Keep Your Tenants Cool This Summer

As the summer months continue to grow closer, and the weather becomes much hotter, here are some easy energy and money saving tips for landlords and tenants alike to make this summer your coolest yet. 

• Use your fan. Ceiling fans use less energy than air conditioning, cost less to buy, and are simple to install. 
• Keep the fridge closed. The more you open it, the more heat is released, the more energy is needed to cool it. 
• Turn off your computers and lights when you aren’t using them. They create heat and cost money.
• Keep your windows open. Circulate air by opening windows and letting the breeze in.
• Plant trees. They will add shade in the summer and block wind in the winter. They can even save you between $100 and $250 in energy costs annually.
• Keep the doors and windows closed if you’re using the air conditioning to maximize cooling. Make sure you have an energy efficient model and you clean the filter to improve its air flow.
• Use an electric fan as a supplement to the air conditioner. It should allow you to raise the thermostat 9 degrees, saving you 30% of your energy costs.

Posted by Kim Ezzell on 05.29.2008. CLICK to Leave a Comment »

Filed under: AAOA Forum, Going Green

Interviewing a Prospective Tenant: Can You Spot These Six Red Flags?

Credit is not the only factor in screening a tenant.

Truthfulness, respect for your property, and a willingness to cooperate are also crucial predictors of how the rental relationship will go.

Much of the information you need to know comes from the initial contact with the tenant. Do you know what to look for? Here are some tips:

Your Initial Impression Is Usually Correct

Sure, that sounds a little “touchy-feely”, but it’s true! Your first impression, or “gut feeling” is usually the most accurate, even though you may not realize why immediately. If you have some reservation, it’s because some subtle message was communicated, some hint of a bad attitude, for example, or some other red flag.

Most of the time the first contact is made on the phone. Are the phone manners appropriate for the situation? Do you detect an attitude? Are they overly enthusiastic? Is the person you are meeting with the same person you spoke with on the phone?

Is a Car a Clue to Character?

We’ve all been taught to look at the prospect’s car - a messy car means a messy apartment, right? Well, not always. Many managers find that a tenant could easily pay too much attention to their car, and not enough to their rental home. What is relevant with a car is not what kind of shape it’s in, but if it jibes with the information provided in the rental application. Is the license number the same as the car they list on the application? Is it from the state they say they are from? Is it brand new? Does the loan show up on the credit report?

Showing Up On Time a Sign of Cooperation, Responsibility

Whether your prospect is prompt tells you how interested they are in this relationship. Remember you first impression. If you are feeling frustrated that you’ve waited a half hour with no explanation, your “gut” is trying to tell you something.

Meet everyone who is going to move in. Watch how they relate to one another. Obviously you can’t analyze the relationships in a short period of time, but you can ask questions to get a sense of whether they’ve lived together successfully before, if they each have a commitment to stay. Speak to each of them about their plans and expectations.

Discuss the Prospect’s Motives for Renting

Ask questions to glean the prospect’s future plans:

• Why are they looking for a rental?

• Why are they looking in your neighborhood?

• Do they have bad things to say about the previous landlord?

• Are they leaving the previous rental early?

Maybe you will find out they are in the market for a new home, and will rent just until they find it. Maybe they are about to be evicted. On the bright side, maybe they will tell you about a favorite restaurant nearby, and you can give a gift certificate as a lease incentive or anniversary gift.

Do a Drive-By

Drive by their current property if you want to see how it is kept-and if they live there. Consider going to the tenant’s home to drop off the application or lease.

Talk to Someone Who Knows

While it is critical to speak with the current landlord, it is just as important to speak to the previous landlord, who does not have an ulterior motive of getting the tenant out of their property. A common fraud is the give false landlord references. Use your detective skills to discover if the number you are calling is the landlord’s, not a friend’s. For example, have them call you back to see how the number registers on caller ID. Check the public records to see if the previous property is registered to that name.

