I have done so many appraisals where I saw obvious damage that was not reported by the other inspectors. The first couple of times I thought it was just carelessness. I came to realize it was the same agents who had found what I call pocket contractors or repeat business. Most buyers are not aware of this problem but believe me it is a big one.

I remember one very nice fairly new house and I saw what appeared to be moisture damage as soon as I pulled up to the curb. It was on the first and second floor window frames. Also there was a paladium window that leaked on the second floor of the foyer. When I got done with the appraisal, I made the report “subject to” the specific itemized repairs and termite and moisture inspection. The loan processor immediately called me and said they had a clear letter from the termite and moisture inspection and nothing was mentioned in the home inspection with regards to those problems. I didn’t change anything. A few days later the mortgage company called and said the repairs had been completed and to do a final inspection. I returned to the house. The first thing I noticed was the second floor fascia and sills looked exactly the same. Everything had been done on the first floor. We got the huge heavy ladder out which infuriated me, as I don’t like heights and that someone would try to fool me by doing the obvious, clearly visible repairs.

I climbed up the ladder and stuck my pencil in the wood, it sunk right in like a chop stick in pudding. Then a big hunk came off. I called the mortgage company and rejected the repairs. I was called again and they weren’t complete. The repairman was supposed to finish in the afternoon and the loan was to close the following morning. The new owner was a doctor at VA and didn’t have any flexability in her schedule. The carpenter apologized to me that the agent had not told him about that or he would have done it.

I didn’t tell him that I knew the agent and deceipt was her profession. He ran out of the right sized wood so I suggested that he improvise by putting a piece of trim at the top front with caulk just to prevent element exposure. I was there until 8:30 p.m. before it was complete and I could approve it. The agent is still practicing and I am sure using the same inspectors. How sad. P.S You know who you are Ann.

Suzie is a licensed real estate broker and certified residential appraiser with twenty years of experience. Other professionals in the field have contributed as well. They are brokers, agents, appraisers and educators. http://www.freewebs.com/realestatenews

Termite and Moisture Damage Not Reported

Fixtures, related to real estate, are items that were originally personal property but are now attached to the property itself. This becomes the toughest issue when tenants attach fixtures to a property. These fixtures may include shelves or anything that is immovable by law.

There are five tests of fixture:

1) Method of Attachment: Is it nailed, welded or bolted down? Or is it simple leaning against the building or hanging on the wall?

2) Adaptability: Is the item customized or can it be easily used in other building.? Wall-to-wall carpeting would be considered a fixture because it has been cut for a room of a particular size and shape, and the carpet is attached to a track strip that is nailed to the floor.

3) Relationship: Is relationship between tenant-landlord, a buyer-seller or borrower-lender.

4) Intension: is indicated by action or agreement of the parties, weather it be expressed ore merely implied.

5) Agreement: Court will also look to the existence of any agreements between the parties. For example: Is he item mentioned in the real estate listing or purchase contract?

Exception to Fixture rule:

There are certain items that remain personal property after they have been affixed to real property.

If you rent to a business: These items are called "trade fixtures". Example are shelves, counters, cash registers used by business but not sold to customers.

If you rent to an individual(s): Id tenant installs room dividers, shelves, it may or may not be viewed as personal property. In many cases fixtures may be removed by the tenant, provide that premises are not damaged.

Martin Lukac, represents, #1 Loans USA(http://www.1LoansUSA.com), a finance web-company specializing in real estate/mortgage market. We specialize in daily updates, rate predictions, mortgage rates and more: info @ 1LoansUSA .com

Fixtures

Most experienced property investors use property managers. Why? Because they make you money.

Property management isn’t just about collecting rent. It’s about ensuring your property is always rented, ensuring you have the best possible tenants, and ensuring you’re getting the best possible rent. It’s about keeping the property well maintained, tracking expenses and income, and dealing with the legalities of leases and the rights of tenants.

This is what property managers do. It’s their core business. For a landlord, the benefits are significant.

Save Valuable Time

The most obvious benefit is time saving. You don’t have to spend an hour or so each week making phone calls, placing ads, interviewing prospective tenants, speaking to solicitors, speaking to your tenants, collecting rent, organising tradesmen and so on.

