The past couple of years we have seen a big change in the types of tenants now renting homes. Consequently, the type of home that they are looking for has significantly changed as well.

Trend #1 – Multi-Generational Households

With unemployment being still fairly high. We are seeing more and more multi-generations living together to make ends meet. College students not able to find jobs are still living at home and Grandparents helping with child care are just some examples. So what this means is that people are looking for larger homes that accommodate more adults.

Trend #2 – More Telecommuting/ Working from Home

With employers trying to reduce the needs for expensive office space, they are offering more flexible work schedules and allow employees to telecommute. This has increased the need for additional space to work. So the desired minimum number of bedrooms/office has increased.

Trend #3 – Foreclosed Homeowners

With the increase in foreclosures, short sales & strategic defaults, more and more “middle class” are now renting rather than owning. However, these foreclosed owners still want to maintain their lifestyle. So we are seeing that the higher priced, newer homes, are more in demand that in previous years.

Trend #4 – Rental Rate Negotiation

In previous years, we would offer a home for rent and the tenants would either accept the stated rent or select a different home. In today’s market, most tenants are looking for some kind of special or deal at move in. They also will ask for on-time rent discounts, monthly rent reductions, or money off at time of move in.

Trend #5 – Generations of Renters

Because of the difficultly of qualifying for a mortgage, we are seeing more and better quality of tenants. With the influx of foreclosed homeowners, who have no choice but to rent, we are finding that they are staying longer and are paying on time. We expect this to continue for several years.

So, in conclusion, properties with 4 or more bedrooms, in good condition. we are seeing minimal time on market. Homes that have been updated and “current”, that are priced appropriately we are renting in a matter of days.

For those of you who have rental properties on the market, we have 2 months to get them filled before the absolute lull of the season. We see spikes in move-ins for October & November. The phones are picking up over August & September. Then we will see a tremendous drop off in December through February.  So, we are encouraging our owners to get their properties in great shape & market them aggressively with move in specials. This is what it is going to take to get the properties filled before the lull.

While we are seeing rental rate increases in pockets of the city, most of the rental market remains somewhat flat. We are starting to see more and more apartments offering specials, which is not a great sign.

The properties that are renting right now within 30 days are the higher end properties; Properties in swim/tennis neighborhoods, in great school districts. Homes that are in need of a little love are sitting longer and longer on the market. No matter what, the yards need to be maintained, the home needs to be clean and fresh smelling. The longer a property sits the harder it is for it to be rented. The best option if you are not going to repair is to lower the price. You can do this by offering a discount for on-time payment.

We do our best to maximize every opportunity to engage with a prospective tenant. We see what objections that there may be about the property and if we can overcome it, we do. Obviously, we can’t change the location, schools district, or floor plans, but if we can freshen up with some paint, replace a room of carpet, or ask for a price reduction for a qualified tenant, we will do our best to make that happen.

Every day a property sits vacant, it is costly for everyone. Vacant properties are more prone to vandalism, if there is a mortgage payment on the property, it costs a per diem. We hate vacancies as much as our owners as we are not enjoying the management fees but still have the liability for the property. We are spending advertising dollars, constantly checking the property to make sure that we haven’t had an issue. So we have every incentive to get that property occupied.

If you have a rental home that needs professional management, please contact us. We would love to hear from you!

If you own property in Gwinnett County, but have a home available for rent or sale, be aware! There is a new property registration requirement for un-occupied homes that are vacant more than 60 days. This puts a huge burden on legitimate homeowners who are no longer living in the property, but need to sell or rent their property. The new law requires registration and payment of a registration fee in order to be in compliance.  

This was originally started to deal with banks who foreclosed on properties and who were not maintaining their lawns & structures. However this law has now unfortunately spilled over to legitimate homeowners who have vacant properties.  

While Mark & I have attended meetings to try and stop this legislation, we were not successful. We recommended that the county deal with the offenders and not the general public. Since the county maintains the records, all they had to do is when a property forecloses, process the paperwork and perform the registration and collect a fee at that time and not for general vacant homes, but that was too easy. 

So as it stands, the traditional homeowner or real estate investor with a home for rent or sale, will now be burdened with either a $100 registration fee or be required to maintain utilities and pay for a minimum monthly utility fee.  Certainly this was better than the original proposition, but it is still an irritant to me.  

