Chandler Properties Blog

When Did I Change that Air Filter?
The other day I was scratching around trying to remember when the last time the air filters on my apartments had been changed.  As part of the lease agreement, the tenants are supposed to change the filters out on their own.  However, this only rarely happens.  Therefore, every three to six months I’ll go around and check the filters.  I am always amazed at the dirty condition of the filters.  In order to keep up with the age of the air filters as well as the dates of other routine maintenance I put together a maintenance log for each of my properties the other day.  I have decided that starting now, I will change the air filters every three months and reduce the strain on my air conditioner units.  If you would like to download an excel version of the maintenance log, go to the Resources Page and download it for free.

Maintenance Log Details
The maintenance log spreadsheet is a form that can be printed out for each property that a landlord manages.  It includes dates, amounts, and notes related to the following maintenance types.

• Lawn Care
• Pest Control
• Air Filters
• General Maintenance

IRS Consequences
This form not only provides an easy way to keep up with routine maintenance, but it also helps provide evidence that you are an active owner of real estate.  This is an important criteria for determining your tax status with the IRS.  There are tax advantages to being classified as a business owner by the IRS instead of a passive investor.  Keeping records of routine maintenance that you performed helps provide evidence that you are actively engaged in the management of your rentals.

I hope this form is helpful to the landlords out there.  Feel free to download and modify it to best suit your needs.  Any feedback is appreciated. 

Have you ever asked yourself, “I wonder how much the owner, who is selling this property, originally paid for it?  This would be great information to know, so that I could make a fair offer on the property.” 

Today’s blog is going to demonstrate a free tool provided by the state government that allows interested parties to search public real estate records.  (I will use Bradley County, Tennessee for this demonstration.  However, I am sure with a Google search you can locate one for your county/state.)

Anytime I evaluate a property, I lookup the price the current owner paid.  I compare this price to what I believe is the intrinsic value of the property.  Ex.  If I feel the property is worth $100,000 and the current owner paid $125,000 six months ago, I know I am probably wasting my time pursuing this deal.  However, if the current owner paid $75,000, I know there is some room for negotiation and the deal is worth pursuing. 

This website also provides the following information:

1. Current property owner 
2. Tax appraisal of the property
3. Zoning information
4. Subdivision and Parcel ID information
5. Information about the building. Date built, square footage
6. Lot Size 
7. Property transaction dates for the last 30 to 40 years

The State of Tennessee’s “Real Estate Assessment Data”  application allows users to search for property information by location, owner, subdivision, parcel id, sale date, etc.  To get to this website, simply click the following link www.assessment.state.tn.us and select the county you are interested in searching.  Note: This search engine is not as user-friendly as Google and sometimes you have to be creative to find the property you are trying to locate.  For example, if I want to look up the property down the road at 123 Main Street owned by Bob Smith, I type in “123 Main Street.”  The program will say “No results”.  However, if I type in “Main”, I will get 25 results and can find 123 Main Street from the list of 25.  Keep this in mind when looking for a particular property.  Be creative in how you look for a property.  Search by owner last name, part of the street address, subdivision, etc.  

As cumbersome as this site is, the information gained from it is invaluable to the real estate investor.  Play around with it and I think you will quickly get hang of using it.  If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.