How to Deal with Tenant Turnover - COLLEGE HOUSING

Question

DISCLAIMER: This is not like most or any other tenant situation. My parents bought a house for me to live in and rent to my friends while I was in college. I graduated last year and rented it to some people I know to fill the gap year (my younger brother is going to live in the house now). This process consists of moving old tenants out and my younger brother and his friends are moving in.

So I dealt with my first full tenant turnover yesterday, or so I tried. I had the house rented through July 31st and the new tenants are set to move in today, August 1st. But the tenants left the house trashed and one tenant didn't move out; like everything in his room is still there. (Totally my fault and lesson learned for thinking my "friends" would be considerate and take care of the house).  I contacted him and he said he was busy until Wednesday morning. He is paying a prorated rate for the extra days and I am just giving it to my younger brother's friend who now has to wait to move in.

I was just wondering how you all would set up the turnover for a college house that has a yearly turnover. I am thinking maybe the incoming tenant would have to wait until noon on their move in date and have the outbound tenants would have to move out at noon of their last day? That would give me 24 hours to clean the hell out of it and do any repairs needed.

Any and all ideas would be appreciated. Thanks!

Kelly N. · Answer

@Matt White- glad to help, BP has been an amazing resource for me as well!

My freshman year, I signed a lease for the following September- in September!  I barely knew my current roommates, or the other 4 we were going to live with, but luckily it worked out great.  Sometime since then, they passed a local ordinance that leases couldn't be signed that far ahead of time, now it's either 9 or 10 months which is still nuts IMO.  I like waiting til spring to look for new tenants, it is no fun trudging through the snow to show rentals in January, and my tenants seem to appreciate the extra time to figure out if they want to be there the following year or not.

Matt White · Answer

@Kaycee Wegener I really like that idea and will definitely be using it going forward! I am making the list right now. Thank you:)  And thankfully this house is all hardwood and tiles so there is no need for replacing carpet! I have built in my budget refinishing the hardwood once my brother is finished at school.

@Colleen F. I wish my rental was that close to the beach;) most seniors at UC are ready to get out of Clifton so the parties are usually elsewhere, probably at your beach rentals lol Thank you for your advice!

@Kelly N. You rock. I will definitely plan for more time between moves and really like the system you have to see if they are renewing their lease. Houses here sometimes get leased 10 months out so I will just move that time line up so once they are comfortable in house for a few months then I'll see if they want to secure it for another year.

I'll be sure to send out reminders for their lease ending and attach a list of expectations if they plan on receiving their full deposit. The trash schedule is also very important! I was very lucky that the 31st was a Sunday because that is trash night too.  And lastly, I really like the idea of a walk through so they know whether or not it is up to my standard for getting their deposits back. And their new addresses for returning them!

You all are so helpfully and I truly appreciate all the advice for my rookie year of landlording!

Kelly N. · Answer

We rent to people in a college town, about half our tenants are students.  I like to have AT LEAST 2 days between tenants- leases end at noon and the new one starts at noon 2 days later.  If the apartment needs more repairs/updates, we schedule in more time.  If the apartment is new to us (first turn over since we purchased it) I like at least a week.  I also try to make sure none of my apartment turnovers are overlapping unless we have extra time budgeted.

About 6 months before the lease ends, I send out a letter stating when the lease ends and asking if they would like to renew.  I give them the new rental amount and date by which they need to reply, and when the lease has to be signed by, usually 3-4 months before the lease ends.  I start showing the apartment 3-4 month ahead of time if they are moving or if they haven't replied.

About 2 months prior, I remind them when their lease is ending, and what is expected of them when they move.  I send a checklist of items to be cleaned, reminder about how trash needs to be handled and when the double trash week is, ask if they want to schedule a walk through, and let them know they need to provide their forwarding address within 4 days of moving and the deposit will be returned within 30, sooner if they leave the unit clean, in good repair, and free from belongings and trash.   I remind them that the deposit is not to be used for rent, so if last month's rent isn't paid they will be subject to late fees.  I remind them to take the utilities out of their names, have their mail forwarded, and what to do with the keys.  (We change locks every time, but have had tenants leave apartments unlocked or locked with keys in the mailbox- I'd rather they take the keys with them or turn them into me).

