Winston Rowe & Associates provides commercial financing for apartment investors. They have prepared this article to offer some advice to investors thinking about investing in apartment buildings. Covering some of the top mistakes they see new and experienced investors make when owning and investing in apartment properties.
If you would like to speak to an apartment building specialist at Winston Rowe & Associates, you can contact them at 248-2546-2243 or visit them on line at
http://www.winstonrowe.com
Common Mistakes Apartment Investors Make:
Not Raise Rents:
One of the biggest mistakes we see investors make is not raising rents over the years. This is especially true for investors that manage their own properties. What Winston Rowe & Associates has seen is apartment owners get comfortable with the tenants that are in place and do not want to increase rents out of fear that the tenants will move out. What they do not know is most tenants expect rents to go up over time, and even if they shop for another apartment they will find that your rents are at market levels.
Not Understanding Actual Operating Expenses:
Not keeping an eye on expenses is another big mistake apartment owners make. What happens with a lot of apartment owners is they increase rates over time, steadily going over current market rates. Owners get comfortable with their insurance agent, landscaper, cleaning company for example, and never take the time to shop around for better rates.
Disregard Maintenance Issues:
This is pretty obvious to people that do not own a property, but once things go into disrepair, good tenants do not want to live there. So the property begins to attract lower quality tenants and eventually the property cannot pay for needed repairs. Many maintenance activities do not cost a lot of money, and by keeping your property looking and functioning well, you will attract quality tenants at higher market rents.
Not Inspecting Your Property.
A lot of owners do not perform regular inspections of their properties. Some do not even visit the properties, and some that do will just drive through, or maybe do a quick walk around the property. Schedule a complete property inspection once or twice a year in addition to your regular checks. Many times this will uncover maintenance or resident issues that would otherwise go unchecked.
Let Someone Else Handle It:
Never believe that your property manager will handle everything for you. Many owners will work hard to buy a property, get a property management company in place, and let things go. Please don’t this. Keep tabs on everything because you are the one that is bearing all of the risk in the investment. You do not have to be there every day, handling the daily operations, but keep on top of things overall.
Winston Rowe & Associates has an excellent knowledge based investor resource for commercial real estate valuation and market analysis located at:
http://www.winstonrowe.com/Free_Real_Estate_Resources.html
Winston Rowe & Associates has a core focus on building long-term relationships, delivering exceptional and individualized customer service, and positioning loan products that best achieve their client’s goals. Their preemptive problem-solving approach is perfect for clients with credit and time sensitive issues.
Winston Rowe & Associates
31408 Harper Ave
Suite 147
Saint Clair Shores MI 48082
248-246-2243
Winston Rowe & Associates has no upfront free commercial loans in the following states.
Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, Washington DC, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming
