Category Archives: Property Management

We have brought on several new owners to our KC Property Manager property management services.  And we always have to talk to the new income property owners about their pet policy.  Most income owners don’t want to allow pets. That’s almost always the first inclination.  But let’s stop and discuss this, shall we?

I’d say about 45-50% (maybe more?) of the prospective tenants out there have a dog or cat or bird or something.  They do.  Heck, even most of the owners that don’t want to allow pets have a pet.  🙂  It’s part of who we are as a society.  So if you are not going to allow pets then you are automatically eliminating half the tenant pool right off the bat.

And think about this.  Pet owners usually expect to pay more to occupy your rental property.  In fact, I cannot remember the last time a real tenant candidate was surprised when I mentioned additional pet deposits or a bump in rent.

Protecting your investment property and getting the tenant to buy in to keeping your house nice can begin with a good talking to and a financial incentive to make sure their pets are doing no harm to the unit.  I like the idea of a $350-$500 REFUNDABLE pet deposits because it’s incentive.  If the dog is large or there are multiple animals I suggest a refundable pet deposit in ADDITION to a rent bump.  $25 a month or even $50 a month is negotiable.

Don’t eliminate half your tenant pool.  Make money from them.

We have pretty high expectations of the tenants we rent to here at KCPropertyManager.com.  But by the same token we are pretty demanding of the owners, as well.  Want to keep your tenants?  Then fix your house.

Property management is a symbiotic relationship between the three principals; The Owner, The Tenant and The Manager.  All have to be doing their part.  But if a one breaks down the whole relationship can go sour in a hurry.  Everyone likes to bust on the tenants for non-payment, late payment or breaking this or that.  I hear all the time of property mangers that don’t fulfill their end of the duties regarding collection of rent, maintenance and communication during evictions.  But let’s be fair, not all owners deserve great tenants or property managers. 🙂

Not fixing dishwashers is not acceptable.  Having a tenant sit in a cold house for three days while you decide which heating and air conditioning company might save you $75 is not acceptable.  If there is a water leak, fix it.  If there is a roof leak.  Fix it!

Listen, these are the owner’s obligations.  And you won’t be able to sell the house until these things are repaired anyway.  Don’t buy a rental property until you have a reserve set aside for repairs (not to mention if you have a couple months of vacancy) because repairs will be necessary.

So everyone always hears the bad stories about property management.  And quite frankly, they can be more fun to tell.  But it’s also good to tell a good story every now and again.

A few months back we moved in a couple that has a young baby and they had good credit, a good rental background and pretty good jobs.  But because they were young and the rent was going to be up at our comfort level when considering rent + expenses/income we decided to ask for a co-signer.

Things were fine for a few months but then he left her over another woman and took the baby.  Key endless couple drama here.  One locked the other out and one left and tried to get back in and possible kidnapping and over-the-state-lines charges and etc.  Oh, and of course, they stopped paying rent because neither wanted the other to benefit.

Well, each time they would call to talk we just told them to hold the drama and pay the rent.  So we filed eviction and collection on everyone, including the co-signing mom.  Poor lady.  She had excellent credit and a great job…but a nut for a kid.  She ended up stepping up big time.

We negotiated that we would release them from the lease IF all past rent was paid, late fees paid, damages/cleaning were paid and the legal fee our attorney had incurred were paid and a forfeiture of their deposit.  Mom stepped up big time.

Now I realize she did this in her best interest.  But let’s face it, many a co-signer won’t do so and it has to go through legal channels.  She was a woman of her word and in today’s America that still counts for something.  Since she was willing to do that we let the lease go because it’s in a part of town where renting shouldn’t be a big hassle.

So in the end the investment property owner had to wait about 48 days for his money but he was made whole plus a tiny bit more.  Property management comes with all kinds of wrinkles.  Here is a story of people who made right but it’s also a story of why a rental property owner needs to have 3-5 months of house payments in reserve…just in case.

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.  🙂

We have ramped up property management here in Kansas City and the business is growing so quickly.  There is such a need for licensed and honest property management that we really haven’t advertised at all and the properties just keep coming.  But we are turning down about 3 to every 1 we take.  Why?

Because I just don’t want to hide in bushes and jump out to scare a tenant into paying rent.  My team and I are not looking to approve every deadbeat that applies.  (Warning flag #1 – “I have to move in by this Saturday!”)

If a property manager doesn’t want to manage your property, should you be looking to buy it?  🙂

Just a thought.