With the last rent invoice, I remind them of what is expected at move out time, and see if they have any questions or want to schedule an inspection.

Where I went to school, leases ended at noon and the new ones started at noon on the same day, so there wasn't any cleaning or repairs happening in between, and that seems to still be in practice in some buildings, at least from what my inherited tenants have reported.  I figure if we give them a clean unit in good repair, they will return the unit in similar condition.  Occasionally we've had to fix minor items after tenants have moved in, but in general this has been working well for us.

Matt White · Answer

@Andy Krzanowsky Do you have success finding tenants for the 3 month period? I feel that would highly increase the chance for vacancy. Most people in our college town go home anyways over the summer and bite the bullet of paying rent for the summer. I do like the idea of reducing the risk of party damage but does the potential damage outweigh the vacancy?  I will probably build in the week for damage control and cleaning; and I agree I like doing it myself rather than hiring a cleaning company.

Thanks for the reminder about security deposits and yes I have actually been trying to run it as a business but need to be quit the fluff with the friends and let them know that there aren't breaks just because we are friends outside of our landlord relationship.

Matt White · Answer

@Kelly N. Glad your roommates worked out for you! Luckily I won't have to go through that process for another 4 years since my younger brother will be living there while in school. Or maybe I'll pick up another property before then;)

Thanks again for all your help!

Colleen F. · Answer

We have weekly summer rentals for the beach so for us it works. In your case though if they arent renewing you can just  do  the one week they don't  have the place.   The party issue here is I think a bigger risk because of the shorter leases and the summer beach environment. Since we started doing it this way students who stay the extra time are always graduating seniors.

A higher holder fee is definitely something I would add too.

Kaycee Miller · Answer

You should also schedule a pre-move out inspection. I would suggest 2 weeks before the set move-out date.   A pre-move out inspection allows you to do a walkthrough with your renters to point out all the areas that will need to be cleaned and repaired before they move out in order for them to get their full security deposit back. It will also give you an idea of how much work will need to be done by you during your turnover window. You will be able to tell if you can get away with scheduling a carpet cleaner, or if you need to factor in the time to have the entire carpet replaced. Give your tenants a copy of the move-out inspection paperwork, with a checklist of all the areas they need to clean to get their full security deposit back. These checklists is what you will use when you evaluate the property after move-out to determine how much of the security deposit you will need to deduct.

Good luck !

Colleen F. · Answer

Here is what we do. Our situation is a little different because we use 9 month leases and there are summer weekly rentals  The semester is over when it is over so tenants are there with no classes and just time to party.  We make the lease end when the semester is over at a discount or  a couple of days past graduation at a full month  cost. We add to the lease a higher stayover fee (1500/wk) because that is what a summer rental could go for (the higher prorated rent for a stayover is an incentive not to stay).   The lease is 10 equal payments from x date to x date.  I recommend a week for turnover at the end of the semester if you can arrange to have it accepted in your area.  So if not renewing they need to be out at least a week before the new tenant, in this case it would have been the 24th.  (after the fact I am sometimes flexible and have given permission for an extra day if they lets us know ahead of time but i always build the time in upfront)

End of semester clean out company's will do a the cleanouts in our area for about $500 but I prefer to do it myself and contract out any specific cleaning once i check it out. Look for broken stuff. Don't forget by law you have to return the security deposit by x days after the lease is over with an accounting for deductions for that broken stuff, do this for the tenants that just left.  Friends or not  you need to be specific about what is deducted.  Make sure you and your brothers let your friends know this is business.

How to Deal with Tenant Turnover - COLLEGE HOUSING

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