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All Forum Posts by: Jeff Takle

Jeff Takle has started 14 posts and replied 312 times.

Post: Incentives & Gifts for Tenants

Jeff TaklePosted
  • Real Estate Consultant
  • Somerville, MA
  • Posts 339
  • Votes 51

I am kind of a data hound, so...wanted to share some of my conclusions from the American Housing Survey of 1995/6: [comments are mine from a paper written on the subject, not from the study directly]

"On average, renters move out most commonly due to factors not influenced by the owner/landlord such as a new job, job transfer, to shorten the commute, to purchase their own home, or to move into a larger unit. Remarkably, fewer than 6% of tenants cited moving because the rent was too expensive, which may suggest that rent increases are not the primary—or even a common—reason for moving out. Amazingly, when renters were asked to identify the main reason for choosing their current rental unit, “kitchen,” “exterior appearance” and “quality of construction” combined for less than 3% of the total responses while answers relating to issues largely beyond the control of the landlord totaled the remainder, e.g. location. These should be factored in when determining whether or not to offer rental incentives as a matter of practice, whether or not to increase rents on an annual basis (to keep up with inflation or mirror increasing market rents), or whether to spend money upgrading the kitchen in your rental apartment ." [specific table @ http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/housing/poms/pomtsum4.html]

--I should caveat this by saying that I definitely offer free high-speed internet access whenever possible to get people IN the door. Once they are renters, just keep the rent increases modest, don't run them out of dodge. Everyone loves a $25 Starbucks or Blockbuster gift card, but it won't make the difference between staying or leaving for anybody. The lesson I am slowly learning over the years is that the best incentive/treat for tenants is to be professional, incredibly responsive and efficient, and totally businesslike. Few people go looking for a rental apartment because they want to make best friends with a landlord! :pup:

Post: Long Distance Management

Jeff TaklePosted
  • Real Estate Consultant
  • Somerville, MA
  • Posts 339
  • Votes 51

Hi. This is precisely the problem I've faced. I live in Boston and now own a bunch of property down near DC and elsewhere. To fix the problem I developed (because I'm a bit nerdy) some software tools to do much of the management. Here are my lessons learned:

Most of the functions can be handled via a web interface: advertising, rent, tenant screening, maintenance requests, applications and forms, etc. You will ultimately need somebody on the ground to let prospective tenants in the door and to verify that the painter in fact painted the place. Try real estate companies;realtors. If the big companies balk, seek out the small mom-and-pop brokers. If they balk, then call plumbers and handymen. Tell them the situation and make a deal. Most of these guys will work after hours for a fee. To be safe, you may want to check the KY real estate license laws and limit the scope of what you ask them to do for you.

1. Establish a network. You don't have to have your own plumber, electrician, handyman, etc. that you've worked with for years. You just need one you can trust who will give you a reasonable price. Identify them, call them, and see what you can arrange. When in an area I don't know "Bob the plumber" I just go with national companies like Roto-Rooter. They're not the absolute best in quality but they are reliable. You need to do this for water, electric, HVAC, and general handyman maintenance problems. Your tenants will know when something needs maintenance attention--trust them to help keep your place running. In other words, neither you nor a property manager need to go into a property to "verify" that work needs to be done. Your tenants aren't morons and, contrary to popular belief, they are almost certainly not going to abuse this privelege. If they do--if a plumber reports back to you that the tenants just wanted a new fancier faucet installed--you still have all the rights to deduct that from their rent as a frivilous expense covered under their maintenance responsibilities. According to the American Housing Study of 1998 (Boston & DC), the 2000 Census, and the 1995 Property owners/managers survey, over 92% of owners address all maintenance issues immediately.

2. Make it easy for tenants to pay rent. Quite easily you can establish online rental payments through a number of vendors on the Internet. Best deal is to get an automatic rent debit from a checking account if tenant agrees. I recommend accepting credit cards (more than 300,000 units now accept them according to the Journal of Property Management) as well as checks.

3. You need somebody on the ground. Sometimes this is just to hand a maintenance person the keys and to verify that the painter is done and did a good job. If you can't fly to your property every once in a while to do this yourself, then make an arrangement with a local real estate company. EVERYTHING is negotiable with them and for this reduced service from them, you don't need to pay the full fee. Also, when it comes time to advertise the place for rent, you will need someone to open the doors. Again, the real estate company is the easiest solution here, though expensive. Augment their "efforts" with advertising of your own.

Sorry so long. Any thoughts?
:groovy:

Post: Finding a tenant

Jeff TaklePosted
  • Real Estate Consultant
  • Somerville, MA
  • Posts 339
  • Votes 51

One other quick suggestion. Not sure why, but advertising FREE HIGH SPEED INTERNET has provided really solid responses for me. Yes, it costs. Almost $500 over the course of a year, but at least in the urban areas of Boston and DC, a lot of the working professionals really dig that and it brings a lot of hits.

