Bad Times to Buy Bank of America Stock and Charlotte Real Estate?
“(Warren) Buffett famously bought $5 billion worth of BofA’s (Bank of America’s) preferred stock and warrants in 2011 in the aftermath of the financial crisis, shoring up confidence in the embattled lender struggling with losses tied to subprime mortgages.”
7/30/24 CNBC.com article by Yun Li
“The Charlotte Regional Business Alliance reported about 113 people moved to the Charlotte metro every day between mid-2021 and mid-2022. That’s more than 41,000 people moving to the region every year.”
CLT Today 3/11/24
I remember hearing many years ago that the longer you live, the more economic cycles you’ll see. The “Dot.com Bubble” (2011) and COVID (2020) are ones I remember readily. But from a severity perspective, ‘The Great Recession” (2008-2010) was the most memorable and crushing.
Living in Charlotte, Bank of America casts a big shadow as it houses our largest corporate headquarters. And it got hammered during the Great Recession. Warren Buffett, arguably the greatest stock investor in history, invested $5B in 2011 when it was trading in the $5/share range. The lowest it had dipped to was $3.14 in 2009 and it was teetering along for years as it hemorrhaged losses from its Countrywide Financial acquisition.
At the time of his investment, Buffet said,
“Bank of America is a strong, well-led company, and I called Brian (Moynihan) to tell him I wanted to invest in it,” Mr. Buffett said in a statement. “I am impressed with the profit-generating abilities of this franchise, and that they are acting aggressively to put their challenges behind them. Bank of America is focused on their customers and on serving them well. That’s what customers want, and that’s the company’s strategy.”
Today, Bank of America’s stock price is around $40/share and Buffett has been in the news lately for selling some of his shares for billions in profit.
That’s what all investors want- buy low and sell high! But Buffett’s big payday took a long time to come to fruition as the stock languished for years. It was unknown when Bank of America, and the economy in general, would come back. But Buffett believed in Bank of America’s fundamentals.
We’re starting to see a real estate slowdown in the Charlotte market. There was a time, no too long ago, when a house on the market for sale would get multiple offers. Now, things have slowed, houses are sitting a bit longer, and price increases have waned.
Are home prices too costly? Interest rates too high? Economy too risky? A combination of these and other factors? Are these buyers right? Is it a good time to sit on the sidelines?
Or… is this price stabilization a great opportunity for real estate investors?
It’s tough to know for sure.
There are facts, though, that are undeniable. People continue to move to Charlotte every day in droves and have been for years. Everyone moving here needs a place to live. Housing is a needed commodity.
As Buffet said about his investment in Bank of America during an uncertain time, he wanted to get involved based on the company and its direction. Charlotte has an average of 113 people moving here everyday in need of housing.
Is this a bad time to buy Charlotte real estate? Or is it a great time?
Happy Landlording!
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Real Estate Investing: Preparing for Recession
“Where there is no vision, the people perish…”
Proverbs 29:18
Well, we started with a Bible verse, so it’s a good time to go into the story of Joseph in the Bible (located in Genesis 41).
To paraphrase, Pharoah, the leader of Egypt, had two dreams that no one could interpret. His chief cupbearer (and a former jailbird) remembered that he knew a guy in the joint who had (successfully) interpreted dreams for him and his buddy a few years back. He told Pharoah about this Joseph guy and Pharoah had him sent for.
Joseph said God had revealed both of Pharoah’s dreams to him and they had the same message; Egypt and the surrounding lands would have seven years of incredible plenty followed by seven years of devastating famine. He advised, “Let the Pharoah look for a discerning and wise man and put him in charge of the land of Egypt. Let Pharoah appoint commissioners over the land to take a fifth (20%) of the harvest of Egypt during the seven years of abundance… This food should be held in reserve for the country, to be used during the seven years of famine that will come upon Egypt…”
He concurs and appoints Joseph to head this newly created post and things go as predicted. Egypt is the only place that has food when the years of famine come, and Joseph is administering it on Pharoah’s behalf. The Egyptians and the people of surrounding lands are forced to sell Pharoah all their possessions and land just to get food.
To bring this back into the realm of real estate investing, landlords are clearly in the time of plenty as property values and rental prices have been on a growth curve for the last ten years. To boot, interest rates have been historically low (and really still are) which allow for low borrowing costs and has made for a robust sales market. Many landlords have used this as a time to sell some of their “dog” properties, make improvements and raise the rents on their existing properties, buy some new ones, and refinance/eliminate debt.
Recently, interest rates have more than doubled and many economists (none with divine inspiration like Joseph to my knowledge…) claim a recession is around the corner. If that’s true, the housing market could take a sharp correction which could be a great opportunity for prepared investors.
