Former Homeowners now Entering the Rental Market

May 14, 2012 – 5:03 pm
Increasing numbers of former homeowners are now becoming tenants. Many renters of single-family residences are entering the rental market due to a recent foreclosure on their own property. In fact, single-family residences now account for a larger portion of the market segment than ever before according to a recent study performed by Corelogic. In many cases, families who purchased homes at the peak of the housing market have found themselves trapped in high-interest loans they were unable to keep pace with. This has led to a high number of foreclosures among single-family residences. While these families have been unable to pay their mortgage, due to declining home values they can nonetheless afford to rent similar property. Investors who purchase foreclosed properties on short sale are often hesitant to place them on the market. Instead, many new owners opt to use these properties as rentals while they wait for the housing market to ...

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The Rental Market? Don’t forget how to negotiate landlord settlements.

May 2, 2012 – 1:16 pm
Getting to ‘yes’ is not just reserved for those in the business world: Lessons learned can certainly be applied in the rental market, especially when you’re trying to resolve an issue with your landlord. Generally, the more serious complaints, such as discrimination based on your race, sex or a host of other illegal reasons, are usually resolved by filing a ‘fair housing complaint,’ or worse, a lawsuit. For sure, advice flows freely on the Internet, but over on the NOLO website, one of the web’s largest libraries with gobs of easy-to-understand legal info, they offer nine steps in the road to landlord negotiation. A summary of “How to Negotiate a Settlement with your Landlord:” What you want to happen. Are you staying put, or looking to get out of the lease? How ‘bout a simple apology…maybe a “I’ll-do-better” from your landlord will satisfy you. It comes down to deciding if you are willing to ...

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Investment Firms Enter the Single Family Home Rental Market

April 27, 2012 – 6:15 pm
Until very recently, single family home rentals have been the domain of individual investors and small companies. But with property values down and a glut of foreclosures available, some private equity firms see a new opportunity in the rental market. One such enterprise is Waypoint Real Estate Group, an Oakland-based investment firm that owns 1,100 houses and is buying about five more each day. As this article explains, while investors have been scooping up foreclosures for years with the intention of reselling, firms like Waypoint are hoping they can profit even more by converting foreclosures into rentals. It seems like a reasonable expectation. In some areas, suburban homes are selling for half their peak values. Demand for rentals is increasing. The total property value of the home-rental market is $3 trillion. And of course, down the road--if and when the housing market rebounds--the properties could be sold at a considerable gain. In spite of all ...

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Home Rental Information: Should You Rent or Buy?

April 18, 2012 – 2:22 pm
Does it make more sense to rent or buy a home? Amidst all the rental information and housing market news, when it boils down to your own personal decision, how to you figure out the best option for you? Unfortunately, the answer to this question is not clear cut. Trulia’s Rent vs. Buy Index provides some guidance by calculating whether it is more affordable to rent or buy in various markets around the country. It’s a pretty cool infographic that can help determine whether it makes more sense to rent or buy in each of America's 50 largest cities. Some cities clearly fall on one side or the other. In New York City, San Francisco or Los Angeles, for instance, it’s much more affordable to rent than buy. On the other hand, in Phoenix, Las Vegas and Miami it’s more affordable to buy a home. Of course, geography isn’t the only factor that comes into play when ...

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Craigslist Scams - Rental Scam Searches Up 120% YoY

April 11, 2012 – 7:22 pm
rentalscams.org has seen traffic increase 120% YoY. A vast amount of this traffic is from users searching to see if their gut is correct about a certain email they may have received about a rental property. In some unfortunate cases, searches have already been scammed and are verifying if the unthinkable is actually true. Because of the popularity of Craigslist and the lack of proper measures to filter out scammers, a majority of the rental scams originate on Craigslist. Monthly traffic on rentalscams.org shows an increase in rental scam interest. Google search has also seen an increase in rental scam related searches: The top rental scam keywords according to Google are: Rental scams are on the rise and it is extremely important to know when to spot a potental rental scam. Below are some helpful tips: Dissecting a rental scam email 7 Warning Signs of possible Fraud The Money Order Rental Scam 

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rent.com is sold to Primedia

March 22, 2012 – 4:30 pm
rent.com has been acquired by Primedia, the owner of sites like apartmentguide.com, rentals.com, and others. Primedia was taken private by TPG Capital last year in the amount of $525 million.

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Structured Data Comparisons

March 20, 2012 – 11:10 am
Findthedata.org is a comprehensive and useful service that allows you to find and compare data for a variety of categories. For example, if you are looking to compare various colleges, you can select the ones you would like to attend and it compares them for you. Compare All Colleges and Universities Findthedata obtains their information from three sources: Public databases, primary sources (manufacturer websites) and expert sources.