While a successful initial interview paves the way for a smooth relationship, it is no substitute for a thorough background check. Click here to review what kinds of tenant screening reports are available.

American Apartment Owners Association offers discounts on products and services related to your commercial housing investment including REAL ESTATE FORMS, tenant debt collection, tenant background checks, insurance and financing. Find out more at www.joinaaoa.org.

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Tags: spot+red+flags+tenant+interview, how+to+interview+a+tenant, tenant+screening, tenant+background+checks, landlord+associations, apartment+owners+associations

Posted by Kim Ezzell on 05.29.2008. CLICK to Leave a Comment »

Filed under: AAOA Forum, Credit Screening

Home Builders’ Blitz May 31-June 7, 2008

By Louisa May

Habitat for Humanity affiliates across the nation are gearing up for a busy week of home building. But much work has already taken place behind the scenes. Land has been secured, house plans and permits have been obtained by HFH affiliates, and agreements have been made. While the builders work in partnerships with Habitat for Humanity, home buyers agree to provide sweat equity hours outside the build week. In exchange for providing these hours, buyers have an opportunity to purchase a home for little money down and obtain a loan that is interest free.

Habitat’s focus is on building, but due to the recent foreclosure crisis, some Habitat affiliates are beginning to offer financial education and training classes for their clients in order to help them avoid the pitfalls of doing business with predatory lenders. Because Habitat buyers obtain their loans at 0% interest, homeowners may be bombarded with calls from such lenders offering refinance packages that come complete with a plethora of hidden penalties and fees. Habitat owners saying yes to these offers could lead to their eventually facing foreclosures.

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Posted by Kim Ezzell on 05.26.2008. CLICK to Leave a Comment »

Filed under: Financing

How the Pro’s Recruit Tenants: Want to Create a Waitlist?

There’s a saying that if you keep doing the same thing, you will keep getting the same result. 

What does that mean for landlords?

If you are weary of running ads and wading through a swamp of phone calls and missed appointments every time you have a vacancy, maybe it’s time to change your tack.

Learn a Lesson from the Pro’s

The best way to develop a steady flow of prospects, even develop a waitlist, is forming Strategic Alliances.

A Strategic Alliance occurs where two businesses that share the same customer attributes (income, buying preferences, etc.), yet do not compete with each other, pair up to market one another’s business for little or no cost.  Strategic alliances are everywhere in other industries as well - like the beverage manufacturer who teams up with the snack company to cross-market products. 

How can a Strategic Alliance help a landlord? 

• Grass roots marketing is cheap, often free.
• Renters who are referred tend to be lower-risk tenants.
• Referrals often stay longer because their lifestyle is connected to your neighborhood.  Longer leases translate to higher profits.
• Alliances develop a steady stream of referrals.
• Forming alliances allows you to meet other business owners.
• In some cases, you can generate revenue by marketing your partners’ business.

Seven Steps to Forming Strategic Alliances

Don’t have a marketing team behind you? That’s okay.  It’s easy to form alliances if you follow these Step-by-Step Instructions:

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Posted by Kim Ezzell on 05.26.2008. CLICK to Leave a Comment »

Filed under: AAOA Forum

Are Your Tenants Screening You?

The Tables Have Turned: Your Tenants May be Screening You!

With foreclosure numbers continuing to hit record spikes, the real estate industry is in flux.  Just under twenty percent of foreclosures are rentals.  In some areas, that number may be double. Most often, a foreclosure trumps a lease, although some states have stricter requirements on such evictions. Lenders are often not in the landlord business. When the home forecloses, the tenant is cast out so the property can be sold or auctioned vacant.  In worse cases, the tenant may have only three days notice to vacate, or suddenly find their power turned off.  

This phenomenon has morphed into a crisis, with many states taking action to slow the eviction process for the tenants to give them time to find a new home.  Congress has recently attempted to require a 90-day notice period for tenants at risk of evictions because of their landlord’s foreclosure. 

