Renting Your Home

Renting Out Your Home

Homeowners sometimes figure if they can't sell their house they will rent it out. They think all they need is to cover the payment and they are good to go. Allstate came out with an article this week where the author described her experience renting her house and gave some advice on renting out your own.

While the article has some general points and some good information, don't make the mistake of thinking this is all you need when renting your home. There are many fine points about being a landlord and treating the house like a rental property which, if not taken into account, could cause a lot of trouble or land you in trouble. Here are some pointers:

Make Sure You Can Cover Expenses

Covering your rent is not enough. You need to put some aside to cover the payment when the current renters move out. You also need to have money set aside to repaint, repair and clean carpets. Don't think the security deposit will cover all of it. You also need to have some money set aside to cover repairs while they are in there. A broken pipe, busted air conditioner or any one of many problems can derail your finances.
You will probably need property insurance for the house and that will be different from homeowner's insurance. Talk to your insurance agent. Will you be keeping any personal property on the premises while you are away? Be sure to mention that to your agent as well.

Taking Care of the Place

Will you be in town and on call the whole time the house is rented? If you're going to be out of town and have to have a property management company take care of the place, just be careful to take their fees into account. They will take some off the top of the rent, and usually charge extra for any time they have to do anything besides collect the rent. Interview property managers and ask plenty of questions.
And don't forget about utilities. You will want to talk to the utility companies about moving the bills back to you when the renters move out. You don't want the heat shut off in the winter and stopping by to see busted pipes and a flooded home.
In the same vein, keep tabs on the place. Drive by once in a while to make sure the tenants haven't moved out in the middle of the night, haven't brought extra people to the house to live, and to make sure the place hasn't burned down.

Keep a Paper Trail

When interviewing tenants, keep a standard checklist for things like credit, payment history, employment history, etc. Treat everyone the same and document it. Keep a set of policies for late rents, damages, new people added to the lease and so forth. If a person is late on the rent, send a letter certified and keep the stub for your records. Do this for everyone and charge a late fee no matter what story you hear. As soon as you treat someone different or can't prove you treated someone the same, you could be in trouble. CYA.

Know the Law

Every state's laws vary on landlords and tenants. You need to talk to a lawyer or someone involved with landlord/tenant laws. Do this before you begin interviewing tenants so you know you're compliant from the start.

Summary

Renting a home is not difficult but it does come with its own unique rules. Do plenty of research and be diligent in your record keeping. You could be entering a profitable business but only if you know the pitfalls.

Understanding Agency

When discussing real estate, you sometimes hear discussions about agency. An agent can be a buyer's agent, a seller's agent or a dual agent. Basically, agency means whose best interests the agent has. The agent has a fiduciary responsibility to the principal.

Seller Agency

Agents who represent a seller should have the seller's best interests at heart. These agents have an obligation to get the best price for the house and while they have to disclose material facts, they don't have to disclose personal information. Reasons for moving, waht the seller's bottom line is, etc., stay in confidence unless the agent has written permission to release it.

You might hear something about seller sub-agency. It used to be that all agents were sub-agents of the seller's agent and all had a duty to get the best price for the seller. No one represented the buyer. That has changed in Nebraska and now the default agency is buyer agency.

Buyer Agency

Agents who represent the buyer should have the buyer's best interests at heart. The agent can give advice on making offers and has to receive the best possible deal for the buyer. A buyer's agent is the friend of the buyer only, not the seller. Like a seller agent, the buyer agent has to keep confidential information private unless told he can release it.

There is a term thrown about sometimes and that is exclusive buyer agent. That means the agent is a buyer's agent only and does not accept listings.

Dual Agency

As you can imagine, if a seller agent has to do the best possible job for the seller and a buyer agent has to do the same for the buyer, dual agency is like walking a tightrope. This isn't a comfortable situation for an agent and some refuse to do it. If an agent is a dual agent, both the buyer and seller need to sign an agreement acknowledging the agent is diong his best for both. Confidential information about the buyer and seller remains confidential and the agent has to be careful about negotiating advice.

Summary

Any real estate agent you talk to can explain agency to you. If you list a house or talk to an agent about buying a house, one of the first things explained is that of agency. Who has your best interests at heart? Give us a call and we can help you sell a house, buy a house or just explain things for you.

Quarterly Maintenance

Doing maintenance on your house helps keep it in good shape and helps to reduce the surprises when things go wrong. Taking a few minutes to do this every month will make you feel better about the future.

