Rental Housing Journal Colorado
December 2014 - Vol. 6 Issue 12
2. What is the Best Way to Increase My Rent? 3. Dear Maintenance Men Make 2015 Your Best Year Yet!
4. Americans' Personal Finance Sentiment Strengthens 5. Screen with Care 6. Shoptalk
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Denver Vacancy Falls to Record Lows, Prompting Investors to Make Deals
6 Tips for Improving Your ‘Lines of Gratification' ‘The Michael Jordan of Lung Surgery’ Lists Principles that Reliably Yield Success
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s we enter the year’s final quarter, Dr. Robert J. Cerfolio, a world-renowned cardiothoracic surgeon, says it’s never too early to think about selfimprovement for the New Year … and this year. “Habitual procrastination can really hurt you in the long run because waiting to take care of something that’s obviously important to you – health, money, family matters – weighs on your subconscious,” says Dr. Cerfolio, known as “the Michael Jordan of lung surgery.” Understanding one’s personal “line of gratification” is the foundation for sticking to self-improvement goals, he says. “There are many kinds of lines of gratification,” he says. “For some, they’re the number of zeroes in their bank statement; for others, the curves of their muscles after they leave the gym. It’s good and healthy to look back on your hard work and admire what you have accomplished before moving on to the next task.” Dr. Cerfolio, author of “Super Performing at Work and at Home:
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Marcus & Millichap – Denver Industrial Research Report – 4Q14
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ndustrial space demand from a wide array of tenants is driving occupancy in the Denver metro to all-time highs, leading to speculative development and rent growth. Manufacturing and distribution companies are drawn to the metro’s central location and are creating substantial need for industrial space. Legalization of marijuana in Colorado has further enhanced demand for warehouse space, as cultivation and manufacturing firms ramp up operations. Overall, strong absorption over the past several quarters has driven vacancy to historic lows, encouraging developers to line up new projects. Completions this year will more than double last year’s output, with many projects getting underway without a tenant in place. However, most projects are fully leased within a short time. Development
is heavily concentrated in the East I-70/Montebello submarket, where more than 2 million square feet is set to come online this year. Most of the
projects in the submarket are large scale, measuring in excess of 200,000 square feet each. The combination of ...continued on page 7
How to Choose a Great Real Estate Mortgage Banker By Clifford A. Hockley, President Bluestone & Hockley Real Estate Services
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s real estate investors we are often faced with the need to finance or refinance our properties. Why choose a mortgage banker versus an individual bank? This depends on your personal banking relationships. Typically, a mortgage banker can deliver more loan/ lending choices to the investor. In other words, most mortgage bankers have five to ten banking and /
or correspondent relationships with insurance companies. This gives the investor more options to explore, especially since we are always looking for the best deal. The Best Deal Getting the best deal is most important to us. What is the best deal? That is where the brilliance of a thoughtful and experienced mortgage banker comes in. In my mind the best mortgage bankers understand the questions they need to ask so they can identify their client’s
lending needs. They understand their clients, the market place, and the lenders that they are working with. They can also provide realistic advice on the goals and limitations of each lender. Some borrowers are most concerned about the interest rate, for others the length of the loan is critical, still others the desire to have no prepayment penalty. A great mortgage banker is an expert in their field. They could specialize in single tenant buildings and have resources ...continued on page 7
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What is the Best Way to Increase My Rent? By Clifford A. Hockley President, Bluestone & Hockley Real Estate Services
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s owners of investment property we continuously look for ways to cover our expenses. As the cost of maintenance, utilities and taxes rise, we need to find ways to offset those increases. The answer is always to raise the rent, but by how much? Most importantly, you have to understand your marketplace. Are the rents in your marketplace going up or going down? There are a few ways to investigate this question, but I recommend researching competitive properties and listing the results on a market survey chart. If possible, it is always better to compare apples to apples rather than apples to oranges so be sure to select properties that most resemble yours. For example, if you have a 50-year-old house, you need to find a 50-year-old house to compare it to. Location is important as well. You should attempt to find a similar property within a 1 mile radius of your rental to make your informaSubject Property
