Strategies To Reduce Your Real Estate Invesment Risk On A Vacant Building

In today’s market (or any market for that matter), we as Real Estate Investors and property owners can often find ourselves in the possession of a vacant building.

The vacancy may occur during the initial acquisition phase of the investment, when the fix-up and repairs are being performed, or simply due to tenant moving out of a single family residence.

Here are a few simple strategies that can help reduce some of your real estate investment risk created by a vacant unit/building.  Use the ones that seem to be most appropriate for your situation.

These strategies can be integrated into your real estate business policy and procedures manual to help reduce your risk or loss during a vacancy period.

• The first action you should consider is changing the locks, and while you’re at it make sure the windows are all locked tight.  This is simple and easy to do.

• Immediately purchase or change your property insurance policy if you anticipate the building being vacant for longer than a month or two. Insurance generally costs more for a vacant building, but is worth the extra cost if you should incur a loss of some sort.

• Having a standard homeowner’s policy may not cover the loss if the building is vacant.  Contact your insurance professional to help you determine what temporary changes need to be made or type of policy you need.  Consider having the insurance professional put their recommendations in writing indicating that you are purchasing the correct policy for your specific situation.

• You may also consider getting a “house-sitter” to reduce risk and cost of insurance.  Often you can find a responsible college student to perform this task.  They like to get paid while being able to study at the same time.

• Remember to turn off the water at the main water supply valve, as well as gas, and electricity (at the main circuit breaker switch box) on the day the building becomes vacant.  Imagine if you will the issue that can occur if a water leak is left unattended for several days or even weeks.

• If the area is subject to break-ins, consider having the windows boarded up and the doors screwed into the door frames. Also contact the local police department to put the property on their “watch” list.

• Post “No Trespassing,” signs at the building if indicated

• Work with the surrounding neighbors to help keep an eye on the property and notify the authorities, and yourself, if any unusual activity occurs at the property.

• With larger complexes or buildings, consider hiring a private security firm to watch it for you.

There you have it, a few simple common sense activities to help reduce your real estate investment risk when faced with a vacant building.

Onward

Real Estate Investing Policy and Procedures Manual

As a Real Estate Investor you should consider keeping a note book of your best practices.

There continually seems to be better ways of performing an activity.

An example may be your rental agreement. The process you currently go through to search for and find the best tenants for your properties may already work great.

But let’s say you begin a conversation with another rental property owner/real estate investor, and he tells you this story about the issue he had with his tenants.

He reveals to you how he went about taking care of the issue, although it cost him a couple thousand dollars to do so. He mentions to you how he added a one sentence phrase to his rental agreement and is now able to prevent the same thing from happening in the future.

In essence he has added that clause to his policy and procedures manual or the way in which he goes about doing his business.

You begin to think to yourself, I could just simply learn from his experience and prevent a similar situation from happening to me. You approach your legal advisor about adding the same or similar clause to your current rental agreement, and they agree it is a good idea.

Bam! Now you have addressed that particular issue and changed the way you go about doing your real estate investing.

The point I’m making here is that there are continually new ways to improve your real estate investing results. So increase your awareness and be in search mode for new ideas and strategies to incorporate into your own policy and procedures.

Being a member of a local real estate investment group or property owners group has many benefits in addition to the scenario above.

Benefits of having a policy and procedures manual:

1. You have a reference guide to address certain aspects of the business and do it in a consistent manner.
2. You may grow your portfolio to a size in which you would like to hand over some or most aspects of the processes to someone else. Having a policy and procedures manual will guide them in taking care of the processes in the same way you would do it.
3. If you should become ill and be unable to take care of the real estate business due this unexpected illness, you would have a reference guide for others to follow and keep the business running smoothly, until you recover.

So as you read through these blog posts consider copying and pasting some of the ideas into your own real estate policy and procedures manual.

A simple way to begin this process is to think about all the things you do when you are being active with your investment real estate and then make some subject headings regarding the major areas of the activity you do. Then record the appropriate information under each heading.

