Santa Clarita Property Management

Whoa!  As a rental home owner, that is not the headline that I would want to see.  Obviously news like that would be a bit of a shock to ANYONE that relies on an occupied rental unit to meet their monthly financial obligations.  So what could cause such a sudden drop in rental activity?  What could possibly be the root of such depressing news?  The holiday season!

Hopefully for most folks out there, the holiday season conjures up images of eggnog, family gatherings, great food, and other warm fuzziness.  I, for one, love the holiday season and all of the merriment that it brings.  On the other hand, owners of vacant rental properties have a reason to dread this festive time of year.  Why would anyone dread the flurry of fun and activity of the holidays??  To put it simply, no one wants to pack up their home and kids, schedule a move, and ask family members to lend a hand in getting all of their stuff into a new home during that time, thus effectively killing their good times!

The good news is that although the market does slow down just as much as I do after 10 pounds of turkey and cheese ball, there is hope!  This is the time for owners to seize the opportunity to price their rentals aggressively, thus placing their homes at an advantage over the poor fellow who is holding out for top dollar in a declining market.

When it comes to rental homes and rental income, math reigns supreme.  Let’s imagine that you have a home that will rent today for $2,000, but you really really want to hold out for $2,100.  Let’s also imagine that you are fortunate enough to get the asking price after 30 days.  Guess what?  By leaving your home vacant for that month you effectively passed up on $2,000 worth of rent.  As a result, it will take you almost two years with your tenant to make up that difference and break even!  And that is assuming that your tenant doesn’t decide to move at the end of his one year lease after discovering that he can get the same house in the same neighborhood for LESS money.  If that is the case, you can safely assume that the property will have at least another 30 days of vacancy at turn over.  If you haven’t broken even at that point, you have dug yourself even farther into the hole.

Do yourself and your wallet a favor.  When the holidays are around the corner, play it smart!  Then you won’t BE the poor fellow that is so wrapped up in worrying about his overpriced home that he completely misses out on the holiday merriment.  Price your home to move and enjoy your holiday!  Get yourself a prime spot under the mistletoe, and grab a huge glass of that tasty eggnog you market savvy king of the cash flow.

Drink up my friend!  You’ve earned it…