rental housing journal arizona june 2016

Monthly Circulation To More Than 7,000 Apartment Owners, Property Managers, On-Site & Maintenance Personnel

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51 Ways to Increase Your Rental Property Cash Flow

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2. To Satisfy or Not to Satisfy? – Is it Even A Question?

3. Look to Student Housing for Best Practices in Efficiency

Rental Housing Journal Arizona June 2016 - Vol. 8 Issue 6

Circulated to over 10,000 apartment owners, on-site and maintenance personnel monthly

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continued on page 10

continued on page 6

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4. Delaware Statutory Trusts – An Innovative 1031 Exchange Strategy

8. Ask the Secret Shopper – Teamwork

9. Dear Maintenance Men – Utilitarian Upgrades, Smelly Sinks and Fixing Fans

Basics of Student HousingStudent housing can be one of

the most profitable niches of buy and hold real estate around. But

of course, that’s only if you know what you’re doing.

Student housing comes with two major advantages that should at-tract investors:

Advantage 1Higher Rents: Students will general-

ly pay a premium since they rent by the bedroom rather than by the house, as a family would.

Advantage 2Almost Guaranteed Rents: By requir-

ing a cosigner from each student’s par-

3 Ways SEO Can Supercharge Your Student Housing Properties

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dent housing properties and portfolios over the years. Whenever a university community calls MultiFamily Traffic, they always have the same problems for us to fix.

1. The phones in the leasing office are not ringing

2. The property has become occupied only with students, with little or no non-student renters, the prop-erty is one step away from becom-ing a frat-house.

3. They are either in the throes of, or, about to enter the “crazy months” of summer season lease-up. If they don’t get units leased for the next school year now, the property

manager may be looking for a job come September.

Having spent most of the last decade focused on SEO and online apartment marketing, I have seen fir5st hand what it takes to solve these problems for our student housing clients. I worry about the properties that haven’t shared this

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Rental Housing Journal Arizona

Rental Housing Journal Arizona · June 2016

To Satisfy Or Not Satisfy, Is It Even A Question?

Christopher R. Walker, Esq | Law Offices of Scott M. Clark, P.C.

Every month thousands of evic-tion cases are filed in Arizona Justice Courts. Most frequent-

ly, landlords are seeking to evict tenants whom have failed to remit their rent on time. Every eviction judgment obtained will surely contain an award of money to the landlord, whether it be for rent related charges or the landlord’s costs and fees incurred as part of the eviction action. Every landlord holding a mon-etary judgment in their favor surely wants to get paid the amounts awarded to it by the court and most pursue pay-ment whether it be through collection activities or the initiation of a garnish-ment action. However, what, if any-thing, is the landlord holding a mone-tary judgment in their favor required to do when a tenant pays everything owed under the judgment?

In Arizona, eviction actions are gov-erned exclusively by the Rules of Proce-dure for Eviction Actions (“R.P.E.A.”) Rule 4, R.P.E.A. sets forth various du-ties that all parties to an eviction action must comply with both during and af-ter an eviction. Most important to this discussion is the duty imposed in Rule 4(d), R.P.E.A.

Rule 4(d), R.P.E.A. providesOnce a judgment has been satisfied

by the payment of the monetary award, or the parties have entered into a new rental agreement or created a novation of the prior rental agreement, the party in whose favor the judgment was en-tered shall file a Satisfaction of Judg-ment with the court that entered it and serve a copy on the judgment debtor. The duty to file the satisfaction of judg-ment is on the prevailing party and not on the attorney who represented the party. In the event that a prevailing par-ty fails to satisfy a judgment rendered and cannot be located with a showing of reasonable diligence, the judgment debtor may file a motion to compel satisfaction of judgment and the court may, after an opportunity for a hear-ing, order that the judgment shall be deemed satisfied.

Landlords found to have violated Rule 4(d), R.P.E.A. are subject to the imposi-tion of sanctions by the court. See Rule 4(c), R.P.E.A. Aside from the poten-tial for a monetary penalty, landlords should seek to avoid the court finding any violation of Rule 4(d), R.P.E.A. so as to avoid any appearance of impro-

continued on page 6

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Look to Student Housing for Best Practices in Efficiency

By Scott Matthews, Director, Strategic Accounts, The Home Depot

Student housing property man-agers face a specific dilemma when it comes to turning units:

most of the tenants move at the same time. This presents a number of chal-lenges, including strains on resources, inventory, storage, delivery and the general stress of project management, all of which make for a difficult transi-tion between moving dates.

