You are here: Home / Archives for Renting and Retention

DNA Test Links the Dog to Its Doo

October 24, 2012 By

MONTGOMERY, Alabama

Property managers across the nation are turning to a CSI strategy to battle dog poo. There’re using DNA technology to match which canine is responsible for leaving the piles so their owners can face fines.

Just the idea of using the technology people are used to seeing on the Crime Scene Investigation TV shows was enough to get residents at Legends at Taylor Lakes, a Montgomery apartment community, to clean up their act.

“We sent out letters to residents about what we were going to,” said property manager Joe Johnson. Legends has been using the service for about six weeks. “The problem of owners not cleaning up after their dogs just disappeared.”

PooPrints, a division of BioVet Pet Lab, developed a process in which DNA samples can be collected from dogs. The samples then can be used to determine which dogs are leaving waste behind. The company based in Knoxville, Tennesse, markets the service to property management companies, apartment complexes, condos and homeowners association. The company now has clients in 28 states, Israel and Singapore, said Eric Mayer, director of business development. Mayer said PooPrints is the only company currently providing this service and it is working on getting a patent.

Clients collect samples of waste and send them to the PooPrint lab. “The results won’t come back as showing a beagle left the pile of waste,” Mayer said. “It will be the beagle in Apartment 3A left the waste.”

Kendall Wahlert, a resident of Legends, likes the idea. She was recently walking Bro, her miniature Australian shepherd and had a plastic bag tied to the handle of her retractable leash to clean up any mess he left behind. “I’m for anything that would mean fewer piles,” she said.

The service works, said Michele Mann, regional property manager at United Residential Properties in Macon, Ga. The company manages residential properties in Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee. A test at a Knoxville complex started six months ago. The others came on board about two months ago, she said.

“We have seen our waste problems almost disappear. We fine residents $150 if they don’t clean up after their dogs,” she said.

Getting the DNA sample is $29.95 per dog, and each sample test is $49.95, Mayer said, each client, has its own policy governing fines.

Reprinted from USA TODAY, published in on June 12, 2012, by Marty Roney.

Filed Under: Renting and Retention Tagged With: , , ,

Splitting Couples Must Honor Lease

October 23, 2012 By
By Kevin B. Postema

My Husband and I moved into our Los Angeles apartment last March. We signed a one-year lease. Now we are having marital problems and I am thinking of moving out. The problem is that my husband says if I don’t continue paying rent until the lease is up, he’ll take me to court, to get my half of the rent.

Do I have to pay the rent since I signed the lease? Do I have any options? And will this ruin my getting another apartment because I might get a bad reference for moving out during the term of the lease?

You’re probably going to have problems because of the lease. Most contain a provision such as the following: “the undersigned tenants, whether or not in actual possession of the premises, are jointly and severally (together and separately) liable for all rent incurred during the term of this agreement”. If your lease contains similar language, you’re liable. Whether or not you get a bad personal reference from your landlord depends upon your relationship with him.

Options for Separating Couple Bound By Lease

One of your recent Apartment Life columns contained a question entitled “Splitting Couples Must Honor Lease”. The Los Angeles writer and her husband had signed a one-year lease. Now they are splitting up and she wants to move out. Her husband says he will take her to court if she does not continue paying her portion of the rent for the lease term.

In my opinion, a practical solution might be to approach her landlord with her problem to see if he might release her from the lease or change it to a month-to-month rental agreement. Such a solution is not inconceivable in many markets. Another solution might be to sublease the apartment if her husband is willing to move out also or sublease to a new roommate.

Finally, unless her husband pays the full rent during the lease term, and they are jointly and severally liable for the rent, the landlord is the one who would take her to court for the rent, not the husband. Isn’t that right?

Your Suggestions to alter the terms of the lease or sublease the apartment are good options, assuming the husband and/or landlord are willing to cooperate. Assuming they won’t cooperate, let’s consider the court options. If the rent is unpaid or only partially paid, the landlord could take either or both tenants to court. If all of the rent is paid by the husband, and not by the wife, or vice-versa, the landlord would take no one to court. The party paying the rent (the husband in this situation), could, without a lot of fuss or fanfare, take his spouse to small claims court for her share of unpaid rent up to $10,000 or less (there are limitations that apply).

Reprinted from “The Best of Apartment Life: How to Survive Apartment Living and Ownership,”published in 1994, by Kevin B. Postema.

