With high demand for rental properties, standing out from the crowd is essential if you want to be a successful property owner or manager. Learning how to prepare a property for rental is one of the easiest to master, and is also a key still for those considering a career in the property management industry. Well-presented properties will naturally be far more attractive to potential renters than dark and dingy spaces. To present a property well, do not go overboard with decor or staging, but make sure the property is spotlessly clean before any showings. Carpets should be professionally cleaned, as should windows. Having spotless windows will provide ideal light. If your property has a yard or garden, you should make it presentable, trim back shrubs, weed the beds, and mow to make the property have curb appeal. If showing a single-family home, grab some vanilla extract and place it in the oven on low heat, which will work better than candles. The entire house will have that soothing smell. Thorough inspections are imperative. Before your renter moves in, take a walk-through, and analyze if there is any need for maintenance. Inspections have never been easier when using Yardi property management software. Using a phone or tablet, you can perform the inspection while inside the unit and log everything into the system. Take pictures, add notes, and pass or fail each item as you conduct the inspection. Once complete, the inspection is saved in the system for future reference. Staying on top of inspections and maintenance items can help keep the value of your assets high, increase renter satisfaction, and speed up the turn process, allowing you to maximize your rental income. Next, determine how much you will earn. When pricing your rental, you...
Affordability Crisis
Toolkit for Development
While the ghosts of the last decade’s housing crisis have (mostly) been put to rest, for many families priced out of their local markets the need for affordable housing remains strong. Like the PC’s infamous “blue screen of death,” the Urban Institute’s map of affordable housing inventory is terrifying to behold. A handful of dark blue swatches in Midwest represent healthy levels of affordable housing inventory. The rest of the country, on the other hand, sits awash in the lightest indigo hues. From barely perceptible azure to the palest cerulean, a majority of states contain less than 50 units per 100 extremely low-income households. More than a third sit at, or close, to zero. As demand for budget-friendly rentals continues to rise, many communities struggle to provide adequate supply. In response to this affordable housing crisis, the White House recently released the Housing Development Toolkit. Part call to action, part policy overhaul, the toolkit’s main purpose it to help cities increase their affordable housing inventory. “The growing severity of unsupplied housing markets is jeopardizing housing affordability for working families,” write the toolkit’s authors, “increasing income inequality by reducing less-skilled workers’ access to high-wage labor markets, and stifling GDP growth by driving labor migration away from the most productive regions,” Accumulated Barriers While New York City’s real estate market is the stuff of legend, until recently most cities were able to supply adequate housing to residents. Unfortunately, several factors have conspired over the last few years to shrink stock and ramp up costs. These “accumulated barriers” are identified by the toolkit as lack of adequate construction, high job growth in areas with low vacancy rates, gentrification, and cost-per-unit increases paired with insufficient public assistance. “The accumulation of these barriers has reduced the ability of many housing markets to...
No Parking
Urban Transportation and Housing
Though parking lots are a necessary evil for many cities, surrendering space to automobiles places an undue burden on housing and urban development. On boulevards and avenues across the country, cars circle in an endless cycle, seeking the perfect parking spot and clogging city streets with noise, pollution and traffic. All the while, the space set aside for automobiles wreaks havoc on urban housing. In many cities, developers must provide adequate off-street parking options for any new construction, which ultimately undermines affordable housing initiatives. But what if there was a better way? Last month, the White House released its Housing Development Toolkit. A summary of suggested policy adjustments, the toolkit includes a number of suggestions aimed at helping cities increase affordable housing inventory. The toolkit’s recommendations cover tax adjustments, changes to local zoning laws, and the reduction or elimination of off-street parking requirements. “Parking requirements generally impose an undue burden on housing development, particularly for transit-oriented or affordable housing,” states the report. “By reducing parking and designing more connected, walkable developments, cities can reduce pollution, traffic congestion and improve economic development.” Killing the Commute In the 50s and 60s, the mass exodus to the suburbs was seen as a sign of progress. As incomes rose, families ditched apartment living for open spaces, big backyards, and longer commutes. Over the years, the distance between work and home has grown. These days, many Americans spend several hours a day locked in their vehicles traveling to and from the office. While once economic success once spurred urban flight, high rents and few options are behind today’s workforce relocation. With inflation rising and salaries stagnant, many workers find themselves priced out of their neighborhoods. Ironically, it’s often regulations on parking and transportation that end up adversely affecting affordable housing stock. As the toolkit explains, “These requirements have a disproportionate impact on housing for low-income households because these families tend to own fewer vehicles but are nonetheless burdened by the extra costs of parking’s inclusion in the development.” Low Rents and Bigger Inventories As the toolkit points out, many cities, including Denver, New York, and Minneapolis have already experienced positive results after reducing or eliminating minimum parking regulations. In Seattle, decreasing minimal parking requirements in the city center resulted in “a wave of new development, including hundreds of units with now associated parking spaces.” Even more, eye-opening, a study on Seattle’s decision corroborated the connection between minimum parking requirements and housing costs. In fact, not only did the requirements reduce the number of total units available, they often triggered 50% higher rents. No More Wasted Space With vacancies at a premium, it makes little sense to set aside large swaths of vacant property for the storage of cars often used just a few hours a day. In addition, vehicles in motion are equally nefarious. A study by UCLA urban planner Donald Shoup estimated vehicles cruising around a 15-block stretch of Los Angeles released 730 tons of carbon dioxide annually while also gulping down 47,000 gallons of gas. Apply those numbers nationally, and you can see why it makes good environmental and economic sense to not only move cars off the road but also eliminate the total number of private automobiles in urban environments. There will always be the stubborn holdouts who will cling to their steering wheels with steely determination. For most city dwellers, though, a functioning – and functional – public transportation infrastructure can make car ownership obsolete. Fewer cars ultimately mean fewer parking spots, freeing up all that square footage for housing, including affordable developments. In other words, for proponents of affordable housing, reducing or eliminating parking requirements is a win-win. “Minimum parking requirements [are] the most noted barrier to housing development,” states the Toolkit. “By reducing parking and designing more connected, walkable developments, cities can reduce pollution, traffic congestion and improve economic...