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Posted by Kim Ezzell on 05.26.2008. CLICK to Leave a Comment »

Filed under: AAOA Forum, Credit Screening

Landlord Gives Tenant Grief Over Lock Change

Question: I recently changed the locks to the front door of my apartment and immediately provided the landlord with a new key. The landlord then sent a letter indicating that I violated the lease by making an “alteration” to the property. Is this correct? There is no provision in the lease about changing locks, but there is a provision that it is a violation of the lease if alterations are made to the apartment without the landlords’ approval.

Property Manager Griswold replies:

The proper handling of keys is extremely important for both tenants and landlords. There are wide differences in the legal requirements about re-keying door locks, with some states specifically forbidding the tenants from re-keying.

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Posted by Kim Ezzell on 05.26.2008. 2 Comments »

Filed under: AAOA Forum

How to Get Rid of a Real Estate Nuisance

By Bob Pruss

Does a neighborhood nuisance seriously disturb you?

Examples might be a barking dog that keeps you and other neighbors awake at night; airplanes flying overhead landing or taking off at a nearby airport; perhaps a smelly sewerworks or factory; maybe a neighbor’s late-night noisy parties; or a neighbor revving up his motorcycle as he departs for work at 5 a.m.

These are typical illustrations of public and private nuisances that might affect the enjoyment of your house or condominium. Depending on the severity of the disturbance, you might have a legal remedy to have the nuisance abated.

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Posted by Kim Ezzell on 05.26.2008. CLICK to Leave a Comment »

Filed under: AAOA Forum

Are You Ready to Shop For Your Own Loan?

Should I Recruit a Mortgage Broker or Lender to Find a Real Estate Loan?

By  Jack Guttentag, Inman News

“How do I know whether I am better off going to a mortgage broker or a lender?”

This question has no answer. The better question is whether you should shop the retail market yourself or retain a broker as your agent to shop the wholesale market for you.

If you shop the retail market, it doesn’t matter whether the loan providers you shop are brokers or lenders. You are looking for the best deal, and it could come from either. The brokers you encounter when you shop the retail market are independent contractors. They receive wholesale prices from lenders, which they mark up, offering retail prices to borrowers in competition with retail lenders.

If you retain a broker as your agent to shop for you, you will pay the agent for that service, but you will receive a wholesale price. Brokers who act as agents for borrowers, called Upfront Mortgage Brokers (UMBs), negotiate a fee for their services upfront, and pass through the best wholesale prices they can find.

Some people should shop for a mortgage, while others should retain a UMB to shop for them. The case for shopping is strongest for borrowers who enjoy haggling, who understand the market or are willing to learn, and whose loan is mostly “plain vanilla.”

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Posted by Kim Ezzell on 05.26.2008. CLICK to Leave a Comment »

Filed under: AAOA Forum, Financing

Increase Curb Appeal: A Garage Door To Die For

by Katherine Salant

Inman News 

We’ve all heard about the “to die for” kitchen that impresses your friends and relatives. What about the “to die for” garage door? The very idea may make you fall out of your chair laughing, but the offerings of garage door companies have radically changed in the last 10 years, moving from the ho hum to the quite fabulous. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by Kim Ezzell on 05.19.2008. CLICK to Leave a Comment »

Filed under: AAOA Forum

Using A Bank As Your Qualified Intermediary?

Banking advisors and other professionals (attorneys, accountants, and the like) provide invaluable advice and outstanding service to their clients in the vast majority of cases.

But they must be wary when one of their clients comes to them asking about a Section 1031 exchange.

Banks often believe they are providing a service when they function as a “custodian of the funds” during a Section 1031 exchange, particularly banks where the exchange client has a preexisting relationship. Typically in these transactions the exchanger’s attorney handles the documentation. The problem is that most banks holding funds in an exchange are not actually or legally Qualified Intermediaries. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by Kim Ezzell on 05.19.2008. CLICK to Leave a Comment »

Filed under: AAOA Forum