Rental Housing Journal Colorado December 2017

Rental Housing Journal Colorado

December 2017 - Vol. 9 Issue 12

3. 4 Ways to be Proactive in Rental Property Maintenance 5. Facebook Rentals Added in Marketplace Include Apartment Listings

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Which Rental Property Flooring Is Right For Your Tenants?

By The Editors www.rentalhousingjournal.com hich type of rental property flooring is right for you and your tenants to both help with maintenance and be attractive to get new tenants? The maintenance checkup this week provided by Keepe focuses on flooring to be sure you are your protecting your investment and income as well as keeping your tenants happy..

Flooring is the first thing that rental applicants see during a showing of a rental property so which rental property flooring is right?

Flooring choice for rental properties is the equivalent of curbside appeal for homeowners.

Renters are motivated by different attributes than homeowners, so luxury or cost are not the only attributes to consider when making a choice of flooring. It is also important to consider which segment of the rental market the property at hand is targeting.

For example, it may not make sense to install low-cost vinyl flooring if the location and finish of the property is more attuned to the high-end renter.

That said, when it comes to flooring options at rental properties, there are a few technical attributes that are important to consider.

4 Roof Preventive Maintenance Steps You Should Take Before Winter

By Eric Skoog

No. 1 Gutters and downspouts These are areas of specific concern whether in areas of snow and ice or heavy rain. Any structure that has gutters and downspouts should have those two areas checked.

Leaves, debris, children throwing balls up on the roof - any of these can plug up gutters and downspouts.

When that happens you have improper drainage. With improper drainage, there is a greater chance for water to back up beneath the roof system. Also remember you tend to get ice damming along eaves in cold country, and this can be minimized with proper drainage and installation of electric tape.

Gutters and downspouts are your

W

Rental property flooring basics There are four basic types when you are selecting flooring: • Hardwood • Laminate • Carpet • Vinyl

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...continued on page 2

most important roof preventive maintenance-related item to check every fall. Make sure gutters and downspouts are open and clean.

No. 2 – Clean out roof valleys The second area for roof preventive maintenance I would look at would be the valleys on pitched roofs.

Especially with tile and shake roofs, valleys tend to get filled up with debris.

A valley is a junction where two slopes of a roof meet and water drains from the roof down that junction. If there's any debris in the valley, water tends to be diverted sideways beneath the roof's surface. When water gets under slate, shake, tile, or even shingle, it travels until it finds a drainage point, continued on page 7

9 Insights For Property Managers Heading Into 2018

T

here were 9 insights for property managers heading in 2018 that were shared in a recent webinar featuring a survey of 1,200 property managers across the country.

Buildium.com did the survey along with the National Association of Residential Property Managers (NARPM), in August and September of this year to provide property managers ideas around strategy and growth for the industry heading into 2018.

The survey was about 50-50 femalemale, and about 70% of the property managers responding said they were over the age of 40. The insights involved: 1. Renting is more attractive than buying 2. Millennials make up 56% of the total rental market 3. Baby Boomers want long-term rentals

4. The top 2018 goal for property managers is to become more efficient 5. Second, property managers want portfolio growth 6. Third, property managers want revenue growth 7. Marketing 8. Investing in staff 9. Investing in technology

Renting more attractive than buying The webinar was conducted by Chris Litster, Chief Customer Officer, and Michelle Burtchell, Vice President of Marketing at Buildium. “According to Price Waterhouse Coopers, 12.5 million new households will be created over the next 10 years, and more than half of those are going to be rentals.

Why? continued on page 4

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Rental Housing Journal Colorado

Roof Preventative Maintenance ...continued from page 1 which might be a nail hole or some other minor penetration where it can get in and cause quite a bit of damage.

So number two would be clean out the valleys.

No. 3 – Look around any roof penetrations The third area in roof preventive maintenance I would think about would be any penetration in the roof.

You have roof penetrations for kitchen and bathroom exhaust fans, soil stacks, and perhaps even roof-mounted air conditioning units or evaporative coolers.. Anything that penetrates through the roof has the potential to leak because you're breaking the roof system. You want to check around those penetrations to make sure that the roof sealant or any gaskets are in good shape, re-sealing or replacing as needed.

No. 4 – Check around parapets An additional area for roof preventive maintenance that I would consider a concern is parapets.

Whether on a flat roof, surrounding a flat roof, or on a pitched roof where a wall runs into that roof and terminates you have the potential for leaking.

The termination with the pitched roof or surrounding the flat roof may be an issue, but it might also be that the parapet could have gaps or cracking in it which provide ways for water to get into the system and travel.

A parapet is a wall that is built up higher than a roof level and surrounding a roof level. On a flat roof, you could walk on the roof and see the wall

around the roof. Or, you might have a parapet that terminates into a pitched roof such as shingle, tile or metal.

Parapets generally go around flat roofs and many buildings have both flat roofs and pitched roofs for architectural or aesthetic effect as well to reduce construction costs. Anytime you have a wall that's running around a roof or terminating into a pitched roof you have a potential for leaks. So those parapets need to be checked just to make sure there isn't any cracking or material that's come off the walls leaving gaps where water can get in or ice or snow.

Wherever the wall terminates and meets with the roof's surface it needs to be checked to make sure that there's no break in the roof's surface.

Those would be the four primary routine roof preventive maintenance items that I would check with any roof every fall and it really doesn't take that much time to do it.

Evaluate the age of your roof The other significant factor with any roof system is age.

With age comes exposure to the sun, to the weather, and over time no matter how good a roof system you have or how good roof preventive maintenance you have, it's going to break down.

The unfortunate part with any pitched roof system whether shingle, shake, slate, or metal, there isn't any material that we can apply over that roof system to extend the life of it.

What we have to do with those roof systems is lift them and replace them or at least replace the underlayment.

The underlayment typically used for

Publisher Will Johnson – will@propubinc.com Designer/Editor Kristin Flores – kristin@propubinc.com

this purpose is known as #30 felt. With more recent development of synthetic underlayments and rubberized products, which hold up quite well over time with exposure to heat, and cold, and water, there are alternatives to felt underlayments.

How do you know when a roof is too old to fix anymore?

I will give you couple of examples.

If you take your standard shingle roof, for the first five to ten years you really should have little or no maintenance with a shingle roof.

Starting at about year ten you probably are going to want to reseal around all the penetrations, and then as time goes on maybe about year 15 you're going to start noticing around the perimeter of the building, or if you have gutters or downspouts you're going to start noticing in the gutters or at the base of the downspouts, evidence of granules. Those granules are the surface of the shingle roof starting to come off, and as they deteriorate with age the shingles will lose more granules.

That's your indication that something's happening.

Next, with a shingle roof you'll start to see the shingles start to curl. That's a sign of age. Or if you walk on the shingle roof you'll notice that they're starting to crack because they're getting brittle. That's an indication to you that you need to start seriously considering when you're going to replace that roof.

It's a little more difficult with a metal roof, or slate, or shake, or tile because you can't see the underlayment. With wood shake, you start to notice over

time that the shakes are getting brittle and flying off the roof. They turn from the bright shiny yellowish tan to a dark gray dull looking product as they age, and ultimately they get brittle. You'll see your roof starting to look kind of ragged, shakes may start to warp and curl up, there may be gaps due to missing shakes. That's a clue to you that there's a problem.

In a wetter climate, you may see significant mold or algae growth on the roof. Particularly in areas like Portland or Seattle with plenty of rain, a shake roof will last probably about 25-30 years, but at some point you're going to have to replace it.

Can satellite dishes cause roof leaks?

Satellite dishes are the bane of my existence.

We get calls and I'll give you an example of two calls I've had over the years.

One was with a flat roof. It happened to be a polyurethane foam roof that we had installed. I received a service call about five years after we installed it.

The lady was upset because she said the ceiling in her bedroom had collapsed.

I know people are prone to exaggerate, so I've learned not to accept necessarily what they say, but to go and check it. I agreed to look at the roof, and because our people were all busy I was the one who went there to check it. Sure enough, she was correct. It's the only time I have ever seen this - her ceiling in the bedroom literally had collapsed. She had sheetrock on the bed, insulation ...continued on page 7

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Rental Housing Journal Colorado · December 2017

Rental Housing Journal Colorado

4 Ways to Be Proactive in Rental Property Maintenance

By The Editors, www.rentalhousingjournal.com

W

ish you had been more proactive in your rental property maintenance when you get that maintenance call or text from a tenant? The maintenance checkup this week provided by Keepe helps make sure you are your protecting your investment and income as well as your tenants.

Many property managers and landlords deal with maintenance in a reactive manner. They wait for tenants to report maintenance issues and/or waiting for the property to turn over before addressing maintenance issues.

This is natural because if you view rental properties as a pure investment, then maintenance is the cost center.

It is a negative charge on investment income. The human tendency is to be proactive about positives and to be reactive about negatives.

Do you ever turnover a rental property and think, “I would have taken care of that if I knew it was broken?”

I’m sure it has happened to the best of us.

Here is an example from our experience. One tenant used a plastic fork to prevent the microwave from

running constantly because the open/ close latch was broken. Rather than reporting it, the tenant chose to ignore (or even worse, hide) it. A new microwave can run a couple hundred dollars plus the cost of installation, but can be well worth the cost. When things start to break, it affects the overall quality of the home and can have a negative effect on tenant satisfaction and quality.

Why keep up with rental property maintenance? Because it: Helps reduce tenant turnover Preserves the value of the property Prevents more costly issues such as fire or flood Tenants don’t always report rental property maintenance issues.

So how do you make sure your rental property is properly maintained? Here are a few suggestions:

1. Provide tenants with information when they move in Outline what types of maintenance issues to bring to property management versus what they are responsible for.

Examples: Changing light bulbs are generally the responsibility of the tenant. A broken appliance is addressed by property management. Water leaks or floods should be reported right away

Rental Housing Journal Colorado · December 2017

to property management. Is there an emergency number? Provide it to them when they move in, so they know what to do in an emergency maintenance situation.

2. Maintain a checklist of items and the frequency to inspect For example, roof and siding might only need to be checked every two to five years depending on age and type, but tile grout should be sealed annually.

Keeping up on external paint can help prolong the life of siding. Maintaining a short-term/long-term maintenance checklist can prepare you for future expenses and help you take a proactive approach to address certain items during rental turns minimizing tenant disruptions during occupancy.

3. Maintain a communication cadence with tenants It could be an annual inspection to make sure everything is in working order or it can be a bi-annual email/ mail communication checking in to see that everything is in working order.

The check in serves two purposes: one, it lets them know that you are a proactive property manager and two, it allows you to stay on top of maintenance issues to prevent costly deferred maintenance.

4. Another idea is to send them an annual happy holidays card This will let them know that you care about them as a property manager and open the lines of communication, so they are more likely to come to you if there is an issue.

There are many ways to implement regular rental property maintenance updates and check-ins. Whatever you decide to implement, know it will lead to low tenant turnover, maintain or increase the property value and prevent costly surprises down the road.

About Keepe: Keepe is an on-demand maintenance solution for property managers and independent landlords. Keepe makes a network of hundreds of independent contractors and handymen available for maintenance projects at rental properties.

Keepe is available in the Greater Seattle area, Greater Phoenix area, San Francisco Bay area, and is coming soon to an area near you. Learn more about Keepe at http://www.keepe.com

3

Rental Housing Journal Colorado

9 Insights ...continued from page 1 heard from you all that ultimately on average you wear about 1.76 hats in your business. We actually think that number is low. We all know that you probably wear many more hats than that on a daily basis. You wear those hats because ultimately you have small staff because 64% of you have fewer than five employees, and most of you actually have under two,” Litster said on the webinar.

“Rising interest rates, tight inventory, increasing demands, a lack of affordable housing compared to income, all of these things make renting very attractive to many Americans across all generations,” she said.

Millennials make up 56 percent Millennials are waiting longer than ever to buy homes, and currently make up 56% of the total rental market.

