Good or Bad Home Warranty Company: Who’s Taking the Call?
“My mom always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.”
Forrest Gump
I like to play basketball at the local recreation center. I often wind up with “Jim” on my team which I’m ambivalent about (and don’t ask Jim what he thinks about having me on his team…). What I mean is that some days, having Jim on my team is a pleasure. He’s a virtual scoring machine; he just doesn’t miss any shots! I feed him the ball and just watch him go to work. We’ll call that “Good Jim”.
But then there is “Bad Jim”. I’m not sure if he has a split personality, or if he and his wife have an “on again/off again” relationship, or what, but other days he just doesn’t have it. He is disinterested, doesn’t play any defense, passes up easy shots, and turns the ball over constantly. Frankly, it’s disheartening. I feel like we are destined to lose when Bad Jim is on my team.
Do you want to know what reminds me of Jim? Home warranty companies. Some of our Charlotte property management clients utilize them to handle their repairs.
For the uninitiated, home warranty companies charge owners an annual fee (usually around $500) to handle any repairs. So when tenants have an issue, we (or the tenants) call the home warranty company, pay a service call fee (usually $50 -$100), and they will send vendors to fix any major component or appliance issue in the home (including, if necessary, the replacement of them) that are due to normal wear and tear. It doesn’t sound like a bad deal, especially for an older home.
But, like Jim, there is “Good Home Warranty Company” and “Bad Home Warranty Company”.
When Good Home Warranty Company is on, the vendor they put us in touch with gets back to us right away, schedules with the tenant, and takes care of the issue. It can be a good experience (though it makes it difficult to establish any type of service record with a particular company as their vendors change often).
But when Bad Home Warranty Company shows up, it makes it really tough on the property management company and the tenants. We recently had a refrigerator that took around 35 days to get fixed from the initial call(!) and an air conditioning issue that took a week to resolve (a long time to put up with excessive heat in the South during the summer!). The problem is that the home warranty companies have a vendor list and they send you one that you have to work with (and some are not so reputable). Sometimes these vendors call you back right away and other times they wait for days. As a property manager, it’s tough to push vendors you don’t know and have no prior relationship with.
Fortunately, 95%+ of our clients do not use home warranties. It allows us to use our own vendors who we have worked with for years; we use them because all of them care whether our tenants have to spend the night without air conditioning or don’t have a working stove to cook with. I think it’s important to have strong teammates who you know consistently have your customers’ best interests at heart.
Jim is a nice guy, but just not someone I like to have on my basketball squad because he’s too erratic; I never know if Good Jim or Bad Jim is going to show up at the gym. I feel the same about using a home warranty company. Not knowing whether Good Home Warranty Company or Bad Home Warranty Company is taking the call makes either of them difficult to rely on.
Happy Landlording!
Learn MoreGolden State Warriors’s Recipe for Property Management Excellence
The Golden State Warriors won the NBA Championship! They displayed a level of dominance that the league had never seen in its history by winning 16 out of 17 games in the playoffs.  And in the only game the Warriors lost, the Cleveland Cavaliers had to set several offensive records to beat them.
How did they do it?
The easy answer is the players. They certainly have great ones- Charlotte’s own Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, etc. With that amount of talent, it could be argued that they could win by managing themselves. From a property management perspective, if you have great tenants who pay rent on-time without being asked and do their own repairs, it makes the job much easier!
But there is something to be said about the ownership group and management (including coaches) that make for a winning organization. It is truly a top-to-bottom effort to become a champion. Ownership and management need to be supportive of each other and have a common vision.
Owners Supporting Management
The majority owners, Joseph Lacob and Peter Guber, treat their employees and players well. When their head coach, Steve Kerr, had back problems the last 2 years (which caused him to miss half of last season and most of the playoffs this year) ownership showed unwavering support. They put no timelines on his return; they just wanted him to come back when he was ready. There was no coaching change controversy. They believed Coach Kerr was the right man for the job and he’s brought them 2 NBA Championships in the last 3 years.
Property management can be viewed the same way. Property managers work for home owners. And sometimes property managers make mistakes. We recently had a longer term tenant who we believe started running an illegal business out of the rental home; we don’t know why and exactly how it started. However, instead of getting angry and blaming us, the owner offered support as we worked to get the tenant out of the home as quickly as possible. We do our best, but will inevitably fail at some aspect of management. Having ownership support gives us the ability to do what needs to be done to right the ship and get back to a profitable equilibrium.