Filed Under: Renting and Retention Tagged With: , ,

Get Paid Rent on Time… Lease to A Former Foster Youth!

October 22, 2012 By

Property Managers Lease Apartments to Former Foster Youth

By Harold Greenberg, Chair, AAGLA Government Relations Committee

First Place for Youth is a California-based nonprofit organization that helps vulnerable youth ages 18-24, who are making the difficult transition from foster care to adulthood. When foster youth are turned out of the foster care system at age 18, many find themselves homeless and living in poverty, without a job or educational prospects.

First Place for Youth provides two years of supportive housing (including a graduated rent subsidy) along with intensive case management, education and employment services to support a young person’s move toward independence. We work in cooperation with a variety of property owners, property management companies and affordable housing developers to provide 1 or 2-bedroom apartments to youth by master leasing units throughout LA County.  The apartments provide stability by former foster youth, so they can concentrate on building life skills and pursuing their education and employment goals.

First Place for Youth is the responsible party for payment, security deposit and any damage that may be incurred, described the attorney who practices criminal and real estate law. Mr. Greenberg has owned rental properties since 1991 and is the past President and a current Director of the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles Board.

Currently operating in five counties throughout California, First Place provides housing to more than 300 youths a year and is currently leasing more than 150 units in neighborhoods in Los Angeles, Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco and Solano Counties.

First Place for Youth Los Angeles is growing and has tripled the number of youth served this year alone – and they seek to partner with additional landlords and property owners. Currently, they have over 45 long-term leases in Atwater Village, Baldwin Hills, Boyle Heights, Burbank, Downtown Los Angeles, East LA Park, Highland Park, Hollywood, Koreatown and mid-City. First Place targets units that range in rent from $800 to $975 for one-bedroom and $1,100 to $1,350 for two-bedrooms.

Benefits & Responsibilities of Leasing to First Place for Youth

First Place for Youth is known for maintaining a high standard of service to its youth participants and for its integrity in working with property owners and managers.Landlord relationships are integral to our success in transitioning former youth into permanent housing and self-sufficiency.

“These young people [from First Place for Youth], are ideal tenants for us, “explains Mike Froehlich owner of MF Property, a property management company with 40 buildings and 700 units throughout Los Angeles who leases four units to First Place Youth. “When I learned what First Place does, it made perfect sense. But it also struck me, what does happen to former foster youth when they turn 18?” he explains. “From a landlord perspective, this is a win-win scenario, the young people get a chance and I get rent paid on time. I can also call Lorenia [Lorenia Leyva, the First Place Property Manager], to intervene if there are ever tenant issues.”

Some benefits of becoming a participant landlord include:

• First Place guarantees monthly rent payments regardless of whether or not the unit is occupied.

• First Place Youth Advocates visit the youth in their apartment weekly to monitor the upkeep and cleanliness of the apartment and to ensure youth are complying with housing policies.

• First Place for Youth Housing Specialist, Lorenia Leyva, is the main point of contact for landlords to address ongoing property maintenance, tenancy or housing issues that may arise.

• Our Housing Specialist works closely with youth on how to be a good tenant. She strives to ensure that landlords and neighbors are content with youth placement and behavior.

• Participating landlords provide much needed housing to a young person and therefore are giving them an opportunity to advance in life and become self-sufficient.

Expectations of Landlords

  • Provide needed maintenance and repairs to the units in a timely manner to ensure that First Place Youth (and, in some cases, their children) are living in safe, well maintained housing.
  • Allow First Place for Youth to oversee periodic maintenance and repairs to the units if need be.
  • Notify the Housing Specialist when problems occur so that we can address them immediately.
  • If mutually agreeable, allow participants who have completed our Program in good standing to apply to take over the lease for the unit at the end of our two year program.

If you have apartments available (or that will soon become available), please contact Lorenia Leyva, Housing Specialist at First Place for Youth at (213) 399-9792 or lleyva@firstplaceforyouth.org. For more information about First Place for Youth, please visit us at www.firstplaceforyouth.org.

Filed Under: Renting and Retention Tagged With: , , ,

Q & A with Ask Kari: Six Tips To Help Ease Your Wallet

October 18, 2012 By
By Kari Negri, CEO Sky Properties

This Month’s Question comes from Margaret in Los Angeles:

Q:“Hi Kari, what are some tips to keep building expenses down?”