As a property owner with multiple properties who does maintain my properties- paying for the lawn management expense, garbage collection fees (paid via my property taxes regardless of usage), vacancy fees, etc., we now get to add the pain of establishing utility service to my list of growing expenses. I am hoping that by establishing water, it will be cheaper than paying the county registration fee. 

In reality, the new law isn’t well thought out and will make it purchasing a home even more challenging for home buyers as well. How you might ask? Good question! You see, the banks aren’t stupid. They see more and more cities & counties enacting these types of fees. So, what they are doing to avoid paying these fees is not actually recording the Deed Under Power (DUP) until they have a willing buyer for the property. So what! Well if they don’t record the deed, then they don’t “legally” own the property and therefore aren’t liable to pay the vacancy fee.  

So now they actually have a willing buyer who now wants to buy the property, but can’t because the bank hasn’t filed the proper paperwork to sell the home. We are finding that the timeframe for getting a DUP is taking weeks and weeks. This delay ends up costing the potential buyer time and possibly money for holdover if they are currently leasing.  

It will be interesting to see if the counties try and charge the previous homeowner the vacancy fees. Imagine having to prove that the home foreclosed and that the vacancy fee isn’t really your debt. More fun for years to come.

To learn more about the Property Maintenance Ordinance, visit Gwinnett Counties website. 

Comments anyone???

I get asked all the time about “what is the rental market like?” To which I reply, “It’s getting better, but still a little soft.” So what do I mean by that? Finally we are finding that rentals are stabilizing and in some areas, even increasing. Here is what we are seeing:

• Quality properties that are in great shape and more than 3 bedrooms are moving very quickly and for premium rent.
• 4 Bedrooms homes are getting twice as many calls as 3 Bedrooms
• 3 Bedroom still seem to lag on the market and need to be in excellent conditions.
• Our Marietta properties are getting more showings than other areas.
• Newer properties or those that have been updated/renovated are being rented in less time than older properties
• Tenants are expecting discounts & move in specials 

As you can see from the statistics below, over Metro Atlanta, 4 bedroom houses are renting quicker than 3 Bedroom and there are 40% more 3 Bedrooms on market making the competition for those quality renters fairly high.

So what can you do to make sure that your property is one of the ones that gets rented faster? Here are some general tips:

#1 Make it easy for people to view your property on their schedule. Be available to answer the calls and provide showing information. (See #4)

#2  Look at your property from an outsider’s perspective. Does it look great? Smell great? Is the yard in good condition? Is there anything not finished in the property? While you may not think it is a big deal to have missing blinds, broken or missing knobs, and the property not painted all the way, you prospective tenant thinks it is a BIG deal. They can rent another property that is in pristine condition right around the corner for the same amount as yours, so get your property in excellent condition. You won’t get a second chance to make a good impression!

#3 Have a move in special. Money is tight for everyone these days. It can cost several thousands of dollars to move into a new home. Make it a little easier on their pocket book to move into your property.

#4 Market your home on the most visible rental sites. Don’t just use free sites for advertising. The higher quality tenants know that Craiglist and Postlets are full of schemers and look to quality sites for their rental homes. You can expect to spend about $45-50 dollar per month per website. This can get expensive, so you want to make sure that you are prepared to handle the leads that come from your ad.

At Solid Source Property Management, we take the guess work out of getting qualified tenants for your home. We have a process to take the guess work out of marketing and managing your property. Feel free to CONTACT US, if you have any questions or concerns. We are currently looking for new homes to manage in Cobb, North Fulton (Sandy Springs & North), Gwinnett, and Forsyth.  We would love the opportunity to earn your business!

Although it can be very lucrative, buying rental properties as real estate investments carries a number of risks. Not only do you have to worry about collecting rental payments, you also have to be concerned about damage to your rental properties, as well as the actions of your tenants toward others. For these reasons, it is crucial that you conduct criminal background checks on applicants before allowing them to move into your rental units.

A criminal background check will let you know about any criminal convictions that a potential renter has incurred, including arson, battery, and other serious offenses. In addition, it will tell you about any minor criminal charges. Knowing this information will help you make educated choices regarding the applicants you select for your rental units.

One of the most important aspects of conducting criminal background checks is that it will alert you of sex offenders that may be seeking residence in one of your properties. While sex offenders are required to update their residences with governmental agencies in most states, they do not always do this. If you choose to rent a unit to a registered sex offender, you will be required to notify your state government within 30 days of completing the contract. If the sex offender has not complied with his or her notification requirements, he or she may end up in jail, which means that you will be unable to earn rent from a unit until you evict them and then find suitable tenants. In Gwinnett county, this process is taking several months. Other counties in Georgia have a similar delay.