Owners Making Strategic Investments (aka Spending Money)
When the Warriors fell short in the NBA Finals last year, management felt they needed to improve the team; that meant spending and reallocating money on other players. With complete ownership buy-in, management went and signed Kevin Durant to a $54M guaranteed 2-year contract in the offseason. They were willing to spend money to potentially get better. There was no guarantee that Durant would mesh with the existing players (who had already won a championship 2 years prior without him). But they spent the money anyway. And Durant wound up winning the NBA Finals MVP!
Property management is no different. No one likes to spend money; I certainly don’t enjoy spending money on my personal rentals. But strategic investments are necessary to maintain and improve rental properties to keep them competitive against other rentals. When property managers make recommendations to spend owner funds, it is difficult to win when there is constant owner pushback. I guarantee Golden State ownership had financial questions about investing in Kevin Durant, and that is understandable! But no organizations can succeed in the long haul by practicing persistent parsimony (how’s that for alliteration!). And, really, it is much easier to not recommend needed maintenance and upgrades. The Warriors only missed winning the NBA Championship last year by losing Game 7 (so close- and they were even up 3-1 before eventually losing)- but everyone in San Francisco is ecstatic now that the organization didn’t rest on its laurels and aggressively pursued Durant.
The Golden State Warriors and successful property managers share a common recipe for consistent excellence- owners and management working together to make smart decisions for the long haul.
Happy Landlording!
Brett Furniss is a property manager at BDF Realty (Charlotte Residential Property Management), the trusted real estate advisor for Charlotte landlords & Home of $100 Flat Fee Property Management.  BDF Realty utilizes their innovative Pod System for exceptional customer service in residential property management, home repairs, and home sales for single-family homes, Uptown condos, and town homes in the Charlotte-Metro Area. Contact Us Today!
Learn MoreTrump’s Cabinet Means You Should Invest in Charlotte Real Estate
The stock market will always go up eventually. Historically, it keeps happening. Most wealthy people (aka the people who make the rules- check out Trump’s cabinet of billionaires) have much of their wealth tied up in corporate ownership (stocks).  It’s almost a sure thing. If the stock market crashed and stayed down permanently, our country would be in mayhem. And the dollars under the pillow and gold bars stashed in the attic wouldn’t mean much. Food would be the main currency.
So why do investors get fearful when the stock market goes down? It will go back up, right?
After 9/11, the stock market tanked. Billionaire New York City Mayor, Mike Bloomberg, had a message for his constituents. He essentially said,” People always ask me for investment advice so they can become billionaires. I don’t often offer it, but today is different. Take all of your available money and buy stocks now.”
The Dow dropped to under 9,000 in 2001, and almost to 7,000 in 2002. It is now over 20,000. Too many powerful forces have a vested interest in the stock market doing well for it to flounder long.
Charlotte’s population is forecasted to go up 50% in the next 10 years. All of those people need a place to live. Statistically, 2/3 will buy and 1/3 will rent. Housing demand will continue to drive rents and prices higher.
So, investing in real estate in Charlotte is a slam dunk? As much as investing in the stock market is, especially with a Trump administration.
So that leads to 2 questions:
- When is a good time to buy in Charlotte?
For long-term holds, anytime really should be fine. The best time to buy is when the market gets hammered (see 2008-2012 when we didn’t get many buying inquiries, but many of our clients were looking to unload their homes and became reluctant landlords). For short-term holds and flips, this might not be a great time as competition is fierce for good properties; it’s clearly a seller’s market now. But financing is easy and historically cheap right now.
- Where should I buy in Charlotte?
Once again, for long-term holds, anywhere within city limits will work; really the surrounding counties seem pretty good too. When I was a newbie investor 10-15 years ago, my first two purchases were in areas that were considered “war zones”. I bought them very cheaply ($27K & $39K) and now they are considered to be in “hot areas”. Note: I wouldn’t recommend this, especially for newer investors. The fix-up and tenant issues were challenging and I wished I didn’t own them for years due to the headaches. But there are plenty of Charlotte houses that are in better areas that will make coveted rentals for years and years. I’d recommend buying houses that are more expensive (the market is pretty good at pricing houses based on risk). The homes I bought over $100K were much easier and safer investments that have also appreciated.
Much like investing in the stock market as a whole, Charlotte real estate is a great long-term hold that doesn’t require a large amount of analysis. And Trump’s cabinet members (and President Trump himself) own a lot of real estate too…
Happy Investing & Landlording!
