Archive for the ‘Homes For Rent’ Category

Properties for rent in Tampa, Florida will still face rental and occupancy challenges in 2010 despite expected declines in rental inventory because of continuing job losses, according to analysts working for Marcus & Millichap.

The analysts predicted that apartment rents in Tampa will drop further by four percent even if demand will rise slightly. The average vacancy rate is expected to rise to 10.8 percent from the previous month’s rate of 10.5 percent.

The average apartment rent is also expected to fall this year to $767 from $797 in 2009. Rents have fallen by about 10 percent from the average rent of $843 in 2008.

Over the same periods, vacancy rates have grown sharply from 6.9 percent in 2007, when a lot of condo conversions occurred, to 8.7 percent the following year. The months between 2008 and 2009 experienced drastic vacancy increases as the period accumulated nearly 180 basis points in rate growth.

In the Marcus & Millichap study, which surveyed 544 major rental markets across the U.S. for its 2010 apartment report, Tampa again ranked 40th based on economic performance. It was preceded by Fort Lauderdale in the ranking, but it performed better than West Palm Beach. Jacksonville ranked the lowest among Florida markets.

Washington, D.C. remains the strongest market in the U.S. for multifamily properties for rent despite a strong competition from San Diego, which surpassed four places in the ranking to become the second strongest.

According to real estate analysts, the U.S. capital is expected to emerge from the downturn much ahead of other metro areas. San Diego, meanwhile, is expected to continue experiencing lower vacancy rates and higher rental rates.

One concern that could affect rental property recovery is the shadow rental sector – comprised by properties not formally registered or not yet approved as rentals. Fannie Mae has been planning to allow distressed owners of Fannie-guaranteed homes to rent the properties for up to one year as they find out ways to reorganize their finances and weigh their housing options. This could further beef up the shadow market.

Investors looking to enter the property rental sector can explore student housing, Marcus & Millichap advised. In 2009, student housing exceeded rental expectations and surpassed apartment rental performance, posting a nationwide vacancy rate of only 7 to 7.5 percent.

Additionally, investors can also consider properties for rent in Tampa, where the median price in rental communities have dropped from $58,438 per apartment unit in 2008 to $54,671 per apartment unit in 2009.

Homes for rent in Albany are being neglected by landlords and banks as they lay on each other the responsibility of maintaining the rental properties.

Because of low rents, landlords cannot collect enough money to make repairs, even emergency repairs like burst pipes. Banks that foreclose on rental properties also refuse to make repairs, arguing that the properties have become nonperforming assets.

One rental building in Arbor Hill facing foreclosure is the multi-unit apartment complex at 299 Clinton, which is owned by nonprofit affordable housing entity St. Joseph’s Housing Corporation.

Due to financial difficulties, St. Joseph’s defaulted on its loan payments for its rental buildings in Arbor Hill, including 299 Clinton. Mortgage lender JP Morgan Chase Bank was forced to file foreclosure actions against St. Joseph’s Housing.

In December 2008, lawyer William Keniry was appointed by a New York Supreme Court judge as receiver for the Clinton property and other buildings owned by St. Joseph’s which are in foreclosure.

But despite the receivership, tenants of 299 Clinton and other buildings failed to get the repairs and maintenance that they needed. Keniry explained that St. Joseph’s did not have enough money to pay for repairs and that the rents collected were not enough to repair the homes for rent.

Keniry added that JP Morgan Chase also refused to provide funds for repairs, stating that the rental buildings were nonperforming assets. According to housing advocates like Roger Markovics of advocacy group United Tenants of Albany, disputes between landlords and mortgage lenders have become common during the economic downturn.

Markovics said that oftentimes landlords facing foreclosures have given up and therefore have no more interest in or money for making repairs. Similarly, bank lawyers make arguments about the lack of accountability of banks for needed repairs and maintenance work.

In December last year, St. Joseph’s Housing filed documents in court for bankruptcy protection to block JP Morgan from auctioning off the rental buildings. Martha Hobbs, head of St. Joseph’s, also blamed the receiver for not winterizing the buildings and for the worsening of the conditions of the buildings.

