Lord Ember Stone's Quest

There are many different ways a landlord can advertise his / her rentals property. The kind of advertising that works best depends on numerous factors that include property characteristics, location, landlord’s budget, and whether he / she is in a hurry to rent. There are many combinations of advertising methods landlords and property managers use to achieve the best results, some of which are as under.

1. ‘For Rent’ Signs

The most common method of advertising is the putting up of a ‘For Rent’ sign, either in front of the building, or in one of the windows. A relatively cost-free method, it works best if a lot of foot and motor traffic goes past the building. It also helps if the building is as attractive as the rental unit.

2. Advertising in the Newspapers

As much of a tradition as ‘For Rent’ signs, newspaper ads are also available online, if the paper has an online version. Many potential tenants begin their search for a place to rent by scanning the classified ads in newspapers, while, out-of-towners can log on online to the local paper from wherever they are. Ads should always be placed in papers having many residential listings, as it has been found they work best.

And, they should be targeted to produce the right kind of prospective tenants i.e. if a landlord primarily rents out to college students, the best bet is to advertise in the campus newspaper or put up a ‘For Rent’ sign in the housing office. To play it safe, it is also a good idea to list the rental in a general newspaper, as well.

3. Neighborhood Flyers

As well, a landlord can post ads on neighbor hood public bulletin boards to be found at grocery stores, Laundromats or coffeehouses, complete with tear-off strips listing their phone number. However, if the property is upscale, this is not the best way to advertise for it, though there might be takers at the high-end gym down the street.

4. Listing Online

Online rental services have mushroomed like crazy in recent years, from national in scope, to regional. After finding a residential rental listing for your area, you can add your property to it.

5. Home Or Apartment Finding Services

Home or apartment-finding services are very popular in some areas, with landlords paying to list their properties, though sometimes it is the tenants themselves, who pay the fee when the unit is rented.

6. Spreading the Word

Small-time landlords instead of advertising widely and screening potential tenants, find it easier to market their rentals through word-of-mouth i.e. telling friends, colleagues, neighbours, and current tenants. After all, people already living on your property will invite decent neighbours. So, when a property becomes vacant, simply send a note around to every one, asking them to tell friends or relatives about the available apartment.

7. Real Estate Offices

Many real estate offices handle rentals, but of course, there is a fee involved.

8. Property Management Firms

Going through a property management firm is the easiest way to do it. They handle advertising, showing tenants around, as well as, selecting tenants, collecting rents, and interacting with residents during tenancies (handling repairs, etc. etc.). A paid service, it is for landlords with large rental properties and no time to spare.

Next Steps

Once, the advertising has been done, the next step is to create a rental application and select a tenant. When advertising vacancies and selecting and rejecting applicants, read up on the Fair Housing Act, so as to avoid any inadvertent lawsuits. Evaluate prospective tenants by thoroughly checking out their rental applications, legal residency forms, and tenant consent forms for contacting references, performing credit checks and criminal and background checks.

The only way to avoid unnecessary litigation is by screening prospective tenants and conducting background checks.

With large numbers of Americans now looking for safer investments for their long term wealth building programs. Most want higher returns than they can get from putting their hard earned money into Bank CD’s, many are seeking information about Tax Liens. Investing in Tax Lien/Deed certificates will enable you to realize safe, annualized returns all guaranteed by the United States Government.

The collection of Real Estate property taxes is a major priority in every taxing district in the USA, as all home owners know all to well. If a county were unable to collect those taxes in a timely ashion, it would be unable to provide the public with important services such as the police and fire departments and schools for our children. To avoid this problem, all counties in 26 states across the US will place a Tax Lien on any property with delinquent property taxes and then sells the delinquent tax debt to investors. The county gets their money, the tax delinquent taxpayer gets more time to pay their already past due property taxes and the investor gets a Real Estate secured high yielding investment.

Tax Liens are often called the “Fort Knox” of investments. Government issued Tax Lien certificates are a safe investment for the following reasons. The constant rise and fall of interest rates do not have any affect whatsoever on Tax Lien Certificates because the interest rates of Tax Lien Certificates are mandated by State law. Basically, you are investing in the Government. When they have collected the past due taxes, you will send them the Tax Lien certificate and in return they will send you a check covering the money you paid for the certificate plus any outstanding interest.

The ups and downs of the stock markets will have no affect whatsoever on the rate of return. Each State has a mandated length of time for the delinquent taxes to be paid. If they are not made current during this time period, the property is sold to pay the debt. The following are examples from three states showing the lucrative business of Tax Liens: 16% per year in all 15 counties in Arizona, 18% per year in all 67 counties in Florida, 50% per year in all 254 counties in Texas.

Most properties will have an outstanding mortgage. Generally, the lender will pay these delinquent taxes before it gets to the foreclosure stage. The certificates can also be sold or transferred at a discount before the due date allowing the investor to make a smaller profit on the certificate should there be a need for cash for whatever reason.

The main advantage to the new or smaller investor is that there are many thousands of Tax Liens/Deeds for sale at every budget level. In the old days, you would have to travel thousands of miles across the country to auctions if you wanted to buy Tax Liens/Deeds. Now you can do it from the comfort of your own home using the internet.