Property Management Maven

Military families (officers) coming in have more than sufficient salary/wages and housing allowance to rent homes in the $1,800 to $2,200/month rent range….a family who has rented in the area for a year with only his income and a CAT and who qualify for a $400,000 ($350,000 mortgage) home purchase do NOT qualify for the same  rental homes.

Even with raising my rents, incoming rental applicants are better qualified BECAUSE they do not want to buy.  They want to rent for the 2 or 3 years they are in the area in grad school, medical school, building the new addition to the UVa Medical Center or on assignment.  

It is not that the area sales market is so terrible * there are loads of nice, desirable homes on the market * the reality is they don’t want to be tied down to having to sell a home in two or three years. 

While some of our current residents are being forced to purchase a new home because they are at the end of their 2 year window from selling their former home and purchasing their “replacement” home for tax purposes, most of our departing residents are actually leaving the area through graduation, advancement in their medical specialties or reassignment by the military.  Those who are remaining have accepted a $100 to as much as a $300 rental increase to remain in their current rental homes.

For those properties that are going to be available in July and August, I’ve raised the rents $100 to $400 and have had no resistance.  Most incoming military families have significant housing allowances to rent LARGE homes in pricey areas such as Forest Lakes, Fontana and Redfields.

Schools continue to be a MAJOR feature in housing desirability; however, many incoming residents either home-school or have smaller children and convenience to day-care is also important.

As I have maintained for the last 5+ years, a 4th bedroom or bonus room for a home office is critical and broadband or DSL connections are a MUST.  Luckily over the last year or so, HughesNet high speed internet via dish has greatly improved so that even the more remote properties can get high-speed access.

Prospective residents who have been directed to search our local MLS rental listings are finding that homes being featered there are homes that are also available for sale and the owners/agents wish to continue to show them during their tenancy….since most military and incoming medical residents want housing for 10 months to 2 or 3 years, the prospect of having to move in 3 to 6 months removes these listings from consideration quickly.

Likewise, most “agent listings” * whether on MLS, Craigslist or broker websites * are poorly worded to attract rental prospects as few agents realize that what might attract a homeowner is not necessarily what is attractive to rental prospects.   

I am pleased that I started taking photos of homes while they were vacant many years ago and have kept those photos updated as interiors were repainted, carpets replaced, appliances changed out.  Since our web site listings also feature property floor plans, our website has become the “go to” web site for prospects wishing to rent “sight unseen”.

To maintain this position, I routinely post our listings on Craigslist, Kijiji, HotPads, Google base using postlet format.  This creates the greater potential for ”first capture” with a “long tail” as these listings contain hyperlinks directly to our website. 

Several other local property managers have now created their company web sites through HomeRentals.net * the national website that is highly ranked for national rental home searches.  The addition of these management listings  has populated the area listings on their national website with 30 and sometimes 60 rental listings which is good for all of the rental listings featured.

Although my properties appear VACANT on my website, they are actually occupied and the current residents have given their notice so that the property will be available for re-renting on the date specified in our listing.

If a prospect needs an area rental home in July, they should be looking at those homes that will be vacant and available in that timeframe.  Wasting time looking at a property that is available NOW  - 3 or 4 months BEFORE their planned move-in date and then asking if I can hold the property shows a certain lack of logic as applied to the landlord-tenant relationship.  I have actually asked a prospect “nicely” why I would hold a property for them for 3 months in order to loose $5,000 in rental income……I saw the “eye roll” over the phone.

Likewise, if the listing photos and floor plan show 3 bedrooms, why ask me if there is a 4th bedroom?

When there is no photo of a garage, no garage shown in the floor plan, no garage checked in the listing information, trust me, there is no garage….I’m sure.

I love it when they ask if I have seen the property….DU-AH!!!  Maybe it is because I answer the phone or respond promptly to their e-mail inquiry that they think I am “the help”….their treatment of me thinking I am “the office help” is very telling.  Some insist on speaking with Mr. Gibson.  It used to be fun saying….”I’m HE”…now, I just say ”I’m Mrs. Gibson”…..further along in our relationship they should figure out I am female.

When they don’t get the responses they want and tell me they are a would-be client, I advise them that my property owners are my clients, my residents are my customers and I start screening for my customers “at first contact”….sometime they get it, most of the time they don’t.

How a prospective tenant treats me in our phone conversation; in their e-mail inquiry; the questions they ask; the information they have already gotten from my website ALL show not only how interested they are in my property listing but how good they will be as residents during our 12+ month relationship.

Moving is VERY STRESSFUL and some new residents want to BLAME someone for all of the stress and hard work when stuff happens and it often comes back to the “nearest warm body” which is usually the landlord….certainly not their spouse, pet, parents or friends who helped them move. 

Of my last 5 move-ins, 1 has gone PERFECTLY and I suspect it is because they have not fully moved into the home.

….One couple failed to return their property move in inspection report within the 5 days per the lease terms and 3 weeks after move in reported spiders in the garage and MOLD in the master bath shower….I explained in numerous e-mails NOT to leave their garage door open AND that there was no MOLD at the property (they signed a lease so stating this), and that the problem was mildew as the shower enclosure needed to have ventilation after use to evaporate the excess moisture.  When this couple did return the move in inspection - 25 days late, I wrote them and acknowledged receipt; however, my condition report, photos and their lease would govern condition at their move-out.

