Andrew Schultz

Forbes recently released an article revealing the 25 strongest real estate markets in the nation. Among the top on their list? Buffalo and Rochester! Because Buffalo and Rochester didn’t experience the housing boom that many other areas in the country faced, today their markets are still strong.

These areas are especially appealing to investors, because of the low base cost of housing, strong rental market, and appreciation on property values.

From the article [here]:

…housing markets in upstate New York never had the ups and downs of some hot markets in the rest of the country. In Rochester, the birthplace of industrial ancients Xerox (nyse: XRX - news - people ) and Eastman Kodak (nyse: EK - news - people ), real estate values have climbed at a steady 3% rate for the last five years. They don’t have far to fall–about 2.4% according to Moody’s forecasts. In Buffalo, Syracuse and Albany, prices should also remain steady this year.

If you are interested in investing in the Buffalo or Rochester area, feel free to contact me at any time.

Andrew Schultz is a real estate agent and property manager located in the Western New York area. His articles on real estate investing and property management can be found at www.andrew-schultz.com.

Warning: This is an rant editorial!

Recently, the Buffalo News published an article [here] about the declining rate of home flips in the Buffalo, NY area. The article sites stricter regulations for out of area purchasers as well as other "anti-flipping measures" that have been put in place to prevent someone from purchasing cheap real estate and immediately flipping it for a large profit.

Having worked in real estate and property management, I have seen this happen a few times. There are even some companies and agents who are well known for such practices. I'm not calling out anyone on their ethics here, but this is a practice that should rightfully be stopped. These are the people who give out of area investors a bad name, usually slumlord.

My problem is the limits the new systems put on out of area investors to buy in Buffalo. It isn't shocking that there are areas of Buffalo that need rehabilitation work. This happens in every large city overtime . Out of area investors bring cash money into the local economy to purchase real estate, as well as building supplies, and rehabilitate it intolive-able space for families, and then either keep the property for their own portfolio or sell it, usually to other investors (either in town or out of town) who hold it in their portfolios.

I can already see the next complaint - the rent money isn't staying in the local economy if an out of area investor owns the property. In actuality, a good portion of the money DOES stay local. Out of area investors typically have a property manager who handles the property needs, such as maintenance, which generates income in labor and material sales. In addition, out of area investors typically reinvest in areas they have success in. Meaning more real estate sales in Buffalo.

Out of area investors have the capability to breath life back into Buffalo neighborhoods. There should be some monitoring, to ensure that slumlords don't take advantage of the property markets in the area, but there should not be a wall barring out of area investors from participating in our economy!

Andrew Schultz is a real estate agent and property manager located in the Western New York area. His articles on real estate investing and property management can be found at www.andrew-schultz.com.

When I entered the real estate arena, I decided I needed to address my phone plans. My cell phone plan with 1,000 minutes per month was just not going to cut all the additional phone calls I was making – some calls just can’t wait until after 7PM! Please note that any rates that I provide in this post are based on my home in Amherst, NY.

The two options I considered were having a Verizon land line phone installed, or finding an online Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) service to run over top of my preexisting broadband connection. I ended up choosing Skype as my VOIP solution.

Skype is a messaging client similar to AOL Instant Messanger, ICQ, or many others that you may come across. It also comes with a built in VOIP service, with very reasonable rates. Skype can be found at www.skype.com.

Startup Costs: My initial start up costs for Verizon would have been a $130 installation charge. This baffles me, because the entire house is already wired (and what rooms weren’t wired I would have done myself). I understand that they have to send a tech out to the house, but this cost didn’t seem prudent. My initial startup costs for Skype were $40. I spent $40 on a nice headset to plug into my computer. Your costs may be higher or lower, but I would suggest a nice headset. Skype also sells phones that will plug into your computer and integrate with their service, though the cost on these ranges greatly. There are also tutorials online that will show you how to convert your phones preexisting wiring to a fully functional Skype based phone system.

Service Comparison: For comparison, I am using the same service set for both Skype and Verizon. I wanted unlimited local and long distance calling to the United States. The plans I am comparing include unlimited local and long distance to the United States and Canada. Skype DOES have a fair use policy in effect which limits you to 10,000 minutes per month. Assuming a 31 day month, this gives you 322 minutes per day of talk time, or over 5 hours of talk time. I don’t anticipate my needs going over that for quite some time. Both plans also include voice mail, call forwarding, and caller ID.

With Verizon, I was signing up for one plan which included all the features above. With Skype, I signed up for 2 separate services – SkypeOut, which provided me with my unlimited outbound service, and Online Number, which provided me with a local calling number for people to reach me at. Both Skype services were subscribed to at the same time, so there really wasn’t much added “hassle”.

Show Me The Savings: Now let’s crunch some numbers. The Verizon plan, after taxes, would have run me $57.60 per month. This adds up to $691.20 per year! With Skype, I paid $30 for a full year of SkypeOut service. I also paid $29.50 for a year of Online Number service. Total yearly cost of Skype: $59.50. For $1.90 more, I now have phone service for an entire year!

Figure Skew: There is some skew to these figures. I am not including the cost of my broadband connection, because I would be paying for it regardless. Also, I could have found a broadband and telephone package with Verizon, but overall I’m sure the costs still would have been more than the Skype service.

