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Are Home Warranties a good idea for your rental

Google has become one of our main technology partners and recently we have been recognized as a veteran-led business with a special edition challenge coin. Military challenge coins have been used since WWI and were issued to service men and women as symbols of recognition or unity. We really appreciate the service of all veterans, especially to our director Sean for all the things he has done for the nation. If you want to find out more of our partners and technology go in to our website and read more about them.

We used to have a place called “home”, it used to be our safe and comfortable place where we would hang out for the weekends and used it to sleep. This last year we have learned that our house is not just a 4 wall place it is more than that...it is a yard for bbq with our closest friends, it is a small cinema room to share popcorn and movies with our kids, it is a restaurant where the new chefs can learn new recipes, it is our office where a lot of new deals get closed and if you ask your kids, they might tell you that their home is a castle full of dreams. It has been rough but also has been amazing because we have had the chance to enjoy family time, we have had the opportunity to see our plants grow, to enjoy the garden and all this is one of the main reasons why we should have everything in our home in great condition. If you are not sure whether it is time to do some maintenance or not, we can help you out! Use your mobile app to take a picture and report any problem areas that we can fix for you. We can be the perfect team; tenants and maintenance department, so the only thing you would have to do is sit back, enjoy the view and relax! Find us on our web page: hollandprop.com Follow us on Facebook: @hollandpropertiesInc

Thanksgiving Basket update - we have had an amazing response from our investment property owners! You are a wonderfully generous group of people and we are appreciative that so many have jumped at this chance to partner with us to fill the need for a happy Thanksgiving for our tenants. We have started the list of tenant requests for help and will be able to help each and every one so far. With change and challenge comes opportunity! If you are thinking about expanding your investment portfolio check out the list of properties currently available. You can find the link in under the owner tab titled current managed properties on the market. We know and like these properties and give them our endorsement as great choices for purchase. Reminder that every month on or about the 15th you get 2 emails from us. The first tells you how much is deposited and the second has the link to your owner’s portal. If the deposit amount is not what you expected, don't call right away. Wait for the second email then click the link, sign in and you will be able to see the accounting for how the deposit amount was calculated. From all of us at Holland Properties and Innovative Property Management thank you!!

This is a common question when speaking to potential new clients. Everyone’s situation is different but I will start off by sharing one of my personal experiences. Years ago I worked as a private client banker for JPMorgan Chase, my clients were wealthy people. There was one common item among most of them and that is that they owned some sort of investment property; commercial, retail, farmland, industrial and mostly residential. That experience convinced me that the best way for a family to establish financial freedom is to own rental property. If you do a quick search on the internet about renting vs selling residential property or reasons to rent vs sell or any number of search terms there are thousands of articles about the subject. A great place to start might be these three from renterswarehouse rockethomes and zillow . Don't forget to talk to your tax professional as they will have valuable insight about your particular situation. As you do your research also consider that some markets will offer better cash flow (rent income vs asset cost) and some markets will offer better long term appreciation in exchange for lower cash flow. The Portland metro area is in the latter category. Renting a home here will typically give you great long term results at the expense of short term cash flow. Perfect if you are in your prime earning years now. In summary my opinion is that long term wealth can be created with real estate investment. Rather than incurring expensive real estate transaction costs by constantly buying and selling homes, keep the home you already own. Eventually your home is paid off, rents have risen and you retire with all that extra income and the ability to sell a highly appreciated asset. We are experts at managing residential real estate and would like to be your partner in success.

There is a lot to look at when purchasing a property and trying to decide which home makes a great rental. The most simple piece of advice is to ask yourself "If I were a young family with kids where would I want to live?" 3 bedrooms 2 baths near a park and decent schools, maybe some public transportation and shopping nearby. But don’t limit yourself either. The Portland metro area has about 750,000 housing units and about ⅓ of them, over 130,000 are rentals of all types; studios, apartments, townhomes, condos, single family etc. Currently there is a slight housing shortage in the area so there is a tenant for every home and every home will rent for the right price. So how do you determine price? There are some companies that have a great deal of data, you have heard of them, Google, Facebook, Amazon but another is Zillow. Zillow has data on pretty much every home in the country. Practically every home for rent or sale is listed on Zillow, they know location, size, configuration, utilities, appliances, walk scores, school data and of course the asking price, therefore Zillow rent estimates are very accurate. But the moment the house is put on the market if there are 3 other similar houses in the neighborhood available for $150 less then that directly affects the price. Trust your Zillow rent estimate within a few hundred dollars one way or the other. But...how long will it take to rent? Current vacancy rates in Portland Metro hover around 5% which is difficult to get below since there will always be some time between tenants; prepping, advertising, showing, and renting the property. If you have an attractive property priced right it will rent with a minimum amount of vacancy time. Usually once summer break is over the rental market is slower but this year (2020) with Covid-19 the market delayed moves and we are as busy as ever heading into October. 5% is an average though, condos in downtown Portland are staying vacant longer while there has been a flow of tenants to the suburbs during Covid-19 and the transition to work from home situations. Another common question has to do with maintenance costs. As with anything you purchase, in most cases the newer the property the fewer problems and costs you will incur. If you purchase a 50 year old home you can expect much higher repair costs than if you bought brand new with a builder’s warranty. Of course if you limit what you are responsible for that will reduce your costs too. If you purchase a condo you won't have to worry about the cost of roofing or exterior painting or pressure washing sidewalks but you will instead have consistent HOA fees that cover those expenses. The choice is yours and depends solely on your risk tolerance. The West side of the Portland metro area has a wide choice of age and HOA properties to choose from. Focus on the West side of town. Beaverton, Hillsboro and Cornelius are growing fast, there are great employment opportunities and plenty of wonderful investment homes. Happy shopping!