My Landlord Insurance Blog

Builders Risk Insurance

Saturday, December 17th, 2011 | Builders Risk, California, Detroit, Flint, Georgia, Illinios, Indiana, Insurance, Landlord Insurance, Manufactured Home, Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Real Estate, Vacant Home Insurance | No Comments

Example of a Builders Risk policy offered by our agency.

Tags: arizona, Detroit, georgia, homeowners insurance, homes, insurance, investment, Landlord Insurance, michigan, ohio, out of country landlord, out of state landlord, property, Real Estate, renters insurance, vacant, Vacant Home Insurance, vacant insurance, vacant property insurance

Unconventional Ways to Find Real Estate in Flint, Michigan

Friday, December 10th, 2010 | Flint, Insurance, Michigan, Mortgage, Real Estate | 1 Comment

If you’re a real estate agent in Michigan, you might think that times are tough. Slower markets than a few years ago and less clients can put any good landlord or agent in a difficult financial position. There are, however, some creative and unconventional ways to find real estate, which will see you weather the recessional storm with ease. Flint MI is the seventh largest city in Michigan – which means that if you’re new to real estate, it is small enough for you to find your footing, but large enough for you to have a wide and varied market.

Firstly you need an excellent marketing strategy. If you’re a good real estate agent, you will already have realised the potential of a diverse client base and target audience. A great way to get new clients is to run a seminar or talk of some kind in your local area. First time buyers often have lots of questions to ask, so they’ll be grateful of your advice and may even be potential new clients!

Keep business cards on you at all times – wherever you are, there could be a prospective client who will need your services. A magnetic car sign is also a great idea for those wishing to advertise their real estate website all over town. Once you’ve purchased the sign, you won’t need to spend any more on this marketing idea, so even if it only draws in a couple of clients, you won’t have lost out. It’s good to experiment with different strategies – as one approach won’t draw in 100% of your clients.

The population of Flint, Michigan is approaching 112,000, and average age of people living in Flint is just over 30 years of age. Your target market is out there. First-time buyers are itching to find a reliable, friendly real estate agent – all you have to do is market your services successfully and the clients will come to you. Why not check out some statistics for the Flint MI area online or in the local papers? It’s only through dedicated research of your target market, that you can begin to advertise your business accordingly. Whether you’re a landlord or an agent looking to sell a vacant home, apartment or condo, your marketing strategy will, more often than not, determine how successful your Michigan investment property or business can be.

Tags: home, Home Loan, homeowners insurance, insurance, investment, landlord, Landlord Insurance, mi, michigan, Mortgage, out of country landlord, out of state landlord, property, Real Estate

Reap the Rewards of Being a Good Landlord

Friday, December 10th, 2010 | Detroit, Landlord Insurance, Michigan, Real Estate | 1 Comment

Michigan is a great place to be a landlord, particularly when considering that for the third consecutive month this year, houses sold topped 10,000, with the average house price rising by 8.5% from last winter. If prices keep increasing in this way, your investment property will be worth even more as time goes by. For example, Hillsdale County has seen a 34.09% increase in the average house sale price, and Battle Creek and the Traverse area both saw over a 20% rise from time last year. It’s important to look at these statistics when deciding to buy and sell, but it’s also vital to look at your current situation. Many landlords buy and sell, filling their houses with tenants, half-heartedly – paying no attention to whether those tenants are happy or not.

Why is it important to keep your tenants happy? If you’re letting out an apartment in Michigan – whether it’s in Traverse City, Detroit or Lansing – your tenants are your cash flow. The main reason people let out property is to make money and invest in their financial future – but many people make the crucial mistake of finding tenants and then thinking they can sit back and let the money roll in. If you’ve ever had to unexpectedly replace tenants, you’ll know that it takes up both time and money. Your tenant is your customer, and although they will be living in your house or apartment, you need to keep them happy to reap the rewards.

Being a good landlord means maintaining your property. If anything needs to be fixed in the house, fix it right away. Trust your tenant with your property. If you’ve vetted them to begin with, they won’t want you strolling past their house every ten minutes to check what they’re up to.  If you refuse requests to upgrade, repaint or re-carpet a property (within reason) you are doing yourself no favours, seeing as you will have to do it to find new tenants anyway. If you’re getting confident and think that increasing the rent on your property in necessary, make sure that it is justified. If the tenant doesn’t want to pay the new amount, you will end up losing money looking for a new tenant anyway.

Although keeping your tenants happy is very important – you should never accept the first tenant that comes along. It would seem that filling a vacant property as soon as possible, regardless of the quality of your tenant(s) makes financial sense. On the other hand, you could lose out in the long run if you have to keep replacing lousy tenants.

Tags: Detroit, homes, investment, landlord, Landlord Insurance, mi, michigan, out of country landlord, out of state landlord, property, Real Estate, tenants insurance

Make Money – Investment Property in Detroit

Friday, December 10th, 2010 | Detroit, Insurance, Landlord Insurance, Michigan, Mortgage, Real Estate | 8 Comments

Are you looking to make money, invest in your financial future and have fun with real estate in Michigan? Most people want to know all the tips and tricks of the trade, but don’t want to put in the hard work and research.

Detroit is a great place to be a landlord – with the average price of houses per square foot up by 6% in comparison to this time last year. Statistically, when looking at the median sales price for homes in Detroit, Michigan this has increased by 20.2% on last year’s figures – which means that if you want to buy a house to rent or sell, now is the time to do it. If house and apartment prices keep rising with this trend you could make thousands of dollars – either by being a landlord, or simply by buying and selling property at the right time. Up and coming areas in Detroit MI currently are Indian Village and North Rosedale Park, where average listing prices are $263,523 and $73,656 respectively. If you’re looking for somewhere other than Detroit, Michigan, why not look into properties in Battle Creek, Flint or Kalamazoo – all of which are great potential areas for investment property.

If you want to make money from real estate in Detroit, but you don’t want the hassle of being a landlord, there are a few different ways.  You can either choose to be a real estate retailer, or a real estate dealer.

Whereas retailers buy and sell investment property for a quick profit (for larger probable rewards), dealers buy and sell contracts. Real estate retailers obviously need more money to start out with in order to buy the property – they will need a large down payment (deposit) as well as a good credit rating.

However, if you choose to be a real estate dealer, you can find cheap properties and sign purchase contracts with the sellers. This assignment of contract means that you can sell the contracts on for a profit. The only cash normally required for such a transaction is the small amount of money for the deal – and you never actually own the deed. This is a creative and less risky investment for those who want to get a foot on the real estate ladder, but don’t have a good credit rating or enough spare cash to buy and sell properties.

Tags: Detroit, Home Loan, homes, insurance, investment, landlord, Landlord Insurance, mi, michigan, Mortgage, out of country landlord, out of state landlord, property, Real Estate

Will Refinancing For A Lower Rate Benefit You? Not Necessarily!

Wednesday, December 8th, 2010 | Mortgage, Real Estate | 5 Comments

As mortgage interest rates have dropped over the last year, many homeowners have taken advantage of an historic opportunity to lower their mortgage payments, save on interest expenses, and pay off their homes more quickly. Though refinancing for a lower interest rate is generally a good financial move for most borrowers, there are some scenarios where a lower rate does not necessarily mean a new loan is beneficial. Though your new mortgage interest rate might be lower than your old one, it does not necessarily mean the loan is going to save you money in the long run. A home loan is much more than just an interest rate, therefore it is vital to look at the entire picture, not just the interest rate, when evaluating the merits of a new home loan. › Continue reading

Tags: Home Loan, Mortgage, Real Estate