Baby Boomers want long-term rentals Baby Boomers are drawn to the long term rentals as an alternative to carrying a mortgage. “This isn't just coming from Price Waterhouse Coopers, there is an article in the Wall Street Journal stating the same. Renting is much more attractive than buying nowadays,” Burtchell said. “Our survey responses show that property managers are poised to take advantage of this trend, and offered a range of advice that has been received over the years.”

Top things that challenge property manager efficiency “In the survey property managers told us that top challenges are:”

• •

Property managers want to be more efficient in 2018 “What's interesting is that the goals related to growth and efficiency flipflopped this year. In 2016 growth was the top goal, but this year, efficiency jumped as a top goal from 24% to 49%,” property managers said in the survey.

“Growth as a priority is still incredibly high for all of you, as 83% are projecting to grow in the next two years, but there was a slightly more conservative outlook there,” Burtchell said on the webinar.

“This is a margin-driven business and frankly humans don't scale. We

Dealing with maintenance issues Managing and juggling multiple tasks daily

Being more efficient with to invest in the business and grow with it “Put differently, if you look at time management and efficiency issues, they're part of what makes so many other things on this list so stressful. The time that these things take up hold you back from doing tasks and activities that can help you grow and be more efficient,” she said.

Ages of property managers in the survey Tips to help with efficiency

• • •

Have a trusted list of vendors Document, document, document Have a property management system to help you document • Do quarterly inspections • Don’t rush tenant screening • Expect the unexpected • Go paperless • Get the right software “When it comes to taking care of maintenance requests and doing makereadies, you don't choose between them.

If you have to outsource to get things done in time, pay the extra. It's worth it.

I'm sure all of this sounds familiar,” she said on the webinar.

Litster added, “Don't rush tenant screening. It will only hurt you in the end if you don't take the time to understand who your tenants are and screen them.”

Property managers top 10 wish list 1. Make a list and prioritize it 2. Connect with the staff 3. Use your morning effectively 4. Stick to one task at a time 5. Group smaller tasks together 6. Use your tools and resources 7. Minimize interruptions 8. Break up big tasks 9. Breathe 10. Laugh a little How to be more efficient around bookkeeping and accounting “Get tenants to pay their rent online,” Burtchell said. “If you're not collecting the checks, it's just easier when everything's automated. Give

accounting reports for the year to owners. Let them know what's coming and what happened in the past year.

Hire help, bookkeeping help, whether it's full-time, part-time, whatever that might look like.” Also:

• •

• •

Make sure you know the laws.

Provide tenants with a perk or bonus for on-time rental payments. The carrot instead of the stick.

Put security deposits in a separate account and get the right software.

Hire bookkeeping help whether it's full-time, part-time.

A live survey poll of property managers on the webinar asked: Benefits of technology “Benefits of technology are obvious for most of you, but it's actually not obvious for all of you,” Litster said on the webinar. “If you are at all on the fence on this about whether efficiency or growth are connected with technology, look at these benefits from the people who felt like they were winning at efficiency because of their investment in technology.” ...continued on page 6

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Rental Housing Journal Colorado · December 2017

Rental Housing Journal Colorado

Facebook Rentals Added In Marketplace Include Apartment Listings

By The Editors ww.rentalhousingjournal.com

F

acebook rentals have been added to Facebook's marketplace listings that recently added autos Facebook has announced that is partnering with Apartment List and Zumper to expand its marketplace listings to include thousands of Facebook rentals listings.

Users before could post their own listings on Facebook, but pulling in the listings from these two partners greatly expands the number of listings and takes on Craigslist.

Facebook told Mashable in an emailed statement that the two sites offer "hundreds of thousands of house and apartment rentals" that users can browse. Sellers can also upload photos of their properties directly to Facebook.

Facebook said in its email, according to AdWeek, that the addition of housing rental unit listings to Marketplace, as well as the new features for car shoppers that were announced last month, “are driven by how people are searching and using the service,” and the social network will continue to “explore a variety of new opportunities to partner with businesses.”

