Category Archives: education

buying, commitment, Communication, education, Inspiration, organizing, planning, Team work

No or bad credit buyers

January 27, 2014 Bettina Settles Leave a comment

With the wave of buyers coming back into the market that have had a foreclosure, short sale, or bankruptcy it will make it for an interesting year. The adventure of mortgage origination and underwriting is getting more interesting with borrowers who paid off all their bills, tossed their credit cards and have been working within their personal budget for about 2 years and possible with that having a 0 credit rating.

Many main stream loan offers will tell this type of buyer that they need to establish another credit rating by opening up several credit cards and start using them.

Not really. Even now with the new mortgage regulations you can get a mortgage with 0 a credit rating. Many mortgage companies are just not willing to work with a 0 credit rating buyer because they have to run the loan through manual mortgage underwriting. Personally compare this to an individual who is self-employed and has no W-2 income.

I recommend to all my clients who are looking to buy and need financing to help them buy to get pre-qualified. When it comes to pre-qualifying a 0 credit buyer it can take a little longer because it has to be done manually.

To find a lender who is willing to work with a buyer who has no credit score is a bit tricky but there out there. Before you contact any lender to help you and you happen to be one of the buyers who don’t have a credit score be prepared to have at a minimum of a 20% down payment for your dream home.

Also find other forms of alternative credits for your lender like rent payment, or utility payment. When you had medical bills, and they are paid in full, have the creditors write a letter on their letter head stating the bills are paid in full. Your cell phone bill is one of them that will work as well. Make sure you also have 4 current consecutive paystubs available as well and 2 years of tax returns. You will need at a minimum of 4 alternative forms of credit.

Don’t have lenders tell you that you must have a credit score to buy a home. You don’t. You might need a bigger down payment and alternative forms of credit and a lender who is willing to truly work with you. When they are not willing to work with non-existing credit score, and they tell you that you have to open an in-store credit card of apply for a credit card to “establish” credit it is time to find another lender….

Last but not the least; this is not to be considered legal or financial advice and you still should consult your legal and financial advisor before making any legal or financial decision.

buying, commitment, Communication, education, Inspiration, organizing, planning, Team work, tips

Things to consider when buying your Commercial building.

January 20, 2014 Bettina Settles Leave a comment

There comes a time that a business is growing and needs more space to accomplish that goal. This could mean that either having to rent or buying bigger space.

Let’s assume you have decided to buy your own building rather to rent another space for several years and you were able to secure financing for your building.

Before you even making and offer there are some things you should think about:

Location of the current building
Current zoning of the building
Is the building ADA compliant?
Does the building comply with current building codes and zoning regulations for your type of business?

Location:

Is the location suitable for your type of business? When you would like to open a restaurant you should be close to an area that gives you plenty of traffic. Compare too when you are looking to open a trucking company you would need to be closer to an interstate or possible have access to train traffic.

Current zoning of the building:

Is the zoning suitable to your business or would you have to go in front of the planning and zoning board to ask for a zoning variance?

Is the building ADA compliant?

When the building is not ADA compliant you might have to spend extra money to bring the building up to compliance.

Does the building comply with current building codes?

When the usage of the building changes you need to bring the building up to building code compliance and pending how long ago this was done by the past owner. This could take a good sting of money and time before you can move your business into the building.

This is now a true story and hopefully will point out to make sure to cross your T’s and dot your I’s prior to buying a building and moving your business into a building you just bought.

One business owner I know made several costly mistakes as she bought her building to run her business in. The location of the building was a great location but the building she bought was not zoned for her type of business. She moved her business into the new building without getting a zoning variance from the City.

Many months later after she opened for business, the local building inspector came to her and gave her a seize and desist notice, closed her doors and asked her to bring her building up to compliance. At the same time the inspector cited her also for not having her building in ADA compliance and up to the current building code.

She fought the order and she did lose the appeals. She ended up losing her business and she needed to sell the building she recently bought. I have not spoken to her but I only can imagine that she also had attorney’s fees, fines and penalties due to her buildings lack of compliance.

There are other things you should be aware off when buying a building. Being on the planning and zoning board for my city the once I have listed above are ingrained into me and very close to my heart. To be certain all your T’s are crossed and I’s are dotted make sure you hire the proper professionals to help you achieve your goal.

commitment, Communication, education, organizing, planning, Team work, tips

Selling? Have your documents ready before you list the property.

