Central Air or Individual Units?
Central air or individual heating and cooling units. I get asked this question more than any other question when it comes to rental property tips. I have to say that I am split 50-50 on the idea of going one way or the other. A lot of my decisions are based on the size of the home, the location of the home and the type of renters that I expect to live in a home that I’m renting.
On my smaller units that I have, most of the time I go with individual window air conditioner units. The reason I like going with individual units is because of price. I can usually equipped a rental property with an air-conditioning unit in each room of the house, and my smaller rental units usually consist of one or two bedrooms, a kitchen and the living room. At most, I will provide up to three window units, and if the renter would like to add their own units they are more than welcome to do so.
Overall the price to replace three or 410 units over a central unit is extremely cheaper and physically easier. I don’t have to hire an air-conditioning crew to come in and replace the window units, I simply do that myself.
If the house I’m renting is upscale, or the surrounding homes in the neighborhood are all central unit air conditioners, then I will follow suit and make sure that my rental property uses a central air-conditioning unit as well. The best part about a central air-conditioning unit is that it also provides heat as well is the ability to cool the house.
When using window units, I also tend to provide some kind of elite as well. In the past I have just left small individual electric room heaters in each closet, that the renter can use a thorough discretion. In recent times however, I have found myself using an electric baseboard heater. I feel more safe with a heater that’s attached to the wall, as opposed to just a small heating unit that the renter can move around wherever they want. The risk of fire and damage to the home is significantly less with a heater that is built in or attached to a wall.
Electric baseboard heaters are fairly inexpensive, ranging under $200 each while doing a great job of efficiently leading homes. So as to whether or not you should use central air or individual units in your rental properties is really up to you and your budget. Using common sense you will quickly find and which places it is better to use individual units and in which cases it’s better to go with a complete central air-conditioning unit.
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Schooling Required for Rental Investing
Many people ask what kind of schooling I have invested my time in for learning the ins and outs of rental property investing. To be honest, I have no schooling based entirely on the sole purpose of learning how to buy and rent property. I have friends and family members who also make a living with rental properties who have never set foot in a school, other than grade school of course.
A lot of what you learn or know about investment property can be found through simple research, asking others who do it, and common sense. Don’t get me wrong, as I have spent my fair share of time in school, I just never thought that after spending several years in school I wouldnt being using a degree to make my living.
I have spent several years in a couple of different schools. I attending a local Junior college where I grew up to get my basics out of the way, then I decided to look into trade schools to learn about auto mechanics and welding since those are my other passions. The technical programs offered at most trade schools and community colleges are great because they are straight to the point and there is little to no wasted time. They know why your there, you know why you are there, you get in and learn what you need to know to get the job you want. You would be surprised at how much money you can make attending a 2 year college. The average technician salary is actually quite high and the demand for qualified people to work is always gonna be high.
Back to the subject of learning the basics of rental property investing, it truly all came little by little. I started with one house, lived in it for a while and found a new home I liked better. I moved out and instead of selling my place, I put it up for rent and just kind of went from there. Just like with anything, you gotta get your feet wet to learn how to swim. Its not always the best advice to jump in all at once. Take your time, and read, read, read. Learn from examples of others who have already done what you are thinking about trying. The reward is great if you treat the task at hand like a legitimate job and really put your heart into it.
Im sure there are books or ebooks online you can download that claim they will tell you everything you need to know, and they might. It may be worth spending a little money to feel a little better about the choices you will make in the future. There is always risk with any investing, so be smart about what choices you make. No matter who may be helping you decide on what property to buy, remember that ultimately the money you are investing is yours, therefore it is your decision on whether or not you invest in the end.
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Small Interior Investments
So we have talked about changing appearances of landscaping and and of exterior eye sores such as the fiber cement siding to a degree that fixes any problems and may gain you more monthly rent but does not raise your yearly taxes. Lets look a few small changes that can be done to the inside to really entice a potential renter to rent from you as apposed to another home they may have looked at previously.
Storage! Storage is a vital key point when someone is home shopping. This doesn’t necessarily mean a large storage unit or shed needs to be built on site and provided as part of the renters monthly payment. The kind of storage I am mainly referring to is closet space. Closet space can be a huge deciding factor on whether a family rents a place or moves on to the next rental. If your property obviously is lacking in the closet department, one small investment that may pay off big, is having a contractor install some kind of closet systems that will utilize every inch of the closets space. When a renter sees there is room for there wardrobe even if the closet is small, chances are they will take it regardless of the actual size of the closet.
Another point I wanted to touch on is the window and door treatments. For under 8 dollars per window you can supply your rental property with blinds and shades that not only make the inside of the rental look completed, but give an instant feeling of privacy. I have seen many times where potential renters will look at the windows and doors and think, well there is 100.00 dollars we are gonna have to spend right off the bat just to have some privacy when we move in. That 100.00 dollars could sway a potential renter out a 6 month or year lease. Remember to include the blinds and shades on the lease agreement, so that if they are damaged, you can take the funds out of their security deposit to pay for them.
These are only tips, and are not a must do when renting property. These small inexpensive interior investments will go along way to helping you find a renter fast.
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Rental Property Appearance
Does the way your rental property investment looks from not only the outside but the inside as well, affect how much you can charge on a monthly basis? Of course, but you have to reach a reasonable balance between the looks of your rental property and the looks of all the other properties on that particular street.
You dont want to have the nicest, and you don’t want the ugliest. Remember that you rental property land taxes are based on outside appearance just like your homestead home. So if you have the nicest house on the block, you will be paying more in taxes, therefore cutting into your overall profit margin gain for each month and year you rent a particular piece of property.
You must choose a solid balance between too nice and not nice enough. The house needs to look presentable to would be renters. This is a gimme but should be taken seriously. A fresh coat of paint inside between tennants, and a fresh coat of paint on the outside at least every 5 years. Make the effort to stop by your properties once a week to make sure the lawn is being watered so that it does not die. If your tenant is cluttering up the place with cars in the yard, trash everywhere, or not mowing the yard this is where you would need to step in as soon as possible to keep them on track before it gets out of hand.
Besides paint, you can fix drywall cracks and holes, fix the hardiplank siding, replace the windows and doors, replace the flooring such as the carpet and tile, along with pressure washing the driveway and sidewalk outside the rental property. These are all tasks that should be done at least at the time of purchase and may even need to be done between each renter. Choosing good renters is a hard task but can be done with patience and a good back ground check. A background check is not fool proof, but will scare away many of your unwanted tenants.
Yes they are renting the property, but you can have in your lease that they must upkeep the exterior as well as the interior of the property in the lease they sign. This gives you the right to evict them if they do not abide by the lease. Renting a peice of property is an ongoing full time job that can call on you at 3am because of a burst pipe or house fire. Always be prepared and remememer to find that proper balance in your investment as to get the most money you can each month while keeping your property taxes as low as possible.
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