tion more accurate. If your rental house has been renovated and you are comparing it to one that has not been renovated then you need to make adjustments to your model and make a dollar adjustment for the renovation in your market survey. The same kind or adjustments need to be made for apartments or commercial rentals. I have drafted a sample market survey chart for an apartment property below: What do I do with this information? Since you have picked similar properties, you can use the information to adjust your rents to your tenants. You could increase rent, put utility charges in place, charge pet rent or adopt a new charge that one of your competitors has put in place. (For example, 10 years ago virtually no one charged pet rent. Today this cost has become relevant, especially as more and more landlords allow tenants to have pets.) As you evaluate your potential rent increases you should also take occupancy rates and tenant demographics into consideration. You might find that properties in your
Comparable 1
Comparable 2
area have a high vacancy rate and there is no room to increase rents. You also might find that if you raise your rents too high you will lose good tenants that just don’t have any way to manage the rent increase because their pay has not increased. Most tenants can handle a 3-5% increase, but if you increase their rents by 20% they might have to move. As a landlord, you also need to consider the cost of turning your units as part of the equation for increasing rents. It is not unlikely that you could spend $500 to $1,000 for a normal tenant turn and $2,000$5,000 for the total renovation of a 2 bedroom apartment property. A $100 monthly increase in rent could justify a tenant turn with costs up to $1,000, but with costs of $5,000 to fully renovate/update a unit, you will need to be aiming at a rent increase of closer to $250 a month. Don’t be afraid to increase rent. Reviewing your rents on an annual basis is necessary to keep up with the cash expenses and maintain the value of your property. This means that you need to be committed to annual increases as well. However, be very careful if the marketplace is
soft. Remember that real estate investing is cyclical, in some years the rents are strong and in some they are weak. It all depends on the marketplace supply and demand. Apartment developers will keep building until they run into a lack of demand. Bankers will keep lending until they recognize the marketplace is overbuilt. As long as you stay educated and track the marketplace you will make the right decisions on rent and fee increases.
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Comparable 3
Name Address # of Units Age of Complex Phone Number RENTS: Studio Rent 1 Bedroom Rent 2 Bedroom/1Bath 2 Bedroom/1.5Bath 2 Bedroom/2Bath 3 Bedroom/2Bath FEES & DEPOSITS Application Fee Security Deposit Pet Deposit/ Pet Fees OTHER COST INFO: Move in Rental Special? Utility Costs: billed directly to tenants & included in the rent AMENITIES Property Amenities: Garage(rent) Pool Recreation/ Exercise Rm Free Covered Parking Parking Included? Laundry Room Unit Amenities: W/D Hook-up Washer & Dryer Air Conditioning Extra Storage Free Cable Patio/Deck Other relevant notes: 2
Rental Housing journal Colorado • December 2014
RENTAL HOUSING JOURNAL COLORADO
Dear Maintenance Men: By Jerry L'Ecuyer & Frank Alvarez
Dear Maintenance Men: We are contemplating a kitchen remodel of our rental units and want to add a dishwasher. It is understood that we will have to remove one cabinet to accommodate the dishwasher. The problem is that none of the kitchen cabinets if removed will produce the correct size hole to fit a 24” dishwasher. The hole will either be too big or too small. What can we do? Peter Dear Peter: You do have a few options you can look at. A larger hole can be filled with a spacer on either side of the dishwasher to close in the hole to fit the appliance or insert a pull out spice or tray door to fit the space. The spacer will need to be painted or stained to match the existing cabinetry. If the space is too small for a standard size dishwasher, you might consider using an 18” wide dishwasher or a drawer type dishwasher. Another option is resizing your existing cabinets to fit a standard dishwasher. In other words, remove
a cabinet and make it smaller. Resizing a cabinet might be easier said than done, however a good carpenter or cabinet maker could make this job easy. Dear Maintenance Men: As an income property owner; what would be the best thing I could do at my building to help cut heating and air conditioning costs? I keep my property in good shape and want to help my residents keep their costs down which in turn, I hope, will keep my vacancies low. Branford Dear Branford: The number one thing you can do to help your residents and yourself is to insulate the attic. In winter time, heat is lost to the attic and out the roof and in summer the a/c will work harder to overcome the heat generated by the attic and warming the interior. Proper attic insulation will keep the heat in during winter the heat out during summer. Talk to your local utility supplier about energy efficiency programs. Many
