Thoughts on intentionally allocating a portion of your rental portfolio to help others?
We have a modest portfolio of rental properties (more than 10, less than 50) in San Diego. The current rental market is insanely tight for renters and every vacancy has an incredibly high response rate - finding good tenants is not a problem right now.
Like any businessman, I'm raising rental rates in step with the market and managing the business to increase profits where I can. I would call myself a capitalist.
At the same time, in every other part of my life, I devote a lot of time to causes I care about and supporting organizations I feel make our communities more vibrant and healthy. Until now, I've always treated business and philanthropy separately.
Do any landlords out there mix "giving back" with their business by, for example, allocating a percentage of their unit portfolio to higher-risk / disadvantaged / needs some help tenants?
As a specific example, for every 10 units you have, perhaps you may allocate 1 unit to take a chance on someone who needs a break. Imagine you get two applicants for the unit:
(1) A single 35 y/o male with a long-time $70k/year job, excellent rental references, and high likelihood to stay in my unit for a long time.
(2) A 30 y/o mother of one going through a divorce with no rental history, but going back to a $40k/year full time nursing job. She needs some place to land and get back on her feet.
Normally you'd take applicant #1 because of the higher income and references from past landlords. But, for this part of your portfolio you'd take #2 because they meet your minimum criteria, but you want to help them out.
From a financials perspective, this sort of thing might even end up as an Income Loss Credit on the P&L.
How do you think about this? How do other landlords think about making money AND helping people who need help with housing?