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Zillow Data Shows Rents up 70% in 276 Markets

March 15, 2012 – 1:49 pm

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Top 50 Residential REITs

March 12, 2012 – 5:47 pm
Below are the top 50+ Residential REITs as of March 9th, 2012. Click to view full list:

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1924 Bed for Apartment Patents

March 8, 2012 – 7:42 pm
I occasionally fall asleep at night searching over 8 million patents on Google. I ran across this bed for apartments patent filed May 17, 1924. "The object of this invention is to provide a folding bed especially intended for use where the elements of the bedstead are designed to fold into the wall structure of an apartment and in the drawings the sides of a wall recess for the purpose indicated are shown conventionally." Do you think IKEA sells these?

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Colorado Springs Rental Housing Market Continues Positive Trend for 2012

March 8, 2012 – 6:59 pm
By Aaron Applegate With vacancy rates down to 4.8% in Q1 2012 from 2011’s rate of 6.1, the rental housing market in Colorado Springs is looking up. The overall average rent rose to $809 per month and the unemployment rate for the Colorado Springs metro area dropped from 9.4 to 8.5% in the past year. In addition to improving vacancy and unemployment rates, Colorado Springs expects to see a significant rise in population from new jobs coming to the area. Tech companies such as Agilent Technologies plan to expand operations in the city, adding at least 131 new jobs. Walmart will also create jobs by starting a $150 million expansion project and adding 30 workers to it’s data center. The biggest boost will come from Fort Carson’s plans to add a 2,700 soldier Aviation Brigade to their existing 27,000 troops stationed in the area. This move by the US Army will add approximately ...

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Denver Expects to See the Lowest Vacancy Rate since 2000

February 26, 2012 – 9:20 pm
By Aaron Applegate As reported by Marcus & Millichap, Denver’s vacancy rate for single-family and condo rentals is now below 2% and its overall vacancy rate is expected to drop to 4% in 2012, which will be the lowest since 2000. This drop in vacancy rate is likely due to positive changes in the job market in the Mile-High city. Forbes has ranked Colorado the 5th best state for business and the Harris Poll calls Denver the 10th best city in which to relocate. Denver expects to see a 1.3% increase in employment in 2012, adding 15,000 jobs to the local market. This is a 200% increase from the 2010 and 2011 figures combined. Also, according to the Denver Business Journal, six Colorado companies received a total of $66.1 million worth of backing from investors for work in the Biofuel, Medical, and BioPharma industries. Additionally, reports from Marcus & Millichap indicate a ...

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Morgan Stanley Report - The New Rental Housing Paradigm

February 19, 2012 – 4:24 pm
Morgan Stanley has released a new housing report entitled, "Housing 2.0 - The New Rental Paradigm." Housing 2.0 refers to the increase in renters across the US.  This is known as the new rentership society. However, not all renters are created equal. Of the 40 million rental units in the US, about half are single family and the other half are multi-family. Summaries from the report: Single Family rental homes (SFHs) will be very attractive to the institutional investors On our way to a new institutional-owned asset class Returns have low correlation with other widely invested assets Attractive total returns over time Biggest risk for this asset class is illiquidity Historically about 5-6 Million SFHs trade hands in a year representing 750-900 Billion in asset value Since 1990 SFHs had an average annual return of 8.1% Distressed homes are attractive for investors due to the low lowest prices since 2000 There is a 30 to 45% discount for distressed properties ...

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Top 10 Secrets to Saving on Rent

February 6, 2012 – 7:12 pm
By the rentbits Education Team As you look through apartment complexes, rental homes and condos, you may be unaware of one important aspect of the search: negotiability. Unlike restaurant bills or retail sales, rent is negotiable. Although a rental company or property owner lists a price they want per month for the unit, this isn’t usually set in stone. Even if they aren’t willing to negotiate your official rental price, there are other ways to save money on rent and reduce your monthly budget. Use these tricks and secrets so you can save money on your rent. Top 10 Secrets for Saving on Rent Research comparable properties. Look through listings in the same area as your target apartment. How much do most rental companies charge for an apartment with a similar square footage or number of bedrooms and bathrooms? If most apartments charge less for rent, you can use this as a bargaining chip for negotiating a ...

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Impressive Facebook Numbers

February 1, 2012 – 7:31 pm
The Facebook revenue speculation is over. Today, in preparation for their much anticipated IPO, Facebook released some very impressive financial and operational numbers. The Summary: Users Over 850 Million Monthly Active Users as of Dec 31st 2011 Over 483 Million Active Daily Users  as of Dec 31st 2011 Over 100 Billion friend connections as of Dec 31st 2011 Over 2.7 Billion comments and like per day  Financials 2011 Financials $3.7 Billion in Revenue $1 Billion in Net Income Approximately $384 million or 12% of revenue came from one partner (Zynga) 154% Revenue growth from 2009 to 2010 and 88% from 2010 to 2011. US and Canada User growth slowing down while rest of World is accelerating.

