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Old 06-16-2017, 10:46 AM
 
Location: Riverside Ca
22,146 posts, read 33,381,488 times
Reputation: 35433

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Submariner View Post
In all 'rental markets' it is mostly about how much money you can make.

I have owned four apartment complexes in my past, and I have just recently gotten back into being a Landlord. I do not raise rents. I use a 1-year lease than we go month-to-month. I set rent levels when I begin to advertise, and I refuse to raise rent after that.

In my world view, if I keep raising rents I am forcing tenants to leave.

I have known with many other landlords. Tor the most part, they want to make the most money they can. So they will bump rent 10% every year until they have chased you away. Then they will drop rent 30% and do it all again. If their rent is 'low' then every month as they collect the rent, their internal dialog is: "I could be getting more this month, if only I had not set rent this low". Rents drop on vacant apartments, while rents climb on full apartments.

On the other hand, I do not like vacancies. I prefer to have tenants in all units, all the time. So I try to avoid anything that would chase a good tenant away.



I read the ads for the neighborhood. I write down every 1bdrm apt, every 2bdrm apt, etc. With each apt I make a note of how many 'extra's they have [like garage space or jacuzzi]. I average them, so I know how much the average 1bdrm is going for. I set my rent levels at 80% of the neighborhood average.

To answer your question, greed. In getting caught up in the act of reaching for more money, they forget the cost of vacancy. So it is self-defeating.

While I don't raise the rent often I dont have a policy of never raising rent. I hold off as long as I can (usually about 3-4years) and then do some form of rent raise. I have costs that go up too. I can absorb it for a while but not forever.

I couldn't justify monetarily and morally a 10% raise per year. To me that's just too much. I have a good idea what everyone is comfortable with and prefer a constant cash flow over upsetting the apple cart. 10% raises would be a couple of hundred bucks a year. I would spend more money doing yearly turnovers. Screw that. I know my current tenants. The most I have done is 4%. Spread over a 3-4 year period you're getting a 1-1.33% rent raise a year. That doesn't even keep up to inflation. Nobody questioned it. There is nothing that says you need to raise rent 10% a year every year.

I tend to be about 10-15% below going rate.
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Old 06-16-2017, 11:08 AM
 
Location: Forests of Maine
37,328 posts, read 61,154,439 times
Reputation: 30256
Quote:
Originally Posted by Electrician4you View Post
While I don't raise the rent often I dont have a policy of never raising rent. I hold off as long as I can (usually about 3-4years) and then do some form of rent raise. I have costs that go up too. I can absorb it for a while but not forever.

I couldn't justify monetarily and morally a 10% raise per year. To me that's just too much. I have a good idea what everyone is comfortable with and prefer a constant cash flow over upsetting the apple cart. 10% raises would be a couple of hundred bucks a year. I would spend more money doing yearly turnovers. Screw that. I know my current tenants. The most I have done is 4%. Spread over a 3-4 year period you're getting a 1-1.33% rent raise a year. That doesn't even keep up to inflation. Nobody questioned it. There is nothing that says you need to raise rent 10% a year every year.

I tend to be about 10-15% below going rate.
My grandparents lost their farm after the Dust Bowl and during the Great Depression, after they migrated West to pick nuts and fruit, when they finally got back into a house, they began to build houses. It was from those houses that they provided housing to other Okies. Their lesson to me was to never raise rent. Set the rent where you need it, and leave it alone.

My grandparents died in the 1990s, they still had tenants who had been in the same homes for over 50 years.
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Old 06-16-2017, 11:15 AM
 
Location: Riverside Ca
22,146 posts, read 33,381,488 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Submariner View Post
My grandparents lost their farm after the Dust Bowl and during the Great Depression, after they migrated West to pick nuts and fruit, when they finally got back into a house, they began to build houses. It was from those houses that they provided housing to other Okies. Their lesson to me was to never raise rent. Set the rent where you need it, and leave it alone.

My grandparents died in the 1990s, they still had tenants who had been in the same homes for over 50 years.
So you're telling me you have tenants who are paying 1950/1990 prices? If you're ok with that great. You run your business how you see fit. But don't sit there and call others greedy because they want to make money. Whether they raise rent 1 or 15% it's their problem when they have to find new tenants or how they run their business. Sorry but I'm not in the business of subsidizing to that extent.
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Old 06-16-2017, 11:30 AM
 
Location: North Idaho
32,559 posts, read 47,729,085 times
Reputation: 78076
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gene Starwind View Post
I agree and it's funny how none of the landlords on this forum have yet to comment on the post...
Oh, sorry. I didn't realize that comments from landlords were requested.

Nearly all of my tenants have left because they purchased their own house. Three of them purchased the house they were renting from me. Another tenant is just going into escrow right now to purchase the house they are renting from me.

In all the time I've been renting, two tenants left because they were offered a high paying job out of the area. One previously good tenant took up with a wild girlfriend and ended up arrested. One was due to a divorce. Two lost their jobs and moved back with family. One had a child custody dispute and had to move back close to the father. Every other tenant left becasue they purchased their own house.

Oh wait, an elderly tenant had liver cancer and moved back east to be with his family. And on second thought, one of the tenants that moved out of the area for a high paying job was my son's tenant and not mine.

Not one of my tenants ever left because the appliances were old.

