It is now starting to be really cold…the depressing time of the year in the Midwest where people don’t spend a lot of time outdoors. They also don’t look for a place to move to unless they have to.
If the home you have been trying to sell is still sitting on the market, empty, it is costing you money in maintenance and risk. You know about maintenance (electricity, heat, leaves, snow shoveling) but what about risk? Risk is what you are exposed to because nobody is living in this home. I can make a case that you have more risk with your empty home than one with a tenant.
Risk is a function of decisions made by a responsible party and the likelihood there could be a resulting cost. A vacant home is an accident waiting to happen..particularly in the harshness of winter. For example, lets say during an ice storm a branch falls across some electrical wires that service your home. Who knows the electricity is not arriving to the home? Who knows that the heat is no longer functioning? Have you ever seen the damage a frozen, then burst, water pipe inside a home can cause? Who knows you probably should of spent $200 and had the home winterized just to prevent this type of event?
Who knows? A professional property manager. It is likely that no matter how much you know about your property, if you are not living within a fifteen minute drive, you need somebody who is lowering the risk of the fact your home is vacant. Property managers, due to the experience gained from managing all types of risk events, are able to help an owner prevent and if necessary, mitigate risk.
The best way to prevent this risk exposure if your home is not selling? Rent it. Get somebody who has been properly screened living and enjoying your home. The facts are not many homeowners who decide to rent make a profit on the collection of rent due to the economics that most have a mortgage payment that is high compared to the value of the home. Yet, cash flow from a tenant helps to offset the expenditures associated with continuing to own the property. More importantly, a tenant can help lower risk factors associated with a vacant home.
Homeowners who choose to rent ultimately enjoy lower risk, while having a source of funds that pays the mortgage and creates equity over time. There are also tax benefits available. A professional property manager makes this process easy for an owner.
If your home won’t sell, now maybe is the time to consider other options. The best one is to hire a manager to rent and make sure your risk is lowered while continuing to hold this asset.
Tags: Indianapolis, Property Manager