Rentals
January 18, 2015
If you are a renter, you feel the pinch. If you are a landlord, you feel the bulge in your bank account. Here’s a good article and short video clip from CNBC about the top rental markets in the US as well as how they relate to affordability. http://www.cnbc.com/id/102159830 As Landlords and Real Estate Investors, you should be aware of the relationship between rent values and your tenant’s income growth patterns. As always, real estate is local, so if you need help understanding what is occuring in your area of town, email, call or click. Dan Baldini is the Executive Property Manager of Polaris Property Management, LLC. Dan focuses his practice on the residential real estate markets including Indianapolis, Carmel, Zionsville, Fishers and other surrounding areas. Dan continually seeks out new resources for Team training and education in order to keep all the Team members skills on the leading edge […]
January 21, 2015
Is the party almost over for Landlords and Real Estate Investors in residential rentals? Rental rates across the US, Indianapolis metro area included, have been on a consistent tear for a number of years now….Landlords have benefitted allowing the asset prices to get bid up on both rental properties for sale. However, just like with everything in life, there are limits…. Here’s a good article that takes both a granular and high level approach at looking into this pending issue…. http://nreionline.com/multifamily/rent-burdened-nation-housing-expert-discusses-affordable-housing-crisis Certainly, if your local market conditions allow, maximize your rental revenue whenever possible, but keep this knowledge on your radar as we may be witnessing a market shift in rental rates. If you haven’t repriced your properties lately or done a competitive analysis, now may be a good time to get this information gathered. As always, if we can assist, call or click.
February 3, 2015
Each landlord we work with has a unique problem—filling their rental vacancy. On the surface, It may seem like a unique problem to only this industry. But when you apply business topology, the problem becomes quite common. In fact, there are at least 3 other industries who have almost the exact same problem. Unsold inventory. Billboards, hotels, and airlines all HATE unsold inventory because the moment when time passes, it is utterly worthless. As soon as the date changes on a hotel room with vacancies, that hotel cannot make up the lost profit. Same with the radio station with unsold advertising slots for radio commercials. Same for airliners that taxi and take off with seats missing rear ends sitting in them. Same for landlords. Which is why we are a strong proponent of aggressive and early marketing of properties with vacancies coming up soon. Think about the math here…. If you rent a […]
February 6, 2015
Below is an unaltered, unedited email from Ken Anderson, a Client of Polaris Property Management. Enjoy.} On Feb 4, 2015 7:08 PM, “Daniel Baldini” <dbaldini@polarisbrokers.com> wrote: Hey Ken, I need a favor from you, please. You have a unique situation as a landlord whereby you switched from an owner to landlord with a management guy, fired him, and hired us. I’d like to have your first-hand observations of the differences between the guy you used to use and your experience with Polaris. Would you be willing to type out your thoughts (even if simple, run of the spout stuff without editing) so we can help others understand why they should consider hiring us in the future? It would mean a lot to have it in your words, in your ideas… Dan Baldini, MBA (Ken’s response….) Sure. Here you go.. To whom it may concern, In the fall of 2013 I […]
April 9, 2015
Some days, we feel like ping pong balls getting batted back and forth over a net that keeps rising higher and higher. We bounce between tenants, landlords, real estate agents, government officials, lenders, inspectors, appraisers, and contractors. It can make your head spin if you lose focus on the Goal. “What is the Goal?”, you ask? Simple but complex. Yes, it’s a paradox wrapped in an enigma. The Goal is this: Assist our Clients move towards their objectives. Sometimes that Goal is to increase wealth by generating capital appreciation of an asset. Sometimes it is to generate cash flow for living expenses. Sometimes it is to simply liquidate a property and harvest the equity. Thank you, Mr. McKnight, for inviting our team to assist you in reaching your Goal. It was truly our pleasure to serve you. Dan Baldini is the Founder of Polaris Real Estate & Polaris Property Management, […]
May 19, 2015
One of the most frequent questions I receive from novice landlords is what funds to collect at lease signing. As fast as an Indy 500 car slams into the 3rd turn wall I respond with “Security Deposit PLUS 1st Month’s rent”. The reasons are simple for why you should require both to be paid at once but they all congeal into one simple concept: RISK MANAGEMENT Successful real estate leasing is almost all about risk management and the simplest way to minimize this risk is to force the tenant to have skin in the game. Collecting essentially 2 months rent value at time of lease signing is plenty of skin for most tenants. It also sets the stage for the tenants to expect a certain standard of engagement with you as the landlord–you aren’t joking around with an important business transaction. Finally, it is an excellent secondary screening method–after all, if they don’t have […]
August 24, 2015
August 24, 2015 Today’s New York Stock Exchange activity was historical. Ouch. We may be in for continued volatility for the near term in the equity markets, which reminds me of how this relates to your rental properties… When I speak with new potential clients, the conversation usually goes something like this…. Property Owner: “I’d like to rent out my house, but I need to get at least $1500 a month because we bought it at the height of the market in 2008 and owe too much on the mortgage still to sell it. Can we get that amount for the house?” Me: “Well, according to the market comps and the demand for your house, I don’t think we can get anything higher than $1300 a month.” Property Owner: “But you don’t understand. I NEED $1500 a month in rent.” Me: “I certainly appreciate your needing to maximize the revenue […]
October 2, 2015
Over the past few years, State and city officials have been GaGa over introducing enormous plans for mass transit to Indiana and Indianapolis, specifically. The most recent projections I’ve read include the estimate of approximately $1.1 Billion over the next 10 years. The urgency behind such a huge undertaking? The theory that Millennials aren’t moving to the suburbs, but only want urban areas to reside and they demand mass transit, otherwise they will not relocate to Indy. In other words, it’s about trying to attract them to Indianapolis for high paying jobs. Uhhh…..only one small tiny problem with their hypothesis: they have zero quantitative data about this projected human behavior pattern on which they are gambling tax payer money. Today’s Wall Street Journal doesn’t help their argument either. Case in point: Millennials are the FASTEST GROWING class of car buyers. Here’s the entire article: Somehow, their choo-choo train idea seems to […]
October 2, 2015
I usually don’t look to the State of Ohio for much ground breaking news, but this article literally had me fist-pumping in the air. It appears there ARE judges who still read their Constitution and know their Bill of Rights! http://realestateinvestingtoday.com/federal-court-cities-rental-licensing-and-inspection-requirements-unconstitutional/ I fully expect this issue of Source of Income/Inspections to come back to Indianapolis in 2016, so get prepared for the upcoming battle with your facts. Until then, Celebrate the win! Dan Baldini is the Founder of Polaris Real Estate & Polaris Property Management, LLC and has been an Adjunct Professor in the College of Business Finance Department at Butler University in Indianapolis where he taught Real Estate Investing. Dan focuses his practice on the residential real estate markets including Indianapolis, Carmel, Zionsville, Fishers and other surrounding areas. Dan continually seeks out new resources for Team training and education in order to keep all the Team members skills on the leading edge of real estate […]