Typical time between tenants

[Cj Powderhorn]

I have 10 SF and MF rentals in several areas, my concerns are with Cape Coral and Memphis. I use property managers in both places. I feel like I’ve seen a few recent issues and curious what other investors have seen.

1. I have duplex in Cape Coral. Rents b/t $1400-$1700 per side. One side was vacant from April to August! When I inquired about it, the manager told me, ‘the tenant had an issue moving out of their last place’. Then, I just saw a placement fee of $1275 charged by the management company. This is something I haven’t experienced before. I’m not calling out the company yet, as I want to make sure I’m not missing something. I’m almost wondering if they held this property, at my expense, for a friend or acquaintance. How is a 4 month vacancy ok?

2. Memphis. Wow. I’ve used several different PM’s here since 2005. I have had one favorite company. However, tenant moved out prior to July 1. I was given a get ready estimate between $3-$4K. Which, to me, should have been a pretty quick turn. I check in this property several times and wasn’t satisfied, as there was no progress. Property finally listed around Sep 6. But the turn cost exceeded $6K. There was no information shared prior to the increase.

These seem like really long vacancy periods and poor communication. I haven’t experienced it before. I know there are lots of Memphis and CC investors here and appreciate any help.

[Adam Bartomeo]

A few things here... 

With the selection on PM's, I mean this respectfully, maybe you do not understand how to find a good PM. Maybe you are asking the wrong questions and selecting the wrong PM's. If you have gone through so many then maybe you are the problem. We have been in business in Cape Coral for 6 years and have NEVER lost an owner.

A 4-month vacancy is a very long time. I am unsure of the circumstances, price, owner interaction, condition, but in the current market it is taking about 2 months from vacancy to move in. I don't think that your theory of holding for family is accurate. We manage 300 units and I don't have enough friends or family to hold units for. The likely scenario is that your PM is not very good or lazy and held it because they don't know how to market properly.