Your HVAC - How to get the most out of your home's heating & cooling system.

Do you know much about HVAC systems? Do you even know what HVAC stands for? Don’t feel bad, I didn’t even pay attention to what it meant or how it operated….until I became a Realtor. In fact, many people don’t typically know much about their HVAC system until it has an issue or needs to be replaced (and it tends to go out at the most inconvenient time, right???). Below is a summary with a few quick tips to help you understand and make the most of your HVAC system.
Let’s start with HVAC. This stands for Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning.

While there are many areas in the world and the United States that don’t use AC (I’ve had clients that live on the west coast that don’t have AC, etc.), it certainly comes to good use here in Texas where temperatures frequently reach in excess of 100+ degrees.

Here is a quick summary of the different types of systems and details of a typical HVAC:

• Location
  • For the main unit, this is usually located in a closet in your home or in the attic. This is the part of the machine that holds the fan that blows the hot or cold air and helps circulate it through your home. This element is also where the heating elements are typically located as well (gas or electric).
  • If you have air conditioning, there is also a condenser that is needed to help produce this cold air. The condenser is typically located somewhere around the house against an exterior wall and is the main component for the A/C..
• Air Conditioning
  • The air conditioning system that uses a condenser is electrically powered and utilizes either Freon or a newer gas called R22.
• Heating system
  • Electric - in some developments there is no gas lines available and electricity is the only source for heat. This system works very similar to a hair dryer in how it heats the air with heat strips and blows the air through the home.
  • Heat Pump - I’ll save the in depth description for this topic for a future episode but this essentially reverses the process that your air conditioning uses and can heat the home. It can only typically be used in temperatures above 35/40 degrees. This is beneficial in areas like Texas where it usually doesn’t drop below freezing. Heat Pumps are sought after because they are much more efficient than the electric version of heating.
  • Gas - in areas where gas is available this is usually what you will find being used the heat the home. It is not as efficient as a heat pump but it can be used below freezing and is much more cost efficient than electricity.

Here are a few quick tips to make sure your HVAC stays in optimal condition for as long as possible:

• Change your air filters frequently - during high use months I try to change mine about one each month. During low use times I may way 2-3 months prior to changing. The main reason for doing this is to create the best air flow possible through your unit and to reduce strain on the components of the whole system. In Episdoe #002 of the Real Estate Now Podcast with Adam Acevedo he recommends making sure your filter has a MERV rating of 7 or higher.
• Service your system twice per year - around October and March have your unit serviced by a licensed HVAC tech. They should clean the unit, test for any potential issues, clean the condenser, and check if freon/R22 is needed. This should typically cost less than $100 (pending no repairs, etc.) and can help increase the lifespan of your unit. This is very similar to how you would take your car to get the oil changed on a regular basis to keep it running smoother/longer.

In summary, the better you maintain your HVAC, the longer it should last. For more in depth information I recommend listening to Episode #002 of the Real Estate Now Podcast where we visit with Adam Acevedo - a licensed HVAC tech that owns his own company in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex.

Please feel free to submit any questions to jason@visionsrealty.com or you can reach me direct at 817-288-5515.

Four Essential Due Diligence Steps - Real Estate Investing

As many seasoned investors know, due diligence is an essential part of any real estate transaction. In fact, some would say it’s the most important part of each transaction. In a day and age where technology makes investing as simple as a click of a button, many investors don’t take the time to dig deep (both financially and physically) into properties they are interested in.

Before we go any further, we must understand one thing:

Sellers (and their agents) are looking out for their best interest, NOT yours. Makes sense, right?

This doesn’t make sellers bad – in fact, it makes them smart. They are doing exactly what you would expect a seller or investor to do – to look out for their best financial interest and make the highest return possible. They are doing exactly what you would most likely do in their situation. However, you must remember this when you are a potential buyer in a transaction and take the necessary precautions to ensure your interests are being represented as well.

