Vacancies!! Yikes!

Rent checks

This month started out awesome.  I had all the rent checks except 1 a day early and the one that I did not have yet was from a long term tenant that has never been late so I wasn't worried about that check (I got it on the 3rd). One of the checks came with no post mark in a plastic bag from the post office saying that they were sorry the mail was damaged while in their posession.  The envelope looked like it got wet then jammed in some machine.  The check inside was a little damaged but the bank took it anyways.

Vacancies

I started advertising a vacancy that was coming up and I haven't gotten the usual inundation of rent applicants that I normally get.  I realized yesterday that it may have been because I started to prepare the advert last month but the tenants asked if they could stay another month so I said yes.  I posted the advert with the availability being 11/1 which may have impacted the respondants.  I am going to pull the craigslist ad and update it with the right availability today.

Yesterday I got a call from another tenant giving her 30 day notice.  So now I have to update the ad for that apartment because the only pictures I have of it were from before I fixed it up.  I'm sad to see this tenant go, she's been late with rent a few times but she keeps an imaculate apartment.  Both apartments will be going vacant at around the same time. Yikes!!!! not at the start of the heating season.

I hate trying to fill vacancies this time of year.  When it starts getting cold out people don't move as much, and a vacancy in December if the rental market gets soft could mean some neg cash flow through the winter due to the added expense of heating. I'm glad I calculate this into my numbers before I buy a property.  That's my 6 unit building so if I don't get them rented out I'm going to have a 33% vac rate in it.

Timing your vacancy adverts

I also posted the vacancies a bit early.  I have found that the best time of the month to post ads are around the 10-13th of the month.  These seem to get the best responses then you show the apartments on the 14-20th and hopefully have a signed lease by the 20th.  Still though I like to post as soon as I find out the unit is going vacant.

New property thoughts

Everything else is going great.  I talked to my Realtor about a multi-unit in the area that I'm thinking about writing a letter of intent for just to see where the owner is at.  They've owned it for 4 years now and are asking 200% of what they purchased it for.  If I can get it for 120% of what they purchased it for it'll work.  They bought at the right price so hopefully they will be willing to sell it at the right price too.  If they do they will have made some good money off of it and I will be able too.

I also drove past a property today that went up for an estate auction (at the peak of the market) in the end of 06 and the people didn't get what they wanted for it so they put it on the market for 145% of what the auction price was.  Needless to say it hasn't sold and has been with three different Realtors now.  They also got an antique car from the estate and it's been sitting in the driveway and I noticed today when I drove past it that there is a for sale sign on the car with a local phone number on it.  I'm going to get the number tonight and call it to see if it's the people that are in posession of the property.  I want to see how badly they want to get rid of the property and then judging from that I might be able to negotiate a deal with them.  I usually don't look at SFH's but if I can pick one up at a discount.  At the price they're asking I doubt anyone has even looked at it.