Papa’s – The Cutest Little Thrift Shop in Town – Expanded Hours!

Source: Papa’s – The Cutest Little Thrift Shop in Town – Expanded Hours!

Yo Ho Ho and a Bottle of Rum!

Source: Yo Ho Ho and a Bottle of Rum!

On the Spot Thought: Only the Landlord Should Be Able to Change the Locks on a Rental

All sorts of bad things can happen when a tenant changes the locks, especially when the landlord or property manager doesn’t have a key.

Among them:  the tenant might refuse access to the apartment for inspections, there could be an emergency within the apartment (fire, water overflows, medical issues) and the landlord can’t get in to address it, or the tenant could move out leaving the door locked behind him.   These scenarios leave the landlord with little option but to break the door down, or take it off at the hinges… neither of which is preferable over being able to just use a key.

Changing the locks poses another possible problem in that sometimes a tenant might undertake the process himself, even though he’s not particularly skilled… and the door gets so badly damaged that replacing it entirely becomes necessary.  So who has to pay when that happens?  The tenant won’t be happy, but how can it be the landlord’s responsibility to pay for a damaged door under these circumstances?

Make certain to add this requirement into your lease!

———————————–

Check out our Real Estate, Housing & Land Use blog at http://realestatehousingandlanduse.wordpress.com.  That blog offers additional information on real estate and housing issues, as well as updates on our Real Estate, Housing and Land Use Conferences.

You can also find us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/onthespotrentals and http://www.facebook.com/mainerealestateinvestorsgroup.

We’re on LinkedIn, under http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Maine-Real-Estate-Investors-Group.

From HuffPost – Best Websites for Finding Rentals, Homes, Movers…

There are a few here we haven’t checked out yet… you can bet we will! Click on the URL below to easily check out the websites listed in the article.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/28/best-websites-for-rentals-homes_n_3823865.html#!

The 22 Best Websites For Finding Rentals, Homes, Movers And Even Pet-Friendly Pads
The Huffington Post | By Shana Ecker
Posted: 08/28/2013 8:13 am EDT | Updated: 08/28/2013 1:25 pm EDT

Let’s be honest: Moving can be a big pain in the butt. Between packing everything you own into boxes, finding a new place that’s in your budget AND near enough to work (not to mention a decent bar and a dry cleaner) and hiring trustworthy movers that will get your stuff to your new home in one piece, your head will be spinning.

Thankfully, there are some seriously good resources online that will take (some of) the stress out of the process. So stop trolling Craigslist and scroll through our big list of the best websites for rentals, new homes and moving below.

Finding A Rental Apartment:

Apartments.com: This one’s a snap. Just type in the maximum rent you want to pay, and you’re on your way to finding your next home.

ForRent: This site does it all AND has special sections for those who are living off campus or relocating.

Rent Jungle: You can choose features you can’t live without, like a fireplace or hardwood floors, from thousands of listings in the area of your choice.

Hotpads: Use this site’s interactive map to find a new place exactly where you want it.

Apartable: If you’re in the New York area, Apartable can help you find NO FEE rentals. Which, if you live in this city, is huge.

StreetEasy: Available only in certain metro areas so far, this site simplifies the process and connects you to the most viable rental and sales listings in your area.

Padmapper: With the tagline “making apartment hunting suck less,” this site has a cool interactive map so you can pinpoint all of the rentals available in the area of your choice.

Naked Apartments: Another site for New Yorkers, the best feature is it allows you to read anoymous reviews of brokers.

Sociallisting: Not just for finding apartments, this cool site taps into your own friends via your social networks to help you find a new place (or even a job).

If You’re Looking To Buy:

Realtor.com: Operated by the official National Association of Realtors, this site is legit.

Trulia: This one has it all: houses, apartments and helpful information about local realtors.

Zillow: This is the largest real estate network on the web and mobile, so this is your go-to site for info for buying OR renting your next place.

Homefinder: Quickly search for houses for sale, rentals and even foreclosures.

Homes.com: Exactly what it sounds like, this will connect you to local listings.

Packing And Moving:

Moving.com: A one-stop-shop for moving quotes, storage locations and handy tools like a moving cost calculator.

Unpakt: You can shop for quotes with the specifics of your move, lock in a rate and book online.

Door To Door: This Seattle-based company delivers portable containers that you pack at your pace, then they’ll pick them up and move them for you.

MovingScam.com: This site lists reputable movers in your area so you won’t get, well, scammed.

Uline: Need boxes, tape and packing peanuts? Head over to this site that has all of the materials for a successful move in one place.

UShip: Do you have something unusually large (like a car) that you’re not sure how to get from point A to point B? Try here.

Other Helpful Resources:

I Am Moving: Don’t forget to change your address. This site will take care of letting over 1,500 organizations know where you’re heading for free.