Here are four “due diligence” steps (out of many) in which you can take to help make a more educated decision:

• Conduct an inspection – contact your agent to have a third party inspection of the property. It is crucial that you have this done to give you a “snapshot” of the current condition of the property. Even if the property is being sold as-is, it is always best to get a general overview of what is working and not functioning properly. If you were traveling across the country, would you drive to your destination blind or would you use GPS? Use these tools to help you make a smart decision. The cost of an inspection is very small compared to the problems that could arise from you not knowing about hidden problems – trust me.
• Ask for a pro forma – this is an estimate of returns for a property and should contain terms such as Cash on Cash, Cap Rate, Cash Flow, etc. While some sellers or companies may provide them, you need to look close for additional costs that tend to be left off such as property management, maintenance and repair allowance, vacancy, taxes, etc. A property that shows positive cash flow on a pro forma can quickly turn into a negative cash flow once you factor in true costs.
• Ask for a Profit and Loss Statement (P&L) from the past two years – most investors keep a P&L statement for each property they own. This document should contain all the items in the pro forma – the only difference is that this document will show how the property has historically performed based on its actual numbers. Beware of phrases such as “last year was a fluke year – it won’t be the same for you” or “rent is really low but you can raise it up to market rates and the returns will get even better.” While some of these statements may be true, you need to verify them with facts.
• Work with a licensed agent that specializes in real estate investing – just as you would hire an inspector to evaluate a property, hiring a real estate agent whose #1 job is to represent you is essential. Agents who focus on investment properties should be able to assist with the items above in addition to coordination between parties, negotiations, compiling market data, supplying invoices from contractors for possible work, and much more.

Please keep in mind that this is only a small picture of real estate investing. By keeping your focus on the four areas above and seeking guidance from a team of professionals, you will be on your path to becoming a more educated real estate investor – congratulations!

DISCLAIMER: Jason Reynolds does not provide legal, tax, or investment advice. All information herein is general in nature and should not be considered legal, tax, or investment advice. Consult an attorney or tax professional regarding your specific situation. Nothing contained herein should be relied upon as a promise or representation as to the future. Recipients should conduct their own investigations and analysis of any real estate transaction that they are involved in. No warranty is given concerning the suitability of this information for any application.

Real Estate Investing - Your Dream Team

As many of you probably know, the experience of investing in real estate is truly one of a kind. From single family residential, multi-family, all the way to commercial (and much more), there are numerous ways for a person to invest in this commodity that can yield a great return if treated with respect and caution.

If you’ve had a chance to speak with a seasoned investor, chances are you have heard numerous horror stories of things gone wrong when they first invested in real estate – whether they searched in the wrong area, bought a property with an endless list of repairs that ate up their profit, had to evict a tenant, didn’t have time to manage their properties, and much more. Point being, they jumped into the investing arena with both feet and sought to learn the basics and more by pulling up their sleeves and taking the next step.

While this can be a strategy that yields a great amount of personal experience and wisdom, I am becoming more and more convinced that having a team of top notch professionals by your side is extremely critical to ensure a more smooth and successful start to your real estate investment journey. Why not learn from those that have already been where you want to go? You can still get the coaching and “experience” that you wanted while being more cautious with the item that real estate starts and ends with: money.

Whether you are a new investor (or even an experienced investor), odds are that you could take very critical steps towards increasing your education, efficiency, and much more by evaluating your current real estate investor “Dream Team.” To help you get started, below is a list of team members that I would recommend you focus on adding first:

• Real estate agent: this is NOT your typical real estate agent that focuses on selling to owner occupants all of the time. You need to research and find an agent that specializes and is known for helping investors (important – this will not be easy). I like to call your agent your “boots on the ground” resource – they will be the ones vetting the property and giving you their professional opinion. Once you have a few options, call and ask them questions to explore their knowledge of real estate investing – ask them about the local market, what kind of cap rates they are seeing, if they can help facilitate a rehab, how they calculate their comp reports, do they provide an investor analysis, etc. You should be able to get a good feel for their knowledge based on how they answer these questions.
• Property management company: for those of you that have had experience with property management companies, you know that this part of the equation can make or break the whole investment experience (especially if you are investing in an area outside of your personal region). Since your tenants are the ones that ultimately make your investment worth your time, it is imperative that you hire a property management that is not only good at what they do, but that has the background and history to prove it.
• Mentor: if possible, it is always great to have a mentor to help steer you throughout your investment journey. While you will not be protected from every speed bump and road-block that comes your way, it is good to have someone that has been in your shoes to help guide and direct you (and possibly save you hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars).

While this is only a short list of members that can be on your real estate team, the key point to remember is that you must surround yourself with people you can trust. It is also extremely important for them to be knowledgeable and experienced in the real estate investment field.

Interview them, meet with them, and ask them questions – trust me, you won’t regret it.