A few subject headings may be: Buying, Selling, Renting/Leasing, Hiring Contractors/Vendors, Move-out checklists, Move-in checklists.

Begin your manual today!

More To All and Less To None

Personal Real Estate Investor Magazine

Personal Real Estate Investor Magazine has been around since 2004. I first heard about it from a couple of real estate investor friends that were using it to advertise in.

I remember being in a title company waiting room and seeing a stack of them sitting there. With permission I snagged one to take home and peruse.

I later decided to subscribe to it, and have been very pleased with the tips, insights and investor strategies. I will most likely refer to it often in my posts and comments here as there are many useful tips and strategies contained in the magazine.

The magazine’s editor is Andrew Waite, who invests in real estate himself and seems to be quite knowledgeable about it. I’ve listened to him on several real estate related radio shows here in Phoenix, Arizona and he brings to light several issue that the major media providers seem to overlook when reporting on the real estate market.

The magazines single mission is:

“To help our readers make money! To reduce the costs, both initially and over the life of your investments. To help you get the most out of each transaction at each point in the total life-cycle—plus your investing lifetime (and even that of your heirs).

To help you invest smarter by finding, acquiring, improving, managing and trading—whether it’s turning over a single investment-grade property or building a portfolio of rental homes and apartments.

The process is not hard, though the market is potentially complex. That is why we are here: to reduce complexities, provide road maps, checklists, templates, visual aids—and an insider’s Rolodex.”

In short the magazine is about learning from others mistakes and maximally profiting form real estate investing.

Their mission statement is very similar to my objective in creating this blog. To assist others in making real estate investing easier and more profitable.

You can learn more about this magazine and subscribing to it at: http://www.personalrealestateinvestormag.com/

More To All and Less To None

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All information is deemed reliable, but not guaranteed. Opinions given are based on historical and current marketplace conditions only, and do not guarantee the future value or income of any real estate investment. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

The value of the transaction to you depends on many factors which should be evaluated by each individual by performing their own due diligence on each investment. It is strongly recommended that you maintain significant liquid cash reserves to support all real estate investments.

Shane Carr and DPR Realty LLC are not providing financial planning advice and highly recommend that you consult your attorney, tax advisor, financial planning advisor and/or other professional consultant regarding any investment plans. MONEY CAN BE LOST BY INVESTING IN REAL ESTATE. You and your advisors should conduct a careful, independent investigation of each investment to determine to your satisfaction the suitability of the property for your needs.

More To All Less To None

Most intelligent people realize that when they read or listen to information that there is an underlying motivation of the source or author. The objective of the author may be to share and create awareness, change an opinion, stimulate new thoughts about a subject, motivate, encourage action, sell or just educate.

It then becomes your job as an intelligent consumer to gather the information you are searching for and to determine the motivation of the author. I respect people that have the courage to just be upfront, honest and disclose their motivations. To reveal their expectations so everyone involved has a clear understanding of the objective.

So in the spirit of being up front and honest I’ll save you the trouble of trying to determine my motives for sharing the information I post on this site with you.

My motivation is all of the above. I’m sharing what I have found to be beneficial and what I think may have the potential to be beneficial. I generally do not recommend things that I have not tried myself, and if I do recommend something that I have not tried I’ll indicate that.

I like to give credit to those I obtained information from (providing that I can remember who I first heard it from). To site sources of the information so you can do further researching on the subject if you choose to do so. Many of the ideas and concepts I talk about may not be new, but there are many of you out there that are unaware of some of the strategies and concepts available that can greatly enhance your financial future and life in general.

I’m continually searching for easier, faster, and more efficient ways to accelerate my business and financial growth. As I review new ideas and concepts that are applicable to my goals I will also share that key strategy with you.

Why would I freely choose to share this information with you? What’s the catch? Well… I will most likely benefit in some way from the material I mention. It could be through getting some type of monetary compensation or just the inner feelings of satisfaction from educating you on new and better choices to improve your financial life.