Because student housing property managers have to handle this process so quickly, their best practices can be viewed as a model for how to turn units efficiently. For suppliers and service providers, we can sometimes see the pain points clearly though from a per-spective of outside looking in.

Having seen some of the best man-agers in the business tackle this unique challenge with ease, we pulled together a few things that set them apart.

Minimize external partnersOutsourcing to multiple suppliers

and service providers creates unneces-sary time and hassle. Finding one part-ner that can handle end-to-end project management frees you up to focus on more important responsibilities – like growing your business.

Stock Inventory As you start to proactively source

products in advance, look for a single source of in-stock inventory for all the products required. Also, consider your source’s geographic footprint. If the provider has a solid number of nearby locations, staff members don’t have to travel a long way for the random miss-ing tools or emergency repairs that in-evitably pop up throughout the year.

Fulfillment Options A good partner will offer a variety of

fulfillment options, such as the ability to order a product online, on location

or over the phone. This allows you to keep business moving no matter where you are or what you need. Look into your options for delivery and pick up. Benefits like specific delivery windows or the ability to place retail orders in advance and have them ready for pick-up are not to be overlooked or under-valued. These can save significant time and money when unforeseen but inevi-table issues arise.

Custom Delivery Once the product is sourced, create

a custom delivery schedule. Big ticket items like appliances might need to be

stored temporarily until it is time for installation. Save the hassle of outsourc-ing that storage to an additional vendor or facing the added expense of several different shipments before the items finally arrive. Look for a partner who can customize your delivery as part of a larger project management offering.

Ongoing ServicesBuilding a trusted partnership during

a busy season will also help with any last minute or quick needs that may pop up in the future. Again, a provider with an extensive footprint and local, brick-and-mortar resources is essential here.

Turning units is one of the most lo-gistically challenging processes a prop-erty manager will face, but identifying a turnkey partner to streamline the process makes things run more effi-ciently, frees up your time and gives you the reassurance of working with one person or team from start to fin-ish. It also grants you the time to fo-cus on tenant satisfaction and other property responsibilities.

By Scott Matthews, Director, Strategic Accounts, The Home Depot

4



Delaware Statutory TrustsAn Innovative 1031 Exchange Strategy

For many years, owners of in-vestment real estate assets have successfully used Section 1031

of the IRS code to exchange their prop-erty for “like-kind” property to defer the payment of capital gains taxes due on the sale of their original proper-ty. Most of these investors have tradi-tionally identified and purchased up to three replacement properties in their exchange with the belief that this was their only option.

But many seniors, baby boomers and other owners of investment properties - who are at a stage in life where they are tired of dealing with the “Terrible T’s” consisting of tenants, trash and toilets, and are seeking more passive

investment opportunities - are now us-ing an innovative 1031 exchange strate-gy in the form of a Delaware Statutory Trust (DST).

A Deleware Statutory Trust is a sep-arate legal entity created as a trust un-der the laws of Delaware in which each owner or investor has a “beneficial in-terest” in the DST for federal income tax purposes and is treated as owning an undivided fractional interest in the property. In 2004, the IRS released Revenue Ruling 2004-86 which allows the use of a DST to acquire real estate where the beneficial interests in the trust will be treated as direct interests in replacement property for purposes of 1031 exchange.

DSTs allow multiple investors (up to 2,000) to pool their funds to own one or more properties, with each investor owning a beneficial interest in the trust which, in turn, owns the underlying real estate asset(s). By owning a pro rata interest in the trust, each investor has the right to receive distributions from the operation of the trust, either from rental income, or from the eventual sale of the property. Upon thorough evaluation, the DST structure may be a viable 1031 exchange strategy for ac-credited real estate investors (those in-dividuals whose net worth is in excess of $1 million not including their pri-mary residence and/or have an annual income of $200,000).

By Robert Smith and Robert Straton

continued on page 7

There are many benefits of the DST structure for property owners/exchang-ers. These include:

• Low minimum investment: DSTs typically have a mini-mum investment of $100,000 for 1031 exchangers and $25,000 for cash investments.

• Remote management: The DST structure takes management re-sponsibility for the property(s) out of the hands of investors and places it into the hands of a sponsor-affil-iated trustee.