January 16, 2014 Bettina Settles Leave a comment

You have decided to sell your property and there are a few things you should already prepare ahead of the time before calling a Real Estate Professional and prior to signing a listing agreement.

Even when your listing agent does not ask for the documents, have them ready and just hand them to the agent at the time you sign the contract. Sooner or later you will get the midnight call from the agent asking for the documents because they forgot to ask you for them at the time of the listing signing and you did not have them ready to go.

Some of the documents a buyer’s agent might ask for before or after a showing are and many times before making an offer:

Homeowners association documents and costs
All executed lease agreements (when property is a rental). Just black out the tenants information like name, Social security number, phone number.
When the property is an investment property also pull the actual expensed and the numbers for the GOI
Average utility information for an entire year
When you have an odd shaped property or a neighbor’s fence that might be close you your home or lot line, have a current survey ready that shows where the true lot lines are.
Pest inspection documentation

Some of the documentation might not apply to you, just pull the once that do and it will save you from making the add dash to the finish line trying to find them.

buying, commitment, Communication, education, Inspiration, organizing, planning, Team work, tips

Landlords, when you don’t address it in the lease agreement it might keeps you wide open

January 14, 2014 Bettina Settles Leave a comment

When investing in real estate investors may consider holding properties as rentals for another source of income rather than flipping. Dealing with tenants is a whole other ball game and does need a new skill set and paperwork.

Sure we all are aware that we should run a background and credit check on the tenants, and we do know that we have to have a written, dated and singed lease agreement with them. What we put into the lease agreement is also very important and what we don’t put into the agreement is what will kick us in the chin.

There are many places out there where you can buy pre-written lease agreements. You only have to fill in the blanks and the agreements supposed to have been written for your state specifically or some of them even supposed to cover any State in this Union.

Some investors might take other investors (who already have rental units) lease agreement and just run with it, thinking it should be fine.

How do you know that is agreement is the right one for you and your State? Just because it says so does not mean it is.

I have seen so many lease agreements that left the investor wide open for possible legal issues or the tenants had more rights but less responsibility than the landlord it is not even funny.

To make sure that your lease agreement has you and your property covered is to consult a real estate attorney. Just grab your current lease and let the attorney work it over for you. You maybe be surprised what you are missing and did not cover…..

commitment, Communication, education, green, Inspiration, planning, recycle, tips

When it rains it pour’s and where does all the water go?

January 10, 2014 Bettina Settles Leave a comment

Now that we have several inches of snow on the ground and faced head on the freezing cold temperatures and now we are looking at chances of rain this weekend in Indy. With temperatures this week that are above freezing during the day the snow is bound to melt.

While you unburied the fire hydrant have you thought of clearing off the street drain that is located right in front of your property so that the water can run off? When you have not done so, take a minute to clear out an area right around your downspout and made sure the water has a way to move away from your house and when you safely can check your gutters you might take a look at them too.

Also don’t forget to check on your sump-pump to make sure it is working properly and when you have a back-up pump make sure it operates as well. Nothing worse than finding out that your sump pump is not working while you step into an inch of water in your basement.

commitment, Communication, education, Inspiration, organizing, planning, Team work, tips

Things to consider when hiring a property management company

January 9, 2014 Bettina Settles Leave a comment

Sooner or later as a Real Estate investor we might have to make the decision to hire a Real Estate Management company to manage our properties we own and hold.

As a landlord we never think twice about interviewing and running a background check on the tenants before we sign a lease with them but how thoroughly are we checking on the Management companies we are hiring to manage our properties.

Sure the first deciding factor might be a referral from fellow Real Estate investors but we still have to do our own due diligence before we hire a management company. When we own properties that have 10 or more units a single family property manager might not be the right fit for us or when we need a property manager for 40+ properties a manger who managed only 10 or 20 might not be able to handle the extra work load.

We should find out about their current education and ask about their real estate license. It is very simple to check with every state licensing agency to find out if the Manager we would like to hire is a real state professional in good standing. With that we can find out very quickly how long they have been in business.

Great way to find out about property managers knowledge is to ask them about the landlord and tenant law and about local codes that affect rental properties of any type. We also should find out from them how many tenants they have evicted and how they set and or adjust the rents. This will show us if they have good screening processes in place and if they keep up with the current rental market.