Disclaimer: Jason Reynolds does not provide legal, tax, or investment advice. All information herein is general in nature and should not be considered legal, tax, or investment advice. Consult an attorney or tax professional regarding your specific situation. Nothing contained herein should be relied upon as a promise or representation as to the future.  Recipients should conduct their own investigations and analysis of any real estate transaction that they are involved in. No warranty is given concerning the suitability of this information for any application.

Do Photos Really Make a Difference? Five things to focus on when listing your home.

I’m sure many of you are familiar with the phrase “a picture is worth a thousand words.” In the realm of real estate, I like to tell my clients one additional statement: “a picture is worth money to a buyer…and eventually you!”While the value of a photo is different to each and every person, there is no doubt in my mind that professionally taken photos of a home greatly influence the traffic, attention, and monetary outcome when selling a home. With technology at our fingertips, we must come to the realization that most buyers determine which houses they want to see and don’t want to see before they even look up from their smart phone.

In the 2015 Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers published by Realtor.org, they determined that “among buyers who used the Internet during their home search, 87 percent of buyers found photos…very useful.” Let that sink in – 87% of buyers found photos very useful. In a nutshell, you must make the best possible FIRST impression when you come across any potential buyer (and that first impression is typically via the internet).

To help you prepare for the next time you list your home, here are four points to help you make the most of your photos.

1. Hire a professional – while most families (and agents) have a great camera as well as a smart-phone that can take 1,000 megapixel photos, nothing can quite replicate the product from a hired professional that does this every day. Trust me, in the end this will be a small investment compared to your return.
2. A great camera makes a big mess look even bigger – unless you want to replicate mainstream media (and want to spend lots of money), I guarantee that the photographer will not photoshop things out such as a pile of laundry, a ceiling fan bulb that’s burned out, a crack in the wall, mold in the shower, tall grass, and much (much) more. Ask your agent for a checklist of things to do in preparation for the day photos will be taken – this will help greatly!
3. Don’t try to cover things up – nobody likes to stop by a house to find that it was either 1) very misrepresented in the photos or 2) that photos of certain areas/rooms were purposefully left out because they didn’t want to show something. Trust me, buyers are much more likely to put in an offer if they don’t run into surprises when they take time out of their schedule to look at your home.
4. Staging matters – just as we discussed in point two, a great camera will make great things look great and bad things look…well, bad. Whether you decide to hire a professional stager or not, it is important to go through a quick checklist (provided by your agent) of things to do that will help “stage” your home. There are many quick and simple things you can do that will help reduce the clutter and improve the appearance of your home to a potential buyer.

Remember, more than 8 out of 10 buyers collect information online prior to even seeing the house in person – be sure to do all you can to make the best first impression!

If you would like a free Consultation Session or if you have any questions, feel free to contact me via email at jason@visionsrealty.com. You can also reach me on my cell at 817-269-0988.

Disclaimer: Jason Reynolds does not provide legal, tax, or investment advice. All information herein is general in nature and should not be considered legal, tax, or investment advice. Consult an attorney or tax professional regarding your specific situation. Nothing contained herein should be relied upon as a promise or representation as to the future.  Recipients should conduct their own investigations and analysis of any real estate transaction that they are involved in. No warranty is given concerning the suitability of this information for any application.

What Makes a Great Real Estate Agent? Five things to look out for when selecting a new agent.

It’s not uncommon to hear stories from friends, family, and acquaintances about their crazy real estate experiences. I know I’ve heard my fair share of horror stories about bad experiences. These stories include things like not returning phone calls, missing paperwork, not keeping their client updated… and the list goes on.

Even though perfection is impossible to attain, I do believe there are some qualities that every successful real estate agent should possess when working with a client to help them with their real estate needs. Here is a quick list of what I consider to be the a few of the most important traits that make your real estate agent, and experience, great! (not in any particular order):

1. Integrity: defined as “the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness.” Simply put, is your real estate agent honest? Do you feel comfortable with them representing you? Watch their past client’s reviews online, take a look at their presence on social media, ask them how they are involved in the community, and much more.
2. Buy-in: your real estate agent needs to be fully invested in providing a great real estate experience for you. Not everything is in their control, but they are in control of their commitment to you. Making sure that they are doing all that they can to help you through this process is vital to having a great experience.
3. Friendliness: this one is simple. Is your real estate agent friendly? Are they somebody you enjoy being around? If not, keep in mind that there are hundreds if not thousands of real estate agents in your area who would be happy to make your experience an enjoyable one.
4. Responsiveness: in a real estate transaction, time is money. How fast you and your agent respond to each other as well as others is vitally important. Is your agent available when you call? Do they call you back within a reasonable amount of time?
5. Resourcefulness: your real estate agent most likely won’t have an answer to all of the questions that you have (sorry!). In times when they are unsure about the answer, it’s important they they are honest with you and work towards finding the correct answer. In cases like that, they may respond with, “I’m not sure on that question, but I will certainly find out for you!” It’s not always about having all of the answers in that moment, but rather having the resources to find you the correct answers.

