As 2020 comes to a close our team thought this would be the perfect time to review some of the challenges and changes, we have experienced this year.
We always strive to provide our customers with outstanding customer service, and we know there is no magic formula or one size that fits all, but we believe one of the best things we can do is listen to our customers, learn from those conversations, and implement changes as needed.
There will always be challenges in the rental business. It is the nature of the beast. One of the things we do best here at Secure Investments is to get to the source of the issue and create a policy or system that can help prevent the issue in the future. Whether that is better communication, technology or scheduled in house reminders; we are always looking for ways to improve our services. Below are some of those changes and the challenges that brought them on.
Requiring Renters Insurance
Over the last year we watched the trend increase to require tenants obtain and keep Renters insurance. We know that in a good market such as we are in, tougher renter requirements are easier to overcome. We researched various options and aspects of the policies and we were able to start implementing this requirement right away on all new leases and renewal leases. Using the ease of our Tenant portal our tenants can sign up for inexpensive Renters Insurance with a simple click and add it to their monthly payments or upload their own policy.
This past year a couple of our managed homes experienced water-related work orders that lead to loss of tenant property and the need for temporary housing. While owners most often comp rent during such times, they are not required to pay for housing. With renter's insurance the tenant could have offset their out-of-pocket expense and had a lot less stress during this time of repair.
On average renter’s insurance runs around $120 a year. For a small fee there is peace of mind knowing all parties are covered should the need arise.
Gutters and Roofs who's responsible
landlord or tenant
Landlord-tenant law requires landlords to provide their tenants with a safe and habitable property. Additionally, landlords are usually responsible for any repairs that the house might need to be safe and habitable and stay code compliant. But what if it is an item that is considered preventive maintenance like cleaning out the gutters or sweeping off the roof?
Sure, tenants are responsible for keeping the home and exterior clean. One could make an argument that tenants should also keep the roof and gutters clean, but let’s be honest, who pays attention to the gutters until they break? Out of sight, out of mind. It’s hard to remember to clean something you never use or see. The liability of having a tenant go up on a ladder to clean the roof and gutters is too much of a liability in my opinion. Not to mention the concern of them breaking shingles that could lead to leaks. What if there is a soft spot in the roof that you didn’t know about.
You don’t want to have someone inexperienced walking around on your roof so we make sure that we keep an eye on the roof and gutters during our Periodic inspections that occur every four months on our managed homes.
Too many times we have seen roofs need replacement because of not properly caring for the roof and gutters. On the homes we manage that are in a heavily treed property, we will create a recurring work order to make sure we have them cleaned regularly. It is always in the owner’s best interest to keep the roof and gutters clean and not expect the tenant to do it. The cost of preventing problems is much less than the cost of fixing them. When leaves pile up in the gutters or on the roof they trap in water and this will start rotting the wood on the roof, soffit and facia. When the gutters are not directing the water away from the home Florida’s heavy downpours could eventually undermine your foundation and lead to stress cracks. The Benjamin Franklin axiom that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” is as true today as it was when Franklin made the quote.
Vamped up periodic inspections
Emotional Support Animals
Animals have long been used to medically assist with various needs, such as a service dog to aid a blind or impaired person with navigation and protection. What has become more common is an emotional support animal and the amount of people that have them as part of a treatment plan for various mood disorders. This becomes a challenge when you have a homeowner that does not want to allow pets. How do you prove the Tenant has the right to keep the animal without violating HIPPA laws? Can you charge the tenant more for the support animal? We finally had guidelines passed down from HUD this year.
Service animals are trained specifically to assist with an individual’s disability and are recognized by the ADA. Emotional support animals, however, are not ADA approved animals and therefore are not exempt from certain restrictions such as access to public places or private establishments in the same way that service animals are.
Applying to rent a property with a ‘no pets’ policy is a pretty straightforward process for owners of service animals due to the ADA. The process can be a little trickier for people with emotional support animals.
Landlords are required to accept emotional support animals but how do you know if it is legit.
Quick fact checks on Landlords and Emotional Support Animals:
Can a landlord refuse an emotional support dog based on breed? No, emotional support dogs can be any type of breed and are exempt from breed or weight discrimination.
Can a landlord charge a pet deposit for an emotional support animal? No, landlords may not charge additional rent or demand a pet deposit for emotional support animals.
Can a landlord ask for proof for my emotional support animal? Yes, a landlord may ask you for an ESA letter from a licensed mental health professional.
Can my landlord ask me to register or provide registration proof for my ESA? No, registration is not required for emotional support animals.
Do I have to disclose my disability to my apartment manager or landlord? No, you do not have to disclose any medical information to your landlord.
Do I have to let my apartment management company and landlord know that I have an ESA prior to signing a lease? No, you may let your apartment management company know before OR after you sign your lease.
Improved Vendor Portal
This year we had some upgrades to our maintenance and vendor management systems. We are now fully utilizing a Vendor portal to streamline and speed up repairs and maintenance management.
