Over 75% of Americans would rather rent than buy homes right now. This is great news for those invested in real estate. However, making a profit from your rental problems isn't as easy as sitting back and letting the cash roll in.
Knowing what your property is worth and how to maintain or increase that value is vital to your bottom line. Where should you start, though? How do you even know what your property is worth or could be worth?
The answer is real estate appraisals. Hiring a professional to evaluate your property will give you an idea of what your next steps should be. We'll talk more about that here.
How Do Appraisals Work?
Before discussing why you need an appraisal, let's talk about the home appraisal process. An appraiser looks at the features and condition of a home and makes an estimate based on the current market and what similar houses in the area have been selling for.
Keep in mind that appraisals are by definition subjective. Two different appraisers will arrive at two different values. The good news is that standards of property value assessment often keep appraisals from being too different. We do recommend getting a second opinion, though, just in case.
Maintaining Value
While appraisals are vital when making a real estate investment in Naperville, or anywhere else, that's not their only use. Knowing what a property is worth and why allows you to invest further into it and increase its value.
Do a lot of houses in your neighborhood have pools? Do they have large backyards? Is there anything you would benefit from putting into your home?
If you're a landlord renting out your property, these appraisals are a great way to determine rental pricing. A Naperville property management company can help with this, as well as tenants and rent.
Deciding on Rules
What's allowed to happen at your rental property? Are tenants allowed to have pets? Are there "quiet" hours when the volume on all devices must be turned down?
This ties into appraisals because certain aspects of a property might be put at risk. For instance, if your floors are particularly valuable for some reason, you probably shouldn't allow pets.
Smoking is another issue to think about. It's already illegal in multi-family buildings, including apartments. However, for single-family properties, the decision falls to the landlord.
Banning smoking protects your investment, but slightly limits your tenant pool. Allowing smoking would do the opposite.
The Importance of Real Estate Appraisals
Whether you're in Naperville or New Mexico, real estate appraisals can help you find, maintain, and even improve the value of your property. We've discussed how appraisals work and some of the factors that play into them here, but you can learn more by reading our blog.
Property Management Inc. is a national company with offices all over the United States. We have years of experience under our belts in many different markets, so we know what we're doing. Try us out with a free rental analysis.
