After 6 years and over 20,000 happy renters we are ready to take our services into the next level!

• If you are a current or future renter that dreads the premise of having to find your next apartment…
• If you fear the thought of viewing yet another unit that has little or no relevance to the description you read online…
• If you’ve been walking for 40 minutes to see the unit that read “Close to the Train Station”…
• If you suffer from pocket pain while calling another real estate agency…
• If you wake up sweating at night fearing you might have made the wrong decision and that there might be a better deal out there…
• If you are a student that needs off campus housing but requires proper guidance and has no money to spare…

…we have some groundbreaking news for you.

We are about to unleash something that will solve all your renting needs.

Dismiss any fear and concern you have in your quest to find a new home.

It’s beyond human.

We are about to unleash a BEAST!

Unleashing on or before February 20th, stay tuned.

IG

Given the current state of the sales market and the usually frigid rental market during the winter, you can find single family homes for rent that were recently on the market for sale but didn’t.

A few quick “facts” (IMO)

• Selling real estate in 2008 is something most owners would try to avoid if they can.
• Selling during the winter, even in a good market, is not advisable.
• A vacant rental in late December is not going to fetch the same rent it would in July.

Finding a single family for rent, just like finding any other rental could be done the easy way or the hard way.

The easy way:

Use GrandCentralApartments.com

The hard way:

Don’t use GrandCentralApartments.com

That said, there is an exception to this rule when it comes to houses.

If you see a house that is currently on the market for sale and you approach the owner asking “Would you consider renting?” You might be surprised how many yes’s or maybe’s you will get.

The longer the house has been on the market the likelier it is for the owner to consider renting. (You can check the length of time on the market using websites like Roost.com or Zillow.com or you can contact the listing agent)

Another tip to increase your chances of getting a deal done is making your rental offer more than or approximately equal to the mortgage payment for that particular property.

The most important thing to be aware of when renting a house, in my view, is the heating and cooling cost. Check to see what system heats the house and how well-insulated it is. Houses are typically bigger than apartments and so is the cost of heating and/or cooling them.

A couple of other items to consider that might affect your cost of living in a house:

• Driveway clean up/plowing if you live in a snow bound area. Ask the landlord who is responsible for that expense.
• Landscaping e.g. mowing the lawn if the house comes with a yard.
• Trash removal if you live in a more rural area.

Overall, the average three bedroom house would be roughly 35% more expensive to rent then a three bedroom apartment.

Happy holidays,

IG

ScreeningWorks.com provides property owners and managers an easy to use immediate screening analysis for any tenant who applies for your rental. Simply create an account, plug-in the tenant’s info and get the following:

• Eviction Statewide
• Criminal Statewide
• Credit Evaluation
• Address Search
• National Sex Offender
• OFAC – US Treasury Dept. Database
• Social Security Number Fraud Check

The screening check is competitively priced and you get a discounted rate by using our promotional code RentalBeast.

Owners can use the reports nationwide. (Product package offerings vary by state)

Enjoy
IG

Call ScreeningWorks for promotional code.

If any of you ever wondered what makes this group of extremely wonderful and generous people donate their time and expertise for free then here is your answer.

A broker or real estate agent gets paid the equivalent of 1 month’s rent in virtually every transaction in which an apartment is rented.

There are 3 ways that they get paid:

1. You, the renter, pay them a full month’s rent fee.
2. You split the month’s rent fee with the landlord so each party pays a half-month’s rent.
3. The landlord pays the full month’s rent fee.

Scenario 3 is better known as the “No Broker Fee” apartment.

From my experience, if the landlord is willing to pay such a high incentive, the fee ends up being passed down to you anyway in the form of higher monthly rent. For example, a $1200 a month apartment with a one month’s fee would end up being $1300 a month ($1200/12=$100 extra dollars per month) so the landlord recovers his expense. Your rent is higher than it could have been if you rented the unit directly through the owner/property manager.

Also another point worth driving home – no matter who pays the broker fee, the more rent you pay, the more fee they get. That relationship usually leads to you seeing apartments that are at the top if not slightly over your price range.

Bottom line is this: if you want to avoid paying a broker fee you should not go around with brokers. It doesn’t matter whether they classify them self as Fee or No Fee; there is no free lunch.

IG

So for all you April-September renters, I would suggest you start your search early. As soon as the weather gets warmer and more people are out looking, prices will rise and inventory will go down.

The early birds get the worm.

On another note, Boston Real Estate Now, The Boston Globe Blog covered a new rent calculator-thingy called Zilpy.com. I’m not entirely sure how they get their information, but you can get some detailed info about Boston, MA (or any location you desire), such as:

• Renter occupied: 64 %
• Population: 589,141
• Vacancy rate: 4.9 %
• Median household income: $39,629
• Monthly rent affordability: $990
• Crime rate index: Violent: 5; Property: 4 (1-lowest, 5-highest)
• Ethnicity: White (54 %); Black (25 %); Hispanic (14 %)
• Age groups: 25 to 34 (21 %); Under 18 (20 %); 18 to 24 (16 %)
• Education: High School (38 %); College (13 %); Graduate School (10 %)
  Source: zilpy.com

Good luck,
IG

Since I live close by, I was witness to the fire and I saw what terrifying force a fire has and how fast it consumed the building and everything in it to the point were firefighters were afraid it will collapse after just 45 minutes.

