I recently hired a property manager to manage my Atlanta 4 bedroom house. I just received the bad news that the property has been trashed. It sounds like squatters took residence.
The property manager has emailed me with an unusual proposition. I've never had any PM suggest anything so out there.
I would super appreciate the thoughts of experienced landlords and investors on this one. Please see the email she sent me below-
Hi Natalie,
We had to cancel our Saturday Appt because the keys did not come in the mail until Monday afternoon. I was busy all day Tuesday so I scheduled for yesterday morning to preview and show. Well, I went inside yesterday morning and the home is NOT in any condition to show :/ I had to call The prospective tenant and cancel again. She has already been approved for Garibaldi St and wanted to move in this coming Saturday but there is no way this home will be ready to move anyone in by this Saturday.
The home is trashed and infested with bugs and reeks of the worst order I've smelled since being in the business. There is old molded food in containers everywhere like someone started to clean out the refrigerator and then abruptly stopped. The kitchen is rampant with roaches, flies and gnats. The refrigerator is full of roaches, gnats and old molded food. The bathroom toilet appears to have overflowed (when the water was on) and there is dried up feces and toilet tissue all over the bathroom floor. and that is just the downstairs...I only took pictures of the downstairs because I forgot to take pics while I was in there and had to come back after I had already left the property...but the smell was so bad I didn't want to stay in the house let alone travel up to the second floor. So you can only see pics of the 1st floor and only a quick view because I The second floor had piles of trash, clothes, debris, personal belongings left in every room.
There is no way I can rent 732 Garibaldi St "as is" however, if the following items can be repaired, replace or done I will be able to get someone in there NO PROBLEM...I get calls all day everyday about your home so it is promising that I will get a good renter...
1. You will need to have trash removal and because it is infested with roaches and there is human waste on the floors you will most likely be charged a hefty fee ($250-500).
2. It will need extermination, we will not be able to convince someone to live with pest. We will probably need to sign a contract on your behalf $150 initially and about $100 every 3 months for a year in order to get a pest control company to even come out.
3. I suggest replacing the carpet ($1000) but if you do not have the money to do so, it can just be cleaned ($100) HOWEVER, you will not be able to get rid of those roaches without removing the carpet because they lay eggs in the carpet and everywhere.
4. The Refrigerator is no good,after someone lets old meat and old food stay in a refrigerator like that it's like having a dead body in there, it MUST be removed & replaced...also, I believe it is the source of where the roaches came from in the 1st place because it was not new and you can see where they are coming in and out of the back and inside of the refrigerator. ($500 new $250 used I have one that one of my other owners is trying to sell and it comes from a clean home)
5. You will need a DEEP CLEAN ($250-450) it's no getting around that and it will probably be on the higher end because of the bugs and human feces.
6.There is no heat or air...now I can get a tenant in there without it but you will NEVER get a good tenant that will remain there and take care of the place long term. ($3500 for heat/air unit and instillation)
Max Total $6100 needed to get a good renter that will pay $800 (minus- 8% management Fee) your net $736 per month
My
question to you is, are you in a position financially to take care of these things? If no, I totally understand but I must let you know that I will not be able to rent it to a good tenant until most of this is taken care of.
My
suggestion, do some configuration to this home and make it a money maker. It's already in a bad area but it's a lot of people who "room" in that area. I would fix all of the above, and add a tub/shower to the bathroom downstairs ($1000). I would take an additional $2k and furnish the entire home with beds for all rooms, desks, TVs and dressers and put a lock on all rooms and rent each room out. I would charge $400-600 a month all utilities included and I would close off that living room and make it a room too! You would then have 5 bedrooms at $2000-$3000 a month when full. I would have one of the tenants like a house mom that will make sure everything is good and will give that person a discounted $400 rent in order to do so. He or she would be basically paid $200 a month in discounted rent to keep the common areas of the home cleaned and in order, I would give the "House Mom" person the downstairs room so that he or she could be nosy and make sure that they can see who comes in and out of the home. This person should be older so that everyone else will respect her/him. I would install baby monitor cams in the common area so that he/she can see everything. In addition, this person can maintain the home in between persons leaving and going and will contact me regarding any problems with the home and will kind of be the watch out. We would be responsible for getting the folks approved and finding a great fit for the home but he/she would be like an assistant manager to us...I really think that would be your best options to reverse the adverse financial affect that you have been feeling...and you will start reaping the financial benefits that investing in a property like this could bring.
Apprx $9500 needed to take care of the above "Rooming Home" option and it will get rents that will pay $2k-3k per month (minus- 8% management fee and utilities <--apprx $300-400 a month for utilities) Your net $1540-$2460 Full occupancy.
Which
ever way, I will be willing to help. I have a professional crew on call for everything and they always give me the best rates. I can arrange to have anything that I have suggested taken care of. Should you decide to do the boarding thing, I can have Garibaldi St look as if you paid BIG bucks to have it furnished and decorated. I did interior decorating for years before real estate and know how to design on a dime. I have done something similar to this for 2 of my investors in Israel. I arranged for a basement rehab and we took a 3 bedroom 1.5 bath $700 a month rent place and turned into a 5 bedroom 2.5 bath $1300 a month rental by turning a garage into a bedroom and adding a full bath and finishing an unfinished room near the garage and turning it into the master bedroom. I hope this was helpful...Let me know your plans so that I may let the prospective tenant know what our plans are for this property.
Kind Regards,
Trina Richardson
Associate Broker, Solid Source Realty GA