Learn MoreReplace the Butter with Margarine and Nix the Washer & Dryer Please
Americans demand to have their food made-to-order. We no longer live in a culture where you eat what’s put in front of you; rather if you don’t like an ingredient and would prefer to have other ingredients instead, it is deemed socially acceptable to make the food preparer bend to your individual whims. Burger King based a multi-million dollar advertising campaign on (and trademarked the phrase) “Have It Your Way,” and now every restaurant does the same. I feel for the workers in the restaurant industry who have to put up with all of us creating our own menus.
I read an article about how the French chefs despise American tourists even more now. We walk into their 5-star restaurants, look at the menus (which we expect to be written in English), and have conversations like this:
American Tourist: How’s the escargot?
French Waiter: Magnifique!
Tourist: What are the snails cooked in?
Waiter: Excusez-moi?
Tourist: I mean, I’m trying to cut down on butter, so I’d prefer the chef uses low-fat margarine… butter is bad for the heart, you know. And garlic gives me gas, so let’s cut that out too if it’s in there… Try to keep the salt to a minimum. And were these snails bred and treated humanely before bring cooked?
Waiter: Sacre bleu!
This thinking has permeated into real estate as well. At BDF Realty, we were selling a house for one of our Charlotte property management clients. An investor came on to the scene who loved the house and wrote a contract to buy it. It was a great offer and we wound up accepting it with minimal negotiation. However, the investor did have one demand that caught me off guard and was not negotiable- the washer & dryer needed to be out before closing.
Now, if the washer & dryer were on their last legs, I’d understand. But our client had bought these about a year ago; it was a nice set that worked perfectly. But the investor was adamant that they needed to go. So, it made me ponder: why wouldn’t the investor want these as an asset for his future tenants?
I thought about the prospective Charlotte tenants who contact us to rent our houses. Not many of them ask about a washer & dryer. I don’t think we’ve ever had a deal fall through because a house didn’t have them. We’ve had conversations with prospective tenants about the issue of moving the washer & dryer that was already in the house so they could use their own that they were bringing (that’s a pain!). And having a washer & dryer in the house didn’t allow us to charge more rent.
Furthermore, I recall the repair requests we get from tenants who have washer & dryers our owners provide. We send out appliance repair people that, at times, have cost our owners hundreds of dollars. Sometimes the washer & dryers are not repairable and have to be replaced which costs our owners even more money and drains their ROI.
So, if tenants don’t act like they want washers & dryers and it costs our owners money to have and maintain them, maybe this investor was on to something? He makes a compelling case to get washer & dryers out of rental homes and let the tenants fend for themselves.
Maybe it is smart to “have it your way” when you’re buying. Experts do say that too much butter is bad for the heart!
Happy Landlording!
Brett Furniss is the head property manager of BDF Realty (Charlotte Residential Property Management), the trusted real estate advisor for Charlotte landlords & Home of $100 Flat Fee Property Management.  BDF Realty utilizes their innovative Pod System for exceptional customer service in residential property management, home repairs, and home sales for single-family homes, Uptown condos, and town homes in the Charlotte-Metro Area. Contact Us Today!
Learn MoreTalk to Your Tenant: Win-Win is Better Than Lose-Lose, Right?
Years ago, there was a small, remote island that was relatively non-descript and unnoteworthy. Then two multi-billion dollar pharmaceutical companies decided their business’s future hinged on acquiring it.
Why? Its climate and soil composition was ideal to grow a certain tree that had revolutionary medicinal value. The pharmaceutical companies needed to harvest and grow and lot of these trees and this was the only place where they could find the perfect conditions to do so.
So what happened? These heavyweight industry titans went after each other to procure this island resulting in a bidding war (hundreds of millions for dollars over a nominal asking price), lawsuits, threats, and tons of bad blood. After millions had been spent and not one tree had been harvested after a year, a level-headed senior executive suggested the use of a mediator. People had their doubts because the companies were so tight-lipped about trade secrets; they wouldn’t divulge anything about their intended use of the trees.
As the story goes, the mediator ironed out a deal within an hour. All lawsuits were dropped, conversations turned from sharply bitter to excitedly collaborative, and the rivals eagerly bought the island together in joint ownership.  They were both in production within 6 months.
