Nothing hurts a landlord’s pocketbook or pride like being the victim of theft or vandalism. Prior to PEX plumbing the main security issue facing landlords and homeowners in St. Louis and around the country is copper theft, but there are many other temping targets at any property. One particularly expensive and “easy to steal” component are AC condensers. Read more

Whether you are talking about your own home or a rental property, nothing is quite so fun as replacing light bulbs. No matter how quickly and easily the change can be done, it’s amazing how long we all tend to put off such menial tasks. One of the best ways to cut down on this hassle is by using compact fluorescent (CFL) light bulbs instead of the traditional incandescent. Read more

One of the biggest maintenance issues landlords and homeowners face at their properties is with their heating and cooling systems. With the extreme heat of St. Louis summers and extreme cold of St. Louis winters, our environment can certainly put a strain on these systems. Annual maintenance by your HVAC technician is always a good idea, but there is one simple thing you can, and should, be doing ever month: cleaning the filter in your furnace. Read more

An often overlooked side of owning investment property, is how to manage the property in the most efficient way. Simply throwing in any tenant and letting the property sit idle could eventually lead to major troubles. Although, some things take time to employ, in the long run they can make your life a lot easier. The following are a few tips to help your investment run a smoothly as possible: Read more

Filling vacancies in your apartment units quickly can be the difference between success and failure with real estate investments. Looking for tenants anywhere you can find them increases your odds of success, but never forget that not all situations are equal. One area to be especially careful of is when working with renting to family members. I am not talking about renting a unit to a member of your own family, although that can be an issue as well. I am referring to the situation where you have a vacancy in your upstairs unit and the downstairs tenant refers their cousin Billy as a potential renter.  Should you run across this situation I just have one simple thing to tell you: “Be careful.”

The first thing to ask yourself is whether the tenant doing the referring has been a good tenant. If they haven’t, a referral from them should be avoided. If they have been exemplary, it might be worth giving the person a shot, but make sure you run your normal background checks and that the person truly qualifies.

Even if they do, just use good judgment on how you handle things. I have been witness to a few horror stories where two or more units in a building were rented by family members, who seemed to think that since they knew each other that they could do anything they wanted. Keeping discipline in an apartment building can be a challenge in an situation, but things like these can make things even more murky.

You also can face problems if the referrer or referee family member defaults on their lease and you have to evict them. Some tenants might not blame you at all if you evict their relative and they deserve it, but others might walk out on their lease along with their departing kin.

The morale of the story is simply to be aware that things can be too to be true in the world of property management. Should you encounter a situation such as this, just make sure you consider the baggage that comes along with taking on related tenants.

Trash is never-relenting enemy in urban areas. Your tenants can be the cleanest on the block, yet trash will find a way into your yard. Those “free” newspapers that seem to appear out of nowhere on your front porch are a particular pet peeve of mine. Regardless of where it comes from, it needs to be taken care of. You’d think people would realize that by now, but I find myself constantly astounded at how many rental property yards are just covered with junk. I don’t know if its dirty tenants or lazy landlords that are to blame, but its a problem that can be found throughout the St. Louis area.

Trash in the yard of your properties or in the basements or on the porch is unsightly and draws household pests. When prospective tenants take a look at your vacancy and see trash all over the place, you’ve just made a bad impression. The same goes for prospective buyers if the property is for sale. Its also bad for tenant retention and tends to get you on the City’s bad side.

This is a never-ending battle, fighting the pileup of this trash, and you need to keep on top of it. When you visit your property to collect rent or fix a sink, you need to pick up the trash. When you cut the lawn, you need to pick up the trash. Even if you have to make a special visit to do it every couple weeks you need to pick up the trash.

Landlords who have their properties professionally managed seem to have the biggest problem with this. For some reason, it seems like all the property managers in town seem to think that keeping their clients properties clean isn’t their responsibility. If you have a manager in place, check up on how they are doing with this issue. If you stop by and the place is filthy, call them out on it. You’re paying for their service, and if they can’t provide something as basic as picking up the trash, you might want to look elsewhere.

Whether you’re doing it yourself or have someone else do it for you, picking up regularly around your properties should be of major importance to you in maximizing th profitability of your investments. Dirty buildings draw bad tenants and we all know how that can turn out.

Seeing as it has been sleeting and snowing all day, I figured I’d make mention of the issue of icy sidewalks. Spreading ice melt prior to a storm or getting quickly around to shoveling snow at your properties is not always a realistic option. It’s usually a gray area on who’s responsibility such work is as well.

One way to appease your tenants in this situation is to have some salt or ice melt and a snow shovel on site. This might not be an option for all properties, but if you have caring, attentive tenants, supplying these items will often allow the situation to take care of itself. If you have salt in the basement that the tenants are aware of, they will generally sprinkle it on the sidewalks for their own sake. If you have a cheap snow shovel in the basement someone will often take up the mantle as well. Its a cheap way to help yourself and satisfy your tenants.