SAVE THE DATE!

Brookview Financial is announcing its 2008 Spring Rehab Retreat, featuring “The Queen of Rehab” Robyn Thompson, who has bought, ‘rehabbed’ and sold more than 256 properties at HUGE profits!

The Retreat will run Friday, April 11 through Sunday April 13.

Topics will include:

• The 20 ‘WOW’ factors to make your house sell at lightning speed
• Inside Secrets to Short Sales

managing projects and much, much more.

For more information contact Brookview Financial at 877–734–2211 and check back here for more details.

American Apartment Owners Association offers discounts on products and services related to your commercial housing investment, including real estate forms, tenant debt collection, tenant background checks, insurance and financing.  Find out more at www.joinaaoa.org.

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Posted by Kim Ezzell on 03.17.2008. CLICK to Leave a Comment »

Filed under: AAOA Forum, Property Sales

Tenant Background Checks: The False Positive Criminal Report

“You’re trying to tell me you don’t know your date of birth because you were too young to remember?”

A false positive criminal report in your tenant background check can cost you a valuable prospect when his only crime is having the same name as someone who has a criminal record. 

• While credit information relies on social security numbers as a virtually fool-proof identifier to distinguish one person from the next, criminal reports are not indexed by social security number.
• The only information that can distinguish a person on a criminal report is full legal name (See What’s in a Name), a full and accurate date of birth, and accurate address information (See Previous Address Tenant History). 

Without this information you may obtain a false positive report, and turn away an otherwise good prospect.

Date of Birth. Although a fairly simple request, a prospect’s date of birth is often incomplete on the application, or inconsistent with other information. To avoid headaches later on in screening and debt collection, make sure:

• To get a complete date of birth - month, day, and year. Very often this is the only thing to differentiate people with similar or common names. 
• The date of birth you receive is consistent with all of the prospect’s other information. Compare it to a driver’s license and any other information available. Click here to view a chart of states which incorporate the date of birth within the drivers license number.

Place of Birth.  The city and state or country of birth is valuable information for additional cross-checking or other data.

• Remember, every piece of information must be consistent with every other. The place of birth may reflect an inconsistency with the origin of the social security number (see SSN state codes) or list of previous residences.
• An accurate place of birth also will help locate relatives in case the need arises, or to locate the tenant for collection purposes.

Mother’s Maiden Name

• Along with place and date of birth, knowing a mother’s maiden name can be the most important piece of the puzzle when searching for assets in the event you have to turn the tenant over for collection.
• A mother’s maiden name not only helps confirm the applicants background, but may be the difference in locating assets and detecting fraud.

Previous Address Tenant History Report

Always order a Previous Address Tenant History (PATH) Report when you order a criminal report.

With this information, you can:

• Evaluate if the prospect is telling the truth on the application.
• Eliminate shared names from the criminal reports by comparing to known addresses.
• Discover if the prospect lived outside the area of the criminal history report you ordered — that way you can broaden the search.

Follow this link to see a sample Previous Address Tenant History Report.

American Apartment Owners Association offers discounts on products and services related to your commercial housing investment including REAL ESTATE FORMS, tenant debt collection, tenant background checks, insurance and financing.  Find out more at www.joinaaoa.org.

You have a great story to tell about tenant screening.  Please share your insights by leaving your comment below.

To subscribe to our blog, click here. 

Posted by Kim Ezzell on 03.15.2008. CLICK to Leave a Comment »

Filed under: AAOA Forum, Credit Screening

Ceramic Paint to Insulate- Does it Work?

 Submitted by Louisa May

Many house paints are labeled low-e for low emissivity. Emissivity refers to how much heat is emitted from a surface.

Some of these paints, the ceramic ones, contain small, hollow ceramic beads.

The idea is that when the paint dries, the beads bond together and create a radiant barrier. This radiant barrier translates into energy savings for the consumer.  

Or does it?

Back in the 1990’s, the ORNL (Oak Ridge National Laboratory) Energy Division conducted a series of tests on radiant barriers, including a test of twenty- four different roof coatings available on the market.

