Renters: It’s Not You, It’s Me…
In the annals of relationship-ending conversations, there are many flavors:
Reflective: I think I may hate you
Cooperative: We just don’t complete each other
Corporate: We need to divest
Dramatic: “This” (hands motioning in a circle around both parties) isn’t working for me!
Conditional: We need to either work harder at this or start seeing other people
Non-Committal: I’m not sure about us
Cold: You are altogether awful! Leave me alone forever.
Soft Approach: It’s not you, it’s me!
When a relationship has to end, it’s hurtful, and usually to both parties. People put themselves out there and are vulnerable. It’s tough. And there’s no good way to part ways, even when it has to be done.
In a less personable way, it’s the same situation between renters and property managers.
Renter: This rental house on-line looks enticing!
Property Manager: Come and see it in person!
(later)
PM: Did you like it?
Renter: It smells and is way over-priced! If you think it is the “best house on the street”, you may be as dumb as you look.
PM: Fortunately, I’m not that dumb… I’ll notate your response as “not interested at this time”.
But when the tenant response is favorable…
Renter: I love it! I’ll fill out a rental application!
PM: Woo-hoo!
(later)
PM: Your results are in and things look really good. But, unfortunately, you’re not approved. Thanks for applying.
Renter (confused): What???
PM: We’ll, it’s not you, it’s me!
Renter: Seriously??
Sadly, yes.
The problem is that in Charlotte’s hot real estate market, property managers can get 10-15 different applications for certain homes (typically single family homes $1,300.00/month or less). This makes it tough to pick a tenant. Some of the applications have undisclosed evictions and can be weeded out quickly, but several of them are usually really good. If we had five of the rental house, we could fill them all. But we only have one. And that creates unhappiness for the parties who are not approved for the house, even when they are very “dateable”.
It truly is me, not you. It’s nice to be landlord in this Charlotte market from a vacancy perspective, but we can certainly understand the renter frustration of not getting a house with normally acceptable credentials. It’s tough!
Happy Landlording!
Learn More
Predicting Presidents & Charlotte Real Estate Prices
There are people who are very interested in politics, especially in the US presidential election every four years. “It’s the most important election of our lifetime! Think of the children!” I don’t fall into this camp. However, I do like to try to predict who will win.
That doesn’t mean I’m any good at it, unfortunately.
I try to use “common sense” on who will win- ha, ha! Below are the actual winners from the past few elections and my rationale at the time for why there was no way they could win:
2008: Barack Obama. I was wrong. I didn’t see how a community organizer with no experience running anything could win. Plus, he shared his middle name with a top, evil dictator.
2012: Barack Obama. I was wrong again. The economy was in shambles and the “Great Recession” was on his watch. I wasn’t sure that President Obama could effectively keep blaming former President GW Bush for the poor economy his entire term.
2016: Donald Trump: Wrong on this one too. Where do I start on how I didn’t think his election was possible? I mean he didn’t even think he was going to win.
2020: ??? Pollsters say Joe Biden is close to a shoo-in.
Now let’s shift to Charlotte real estate. When COVID-19 began to affect our lives in March 2020, people were understandably afraid. Corporations began rapidly shedding jobs, the stock market tanked, and there was little optimism in the world.
We had just put up a home for sale for a client that month (who really needed to sell) and we were concerned that COVID-19 would adversely affect the market. We lowered the price and worked quickly to get it under contract before things got worse.
However, the adverse effect on Charlotte housing prices never really happened; in fact, prices actually climbed and continue to climb. We probably should have raised the price!
So why am I bringing up my poor predictive skills?
Sometimes it is more effective to forget the short-term noise of what is going on and stick to market fundamentals. The market fundamentals for Charlotte are that 66 people on average are moving here every day and that number will probably increase as people flee big cities for more space.
There is also a housing shortage in Charlotte. This has been exacerbated as people are “sheltering-in-place” and not putting their homes on the market. The fundamental “supply vs. demand” rule takes effect and prices rise with scarcity.
Things can change quickly, but fundamentals and long term trends tend to move glacially or not at all.
And political incumbent candidates usually win…
Happy Landlording!
Learn More
Lost in Translation: Landlords Are Not “Pants”
“OK… but do we rock?”
(Opus from “Bloom County” after reading his band’s confusing review in Rolling Stone)
I remember back when I was in college and I had the opportunity to be a student-athlete abroad in Merrie Olde England. I thought the new scenery shouldn’t be that hard to figure out being they spoke English over there. But I didn’t account for some of their slang that as a “Yankee” I wasn’t privy to.