Seems more sexy than just giving cash back/discount. Plus, most people respond better to emotional appeals than to logical arguments, i.e. you'll get more calls if you give away a free weekend trip for two to Vegas than you will if you give $1,200 back in discounts, even though financially they are comparable.

Post: What is the average length of time to fill vacancies?

Jeff TaklePosted
  • Real Estate Consultant
  • Somerville, MA
  • Posts 339
  • Votes 51

If you're looking for market averages in your area, instead of what's the norm for you investors who particpate in this forum, then I would suggest looking for the statistics section of your local realtor's association website. Just google "[city/county/state name] realtor association" and you'll get it. If the stats aren't there or easily accessible, call the association. They have this information and can provide it to you. Then you will know how well your vacancy rate stacks up to local averages for comparable property.

I agree with ToneyJ in that every market is different. There is no absolute answer, but still, 3 months is not good. If you signed a listing agreement with a realtor or a property manager and your place is still vacant after three months, that's a pretty good indication that all they've done for their fee (which can be a hefty 1 month's rent in some places) is plop your listing into MLS and let it sit. As a realtor in Virginia and Massachusetts I can tell you that there isn't a whole lot of money as a realtor dealing with rentals, so many people don't work them very hard, aka they're not top priority to show/rent. That may vary, but that was my experience. You may want to try another PM or Realtor, or you can try these free or less expensive methods:

-#1 tell everyone you know that you have a place to rent. I schedule to start this 60 days out from the end of a lease and I mention it in every conversation I can remember. Everybody knows somebody who is going to move; they are amazingly helpful in getting the word out for you and this will often result in a 3-7 day vacancy just to clean and refurbish the property.
-Advertise on Craigslist.com (LOTS of hits but a very high % of flaky responses)
-Advertise in the local newspaper. May cost $150 but that's cheaper than another month's vacancy (pretty good response but one of the more expensive methods)
-Yahoo Real Estate (I've had little success here)
-Contact local university/grad school housing office and provide them your info
-Put up flyers at your local coffee shops, library, grocery store and any other hangout. I'd make them color and have tear away tabs with enough information on them for people to remember what they are. Pay $5 for paper and more for your time running around putting them up.
-Identify high-transient professions in the area and advertise flyers in their break rooms--I've done this with FANTASTIC results in the DC area, posting at the Department of State's schools, military bases, and grad schools. One day spent driving around the city to blanket it with flyers is cheaper than a month's vacancy.

Keep receipts for everything you are doing/printing, and all the miles you drive to put the flyers up--it's all deductible off your federal income taxes. Small price to pay to make $10,000-$25,000 in annual rents! :groovy:

Post: Assistance in Evicting Tenants

Jeff TaklePosted
  • Real Estate Consultant
  • Somerville, MA
  • Posts 339
  • Votes 51

Here are some handy references I found a while back. They link to the state landlord and tenant laws of every state--VERY helpful. Probably will get to what I would guess is the principal question, which is: Which one of these do I need and how do I use it?

Each state handles these differently. Not only is the title of the document different, but also the language that must be in each, how many days must pass before you can send it, how long you must give (minimum) to correct the deficiency, and when and whether or not you can charge late fees. Here you go:

1. Links to real estate license law--these have links to the state code with the answer you're looking for.
http://homebuying.about.com/od/licenselaw/

Post: Property Manager

Jeff TaklePosted
  • Real Estate Consultant
  • Somerville, MA
  • Posts 339
  • Votes 51

I completely agree with the "wait a while and cool off" suggestion. With regards to severing the agreement earlier than 30 days or not; it probably isn't worth the potential disagreement over one month's management fees, and absolutely isn't worth it if you end up needing to involve a lawyer to settle any dispute. I don't think it's advisable to give the property manager a warning or discuss the issue really; this is a case of gross negligence and even if they will "clean up their act" in the future, you've lost any confidence in them and there's no reason to pay somebody big bucks when you doubt whether they will deliver. Either get a new PM or do it yourself. There is a lot of help on this site and a few others to get the advice you need to go it alone.

I'm not promoting my stuff here, but this is why we started our company and developed some software tools to manage most of the things that a property manager is supposed to do; nobody cares for your investments like you do. You may want to consider developing a formal system of your own for invoicing tenants, handling maintenance requests, conducting tenant screening, etc. Or, there are many good products already out there and, for a fraction of what you would pay a property manager over the course of a year for a single property, you can outfit yourself with some primo tools and do it yourself effectively and professionally.