How much could you earn in that hour if you were focussing on your work rather than chasing your tail?

Know Your Market

Property investment is a business. To succeed in business, you need to know your market.

Property managers make their living out of knowing the rental marketplace. They know how much your property is worth and who’ll want it. They know the best ways to reach the market and they have the resources to do it.

A property manager with some real marketing nous can earn you thousands every year, just with an intelligent marketing campaign.

Know Your Rights

Rental legislation is constantly changing. It’s important that you know your rights as well as the rights of your tenants. But most people don’t even know where to start looking.

Property managers work with tenancy legislation every day. They know all the ins and outs, as well as the pitfalls and loopholes. They’re experienced in all aspects of lease negotiation – from bond to maintenance agreements to eviction.

Most importantly, they’ll protect your rights as a landlord.

Get Good Tenants

Most good tenants will only rent through property managers. The whole process is much more streamlined and convenient. Payments can be made electronically, their questions can be answered quickly, and everything can be done during business hours.

The opposite is true of bad tenants. They target privately managed rentals, because that’s generally all they can get.

Property managers chase down and validate every reference, and they get to know problem tenants. They do everything possible to provide you with a hassle-free investment because they know the eviction process is every landlord’s worst fear. You can’t just kick someone out without notice. The whole process can take months.

But if you’re unlucky enough to end up with a problematic tenant, a property manager will manage the whole eviction process – including all dealings with tenants, sheriffs, and court officials.

Sure, you can juggle all of these elements yourself, and you’ll save yourself a small management fee? But what’s the cost? Do you want to work for your investment or do you want it working for you?

About The Author

* Glenn Murray is an http://www.divinewrite.com” target=”_new and also of copywriting studio Divine Write. He can be contacted on Sydney +612 4334 6222 or at glenn @ divinewrite .com. Visit http://www.divinewrite.com or http://www.publishhub.com for further details, more FREE articles, or to purchase his e-book, ‘SEO Secrets’.

Why Use a Property Manager?

Wouldn’t you rather go to Tahiti? Are you a landlord with rental property whose value has significantly appreciated? Are you ready to cash in those profits and take that trip to Tahiti?

Before selling your property, check with your accountant whowill tell you that you will be paying $60,000 in CapitalGains Tax to Uncle Sam. Your accountant will also tell youthat adding another $20,000 to your income by that sale iscalled recaptured depreciation. This will bump you into thenext tax bracket and doom you next April 15th into sendingthe IRS a check for maybe another $7,000.

Are you still ready to sell that property?It looks like that trip to Tahiti is going to be sometime inthe far future?

But wait! You decide to check with your realtor and thenfind out about a 1031 exchange to defer your Capital Gains. Your realtor tells you if you buy another like-kind rentalproperty of equal or greater value, you won’t get hit withthe gains tax on the sale. That is all fine and good, butit does not really get you out of the headaches associatedwith collecting rent, keeping your unit occupied, findingclean/classy tenants that won’t trash the place, nor does itkeep you from getting that 2am call to fix an overflowingtoilet. To top this off, now you have to pay more inproperty taxes and must charge higher rent.

Hmm?maybe this idea is not the ticket to that South Pacificparadise either.

This is the dilemma I heard from my financial clients againand again. They were frustrated and felt trapped in theircurrent situation. So what is a frustrated income propertyowner to do? After a lot of research and roadblocks, I foundthe perfect solution that has changed the lives of myclients and took away stress to bring enjoyment of life.

For anyone who is tired of being a landlord and who owns arental/commercial property that has gone up a lot in value,take heart.A 1031 exchange into a Tenant In Common Property may be youranswer.

There are very specific rules to follow set by the IRS, andthe entire detailed process is the subject for a futurearticle, but here’s the gist:

1-Sell your current incomeproperty;

2-Before the close of escrow, you declare via a QualifiedIntermediary (also called an Accommodator, who is aqualified third party) that you intend to do a 1031 exchangeinto a Tenant in Common Property;

3-Work with a reputablecompany to identify a property that you would like topurchase an interest in;

4-At the close of escrow, yourproceeds are transferred by the Accommodator to purchaseyour proportionate share of a larger “A” rated commercialbuilding;

5-You may choose a business center, a medicaloffice building, or similar high-end property; and lastly,

6-You get a deeded interest in this property, so you cankeep it, resell it, pass it to your heirs, or even gift itto charity upon your death.

