Charlotte Property Management Monthly: Property Management Going Mobile: Mobile Websites and Apps “Must-Haves” Now?

 

I was out to dinner the other night in Uptown Charlotte and saw the typical 21^st century young, urban couple.  They were dressed stylishly, moved with grace, were good-looking, and barely talked or looked at each other the entire time I saw them at the restaurant.  Were they:

 

A. In a fight?

B. Shy mutes?

C. Engrossed with their mobile phones?

 

Of course, and sadly, the most probable answer in today’s world is C.  I have a difficult time with this!  I want to say, “Buddy, wake up!  You’re with a good-looking woman; I can’t believe I have to tell you to look up and talk to her, instead of texting your friend, Chuck!  What’s wrong with you?”

 

So, being a grown man, I had to decide whether to cry about this newer phenomenon or accept it.  After some internal wrangling, I’m happy to report that my righteous indignation has passed and I’ve accepted this digitally-inspired apathy towards fellow humans as the “new normal”.  So what does this consumer love affair with mobile phones mean to property managers?

 

It means we better get in the game in the mobile realm.  Regular websites have worked really well for a while, but change has come again.  New renters are going to want to use their smart phones to search for rentals near them (aided by GPS), fill out rental applications, pay application fees, and put down deposits.  They want the whole rental process available from their mobile phones.

 

What specifically does this mean?  It means we better have mobile websites that allow them to do this; the mobile websites need to include only succinct information potential renters would want when on the go.  It also means we need a mobile application (a custom company “app”) that customers can put on their devices so we own some real estate on their phones.  Trends show that home internet connections are on the way of landline phones; the new battleground is the mobile phone.  We need to be on as many as possible.

 

A mobile website is critical when consumers search for property management companies from their smart phones.  Will yours come up?  If it does, can consumers easily find rental homes, contact you (even text you!), and do everything you want them to do (like they can when you see them in your office or when they are in front of their home computer?) 

 

An app is critical to sealing the relationship with customers.  How can they remember you when they are on their mobile phones?   Your app (with your company logo) sitting with the rest of the apps they use everyday is a good start.  This is a good way to build mindshare and also to make it easy for your customers to contact you and refer you to their friends.  Not an apps believer?  Apps are set to be a $36B business by 2015- a lot of people use them and will be using them!     

 

Change is hard, but the mobile revolution is not going away.  If making a property management company last long term is the goal, mobile websites and apps are now “must-haves”!

 

Brett Furniss is the President & Owner of BDF Realty (“Charlotte’s Most Innovative Property Management & Investment Company”), and Rent-To-Sell Realty (“When You Need a New Solution to Sell Your Home”) which  specialize in rent-to-own (lease options) and rent-to-sell homes.  His newest book, A Real Estate Agent’s Complete Guide to Representing Rent-To-Own (Lease Option) Tenants (Delight Clients, Fill Vacant Homes, and Earn $2,250* Upfront! (*Minimum!)

Renting Out Your Home Is Not For The Timid? 4 Reasons Not To Believe The Neighbors

Due to the tough home sales market, some home owners have been thrust into being “accidental landlords”.  Their homes won’t sell for the prices they need, they have to move, and they can’t afford to keep them empty indefinitely.  So, left with little choice, they will (reluctantly) start the process of renting their homes out.

 

They start with strong intentions, but then fear takes over!  After research which includes talking to neighbors (who all have friends and long lost relatives in the “rental know”) and watching multiple episodes of “The Wire”, they are not sure they can go through with it.  There’s so much uncertainty!  And risk!

 

After many web searches, their definition of a “tenant” morphs into:

 

“A class of unruly persons, usually insatiable smokers, who have extensively studied the art of home destruction and rental payment evasion; commonly known as ‘slackers’ and ‘apathetic deadbeats’, renters have been known to spill drinks and never clean them up, loosen automobile oil pans so driveways become marked for life, and run surreptitious animal compounds (without signing a stringent pet policy disclosure).”