But according to housing advocates, St. Joseph’s Housing has a history of not being able to maintain its properties and properly screening renters. In response, St. Joseph’s argued that it cannot raise rents to a level where it can collect enough to be able to make needed repairs and maintenance on its homes for rent.

Houses for rent in Northern San Joaquin Valley in California are being offered at discounted rental rates and with lots of move-in incentives because of fierce competition among landlords.

A lot of apartment rentals in Modesto are being offered at only $400 per month, with the first months free for renters signing one-year lease agreements.

According to RealFacts, the apartment vacancy rate in Modesto over the past three months was 10 percent, among the highest rates in California. The average apartment rent in the 28 biggest apartment buildings in Modesto has gone down to $816, not including further discounts given such as free rent.

At the Meadowlakes Apartments, two-bedroom apartment units are being rented out at $695, a 19-percent drop from their usual rate of $830. Wanda Francek, manager of the 196-unit Meadowlakes, said she had to offer deep discounts because of the rising vacancy in the complex.

There is also another trend being observed in San Joaquin – tenants are now moving out of apartment rentals and moving into rental homes. Because of plenty of cheap foreclosures purchased and turned into rentals by investors, there are now a lot of houses for rent in the area.

Over the past 3 years, over 16,400 homes in Stanislaus County were foreclosed, including 7,800 foreclosures in the Modesto area. Many of these homes were sold by banks and other lenders to investors who converted them into rental homes.

In Stanislaus County, the number of rental units has risen by almost 6 percent from around 57,500 units in 2005 to over 60,800 rental units in 2008.

Ben Sweet, manager of Sweet Properties in Modesto, said that apartments and other multifamily properties have suffered because of the increased number of single-family homes that can be rented for the same amount.

Sweet said that he has reduced the rent for a two-bedroom house to $575 and a three-bedroom house to $950 and offers a 50-percent discount on the rent for the first month.

According to Sweet, rates for rental homes have gone down by five to 10 percent over the past year. A three-bedroom house with two bathrooms now rent for only around $1,100, down from around $1,250 during the boom.

Bigger houses are even tougher to rent out, according to rental managers. Houses for rent offered above $1,350 are not being rented. These big houses were easily rented out at $1,600 during the boom.

If you have been considering properties for rent as alternative to buying a home, you should know that there are other fees that you might need to consider aside from the monthly rental fee alone. By doing so, you get a clear picture of the total cost involved.
Considering the situation in the housing industry [...]

If you are planning to buy and operate housing homes for rent, you need to learn from the mistakes of other landlords who have experienced huge losses in their rental investments.
Oftentimes, first-time rental investors rush into buying rental properties which are seemingly bargain-priced, but in reality in need of costly repairs.
To avoid losses [...]

Commercial properties for rent have become great opportunities for Oregon businessman Chuck Shepard during the downturn.
Shepard said that there have been business opportunities he was able to take advantage of because of the recession. He explained further that he would not have been able to afford the investment costs required during normal times when [...]

Vacancy rates for both homes for rent and homes for sale have been increasing in many cities in the country, according to a study made by forbes.com.
Forbes.com studied Census Bureau homeowner and rental vacancy rates in the nation’s 75 biggest metro areas in the first quarter and ranked these areas based on their average [...]

Landlords in Boston have been experiencing high vacancies as the number of apartment rentals increase across the city, even in higher-end neighborhoods.
Based on MLS records, the number of apartment rentals has nearly doubled to 535 units in Boston and has almost tripled to 149 units in Back Bay, an upscale commercial and residential neighborhood [...]

Renters may relate to the exhaustion, frustration and disappointment over houses for rent that are very poor in quality. Renters should be able to live in a house that would give them a good quality of life, and not just some space to sleep in. One renter could spend a year in looking for the [...]

The economic recession has been continually hurting the country. Particularly, the housing industry has been experiencing the effects of the recession. Homeowners are not able to pay their home mortgages. This has extended to renters and landlords, who are also suffering the bad effects of the economy. The homes for rent market continued to crawl [...]