Should I Allow Pets in my Rental?
Pets… To truly understand the schism that has widened between the two parties to this debate, you should first take a look at both sides of the argument! In this post, I will play advocate to both sides in an effort to come to the best possible conclusion.
Let me start with the tenant’s point of view. To many pet owners, their furry little bundle of joy is essentially a member of the family. Especially here in Southern California where pet shrinks, groomers, and luxury boarding facilities abound! To these tenants, the thought of giving up their dogs and cats in order to move into a home is absolutely ludicrous! Often times, they will offer to have us inspect their current home for pet damage, show us photos of “Fluffy”, and swear on the graves of various ancestors…all to convince us that THEIR animal is different. They can’t understand why anyone would hesitate to rent to them and their pets.
Now let us examine the owner’s point of view. Just about every owner that I have met with has heard some kind of horror story from a friend, neighbor, or family member about a renter/pet situation that went awry. As soon as they hear that an applicant has a pet, their minds conjure up images of destroyed yards, urine soaked carpets, and smells that will linger for years. It is just like the media…the happy news doesn’t get reported and spread! In order for a story to be worth repeating, it has to be shocking or horrific in some way. As a result, most owners won’t hear about the hundreds of times that we rent to people with pets and have nothing go wrong.
Now for some stats: We estimate conservatively (based Classic’s on hundreds of managed properties), that more than 85 – 90% of renters own some kind of cat or dog. Here in Santa Clarita, the rental market has become increasingly competitive! An increase in the number of available properties coupled with an unchanged pool of renters means that if you want to rent your home quickly, you need to appeal to the largest market share that you can.
In conclusion, I would encourage home owners to at least consider the prospect of renting to folks that have pets. Is it because of some wacky idealistic world that I’ve imagined where people and animals live together in a dreamy rainbow filled wonderland? Absolutely not. As a rental home owner, I want to make sure that my home has as little vacancy as possible. If my home comes up vacant, I don’t want to make a decision that will eliminate all but 10% of potential renters. For the average home in Santa Clarita, one month of missed rent on a vacant home is about $2,000. With dough like that on the line, every day counts! After all, you can use every dime of the tenant’s security deposit to correct pet damage if need be. In fact, it is completely acceptable to increase the rent for folks with pets, take a larger deposit (make sure you know the legal deposit limits), etc. There are plenty of ways to safeguard your home and investment from the potential pet carnage!
Always remember… Less vacancy means more money in your pocket!
How to View a Rental Home: A Tenant’s Guide.
When it comes to viewing a property, there are a couple of things that you may want to consider. Whether we like it or not, there is truth to the saying that “first impressions are lasting impressions.” With that in mind, I would recommend that if you schedule a viewing of a property, whether through a company or with an owner, that you adhere to a few 
simple guidelines:
Be punctual!
When I have a busy day of showings lined up, one late viewer can set off a chain reaction of schedule-destroying mayhem that causes me to fly through Santa Clarita like Steve McQueen trying to get to my next showing on time. It also makes me wonder about our odds of rent coming in on time if the viewer doesn’t show up on time. Obviously things do pop up unexpectedly. Should that be the case however, it is a good practice to call and let the agent/owner know that you are running behind, unable to make it, etc.
Be respectful!
Oftentimes, the properties that we show are occupied by either the property owner or an existing tenant that is planning to move out. Should you find yourself being shown an occupied home, you should try to keep the crazy to a minimum. I have shown properties to people who will flick cigarettes onto the driveway, lawn, and bushes at the home they are viewing. I have shown homes to folks that allow their children to run through the house like wild banshees, picking up the occupant’s belongings, chasing pets, scream at the top of their lungs, etc. I have been shocked by applicants that swear loudly in front of current occupants, the occupant’s children, and neighbors. Consider this: if the current occupant is the owner of the home, what do you think the odds will be of him renting to you after observing that madness? Property managers are hired to keep the owner’s best interest in mind. If two applications come in on a home where one applicant was polite and respectful and the other was the human embodiment of total chaos, guess who is getting the home?
Even though an owner may not live there anymore, they may still have friends among neighbors that they will want to keep happy, or they may have an emotional attachment to their home coupled with a very real fear of it being destroyed. So if you want a quality place to live, just remember that when it comes to viewing a home, common sense should reign supreme!
Your Guide to Rental Home Repairs!
“That house was perfect when I lived there!”
*
Ah… If only I had a nickel for every time we have heard that!
When it comes to renting out your property, there are a couple of things that you should keep in mind when addressing the potential list of repairs that a tenant can generate. First off, whenever a new occupant takes possession of a property, there are bound to be a few things that they would like corrected. It is actually pretty surprising how much you can miss while living in a home. Once a fresh pair of eyeballs arrive on the scene, they tend to be able to spot a lot of things that your brain may just subconsciously gloss over.
Secondly, things that you may not consider to be broken, may be considered to be broken by the rest of the world! For example, you know that sliding door that you have to lift slightly, while pushing with 5 pounds of pressure, while standing on your head, and jiggling to open? That probably isn’t going to fly. How about that garbage disposal that you have squeezed 40 years of service out of? Sure it still works “perfectly” as long as you don’t attempt to dispose of 
anything with a hardness above that of Jello. Guess what? It isn’t going to fly.