will offer different programs during the year and many are at no or low cost to the property owner. Dear Maintenance Men: Can you give me some ideas on updating the kitchen cabinets in my vacancy? I don’t want to replace them and the counter tops are in good condition. Tom Dear Tom: Give the cabinets a good scrub before anything else. You will be surprised how much dirt, grime and grease builds up over the years. Use TSP or a good degreaser for cleaning. If the cabinets are wood use lemon oil or re-varnish after cleaning and they will sparkle and look new again. Painting the cabinets will also bring new life to them. You might consider changing the color using a high gloss paint to add a bit of sizzle. Change the hardware. Knobs and hinges are the jewelry of your cabinets. Look for more modern hardware such as stainless steel, ceramic,
glass or any type of steel finishes. If your cabinets look plain, add a backsplash above the base cabinets or molding around the doors for an architectural look. To get color and design ideas, take a tour of some local high end apartments and see what they have done to their kitchens. Please call: Buffalo Maintenance, Inc for maintenance work or consultation. JLE Property Management, Inc for management service or consultation Frankie Alvarez at 714 956-8371 Jerry L’Ecuyer at 714 778-0480 CA contractor lic: #797645, EPA Real Estate lic. #: 01460075 Certified Renovation Company Websites: www.BuffaloMaintenance.com & www.ContactJLE.com www.Facebook.com/ VALLEY, METRO, ARIZONA BuffaloMaintenance
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Make 2015 Your Best Year Yet!
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s 2014 draws to a close, there’s no better time to begin to assess the year. If there’s nothing you would change for 2015, you can probably stop reading now. But for most of us, there’s always something that we can do better, faster, more efficiently, and more profitably. One of the best ways to determine what needs to be improved is to undertake a selfaudit. Spending time auditing office and leasing procedures can pay off big. Because December is typically a slower leasing month, it’s the perfect time to start looking a resident files, move-in and move-out data, and pro-rated rents to make sure that residents have been charged properly. Here are some other items that are worth reviewing: Take a long, dispassionate look at your equipment. Does your printer take five minutes to print five pages? Does it take your computer longer to boot up then it takes you to drink a cup of coffee? If so, it may be time for an equipment upgrade. You might be surprised how quickly you can get things done with the proper equipment. On that note, still using spreadsheet software for your accounting system? Commit to changing to proper property management software. Again, you’ll be surprised how quickly you can get things done. Rent payment options. Do your residents have any, or do they have to come into your office and drop off a check every month? Why not make it easier on them, and yourself,
Rental Housing journal Colorado • December 2014
and give them some payment options such as online payment? You’ll get your rent in the office earlier and also eliminate costly return check fees. Audit your staff as well. Do you have a leasing agent who’s great with kids? Make an effort to match them up with applicants that have children. Do your younger applicants seem more comfortable with a younger peer? Match them up. While this may not always be possible, matching personalities can go a long way towards raising your occupancy rates. Don’t neglect the outside. This is your applicant’s first view of the property, and a terrific apartment won’t make up for a shabby first impression. The next time you come to work, drive slowly and really look at your property. Is the entry sign contemporary, or does it look ten years old? Do the grounds have an air of neglect? Is there clutter on the patios and balconies? Would you want to live here? Important questions to know the answers to. Once your audit is complete, create a plan to implement critical items and a timetable to implement the rest, getting your New Year off to a great start. from PropertyManager.com a Service of AppFolio
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Americans' Personal Finance Sentiment Strengthens Housing Optimism Follows Suit Confidence in Home Selling Environment Hits New Survey High WASHINGTON/PRNewswire
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esults from Fannie Mae's October 2014 National Housing Survey show Americans' optimism about the housing market continued its gradual climb amid greater confidence in household income and personal finances. The share of respondents who say they expect their personal financial situation to improve during the next 12 months climbed to 45 percent – seven points higher compared to one year ago – while the share expecting their financial situation to worsen decreased to 10 percent last month. Although consumer attitudes about the direction of the economy remain subdued, with only 40 percent of survey respondents saying the economy is on the right track, the October results