Drains

Clean these with baking soda.
Pour water down any unused or rarely used drains.

Faucets and shower heads

Check interior and exterior faucets for leaks.
Clean aerators. They unscrew easily. Once it's off, just turn the aerator over and run water through it.
Replace washers if necessary. You will know if you need to replace washers if you have a slow leak through the faucet.

Kitchen and bathroom cabinets

Check under and around them for leaks.

Toilets

Check for stability and leaks.
Tighten the bolts holding the seat if they are loose.

Water heater

Check area around water heater for leaks.
If you have hard water, drain 1 - 2 gallons of water from it.

Omaha Market Stats for November 2011

From Campbell Team Real Estate

Curious about how the market is doing over last year?   Here are the stats for November 2011 vs. November 2010

	2010	2011
Active Current Listings	5,355	4,641
Avg List Price	$180,700	$180,471
Days on the Market	73	68
List to Sales Price Ratio	97%	95%
Number of Sales YTD	8,694	8,698

As you can see, the number of houses on the market has gone down. The asking price is slightly lower, the time on the market is five days longer and the actual price received as a percent of the list price is lower. The market has slowed down some over this time last year.

Compared to last month, we have more houses on the market and they are listing for more money, though they stayed on the market the same amount of time and still sold for 95% of the asking price.

If you would like to see a graph covering a longer time frame of the market, check out my website to see the last year.   If you have any questions or would like a market analysis of your home, please feel free to contact us.

Market Stats for October 2011

From Campbell Team Real Estate

Curious about how the market is doing over last year?   Here are the stats for October 2011 vs. October 2010

	2010	2011
Active Current Listings	5,665	5,254
Avg List Price	$180,731	$180,987
Days on the Market	73	74
List to Sales Price Ratio	97%	95%
Number of Sales YTD	8,106	7,999

As you can see, the number of houses on the market has gone down. The asking price is slightly higher, the time on the market is a day longer and the actual price received as a percent of the list price is lower. The market has slowed down some over this time last year.

Compared to last month, we have fewer houses on the market and they are listing for more money, though they stayed on the market the same amount of time and still sold for 95% of the asking price.

If you would like to see a graph covering a longer time frame of the market, check out my website to see the last year.   If you have any questions or would like a market analysis of your home, please feel free to contact us.

Take Care of Leaks to Help Expenses

By Paul Bianchina
Inman News™

No one likes wasting money, especially in these tough economic times. So it certainly makes sense -- dollars and cents -- to make a small investment of time and supplies to close up those heat-wasting air leaks around your home. It'll pay back big dividends in reduced energy bills and a warmer, more comfortable house this winter. So let's look at some of the areas where those drafts may be lurking, and see how to take care of them.

1. Doors and windows: This should be an obvious one. If you can see gaps between your siding and your windows or exterior doors, close them up with a bead of clear or paintable acrylic latex caulk. Larger gaps can be filled with foam backer rod before applying the caulking.

2. Exterior penetrations: Some of these areas are going to be obvious, while some may take a little bit of searching. Some examples of exterior penetrations where air can leak into the house include exterior faucets, dryer vents, exterior electrical outlets, exterior light fixtures, holes that have been drilled for phone and TV cables, conduit penetrations, exit points for plumbing drains, and penetrations for air conditioning lines. Closing these penetrations may require a variety of different techniques, including caulk, expanding spray foam, or, in the case of electrical boxes and fixtures, specific gaskets that are designed to fit the boxes.

3. Exhaust-vent covers: Dryer vents, range hood vents, bath fan vents, and other interior ventilation equipment typically terminate outside the house in a plastic or metal cover that has one or more louvers on it. The louvers are designed to be in the closed position whenever the fan is not in use, so that outside air doesn't leak in. Check all of these louvers to be sure they're closing completely, with no air leaks. If they aren't, you can adjust the spring tension to hold them closed more tightly; add foam weather stripping tape for a more air-tight seal; or replace the entire vent cap with a new one.

4. Gaps around interior vents and recessed lights: Inside your home, heated air can be leaking out around that same ventilation equipment, where vent pipes pass through the walls or ceiling, or where vent covers meet wall and ceiling surfaces. Recessed light fixtures can also be real air-leakers. Around the vent pipes and recessed light cans, seal any gaps with caulking. For the vent covers and recessed light covers, remove the covers, then adjust the springs and/or add foam weather stripping tape to create a tight seal between the cover and the ceiling.