I have vague recollections from the last housing correction from 2008-2012. I did not buy any investment properties then; I was too concentrated on keeping my existing rental homes afloat as rents were low during that time period. I remember that selling homes was really hard; buyers were scarce! Many sellers were just giving their houses back to the bank or using “short sales” as the banks would take a loss on part of the loan during the sale. I remember thinking, “What’s wrong with me? As a wanna-be real estate investor, how am I not buying homes now? These houses are going for a steal and they seem to be all over the place!”
The thing that was wrong was that I could not get a decent loan and did not have much cash on hand. So, I needed to sit on the sidelines like most other people until the economic waves grew more favorable. But the buyers who were prepared got some great deals!
The investment challenge now is to be more like Joseph and be prepared for any possible famine while things are favorable. If the right investment comes along during any upcoming recessionary period, I’d like to be able to snap it up (while simultaneously staying solvent during any prolonged economic slump). Preparation now can pay huge dividends later.
Happy Investing & Landlording!
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Don’t Ask Me When You Should Buy Real Estate…
“Don’t ask the barber whether you need a haircut.”
(Warren Buffett)
“Hindsight is 20/20”
(Popular Idiom)
When you work in real estate for a living (especially on what could be considered the investment side in property management), you tend to get a lot of “party questions” about buying rental homes. You hear different versions of this:
Oh, you’re in property management? My cousin owns about 50 rentals in Lincroft, NJ and is making a killing. He fills them all with Section 8 tenants and just collects the guaranteed money on the first of each month. Lucky dog! Is it a good time to start buying properties and get into something like that here in Charlotte?
There are different schools of thought on how to answer that question.
The first school of thought: YES, YES, & YES!! You sell and manage rental properties for a living- duh!!
Back in the day, I worked with a woman who would look at me cross-eyed when she saw me show any hesitation when the question of when someone should be buying real estate came up. To her, the answer was always unequivocally “now!”, followed up with “I’ll pull up some listings that we can go look at!”. In her book, it was a complete rookie move to even contemplate any different type of answer. If her kids were going to eat tomorrow, she needed to sell real estate today. So it was always a good time for anyone to buy real estate (and the more the better!).
I laughed at her response and actually thought it was a bit dishonest. But, if you followed her advice at the time, you would have made an absolute killing. And her advice is still the same, in case you were wondering.
The second school of thought: I’m not sure… (The “Honest “Approach)
A friend of mine recently forwarded me an e-mail from 2018 that we had shared discussing an investment property he was contemplating buying. I wasn’t sure (at $120K it seemed a bit high for what it was…) so I encouraged him to lowball the offer and ask for some concessions. Of course, when an offer is bogged down like that, it is typically rejected unless the seller is on the desperate side and low on options. So my friend did what I suggested and the sale never went through.
On top of his recent e-mail was a link showing that the property sold this year for $210K. So in less than four years, he would have pocketed $90K; that’s not a bad day in the office for the eventual buyer! But I felt sort of badly that I helped talk my friend out of what turned out to be a great deal. Fortunately, he is a gracious guy, and hasn’t come over to break my legs (yet…).
So, don’t ask me when you should buy real estate! I want to give you the right answer, I really do. But timing the market is tough. I’m not sure if we are on the top of the market (and about to fall of a cliff) or if we are only getting started.
However, if you can make the numbers work for immediate cash flow and have plans to hold the real estate long term, it is a good time to buy now (especially in Charlotte!). I can say that with all honesty while not drawing the ire of my old co-worker.
Happy Landlording!
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Finding Value & Buying Rental Homes on Your Credit Card
Fresh out of college, I was living in New York City and was slinging cell phones by day (they were relatively new back then) and dreaming big dreams at night. How could I become financially successful like many of the people I was passing on Wall Street everyday? I wasn’t overly into finance, but started reading a lot of material from the real estate gurus. Be a millionaire with no money down! Live off of passive income to live the life you’ve always imagined! It’s so easy anyone can do it!
That sounded right up my alley- easy and something even I could do. If that mother of 6 in El Paso could be netting $25K month in passive rental income, surely I could do half of that? I was all-in. Unfortunately, New York City real estate was prohibitively expensive for me to buy (got $1M to plunk down?), so I wasn’t sure how I would get started.
So I moved to Charlotte and became a full-time Charlotte real estate investor. The $1M homes were replaced with much more affordable options. I posted classified ads (“We Buy Homes!”) and tried to follow the guidelines from the infomercials. I joined an investment club and started getting calls and e-mails for discounted homes to buy.
Many of the homes were really cheap, some to the tune of $50K. The problem was to what to do with them after purchase. Most people didn’t want to live in them as they were in “war zones”. I’ve never been a gun guy, but visiting some of these homes made me think hard about my self-protection stance. I didn’t feel overly safe at many of them and replacing broken windows constantly didn’t seem economically savvy. So I, and others, passed on buying many of these homes (laughable now, right?) and they languished on the market for months and years.
