If you knew you were running for president someday, you’d probably do many things differently. You may rethink all your controversial letters to the Charlotte Observer loudly demeaning the local politicians (those idiots!!); you may need their help someday campaigning on your behalf. That Election Day when you were in the throes of a “House of Cards” marathon, scarfing down Jet’s Pizza, and didn’t quite feel like driving to the polls? Better get up, wipe the sauce of your mouth, punch your chad, and make it look like you care about the political process! The video your friend made of you acting like a fool with the pool boy on that cruise a few years back? Better make sure that doesn’t find its way to Facebook because Glenn Beck will have a field day with it during the primaries.
This whole accountability thing
can be scary! But if you know what you
want to do in the future, you can plot your moves (and non-moves) and optimize
your future plans.
Real estate works the same way
and requires taking a long term planning view.
What do you want your real estate to accomplish for you? And over what time period?
From being a Charlotte property
manager for over a decade, we’ve had clients who have had many differing
reasons why they are holding real estate.
We try to put together a strategy to cater to these needs
individually. Here are a few examples:
- “I have a house that I don’t have enough equity to sell right now. I want to rent it out until the market turns up again.”
With that in mind, we want to
minimize fix-up costs (touch-up paint & carpet steam clean when turning
over the property between tenants) before we see the market improve. Once it does, we’ll look to replace the
carpet and give the home a full paint job to sell at the top of the market.
- “These houses are my retirement. I want to keep them forever and live off the residual income.”
We’d look to find long-term
tenants on the private market (multi-year lease only) or Section 8 tenants (who
now, after 18 months of vacancy in one house, cannot move until they leave the
program). We’d also look to more
actively make optional repairs to maximize the enjoyment of the tenant.
- “I want to have the option to stay in or get out depending on market conditions!”
We’ll keep you apprised of the
market sales and rental prices 60-75 days prior to the current lease expiration. Then you can let us know which way you want
to go, rental or sale. We’ll also let
you know when an opportunity comes up when one of our investors is looking to
buy an investment home with a tenant already in place to create a win-win for
both of you.
The best way to get the outcome
you want tomorrow is to wisely plot your moves (and non-moves) today. There are very few people who are politically
incorrect, like Donald Trump, to whom this (apparently) doesn’t apply! But, in real estate, long term planning will
save you both time & money.
Happy Landlording!
Brett Furniss is the head property manager of BDF Realty
(Charlotte
Residential Property Management), the trusted real estate advisor for Charlotte
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