Andrew Trevino Wilkes-Barre Homes For Sale

I was at a Realtor luncheon the other day, talking to another Realtor about how a friend of mine was going to be joining our team at TradeMark Realtors Group and the question came up. Is this a good time to join the ranks of Realtors out here who are scrambling to make ends meet?

Many people's immediate response would be, "are you crazy?!!". The market's in the toilet, Long time agents are running scared now and, honestly, I have no idea how they survive long enough to pay their dues every year. Yet I see them at the Realtor functions, so they must be doing something to earn some money. My friend and I were discussing how so many of the people we saw at the luncheon never show up on the hot sheet and left us wondering how they could afford to hold on to their licenses. It's not cheap to be a Realtor, that's for sure.

We discussed our market and how long we thought it'd be before we saw a bounce back in sales. The Wilkes-Barre real estate market always lags behind the rest of the nation, so it took a while before ours felt any real impact from the foreclosures that have ravaged much of our nation. Last year was the year! We really have very few segments of our market that haven't been affected by an influx of REO listings over the last year. I think it may be a while before our market bounces back fully, especially after the tax rebate ends, but that's a different blog post altogether.

So, is it really a good time to get your Real Estate license and try to make a living out of our market? I imagine many people have asked that question. Based on our attrition rate in our board, I'd say that there are many Realtors who have decided that it wasn't worth the struggle and have moved on. That was the opinion of my friend that day as well. If it's not working for you and you aren't successfully paying the bills, it is probably time to look elsewhere. My thought is that it's a different story for a new Realtor. Let me explain myself and see what you think.

I think back to my first days as a Realtor. I was so excited to have my Realtor's license, but I didn't know what I was doing. Really, believe me when I say that I didn't have a clue what I was doing. I didn't have any systems in place to help generate leads, I had no idea how to speak to clients and I definitely didn't know my market enough to help anyone make an informed decision when buying or selling a home. I was just like every other new Realtor, fresh out of class and no idea what I was doing. You don't learn that kind of information in Fundamentals of Real Estate class. It takes time. It took me a full 6-8 months to become familiar with my market and develop the skills I needed to truly be of benefit to my clients.

That's precisely why I believe it's a good time to become a Realtor, as long as you are realistic that it will take a while before you will be earning a living selling houses. I started as a part time Realtor, which gave me an advantage of less pressure, but I really don't know if the lack of pressure made me take longer to get up to speed. I really don't believe it's possible to establish yourself in less than that amount of time, unless you already have a network in place.

The eternal optimist in me wants to predict that our market will strengthen quite a bit before year's end, so that will give the new Realtor plenty of time to hone those skills necessary to be successful in today's market. I believe that any agent who can make it in today's market will make it in any market. That is, of course my humble opinion, which you can put with a dollar and get a cup of coffee at McDonald's on most mornings.

Until next time...

I own a property management company in Wilkes-Barre, PA, ADT Property Management Company. That's quite a statement, if you consider that I never wanted to do property management. If I had known what I know now, before I took that first step down the slippery slope that's led me to where I am today, I may never have done it at all. But I did, so here I am.

I started managing properties because I had a client who bought a house and needed to rent it for a year until he moved into the area. That pretty much opened the door and before I knew it I was getting flooded with requests for my services. Of course, it took some time for me to truly understand the whole picture and I guess I'm still learning new things as I encounter situations that I never encountered before. I thought it might be helpful to highlight some of the things I've learned over the last 2 years that might help someone make the right decision before getting into the business of renting their proeprties.

My experiences don't just come from the management of clients' properties either. I have a couple of my own that have helped me to understand the dynamics of property management. I hope these things may help someone as they embark on their own journey. Before buying that first rental property, you need to consider...

LOCATION!!!

It's not enough just to buy a cheap house, fix it up and rent it. There are certainly a ton of cheap listings in today's market. Just like the rest of the market, your rent rate will be determined by the location your property is in. Is it near the schools, shopping, bus routes, churches and hospitals? Those are all very important factors to consider when purchasing a property to rent. I have had plenty of outstanding properties that were in tough locations for renters, which made it even harder to rent. The longer your house sits on the rental market, the more money you lose.

AMENITIES!!!

Yes, I said amenities. What does your property offer that the other houses in it's market don't? The Wilkes-Barre market has seen a huge influx of investment buyers over the last two years. They all have the same plan...buy a cheap 3BR/1BA house, rehab it as cheaply as you can and put it on the market at the high end of the rent tier. That was a great plan and it worked...for a while. It wasn't long before there were 100's of the same type of houses on the rental market, all at the same time, all offering the same amenities and all at the same prices. This made it a tenant's market and they could literally choose from 4-5 houses to rent. The one that stood out the best (or offered the most amenities) was the one they chose.