The bottom line is that it is in your best interest to keep your tenants happy! Happy tenants mean long-term tenants. Long-term tenants means less vacancy. Less vacancy means MORE money for you.
Classic Teams up with Magic Mountain and the Arthritis Foundation!
We just wanted to take a moment to let everyone know about a fun way to support a great cause!
Classic Property Management has teamed up with Magic Mountain and the Arthritis Foundation! On Sunday the 16th of May, Classic will be helping out with the Arthritis Walk. Our team will be assisting with registration for all of the folks who come out to the park to support this great cause! If anyone is interested in joining us, we would be more than grateful for the help.
Anyone who joins our team and either donates or raises $250 in their name is also welcome to stay in the park after the event to ride the coasters and have some fun! As a fun side note, this is the only day of the year that you are welcome to bring your canine friends along and into Magic Mountain! So come on out with Fido and the family for a day in the park and join us for a great cause.
Blog Subscription Giveaway Results!
For those of you who don’t remember, we offered a subscription giveaway when we launched our blog. 
Those of you who subscribed were entered into a drawing to give away several Starbucks gift cards and a grand prize of a $50 Mobil gas card!
We are happy to announce that the drawing has taken place and the winners will be receiving an email from Classic to let them know that their prizes are on the way! If you get an email from us letting you know that you have won, feel free to share in the comment section!
We plan to have many more opportunities to win free cool stuff, so stay tuned!
New-Fangled Computer Thingies… The Out-Of-Date Company
Sometimes, the world continues to move and change even when we don’t want it to. For example, I remember just in MY lifetime when the cost of gas was outrageous at $1.29 per gallon. I am sure there are several folks out there who remember when it was even less! How about home sales? There was a time when you could expect your home equity to double every 12 months like clockwork! And now? Well, you get the idea.
On the flip side, there are some changes that have made life much more convenient and have changed mankind forever! For example, we complain about the cost of gas but where would we be without our cars? You think a 2 hour commute to work is bad? How about a two DAY commute on a horse? How about the unbelievable medical advances that have been made over the past decade? Would you rather go to a modern hospital or go to some guy that sticks leaches on your arms to let out the “bad” blood that he thinks is causing your health problems? Some advances have been great!
In my estimation, the most groundbreaking and life altering invention of my time was the advent of the internet. Never before has worldwide information been so readily available. Instead of waiting days or weeks for news about something happening on the other side of the world, we can now have live access through video, social networking sites like Facebook, and more! Rapid information access has never been this easy!
So how does this relate to companies these days? As the internet continues to become the primary source of information, successful companies must constantly adapt to, and utilize the web to accomplish their goals! In your quest to locate a trustworthy property management company or any other company for that matter, you may want to pay close attention to the way they present themselves online. Is their website easy to use, easy to navigate, and clean-looking? Or is it out of date, cumbersome to navigate, and unappealing? Is the content relevant, informative, and well presented? Or do you have to search hard for the answers you need only to be disappointed by a poorly written, half-hearted attempt at information?
It occurred to me the other day that if a company refuses to adapt to the needs and preferences of today’s market, what other areas have they fallen behind in? Are they sub-par in the areas of customer service? Accounting technology? It certainly makes you think!
Here at Classic, we pay very close attention to the market and the requests of our customers and clients. Not only does our adaptation of the latest technology make our jobs more streamlined, it also allows us to present the homes that we manage to potential renters in the best possible way! Being the best property management company in Santa Clarita isn’t an accident! It takes dedication to our customers, and a willingness to adapt to the ever shifting conditions and demands of the rental market.
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Let us know what YOU want to read!
If you would like us to blog about a particular topic or if you have questions for us, feel free to let us know! Sometimes, even the creative geniuses that run Classic also run… out of ideas! We know that there are probably hundreds of questions floating around from both owners and tenants. Why not get them answered by Santa Clarita’s most trusted property management team?
Go ahead, let the questions and suggestions fly!
The second most asked question I get is “Is it time to buy an investment property?”
The first most asked is “I lost my house, can I still rent through Classic?”. If you missed it, read it here. But this second most asked question is forefront on a lot of people’s minds. Why? Well, let’s see. Home values in Santa Clarita are down about 30-60% depending on the neighborhood and style of home, interest rates as of 4/6/10 are still crazy low, there seems to be a large pool of renters and there seems not to be a large pool of homes. It’s a valid question, “is now the time to buy?”.
Before I attempt to answer this question from my limited bank of knowledge, let me start by saying that this is an OPINION article. Not fact. No proven crystal ball sits on my desk. My track record isn’t staggering one way or the other. So take all of this with a grain of salt. Now, do I think I am right? Of course. Why would I post this if I didn’t? But if I were you, I would use this info as a piece of the overall pie of information keeping in mind that this is a property manager’s point of view (specifically a property manager from Santa Clarita, CA). It is industry and geographically specific and is biased by my knowledge and experience. I would encourage you to get some opinion from other sources as well, say, a financial planner, a mortgage lender or broker, a real estate sales broker, a pessimist, an optimist, etc…
Now, enjoy my opinion. I believe that we are at or very near (within 5%) the bottom of the market in most areas of Santa Clarita. I believe that we will remain here for some time, perhaps a year or more. I could leave it at that, but I am guessing that some engineer out there is going to want to know why and how I came to that conclusion. If that is not you, you can skip the rest of this post.
