Todays economy and housing market are causing more homeowners to consider renting their properties instead of selling. As a result, it is becoming more and more important to find quality, efficient property management services. But unlike the past where homeowners were most concerned with property maintenance, rent collection and vendor management, they now also look to their property manager to find qualified, reliable tenants quickly. Especially in the case of higher end homes, this can be difficult.

The increasing concern of homeowners to find solid and qualified tenants stems from the fact that many are now considering long term leases or lease with option to buy scenarios rather than just short term or vacation situations. This poses a much larger risk for the homeowner, both financially and emotionally than just selling the home would.

Homeowners or prospective tenants should consider the following factors when selecting their property management company:

1. Licensing. Many property management companies in Colorado are not licensed with the Colorado Real Estate Commission, because its not required unless the company manages a certain number of properties. A licensed company must abide by the laws of the Commission and is legally accountable to both the homeowner and tenant. Without proper licensing, consumers can easily be subject to fraud and identity theft with no recourse.

2. Tenant Pre-Qualification. The property management company should take the time to pre-qualify all tenants by running a confidential background check including credit and prior criminal and rental history. This saves time up front for both parties and mitigates the financial risk for homeowners.

3. Full Service Real Estate Skills. A high level of experience is important in the real estate market today. An effective property manager must be able to efficiently navigate through all the confusion in order to best serve both the homeowners and tenants well.

4. Cooperative Relationships in Community. Its important that the company has established positive relationships within the real estate community. Many for-sale properties are turning into rentals and a solid network of brokers means a bigger inventory of homes as well as real time insight into various neighborhoods and the market as a whole.

Our Denver Based property management company, Denver Rent a Home has focused on streamlining the tenant placement process and taking the hassle out of the hands of the homeowners. We have recently launched an online tenant pre-approval service, where prospective tenants can fill out simple forms to get pre-qualified for any of the available listings. We also run all applicants though a thorough confidential background check and spend a lot of time up-front getting to know our clients and their properties.

In short, be careful to choose your property management company carefully, whether you are a homeowner or prospective tenant. You should be wary of companies that dont have the proper licensing, qualification procedures and experience. While this may seem obvious, many people dont understand the licensing requirements or where they run risk in a rental situation. You should also ask to speak to current clients, so they can better understand the customer service experience and what to expect throughout the process.

A great property management company really wants to make sure they understand their clients and know the properties as if they were their own. They understand people are putting their trust in them to place great tenants in their home and they should take that very seriously.

It’s tough enough to move even when you are just moving a short distance. Relocating to a new city or state is one of the most stressful and distressful experiences there is for a family, particularly if you are unfamiliar with the area you are moving to.

Probably the toughest thing to decide when relocating to a new area is what neighborhood is right for your family. It has become fairly simple to find school data and home values for a neighborhood, but there are other factors that come into play as well, such as local merchants and restaurants and nearby open spaces.

Many people who relocate to a new city or state, such as Jesse Singh who is an executive at HOV Services, are choosing to rent a home before buying. Jesse and his family have had to relocate three times in the past five years, and he hopes their most recent move to Denver will be for keeps.

Jesse and his wife are starting a new division of HOV Services in Denver, but were concerned that if another move was needed they wouldn’t be able to sell their home in Denver. In addition, although they have spent significant time in the airport, hotels and local HOV office in Denver, they know very little about the Denver metro area and what neighborhoods would be right for the family. Our company, Denver Rent a Home set them up in a very nice house under a rent to own option, which was a great relief to them ” they dont have a big mortgage to support until they are sure they like the neighborhood and their job will not require a move again.

Another client of Denver Rent a Home, who moved from Scottsdale, AZ to Denver for a business opportunity decided to rent instead of buy when they couldnt sell their home in Scottsdale for the price they wanted. Instead they chose to rent their property in Scottsdale and lease a home in Denver, which worked out great for them. As an added bonus, they are able to become familiar with the Denver area and confirm the schools are right for their two young daughters before committing to a home purchase.