Quality of Service: As long as you have a solid broadband connection, Skype should work fairly well for you. I have been using the service for almost a full year now, and I have only had one call fade out. There are some special considerations that need to be taken into effect with Skype. For instance, Skype does not tie in to a 911 Emergency Dispatch center, so I need to use my cell phone to call in case of an emergency.

Overall, I am very happy with the service I have received with Skype. If you have any questions about their service, I would be more than happy to answer them.

Marketing your properties can be one of the bigger challenges you face as a landlord / investor. There are a lot of sites on the internet that offer the ability to post your apartment, either free or for a fee. However, the one site that I see continued success in using is Craig’s List. Their website is free to post apartment listings on (in most areas) and I see a pretty good response in the Buffalo area using their service. They are located at http://www.craigslist.org. Once you are on the site you can navigate to your state and then city using the navigation bar on the right side of the screen.

I’ll be releasing a video within the next day or two with a video showing how to add an actual apartment listing to their site. A couple days after that I hope to have a list of “marketing buzzwords” that you can use to spice up your ad. But for now I want to discuss the meat of your ad.

Craig’s List offers you the ability to post the rent, the number of bedrooms, a subject, the specific location, and the body of the ad. You can also fill in your email address and the address of the property so people who are interested can get a map to the location. In addition you can specify if cats or dogs are allowed in the apartment.

The specific location is different from the address. Generally for specific location, you would want to list the district of the city. For instance, in Buffalo, you might use South Buffalo, University, Black Rock, or any of the other defined districts. This will help people narrow down what they are looking for when they scroll through the listings.

You want to make your subject catchy, but also informative. A subject such as, “3 Bedroom Upper on Main – NEW KITCHEN!” is informative because it tells you the pertinent information up front. The new kitchen will catch the attention of someone scrolling through the page. You do not need to list the rent amount in the subject, because Craig’s List automatically adds that before your subject.

The body of the text is really where you can get into the specific details about the apartment. Start off by talking about the apartment, then move on to amenities offered. Round out the body by listing things near the apartment, such as restaurants, bus lines, parks, schools, etc.

Example Body:
Beautiful 3 bedroom upper apartment with newly renovated kitchen and open floor plan is great for entertaining. Sliding glass door leads to balcony as well as allows tons of sunlight in. Rent includes water, tenant pays gas and electric. Amenities include on site laundry, free wireless internet access.

Enjoy the benefits of the area! This apartment is within walking distance to several restaurants, bus lines to downtown, and the Boulevard Mall. Conveniently located between University of Buffalo North and South campuses.

Please call us at (716) 555-1234 or email us at rentals@abcrentals.com for more information!

Keep in mind that a picture is worth 1,000 words. Craig’s List gives you the ability to upload 4 photos of your apartment! Why wouldn’t you take advantage of that feature? Find 4 well lit rooms, or amenities that your apartment or complex offers (nice kitchen, pool, etc.) and be sure to attach them to your ad.

Marketing your apartments on Craig’s List is a smart move for anyone renting an apartment. The response rates vary, but are generally very good. Keep in mind that you can repost your ad every 3 days to keep your apartment near the top of the list. The more active you are in your marketing, the more responses you will see on your apartment!

In today’s day and age, the chances of reaching the person you want to speak to the first time you call are very slim. It seems that everyone has a receptionist, a secretary, or voicemail that you will have to talk to before you ever get to speak to the person you really want! Being able to leave a professional, informative message, as well as knowing how to set up your voicemail greeting to ensure you get the information you want from a party that calls the first time, will increase your productivity and make your phone calls that much easier.

First, you should consider giving your outgoing message a facelift. It doesn’t have to be particularly long. Pause for 2 seconds before you begin to speak, then something simple such as, “Hi, this is Andrew Schultz with WNY Star Realty. I’m sorry I can’t take your call at the present time. Please leave me your name, phone number, and how I can help you. Messages are normally returned within 24 to 48 hours. Thank you!” This message gives all the essentials, and reminds people you need name AND number, as well as a reason for their call. It also gives a time line for when they can expect a return call, so that they don’t feel the need to call 3 or 4 times in one day.

Some people like to specify the current date in their message, and give you a run down on when they will be unavailable. I’m not a fan of this approach because it’s easy to forget to change it one day, or you may be unexpectedly out the following day. If you wanted to take this approach, I would suggest changing it on a weekly basis. A simple example of this would be, “Hi, you’ve reached Andrew Schultz with WNY Star Realty. For the week of November 16, 2008, I will be out of the office Monday and Tuesday mornings, and Friday afternoon, but expect to be in the office much of the rest of the week. Please leave me your name, number, and how I can help you. Messages are normally returned within 24 to 48 hours. Thanks!”

Leaving a message on a voicemail is a fairly simple task, but many people forget crucial parts which lead to calls going unreturned. Every time you leave a voicemail, leave your name, number, and reason for your call. Always leave your number TWICE. Often times, a phone will cut out for that split second when you are leaving a number, so your recipient gets (716) 650-4_43. Giving your number twice allows them to piece the number together, and return your call. Be specific with the reason for your call! “Give me a call,” doesn’t tell me what you need, and you’ll get bumped to the bottom of my call back list.

Hopefully this brings a little bit more of an understanding to the world of voicemail. These simple tips will help save you and your associates time, as well as make you more productive, because you no longer have to search for phone numbers or try to recall a reason that someone is calling you. In addition, leaving a good voice mail is more likely to get your call returned quickly.