Real estate is obviously an investment. That’s why it is incredibly important that you pick the right team to help you through the process of buying, selling, or investing in real estate.

If you would like a free Consultation Session or if you have any questions, feel free to contact me  via email at jason@visionsrealty.com. You can also reach me on my cell at 817-269-0988.

DISCLAIMER/CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENT: Jason Reynolds does not provide legal, tax, or investment advice. All information herein is general in nature and should not be considered legal, tax, or investment advice. Consult an attorney or tax professional regarding your specific situation. Nothing contained herein should be relied upon as a promise or representation as to the future.  Recipients should conduct their own investigations and analysis of any real estate transaction that they are involved in. No warranty is given concerning the suitability of this information for any application.

Investing in the Future with Real Estate

How many of you have ever had the idea of investing in real estate? To be honest, the idea of “investing” in real estate never entered my mind until I read one of Richard Kiyosaki’s most popular books, Rich Dad Poor Dad. The idea of purchasing a home with the intent to either flip or hold and rent was a whole new concept. The idea of “passive income”, while new, was very appealing – and I’m sure it is the same for many of you.

Well, in a perfect world, here’s how the scenario goes. You purchase a home as an investment and after afew updates you’ve already gained a large amount of equity and you now have two options: 1) sell your property at market value and make a profit, or 2) hold the property and rent it out to tenants. (IMPORTANT: There a pros and cons to both options depending on what your long term investment goals are.)

Assuming you rent your property in a timely manner and are able to acquire long term tenants, now you have somebody paying off your mortgage, property management fees, taxes, etc. This is the whole idea of “passive income” – while you’re sleeping at night, you are making money. Sounds great, right? As your mortgage begins to be paid off, you are now gaining equity for each property that you are investing in. Think of yourself 15, 20, 30 years down the road with just 5 rental properties with a market value of $100,000 each and you just paid off all the mortgages. Assuming each house had a purchase price of $100,000 when you bought them and a 20% down payment, this would mean you invested $100,000 of your own money – and over time, you paid off all mortgages with the rental income from your tenants. Your original $100,000 has now grown to a worth of $500,000 in this scenario – now that’s a nice return on investment!

For those that may have additional questions about the possibility of investing in real estate, Andrew McLean and Gary Eldred in the book Investing in Real Estate claim that “you don’t need experience” to achieve your financial goals in real estate. Although they do present four areas that need your focus which I will elaborate on:

• Perseverance – if investing in real estate was easy, everybody would be doing it. It takes a certain attitude and level of perseverance to be successful in real estate investing.
• Commitment – you must commit to giving your best effort when researching properties and trying to find your niche product. You must also be committed to your long terms goals even when you may be having problems with vacancy, repairs, etc.
• Willingness to learn – there are many ways that you can invest in real estate. Each and every day is a learning experience that will increase your skills and expertise as you continue to invest.
• Good knowledge of your local neighborhoods and properties – this is where the ground work comes in. It is your responsibility to do the due diligence for each property that you invest in. While you should have a real estate agent that you know and trust to help guide you through the transaction, it is ultimately your responsibility to decide if you would like to invest in a particular property.

Please keep in mind that this is only a small picture of real estate investing. By keeping your focus on the four areas above and seeking guidance from a team of professionals, you will be on your path to becoming a Real Estate Investor – congratulations!

If you would like a free Consultation Session or if you have any questions, feel free to contact me  via email at jason@visionsrealty.com. You can also reach me on my cell at 817-269-0988.

DISCLAIMER: Jason Reynolds does not provide legal, tax, or investment advice. All information herein is general in nature and should not be considered legal, tax, or investment advice. Consult an attorney or tax professional regarding your specific situation. Nothing contained herein should be relied upon as a promise or representation as to the future.  Recipients should conduct their own investigations and analysis of any real estate transaction that they are involved in. No warranty is given concerning the suitability of this information for any application.