 

A: Hi Margaret! This is such an important question. I can talk for two hours at a seminar on this question alone. Let me give you 6 quick tips to keep in mind though:

TIP 1:  Respond quickly to residents' maintenance requests.  The number one reason a tenant moves is due to lack of maintenance, and having to turn over a unit interrupts your cash flow. Not only that, but in today’s technological ecology, the miffed resident not only tells their friends, they tell the world about the experience, on the Internet.

TIP 2:  Every year, bid out your maintenance vendors to stay current with the most optimal vendor market prices. These might include services you regularly utilize such as painting, pool service, carpet, plumbing, and electrical. For example, you might compare several painting vendors, making sure to ask about extra charges that might come up on the job site, which may not have been quoted, such as not painting over hardware, painting ceilings or inside cabinets. An industry trade magazine, such as Apartment Age, is a great resource to compare vendor pricing. Lastly, remember to balance and consider how hard you grind down any vendor’s pricing. The quality of their work   may suffer as a result of negotiating too low of a price, which may cost your building more in the long run.

TIP 3:  Cleanliness and leaks.  On your 6-month fire alarm walk-throughs, look out for small leaks and signs to perform   preventative maintenance. A minor plumbing issue may become major if you don’t catch it early. Make sure your on-site manager is taking care of cleaning, walking the property, and looking for leaks as well. Encourage residents to stay on top of cleanliness to help prevent pest infestation, and carpets will last longer if often vacuumed.

TIP 4:  Property taxes. It is a great idea to periodically check the L.A. County Tax Assessor’s website at http://assessor.lacounty.gov and look for the “Tax Savings Programs” section. You can also hire a company that renegotiates property taxes on your behalf. These companies offer this service for a percentage of what they save you, so it can be a win-win for both of you.

TIP 5:  Insurance.  Make sure when bidding your property insurance, that your broker has relationships with multiple   companies to get 3 or 4 different quotes. Know that an Agent may represent a single company, whereas a Broker will typically have access to multiple companies, rates and services.

TIP 6:  Evictions.  Evictions are the source of great expense. From the lack of rent collection, to the cost of the eviction process, it’s best to be quick to take care of them by starting the process at the earliest signs of trouble. Most importantly make sure that all of your tenants are qualified to begin with by running a credit and eviction report with AAGLA and check their application thoroughly – a little extra work in the beginning could save you a ton of money later.

Kari Negri, CEO of Sky Properties, Inc. Kari has two decades of property management experience, and has been a featured speaker for many industry trade shows. Feel free to submit any questions today at kari@getsky.net or watch the web video series to this feature at www.GetSky.net.

Filed Under: Renting and Retention Tagged With: , , , , ,

Is Parting Sweet Sorrow?

September 7, 2012 By
By Kevin B. Postema

Evicted Tenant Left Her Personal Property
Q: I am writing on behalf of my wife and mother-in-law, who co-own a rental home in Los Angeles. After five months of non-payment of rent by the elderly tenant who lived there, they were finally able to evict her.

While we all felt sorry for her, paying all of the mortgage out of their pockets on this rental home was becoming financially difficult.

Here’s the problem. Their former tenant has not made any attempt to remove her personal belongings from the home since her eviction. Unfortunately, the former tenant may also be senile, and she has no relatives in California. She’s staying in the psychiatric ward of the county hospital.

The owners have called and written her many times, asking her to remove her belongings, but nothing has happened.

Now, they must do something. Storing the belongings would be too expensive. Can they legally sell her belongings and deduct her back rent from the proceeds, and give her the difference? If not, what legal action can they take?

A: Los Angeles County’s “Public Guardian” is charged with caring for the property of those with severe mental problems. You may contact them at (213) 974-0515. Otherwise, the state provides property owners with methods for disposing of abandoned personal property.

After an eviction such as you described, the state law requires you to notify, in writing, the person or persons whose property you intend to dispose of. You needn’t establish whether or not the property is abandoned, as is sometimes the case. It is clearly abandoned after an eviction.

Your written notice must give the respondent at least 15-days to claim the property if served personally, or 18-days if mailed. It may also require her to pay the reasonable cost of storage of the property.

Tenant Gone, But Left All His Possessions
Q: I am a 66-year old widow. My husband left me a four-unit apartment building in Inglewood that I am now managing for the first time.