Their findings, in part:

Dust

• One of the big problems with the energy efficiency of the products was the accumulation of dust. Over time, dust wears away the radiant barrier’s effectiveness, reducing the potential of energy savings. An attic floor is not a good place to use ceramic paint.

Roofs vs. walls

• Cutting cooling costs is a possibility. The coating ideally deflects heat before it is absorbed by the surface. So, a roof deflects the heat first, and therefore the coatings are more efficient on roofs than on vertical walls.

Weathering

• Tests suggested that after just one year of weathering, roof coatings became 15 to 25% less effective.

Ceramic paint goes on thicker than a standard non-ceramic paint and tends to hide cracks and imperfections in the wall, and the paint lasts longer. Most of these paints have low VOC’s. too.

But a study done by the University of Cincinnati on airborne ceramic fibers concluded with a warning that consumers be careful when using anything containing this material. So, even if you’re using a ceramic paint with low VOC’s, wearing a mask while painting is probably a good idea.

Another thing to keep in mind is that many advertisements for these products read like independent test results. The US Department of Energy offers a radiant barrier fact sheet, but ceramic paint products used on television shows are more likely to be paid endorsements.

Opinions differ on the energy savings you’ll get with ceramic paint. Before making a purchase, the smart buyer should beware the magic bullet.

Planning on restaining the deck soon.  Click here to read tips in Deck Stains: Aesthetics vs. Durability.

Check out our Green Pages for information on money saving tips that help the environment.

American Apartment Owners Association offers discounts on products and services related to your commercial housing investment, including real estate forms, tenant debt collection, tenant background checks, insurance and financing.  Find out more at www.joinaaoa.org.

To subscribe to our blog, click here.

Posted by Kim Ezzell on 03.15.2008. CLICK to Leave a Comment »

Filed under: AAOA Forum

On the Shores of Walden Pond

Formed as a kettlehole thousands of years ago, Walden Pond has seen it’s share of history and celebrities.

Paul Revere fell short of his destination of Concord that fateful night, but his co-patriot Dr. Prescott escaped the British by seeking shelter in the woods near Walden, and eventually made his way to alert the townspeople: “the British are coming!” 

Henry David Thoreau spent his quiet days writing on the shore, and Ralph Waldo Emerson contemplated politics and philosophy while watching birds glide across the crystal waters of Walden Pond.

In the 1990’s the nearby woods were being considered for a real estate development, until Eagles member Don Henley stepped in and lobbied to make the area a park.  As a result of his efforts, the woods remain undisturbed.

Walden Pond is one of our oldest treasures, and one of the earliest to be protected by the conservation movement in the United States. Today, swimmers can enjoy a break from the heat and birdwatchers can take in their fill of the migrating flocks that call Walden Pond home. “Simplify, simplify,” Thoreau wrote. Good advice still today.

Thanks for playing the Trivia Game!  We’ll have to do it again sometime.

Posted by Kim Ezzell on 03.14.2008. 1 Comment »

Filed under: AAOA Forum

Why the Foreclosure Crisis Didn’t Crush the Las Vegas Apartment Market

Sperry Van Ness Director David Baird commented to us on the affects of the subprime foreclosure crisis on income properties, especially in Las Vegas.  

Has the foreclosure crisis impacted rents and occupancy rates?

“Some markets are clearly affected by the economy right now,” David says. “Particularly San Diego, Florida, Phoenix, and Las Vegas. These are areas where commercial prices peaked and then crashed. Financing, even 90% loans, were widely available, and buyers took advantage of that.  But once the values fell, these properties were largely overencumbered, forcing sellers to consolidate.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by Kim Ezzell on 03.13.2008. CLICK to Leave a Comment »

Filed under: AAOA Forum, Property Sales

Secrets to Energy Saving Landscaping

The trees are coming into leaf   

Like something almost being said  

               - Philip Larkin

Submitted by Louisa May 

Three seasons out of four, planting trees is a good idea. Trees enhance the landscape by:

• offering splashes of color and welcome canopy
• screening unsightly areas,
• and muffling sounds.

