INSPIRE

DESIGN TRENDS

Hacks to Improve Curbside Appeal

By Michelle Gamble

First impressions happen in a blink of an eye. When renters come to see your property, it’s important that the first time they view it, they’re not immediately turned off. In fact, in a competitive housing market, anything you’re not willing to invest in doing to enhance that first impression means losing prospects. So, what can you do to enhance your properties curbside appeal without spending a lot of money?

Start with the obvious – the front yard. Look around. How does the lawn look? If it has brown patches and weeds instead of grass, you can do two quick fixes. First, go to the local garden center and find some quality fertilizer. Before you throw it over the lawn, pull the weeds from their roots and toss them in the compost garbage (no need to fertilize weeds). It’s important you yank the weed by the roots lest it grows back. After you’ve fertilized, give it a day or two and you’ll start to see the grass is greener. Ensure the sprinkler system works and gives full ground coverage to eliminate future brown patches.

Then look around in the flowerbeds. How do they appear? Is there any garbage, leaves and debris built up? Throw out any garbage and debris and rake up the leaves. Are flowers growing or are weeds? As of this publication, it’s late to throw down spring flower seeds. If the flowerbed is loaded with weeds and shrubs, pull them and clear it out. You may want to add bark or another form of ground covering. Wild flowers will still grow in and around the bark, so don’t worry that your seeds won’t sprout.

You have two choices. You can completely clear out the flowerbed and throw down spring seeds anyway (those flowers probably won’t sprout until the following spring). Even though it will be empty now, at least it will appear well-kept. The second choice would be to buy some small flowering plants (preferably sustainable) and replant the bed. You may decide to plant some bushes. Ask your local garden specialist what kind of bushes work best in your climate. Dead bushes won’t enhance the curbside appeal.

Next, consider repainting the outside. A beautiful, new coat of paint makes any structure appear nearly new. It will cost paint and labor, but it’s a small investment. Don’t miss handrails and decorative fencing. Nothing looks less appealing than a crumbling handrail that has gone to rust. Decorative fences with problems like dry rot should beg the question of keep it and upgrade it or simply remove it. Also, dry rot will concern potential renters. It will make them wonder what else is rotting and not attended to, which doesn’t make your image as a property owner look good.

Next, consider the details. Sometimes it’s the little things that can kill a deal. Are the outside windows and screens clean? What about the front or screen doors. How do those look? Does the front door have a layer of dirt? What about the patio or entry way. When was the last time someone cleared out spider webs? Does the patio need to be sprayed off? How about the edges of the property. Are weeds pulled? When was the last time someone trimmed those hedges and bushes? What about the driveway cracks? Are weeds springing out of the cement cracks? Take a small pick or shovel and dig up those unsightly weeds.

Now look at the garage door. Maybe it needs to be replaced. It costs a little more to replace a garage door, but dents and stains on the door material make a property look unkept and old. If you can’t just clean up the door, go and invest in a new one. Between the new paint job you gave the place and the updated garage door, you will be shocked at how much better the property looks.

You may also want to invest in lighting for the landscaping. Warm, romantic lights embedded in the flowerbeds really improve and attract people to the property. Do simple lighting to accentuate the landscaping. When you do virtual tours, be sure to show how the landscaping looks when it’s properly lit up.

Finally, the trees should be trimmed and look healthy. Dead or diseased trees will pull down the look of the property. Avoid doing things like planting plum trees in the front yard. The fruit will fall down on the property and make it look messy. Any tree that loses fruit, nuts, or seeds doesn’t make a great choice for the front yard. Anything that sheds in or around the driveway will dump on people’s cars – and no one likes that one (the car wash people maybe).

At the end of the day, you don’t have to spend your savings to upgrade your property. Look at the details and clean up from there. One blighted-looking feature can repel quality renters in a “blink” of the eye. So, make that blink work for you.

Michelle Gamble is the editor of Rental Housing Magazine.

Reimagining Outdoor Amenity

SPACES

By Ellen Ryan

The pandemic has afforded owners and operators the opportunity to rethink their outdoor amenity offerings.