mark a 13 percentage point improvement compared to the same time last year. "Consumers are growing more optimistic about the housing market in the face of broader improvement in economic sentiment," said Doug Duncan, senior vice president and chief economist at Fannie Mae. "The share of consumers who expect their personal finances to get better is near its highest level since the survey's inception, while those expecting their finances to get worse reached a survey low. Home price expectations rose significantly this month, largely reversing the dip witnessed over the past four months, and the share of consumers who think it's a good time to sell a home reached another survey high. The narrowing gap between home buying and home
selling sentiment may foreshadow increased housing inventory levels and a better balance of housing supply and demand. These results may help drive a healthier housing market in 2015." Survey Highlights Homeownership and Renting • The average 12-month home price change expectation rose to 2.8 percent. • The share of respondents who say home prices will go up in the next 12 months fell by one point to 44 percent. The share who say home prices will go down decreased by one point to 7 percent. • The share of respondents who say mortgage rates will go up in the next 12 months rose by three per-
centage points to 48 percent. • Those who say it is a good time to buy a house fell to 65 percent. Those who say it is a good time to sell increased to 44 percent—a new all-time survey high. • The average 12-month rental price change expectation rose to 3.7 percent. • The percentage of respondents who expect home rental prices to go up in the next 12 months decreased by six percentage points to 49 percent. • The share of respondents who think it would be difficult to get a home mortgage today increased by two percentage points. • The share who say they would buy if they were going to move fell ...continued on page 8
6 Tips Gratification ...continued from front page The Athleticism of Surgery and Life,” shares tips on how to make those lines of gratification more impressive. Be an early riser. The main reason operating rooms hum into
action at 7 a.m. is tied to human physiology; the bodies of patients are better able to handle the stress of surgery at that time. “People are generally better off getting work done early in the
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day when we’re better prepared for stress and performance,” he says. “And getting a job done early frees you up later in the day.” Love what you do. Why wouldn’t you want to take ownership, responsibility and pride in what you do for a living? When you treat a job as only a means to a paycheck, you are missing the point. If your job isn’t the one you’d really love to have, don’t make it worse with a negative attitude. Instead, make it your own. Make it a point of personal integrity and principle to challenge yourself to achieve something every day. After all, 40 hours a week is a long time to stay anywhere. Ask yourself: Did I really try my best? “I tried my best” is a common refrain from those who haven’t reached their goals. An honest response you can ask yourself is, “Am I sure?” This question is not about being overly critical. It’s simply about realizing that, if you had practiced or studied an extra 10 minutes each day, you would’ve been that much closer to your goals. Set specific, measurable goals. Results define goals. Every individual should have clear goals that are objective and measurable. Goals such as “to be happy,” “to do well at work” or “to get along” are too nebulous. To be successful, you have to be able to define your goals by measurable results.
your job. Certain jobs – such as police work, firefighting, teaching or working in health care – are service oriented, so it’s easier to feel good about your contributions. Look for the contributions you’re making in your job and take pride in what you’re doing to make the world a little better. Be the go-to guy or girl. This takes time, practice and the confidence necessary to want the ball in a critical situation. Being the go-to guy or girl means being willing to take responsibility and risk failing. A go-to person is also willing to speak up about problems or changes necessary in a business or organization, and suggest solutions. About Robert J. Cerfolio, MD, MBA Robert J. Cerfolio, MD, MBA, is the James H. Estes Family Endowed Chair of Lung Cancer Research and Full Professor Chief of Thoracic Surgery at the University of Alabama in Birmingham. He received his medical degree from the University of Rochester School of Medicine, surgical training at the Mayo Clinic and at Cornell-Sloan Kettering hospital, and has been in practice for more than 26 years. The author of “Super Performing at Work and at Home,” Cerfolio, who was a First Team Academic All-American baseball player in college, is a worldrenowned chest surgeon and recognized as one of the busiest and best thoracic surgeons in the world.
