Managing Rentals

Over the last week or so we've been in the grips of another remodel. This time of a one bedroom unit in one of our triplexes. It's a really neat little property, one of my favorites, so it gets a little bit more attention then other multiplexes in our portfolio, though I try to take good care of them all since they take care of me.

A few years ago we remodeled the two bedroom unit, top to bottom, including the bedrooms and bathrooms. The one bedroom is getting a face-lift in the living room and kitchen with the bedroom and bathroom at a later time.

One of the reasons it's getting a facelift is, I like doing this stuff. Not physically, though I can do it all myself, but the design etc. and especially seeing the progress.

Since it's on my mind, the

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I'll say it right out. It makes me nervous when investors come from out of town and want to invest in small multifamily properties like triplexes, fourplexes or even a little larger units with the intent of hiring a management company.

I cringe and almost feel like declining helping them, because I don't want them to get into a situation that most out of town investors get into with hiring management companies.

However it is possible to do this thing, but...  First let me get into the common issues I've seen over and over for many years and I'll follow up with some possible alternatives. 

Common Problems

The common problems you'll notice come across is that the management companies have a different goal then you do and a different way

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I deal with a lot of tenants when leasing out my own properties and sometimes for clients who have purchased properties, but on a limited basis. Since I get to talk to a lot of potential tenants I know what they like and what turns them off. 

The basics are important, "good" neighborhood, access to jobs, shopping and freeways: the size and amount of bedrooms are all important, but those are things many apartment communities share so the competition is similar to our offerings, but there is something, amongst smaller property owners, which makes it easy to compete against and that is the condition of the units.

One of the most common themes that comes up in my conversations with potential tenants is the quality and cleanliness of other properties

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Short-term rentals (STRs) have become all the rage in cities across the country, whether they be tucked along the coastline or in a downtown high-rise overlooking the bustle of a big city. Property owners and property management groups alike are diving into the market, eager to absorb the profit potential that seems to envelope such rentals. All of that aside, there are several risks and rewards that should be taken into consideration when considering either an investment property or conversion of existing conventional rentals into short-term rentals. 

RISKS

• Additional costs - It's important to consider the added costs of upkeep and maintenance for a short-term rental. This includes utilities, regular housecleaning, etc. There may also be fees

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From what I know, every income property owner has or will have a favorite property, especially once they get quite a few in the portfolio.

Luckily 2 of my favorite properties are right next to each other and they get a ton of love from me: probably because of a lot of factors some of which first attracted me to the properties when I was buying and others just came naturally. 

Why do they get more attention from me? 

Both have in common: interesting mid-century modern architecture which is nice when it's updated, both are in great locations that attract prime tenants and are overall stable. Part of them being stable is because of my input. Nice properties tend to have nice tenants. It's really of mutual benefit. I take pride in my properties and

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This is the first article in the series: Secrets of professional real estate investors: Management skills for higher rental profit. One of the first income property investment projects I took one was a decent set of 3 fourplexes, or quads as others would call them, grouped together amongst a complex of 14 similar buildings. These came on the market for a reasonable price based on their income: cap rate. They did not stand out much until you dug a little deeper into the business and its customers: tenants and market rents.

 The profit to be made in this property was in reorganizing property management, some repositioning and increasing rents to market rates. These three things would result in a much higher cash flow and all resulting financial

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Vacancies are cash suckers: potential revenue not generated is income lost. So we have put together some steps to take to fill your vacant income property.You have just purchased a short sale or lender owned fourplex.  It was a good deal despite the work needed and it's vacant, all vacant: what next?You pretty much just purchased a business and your goals for it may be multiple but it's likely that you got it to build financial wealth or security: any vacancy is a loss, a loss of income and since we have a limited time to gather wealth it's worth putting in the extra effort to the business producing quality income.All the steps below can be used for any property, even one you're taking over from a bad manager or one you have mismanaged and of course…

How to find a tenant for your Phoenix income property.You can sometimes get a house rented by only sticking in the ground a "for rent" sign but just as with selling a home its worth going the extra effort to expose your home to as many prospective tenants as possible.   Below are several things you can do to increase the possibility of renting a house, doing it sooner and possibly for more.  Here is a simple quick overview of what to consider when leasing your property.1.  Start by having a clean and prepared property.There is nothing worse to turn off good tenants then a property which is not clean and I mean really clean, clean enough that you would be happy living there.  Even if you are prepping a property its probably worth it to…

Incentives for Phoenix real estate investors to conserve water.I'm certainly not an expert on water conservation but being a home owner and real estate investor I do know how water use affects my wallet and the return I get on my real estate investments in Greater Phoenix.It's this selfish pursuit to increase profit from real estate investments and decrease the work load involved with maintaining a property that I have transformed several properties from expansive grass to desert landscaping.One was our own home which had a large grass yard in the front, like you see in many homes, especially in the established neighborhoods.  I had a very hard time keeping the grass visually appealing.  There were always brown spots somewhere.  In addition the…

Some of the most common mistakes real estate rental owners make. 1.  Spending too much on advertising and not tracking the results.In order to find tenants you don't need to spend a lot of money advertising your property.  In fact, some of the best advertising is free.a.  let your other tenants know that a unit is available, even in other properties that you have and offer them a referral fee no greater then that allowed by law.b.  Utilize free advertising like Craigslist.org, kijiji.com, backpage.com.  These are very good places to get prospective tenants exposed to your property.  If you have a higher end home then look else where to specialty sites or hire an agent to lease it for you, but for most properties these sites get results…