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Tuesday, February 27. 2007
It appears that Bedbugs are quite the rage, still, in and amongst the ranks of both Landlords and Tenants. In many ways, and for many reasons, I wanted this to be a temporary scare. My wants are not being met by the bugs.
If you’re wondering whether or not your Tenants might have a problem and simply aren’t talking to you about it, try and understand that many Tenants feel that admitting to bedbugs is the same as admitting to living in neglectful filth (which is NOT necessarily the case). This causes an understandable amount of shyness in getting the problem remedied early enough to avoid a full-blown infestation. I recommend printing or emailing the link for this site: Bedbugger. They have an awesome FAQ and a “tales of woe" post to help anyone feeling alone with the bugs. The University of Kentucky Entomology also has a fantastic write up on the bugs (complete with helpful pictures of infestation evidence).
Not convinced that bedbugs are a serious issue for Landlords? Well…
Bugged Out r eflects on the perils of 2006, and the bedbugs it brought. The Bedbug Blog brings you photos of their handiwork. And while his war was waged and potentially won earlier in 2006, Bed Bug War’s chronicles are still worth a read since he was at the forefront of a building war.
In my recent research, I came across a humorous take on these blood suckers: The Frankenstein Bug. Funny, good times in the face of the merciless Bed Bug. It’s a long one, so get a cup of coffee and take off your shoes. Some guy on a bus once told me “humor is a healthy path to healing" after laughing at the freezing rain that almost gave me hypothermia. There might be something to the words of that crazy old man, as much as I preferred to ignore him that morning.
Wednesday, February 21. 2007
We're pleased to announce the launch of TenantMarket.com! 
TenantMarket helps landlords find their ideal tenant fast by flipping the rental market and allowing landlords to search, filter, and contact renters.
How does it work?
If you are familiar with Match.com, the idea is similar: renters share their housing search, landlords search their profiles and contact renters who match. It's free for renters, and landlords pay only to contact renters.
Who is it for?
We designed the service to help the Do-It-Yourself landlords who own and manage "small properties" (i.e. condos, houses, duplexes, and sub-10 unit apartments). According to the Census Bureau, that describes about 2/3 (or 24 million) of rental units (approximately double the size of the apartment industry).
How much does it cost?
Access to contact renters starts at $29.95 for 10 days, $39.95 for 20 days, and $74.95 for a Good-till-Filled subscription. All subscription levels are for use with a single vacancy. If you have two properties at different locations, or two units with different floorplans at the same location, each would require their own subscription. If you have multiple vacant units at the same location with the same floorplan and price, you can use one subscription for all.
Is anyone using it?
Yes! We already have subscribers from Rhode Island to Oregon, and we are expanding our sales and marketing efforts each day.
Does it violate Fair Housing?
No. TenantMarket.com does not ask renters to share any information regarding protected classes (such as race, religion, and family status), and the duty is the same for landlords and owners to not discriminate whether they are online or in person.
How many renters do you have?
Currently we have 79,000 profiles of active searching renters nationwide. But the real test is how many renters match your property—to find out, go to www.tenantmarket.com, enter your zip and rent price and find out.
Can property managers and realtors use it?
Yes! In fact, anyone with more than 5 vacancies is invited to contact our sales team at 1 (800) 601-8205 to request a quote for special pricing.
What are the benefits for renters?
The key benefit for renters is they can save their search criteria and find out about new rental listings that match their parameters instantly via email. This saves times and helps renters jump on available properties more quickly. Also, landlords can target personalized incentives to renters based on their profile, extending discounts to non-smoking renters or renters with a longer employment history.
Why did you create it?
We spent a lot of time talking to independent real estate investors and owners and learned a lot about the difficulties of marketing rental properties. The biggest problem they cited was the lack of transparency—you can spend $300 per month for a newspaper ad, another $100-$200 per month to list your property online, or pay 80% of a month's in realtor commission, all without knowing who (if anyone) will see your listing or how long your property with be vacant. We designed TenantMarket to be proactive. Instead of waiting for renters for find you, you can reach out to them. Not only does this shave days off vacancy, but also provides more control and transparency over the process of finding a renter.
Friday, February 16. 2007
Landlords misbehave in other countries too!
Hello Germany.
Ask The Relic is suffering through some obnoxious repair work being done to the kitchen of the place he/she (“Relic� doesn’t exactly hint at gender) is currently dwelling with roommates in Germany.
No Tenant will respond favorably to having a kitchen renovation crew hammering and sawing about before 9am. That’s just unnecessary. Well, it might be necessary in Germany, and I’ve heard horror stories about dealing with craftspeople in Manhattan, but in the places where I collect rent it isn’t that far a stretch to schedule in-house work on a currently inhabited unit for mid-day.
Large-scale renovations are another story altogether, but Relic appears to be describing your basic “handy man� type of work. Perhaps some aesthetic touches here and there. Nothing too involved.
At least I know what I’d be called in Germany now. Hausmeister is pretty sweet sounding if you ask me. “Landlord� is cool and all, but it has some slightly negative connotations. Perhaps a nod toward a more cruel and medieval relationship between a Landlord and their Tenants. Like I have them tilling fields all day or something.
