Apartment Blogs

Embarking on renting to Section 8 tenants is one of those decisions that property managers should undertake only after thoroughly researching all the implications of renting to this very specific demographic. Following are some of the primary pros and cons to consider when evaluating whether or not Section 8 rentals are for you.

Pros: Government subsidies mean that your rental income is more assured than in other cases.

Since Section 8 tenants are by nature low-income tenants, many landlords are rightfully concerned that renting to this sector will result in difficulties with rent collection or, even worse, default altogether. The truth of the matter, though, is that in many ways Section 8 rental income is among the most reliable. Under Section 8, tenants are responsible for approximately 30 percent of their rent, while the US government picks up the balance of the rental payment. This US government balance is paid directly to the property landlord.

If you’re reading this blog, chances are you are dedicated to doing your job right. But just as much as doing your job right involves knowing your business and completing necessary tasks efficiently and effectively, it also means taking care of yourself. After all, if you’re worn down and stressed out, chances are your work will ultimately suffer for it, no matter how dedicated you are. So for all of you workaholics out there, yes! Believe it or not, you should consider taking care of yourself and making a concerted effort to find some downtime nothing short of a vital part of doing your job right.

But even if you are convinced that creating a good work/life balance is something you should attain, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s simple to do in this industry. Following are a few tips for finding the time you need.

1. Create a back-up system.
Just because you need a break doesn’t mean that all work-related issues will grind to a halt. In order to make sure everything gets taken care of whether you’re in the office or not, it’s important to have a back-up system in place. Depending upon your situation, a back-up system may consist of extra staff on hand to make sure someone is there to address tenant concerns or property issues 24/7 or just an answering service to ensure that tenants’ calls are answered no matter what time of day they come in.

“The customer is always right.” Chances are, you’ve heard (and perhaps even doled out) this bit of advice many times over your property management career. Obviously, there’s a lot to be said for applying this philosophy to your own business dealings. Particularly in an age of automated electronic service, there is so much to be said for making each of your clients feel as though they are special and well cared for. The bottom line is that, these days, good, attentive customer service is very much the exception rather than the rule. Which is great, great news for property managers who find themselves in one of the few high-touch industries where it’s still possible to actually provide one-on-one, memorable customer service.

That’s the good news.

More difficult is the fact that, though property management may be a high-touch industry that affords you the opportunity to make an impact on your clients, chances are when it comes to customers, you’re juggling a whole lot of them at once. Not only are you contending with the task of keeping the property owners that sign your checks happy but, in many ways, tenants are also your customers. Which means, depending upon your situation, you may have many, many customers to please. And sometimes, the best interests of your tenants and property owners simply don’t align. So what exactly are you supposed to do when situations like these arise? After all, you need to protect your property owner’s assets, but you will ultimately fail your property owner if you are unable to balance his best interests with those of his tenants, ultimately resulting in increased vacancy rates and a loss of rental income.

Wear and tear is a fact of life for every landlord. Since we’ve already spent some time on this blog looking at how to tell the difference between damage and wear and tear, let’s talk about the specifics of what to expect when it comes to basic apartment fix-it work and how to stay ahead of the maintenance game.

Generally speaking, the best time to take care of wear and tear on a unit is between tenants. And often, this goes beyond just doing a thorough clean and making sure that everything is spic n’ span for your next tenant. While it’s so obvious that this between-tenant downtime is the perfect opportunity to take care of any and all outstanding issues, all too often things are still neglected. Whether it’s because the window of time between tenants is so short or expenditures are already up for the month, it can be easy to let the little things fall to the wayside until next time. Our best advice? Don’t.

No matter how small a wear and tear item seems, no matter how loudly the voice inside your head tells you it’s okay to leave that tiny scratch on the hardwood floor until the next time you flip the apartment (“But it’s so small!”), don’t delay. As we’ve discussed so many times before on this blog, all too frequently little things become big things if they are left unattended. Also, the best way to ensure that your property maintains—or even better yet increases—it’s value is to constantly stay on top of everything.

It goes without saying that no landlord wants to see illegal activity occur on his premises. Unfortunately, this doesn’t mean that it never happens. No matter how mundane a tenant’s behavior may seem, as a landlord it is your job to put a stop to any potentially illegal activity the moment it comes to your attention. Although your tenants are ultimately responsible for their own actions, depending on your state’s laws, you may actually be liable should one of your tenants inflict damage on other building occupants or even your property’s neighborhood.

Although you should be on guard for any sort of criminal activity on your property, drug dealing is one of the top criminal-related activities landlords are faced with. If you suspect a tenant may be dealing drugs on your property, be on the lookout for the following common signs:

• Excessive traffic in and out of a unit, with visitors staying for relatively short periods of time.
• Curbside “drop-offs” (i.e., if a tenant is frequently walking out to cars parked on the street outside of your property).
• Greater-than-normal nighttime activity.
• Drug paraphernalia (i.e., pipes and needles).

Should you suspect a tenant is dealing drugs (or committing any other sort of criminal activity) on your property, it’s imperative to respond quickly and decisively. Aside from endangering other tenants, landlords may potentially be held liable for public nuisance lawsuits by other tenants or neighbors. Not only that, but if your property gains a reputation for illegal activity, chances are the quality of your tenant pool will diminish, as good tenants leave for more safe living situations and a less desirable tenant pool becomes available to fill those vacancies.

Although it may seem as though we’re already several months into winter for those of us in frigid climates, believe it or not, 2010 has really only just begun. With that in mind, we’d like to expand a bit on last week’s blog about goal setting. This week we’ll really narrow in on those S.M.A.R.T. methods for achieving all you want in the new year.

