Phoenix Rental Statistics May 2013

According to RENT CHECK which is the monthly publication from the Arizona Regional Multiple Listing System, the median lease price for metro Phoenix in May 2013 was $1,074.  Additionally, the average lease was $1225 and average days on the market were 51.  Often utilizing a phoenix property management company for your investment property can reduce the number of days on the market for you rental.  For example, take a look at the average days on market for the first half of 2013 for rental properties managed by Real Property Management:

  

Anthem 31

Avondale 16

Buckeye 23

Chandler 31

El Mirage 11

Gilbert 56

Glendale 23

Goodyear 23

Laveen 26

Litchfield Park 26

Mesa 64

Peoria 33

Phoenix 19

Scottsdale 31

Surprise 27

Tolleson 27

As a reminder, the price and how the property shows to prospective tenants does greatly effect the ability and time to place a qualified tenant.

Bed Bugs - They are the Landlords Problem

So your tenant's just moved in and they are calling regarding bed bugs - can you hold them responsible???  Can you assume that THEY brought the bed bugs in??  Not unless you want to risk paying high damages in court!  Not only are landlords responsible for treatment BUT they are responsible to disclose upfront if a property may have a bed bug infestation.  There is a bit of good news however in that as part of the bed bug treatment you can require the tenant to comply with a bed bug check list which includes the following:

1. Remove all clothing from furniture

2. Bag all clothing items

3. Remove bedding from bed

4. Remove all clutter from rooms

5. Throw away mattresses or purchase mattress covers

All clothes need to be sent through the dryer on high heat to kill all stages of bed bugs - prior to doing so, sort by color so you don't have to sort after.  Also, be sure that dryer isn't overloaded with each load.  After the clothes go through the dryer, place them in new bags so that none of the bed bugs or eggs transfer to the dried clothes.

Additionally, if you decide not to use professional property management services, make sure that you are doing regular inspections of the property to ensure it remains clutter free thereby reducing the risk of a re-visit of the annoying bugs.

The best tenant reasons for not paying the rent on time......

I thought I would share these entertaining reasons why a tenant can't pay their rent on time as I figure that if a landlord hasn't received their rent by the 12th of the month they can probably use a good laugh.....I hope you enjoy.

"I can't pay my rent because my BMW is in the shop, and I can't afford to pay for both."

"I can't pay the rent because my daughter ate my husband's paycheck."

"I deposited my paycheck in the bank teller machine and it got caught in the rollers.  It took six days to tear apart the machine."

"I had my choice of paying the rent or buying a car. I bought a car.  I thought you would understand." 

"I am sure I paid -- YOU must have lost it."

"It's your fault.  You deposited my check too late.  My automatic withdrawals went through the bank before the rent check."

 

"I am straight broke."

 

"I can't pay my rent because my income tax return was supposed to come in a week ago, so I spent all of the money from my paycheck, and now my tax return check has been delayed until 2 weeks from now."

Lastly if I had $1 for every time a tenant told me they couldn't pay because they were in the hospital I would be a VERY, VERY rich woman!

Understanding the advertising options for your rental

The Right Property Management Choice

Often times people who contact me regarding management services are very confused about the pricing structures and advertising that is available through management companies for their rentals so I will use this post to explain the different options that are available.  If you want your rental home rented quickly to qualified tenants than your choice should also be the company who offers the most advertising mediums and not the company with the lowest tenant placement fee because after all you do get what you pay for!  If when shopping management companies, your prospective company does not charge any upfront costs for tenant placement but instead takes all fees from the first month rent than mostly likely their only advertising medium will be the Multiple Lisiting Services ("MLS").  MLS can be a great avenue for very high end rentals in which a great number of tenants will higher a Realtor to represent them on the leasing process.  However, if you rental is more along the lines of a "typical" three or four bedroom property than you will be losing out on all of the tenants who search and find rentals on their own.  Even more confusing are then the options to reach the tenants who search on their own such options include free rental sites such as craigs list and paid rental sites.  If the management company you are interviewing does have  an upfront marketing cost, most likely they will utilize paid rental sites as some of your upfront cost will go to those costs.  Keep in mind that normally the paid advertising sites rank higher in Search Engine Optimization meaning there is a nood chance that your rental will be on a higher link during searches.  Additionally, these sites tend to draw more qualified applicants who are more diligent with their searches as opposed to applicants who only search on craigslist (the home of the most rental property scams in the US).  Additionally, these management companies may also post to free sites meaning that your rental will have the greatest exposure. But what if these companies don't utilize any of the first months' rent for tenant placement???  That means they don't offer MLS so now you are missing out on the Realtor market.  But what if they use up the first months' rent and some for tenant placement???  Now you may be paying them upfront for advertising AND paying them a leasing commission once the tenant is placed which really is double dipping.  Your ultimate choice for phoenix property managmement services is a company such as Real Property Management (RPM) West Valley in which you have all the choices - including online paid advertising, free online advertising such as craigs list AND MLS listing in which there is no additional fee or commission paid to RPM West Valley if a tenant is placed through an MLS Realtor.  Although it may seem expensive in the long run if all of the advertising mediums help to place a tenant thirty days faster than without you will be ahead in the long run.  Call today about services.  623-748-7800 x105