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PennySaverUSA.com strives to bring you the best resources and information about everything we have to offer. This will be the first installment in our Real Estate Blog Series. We’ll bring you the best tips when it comes to anything real estate, and provide you with the knowledge and tools you need to make the best decision.

The Pros and Cons of Renting in Metropolitan Areas

Renting out a property in the city can seem to be a daunting task, and in many ways it is. There are a lot of perks for moving your business to a metropolitan market. In order to make a sound decision if a city rental would be good choice for your property investment and business, Dusty Henry of All Property Management has put together some pros and cons.

The Pros and Cons of Renting in Metropolitan Areas

Pro: Location and Population

While geographically large cities are not always “centrally” located in the state; big cities are usually the central hub for many other large towns surrounding it. These big cities are often the cultural epicenters for communities as well as a high source of employment opportunities. Cities like these typically get to this size because of the big businesses that settle in them. This means there are more people with high profile/paying positions than you might find in a rural area.

Metropolitan areas are also more densely populated. This means you are working with a larger pool of people to draw from in potential renters. Working with more people means better odds of finding the right tenants.

Con: More People, More Problems

More people may mean more potential for finding the right tenant, but it also means that you will definitely find a lot of unqualified people applying for your rental. The time you will put into tenant screening will likely go up exponentially when you rent in a densely populated area. In property management, time is valuable (especially if you are managing multiple properties). You do not want to waste too much time looking for a tenant, but you also do not want to rush the job and end up with someone who will be harmful to your investment.

Pro: Appeal of Convenience

Urban areas typically have a leg up on access to a wider variety of local resources, shops, entertainment, etc compared to someone who lives in an outer rural area may have to travel all the way into the city to pick up something specific they need. With cities providing many jobs to outlying areas, a city apartment or home rental can be very appealing to potential tenants as it would greatly lessen their commute.

From a management standpoint, you also have the convenience of having a wider selection of maintenance companies to work with in the case that something goes wrong with the rental.

Con: City Limitations

Just as if you were to manage a property in a far removed rural area, the city has just as many limitations. There are some safety concerns that come with city dwelling. There are likely going to be city ordinances that you will have to follow as to what you can do to the property. This is likely to happen at any place that has an HOA (Homeowners Association) as well. Depending on where in the city it is located (whether it is literally on the street or in a suburb within the city), there may also be a risk of vandalism to the building, which sometimes cannot be foreseen.

This first guest blog post was written by Dusty Henry of All Property Management. Property owners in San Diego can connect with homeowners easily with All Property Management. They have a wide directory of property managers and free quotes make finding the right person to manage your property painless and simple.

This past weekend was National Open House Weekend in some parts. Don’t worry if you missed it, though. PennySaverUSA.com is the site to visit if you want to buy a house. In addition to our classifieds listings that feature houses from almost every state, PennySaverUSA.com also provides a number of ways to enhance your search.

For starters, you can set parameters for price, number of bedrooms and/or bathrooms, and even number of dining rooms or living rooms. This will help you weed out homes that don’t fit your criteria.

You can also modify your search to see only houses that have photos.

Click a related link to narrow your search.

We are just scratching the surface, though, of how you can use PennySaverUSA.com to help in your quest to buy a house.

Should you happen to know exactly what you want, you can choose from a variety of categories listed under related links on the bottom left hand-side (such as 2-bedroom houses for sale, affordable homes for sale, condos for sale, townhouses for sale, etc.), so that you don’t have to waste time picking through ads that don’t suit your needs.

Perhaps the biggest advantage of using PennySaverUSA.com in your search to buy a house is the save search function. Let’s be honest, odds are you aren’t going to immediately find a house you want to buy. You’ll likely revisit your search several times and keep an eye out for new listings. Well, with the save search function on our site, you can do that without having to re-enter all the parameters every time you resume your search. Just remember, you must be logged in to retrieve your saved search.

Make your effort to buy a house easier with saved searches and email alerts.

You can also set up new listings email alerts for yourself (either daily or weekly), so you can receive an email whenever there is a new listing that fits your criteria.

Best of all – it’s free! We know every penny counts when it’s time to buy a house, so take advantage of our complimentary search functions to help you save.

At any given time, we have a large number of ads on PennySaverUSA.com from people looking for roommates, and with school starting back up, as it is now, the number shoots sky high! Today we want to give you some pointers on how best to create an ad for a roommate to guarantee the other half of the rent will get paid.

There are a few standard items you always want to include in the beginning of your ad: price, if you’re looking for a male or female roommate,  location, deposit, if they have their own bathroom and if pets are allowed. After those basics are out of the way, you need to hit every possible keyword that might make them jump up to call you, or at least let them know not to waste their time. If they have a cat and you forget to mention in your ad that just watching the Garfield movie makes you break out in hives, let alone living around an actual cat. Here are some suggestions:

• Safety is always a concern for anyone looking for a new place to live. Be clear about the safety level of where you’re living. If it’s a gated community, be sure to mention this,  as it can be a vital component to some, but others might prefer to not live gated. If your apartment complex has it’s own security, be sure that your potential roommate knows this!
• Be sure to mention if there is a covered parking available, or if they will have an assigned spot or garage. If a garage is provided, you should ask them whenthey contact you what kind of vehicle they drive. You don’t want to try to fit a monster truck into a closet! If parking is not provided, let them know if parking will be a concern and how long the walk to the place will be from the parking area.
• Be sure to mention what the laundry situation is; Discuss whether it’s on site or if there is a laundromat nearby.
• Mention what level your apartment is on, because some people might not want to climb 3 flights of stairs due to an injury or other issue.
• People want to know about the convenience of the location: Mention your distance to a college, freeway, grocery or post office.
• If you have a workout center provided, mention that, along with any tennis or basketball courts.
• Are gas/water/trash included in the rent, or will it be a separate payment?

Anything else you can think of? Let us know and comment below!

Click here to look for a roommate on PennySaverUSA.com!