All Forum Posts by: Jobie DeVinney-Walsh

You're welcome. 

Since 2001, we have had 3 rental properties in Charleston. I'll start with the good news: On average our tenants stay for 7 - 10 years. Since the maintenance and repairs necessary when a tenant leaves and the lost rental income when property is vacant this is a real plus. 

48% of the residents in Charleston are rentals, so there is a fairly large population of possible tenants.

And the city is great to work with when there are issues.

The bad news: If you're expecting to buy properties, rake in the income while a management firm does the work, don't. We've had three different management firms. All have had their good points and their bad. But, none of them kept sufficient oversite to keep us out of trouble. In one instance, a friend drove by one of the houses and found it empty. The tenants had moved out, without notice, 2 months earlier. A good management firm would check within a week when the rent wasn't paid. 

In another instance, it cost us around $18,000 in repairs to the house. it took 2 dumpsters to remove trash and garbage, four trips from pest control to kill all the bugs, replacing a refrigerator (that was  only just over a year old), and more. If the management firm had visited every two months, as we requested, things would not have gotten that bad. Due to serious health issues, we know the family was struggling. So we offered to pay for a monthly cleaning service to help out. It would have been cheaper for us if they had taken us up on the offer.

These are just two of the worst situations we encountered. There are more.

To be fair, I understand that several management firms were closed due to retirement, and the remaining firms were left to pick up hundreds of rental units. It can be overwhelming.

So, if you choose to invest in Charleston, be prepared to be proactive. Don't assume things are being done in your behalf. Nag the managers to do what you want and request photos of the before and after. My husband was in the construction trade (HVAC) and knew what it took to keep the mechanical systems of a house healthy. He kept track of when routine maintenance needed to be done and scheduled HVAC maintenance directly with a firm he chose.

Hope this is helpful.

Thanks for responding. Perhaps you can help me with a decision I have to make. 

Three days after my husband died our home started to develop some major problems - water issues, heat pump died, electrical problems, dishwasher died, to name a few. I've spent the last five months overwhelmed with these issues and chasing contractors to get the work done.  

I really want to sell these properties but I'm tired of everything being a fight to get it done. I'm thinking about backing away from the selling the properties for a couple of months to give me less on my plate. I'm thinking that I can revisit selling these properties in Jan, Feb or Mar.

I know you don't know me so asking your advice might make you feel uncomfortable, but I'm picking every brain I can find to hel[ me make a decision about these units.

In the meantime, I definitely want to pursue building a relationship with folks in near Charleston who can take the ball and riun with it.

Oh my! Trends are everything to make good decisions.

When there is a trend up, that means demand for that item or service is going up.

Ever notice that before holidays when a lot of people travel, cost for gas and airline tickets go up? That’s beccause there is a growing demand for gas so we can price it higher. Of course if there is a surplus of gas then the econmic law of supply and demand tells us we can’t increase prices. But this is a lecture for another day.

If you see demand for the type of properties you have is going up, you can price accordingly. You will, as they say, leave money on the tabe if you don’t spot and respond to trends early.

You ask about analysis… Spotting the trend is meaningless unless you understand what is driving the trend.

We’ve seen people move from the densely popuated areas to the suburbs. Recently Covid-19 was the driver. Other’s moved due to hurricane disasters. Those who moved due to Covid-19 might consider moving back to the cities if they feel Covid is under control. But if they were displaced due to a natural disaster, the length of time to rebuild the area may be a deterrent to moving back.

Embedded in the trend is the who…who are the people involved. For example, if the folks moving are families, then two and three bedroom units will be in demand  and the advertising message should include statements about qualities of the schools and low crime.

Well, this is a very short explanation about the importance of trends. Trends are only a part of the total decision making process, but it is a good place to start. 

There is only one other thing to point out – trends are a bell curve, so what goes up will come down. If you are flexible and nimble you can continue to be profitable.

Just off the top of my head - Mini-Splits are relatively new and just within the past couple of years have been growing in popularity. I'm sure good appraisers have educated themselves.

But I would wonder if you should be asking, "What is the best system to choose given my desired outcome." If you are upgrading to rent the properties then you need to consider the the pros and cons of both systems.

The number one complaint of forced air systems is the noise (which is a result of poor duct design). Contractors can have a lot of call backs to try to fix the noise issue - and call backs are costly since contractors bear the cost of these on new systems. This isn't an issue for mini-splits

However, the mini-split doesn't control humidity as well - and Baltimore has high humidity in the summer. A person can be comfortable at 80 deg indoor temperature if the humidity is at 50%. Renters may complain that they can't get comfortable - and it is probably because the humidity remains high in the structure.

If you are upgrading to sell, then the appraisal will have more of a bearing on your decision.

My suggestion - talk with your contractor and get all the pros and cons of each system. Weigh that information with your desired outcome. 

For a savvy buyer a mini-split will have higher value than the traditional system. With a multi-head mini-split, each room can be individually controlled. This saves on the energy bill since rooms that aren't being used can have a lower temperature. You have one compressor and a "head" in each room. Great selling point for new owners.

You should also look at initial costs so that you get that money returned when you sell.

In the past, the Mini-Split equipment was much more expensive. But due to growing demand the prices have dropped. We installed a Mitsubishi single head mini-split in our family room about 5 years ago. Then the equipment retailed at around $3000. Today that same equipment is around 50% less.

You also need to look at labor costs. Our mini-split took about 3-4 hours to install. I just replaced a heat pump where the duct was already run and it took about 7 hours. 

Last thing to consider - right now duct material is hard to get. Some areas are looking at a month or more to get flex duct and then they have to use the size that is available - which might be too small or too large. If it is too small it will not work right and be noisy. If it is too large, the air might not get to the room at the end of the run.

Hope this is useful information.

Check out REI Print Mail. Their web site is REIPrintMail.com. They develop a list and have several packages to chose from. They are pretty quick to respond to inquires - they got back to me in under 24 hours.

Marketers know that to get the attention of prospects, we need 7 - 12 "touches". And we also know that prospects attention span is quite short.  So, you can send different messages each time you reach out, keeping the information concise, clear, and looking for more. 

I welcome an help. Thanks for offering.

What great advice. Never thought of that. Thank you!