Product manager Bowen Pan added, “Marketplace is a popular place for people to look for a home to rent.

Now that we’re adding listings from Apartment List and Zumper, people can search even more options in the U.S. to find a place to call home. First with vehicles and now with housing rentals, we’re partnering with businesses to bring more ease and convenience for consumers.”

can say with certainty, though there is much we can speculate about,” Meador writes.

He says “several years ago we published an article explaining why Google has generally been a better marketing platform in multifamily than Facebook. The answer was that generally speaking social media handled interest-based industries really well but search was far better on intent.”

Meador’s blog explains there is one thing we know, Facebook has always wanted to do more in the commercial space, and three we do not know.

Bad blow to Craigslist - Craigslist seems to be on the decline in multifamily. Many of our clients are not

Are Facebook rentals about to revolutionize apartment marketing?

Our friend Jake Meador over at Rentping has written an excellent blog digging into what may be going on here with Facebook rentals.

“This is potentially a significant development for the multifamily industry. That said, it is still very early so at this point there isn't much we

as dependent on Craigslist for traffic as in the past.

This could also be a blow to Google – Apartment marketing has been moving away from online directories and toward search engines for some time.

People are already using Facebook— so they don't have to take some significant extra, intentional step to use Marketplace. They can just click a button inside the social media network that they are already actively using.

Facebook is large enough that this could work - Facebook rentals has an advantage here that ILS's and even Craigslist have not possessed: They are so huge that they can easily and cheaply acquire an enormous number

Call 503-221-1260 for more information Rental Housing Journal Colorado · December 2017

Facebook expands its Marketplace section with housing rentals You can now use Facebook Marketplace to look for an apartment Facebook Marketplace Added Housing Rental Unit Listings From Apartment List, Zumper

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9 Insights ...continued from front page 6 “These are the same exact kinds of benefits you would expect to see from somebody investing, right? Burtchell said. “You can stay more organized, track your finances, simplify collections and just simplify across the board. The ability to work on the go. I'm sure all of you knowing that you have very few staff spend a lot of your time in the car trying to manage your day-to-day.

“In addition to getting those things done faster, we saw that there were benefits outside of just simply efficiency, right? People that were using technology found that they could improve their work/life balance, improve relationships, improve professional reputation, and ultimately scale the business. They were able to get time back in their day that allowed them to focus on other things,” she said.

Property managers want portfolio growth with more properties in 2018 “The second thing you all are looking to do in this coming year, you want to grow,” Burtchell said. “As we said earlier, 75% of you reported that you had business growth in the last two years. The vast majority of you, 83%, expected that it would keep growing. That said, we found that you're a little more conservative this year than last year- 89% in 2016 said that they had expected to grow.”

Litster said, “61% of you said the key to growth is acquiring more properties as you go. The next couple might be a little bit of a surprise. Relationships from clients and referrals from word-ofmouth. They are key. Word-of-mouth and referrals end up being a huge factor around growth and tied with the 61% of you who said acquiring more properties.”

How To Differentiate Your Business “It’s about making your business stand out from the competition, giving somebody a reason to choose you rather than choose someone else,” she said.

“When we talk about differentiation, there are really two core audiences that we focus on. The first one, unsurprisingly, is the owners. For them, what you want to do is focus on what makes you unique from every other property manager in your area. Evaluate your service offerings.”

Invest in relationships – the owners “Invest in the relationships that add value to the overall running of the business and the benefits you realize as a result,” she said.“Be the master of your trade. If you have a technology tool, don't be afraid to position the efficiencies you get from that technology as a differentiated benefit for your owners. They'll like it just as much as you do. All of this seems obvious, but one interesting piece of feedback we kept hearing was the idea of really owning and knowing your worth as you're thinking through your differentiation, consider every single angle.”

To recap: • Audit your service offerings to make sure that you identify those areas that make you unique and where you stand out.

• Check out your competition to understand how they stand out and how ultimately you can be better than them.

• This is the time where you want to promote the uniqueness of you and what you have to offer, such as key relationships with vendors, special programs for tenants for overall resident happiness and satisfaction and promote it everywhere.