 

That’s scary! 

 

So, what should fearful home owners do?  I’d recommend a few deep breaths for starters.  Then let’s look at some facts:

 

1.  Roughly 35% of the population rents currently.  Many of the nice places we go to regularly are rentals.  I can confidently tell you that a third of theUSpopulation is not bent on home destruction.  If you believe they are, sell everything you have and buy stock in Home Depot and Lowes.

 

2.  You have lived in a rental at least once in your life (and probably work in one!) and you consider yourself a good, responsible person.

 

3.  Everyone has a “bad renter” story because the “good renter” stories are boring.  It’s like how no one talks about all the airplanes that take off safely everyday, everywhere in the world thousands of times; you only hear about the rare occasion when one plane doesn’t.

 

Example:

Jim:  Hey, my tenant paid on-time and in-full yesterday.

John: That’s great (yawn).

 

4.  Being in the business, I can tell you that most people have pride in their homes.  They don’t want to be dodging evictions- they feel embarrassed when they can’t provide for their families.  They want their home to look nicely- it’s embarrassing when guests and family come over and their place looks disgusting.  That includes smoking indoors (people don’t like visiting homes where there is a smoke smell indoors and most parents want their kids to have healthy air to breathe as well) and out-of-control pets (will most self-respecting people accept living in pet filth?).

 

Are some tenants more meticulous than others?  Of course!  But the large majority of tenants are fine people who pay on-time and treat their rental homes with respect (this is especially true after professional tenant screening checks!).  The tenants just want to live their lives in peace and have home repair issues addressed in a timely manner from time to time.  Their lives are not about getting one over on the owners of the rental homes they live in; it’s just a place where they live for the time being.

 

Don’t believe the hype.  And breathe.  Even the timid can safely rent out their homes no matter what stories your neighbors tell you!

 

Brett Furniss is the President & Owner of BDF Realty (“Charlotte’s Most Innovative Property Management & Investment Company”), and Rent-To-Sell Realty (“When You Need a New Solution to Sell Your Home”) which  specialize in rent-to-own (lease options) and rent-to-sell homes.  His newest book, A Real Estate Agent’s Complete Guide to Representing Rent-To-Own (Lease Option) Tenants (Delight Clients, Fill Vacant Homes, and Earn $2,250* Upfront! (*Minimum!)

Charlotte Property Management Monthly: Island of Misfit Toys Dilemma: Bernanke Says Rent-To-Own Can Save the Housing Market?

“Rent-to-own provisions, which would give existing tenants the option to purchase the home during their tenancies, might facilitate the transition of some renters back to the owner-occupied market.  Such provisions may also reduce costs by encouraging renters to maintain their properties to a greater extent.”

(Ben Bernanke, US Federal Reserve Chairman)

I was interviewed recently about the rent-to-own home market (read article by clicking here) and what Bernanke said above.  His assertion made a lot of sense to me.  It led me to a flashback of the TV Christmas special, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and the Island of Misfit Toys.

The Island of Misfit Toys was the dumping place for all of Santa’s broken and imperfect toys that his elves bungled.  The toys did not fit the criteria of what the good kids wanted, so they were never delivered by Santa and were sent to the dreaded Island of Misfit Toys.  It wasn’t the misfit toys fault; all they wanted was to be loved by children. 

Then there were the poor children that didn’t receive any toys from Santa.  They would have loved to have gotten these imperfect toys to play with and love.  But no one knew how to make the exchange happen.  The idea made a lot of sense (matching unloved, misfit toys up with poor kids that would love them), but the logistics plan was lacking.  

It’s a similar situation in the current housing crisis.  People are not able to buy homes, and in turn, people are not being able to sell their homes (it takes two to tango!).  So wouldn’t it make sense to match up the two largest groups with the two largest needs in today’s housing market?  They are:

1.  “Wanna-Be Sellers” (WBS): “Could someone please bring a somewhat decent offer and buy my house???  Please?!?!?  It has been on the market forever and I can’t reduce the cost any more!  These payments are killing me and I’m looking at a short sale or foreclosure.” (Or “I have broken toys that the kids with money and credit don’t want!”)

