This is the question…

What real estate should I buy with $200,000 of investment/retirement money?

My Doctor asked me this question should he buy to flip or rent? So we had a conversation about starting with the end in mind. Being a Dr. he may not need additional flip income now to just pay more taxes, due to his already elevated income tax bracket. So could he benefit more by the tax benefits of owning rental real estate such as; depreciation and rental expenses off-setting income? This is a question that his accountant and or tax attorney could answer. But just having the conversation and looking at the big picture he was able to make some decisions.

Remember anyone can sell you a house to flip or rent but only a few are going to ask you what your plan is. We can help you develop a plan or at the least ask you some questions that can be revealing and informational. We help our clients rent, buy and sell their property in the upstate of South Carolina.

Call us or email to learn more about how we can help you have success with your real estate investments. Call 864-395-6538 or email property.htsi@gmail.com.

Well nothing in life is 100% safe right?  When we inspect a property we are looking at many different items but first and foremost we want to make sure there are working smoke alarms.  Customers sometimes disable them or even throw them away if they are an inconvenience!  Winter is the season for potential issues of all kinds.  If you have extreme weather it causes any weak system to fail.  So what is the solution?  It is to be as prepared as possible to keep your real estate investments safe.  First order of business is liability insurance, this is a total necessity.  The more the better!  Have you ever heard “its cheap insurance”.  Well it really is. There is also hazard insurance and customer renter’s insurance that helps protect you.

Want to know more about insurance?  Call or email us to learn more about how we can help you have success with your real estate investments. Call 864-395-6538 or email property.htsi@gmail.com.

Churn & Burn – The costs of losing a good customer!

Service is the name of the game right? So when a tenant/customer calls asking for some things to be done around your/their rental house what happens? As landlords and property owners it is natural to say those things aren’t necessary or somehow find a way to put them off. (Because we know the immediate costs of the work)

Studies show that losing a good tenant, refurbishing your rental and then re-renting can costs around 2.5 month’$ rent on average. And this is with a well maintained property. Turnover “churn” costs $$$.

What is the costs of having a vacant house up for sale? For starters; property taxes, insurance, debt service, utilities, lawn maintenance and “other” maintenance. Manage this thought by reducing your number to a daily or monthly $number. And as you go through the selling process keep in mind that every day this house is on the market this is what it is costing you. This helps all of us make better decisions when deciding on what to do with an offer or with your asking price (when to lower or not).

Take care of your investment and your cash flow. (Lessons from the dark side – boo!)

We help our clients Buy – Rent and Sell real estate.
Thank you for your business!

How is the real estate market doing?

The real estate market is on fire!

Why you should purchase real estate:

Clients ask me all the time if I think this house or that house is a good deal. You need to start with the end in mind I tell them. What are you buying this for? A flip, a rental, or a second home? What’s the economic life of your investment and how long do you want it to be? The criteria that you decide on is the one you will have to live with going forward. A friend of mine likes to say that people buy real estate for 3 reasons

1. Cash flow(immediate or now)
2. Depreciation (income tax benefits)
3. Appreciation (speculating that more money is to be made after fix-up or the market is rising).

Why hire a property management team?

Whether you’re looking to buy, rent, or sell real estate, planning the upkeep of your home or property can be an overwhelming task. By hiring a property management team you are not only gaining a professional team, but also gain a comprehensive marketing program, record keeping, reporting, maintenance, and collections. Our team is specialized in current real estate market trends and can inform each client on how to buy real estate in order to make the extra buck. We recognize that it’s vital for your property management team to analyze whether the market is going to crash or how you can prepare to invest in the real estate market and meet your needs.

I always say that “2 out of 3 ain’t bad”. We help our clients Buy – Rent and Sell real estate.

Thank you for your business!

Robert

Call us or email to learn more about how we can help you have success with your real estate investments. Call 864-395-6538 or email property.htsi@gmail.com.

How do you solve Deferred or Deterred Maintenances?

If you are a home or office owner you may be wondering how long is too long to defer maintenance to your house or building?  At times we are deterred by the “costs” of doing maintenance so we defer it until it becomes a critical issue or a “big ticket” item. The age of your property is a determining factor in how long you should defer home maintenances, however cleaning gutters and changing out your air filters several times a year is vital to property upkeep.

1. Cleaning gutters once or twice a year prevents water and ice from rotting out your fascia and boxing. In addition to keeping your gutters functioning properly, annual cleaning allows for more durability and a longer lifespan. The truth is that routine cleaning saves you money in the long run.
2.  Changing out air filters at least 4 times a year has been proven to substantially increase the time (in years) between HVAC replacements.

Cleaning gutters and changing out air filters more than once a year are two main ways to mitigate associated risks with “big ticket” items. Positive cash flow albeit may not be the meaning of happiness. However, it can be freeing.

Why home maintenance is important:

We can all relate to what it’s like being a brand new homeowner who hopes and dreams of an antebellum home and ends up pushing home maintenance under the rug only to find out in a few years that their gutters and air filters are no longer working properly. Whether you are building a fixer upper or intend to sell your home it is critical that you hire a company to carry out routine maintenance and repairs. We understand your home is an investment for the whole family.

Who provides home or property maintenance?

Houses and Then Some in Greenville recognizes that people who own houses or rent them out don’t have time to do all the leg work in repairs while also finding qualified tenants and collecting rent.

Call us or email to learn more about how we can help you have success with your real estate investments. Call 864-395-6538 or email property.htsi@gmail.com.

Some things that break your heart in our business are:

Someone paying an excessive amount for their child’s birthday party and then not being able to pay rent..
Or your buyer decides to go out and buy a new car on credit a week before they are supposed to close on their first house…

Attempting to educate our customers on what is the “right” thing to do isn’t always as easy as one may think. I heard someone say one of the hardest decisions that we will make in life may be trying to decide between the right thing to do and the other right thing to be that needs to be done. My parents always said two wrongs don’t make a right but how about two rights…Deciding between two rights makes for a very difficult decision!

Here are some facts that may help in your decision to hire us;

• Tenant/customers stay in our properties over 2.5+ years on average
• 24/7 Maintenance emergency line available for customers
• 3% rental vacancy rate (or less) overall the last 4 years
• Proven collections process, less than 1% eviction rate
• Hundreds of buy/sell real estate transactions
• A proven preferred vendor list for seamless maintenance and up-fit service

Call us or email to learn more about how we can help you have success with your real estate investments. Call 864-395-6538 or email property.htsi@gmail.com.

Thank you for your business!