Over the course of many years, we have created a business system of managing rental apartments.
We have had great success with finding quality tenants and keeping issues down to a minimum.
The following subjects will be covered:
Advertising and Marketing an Available Apartment:
Our lease agreements with existing tenants have a clause which states that a tenant must provide us with a 45 day notice prior to the end of their lease as to whether or not they intend to renew their lease for another year, or if they will be vacating the apartment. There is also a clause for “early vacate” of a lease. This allows a tenant to break the lease, providing they give us 45 day notice prior to the 1stof a month that they wish to vacate the apartment earlier than the end of their lease. An example would be that a tenant's lease ends on August 31st, but they wish to have an early vacate for June 1st. The 45 day notice would need to be provided to us, in writing, by April 15th. If we can rent the apartment to a new tenant for June 1st, we will release the current tenant from their lease. In the event that we can't find a new tenant that is acceptable to us, the current tenant would be required to pay for each month's rent until we find a new tenant. We've had a few tenants take an early vacate, and we've always been able to find a new tenant with no problem.
The benefit of requiring a tenant to provide us with a 45-day notice as to whether or not they will be signing a new lease, or vacating the apartment, is that it gives us up to 6 weeks to find a new tenant. We normally are able to sign a new tenant within 2 weeks. We find that most people who are looking for an apartment are looking 30-45 days in advance of the date they want to occupy a new apartment. Typically, we advertise on Craigslist when we have an upcoming vacancy. We've also used Facebook Marketplace and had success. Here is a typical ad we would place on Craigslist:
Large 1 bedroom apartment in fully restored historic house, built in 1790.
- Country living with a vegetable garden
- Quiet and peaceful living
- 25 minutes to Middlebury- 20 minutes to Burlington
Apartment includes:
- One large bedroom
- Large well lit living room
- Dining area
- Full bathroom
- Large galley style kitchen with custom woodwork
- Wide plank wood floors
- Jotul propane stove + electric baseboard
- Newly remodeled shared wrap-around deck with views of Camels Hump
- Use of a large plot in a vegetable garden
- Includes storage unit in rent
- Access to natural hiking trails
Required:
- Lease
- Credit check
- Employment References
- Background Check
- First month and Deposit upon lease signing
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- Cats allowed, no dogs
- No Smoking allowed
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Included:
Trash/Recycling
Snow Removal
Private Parking
Tenant pays:
Electric and Heat
Respond with direct email address and a free confidential application will be sent. (We do not charge an application fee)
One of the benefits of using Craigslist is that your identity and the specific location of the apartment is not identified. Inevitably, there will be people who will inquire, and after a very basic identity search on social media or google, you may not want to respond to the inquiry, and if you don't respond, they have no recourse.
When responding to email inquiries, we always ask the following questions as a pre-screen:
Why are you looking to move? Who will be living in the apartment? Do you have any pets?
The answers to these questions will help you determine who you would like to offer showings to. You can also ask other generalized questions, such as how long in the last apartment, did they rent the last apartment alone, etc. The actual application we use asks more specific questions, once you determine that you want to proceed with a potential tenant.
Our leases require us to provide a current tenant with 48 hours notice to show their apartment to a potential new tenant. We try to schedule showings between 8am and 6pm, and group showings in 1 hour interviews and limit it to 4 showings in a day, out of consideration for current tenants. We provide our name and phone number to people we schedule to show an apartment, and ask for their contact information. We arrange to meet them on the covered porch at 694 Church Hill Road. We take a few minutes to chat with them, then give them a short tour of the outside of the property, pointing out the lower area where the raised bed garden boxes are, the tenant outdoor area, and the pond. We also make mention that our backyard is private, as well as the chicken coop and our garden boxes. We explain that there are 4 parking spaces in the upper lot, and 3 spaces in the lower lot. Though we don't offer assigned parking, the upper lot should be for 1 car per apartment, and if an apartment has 2 people, one car should be parked in the upper lot and one car in the lower lot. We make mention of trash and recycling, the community use of the covered porch and use of the gas grill.
We then proceed to show the apartment. We talk about the electric baseboard heat, mentioning that the benefit of electric heat is that with fossil fuels such as heating oil and propane, the price charged is based on the current market rates, whereas with electric is that the utility must go before the Vermont Public Service Board and request a rate increase, so there's not much volatility in electric rates as there is in the market price of propane. Another benefit of electric heat is that it costs about $200 to fill the propane tank. If a tenant is a little short and can't afford to fill it, they can use the electric baseboard.
