All Forum Posts by: Terry Landon

 Hello I know at least 20 PM cos in the area, more than happy to help you connect 

Sounds like 16% right there.  What happened to take it easy and let a PM do all the work for 10%?
Most of my MF turnovers are actually 0 to negative. I have a back-up list.  
Don't get a PM until you can afford the massive cf hit and reduction in tenant experience because they don't ask 2 simple questions right away. 

@Terry Landon, if police officers were allowed to read and interpret leases, why would anyone need to go to court for an eviction. A police officer has no training to even know if a lease is valid at all. He cannot make that decision. That is what civil courts are for. Its the tenants property they have physical control of it at that point.

4-6 weeks is normal. 1 week to clean, spackle, do small upgrades like replace flooring in a room, touch-up paint, etc to refresh the place, 1-2 weeks to find a new tenant, 2-3 weeks for them to move in. Tenants aren't moving in the next day, they are typically moving in a couple weeks or so later. So, that is normal.

It also is HIGHLY efficient if you are keeping a tenant 5 years because that means you are only losing 1 week of rent per year. That is why I said you may want to focus on your turnover rate.

With 24 hours notice they don't have the legal right to refuse, BUT they still CAN REFUSE! Then to enforce the lease, you may very well need to go to court because no police officer will read and make a decision about the validity of your lease or your legal right to enter. So, you are correct you have the right to enter and they would be wrong to refuse, but still if they refuse you are stuck.

Like I said, it can be done, but even me as someone who does it themself and am also an agent waits for it to be vacant. You are literally talking about 1-2 weeks of extra vacancy and it is so much easier to do. Plus the units show better. Everything is clean and fresh and fixed up when the new tenants see it. If you want to attract good tenants it helps.

@Terry Landon, I manage my own properties and it is EXTREMELY rare that I show a rental until its vacant and has been prepped to rent again.

It is difficult to show an occupied rental. Tenants may refuse entry. Tenants may be there and bad mouth the property. Tenants are packing, so the property doesn't present as well. Unless I have an excellent tenant who is open to it, I don't even consider it.

I'm not saying it can't be done, but it isn't simple and easy.

I average 4-6 weeks for a turnover. So, if you are taking 1 month (4 weeks), then its only 1-2 weeks difference in vacancy between the approaches.

If you are having turnover EVERY year, THAT is what I would focus on as the issue to address. I budget for 5% vacancy with the intent to do BETTER than that. To me that means I want tenants to stay AT LEAST 2 years on average. That is the minimum. I think my average might be closer to double that at this point. Sometimes charging LESS rent makes you MORE money simply by reducing turnover!