At the Avant at Pembroke Pines in Florida, a resident wakes up on Tuesday, showers, grabs her sunglasses, then takes her laptop and coffee up to the co-working area. Setting up a video call on an umbrella-shaded table, she enjoys a warm breeze as she takes in the view over the pool.

“We see more co-working spaces where residents can sit, work, talk with others, and Zoom,” says Matt Darcy, vice president of construction at BH Management. “We’ve even converted some outdoor game areas to Wi-Fi-accessible spaces of this type.”

Outdoor amenities are always changing, and the pandemic has had its effects. More working from home is just one of them. Here’s some of what’s hot now—and how management companies are responding.

MAJOR TRENDS

Darcy says outdoor workspace pre-dates the pandemic because of greater parental leave and studies showing that employees are more productive when working from home. “That changes where people can live,” he notes, with large cities losing workers to rural and beach “Zoom towns.”

Another trend is multifunctional green space where kids can play, food trucks can park, and people can gather in various ways. The ideal: Open land that hosts, say, sunrise yoga, a Saturday afternoon band concert and an allresidents picnic supper. “That can give you a competitive advantage,” Darcy says.

In open areas, even small ones, “people can play catch, sit on beanbag chairs … you don’t specifically have to program every square inch,” says Ned Dodington, a Greystar director of development based in Minneapolis.

“The standard pool, playground and pet park will always be top draws.”

Hammock gardens are good for reading a book or watching kids romp, says Marcella Eppsteiner, senior vice president for Marketing, Training and Revenue Management at Mission Rock Residential. “We’ve leaned into more flexible spaces rather than having amenities really designed,” she says.

With natural wetlands and preserved areas on about 24 acres, Alliance Residential also strategically placed “pocket parks” around Broadstone Ingleside so every resident has one amenity just steps from home, whether it’s a grill station or a sculpture.

And especially where land is scarce, offering a variety of options on a rooftop, a middle floor – or both – is catching on. The Bower at Edina, a Class A Greystar property in a busy Twin Cities retail corridor, put its game and yoga “lawns,” pool and hot tub and more on the fifth floor and grilling, firepit and entertainment/lounge areas on the 18th floor, connected to the club space.

MAKING TOUGH CHOICES

The standard pool, playground and pet park will always be top draws. Even residents and prospects who don’t use a pool say they want one.

Management companies look at several factors in choosing amenities: industry trends, what residents want, what prospective residents ask for or look at, what competitors offer (or don’t), and the like.

What if a top-desired amenity is pricey, but an almost-as-popular choice costs little? How does a company choose?

Points of agreement include: • What amenities does this demographic use most in this market?

• How much would rent have to increase? Would this market support that? • How much space would this amenity use? How would its layout fit? What other amenities could occupy that same area?

• Could current B – be rehabbed to a B amenity or a B to an

A–?

This process leads some companies to put in a smaller pool or designate green space where cornhole and bocce can

be moved in and out. If a pool would be used only seasonally but the true goal is to strengthen community, Mission Rock figured maybe a grill/firepit/games area would do better. (In Denver, it does.)

Some choices these days aren’t so tough. Since the pandemic, sometimes “it’s about finding and elevating those small spaces outside that you might not normally utilize,” says Dodington. For instance, “sure, it’s okay to do chin-ups on that column – and here’s a chin-up bar.”

COVID has “allowed us to reimagine the possibilities of outdoor space,” Eppsteiner says.

“The demand is everywhere – on land, on rooftops, on a middle floor,” she says. “Residents will flock to whatever outdoor space you provide as long as it’s marketed well and flexible.”

LOCAL CONNECTIONS

Many companies aim for a local connection, a sense of place. For instance, Alliance Residential’s Broadstone Ingleside in Charleston, S.C., offers hammocks and “porch swings” produced in-state.

It also chose “a tactical-based outdoor rig that was customizable and complemented our indoor fitness items,” says Development Manager Kristen Vinesett, who points to a heavy military presence nearby.

Greystar commissioned a 14-foot steel sculpture from a Minneapolis artist for the Bower at Edina’s entry. “Laden With Flowers” includes inviting magenta LED lights alongside a wooden bench, a fountain and the Promenade walking/biking trail. “One can walk through and feel like you’re in a dreamy garden even … when it’s well below zero,” wrote the artist.