The way that this works is all the new fractional owners, or”Tenants in Common” hire an ace Management Company to handleall the property management tasks. The company finds andkeeps high quality tenants, does the maintenance andupgrades, pays the property taxes, and handles all the dayto day crisis that arise. Probably the three most importantfactors in this entire process are:

1-Your choice of companythat offers the properties for sale;

2-the Accommodator,and;

3-the management company.

Make sure each of the three parts is a top notch with proventrack records. Anything less could spell disaster.

When this 1031 option is done properly, your benefits willbe:

Deferral of all Capital Gains,
A monthly contractual income (usually based on 6-7% returnon equity),
Building depreciation for tax savings,
Unlimited property appreciation potential, and
No more headaches of property management.

Good-bye Tenants, Trash and Toilets!Hello Tahiti!

Paula Straub is a Financial Advisor, Insurance Agent andMortgage Loan Originator in San Diego, CA. As a successfulbusiness owner, Paula strives to guide clients to financialindependence in the most timely and efficient mannerpossible.

(c)Paula Straub – All Rights reserved

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How much would you pay to save thousands in Capital Gains
Tax? I’ll teach you for free in a Teleconference that may
change your life. Sign up at ==> http://www.savegainstax.com

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Are You Tired of Tenants, Toilets, and Trash?

Why hire rental property management? Because doing it all yourself is the surest way to make your real estate investment experience a bitter one. You also have more time to find the next deal when there is someone taking care of the details for you. Hire a good property manager, but first ask the following questions.

1. How much is the fee? Fees vary around the country from as low as 4% of gross rents for larger buildings, to as high as 12% for single family homes. Be sure the fee is clearly stated and understood.

2. What other properties do they manage? It is best if they handle rental properties that are similar to yours. It is also helpful to drive by their other properties to see how they are maintained.

3. Who will actually handle your property? It is best if one person handles your building all the time. They should also have some experience. Get their name.

4. What costs extra? Is it extra for showings? Do evictions cost extra (beyond the legal fees)? Any other extras?

5. How is the fee collected and when? Will you be billed, or will it be deducted from your account directly? Monthly? Quarterly?

6. What type of advertising? How do they advertise the units and what does it typically cost you?

7. Cost and time to prepare units? What is the typical cleaning fee on a vacancy, and how long will it normally be before it’s rented out again?

8. What needs owner approval? What dollar amount needs your authorization, and is this negotiable?

9. Hours of operation? What are their business hours, and who takes weekend calls?

10. Accounting? What reports do they send? How often? How are accounts set up?

There are probably other questions you’ll have as well, based on your particular needs and the particular property. Ask everything up front, and you’ll have fewer misunderstandings. With good rental property management, real estate investing is a lot less stressful.

Steve Gillman has invested real estate for years. To learn more, and to see a photo of a beautiful house he and his wife bought for $17,500, visit http://www.HousesUnderFiftyThousand.com

Rental Property Management – Ten Questions

Successful Property Letting And Management is not something that just happens, it is something that has to be worked at, and planned professionally. When a landlord or an agent has a problem let, it is almost certainly to do with the suitability of the selected tenant. If you do not have sufficient expertise in letting property, then acquire some, or buy some. Speak to your Law practitioner; buy some relevant books, both of these work out far cheaper than the costs involved in dealing with bad tenants.

Many professional letting agents are called in by amateur distressed landlords part way through the tenancy because the tenant might not have paid the rent, they might have refused to leave the property, or they may be damaging the building or abusing the neighbours. The first thing the agent asks is, where is the tenancy agreement?

All too often the agreement has been hastily put together, even scrawled on the back of a cigarette packet. I have seen that. Sometimes there is no discernable agreement at all, sometimes the property has been let to the owner’s best friend whom they just happened to have recently met in a local bar, and sometimes it is let to a distant and barely known relative. Surely that would be safe enough, wouldn’t it? No, it isn’t. Letting a property involves a professional contract between two parties and it should be treated as such. There is no room for making exceptions for "friends" or "relatives" here. All tenants must be dealt with in the same professional manner, regardless of who they are.