What happened? Both pharmaceutical companies still needed the trees, but the first only needed the leaves the other only needed the bark. Once this was discovered, both pharmaceutical companies were in business! Adversaries became profitable allies.
It was a pretty simple solution, right?
Communication is important, especially in the property management business. And, conversely, non-communication can be very expensive and time consuming!
A rental relationship can thrive with good communication and turn seemingly lose-lose arrangements like a tenant needing to get out of his lease into win-win situations. Here are a few examples:
A tenant wanted to get out of his lease early due to a job loss during the spring and the owner wanted to sell. This turned out well as the tenant paid an extra month of rent to terminate their lease and the owner had a vacant month paid for while the home was being fixed-up during an active spring/summer sales market.
Or a tenant was a landscaper and needed an extra month to vacate. The owner wanted to sell immediately, but allowed for an extra month of renting. For this negotiation, the tenant landscaped the yard for free before vacating. This gave the tenant the time they needed, while saving the owner money for fixing up the yard.
These types of win-win negotiations are only possible when landlords and tenants talk and find out the best path forward together. A good property manager makes sure that these issues are fleshed out and potential solutions are vetted thoroughly.
Anyone can take a hard line on a lease and impose their will legally. But this is rarely the best and most profitable path.
As a postscript to the initial story, the big loser was the owner of the island. Through incomplete information, the island owner almost achieved a huge, unnecessary payday. In the property management sphere, the island owner is usually the lawyers who are paid to enforce the lease.
So talk to your tenant! Good things can happen and can turn seemingly lose-lose scenarios into win-win.
Happy landlording!
Brett Furniss is the head property manager of BDF Realty (Charlotte Residential Property Management), the trusted real estate advisor for Charlotte landlords & Home of $100 Flat Fee Property Management.  BDF Realty utilizes their innovative Pod System for exceptional customer service in residential property management, home repairs, and home sales for single-family homes, Uptown condos, and town homes in the Charlotte-Metro Area. Contact Us Today!
Learn More
Do Your Rental Home Repair People Care? 2 Lessons Learned
“People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”
Theodore Roosevelt
“We have met the enemy and he is us.”
Walt Kelly (Pogo)
When you’re in the property management business, many different things in houses will break. It’s a sad reality, but it is also the reality that keeps property managers in business (so we keep our complaints to a minimum!).
Contrary to popular thought in Charlotte, we really don’t know everything (please laugh!). So like most property management companies, we employ repair professionals to work on things that break (plumbing, roofs, appliances, HVAC, painting, etc.). They are, in effect, an extension of us at BDF Realty.
So how do we know if the repair people we use are any good? The simple answer is if things are fixed and tenants are not calling us to say their issue did not stay resolved. And if the issue recurs (which happens to the best of them), how does the repair person handle it? Do we get charged for another visit to the house? Do these recurring issues happen often? How long does it take for them to get back to do the repair again?
So skill-wise, we can figure out if a repair person is any good in a reasonable amount of time. Let’s call those the hard skills. But what about the soft skills? Are they kind? Conscientious?
Do they care?
That’s tougher. We can’t go on every service call with our repair people. And if they can’t at least fake being nice and caring during those calls, they weren’t going to last anyway. So how can you tell if they care?
I’ve learned 2 lessons over the years:
- If any tenants call to complain about a repair person, there is probably something wrong with the repair person. Two calls and there is definitely something wrong.
It takes time and effort to locate the property manager’s information, call them, and detail your experience without sounding like a whiner. Most tenants don’t care enough unless something is really off.
Several years ago, I used a really nice, reasonably priced handyman to work on many of our homes. When I would see him in person, he was sharp as a tack and would bend over backward to resolve issues. But I started getting a few tenant calls about chronic lateness and “shady” people he was bringing with him to work on jobs. We had to sever ties with him. He’s still a nice guy, but he just didn’t care enough to show up on time and be professional.
- If the repair person is treating us poorly, chances are they are doing the same to the tenants.
Recently, we had a repair person work on an issue at a vacant home for us. We gave him the lockbox code so he could get in and do the work. The next day we were at the property and found the house key in the lockbox, broken in half. We called the repair person and he said he had broken the key in the lock and forgotten to call us about it.
To me, that’s sort of a big deal, but not the key breaking per se. I will be the first to tell you that things happen. As Charles Swindoll said, “Life is 10% of what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it.” I’m not going to give someone a hard time over things breaking; truthfully the lock was tough and anyone could have broken a key in it. But not thinking it was important enough to let me know immediately about? I have to ask, “Does he care?”