Now Hausmeister on the other hand, makes it sound like I am an actual professional of some sort! A MASTER if you will!
Yes, I realize that the normal translation of Hausemeister is the comparably less sexy “janitor�, but whatever. I’m talking PERCEPTION here. Namely, my own.
Besides, being a master of the broad and necessary janitorial crafts industry can’t be all bad, even if it is a bit bad sounding.
[my sincere apologies to any potentially offended practicers of the janitorial arts out there, much respect due]
Thursday, February 15. 2007
The options for marketing rentals online have exploded in the past couple years. Since the big apartment listing sites like apartments.com and rent.com tend to list mainly large multi-family properties, we wanted to make a list of all the advertising options for the do-it-yourself landlord trying to rent houses, condos, and duplexes (with an emphasis on the free ones).
To make life easier, we organized our list by type of site (Just Rentals, Real Estate, and General Classifieds), and then ordered them by traffic estimates from Quantcast, a web analytics firm. Hopefully you'll find this list helpful in deciding where and how to advertise your next vacancy.
Just Rentals | | Site | Est Montly Visitors | Pricing | | RentClicks | 500,000 | $39-$99 | | Sublet.com | 490,000 | $45-$81 | | RentalHouses.com | 440,000 | $39-$79 | | HomeRentalAds.com | 370,000 | $35-$56 | | RentalHomesPlus | 260,000 | $49 | | CityLeases | 170,000 | See Sublet | | Rentals.com | 170,000 | See RentClicks | | HomeRentals.net | 160,000 | $49-$139 | | RentVine | 140,000 | $38-$64 | | Tenant.com | 57,000 | Free | | TenantPlus | 42,000 | Free | | ThatRentalSite | 36,600 | Free | | ForRentByOwner | 23,000 | Free | | HotPads | 18,000 | Free | | FindHomeRentals.com | 16,000 | Free | | ThisProperty.com | 15,000 | $50 | | RentMarketer | 6,000 | $39.95-$89.95 | | CityCribs.com | 5,000 | Free | | RentalSource | 2,000 | $9.95-$99.95 | | ApartmentFrog | 1,500 | $20 | | RentFinders.net | 1,500 | $9.95 | | RentGrazer | 1,500 | $9.99 | | MetroLeases.com | 1,000 | See Sublet | | RentSeek | 1,000 | $49.99 | | SimpleRent | 1,000 | Free | | Urents.com | 1,000 | Free | | RentKong | 0 | Variable commission | | | | | Real Estate | | Site | Est Montly Visitors | Pricing | | Move.com | 4,400,000 | Free | | Yahoo Real Estate | 2,600,000 | $34.95-$54.95 | | House.info | 280,000 | Free | | ChoiceofHomes | 7,000 | $9.95 | | FindMyRoof | 2,000 | Free | | AOLRealEstate | 220,000 | See Move.com | | | | | General Classifieds | | | | Site | Est Montly Visitors | Pricing | | Craigslist | 10,000,000 | Free | | LiveDeal | 2,100,000 | Free | | Myspace Classifieds | 2,100,000 | Free | | Backpage | 1,100,000 | Free | | Oodle | 880,000 | Free | | Microsoft Live Expo | 690,000 | Free | | Adpost | 250,000 | Free | | Olx.com | 180,000 | Free | | Vast | 170,000 | Free | | Google Base | 100,000 | Free | | Geebo | 66,000 | Free | | Lycos.com | 57,000 | See Oodle | | Postlets | 53,000 | Free | | eDirection | 41,000 | Free | | Edgeio | 21,000 | Free | | Vflyer | 15,000 | Free | | eFind | 7,000 | See Oodle |
*Pricing estimates based on cost to place 30-day vacancy listing in Seattle, WA. ** Monthly visitor estimates by Quantcast.com as of 2/15/2007 |
Thursday, February 15. 2007
Took a week or two off from the tales told here in order to get a bunch of personal things in order. It’s been HECTIC, but it’s been the good kind. Well, the kind that will hopefully soon be good to me.
Okay, that was cryptic. And it'll stay that way for the time being!
Speaking of hectic (and absolutely fascinating) what’s up with this (alleged? Supposed? I have no idea how to refer to this guy) Landlord up in NYC? The charges are simply flabbergasting. And I don’t mean the attempted murder or arson.
Well, maybe the arson part. But only because it’s inferred that the arson was perpetrated on his own property.
But what’s really got me confused is how this guy is potentially managing to own MULTIPLE properties in New York City (Manhattan AND Brooklyn) with a collective value well into the millions of dollars, with hundreds of documented building violations spanning more than thirty years, yet NO ONE questioned why he was only claiming $52k as income? And on top of that, they can’t seem to confirm his real name, let alone just how many properties he owns.
Why am I so worried that the curve on my depreciation schedules might be too steep on the downside? Obviously, I want to be ethical in my dealings, and I do feel compelled to do right by my tenants up to the point where it no longer makes economic sense to be involved, but seriously.
That guy’s some kind of super phantom anti-hero Landlord if it comes to pass that he’s that far off the map.
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