I was on the American football team and we had a pretty mediocre record. In our defense, we only had about 20 guys, so most of us were playing offense, defense, and special teams. We had some good players so we were able to keep the score close for most games (and win some of them), but exhaustion would set in during the fourth quarter due to our lack of depth; this would sometimes doom us.
Very few fans (aka only our friends) showed up for these fake “football” games (aka not soccer). So I really didn’t know if anyone cared or thought we were any good. However, someone pointed out that an article had been written about the team, so I was anxious to read it (was I mentioned in it???). I was in the computer lab later that day and found it.
Now, I’m not sure if the writer was trying to appear impartial, but I had a hard time figuring out what his take on us was. And then I wasn’t sure if he even understood what he was watching, as he used some soccer references to describe the action. He listed some good things about us and then list some bad things, and then vice-versa. Finally, at the end of the article, he gave his summation. “All in all, the Staffordshire Stallions are pants.”
“Pants”?? What the heck does that mean? I was at a loss. Do we rock? That’s what I wanted to know.
So I nudged the guy beside me and asked him what “pants” meant. He looked at me for a second, noticed my American baseball cap, and had pity. He said, ‘It means rubbish, complete rubbish.” Ouch.
For us to have a .500 record and beat some much bigger schools with 60+ players on their sidelines, I wasn’t sure how fair his assessment was. Some of our 20 guys hadn’t really even played before and were pressed into action. The article really could have been about how well we were doing despite the odds being stacked against us every game (and then how some “American saviors” were making their mark…).
I bring up this story because it reminds me of negative press landlords are taking for being against the eviction moratorium (not legally being allowed to file for eviction for non-payment) imposed now during COVID-19. The plight of affected tenants has been well-documented and no one wants this economic devastation. But to make landlords the villains is ridiculous.
I “know a friend” who manages a property where the tenant has not made a rental payment in 2020. My friend’s client still needs to make a mortgage payment, insurance, and property taxes every month without any offsetting revenue coming in. He provides a service where an agreement was made to pay him for it, and he is not getting it. And he has nowhere to go for help.
I’m not sure if any of our property management clients are multi-millionaires who are immune if no rent comes in on their rental houses. I get calls and e-mails from concerned owners when a tenant is late in paying or a repair seems on the high side. Most need the rents to keep their real estate investments afloat. I don’t know of any that are sitting on their yacht in the Mediterranean who rarely need to check a bank account!
Some of the criticism probably comes from people who just don’t understand the real estate investment game. On the other hand, I also understand (during tough times especially) that eviction is dirty word and can appear heartless.
But this is a situation that has been lost in translation. Landlords are not “pants” for wanting to receive their rental payments for providing houses for people to live in and making repairs to keep them functional. It makes sense for them to have the option of legal recourse to go to if things are not working out. They rock for trying to keep their obligations up-to-date during tough times.
In summation, the COVID-19 economic situation is “pants”, not landlords (or the 1998-1999 Staffordshire Stallions, for that matter).
Happy Landlording!
Learn MoreNew York City Living & Landlording: Count the Cost
“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and count the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?”
Jesus Christ (Luke 14:28)
Shortly after I graduated college, I moved to New York City (NYC- aka the “Big Apple”). “If I could make it there, I could make it anywhere.” Wow! It was definitely an experience.
Honestly, I was a little scared. All the television shows and movies that had criminals crushing the common folk were in NYC. I grew up in NJ, but my parents really never took me into the big city so I wasn’t sure what to expect. The mafia and gangs could just be waiting for fresh meat to show up so they could take my lunch money every day. Who knew?
Fortunately, my physical safety was never really threatened. My issues were more on the economic side. I wasn’t making much money; I was in a sales job and wasn’t selling anything. My manager nicknamed me “rowboat”… because I had no sales (get it?). The lack of cash inflow was tough.
And the cash outflow required was excruciating. It was the $3.50 for a small apple at the corner bodega. Then buying a round of 5 drinks after work that ran $90.00 (without tip). I used to joke that it cost me $20.00 to cross the street. Geez, it was an expensive place to live!
Good deals were hard to come by. And breakfast at the food cart on the corner of my street was one of them. $2.00 got you a large coffee (with milk and sugar) and a huge cinnamon raisin bagel with butter. It was my go-to meal every morning that I’d take on the subway into work.
One morning, there was a couple in front of me in line at the food cart. I could make out parts of their conversation; it was apparent that they were visiting from the Midwest somewhere. When the man was placing his order I could see him getting agitated. Then he said something that I’ll never forget:
“$1.00 for a cup of coffee??? I’ve NEVER paid $1.00 for a cup of coffee in my life!”
