What You Should Know About Rental Properties and Tax Deductions

January 5, 2016 by Amanda Rose Keller Posted in Simply Residential News Tagged Investors, owner

Rental properties offer bigger tax deductions and tax breaks than most other investments. For this reason, we find that it’s important to keep our owners up to speed on what they need to know for tax season. Here are a few of the things you may be able to deduct as a landlord or rental property owner:

word-cloud-v2_for_web

At Simply Residential, we know that investing in a rental property is a solid financial decision, and we encourage our owners to fully take advantage of the benefits they’re entitled to as property
investors. As we say quite frequently, we have a wide variety of financial professionals, including some awesome CPAs, that we’re happy to recommend.

If you’re curious about which of these deductions apply to you, let us know! If we don’t know the answer, we’ll connect you with someone you can trust to walk you through it!

Ready to learn more? Call us today at 952.893.9900 or email Amanda at amanda@simplyres.com.

In Focus: How Can Finance Professionals Benefit From a Partnership with Simply Residential?

December 29, 2015 by Amanda Rose Keller Posted in Property Management Blog Tagged Partners, Property Management

Finance Professionals Property Management Partnership Blog Image One little known fact about the property management industry is that we work very well with finance professionals. It’s a natural partnership. Often, your clients will have investment properties they need managed, and we’re happy to help. Alternatively, there are various benefits our financial partners experience through our working relationship.
Before we get into those benefits, take a second to consider the following:

Does your client have one or more investment properties?
Are they realizing their full ROI?
Are your clients self-managing one or more rental properites?
Do you want referrals from a company you trust?
Do you have a personal relationship with a property management company that benefits you and your clients?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, but no to the last question, you may be missing opportunities to help your clients experience the maximum return on their real estate investments, while building a trusted referral network for yourself.

There are many areas to consider when advising your clients to use a property management company. One of the most overlooked areas is tax preparation. How many times have you had to track down bits and pieces of information to accurately track your client’s income from their rental property? We make that part simple for our finance partners by providing comprehensive and complete year-end tax information to all of our clients. We also make ourselves available to answer any questions that may come up during or after the tax process. We keep detailed records so we’re ready for anything.

Another key benefit for our financial partners is an additional service we like to provide for our clients. If one of our owners has a property that isn’t cash flowing, we refer them to a financial advisor we trust to help them refinance and make the most out of their investment. Those referrals often turn into much more than refinancing, as the guidance of our trusted partners remains crucial to our clients.

Are you ready to see how you can benefit from a partnership with Simply Residential? We’re here to help, so contact us today!

If you want to learn more about partnering with Simply Residential, visit our partner page or contact me at 952-715-6186 or via email at amanda@simplyres.com!

A Landlords Guide to Upcycling

November 6, 2015 by Amanda Rose Keller Posted in Property Management Blog Tagged Investors, Landlords, owner Leave a comment

Upcycling is the art of taking old, unfashionable materials and turning them into something much more chic and contemporary with little to no cost to the owner. Not only this, but upcycling can help keep your property looking modern without having to purchase new furniture every few years. Here’s a quick and handy guide to everything you need to know about upcycling and how it could help save you money while improving the value of your real estate investment.

Furniture:

With furniture, upcycling can be as easy as sanding down some rough edges or applying a new cover to a battered old sofa. But, if you really want to make an impression with prospective tenants, don’t be afraid to get creative. Kitsch art décor can give your property a bohemian vibe while costing you just a few dollars in new materials. Retro patterns and unvarnished wood are great ways to give your property an earthy sixties vibe. Combine this with modern accouterments and you have a property young professionals would die for. The best thing is, providing they’re still in working condition, you can always upcycle your furniture again the next year to keep it up to date.

Fixtures:

If you’re worried that your property may be too old-fashioned for the kind of tenants you want, then upcycling could provide the answer. An old lamp can quickly be turned into something hip with just a little imagination and some easy to acquire materials. Don’t be afraid to use your imagination, taking ideas from the plethora of upcycling blogs on the internet and making them your own. Old fans can become chandeliers, jam jars can become quirky lightbulbs and old advertisement signs can become a piece of contemporary art with just a few simple twists. It may sound like a cliché, but your imagination really is the only limit.

