Blair Hart is one of the nations leading experts in residential property management. She has led AMMRE, Inc,.one of the most established and largest residential property management firms in the Albuquerque Metro Area for over fifteen years.
Recent blog posts
- Renting – The Albuquerque and Rio Rancho American Dream
- New Tenant Screening Requirements take effect July 21, 2011
- Who said congress never accomplishes anything?
- Up your (bleep)………. Rents of Course
- Tax Q and A for Landlords
- Good News/Bad News You Choose
- Blair’s State of the 1099 Address:
- 2010 Tax tips
- Attention Landlords! The IRS Has Something New, Just For You
- How Important Is A Credit Score When Looking For A Rental Home?
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Up your (bleep)………. Rents of Course
Finally, there is some good news for the Metro’s single-family home investors. Rents are rising in the Metro Area. If you have not increased your rent in over twelve months, I believe the rent for your property may be increased 5% to 10% this year. While the average rent per square foot works for apartments this formula does not work for single-family homes. Apartment rents began increasing last year, single-family home rents in the metro area began rising significantly in January. House rent increases are driven more by location and condition of the home than by square footage. For a more in depth discussion on the metro areas housing demographics see my last post, “Domain Demand deconstructed” twister.
The first step in determining the fair market rent for your home is to analyze the latest asking rents of similar homes in the area. As there is no MLS for rentals and most rentals are not listed in the newspaper you may have to drive around and make some calls from yard signs. If you have a property manager they will know the current rents in your neighborhood, and can also pull recent actively reports from internet sources, including other management companies listings, MLS, relocation networks etc.
Once you know the current market rent you need to consider adjustments related to your unique property. The follow are some on the things I take into consideration: the average cost for a resident to move at your price point, the number of current available rentals in the same school district, the time the resident has spent in the home, the status of the lease (eg. month-to-month), payment history, age and condition of carpet and paint, etc.
Also take in to account when you want your leases to renew. The best time to renew in the Metro Market is July 1st. School is out the end of May and begins the middle of August. Most single-family homes are rented to families with children and pets. Look for my near future blog post “Who let the Dogs Out”, for ways to you’re your resident’s pets.
If you have a specific question or blog suggestion e-mail me at blairsblog@ammre.com. I get quite a few blog e-mails. please be patient, I have a property management firm to run. I will get back to you as soon as I can. It is my goal to answer all blog e-mails within 10 days, depending on volume. If you are an existing AMMRE client please use my direct contact information for blog inquiries.
