All Forum Posts by: Tyler Ansell

Be very careful playing with rent numbers. If this is a multifamily the rent is what the property is valued by. Wouldn't want to risk reducing value if you run into problems with the tenant and the reduced rent.

Check to be sure but here if landlord accepts even $1 the tenant can't be evicted because the court sees it as an understood agreement. Their argument would be well, you accepted it so obviously it was ok. 

Call, text, email, go visit...get the rest of your money and if they can't pay get them out asap, smells like trouble brewing.

Starting off as the new owner and wanting to "get things right" so to speak will probably get you into good graces with these long existing tenants. Couple a new lease contract with some cleanup and/or improvements and you'll be sitting right. Maybe even ask to check out their unit and make a list of some basic things they might have been ignoring. If you come in and get their carpets cleaned and fix a leaky sink they'll likely not have a problem with the increased rent.

@Scott Dorsett 

@Maria S. run your properties through www.rentometer.com as well as a general search around on Zillow :)

Even with almost 600 tenants I go unit by unit in a spreadsheet and assess what the current tenants are paying, what market rate is for that unit and start there. 

For me (make your own judgments) I put my first line at $30 under market. Anyone who is within $30 of market rate for their unit can keep their rate for another year.

Next line was at $40 under, those rents went up $10. That $10 increase was about a 1.5% increase. 

Anyone that was $70 under market, their rate went up $20

We had a few people that hadn't had a rent increase in years and were $150+ under market. However, most are great tenants and I want to keep them. I raised anyone that was further than $70 under market by $40.

Figure out where you stand and raise them up! An extra $10 is negligible if they don't want to move for another reason. That's 1 hamburgers a month, come on. It would cost them a few hundred bucks to move plus ponying up deposits and other costs. We rarely get any kickback from anyone that we raise $10-20 even $30 bucks. 

What would you pay yourself to do it? Is it worth your time to be inside painting by yourself for a week or two straight? 

Do some searching and reading on the forums and check out the podcast with Syrios who talks about student stuff. That should bring you towards some more detailed questions. @Michael Omalley

If your lease says you pro-rate then pro-rate it through the 11th, otherwise it's a full payment I would think. Really I mean you're talking about a few hundred bucks to just let her go...might avoid the headache and just do it.

I can speak to the student related items. Being a student is not a protected class (handicap, national origin etc) so as long as you do it across the board with no exceptions then you'll be fine. We verify by student (or faculty) ID Card, or if they're incoming by an acceptance letter. As long as you don't budge from that you should be fine. 

The on campus marketing is strictly dependent upon the schools. In my experience, most campuses have adopted a no solicitation policy. However, most have public bulletin boards where you can post ads and if you are interested in targeting a specific school like Law or Medical. You can set up a meeting with the advisor or dean and just ask nicely if you can post flyers somewhere. Since the schools are smaller than like a big public university you might have more wiggle room if you're nice and bring them treats too. :)

Best of luck!