Events, too, can build on amenities. Solana Lucent Station, a Mission Rock property in Colorado, has invited a local chef to turn out pies from its open-air pizza oven. He offered residents tips on using it themselves, leading to greater engagement overall.

FITNESS MOVES OUTSIDE

“Even before COVID-19, the functional fitness and CrossFit movements were driving enthusiasts toward outdoor exercise,” says Donald Santos, managing director at Alliance Residential for Carolinas/Mid-Atlantic.

“Fitness amenities are constantly changing,” adds Ned Dodington, a Greystar director of development based in Minneapolis. Especially after the pandemic, “we’ll probably see more focus on the outdoors.”

For now, some Greystar and BH communities are part of a trend in which fitness rooms open a wall, rolling out stationary bikes and other equipment for ventilation and a view.

Alliance Residential incorporated outdoor fitness options at Broadstone Ingleside without a lot of equipment (HIIT, yoga, weights).

Meanwhile, tennis is no longer what it was, so BH Management, among others, is converting tennis courts to pickleball “in every state we’re in,” says Matt Darcy, vice president of Construction at BH Management. “That’s an easy conversion, low cost and tremendously popular – a win-win all around.”

Ellen Ryan is a freelance contributor to Units Magazine. This article is reprinted with permission from the NAA.

renter RETENTION

Practical Advice for Renter Satisfaction

By Michelle Gamble

The No. 1 reason to go the extra mile to keep renters happy is simple: Renter turnover is costly. Like most things in life, it comes down to dollars and good “sense” to do things to retain renters over the long run. Turns out, according to many experts, it doesn’t even take that much time to do little things to impress renters and create goodwill that will keep their satisfaction high.

Realize that if a renter moves out, unoccupied space results in no rent coming in. In California with housing shortages, spaces can be filled faster than usual; however, even in the best-case scenario, it can take up to three months to get a new renter in.

“Renter turnover is very expensive,” said Marina Vaamonde, owner and founder of HouseCashin, a Texas-based company. According to Alex K.’s blog post on Rooftop titled “Our First [Renter] Turnover Experience,” “There are three big components to this process: the move-out, getting the property rent-ready, marketing it and leasing the property to new [renters],” “Turnover is something all property investors deal with, and if not handled properly, it can really eat into your bottom line. Tenant turnover costs can range anywhere from $1,000 to $5,000, but estimated averages are somewhere in the ballpark of $2,500. The bottom line? Minimizing these events and getting through them as efficiently as possible is critical to your bottom line.”

After you factor in what Alex K. just described, it doesn’t end there. More expenses can also be incurred. Vaamonde said, “When a [renter] leaves, you have to pay someone to extensively clean the place, make sure all the appliances are in good condition, and sometimes even paint or replace the carpet. This not only costs you money because you have to

pay for cleaning services, but also you can’t rent the unit out as it’s being cleaned. This means you’re losing out on revenue.” These expenses justify why it’s so financially prudent to invest in and retain good renters. “The longer you are able to retain renters the more profitable your rental will be,” said Bill Samuel, a property provider based out of Chicago. “Tenant retention almost always leads to lower property expenses, and therefore, bigger profit margins.” So, with cost considerations and a strong desire to be a great property owner, what can be done to keep renters happy?

START WITH RENT

As you embark on the process to examine what you can do to retain good renters, consider putting policies in place designed to enhance the property-owner-renter experience. “I apply ‘The Grandmother Test’,” said Vaa“Develop policies monde. “If I wouldn’t let my grandmother, whom I love dearly, live in the unit that I rewarding good want to rent out, then I won’t rent it out until it’s in better condition. ‘Treat others as renters, such as you would yourself,’ as the saying goes.” Develop policies rewarding good rentlimiting rent ers, such as limiting rent increases. Unincreases.” less someone’s budget has also increased, a rental increase can drive people out of your properties. They simply can’t afford it – and this is especially true since COVID caused many people to lose their jobs. “We like to pass some of the savings we realize from repeat renters on to those renters,” said Leonard Ang, the CEO of iPropertyManagement Leasing. “It’s helpful that a lot of our properties are large complexes with multiple units, making it easy to show our renters how much we’re not raising their rent by comparison.” “I consider keeping the rent and lease offers below-mar-

ket prices going an extra mile. [This] could pay off immensely if you can maintain your renters for a very long period. It would go a long way toward reduced [renter] turnover,” said Emma Gordon, founder of US Salvage Yards based in Dallas County, Texas.

