We Work Hard, But Are We Getting Paid?

My daughter came home from school the other day and said, “Mom, did you know that there are kids in my class that don’t have a savings account?” Now this is coming from the kid that makes us pay her interest when we’re running short on cash and haven’t made it to the bank to withdraw some money.

Do you pay yourself first?  Do you pay yourself at all?

We come home with a paycheck. It gets deposited to a bank account.  We sit down and write out a check or get online to pay our:

mortgage or rent payment

car payment

our electric/heating/fuel bill

water bill

cable bill

telephone bill

cell phone bill

marketing bills

credit card bills

grocery bill

gasoline

and then the rest goes towards your entertainment costs

dinner out

that $4.00 drive through coffee each morning

…and when we’re done, often times there’s nothing left of that paycheck for US. 

What went wrong? (I know that some are saying that there wasn’t enough of a paycheck to start out with.  And, maybe that’s so.)

 I remember as a kid, I was taught to pay myself FIRST.

We work hard and we pay everyone else, BUT we neglect to pay ourselves!

So, in essence does that mean we’re working for free?

When you come home with that next paycheck, figure 10% to 15% of the check and put it away and save it.  If you can, budget for more (provided that you’re not up to your neck paying minimum payments on high interest credit cards). 

Learn to pay yourself first and then pay everyone else.

You’re worth it!

 

This article is authored by

Sandy Shores, Brevard County Real Estate

Brevard County Real Estate Investing

Palm Bay Florida Real Estate News

Rent to Tenants with Blemished Credit? You BET!

 

As a landlord, would you rent to tenants with poor credit? Especially in light of the current changes the real estate market is undergoing.  I SAY ABSOLUTELY!* A tenant with a foreclosure or bankruptcy?

What is the reason for the bankruptcy or the foreclosure? Did they get caught up in the sub prime mortgage mess and their taxes, insurance and interest rate adjusted up? I know many people that were comfortably paying their mortgage payments, until their interest rate adjusted and the payment went through the roof.

I have no problem with renting to tenants that have certain credit blemishes. The right ones make good long term tenants.

What was their previous payment history on their last rental? How long where they there?

How long have they been at their job? There are many good, hard working people that go to work everyday, but they just don’t earn enough money to cover all of their expenses, each month. Or some people just have poor spending habits. Often times they are unable to make their credit card payments. I am indifferent to that.

The good tenants understand they must pay their rent every month to keep a roof over their heads. Many of them make great long term tenants. I have had tenants with me for over 8 years that pay their rent every single month. They came to me with credit problems and they still have credit problems. 

Many tenants with poor credit, with a history of poor credit make excellent long term renters.  Often times they are unable to move, as they cannot save the move in money to go somewhere else. Or, they are unable to move because other landlords will not consider them because of their poor credit.

In 13 years I have rented to 4 tenants with perfect credit…not a single blemish.  Every one of those tenants broke their lease within 8 to 10 months, to buy a house or to build a house.  My rental was just a stepping stone for them. 

Vacancies can quickly deteriorate a landlord’s cash flow.  I don’t want to tenants that are going to leave in 8-12 months.  It’s wear on and tear on the house, moving in and out, and it’s time and money lost looking for another tenant.

I typically will not consider an applicant that has been evicted or has a repossession on a vehicle.  In many instances, I have seen where once evicted, it becomes a habit. And, if a tenant loses their vehicle because they can’t make the payments, how are they going to get to work, to make money, so they can pay me the rent, so I can pay the mortgage?  It’s a recipe for disaster!  

Over the past year I have rented to half a dozen people that were going into foreclosure due to interest rate adjustments. So far, they have all paid their rent on time, and I look forward to a happy future with them.

But be aware, renting your primary residence is different than placing a tenant in a house that you have never lived in and have specifically purchased to use as a rental. I have never gotten a house back from a tenant in better condition than I gave it to them in. And in 2001, when I moved to the house I’m living in today, I chose to sell my previous home, rather than turn it into a rental. The rent would have been too high, the house was too big to be a good rental, taxes and insurance were too high, and I had equity that I wanted to move to my new property.

In considering tenants with blemished credit, do your homework and be very careful. If you pick the wrong tenant, you will be faced with filing an eviction.

*Please always remember, every tenant’s situation should be looked at on a case by case basis. Everyone is different.  All of the pieces of the puzzle must fit together, to make the “right” tenant, that will care for your property and pay their rent on time.

 

This article is authored by

Sandy Shores, Brevard County Real Estate

Brevard County Real Estate Investing

Palm Bay Florida Real Estate News

Just Tell Me No, It’s Not the Right House for You!

A very old friend of mine called me on Friday from Georgia to tell me that her friend was in our town for a couple of weeks, from Indiana. She said he was looking for a home to live in and one to buy to use as an investment property.  She indicated that he loved our area of Brevard County. I thanked her very much for the referral and immediately called this friend of hers.

We spoke at great length, about the current market conditions and what his real estate goals are.  He knows exactly what he wants and is pretty specific.  He wasn’t sure about which area he wanted, as this was only his second time in the Melbourne / Palm Bay area of Florida.  I e-mailed him a list of homes currently available for sale in the criteria that he requested.