RENT RATE!!!

Consider this carefully before ever even making the purchase. If you can't get the right rent rate, you could be stuck with an alligator. You know what that is, right? It's a property that keeps eating your profits month in and month out. If you're not careful, it could even take a bite out of you!! If your house sits for more than two months, you need to review your plan and make sure you have the property priced right. A lesson I learned over time was to be sure that the rent rate is right before I take over a property. It costs me to have that place sitting there, unrented, while I run back and forth to show it as well.

PROPERTY MANAGEMENT!!!

10%!!! Are you kidding me? That's the response I get sometimes when I tell someone what my fees are for my services. I've also heard the statement that I am making more money off of some of my clients properties than they are. That may very well be true, but it certainly isn't my fault. There are some rather simple formulas for figuring out what your income vs. costs will be for your property. Property Management is one of those costs you will want to consider. I have a good friend, who is also now a client, that considered my fees to be too much until she was forced into court by a tenant. After spending a lot of time and money, she now understands why it's better to have a property manager.

I have actually been able to make my clients even more money, after paying my fees each month, because of my understanding of the market. I am able to locate and place better tenants. I am able to follow up more closely when maintenance is needed. I can take better care of the tenants and a happy tenant is worth their weight in gold, believe me. I have relationships with contractors, local building code inspectors and local law enforcement, so my relationships can make the lives of my clients much easier.

In Wilkes-Barre, if you don't live within 20 miles of the city, you have to have a Property Manager registered with the city. I have seen the city actually shut down multi-unit buildings, essentially evicting all the tenants (at the owner's expense) because the owner lived out of town and didn't have a property manager. That meant large fines from the city and some very angry tenants. In addition to those requirements, in order to be a property manager in PA, you have to have at least a Real Estate salesperson's license. That pretty much narrows the field when it comes to property management.

Yes, there is a lot to consider before wading into these sometimes turbulent waters. Choose your steps wisely and, if you find yourself with a question or two, give me a call.

Until next time...

and I know that old addage to be true in most things in life. It's really because what we knew as home turns out to be something so totally different when we've been away from it for a while. Well, I've been away from ActiveRain for a while...a long while, and now I find myself back at the computer, peering at the screen and trying to align my thoughts in some sort of order that will make sense to anyone who stumbles across my blog in their search for knowledge, comic relief or an escape from something else they'd rather not be doing right now.

Hello ActiveRain readers, my name is Andrew Trevino and I am a blogger...

I feel like I have to introduce myself, like the first day I posted a blog on ActiveRain many, many months ago. No, I'm no newbie, but it's been so long since I've written a blog post that it feels brand new to me. Brand new isn't a bad thing, is it? Maybe it's more like that alcoholic who has beaten their addiction, for now, and is able to stand up and say that they've been clean for 5 months, 21 days, 8 hours and 46 minutes. Yes, I still remember those anxious moments, at 2:38am where I was sitting in bed, my laptop beginning to make my legs uncomfortably sweaty under the covers while artlessly ignoring my wife's almost continuous moaning because my incessant typing and the dull glow of the screen was keeping her awake. I just had to get that post out and then I just had to wait a few minutes to see if my post was worthy of some other blog-addicted writer's comments.

Am I the prodigal son returned to his blogging home? Where's my ring and fatted calf? I guess in a way I am. I did a Google search today and found, not unexpectedly, that I am on the 4th page. Tucked away in no-man's land like the 100,000 other returns on "Realtors in Wilkes-Barre PA". Might as well be the last, right? It's a good thing that I have a steady referral base or I just might be in some serious trouble!!

I haven't checked yet, but I imagine I may have lost a few of those faithful readers who seemed to get something out of my posts day in and day out. For you, I apologize for my extended absence. If you are still there, I'm grateful and I hope to have some worthwhile reading for you soon. In the meantime, bear with me while I get my, ahem, groove back.

It will certainly take me some time to catch up on my old friends' blogs, see what's going on in the lives of those who definitely impacted mine through their writing and figure out what I've been missing since I've been gone. I imagine that my blog will be very "old-school" for all of you. Maybe I should have read a few of yours to see just how old-school I'll appear, but I've never been known for being pragmatic.