-JT

Post: Need Networking In Va.

Jeff TaklePosted
  • Real Estate Consultant
  • Somerville, MA
  • Posts 339
  • Votes 51

NavyVetinDebt,

Proud to be a MarineVet,heaps in debt, myself! Here is the contact info for a Tidewater real estate investor's club. I've attached a few more as nearby alternatives in VA. If you're willing to drive once a month or so, there are more options in Richmond. If you're interested in clubs in other states, I've compiled a fairly comprehensive list for my business uses that covers the US using periodicals, associations, web and other open source research. I'd talk to several and see which one fits your needs and objectives best; test a few out to get the right fit. Here you go!

Tidewater Real Estate Investor Group (TRIG)
Contact Person: Skip Saylor
Meeting Address: 2017 Cunningham Drive, Ste 106
City, State Zip: Hampton, Virginia 23666
Phone Number: 757-825-8759

Virginia Apartment & Management Association
8537 Mayland Drive
Richmond VA 23294
804-346-4440

Virginia Foreclosure and Investment Club
Contact: William Barnes [email protected]
Telephone: (804) 966-1395
When: 2nd Tuesday of each month, 6:00pm
Where: Picadilly Restaurant on Broad St., Richmond

Hampton Roads Real Estate Investment Group
Contact: Karen Fischer [email protected]
Telephone: (757) 270-4101
When: 2nd Thursday of each month, 6:30pm-8:30pm
Where: Pembroke 4 Office Building, 5th Floor, Virginia Beach

Virginia Beach Real Estate Investors Group
Contact: Sandra Musselwhite
Telephone: (757) 761-1914
When: 4th Saturday of each month (varies with holidays), 10:00am to noon
Where: Central Library, 4100 Va Bch Blvd., Virginia Beach

Virginia Peninsula Real Estate Investors Group
Contact: David Cassidy [email protected]
Telephone: (757) 652-7748
When: 2nd Tuesday of each month, 7:00pm
Where: Call for location, Newport News

Richmond Apartment Owners Association
Contact: David Franke
Telephone: (804) 644-4066
When: First Tuesday of every month, Noon
Where: Westwood Club, Richmond

Post: Beta testers needed for development of PM software

Jeff TaklePosted
  • Real Estate Consultant
  • Somerville, MA
  • Posts 339
  • Votes 51

Hello. Cyber Applications Group, LLC is in the final stages of development for the Virtual Property Manager, a web-based system for individual owners of rental property to professionally manage their own properties.

The target market is people who are relatively new to the real estate investing business and could benefit from a product that also helps educate them on the process of being a landlord. The product is very simple to use and presents information in terms of the rental process instead of simply arraying a dashboard of tools. Many newer real estate investors can benefit from a system that provides prompting and some structure to what they need to do next, what their options are, and recommendations on what might be the best choice for a given situation.

We are looking for individuals who would like be active in shaping this new product. We need your critiques, insights, ideas, and suggestions. At a minimum, we ask that you respond to a short web-based questionaire. If interested, you may participate in the official beta software test. This next stage of testing begins on 1 February. Please contact us if you might be interested or may know someone who is.

Thanks!
Jeff Takle
Cyber Applications Group, LLC
Email: [email protected]

Post: Property Management Software - is there anything like this?

Jeff TaklePosted
  • Real Estate Consultant
  • Somerville, MA
  • Posts 339
  • Votes 51

I tried the other email and it appeared to go through. Please let me know if you didn't get it. Also, we are starting our final product testing after a long time in development. Would you be interested in participating? I would rather join forces and team up rather than both attack this from different angles.

What do you think?

R/ Jeff
Email: [email protected]

Post: Beta testers needed for development of PM software

Jeff TaklePosted
  • Real Estate Consultant
  • Somerville, MA
  • Posts 339
  • Votes 51

Hello. Cyber Applications Group, LLC is in the final stages of development for the Virtual Property Manager, a web-based system for individual owners of rental property to professionally manage their own properties.

The target market is people who are relatively new to the real estate investing business and could benefit from a product that also helps educate them on the process of being a landlord. The product is very simple to use and presents information in terms of the rental process instead of simply arraying a dashboard of tools. Many newer real estate investors can benefit from a system that provides prompting and some structure to what they need to do next, what their options are, and recommendations on what might be the best choice for a given situation.

We are looking for individuals who would like be active in shaping this new product. We need your critiques, insights, ideas, and suggestions. At a minimum, we ask that you respond to a short web-based questionaire. If interested, you may participate in the official beta software test. This next stage of testing begins on 1 February. Please contact us if you might be interested or may know someone who is.

Thanks!
Jeff Takle
Cyber Applications Group, LLC
Email: [email protected]