How a Real Estate Agent can help with Rental Properties

Finding tenants for your rental property can be time consuming and stressful. Using a Real Estate Agent can help make the process easier, here is a list of the things i can help you with.

Market Value- Will do a Comparative Market Analysis of rental properties in the area. Doing a CMA will help get the highest rent possible but not price the property too high that your rental sits on the market for months.

Market the Property- Set the property up on a Multiple Listing Service, Bright MLS. The MLS is accessed by thousands of Real Estate Agents in PA. Promote the property on Zillow, Realtor.com, Craiglist, BelaVoraHomes, Downingtown Real Estate Blogspot, at our Coldwell Banker Preferred office meetings and market to my large Database/Network.

Showing Times- This is a service we use for scheduling showing appointments. You will get notified each time an appointment had been booked. The service also provides feedback from the agent that showed the property.

Lead Follow Up- Will follow up with all leads on the phone and do a basic screening to see if they are good potential tenants. We don't want any unnecessary showing appointments if a lead is not a good candidate or not quite ready to move. Especially if your property is currently rented and occupied by a tenant.

 Showings- After i have done a basic phone screening i will arrange arrange and attend all showing appointments at the property with the prospective tenants.

Rental Application-A rental application is different than a lease. I like to have all tenants fill out the form called "Pennsylvania Association of Realtor" also known a PAR form. This from will give information on the tenants income, household information etc.

Pay Stubs/Offer Letter- I like to collect two recent pay stubs from tenants and review. Sometimes a tenant make be relocating and starting in a new job therefore will not have recent pay stubs. In this scenario i will request an offer letter and review.

Tenant Screening/Background Checks- Our office subscribes to National Tenant Network. Doing a  background check and credit checks using NTN will help determine if the information the tenant fills out on an application is accurate. The NTN will show the tenants credit score, any foreclosures, criminal background, defaults on payments, child support, credit card debt etc.

Draft a Lease Agreement- Once a tenant has been found i will prepare the lease with all necessary clauses etc. and send for signatures.

Walk Through- After we have a signed lease i will arrange the walk thorough with the tenant and hand over the keys.

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Bela Vora, REALTOR®,

Coldwell Banker Preferred 

390 Waterloo Blvd, Exton, PA 19341.

Cell: (484) 947 3127

Office: 610 363 6006

Owners of rental property...are you a discriminatory landlord?

We all believe we are fair and could never discriminate, so it is often a revelation to understand what could be considered discriminatory.  Also, it may be understood that licensed professionals like Realtors have to worry about laws, but if you own rental property and advertise for a tenant - on the internet or print media or even a flyer posted at a local grocery store - the Fair Housing Laws apply to you - the landlord.

Find the National Association of Realtors Fair Housing guideline here.  
Here is a pdf of - The Responsibilities of Owners of Real Property under the PENNSYLVANIA HUMAN RELATIONS ACT of October 27, 1955, P.L. 744,

Your local townships and counties may have zoning ordinances - for example, some require Certificate of Occupancy before every rental....some may have  a maximum number of people that can occupy the premises, some require permits to rent to students etc etc.  Please check with your local authority for more information.  

The Pennsylvania Association of Realtors official lease document also reflect the laws.  Landlords need to read and understand the lease.  It has details like - Maximum allowed security deposit is 2 months rent in the first year (including pet deposit).  The deposit is held in escrow by landlord, but belongs to tenant and must be returned within 30 days of the end of the lease term.  Or rules related to handicap requirements or service animals.  Please pay special attention to early termination of lease since that comes up all the time.   

As always, reach out if I can be of assistance.  

Bela Vora, R3ALTOR
Coldwell Banker Preferred - Exton Real Estate.
Office: 610 363 6006; Cell: (484) 947 3127

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Real Estate Investment Ratios

Yes, It is a great time to invest in real estate.  But what is a good real estate investment?

Well, it depends....on your objective, your capacity to bear risk, your time frame, amount of time and effort you are willing to put in, how diversified your investments are,  what return are you getting elsewhere....

Some Investment ratios that may help in your assessment.

Capitalization Rate 

CAP Rate = Net Operating Income/Estimated Property Value

Net Operating Income is Gross Income less Vacancy rate and Operating expenses like maintenance, taxes, insurance, utilities, property management etc.  A CAP rate by itself may not be very useful  but it helps to compare purchase price of different income producing properties.  If the property can be bought at a great value, or if vacancy rates can minimized,  CAP rates will be high.  Opportunities exist when CAP rates appear low - but better management, improvement or efficiencies can increase Net Operating Income.  

Gross Rent Multiplier 

GRM = Sales Price/Potential Gross Income.

This does not account for expenses, so helps with comparing income producing properties with similar expenses.  Generally speaking, prime locations have higher GRMs.  One can estimate the value of an income property by comparing GRMs of recent sales of similar properties.  Does not account for expenses, so best to use GRM along with CAP rate.

Cash on Cash Return

Cash on Cash Return = Before tax return Cash flow/Cash invested*100

This compares real estate to other income producing investments.  Before Tax Cash Flow is Net Operating Income less Annual Debt Service(Mortgage + Interest).  Remember this does not account for investor;s tax situation.  

Real estate Investments have 2 unique features - possibility of appreciation over long term and tax deduction benefit which have not been factored into the above calculations.  

Hope these ratios helps your real estate investment strategy.  For a more personal consultation, call 

Bela Vora, REALTOR®, 
Coldwell Banker Preferred - Exton Real Estate.
Office: 610 363 6006; Cell: (484) 947 3127
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