Of the top 13 most common services that property managers reported offering if you're assessing your offerings, consider these to be table stakes.

A few of those include offering maintenance and repairs, offering property inspections, and offering e-payments. If you're not doing at least those three things, it's time for you to step up and make sure that those are in your plan.

For property managers who are looking to differentiate their services from the competition, consider offering less common services, depending on your niche. Options like outdoor services, financial reporting, property purchasing, or other specialties like association management, financial advice, or interior design could be worth considering.

Invest in relationships – your residents “The second audience to focus on is, of course, your residents,” she said.

“You want to think through the benefits you provide. Technology benefits are a big one. Vendor portals, online payments, online maintenance ticketing, SMS communications or text options and more, these are big draws for new tenants, especially the millennials. Special programs. Think of local discounts and services.

Think about what's going to attract tenants or enhance the experience that they have, negotiate local services like dry cleaning, pet sitters, crop shares, or other locally sourced food options. Community events. Anything to be creative and make somebody want to choose your properties over somebody else's.”

“Of course, utilize your online presence,” she suggested. “Your website, social media, whatever it is that you use to promote the properties that are available for them to live in.

Visuals, like photos and videos, engage people more than text alone.

Tell a story with your pictures and take pictures that showcase curb appeal, new renovations, and even the fresh coat of paint or new appliances in one of the units.” ” Of course, property management is face-to-face most of the time,” Litster said.

“You're out running and seeing your tenants and trying to work with your owners.

“These days however the barrier between that physical world and the digital world, it's blurred so much that there's no longer an option to not deal with having your business online. Here's why:

90% of gen-xers and millennials begin their housing search now online.

It's the first thing that they do.

75% of them conduct at least some portion of their search via mobile device “So make sure that you are able to be found online and what they find reflects all the value and all the differentiator that you offer,” Litster said on the webinar.

Reputation management online “The reality is how you manage your reputation is going to be by face-to-face.

You're running all over town, connecting with Realtors, owners, and tenants.

You're in a human business, so that makes sense, but the thing is we don't have the luxury of ignoring the online presence anymore,” Litster said.

“As we consider the impact of word-of-mouth on your business, it's important to understand that word-of-mouth is also online. Nowhere is it more critical to monitor than online review sites and one of those review sites starts with a Y, that we all know historically we have loved to hate. It's time that we have to address it, as an industry, upfront and head on. We can no longer afford to ignore the Y social media,” he said.

“That Y is Yelp. Online reviews can make or break a business's reputation and that really applies to every business out there. It especially applies to property management,” Burtchell said. “Sites like Yelp and Facebook are where most people go to search for what others think about you and your business and your responsiveness and how satisfied they are with their experience overall. Just as word-of-mouth is happening in person, it's very much happening online,” she said.

“Let's talk a little bit about managing that online relationship. Review sites we know drive action amongst various users more than any other kind of site. Users turn to reviews now when they're ready to make a decision. It's really important that we all take the time, as you told us in the survey, to make sure that you know what your listing says about you.

• First thing is the more photos you have the more easily tenants and clients can find them.

• One to five reviews and at least 10 photos are the target, because what happens is that leads to over 200 percent more views than with no photos on Yelp.

• Don't be afraid to ask for reviews if you've provided a particularly good experience.

• 27% of Yelp searches are solely to find a location.

• Claim your business. You can't avoid and ignore Yelp.

• Keep that information up-to-date. This isn't just for convenience anymore.

• Businesses with completed profiles see five times more customer leads each month.

• Reviews are the most honest, direct source of feedback you can get.

“The phrase feedback is a gift, is something we heard a long time ago and we still use it today. Feedback is a gift. It isn't always a great gift, but it's a gift,” she said.

“You can correct a bad situation. You can change how people perceive you, and in sometimes looking at this feedback, you may need to improve how you operate. “ Respond to those reviewers with empathy, sincerity and humility. This can help mend relationships. What we've seen from data out there is that if handled properly, a third of negative reviews can become positive after business owners respond in a constructive way.