Rent to own situations are becoming much more popular among my clients, especially those relocating from anther area of the country. It feels great to be able to offer a creative and new choice to my clients, to set them up in a lovely home and get them started right in the community without all the burdens those relocating have had to deal with in the past.

If you are relocating and want to try the lease with option to buy route, find a great local agent who knows the area well and is committed to finding the right rent to own properties. This will save you tons of time and heartache as they will be able to do all the research and find the best home in an area that will work for you the first time.

I recently saw a report on MSNBC that more than half of potential homebuyers say theyre still not ready to enter the housing market, according to a poll conducted by Realtor.com. Fear of job loss is the number one reason. Other worries include fear of not selling their current home and that home prices will keep falling.

In my day to day business I am seeing that while more restrictive lending is stopping some would be purchasers from moving forward, even those who are highly qualified to purchase a new home are not rushing to snap up the deals and feel that values will continue to drop. They are unwilling to take on a large financial risk in the current economic environment even though foreclosed properties are providing great deals to those who can buy. Furthermore, many concerned customers feel that purchasing foreclosed properties is much more confusing and complicated than a standard sale.

The poll by Realtor.com also found that Americans generally are skeptical about Obamas plan to alleviate the foreclosure crisis by giving the lending industry $50 billion in incentives to lower borrowers monthly payments. Only 28 percent of those surveyed said the plan is working, compared with 41 percent who said it isnt and 27 percent who didnt know.

What is the end result of all this? In my business , I am seeing an increased interest from both potential sellers and buyers in home rental rather than traditional sales and purchase.

Home rental instead of purchasing allows someone relocating to a new area to get to know the market and test out their different options, and also gives those customers needing to upgrade an ability to do that without having to qualify for a complicated mortgage program. Home owners are also finding rental over selling attractive, as it allows the real estate market to rebound and their property values to increase. In my opinion, until Americans become convinced that the market is changing for the better, renting will become the preferred option for many who would otherwise have purchased a home.

Even when you are just moving a short distance, the experience can be hard to handle. But moving your family to a new city or even a new state is one of life’s top stressful situations, and can be very hard on you and your family, especially if the area is completely new to you.

Probably the toughest thing to decide when relocating to a new area is what neighborhood is right for your family. It has become fairly simple to find school data and home values for a neighborhood, but there are other factors that come into play as well, such as local merchants and restaurants and nearby open spaces.

Many people who relocate to a new city or state, such as Jesse Singh who is an executive at HOV Services, are choosing to rent a home before buying. Jesse and his family have had to relocate three times in the past five years, and he hopes their most recent move to Denver will be for keeps.

Jesse was concerned that he would have to move again and not be able to sell his home if that occurred too soon. In addition, although he and his wife have spent a lot of time in Denver hotels, the airport, and the HOV office space, there has been little time in their busy schedule to get to know the Denver metro neighborhoods. My staff at Denver Rent a Home, who are all Colorado natives, were able to alleviate these concerns by finding them a home under a Lease with an option to buy, so that they can take time to get to know the neighborhood without the baggage of a mortgage should they chose to move within the city or need to relocate again.

Another couple and client of Denver Rent a Home recently moved to Denver for a business opportunity and chose to lease vs. buy in part because they couldn’t sell their property in Scottsdale, AZ. They are leasing their property in Scottsdale and leasing a property here, which they felt made a lot more sense for them. As the parents of two young girls they also felt they wanted to get a good feel for living in an area as a family prior to committing to a home purchase.

Rent to own situations are becoming much more popular among my clients, especially those relocating from anther area of the country. It feels great to be able to offer a creative and new choice to my clients, to set them up in a lovely home and get them started right in the community without all the burdens those relocating have had to deal with in the past.

If you are relocating and want to try the lease with option to buy route, find a great local agent who knows the area well and is committed to finding the right rent to own properties. This will save you tons of time and heartache as they will be able to do all the research and find the best home in an area that will work for you the first time.