Exterior:

When it comes to upcycling the exterior of your home, there are even more options available. Without needing to worry about your old garden features appearing weather-worn, you can begin to really test your creative skills. Water fountains are surprisingly easy to make from old materials, yet they add character to your garden and ensure an interesting collection of wildlife all year round. Meanwhile, the addition of a garden swing or hammock made from indoor materials will give your property the kind of personal flair that insists prospective tenants take a seat and never leave.

Summary

Upcycling is just one aspect of your property that you have ultimate control over. Don’t be afraid to play around with aspects of your property, but be sure to limit the level of personal touches. Try not to make the unit too orientated to what you like. It’s important that you bear the tenant in mind when setting up your property. As long as your upcycling serves a practical or subtle stylistic purpose, it could go on saving you money tenant after tenant.

5 Common Property Management Myths, Busted!

October 28, 2015 by Amanda Rose Keller Posted in Property Management Blog

Due to a lack of awareness about what property management companies do and don’t do, the property management industry is ripe with common myths and misconceptions. To help clarify, we’ve come up with a list of common myths and the realities behind them!

Myth #1: You won’t cover your expenses if you have to pay a property manager.
False! We only charge 10% of rents collected and never charge the first month’s rent up front. We make sure our clients’ properties are cash-flowing and if they aren’t we have a wide variety of finance professionals in our network who can help.

Myth #2: Renting out your home makes it harder to sell.
Wrong! Not only does renting your property help you cover the costs of your investment while you’re trying to sell, having a tenant in the unit helps ensure that it’s well maintained and up to the standards of your potential buyers. Plus, at Simply Residential, we partner with the best realtors around, so you can be sure you’re being well represented.

Myth #3: Renters will destroy your property.
That’s not true! In many cases, having a renter helps you keep your rental property in good shape because there’s someone there to notice when things aren’t right.

Myth #4: Involving a third party makes renting out your property more complicated.
False! We say it all the time — we keep property management simple for our clients. The main reason many property owners work with management companies in the first place is to avoid all the complications that go along with self-managing. We handle the day-to-day contact and rent collection, you just have to sit back and collect your earnings.

Myth #5: Not having a contract with your property management company is ideal.
Absolutely not. A legal contract is essential to building trust and holding your property management company legally accountable for their actions or inaction. It adds an extra level of peace of mind to a sometimes stressful situation. Plus, it helps each party clearly outline their expectations and responsibilities in a way that can be easily referenced to clear up any confusion.

Do you have questions about our property management services and what makes us different? Send me an email and let’s chat!

3 Steps to a Rent-Ready Property [Infographic]

October 14, 2015 by Amanda Rose Keller Posted in Property Management Blog Tagged Landlords, Maintenance, owner, Pricing Strategy

Thinking about renting out your property? There are a lot of considerations that need to be made before your property will be ready for a new tenant. The most important things to remember are to determine your needs first, to evaluate the condition of your property, and to document everything.

Working with a property management company eliminates almost all of this responsibility for you as the property owner. To find out how we can help you get rent-ready, and stay that way, contact us today!

Fall Is Here, Are You Ready?

October 6, 2015 by Amanda Rose Keller Posted in Property Management Blog, Simply Residential News Tagged Landlords, Maintenance, Simply Residential Property Management

Is your rental property ready for fall?

As summer comes to an end, Minnesotans begin the process of preparing for the fall and winter seasons. Much of that preparation involves buying new back-to-school clothes, sealing up the windows, and making sure that all hats, coats and other winter gear are up to snuff. With all that preparation, homeowners often overlook the needs of their home due to the changing weather.

For example, while changing leaves are stunning for sight-seeing, they’re an absolute nightmare for your gutters. If you have a rental property, the last thing you’re going to want to do is come home from watching the changing colors to clean dead leaves out of the gutters. Luckily, when you work with Simply Residential Property Management, these things don’t need to be a concern. We offer this service at a nominal charge as part of our maintenance services.