• Cash distributions potential: The rental income generated from the properties are distributed on a monthly basis directly into to your bank account, if applicable. No more chasing down dead beat tenants in the dark of the night. As rental income, this cash flow is also very tax advantaged. Just like your current rental income stream, much of it is tax sheltered via de-preciation and interest expense.

• Diversification: Instead of having all your money tied up in one prop-erty exposing you to the risk incum-bent in overconcentration, DSTs

5



Today most owners of EVs reside in single family homes where charging is easy and convenient. Many top off at local businesses, at the office or at designated charging kiosks on major highways. This will change as these options fail to meet the burgeoning demand for electricity and renter adop-tion increases.

Electric vehicles are becoming in-creasingly mainstream as their driv-ing range improves. Nissan has sold over 100,000 Leafs worldwide, followed closely by vehicles from other top man-ufactures including the VW eGolf, Kia Soul EV and the BMW i3. Even Toyota has added a charging option to its Prius Plug-In Hybrid. Of course, no discus-sion of EVs would be complete without the Tesla model S, with its range of over 270 miles and the announcement of the new model 3 with a sticker price of $35,000 and 375,000 vehicles pre-sold for deliveries beginning in 2017.

There are 3 levels of charging that are common for charging EVs. Level 1 is the slowest rate of charging and can result in up to 12 hours to fully charge an EV. This level which requires just 15 amp breaker and single-phase (120 volt) service. Level 2 is the most com-mon type of charging and takes 4 to 8 hours – overnight – for a full charge. This style of charge requires 30 amps and two-phase (240 volt) service. Level 3 charging, or “supercharging,” is not an option for most apartment build-ings, as it requires three-phase (480 Volt) service – usually reserved for large commercial or industrial operations. Superchargers are typically offered by car dealerships and highway kiosks for charging in 30 minutes or less. Most residents will want the convenience of a Level 2 charging station or receptacle.

Charging stations are more than just a simple wall outlet. Charging stations now come with card readers that allow for easy tracking and billing of energy consumption by specific customers. Not only is the sale of electricity a po-tential source of income, but tenants will pay for spaces with charging access. Consider this relative to an alternative scenario where tenants merely run ex-tension cords from wall plugs, unin-tentionally stealing electricity from the building, and putting undue strain on its electrical system.

Also useful are the dual usage op-tions that smart chargers provide. Multiple cars can be hooked up to a single charger which determines the optimal charging parameters to make the most of a building’s limited elec-trical capacity.

Managing your building’s electri-cal systems is, of course, an important part of planning for a coming wave of tenants with EVs. Apartment owners may have had difficulty finding the additional electric capacity to install chargers, but common area and laun-dry room energy retrofits (in conjunc-tion with switching gear) are changing that equation.

Even if your circuits are already being taxed by current usage you may have the capacity to provide EV charging and without even knowing it. New technol-ogy in lighting and laundry machines may provide some or all of the added capacity you need. Common area and parking lot lighting retrofits can reduce electric consumption by up to 80%. LED technology provides the same quality of lighting at a small fraction of the cost of incandescent. New front load washers and dryers reduce your electric cost as well. The new washing machines wash at a hotter temperature and spin a larger percent of the water out of your clothes, allowing for a much shorter drying time. Many of these upgrades can be made at little or no cost and can provide you with the additional capaci-ty for EV charging that you need.

The process for installing EV charging stations is fairly straightfor-ward. An electrician can determine the capacity of your electrical panel and the cost of running conduit to the designat-ed parking spaces. A lighting retrofit – which makes sense whether or not you provide car charging – is a great second step to reduce electrical load and free up electrical. This will then determine whether you have capacity for chargers and how many vehicles they can ac-commodate. The third step is to contact charging station companies to get bids on the chargers themselves.

Charging stations come in a variety of flavors. I recommend charging stations that have card readers for electricity us-age reimbursement and have the ability for dual car charging. Some companies offer a lease and other require you to purchase the charger.

Now you might be asking, what is in it for me? How do I benefit by providing EV charging to my building. The first benefit is customer retention. Residents with charging ability are far less likely to leave any time soon. The second is income. EV drivers will pay you more for the ability to charge their car, up to $75 per month. That is the price for the convenience of charging at home.

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Basics of Student Housing ...continued from page 1

ents, it’s highly unlikely that you will lose out on any rents or damages.