As a refresher, S.M.A.R.T. goals are those that are: specific, measurable, attainable, realistic (relevant), and timely (time-bound). Let’s break those elements down one by one to gain a clearer understanding of why goals that follow these guidelines will serve you and your business best in the year to come.

Specific
In order to get what you want, it’s important to know what you want. Think of your goals as a map—how can you expect to reach your final destination if you don’t know where you’re going? Sure, every now and then you might get lucky and stumble your way to a desirable destination … but you will make your life much easier by knowing the quickest route from Point A to Point B.

It’s that time of the year for goals and resolutions … and this blog post is no different. Both professionally and personally, most of us start the new year off with the best of intentions—but this doesn’t mean it’s not all too easy to get waylaid by the day-to-day grind, often before January has even run its course.

So this year, we encourage you to be accountable. Take an hour out of your week to put some serious thought into what you hope to achieve professionally in this first year of a new decade. Then make yourself accountable. Post your goals somewhere you will see them every day for the next year. Create reminders in your calendar at least once a quarter to “check in” and see where you stand. Are you taking realistic measures to achieve your goals—not just in January, but throughout the entire course of the year? Are you taking time to recognize your achievements and celebrate professional victories large and small? These may sound like trite suggestions … but they work.

Depending upon your personality and the current state of your business, creating a list of goals may be a quick, straightforward exercise or a daunting task. Whether you’re having difficulty narrowing your many goals down to a few or coming up with a single one, we encourage you to approach your list of goals with the following tactic in mind: S.M.A.R.T. strategy. Make sure that your goals are:

No matter how meticulously you look after your property, there are certain long-term maintenance items and repairs that are inevitable. Sure, by staying on top of things you may be able to stave some of them off for a bit, but some things are impermanent by nature and are going to have to be repaired or replaced sooner or later, no matter what you do. A savvy property owner will always keep these items in the back of her head because the big repairs are almost unfailingly also the expensive repairs. In order to avoid being submerged in massive expenses all at once, be sure that you keep the following long-range maintenance items and repairs in mind, stash savings away, and know how up-to-date you are at any given time in order to better project just when these expenses may come due.

Roofing
Price tag: $10,000 or higher
How frequently you have to replace your roof depends on a variety of factors, including the type of roof you have and the sort of climate you live in. For example, shake or wood shingles will last from 20 to 25 years; composition shingles will last for 12 to 20 years; rock roofs will last for 12 to 15 years, and metal roofs will last for 50 to 75 years.

Even though most of these time spans are rather lengthy, it’s important that you always know exactly how old your roof is so that you can forecast inspections and, ultimately, replacement. The lifetime of a roof can be extended to the longer end of its expected lifetime by religiously cleaning gutters and checking for leaks, exposed areas, and loose shingles. When it does come time to repair your roof, make sure you search long and hard to identify a quality roofer. Although you may pay more up front, you will save in the long-term when you consider the fact that thickness and quality of installation can significantly add to the lifetime of your roof.

The impending new year offers the perfect opportunity to make sure your “house” is in order, both literally and figuratively. No matter how unappealing it may sound, getting all of those nagging little tasks off your must-do list is the perfect way to start 2010 off on the right foot. And, let’s be honest, dealing with property insurance is one of those items that fits squarely on this list. No one loves dealing with insurance, but we all have to. So take these last few weeks of the year to make sure that you have all the insurance necessary to protect your property. And if you’re feeling really ambitions, you can even to do a little research to see if there are any plans better than your own that may save you some money and offer a little more protection against the unexpected.

Landlord Property Insurance
It may sound trite, but landlord property insurance really is your best friend. Not only will it protect your physical property, but it will also protect you from lost revenue. If, for example, you are unable to rent out one of your units due to damage or if you expend legal fees in a tenant dispute, landlord property insurance may just have you covered, depending upon your policy. This type of insurance generally covers building damage caused by fire, lightning, wind, hail, cars, or collapse from ice, snow, or sleet. It also covers the landlord’s personal property (even if it’s being used by tenants) or in some other capacity on your property. This could include relatively high-ticket items like appliances and landscaping machinery such as snow blowers and lawnmowers.

You’ve almost finished those turkey leftovers and the boxes of holiday decorations have been dug out from the depths of the closet and are ready to be hung. This can only mean one thing: colder days are on the way. And for financially-savvy landlords and property managers, cold weather means winterizing. Last year we looked at the top seven things every landlord should do to prep their properties for the winter months (to ensure that you’re doing everything possible to keep heating costs down and unit temperatures up, be sure to take a quick refresher look at that post). And for even more tips and ideas for winterizing with the best of ‘em, read on.

Door stoppers.
Most of us have been programmed to make sure that any gaps between the front and back outside doors and the floor are filled in with rubber door stops. But don’t stop at the exterior doors. Consider doors inside of your building that may be allowing heat to escape. Doors leading to attic stairwells are a prime example of an often-overlooked heat vacuum. Survey your property carefully to make sure that all doorways (both interior and exterior) are fitted with weather-stripping and rubber stops as necessary.

Pre-set temperatures.
If you’re providing tenants with controlled heat, investing in an electric, programmable thermostat will likely save you a lot of money in the long-run. While you certainly don’t want to freeze your tenants out, it’s also not necessary (or comfortable, for that matter) to keep the heat cranked up to maximum levels 24/7. An electronic thermostat will allow you to pre-program temperatures according to the time of day. For example, you may want to increase the temperature by a few degrees in the morning and evening hours, when the weather is likely cooler and tenants are home. Remember, these thermostats will allow you to over-ride the automatic settings should it become necessary to increase or decrease the temperature at any given time.