Green Residential
As more states expand access to medical and even recreational marijuana, landlords are faced with a new question: do they have to permit marijuana use in their properties? On the recreational front, the question is fairly simple; just as landlords can ban cigarette smoking, they can also ban marijuana. When it comes to medical marijuana, however, the issue is not as clear.
Houston is one of the most important rental markets in the United States, with the third-highest number of apartments of any American city – but all isn’t well for the city’s tenants. In a recent study performed by the University of Texas School of Law, researchers determined that about 40% of Houston apartments were built between 1960 and 1979, a time period marked by lower safety standards. These conditions were made worse by Hurricane Harvey, which severely damaged about 43,000 units throughout the city. Taken together, a substantial portion of Houston’s apartment stock is in poor condition and may not be safe for their residents.
The home-buying process can be emotional. It’s easy to go into the matter with a small set of needs and desires but end up with an extensive list of “must-haves.”
When it comes to real estate investing, there are dozens of directions you can go. You can invest in single-family residential properties, multifamily properties, apartment buildings, raw land, commercial buildings, and even mobile home parks. But in addition to these investments, there’s also the niche of vacation properties.
If you want to be happy in your own home, you need more than a big house, nice furniture, and a good location. You also need friendly neighbors. Unfortunately, many homeowners accidentally get on the bad side of their neighbors. Don’t let this be you.
There are many good reasons to invest in rental property. You can collect rental income in excess of your ongoing expenses, yielding an immediate profit, and eventually, you should be able to sell the property for more than you originally paid for it.
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The Fair Housing Act of 1968 was enacted to protect buyers and renters from discrimination. The primary prohibition makes it illegal to refuse to rent or sell to a person because of their inclusion in a protected class. Federally protected classes include race, religion, sex, color, national origin, age, and disability. The Fair Housing Act is a federal law that all Houston Landlords are bound by.
Although investment properties often yield a predictable cash flow and healthy margins, they can also open you to substantial levels of risk. Those risks are significant enough that some people just avoid this form of investment.
Nobody becomes a landlord thinking, “I sure wish I had something else on my plate right now.” No … in most cases, people invest in rental properties with the dream of generating passive streams of income that require little work or effort.
Novice landlords often absorb the myth that any income earned from your rental properties is profit. If you’re realistic, though, there’s a lot more to the picture. Budgeting is a big part of it.
The income you earn from each unit may partly qualify as profit, but a good percentage also goes back into the property; at least, it certainly should. For starters, you have predictable expenses such as taxes, mortgage payments, insurance, and utilities.