What Kind of Advantages Does Investment Real Estate Bring Property Owners?

Most of the time, my clients are looking for appreciation, cash flow, or both.

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Today we’re back with No. 5 in our six-part series discussing the advantages of owning real estate. This time, we’re discussing the advantages of owning rental properties.

When people purchase rental properties, there are two things that they’re usually trying to accomplish:

1. Appreciation. This involves buying a property that’s either in need of work or in an up-and-coming area where we think prices are going to appreciate.

2. Monthly cash flow. A lot of this depends on the age and overall goals of the investor.

We can even manage the property for you.

I’m always playing this game with my clients of appreciation versus cash flow. If you’re lucky, you can get both, but most of the time you’re looking for one or the other.

I have plenty of clients who we help that end up managing their own properties. However, if you don’t want to do that, my team can certainly help with property management and still get you that appreciation or cash flow that you’re looking for.

If you have any questions about your specific situation and how owning rental property might help you, don’t hesitate to give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

The Advantages of Owning Real Estate Part 4: Renting vs. Buying

Is it better to rent a property or own one? We will discuss this today in the fourth installment into our six-part series on the advantages of owning real estate.

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Today marks the fourth installment of our series on the advantages of owning real estate, and, this time, we will be going even deeper into the subject. Specifically, I would like to share some advice about when purchasing a home is the superior option to renting.

If you plan on living in a property for at least five to seven years, I highly recommend ownership over the rental lifestyle. Renting can be a good, non-permanent living situation, but it is far better to have a home of your own if you are staying put for some time.

As you may remember from previous installments in this series, buying a house is the best way to control your living situation and leverage your money into building up a long-term asset. If you pay down the mortgage on your house and achieve a lower debt ratio, the property’s value will steadily increase.

Renting can be a good, non-permanent living situation, but it is far better to have a home of your own if you are staying put for some time.

There will be some maintenance-related expenses, but homeownership is, overall, a worthwhile investment.

So, if you have been renting for some time and are ready to make the transition into owning real estate and want to know more about the home buying process, feel free to reach out.

If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

The Advantages of Owning Property: Part 2

How can making improvements to your property benefit your overall personal wealth? Today let’s discuss this question in the second installment of our six-part series on the advantages of property ownership.

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Today marks the second installment of our six-part series on the advantages of owning real estate. Let’s dive right in.

This time I’d like to discuss how improving your property can serve as an investment in your own personal wealth.

Painting, upgrading landscape, or replacing systems and appliances are all ways to make your property more valuable. And these are just a few of the many projects you could take on.

Improving your property can serve as an investment in your own personal wealth.

Unlike investing in the stock market, the benefits and results of investing in improvements to your property are much easier to understand. As someone who does invest in stocks and who has a degree in finance, I can say that even I find real estate to be more comprehensible.

Purchasing property also protects you in the long-term, as any property you obtain now would surely be more expensive in the future.

If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

2 Services We Provide: Property Management and Referrals

 

I want to discuss two topics today: property management and referrals.

 

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Today’s topic is actually about two separate things: property management and referrals. I wanted to educate you a little bit about some things we do in our property management business that you might not be aware of, as well as about how referrals work since our business is based on them.

Property Management:

For those of you who don’t know, The Lessinger Team does do property management. We manage mostly single-family homes, but for local owners and those who are more experienced in property management, we also do what’s called a tenant finder. This means we find you the tenant for the property and you manage the property on your own.

Referrals:

We let all of our clients know that any referrals needed don’t necessarily have to be related to the house; we can get you a referral to a dentist or even something like a babysitter. Feel free to give us a call if you need anything, especially if you’re new to the area.

We can refer you to dentists, babysitters, contractors, and more.

On the other side of the referral coin, our business is based on referrals. Most of our clients are referred to us. The best way for you to refer us would be to call or email us directly with the contact information of the person that might be looking to buy or sell a home. That way, we can reach out to them.

Whether it’s property management or buying or selling a home, we want to be here to help you get all the information you need. If you do have any questions or need information, give us a call or send us an email. We would be happy to help you!

 

Is Your Home Covered if Disaster Strikes?

 

If you’re not sure you have the right homeowners insurance, talk to your insurance agent immediately and get that corrected so if disaster strikes, you don’t make a bad situation worse.

 

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Today’s topic hits somewhat close to home for me. The topic I'm talking about is making sure you have the right homeowners insurance in case disaster strikes.

My sister-in-law lives in Santa Rosa in Northern California, and her entire neighborhood burned to the ground recently due to the wildfires. I also have a cousin who lives in Tampa who had to deal with effects and aftermath of Hurricane Irma.

Make sure your policies are paid, up to date, and in place.

Between the wildfires in California, the storms in Florida, and the flooding in Houston, I figured now is as good of a time as any to remind you to talk to your insurance agent about your homeowners insurance policy and make sure you have the protection you think you do—whether that’s for earthquakes, flooding, wildfires, etc. Many times, certain things aren’t covered that you think might be. Also, make sure you have enough insurance so that if your house is destroyed, you have enough money to rebuild it, repair it, or have a place to stay in the meantime.