Having repair people that care matters. Being a property manager who cares is important too. And the two are exactly the same to the tenants we serve.
Happy Landlording!
Brett Furniss is the head property manager of BDF Realty (Charlotte Residential Property Management), the trusted real estate advisor for Charlotte landlords & Home of $100 Flat Fee Property Management.  BDF Realty utilizes their innovative Pod System for exceptional customer service in residential property management, home repairs, and home sales for single-family homes, Uptown condos, and town homes in the Charlotte-Metro Area. Contact Us Today!
Learn MoreWho Pays Incidentals When Things Break? A Rental Home Dilemma
The Situation:
The tenant (Mitch) has received higher-than-average water bills for the past two months. He calls his Charlotte property manager who sends out a plumber to investigate. The plumber says there is a pipe cracked underneath the driveway that will cost $2,500.00 to fix.
Mitch’s take on the situation:
“I just rent here. My water bill is usually $60.00/month. The last 2 months it’s been $150.00/month. So, I’m out an extra $180.00 at no fault of my own. I pay my rent on time every month and don’t have the budget to afford this. If you ask me, the owner is lucky to have a tenant like myself that doesn’t cause any problems.”
Bottom line: Mitch requests a $180.00 reimbursement from the owner for excessive water expenses.
The owner’s take on the situation:
“$2,500???? The rent on this place is $1,050.00/month, so I’m looking at 2.5 months of rent down the drain. How does a pipe crack happen under a concrete driveway?? And the tenant wants an additional $180.00? Please let Mitch know that I didn’t burrow under his driveway a few months ago with a hammer and smash the pipe. Let me get back to you on where I’m going to get the money to pay the mortgage and for this pipe leak. I think there is assumption that because I’m the landlord, I have millions of dollars sitting around for this type of stuff. Not true!”
Bottom line: The owner does not look at Mitch’s request (or the entire situation) favorably.
So who pays the incidental water expense?
First of all, this is a bad situation for everyone, with the exception of the plumber. The tenant has higher water bills at no fault of his own. The owner has a broken pipe at his house (and an unhappy tenant) at no fault of his own.
In life, things break. And things sometimes break with no one at fault. We’re in a society that expects 100% uptime on everything, but that is a fallacy in a world where things wear and rust out. And when things break, there is cost and (usually) a mess to clean up. And everyone expects some other party to pay for it (not me!!).
So we have to go to the lease for guidance. Most standard leases that I’ve seen say that unless there is “willful or wanton negligence” on behalf of the landlord, landlords are not responsible for incidental damage from things breaking. (Note: I’m not a lawyer and don’t even play one on TV)
If the landlord sent someone to fix an issue in a reasonable amount of time, he should be in the clear from having to pay additional costs beyond the repair. That’s not to say there may not be additional factors involved that may compel the owner (or tenant!) to offset the other’s financial outlay. But, normally speaking, the lease seems to offer this protection to the landlord.
So, if you are the tenant, what to do? If Mitch has renters insurance (which is a requirement of our leases), he has another venue to ask for relief from.
We’ve had other similar examples: a hot water heater leaking on to a laptop, food being ruined from a refrigerator breaking down, and others. To the tenant, it is a loss of a computer or replacing spoiled food; to the landlord, it is buying or repairing a hot water heater or refrigerator. Ugh!
Bottom line: When things break, it is not a good situation for anyone. But realize that it is a part of life that is 100% guaranteed to happen to you many times. Try to be civil and understanding when it does. Neither party likes it!
Happy Landlording!
Learn More“Unverifiable” Rental Tenants Can Be Like Rudolph and Save Your Christmas
“All of the other reindeers used to laugh and call him names. They never let poor Rudolph play in any reindeer games.
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… then all the reindeers loved him, and they shouted out with glee (whoo-pee!). Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, you’ll go down in history!”
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer by Billy Gilman
Rudolph had a tough gig before becoming a legendary Christmas icon and saving Christmas one year. Piecing together various biographical sources on Rudolph, it is clear he had a privileged, yet difficult, childhood. Through his envied bloodline (the son of famed Donner and the beautiful doe, Mrs. Donner), he had both the connections and proximity to Santa to have a great life and career. But the dreaded red nose seemingly doomed him to a life of ridicule and parental shame leading to his estrangement from the North Pole elite. He found solace in the company of societal undesirables (among them a dentist!) before the serendipitous approach of uncommon foggy weather one Christmas Eve. Santa took a chance on him and it paid off in spades. The rest, as they say, is history.