“Here's the other kicker. Just as reviews are now in Google Local search, Yelp's search algorithm favors businesses whose owners regularly interact with their page and engage with their users. Take that, plus Google Local search, you have to really manage your reputation online now more than ever,” Litster said.

Summary Take the time to focus on the relationships around you, with owners, with tenants, your local community and industry relationships like NARPM. “Have a cool head, a warm heart, and a thick skin,” Litster said.

“Don't take it personally, whatever "it" is. Never compromise integrity for any reason.” Burtchell said.

Resources: National Association of Residential Property Managers Institute of Real Estate Management Building Owners and Managers Association International National Apartment Association Community Associations Institute

Evaluate your online presence 6

Rental Housing Journal Colorado · December 2017

Rental Housing Journal Colorado

Rental Flooring ...continued from front page 1

Roof Preventative Maintenance ...continued from front page 2

Also, you can take into consideration various criteria when comparing the available flooring options: • Variety • Ease of installation • Maintenance • Softness • Durability • Resale or releasing value • Eco-friendliness • Affordability.

Here are some pros and cons for different rental property flooring options

was down, it was a mess. I looked at that and thought, "Boy, do I have a problem.

We've done something wrong."

I went up on the roof to check and noted there were three holes right in front of a scupper. A scupper is a hole through a parapet wall through which water moves to drain off a roof.

Obviously, those holes had been drilled there and left there. Then, I looked at the wall above. There was a new satellite dish fastened to the wall. I took a couple of photos, went down and asked the homeowner, "When did you have the satellite dish people here?"

"Oh, they were just here last week. I just got new service." And I said, "Well, let me show you a couple photos." I showed her a photo of the satellite dish, then I showed her a photo which included the satellite dish and the holes in the roof right below it. I told her that, "Your satellite dish people first installed the dish on your flat roof right in front of a scupper. They realized they didn't have good reception, so they moved it up onto the parapet two feet away and installed it there. They didn't bother to seal the holes. You need to call the satellite dish people and have them come replace your ceiling." Never heard anything more from her about that.

Another issue was with a shingle roof. Same issue. Got a call, "We have water leaking in." They didn't claim that the ceiling was collapsed. I checked.

It wasn't, but there was water damage requiring sheetrock repair and paint.

Same issue. Go up on the roof, there's a nice new satellite dish up on the roof.

The installer hadn't bothered to caulk at the holes before screwing the receiver base to the roof. With heavy rain, water leaked in.

Satellite dishes are a problem. The ideal way to install a satellite dish is not to have it on your roof. It should be fastened to the wall or to the fascia board, so you have no penetrations in the roof. So good roof preventive maintenance involves correct satellite dish installation.

Which Rental Property Flooring Is Right For Your Tenants?

Hardwood flooring pros Variety: You can find hardwood flooring in a variety of colors, patterns (strip flooring, plank flooring, parquet flooring), width and thickness.

Maintenance: Hardwood is easy to maintain and it can be re-sanded and refinished several times to remove stains and scratches. With a new refinish you can change the color of your hardwood using a different stain.

Durability: Hardwood floors are durable, so it cannot be damaged easily.

You can also place heavy furniture on it without any damage.Contribution to the resale value of your house: Hardwood floors increase the sale value of your house a lot, so if you think that you will sell the house in a few years, it’s worth installing hardwood floors.

Harwood flooring cons Ease of installation: Hardwood is not as easy to install as the other options, so a professional is needed to do the job and it is an expensive installation because it includes laying the floor, sanding, staining and finishing.

Softness: Hardwood floors are not soft so it might not be the first option if you have kids and/or older people in the house.

Eco-friendliness: Cutting forests is not an eco-friendly activity, so if you are green and love nature hardwood floors are not a choice.

Affordability: Hardwood is an expensive choice.

Laminate flooring pros Variety: Since laminate flooring mimics hardwood, you can also find it in a variety of colors, patterns types, width and thickness.

Ease of installation: Laminate floors (especially the snap-on ones) are easy to install so this can be an excellent DIY project.