That’s when I knew that he was going to absolutely hate this trip to the big city. I almost felt obligated to get him in a cab (and pay for it) so he could immediately return back home. If $1.00 for a cup of Joe was cause for righteous price indignation, he was due for a heart attack later that day.
He did not count the cost of what visiting New York City was going to do to him.
Unfortunately, the same can be said of being a Charlotte landlord.
The investment real estate gurus preach that you will be a millionaire through rental homes! Buy as many properties as you can! This is the way that you build residual income that will last a lifetime for you and your children’s children!
They just don’t tell you that it is a cash-poor business. All of the above can be true, but the trick is the ability to stay solvent for year upon year as things break and wear out. All the financial models go out the window when a messy eviction happens or your HVAC unit needs to be replaced (just happened to me this month- the dreaded $5K phone call…).
Carpet will not last forever and will need to be replaced. The entire house will need to be repainted at some point. Appliances only last so long. The roof too…
Long term real estate investment can be a wonderful, profitable endeavor (you’ll love your net worth!), but don’t let anyone fool you- it can and will cost you money. So before diving in too far, count the cost. A few miserable days in NYC can be remedied with an early flight home to your 25 cent coffee vendor. Several broken-down rental homes saddled with mortgages in a buyer’s market is a little tougher to navigate out of.
Happy Landlording!
Learn MoreSorry, Draymond- Landlords are Looking for Cool Lovers, Not Fighters
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.”
(Matthew 5:9)
Draymond Green is a great basketball player. There is no denying that. He is a vital cog to the Golden State Warriors and instrumental in them wining two of the last three NBA Championships.
His professional accomplishments are many:
3-Time NBA All Star
2-Time NBA Champion
Defensive Player of the Year
All-NBA Team Member
USA Basketball Selection
But he also has this statistic line: 11, 13, 15, & 15. Those are the number of technical fouls he has received in the past 4 years which puts him among the league leaders. He‘s a fighter who is prone to argue with officials and other players, often to the detriment of his team.
With Draymond and his enormous talent, you take the good with the bad. If he was an average player, he’d probably be out of the NBA for his conduct. But that’s why his coach, Steve Kerr, gets paid $5M/year to channel his “passion” into the confines of a winning basketball team.
Property managers, most who are making well south of $5M/year, also need to make sure they have a “good team” of tenants in the properties they manage. This starts with screening tenants and picking the ones who will pay their rent on time, maintain the property, and get along with their neighbors.
To help determine this, one of the main screening criteria is culling information from past landlords. We sometimes hear some version of this from prospective tenants:
“I gotta be honest- if you call my past landlord, Bernie, he’s not going to have nice things to say. And there’s a simple explanation for that- Bernie is a complete jerk! What a loser. I was the best tenant he ever could hope to have- I mean I fixed the kitchen faucet without even asking for anything from him; of course, I got no love from him. He was just impossible to deal with!”
So, I’m guessing, the tenant is hoping I’m hearing:
- Bernie is not cool. However, the prospective tenant is cool. And it’s tough for cool people to get along with uncool people. If I’m cool, I understand. And I, of course, am really cool, so I understand.
- The tenant can fix a faucet without us sending a plumber
- I am a much better landlord and person than Bernie so I can be confided in
- If the tenant fixes the faucet (or some other repair on his own), show him love. It’s what cool people do and will make it possible for him to deal with me.
However, what I’m hearing:
“I didn’t get along with my past landlord. I blame him for that and have no problem badmouthing him to strangers to further my own ends.”
By contrast, this is what a lot of prospective landlords say about tenants when we contact them:
“Jim and Jane are such a great couple! They always paid their rent on time, took care of repairs on their own, and were such a pleasure to deal with. I’m so sorry they are leaving! Great tenants!”
Jim and Jane sound very cool to me. They seem to value a peaceful relationship with their landlord.
Draymond Green is one of the fifteen most talented basketball players in the world so he can get away with not getting along, at least right now. However, there are 60 people moving to Charlotte every day looking for rental homes, so they are not as rare.
At the end of the day, property managers are looking for cool lovers, not fighters, for their rental homes. Settling for someone like Draymond is just not usually necessary.
Happy Landlording!
Learn MoreGood 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 More“Rudy” is a Great Movie, Just Not a Great Rental Application
Rudy Ruettiger (aka “Rudy”) was the subject of a great movie in 1993 about his improbable story of getting into Notre Dame and then playing on their football team. It’s a true testament to the human spirit as he played high school football (not recruited), went to the Navy for two years, worked at a power plant for two years, and then after not getting into Notre Dame for low grades, went to Holy Cross College for two years before being admitted to Notre Dame on his 4th try! Whew!