My problem is that one of my tenants is an artist, so he’s gone a lot of the time. He is in Paris now and I’ve heard that he isn’t coming back, which would be alright with me except that he owes me four months’ rent at $300 a month and I need the rent from the unit to supplement the $400 a month that I get from Social Security.

I would like to know how I can get his things out of there to re-rent the unit to a tenant who will pay me some rent.

What can I do? Even if I can remove his things from the unit, I can’t afford to store them. What do I do with them? Any help you can provide me with is greatly appreciated.

A: It’s unfortunate that you have waited so long to do anything about this problem. You could have acted much sooner, after the 14th day the rent was past due and the tenant disappeared.

Your best course of action here is probably to serve the tenant with a Notice of Belief of Abandonment. It’s available free to members of the Apartment Association of Greater Los Angeles (AAGLA).

To serve such a notice, the rent must be more than 14-days past due and you must have a reasonable belief that the tenant has abandoned the unit (i.e., left with no intent to return). You clearly meet those two tests (assuming the tenant has been away for the four months that the rent has gone unpaid).

If nothing happens within 18-days after you serve this notice (15-days if the notice is served in person), both by posting a copy on the door and by mailing a copy to any and all known addresses of the renter, you may then take possession of both the rental unit and the renter’s personal property.

If the property is worth less than $300, you may dispose of it in any way you see fit.

If the value of the property is over $300, disposing of it is much more difficult. You must inventory it, publish public notices of the pending auction you will conduct, and then hold an auction at which you sell the property. The proceeds of the auction, less expenses are then turned over to the county.

Reprinted from “The Best of Apartment Life: How to Survive Apartment Living and Ownership,” published in 1994, by Kevin B. Postema.

Filed Under: Renting and Retention Tagged With: , , ,

NAA Updates

September 4, 2012 By
By NAA

Path Cleared for Major Apartment Project in Downtown L.A.
Digested From “Property Sale Clears Path for Major Apartment Project Downtown”
Los Angeles Times (06/24/12) by Roger Vincent

A long-vacant site in downtown Los Angeles has been sold to investors who could begin work within the next couple of months on one of the largest new apartment communities to be built in the region since the economic downturn. Beverly Hills developer Sonny Astani, who secured city approval to build a 700-unit apartment building on the site, was the seller. The development would cost roughly $300 million. Astani, who will not be involved in building the project, states, “It was a complicated structural engineering process to design it.” With vacancy rates on the decline and rents rising in most of Southern California, apartments are considered a choice investment among a growing number of institutional and individual investors. Property broker Bradford McCarthy of CBRE Group Inc. states, “Downtown is a great center for job growth, and the multifamily market has stayed vibrant through the downturn.”

Board Authorizes Rent Increases for Rent-Stabilized Apartments
Digested From “Board Authorizes Rent Increases for Rent-Stabilized Apartments”
New York Times (06/22/12) P. A22

The New York City Rent Guidelines Board approved a rise in rents for rent-stabilized apartments, authorizing increases up to 2% on one-year leases and 4% on two-year leases. About $1 million apartments are rent stabilized in New York City, and the board already approved rent hikes up to 3.75% on one-year leases and up to 7.5% on two-year leases in 2011. The guidelines impact renewal leases between Oct. 1, 2012, and Sept. 30, 2013.

HUD Releases Smoke-Free Toolkit for Apartment Owners
Digested From “HUD Releases Smoke-Free Housing Toolkit”
Apartment Finance Today (06/12) by Donna Kimura

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued a smoke-free housing toolkit for apartment owners that includes information on how to implement no-smoking policies and provides a sample resident survey. HUD Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing Sandra Henriquez says that the information can be used by any multifamily housing owner no matter if they operate federally assisted housing or private market-rate apartments. The toolkit indicates that smoke-free housing can help reduce operating costs by reducing apartment turnover expenses, which can be as much as seven times higher when smoking is allowed in apartments. Some insurers also offer discounts when no-smoking policies are in place, and HUD reports that some surveys show that up to 78% of those who rent would choose to live in a smoke-free community. The toolkit advises apartment owners to advertise as smoke-free and inform residents about the policy once it is in place. For those communities with residents who smoke, owners should consider offering cessation services when adopting smoke-free policies.  

