Shokoofeh Nowbakht

Evaluation of Rental Property
June 2, 2009 · Shokoofeh Nowbakht · 7 Comments

for-rentHow do you evaluate a rental property?
There are many formulas to calculate different income ratios, various expenses and taxes you incur as a landlord. The first thing you should pay close attention to is the existing leases. Find out the current rents, the remaining lease terms and the annual increase in rents for every unit. It is very important to determine how these rents compare to the rents for similar properties in the area?    Read more

Kathy Wall

Rent Control – Out of Control
December 31, 2008 · Kathy Wall · 3 Comments

I have an elderly client who purchased a home in San Francisco’s Sunset District many years ago.   A few years after the purchase, he and his wife decided to move to Marin and rented the house out to a “friend.”  

It’s now about 30 years later and my client desperately needs to sell the home so that he can keep up with ongoing medical bills.   You see, his wife had a very bad stroke while on an airplane about 8 years ago and, a year later, ended up with kidney failure.   She’s been in a wheelchair and on dialysis ever since.  Sadly, they had no insurance at the time of his wife’s stroke and certainly can’t get any now, so he’s been borrowing on the San Francisco house in order to keep up with her numerous and never ending expenses.   Now, the payments are ballooning up to a point that he can no longer afford to pay them. Read more

Lee Ginsburg

Learning to Budget! Kudos To The Teacher.
December 28, 2008 · Lee Ginsburg · 6 Comments

As many of you are aware my Prudential office in San Bruno, Ca. is the largest single independent Prudential office in the country.  We are very progressive and have kiosk in several of the regional malls in the area.  As I had my shift just before the holidays, a young boy, I’d say about 12 or 13 was looking at some listings.  I let him look for a while and then approached.  He told me he was 30 years old and looking for a rental for his family of 4 with a $60,000 annual income.  I did a double take and he explained he had a home work assignment to balance a family budget including housing.  I helped him find a few rental homes in the area.  The reason for me writing about this, I thought it was a great assignment; Reality, Life.   I think this should be taught in detail to all high school seniors and to all purchasing a home.  I believe saving should be part of a family budget.  The savings could be for a down payment, home maintenance, vacation, rainy day, etc.  Read more