Other questions we should ask the property manager are about the handling and storing of the income, tenants security deposits, the handling for repair issues that surly will comes up and what their fee structure is. It might be better for us as owner when the fee is based on rents collected. With that we don’t have to pay for vacancies and the manager has a reason to keep the units occupied. We also should find out if the property management company charges any additional fees, like an eviction fee.

When it comes to the repairs we should find out from the real estate management company if we need to give them money upfront for repairs, if they call us for repair requests, how they account for the repair money spend. How long is the responds time for repair requests? Do they have contractors on call for repairs? Do they get repair estimates or do they rely on their current contractors to do the job?

We should ask about property inspections? Do they do them and how often.

One thing I personally look at as well is the type of lease agreement they use with the tenant they are handling. I have seen some very ugly lease agreements that could hurt us as investors and could get us in some possible legal trouble.

Is this list complete….I don’t think it ever will be but it should give you a good start….

education, green, Inspiration, recycle, tips

Keeping you from slipping in your drive in this cold weather

January 8, 2014 Bettina Settles Leave a comment

With the super cold weather we have been having in the below average temperatures some of the products to help us make our drive and walkways safe might not working properly and many of the drive and walkways are still icy and potential hazardous to our and others health.

Even when the deicing products work they in some cases could be doing harm to your walk and driveway. In some cases you might not be able to see the damage for several years.

An alternative to a deicer could be as simple as a bag of fine sand, like play sand or during harsher weather very small rocks. Sure you would have to sweep the drive after the thaw but it beats to have a cracked driveway fixed.

buying, commitment, Communication, education, Inspiration, planning, Team work, tips

Even during the winter a home can be sold

January 7, 2014 Bettina Settles Leave a comment

Just because it is winter and it is possible cold and snowy you cannot slack off on the curb appeal. Due to the season and time of the year, winter brings a set of interesting challenges compare to the rest of the year.

Very important, a buyer needs to be able to make it to your front door without any accidents. When you put your home on the market you need to treat it like you are inviting clients into your business and you want them to make it safely to your door and past your front door. Slips, trips and falls can be easily prevented by clearing off ice, snow, leaves and other possible debris that have accumulated on the drive or walkway.

You might also should consider extra lighting or change the timer on your current lighting during the shorter daylight hours of the year to keep the drive or walkway, key features and the front door clearly lit for any potential visiting buyer.

During the holiday seasons some of us tend to decorate the house with giant inflatables. You need to keep in mind your goal is to sell your home and attract buyers and a giant inflatable or an elaborate seasonal lighting display will not give the buyer a clear view of your house you would like to sell.

Consider more simple wintery decorations like a wreath at the front door, maybe some artificial light pines flanking each side of the door.

Communication, education, Inspiration, tips

Moms house rules apply to business too

December 16, 2013 Bettina Settles Leave a comment

Potential Customers are in every corner of your world that you could turn into life time clients or referral sources. Many times how you treat the individual or their property will determine if you will have a client for life or not.

In many cases it is as simple as mom’s house rules:

You open it, close it.
You empty it you either fill it back up or let them know
You dirty it, clean it.
You throw it on the floor, you pick it up.
When you take it out, put it back.
You are running late or you are not coming you tell them.
When they speak, listen.
When you don’t have an answer, let them know, try to find the answer and don’t make something up.
When you see they need help, help them.

Sometimes in the heat of the business battle many of us forge and overlook the simple things and these are the once who will net us or loose us clients.

education, Inspiration, planning, tips

Traveling with the car in cold and harsh weather

December 13, 2013 Bettina Settles Leave a comment

Many of us did a great job to prepare our homes and yards for this cold weather and we made sure our pantries are filled, the generator is filled and ready to go in case of a power outage. The pets have enough food and toys to keep them busy but did you think of the times when you need to travel with your vehicle and you get stuck in a 4 hour back-up due to an accident or bad roads?

Have you thought of carrying an winter emergency kit in the trunk of your car? The State of Wisconsin has on their website a great list of things on what you should consider carrying in the trunk of your car during the winter. All the items listed could very easily fit into a medium size plastic tote.

Some examples are windshield scraper and small broom, flashlight with extra batteries and booster cables but also snack food including energy bars, matches and small candles or extra hats, socks and mittens. Some of the items we might not would think off.

Sure we all are a cell phone call away from help but you never know when you have to travel into a rural area that has no cell phone reception or your cell batteries are dead and you forgot the charger at home.