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Should I Sell My Rental Property or Keep it?

Mario AvalosLeave a comment

Should I Sell My Rental Property?

My landlord clients often ask “should I sell my rental property or keep it?”.  First, I am a big proponent on trying to keep a rental property at all costs. In my opinion, selling a rental property should be your last resort. I believe real estate is one of the best investments out there. Therefore, when clients ask me about selling their rental properties, I try to convince them otherwise.

Nonetheless, if you do decide to pursue the options of whether you should or should not sell your rental properties, ask yourself these three questions:

1. Is the money worth it?

If you are making at least a 5% cash flow return on an annual basis, keep the rental property. (If you need help calculating your cash-flow annual return, send me a message, and I will gladly let you know right away!)

2. What do you plan to do with the money after you sell?

This may be a heavy loaded question as it may bring up even more questions. Will it sit in a bank account? Will it be re-invested in another investment opportunity? Depending on what you plan to do with the proceeds, you should determine if it is worth selling your rental property or not. For example, if you plan to just keep the money in your bank account, I would suggest NOT selling it. You make close to nothing on that money sitting in a bank.

On the other hand, if you plan to re-invest, then selling to put your money to work in a better investment may be the right move.

3. Are you sick and tired of being a landlord? Tired of dealing with tenants? Unhappy and frustrated with the process of managing the property and repairs?

If the answer is yes, then, sell! If you are not happy anymore or have become miserable being a landlord, you should not sacrifice your happiness for it. There are many other things you can invest the money on that will not make you unhappy.

RELATED: How to Find Good Tenants in Miami

Thinking of Selling Your Rental Property? Or Need Help Managing Your Rental Property?

Put our 16 plus years of experience to the test! Contact us today to find out how we can serve you!

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How to Find Good Tenants in Miami

Mario AvalosLeave a comment

Finding good tenants in Miami can be a frustrating process. How do you know if they will be good tenants? In addition to finding good tenants, comes the hassle of managing property repairs and tenant complaints if not addressed right or on time. All this can turn into headaches!

We Remove the Stress in Finding Good Tenants and Property Management

We provide two services:

1. Finding good tenants in Miami

When you list your property or properties for rent with us, we advertise your home using our best marketing strategies to target the right tenants.

Our fee to list a property for rent is the first month rental amount. We do NOT charge any extension fees if tenants decide to renew for the years to come.

If the tenant leaves on the 11th month of the one year lease or before, we find you another tenant at NO extra listing fee!

We conduct a thorough tenant screening to find good tenants. This tenant screening consist of the following six items:

  1. Proof of income. We make sure the rent to income ratio is 2 to 1. This means, the tenant’s monthly household income should be at least twice the rental price. In addition, we ask for verifiable proof of income (no bank statements).
  2. Credit history. We request a full credit history to verify tenants are good on making monthly payments.
  3. Employment verification. We verify the company or employer they work for are a legitimate company and we verify tenants employment details. If tenant is self-employ we verify tax returns.
  4. Landlord references. We request references from their previous rentals. We verify landlord contact information matches property owner on public records.
  5. Criminal background check. We request a criminal background check for all occupants over the age of 18.
  6. Eviction history. We run a search on any public recorded evictions.

Download our tenant screening checklist here!

2. Property Management

Once we find you good tenants, we also offer our second service of property management. Our office will manage your rentals for a fee of just 10% of the monthly rental starting on the second month of the lease. Our management services include:

  • Receiving rental payments from tenants.
  • Manage tenant relations and complaints.
  • Coordinate and overlook property repairs (with landlord’s approval).
  • Coordinate property maintenance.
  • Make payments on landlord’s behalf (with landlord’s approval) to HOA, property insurance company, property taxes, and/or mortgages.
  • Provide a monthly statement of rental payments and expenses.

Own a Rental and Need to Find Good tenants?

Put our 16 plus years of experience to the test. Contact us to find out how we can service you!

Contact Us Today!

