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Owning rental units can be a great investment. Most consider it a passive income supplement while others consider it a main source of income. Either way, rental properties can be a very lucrative asset to your portfolio.

However, as with most good things, there is a downside. In many areas, it is getting increasingly harder to have non-paying and non-complying renters evicted in the event it comes to that. Adding to this problem, “seasoned” renters know this.

It is not unusual anymore to have renters occupying rental units from six months to a year without paying anything before they can be formally evicted. A lot of this depends on when the court actually gets to your case. This is due in part, to the number of evictions currently waiting to be heard. 

Obviously, this is a very big problem, especially for investors that owe mortgage payments they are now paying out of pocket. 

The usual statements to property management are, “get them out and get somebody else in there”  or “now that you manage the property, get it rented” without realizing, this may be what started this situation to start with, being in a rush to rent.

Certainly, it is understandable if the property is not rented, it is not producing income. The problem is, if you put unvetted renters in or don’t have a history on the Tennant, just because they currently have a deposit and first-month rent, does not mean you will get timely rent payments,  that may be all you get for several months to a year. So, what do you do?

To answer that question, start here. It is crucial to listen to your property manager. They deal with renters on a daily basis and can usually spot red flags from a potential renter right away.

Also, allow time for the application process and background check to be completed. While even these checks are not one hundred percent foolproof, they give you as the owner much better odds of collecting your monthly rent and staying out of court which can get pretty expensive. All while your property is making no income.

We as property managers know the importance of having your property occupied with paying and happy tenants. Ultimately, if your property is not making income for you, it is not making income for us so we do have your best interest at heart.

Johnny Harvill

[email protected]

Due Diligence (Property Research) is one of the, if not THE most important things that you as an investor can do that decides whether a deal goes North or South.

Traditionally, you hire a title company to do a title search on a property that you are interested in purchasing and have put an offer on. The issue is, this can be a considerable expense and if the title comes back with issues that are too costly or too clouded to make the deal worth while, you have lost that expense and time.

That is one reason to do your research prior to putting a property under contract.

Often, it is not as expensive to do a due diligence search as it is to do a complete title company search but can uncover many issues a title company may find for far less cost.

While these type of searches do not go quite as in-depth as a traditional title search, it can give you a pretty good idea of the status of the property.

These types of searches can uncover things like property boundary issues, liens, outstanding mortgages, clouded titles and many other skeletons that may be hidden in the closet.

What do these types of searches consist of? Well, it depends on who you ask. they can be as simple as a quick check of the property record or they can be much more in-depth.

As for us, and for our clients, we do a complete search of the property records, probate search including liens and mortgages, do a site visit with pictures, look at land lines and do a will/trust search.

While this is much deeper than most investors have time for, it is crucial to eliminating what could be a major problem later down the line without spending larger amounts of money to find out the same information.

Do your homework. Make sure you have covered as many bases as possible to save time, money and aggravation on all of your investment deals.

Feel free to contact us, we would be happy to work with you and help make your future deals as seamless as possible.

J&R Development

(205) 697-5183

Pre-Planning your estate is one of the most important things you will ever do in your lifetime. We don’t want to think about incapacitation, death and dying but the reality is, at least one is going to happen and it is crucial that we are prepared. What makes planning so important is, Peace Of Mind. In the event a person should become incapacitated or pass away, their wishes would be assured to be carried out and their property and assets would be protected. Below are a few examples.

A living trust is defined as, a legal document, or trust, created during an individual’s lifetime where a designated person, the trustee, is given responsibility for managing that individual’s assets for the benefit of the eventual beneficiary. These trusts can be very beneficial in the event an individual becomes incapacitated and can no longer handle their business affairs on their own due to an accident or health-related issue.

Wills are common to everyone, yet statistically, most people these days do not have a will on file. Often the consensus is, “my kids can have my car or house when I die” Unfortunately, that is often where it ends. When someone dies “intestate” or without a will, anything they have wished to be left to a particular family member or friend can pose several issues.

One of these issues is other family members disputing over rights with no real way to come to a resolution. The other issue is that the person the property, vehicle, bank account and so on are left to verbally but without written documentation, can find it quite difficult to gain legal possession due to lack of documentation. Not to say it is always completely impossible but it is very difficult and in some cases, it can be impossible. We have seen many properties people have worked a lifetime for, be sold at county auctions just because taxes were not paid because no one was able to gain possession.

Living Wills protect your wishes where your health is concerned. An example of this would be someone who may be terminally ill and wishes not to have advanced life-sustaining measures carried out. Another would be in the event of a traumatic accident where there may be a decision to be made whether or not to maintain life support.

These are just a few examples of how important it is to look at estate planning that allows you to have security and peace of mind now, and to protect your assets, yourself, and your family. All of these examples are reversible and transferable at any time during the course of cognitive life and are very affordable for the amount of protection they offer.

If you would like a free and confidential consultation on any of these options of estate planning, please feel free to contact me for an appointment. I look forward to assisting you.

Johnny M. Harvill PA