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Rental Report: Why Hire a Real Estate Agent to Lease Your Property?

By WTOP Staff

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Editor’s Note: This biweekly sponsored column is written by Rick Gersten, founder and CEO of Urban Igloo, a rental real estate firm that matches up renters with their ideal apartments, condos or houses. Please submit any questions in the comments section or via email.

While there are certain advantages of having an investment property, being a landlord can certainly be difficult at times. When you have a great tenant and you are attentive and responsive to maintenance needs, owning a property can seem like a piece of cake.

But what about when it comes time to put your property back on the market to find a new tenant? There are quite a few steps to renting a property: marketing, showing, tenant screening, and preparing lease documents. Some landlords may enjoy the process, but others just want their place rented quickly so they don’t lose money. So, how do you get your property rented quickly with the least amount of hassle? Hire a real estate agent. Here’s a list of reasons why hiring an agent is well worth the money:

Time – What is your time worth? When you are working to rent your space on your own you invest a lot of your time. Time off work to show your property. Time during work to answer emails and phone calls from potential renters. Time after work to market your property. How many of those renters that you take the time to show your property are just browsing? How many didn’t read your ad and they called to ask questions you already answered? If you add up the hours spent dealing with these issues and put a value on it, it may likely come out to more than the fee paid to an agent.

Resources – How do you market your property? Word of mouth and Craigslist? An agent has several outlets for marketing beyond Craigslist. They can also add your property to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) to open it up to agents from other brokerages, which will likely result in a faster turnaround. Not to mention, the agent may already know a renter who is looking for a space just like yours.

An agent will also be able to screen potential renters, run credit checks and prepare lease documents in a more efficient manner because they do it every day. They manage the questions, negotiations and issues that may arise during the process. In addition to that, they likely have a more rigorous screening process which will help ensure qualified tenants.

Lastly, the agents are going to be up to date on the current laws and regulations with regards to landlord-tenant issues in your area, so they can help you navigate that process to be sure you are compliant. Again, saving you money and headaches down the road.

Turn Around – How long does it take you to rent your property? If you hire an agent as soon as you know your property is going to be available, you increase the likelihood of having new tenants move in immediately after the current tenants move out.

If you don’t hire an agent right away, the following example shows the possible cost: say you rent your property for $2,000 per month. Your current tenant gives you a 30 day notice to vacate. You decide to try to market your property on your own. After those 30 days are up, you still have not found a qualified tenant. Every day your unit sits vacant it is costing you $66.67. So, after 45 days from the original notice you decide to hire an agent. You’ve already lost $1,000 in rent. You hire an agent, and they find you a renter quickly, but after all is said and done, that renter still doesn’t move in until 30 days after your previous tenants moved out.

So you’ve lost a full month’s rent, and you pay the broker fee, which is generally equivalent to one month’s rent. You are out double what it would have cost you if you had hired an agent from the start.

When hiring an agent, be sure to find someone licensed and knowledgeable about your market. Ask a lot of questions.

Ask how many rentals they work with on a regular basis. Find out how long it takes them in general to rent out a property. What avenues do they use to market your property? What type of screening do they do? Ask what to expect from the entire process from signing up to showing, to negotiation and down to lease signing and turning over keys. What happens if you find your own renter, do they still charge you their full fee? Will they help you with the screening and lease process if you do find your own renter? Talk to people you know, and ask for a recommendation.

Not all agents are created equal. Once you do find a great agent, you can hopefully relax and let them handle the rest of the process.

The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ARLnow.com.

Community discussion guidelines: Our sponsored columns are written by members of the local business community. While we encourage a robust and open discussion, we ask that all reviews of the businesses — good or bad — be directed to another venue, like Yelp. The comments section is intended for a conversation about the topic of the article.

Don’t Settle for Student Loans to Pay for Online Education

By WTOP Staff
Online college programs are becoming a more popular choice for prospective students, with one study finding that more than 6 million students enrolled in at least one online course in fall 2015. The popularity of these courses can be attributed in part to their flexibility with working adults' schedules, students' ability to progress more quickly through online programs and, oftentimes, cheaper tuition. [See 10 low-cost online bachelor's programs for out-of-state students.]Online degrees can be beneficial to many college students, but some studies have shown online learners complete their programs at lower rates than students at traditional brick-and-mortar campuses. Individuals with student loans but no degree comprise two-thirds of defaulted borrowers. Though these numbers are not encouraging, just like for traditional programs, there are ways to reduce how much you'll need to borrow for an online program to ensure you won't become one of these statistics. Don't just settle on borrowing student loans to cover the whole cost of your program and living expenses. Instead, start thinking about how to cut costs and cover your balance in different ways, such as the following. -- Grants and scholarships: Even though you are taking an online course, you can still apply and receive grants and scholarships. But your first step should be to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, commonly referred to as the FAFSA, which will allow you to receive a Pell Grant if your expected family contribution is low enough. The EFC criteria and award amounts are adjusted annually, but the 2017-2018 academic year awards range from $606 to $5,920, which could significantly lower the amount you borrow annually. Your next step is to apply for scholarships. You can start by checking online scholarship search engines, such as the Salt Scholarship Search, College Board's BigFuture and Peterson's. But don't forget to take advantage of local organizations and your school's financial aid office. Both may offer scholarships that you can't find with a national scholarship search. [Review these 10 sites to kick off your scholarship search.]For instance, organizations like the Elks Club, Knights of Columbus or the Rotary Club typically offer scholarships annually to local students. Just because you're going to school online doesn't mean you're ineligible. Visit your local library for scholarship listings, and ask around town. You might be surprised how many local organizations offer scholarships. While these scholarships typically aren't large, every little bit counts. Each dollar you receive in a scholarship is a dollar you don't have to borrow and pay interest on. -- Work-study: Another option for online students may be work-study awards. Not all students enrolled in online programs are eligible, but students at some schools -- including, for example, SUNY Empire State College and Liberty University -- are. Work-study awards are not given upfront like scholarships and grants. In most cases, they are an offer to earn up to the awarded amount if you secure an eligible work-study job. While there is a misconception that all work-study jobs must be on campus, students can work for off-campus, nonprofit or public employers as long as the work is in the public's interest. You may be able to work for a for-profit employer if the job is relevant to your course of study. No matter who the outside employer is, it will need to have an established agreement with your college for you to receive work-study funds. Remember, to be eligible for federal financial aid, you must be enrolled and pursuing a degree or certificate. If you're not working toward a credential, Pell Grants and work-study won't be option, but you may still be able to take advantage of private scholarships -- just be sure to read the eligibility criteria carefully. [Explore what to know about financial aid in online programs.]-- Pay as you go: One of the great benefits to enrolling online is the flexible schedule, which can allow you to complete your college coursework around your responsibilities. But prospective students often overlook using their part- or full-time job earnings as an option for paying for college. Almost 80 percent of college students in 2015 worked at least part time while attending classes, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. By budgeting and thinking strategically about your college costs, you can likely reduce your dependence on student loans by paying a portion out of pocket. Many -- but not all -- online programs are less expensive than traditional programs and often have shorter payment periods. Six, eight or 10 weeks are common course durations. Because of the frequency of payments in an online setting, you may be well-placed to pay as you go and possibly avoid borrowing altogether. Attending college online and avoiding student loans may be challenging, but if you are willing to put in the effort, you can limit the amount you need to borrow. More from U.S. News Q&A: Understanding Student Loan Discharge Eligibility Student Loan Refinancing Isn't Right for All Borrowers
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