I share this information to connect with other like minded individuals, interested in building business, investing in real estate and creating multiple sources of income.

I share it because one of my intentions in life is to do my part in improving the world (or at least my small segment of it). As you sit there and take the time to read the information contained here, a potential is generated for you to act on the knowledge and use it to enhance your life or the lives of others in someway.

I’m sure you will agree living a richer life (in whatever way that is for you) than what you have now is a good thing. Right?

As you begin to realize the value that you can obtain from reading my information you may also decide to purchase some of the material I develop.

As you learn some of the techniques, strategies and opportunities that are shared here, I’m confident that you’ll also make your best effort to utilize the services I offer in some way. For example, if you decide to buy real estate in Arizona, I’m sure you will contact me to assist you in doing so.

I also maintain contact with many dynamic like minded individuals around the U.S. in many major U.S. markets and can refer you to someone that may be of value in meeting your real estate needs. It’s simply a win-win process.

So there you have it, my motivation for generating this material. Now when you read or receive information from me, you can put your mind at ease and just focus on the value of the material for your particular situation.

By the way the title I used in this post, “More To All and Less To None,” is a phrase that I first heard from from Rebecca Fine. She has a great Free ebook about the process of developing riches. She also has a follow up program to her free ebook that was insightful. If you have any interest you can visit her site at: www.scienceofgettingrich.net.

Blog Author

(Please be sure to read the terms and conditions for the use of this blog and website.)

Hello and welcome! My name is Shane Carr and I live in a smaller community in the Northern part of Phoenix, Arizona. We’ve lived here in Arizona for a little over 10 years.

The area in which my family and I currently live has no street lights, and not all of the roads are paved. Often you can see people out riding their horses, or hear the occasional ATV zipping down a desert trail. It’s a great area if you like to be outdoors, mountain biking, or hiking.

In it is very peaceful, quiet, and the stars are easily gazed upon at night. The wildlife here is abundant as we live on the edge of the natural desert. The howling of coyotes can be heard in the evenings. Rabbits are often observed scampering around our 1 acre property during the early mornings. There are also families of quail running around the bushes, and shrubs with the occasional hawk flying overhead during the day.

Yes, it does get hot here during the summer but the land elevation is such that it generally is a couple of degrees cooler than in the city of Phoenix. There is frequently a refreshing cooling breeze here which allows the summer to be tolerated. We have many mountain views and have a front seat to some of the most spectacular sunsets in the southwest.

I’m married to a very smart and beautiful woman (actually one of the most naturally intelligent people I know). We have two wonderful girls one age 3 (and some change) and the other around 16 months.

The best part of my day is walking in my door in the evening, and being attacked by two little girls with infinite enthusiasm, smiles, laughter and lots of hugs and kisses for their daddy. This alone makes everyday an excellent day!

Living here is wonderful! This area allows us the access to the many business opportunities, and the entertainment lifestyle of a large metropolitan area. Arizona’s topography is also very diverse which makes it easy to travel to the mountain lakes and forested areas for hiking and camping.

It’s not a life suited for everyone, although it suits me, and I’m very grateful for it. This brings me to the point of the information that I’m sharing with you. All of the things that I mention here are not going to be for everyone, and some of them may not be for you. So pick and choose the material that will most benefit you and act on it to create the perfect life style for yourself and your family.

I currently hold a license to sell real estate in Arizona. I began part-time as an investor several years ago while working as a Physical Therapist. I decided to get a real estate license to obtain greater access to more market information and research. After watching great deal after great deal come across my desk, I decided to also to assist other people in capturing some of those smoke’n deals.

My desire to educate my family, friends and now you about the many different strategies and excellent opportunities that are currently available has lead me to creating this informational site.

As I search for better investing and business opportunities for myself, I’m also sharing a wealth of information with you, so you also have the opportunity to generate more wealth in your life.

I still continue to search for the easiest, no hassle, most profitable, investing and business opportunities to create autopilot systems for building wealth. Check my pages often for new information or better yet sign-up for my free newsletter.