St George, Utah Real Estate Blog

09/22/05

Today’s real estate numbers:

• All homes for sale on the MLS: 681
• Homes pending (under contract): 820
• Median asking price: $360,000
• Average mortgage rate: 5.34%
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What I’ve Learned from My Renters

I’ve been managing rental properties off and on for about 10 years.

Needless to say I have seen all types of renters come and go. I’d have to say that mostly the tenants have been good quality people. I did do a look of self educating by reading as many “property management” books as I could find. The book learning has helped enormously in teaching me to find quality renters.

On the other hand, I’d also have to say that I have learned just as much by “jumping in” and getting my feet wet by renting my properties to tenants.

Here are a few of the things I’ve learned over the years:

• It’s ok to rent to a tenant that wants to keep a cat. It is a bad idea to rent to a person that has more than one cat. Cats often times “spray” to mark territory if they have are “competing” with another cat. If your one cat tenant suddenly has two cats, jump fast while it is easy for the tenant to get rid of the second cat. Charge more rent for people with pets and get a larger damage deposit.
  
  
• Pet odors can be eliminated by painting “Kilz Primer” over the area where the odor in coming from. If the area is on the wall just paint with primer and then paint the wall the regular color. If it is in the carpet, you will have to clean or remove the carpet. Pull up the carpet and paint the pet stained areas (wood or concrete) with Kilz.
  
  
• If you are a landlord with just a few properties, seriously consider using a “on time rent rebate” if the tenant pays their rent on time. By doing this I rarely receive rent payments late. Some tenants will pay as much at 10 days early. Try it, you’ll like it.
  
  
• Pull credit histories on all tenants. Never rent to someone too young to have a credit history. The one time I did this I rented to a young man that ended up selling heroin out of the condo I was renting to him.
  
  
• If you are renting a property that is in a Homeowners Association (condo, townhouse, etc.), make sure your rent agreement has a clause which allows you to force the tenant to move if you receive more that two complaint or violation notices from the HOA. If your tenants can act like adults, great. If not, get rid of them. You don’t need the stress.
  
  
• Nearly all tenants try to see what they can get away with (moving an extra person in, getting a pet, etc.). Be prepared to push back and make them follow the rules of the rental agreement. If you give them an inch they will take a mile.
  
  
• Real estate investing is a “problem solving” game. You are going to run into problems, period. Don’t let them get to you, solve the problem and move on. I find it helps to sleep on a problem. By the next day I usually have a good solution.