One day, I visited one of these types of homes and was not really interested. The seller said she was negotiable on price, but I liked being alive and really didn’t want to be involved. Plus, she said she needed to close really quickly and needed cash, and I didn’t have a ton of cash on hand. I figured I’d ask what she was looking for before declining.
$8K.
Well $8K was in my wheelhouse. I wrote up the contract and asked the closing attorney if he would take one of my Visa checks that came in the mail earlier that week from my credit card company. No problem!
Did I want this house? Not really. It came with issues. I had to sink another $20K into it just to make it habitable for a rental. And the area wasn’t great. But $8K? Come on! I had to do it.
I learned that every asset had a price.
I got a call recently from a prospective client who asked me if her home had a realistic chance of renting. It was in a desirable area and she lived there currently, but the kitchen wasn’t redone and it had an older layout. Did she need to sink $50K-$100K into it before it could go to market?
The answer, without even looking at it, was “yes” and “no”. The real question was how much she wanted to rent it out for. Would it rent for as much as the remodeled home down the street if it wasn’t renovated? Probably not. But depending on the rental price, someone would gladly take it. There are 66 people on average moving to Charlotte every day who need a place to live!
Real estate, like anything, is a value proposition that has a suitable price. A rental house priced at $3K/month may sit, but at $2K it may fly off the market. Value is what matters. Top conditioned homes will rent out the highest, while homes in poorer condition will rent out for less. The market is relatively efficient.
Happy Landlording!
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Where to Invest in Real Estate in Charlotte?
As a property manager in Charlotte with investor clients, we are often asked where the best places are to buy local investment properties.
When I was a young real estate investor in 2004, I bought my first two investment properties on the same day from HUD. Both were relatively cheap and I figured they’d be easy to cash flow. I admittedly did not really know what I was doing.
One was a condo in a relatively contained area. The other was a house in what could be labeled a “war zone”.
I hated this house. If I was smarter, I would have outsourced the property management. One of the main issues is that it would just get broken into a lot. So every time it was vacant, I was praying that I didn’t have to have the windows and doors repaired again. The house was really old and somehow the utility bills were really high, which added to the vacancy pain.
One day I was stopping by the house and noticed a man with a shopping cart full of old window screens walking in the neighborhood. I didn’t give it much thought (like I said, it wasn’t a great area) until I reached the house and noticed something a little off about the (formerly) screened-in porch. I ran back to my car to find the guy with my screens.
He was still on the street. I pulled up behind him in my car and he kept walking. I got out and walked quickly to catch up to him.
“Excuse me, sir? I think you may have something that belongs to me.”
No response. He kept walking away at his measured pace.
“Yeah, I’m sure of it- those seem to be the window screens from my house up the block. Mind if I take those back?”
He stopped, turned around, grunted, and then lunged at me with a knife. Fortunately, he missed due to my cat-like reflexes (OK, not true) and the fact that he was drunk and slow (thank God!). He then kept walking away.
I followed him in my car and called the police. He smartly cut across a field and was never seen again.
As I left the scene with my tail between my legs, there was nothing left to do but go back to the house and re-shoot the front porch pictures. Then I logged into my computer and changed the rental ad copy from “Awesome House with Screened-In Porch!” to “Awesome House with Open-Air Porch!”.
Oh, how I hate(d) that house!
Fast forward approximately 13 years… the Charlotte press started fawning over this “new” area of Charlotte that was having all of this awesome new development. Price values were skyrocketing; it was the next big thing. As I clicked through to read further, the area they were referring to was very familiar… No way… The smart money wanted to be in the vicinity of “that house”.
A popular calculation is that 66 people are moving to Charlotte every day. The Charlotte-Metro population is set to go up 50% in the next ten years. And all of these newcomers need a place to live.
As a real estate investor, the short-term prognosis on where to buy in Charlotte is a crapshoot; an efficient market should have already built this into the current prices. However, due to population forecasts, the long-term prognosis of where to invest is much surer. “That house” (or any house in the city of Charlotte) will probably be a good investment you’ll love if it’s held long enough.
Happy Landlording!
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 MoreDo 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 MoreYou Break It, You Bought It! Avoiding Rental Home Repair Costs
The dreaded scenario…
You enter the “4th Century Priceless Vases” store with your 3-year old child sleeping in his stroller. “While he’s sleeping I might as well find a birthday present for Uncle Milt,” you quietly say to yourself as you peruse the priceless artifacts (surprisingly all with prices on them…). As you turn to the shop owner to ask if there is a chance that the price of the orange vase had mistakenly had too many zeroes added to it (a simple clerical issue could happen to anyone!), you hear a crash behind you.