And if these are not reasons enough, trees can help lower your energy bills and increase the value of your property.

Choosing the right trees for your property and deciding on the placement of them are important first steps that can save you many a maintenance headache. Here are a few questions to consider before you make your purchase:

Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by Kim Ezzell on 03.13.2008. 2 Comments »

Filed under: AAOA Forum, Going Green

How To Make Online Legal Forms Work For You

Online legal forms are

• easy to find,
• easy to access,
• and inexpensive. 

From a prenuptial to a power-of-attorney, sales and closing documents to landlord leases, virtually any form you have heard of, and many you have not, are available online.

But will online forms work for you?

The answer is “yes”, if you know how to use them. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by Kim Ezzell on 03.10.2008. CLICK to Leave a Comment »

Filed under: AAOA Forum, Forms

Editor’s No-Strings Trivia Challenge

Bad News…. Someone beat me at the game!

If you want to finish the game, just for fun (someone won my gift certificate) here are the rest of clues:

2.  Listen for the Eagle who stands guard in the woods nearby.

3.  “Simplify, simplify.”

4.  Kettlehole

If you must know the answer, Click Here.

Thanks for playing!  Want to do it again?

Be the first to guess this place:   _ _ _ _ _ _   _ _ _ _

and win a $25.00 gift certificate to your choice of: Starbucks, Target, Home Depot, Lowe’s, or OfficeMax.  

• I’ll post one clue each week for four weeks. 
• Look for the new clues on Fridays.  

If no one guesses correctly after the four clues, I get the certificate, and I RULE!  

Clue for Friday, March 14:

One if by land…

EDITOR’S CONTEST RULES

BY COMMENTING BELOW, YOU ARE ACKNOWLEDGING THAT YOU HAVE READ THESE RULES

1.  There can be only one … winner.  Our winner is determined as the first person to guess the correct answer.

2.  You must place guesses in the comments section at the bottom of THIS blog entry. Do not call or email - it doesn’t count.

3.  You can guess any number of times.

4.  I have designated the correct answer in advance. That is the only answer that will be accepted. Competing answers that fit some or all of the clues will not be considered.

5.  You cannot cheat. If you cheat, you will be disqualified. Cheating is any device you come up with that gives you an unfair advantage over other participants.  This includes, but is not limited to, loading your comments with piles of data that may also include the correct answer buried inside, like the phone book or city name directory, use of some superstatistical computer or program, any form of hacking, spying or other devious means. It is solely up to my discretion to determine if you cheated.    

6.  We must be able to mail you your prize. Once you have been identified as a winner, we will contact you via email to obtain your mailing address.  If we cannot contact you, or you do not provide the address or other information required by law within thirty days of request, the prize will be forfeited.  No other winner will be chosen.

7.  If I told you the answer before I posted this contest, or are an AAOA insider, you are disqualified.

8.  If your guess gets caught in the spam filter, or is otherwise lost in Internet limbo, that guess is disqualified.  Check the comment section to insure that your guess landed on the page.

9.  I’ll make an announcement on this Blog as soon as I read the right answer.  That may not be instantaneous to your answering.  I sleep, eat, and occasionally step away from the computers.

10.  Contest ends no later than seven days from the date the fourth clue is posted.

11.  This contest is void anywhere were it is illegal.

12.  This contest is terminated if computer or Internet glitches render it impossible.

Posted by Kim Ezzell on 03.10.2008. 18 Comments »

Filed under: AAOA Forum

What You Need to Know To Evaluate Income Property

Think you’ve found the latest hot-spot for investing in a rental property?

We asked Sperry Van Ness National Director of Multifamily David Baird to share some tips on evaluating deals in commercial real estate:

Job Growth

“You should always look first at job growth in the area,” David says. “Is there something to draw renters to your area?”

New Construction

After that, look at construction. “The construction industry has everything to do with rental prices.”

Posted by Kim Ezzell on 03.09.2008. 1 Comment »

Filed under: AAOA Forum, Property Sales