Then he walked on to the football team and made it(!), got beat up on the scout team every day at practice, and then got on to the field his last game and picked up a sack. What a story!
Of course Hollywood embellished the story a little bit as Joe Montana, a freshman quarterback at Notre Dame at the time, said in an interview. No players were taking off their jerseys demanding that Rudy get in the game, it was typical for seniors to get into the last home game, and the players carrying Rudy off the field in triumph were just playing around. And Rudy’s legendary work ethic? “He worked his butt off to get to where he was and do the things he did. But not any harder than anyone else,” Montana said.
The truth is that Rudy should have never gotten into Notre Dame due to his bad grades (4 tries! Where did he get the money to pay the college application fees? Does “no” ever mean “no”? Did he finally get an admission officer who was napping?). He never should have been on Notre Dame’s football team (He was 6 years older than everybody else. He was 5-foot 6 inches tall and 165 pounds! He’s lucky he didn’t get killed in practice.). “Rudy” should have never happened and a movie was made about him because somehow it did.
As a Charlotte property manager, we sometimes get rental applications that I feel might have been inspired by Rudy. And I’m not saying that to be mean. I really feel that if we approved some of the applications we received, we’d essentially be ruining the applicants’ lives. For example:
We had a rental house on the market for $1,400.00/month. We received an application where the prospective tenants had several credit cards almost maxed out, they had been late 8 of the past 12 months on rent, and the rent they were currently paying was $1,000/month on a smaller house. How was adding $400.00 in additional rent (not to mention higher utility costs for a bigger house) a responsible move for anyone- landlord or tenant? It would just have made life much harder for everyone.
Even as romanticized as Rudy was, the chances are no one would have wanted Rudy’s life prior to running through the tunnel and getting into his one Notre Dame game. He was studying all the time to pass classes that were too difficult for him, while walking around with a beat-up body from banging into guys that were too big and strong for him to compete against.
Rudy may have learned character, perseverance, and many other worthwhile traits (while being the subject of a great movie!), but it was a hard journey. He was able to walk away with a Notre Dame degree, a great memory, and a lucrative speaking career after the movie came out. But I’m not sure there are any rewards for taking on more housing payment than one can afford. It’s stressful, and hurts families and relationships. Usually, it leads to evicted tenants and fired property managers.
We all want to root for the underdog, but Rudy is best seen in the theaters and not experienced in real life. Denying unworthy applications can sometimes be a great act of kindness.
Happy (& Responsible) Landlording!
Learn MoreThe Rental Bachelorette: What is She Looking For?
“I would just want someone who is genuine and makes me laugh and is my best friend and ultimately someone who is going to love me as much as I love them.”
Former Bachelorette JoJo Fletcher
JoJo apparently found that “someone” in the arms of NFL quarterback Aaron Rodger’s brother, Jordan, in the last season of the Bachelorette (so says the cover of a tabloid magazine next to Harris Teeter’s cash register). Good for her!
Many people have differing ideas on what women want from prospective male suitors. I’ve seen some lists as short as:
- Rich
- Good-looking
This list is written for the rich, good-looking guys typically by the less rich, less good-looking, jaded guys.
And there are some deeper lists written for the less affluent, average-looking guys (who might buy magazines with articles like this). This “Top Ten” list is courtesy of www.topyaps.com:
- Not being desperate or clingy
- Being a friend first
- Manners & hygiene
- Respecting her space
- Chivalry
- Sincerity & loyalty
- The ability to protect
- Sense of humor
- Intelligence
- Honesty
Wow! That’s a much tougher list to mull over. At first glance, it seems like I’ve blown it in the past by actually following items #1 and #4 by “not caring” and “being distant.” But I digress…
As a Charlotte property manager, this is a question we get often from potential tenants:
“Before I spend $75.00 on a non-refundable rental application, what are you looking for?”
The three things we are looking for in potential tenants for our properties:
- Pay rent on time: #1 criteria
- Maintain the property: change air filters, mow the lawn, make reasonable repairs on your own, etc.
- Get along with the neighbors (and property manager!)
If tenants can do these 3 things, we will like them a lot and the tenancy should go very smoothly.
Tenants do not need to be rich or good-looking, but we’re always impressed with chivalry and a sense of humor.
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 MoreLove, Kindness & Gratitude: Setting the Tone in Property Management
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” I John 4:7-8
Man, it’s nice when people are nice.