I’ve watched so many horrendous things happen over the last few months, so make sure your policies are paid, up to date, and in place so that you have what you think you need.

If you don’t have the homeowners insurance you think you need, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. We’d be glad to help you.

Don't Forget These Final Items Before Moving

 

You found your next home and you closed the deal. Now, it's time to take care of a few tasks you need to finish before moving into your beautiful new home.

 

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Before you move into your newly bought home, there are a few items you absolutely should take care of first.

I always say the first thing you should do is to re-key the house. Personally, I also like to have the same key for my front door, side door, and back door. If you need a referral for a good company, we can send you in the right direction so you can get your new home re-keyed for under $100. 

There are a few things you can actually do before moving, starting with updating your mailing address. You'll also want to get all your standard utilities switched over, like your power, electric, water, trash, and gas bills. They're easy to switch in most parts of town. If you're not sure who to call for this, reach out to us and we can give you the right contacts. 

There are a few things you can actually do before moving.

If you can get certain people to show up on the actual day you move in, it's good to set up things like your cable or satellite and Internet. There's nothing more annoying than sitting in your new house for two weeks without TV or Internet. You can potentially coordinate and schedule these things as soon as you know your moving date, and we might even be able to take care of them for you.

There are plenty of other things to take care of at this critical time depending on your unique situation. If you have any questions about your move or you're not sure if you've checked all the right boxes, just give us call or send us an email soon. We're always happy to help!

Early Spring Home Maintenance Tips

 

Now that spring is finally here, I’m giving you some great tips on how to get your home ready for the warmer months.

 

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Spring is finally here! That means there are a few things you need to do around your home. 

First, hook your sprinkler system back up and clean up the yard. Now that the snow is melting, it’s time to show off that curb appeal. 

Second, change out the batteries in your smoke detectors and change out your furnace filter. These are little things that people often forget to do, so make sure you take the 15 minutes to get that done. 

Now that the snow is melting, it’s time to show off that curb appeal.

Third, see if your garage door needs any maintenance. Check out the hinges and springs to make sure they don’t need to be repaired or lubricated. 

Finally, a little larger project would be to have someone come out and clean and service your heating and air conditioning units. There are some great deals for those types of services going on right now, and getting your furnace serviced now will save you a buck or two. 

If you have any other questions about getting your home ready for spring, or if you have any questions, feel free to give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you! 

Getting Your Northern Nevada Home Ready for Spring

 

Spring is nearly here. With that in mind, here’s what you need to do in your home after a wet winter.

 

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Whether you want to sell your northern Nevada home for top dollar or just prepare for warmer weather, you need to pay special attention to your home this spring because of all the snow and rain we’ve had over the winter. 

For example, if you live in a home with a crawlspace, there’s a good chance it may be wet or even full of water. The most important factor in remedying this situation is making sure your exterior vents are open. 

If you need help with anything around the home, we can find someone to assist you.

It’s also a good time to get your sprinkler system turned on and to clean up your yard. If you need help with either of those things, we can refer you to a great professional. As a matter of fact, if you need any help around your home this spring, whether it be with the roof, a fence, or anything else, we’ve got someone in our Rolodex we can connect you with. Just give us a call or send us an email. 

If you have any other questions for us or you’re looking to buy or sell a home in the area, we’d love to hear from you.

How to Cut 8 Years Off Your Mortgage

 

There’s a mortgage trick that not many people know about that allows you to shave eight full years off of your 30-year mortgage.

 

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There’s an easy, painless way to pay off your 30-year mortgage in just 22 years. Not many people know about this trick.

There are two ways to pull it off.

The first is to simply make one extra house payment per year—13 annual payments instead of 12. The second is to make automatic payments every two weeks rather than every month. One payment every two weeks equates to 26 half payments per year, or 13 total.

When you see the interest savings, you will literally shake your head!

If you take this step from the very beginning with your home loan, you will pay it off in just 22 years instead of 30. Seeing how much money you’ll save in interest will literally make you shake your head!

If you have any more questions about this trick for shortening your mortgage or you’re looking to buy or sell a home in the Northern Nevada market, give me a call or send me an email. I’d be happy to help!

Do You Know Your Northern Nevada Home’s Value?

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Even if you’re not selling your home, it’s still a good idea to know what it is worth. It’s probably your largest asset, so you should be aware of what the value is.

Feel free to call us or use the link to find out what your home is worth. It may be tempting to just look on Zillow, but we don’t trust those valuations. Online sites often aren’t current or accurate in regards to your home’s value. They don’t take into account similar homes that have sold, and there is no way that these entities can walk into your home and place a value on it.

We can run a comparative market analysis in order to place an accurate value on your home. We take into account your competition, your neighborhood, the condition of your home, and other relevant market factors. This is by far the best way to determine a value for your home.

So, if you’d like to know the value of your home, remember that I’m just a phone call away. I look forward to hearing from you!