Our vendors now get a link to the work order assigned to them and once they click on the link it brings them to our Vendor portal that allows them to accept or decline the work order and schedule with the tenant. The tenant can also enter their preferred times.
This way we can see in real time how long it takes the vendor to schedule with the tenant and we can reassign the work if the vendor is too busy. The vendor can also decline the work order if they are too busy. Once on the job they can makes notes, share pictures and upload estimates or invoices. They also mark the job complete when they leave the property.
This allows us to get the invoices in timeliermore timely as well as allowing the vendor to upload pictures of the completed work with their invoice and it gets attached to the Owners monthly statements. The transparency that this provides allows everyone to stay in the loop with excellent communication until the job is complete. It speeds up the processing time for repairs and payments as well as relaying even more information including pictures which all leads to much more satisfied Tenants, Owners, and Vendors.
Joined Stellar MLS and expanded our coverage
The MLS is a multiple Listing Services that allows Realtors to market and share information on properties for rent or sale. We have been members of the Gainesville MLS for a very long time and it is a great MLS. But it is very local. We are still members of the local MLS and our Broker is still a Director on the Board for the MLS and the Realtor Association in Gainesville, but we added another MLS to our resources.
Stellar MLS services a swath down the middle of the state from Ocala to Tampa and has loads of additional services and exposure that we do not get from the Local MLS. This has allowed us to manage and sell more properties in the Gainesville and Ocala area and surrounding counties as well as offer all our Gainesville and Alachua County Owners even more exposure.
Expanded our Social Media reach
Keeping up with all the technology that drives our business is not always easy. We all know social media is where it is at when it comes to marketing property. You not only have to be on Facebook and Twitter, but you need a YouTube channel, Google Business, Linked In accounts and you need to Blog and Vlog and of course you must have an awesome website.
One of the best things we did was invest in the Listing to Leads and Delivery It platforms. Listing to leads takes our listings from MLS and creates the graphics for us to post them all over the internet and shareable links for our owners to share on their page. Deliver it allows us to schedule and automate postings to the various Social Media outlets including our own website blog.
By utilizing these platforms, we can promote our client's properties to a much larger audience getting them sold or rented in short time.
Helping others reach
their potential
Our Broker Tanya Chappell became an approved Florida Realtor instructor and now teaches classes to other Realtors on “How to make the most of your Property Management Business”
This opportunity came along naturally as time in the business and leadership in our local Board and community has often made our Broker, Tanya Chappell the go to person for issues relating to Rentals and property management. Being she is also a Yoga teacher, the teaching aspect of it came along naturally. She now offers these Continuing Education approved classes live or via Zoom. This was especially helpful during this year of pandemic concerns.
It's not easy to hold a classes attention for 4 hours in person let alone on Zoom but the classes have been very lively and well attended with rave reviews.
Ramped up investor services
Walking through a property and noting what can be done to the property for it to reach its highest and best value potential is something we have a knack for. We have put this skill to work regulary for many of our Landlord clients but this year we provided alot of "Fix and Flip" investor services.
This is another natural fit for our company, so it made it fun to watch these properties be transformed and sold without the Owner having to lift a finger to do anything. We handle picking out and purchasing materials and managing the various vendors needed to complete the project in a timely manner. Take a look at some of the projects we completed this past year.
How This Fix and Flip Investment Property Returned a Big Profit
Fix and Flip: 106 Hutchinson Lane
Surviving a pandemic
We would be remorse if we did not touch on the affects from the COVID-19 Pandemic. Nobody knew how this would affect the economy and the housing market or when it would go away. I think we all believed it would be gone in a few months. Its lingering affects has led to Foreclosure and Eviction Moratoriums that are still in effect today.
Aside from the obvious Health Concerns it poses for us all It has also been scary for everyone financially. We remember in April and May when many businesses started shutting down to prevent the rapid spread of the virus and wondered each month if tenants would stop paying rent.
Now we are in December and the Residential housing market is stronger than ever. Our tenants all continued to pay rent. We did have a couple of tenants that needed longer grace periods, but our tenants have continued to pay their rent.
Our business model has always been to work remotely so we were completely prepared to handle the remote model that many are now moving to. We already marketed all of our properties with video, so we continued to easily rent properties. Our application, leases and even rent collection and maintenance reporting are all online so nothing in our office changed and we were able to keep our properties rented.
Not only has the residential rental housing remained strong so have home values. Inventory and interest rates are still low and home values are increasing more rapidly than we have seen in a long time. We are seeing equity increases upwards of eighteen percent in some markets. That is compared to 5% and 6 % we have seen in the last few years. This market is expected to continue well into 2021.
An interesting side effect of the pandemic on the housing market is the short-term vacation rental market is expected to grow now that people realize they can work and school remotely. Interestingly just as Air BNB goes public. I have read that large investors like google and Facebook are investing in the short-term luxury rental market.
We are also moving into that direction in 2021. Our Broker has purchased property specifically for short term vacation rental and we will be perfecting our policies on our home base before offering it to our clients in the coming year.
Psssssttttt!!!
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