Bryan Ellis is widely recognized as a expert in the fields of real estate investing and internet marketing, so it’s no wonder he’s regarded as a founding thinker of the new phenomenon of Virtual Real Estate Investing. I recently spoke with him about this topic:

Landlords, rehabbers and foreclosure investors, take notice – you may soon be focused on the new concepts of Virtual Real Estate Investing. Everything from using the internet as an avenue to make more money in real estate to online games such as SecondLife seem to be included in the popular definition of this term. And the pure financial potential is staggering.

In order to figure out the truth of the matter, I sought out Bryan Ellis whose experience in the fledgling industry is truly impressive.

“I began using the term ‘virtual real estate investing’ in the late 1990’s when I realized the clear similiarities in profit strategies, regardless of whether the real estate in question is ‘virtual’ or ‘physical’” said Ellis.

One example of the parallels between virtual and physical real estate Bryan Ellis cites is the similarity between the monetization of domain names versus physical property. He points out that control of a domain name or even a specific web page is much like controlling a real estate property: “those assets can be monetized in similar ways: By selling them for a profit, by leasing them, by offering advertising, etc. It’s not even necessary to own a website in order to profit from it.”

Bryan Ellis points to the example of websites like HubPages, Squidoo, Google Knol, etc. “Each of these services allows any person to write an article or create other type of content, and then allows the author to share in the revenue generated on that page. It’s almost as if you’re renting retail space in a highly desirable shopping district, only you get the benefit of a ‘great address’ in the form of a well-known domain host like Google.com but without paying a single penny in rental fees. It’s a win-win scenario.”

I must admit: Its easy to see the parallels. For example, if you’re the owner of a desirable property, its desirability is (in a business context) largely due to its being in a location that is of interest to others. Similarly, ownership of a desirable domain name is valuable for the same reasons. Regardless of the type of asset, you can sell or lease or use any number of strategies to turn the assets into cash.

In our next installment of this series on virtual real estate investing, Bryan Ellis will share the internet analogies to the physical concept of real estate development.

If you own property or are considering property ownership, you might be frightened by the management portion of the business. Are you going to handle all of the work and repairs yourself? Or would it be better if someone else could do it for you. If you’re planning on having more than one or two properties, finding a good property management company is essential to your success. Do you really want to be fixing someone’s toilet at 3:00 am? If not, then you need to find a good property manager. How do you go about finding someone that you can trust? Let’s look at the necessary steps to find hassle-free property management.

The first step in your search should be to ask around. If you have any friends or family members that have a property manager, ask them who they use. Most of the times going by the referrals is the safest bet, because then you actually know someone who has used their services in the past. Your friends and family are on your side and will steer you in the right direction most of the time.

If you don’t know anyone that has any property, the next step would be to go to www.irem.org. This will allow you to determine if there are any certified property managers in your area. If you’re going to have someone watching your properties for you, you’ll want someone that has been certified in property management. In addition to this resource, you should probably check with the Better Business Bureau in order to find any complaints. If your prospective property manager has a lot of complaints against them, it doesn’t really matter if they’re certified or not. You don’t want to get involved with them.

Once you find a prospective management company, drive around some buildings that they manage and investigate them for yourself. Do these buildings look like they are going to make you feel proud if you own? Is the outside of the building kept well? Is the lawn mowed? You can tell a lot about a management company by looking at the buildings that they run.

If you’ve narrowed down your search to a few different companies, interview the remaining options. Sit down with the owners of the property management company and see what they have to say. What sets them apart from any other company? Are their rates competitive with others? Do they have any services that other companies don’t? You would be glad and like to find out about a lot of things beforehand.

Once you decide on a property management company, make sure that you get everything that you need in writing. A well planned and keenly drafted property management contract can save you from many possible mishaps in the future. Who would be responsible for collecting the rent? What are your policies going to be about late payments, evictions, etc. There should be no gray areas in regards to anything. Make sure that everything is spelled out as clear as day.

After you feel good about a contract with a property manager, go for it! Your life will be much easier because of it. No longer will you have to worry about the day-to-day operations of property and you can just sit back and collect the checks.

Many different procedures exist as well as things which must occur prior to the arrangement is complete and settled on. Leasing property is a complex job and there will be quite a few different applications as well as additional details you can gather as well as record information with in order to help you in any situation. It is definitely vital to ensure that both parties will be in harmony concerning the stipulations and the background information will be checked if you are the landlord of the property.

The most significant document you should use whenever you are renting your home would be the lease agreement for tenants and property owners. It’s a document normally used by the property owner to collect all of the information from the tenant concerning their renting of the property.

An example of such a form is a California residential rental agreement that gathers every bit of data from your prospective tenant, information like his/her given name, current address, phone number, social security number, and so on from the main general information. Next there is the gathering of employment information as well as items such as credit record that will also be very significant to the landlord of the home.

There’s also one more document that can be utilized by a property owner to include specific things to the agreement that might not be included on your actual rent agreement. This would be the great way for property owners to have the ability to include vital data within their agreement forms which the landlord feels is necessary or requires to be included but may only effect their property which is why it isn’t included on the normal document. It’s also used in the circumstance concerning animals and/or other items which might require extra clauses to be covered properly.

As you may notice, there are quite a few things that are contained within the property owner tenant arrangement. Use these suggestions to ensure everything proceeds without a hitch so that your job of acting as a property owner will be easier.