Tampa Ranked One of the Best Real Estate Investment Markets
Tampa was ranked as one of the top markets for real estate investment by CNN money. Most of the top ten were comprised of cities in Florida. The high number of foreclosures, low interest rates and sunshine are drawing in investors.
Daytona Beach moved into second while Fort Myers took fifth. Orlando ranked fourth, Ft. Lauderdale number eight and Tampa at number nine. The other five cities in the top ten rankings were Las Vegas (No.1), Detroit (No.3), Warren, Mich. (No.4), Bakersfield, Calif., (No.7) and Rochester, N.Y. (No. 8).
Salespeople
Realtors help people buy and sell houses. That is their job. If they are working for a buyer, they need to sell them on buying a particular house. If they are working for a seller, they need to sell a house to somebody. Real Estate is essentially an ‘outside sales’ job, meaning 90% of the job is finding ‘prospects’ and the other 10% is actually selling. The reason I point that out, is that compared to an ‘inside sales’ job, where you have leads and spend 90% of the time selling and 10% prospecting, the ‘inside salesperson’ will develop better sales skills faster.
The result is we wind up with a lot of realtors who are in a sales position, with little actual selling experience and can come across as aggressive, desperate or just too ‘salesy’. I know there are a lot of realtors who are great salespeople, but there is an old saying that 10% of the realtors close 90% of the business. This saying is becoming a little clearer now.
The point is that property management is a different animal than realty. You have to think as a long term investor and how to maximize the return on investment. You have to be able to negotiate with both tenants and owners and keep both happy. You have to know the laws and have all your paperwork in order. You have to make a lot of judgment calls on maintenance and tenant applications. Mistakes can cost a lot of money.
A property manager is meant to be a partner in your real estate investment. When it comes to your portfolio, don’t just go for a name brand or an amateur sales pitch.
For expert property management in Lakewood Ranch, Bradenton and Sarasota, Florida contact Sun Rock Property Management
No Vacancy
The current rental market is Hot. The recent record number of foreclosures have left families displaced, bank owned properties sit empty and mortgages are hard to come by. Throw in unemployment and depreciating properties and you get a high supply of prospective tenants.
Properties shouldn’t be sitting vacant long in this market. Most of our clients have new leases started the day after their old tenant’s lease ends. With 60 days notice and a hot rental market, how could you have vacancies? Any good property manager should, on average be able to rent your property in 2 to 3 weeks, if not, something is wrong.
When I look at properties online I see some that have been vacant for 200 to 300 days?? This is ridiculous and I believe it is mainly from realtors telling owners what they want to hear and not being responsive to prospective tenants.
This rental market will be hot for the foreseeable future, but won’t last forever. Investors should be maximizing their opportunities while they are there.
For Expert Property Management in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Manatee and Sarasota Counties contact Sun Rock Property Management
No Jobs, No Housing Recovery
Until people are finding work, there will not be any appreciation in home prices and foreclosures will continue. The latest statistics show a drop in unemployment to 9.1%, but this doesn’t factor in people working part time or no longer actively looking.
But all data aside, I am still seeing neighbors, friends and former colleagues all unemployed. Until I start hearing about unemployment so much on the street, I won’t count on any housing recovery. This means continue to buy deals that cashflow and lock in the low interest rates.
There is no Republican that can beat Obama and most people will be underwater, in foreclosure or unemployed and will vote for their own personal bailout. So, likely nothing will really change in the near future.
That being said, once I start hearing good news ‘on the street’, I’ll know it is time to sell.
Foreclosure Buying Nightmare Over?
RealtyTrac reports foreclosures are at a 7 month high after 230,678 U.S. filings in the month of October. However this is down 31% from last year. They attribute some of the annual decline to banks getting more efficient at the process of buying a foreclosure. Anyone who has bought or tried to buy a foreclosure in the past few years can tell you the nightmare they had. The process is slow, filled with meaningless paperwork and you can’t contact anyone competent enough to help you out.
Some investors have spent over a year trying to close a foreclosure deal. So hopefully the process is getting more efficient, it definitely can’t get any worse.