2.  “Wanna-Be Buyers” (WBB): “I would love to buy that house but I can’t get a loan due to my low credit scores and lack of a big down payment.  Banks just won’t lend to me!” (Or “I have no toys, but want one to love!”)

So the head of the Fed brings up rent-to-own as a solution.  Let the Wanna-Be Buyers (WBB) rent-to-own the Wanna-Be Sellers (WBS) homes (aka rent-to-sell).  Walla!  Problem solved!  If the WBB pay their rent on time and in full for a year or two, they qualify for a loan in the house they are in.  If they don’t, they move out of the house at the end of their lease and rent another home to live in.

So why is there still such a housing issue?  Because “rent-to-own” and “rent-to-sell” are still largely being unutilized.  But with such a large group of WBB and WBS out there, how can this be?  Why aren’t real estate agents jumping on a chance to work with them?

Surprise!  The two main reasons are related to money:

1.  There is no loan program (that I know of) that gives low down payment and low credit score WBB a mortgage based on rental history.  (No money to transport the toys)

2.  Real estate agents don’t think there is enough money in it for the risk and headaches they think they are potentially taking on by transacting rent-to-own and rent-to-sell deals.  (No manpower to find the toyless kids and deliver the toys to them)

The first reason could be solved with a government-sponsored loan program for renters.  It would be based on landlord history.  Yes, I know it would be open to fraud, but the smaller brush strokes would need to be worked out by people smarter than me.

The second issue is incenting the manpower to carry the mission out.  Generally-speaking, real estate agent compensation is relatively simple.  They help someone buy a house and get thousands of dollars.  They help someone sell a house and get thousands of dollars in commissions. 

But this rent-to-own thing?  Placing WBB in homes typically only generates a nominal commission.  For example, in Charlotte, 10% of the first full month’s rent is a common commission rate that is offered.  So the math isn’t that great for real estate agents; for filling a house that rents for $1,000, they earn a commission of $100.  At $4.00/gallon gas, that isn’t going very far.  Then the agents must hope that their WBB purchase the home in a year or two so they can earn their much larger sales commissions.  That is hard to keep track of, is uncertain to happen, and doesn’t pay the light bills today.

Hypothetically, if the commission structure was changed (augmented by the banks and government?), it would be interesting to see what would happen.  If real estate agents received $3K for placing WBB into WBS homes, that would generate interest.  Then if they were also given the selling commission if the WBB wound up buying the homes, that would make it even more enticing.  I’d imagine that the WBB would be shown the WBS’ homes pretty quickly!

I believe this would also be a significant bargain for homeowners, banks, and the government (still holding tons of defaulting mortgages).  It has the potential to stop the erosion of home values and become a true win-win-win-win-win for WBB, WBS, banks, real estate professionals, and our country’s neighborhoods.  It would also create jobs and get money flowing into the housing sector.

The only thing missing is the financing for the renter loan program and commissions for the real estate agents.  On the Island of Misfit Homes, it worked well because Santa and the elves worked for free on a handshake deal.  In real life, we need the government and banks to step up with cash incentives and guarantees.          

Filling vacant homes that aren’t selling (WBS) with renters who want to buy them (WBB) seems like the solution that worked on the Island of Misfit Toys.  Is Bernanke ready to pay up to transport and deliver the toys?   

Brett Furniss is the President & Owner of BDF Realty (“Charlotte’s Most Innovative Property Management & Investment Company”), and Rent-To-Sell Realty (“When You Need a New Solution to Sell Your Home”) which  specialize in rent-to-own (lease options) and rent-to-sell homes.  His newest book, A Real Estate Agent’s Complete Guide to Representing Rent-To-Own (Lease Option) Tenants (Delight Clients, Fill Vacant Homes, and Earn $2,250* Upfront! (*Minimum!)

