How to Secure Favorable Home Improvement Loans Amidst COVID-19

If you're a real estate investor looking to acquire a new property, you probably know that buying a new home is just one part of a big puzzle. You still have a million decisions to make. And one of them is how to secure favorable home improvement loans.

The process of getting home improvement loans may seem easy, but you must do some homework first to get favorable terms. In this blog post, we outline these tips in detail.

Be Specific About Why You Need The Loan  

Home improvement loans are linked to specific maintenance or upgrade projects. So when applying, explain to the lender why you need the money to increase your chances of getting approved. 

For example, if you need the loan to install a new kitchen, say so. The lender will understand that the money is being used to increase the value of the property and will probably offer favorable terms. 

Request For A Specific Amount

It's not uncommon to find investors asking for too much money than needed when applying for home improvement loans. But if you want to secure the loan, you must demonstrate that you've done your homework.  

Lenders prefer working with investors who know exactly what they want and why. So, get a good estimate of the cost of the project before submitting your application.

Know Your Home Equity

Loan providers usually look at how much equity you have in your property when checking your application. Therefore, make sure you know that number and let the lender know it too. The more equity you have the higher your chances of getting favorable loans.  

Check Your Credit Score

Just like any other loan, home improvement loan approval greatly depends on your credit score.   As such, it's prudent to check your financial health ahead of time to make sure it's adequate for a favorable loan. Make sure there are no errors on your credit report that could adversely affect your application.

Interest rates are at an all-time low. However, keep in mind that home improvement loans come with repayment responsibilities. So focus on getting favorable terms to make the most it.  We hope these tips will help you achieve that. Good luck!

Guide to Safe In-House Tenant Repairs During the Pandemic

Keeping tenants safe and comfortable in their homes is essential during this coronavirus pandemic. In order for your tenants to safely shelter-in-place, they must have the basic necessities like AC and hot water. If something breaks, you'll need to be very careful about entering the home to fix it.

-Call Ahead to Schedule Your Visit

First, ensure the tenant knows you are coming by calling ahead. You will need to coordinate access and distancing perfectly.

-Wear a Mask and Gloves to Enter

Wear a cloth or medical mask over your nose and mouth. This will ensure you cannot accidentally pass the virus and cannot accidentally pick it up. Wear gloves as well so that your hands don't touch anything that might potentially be contaminated.

-Ask the Family to Stay in a Separate Room

Except for the one tenant who lets you in and shows you the problem, ask that all other residents retreat to a separate room to minimize contact.

-Remain 6-Feet from Your Tenant Host

When you meet a tenant, maintain as much distance from them as each room or section of the house allows. If they are not necessary for repairs, ask them to step back while you work.

-Do Not Touch Your Face or Remove Your Mask

Whatever you do, don't allow your face to be exposed. Do not scratch your face with gloved hands, do not remove the mask at any time while you are performing repairs.

-Perform the Necessary Repairs & Politely Leave

Take care of the repairs necessary as quickly as possible. Then thank the tenant for their cooperation and leave promptly without touching anything else.

-Remove Your Gloves & Mask Carefully Outside the Home

When you are outside the home (but before getting in your car) remove each glove carefully from the wrist, turning the glove inside-out as it is removed. Throw the gloves away. Then remove your mask from the ear-straps and throw it away as well. Change to a new masksif you wish to before driving home.

-Drive Home & Wash

It is now safe to return to your home. When you arrive, immediately wash your hands and consider taking a thorough shower just in case.

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It is both possible and sometimes necessary to enter a tenant's home to enact repairs, even during coronavirus lockdown. Contact us today for more home management insights.

What are Virtual Home Staging Companies?

If you are serious about selling your home, you may want to consider hiring someone to stage your home. However, you may not know what that really means (and entails). 

So, what is home staging?

Home staging is done to make your home look more appealing to buyers. Home staging companies will come into your home and rearrange your furniture to work with your home's layout. They may also add furniture (especially in empty homes) and some subtle touches to make your home look like it belongs in a magazine.  

