Davidson Realty, Inc.

Top 10 Concerns When Renting Your Property

March 28, 2011

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Posted by in Rentals

Managing rental property is easy, even I can do it! Or can you? Legally you as an owner can manage your own rental property and save the management fees, but is this the best decision? Here are the top 10 concerns or situations to think about.

1. Who will prepare the lease? An attorney may charge you $100 or more to prepare it. You, of course, can use the services of a Property Management Company to secure a tenant for you. They will do this for a fee, which will include the lease.

2. If you do not use a Property Management Company to get the tenant then how will you “check them out?”

3. In the event the tenants don’t pay the rent on time or at all, can you “chase” them for it? Do you know the procedures and the Florida Laws for eviction?

4. If the rent is late you will be the one to confront the tenants for the late fees.

5. If you are managing the property, the tenant has access to you 24/7. Do you want to be contacted at all hours for even the most minor repairs?

6. What happens when a repair is really needed? Do you have a list of craftsman that you have investigated as to their competency, response time and fairness of fees? Read more

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Stop Smoking With Elsie Evans!

February 8, 2011

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Posted by in News

1242349009Well, the time has certainly come for me to stop smoking.  If any of you are smokers, or have smoked and quit, you know what experts we are at stopping smoking….until the next cigarette.  I did stop for 8 years and being very stupid started up again, believe me it wasn’t hard to start even after 8 years.  Many years ago, there was a newspaper campaign to stop smoking with one of the editors.  He would post every day in the newspaper how it went that day without smoking.  It was really a very big success and a lot of people quit smoking with him.

So, I’m quitting smoking on February 14th – what better day? I will be posting on my Facebook daily about the days events, any tips that worked that day to help, etc.  If any of you would like to join me in quitting please friend me on Facebook and I believe we can do this together. It might just be fun. Ok, maybe not fun…but better than trying to do it by yourself. I have a great support system with my family and friends and all of the Davidson Companies.  Quite a few of the agents who presently smoke are joining me in quitting on February 14th.  I feel that being given the support and encouragement is going to help all of us a lot.

If you would like to email me at eevans@davidsonpropertymanagement.com, call me (484-2170), or stop into the Davidson Realty office, you can sign up to join this new challenge.  I would love to have anyone that would like to take a minute, to offer support, encouragement, ideas whether you smoke now, have quit smoking, or have never smoked to join along with us in this effort.

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Renting Your Home: The Right Questions to Ask

January 21, 2011

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Posted by in Rentals

Elsie EvansImagine you are living in your dream house. You and your family had it designed and built specifically for the way you live – and you love it! Then it happens. Your supervisor calls you into his office. No, you are not laid off…but they need you to take a temporary assignment out of state. It will only be for two years. How can you say no?

But what will you do with your home? You could leave it vacant, but the rental income would really help the family. And, of course, it is better to have the house lived in rather than have all the systems dormant for so long. However, this is your dream home and you don’t want just anyone to be taking care of it… We may have an answer for you! Hire a professional, competent and caring property management company.

Now the question becomes how do you find such a property management company in North Florida? We recommend you interview several by asking them the following 10 questions:

1. How long have you been in business?
2. What experience does your staff have?
3. How many properties do you manage?
4. What kind of tenant screening do you do?
5. What kind and how many inspections do you do?
6. Are any of the inspections inside the property?
7. How do you market your properties?
8. What are your procedures for distributing funds to owners?
9. How do you handle repairs?
10. How much do you charge for your services?

Keep interviewing until you find a company that makes you feel comfortable. Since they will be protecting your most valuable asset, you need to find someone you can trust. To save time, you may want to start with a call to Elsie Evans at Davidson Property Management. Elsie’s phone number is 904.484.2170. We think she is the best in the business!

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3 Tips to Protect Yourself When Renting Your Property

July 30, 2010

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Posted by in Rentals

What a wonderful time to buy real estate as an investment property! Just take a look around at the properties available right now AND their prices. Not only that, but the rental market is absolutely fantastic and it continues to get better and better! Four to five months ago the inventory for rentals was through the roof, you couldn’t even turn around without bumping into a “For Rent” sign. Now it’s the opposite, inventory is very low, especially for single family homes; condos have also started to rent much quicker. I recently had a property placed in MLS at 2 PM and it was rented by 9 PM THAT night! For an investor in real estate property I don’t believe the time can get any better than this to buy and rent out your investment property or to rent your home if it’s not selling. Here are 3 tips for someone renting their home:

1. I highly recommend using a property management company to manage your property with the tenant. But, in any event, KNOW what your lease says. Florida is a Landlord State, which means the laws of the state of Florida are there for protection of the owner/landlord. This makes Florida, in my opinion, one of the best states possible to own an investment/rental property.

2. Make sure there’s a paragraph on “Use of Premises” in your lease. This paragraph states what the tenant can and cannot do while living in your property (i.e. no trampolines, athletic equipment, etc.) It disallows any items or activities that can cause interference with the insurance coverage. Tenants cannot run a business, daycare center, etc. out of the property. Read more

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Realtor Puts Money Where Mouth Is!

March 18, 2010

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Posted by in News, Rentals

So I was talking to a few Davidson Realtors the other day. They were telling me about how investors are starting to come back into the market. Of course, I asked why they thought this was happening. One of them explained that it is a combination of things. Obviously the prices of homes right now are ridiculously good. And the interest rates are good too. But I wasn’t aware that the number of rental properties is way down, but the demand is way up. (This must be why Davidson Property Management is currently looking for houses to rent!) If an investor has the ability to buy St. Augustine, FL homes right now, they may get a great home at a great price and potentially rent it out for a profit! I told them I wanted to write a blog on this and they told me to talk to one of Davidson’s other Realtors because he had a great case study for this.

The agent told me a story that I just love! He showed a home, originally purchased for $370,000, which was listed for $240,000. (I’m not kidding about there being incredible values out there right now!) The potential buyer said she couldn’t go higher than $204,000. The Realtor made the offer and the seller accepted. However, the buyer changed her mind. The Realtor explained to the buyer that this was an amazing opportunity and if she didn’t want to take advantage of it – he did! She still declined to sign the offer, so the Realtor made the same offer and it was accepted.

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