The vast majority of problem lets occur because the tenant has not been selected carefully enough, and the references have not been exhaustively followed through. Perhaps the references haven’t been taken up at all. Worse than that, occasionally desperate landlords still proceed and insert a tenant into a property even while they are clutching a bunch of bad references, because the tenant has promised not to be a bad boy in future, or girl. How stupid is that? Bad references mean one of two things. Forget it, the preferred option, or insist upon a first class guarantor to sign the tenancy agreement, as well as the tenant.

Landlords may also experience problems because the property is not sufficiently well maintained. This policy is hard to figure out too. It may be a fact that generally properties are much better maintained than they were say twenty years ago, but there is still a swath of landlords who will not spend any money maintaining their property, ever. Talk about pulling hens teeth, and this is such a ridiculous attitude!

Imagine if you owned a manufacturing business that depended on the smooth running of the machinery and equipment for the business’s wellbeing. You’d have it regularly serviced right? So what is the difference with maintaining your own property? It belongs to you, it is your asset, and it is probably the biggest asset you will ever own. So why prevaricate when it comes to spending a little money ensuring that it is in full working order? That doesn’t make any sense at all, and as everyone knows, a small maintenance problem ignored today, will develop into a bigger and more expensive problem tomorrow. Deal with maintenance problems quickly, and you will always end up paying less for it in the long run

If you intend to embark on a career in property, make a pact with yourself that you will always carry out your business as professionally as any big city agency. If you are thinking of doing it on the cheap, by cutting corners and taking chances, then please don’t get involved at all. You’ll surely regret it. Taking risks and cutting corners is a sure-fire way of meeting disaster head on. Sooner or later your enterprise will slip into the mire of self-destruction and that will be fatal for your business. Remember the rule, total professionalism always. Anything less, and you’ll fail. Guaranteed.

David Carter has written many published articles. His latest work is SPLAM! Successful Property Letting & Management. This 240 page book looks at property letting starting out at finding properties. How to obtain them, how to gain the landlords trust,right through to letting and protecting ongoing lets. The book was written after 10 years successful property management, and after completing 1,000’s of successful property deals. SPLAM was originally written for property people operating in Britain, but it is crammed with useful property information and ideas for property people everywhere. A bad tenant is a bad tenant whether they are in Wolverhampton, Winnipeg, Wichita, Wellington or Wagga Wagga! There is an extensive section on how to deal with problem tenancies, and more importantly, how to avoid them in the first place. This book is not marketed and remarketed by everyone this side of the Orinoco,it is only available online from David’s publishers though it will soon be found at Amazon and in your local book stores. Check out http://www.splam.co.uk ISBN 1-4116-3444-6

Successful Property Letting And Management

Having your house appraised can be a scary step in the moving process, especially if you don’t know what to expect. Will your house pass muster or will they find some hidden defects and problems lurking in the basement and attic? Should you scrub the house clean?

Don’t worry – this isn’t a test of how clean you keep your house or even if your house has problems (that will be for the home inspector to find out). The appraiser is there to determine a fair market value for your home. Whether you are selling the house or refinancing, this is a common part of the process and the inspector is quite used to traipsing about peoples homes in all kinds of disarray so you need not be embarrassed if your house is messy and it will not affect the value the appraiser puts on the property.

Determining the market value of your home is necessary so that your lender knows the home is valued at or above the amount of money you are borrowing. An appraisal is an estimate of worth. It is an opinion but is not entirely a subjective process. The FNMA, Federal National Mortgage Association sets up the guidelines and assigns values to certain assets of your home to ensure a fair sale.

The value of your home will be determined by comparing it to similar area properties that have sold in the past few months. The appraiser looks for properties that have the same number of bedrooms, baths, square footage and amenities like a fireplace or garage in your neighborhood or town. They start by looking at your neighborhood to find comparable sales or properties in similar neighborhoods that share similar characteristics of lifestyles, income level of residents, surroundings, average age and home values. A valid appraisal can be done when 3 or more properties similar to your own have been found.

Once the appraiser has these homes, there will be some adjustments made to take into consideration features that your home has the others don’t or features they have that you don’t. These features have nothing to do with your d