5. Heat-duct penetrations: Gaps around heating-duct cans where they pass through the floor or wall allow cold air to enter from the crawl space, while gaps around ceiling-duct cans allow heated air to escape into the attic. To close those drafts, first remove the register, then use a combination of caulking and/or metallic duct sealant tape to close any gaps between the sheet metal cans and the floor, wall or ceiling surface.

6. Fireplaces and woodstoves: Lots of gaps can occur around these appliances. With a conventional fireplace, keep the damper closed except when burning a fire to prevent heated air from escaping up the chimney. Consider investing in a set of air-tight doors, which close off the air leaks and also make your fires more efficient. Look for gaps around woodstove and gas fireplace flue pipes, and air leaks around masonry chimneys. Use a metal collar if necessary around flue pipe penetrations, and seal gaps with heat-resistant sealant specially formulated for this application.

7. Attic and crawl space hatches: These can be real air losers if they're not weather stripped, so take care of that with some foam tape. Make sure the hatches are insulated as well.

8. Interior doors to unheated spaces: If you have any interior doors that lead to unheated spaces, including basements, garages or attics, be sure the doors are weather stripped to prevent air leakage. If possible, replace older, hollow-core doors with solid-core or, better yet, insulated metal doors.

9. Sill plates and penetrations: This one's not as easy to deal with, but it's well worth the effort to try to do whatever you can with it. Air can leak both into and out of the house through gaps where the sill plate meets the foundation or the siding, and around plumbing and wiring penetrations drilled through wall plates in various areas. If you have a gap between your siding and the bottom of your exterior wall, especially in older homes where the use of sill sealers was not a common practice, consider closing up this big air gap with a bead of caulking or expanding foam. In the basement, crawl space and attic, if you can access any of the pipes and wires that pass through the wall plates, seal the penetrations with expanding foam.

Christmas Activities in Omaha

This time of year we all keep busy with gathering gifts, wrapping, emailing, partying and mailing out cards. Are you looking for some more things to keep busy during the Christmas season?

Here are some of the activities going on in the metro this month and next. I'll include the cost if I can find out.

When	What - Where	Cost
Nov 18 - Dec 23	A Christmas Carol at Omaha Community Playhouse	Ticket Prices Vary
Nov 24, 6 pm	Light Festival and Concert - Gene Leahy Mall	Free but food donations are being accepted
Nov 24, 9am	Turkey Trot - Midtown Crossing	$200
Nov 25 - Dec 18	Junie B in Jingle Bells, Batman Smells - The Rose Performing Arts	$16 per person $10 per member
Nov 26	Horse and Carriage Rides - Village Pointe Shopping Center	Free
Nov 26	WorldFest Holiday Celebration - Lied Activity Center, Bellevue	Free but toy donations are being accepted
Dec 3 11 am - 3pm	Santa at Rockbrook Village
Dec 3 - 4 12pm - 4 pm	Santa at Lauritzen Gardens	Standard Admission Rates plus $3 per child
Dec 3 - 4	Holiday Market at Aksarben Village
Dec 4 1pm - 3 pm	Christmas Stories at Fontenelle Forest
Dec 9 - 11	The Nutcracker - Orpheum Theater	Tickets Start at $25
Dec 9 - 18 7pm Weekdays, 3pm and 7pm Weekends	Westside Church Christmas Pageant
Dec 10	Debbi's Birthday - Wish Her Happy Birthday	Free
Dec 10 - 11	Dickens in the Old Market	Free
Dec 16 - 18	Christmas with the Symphony - Holland Performing Arts Center	$15 - $80
Dec 16 - 19 6pm - 8pm	Supper with Santa - Henry Doorly Zoo	$15 per person free for kids 3 and under
Dec 18	Caroling in the Forest - Fontenelle Forest
Dec 22 - 23	Mannheim Steamroller - Orpheum Theater	$37 - $77
Dec 26	Dave's Birthday - Wish Him Happy Birthday	Free
Dec 26 - 27 8:30am - 10am	Penguins and Pancakes - Henry Doorly Zoo	$12 for members $15 for non-members free for kids 2 and under

The December 20th edition of the Omaha World Herald has an insert with much more detail and even more activities. Pick one up today!

We have so much going on in town. I hope you find the time to enjoy some of what Omaha has to offer. Get out and relax some with carriage rides, visits with Santa, Christmas lights, and more!