Monthly Archives: June 2012

Looking for new Kansas City Property Management?

KCPropertyManager.com has

• 10+ years of investment housing experience
• Proven property management track record
• State of the art website for you to follow your houses…and your money
• We respect your relationship with your real estate agent
• You are NOT obligated to buy or sell real estate through our services
• Most properties just $65.00 per unit
• No up-charge on most maintenance repairs
• Missouri state law requires property managers to be licensed…and we are

If you have investment property with minimum rents of $750/mo and you are looking for professional property management we’d love to talk to you about our services.

Chris Lengquist – (Google me and learn about my investment property experience.)
M 913.568.1579
O 913.322.7505

Vacancy is always a scary word to a real estate investor.  But vacancy is pretty much non-existent in the Kansas City rental market right now.  Ok, so I may be exaggerating slightly.  But seriously, after we rehab properties from rat holes to darned nice places to live we are renting them out in under 30 days.  We have a couple that have gone up to 45 days but we’ve had more than a couple that rent before we even get done with the rehab.

As far as placing people in to all ready to go units we are renting those in less than 30 days, as well.  Oddly enough, the sub $600 market is a bit slower, rent wise, than the $800-$1,200 market where most of our business currently is.  Why? Well, I think in our case it’s because we are so darned picky about who we let in.

Sometimes our rental owners get upset at their vacancies but I always have to remind them that 30 more days of a vacant rental house is far cheaper then re-carpeting, re-painting, replacing light fixtures and of course, an eviction fee.

With the KC rental market doing so well right now I’d definitely take my time to find the right tenant.  But when you do, lock them in at a fair price and keep your investment property in good repair so that they will renew with you!

For years I have directed my clients away from housing that would bring lower priced rents.  I have maintained that the returns are not worth the added hassles of dealing with the lower income mind set.  And boy, was I right!

Go ahead.  Let the insults and charges of elitism begin.

About 3 months ago a client of mine purchased a bulk of lower income duplexes here in the Kansas City area and after some thought, and being asked, I decided we would manage them.  I’d never had properties in the $450-$500 range before because of the reason I stated above.  But I thought we’d give it a go.

Out of the 28 doors we took over 19-20 of them are a royal pain in the rear!  Rents cannot be paid on the first.  They have to be strung out over the course of the month.  Every little thing the tenant perceives as broken (never mind the fact that they’ve apparently lived there for 4 years and they are the one that broke it) illicits a call to the property manager…regardless of time of day.  NOTE:  I do not answer my phone after hours…I check the message to see if it’s an emergency.  Does a broken fridge handle  merit a 2:00 am call? I guess when you don’t work and your rent is paid by the Kansas City Housing Authority you can stay up to 2:00 am and bore people with your problems.

Income is income.  No matter how much you make you can have savings…or not.  It’s your choice.  Live on less than you make.  How complicated is that? But no.  They call me on their smart phones while watching their tv’s with cable packages to explain why they cannot make their rent.   Literally, not a day goes by we don’t hear from at least one person out there.

The great thing for me is if I reach my limit I can just terminate the contract and let the owners take care of these investment properties.  If you’ve made the mistake of buying a bunch of lower income properties you are the one that is ultimately responsible for them.  Think about that.  🙂