El Paso Investors Club

Rental information site Zumper recently released their National Rent Report for April showing that the median national rent for 1-bedroom apartment was $1,214 and the median two-bedroom rent was $1,445.  Year to date, one bedroom prices are down 0.5% and two bedroom prices are up 0.6%.  Zumper analyzes rental data from over 1 million active listings across the United States. Data is aggregated on a monthly basis to calculate median asking rents for the top 100 metro areas by population, providing a comprehensive view of the current state of the market. The report is based on all data available in the month prior to publication…..be sure to check out their entire list of 100 cities.

Click here to read the full report at Zumper.com.

A recent report by the NAHB’s Eye on Housing revealed some of the reasons potential homebuyers can’t seem to “pull the trigger” on purchasing.  Data from Q4 of 2018 show that 58% of active buyers were looking for 3 months or more.  So what’s holding them back?  Well, the obvious one, prices, but also the home’s features and the desired neighborhood.  Of course these are needs that real estate investors zero-in on and strive to meet each and every day.  Indeed….

“The most important reason is they can’t find a home at a price they can afford (49%), followed by not being able to find a home with the features they want (44%), and not finding a home in the neighborhood of their choice (43%).”

Click here to read the full story at the NAHB’s Eye on Housing.

According to the latest Yardi Matrix, U.S. multifamily rents rose slightly in February, coming in at $1,426 with year-over-year growth holding firm at 3.6%.  Yardi reports that this annual growth rate is the highest since late 2016.

“The staying power of the cycle is a major concern in a market that has had an unusually long run without a downturn. Multifamily, however, continues to defy those worries, and the latest numbers are evidence that the market has strength to perform well for a while, even if the economy or other commercial real estate segments slow down.”

Click here to read the full report at Yardimatrix.com.

We have had several posts about property taxes and their importance to your bottom line and your property’s value.  The NAHB’s Eye on Housing says that property taxes can vary widely across states both in terms of annual taxes paid as well as effective tax rates.  There data show some interesting corollaries with those states with high overall taxes and those with lower tax climates.  Indeed….

“State and local property taxes tax more than just residential real estate. State and local governments also collect property taxes on commercial real estate, industrial real estate, and personal property owned by individuals as well as businesses.”

Click here to read the full story at the NAHB’s Eye on Housing.

What are the most expensive neighborhoods in the country?  Well, if you have to ask……The data-crunchers over at Realtor.com recently put pen to paper and calculated the median listing price for every ZIP code in America to come up with the most expensive neighborhood in every state.  Does yours make the list?

“…There’s no other way to explain our fascination—make that obsession—with the biggest, the best, and the richest. We always desire a glimpse inside the lives of the wealthiest among us, to learn what cars they drive, what clothes they wear, and, most importantly, where they live…”

Click here to read the full story at Realtor.com.

Which metropolitan areas have the highest rate of homeownership for low income families?  That’s the question that Redfin recently put to the test in a recent report.  Interestingly they do point out that in general, homeownership for people in the bottom income quartile is more common where housing is relatively inexpensive….that’s genius…(just be sure to look at their data set).

“Homeownership allows people to share in the prosperity of their communities and gain wealth through home equity,” said Redfin chief economist Daryl Fairweather. “In many expensive metros, low-income residents aren’t able to access the benefits of homeownership because of a lack of affordable starter homes…”

Click here to read the full report on Redfin.com.

Don’t Trust Your Property to Memory

by David Pickron

It’s a scenario we are all familiar with, the rental car inspection process prior to receiving the keys.  Think back to the last time you were asked to walk around the vehicle with your half sheet of paper with the car diagram on it, looking for any existing problems.  To avoid getting charged for damages that aren’t your fault, you dutifully circle the car, notating every scratch and ding.  Why does the rental agency  require this?  To protect their investment.  Period.  When it comes to your investment property, do you take similar steps to ensure that your property is delivered back to you in the same condition as when you rented it?  The average car rental is 3 days and it is sometimes hard to remember what was there at the time of possession.  Imagine how much more difficult it is to remember the condition of your much larger asset after a 3-year lease. Will you accurately remember every room, wall, faucet, light fixture, appliance, flooring and everything else?