Keep in mind that while you can refuse to rent a unit to a prospective tenant on the basis of a criminal conviction, you must be careful not to base the refusal on the applicant’s status as a protected class. This means that if you allow a convict to rent a unit, you cannot deny another similar person the right to rent a unit. You must take care to make sure that you follow proper fair housing guidelines which include treating all people the same regardless of that person’s race, creed, religion, sexual orientation, or gender. It is always best to have strict written guidelines that apply to everyone and to enforce those guidelines with all applicants.

When owners call often they are thinking about self managing their rental property. So often I hear, well I just want you to help find me a tenant and then I can manage it from there. Or a real estate agent will call me and ask – I have an owner who can’t sell, but they want me to find a tenant for them – what do I do?

There are many thinks to consider when an owner wants to handle the on-going management of their rental property. The most important part is that owning rental property is actually a business and should be treated as such. Would you open a business with little knowledge about the industry? Would you put $100,000 or more at risk for something you don’t fully understand? I would hope not, but I see people do it everyday.

Here is a 5 minute video about things you should think about if considering managing your own rental property. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me 770-416-1444 x310.

When considering a career in real estate investing, many people are primarily concerned with short term gains; that is, how quickly they can see a return on their investments. In order to be successful as a real estate investor, though, you’ll need to develop a long term plan.

Ideally, an investor’s strategy should cover a ten to 25 year period. If you correctly plan your real estate investment strategy, you should be able to reach millionaire status within a 10 year period depending on your financing terms.

To get started in your ten year plan, you will need to purchase two homes in the first year. Until you get to 4 mortgages, you should have the ability to finance the purchases of these homes primarily through traditional lenders, rather than investing large sums of your own money in the properties.  Once you have more than 4 mortgages, you will have to look at other ways to finance your investments. However, we are here to tell you that it can still be done, it just is a little more complicated and the interest rates are not typically as low.

Once the homes have been purchased, it’s essential that you find quality tenants that are willing to rent the properties for an amount that exceeds your monthly mortgage payments. This will serve two purposes: First, it lets you immediately profit from your purchases; second, it gives you the income you’ll need to purchase additional homes in the coming years. Lenders will consider a portion of your rental income as an offset to your mortgage debt, and will be more willing to lend money for the purchase of additional homes.

Repeat this process every year for ten years, continuing to fill your properties with tenants and charging rent that exceeds your mortgage payments.

To look at this in realistic terms, let’s consider this example: Let’s say that during your first year as a real estate investor, you purchase two homes for $100,000 each, and your mortgage for each home is $600. You then rent out these homes to two tenants at $1,000 per month, giving you an income of $800 per month from these properties ($400 per home).

That’s not a lot of money, but during your second year, you repeat this process. You now own $400,000 worth of real estate, and are bringing in $1600 per month in rent. If you continue to purchase two homes every year, then at the five-year mark, you’ll own $1,000,000 in real estate, and earning $4,000 per month in profit. After ten years, your portfolio jumps to $2,000,000, and your monthly rental income will reach $8,000.

At this point, you have the option of selling some of your rental properties, or continuing to bring in rental income while you invest in additional properties. By this time, you have likely paid off the mortgages on some of your properties, so you should have the financial leverage to begin investing more aggressively to meet your next set of investing goals.

In Duluth, homes for rent are plentiful. Right now, the rent rates are great! It’s a great time to find what you’re looking for. Not only that, but Duluth is a great place to live. You get the benefits of being near a major metropolitan area, but also of not having to actually live inside the city. Duluth is suburban living at its best! Because most of Duluth was developed relatively recently, most of the rental houses you’ll find are in great shape and are in nice, neat subdivisions with plenty of amenities.

Duluth Homes for Rent: Rental Rates

You can rent a house in a nice Duluth subdivision anywhere from $800 per month to $995 per month. Duluth rents are a little lower than some of the closer in areas, because of the perception of being farther away from Atlanta. That’s just a perception, however. The reality is it’s fairly easy and quick to get from Duluth to Atlanta, because Duluth is on Interstate I-85, which runs right into downtown Atlanta. So, the bottom line is you can rent a really nice house for less money in Duluth and have a relatively easy commute into town.

