Rental Housing Journal Valley
June 2016
3. Profiting From Clean Technology
8. Dear Maintenance Men –
Utilitarian Upgrades, Smelly Sinks and Fixing Fans
4. Delware Statutory Trusts 6. Look to Student Housing for Best Practices in Efficiency
EUGENE · SALEM ·ALBANY · CORVALLIS WWW.RENTALHOUSINGJOURNAL.COM • PROFESSIONAL PUBLISHING, INC
Implementing 3 Ways SEO Can Supercharge A Utility Bill Your Student Housing Properties Back System A For Multifamily Properties
s a leader in SEO and online apartment marketing, I have worked with hundreds of student housing properties and portfolios over the years. Whenever a university community calls MultiFamily Traffic, they always have the same problems for us to fix. 1. The phones in the leasing office are not ringing 2. The property has become occupied only with students, with little or no non-student renters, the property is one step away from becoming a frat-house.
By Cliff Hockley, President Bluestone & Hockley Real Estate Services
A
s utility costs increase, owners of multifamily properties have searched for a fair method to pass on these expenses. Most multifamily properties in the western states today have been built with separate electrical and gas metering so tenants expect to pay their own electric and gas bills. Landlords have traditionally paid for the water and sewer. This pattern is changing. Especially in large cities and towns, tenants have come to accept utility bill backs. Landlords have many options to pass on these expenses: Often, landlords implement a Ratio Utility Bill Back System (RUBS). (RUBS) is a method of calculating a resident’s utility bill based on occupancy, apartment square footage, number of beds, or a combination of factors. Using RUBS to bill residents for water, gas and/or electricity expenses has several advantages including: • It requires no cash investment to get started • It enables owners to recoup any portion of the overall billings • It can be implemented easily and quickly • It immediately improves cash flow Some landlords and management companies choose an amount of money, say $40 per month per apartment and use that as an estimate of water and sewage use to pass on to tenants. This approach typically keeps the rate lower to the tenants but can short change the landlords.
continued on page 7 Professional Publishing Inc., PO Box 6244 Beaverton, OR 97007
3. They are either in the throes of, or, about to enter the “crazy months” of summer season lease-up. If they don’t get units leased for the next school year now, the property manager may be looking for a job come September.
continued on page 5
S
Basics of Student Housing
tudent housing can be one of the most profitable niches of buy and hold real estate around. But of course, that’s only if you know what you’re doing. Student housing comes with two major advantages that should attract investors:
Advantage 1
Higher Rents: Students will generally pay a premium since they rent by the bedroom rather than by the house, as a family would.
Advantage 2
Almost Guaranteed Rents: By requiring a cosigner from each student’s parents, it’s highly unlikely that you will lose out on any rents or damages. Unfortunately, like with all good things, there are also disadvantages:
Disadvantage 1
Annual Turnover: Unlike with other rentals, most students will leave every year requiring you to release the unit annually.
continued on page 5 PRSRT STD US Postage PAID Portland, OR Permit #5460
Text REALESTATE-ROI to 44222 to receive a digital copy of this year's Real Estate Opportunities in Investing (ROI) Finding Investing Succes in Today's Housing Market