Looking at the shards of glass on the floor and your giggling, (temporarily) smiling son, you realize this could be an expensive trip. The shop owner, with arms crossed on his chest, points to the antique sign on the wall:
“You Break It, You Bought It!”
Ouch!
A better scenario for everyone would be that “4th Century Priceless Vases” decided years ago to elevate every shelf in the store to a minimum of 4 feet off the ground and added a feather-coated floor. The most expensive vases were put behind locked glass and could only be accessed by store personnel. This way they were able to decrease breakage and save money.
On a similar vein as a Charlotte property manager and fellow real estate investor, it pains me (sad, but true) when I get repair calls from tenants on things that could have been avoided. By spending money on features (“being nice”), it winds up costing in service calls and replacements for years.
My 3 main culprits on optional home amenities that always seem to break:
- Icemakers on refrigerators (ugh!!)
- Washers & dryers
- Gas fireplaces
Most leases say that if something is working when a tenant moves in, it is the landlord’s responsibility to pay to keep it working (aka “promptly repair all appliances and facilities” under Landlord Responsibilities in the NC standard Realtor lease). This costs money.
But what about if you took a page out of the “4th Century Priceless Vase” store’s playbook and made breaking these things close to impossible? Sounds good! But how?
Don’t own them! Nowhere in the lease does it say you have to have these things in your rental house. So don’t!
I see no rent difference in Charlotte single family residences in whether you have these niceties or not. So, I would highly recommend dealing with my main 3 culprits in the following manner:
- Icemaker on refrigerator: when you replace your refrigerator, get one without one!
- Washer & Dryer: sell them on Craig’s List the next time your house is vacant
- Gas fireplace: turn it off and let the tenant know it is not to be used. If they insist, let them know they are responsible for its upkeep.
Some parts of maximizing rental home ROI is addition by subtraction. It’s tough to break expensive vases when you can’t get to them, and you don’t need to perform maintenance on items that aren’t there. When there is less to break, there is less to be bought!
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 MoreTenants Love Rental Showings?
Continuing with the theme from our last blog, below is another letter (this time from a tenant) entitled, “I’m Lonely, Please Send More Visitors.”
Dear BDF Realty,
I was disappointed to give my 30-day notice to vacate the other day. You guys are the greatest property managers (BDF side note: Wow! Thanks!) and it will be depressing to leave the rental home. I mean really depressing.
But much to my joy and amazement, I started getting calls from your showing service saying that people wanted to come to MY house to see it! Here I am, bored at home with no reason to get out of the house, and I start getting call after call with people who want to set appointments to come over!
I mean here was my typical schedule before I gave my notice to vacate:
8 AM – 8 PM: bored at home-nothing to do
8 PM – 10 PM: “Arrow” comes on TV, followed by “The Flash” (Wednesday’s only)
BUT…after giving my notice:
7:40 AM: need to clean home before a Realtor showing
8 AM: leave home while Realtor shows property
8:15 AM: return home
8:45 AM: leave home for showing
9:00 AM: return
11:30 AM: leave home
11:45 AM: return
And that’s just the first morning! I can’t wait to see how many people wind up stopping in when all is said and done. I feel like the President!
Thanks again!
Lonely
Okay, I’ve yet to get a letter like this and never expect to. Tenants dislike rental showings for good reason. Who wants strangers trudging through their homes? Then having the expectation to keep the home clean while packing up boxes to move? And then being asked to leave the home during the showings (that they are paying to live in, nonetheless!)? I wouldn’t!
So why would tenants be asked to do this?
For several reasons:
- Usually it is a condition of occupancy that they sign on for in a proper lease
- It allows other renters to find a home for their families too. The tenants were probably looking at some inhabited rentals during their rental home search. This could be viewed as renter common courtesy.
- Being a team player for the owner with a slight mix of sympathy/empathy. Vacancy costs money. The less time the rental home sits vacant, the less financial and emotional strain on the owner. Maybe they are renting out their house in another state and can empathize?
Of course, to make it work for everyone, there are common courtesies that should be exercised. A 24-hour notice should be honored. If there are guests visiting or a child is sick, there should be leniency in allowing the tenant to cancel showings. And I believe in giving the tenant final approval on scheduling showings; “It’s not a good day” is a valid excuse on occasion, though this shouldn’t be abused. And no one should EVER just show up on the doorstep expecting to get in.
We’re all people and no one really likes allowing strangers into their home. However, if done respectfully, all parties (tenants, owners, and property managers) should be able to live with them.
Most tenants won’t “feel like the President” when dealing with multiple showings at their house, but even President Obama has to deal with things he’d rather not sometimes. It’s a necessary evil in the rental game.
Brett Furniss is the President & Owner 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, condos, and town homes in the Charlotte-Metro Area. Contact Us Today!
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