Filed Under: Renting and Retention Tagged With: , , , ,

Late News…

August 30, 2012 By
By Rich Singleton

Santa Monica, California
The Santa Monica Rent Control Board approved an increase of 1.54% with a maximum increase of $24 per month, which will take effect on September 1, 2012.

The annual rent control registration fee, which pays for rent control, will remain at $156, and this fee may be passed through to tenants at $13 per month.

Notice must be given at least thirty (30) days in advance. You must also pay the annual registration fee on time in order for you to pass the costs on to your tenants.

The amount of the increase this year is less than the 3.2% increase approved last year. This year the Board adopted a new method to calculate the increase, which is roughly 77% of the increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

The Board inexplicitly factored what it considers increased cash flow resulting from rent increases that apartment owners have obtained under the Costa-Hawkins Vacancy Decontrol Act. Somehow they determined that housing providers are making a fair return.

Rent Control Board member Robert Kronovet had to excuse himself from participating in the discussion and leave the chambers after the California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) previously determined there could be a conflict of interest because he owns an apartment building in Santa Monica.

Mr. Kronovet is the only housing provider ever elected to the SMRR and Tenant-Dominated Board. However, Rent Control Board members who are tenants were able to participate and vote on the increase, even though they will receive some financial benefit as they are allowed to decide how much of a rent increase they will be receiving.

And as of this writing, the Rent Control Board will consider placing a charter amendment on the November 2012 ballot to formally change the way the annual increase is calculated to make the amount 75% of the increase in the consumer price index.

The Board is also considering whether to limit the amount of pass throughs for registration fees and other surcharges, such as the School District, College and other taxes.

Santa Barbara, California
An investment group with a portfolio of nearly 2,000 apartment units within 13 properties in the Santa Barbara County area became the largest apartment owner in California to self impose a non-smoking policy in their apartment units and common areas of their properties.

Beginning on June 2012, new residents are prohibited from smoking inside their apartment and common areas of the complex. Existing residents who smoke have until January 1, 2013 to comply with the new non-smoking policy.

While it addresses issues related to second-hand smoke inhalation for its residents, the company also expects significant financial benefits from saving on rehabilitation costs.

A vice-president with the investment group said the company turns over about 1,000 units per year, and those units must be cleaned and rehabilitated for new occupants, a process which costs twice as much if the vacating occupant was a smoker.

“You can mask it with paint, but in order to totally remove the residue you have to scrape the walls, then put on primer and more layers of paint. Countertops and cabinets may also need intense cleansing treatments,” he added.

The adoption of the non-smoking policy was also motivated after the company spent $4,000 for insulation, caulking and other endeavors to track down and conceal each likely breach connecting one non-smoker’s unit and a smoker’s unit.

Because the preponderance of the residents at the company’s complexes already were non-smokers, the company decided to implement the policy which is now permitted under a state law that took effect January 1, 2012, permitting owners to ban smoking in apartment units.

Another large national developer opted to make its new 8-acre, 580-unit apartment project in Old Pasadena non-smoking even before the state legislation became effective this year, at which residents who smoke can be seen puffing away across the street from the complex.

UCLA had co-sponsored a study, which concluded that operating costs decline in smoke free housing environments.

Of course, the federal government does not want to be out when weighing in on non-smoking policies, so the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) unveiled a tool kit for property owners to encourage them to make their housing smoke-free.

According to HUD, the package includes information on how an owner can implement a smoke-free policy, and a model tenant evaluation.

The agency has been encouraging local housing authorities to implement non-smoking policies at public housing properties since 2009. It claims that 300 local agencies, which comprise of about 10% of all local housing authorities in the nation, have adopted such policy.

As far as cutting costs, HUD claims that it costs 2 to 7 times more money to rehabilitate a vacant unit previously occupied by a smoker than a non-smoker.

Filed Under: Renting and Retention Tagged With: , , , ,

AAGLA Partners with Aon Rent Protect – Rent Default Insurance

August 25, 2012 By
By Jim Clarke, AAGLA Executive Director

Recession Means More Financial Risks for Landlords

The financial crisis in the California employment sector, single-family housing market and credit industry is creating more opportunities for the rental market. A large number of Californians are turning to apartment rentals as a more economical approach to housing – in some cases, by way of a wage reduction, a lost job or maybe a foreclosure situation.

