All Forum Posts by: Medha Nanal

@JJ P. -- thank you for sharing. 

I mentioned the fireplace issue as an example of frivolous maintenance requests. Though we did not immediately pull the plug on servicing them, in the following lease contracts we made the fireplace a decorative item only, so we would not be responsible for service calls for its maintenance and lighting up. Now the tenants can still hang stockings during Xmas, but cannot light the fireplace. The house has a gas heater, therefore they are not exactly suffering without a fireplace. But this was one example. 

I hear you, that the key is to manage the property manager closely. I do have a condition to get an approval from me on *every* maintenance request, anything over $0.00. Also, I am a remote landlord, live too far to drive down to the property to check it out, and therefore the PM is my ears and eyes. Although they are very professional, perform decent quality repairs, and place upper middle-class tenants who always pay rent on time, take good care of the property (except one, who had a special situation but as a result destroyed the property, BUT paid rents on time, always, and paid the damages too. But that story is for another day!) 

What I am noticing, however, is that there is a steady stream of maintenance requests. (This property has been rented since 11 years and the past 4-5 years, ever since the frivolous cannot-light-the-fireplace type tenants who are now gone, the frequency of maintenance requests has gone up.) These days, most maintenance requests sound less frivolous than that, but I am always left to wonder what the tenants might be doing to cause the problem to happen! The PM assures me that the tenants are "stellar" -- so what gives? I myself live in a 70+-year old house, and I never have refrigerators randomly leaking water, or dishwasher door suddenly stopping to close, unless I mess up.

The only way for me to ascertain that this is "normal" is by asking around other landlords' experiences, especially those who are in similar situations to mine. That is the reason for my original post. Thank you all who contributed so far, your insights were helpful.

P.S. I must also say, there is a big shortage of good property managers in the PDX area. A couple of years back, my PM company (the same company) had one manager manage my geography and the person was doing a poor job, therefore I tried to interview two other companies who came highly recommended by others. My experience was dismal. One person made a time to speak with me and did not turn up. The other connected, we discussed our situation, she gave me her usual sales pitch, and she did seem knowledgeable about property matters in general, and then I never heard back from this person. It was mind boggling, that their business was so good that they were able to turn down a hot property in a hot market! Anyway. Hopefully my experience was non-standard, and hopefully there are dedicated and honest companies still in business. Thanks for reading!!

@Darren McGillvrey : To clarify, my existing deck is a traditional(!) wood deck, therefore has needed painting and touch up (which, has been getting expensive to me in my unique situation). In the future, if I replace it with a composite deck, it will not need painting over. That tilts my opinion slightly in favor of a composite material. Hope this clarifies.

Also -- a factor to consider: John mentioned porches. If I understand correctly, these are covered. My decks are uncovered (though in the local lingo the front entry deck is called a porch!! :-))

@Steve Morris, I can understand that they are operating a business, therefore will have margins of profitability.

What I find shocking is a practice of hiking the costs in what appears to be an opportunistic fashion. I know it's capitalism etc. 

Self-managing is not an option I am considering at this time, however, switching to another company is something I may consider in an extreme case. As I said earlier, this would be my last resort, if it comes to light that this price hike is being managed deliberately with a goal to milk our relationship as much as possible. Much of why I am surveying others' experiences is to find out how others' experiences have been.

Ok, John -- yes definitely I am trying to validate a conjecture here. Either costs have gone up OR property management company is getting expensive. And I do not think I should celebrate either, therefore grumble grumble :-)

Costs going up over six years was not my complaint. Cost more than doubling over six years definitely is a cause to concern to me. Is it not to you? I am asking around whether others have seen a similar percent hike.

To answer some questions you raised, in the hope of turning this into a more helpful discussion: 

-- From your response, it appears like you think that $800 for a paint touch up is nothing to worry about. Ok, helpful perspective. Thanks. I would like others to chime in though.
-- For the fireplace maintenance, the service was provided by the property manager, because fireplace was advertised as a feature and had to be supported (their justification). They claimed that they tried educating the renters on how to do this, yet continued receiving calls each Fall as soon as the weather turned cooler.

Overall, for the purpose of ongoing discussion, let me clarify the question a bit: 

How much have operating costs gone up for a landlord in Portland metro area? 

Corollary: if you were to see a 2.5x hike, what would your course of action be? 

Have you noticed a shift in renter's mindset lately who is renting a SFR, especially a good area and high rent subdivision?

TIA.

I have a SFR in Hillsboro area. The property is being managed by a property management company. For the most part, I am satisfied with their management: they have placed high-quality tenants who have paid rent on time, largely taken good care of the property. Lately, however, I am noticing with awe as property maintenance costs have escalated. Consider this:

In 2014, a paint touch up job used to cost us ~$300.00. Last year after a really bad tenant spell, we restored a lot of the property and repainted the whole house. Recently there was a tenant turnover and I received a bill of touch up (over a brand new paint). The cost = $800.00

I have also received several seemingly frivolous maintenance requests from the tenants. The property management company is more than happy to comply, and average service call has cost me over $300.00 no matter what the reason.