Since, like most neighborhoods in the city, South Boston is tightly knit, the occupants of the two houses on either side of the Hotel Eaton had to evacuate their homes for almost a week before being able to go back home. And their homes were spared completely (except for some charred telephone cables) by the heroic efforts of the Boston Fire Fighters (G-d Bless them).

Witnessing this fire made me realize that while living in a building that has multiple floors with different tenants you could find yourself in a really bad situation without any fault or carelessness on your part. In a sense, you are at the mercy of your neighbors.

That said, I thought it would be a good idea to ask everyone that reads my blog to pay extra attention to the following fire safety tips:

1. Space heaters are a major fire hazard in the cold winter months. Old fashioned and even newer model space heaters; it’s important to make sure that they are never, ever left on while sleeping. Also, make sure you never place them next to blankets, drapery or anything flammable.
2. Candles should be supervised while burning and placed on a safety surface like a plate or a tray (not wood).
3. For you landlords, it might be a good idea to issue a similar reminder for your tenants, and make sure you replace the batteries on all the smoke and CO detectors in your property once every 6 months. A good time to do this is when the clocks change in the Spring and Fall.
4. When cooking, make sure that you don’t leave your kitchen unattended. It is so easy to get distracted and leave the kettle on by accident or a towel left too close to the burner. Possibilities are unfortunately endless. Better not to leave the kitchen.
5. Never smoke cigarettes in bed.
6. Do you have a fire extinguisher? Do you remember where it is? Do you know how to use it? Having a fire extinguisher next to your stove could save lives and your home.
7. Don’t forget to treat every alarm as a real emergency. Get outside, call 911 and then let the fire department decide if it was false or not.

Hopefully I didn’t go over the top with my cautiousness, but we are all better safe than sorry.

Stay safe.

IG

Since anybody can plug in whatever they want the results are not necessarily accurate but I thought it was an interesting concept nonetheless.

Enjoy

IG

As we all know, in many neighborhoods in and around Boston, people who shovel their parking spot claim it with some sort of a marker.

Some of my favorites from this year:

1. an old TV – Really old
2. A mail box
3. Some twisted version of frosty the Snowman (This marker is for single-use only)

Although the rules of marking a spot require that the marker be removed 48 hours after a storm – the vast majority keep their marker until most of the snow melts and you can find a spot without having to trudge home from Castle Island.

This year I noticed two things that made the situation worse.

1. Snow removal was slow, late and insufficient with more snow and ice makes piled on top to add to the mayhem.
2. The city, without warning, decided to pay its workers to remove some markers at random.

Here is my suggestion:
Reinstate Street Cleaning Rules for one week, after a major snow event, to facilitate snow removal. And I mean removal by wheel loader and dump truck. Why are workers being paid to remove markers instead of snow!?

Preferential Treatment

Unless Boston passed some new “Preferred Traction” law for the Back Bay I don’t see a reason for South Boston’s street corners and crosswalks to be totally iced up two weeks after a storm and in the Back Bay you can pretty much eat off any curb you see because it’s so well cared for.

Thanks,

IG

Photos: John Tlumacki, David L. Ryan, Boston Globe

The best case scenario for renters is to get the heat and hot water included in the rent. That way any insulation or efficiency problems are the landlord’s responsibility.

Before signing a lease:

When visiting a potential apartment you want to ask what kind of heating system they have in place.

1. A gas-based furnace that heats a hot-water baseboard is, in my opinion, the most economic.
2. Gas bills are somewhat cheaper than electric or oil.
3. Oil based burner – Oil, like, we all KNOW is expensive right now.
4. Electric baseboard – from my experience this is the most expensive heating system to the renter.

Another questions or observation should be the windows – are they new, old?

As far as insulation goes, try and see if the unit is drafty. If you place your hand on an outside-facing wall (from the inside) in a poorly insulated unit, you can sometimes FEEL the draft. That draft is heat and your $$$ escaping and being replace by cold air from outside.

Another good bit of advice is to call N-Star, KeySpan or the previous tenant or landlord what the average bill is during the winter season.

Like anything else, some landlords might be willing to negotiate the utilities when paying a higher rent price.

Hope this helps.

IG

Unfortunately, Section 8 voucher holders face many challenges while trying to secure housing. Often, property owners are hesitant to rent to someone who relies on government subsidies, or they don’t keep their property in good enough condition to pass Section 8 inspection.

The best advise I can give you, the voucher holder, is to seek out professional help in the form of a Housing Advocacy Group, of which there are a few in the Boston area such as ABCD or Home Start or use a professional service that has already pre-screened the listed properties. This will ensure that you are treated with the respect that you deserve and that you are sent to apartments that you will be welcomed in.

Often when you, the property owner, hears about Section 8 you think you might not be interested in renting to voucher holders because of some negative connotations that go along with having to use government subsidies. In my experience, I have found that most Section 8 voucher holders are regular folks that just need some financial assistance to sustain their family. And from a business perspective, a Section 8 tenant is one of the more secure ways to insure you get the rent paid on time every month since it is being paid for by a government agency.

If you, the property owner are considering accepting a Section 8 voucher, the procedure is roughly as follows. A prospective Section 8 tenant becomes interested in your unit, they tell the issuer of their Section 8 voucher about your unit and then an appointment is scheduled for an inspection. If your unit passes inspection, you sign an agreement, and that’s that.

Hope this helps,

IG