Along with cleaning your gutters, it’s also necessary to blow out your sprinkler system. While it isn’t necessarily a difficult task, it can certainly be a burden to take the time out of your day to do this amidst all of the back to school hubbub. Are you going to want to take a day off of work to take care of this? In our experience, it’s easier and more effective for us to perform this service for our clients. After all, what is your time worth?

Lastly, it’s important to remember to check your furnace before the cold weather sets in. Unlike your air conditioner, you can check your furnace at any time and at any temperature. Don’t get caught off guard and end up with cold and angry tenants! We offer this service to our clients on a yearly basis to ensure they’re always ready for the season. You can have any of these services on their own, or we can do an annual maintenance walk-through to help you get a better understanding of what maintenance issues may come up in the next year. As we say goodbye to summer and usher in a beautiful Minnesota fall, don’t forget to consider the special needs of your rental property.

If you’d like us to take these tasks off of your plate, give us a call: 952-893-9900!

Ethics in Property Management: What You Need to Know

September 16, 2015 by Amanda Rose Keller Posted in Property Management Blog Tagged Landlords, Legal, Property Management

If you’ve been following the news this last week, you may have noticed that the property management industry has been getting some less than flattering coverage. Unfortunately, in a burgeoning industry, when one company behaves unethically it can tarnish the reputation and perception of the industry as a whole. Luckily, cases of bad business practices aren’t entirely common among property management companies.

As a consumer, it can be hard to decipher which companies are acting in your best interests, or strictly in their own. However, it is endlessly important to ensure that the property management company you choose to work with not only abides by legal standards, but high ethical and moral standards as well. It comes down to the idea that just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should. There are several reasons why this rings true across industries and relationships, the risks of associating yourself with unethical or unreliable vendors or organizations are very real.

Guilt by Association

When you choose to do business with a company, especially when it comes to property management where the company represents you as the homeowner, it’s important to ensure that their organizational values align with your own. In business, as in real life, guilt by association is a real thing. Working with a property management company with questionable business practices is a lot like washing a brand new red shirt with your white socks. The red from the shirt bleeds all over the white socks, changing the way they appear to others. In this instance, low ethical standards are the red dye. You could potentially tarnish your reputation if you employ a management company that isn’t exactly on the up-and-up.

Financial Risks

Your home is one of the biggest investments you’ll make in your life. As with anything that you spend a considerable amount of emotional and financial resources on, you shouldn’t hand it over to a company you can’t trust. Even if they offer guarantees and assurances, chances are unless they abide by a strong ethical code, they’ll find a way to legally get around it in the interest of making more profit. Be sure to do your homework when choosing a property management company to work with, evaluate their claims and do some background research.

Additionally, hidden fees and up-front charges are often the hallmark of questionable business practices. When you’re working with a service-based company, it doesn’t make much sense to pay them up-front with the promise of continued dedication to your property. If all the money from the transaction is made up-front, where’s the incentive to truly care for your investment?

Safety, Protection, and Trust

When a business only holds themselves accountable to their interpretation of legal standards without showing much concern for the ethical implications of their actions, it’s ultimately the consumer who suffers. A huge part of doing business with another person or company is the element of trust. Companies that don’t have strict ethical standards simply aren’t trustworthy.

For the most part, laws are put into place for the protection of the consumer. However, laws are often up for interpretation. There are also some things that are technically legal but truly unethical. Working with a property management company that dedicates itself to the best interests of their clients is absolutely essential — there is a lot at stake on the part of the homeowner.

At Simply Residential Property Management, we dedicate our time to providing the best service we can to our clients, while representing them and their best interests. Integrity is a key pillar in the foundation of our organization and we take pride in the fact that we work well within legal and ethical standards. If you want to learn more about the way Simply operates, or you want to hear more about the services we provide, I’m here to help! Send me an email and let’s chat: amanda@simplyres.com.