Regarding the cost of utilities, for most apartments, the cost of electricity depends upon usage of lights, appliances, heat, etc. We normally tell people that they can expect to pay an average of $100 - $150 per month for heat and electric. Internet is paid for by the tenant, and depending on level of service, it will cost $80+ per month. Comcast/XFinity is wired in the building and is high quality internet.
We allow the potential tenant to look around the apartment, opening closets and cupboards, but nothing else. We answer questions as they are asked. We try to keep showings under 30 minutes. We give them an application and an information sheet which covers the basic information about the apartment. We also provide our name, phone number and email. We tell them that we will be showing the apartment for a limited period of time and if they would like to pursue tenancy, to get back the application within 24 hours.
Credit Score:
As part of the application process, we also ask that they provide us with their credit score. We tell them to go to their bank, or to “freecreditreport.com” and print out the front page of their credit report which has their name and their credit score. We're not initially interested in their actual credit history. If there are questions regarding a lower score (under 600), we may ask for the entire report. Generally, we are looking for applicants with a credit score of at least 700.
Employment History:
When looking at employment and rental history, we look for the following: 1) Have the recent rentals shown been a minimum of a year, is the rental history made up of roommate situations, or were they apartments rented by the applicant? How much monthly rent did the applicant pay for the past 3 years? 2) Why the move? 3) Regarding income, our rule of thumb is that the applicant(s) have an income that is 3x what the apartment rent will be. Example: If the apartment rent is $1,800 per month, we look for the income to be $5,400 per month. In some cases where it's clear that the applicant has no or little, debt (no car payments, student loans or credit cards), we will allow their income to be up to 50% of the rent.
We've had what felt were good candidates for a new tenant, but that applicant might be lacking in employment, rental or credit history. We currently have 2 tenants, each in a one bedroom apartment who are young women that had recently graduated from college, but didn't have sufficient history to meet our requirements. In both of those cases, we allowed a parent to sign on the lease with that tenant, guaranteeing that the tenant would be responsible for the terms of the lease, as though the parent was in the apartment themselves. One tenant is on her 3rdyear with us, and payment has always arrived before the 1st. The other tenant has accepted a position out of state and will be completing a year's tenancy this month. Both have been an absolute pleasure to have as tenants.
Choosing a Tenant:
Choosing an applicant to offer the apartment to: After meeting with them, showing them the property and the apartment, reviewing the application information and doing background checks on employment and rental history, and the credit information, for us, it comes down to how we feel that applicant will fit in with the current mix of tenants we already have. We are always looking for tenants that we feel are friendly, respectful and private. We make sure when we show an apartment, and once again when we sign a lease that we let that applicant know that even though we live next door, we believe it's very important for us to respect our tenant's privacy. We may see them while depositing trash or getting the mail, but we limit our interaction to saying hello, and not intruding on their privacy. We also let them know that it's important for us to respond quickly when a tenant informs us of a problem. Normally within 48 hours, we will resolve problems.
Once we have chosen who we would like to have in our apartment building, we will contact them by phone and let them know we're offering them the apartment. We will set an appointment with them to come to our house so we can go over the lease. At this time we go over every clause in the lease, and ask that they initial next to each clause that they understand each clause. We explain that many of the clauses are common sense, but we want to make sure there are minimal chances of any misunderstandings. We have the tenant sign the lease, and we sign their copy. At that time we require a check for the 1stmonth's rent, along with a damage deposit. Many landlords require 1st month's rent, last month's rent and an equal amount for a security deposit. For an apartment with a monthly rent of $1,800, this amounts to an initial amount down of $5,400. For the past few years, we have required first month's rent, and a security deposit of $1,000, which for a one bedroom apartment, amounts to $2,800, rather than $5,400. We make it clear that the deposit cannot be used towards rent, and that we will refund 100% of the deposit if the apartment is left in the condition it was initially rented in.
Move-in/Move-out - Cleaning Checklist:
When a new tenant is set to move in, we meet with them in the empty apartment and review the condition of the apartment. They will acknowledge the condition on the “Check-in” list. We will note any deficiencies that we may need to resolve, but typically, we have gone over the “Check-out” list with the previous tenant and have already resolved any issues.
