Your insurance company wants you to clean up your room! If you file a claim, most likely your claim will be paid according to the contract. But if you are found to have excessive clutter in or around your Bennington, Vermont real estate, it is possible your homeowner’s coverage could be canceled. Why? Because to the insurance companies, your clutter is a risk:
• Paper, trash and flammable materials are a fire hazard.

• Clutter could indicate a lack of maintenance on the property, such as plumbing leaks, roof or electrical problems. Damage from these problems could result in an insurance claim.

• There is an increased chance of rat or insect infestation, causing health and public safety hazards.

Call Troy Richardson for a property evaluation and learn how to get top dollar for your Bennington, Vermont home!

Troy Richardson and RE/MAX Maple Leaf Realty can market your property and find qualified tenants for your Bennington area real estate.

But how do you know how much rent to charge?

• Is your home in a good area? The phrase, “location, location, location” works for rentals, too. Typically, the closer a property is to the core of a town or city, the higher the rent.

• Check out rents in the same area. However, take amenities into consideration, as well as the condition of the home.

• Consider adding a bonus. Owners can lure in tenants with the offer of free rent, additional services such as garbage pickup or mowing service.

• Including utilities in the rent is a great way to draw college students or seniors. Updated appliances, balconies, decks, fireplaces, or other “lifestyle upgrades’ can play into the amount of rent you can charge.

The easiest way to answer all these questions, is to bring in the professionals, and allow Troy and his team to value your property, offer you advice on how to make it more attractive, and let RE/MAX Maple Leaf Realty market your rental property.

Bennington VT, Investment

If you are investing in a property, it is important to keep track of your income and expenses.

Many real estate investors miss out on tax benefits that could be keeping money in their pocket.

A program called T-ReX-Global can help investors track transactions and find tax write-offs, and offers a printable rental property tax form. Here are a few tax tips for investors:

• Document mileage to/from rental property.

• Keep track of repairs, upgrades, or damage to your property.

• Go to TRexGlobal.com for more information.

• Call Troy Richardson for your real estate needs!
Bennington VT, Investment

by George Ratiu, NAR Research

Last month in this column we looked at how the financial crisis on Wall Street and a slowing economy have been affecting the office and industrial sectors of commercial real estate. This month we examine the impacts on retail and multi-family properties.

Retail Sector
Over the last few years, healthy job growth and a steadily, albeit slower, expanding economy spurred demand for office and industrial space. Consumer spending was strong, fueled by credit availability. Consumer spending accounts for 70 percent of economic activity and has been the main driver of economic growth over the past few years. But as employment turned negative at the beginning of this year, and as credit availability dried up due to the financial crisis that emerged, consumer spending has slowed considerably. In addition, rising prices for most consumer goods, due primarily to increased fuel costs, have also curtailed consumer spending. These factors have rippled through the retail sector of the commercial real estate market.

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STEPPING UP TO DOWN MARKETS!

Remember the ancient curse, “May you live in interesting times”?  While many are indeed cursing the current real estate climate, others see opportunities.  In a “soft” market, the short-term options dwindle, but seasoned investors in for the long haul are positioned to take advantage.

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Entrepreneurial business is growing in many parts of the country with 495,000 new businesses per month started in 2007, according to the Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity.

The study, which is sponsored by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, found that some areas encouraged far more entrepreneurial activity than others.

The 10 states with the highest entrepreneurial activity rates were:

1. Idaho
2. District of Columbia
3. Arizona
4. Tennessee
5. Louisiana
6. Wyoming
7. Vermont
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Two newly released studies suggest that green buildings outperform their conventional counterparts in energy savings, sale prices, rental rates, and occupancy rates.

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When you purchase an automobile, what’s the first thing you take care of before driving around town? You’ve got to get insurance, of course. It’s no different when you’re ready to buy a home, but you have some more options.

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As you prepare to sell your home, you must begin by making a choice: to seek the services of a professional or to proceed without representation. You realize that your home is probably your biggest financial investment, with a value that could be hundreds of thousands of dollars.

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RE/MAX Maple Leaf Realty has joined The Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM).

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