by   no comments

Property investing using Airbnb

Airbnb logo

Have you considered branching out and exploring other avenues of revenue income from your property portfolio?

The benefits and pitfalls of owning or investing in a holiday house have been well covered by the property investment community. Typically, investors are lured by the promise of high rental yields, not to mention the novelty of owning a little piece of paradise. With all that excitement it can be easy to overlook the risks of seasonal variances in occupancy, high maintenance costs and changes to property management contracts. However, there are ways to mitigate these risks.

In this post we examine an emerging trend that offers an attractive opportunity to investors and property owners. It also highlights a growing sector that rental owners and property managers should be aware of. (more…)

by   no comments

How to use Evernote to manage your work or property expenses

This post continues our look at the online service Evernote and how it can assist agents, investors and owners in their property expense management.

As a property investor or agent it only takes one trip to the local hardware store and a few meetings before you are swimming in a paper trail of receipts and expense claims. For a big believer in minimalism such as myself, or perhaps more honestly as someone who just has a tendency to forget where he left all his receipts and invoices, Evernote provides a great solution for capturing not only property but work expenses on the go. (more…)

by   no comments

Income Protection Insurance – Property Investment

When investing in property, be it your own residence or an investment property, it’s important to be clear on your property investment strategy. Your Buyer Agent will undoubtedly walk through your investment strategy, but one area they should touch on is what financial safety net you have in place. Unforseen risks (such as falling ill) can quite quickly deplete your cash making it difficult to meet mortgage repayments, rent, renovations, household expenses, child’s education etc, so it is important not only to have a cash buffer but also the right investment strategy plan in place. Income protection can be part of this plan and whilst it isn’t suitable for everyone (some choose to self insure through strategies such as a positively geared portfolio), it will come down to your risk profile, financial capabilities and current employment arrangements. As with any insurance it is always in the policy fine print, so here are a few things to keep in mind when it comes to Income Protection insurance?
(more…)

by   no comments

Landlord Insurance Is It Essential?

Many first time property investors don’t realise there can be significant differences with having landlord insurance to that of home/building insurance. Landlord insurance is designed to cover owners from specific risks associated with tenanted investment properties that aren’t always included in the cover of a general home/building and contents or strata title insurance policy. Expanding on this, by way of example, a base building insurance policy would only cover you for external/structural property damage as well as public liability. It would not cover you for malicious damage by tenants, loss of rental income due to property damage (e.g. fire) or failure of tenants to pay rent.

(more…)

by   no comments

Property Manager Questions

In the last post we touched on real estate property management and property manager services, fees and other general tips. In this post I will touch on some questions to ask when searching for a potential property manager. Also don’t be shy in using your Buyers Advocate to give you some indication on what you should be asking potential property managers.

As with all property investment areas, research is essential so look into at least 2 to 3 companies before selecting the one you want to go with.

(more…)

by   no comments

Real Estate Property Management

If you are looking into real estate property management then it is likely that you have just purchased an investment property and want to find a property manager to look after it. It is also likely that you have consider whether you should undertake the investment property management yourself and reached the conclusion that the time, dedication and education required to do so could most likely be best invested elsewhere. I personally err on the side of using a property management company (Real Estate agencies will also normally have a service offering) as my personal time constraints should mean a dedicated property manager should be able to do a superior job with little cost outlay in the overall scheme of property investing.

(more…)