Charlotte Property Management Monthly: If You Can’t Sell, Rent: 3 Steps to Get a Great Tenant

 

Rental homes are in a full-on, undeniable uptrend!  A recent real estate article headline blared, “Property Managers Set to Rule the World!  1.8M new tenants to enter the rental pool in the next two years.”  Exciting stuff for us stodgy property managers!

 

While this leads to raised glasses (no plastic cups- they’re actual glass now!) in the property management industry, it is unwelcome news for homeowners trying to sell their homes.  The math is easy to calculate: there is roughly the same amount of people moving into homes every year.  So if 1.8 million more of them are now renting, there are 1.8 million less of them buying. 

 

So people with homes they can’t personally live in anymore have to do something.  The “selling the house and moving on” thing isn’t working for most due to an uncooperative real estate market.  Some are letting their houses go back to the bank via the foreclosure route.  It’s not a great option in terms of stress and credit damage, but it does solve the problem.  Others are going the rental and rent-to-sell route to fill their homes.  Some might argue that this is more stressful than the foreclosure route!

 

But why is it stressful?  It boils down to one thing- the tenant.  If you get a great tenant, they pay on time, care for your home, and don’t bother you.  If you get a bad tenant, you never get paid on-time, enjoy a myriad of excuses for this non-payment, wind up in costly eviction proceedings, and are rewarded with a busted-up house at the end.

 

So how do you get a great tenant?  Let’s define a great tenant first.  They:

 

1.  Pay on time and in full every month

2.  Respect the home (aka like keeping it clean and undamaged)

3.  Get along with the neighbors, the HOA, and you!

 

To get someone like this, there are 3 steps to follow:

 

1.  Gather information: Order credit and criminal background checks, verify income and employment (request copies of the tenant’s last two paystubs and call the employer), and call the tenant’s past two landlords.  You’ll want to ask the prospective tenant, employer, and past landlords as many questions as it takes to get a comfort level of what type of person wants to rent your home:

 

a. “Mr. Prospective Tenant, it is a pleasure to speak to you again!  I never tire of your hilarious tales of amazing coincidences, which seem to be your hallmark.  The honeymoon beach story with your two ex-wives somehow being on the same beach as you and your soon-to-be third ex-wife?  Priceless!  Now, why didn’t you pay your light bill in 2008?  Why is there a collection account with Macy’s?  What would your last landlord say about you?”  

 

 b.  “Mr. Employer, if I may humbly ask, is Mr. X’s employment part-time, full-time, or contract work?  How long has he been working there?  Is he in good standing?”

 

c. “Mr. Landlord, your azure eyes must have been killing the ladies for years!  At a risk of wasting your precious time with my inquiries that are so well beneath you, would you rent to this tenant again?  Why or why not?  How many times have they paid late?  What did the house look like when they moved out?  Is your superior intelligence a product of extensive domestic schooling, a plethora of renowned international boarding schools, or ‘Good Will Hunting’-like genetics?”    

 

2.  Analyze the data collected.  Does the prospective tenant have stable employment?  Do they make enough money to afford the rent and their other expenses realistically?  What about if there is a slight bump, like a big car repair- can they still afford the home?  Do they pay other people they commit to pay?  What did their last landlord think of them?  Would I feel unsafe renting to them if I had to give them bad news?  Am I being overly optimistic about their merits or am I making a solid business decision?

 

3.  Make the call.  If they pass the smell test, approve them and move forward.  If your gut is telling you to pass on their application, then pass!  There is more than one fish in the sea.

 

There are many great tenants out there!  Get a lot of data on the applicant, analyze it objectively, and make the decision on whether to approve them.  It will work out most of the time!