Maintenance: Laminate floors are easy to clean and require low maintenance.

Affordability: Laminate flooring is an inexpensive choice. Prices may vary with quality but all in all it is a more affordable choice

Softness: carpeted floors are soft and suitable for children and the elderly.

Some people prefer them at least for the bedroom areas due to this quality.

Eco-friendliness: depending on the materials used they can be eco-friendly.

Affordability: the price of carpeting can vary a lot but you can find nice options that are not very expensive.

Carpet flooring cons Ease of installation: Professional installation is required for carpet installation, but the cost of installation is cheaper than hardwood floors.

Maintenance: Carpets get very dirty and it is not easy to clean and maintain, especially if your renter has pets. On move-out, professional carpet cleaning is a must.

Durability: Carpeted floors are durable because they are soft.

Contribution to the resale value of your house or releasing of your rental: Carpeted floors can be neutral to your house value.

Vinyl flooring pros Variety: you can find a large variety of vinyl for your house, in terms of colors, materials, etc.

Maintenance: Vinyl is easy to clean and maintain.

Softness: Vinyl floors are softer than other types of hard flooring.

Durability: Vinyl floors are durable because they are soft.

Affordability: Vinyl is by far the cheapest option.

Vinyl flooring cons Ease of installation: It is better to ask a professional to install it.

Eco-friendliness: As a plastic surface it does not qualify as eco-friendly.

Contribution to the resale value of your house: Vinyl floors can decrease the resale value of the house These are the numerous rental property flooring options available and their pros and cons. Besides these attributes, the ultimate choice also depends on the type of renter that the property is targeting, the duration to an expected sale of the property, the expected frequency of renter turnover, etc. This post is meant to aid you in making the exercise of choosing rental property flooring somewhat easier.

About Keepe: Keepe is an on-demand maintenance solution for property managers and independent landlords. Keepe makes a network of hundreds of independent contractors and handymen available for maintenance projects at rental properties.

Keepe is available in the Greater Seattle area, Greater Phoenix area, San Francisco Bay area, and is coming soon to an area near you. Learn more about Keepe at http://www.keepe.com

Laminate flooring cons Softness: Laminate floor is not a soft surface.

Eco-friendliness: Laminate is not an eco-friendly option being manufactured with toxins and resins. So, you can have off-gassing with laminate flooring not recommended for people with allergies and respiratory problems.

Durability: Laminate floors can scratch easily, and damaged by heavy furniture. The only way to repair it is by changing the affected area.

Contribution to the resale value of your house: Laminate flooring can be neutral and somewhat detrimental to your house value when reselling it.

Which Rental Property Flooring Is Right For Your Tenants?

Carpet flooring pros Variety: you can find a large variety of carpeting for your house, in terms of colors, materials, etc.

Rental Housing Journal Colorado · December 2017

Summary Roof Preventive Maintenance With respect to flat roofs in multiunit housing, when the roofs are walked, make sure that any drains on the roofs are cleared of any debris because we have had cases where a flat roof has collapsed due to water accumulation.

In one case, we received a call about water dripping into a unit through vents. We got up there and checked.

A child's ball had blocked a roof drain.

Somehow a child had thrown a ball up on the roof and it was just small enough that it got stuck in the drain. From the water line on the parapet wall adjacent to the drain, it looked like there was probably 12 inches of water. With the accumulated water, water was running into the roof vents that were higher up on the roof.

That was a lot of weight. I was amazed that it lasted even that long, but with a pitched roof you might have had 12 inches around the drain, and you go 16 feet up the roof you have about 8 inches, so it's not as much weight across the whole roof surface. But still it's a significant amount of water, easy thing to address, so it's doesn't become a problem, and that way you avoid unhappy tenants and potential liability going forward.

About Sunvek Roofing SUNVEK is a commercial and residential roofing contractor, located in Phoenix, Arizona. They service commercial and multi-unit housing and HOA’s throughout the state of Arizona. Areas of expertise include tile, shake, shingle, self-adhered flat roof systems, spray polyurethane foam, TPO and coatings of various types.

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