Homeowners wanting to sell their home are in for some good news as many real estate markets are showing signs of rebound. For example, Denver, Colorado is one such market that is seeing homes in the $100,000-$300,000 range sell quickly and for more than expected. However, despite these positive trends, sellers remain cautious and competition is tough, especially since foreclosed properties continue to saturate most markets.

Many home sellers are turning to professional stagers to set their homes up for fast sale and to remain competitive in this tough housing market. Professional staging will remove the personal characteristics of your home that may turn off a prospective buyer, setting your home up to appeal to as many people as possible. The goal is to have a potential purchaser see themselves living in the house as they are walking through.

Although there is no guarantee, history has shown that staged homes spend less time on the market and sell for far more than non-staged homes. And yet, many homeowners are reluctant to take advantage of this proven sales strategy, for several reasons.

1. It is too expensive. The cost to professionally stage a home can fluctuate. As the objective of home staging is to emphasize its positive features and downplay the negatives, a house that is already in terrific condition will have a lower bill to professionally stage it. Most professional stagers will meet with you and provide a cost estimate, and many are even allowing creative payment options to meet your particular needs.

2. It will be too difficult. The reality is that home staging can be as simple as de-cluttering your home or rearranging or updating accessories. It can also be as complex as updating every single room. Luckily, the latter is hardly ever necessary; you can often achieve excellent results by highlighting a few key rooms or areas such as kitchens, bathrooms or the master bedroom. A key factor is to de-clutter the entire house, in order to best display your homes unique qualities.

3. It will take too much time. In reality, the norm is one to three days, with even the most difficult staging jobs being completed in less than a week.

Selling a home is still very tough, particularly since there are bank owned properties priced to sell competing with your home. Having your home professionally staged may be just what you need to give you that competitive edge and to sell your home fast and for a great price.

People have always safely assumed that if they had the money it made sense to buy a home rather than rent. But the last two years have proved that assumption wrong and people are now faced with more difficult decisions than ever in the real estate market.

While the super-low interest rates and plummeting housing prices seem to make a great case for buying a home, more and more consumers are looking to rent or rent-to-buy opportunities. But evaluating such a scenario can be tricky.

So, as a matter of practice, when is it right to buy, rent, or rent to own? I have found 5 principal components to the decision:

1. Credit Score. Unless your credit score is near perfect, getting a mortgage loan in the current environment will be very difficult. You may want to rent-to-own in that circumstance, which will allow you to build your credit history over time and still build equity. On the other hand, if you have a great credit score, you may be able to get a loan at the lowest interest rates our country has seen in fifty years.

2. Cash Flow Needs. It is especially important in the present economic environment to make sure you maintain enough cash to satisfy your current cash needs, and many folks are finding it difficult to come up with the cash needed for a down payment to purchase a home. Monthly rents tend to run lower than a loan payment, and that allows many individuals to meet other monthly obligations without hurting their credit scores.

3. Employment Concerns. The other day, I read a quote by Forbes.com columnist Matt Woolsey, where he stated “Given the state of the job market right now, the anchor of full ownership is a heavy one.” I have witnessed this heavy anchor with many of my customers, who are concerned over losing their jobs. If you share this unease, the rent or rent-to-own strategy may be for you, as it will preserve your credit and avoid a foreclosure scenario if you are unable to make payments.

4. The Flee Factor. If you have moved to a new city or state recently, or plan to move to a new location, it isnt always a good idea to purchase a home immediately. Renting gives the gift of time to evaluate the surrounding areas in your new city or state without the danger of financial loss by needing to sell soon after you purchased in a declining market.

5. Market Unpredictability. Even in markets like Denver, which was recently named the No. 1 city on the verge of recovery from the real estate slump by Barbara Corcoran on NBCs Today show, data is mixed on when the housing market will actually recover. As such, renting is appealing as a wait-and-see approach until the forecast clears.

There are definitely arguments for each choice and the essential component is that you learn all the options to make the best decision for you. An experienced real estate professional can help you ask the questions and discover the answers for you. There are some new and unique options that folks may have not investigated in the past that might be just right in your situation.