Charlotte Property Management Weekly: Do You Want Rent-To-Own With That Rental Home? CAN YOU AFFORD TO MISS OUT?
Oh, the joy of the successful up-sell! Ask a simple question many times to many customers and make a ton more money! This is what all corporations pine for:
- McDonalds: “Do you want fries with that?”
- Amazon: “7 more dollars and get FREE shipping!”
- Dominos: “Order 2 pizzas at regular price and get free cheesy bread!”
Mix in a little doubt from a good salesperson and if gets even better!
- Meineke: “Sure, you could wait to replace your brake pads for another few months, BUT IS YOUR FAMILY’S WELL-BEING WORTH TAKING THAT CHANCE?”
- Bank of America: “Sure the market has been awful. But with your money sitting on the sidelines, COULD YOU STOMACH MISSING OUT ON THE BIGGEST STOCK MARKET JUMP IN HISTORY?”
- John’s Learning Center: “Yes, your child is doing well in school and is up to his grade’s reading level now. BUT WITH GLOBAL COMPETITION FROM INDIAN AND CHINESE CHILDREN, SHOULDN’T YOU BE ADDING TUTORING HOURS FOR LITTLE JIMMY INSTEAD OF SCALING BACK?”
The same tactics can be utilized in the rental home space.
You can up-sell your renter with: “Is this a house you might want to buy in the future? Do you want to lock into a rent-to-own arrangement and start building equity now?”
And then add a little doubt with: “Yes, it will be tough getting a loan in the next year or two, but what about after that? DO YOU WANT TO MISS OUT ON BUILDING UP A DOWNPAYMENT AND CLOSING COSTS NOW VERSUS THROWING YOUR MONEY AWAY JUST RENTING FOR THE NEXT TWO YEARS?”
“Up-selling” and “creating doubt” are not dirty sales terms; they are the backbone of successfully providing customers with the options they need to fulfill their personal goals. Ever been happy about being up-sold (like when the waiter in Paris told you to try their delicious signature dessert?)? Or happy about someone planting a seed of doubt (“You may want to re-think buying that computer. It graded really poorly in “Consumer Reports.”)?
Let’s look at the facts:
Many people want to rent, but even more people want to own! The banks just aren’t cooperating for most people currently.
And most property owners in this economic environment, who are renting out their homes, are open to selling them; at least that is what the feedback I’ve been getting from clients. I mean who couldn’t use a little more liquidity these days?
Up-selling and casting doubt on the customer’s current situation creates value, rather than detracts from it. And when more value is created, more revenue can be earned!
YOU WOULDN’T WANT TO MISS OUT ON MAKING MORE MONEY HELPING YOUR CUSTOMERS MORE, WOULD YOU?
Brett Furniss is the President & Owner of BDF Realty (“Charlotte’s Most Innovative Property Management & Investment Company”), and Rent-To-Sell Realty (“When You Need a New Solution to Sell Your Home”) which specialize in rent-to-own (lease options) and rent-to-sell homes. His newest book, A Real Estate Agent’s Complete Guide to Representing Rent-To-Own (Lease Option) Tenants (Delight Clients, Fill Vacant Homes, and Earn $2,250* Upfront! (*Minimum!)
Learn MoreCharlotte Property Management Weekly: Pricing Rental Homes- List Above, At, or Below Market Value?
I have to admit, pricing rental homes is an issue that I struggle with. As a property manager in Charlotte for the past 6 years, I really should have a good grip on the right approach; however, I’m still constantly debating myself over the correct way to do it. And my therapist says this self-banter does not mean that I’m crazy.
So… it is safe to say that pricing is an inexact science. It is simply impossible to know what the optimal dollar figure is for any product or service. For example, let’s say you are a manager at The Gap (with the traditional logo intact). You put 5 sweaters on the rack for sale at $50 each. It takes 5 days and they all sell. Is this good? Was $50 the optimal price?
You’ll never know! Maybe you could have priced them at $55 each and still sold them in 5 days. Then you would have really screwed up; retail has been a tough field to be in for the past few years and the extra $25 in profit would have really helped The Gap’s stock price! Or maybe the sweaters should have been priced at $45 and they would have sold in 1 day. In this scenario, the lower profit would have been offset by the larger saving in inventory costs. But then again, who knows? Maybe at $45 each, customers would have perceived the sweater’s quality to be less and they would’ve taken 10 days to sell. It’s tough to figure out!
With rental homes, the confusion is similar. Below are the 3 pricing options available to every property owner:
1. Price Above Market Value: This is good if prospects will actually visit the rental; they may just look at the other rentals listed at or below market value. However, if the prospect visits and says they will take the place if the rent is knocked down a bit, that’s fine! The price can still be at or slightly above market value and the prospect is ecstatic they can tell their friends that they got a great deal.
2. Price at Market Value: An average amount of prospects will visit the rental and someone will take it in due time. The only issue is if the prospect says they will only rent the home if $100 is taken off of the monthly rent amount. Now the owner must decide if they want to lock into a below-market rate for a year, or roll the dice and wait for another qualified prospect. (Note: Rent negotiators usually turn out to be good renters. Unqualified or barely qualified prospects rarely try to negotiate the rental price. That takes chutzpah! It’s like getting into a bar at age 17 and arguing over the prices of shots.)
3. Price Below Market Value: Prospects will flock to the house and applications should roll in. Some people will still try to negotiate rent, but being that so many people are interested, these requests can be quickly (and justifiably) rebuffed. Locking into below market rates isn’t great in terms of ROI, but does provide the piece of mind of an occupied property with a good tenant (you can be choosy!).
