Welcome to Apartment Building Trader

Question:

An applicant and his wife signed a rental agreement for a one- year lease yesterday. Today his wife decided she does not want to move here. I have a $2,000.00 deposit from him. Am I obligated to refund it? I informed him that I would make every attempt to rent the home and would refund any remaining amount beyond the daily rent deducted from his deposit. Is this legal?

Answer:

There is no “cooling off” period in real estate. If you sign a lease, you are responsible for the full term of the lease. A landlord must use his best efforts to migrate the tenant’s loses by trying to re-let the premises. You should send a security deposit letter indicating that the tenants owe for the full term of the lease and you will be using their entire deposit. You should explain that their liability would be lessened, when a new tenant is found.

Author
~Dennis Block: Source

First American Exchange Company - The Exchange Update June 2008
A 1031 Tax-Deferred Exchange is a common vehicle for investors to defer paying taxes on a capital gain when selling an asset. Now that we are in the midst of the Presidential Election Season, it is important to understand each candidate’s stance on capital gains taxes. Here is some information that has been compiled on each of the three remaining Presidential Candidates.

The Republican nominee, Senator John McCain says on his website (www.johnmccain.com) that he will leave capital Gains at their current rate of 15%.

During the Democratic Debate in Philadelphia, PA on April 16, 2008, Senator Hillary Clinton (www.hillaryclinton.com) said she may or may not raise capital gains taxes, “…but not above 20 percent.”

Prior to the debate, Senator Barack Obama (www.barackobama.com) had said that he would raise capital gains taxes to between 20 and 28 percent. During the Philadelphia debate, Obama said “…I would look at raising the capital gains tax for purposes of fairness.”

No matter what the rate may be in the future, the 1031 Exchange plays an important role in real estate. You can be assured that First American Exchange Company will be here to assist you in deferring capital gains taxes via a 1031 tax-deferred exchange.

Author
First American Exchange Company: Source

With the disaster that has happened in the housing sector, it would be logical to assume that the multi family sector would benefit. There are a number of factors created by the housing slump which have contributed to an influx of renters.

• - buyers who are waiting for prices to come down
• - owners who have been foreclosed on
• - renters who’s landlords were foreclosed on 
• - those not able to afford to buy
• - tenants that were displaced from the condo-conversion craze 

The National Association of Realtors has projected continued growth for occupancy and rental rates. Yet, we are hearing a lot of owners in prime areas express their concern of the rental market. Many owners have stated they are no longer able to be as aggressive with rents. Some have expressed that they have had to lower asking rent or offer incentives. Some factors affecting a rental slump:

• - sellers unable to obtain the price they want, renting their property
• - newly constructed condo developments converting to rentals
• - foreclosures on the market as rentals
• - unstable economy
• - inflation

Today’s investor is expecting the return to come from actual cash flow, rather than appreciation. With an unstable economy it’s no wonder why investors are not comfortable relying on pro forma market rents. What matters now is the actual income the property is achieving. Once again investment properties are just that…investment properties.