This month’s corner is being written from my front porch  on the Suwannee River watching sheets and sheets of rain fill the river. Then beautiful sunny skies spattered between the bouts of driving rain. With or without rain the river is beautiful. Always changing and alive. Very active on a sunny weekend but mostly quiet and peaceful the rest of the time…especially during a storm.

We are having a low pressure system that Florida can be famous for. It’ll be hovering over us for this next week. Thankfully too because we do need the rain. The lakes and rivers are low and lawns are getting brown. But the rain will be a challenge for a lot of work force who work on property. The construction industry will be pulling there hair out, with the rain wreaking havoc on their schedules and labor force getting a break (like it or not)…

In property management, it creates a real challenge getting our properties ready and new tenants moved in. Carpet cleaning, maid service, paint, lawn care….in the rain.  It’s a challenge just not to create more dirt. We have years of experience turning properties in the rain…just look back to last year’s Facebook post of “turning in the rain 🎶🎶🎶”. It’s getting close to hurricane season in Florida so of course, it’ll be rainy to spice up your property’s turn.

Thankfully again this year we get to see the fruit of our preparatory efforts shine through as our tenants leave the properties in great condition…for the most part. Not that we haven’t had our fair share of homes needing lots of work but those tend to be the new properties that come into management. I mean no disrespect but most homes that are not being professionally managed by a qualified person have a much larger cost to turn the property over to a new tenant. This year I was pleased to find that the majority of my properties had a very light turn over expense. This is because they’re kept in good condition throughout the year and are rented to people that take care of the home to begin with.

Property management done right can be very easy. One of my wonderful owners Mr. Lamb just recently emailed thanking us and commenting to me how he never knew owning investment property could be so easy and saying he would have done it years ago had he known! Of course, I did have to share that it’s not always this easy but….it can be 98% of the time if done right.

It’s never too late to turn a property’s performance around. We tend to get a lot of new owners this time of year ready to make a change and turn their property over to professional management. We are able to help coordinate and manage the mini renovations often needed for their properties to start attracting that quality renter. Having strong relationships with trusted vendors is the heart of a smooth turn over of a property. We’re thankful we’ve maintained our good relationships for the 25+ years I’ve been managing property in this area. I know I mentioned them in last month’s corner (and some by name) but obviously no turn can be a success without the right people and that takes nurturing those relationships all year. If your choosing to go it alone again this year, my advice to you is:

1. Hire quality vendors you can trust
2. Get your property in prime condition.
3. Screen your tenant’s credit and criminal background, previous rental history and income.  If there’s a flaw….don’t rent to them or, at the least, collect a double deposit.
4. Keep your property in good condition throughout the lease so your tenants’ renew (This is the biggest savings!)
5. Upgrade as needed between tenants to keep your home competitive and continue to get top rent.
6. Save yourself the hassles and extra expense and hire a good property manager.  They will usually pay for themselves several times over by taking care of items 1-5 for you 🙂

If you have a property on the sales market and you’re not getting the offers you want and cannot lower your asking price to compete, you may want to start considering renting the property. While we do rent properties year round, families like to get kids settled in their new home before school starts.

I hope you enjoy the rest of your summer. A beautiful fall is just around the corner. I created a little video of hanging outside of Bob’s River place watching the fun as kids spend some of their last days of summer at the river. I hope you enjoy yours 😊