So what’s the right answer? It depends. I know that’s not an overly helpful answer, but I’m not trying to be evasive. There are many factors that need to be considered besides the obvious ones (risk tolerance and financial wherewithal of the owner). Here are a few to ponder:
- If the property is 1 of 15 rentals in a neighborhood, pricing below market value could be a good point of differentiation. Conversely, if the rental is the only one in the neighborhood, it may be wise to price above market value.
- If it is probable that a real estate agent will bring a tenant in on a property, the pricing should be above market value. The reason? They will probably look to negotiate the rent down. If the tenant will probably come in from an ad, pricing at or below market value is probably the best strategy because they will be focused on the list price.
- If a downturn of activity is expected because of seasonality (like the Thanksgiving holiday through New Years), it would probably be smart to price below market value for the first few weeks of November. Having an empty house in November and December is going to kill the ROI; a rental reduction upfront in November will definitely have a better total net return than a month or two of extra vacancy.
So the moral is that pricing rental homes ain’t easy. Different times and situations call for different strategies. One size rarely fits all!
Brett Furniss is the President & Owner of BDF Realty (“Charlotte’s Most Innovative Property Management & Investment Company”), and Rent-To-Sell Realty (“When You Need a New Solution to Sell Your Home”) which specialize in rent-to-own (lease options) and rent-to-sell homes. His newest book, A Real Estate Agent’s Complete Guide to Representing Rent-To-Own (Lease Option) Tenants (Delight Clients, Fill Vacant Homes, and Earn $2,250* Upfront! (*Minimum!)
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Charlotte Property Management Weekly: The Options Available to Owners of Vacant Homes
As a Charlotte property manager specializing in lease options (rent-to-own and rent-to-sell), we get many calls from home sellers “exploring their options” about their vacant properties (unlike Obama, my puns are typically not intended). So, as a public service, I’ll run through the available options:
- Strategic default (I think this is what it is being called): Stop paying the mortgage and taking the credit score beating like a man
- Put the property on the market for sale: If the home is special and priced well, it will sell in some period of time. If not, eat the mortgage every month until the banks start lending again.
- Rent the property out: Get most of the mortgage paid every month by the tenant. Keep a tenant in the property until the market comes back and then place the home up for sale.
- Rent-to-sell the property: Put a rent-to-own tenant into the property who will pay the mortgage and potentially buy the home during their lease period.
- Rent out the property and then put it on the market: In my experience, this leads to disappointed sellers and upset tenants.
- Arson: Not recommended. And, no, this is not a service we offer!
All of these approaches obviously have pros and cons (like jail time). Depending on each respective person’s needs and tolerance for risk, each approach could be the appropriate one.
And to conclude the public service announcement, please contact your local property manager for further details.
Brett Furniss is the President & Owner of BDF Realty (“Charlotte’s Most Innovative Property Management & Investment Company”), and Rent-To-Sell Realty (“When You Need a New Solution to Sell Your Home”) which specialize in rent-to-own (lease options) and rent-to-sell homes. His newest book, A Real Estate Agent’s Complete Guide to Representing Rent-To-Own (Lease Option) Tenants (Delight Clients, Fill Vacant Homes, and Earn $2,250* Upfront! (*Minimum!)
Learn More
Charlotte Property Management Weekly: Reaction to Proposed FHA Loan Changes for Those in Lease Option Contracts: “No Sweat”
It reminds me of one of my high school friend’s patented lines when he would see one of us wearing an ugly shirt or some God-awful hat, “I didn’t think there was a possible way for you to get even less girls, but you may have found it.”
To extend this wisdom to the real estate industry, if real estate agents didn’t think there was a possible way to do even less brokerage business, FHA may have found a way.
Learn MoreCharlotte Property Management Weekly: Are You Practicing Insanity with your Home for Sale?
The definition of insanity is to do the same things over and over again and expect a different result. Is this what is happening with all the vacant homes still being listed for sale (that shouldn’t be)?
Learn MoreCharlotte Property Management Weekly: What’s the Difference Between “Rent-To-Own” and “Rent-To-Sell”?
Another popular question I hear from prospective clients is:
PC: “What’s the difference between rent-to-own and rent-to-sell?”
Us: “There is none!”
Learn MoreCharlotte Property Management Weekly: Lessons from the Banking Crisis for Properly Structuring Incentives for Rent-To-Sell
Potential clients of ours ask, “Why do you charge a “Realtor Fee” of 5% or 6% when a rent-to-own tenant buys our home (rent-to-sell)? Some of your competitors provide the tenant, keep the upfront option fee, and then let us manage the property. We then only pay the attorney fees when the tenant buys.”
We answer, “So you don’t experience something akin to the banking crisis.”
Learn MoreCharlotte Property Management Weekly: Wouldn’t You Want the Market to Know Your Rental is For Sale?
However, in an increasingly illiquid market, most wanna-be sellers are turning to the rental market to decrease the short-term pain of monthly payments on their vacant homes. What they really want to do is sell (and not of the short variety).
Learn MoreCharlotte Property Management Weekly: 52 Consecutive Weeks of Writing- Some Random Thoughts on the Real Estate Industry
Writing a blog every week is hard! My hats are off to the people who write multiple times a week, and especially to those that do it every day- kudos!
Learn MoreCharlotte Property Management Weekly: Rent-To-Own- Just like Burger King for Buyers and Sellers
A lot of banks don’t like Burger King. Why do I say that? It’s simply because they don’t want you to “Have it Your Way.”
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