Duluth Homes for Rent: How to Find the Right House

Looking for a house for rent in Duluth, or anywhere else for that matter, can be a little frustrating. You can pick up the paper or go online and just search for houses, or you can make life easier for yourself and find a property management company that actually has houses for rent in Duluth and just ask them to help you. That way, finding Duluth homes for rent can be an easy, pleasurable experience. By the way, we manage a number of properties in Duluth, so take a look at our listings, and also give us a call, we’ll be happy to help you find the right house for your budget.

Duluth Homes for Rent: Finding the Right Property Manager

If you own a property in the Duluth area and you need an experienced property manager, give us a call. We’ve been doing this for years. We manage properties all over the northern half of Metro Atlanta. If you want a real professional to manage your property, give us a call, today!

Call today at 770-416-1444.

Finding the right Atlanta property manager for your rental houses is really not that difficult. Sure, lots of folks have had negative experiences with property managers, but that doesn’t mean you have to be one of them. Doing your homework and following the simple steps we’re outlining below will help you find the right property manager at the right price for your Atlanta real estate…or for anywhere else, for that matter.

Step 1: Define the Scope of Your Atlanta Property Manager

Before you even pick up the phone and talk with someone, you need to figure out exactly what you want your property manager to do. There are always a range of services your Atlanta property manger can offer. He/she can do everything from find tenants to collect the rent to handle legal disputes for you. The more work they do, in general, the more it’s going to cost you, so make a list of the tasks you would like to put on their shoulders and get off yours.

Step 2: Research Your Atlanta Property Manager

The next step is to do some basic research. You can start with their website…if they have one. Next, call them and ask what they do and how much it’s going to cost you. Finally, you might want to talk with other investors they have worked for in the past.

Step 3: Interview Your Prospective Property Manager

Before you actually sign on the bottom line, go see your prospective property manager. Have a list of pre-prepared questions ready to ask them. Also, just see if you like them. Are these the kind of people you want to be working with on a long-term basis? The goal is to find someone who can manager your Atlanta real estate for the next several years, not just next few months.

Step 4: So…How Much?

Oddly enough, the question about how much your Atlanta property manager’s services are going to cost should not be your first question, but your last. That’s because you don’t want to make this decision based on price alone. Do that and you’ll end up with the low cost provider simply because they’re…well…low cost. The old adage about getting what you pay for applies to Atlanta property managers just as well as it applies to anything else.

Step 5: Sign on the Dotted Line

As in all things that have to do with substantial amounts of money, make sure you don’t just do business on a handshake. You’re going to need a contract that spells out exactly how much you’re being charged for the services, and when and how you’re supposed to pay.

To Learn more about how to find a great Atlanta property manager, take a look at this video.

Atlanta Property Manager

Call today at 770-416-1444.

Looking for homes for rent in Lawrenceville? If so, you’ve come to the right place. Lawrenceville is a great suburban city to live in. You get the benefits of suburban life, but you’re still close to plenty of amenities. The Interstate system is not far away, so no matter where you work, you can easily get there from Lawrenceville. There are plenty of homes for rent in Lawrenceville, too! So, you have lots to choose from.

Homes for Rent in Lawrenceville: Price Range

Right now you can find great rates for rental homes in Lawrenceville. A 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom rents anywhere from $800 per month to $1100. Of course, the difference has to do with the size of the house and the amenities that come with the subdivision. For instance, you can find a nice 3/2 that rents for $800 to $900 in a subdivision that doesn’t have any amenities like a swimming pool. If you want the amenities, you’re going to pay about $200 more per month. If you have kids and can afford it, though, it might be worth it.

Homes for Rent in Lawrenceville: How to Rent a House

Renting a house doesn’t have to be a difficult process. If the house is managed by the owner, then you’ll have to contact them about what information they need. Some owners are less strict then others about providing information such as past rental history. If the house is managed by a property management company, there’s usually a more formal rental process. There’s a lot to be said about renting through a good property management company, though. They’re professionals, and they’ll respond to your requests faster than many owners. So, if you’re looking for homes for rent in Lawrenceville, consider homes that are professionally managed.

How We Can Help You!

We can help you with your search for homes for rent in Lawrenceville. Start by checking out our listings. When you find something that interests you, give us a call. Also, if you own a rental in the Gwinnett County area, call us. We’ll be happy to talk to you about managing your property, too!

Call today at 770-416-1444.