The average monthly price of an apartment lease has risen to $2,734 — up 12.9 percent since 2011 — according to data compiled by the rental data firm Real Facts. The spike in San Francisco rents seems to be spilling over to cheaper markets like Oakland, where the average rent is now $1,835 — up 14.4 percent since last year. Pacifica, where rents now average $1,908, has experienced a 15.6 percent increase.

“Outlying areas are starting to benefit from the improvement of Silicon Valley and San Francisco,” said Nick Grotjahn of Real Facts. “But you can still go right across the Bay and to Oakland and pay almost $1,000 less per month.”

At a forum Tuesday sponsored by the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association think tank, housing developers were asked whether The City is experiencing a “rent bubble.” Their answers didn’t break down along clear yes-or-no lines.

“Not quite yet,” said Meg Spriggs, a senior development director with the developer AvalonBay, which is seeking to put more than 250 new apartments on Ninth Street near the new Twitter headquarters. “But I think we’ll start to see rents taper a bit. Sixteen percent growth is not sustainable, but I think there’s still room for growth.”

Rental prices have surged following a new influx of young, high-earning workers who don’t necessarily want to be tied down to one place, but who also haven’t yet amassed enough money to make a down payment for San Francisco’s average home price of $725,000.

A recent survey by Realtor.com shows that The City’s median listing price is up 15.4 percent since last year, which matches a similar upward tick in Oakland, where the average home is selling for $379,000. The number of homes for sale in San Francisco is down 40 percent since last year, and nearly 60 percent in Oakland.

And where apartment owners in the mid-2000s fought to convert their units to condominiums so they could be sold, the popular move in today’s market is to build what could be considered condos and instead rent them as apartments.

“It’s the reverse trend now,” Grotjahn said.

Even with rising rents, the disparity between who can only afford to rent and who can buy in San Francisco remains large, said Kevin Kearney, a Coldwell Banker real estate agent who works throughout the Bay Area. He said even though high-earning young tech workers might not be able to afford homes just yet, in some cases their parents can.

“With the rising rents, we’re definitely seeing some people get off the fence,” Kearney said. “But still, a lot more people can afford to pay rent on a monthly basis — even if it’s higher than a mortgage payment — than those who can come up with a down payment. So we’re seeing more and more of those down payments from parents.”

dschreiber@sfexaminer.com

Median home price increases in Bay Area

• San Francisco: Up 15.4 percent to $725,000 since last year
• Oakland: Up 14.8 percent to $379,000 since last year
• San Jose: Up 12 percent to $549,000 since last year

Source: Realtor.com

Monthly apartment rent increases in Bay Area

Article source: http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/2012/07/san-francisco-housing-market-booms-bigger-ever

In real estate, as in any business, mistakes can cost time and money. Fast Forward Property Management, a team of seasoned Bay Area Property Management specialists with over forty years of experience, offers advice to property owners to help them become more profitable and efficient.

The following is a list of the six most common mistakes landlords make when maintaining and making repairs to their property:

1.    Overpaying contractors

Contractors can charge whatever they choose for any job. Therefore, to ensure a fair price, it is always advisable to get multiple bids for a project, rather than settling for the first one. To get the best value with contractors it is best to agree on an hourly rate ahead of time and agree to pay at cost for the materials.

2.    Trying to save money by hiring unskilled workers

On the other hand, trying to save money by using unskilled workers can backfire. Genaro Mendoza of Fast Forward Property Management explains, “If you pay someone $15 an hour for a job that takes that person 10 hours to complete, that job cost you $150. If you pay an expert $50 an hour to do that same job, but it only takes him or her 2 hours to complete it, you only spent $100 on work that is most likely of a higher caliber and therefore less likely to require repairs in the near future (which would cost you even more money).” The bottom line comes down to value. A higher rate doesn’t always equal a higher final bill.

3.    Personally Performing Time-Consuming Repairs to Save Money

Landlords with the proper skills can save a significant amount of money on labor by doing construction and maintenance work themselves. In order to save enough money to make this worthwhile, however, the job must be completed quickly. Many owners brag about how much money they saved in preparing a vacant unit for rental, but not all of them do it swiftly, in which case the money saved in labor expenses would have been negated by the weeks of rent lost due to the vacancy.

“If you save $900 by doing the work yourself, but lose $1,400 in rent by not filling the vacancy promptly, you have actually lost income,” .said Mendoza. Most professionals can paint a unit and replace flooring in just a few days, and then the unit can be rented.

4.    Allowing Tenants to do Repairs Themselves

While it is common practice to give a tenant some money off of their rent for making a repair, it exposes landlords to great risk. If someone falls from a ladder or gets injured while hired to do work, and the landlord does not have workers’ compensation insurance for them, then the landlord could be held personally responsible for paying for their medical bills and loss of income.

5.    Not Inspecting Properties Regularly

“We regularly hear stories of owners who have, after a long-term tenant moved out, found extensive damage to a unit that could have been easily prevented,” says Mendoza. “It is essential to inspect units (even the rented ones) regularly so that repairs can be done before further damage is done to your building.”

6.    Deferring Maintenance

Maintenance is a significant expense for most property owners. Some landlords have an “If it’s not broken, why fix it?” mentality, but deferred maintenance will cost more in the long run, as well as lower property value. Additionally, rent in buildings that have areas in obvious need of improvement tends to be lower, and many tenants will move if their landlord will not fix things or keep their units up to date. Few things frustrate tenants more than landlords who do not respond quickly to service requests. Neglecting maintenance to save money now will cost more in the future.

For more information about avoiding mistakes when maintaining and making repairs to property, property management, and other services provided by Fast Forward Property Management, visit them on the web at fastforwardpm.com, call them at 707-266-8100 or 888-737-8116, or visit their office located at 620 E. Washington Street, Petaluma, CA 94952.

About Fast Forward Property Management

Fast Forward Property Management is a property management firm in the San Francisco Bay Area that specializes in managing apartment buildings, HOA, and commercial properties. The staff at Fast Forward Property Management has over 40 years experience in rental management. They serve the Greater Bay Area communities of Sacramento, San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Rosa, and Sonoma County with expert property management services.

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For the original version on PRWeb visit: www.prweb.com/releases/prwebbay-area/property-management/prweb8181488.htm

Article source: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/03/04/prweb8181488.DTL