rental Property Success:
- Tip #1: Finding the Right Tenant
Finding the right tenant is crucial, and makes the entire process a lot easier.
If your motivation is to have a great tenant, you’ll want to price your property to attract enough interest, and the screen carefully to find the most qualified applicant, Mark says.
A lot of landlords neglect to do basic yet vital steps, forgoing things like background checks or not running thorough checks.
As a side note, having someone to do this for you, professionally, especially if you’re first starting out, is invaluable.
- Tip #2: Credit and Background Checks
Credit services –when checking applicants’ credit history, which service should you use? They range in price considerably from $4.00 on up to around $30.00.
The $30.00 ones will provide a more in-depth story about why that credit score might be low. Maybe it was a medical issue or something similar, that wouldn’t disqualify them as a tenant. You also will get criminal background checks as well. You can pass this expense on to your tenants, most landlords do.
- Tip #3: Reference Checks
Call the previous landlord, and the one before.
Ask:
- Would you rent to them again?
- Did they pay the rent on time?
- Did they leave the property in good repair?
- Tip #4: Pricing Your Rental
Many landlords aren’t sure where to start with their pricing. Should you be competitive, price it high, or go low?
Mark mentions the Rental Price Analysis that Renters Warehouse offers as a great place to start.
He also discusses how one way to draw in a bigger pool of applicants is with competitive pricing. So say that your property could rent for $1,450, consider pricing it for $1,400.
At the end of the day, how you price your property depends on your long-term strategy. And whether you’re price sensitive and looking to get the absolute highest monthly cash flow, or are more concerned with renting quickly, and finding that good, long-term tenant.
Keep in mind too, that people with a good credit score are unlikely to overpay for things, so price your property competitively to draw these people in.
- Tip #5: Advertising Vacancies
Most tenants will be looking online, and at a number of different websites. Market your property everywhere online, and Zillow, especially. And there’s no point putting it in the paper!
“What’s the best kind of rental property?”
Kevin and Mark also discuss “the best kind of rental property.”
The answer, of course, is that it depends on the investor’s goals! Mark discusses how he prefers townhomes as he doesn’t want to have to worry about mowing the lawn in the summer if it’s vacant.
In his opinion, about 70% of what’s available on the MLS make sense as an investment.
- 1-bedroom apartments are hard to rent
- 3 to 4 bedroom properties are much easier
- Generally, look to avoid swimming pools (Kevin says!)
Before you invest, always run the numbers and see how a potential property will perform.
Check out the website, and visit the Renters Warehouse Research Center. See market trends how markets are performing across the country. Build a fantasy portfolio, add properties to your cart and see how your portfolio might look from a return perspective.
Exciting Changes at Renters Warehouse
The last part of this podcast discusses some exciting new changes that are happening with the Renters Warehouse –developments that’ll make investing so much easier and potentially a lot more profitable as well!
“What are we doing to make real estate agents successful, and what are we offering?”
The Renters Warehouse NEW website changes are coming soon, and with a new section that focuses on not only tenanted homes for sale across the country, but also MLS listings. More than simply being able to view MLS listings, though, there will also be tools that allow investors to and sort them by metrics like gross yield, net yield, cash flow, and ROI.
It’s a fast and exciting way to look for properties that’ll produce returns in line with your investing goals.
Approximately 20% of all homes sold across the US are sold to investors, so roughly 1.2 million homes. Until now, though, there’s not been that many investor-friendly portals for viewing and buying investment properties, it’s all had a focus on residential sales –direct to homebuyers.
Renters Warehouse is offering a new category of real estate, one that focuses on investors –and investment properties. So instead of being an accidental landlord, we’re helping to educate investors on how to scale, so be sure to look out for the exciting new website launch. It’s going to be exciting.
If you’d like help with your investments or would like to create a real estate investment plan, visit Renters Warehouse. Live, invest, and rent –all under one roof!
And if you have any questions, drop us a line, and one of our Rent Estate™ advisors will get back to you.
Finally, if you liked today’s podcast be sure to listen to our previous episodes:
- Episode 01: Getting Started With SFR, First-Hand Investor Experience (With special guest Jon Ortner)
- Episode 02: Future-Proofing Your Investments (With special guest Greg Rand)
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