Unfortunately, like with all good things, there are also disadvantages:

Disadvantage 1Annual Turnover: Unlike with oth-

er rentals, most students will leave ev-ery year requiring you to release the unit annually.

Disadvantage 2College Students Often Engage in

College Student-esque Behavior: While the cosigners you get should protect you from losses, college students have a way of damaging pretty much any-thing inside and outside of a house or apartment.

The most important thing to look for in student housing is that the mar-ket isn’t oversaturated. Many develop-ers have been building around college campuses lately and are thereby driving down rents and driving up vacancy. You don’t want to come late to the party (that, by the way, college students will almost certainly be throwing).

Furthermore, it’s important to make sure that the university you’re looking to invest around isn’t a so-called “com-muter school.” Many community col-leges and the like could be called such because students often don’t live par-ticularly close to campus. Investments around such schools can work out great, but they don’t drive the kind of premi-um rents like four year universities do. In other words, you need to know what you are getting into.

Around more established universi-ties with students looking for nearby, off-campus housing, there will be sev-eral zones, for lack of a better word. So for example, Zone 1 is very close to the campus and students pay a large premi-um. Zone 2 is approximately five to fif-teen blocks from campus and perhaps only on one or two sides of the univer-sity and students will pay a decent pre-mium. Beyond that is hit or miss.

We have found that the best bang for your buck can be found in properties that lie around Zone 2, since Zone 1 will typically be bid up by more insti-tutional investors. You will need to be ready to deal with multiple turnovers that all happen at about the same time. However, if you can handle such turn-over, there are great profits to be made in student housing.

Andrew Syrios is a real estate investor and property manager living in Kansas City. He is a partner in Stewardship Properties, which owns properties in Oregon, Texas, Kansas and Missouri.

To Satisfy or Not to Satisfy ...continued from page 2

priety and avoid tainting the landlord’s reputation amongst the members of the judiciary.

In addition to the affirmative obliga-tion to file a satisfaction in an eviction action under Arizona law, there may also be similar duties under federal law. On October 26, 1970, Congress enacted the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“Act”), 15 U.S.C. §§ 1681I et seq. Over the years there have been several amendments to the Act which have expanded the pro-tections afforded to judgment debtors and consumers.

As a matter of practice, Maricopa County sells data on case dispositions to the credit bureaus. Often times an evic-tion judgment obtained in court will find its way onto the credit report of the tenant/defendant. Whether the mone-tary portion of that judgment continues to show up on the credit report is con-tingent on the tenant/defendant paying the full amount of the judgment and the landlord/plaintiff filing a satisfac-tion of judgment with the court. Once a satisfaction is filed, anyone reviewing the court records will discover that the financial obligations owed by the terms of the judgment have been complied with and the debt is no longer outstand-ing. Landlords/plaintiffs who do not file a satisfaction may cause a false/inaccu-rate reporting of debt.

Section 1681s-2 of the Act imposes an affirmative obligation on persons whom regularly furnish information to cred-it bureaus to correct incorrect or mis-leading information regarding a debt. While landlords are not in the business of furnishing information to credit

bureaus, a failure to report an account closed knowing that the debt will likely be reported to the credit bureaus may be sufficient for a court to award penal-ties permissible under 15 U.S.C. § 1681n or 15 U.S.C. § 1681o. Such penalties in-clude both an award of actual damages or up to $1,000.00 plus the recovery of attorneys’ fees.

Based on the above, landlords have an affirmative duty to file a satisfaction of judgment under Arizona law. Land-lords may have reciprocal duties under federal law as well that they should be mindful of when accepting payments on judgments received. With such po-tential liability under both Arizona and federal law, landlords should be mind-ful of their obligations and promptly file a satisfaction with the court to avoid any potential misreporting attributable to the landlord’s actions/inactions.

Landlords seeking additional guid-ance on this topic are encouraged to contact The Law Offices of Scott M. Clark, P.C.

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Delaware Statutory Trusts ...continued from page 4

allow you to diversify both geo-graphically and functionally. Like a REIT (real estate investment trust), DSTs can own multiple properties in different geographic areas with different functions. Ownership of apartment buildings can be mixed with retail centers, office buildings, industrial warehousing, etc. In this way, a downturn in one sector of the economy can be off-set by an uptick in another.

• Low cost ownership: Unlike a tenant-in-common (TIC) pro-gram, investors in a DST are not re-quired to maintain any type of spe-cial purpose LLC (limited liability company) to hold their real estate.