1 Mistake That Can Cost You Big Bucks When Selling Your Home

Rocio CasalesLeave a comment

Do Not Be Too Critical of Your Home

More often than not, I come across homeowners who are more critical of their home than they should be. More so, when it comes to preparing their home for sale.

When I come across an owner with a list of repairs and upgrades for their home, I have to stop them from potentially losing money! This often happens due to the fact that when living in a home, the owner will notice every small detail and think it is a big one in need of fixing.

A good example is, when you have guests over at your home, it is almost out of instinct to say “excuse the mess!” even though your home may be super clean and organized. The same thing happens when preparing to sell your home.

RELATED: 4 Leading Home Projects Everyone is Doing

Get Expert Advise to Avoid Unnecessary Expenses

Do not fall into your critical perspective of your home and repair and upgrade every minor thing. Get an expert advise from a professional real estate agent on what are necessary repair expenses and what are not!

Avoid making the mistake of spending money to fix-up the home if at the end it will not make a difference at the time of sale.

In my many years of experience helping homeowners sell their home, I have been able to sell homes AS-IS and make the most profit for my client at the sale.

If you need guidance on what are necessary repairs for your home, contact me with no compromise or obligation! I am glad to help you make the right decisions to make the most of your home sale!

Curious to Know the Value of Your Home?

We are here to provide you a FREE assessment of your home to determine the true market value! Simply contact me with your information, and will send you the value right away, no obligation!

May Home Prices Up 4% As Inventory Dwindles

Mario AvalosLeave a comment

May 2020 Compared To May 2019:

Miami Single Family Home Stats

  • Number of closed transactions are down 46%
  • Median prices are up 4% from $360,000 to $375,000
  • Available properties for sale is down 16% from 6,759 homes to 5,665

Miami Town-home and Condo Stats

  • Number of closed transactions are down 61%
  • Median prices are up 7% from $243,000 to $260,000
  • Available properties for sale is down 8% from 15,893 properties to 14,705

Home prices and other stats differ from neighborhood to neighborhood. Get an accurate home valuation today!

Data provided by Florida’s Multiple Listings Services.

Home Improvements That Will Make You Lose Money

Mario Avalos2 Comments

Choose your home improvements carefully

I recently got off the phone with someone who insisted on making home improvements with the goal of increasing their home value. While home improvements do help the value of your home, it is not always the case.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I love updating my home when I have the resource to do so! Making improvements is beneficial in keeping the home updated with your current taste in décor. Moreover, it also helps keep your home in good conditions to decrease the chances of any major repairs. I even made a post on Four leading home projects everyone is doing.

Now, how does it affect your home value when it comes to making improvements to sell? Well, if you are not careful on what you choose to do on your property, you may break-even or even worse, lose money.

get your free home valuation

Break even or lose money?

As a homeowner thinking of selling your home, your goal is to maximize profit! I mean, who does not want to make the most out of their sale? As a result, most homeowners believe their home needs to be top notch to compete in the housing market. Therefore, they start doing home improvements to make it the most presentable home possible.

Usually, what happens is that homeowners get carried away and truly believe these improvements will make a huge impact on their home value. The reality is, most times, it will not.

Depending on the updates and repairs, it may not be worth the work when it comes time to sell. In short, homeowners realize that the updates done did not deliver to their expectations and did not impact the buyers to pay more for it.

Why will home buyers not pay more for my home improvements?

Look, we all have great memories and a certain attachment to our homes. The improvements we make have always been with our family in mind. In the end, what we think of our own home is not what the buyers walking through will think. What they are thinking is not about the present, but of the future. They are thinking of how this home will fit their family needs and how to make it their own. Buyers will always want to change something or improve on something no matter how perfect we think our home is.

RELATED: How do buyers determine home value?

How to avoid losing money?

Therefore, the best way to approach this is by detaching from the home. Looking at the home like it was a product. So, with that in mind, do what is necessary to the property and not what you “feel” is the right updates to do.

If you are unsure of what home improvements to make to maximize the amount of money you make on your home when it’s time to sell, do not hesitate to reach out and ask me. I am happy to assist you in making the right decision!