Section 8 Program Worth Revisiting? A Definite Maybe
No one really liked Janie. And there were a lot of reasons why. For a teenager, she was pretty much a know-at-all. Stubbornly obnoxious. She would not let you get a word in edgewise. Always right. Rude. Cocky. Maladjusted. And that was just her award-losing personality. And physically? Her scrawny frame, big glasses, and overflowing braces (often full of food scraps) made her equally unappealing.
Now fast forward 5 years in the life of Janie. After years of dejection, she has softened a bit. Instead of looking completely past you before beginning her monologue on her life’s recent happenings, she’ll toss a few platitudes your way that make you feel a small connection. “How are you doing?” “How’s your brother? “You get that mole taken off your back yet?” She’ll still take the last doughnut off the plate in front of both of you, but now she’ll pause and feign a glance your way for approval. She still texts constantly when you talk, but now raises her head for momentary eye contact when you bring up your mother’s cancer treatments. And her scrawny body has filled out, she started wearing contact lenses, and has a nice straight smile now; some may say she isn’t bad to look at, relatively attractive even.
But Janie’s not for everyone. Maybe not for most people. But some people “get her” and even go out of their way to be around her. Some of your friends have even dated her.
Ever know anyone like that?
The Section 8 program is like Janie in a way. Several years ago, I wrote how we needed to get our landlords out of the Section 8 business because it was impossible to get a good ROI for our owner clients. As a Charlotte property manager, we couldn’t cost justify the lower rents, costly repair items, poor communication, and overall effort needed to recommend the program. And I still get a little queasy thinking about it.
As a footnote, we do have clients that have kept their homes in the Section 8 program. The owners allowed the tenants to keep renewing their leases (most at significantly below market rates) and the Section 8 tenants chose to do so. The advantages to our owners are continued rental payments and not having to fix-up their properties to get them market-ready for new tenants. The negatives are that as Charlotte rental rates have been going up 5-10% annually, Section 8 has capped their permitted rental increases (if approved) to 2% annually (in real numbers: $900 monthly rent = $18.00 rent increase- not much to get excited about). Section 8 also conducts annual inspections which almost always lead to an owner repair bill; some of the items would never have to be repaired if the house didn’t have to meet many government regulations (re: peeling paint on ceiling, etc.).
However, in the past 6 months, Section 8 has enacted 2 changes that I thought were very landlord friendly:
- Locking a tenant into a property if they have lived there for 18 months. The owner has the option of not renewing the lease, but the tenant does not have the option of moving if they want to stay in the Section 8 program.
- Changing house inspections from annually to biannually. So, now the repairs only have to be made every 2 years (which is a huge deal for landlords who have gone through the nightmare of rent abatement for multiple inspection failures).
This still doesn’t make Section 8 work for everyone, but it might start making sense for some people. And as responsible property managers, it is something we will need to consider recommending again for certain owners (risk averse) and certain properties (difficult to fill, long term investment holds, areas of historically low rent appreciation). While the private rental market might be compared to the stock market (higher yields, more volatility), the Section 8 market might now be compared to the bond market (lower yields, steadier income).
So… your best buddy saw Janie the other day and said she was looking good and they had a nice chat. He said she asked about you. Your stomach still churns when thinking about your past dealings with her, but since she’s interested, maybe she’s worth meeting up for coffee? Maybe she’s changed?
Anyway, it’s something to think about- a definite maybe. 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 MoreSatellite Dish Installation on Rental Homes: An Innocent Request?
There is a potential danger lurking in your rental home. It may seem innocuous, but it can bring lots of shady characters and dangerous ideas into your tenants’ lives. It never sleeps, relentlessly pushing its own agenda and standards on to its unsuspecting victims.
It’s satellite TV. And the same moral danger exists to all of us.
But, alas, we live in a democracy and can’t really control what people choose to watch.
However, I do want to talk about the hardware- satellite dishes. We get relatively innocent requests from tenants:
Tenant: Hey Brett, we mailed the rent check today.
Me: OK. Cool. Thanks!
