Standard and Poor’s Case Schiller home price index rose again by 2% in the nations largest 20 markets.  San Diego is included in this and we are seeing a steady climb to values and demand.

“What our anticipation here is, we’re gonna pick up paces from here,” said Marney Cox, the San Diego Association of Governments chief economist. “We’ll no longer see the 1.3 percent rates of growth, or 2 percent, from this last quarter. But instead we’ll begin to rise above that and hit the 2.5 and 3 percent rates of growth.”

There are some concerns about the fragile bounce upward, said Cox, who worries about major events overtaking the improvement.

The federal government could impose huge spending cuts and tax hikes at the end of the year as lawmakers try to avoid what some are calling the “Fiscal Cliff.” Cox said Europe’s economic troubles could also wash out a weak recovery here.

The San Diego rental market continues to be hot with the average apartment in San Diego renting for approximately $1400 per month.

Our one bedroom apartments are averaging about $1100 per month and our two bedroom apartments are averaging $1400 per month.

Click here to see our San Diego Apartment Rentals

The county’s vacancy rate (the percent of rental units that are not occupied) is at 4.43%, the lowest it’s been for a given March since 2008, when it was 3.36%. On a national level, San Diego has the sixth lowest vacancy rate behind New York City, Minneapolis, Portland, San Jose, and Seattle. A big reason for the area’s “lower than normal” vacancy rate is the lack of finished units. Projects due online this year will hopefully help relieve San Diego’s Apartment Rentals tight market. With such scarce inventory, demand is up and incentives either are no longer needed or are far more modest now except maybe in certain neighborhoods of San Diego. Rents in the county are expected to increase 3-5% a year this year because of those factors.

Fewer amenities, better pricing – some tenants are sacrificing a few amenities to get the more affordable price, including an in-unit laundry machine and more up to date appliances, for example. The U.S. Census Bureau reported the national home ownership rate was 65.4% in the first quarter, the lowest it’s been for a first quarter since 1997. The homeownership rate among those under 35 is 36.8%, the lowest it’s been in 17 years.

The rental market is very hot right now and in most cases you can easily rent your property without any major improvements.  But with interest rates at all time lows it may make sense financially to take advantage of these historic rates.

Improving your rental property will help you find quality tenants and if you expand the size of dwelling it can have a significant increase in rent.  As a landlord you want to find the best tenants and avoid churning each year.   For most landlords the ideal tenant is a family. Appealing to families is not difficult; it just takes focus. Think about what rooms of the house are important to a reliable family.

Consider the Bathroom

The bathrooms are possibly the most used rooms in a home. Most rental properties that are sized for a family will have two bathrooms. Both should be appropriate for their intended users.

A well remodeled master bathroom will appeal to the parents (you know, the ones paying the rent). Don’t go overboard on cost, but do update the bathroom fixtures. Install a good sized tub for baths and two sinks. This will make the bathroom efficient while parents are getting ready for work and effective when mom wants to soak in a bath.

The kids need nice fixtures, but you can get away with spending less than you did on the master. You only need a single sink, a modern toilet and a shower/tub combo. Little kids like baths, so a shower stall simply will not do. Otherwise ensure that the materials that you are using are nice so that you can appeal to a family with a reasonable income, but not so nice that you are throwing money away. After all, you do not live there.

As important as flooring and trim are, focusing on the areas of the house that matter to families is a good way to make a quality tenant put in a rental application with you. You can rent out houses or condos. Be aware that a condo will require a monthly fee in most cases—which raises your operating costs—but will require less maintenance down the road.

Benefits of Wood Flooring to Home Value

Deciding on renovations to one’s home, especially in the San Diego, California area can be a lot for someone to handle. It’s imperative to keep your home looking the best that it can, while also giving it more of a modern and personable look that you want. Trying to find a healthy balance between the two could be enough to drive anyone crazy! One simple way to change the entire look and feel of your home could be adding wood floors. Wood floors are found in homes all over the world, and because they are healthier, available in a wide variety, and add to the value of your home, are very highly sought-after .

It is a fact that carpets and other floorings collect dust and other allergens inside of them, so much so that the EPA has said that indoor air quality is one of America’s top health threats!  Adding hardwood flooring to your home increased the quality of the air inside the home, as wooden floors do no trap dust, mites or mold. There’s no room for anything to be hidden under or in between the sturdy planks that make up the flooring. Another great aspect of wooden flooring is that there are literally hundreds of configurations that you can choose for a wooden floor. Recent innovations in technology have made it so that there are now many different sizes, styles, colors, and species that you can choose to be the foundation for your home. When put together, that adds up for a wide range of possible combinations for your floor! Lastly, and possibly most important for some, adding wooden flooring into your home raises the price and value of your home. Wooden floors are a lifetime product, so as your home increases in value, your floors do too! No wonder it’s one of the most sought-after floor surfaces in new home construction!

