All Forum Posts by: Colleen F.

@Dick Rosen that is good to know in the RI area it is higher (10-12%) but I have a multi-unit discount with my property manager that brings it down. We have thought of getting into other areas so its good to get a feel for how this fee varies.

Laveen, AZ I used to live there years ago. It is hard for me to imagine a lot of rentals there but I know it has grown as there was a lot of development when we were back 5 years ago. Curious is 8% a high management fee for that area? what would be typical?

In RI our lease says we can charge for excessive water use. We also can get the bill sent to the tenant but it has to stay in our name per the water company. It is a lien if they don't pay. It runs about $70.00 a quarter so I now just pay it and up the rent. I only once in 8 years had tenants that had double that use.

I am not at the present time working with a general contractor but for our buy and holds we buy appliances and we bought the generator so we got a better price. For trades like painters I buy paint and for flooring I usually buy it as they recommend. Otherwise the contract specifies that they supply materials to whatever specification we give.. On site though I sometimes get a request for a small item if I am around. and I don't mind that if it means they are making progress a bit quicker. This has happened a bit with the roofing contractor a board here , paint for touching up some stuff. It surprised me at first but I think it is just his style he will jump in and do a little extra thing for us at times too.

Vacancy is at 25% why? Is it going up or down in the area? What would you expect it to be at the end of the day? For the existing rent rolls the bank will look at this and if the tenants are paying.

Check the expenses and add some just because they are sometimes not well tracked.

Since even if you replace the fence the dog can still get out call the dog control officer and find out the regulations. They might even be posted on line. Encourage the tenants to report the dog if needed, even so you probably need to take care of the fence, I might put up something temporary if I thought it was a safety issue at least until you look into it thoroughly.

Can you get the gas bills, what's the cost? It depends on what it is. If it averages to less then say a 10% rent increase. I would average it into the rent and pay it. Long term plan to separate and charge them. If it is more I would split it now and see how that is accepted with tenants in your area.

Paint first except maybe baseboard trim depending on who is doing the floors. You still need to cover the floors but you don't have to worry about scratches from moving ladder etc.

With the new equipment if you have it professionally done the dust is way down from the past. I can speak to having just had floors done professionally (1st floor) and on our own (second floor). The floor guys sander had hardly any dust compared to the one we rented.

Regarding students as was mentioned by @Paul Timmins most universities have an off-campus housing listing. Monitor that for a bit to see what is advertised. Look at them on a map and see where they fall. Local property managers that deal with students will have their own rental listings online. If you find a real estate agent that does rentals to the student population they have the best info on where the students want to live. They may not be the same agents that you want to go to for purchase if they deal mostly in rentals.

Note that the difference in pricing in student areas can also be due to furnished vs unfurnished rentals. online rental databases don't distinguish between the two. I urge caution on the idea that you can get much more you can get from students, I haven't seen that, I think it depends on where you are. In RI I don't find students pay lots more then year round tenants but it may be true around Boston. I don't know Fitchburg. Our area in RI it's 400-500/bedroom pretty steady over the past couple years. Also students are a special rental population with some unique issues so you might look at some of the issues before making up your mind on your target area.

It really depends on the area. you need to look at how much occupancy you can get in high vs low season. What weeks are a long shot depending on what's hot in your area. Also not all houses are equal and vacationers are neighborhood specific, a couple of blocks can make a difference. Can they walk to the beach? to the bar? Is it a family vacation area or a party zone. Are there year round residents in the area or is it mostly vacationers. Are the bedrooms a typical number for what rents in the area. We ran the numbers on a fair number of condos in some vacation areas and just couldn't make it work.

We do have a house in RI in an area where there are winter students and summer beach rentals. We mostly rent the winter and we book part of the summer. Our intent when buying it was to get some enjoyment out of the house ourselves so it isn't working for us all the time. Our friends do very well renting to vacation and students usually without vacancy. That being said I don't think you can get that in many places. Personally we look for the non-party zone although you can make more money in some other neighborhoods. I just don't like having to deal with the cops tagging the house for partying. Our house is beach view not beach front (lucky us- no flood insurance) and that is always a plus. I think what you look for depends on the area. A good thing to do is look at something link vrbo.com and get a feel for what rents in the area you are interested in.