People With Pets: This is exactly what it sounds like: A resource for people who are moving with their furry friends and are looking for pet-friendly new homes.

Have something to say? Check out HuffPost Home on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Tumblr and Instagram.

Lewiston: Nice 2 BR Apt in Secure Building on Bus-line, Near Shopping

Getting a Divorce? Consider a Neutral Interim Third Party to Manage that Real Estate…

Divorces stink. No way around it, and no matter how cordial everyone’s trying to be. The easiest divorces are usually those where there are no kids, no wealth and no real estate involved.

Add any – or all – of those three into the mix, and it suddenly gets very complicated. No matter how well you used to communicate, or how much you once trusted the other person, questions can start popping up….

A divorce when real estate is involved can get nasty really fast. Who’s in charge of the day to day management? Who collects the rents? Who pays the bills? Who’s pocketing money or squandering it on personal – not business – expenses? Is the property for sale – and if so, who’s hiring the broker, and who’s agreeing to the listing price? Are the lawns being mowed? Are the furnaces being maintained? Are the units being filled? Are those bills really being paid?

We know of several situations in which a divorce dragged on and on not because of arguments over the kids or someone’s affair or who gets the house… but because of the real estate. Even when it’s in one partner’s name, fights over real estate can get very messy, and keep a divorce in the courts for far longer than is good for anyone (except the lawyers).

If you own real estate and are thinking of getting a divorce – or are already in the midst of one – you might want to consider hiring an interim property manager to handle the finances and day to day management of the property. (Or you could ask the court to appoint someone, in which case both you and your spouse will be asked to provide the names of 2-3 property management companies along with their fee structures.)

Yes, you’ll pay around 10-11% of the rental income to the property manager (some of which might have ended up going to the legal guys anyway), but you’ll rest easier knowing exactly what’s going on with that real estate.

One quick tip… Make sure the property management firm you choose is impartial. This doesn’t necessarily mean that you should choose someone you don’t know, but it definitely does mean you should choose someone who knows that his job is to manage the real estate to the best of his (or her) ability – and not to get involved with taking sides in the divorce.

As I said, divorce stinks. Take a bit of the pain away by letting someone else manage the headaches of the real estate for a while.

I Want to Find an Apartment for $350, Part 2.

Part two.

 

In order to keep my previous blog reasonably short and readable (a prospective renter was looking for a $350 per month apartment in her town – a town where Fair Market Rents for FY 2010 were $705 per month, or twice what she was looking to pay), I didn’t go into some possibilities the prospective tenant could look into.

 

I’ll offer some thoughts here.

 

Note: the prospective renter did not explain why she only had a $350 per month budget.  It could have been that she and her fiance were choosing to save as much money as possible for some big event (such as getting married), or it could be that they just plain don’t have the money.

 

Either way, an apartment that fits the budget she’s offered will be hard to find.  There are options, though and I hope one of them works out for her.  Obviously she’s trying, since she posted her request on line.

 

a) The renter and her fiance could move into a larger apartment with some friends, and all could split the rent.  This has been happening more and more lately, as families and friends double up.  While some landlords don’t like it, others are okay since they believe they have a better chance of keeping the unit rented.

 

b) The renter and her fiance could consider moving in with a family member temporarily.

 

c) The renter and her fiance could go to General Assistance for short-term help or Section 8 (I know… there’s a waiting list).

 

d) The renter could try to find a family willing to rent out a room or two, even if it weren’t an actual apartment.  She might do well to post on church bulletin boards or meet with her pastor regarding her situation.

 

e) I’m presuming she wants to stay in her current small town for work or other reasons.  If not, then it might be worth moving to a less expensive town or county; again, it could just be temporary.

 

I suspect the prospective renter has considered all of these option, but wanted to throw them out anyway.

I Want to Find an Apartment for $350 per Month in My Town

Question & Answer on a Real Estate Site:

My fiance and I want to rent an apartment in our town for about $350 a month.  Can anyone help?

My amended and de-identified response (and I sure wish I’d been able to offer some hope for this couple):

Good morning,

My husband owns a property management & leasing company (http://www.onthespotrentals.com), and hears this kind of question several times a day. “Where can I get an apartment for under $500?” “I want to rent a 3 bedroom house, utilities included, for $700 a month”, etc. Many people will add that they’re “handy” and can fix the place up in exchange for reduced rent.

The unfortunate reality is that there’s almost nothing out there that’s that cheap (and if it was, you truly would not want to live there).  Last year (Fiscal Year 2010), the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment in your county was $705 per month. That’s twice what you want to pay, and means it will be almost impossible to find anything in your price range.