Find the high ground. In anything you do, aspire to live up to the noblest, highest aspect of Rental Housing journal Colorado • December 2014
RENTAL HOUSING JOURNAL COLORADO
Screen with Care
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What Residential Property Managers Need to Keep in Mind When Vetting Renters
fter several years of being forced to play a bad hand, U.S. property managers are back in business – and likely choosing their table partners with special care. In today’s rental environment, that means not only vetting renters carefully, but also being cautious in the way they enlist background screening companies that help in that effort. Indeed, apartment vacancy rates have been hovering around four percent, the lowest level in more than a decade, according to real estate market data company Reis, Inc. Whether it’s due to the aging population, or post-economic downturn reluctance to take on mortgage commitments or other factors altogether, more Americans are now opting for multifamily housing. Yet these renters undergo a much different and more sophisticated review process than in times past. A mere 25 years ago, in fact, property managers had no easy way to review their prospective tenants’ backgrounds. Then, circa-1990, companies began to consolidate key information from credit reports and reformat the information in ways that were meaningful and understandable to property managers. A few
years later, state-by-state criminal data started to become more accessible online, providing another layer of important data. Statistics and software arrived on the scene in the early 2000s. First came the advent of FICO’s NextGen Score and its ability to conveniently, quantitatively assess consumer credit risk for numerous reasons, including whether or not to rent multifamily residential units. By 2002, many managers were adopting and integrating special property management software services to help them manage all of the data. Various refinements have occurred since that time, including developments in 2010 when rental payment history information became the latest data to be readily accessible. Flash forward to today where there’s no mistaking that property managers naturally will want to arm themselves with as much data as possible about their potential renters before approving applications. The tools for screening have evolved greatly and the need still remains great, particularly given the many recent stories of “professional renters” who falsify their information and hop from unit to unit with no intentions of keeping to their rent
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obligations. Yet, it’s vital for property managers to understand that all renter screenings they conduct must comply with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). If a property manager plans to take adverse action on a potential renter, the FCRA mandates that they share a notice of that action to that person. In the context of resident screening, an “adverse action” not only includes denying an application, but also such things as requiring a co-signature or demanding a down payment deposit are not completely consistent with what may be required of other renters. The adverse action notice must include a.) contact information of the service that was used, b.) a statement clarifying that the service supplying the report did not make the decision to take the adverse action and c.) a notice that the individual has the right to obtain a copy of the report free of charge within 60 days and is entitled to dispute the accuracy or completeness of the information. Given these legal parameters, property managers ought to keep in mind that not all resident screening providers and services are equal. There are literally scores of choices, offering varying degrees of quality
and thoroughness. Choosing a source of data that can be routinely counted on for decision-making is something requiring careful examination. The best resident screening solutions not only are FCRA-compliant, but also encompass and cross-reference multiple checks, including identity verifications, credit checks, eviction and rental data and criminal record histories. There are other success factors as well. Here’s a fuller checklist of considerations property owners and managers can run through to evaluate which screening solutions provider is right. FCRA-compliant: It’s essential the service protect consumer rights pertaining to their credit information. Thorough approach: From personal aliases to changed addresses, there is a lot of information to sift through and any number of ways details can slip through the cracks. The most successful screening company will be knowledgeable of, and equipped to handle such intricacies by employing a deeper, multifaceted identity check and analysis of data critical to continued on page 8
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hether you have several vacancies and upcoming notices to lease or you are down to that last “net to rent,” you must still qualify your prospects in order to ultimately secure the rental. How you remember and record the needs and preferences of your callers and visitors, is just as important as obtaining the information in the first place. Following is a question that came up on the topic of guest cards: Q: My property supervisor is really pushing us to use guest cards. However this whole “qualifying thing” makes me feel uncomfortable, like I am invading someone’s privacy. I have a pretty good memory and don’t really think it’s necessary to write down everything on a guest card. What’s the big deal anyway?
