property management Tag

Charlotte Property Management Weekly: Charlotte Headlines Say Real Estate Market is on Rebound? Or Not?

“There are no facts, just interpretations.”  Friedrich Nietzsche

On a whole, I like honesty.  I like it when people tell me what they really think (within reason).  And if they don’t have anything interesting or worthwhile to say, omission works well for me too.  I like things clear and easily understood.

So it came to my chagrin when I was reading a headline of an article this week that blared, “N.C. foreclosure sales drop 42%.”  Wow!!  42%?  That’s almost half!  Is the job market trending up in our southern paradise?  2011 must be when the US economy really rebounds led by the Tarheels of North Carolina!  Charlotte is ready to do its part!  This must mean that home price stabilization is around the corner and real estate will start picking up and lead our country to another streak of prosperity!

But wait…  I really hadn’t heard anything about the local real estate market getting noticeably better; rather I’ve continued to hear the opposite.  Homes sales in Charlotte have continued to dwindle (I read another headline saying that Charlotte home closings were down 23% in 10/10 when compared to 10/09!).  Well, I guess that has nothing to do with people actually staying in their homes.  So less foreclosed homes equals better capitalized consumers, which equals more consumers with jobs, which equals a better economy, which equals a more robust (and rising!) real estate market?  Cool!

And then I actually read the article.  The 42% foreclosure decrease was due to the halting of foreclosures due to questionable bank procedures.  That explains it!  So, this statistic is artificial and misleading.  We’ll soon see a headline in the coming months saying that foreclosures are up 42%+ to make up for the halted foreclosures now.

And now that I think about it, our firm did have some closings that were held up because of this foreclosure freeze.  So what does that mean about the 23% decline in home sale closings statistic compiled from 10/10 (when compared to 10/09)?  Does that make that statistic artificial and misleading as well?

The clearest answer is “yeah, probably.”  Who can figure out what’s going on?  Maybe this is what Wall Street legend, Peter Lynch, was talking about when he said, “The man who studies macroeconomics for 15 minutes a year wastes 10 minutes.”  There are too many moving parts to get a true picture of reality!

It’s like the rock band that labors through the reading of their 2,000 word concert review in Rolling Stone magazine and only wants to know one thing: “Do they think we rock?”  I just want the same type of clarity from the headlines I read.

Are things getting better or worse?     

Brett Furniss is the President & Owner of BDF Realty (“Charlotte’s Most Innovative Property Management & Investment Company”), and Rent-To-Sell Realty (“When You Need a New Solution to Sell Your Home”) which  specialize in rent-to-own (lease options) and rent-to-sell homes.  His newest book, A Real Estate Agent’s Complete Guide to Representing Rent-To-Own (Lease Option) Tenants (Delight Clients, Fill Vacant Homes, and Earn $2,250* Upfront! (*Minimum!)

Charlotte Property Management Weekly: Delayed Rental Walk-Throughs Cost Everyone Money

Unfortunately, I’m yawning as I’m writing the title of this article. I’m not sure how to jazz it up a little (maybe “Lindsey Lohan falls for property manager during rental walk-through! Then she heads back to rehab.” I’m intrigued at least.

Charlotte Property Management Weekly: 700+ Credit Score Tenants Not the Best Option for your Rental Home?

He wanted to make sure that we placed a rental tenant into his home that had 700+ credit scores. That was it.

I told him I didn’t think that was a good idea; it would reject a lot of better suited applicants. He told me I was crazy (in so many words).

Charlotte Property Management Weekly: 52 Consecutive Weeks of Writing- Some Random Thoughts on the Real Estate Industry

Writing a blog every week is hard! My hats are off to the people who write multiple times a week, and especially to those that do it every day- kudos!

Charlotte Property Management Weekly: Making Rent-To-Sell’s Story Sound like BP’s

2. Misery. Agony. It will definitely lead to eviction which means years of court battles that will make the OJ trial seem like a traffic ticket. Once the tenant moves in, your life will be drastically different. It’s like having another child; be prepared to be over to your old house weekly at 1 AM to fix the toilet. I feel I must present this offer to you, but I would highly recommend against it.

Charlotte Property Management Weekly: The Only Property Management Question You Need

Here’s the logic: if you put the average Charlotte house up for rent for $100, we could have someone locked up today to rent it. Conversely, if you put your house up for rent for $10K today, it would take us years to fill with a tenant (if ever).

The equation is:

Charlotte Property Management Weekly: Solving the High-End Home Sales Stagnation with Rentals and Rent-To-Own

Many are realizing that they need a solution to get them past the next few years. They are starting to explore rental and rent-to-own options. They’ve heard the horror stories that people tell about renters, but they can also do basic math.

What do I mean by that?

Charlotte Property Management Weekly: The Top 3 Reasons Why Good Property Managers Matter More Now (Reason #3)

3. The skills needed for selling a home have (and will continue) to trend to more of a solution-based, “cash now, sell later” approach; outright sales are becoming scarcer as there are less qualified buyers available in the market

Charlotte Property Management Weekly: The Top 3 Reasons Why Good Property Managers Matter More Now (Reason #2)

Traditionally, this could be considered a “lowering” of standards; however, in today’s market, I would argue that it is understanding, collecting, and interpreting tenant data better. Tenant selection has become more of an art and less of a science.

And this makes it much harder!

Charlotte Property Management Weekly: The Top 3 Reasons Why Good Property Managers Matter More Now (Reason #1)

1. If this economy has taught us anything, it is cash is always king and real estate is an investment. The ONLY decision criteria for hiring a prospective property manager should be their ability to maximize the cash flow of your investments. Period.