• Non-recourse loans: DST inves-tors are not required to execute any loan guarantees or indemnities, given their purely passive relation-ship to the DST and its real estate.

Therefore, if there is debt on the property(s), investor risk is limited to invested equity. Lenders have no recourse to investors other assets.

• Liability protection: The DST “wrapper” shields the exchanger/investor from any liabilities with respect to the property. Ambulance chasing lawyers and their “slip and fall” clients will have to tap some-where else.

Of course these benefits say nothing of the leisure time exchanging into Del-aware Statutory Trust properties may provide you. Property management can be a full time job. This unending round of responsibility precludes many other enjoyable activities. It’s hard to travel and see the world, visit your grandkids, or just plain relax, when you are tied to your telephone, tenants, and properties.

In our past, present, and future zero interest rate environment, investing in a multi-property DST portfolio may also be a smart strategy for cash inves-tors without a property to exchange. Unlike other passive, fixed-income in-vestments, real estate may still provide a livable yield. As rental income, this potential money stream is also very tax advantaged. It can also position the in-vestor to do a 1031 exchange upon the potential profitable sale of their real es-tate and avoid paying capital gains tax.

In summary, 1031 exchanging into a DST portfolio which holds multiple income producing properties makes great sense for real estate owners who no longer want to shoulder the bur-den of active management. You’re not

going to live forever, so you might as well start enjoying it now. Let someone else change the light bulbs and col-lect the rent.

Robert Smith and Robert Straton are with Peregrine Private Capital, an advisory firm based in Lake Oswego, OR. They can be contacted at 503-241-4949 or [email protected].

The information herein has been pre-pared for educational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to purchase or sell securitized real estate investments. Because investors situations and objec-tives vary this information is not intended to indicate suitability for any particular investor. This material is not to be inter-preted as tax or legal advice. Please speak with your own tax and legal advisors for advice/guidance regarding your par-ticular situation.

There are risks associated with investing in real estate and Delaware Statutory Trust (DST) properties including, but not limit-ed to, loss of entire investment principal, declining market values, tenant vacan-cies and illiquidity. Potential cash flows/returns/appreciation are not guaranteed and could be lower than anticipated. Di-versification does not guarantee profits or guarantee protection against losses.

Securities offered through Concorde In-vestment Services (CIS), LLC, member FIN-RA/SIPC. Peregrine Private Capital Corpo-ration is independent of CIS.

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Rental Property Cash Flow(And 10 Ways To Ruin It)

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SK THE SECRET SHOPPERTeamwork

The importance of teamwork cannot be overstated or em-phasized enough. Yet some-

times boundaries are so clearly drawn regarding the role or “job description” of each staff member, those employees who desire to “go the extra mile” are powerless to act and are forced to watch

prospects and residents “fall through the cracks.”

Here is a question which brings up the issue of maintenance and leasing staffs getting involved with each others’ responsibilities:

QIs it appropriate for maintenance

staff members to get involved in the leasing process and how far should they go?

AThis is an important topic, and it

raises another question: Is it appropri-ate for leasing/office employees to get involved in some aspects of mainte-nance and how far should they go?

Many companies have to make dif-ficult budget cuts in their payroll and reduce the size of their onsite leasing and maintenance staffs. The result is less office coverage and slower response time to resident requests, as one or two team members are trying to do the jobs of three or four people.

Providing some “basic” training to your leasing and maintenance person-nel to create an “overlap” in their job responsibilities will take some of the pressure off your team members during the busiest times of the month. It will also provide better service to prospec-tive residents and existing residents.

If a leasing person is away from the office and a maintenance staff member encounters a prospective renter, the maintenance person at the very least could extend a warm, friendly greeting. The visitor could be made comfortable and offered refreshments, if available, and be given a brochure to look at while he or she is waiting. If a guest card or visitor log is available, the maintenance person could request that it be filled out. Then, if the waiting time becomes excessive and the prospective renter has to leave, there will be a record of the visit, and a way for the leasing person to follow up.

Office personnel can provide this same type of support to their main-tenance staffs, who are busy turning apartments and handling service re-quests. Every person working in the office can be taught how to operate a plunger and an Allen wrench. Leas-ing team members must also be willing to pass out flyers, pick up litter, sweep sidewalks, maintain common areas, etc. If you are constantly paging main-tenance to pass out your lease renewal letters or handle minor messes around your community, then you are delay-ing the make ready process, as well as prompt service to your residents.