Renovating or improving one’s home can be a pain, especially when you don’t know what to do to it. Finding the right matches can be draining and leave one feeling very dissatisfied if something doesn’t match right. Implementing wooden flooring on your home can be one of the best ways to improve your home value, have a cleaner healthier home, and not to mention they can match perfectly with just about any theme you have for you home!

How to Choose a Property Manager:

1. Choose a company that is knowledgeable of the local market;

Making sure the property management company that you are using knows the local rental market is must! Knowledge of the local market means that your property manager knows what renters are looking for. If your property management company is a good one, they will think of the property as if they were a renter. Making smart and cost conscious recommendations to the owner that will increase overall return while improving the property so that it becomes more desirable, will help increase rental rates, lower turnover and decrease vacancy. Your property management company should make sure that your property always stays competitive in the leasing market.

1. Set up a meeting with the property manager and make a plan;

If the property management company you are choosing is a good one, they will set up a meeting with all new property owners and make a game plan. Getting to know your property manager will help improve the interaction and can give both the owner and the property manager a good idea of how they will work to improve the return for that property. Each property plan is different and is based on the goals, plans, and budgets of the owners. Designing a property plan that is right for each owners needs is the key to successful property management.

1. Ask your property manager for the names of three references;

Nobody can give a better picture of the service, than a current customer. Ask your property management company to give you the names of three clients with similar type properties. Get in contact with those people and ask them questions that you feel are important to the success of your property. They can tell you best and can usually give a good picture of the strengths and weaknesses and their contentment with the service.

1. Find a property manager that offers great customer service;

Wouldn’t it be great if you could always get a hold of your manager whenever needed? Choosing a property management company that strives to offer great customer service and delivers is the way to go. Good customer service is something you should expect and a company with good customer service has to make sure the other aspects of their business are on point because they are always telling you about it. Keeping owners informed and constant communication about the market and how their property is being managed is necessary in any property management relationship.

1. Make sure your money spends time in your account, not the managers;

Property management companies typically collect rents on the first of each month. It should take no longer than eight days to collect rents and prepare all monthly statements for each property. That money is the property owners and should be in their bank accounts as much as possible. Earning interest on the rental revenue can really add up in the long haul. Some property management companies will try and keep the revenue in their account as long as possible so that all interest earned is earned in their accounts, not the owners.

1. Find a property management company that knows accounting;

Accounting for revenues and expenses with investment property can be a difficult task. Organization and great accounting skills will ensure your property management company is accounting for your property correctly. At the end of the year when tax season comes up, all of your income and cash flows should be easily accessible and in the correct order to make your tax paying easy.

1. Make sure to find a property management company that good relationship with the tenants;

A good property management company has good relationships with their tenants. Tenants are a customer of the property and should be treated like one. Happy tenants leads too lower turn over, and thus less re-letting fees. Happy tenants will also make releasing much easier. A reputable property management company with a good name in the eyes of the tenant is not easy to come by. Choose a property management company that cares, it will increase your property’s return

Choosing Insulation for Your Remodel:

Fiberglass batts. Though they look a bit like cotton, these batts are made up of tiny strands of fiberglass. The batts are sized to fit perfectly between the standard spacing of the wood framing inside walls and ceilings and have a paper backing that helps block moisture from moving into the wall.

Pros: Fiberglass is inexpensive, effective and doesn’t require a specially trained installer.

Cons: Fibers released into the air are unhealthy to breathe, though this generally affects only the installers because once the walls are closed up, the fibers don’t get released anymore. Also, the material isn’t very effective for odd spaces, such as behind outlets and wall switches.

Cotton batts. Unlike fiberglass, these batts really are as cottony as they look. They’re made from recycled blue jeans, and therefore are a great choice for eco-conscious homeowners.

Pros: Cotton batting doesn’t release unhealthy fibers into the air—and it’s made from a waste product that would otherwise go into a landfill. It’s also just as effective and easy to install as fiberglass and is actually a better soundproofing material.

Cons: It costs about 20 percent more than fiberglass.

Open cell foam. Rather than batts, this insulation is polyurethane foam that gets sprayed into the open framing of the walls and ceilings. It’s known as open-cell foam because its air pockets aren’t completely sealed, which creates a soft, lightweight insulation.

Pros: Provides higher insulation value and better draft protection than batts. Plus, because it’s sprayed into place, it easily fills the small and awkward cavities that batt installers often miss.

Cons: “Foam isn’t very economical yet,” says Curt Schultz, a Realtor-architect-builder in Pasadena, Calif. It can cost more than two times the price of fiberglass.

Closed cell foam. This foam is far denser, with sealed air pockets that contain an insulating gas instead of air, providing even higher insulation value than open cell foam.

Pros: Very high insulation value and draft-blocking capability, it’s also moisture resistant and so dense that it actually strengthens the building.

Cons: It can cost more than three times the price of fiberglass—and if you ever need to snake in wires or plumbing in the future, you’ll likely have to cut it out of the way first.