The good news is that residential investment property owners have a much larger pool of tenant applicants to choose from, but the downside is that the potential tenant’s financial hardship could mean a future financial problem for the landlord. For example, property damage, injury lawsuits or a tenant’s failure to pay their monthly rent can cause potential for revenue loss for the owner.

While there are current insurance products that will cover you against claims of physical property damage and personal injury, there has NOT been an insurance coverage offered for the risk that’s harder to predict – A TENANT’S DEFAULT ON RENT PAYMENTS.

Until now, an owner’s only defense was to run a tenant check and collect a security deposit. Unfortunately, these procedures don’t address the problem arising when a tenant has not or cannot pay their rent for several months. If a tenant should lose their job, abandon their leased unit, need to be evicted for non- payment or, sadly, pass away – no matter what the situation may be – it could end up costing the owner money. The mortgage bills, taxes and other property expenses don’t go away. All of these could turn a promising investment property into a stress-filled, financial nightmare for a rental housing provider.

Introducing an Affordable New Solution – Aon Rent Protect

Unknown to most owners in the U.S., “rent default insurance” has been available in England, Australia and New Zealand for the past 20 years. This unique policy protects residential investment property owners against the peril of tenant rent default.

The market leaders in rent default insurance overseas, Aon and QBE Insurance Group, brought this important new coverage, called Aon Rent Protect, to rental housing providers in the United States in November 2011. Now, in the case where a good tenant falls on hard times, Aon Rent Protect can save rental property owners a substantial amount of money.

The plan pays up to six months of lost rent due to tenant abandonment, eviction or nonpayment and up to three months’ rent due to the death of a tenant, hardship of a tenant or a deployment for military service. The plan will also cover up to $1,000 in legal expenses to help with an eviction process.

This lease by lease policy is affordable and financially prudent! You can receive the above mentioned coverage for about the equivalent of 25% of one month’s rent for the annual premium. In other words, if you have an “at risk” tenant paying $1,000 per month, your annual payment would be about $250.

Times may be hard, but Aon Rent Protect can make your property investment business a lot less risky. Once again, AAGLA has discovered a way to help you protect your investment. You may access this great new insurance product by using the following on-line portal www.aonrentprotect.com/AAGLA, or call (888)722-2172. Remember, AAGLA is your best resource for innovative programs and benefits that assist the rental housing industry.

Filed Under: Renting and Retention Tagged With: , , ,

Greed is Good

July 13, 2012 By
By Alex Moran, Founder – Pacific Listings

The idea of “greed” is almost always viewed as something negative. I have always believed that a little bit of well-intentioned greed can do a lot of good for a lot of people. In the 1987 film “Wall Street,” Michael Douglas’s character Gordon Gekko gives a speech to a room full of a struggling corporation’s shareholders that later became known as the “Greed is good” scene. Douglas’s role as ultra-wealthy corporate raider Gordon Gekko won him the Academy Award for Best Actor, and the character’s position on greed being a needed part of successful business operation always resonated with me. In that scene, Gordon Gekko says the following:  “Greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures, the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge, has marked the upward surge of mankind and greed, you mark my words, will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the U.S.A.”

I had a mentor early in my real estate career that also embraced a form of the “Greed is good” ideology. At that time, I was working at a mid-sized commercial real estate brokerage firm, and my boss would often tell me not to waste my time talking with property owners that had no greed left in them. His position was that only owners that are “greedy” are eager to improve the performance of their real estate investments and only they would ever actually buy or sell a property or try something new. I am now five years into my real estate career, and I am constantly amazed at how little greed I see among property owners in the Greater Los Angeles area. Complacency and skepticism is usually what I see where I wish I saw more enthusiastic greed. Keep in mind that I am from the school of thought that intelligent/well-intentioned “greed” can create jobs, improve profits, increase property values, and have a myriad of benefits for the entire community if embraced by property owners.

Most Los Angeles-area apartment building owners are several years or even decades removed from the time when they invested huge amounts of time, money, and energy toward making their properties perform at their optimal level. Too many experienced owners that have long owned several paid-off properties no longer have much motivation to invest in extensive renovations, market vacancies aggressively, or maximize profits by any means necessary. Many of the owners I meet are almost indifferent when they have vacancies that linger for several months, and they   don’t seem to care that they are probably not renting out their units for top dollar.    Over the years, I have had countless apartment building owners tell me that it makes no difference to them that our company could easily rent their vacancy for them for $100 more per month than they are asking. I will always remind those owners that an extra $100 per month in rent is an extra $1,200 per year. Also, the rent of just one unit at a property being rented for an extra $100 per month increases the value of a property significantly from a purely Gross Rent Multiplier (GRM) perspective in the following ways: GRM of 13, an increased valuation of $15,600 per $100 monthly rent increase; GRM of 14, an increased valuation of $16,800 per $100 rent increase, and so on. Unfortunately, this knowledge rarely does anything to stimulate the now dormant greed inside too many property owners who in years past would have jumped at any intelligent opportunity to improve the value of their real estate investments.