 

Brett Furniss is the President & Owner of BDF Realty (“Charlotte’s Most Innovative Property Management & Investment Company”), and Rent-To-Sell Realty (“When You Need a New Solution to Sell Your Home”) which  specialize in rent-to-own (lease options) and rent-to-sell homes.  His newest book, A Real Estate Agent’s Complete Guide to Representing Rent-To-Own (Lease Option) Tenants (Delight Clients, Fill Vacant Homes, and Earn $2,250* Upfront! (*Minimum!)

Charlotte Property Management Monthly: Investment Confessions of a Property Manager- 4 Takeaways

 

Many property managers first get into the property management business because they own investment properties and are already managing them.  “Why not add a few more?  The infrastructure is already in place!”  This rationale brought me into this exciting world of property management.

 

Becoming proficient at investments is an ever-evolving process.  It takes a lot of easy education (reading the investments guru rags) and hard education (making costly mistakes with leveraged property investments).

 

This current economy has really put investment decisions I’ve made in the past 8 years under the microscope.  In a hot real estate market, investment decisions have a lot of leeway to succeed.  The converse is also true in a bad economy and leads me to ask questions like: Did the properties I bought maintain value (relatively speaking) or did I misread the area?  Do renters want to live in these homes when much more choice became available?  Can I sell any of these investment homes in a flat or declining real estate market? 

 

Tough questions.  And, unfortunately, some tough answers. 

 

When I look at my investment decisions, I’ve come away with these 4 takeaways:

 

1.  Cash (flow) is always king.  Properties always cost more in terms of vacancy, repairs, and fix up than expected.  I remember an investment guru telling me, “If you need to pull out a calculator when analyzing a real estate deal, the deal isn’t good enough to buy.”  Amen to that.  When declining rents hit, I was hit hard as well. 

 

One effective tool I’ve used is to liquidate some 15 and 30-year mortgages into interest-only.  This has dramatically helped cash flow on my property portfolio.  When the economy improves, interest rates will rise and I may need to pay the piper.  But then I can look at refinancing or selling the investment homes in a rising real estate market, as opposed to selling in a buyer’s market.

 

2.  Buying cheap isn’t always good.  For a while, I loved telling the story about buying a home on my credit card.  Not anymore.  The problem is the home isn’t in a great area (making it tough to rent or sell) and has needed significant fix-up funds through the years.  Sometimes there is a reason why homes can be bought on the cheap.

 

I like to defend this decision by saying, “At the time I bought it, it was a great deal in a transitional area on the rise.”  I must have missed the newsflash at the time; in an overheated real estate market, almost every area is considered “on the rise”.  This reminds me of two sports quotes that seem apropos:

 

a. “Having ‘potential’ means that you haven’t accomplished anything yet.”  I never read any articles on Michael Jordan’s potential, but rather about his performance.

 

b. “Yeah, he has great talent.  But there are a lot of talented people in prison.”  

 

3.  I like a well-rounded real estate investment strategy; it does the body good.  We get many calls from prospective clients looking for options on what to do with their properties.  I’m with you!  Options are good!  Good options are even better!

 

My idea of a well-rounded real estate portfolio consists of this:

 

A.  Nice, expensive homes that will rise when the market comes back.  Cash flow won’t be great, but will generate a nice chunk of cash when the market goes up.  Then they need to be sold!

 

B.  Cash flow properties that generate hundreds of dollars of positive cash flow a month.  These will subsidize other properties that aren’t cash flowing.  They probably won’t see any great amount of equity build-up (even in a rising market), but they will keep you solvent and smiling!

 

C.  Long-term holds will be nice investment pieces for retirement.  They are solid homes in solid neighborhoods that are really a mixture of the A & B properties above.  They will give average cash flow and equity build-up, but should be easy to rent to good tenants for a long time.  

 

4.  The most important takeaway (by far) is to buy investment homes right (aka at a big of a discount as possible).  This can cover up a whole lot of other mistakes.  As another investment guru told me, “You make your money when you buy.  Period.”