When Rudolph was on the road with the undesirables, no one really knew his skills and upbringing (the bloodline, the advanced reindeer training, his untapped flight ability, etc.); they just knew he was sad, unwanted, and unloved. He couldn’t pull out his press clippings from his pockets (no pants) or pull it up on the internet (no Wi-Fi on the Island of Misfit Toys). And he didn’t really want to talk about his past, which recently included not even saying goodbye to his girlfriend, Clarice, the only one who really liked him for who he was (red nose and all). He only had his focus on the future as he was trying to find himself amidst new circumstances.
Rudolph was a great reindeer; he just couldn’t prove it.
As Charlotte property managers, we get applicants who could be great tenants, but they can’t prove it. And we want to be sure they would be before we approve them to live in one of our client’s rental houses, but the applications sometimes don’t reveal much.
For example, on our four main tenant screening requirements, we may receive a prospective tenant application with the following information:
- Credit report: very little to no credit history
Tenant explanation: “I don’t like debt. I pay everything with cash.”
- Landlord history: scattered to none
Tenant explanation: “I lived with family or moved in with a significant other. I was not on a lease or a mortgage.”
- Criminal report: nothing comes up
Tenant explanation: “I’m an outstanding citizen!” (Kudos!)
- Income: no paystubs available
Tenant explanation: “I’m a small business owner or do work under the table.”
So what to do? Much like Rudolph, there’s very little information to go on. The tenant is basically “unverifiable”.
This is where it is easy as a property manager to punt and just reject the applicant. There are a lot of fish in the sea and a verifiable tenant will probably be in contact soon. Besides, there is a lot to lose. If the unverifiable tenant pays rent and everything goes fine, then everyone is happy. But if things go south, clients will understandably ask for details about the tenant screening. “What do you mean you accepted a tenant with no verifiable information? Remind me why I hired you???? Did you flip a coin on whether to approve them?”
So what to do?
- Verify everything you can. Get bank statements and W-2s. Money is usually traceable in some form.
- Collect 2 months security deposit and as much upfront rent as possible in certified funds.
- Ask a lot of questions and do Google searches. Unconventional tenants can require unconventional screening methods. What does their social media accounts say about them?
We’ve found some great, long-term tenants that other landlords have rejected due to them being unverifiable. We’ve also walked away from some that we just couldn’t get a good read on.
Santa gave Rudolph a chance, and Christmas was saved. It is sometimes wise to give unverifiables a second look so rent is coming in during Christmas on your rental home.
Happy landlording!
Brett Furniss is the head property manager of BDF Realty (Charlotte Residential Property Management), the trusted real estate advisor for Charlotte landlords & Home of $100 Flat Fee Property Management.  BDF Realty utilizes their innovative Pod System for exceptional customer service in residential property management, home repairs, and home sales for single-family homes, Uptown condos, and town homes in the Charlotte-Metro Area. Contact Us Today!
Learn MoreThe Miami Heat Big 3 & Your Property Management Maintenance Team
The Charlotte Hornets opened up the NBA season the other night against the Miami Heat. For NBA fans, this is exciting stuff! The Hornets hope to replicate some of the past success of the Heat, while the Heat are looking to find success again.
How well have the Heat done in the past 5 years?
2011: Eastern Conference Champions
2012: NBA Champions
2013: NBA Champions
2014: Eastern Conference Champions
2015: Missed playoffs altogether
So things were rolling from 2011-2014. Making the NBA Finals every year (and winning twice!) is unbelievable excellence. How did they achieve this?
It started with the Heat picking up two great players, LeBron James and
Chris Bosh, in free agency after the 2010 season. When they paired them with Dwayne Wade, their existing All-Pro, they had the talent to take on anyone in the NBA. And through hard work, they bonded together and had immediate success.
Along with the “Big 3”, the Heat had a good bench of role players, which changed often from year-to-year. But as long as Bosh, Wade, and King James were pulling the scoring load, the Heat’s role players were able to offer enough support to make them champions.
The Heat’s success also translates into winning property management maintenance.
90% of property maintenance issues with rental homes can be handled by another kind of “Big 3”:
- HVAC company: Air conditioning and heat are a big deal for tenants. Having a reliable and timely HVAC company on call is huge.
- Plumber: Sanitation, leaks, and hot water heaters are also very important.