“When rents are at minimal appreciation, I don’t raise the rent,” said Kurt Grosse from Realty One Group Las Vegas. “I want my renters to be grateful to have a clean and nice place to live without being gouged for rent. When renters know they are staying they often make improvements. I try to be reasonable when rent is late a few days and will waive the charge ‘one time.’”

COMMUNICATION IS NO. 1

Next on the list, create excellent communication channels whether it be through your property management portal or more personalized solutions such as a company newsletter written to keep renters informed. Most importantly, be responsive to all maintenance requests. No one likes to feel like their needs are being ignored.

“Yes, I ensure that communication between my property manager and the renter is excellent, and that their concerns are attended to swiftly,” said Gordon. “This makes my renters happy and more compelled to renew their lease because they are attended to properly.”

“To retain renters you’ll need to present a clean and well cared for property,” said Samuel. “This means responding to inquiries in a timely manner and performing the repairs professionally.”

An excellent tip came from Matthew Carter, attorney at Inc and Go (www.incandgo.com). “For residential rentals, have a good property manager and a home warranty. That way, you can make sure any maintenance issues the renter has can be taken care of immediately. Timely responses to renter problems are always going to be key. The moment you make it difficult for a renter to get in touch with you, you are risking a break.”

Next, try little extras created to work in your best interest while also making renters happy. “I leave touchup paint and ask the tenant to touch up the walls before we make our annual inspection,” said Grosse. “This often eliminates the need for painting upon vacancy. I also provide the inexpensive air filters for the tenant to change. Sometimes they are strapped for money, and I don’t want to sacrifice the life of my HVAC for $10 a year.”

“I also ensure that routine checks like plumbing and wiring are done on their apartments, and necessary replacements are performed.,” said Gordon. “In addition, I provide optimum security services for them, both electronic and in-person, to make them feel safe and comfortable.”

“I believe a good renter is more important than the monthly rent,” continued Grosse. “By not needing a proper-

ty management company, it’s like getting 7-10 percent more each month. My renters are $100, which eliminates use of my time and keeps money in the renters’ pockets. If my renters pay their rent on time for two years, I pay for the carpets to be cleaned. This is good for the carpet’s longevity, makes the renters love me, and it keeps them in the house longer because it looks good.”

REMEMBER KINDNESS

Always think of renters as your family and show them dignity and kindness. Your attitude alone can keep renters in place. When a property provider acts rudely or overlooks a renter’s feelings, it can be harmful to the relationship. After all, the renter makes your unit or house his or her home – and a home is a personal place. Ill will toward a property provider can push a renter to leave as soon as possible. “Renters are people who appreciate kindness,” said Grosse. “In this corporate world, they don’t see it often enough and are grateful to work with a person who shows kindness.”

It doesn’t take a lot to leave a positive impression. “I had two [renters] who were sharing a unit as roommates,” said Vaamonde. “One of them got a girlfriend and they were so in love that they wanted to move in together a few months before the lease expired. Instead of being a stickler for rules, I allowed them to break their lease without a penalty and, because I knew they were great renters, gave them their security deposits back right away. I also arranged for a moving company to help them move their stuff, at my expense.”

It’s always thoughtful to do little gestures that warm the heart and show you care. “Gifts during the holiday season are always a pleasant surprise for renters,” said Jasen Edwards, editor at Agent Advice. It’s these extra little touches that can help to foster the renter-property-provider relationship. You need to consistently position yourself as someone who’s open and ready to address their concerns.”

Vaamonde added, “I send my renters a $20 gift card on Christmas as a way of saying Merry Christmas. I also send flowers on Mother’s and Father’s days (dads like flowers too, you know). It’s a small gesture that shows that I see my renters as more than just customers. They’re human beings.”

Michelle Gamble is the editor of Rental Housing Magazine.