Forbes recently released an article revealing the 25 strongest real estate markets in the nation. Among the top on their list? Buffalo and Rochester! Because Buffalo and Rochester didn’t experience the housing boom that many other areas in the country faced, today their markets are still strong.
These areas are especially appealing to investors, because of the low base cost of housing, strong rental market, and appreciation on property values.
From the article [here]:
…housing markets in upstate New York never had the ups and downs of some hot markets in the rest of the country. In Rochester, the birthplace of industrial ancients Xerox (nyse: XRX – news – people ) and Eastman Kodak (nyse: EK – news – people ), real estate values have climbed at a steady 3% rate for the last five years. They don’t have far to fall–about 2.4% according to Moody’s forecasts. In Buffalo, Syracuse and Albany, prices should also remain steady this year.
If you are interested in investing in the Buffalo or Rochester area, feel free to [contact me] at any time.
After I posted the entry on Letters of Violation, I had someone ask me if I had a sample form that I could post. I did a quick form up for you to use. Click the link below to grab it (.doc format.)
Notice Of Violation
Warning: This is an rant editorial!
Recently, the Buffalo News published an article [here] about the declining rate of home flips in the Buffalo, NY area. The article sites stricter regulations for out of area purchasers as well as other “anti-flipping measures” that have been put in place to prevent someone from purchasing cheap real estate and immediately flipping it for a large profit.
Having worked in real estate and property management, I have seen this happen a few times. There are even some companies and agents who are well known for such practices. I’m not calling out anyone on their ethics here, but this is a practice that should rightfully be stopped. These are the people who give out of area investors a bad name, usually slumlord.
My problem is the limits the new systems put on out of area investors to buy in Buffalo. It isn’t shocking that there are areas of Buffalo that need rehabilitation work. This happens in every large city over time. Out of area investors bring cash money into the local economy to purchase real estate, as well as building supplies, and rehabilitate it into live-able space for families, and then either keep the property for their own portfolio or sell it, usually to other investors (either in town or out of town) who hold it in their portfolios.
I can already see the next complaint – the rent money isn’t staying in the local economy if an out of area investor owns the property. In actuality, a good portion of the money DOES stay local. Out of area investors typically have a property manager who handles the property needs, such as maintenance, which generates income in labor and material sales. In addition, out of area investors typically reinvest in areas they have success in. Meaning more real estate sales in Buffalo.
Out of area investors have the capability to breath life back into Buffalo neighborhoods. There should be some monitoring, to ensure that slumlords don’t take advantage of the property markets in the area, but there should not be a wall barring out of area investors from participating in our economy!
(This post is part of our “Landlord Basics” series, which seeks to help the new landlord / investor understand some of the basics of tenant relations and property management. Click here to view the entire Landlord Basics archive.)
Update: You can now get a sample Letter of Violation [here].
It should come as no surprise that occasionally, a tenant won’t do what they are supposed to. It could be something as simple as not moving the garbage bins back from the curb (which is a $55 fine in Buffalo, last I checked), to not mowing their lawn (also a fine in Buffalo, but I can’t recall the amount.) If these are things that the tenant is responsible for in the lease, you should write and serve a Letter of Violation.
Continue reading ‘Landlord Basics: Writing A Letter Of Violation’
