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March 19, 2007
Casper the not so friendly…
Today’s class began with a warning. “You will work with Leases”
Some agents choose to deal with Leasing as their unique specialty. They generally work during normal business hours, as most businesses lease rather than own their property. Real Estate agents are licensed to work with Leases in the state of Utah. At this point in class, I took out my lunch and began to munch on my fluffernutters, while the instructor gave the definition of Leases.
Be sure to get a lease in writing the instructor warned, as people in Utah seem to have a “selective memory” when it comes to things promised outside of a written contract. This brought about a story regarding an unsavory tenant whom our instructor had suffered with, “a black guy” our instructor shared, ironically named Casper who had tried unsuccessfully to “use the minority card” when he was denied his lease renewal.
We were warned that as Landlords, there is a solemn duty to get rid of tenants who deal drugs, as property can be seized by the government if you are found to be negligent. We then learned some interesting information regarding renting in Utah.
The slowest months (and thus the best ones for tenants) are April, May and June. For this reason, most landlords try to lease their properties out through those months, with most leases here lasting a year, and being initiated either August or September 1st. Our instructor recommended advising tenants from previous years two months ahead of time if you plan to give them another year lease, particularly at a higher rent.
We were told that it was a renter’s market a year and a half ago when home prices were still very low in Utah, and there was a strong housing boom in the rest of the nation. As a result, many young-would-be tenants bought homes instead. Home prices have since skyrocketed almost 25% since then which has caused rents to recover. Utah certainly appears backwards in this regard, rents freefalled during the bubble, now that the bubble has burst rents are rising.
Want to learn how to make money by being foreclosed upon?
Read part two of this lesson.
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March 19th, 2007 at 2:21 pm
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