Over the last month, we have all been tested to work together during these incredibly unfortunate and unforeseen circumstances. Seeing everyone doing their part to socially distance or help their neighbor in need, is a true testament to our community.
The same goes for all of our investors who have already gone a step further to help their tenants by providing a portion or even full rent forgiveness this month. We like to think of them as our “superhero investors,” doing what they can to help save the day for those who may need it most.
Over the last few weeks, we have tried to do our part to keep both our tenants and investors, and how it is and will continue to affect the housing market, the economy, and the individuals that we personally work with. In fact, our founder, Matt Leschber, just released a new update today. Click the YouTube video below to hear what he has to say.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4Iz1nQ6vk8[/embedyt]
In response to these updates, our team has received some great feedback and even some rather heartwarming personal stories. Hearing directly from our tenants and investors not only helps us to stay on top of delivering the most important information and best service we can give, but it also reaffirms again, that we’re all in this together.
We will continue to provide our community with this pertinent information, but we also feel that hearing from one of your peers (one of our superhero investors) is equally significant. This is why we’re going to share a few words from him about his takeaway on this whole situation and why he believes that treating his tenants with kindness was not only the right thing to do but also strategic for his investment.
Alex has been an investor partner with 1836PM since 2015, and it goes without saying that we value his opinion and outlook on the current situation. We hope that his thoughts on the subject can shed some light for other real estate investors/landlords out there as well.
Here’s what he had to say:
Why He Gave His Tenants Rent Forgiveness
“I decided to be proactive about giving my tenants half off their rent due to the looming specter of COVID-19 because I’m a firm believer in treating others the way I’d like to be treated if I were in their situation. They presumably are worried about losing their job, not getting enough hours at work, or possibly becoming sick themselves, and reducing one of their stressors at this time will hopefully help bring them some peace. But altruistic reasons for reducing rent likely won’t persuade people [other real estate investors] who aren’t already inclined in that direction, so there’s a sound business justification behind being proactive with helping my tenants out, too.
Investor Strategy Behind Providing Rent Forgiveness – The Good
“Stability is a good thing for a property owner. Having tenants with longer tenures reduces turnover and vacancy time, as well as, generally leading them to treat your property like their home, and therefore taking better care of it. Being thoughtful and worrying about their well-being and security will lead to them having positive feelings about you as a landlord and will improve (1) the chance they’ll renew or (2) the chance they’ll give a positive referral to friends or family looking to rent in the future.”
Investor Strategy Behind Providing Rent Forgiveness – The Bad
“Being inflexible and heartless will also be something they’ll remember when their lease comes to an end and will almost certainly make them less likely to renew and more likely to tell everyone they know to avoid your property like the plague.
Finally, from a practical perspective, courts will be overworked and understaffed for the next few months.Evictions won’t be happening in the near future, so all you’ll be doing by refusing to accommodate your tenants is getting an angry person squatting in your property for at least a month, likely longer. During which time you still won’t be collecting income and–once you finally get them evicted after spending money and time you otherwise wouldn’t have had to–you’ll be left with a vacant unit in a down housing market. Leading to an even bigger loss of revenue than if you did the right thing and helped out a fellow Texan during this unprecedented time.”
Investor Strategy Behind Keeping Up with Your Investment Maintenance
“Finally, I can’t understand why someone wouldn’t complete a repair at their property when a tenant is paying rent. Repairs protect your investment in your property. If you don’t respect your property, why would you expect your tenant to do so? Also, depending on the type of repair, you could be exposing yourself to liability under the Texas Property Code< by failing to make it.
Sure, property ownership is an investment/business, but respecting your customers is the foundation of any good business.”
We couldn’t agree with Alex enough on every point he had to make. There are a couple of main points though that we’d like to reiterate.
-
- Treat your tenants with kindness so that you maintain a great working relationship and so that they will remember this act further down the road when it comes time to renew.
- Continue to maintain your property by providing repairs when needed. Not only are their liabilities at stake, but by making sure your tenant’s home is kept in good shape, they will continue treating your investment property with the care that you’d expect and want. (*At 1836PM we have guidelines in place to keep our tenants and staff safe by implementing strict social distancing and sanitation measures).
We thank Alex for providing all of us with his insight and for doing a good deed to the extent that he was able.
We’re here to assist our entire 1836PM Family during this unprecedented period. If you’re an investor or real estate agent (either already as a partner with 1836PM or not) and have any questions in regards to the state of the housing market, current legislation as it relates to housing, or even how you can become a superhero investor by providing your tenants with any kind of rent forgiveness; please do reach out to our team!
You can contact your 1836PM property manager directly, submit your general questions toquestions@1836pm.com, or simply just give us a call today: 512-994-4323
Stay safe out there!
-The 1836 Property Management Team
By: Kayla Gonzales, 1836PM Marketing Manager and Matt Leschber, 1836PM Founder