 

Best of luck with your real estate investing!

 

Brett Furniss is the President & Owner of BDF Realty (“Charlotte’s Most Innovative Property Management & Investment Company”), and Rent-To-Sell Realty (“When You Need a New Solution to Sell Your Home”) which  specialize in rent-to-own (lease options) and rent-to-sell homes.  His newest book, A Real Estate Agent’s Complete Guide to Representing Rent-To-Own (Lease Option) Tenants (Delight Clients, Fill Vacant Homes, and Earn $2,250* Upfront! (*Minimum!)

Charlotte Property Management Monthly: Incentives: Knowing Why the Chicken Crossed the Road & Why Fees are Good

Q.  Why did the chicken cross the road?

A.  There was bird feed there

B.  A coyote was chasing him

C.  He saw a hot “chick” on the median

D.  To get to the other side

Answer D is the response that makes this a legendary “joke” (somehow…).  Answer D is also very incomplete.  Everything happens for a reason; no one does things without some type of incentive being involved.  I mean, the chicken wouldn’t care about getting to the other side if he didn’t have a reason to do so.  What was its motivation?  What was the incentive the chicken was pursuing?  A, B, or C answers make much more sense to me in answering the “why” question!  They address the chicken’s needs:

A.  Hunger

B.  Safety

C.  Love (or lust)

In business, incentives usually mean money.  If 90%+ of businesses fail for lack of cash flow (lack of money incentives), then the ones that survive make sure they are getting enough cash incentives from their customers.  Obviously, this isn’t a one way street; the businesses are offering enough value in return so these payments are a win-win deal.

So now that is established, what can incentives tell you about a company?  Some charge for certain services, some don’t.  Why not just take the free services when they’re offered?  Cheaper, especially in tough economies, seems like the best way to go.  Right?

Well, incentives can be telling; company pricing and their fees can tell you what they believe they do well and what they don’t.  So, in terms of getting great results, paying fees can be very important!  Fees motivate companies to do what you want them to do.

Reading into incentives (aka company pricing) is interesting and generally informative.  Let’s look at examples of this from real estate and other businesses:

1.  When a tech company sells pricy software and then offers free support with it, I’d expect the software to be good and the support to have long hold times.  If support costs extra money monthly and can be cancelled at any time, the support will probably be pretty good.

2.  If you ask a friend to pet sit Fluffy as a free favor to you, your friend will probably be late and leave early; unfortunately, most friends will do the minimum required!  If you hire the most expensive pet sitter in town, chances are Fluffy will be treated like Benji on a movie set.

3.  If property management companies don’t charge you to sell homes under management, they are probably not going to actively seek to sell your home to the tenant.

4.  If you offer your real estate agent 7% commission, they will probably be incented to work harder to sell your home.  Many people will try to get their agent down to 5%, which is a complete misread of how incentives work.

5.  If a property management company charges a huge sign-up fee, but very little for procuring a tenant and managing the property, chances are they will be very motivated to sign you up.  They may be less motivated to procure the tenant and manage the property.

Generally-speaking, incentives (pricing) are an effective measure of the value that will be received for different services.  A $5 chocolate bar should be better than a $1 bar.  If you offer to pay one friend $50 to mow your loan and ask another to do it for free, guess which one you will see firing up his push mower first in your front yard?

So fees are good for consumers!  If you don’t make sure you are utilizing proper incentives for service providers, you’ll never know when (or if) the chicken will actually cross the road.

Brett Furniss is the President & Owner of BDF Realty (“Charlotte’s Most Innovative Property Management & Investment Company”), and Rent-To-Sell Realty (“When You Need a New Solution to Sell Your Home”) which  specialize in rent-to-own (lease options) and rent-to-sell homes.  His newest book, A Real Estate Agent’s Complete Guide to Representing Rent-To-Own (Lease Option) Tenants (Delight Clients, Fill Vacant Homes, and Earn $2,250* Upfront! (*Minimum!)