A: I commend you for being respectful of the privacy of others. This demonstrates professionalism and consideration on your part. However, it is possible to note the preferences and personal information of your prospective renters without being intrusive. Remember the old adage: “The shortest pencil is longer than the longest memory.” No matter what your recall ability is, you will not be able to memorize all the needs and preferences of every client, along with their name and contact information. Try asking each one of your prospective renters for “permission” to question them about their needs in order to provide them with the best possible service. It might sound something like this: “Is it okay if I ask you a few questions to find out what you’re looking for in your new
home? - I want to help you pick out the apartment that will best meet your needs!” Then, at the end of the phone contact or visit, once you have established a rapport, it would be perfectly natural to ask for their email, phone number or mailing address so you can keep in touch with them. Remember: You are in the “customer service” business. You can’t meet the needs of your customers if you don’t know what they are. (Neither can anyone else in your office if your phone callers show up and you are not there.) You can’t follow up on the interest of your clients either, if you don’t have their contact information. Think of a guest card as a “tool.” When used properly you will find that it is a professional, organized method for learning everything you ever wanted to know
about your prospects, but were afraid to ask! If you have a question or concern that you would like to see addressed next month or if you would like to inquire about a shopping program and leasing training, please ASK THE SECRET SHOPPER by making contact via e-mail. Your questions, comments and suggestions are ALWAYS welcome! ASK THE SECRET SHOPPER Provided by: SHOPTALK SERVICE EVALUATIONS Phone: 425-4248870 E-mail: joyce@shoptalkservice.com Web site: www.shoptalkservice.com Copyright Shoptalk Service Evaluations
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Rental Housing journal Colorado • December 2014
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Mortgage Banker ..continued from front page to meet that need, or possibly they focus on multifamily deals, commercial shopping centers, or mobile home parks. In any case they have a network of specific types of lenders that they can use to obtain proposals for their clients. Great mortgage bankers understand that giving their clients some choices will help get the deal done. Experienced mortgage bankers will typically have long term relationships with financial institutions. This gives them some leverage in every deal. Financial institutions want to keep mortgage bankers happy because they need the repeat business. In a good well established relationship they have a much better chance to finalize a beneficial deal for their clients. Building a Relationship It is critical for the lender to build a relationship with the borrower. The borrower and the mortgage banker need to trust each other. This means the borrower must be willing to share critical information with their mortgage banker and take the time to get together all of their relevant property and tax information. The mortgage banker will remind the borrower that no deal can get
done if their tax returns and personal financial statements are not up to date. Mortgage bankers keep property, financial and tax files for repeat customers for future reference. This speeds up the financing process, especially if you close more than one deal a year. Most investors are borrowing all of the time. They are selling property, financing new deals, or refinancing deals which enables them to buy new deals. The mortgage bankers also realize that time is of the essence and it is their job to keep the portfolio lenders honest and on task so that deals get closed as quickly as possible. Some deals are more time sensitive, such as a 1031 exchange. If certain deals are not closed on time it can destroy the deal and spell disaster for the borrower. Experience brokers don’t procrastinate because they understand the importance of repeat business to their success.
A Mortgage Banker Acts as a Consultant Most borrowers don’t understand all of the financial nuances of their deals. mortgage bankers must work
in concert with the real estate brokers and the borrowers in defining the best deal terms. Debt-coverageratio and loan-to-value ratios are different for each lender. The banker can help the real estate broker review the choices available in the marketplace and refine the broker’s and the borrowers’ underwriting so they can make a deal. Maybe a 25 year amortization will not deliver the desired cash flow to do the deal. Can the banker find 30, 35 or 40 year financing to get the deal done? A great mortgage banker finds solutions to deal each of their clients’ problems. Great mortgage bankers underwrite every deal before they are submitted to financial institutions. They figure out what deals will work, to make sure that they are not wasting their time or the borrower’s time. They have a sense for the stumbling blocks that might arise and the habits of all of the lenders they do business with. Typically they have a plan A, a plan B and a plan C so a borrower can choose the best loan for the deal. They have a sense for the global cash flow a borrower will need to show a lender to be qualified for a loan. The best mortgage bankers act as consultants to their borrowers and
the real estate agents they complete deals with. They also often work with the lender, the title and Escrow Company, the insurance company, and the borrower to make the deal. They know what deals cannot be done and are not afraid to walk away from a deal they cannot close. How Mortgage Bankers Get Paid Mortgage bankers typically get a percentage of the deal at closing for services rendered, they may also get paid a fee from the bank that originated the loan. It does not hurt to ask the mortgage banker how they get paid; it should not make much of a difference if they get you the best deal. Summary There are many ways to get a loan, you can work with a bank directly or you can work with a mortgage banker. Clearly an experienced mortgage banker has the ability to deliver significant value to a borrower by bringing more choice to the table. I would encourage you to contact a few mortgage bankers and start the process.
