I have saved the most important thing to know about a rental property before you buy it, THE RETURN ON YOUR INVESTMENT, for the last in this series of articles. After all, we call ourselves real estate investors because we buy and operate real estate as an...
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Real Estate Practice
Lead Certification Training for Landlords and Rehabbers
As I write this article, we are less than a week away from the imposition by the EPA of its new requirements to minimize lead exposure during remodeling and renovation of pre 1978 housing units. Since last month, I have attended along with over 20 other ACRE...
Seven Things You Need to Know Before You Buy Rental Property — Thing Six: State of Repair and Contractors
Looks can be deceiving. You can’t judge a book by its cover. Beauty is skin deep. All of these sayings are even more relevant to the purchase of rental property. When I began renovating properties and holding them for rental, I tried to cut corners in the work...
First-time Homebuyer Credit Extended Through April 2010
Before we review the changes in the First-time Homebuyer Credit for 2010, we need to summarize the prior law. In August, we wrote an article explaining the “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009” which expanded the previously created first-time...
Seven Things You Need to Know Before You Buy Rental Property — Thing Five: Taxes
Spring is in the air, and tax season is in full swing. What better time to write about taxes? But the taxes I’m talking about in this article aren’t income taxes, or even transfer taxes, but the property taxes you will pay every year on every property you own...
Seven Things You Need to Know Before You Buy Rental Property — Thing Four: Your Tenants
Most of the time, we do not buy rental property which is vacant. We buy with at least some existing tenants, so we can enjoy immediate cash flow from the property. Banks generally prefer to loan against existing cash flow, instead of taking your projection as...
Seven Things You Need to Know Before You Buy Rental Property — Thing Three: Your Municipality and its Rules
Many inexperienced landlords find a great property at an unbelievable price in a nice neighborhood, and hurry to buy before the Seller realizes he or she has priced the property far below its value. Only after closing on a real steal does the buyer realize that...
Seven Things You Need to Know Before You Buy Rental Property — Thing Two: Leases
Some people think that any lease is a good lease, or that all leases are created equal. They couldn’t be more wrong, and it is a very expensive lesson to find out after you buy a rental property that the lease or leases on which you depend for the income to pay...
2009 Mechanic’s Lien Law Changes
A mechanic’s lien is a security interest in personal or real property for those who have supplied labor or materials without being fully paid. In Pennsylvania and most other states, these liens are statutory in nature. These protective devices exist to provide...
PROA Needs Your Help For its Legal Defense Fund to Fight for Real Estate Investors Statewide
Why does it matter to a landlord in Pittsburgh or Philadelphia what a small town council does in the middle of the state? Why should an investor in Erie worry about the result of a lawsuit in Common Pleas Court in Lackawanna County? The answer to these...