Regarding a tenant moving out, we do a pre-inspection of the apartment 30 days before they are due to vacate and point out any issues that the tenant will need to resolve prior to moving out. We will inspect again on the tenant's final day of tenancy. If all issues have been resolved, we will send a check to them for the full amount of their deposit within 14 days of their vacating the apartment (which is set forth by Vermont State Law). If issues that were pointed out are not resolved by the tenant, we will resolve those issues and deduct $75-$100 per hour (depending on their lease) from their deposit. Vermont State Law requires landlords to itemize deductions when a deposit has been reduced. We've found in most cases that the clear communication from the onset of the lease process regarding expectations for moving in and moving out eliminates the need to deduct from deposits.
Determining the Rent for an Apartment:
Our process has been to look on Craigslist and find apartments for rent in Burlington, South Burlington and Shelburne. We compare size, price and location. There will always be what will appear to be lower priced rentals, as well as higher priced rentals. Many of the rentals require an application fee, 1st, last and equal security deposits. Many of the buildings have no land, and some have limited parking. We have always priced our apartments higher than what we find the averages are because we believe that people looking at our apartments are interested in the country living aspect of the property and don't want to be in a heavily populated city environment. This also helps insure that we have high quality and qualified applicants. We have found that the type of tenant we are looking for is attracted to what our property offers. With many people working remotely, having a quiet and peaceful apartment is very appealing.
Leases:
Though our leases contain a large number of clauses, it sends the message that we take great care in selecting tenants, and wish to be perfectly clear what we expect from them, as well as what they can expect from their landlords.
When we sit down and sign a lease, we make the following clear: 1) We expect rent payments to be made on the 1stof the month, not the 3rdor the 5th. 2) We each have a job – Our job as a landlord is to be a great landlord. Their job as a tenant is to be a great tenant. In almost every case, both of those conditions have been met.
Applications:
Our current application is a generic application but generally covers all the necessary information needed to get backgrounds on applicants.
Information Sheet:
Our "Information Sheet" covers general information about the apartment.
Lease Signing Process:
After we have a signed lease and a check, we inform the current tenant that we have rented their apartment, and thank them for cooperating with us through the process. We ask that a current tenant be out of the apartment by 6pm on the last day of their lease. On occasion, a current tenant has moved out several days prior to the end of their lease. We do not rebate for days not used. NOTE: By Vermont State Law, a landlord has to return that tenant's deposit, or a portion of it if deductions are made with an itemized list within 14 days of vacating the apartment, NOT 14 days after the end of the lease.
When a tenant leaves days early and the new tenant wants to start moving in a few days early, we charge the new tenant on a per day amount based on the month's rent. Example, if the rent is $1,800 per month and the new tenant wants to move in 8 days early, we charge $80 per day, or $480 for the 8 days.
Maintenance Issues:
We have rarely had any maintenance issues, but there have been occasions where there has been a leaky toilet or faucet, a hot water tank not working, or something of that nature. When a tenant notifies us of a maintenance issue, we do our best to resolve it within 48 hours. We have a contact that can handle most common issues, which we can provide to a new Owner-Occupied landlord. We can also recommend a plumber, well company, electrician and heating contractor.
To our knowledge, there are no outstanding or known maintenance issues that a new owner would have to be concerned about as we have kept the property in great condition.
Between new tenants, we inspect appliances for proper operating condition. We also change batteries in detectors, run the heating systems, run the faucets and snake out the kitchen sink drain, bathroom sink drain and tub/shower drain. We also check doors and windows for correct operation. We check electrical outlets, and when necessary, we change bulbs. Ceiling fan blades should be cleaned and inspected prior to the former tenants moving out. We check ceiling fans for proper operation.
Garden/Raised Beds:
There are 7 raised bed garden boxes and 2 smaller planter boxes for the tenant's use. Once spring arrives, we ask which tenants will be using these boxes and planters. We will mark each box for which apartment it is reserved for. It is the tenant's responsibility to clean them out at the beginning of the season, and at the end of the season, as well as maintain the boxes. We will mow and trim around the boxes. We run a series of hoses from the tenant building down to the gardens. It is the tenant's responsibility to turn the water on and off.
Water/Septic Concerns:
One question we always get from applicants is if there is a laundry facility in the building. We tell them that there is not, due to the fact that we are on a well and our waste system permit limits the amount of gray water waste put through the septic system. We tell them that there is a very nice new laundromat 5 minutes away in Shelburne. Only the 2 bedroom apartment includes a dishwasher. We do not allow portable washing machines in the apartments.
When a tenant chooses to have a garden, we ask that they use the water sparingly, and only as needed (no sprinklers).
Leases, Applications, Information Sheets and Cleaning Move-in/Move out documents available upon request.
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