If a tenant pays the rent on time every month, that places them in the top 95-96% of tenants out there. The number of tenants who don't pay their rent in time is rather small. Most people understand that a roof over their head is a very high priority.
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Old 06-16-2017, 11:33 AM
 
Location: North Idaho
32,559 posts, read 47,729,085 times
Reputation: 78076
I know it is veering wildly off topic, but the refrigerator in my own house, that I am living in right now, was manufactured in the 1970's. It works fine. I can't see why an older appliance, all by itself, would be a good reason to move.
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Old 06-16-2017, 12:27 PM
 
Location: The Heart of Dixie
1,359 posts, read 1,799,165 times
Reputation: 3496
Quote:
Originally Posted by oregonwoodsmoke View Post
I know it is veering wildly off topic, but the refrigerator in my own house, that I am living in right now, was manufactured in the 1970's. It works fine. I can't see why an older appliance, all by itself, would be a good reason to move.
Obviously nobody bothered to read the post below which indicates that the stove is both old AND not functioning properly. My guess is if the landlord's own stove was doing that, they would replace it, but a tenant is just supposed to deal with it. In regards to the OP renting despite all this - how the crap would you know the stove burns everything if you can't use it until after you move in?

Quote:
Originally Posted by NorthernSkysGuy View Post
So, okay, how more can I be "stellar"? Shut up? Pay you and deal with my crappy stove from 1986 that burns dinner.
Landlords think that anytime a tenant complains they want the top of the line Samsung that will chill and pour your wine for you. No, most of us just want something that will work properly
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Old 06-16-2017, 12:51 PM
 
Location: Riverside Ca
22,146 posts, read 33,381,488 times
Reputation: 35433
Quote:
Originally Posted by oregonwoodsmoke View Post
I know it is veering wildly off topic, but the refrigerator in my own house, that I am living in right now, was manufactured in the 1970's. It works fine. I can't see why an older appliance, all by itself, would be a good reason to move.
Exactly. I replace appliances when they break and are no longer worth fixing. But usually it's cheaper to fix a appliance than throw it away and buy another. If it breaks and Replacement is viable I'll replace it no problem. But I'm not replacing a stove because a $15 igniter is broken. I had a washer and dryer in a unit. Big sake in a fancy W/D. The things broke three times in three months. Brand new. I called the manufacturer every time. The main boards kept breaking. I finally traded it for a new base models. Damn things been there three years working like a champ.

Granted all my properties have been remodeled with one exception and the appliances are pretty recent and new. But if someone wants to leave because I don't have the latest appliances ok hey I'll put them in as long as you guarantee me a length of stay at x higher price to recapture my investment. I won't leave non working appliances and tell tenants to figure it out. Not their problem. Since I don't like screwing around if the appliance breaks down too many times ad it costs too much I'll just replace it. Not worth screwing around with it. I'll attempt to repair it. If it breaks down soon after the repair I'll replace it
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Old 06-16-2017, 02:12 PM
 
86 posts, read 83,822 times
Reputation: 141
Thanks for everyone giving his or her views. It's interesting and enlightening if we can have a positive discussion.

It might help us on both sides. By the by, my dad is a landlord of an apt. attached to the family home and he's the nicest (too nice in my opinion) to his tenants but that's who he is...he hasn't raised their rent in over 5 years and the woman who lives there takes full advantage of the very low rate plus all included...

Anyhow, I have no issue with older appliances which are usually built better if they work.

Right now my stove is rusty and does heat unevenly. It's not worth pursuing at this point.
My refrigerator is also old and freezes my milk and anything I put in there. Again, this is the second one we have had and I just deal with it, though it annoys us.
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Old 06-16-2017, 02:28 PM
 
Location: Riverside Ca
22,146 posts, read 33,381,488 times
Reputation: 35433
Quote:
Originally Posted by NorthernSkysGuy View Post
Thanks for everyone giving his or her views. It's interesting and enlightening if we can have a positive discussion.

It might help us on both sides. By the by, my dad is a landlord of an apt. attached to the family home and he's the nicest (too nice in my opinion) to his tenants but that's who he is...he hasn't raised their rent in over 5 years and the woman who lives there takes full advantage of the very low rate plus all included...

Anyhow, I have no issue with older appliances which are usually built better if they work.

Right now my stove is rusty and does heat unevenly. It's not worth pursuing at this point.
My refrigerator is also old and freezes my milk and anything I put in there. Again, this is the second one we have had and I just deal with it, though it annoys us.
I have a new fridge that did that in a rental. Ended up being the thermostat sensor.
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Old 06-16-2017, 02:51 PM
 
86 posts, read 83,822 times
Reputation: 141
Quote:
Originally Posted by Melodica View Post

Landlords think that anytime a tenant complains they want the top of the line Samsung that will chill and pour your wine for you. No, most of us just want something that will work properly
Yes, this is what I meant.
Why should I get harassed when I say to the manager my fridge died in the middle of a heat wave? They had to send the owner to look at it. He came back with the other owner. Then they brought me this second old thing. Made a huge deal about it as my food was melting on the table in the middle of August.

We had a very minor repair when we moved in 3 years ago. It was something very simple but they had to have the owner look at it before they sent over their handy man. He accused my wife (he's creepy) of breaking it. We had been in here what 2 days?

Oh, and, hell no, I am not giving up my dog of 10 years. I'll live on the street first.
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