Charlotte Property Management Monthly: Rental Home E-Harmony: What Tenant Is Perfect For Your Rental?

 

Dating web sites, like E-Harmony and Match.com, have grown in popularity and are apparently very effective; one in five people getting married met on-line, their advertising claims.  That’s pretty good! 

 

It can be even better for real estate.  Many polls conclude that 90%+ of home searches begin on-line!  Real estate web sites have the potential to be much better matchmakers! 

 

But the real test of effectiveness is how many leases are consummated (for lack of a better word) from this on-line home matchmaking.  And whether the landlords and tenants are happy with the union after move-in.  Much like the 4 out of 5 people who don’t get married from the dating sites, sometimes it doesn’t work out between the landlords and tenants.  Why not? 

 

Maybe this matchmaking could be much more effective if there was a lot more honesty going on from both sides of the deal? 

 

For example, on-line ads for homes tend to look like this regardless of what the home actually looks like:

 

Immaculate & cozy, this 3 BR / 2 BA stunner can make even the most choosy renter’s heart melt.  Beautiful home with too many upgrades to count.  Voted safest and best run neighborhood in Elmwood for 2 of the last 3 years (as reported by the Elmwood HOA Newsletter)!  Priced attractively at $1,200/month and is sure to go fast!

 

And if the renter had an ad?  It would read something like this:

 

Ideal tenants seek quiet abode for a loving family.  Our 8 dogs are trained in Vienna (on Vienna Drive in Lincroft, NJ, it turns out…) and have never soiled a single fiber of carpet.  Our rent is always paid on time and the only time the police come to our home is when we make them hot chocolate after they are done caroling in our neighborhood.  We love our landlords and they love us!

 

But what is the truth?  No tenants or landlords are filling out a 300-question survey where algorithms are going to match the tenant and house together.  Each of them is going to claim that what they offer is top of the line, no matter what the real truth is.  The problem for the landlord is that the tenant can see the home and make a determination if the rental ad is true, while the landlord must run an application and make a partially subjective decision on information gathered during the application process. 

 

So how can landlords get the type of tenant they want?  It really goes beyond the rental application.  Much like dating is about being the mate that you want to attract, rental homes are the same way.  What???

 

Generally-speaking, it’s a simple truth and goes like this:

 

If the rental house is in a safe area, priced economically, and immaculate, the chances rise exponentially that tenant it attracts will not be a criminal, be economical (buys things valued properly), and value cleanliness.

 

On the other hand, if the house is in a crime-ridden area, overpriced, and dirty, the tenant it attracts will more likely be involved in more shady dealings, spend recklessly (re: which may lead them into situations where they struggle to pay rent), and not care about the cleanliness of the home. 

 

So, in practical terms, should the spots in the carpet be cleaned out prior to going to market?  Yes, if the landlord wants a tenant who rents the home to care about spots on the carpet.  What about cleaning the appliances?  Only if the landlord cares about attracting tenants who care about clean appliances.  Should the highest rent possible be asked for?  Only if the landlord wants a tenant who doesn’t conduct research on their biggest expenditures which may signal their overall financial shakiness.

 

Much like humans, homes attract suitable mates.  Good-looking people marry other good-looking people.  Clean people rent clean houses.  Financially responsible people don’t lock into overpriced rental homes.

 

What type of renter will your rental home naturally attract?  Or more importantly, turn off? 

 

Brett Furniss is the President & Owner of BDF Realty (“Charlotte’s Most Innovative Property Management & Investment Company”), and Rent-To-Sell Realty (“When You Need a New Solution to Sell Your Home”) which  specialize in rent-to-own (lease options) and rent-to-sell homes.  His newest book, A Real Estate Agent’s Complete Guide to Representing Rent-To-Own (Lease Option) Tenants (Delight Clients, Fill Vacant Homes, and Earn $2,250* Upfront! (*Minimum!)