- Handyman: For the “miscellaneous”- Broken windows, doors, drywall repair, paint, power washing, gutter cleaning, etc., etc.
If the maintenance “Big 3” are intact, the rental home should be in good hands for landlords. They will handle most of the on-going issues.
But never underestimate the role players; they are called less often, but play vital roles. Vendors such as pest companies, roofers, electricians, painters, house cleaners, carpet cleaners, lawn care, and others are important to have on your team as well.
So what, you may ask, happened to the Heat in 2015? King James left the team as a free agent to go back to play for his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers. Bosh and Wade both missed many games due to injuries. And the remaining, healthy role players around them couldn’t shoulder the load themselves without them.
Having the “Big 3” is important to property maintenance success. If one is lost, making sure a worthy replacement (Kevin Durant to the Heat in 2016?) is imperative!
Happy landlording!
Brett Furniss is the head property manager of BDF Realty (Charlotte Residential Property Management), the trusted real estate advisor for Charlotte landlords & Home of $100 Flat Fee Property Management.  BDF Realty utilizes their innovative Pod System for exceptional customer service in residential property management, home repairs, and home sales for single-family homes, Uptown condos, and town homes in the Charlotte-Metro Area. Contact Us Today!
Learn MoreDo You Want to Rent Your Charlotte Rental Home to Anthony?
Who needs a house out in Hackensack
Is that all you get with your money
It seems such a waste of time
If that’s what it’s all about
Mama if that’s movin’ up
Then I’m movin’ out
I’m movin’ out
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“Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song)” by Billy Joel
People move out and relocate for many reasons- a new job, real love (isn’t that sweet!), real love that really isn’t (not so sweet), the need for new scenery, the need to get out of town (Jack Bauer fleeing the US for the UK in Season 9 of 24), Anthony getting out of Mama’s house, etc…
And most of them, like Anthony, need to find a place to live. So property managers get rental applications from out-of-town folk and need to screen them. It seems like it would just be business as usual. But there are more factors to consider.
We’ll start with the basics:
- Credit check: Anthony saves his pennies, so I’m optimistic.
- Criminal check: He seems frustrated, so we’ll have to see on this on.
The income check seems straightforward; people make what they make. But figuring out how much free cash flow is available can be muddled if the prospective tenants have financial baggage where they are coming from. For example, are they homeowners? That’s another house payment they are responsible for, and one that could rival where available funds would go if things got tight (pay for the house they own or pay rent for the one they don’t?). If they make enough to afford two house payments, that’s great. But most people don’t and it adds a layer of risk. Renting out or selling their out-of-town homes is an uncertain thing and can provide short and long term cash requirements. However, Anthony lives with Mama, so he’s good there with no extra house payment.
The employment screening also adds a potential issue. Unless the prospective tenant is in largely the same work position with the same boss at the same company, there is uncertainty on how things will pan out. When a prospective tenant has been in a job for a year or two, it shows they can get along, handle the job, and fit into the corporate culture. New jobs in new cities are a step into the unknown. And that creates a greater amount of risk. Is Anthony transferring to Charlotte with a position with the same grocer or does he hope to latch on with the local Harris Teeter? This adds some uncertainty to his application.
A quick caveat: “Risky” doesn’t necessarily mean bad. When I think of our best all-time tenants (sigh… love you guys!), many of them were relocators with the “issues” described above.
So what to do about Anthony? His credit score will be a big indicator. If he is in the 700-800 range, this tells me he knows how to handle his finances well and can make things work through potential adversity. If it’s in the 500’s, I’m more nervous.
And cash is king. How much in liquid assets does Anthony have? He can send bank/brokerage statements that can prove he has funds to fall back on or tide him over until he’s up and running in Charlotte.
Anthony may want to get out of the Tri-State area, shun Hackensack, and come to Charlotte, but smart landlords will want to check Anthony’s application closely. He may still need to stay in Mama’s house for a little longer to save more money, line up a job in Charlotte, and pay his bills on time to improve his credit score.
Brett Furniss is the head property manager of BDF Realty (Charlotte Residential Property Management), the trusted real estate advisor for Charlotte landlords & Home of $100 Flat Fee Property Management.  BDF Realty utilizes their innovative Pod System for exceptional customer service in residential property management, home repairs, and home sales for single-family homes, Uptown condos, and town homes in the Charlotte-Metro Area. Contact Us Today!
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