The property is aging, therefore there are a few failing parts, but that aspect notwithstanding, every job is costing us twice as much as what it used to cost historically, ~6 years back.

I am interested in hearing the experience of other landlords in the area: is PDX area really getting that expensive? Is tenants' mindset shifting? We used to have tenants who were handy and did a lot of small fixes themselves. Lately, we are seeing tenants who wish to treat the property like a resort room, where they will call maintenance to help them light the fireplace (this indeed has happened a number of times). 

I also think that the property management company is involved in this to an extent. They are padding costs and increasing their margins from the maintenance calls (these maintenance calls are managed by their own staff, therefore they set the rates). 

I would like to hear experiences of other landlords. (At this time, I am not thinking of switching my property manager therefore no solicitations please!)

Hi @John Warren and @Darren McGillvrey : Thank you for sharing your experiences.

Yes, the property being in Portland is subject to wet weather. Both the decks in question are uncovered.

John's post reminds me of another factor. In the previous 10 or so years, I have had to paint over the existing wood deck twice over, once entirely, another time a touch up. This brings me to another one of my favorite (!) topics: escalating costs of property maintenance in Portland metro area. I plan to start a new thread regarding that, but I have noticed that between 2014 to now, the property maintenance costs have doubled for me. Given this, I fully expect the new deck to need a lot of expensive paint touch up. One great benefit of composite/PVC type material appears that there is no need for a paint over for this deck. 

Any thoughts? Would love to hear from others as well.

Hello,

I have a rental property (SFR) in a good area in Portland Metro area in Oregon. The deck is up for repair and there's much damage, therefore I am considering getting the deck replaced.

Based on my research composite material is the way to go, however, I also hear that composite wood is soft and scratches easily with pets. We do allow pets at our property.

Is this information correct? The modern composite materials IMO are 100% recycled plastic and there's little wood in it. Composite decking was suggested by the contractor due to its durability, however, he also mentioned it will need to be painted over -- which, again, is against my research findings. Therefore, what I'd like to hear from the community:

-- is composite decking a material of choice for a rental property for durability? Will it be scratch resistant? (I am aware of a higher cost, and I am willing to invest if there is ROI).

-- does composite deck have to be painted over?

-- Would you recommend Aluminum railing over composite railing? (Again, my information is Aluminum decking is expensive, but will it have advantages over composite railing aside from the sleek appearance?)

-- Have you heard of a brand called Deckorators for composite decking? Any specific grade that you would like to use?

For the purpose of comparables, the property is located in a stable middle-class neighborhood; with the overall neighborhood quality improving due to improving schools etc. Tenant profile is young urban families with children, with often 2 working adults, and in corporate jobs.

Hello,

I have a rental property in a good area in Oregon. The deck is up for repair and there's much damage, therefore I am considering getting the deck replaced.

Based on my research composite material is the way to go, however, I also hear that composite wood is soft and scratches easily with pets. We do allow pets at our property.

Is this information correct? The modern composite materials IMO are 100% recycled plastic and there's little wood in it. Composite decking was suggested by the contractor due to its durability, however, he also mentioned it will need to be painted over -- which, again, is against my research findings. Therefore, what I'd like to hear from the community:

-- is composite decking a material of choice for a rental property for durability? Will it be scratch resistant? (I am aware of a higher cost, and I am willing to invest if there is ROI).

-- does composite deck have to be painted over?

-- Would you recommend Aluminum railing over composite railing? (Again, my information is Aluminum decking is expensive, but will it have advantages over composite railing aside from the sleek appearance?)

-- Have you heard of a brand called Deckorators for composite decking? Any specific grade that you would like to use?

For the purpose of comparables, the property is located in a stable middle-class neighborhood; with the overall neighborhood quality improving due to improving schools etc. Tenant profile is young urban families with children, with often 2 working adults, and in corporate jobs. 

TIA!!

Hi Chris & Jeff, 
Thank you for the reply.

Jeff mentioned that everything except the high end is strong. Does that mean that the rents have risen steadily through Q2 and Q3 of 2019?

My property lease term gets over in early Feb and I need to offer the tenants a lease renewal, and it's a bit of a crystal ball gazing right now, because I need to offer them the terms based on how I foresee the market in the Q1 of 2020!!

Last year when I advertised the property in January, the market was very active and I was able to command the rent at top of the market, with minimal vacancy. I also found that during the Q2 and Q3, the rents did not go very much higher than where they were, but I was not tracking actively due to my own travel and other commitments. I am interested in hearing from other landlords within this geography whether they have been giving a rent increase or otherwise. 

Thank you in advance!

Hi,

I own a rental property in Hillsboro, near to the tech employers and in a good subdivision. I live out of the state and am curious to know what the local folks think about the rental market during Q4-2019. Compared to the Q1-2019, is it up, is it steady or is it trending lower? How did the market do during the typically hot months of the year? (My property was occupied during the summer and therefore I did not track the market much during summer months, when it's traditionally very hot).