Tenant: And there was something else. I’m really getting into FanDuel fantasy football and want to get the NFL package from my satellite provider, so I need you to sign a form that gives me permission to put a dish on the roof.
Me: OK. But I’m pretty sure there is already a dish up there.
Tenant: Yeah, but it’s not the right one. We need one from this other carrier.
Me: OK. But are they taking down the other dish and making sure that the one they are putting up is coming off too after you vacate?
Tenant: I don’t think so…
Me: OK. I’m pretty sure dishes aren’t like flowers; they don’t look that great and involve drilling into the roof and stuff. I’m not sure we really want to be collecting dishes up there?
Tenant: You’re saying “OK” a lot, but have not yet said “OK” to the dish…
Every landlord wants tenants to (legally) enjoy their rental homes. But what about these dish installation requests?
As Charlotte property managers, we typically recommend saying “OK”. But we also add the following caveats that need to be agreed to in writing:
- The tenants are responsible for any damage the dish causes
- The tenants are responsible for having the dish and all the wiring taken down when they vacate
We’ve taken over management of rental homes that have had 4(!) dishes installed on them. It’s not pretty.
So, we’re not trying to tell anyone what they can watch, but we are making sure the venue they are watching their NFL package in is protected.
And good luck in FanDuel! But please don’t bet the rent money on your line up, OK?
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 MoreToo Much Sympathy Can Kill Your Rental Business
“Moderation in all things, especially moderation.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Over the years as a Charlotte property manager, I’ve gotten a lot of calls from landlords who tell some version of this story:
We had placed a family of tenants into our rental home and everything was going great! They paid on time for the first 8 months and were really a joy to interact with. I mean, Brett, when minor repairs were needed around the house, they took care of it at their own expense- they would just call and ask if it was okay with us if they made the repairs! They really were a beautiful family; you should just see their youngest daughter, Cybil- she reminded me of my granddaughter! But, I digress…
The problems started when they were late in July. Apparently there was some mix-up with accounting at their work and the paychecks weren’t cut correctly that month. I was okay with it (things happen); they wound up paying on the 15th that month and I didn’t charge them the late fee that I could have. They assured me this was a one-time thing and they wouldn’t be late again.
August 1st came and went and there was no rent. When I called to ask about it, I started getting voicemail. Two weeks went by and I was wondering if I needed to start thinking about evicting them, but then they returned my call. They said their car had broken down which left them without transportation to work, so they had to choose to pay for the car repair instead of rent (you can’t earn money to pay rent if you can’t get to work). They said that was also why they didn’t call me back immediately; they didn’t have the funds to pay their cell phone bills either. After apologizing profusely, they asked if they could wait until the 1st of September to pay. “Of course,” I said.
September 1st came and we got a check for about a quarter of the rent (for August). They said the rest would come from the paycheck on the 15th. When the 15th came, they called to explain that it was either paying back rent or paying the light bill, and the children couldn’t live without heat. And they also had to pay for Cybil’s dance recital which she had been looking forward to all year. “Our kids need to come first.” Then they told me what a great landlord I was and said they were so appreciative of my understanding.
Brett, this story goes on, but I’ll bottom line it for you. The tenants are 5 months behind and I am beside myself and out of patience. I wish they would just get caught up! Where do I go from here?
First of all, there is nothing wrong with being a nice, understanding person. We have enough jerks in the world. And what’s done is done; it’s a sunk cost and it’s time to deal with the facts on the ground.
If the tenants are 5 months behind, it’s time to evict. There is no way that they can get caught up at this point. Find an eviction attorney (ask a property manager for a recommendation if you need one) and get the ball rolling ASAP. In NC, you could be looking at 6-8 weeks if the tenants prolong the process (and possibly longer if they know how to play the game). You need to get your house back and stop the bleeding.
A caveat- I don’t ever want to evict anyone. It’s expensive, it’s time-consuming, and it is a lose-lose-lose proposition (owner/property manager/tenant). At lease signings, I communicate to tenants that if they are having payment issues (life happens), to contact me immediately so we can work something out. Whether that means a payment plan, negotiated vacancy, or something else, we need to talk it out and negotiate a workable plan. We’ve worked things with tenants in the past that has made the best out of a difficult situation. Everybody needs a place to live.