Denver Vacancy Falls ..continued from front page new construction and tight vacancy will drive double-digit rent growth in the Denver metro this year. The Denver economy and improving property operations are encouraging investors to make acquisitions and pushing up transaction velocity. The diverse pool of buyers continues to grow as more investors from the Midwest and East Coast are drawn to the market. Buyer demand is outpacing the available inventory of listings, which is intensifying competition and driving property values higher. A significant amount of demand is being generated from owner-users who are willing to pay higher premiums to be closer to their clients or major transportation
routes. As prices continue to rise many local buyers are considering properties in secondary areas within the Denver market and in the surrounding metros. Syndicates are targeting smaller assets in Northeast Denver and the Interstate 70 Corridor. REITs and institutional buyers remain focused on larger buildings, especially those along I-70. Published Courtesy of Marus & Millichap Marcusmillichap.com Subscribe to access full report
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Americans' Personal Finance
Screen With Care
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to 65 percent, while the share who would rent increased to 30 percent. The Economy and Household Finances • The share of respondents who say the economy is on the right track held steady at 40 percent. • The percentage of respondents who expect their personal financial situation to get better over the next 12 months increased to 45 percent. • The share of respondents who say their household income is significantly higher than it was 12 months ago remained at 25 percent. • The share of respondents who say their household expenses are significantly higher than they were 12 months ago fell slightly to 36 percent. The most detailed consumer attitudinal survey of its kind, the Fannie Mae National Housing Survey polled 1,000 Americans via live telephone interview to assess their attitudes toward owning and renting a home, home and rental price changes, homeownership distress, the economy, household finances, and overall consumer confidence. Homeowners and renters are asked more than 100
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questions used to track attitudinal shifts (findings are compared to the same survey conducted monthly beginning June 2010). To reflect the growing share of households with a cell phone but no landline, the National Housing Survey has increased its cell phone dialing rate to 60 percent as of October 2014. For more information, please see the Technical Notes. Fannie Mae conducts this survey and shares monthly and quarterly results so that we may help industry partners and market participants target our collective efforts to stabilize the housing market in the near-term, and provide support in the future. For detailed findings from the October 2014 survey, as well as a podcast providing an audio synopsis of the survey results and technical notes on survey methodology and questions asked of respondents associated with each monthly indicator, please visit the Fannie Mae Monthly National Housing Survey page on fanniemae.com. Also available on the site are in-depth topic analyses, which provide a detailed assessment of combined data results from three monthly studies. The October 2014 Fannie Mae National Housing Survey was conducted between October 1, 2014 and October 25, 2014. Most of the data collection occurred during the first two weeks of this
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period. Interviews were conducted by Penn Schoen Berland, in coordination with Fannie Mae. Opinions, analyses, estimates, forecasts, and other views of Fannie Mae's Economic & Strategic Research (ESR) Group included in these materials should not be construed as indicating Fannie Mae's business prospects or expected results, are based on a number of assumptions, and are subject to change without notice. How this information affects Fannie Mae will depend on many factors. Although the ESR Group bases its opinions, analyses, estimates, forecasts, and other views on information it considers reliable, it does not guarantee that the information provided in these materials is accurate, current, or suitable for any particular purpose. Changes in the assumptions or the information underlying these views could produce materially different results. The analyses, opinions, estimates, forecasts, and other views published by the ESR Group represent the views of that group as of the date indicated and do not necessarily represent the views of Fannie Mae or its management. Source Fannie Mae Fannie Mae enables people to buy, refinance, or rent a home.
accurate rental decision making. Flexibility of screening processes: Apartment owners and managers may wish to use a consistent screening strategy across the entire organization, or fine-tune the process at the property level based on the unique circumstances at each property. The right provider should understand the need for flexibility and offer full customization to best meet its clients’ needs. Seamless technology integration: The screening practice is only one aspect of the rental process. By offering streamlined integration with other property management software, online leasing platforms and lease forms, apartment managers can benefit from the highest quality background screening while still enjoying a seamless process, enabling them to get qualified renters into their apartments much faster. Access to the most current records: To ensure a successful screening process, the screening solutions provider should be able to access the most up-to-date and comprehensive criminal records databases and credit data available. As a result, apartment managers can benefit from more informed decisions while minimizing instances of false positives. Screening a screening provider may sound like a funny premise, but given consumers’ rights to contest adverse actions taken against them, it’s both prudent and strategic in today’s market. Property managers wishing to learn more about a particular background screening business, reference checking service or credit bureau are wise to investigate various options. A thorough review of a residential screening provider’s web site as well as a consultation of services with a company representative should reveal a solution provider’s robustness of services and track record for accuracy. David Carner (david.carner@fadv. com) is senior vice president and general manager of First Advantage’s Residential Solutions business. First Advantage’s Resident Screening capabilities and recommended best practices can be viewed at www.fadv.com/resident.
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Rental Housing journal Colorado • December 2014