Pictures and forms are great, but where do I store them so I can easily access them when my tenants decide to move out?  Truthfully, the whole process is a pain and most landlords drop the ball in their move in, move out inspections, ultimately costing them money at the end of each lease.  No one gets into business to lose money (at least not anyone that expects to last long as an investor).  It’s not a question of should we do move in, move out inspections, but rather how we should do them.

As a landlord, for years I paid for damages created by tenants because it was easier to pay the bill than it was to fight over who was at fault.  I realized that I had no leg to stand on because I had no real evidence.  When something causes me pain, I look for a way to get rid of the pain.  I became laser focused on creating a solution that would be both easy and effective.  The result… Introducing MI-MO, Rent Perfect’s Move-In, Move-Out process, found inside your Rent Perfect Portal next to our other innovative products like tenant invites, online lease creation and more.

Here’s how it works:  MI-MO starts with the new tenant receiving an invite through Rent Perfect to inspect the property.  They inspect each room and accept everything that is in good working order.  If something needs to be repaired, they take a picture of it with their phone and document the needed repair.  They  repeat the process throughout the home and after completion, you receive a notification to login to your Rent Perfect Portal and review their inspection.  You have the option to either note the damage or fix the problem.  Rent Perfect stores the inspection notes and accompanying pictures for the duration of your rental contract, no matter how long your tenant lives there.  During your inspection of the property at move out you have photographic evidence of the condition of the property at time of occupancy.  Find something wrong?  Take a picture and it will automatically upload into the Rent Perfect system.  You can easily compare the property condition and adjust the refunding of the security deposit based entirely on the difference in the property at move-in and move-out.

The whole goal is to prevent a situation where it is your word against the tenant.  MI-MO will allow you to be transparent and your tenants will love that.  Rent Perfect just took one more unnecessary fight away from the rental relationship game.  I guess we can thank the rental car industry for doing something right.

Editor’s note:  Members of National REIA can take advantage of special pricing from RentPerfect; the solution for rental property owners and managers for screening & managing tenants.

According to a new report from RentCafe, renters over 60 grew 43% over the last decade reflecting the lifestyle habits of America’s aging baby-boomers.   In fact, over 22% of our current population is aged 60 or more helping to push up the national median age from 36.7 in 2007 to 38.1 in 2017 – the highest it’s ever been!

“The overall aging of the population is not just the result of the economic hardship following the 2007 Great Recession, reflected in declining birth rates, but also the result of the Baby Boom cohort, America’s largest living adult generation, passing age 53 in 2017.”

Click here to read the full story on RentCafe.com.

According National REIA’s Charles Tassell, “Opportunity zones offer real estate investors strong incentives to invest in designated low-income census tracts…these zones could be the next thing.”  This observation and more are part of a recent article in the March issue of DS News where Tassell gives readers the ins & outs of these Opportunity Zones.

“National REIA members tend to improve neighborhoods one home at a time, bringing vacant and distressed housing back online and thereby improving the communities and tax rolls. In opportunity zone communities, investors and developers could all benefit through vibrancy or redevelopment partnered with development, incentivized by this federal program.”

Click here to read the in the DS News March 2019 issue.

Click here to download a PDF of the article only (pages 66-69).

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently announced it was dramatically reducing the advance notice it provides to public housing authorities (PHAs) and private owners of HUD-subsidized apartment developments before their housing is inspected to ensure it is decent, safe and healthy. HUD’s new standard provides PHAs and private owners of HUD-assisted housing 14 calendar days’ notice before an inspection, a dramatic reduction from the current notice which can frequently extend up to four months.  The notice was part of a wholesale reexamination of REAC’s inspection process that Secretary Carson launched shortly after taking office. HUD will be consulting with PHAs and property owners over the next several months to discuss other improvements to REAC’s process.

“It’s become painfully clear to us that too many public housing authorities and private landlords whom we contract with were using the weeks before their inspection to make quick fixes, essentially gaming the system,” said HUD Secretary Ben Carson. “The action we take today is part of a broader review of our inspections so we can be true to the promise of providing housing that’s decent, safe and healthy to the millions of families we serve.”

Click here to read the full release.