Paulson, speaking at CNBC’s Delivering Alpha conference, said he is still high on housing.

“It’s not too late to get involved. I still think buying a home is the best investment any individual can make. Affordability is still at an all-time high,” said Paulson.

Large-scale investors, however, may not be behind the surge in home flipping. They may, in fact, be the cause of it.

“Now that the institutional investors are doing buy and hold, a lot of these guys [individual investors] can’t compete with their checkbooks,” said Rick Sharga, formerly an executive at Carrington who now works for Auction.com. “In some cases the individual investors are flipping them to the institutional investors.”

While many of the large funds have teams that renovate homes, in some cases they would rather pay a premium for a move-in-ready property, rather than waste time and money remodeling.

“So the flippers are kind of the in-between middleman who is getting the property into good rentable condition and then selling to the institutional investors,” explained Blomquist.

(Read more: Map: Tracking the US real estate recovery)

Article source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/100896253

Fast Forward Property Management, located in the San Francisco Bay Area, is offering three tips to property owners on how to fill vacancies.

“Owners and property managers invest a great deal of time and money to attract and maintain high-quality residents,” said Jade Powell of Fast Forward Property Management. “High vacancy rates can quickly turn a highly profitable investment property into a money-losing liability.  When a tenant leaves, you lose money by not being able to collect rent and can spend a considerable amount of time and money painting, repairing, cleaning, and advertising your unit.”

Fast Forward Property Management offers expert advice for those in the Bay Area, Sonoma County, San Francisco, Sacramento, San Jose, and Santa Rosa looking to fill their vacancy with a new tenant.

The following three tips should be considered by property owners:

First, place banners and signs around the property and launch ad campaigns online and with other media outlets.

Second, work with real estate sales professionals to develop referrals. Real estate sales professionals are a great source because many people go to them for listings, especially those new to the area, so it is wise to build a business relationship with them.

Finally, offer $150 to $250 to any tenant who refers someone that is approved for a lease. This provides motivation for current tenants to be on the lookout for new tenants, minimizing the amount of time and money spent by the property owner searching for someone to fill the vacancy.

These are great suggestions that every property owner should bear in mind to maintain successful rental properties.

For more information about property management, and all services provided by Fast Forward Property Management, visit them on the web at www.FastForwardPMBayArea.com or call them at (877) 388-0998.

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 of experience in rental management. They offer the Greater Bay Area communities of Sacramento, San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Rosa, and Sonoma County property management services.

Filed under:

Real Estate , Fast Forward Property Management, BlockShopper BNR, San Francisco Bay Area

Article source: http://sf.blockshopper.com/news/story/243210-Bay_Area_Fast_Forward_Property_Management_Offers_Three_Tips_on_Improving_Vacancy_Rates

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