What are Virtual Home Staging Companies? 

Virtual home staging companies allow buyers to stage their homes to appeal to a wider variety of home buyers. They will take pictures of your home and digitally add furniture and subtle touches to show buyers what your home could look like. They use technology that is very realistic.  

What are the benefits of hiring a virtual home staging company? 

There are many reasons why you need to hire a virtual home staging company. These include: 

• According to the National Association of Realtors, staged homes are more likely to sell. In fact, seventy-seven percent of buyers can see themselves actually living in a home that was staged. Thirty-one percent of buyers are willing to spend more on a home that was staged. 
• For homes that are virtually staged, you can expect more showings. Forty percent of potential buyers will want to take a closer look at a staged home that they saw online.

Why wouldn't you hire a virtual home staging company? 

Because you may want to sell your home as quickly as possible, you are probably considering hiring a virtual home staging company. However, here are some reasons why you may not want to do so.

• The most common reason why a buyer wouldn't hire a staging company is because of the cost. They think that the cost outweighs the benefits. 

If you are serious about selling your home, you may want to consider hiring a virtual home staging company. However, it isn't for everyone. You need to decide what is best for you and your home. 

6 Things Tenants are Looking for During the COVID-19 Outbreak

Renting your homes during the coronavirus lockdown doesn't have to be put on hold. People still have plans and schedules to keep, even with the current stay-at-home conditions. Some renters must look for a new rental home during this time, and the best way to draw them to your homes is with corona-aware features and amenities. Let's take a look at some of the features that tenants care about most when house-hunting during the outbreak.

1. Easy to Clean & Sanitize

Homes that are easy to clean are the most appealing right now. Tenants are looking for shiny countertops, hardwood or tile floors, and clean lines. Consider home designs and renovation choices that will make it possible to sanitize every inch of the home without worrying about carpet pads or what lies underneath.

2. Open Floor Plan

Open floor plans are already at a peak of popularity, and now that matters even more. An open plan that flows cleanly from one room to the next is both more welcoming and easier to keep clean.

3. Secure Locks and Yards

Maintaining family isolation is also important, both indoors and outside in the yard. Ensure all door locks and latches are secure, then improve the fence and gate structure to ensure that no unwanted visitors can intrude on your tenant's isolation safety.

4. High-Speed Internet

Millions of people are working from home, children are going through online school, and everyone is streaming media to stay sane. Internet speed matters. Take steps to improve the reception or wired internet service for the home.

5. Efficient Appliances

With everyone home all day, every day, utilities are going to be higher than usual. Energy-efficient appliances like laundry machines, dishwashers, refrigerators, and HVAC can make a real difference and smart tenants know what to look for.

6. Virtual Tours

Last but certainly not least, tenants are looking for rentals they can lease without a preliminary in-person visit. This means responsive online communication, online trading and checking of documents, and --most importantly-- virtual tours taken with a 3D camera. This allows tenants to tour your home and get a feel for it without putting themselves (or you) at risk by meeting in person before move-in day.

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Marketing your rental homes during coronavirus is easier than you might think, if you're willing to work with current safety and tenants needs. For more savvy rental and home sale insights, contact us today!

Staging Your Home for Virtual Showings

With COVID-19 affecting nearly every aspect of our lives right now, we have to be innovative in order to keep things running smoothly. This is the same for the real estate business, since people may not be able to go look at potential places to live, and also may not want to in fear of spreading or contracting the disease. With that being said, the world of real estate cannot just come to a halt, so virtual showings are more important now than ever.

Staging Your Homes

When people are looking online for a potential place to live, staging can completely change the way they think about a particular home. Seeing rooms that are empty makes it hard to picture how furniture would be arranged, and rooms can sometimes appear smaller. When putting in appropriate furniture and a few small decor items for that space, it can completely transform it and allow the buyer to picture their own belongings in that space. 