We have a tenant, Monica, who just goes out of her way to be easy to work with. If we need her to do something for us, she does it. There is no complaining, back biting, or procrastination. Communication with her is a joy. And she is soooo nice and gracious. When we perform repairs (aka our job), she is so gracious and thankful. Her rent is always on time. She and her family go out of their way to perform maintenance to the house. And at the end of her positive and funny e-mails, she always includes the Bible verse above.
We have another client, Mike, who goes out of his way to compliment us for working on his home; once again, for just doing our job. Small things don’t escape his notice. His level of graciousness is astounding. Truthfully, we should be thanking Mike much more than he thanks us. We made a good amount of money working for Mike: we helped him buy houses, repair them, manage them, and finally, sell them. These are all things we collect fees for. But he would let us know how much he appreciated our efforts, even if the work was imperfect at times.
I think back to how our relationships started. It would be easy to say that they were “good folks” and that they get along with everyone (they probably do!). But why?
They set a positive tone with us early. Early conversations were easy, paperwork was complete and accurate, and meetings were punctual. They were easy going about details as we got to know each other. They got the things they needed from us, but their requests were made in a graceful and kind manner.
Property management can be a difficult business. At the face of it, a property manager is the middle man between two parties with divergent interests, the owners and tenants. Both would prefer that the other party pay for anything that breaks. The owners want the rules of the lease followed precisely to protect their investments, while the tenants want to use the house as they see fit. The property manager is hired by owners and is tasked with protecting their investments, but can’t get it done well without tenant involvement and buy-in. It’s a balancing act that produces many colorful (and costly) stories of when the relationship breaks down.
But Monica and Mike also show that it can be a rewarding business with warm relationships.
As the property manager, our job is to always set the tone early with kindness, love, and gratitude. The tenants need to feel this from us, their point of contact, from the moment of their first inquiry. Even if we wind up having to reject a tenant application, we can do it kindly. But if we wait for the clients to set the tone, it might not happen. And it needs to.
So set the tone early! This will allow landlords to reap the benefits of a mutually fulfilling partnership and make property management a joy.
Thank you to our clients (Monica, Mike & many others) who make coming to work a pleasure.
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 MoreBeing a Duke Hoops Recruit & Landlording: YDKWYDK
As much as I hate to admit it (being a UNC guy), Duke University is a worthy rival on the basketball court. A big part of that is their ability to recruit great high school players. They go after the best of them and have been very successful in landing them in Durham. Many of them were so good that they only played one year at Duke and then left early to play in the NBA for millions of dollars.
But, for others, it didn’t work out that way.
Point guard Derryck Thornton was one of those Duke recruits. He was an esteemed 5-star recruit who was finishing his junior year of high school in 2015. Duke was thin at point guard for the upcoming season and they convinced Thornton to “reclassify”; this allowed him to graduate early from high school and join the Blue Devils for the 2015 season.
It was a great honor. The defending national champions needed him to come early and play. He was only 17 years old! So he said “yes”, enrolled at Duke early, and was starting at point guard. It seemed like he had the world at his fingertips!
But, YDKWYDK (You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know). A year later (when he originally should have been starting school at Duke), Thornton was transferring out to play basketball for the USC Trojans. It was allegedly a combination of factors he could not have seen coming: his freshman year didn’t go as well as they had hoped, certain Duke players inexplicably didn’t go pro (that would have made more playing time available to him), and other more heralded recruits joined the 2016 team. He went from being really needed to being really expendable. So he was gone.
YDKWYDK. By definition, it’s hard to protect yourself against the unknown. This is especially true in property management when there are so many variables; renters (people) are complicated and they are all so different! It’s best to have someone who might know what you don’t know because they’ve been there before. Experience counts!
I know I’m biased towards using a property manager, but I understand the self-management side of it as well; I’m all for saving money! It’s cheaper if I fix the sink, as opposed to my plumber, but what about if I miss something and it causes a leak behind my wall? Then I’ve got a bigger, much costlier problem. YDKWYDK
And if property management is merely a hobby, it’s really tough to know what decisions can be costly down the road:
“My friend/co-worker wants to rent the property. He seems like a good guy. Should I rent it to him?”
“Should I allow any pets in my rental home? If so, which ones are okay?”
“Is it important to do credit checks? If their score is low/high, is that an instant denial/approval?”
“Do I need to do home inspections? If so, what am I checking for?”
If Thornton had been told in 2015 that he would be transferring to another college after his freshman year at Duke, he probably would have had a good laugh. But it happened. The same can be said of many decisions being made today by landlords who dabble in property management; the unforeseen long-term costs of seemingly innocuous choices might make the expense of having a property manager seem very reasonable!
YDKWYDK. 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 More