Here is some of the data that I used:
- In past declining markets, we have not dipped further than we have this time (granted, the reasons are different this time and there is a first time for everything).
- The fed is fighting tooth and nail to keep rates low until the recovery “gains traction”. (I realize that they have stopped their previous actions in the bond market, but I also believe that they are under the “belief” that the private money will show up. Way can go as far down that rabbit hole as you would like).
- I believe that we have seen the worst of unemployment in Santa Clarita (this is one with which I encounter the most disagreement, partly because it is perhaps the most subjective. Bottom line, this is my perception.) Again, we may hover at this unemployment level for a while, but I think we will not likely dip noticeably lower.
- For the buyer with a down payment of 10-20%, the PITI (principal, interest, taxes, and insurance) payments are darn near the same as the rent for a comparable property in most places.
Now, let’s assume that you assume my above assumptions are correct. What would you conclude? I can at least tell you what I conclude. I conclude that this is probably a good time to purchase an investment property in Santa Clarita and will likely remain so for a year or more. Could I be wrong? Well, I guess it’s possible. Okay, I’ll be honest. It’s not big of a stretch. If rates climb quickly, monthly payments will remain the same if the purchase prices dip which can make investors cringe. If unemployment takes a nasty turn in Santa Clarita, rents will dip which will pull sales prices down. (Oh, did I tell you that I believe rents sometimes drive purchase prices, not vice versa?) Honestly, there are probably lots of other factors that could make my answers wrong, but this is my post, so I get to post my opinion. You can post yours in the comments.
The Hardest Part of Holding On is Letting Go!
As a rental home owner, I know firsthand about the slew of emotions that come into play when you choose to rent out your home. Although I am not the kind of person who gets sentimentally attached to a house, I can see how others might. I have had the pleasure of working with a LOT of homeowners. While most of them make the switch from homeowner to investment property owner without any difficulty, others seem to have a bit more trouble. You see, if you want to become a successful investment property owner, you have to be willing to view YOUR house as A house. Lets take a quick look at how this can affect your way of thinking.
Someone who views their home as THEIR house is going to worry excessively when a tenant wants to paint a room, plant flowers, hang pictures, mount plasma T.V.s, etc. As you can imagine, this can create a bit of a hostile living environment for tenants. If a tenant moves into a home and is forced to leave everything exactly how it is on move-in day, it is the equivalent of asking someone to live YOUR life instead of their own! Once you turn your keys over to someone else, you have to be able to view the rental as a business. You aren’t living there anymore, the tenant is. Now, some homes may be fabulous to the point that every human being would love to live there without changing a thing, but odds are pretty strong that a tenant will want to do something…
Obviously there are boundaries! For example, I wouldn’t give a tenant free reign to knock down walls to make rooms bigger, cut skylights, or perform other major construction without my consent, but if they want to paint a room for their daughter, hang a giant plasma, or plant veggies out back, I say go for it! Why you may ask? Because this is one area where I know that it is not personal, it is business. The happier I can keep my tenants, the longer the tenant will stay, and the more money stays in my pocket. That is just good business sense! After all, you can always tell them they have to put everything back the way it was if they decide to move out.
Rental Home Repairs…Keep ‘em In-House or Farm ‘em Out?
There are two different schools of thought when it comes to property management companies and their decisions on how to handle repairs. Basically, you can hire a handyman or repair crew to be on your 
staff, or you can farm out the work to local companies. Most apartment complexes will have a maintenance guy on staff because it is convenient to have someone close at hand to take care of issues. But what about companies that cater to single family dwellings like houses, condos, and town houses? Why don’t we take a look at these two options and I will let you know which route we at Classic have chosen and why:
Option #1: Hire Maintenance Staff
This route does have some attractive features. For one thing, you can set your own rates for repairs. This means that if you want to charge $100 to change out an A/C filter, you can! This is a tremendous money-maker for a less than ethical company. Another plus it that you can determine what repairs are made. This means that you are running an unethical company, you have the ability to nickel and dime an owner for every little thing that you can think of and make a ton of money doing it! If you have hired a fantastic company this route isn’t a problem, but I would always be wondering…
Option 2: Farm Out the Work
This is the route that Classic has chosen. Although we are a company with impeccable ethics, we wanted to make sure that we were above reproach as much as possible. As a result, we didn’t want owners to have to worry about us making repairs that weren’t necessary in an effort to boost our income. Basically, we have spent over 16 years sifting through local companies in an effort to find the folks who make repairs quickly and correctly. Oftentimes, because these honest repair guys value our business, they will put our requests at the top of the list and even give us discounted pricing! Not only does this eliminate the unnecessary repairs, but it saves the owner some $$ on the repairs that ARE necessary!
