Finding tenants to fill your rental can be frustrating. Even tougher if your trying to manage you’re rental part time, while working another full time job, have a family, soccer practice, or all of those combined...  Here are a few ways to improve your vacancy rate.

• Rule number one. Be tenacious.
• Use Free marketing
• Use some “almost-free” marketing.
• Section 8… not as scary as you think.

In these financial times, getting a mortgage is even harder than ever. Don’t give up hope. All it takes is a little perseverance and a lot of cold calling to local lenders.  Knowing how the mortgage industry really works can point you in the right direction.  Here’s what we’re talking about:

• National Lenders vs. Local Banks
• Who are Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? and what do they have to do with me?
• What is a Portfolio Lender?
• I’ve heard of HomePath, is that a different type of loan or a lender?

If you plan on being a buy and hold investor, you need a plan for minimizing costs associated with property maintenance and repair. As a landlord, your goal should be to provide a clean, safe, functional house for you tenants that generates an acceptable cash-flow stream.

The following are a few tactics you should consider which will help you reduce re-occurring maintenance and repair costs. My real estate partners and I invest in Arizona, so some of these principles might not apply for your geographic location, but most will. Also keep in mind that we focus on lower middle income single family housing that generates cash-flow, not high-end furnished rentals or multiple unit rentals. Some of the principals don’t apply if you’re trying to attract tenants interested in luxury or posh rentals.

There is no doubt, that you don’t have to look any further than the MLS to find good deals on investments homes. The Arizona Regional Listing Service (the listing database used by licensed Real Estate Agents) has thousands of bank listings and under priced short-sales. BPO agents do what they can to assess the true value of the property. But let’s face it, it takes years of experience to be able look at a distressed property and accurately estimate the cost of repairs. That particular skill is a mandatory for wholesaler or flippers. No so for the traditional real estate agent. As a result, the MLS offers many more buying opportunities for investors (at least those looking for a deal or ‘steal’) than in years past.

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