Virtual Showings

Potential home buyers will want a lot of pictures and videos right now when searching for a home online. It is important to not leave any part of the home out. Instead of just taking a few pictures of the common areas, take a lot of pictures of every nook and cranny in the home. Show rooms from different angles, show the insides of closets, and show as many details as possible. Think about the things a home buyer would want to see if they were looking at that home in person. If possible, set up a 3D tour, so the buyer can virtually walk around the home. 

Narrowing It Down

As homebuyers are searching online, they will not want to walk through as many houses as they would have prior to COVID-19. Including many pictures, measurements, videos, and other tools helps allow them to narrow their search. This way, when they are ready to walk through a home, they only have a few to look at, rather than a lot. This is the future in home buying. 

How to Recession-Proof a Multi-Family Property

With everything happening around the world right now, multifamily property investors are having sleepless nights. Everyone is striving to avoid making costly mistakes because there is talk of recession, crashing markets, and real estate bubble bursting.

But seasoned investors know a recession is always looming. And they prepare for it on time. So far, we've seen significant policy changes, job losses, and economic instability.

If you earn a living from such investments, you probably know it's time to recession-proof your property. But you will not walk alone. In this blog post, we will share a few tips to get you started.

Build Up Capital Reserve

When a recession results in job losses, your tenants with not have the ability to pay rent. So it may be wise to build up a capital reserve before that happens.

Having a capital reserve can help you to recession-proof your investments in the following ways:

• It offers you the possibility of finding another property on sale at an affordable rate.
• Assists you to maintain your income flow and cover costs when rent roll reduces.

Get Long Term Lease Agreements

As mentioned, finding ways to get a steady income from your property is the best way to recession-proof it. As such, it may be prudent to negotiate long term lease agreements with your tenants.

This may mean lowering your rental rates in exchange for commitment. Your goal here should be to sail through the recession. So don't worry about reduced income.  

List On Airbnb

People are more likely to downsize, look for roommates or find cheaper rent during tough economic times. So if your property sits on a prime location, list on short-term rentals like Airbnb during a recession to get some income coming in.

A recession can be difficult to predict, but it looms on the horizon. Property owners who prepare for it are more likely to come out stronger. We hope these strategies will help you strengthen your investment portfolio.

Property Improvements to Lower Your Liability

Maintaining your property isn't just about increasing revenue, whether you're planning to rent out the property or fix it up and flip it. In fact, there are many improvements you can make to the property that may simply decrease your liability. Decreased liability is important for several reasons:

• It can prevent expensive civil fines
• It helps keep renters and visitors safer
• It helps protect your other properties and your reputation

Try some of these improvements to help decrease your liability as an investor. 

1. Install a safety fence around the pool.

If a child falls into the pool while no one is watching, disaster can strike in an instant. By installing a safety fence around the pool, you ensure that you, as the owner of the property, won't be liable for any accident that occurs as a result of someone entering the pool without permission. A safety fence should provide convenient access to the owner or renter of the property while effectively keeping out anyone who doesn't belong.

2. Fix up that old, softened deck.

If the wood on the deck is starting to soften, it could be a sign of a structural problem. Add too much weight, and the entire thing could come crashing down, causing serious injury to everyone on it at the time. As the property owner, you are liable for keeping up with maintenance on the property--and if an accident does happen, you're the one responsible. 

3. Check windows and screens.

Many children suffer injury from falling out of windows each year. Take the time to update your windows and screens, from installing proper child locks to ensuring that the screens remain in good repair. Screens are an inexpensive investment that can make a big difference in overall safety on the property. 

4. Add good lighting and respectable door and window locks.

You want your tenants to be as safe on the property as possible. Make sure you adhere with local regulations to help ensure their safety, including quality locks and good lighting to make the property very visible. 

Property improvements aren't just about increasing revenue for your property. They're also about keeping your tenants safer and decreasing your liability. Try some of these strategies to decrease liability on your properties.