REMEMBER: Being part of a team means doing whatever it takes to get the job done; whether it’s your job or not!

If you are interested in leasing train-ing or have a question or concern you would like to see addressed, please reach out to me via e-mail. Otherwise, please contact Jancyn for your employ-ee evaluation needs: www.jancyn.com

ASK THE SECRET SHOPPERProvided by: Joyce (Kirby) Bica Former owner of Shoptalk Service Evalua-tions Consultant to Jancyn Evaluation ShopsE-mail: [email protected] © Joyce (Kirby) Bica

PublisherWill Johnson – [email protected]

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Advertising SalesWill Johnson – [email protected]

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DEAR MAINTENANCE MEN: By Jerry L’Ecuyer & Frank Alvarez

Utilitarian Upgrades, Smelly Sinks and Fixing Fans

continued on page 11

Dear Maintenance Men: I am a rehab project on a building that

consists of all two bedroom one and three quarter baths. The three-quar-ter bathrooms have a sink, toilet and bathtub, but no shower. I would like to convert them to a full bath by adding a shower. How do I do it?

Bill

Dear Bill:This is a great upgrade to any unit.

There are a number of ways to go de-pending on your budget and do-it-

yourself skills. The most economical and simple solution to adding a shower to a bathtub is to install a diverter spout that includes a 1 half-inch hand show-er fitting. The hand shower can be sold separately or as a kit with the spout. Connect the hand shower hose to the spout and hang the showerhead on the wall. Other than installing waterproof shower walls, you are ready to go.

The second option is a bit more in-volved, but a much better solution. Because most tub only bathroom usu-

ally have no wall tile or “shower wall” material, gaining access to your exist-ing valve & plumbing system should be easy. Let’s begin with the items you will need to start your project. (If you have an existing two-valve system, now is the time to go to a modern single valve set-up.) The easiest apartment application valve to buy is either a Moen or Mix-it valve. There are many other brands to buy depending on your budget. The kit will come with a valve, spout, shower arm and head. You will still need to purchase a half inch copper pipe at least

56 to 59 inches long, a 90 degree brass elbow, slip to thread with ears to attach it to the wall stud at the shower head. Be sure you have a full propane torch with solder.

Now you are ready to install. Don’t forget to turn off the water. Since you will be installing new shower walls, don’t worry about damaging drywall. Cut a hole in the drywall stud to stud, 12 inches high at the existing valve level. Then cut a 4 inch wide strip of drywall 59 inches up from the location of the existing valves. Now that every-thing is exposed, remove the old valves, by cutting or use the propane torch to melt the solder joints. Install the new valve in place, cut a half inch copper ris-er between 56 and 59 inches and solder to the valve. Solder the brass 90-degree elbow to the pipe and screw the elbow to a cross stud. If you could not find an elbow with ears, use plumbers tape or a pipe hanger to secure the elbow in place. Test your plumbing installation for leaks.

Replace existing drywall around the tub with green board drywall or cement board. Install shower wall material of your choice. We recommend a one-

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Supercharge Your Student Housing ...continued from page 1

focus. I feel for property managers who are working their tails off right now and are worried about how corporate will look at them come the fall. In student housing there is no margin for error and a property manager is either a hero or a zero.

If you are stressed out, below are 3 ways you can use SEO to super-charge your student property and make sure you are the valedictorian of your company.

Are you ready to move to the head of the class? Follow these 3 simple steps:

Laser target your audience: Most student housing properties have no idea what the top keywords students are searching for in the area and con-sequently they have no clue where their property ranks on Google for those keywords.

Keywords are the words and phrases that students type into the search box of a search engine, such as Google, to find apartments that match what they are looking for. Some keywords have thousands of unique searches while others get zero. For example, “apart-ments near ASU” has 14 times more renters searching it than “apartments for rent near ASU”. The biggest mistake a property manager can make is trying to guess at what students are “asking Siri” or typing into Google. As reader of Rental Housing Journal, just call our office at 888-683-5885 and we will tell you the top 10 keywords for your prop-erty and where your website ranks for them at no charge.

Once you know your keywords you can go to work laser targeting the ones that have maximum search behind

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them. SEO can get you to the top of search engines and leave your compet-ing communities fighting over the key-words nobody is searching for.

