Best Practices for Property Management Agreements
A property owner can choose to manage their own properties, or they can choose to hire a professional property manager. While the property manager option will obviously cost more up front, it can provide significant savings in terms of time and effort for the owner over time. All too often though, we hear stories of […]
Should I Use an LLC to Purchase Rental Property?
Most of our borrowers set up a Limited Liability Company (LLC) to purchase their investment property. An LLC is a type of business structure that may include individuals, corporations, other LLCs, and foreign entities. Why do our borrowers tend to operate through an LLC? Operating through an LLC provides protection for the investor’s personal assets […]
To Buy and Hold or Fix and Flip?
The age-old question for real estate investors is: should I buy a property to rent out (“buy and hold”) or should I purchase it, fix it up, and sell it (“fix and flip”)? Buy and holds are a long-term investment whereas fix and flips are a short-term investment. Fix and flips require much more concentrated […]
Spring Pest Prevention
Spring has sprung, and with that comes an influx of annoying critters—both inside and outside the home. How can those pests best be safely controlled? Tips for Keeping Pests at Bay Indoors The first step to protecting the interior of the home from pests it to make sure their access to the interior is restricted. […]
Refinance Your Rental Property the Right Way
You are ready to refinance that rental property and have lined up a lender. The lender sends you a document request list and lets you know to expect a call from an appraiser to arrange an inspection on your property. Everything should go swimmingly…until it doesn’t. While we can’t claim we’ve seen it all, we […]
Terms to Consider Including in Your Lease Agreement
While no lease agreement can contemplate every possible scenario that might arise, we have collected a list of terms a lease agreement might be missing that are worthy of consideration. Please note that we are not suggesting that you should include any of these terms; this is simply a compilation of ideas that we came […]
Worst-Case Scenario Planning for Landlords
Some landlords, through a combination of excellent planning with a little bit of luck thrown in for good measure, are fortunate to have smooth experiences with their tenants. Most landlords, though, will find themselves with some kind of issue(s) to contend with along the way—whether it be vacancy issues, problematic tenants, persistent maintenance issues, or […]
Avoiding and Addressing Water Issues in Baltimore Rental Properties
Baltimore County and Baltimore City are both serviced by Baltimore City in terms of the provision of water. Baltimore City’s responsibilities to Baltimore County also include water billing and maintenance and repairs of the water system. Accordingly, the information below relates to water service in both the city and the county. In Baltimore, water accounts […]
Keys to Improving Your Credit Score
We are often asked by borrowers and prospective borrowers (1) how they can improve their credit score and (2) how quickly that improvement will be reflected on their credit report. The second question is not an easy one to answer, as different strategies for improving credit can impact the improvement in credit scoring faster than […]
Best Practices for Selecting a Property Management Company
We recently authored a guide on best practices for selecting tenants. Just as that process is fraught with potential pitfalls, so is the process of selecting a third-party property management company if the landlord decides she does not want to self-manage. Making a good decision about selecting a property management company requires asking the right […]