We agreed to start our search yesterday with a hefty list of 12 properties, that he had chosen from the lists that I had e-mailed, all were in a 4-5 mile radius of each other. 

We began looking, and hit house number one. This was the home he requested we see first. We went in, looked around, discussed the pluses and minuses in reference to his needs and wants, and moved on.  We pulled up in front of house number 2 – “No,” he said, “I don’t care for the outside of the property.” Then, house number 3, “No”, I don’t care for the street this house is on.”  Then, house number 4, “the yard isn’t big enough.” We moved through our list pretty rapidly.  In all, we looked at the insides of 3 of the homes. 

The houses on our list were all vacant, except for one, owner occupied. I carefully took the time to contact the listing agents on the properties that we did not look at, to tell them that we did a drive by and the buyer wasn’t interested in looking further.

I know that as we go out looking at properties with buyers their criteria must adjust according to homes available for sale and varying other factors.

At the end of our quick search he told me that he had no intentions of wasting his time, nor mine, as he knows just what he’s looking for.

I always find myself telling buyers,“don’t look at a house if you know that it’s not right for you, when we pull up to the outside of it.  Tell me you don’t like the area, the street, the outside, whatever.” I need them to be frank with me.

It gives me a much better sense of exactly what they’re looking for. 

It’s not going to hurt my feelings if they don’t like a property.

I don’t care which house they buy.

But, when they do find the house that THEY want to buy, I just want them to buy from me!

This buyer’s honesty and straightforwardness are so well appreciated!  I love it!

 

This article is authored by

Sandy Shores, Brevard County Real Estate

Brevard County Real Estate Investing

Palm Bay Florida Real Estate News

At the End of Your Life Will There Be Regrets?

Morbid thought isn’t it?  But, when you really take time to consider it, is it really?

Will you be saying?

I wish I had loved more.

I wish I had lived more.

I wish I had taken more vacations.

I wish I had spent more time with my kids.

I wish I had spent more days enjoying myself. 

I wish I had spent more time golfing.

I wish I had spent more time focused on being the best I could be, so I could share that with others.

I wish I had laughed more.

I wish I had played ball with my son more.

I wish I had been home with my family more.

I wish I had pursued my dream of becoming a singer, a dancer, an artist, a pianist, etc…

I wish I had taken better care of myself, physically.

I wish I had been home with my family more.

I wish I had spent more time fishing.

I’m sure that everyone’s list would look different.

Will your list look like this?

You’ve got one time up to bat…and this is it…this is the real thing…live your life to the fullest.

And one thing is for sure, you won’t say,

I WISH I HAD SPENT MORE TIME WORKING!

 

 

This article is authored by

Sandy Shores, Brevard County Real Estate

Brevard County Real Estate Investing

Palm Bay Florida Real Estate News

Rentometer – Free Market Rents in Your Area

Tenants and landlords often ask what the market rent is in a given area.

They can easily find the information on this free handy website.*

Type in an address across the country and it will provide an estimate of what approximate comparable rents are.

I have tried it in my area of Brevard County Florida and found it to be pretty accurate.

 

*Please remember, a Realtor is your best source of the most up to date market info on your local area.

 

This article is authored by

Sandy Shores, Brevard County Real Estate

Brevard County Real Estate Investing

Melbourne Florida Real Estate News

Turn the TV Off and Stop Listening to the News

“The sky is falling, the sky is falling.”  Do you remember the story of Chicken Little? He runs through town screaming.   He says that a piece of the sky, shaped like a stop sign, has fallen on his head, when he was sitting under the big oak tree, in town square.

Sound familiar, sound like something off the evening news? 

The dismal state of the economy?

The black trenches that the real estate market if enduring? 

The reports that the world appears to be coming to a screeching halt?

The bad news just goes on and on, according to the media.

I was on the phone talking to a potential buyer this morning.  She told me that the real estate market was a mess. She had heard it was not a good time to buy because no one else was.

‘It’s all over the news, every night,’  she said.

“If you tell a big enough lie, and you tell it frequently enough, people will believe it.” -Adolf Hitler

Don’t believe everything you hear. The media is painting an unrealistic picture of the current market as a whole.  I previously wrote an article about this. Yes, we have been in a declining market. Times have been tough. And yes, there are buyers across the country are upside down on their homes. 

But, that’s not everyone!

And, people have been out buying.

Many are optimistic and they know that there are great buying opportunities available today.

Our phones have been ringing off the hook since the beginning of the year. Business is quite brisk!

Why is it that everyone thought that Chicken Little was crazy, but they don’t question the validity of what is being fed to them on the local news?

I just really don’t get it! 

Garbage in, garbage out.

I remember as a kid we used to run around saying, “don’t believe everything you hear.

And, believe only half of what you see!”

Get up off your couch.

Turn your TV off.

Stop listening to the dismal news.

Talk to a Knowledgable Real Estate professional in your area.

They can tell you exactly what is going on in your current market.

 

This article is authored by

Sandy Shores, Brevard County Real Estate

Brevard County Real Estate Investing

Melbourne Florida Real Estate News