All Forum Posts by: Marina Shlomov

As a property management company, properly done SEO works wonders. We get 3 to 5 calls a week from our SEO efforts. Now, with that being said, if you are interested in higher results, have you tried a company called Four and a half? Look them up. They specialize in getting more business for property management companies.

Before I delve into the depth of our experiences with the section 8 tenants, I have to say, we are a property management firm and we screen tenants thoroughly, we call landlords, we call references, we still run a five point - credit, criminal background, eviction (yes, that too), check disturbance records in counties and interview the potential tenants. This is what we have found over the last few years, there are three types of section 8 tenants, 

1. those who take care of the property and do all the right things (very few of those) (1%)

2. those who you never hear from and they don't do anything that they are supposed to do (95%)

3. those who destroy the property to the point of no return. (4%)

Over the years, we had all three types of tenants. Of course the type 1 group is few and far between. Mostly you will get the type 2 tenant and there are really good ways to manage them, and of course, no matter how much you check, you will get some type 3 tenants (we had 2 in three years) and of course, that was a complete remodel after we got them to move out. Evicting section 8 tenants is harder than evicting a regular tenant, but that's a whole different story. 

Early on in our managing practice, about 9 years ago (we managed only our owned properties) we got very excited at the opportunity not to worry about the rent payments. It was then when we took on about seven section 8 tenants. Out of those 7, only one was the type 1 tenant, 4 were the type 2 tenants and two were the type 3 tenants. That's kind of our break down.

The type one tenant lived with us for 4 years, wanted to change towns and left. We came in, did minor touch up and re-rented the place within 2 weeks. This tenant we just accepted back into one of our three Section 8 friendly rentals now. 

The other type 2 tenants, through trial and error, we managed for about 3 years on average. What we figured out is that we need to do routine inspections (drive-by's and scheduled ones) every single month. Alternate scheduled inspections every two months and do drive by's every other month. They will not call you if the ceiling is leaking, if the toilet is running, they will not change HVAC filters regularly, they will not do anything related to maintenance, so be prepared to take care of these responsibilities yourself. Also, make sure that at their yearly inspection they have NOT damaged screens as you will have to replace them, paint walls if they are super dirty as the section 8 inspections may cite you for that.

Type 3 tenants took us a while to recuperate from. There were over $30,000 worth of damage on 2 of our properties and we were inspecting the properties. Now we were not doing it as often as every 2 months, we were doing inspections every 6 months as we did on our regular rentals. This was when we first started. We didn't have anyone warn us about section 8 and peculiarities of this tenant mind set. This group will live damage what they can and then they'll want to move to a new place. We did not get bad reviews from previous landlords on those two tenants, so there was nothing that could give us a clue. I'll share some photos from one of the homes shortly, but I wanted to say that over the years we have decided that the guarantee from section 8 as far as rent payments was not worth the lower rent amounts, all the extra paper work and the numerous inspections. We still have 3 homes that accept section 8, but as soon as I can talk the owner into selling those properties, we will be section 8 free. 

Overall, type 2 tenants cost us about $7K on turnover, type 3 tenants about $30k in turnover and type 1 tenants about $3k in turnover.

As far as we are concerned, section 8 is not worth the trouble. But there might be some thicker skinned people then the ones that work with us. Take a look at the pictures below and decide for yourself.

These cabinets and GRANITE counters were brand new, all appliances were brand new when they moved in.

They pulled the carpet off the stairs.

This was a brand new vanity

This is how we found the kitchen after move out. The stove was brand new. The fridge had to be thrown away as everything inside was broken. It'd be more expensive to replace all the shelves in the fridge then to buy a brand new fridge.

All new tile in the kitchen was broken, walls painted green, look at the carpet that used to be NEW only 2 years ago.

I've used Fiverr on many occasions, mostly to do video work and copyrighting. The trick to having a successful project is to pick someone who is located here in the US. Make sure that English is their native language (especially for copyrighting to ensure proper grammar), be patient, try a few different ones and choose the one with the most high ratings that you can find.

In many times that I have used this site, there were only a couple of times where I had to just throw away the end product. It only happened with folks whose native language was not English.

Hope that helped.

We have a no-smoking clause in our leases. We are in GA. The law does not prohibit you from having a no-smoking clause, however, we have an issue with enforcing the clause on a regular basis. We do two inspections during the year and our maintenance personnel regularly report to us if they see anyone smoking or smell smoke in the house. With all that being said, I have one tenant that's moving out because we caught them smoking in the house, but they were a tenant we did not want to keep and another property where we told the tenant (in writing) to cease and desist smoking in the property. The second tenant we don't want to loose, They pay their rent on time, the property is meticulous, yard is cut, HVAC filters are changed monthly...aside from smoking, they are perfect. We told them that we'll be back to check on the property again in a few weeks. Like I said, the second tenant we don't want to loose. Let's hope they took their habit outside. 

We do ask prospective tenants if they smoke, refuse renting if they do, the only problem is...people lie. We look at applications, we even have smoking as one of our pre-screening questions...and still we have people who get in.

Good luck to you. Fighting the smoking battle is not easy.

I am pretty sure that the seller should transfer security deposits to you while at closing. Security deposits don't belong to landlords or property managers. It's money that we (landlords or property managers) hold in escrow for the tenants when they move out for such things as damages. It is against the law to withhold security deposits from tenants and if your seller does not transfer the deposits to you, you will be the one responsible for the return of the deposits.

We have purchased occupied properties many times, but I always told the closing attorney and the my agent to make sure that security deposit is a part of the transaction. It is ILLEGAL to withhold security deposits from the tenants. It's their money, we are just holding it for them in case there's damage to the property at move out.

Hope that helps.

I do gift cards when tenants do something good and unexpected to say thank you, we also do gift cards when we have issues and the tenants are being understanding to say thank you for their patience. Gift cards are a great way to say thanks and show your tenants you are human. Yes, we are running a business, but small gifts like these go a long way towards tenant retention. 

I think your idea with a letter from the new management company with gift cards from the owner will go a long way towards your tenants appreciating all the changes that are being made and will really help in their decision to stay instead of leave.

We actually give a $100 to each tenant who has been paying rent on time for 11 months straight and renews their lease for another year or longer. I have tenants calling me before renewal and asking for their gift card, some get so excited, they even write reviews and most importantly, my tenants stay with us for an average of 4 years! 

Good luck to you, you are on the right track.

Anytime.

check out Atlanta, Ga. I own many Rental properties here and get between 12 and 16 percent ROI. All SFRs. Concentrated on outside the perimeter areas.

I'm a Real estate agent and a property manager. Know Atlanta really well. Let me know if I can answer any questions for you. 

Walk away. Properties in a flood zone will always create problems. Don't even worry about a bad tenant. The whole deal is a no-go in our eyes.

Marina

I've had that happen before. If I think the tenant is very good, I'll send the cleaning crew again, if not, I'll offer them a $50 to $100 certificate to take off the rent the next month and do the cleaning themselves. It just depends. If they are nice about it, I'd pay for the cleaning, if not...well it's very subjective. If you think they are a good tenant, clean the house. It's a small investment to keep a tenant happy.