I will take some time over the next few days to get back in the groove and update you all on what's been going on in my life over the last few months. A lot has changed...some for the better and some for the worse, but that's life after all. In the meantime, let me assure you of a few things...

1. I am still a Realtor in Wilkes-Barre, PA.I still work with TradeMark Realtors Group and am enjoying a very busy schedule these days. I guess all that work at learning to be a good buyer's agent is paying off. It is a buyer's market after all, so I'm perfectly in my element.

2. I still own my own Property Management Company. Maybe some of you didn't know that at all, so it may be news to you. My company is called ADT Property Management Company. This company has grown tremendously over the last year, from 7 properties to almost 60 now. If you can imagine, this takes up a lot of my time and is the main reason for my absence. There are only 24 hours in a day, I've found.

3. I have gotten no better at time management, so my start may be as stop and go as that '67 Dodge Dart, with the bad carburetor, I owned many years ago. But, much like that car, I'll manage to keep moving forward as well as I can.

4. I still enjoy writing very much. Well, I think I do. I've learned that you don't always get to do the things you like every day, but I've made it my goal to spend time on this each and every day. So, like pulling the old bike out of the basement each Spring, I will pull out the keyboard and loosen up the typing fingers to put some of the gazillion thoughts that run through my brain each day on the proverbial internet paper that this blog has become.

Oh man, is this becoming a top ten list? I better stop before I get too deep. Anyway, thanks for checking out my blog and bearing with me as I shake the dust off. I hope you have tissues handy and aren't allergic!! I imagine there'll be much more shaking to do before I get it right.

Until next time...

Yes, that's right!!! Scranton, PA is rated by CNN's Money Magazine as 7th in the list of "Fastest Growing Real Estate Markets". I'd say that's pretty impressive. It's also something I've been saying for a long time now.

Our market is solid!! I wouldn't call it " recession-proof". We have our issues, but we haven't experienced the stellar growth of many markets who are now suffering the woes of double digit losses in home values and foreclosure rates that are through the roof. No, we've taken the slow and steady route and it shows in our current statistics, taken from the following article... http://finance.yahoo.com/real-estate/article/105048/10-Fastest-Growing-Real-Estate-Markets

7. Scranton, P.A.

12-month forecast: 2.2%
Median home price: $128,000
One year price change: 7.2%
Five year price change: 41.1%
Change in foreclosure rate: 8%

As you can see, we're expecting very big things over the next few years. For years there has been talk of extending the rail system to make a connection from NYC straight to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre market. This will mean a huge boom for the area in housing prices for both home sales and rentals. That in turn will mean a lot for the savvy buyer who get's in on the action now, while the prices are still within reason.

If you are interested in learning more about the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton market, contact me today or check out my website at www.wilkesbarrehomesales.com.

The perfect storm has been brewing in the Wilkes-Barre, PA real estate market for some time now.

We have a very large amount of older homes on the market that need some rehabbing. You can buy them pretty pretty low and fix them up well within the 80% LTV you'll need to refinance them later. This also puts them onto the rental market, if your plan is to hold them, at a reasonable range for most renters and high enough to pay the mortgage when the refi is done.

The mortgage issues abounding in most financial institutions have forced many of those who would have qualified for a sub-prime loan into the rental market until they can get into a better credit situation as well. This means that there are many more qualified renters out there looking for housing. The promise of a recently rehabbed home is almost too enticing for most renters and, through a good interview and background check process, a good renter is found without too much wait or hassle.

Recent changes in Wilkes-Barre's stance on absentee landlords have forced any landlord in the area to register their property, have it inspected, apply for a license and provide the name of the person who will be managing their property. Failure to do any one of these things could be quite costly for the landlord in question. For the absentee landlord, this calls for a Property Manager.

Add all of these factors together and you have the very obvious need for a Property Management Company that can provide quality property management services for our community. I think this has become obvious over the last few months, as more and more Brokers in the Wilkes-Barre market are looking into this sector of the Real Estate market.

I have provided that answer for the Wilkes-Barre market with my new company, ADT Property Management Co, LLC. Through this new company, I am able to provide Property Management to our increasing number of investor clients who will be rehabbing and holding their properties. I will also be taking on new property management clients who already have properties to rent as well as those new clients who will be buying and renting new properties.

I would urge anyone interested in these services to contact me right away. I can provide a full range of services, making your investment experience a smooth and profitable one. I give you the ability to have as much, or as little, interaction with your property as you desire. Call or send me an e-mail right away to discuss the many options available to you.