My hope is that more property owners will think back and remember the time when the optimal performance of their properties was their primary concern. You may no longer be interested in handling all of the work yourself, but countless qualified professionals are eager to do the work for you. A quality property management company can do wonders for your properties’ performance. A talented and properly motivated on-site manager can whip your property into shape. A skilled contractor can transform a neglected property into the most sought after building on the block. An exceptional leasing company can bring you excellent tenants paying higher rents than you thought were possible. The partnerships with such professionals are only “costs” if they don’t prove profitable eventually. If you team up with the right people, you are investing intelligently and coming out ahead.

If it has been years since you tried something new with your properties, make this the year that you explore a partnership with a real estate professional who is eager to work with you. 

Greed can most definitely be good. Your previous desire to earn enough money to purchase properties and then your efforts to make them as profitable as possible is likely the reason you are financially secure today. Embrace the greed that once motivated you to financial success, and reach out to those of us that want to be your ally. Together we can accomplish great things.   

Pacific Listings provides full service leasing assistance to Los Angeles area apartment building owners. Their pay for performance leasing model ensures that property owners only pay when the leasing results are to their liking. For more information call Pacific Listings at (323) 303 3565 or visit their website  www.PacificListings.com

Filed Under: Renting and Retention Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Late News…

July 11, 2012 By
By Rich Singleton

Los Angeles, California                     

The demand for apartments in the greater downtown area is continuing to grow, as demonstrated by a vacancy rate that is decreasing faster than it is on the Westside.

According to a report prepared by a national real estate analysis firm, the apartment vacancy rate in the downtown area fell 1.3 percentage points to 3.2% in the first three months of this year compared to last year. It is one tenth of a percentage point better than the vacancy rate for the Westside apartment market, which decreased eight tenths of a percentage point during the same reporting period.

The robust demand for downtown area apartments encouraged downtown apartment owners to raise asking rents per month by about 1.5% to an average of $1,354 per month during the first quarter of this year.

Asking rents on the Westside rose at a slower pace at 1.3%, to an average of $1,929 per month during the same three month period.

The report noted that newly employed recent college graduates have been moving into the downtown area because it is more affordable than the Westside, and the downtown neighborhood nevertheless are deemed cool and fashionable.

But it should be noted that you are throwing recently constructed units with modern amenities into the mix with older, more traditional buildings.

Bronx, New York         

A landlord in the Bronx is suing one of his tenants who apparently has turned the living room in his high rise apartment into a fish farm that purportedly leaks water into the apartment below and makes the hallway smell something like the Fulton Fish Market in the summer heat.

The tenant, a former vice-president with Morgan Stanley, has created what he calls an “aquaponic” in his apartment, which he describes as a non-profit business to encourage city dwellers grow fish in the confined spaces of their apartments.

However, neighbors are fed up and complain that the tenant drags water filled fish farming equipment across the wooden floors of the 14th floor apartment at all hours, and is the cause of more than a few significant water leaks.

“It’s irritating when you hear noise all the time. It’s 3:30 in the morning, and you hear him dragging his aquarium or whatever it is across the floor.  It has changed my life,” complained the neighbor directly below.

The landlord alleges that the fish farming tenant is in violation of his lease by illegally propagating fish and operating the Society of Aquaponic Values and Education from his 14th floor apartment.

“He’s running a business out of his apartment,” said the attorney for the landlord.  “He has refused to refrain from making noises and causing odors,” he added.

The tenant claimed he was unaware of the lawsuit and declined to talk about it. However, he said he sells the baby tilapia and female breeders on eBay and Craigslist in order to support himself, his girlfriend, and his two children from a previous relationship.

“Any publicity is good publicity,” added the fish farming tenant, channeling Donald Trump.

Filed Under: Renting and Retention Tagged With: , , ,
« Older Posts