Load Balance the rent-roll: Many times property managers call us after their property has already become the satellite home of Phi Delta Theta and Sigma Nu. Students are great, and if you specialize in off campus housing, they are your lifeblood. But one of the best things you can do for your property is to balance your rent-roll with non-stu-dents. This will provide you a buffer for the extreme seasonality of student housing and help keep the community sane, clean and livable for everyone.

The fastest way to achieve a healthy balance is to use the same laser target-ing described above for non-students. Returning to our ASU example; “apart-ments in Tempe” will broaden your exposure to non-students. If your prop-erty is an A property targeting “luxury apartments Tempe” and “Tempe luxu-ry apartments” will bring hundreds of high-end renters calling into the leas-ing office month after month.

Compensate for seasonality: The final problem we always have to solve for our student properties is how to turn their crazy seasonal lease ups into smooth open enrollments filling all of the units for the upcoming year in a fraction of the time is takes the rest of the communities in the area. Although getting your property ranked for the top student and non-student keywords goes a long way. We often put our stu-dent communities on steroids during

the crazy months; we manage a Google AdWords campaign for them.

AdWords (Google AdWords) is an advertising service by Google for apartments wanting to display ads on Google and its advertising network. The AdWords program enables student housing properties to set a budget for advertising and only pay when people click the ads.

Conclusion: Proper use of SEO can be the difference between the Dean’s list and the Dunce Cap. Finding the right partner to help you manage your on-line presence can help you become your management company’s star pupil.

Matthew Easton is EVP of MultiFamily Traffic a SEO firm dedicated to making the phones in your leasing office ring. . MultiFamily Traffic professionally manages these campaigns making the phones rings with only the most qualified renters and saving each of our properties 40% - 70% on what they would have paid if they went to Google by themselves You can reach Matthew directly at 303-803-7372 or [email protected]

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Dear Maintenance Men ...continued from page 9

piece wrap around shower wall system available at your local home center.

Dear Maintenance Men: My rental unit has a kitchen with

a double sink. The drains smell very bad. I have tried running lemon slices through the garbage disposal, it works for a short time, but the smell comes back. What steps do you recommend for resolving this problem?

Barbra

Dear Barbra:The smell may come from a number

of places. First, use a small toilet type bush with soap and scrub the inside of the garbage disposal. This will remove

any slime build-up. (For safety rea-sons, shut the garbage disposal off at the breaker or pull the plug.) Next re-move the drain trap and clean out any sludge. Many times the horizontal pipe between the trap and the wall may have hard deposits coating the inside of the pipe. The deposits will collect food and debris that may slow the drains consid-erably. If you have a dishwasher, check the drain line leading from the air-gap or dishwasher to the garbage dispos-al. It may be full of sludge that will cause a smell to come through the air-gap located next to the faucet. Clean or replace any pipes with deposits or sludge. Check both drain lines for the above problems. Now if you wish, run

the garbage disposal with a few slices of lemon and it should smell good and stay that way. Once in a while, throw some ice cubes in the garbage disposal unit to help scrape away any debris.

Dear Maintenance Men:I have a problem with moisture build-

up and wall damage in my apartment bathrooms. The bathrooms do not have windows as they are constructed away from any exterior walls. They do have vent fans, but they don’t seem to do the job. How can I solve this problem?

Bill

Dear Bill:First things to check is whether your

vent fans are working and not clogged with lint or dust. If the fan is operating properly, check the CFM or Cubic Feet per minute of air movement. The min-imum number should be 50 CFM. If the bathroom is getting more than the average amount of use, you may want to replace the existing fan with one that has a higher CFM rating. We recom-mend using at least a 120-CFM fan. And equally important, many bath-rooms have two wall switches; one for the light and the other for the fan. If this is the case, we recommend combin-ing the two switches into one. That way when the resident switches on the light the fan will come on automatically. We find most residents will not turn on the fan if it has its own switch.

Bio:

Please call: Buffalo Maintenance, Inc for maintenance work or consultation.

JLE Property Management, Inc for man-agement service or consultation

Frankie Alvarez at 714 956-8371

Jerry L’Ecuyer at 714 778-0480

CA contractor lic: #797645, EPA

Real Estate lic. #: 01460075

Certified Renovation Company

www.BuffaloMaintenance.com

www.ContactJLE.com

www.Facebook.com/BuffaloMaintenance

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rental housing journal arizona june 2016

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