I’ve heard tenants complain that the landlords are overcharging, and gouging the tenants with their prices, but mostly that’s not at all true.  It’s very expensive to own & maintain an apartment building (I know this from personal experience because I used to own several). Depending on the size of the building and its orignal cost, the mortgage, taxes and insurance can easily be a couple of thousand dollars a month. Then there’s heat, and common electricity, and water/sewer, and maintenance, and snow plowing and lawn care… many buildings lose money on a monthly basis – the landlord is just hoping to make money in the long run.

I do hope someone else has a different answer than I can offer, but I’m afraid you’re going to find it extremely difficult to get an apartment for as little as you’re looking to pay.

Good luck,
Linda Snyder
Marketing & Development
On the Spot Rentals

I’m Concerned My Apartment Building May Be For Sale

A recent post on Trulia asked: “I’m concerned the building where I’m renting an apartment will be up for sale. Is it now? Can I be alerted if gets put on the market?”

One real estate agent out of the southwestern U.S. stated that the tenant would be able to tell because all Realtors will put a lockbox on the apartment building. Another Realtor more correctly responded that a Realtor may or may not put a lockbox on the building.

Here’s our response:

I agree with the last Realtor’s response that the lack of a lockbox doesn’t mean anything. The property could be for sale by owner, or the owner might choose not to have a lockbox on the building. Or it could be in foreclosure, or it could not be for sale at all.

In Maine a property can be searched by the general public by going to http://www.mainelistings.com. You’ll be able to find out if your building is currently for sale by inputting your address. However, this doesn’t necesssarily solve the poster’s question, if the property is for sale by owner, or if it’s in foreclosure.

The law states you must be given 24 hours notice for any kind of inspection, which includes allowing a potential buyer to look at your apartment. Unfortunately, it is entirely possible that a landlord would put a property on the market without telling the tenants until the first buyer showing is scheduled… and that could be when you first find out. It happened to a friend of mine.

I don’t know how many units your building contains but the reality is that the more there are, the less likely a potential buyer will want to see yours on a first showing. (Many multi-unit buyers don’t go through every single unit the first time through; they just want to get a sense of whether the property would be a good investment.) If you’re in a larger building and the tenants don’t talk to each other, it’s possible a potential buyer would go through one of their apartments and not yours.. and you’d never know.

Is there a reason why you’re worrying about this? Has the landlord been having difficulties paying for heat or other bills? Have “insurance companies” been around, taking pictures? Often that’s an indication that something is up… the so-called insurance company is actually an appraiser or Realtor.

If the building does go on the market to sell, your best bet is to make sure you are current with your rent, and that you’re keeping your apartment in excellent shape. A new landlord won’t usually want to lose a good tenant.

If there’s a possible foreclosure in the horizon, you’ll still want to stay current on your rent in order to have good references when it’s time to look for a new place to live.

If you find yourself in a difficult position and need a new rental, please give John “Johnny On the Spot” a call at 207.713.0674.

In the meantime, unless there are some things going on that you haven’t mentioned, it sounds like you’re okay – no sense in worrying about something that may not be an issue at all.

Augusta: Newly Renovated 3BR on Jefferson St.

John Snyder | On the Spot Rental Management | (207) 713-0674 Jefferson Street, Augusta, ME This newly renovated 3 bedroom apt on Jefferson St has a very nice open concept living room, dining room & kitchen. 3BR/1BA Apartment $650/month Bedrooms 3 Bathrooms 1 full, 0 partial Sq Footage Unspecified Parking 1 dedicated Pet Policy Cats, Dogs, Conditional Deposit $650 DESCRIPTION Property Type: Two story, 3 unit building on fairly quiet street on the West Side off Northern Avenue. Has enclosed front porch. Number of Rooms: 6. Three bedrooms with open concept kitchen, living room and dining room. There’s lots of space in this apartment!. Amenities: This apartment has been completely renovated with all new appliances and bathroom fixtures. Number of Bedrooms:/Bathrooms: 3 bedrooms, 1 bath. Heat: Oil; included in the rent. Vehicle Storage: Private driveway with parking for 1 car. Neighborhood: Quiet older neighborhood. see additional photos below RENTAL FEATURES – Living room – Refrigerator – Stove/Oven LEASE TERMS Monthly Rental: $650.00 per month. Tenant pays own electricity. Length of Lease: Minimum of 1 year. Security Deposit: 1 month. When Available: Immediately. NOTE: This is a pet-friendly building. 1-2 pets okay with a $10 fee per pet per month (where can you get a better deal than that?). No smoking inside the apartment. FMI: John Snyder, On the Spot Rentals. Cell: 207 / 713.0674. JSnyder@regroupbiz.com http://www.onthespotrentals.com ADDITIONAL PHOTOS Apartment Kitchen Living & Dining Room Living Room, Long Shot Inside View from Bedroom Living Room Contact info: John Snyder On the Spot Rental Management (207) 713-0674 Equal Opportunity Housing Posted: Jan 30, 2011, 2:53pm PST