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WalkScore Raises $2 Million

January 29, 2012 – 2:57 pm
Walkscore, the service that calculates the walk-ability from your home, has raised $2 million. Walk Score's mission is to promote walkable neighborhoods. There are over 10,000 sites that are currently using the walkscore ratings. The series A round includes investors: Rudy Gadre (previously at Facebook), Shel Kaphan, Edward Yim (Investor in Cheezburger Network), Geoff Entress, (Partner with Seattle-based venture capital firm Voyager Capital). Getting Started with Walk Score Neighborhood Maps from Walk Score on Vimeo.

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7 Ways to Increase sales in a Volatile Economy

January 12, 2012 – 12:14 pm
Author of SNAP Selling & Selling to Big Companies, Jill Konrath, has released a white paper entitled, "Selling in a Volatile Economy." I highly recommend it for any sales person or company looking to grow their business. The 7 Tips are: Deepen Your Expertise Strengthen your Value Propositions What is a value proposition? It's a clear statement about the business outcomes that customers get from using your product, service or solution. If tells them the impact that switching from the statusquo will have on their bottom line, operational efficiency, productivity or revenue growth. Let me offer a new frame for you. Being in sales today requires you to be a business improvement specialist. For example:  If you sell printing, you could become an expert on maximize print spend. If you sell training, you could become an expert on ensuring behavior change. If you sell technology, you could become an expert on industry trends. Challenge Your Prospects's Thinking What information could you possibly ...

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Data Visualization of New Homes Sold

January 11, 2012 – 9:10 pm
Data from the Census Bureau shows the obvious. New home sales have been on a decline ever since Sept 2006. In Oct 2010 however, this trend has flattened out. Construction of new homes have declined as well but is this a sign of stabilization in the real estate market?

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Phoenix Apartment Market Data

January 10, 2012 – 11:21 pm
Phoenix has seen some of the highest vacancy rates in the United States over the last year. Much of this has been due to the high foreclosure rate. Of existing mortgages, CoreLogic said 3.4% of them were in foreclosure in the month of Sept 2011. How is all of this affecting the rental market in Phoenix? Apartment Inventory > 50 Units =   1,253 Number of apartment units = 262,488 Properties under construction = 11 Units under construction = 1,824 Unemployment rate =  7.7% Vacancy rate = ~13% Average rental rates = $787 Apartment Permits = <1,000 Population in occupied housing units: Total Owner occupied -  804K Total Renter occupied - 625K Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 American Community Survey

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Renting is the New Buying

January 10, 2012 – 8:09 pm
In previous years, it was embarrassing to say you rent. Today, in most cases, it is embarrassing to say you own. According to the US Census Bureau, the U.S. homeownership rate has fallen about 1.5% over the past year (from 66.9% to 65.9%). For every 1% drop in the homeownership rate, it represents approximately 1 million new renters entering the rental market. In some cases, homeownership rates have fallen below some European countries. Italy for example, has an 84% homeownership rate. Along with Spain with a 78% homeownership rate. High unemployment rates, difficulty in getting financing, changing demographics and increased foreclosure rates are adding to the deceleration of homeownership. In 2011, there was a 4% increase in the amount of renting households compared to 2010. In the United States, homeownership is the least in states like California (56%), New York (54%) and Washington at (64%). States with the highest homeownership rates are Michigan (75%), Mississippi (75%), South Carolina (75%) and West Virginia at (79%). (click on thumbnail to view larger image) Rental vacancy rates dropped ...

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The State of the Denver Market

January 9, 2012 – 10:21 am
There are currently over 98 million renters in the US. 40 Million of those are in single family homes and the remaining renters are in the apartment buildings with 2 units or more. U.S. Households: Renters & Owners Type of Household Number of Households (000) % of U.S. Total Number of Residents (000) Renter-Occupied Housing 40,119 34% 98,820 Owner-Occupied Housing 78,583 66% 207,291 Total 118,702 100% 306,111 Source: NMHC tabulations of 2011 Current Population Survey, Annual Social and Economic Supplement, US Census Bureau (http://www.census.gov/cps). Updated September 2011. What Type of Structure Do Renter Households Live in? Type of Structure Number of Households (000s) Percentage of Households   Number of Residents   (000s) Single-family homes 13,812 34% 40,525 Structures with 2 to 4 units 7,611 19% 18,750 Structures with 5 or more units 17,027 42% 35,002 Mobile Homes 1,513 4% 4,251 Other 157 0% 292 Total 40,119 100% 98,820 Source: NMHC Tabulations of 2011 Current Population Survey, Annual Social and Economic Supplement, US Census Bureau  (www.census.gov/cps). "Other" housing includes units in hotels,  rooming houses, dormitories, tents or unspecified housing. Updated September 2011. In the Denver metro area, the average rental rates have risen over the past 12 months. For all apartments the average rental rates was $976. For 1 bedroom apartments for ...