But we’ll never get to 5 months of non-payment. It just can’t happen. Sympathy, at that point, turns into taking advantage of home owners, which isn’t fair.
Though every tenancy situation is different, there are a few non-negotiable parameters:
- Non-payment can never get past 30 days. That’s 2 pay periods and past the point of return for most tenants.
- If a payment or negotiated vacancy plan is agreed upon, it is set in stone. If the plan is breached (for any reason), eviction must be filed.
- Don’t take it personally. Rental properties are a business and sometimes business stinks.
I am all for sympathy. But with rental homes, sympathy can kill your business if not used with moderation.
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 MoreCharlotte Section 8 Leases: Should I Renew Them?
“Enjoy Free Rent!”
(Former advertisement to entice landlords to put their houses in the Charlotte Section 8 program)
Q: My Section 8 tenant’s lease is set to expire next month. Should I offer to renew it?
A: Maybe…
As a Charlotte-based property manager and real estate investor, I’m a huge proponent of renewing leases. I think it makes unbelievable financial sense; there is no missed rent from vacancies, no fix-up and holding costs, no management costs for landing new tenants, and it provides the ability to raise rents to stay around market rate. And it also saves everyone a lot of work. Whew!!
It really takes a lot of chronic tenant wrongs for me not to recommend renewing a lease. Besides situations where an owner wants to move into their property or sell it, I can count on one hand the number the tenants I’ve not recommended renewing. If a tenant wants to renew at market price, I’m asking where I should send the new lease. It’s typically a done deal.
So when I was asked the other day whether I’d recommend offering to renew a client’s Section 8 lease, my fingers naturally wandered to the “Y”, “E”, and “S” keys on my laptop. Then they stopped and I felt my stomach cramp up. Can I really recommend this for this property? The issues:
- The rent is not close to market rate even after filling out the moderately arduous Section 8 paperwork for an increase every year. The Section 8 paperwork says we can ask for a maximum 5% increase a year; we’ve only been getting approved at 2% increases ($800.00 rent turns into $816.00- woo-hoo!). And this is after increases were frozen a year or two ago, while private market rents (aka non-Section 8) have been going up by 10-20% for the past few years.
- Annual Section 8 inspections are a hassle and seem to always result in a “fail” for trivial issues. A true example of a recent “fail”: “paint is peeling on the ceiling.” In a non-Section 8 world, if peeling paint on a ceiling was bothering a tenant, they would be told they were free to grab the extra paint can in their garage and touch it up. In a Section 8 world, that is a “landlord responsibility” and a handyman must be sent out or rent payments will go into “abatement”. Abatement is a very bad place to be as no rent comes in and past payments are clawed back (which would never happen in the private sector).
Unfortunately, landlords and property managers have figured out that:
Less Money + More Expenses + Government Regulations/Paperwork = Bad Deal
It’s not just Charlotte. In Austin, Texas, there was a law made (that was later repealed) that required landlords to accept Section 8 tenants. A study the city commissioned said that 90% of Austin landlords would not accept Section 8. Due to the fact that most landlords are investing in real estate to maximize their financial return, this is not surprising.
So as property managers whose job it is to maximize our clients’ ROI, we stopped recommending Section 8 as a source of new tenants several years ago. As discussed, the financial numbers didn’t add up. However, we did allow Section 8 tenants who wanted to stay to continue to renew their leases if they chose to.
But should we continue to recommend allowing renewals? It really comes down to whether the owner wants to expend the funds to fix-up the property and take the hit of vacancy until a new, non-Section 8 tenant comes on board. Some, including me, have continued to renew the Section 8 leases until the tenant decided to not renew and vacate; and then, once vacant, go exclusively to the private market going forward. But if the rent differential continues to grow between Section 8 and market rate rent, the auto-renewal policy will need to be revisited if the Section 8 tenants still want to extend their leases.
It’s tough to disrupt rental continuity and I don’t usually recommend it, but it may ultimately pay to take a closer look at the numbers before rubber-stamping your Section 8 lease renewal!
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
“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!
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!
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