….Another couple also failed to return their property move-in inspection report as stipulated and reported that the washer drain line was broken and the washer flooded the laundry area….since this was a newly purchased home with a home inspection less than 30 days old, I suspected that there was a “bubble” in the main drain line or that the incorrect washer setting was used.  I advised the residents that I would send a drain service to clear the line; however, if the service found no “break” or obstruction, I would charge them per their lease….I did not hear from them again.

Unfortunately, this list will get longer as more and rental residents for single family homes are coming from the “homeowner” section of society and their only experience with landlords is in the distant past in a multi-unit building where the landlord/on-site manager does EVERYTHING….

Local real estate offices are also wondering to how many “bodies” they will have on their team to generate income to cover their office overhead.

I wrote professional dues checks this month totaling almost $1,200 - granted - I pay half of that amount to IREM * the Institute of Real Estate Management and the Richmond IREM chapter * so my costs are double what the normal Realtor/agent would have.

According to our local Realtor association, almost 50% of agent members did not have either side * listing or selling * of a real estate transaction this year.  A few years with no income will be hard on many newer/unseasoned agents who don’t yet have repeat clientele or a referral base for purchasers.

The next few years will be good for the property management business.  I frequently get calls from property owners who ask if I am “still accepting properties to manage”….many management firms in CA, TX and FL are turning away properties because they don’t have the staff or resources to take on the number of unsold homes that are flooding the rental market.

The IREM publication Journal of Property Management has articles on where the next generation of property managers will come from.  I suspect that many will come from the ranks of discouraged Realtors who want to remain in real estate AND make money. 

The lure of the BIG REAL ESTATE COMMISSION has always been a myth.  As a property manager, I have probably made more money in the last 20 years that 95% of US real estate agents over the same time period. 

Maybe the realities of the current market and the actual costs of being a real estate agent will weed out the dead wood in the industry and the market and the industry will come back better and stronger.

The insurance company representative was pleased to advise me that, should the home be suitable, the insurance company would rent the property and pay me the rent….they just needed to ask me some questions regarding the property.  I advised the insurance representative that while I appreciate the situation of her insured family * homeless in minus 20 degree weather * I would not rent to the insurance company and that I required completed rental applications for all of the adults in the family.  The insurance company could pay the family who could pay me; however, the lease would be in the name of the adults in the family as I wanted them to be responsible for the condition and maintenance of the property.

She again assured me I did not understand - the insurance company would pay the rent and I assured her that I would not put my property owner clients in a position of attempting to sue the insurance company if their insured family destroyed or damaged the property.  If the family was not responsible for the terms of the lease, there is no guarantee that the property would be maintained during the lease.

Over the last four+ years, I have had several fire-displaced families in my rental homes.  I currently have a family renting a home in the same subdivision where they are re-building the home that burned in June, 2007.  Their insurance company paid them the entire rental amount of the one year lease and they pay their rent to me monthly.  They were required to pay their own security deposit as the insurance company had no way of tracking the refund at the end of the lease. 

This process seems reasonable to me and in today’s conversation when I attempted to explain that the collection/payment of rent is not my only concern as their prospective landlord, she was incredulous that I would expect more than just the rent and that I would want to hold the residents accountable for the property condition at the end of the lease term.

I wished her success in her quest for rental housing for her insured family and suggested she call individual property owners who may be willing to work with her on the insurance company’s terms….I am sure there is someone in need of a rental tenant who won’t look past the collection of the rent every month.

Realtors who photograph the interior of the clients’ homes that are furnished need to allow time to “stage’ the individual rooms…the dish rag hanging on the stove handle does not indicate a “homey setting”…..placing items under the counter, in the cabinets or outside the shot can take mere seconds and allow the viewer to actually view the property rather than kibitz on the owners’ poor housekeeping.

Taking exterior photos when the grass is a week overdue for cutting or after the leaves have been removed are easy to comprehend when you view the resulting photos so why not ask the client to arrange for these events so that GREAT photos can be obtained.

I am marketing a home for Jan 2008 occupancy and I did not have a good exterior photo.  The exterior was repainted 2 years ago in the spring/summer and there is a large tree in the front yard….to take the VERY BEST photo, I waited until the leaves were off the tree in the front yard, then had them removed by a yard service and then took the exterior photo of the front on a bright sunny day…the result is awesome.

Yes, I have a good camera.  It is 3 years old and was expensive when purchased.  Yes, I take a lot of pictures - for marketing, documenting move-in and move-outs of residents as well to document repairs and maintenance.  I always have a camera with a charged battery in my car and one in reserve in my office.  As I drive by my properties, I document items that need attention by the residents and for my maintenance-to-do list.

In the past, while I had a camera in my car, it had film that had to be taken to be developed and then the photos had to be scanned as JPEG images to be used in listings or as documentation.  Storing photos were also a problem.

With digital cameras, photos are kept on a 2GB jump/travel drive and photos that are no longer needed are archived onto CD for storage. 

At the inception of my property management career, I never dreamed I would become a property photo journalist, interior decorator or set designor.