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13 Tips for Renting with Pets

January 6, 2012 – 12:20 am
The Humane Society of the United States has 13 great tips for renting with pets. Give yourself enough time Understand why many communities reject pets Make use of available resources Gather proof that you're responsible. Make your request to the individual or group with the ultimate authority to grant your request. If you encounter a no-pets policy, ask if it is the result of a negative experience with a previous resident. Let the landlord, manager, or condominium board know that you share any concerns about cleanliness. Promote yourself. Promote your pet. Be willing to pay a little extra. Get it in writing. Be honest. Recognize that it may be futile to try to sell yourself and your pet to a large rental community with a no-pets policy.

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RealPage Acquires Vigilan, SaaS Provider to the Senior Living Industry

January 4, 2012 – 7:26 pm
RealPage just announced the acquisition of Vigilan, a company that creates software for the Senior Living industry. Total purchase price for the Oregon based company was approximately $5 million. Vigilan serves approximately 340 senior living communities contributing to RealPage's senior living customer base. Vigilan is expected to exit 2011 with an annual on demand revenue run-rate of $2.3 million.

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The History of Credit Scores

December 30, 2011 – 3:15 pm
[Via: FreeScore.com credit score]

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What is the state of the Atlanta Rental Market?

December 28, 2011 – 1:30 pm
Nationwide, the rental vacancy rate was an average of 8.4 percent in 2009. Of renter households, an average of 42.5 percent were burdened by housing costs consuming 35 percent or more of their incomes. Atlanta had almost double the national rental vacancy rate at 13.96 percent. Here is how Atlanta stands up against the national averages: Renter Occupied - 31.52% versus 34.13% national average Median gross rent - $912 per month versus $842 per month national average Share of renters spending 35 percent or more of income for gross rent: 43.04% versus 42.48% Rental vacancy rate - 13.96% versus 8.43% That said, now is actually a good time to move into the Atlanta area. The house rental market is currently active with a good inventory of attractive homes and condominiums selling for very reasonable prices. Security deposits for one month’s rent are normally demanded. The rental term for a home lease is for a minimum 12 months, although that can often be extended to 24 ...

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No More Excuses. Believe in Yourself.

December 26, 2011 – 9:33 pm

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MRI Software Acquirers Vaultware

December 21, 2011 – 7:12 pm
Vaultware, a marketing and leasing solutions company that offers apartment owners real time availability software, has been acquired by MRI Software, a revenue and occupancy management solutions company. The new, combined entity will provide both MRI and VaultWare customers with many advantages. The acquisition will provide MRI’s customers with a complete, fully automated lease management solution that will be tightly integrated into MRI’s property management and accounting systems. Mike Mueller, chief executive officer of VaultWare, said in a press statement, “The marriage of VaultWare to MRI Software completes a big part of the vision I set out for our industry 17 years ago. The rental prospect now has an end-to-end solution, combining our industry-leading reservations system and marketing tools with the superior back-end resident functionality of the MRI property management and accounting package.” Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

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Roost Acquired by VerticalResponse

December 15, 2011 – 12:57 pm
Roost, who was originally a real estate search engine, and who recently made a pivot into social media marketing management, has been acquired by VerticalResponse. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Roost raised $13 million since 2001.  

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What is Craigslist Ghosting and how does it relate to the rental industry?

December 15, 2011 – 11:04 am
You posted a rental ad on Craigslist, verified that the post was yours, got the approval e-mail that said the ad has been published and a link to view it. You waited the recommended several hours, then you went on CraigsList, but you couldn’t find your ad in the listings. Did it simply disappear? The answer is that ad may have been ghosted! Ghosting is something that Craigslist does to reduce spamming. The term is used when posts are flagged as spam by the system that monitors the IP addresses and accounts to determine if the ad frequency or content of the ads are spam. When the anti-spam system makes that determination, it will “ghost” them. You will think your ad has posted, when in fact it has been systematically removed without your being informed. The intent of ghosting was good – to crack down on flagrant marketers who were slowing down the servers. However, the cure is an ...

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There is No “Get Rich Quick”

December 11, 2011 – 5:53 pm
FirstBank has a great commercial entitled, "There is No "Get Rich Quick." Throughout modern history there have been many bubbles. These bubbles include the Tulip Mania in 1637, the 1929 market crash, the Internet bubble,  the lost decade, and of course the recent real estate crash. History tends to repeat itself and one thing is for sure, we will see more bubbles.

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