Landscaping Smaller Properties Attracts Tenants

Reprinted and adapted with kind permission from LPMAnews, news magazine of the London Property Management Association.

Curb appeal isn’t limited to multi-residential complexes. The same principles can be applied to smaller complexes and houses.
 
Ann Pavlic, who owns three rental houses in Old North London, pays extra attention to her landscaping in spring and fall to ensure her properties are in top shape when students are shopping for accommodations in mid- to late-summer. The grass is kept short and bushes are neatly trimmed. Chipped paint, tired porches and windows are also repaired during the summer.
 
“I do it for the business component and curb appeal, but I also do it for my own sense of pride and satisfaction,” she says. “I live in the neighbourhood and I want my properties to mirror the neighbourhood’s level of living. I’ m conscious that there are residents mingling with the rentals and I want to bring that quality up.”
 
When Pavlic bought her houses 10 years ago, she landscaped in a similar way to other homeowners. She planted ground covers that turn colour from spring to fall, as well as ivies that change from green to burgundy.
 
“It looks wonderful. It frames the house beautifully and it kind of puts it in an Old English kind of setting,” she says.
Pavlic advises small landlords to choose low-maintenance plants that require less care. That practice is particularly important in high-traffic areas, such as along walkways.
 
“Choosing carefully, yet attractively is the key. You want to have enough to be appealing, but not too much to have high maintenance and costs,” she adds.

Minimum Wage - Resident Caretakers

Since May 1st of 2011, BC's minimum wage has been increased every 6 months, with the final increase coming into effect on May 1st of this year. What does this mean to you as a landlord? If you own a building that has a 9 or more suites and have a resident manager or caretaker, their wage will need to be increased if you haven't already raised it.

The final increase on May 1st brought the minimum wage for managers/caretakers of buildings with 9 to 60 suites to $615 plus $24.65 per suite. If your building has more than 60 suites, the minimum salary is now $2,094.84.

Remember these amounts are the minimum; they are not necessarily what you should pay your on-site staff. Good managers and caretakers can be difficult to find - and minimum wage may not be the best way to attract the good ones. 

-- Carly Ludwar and Hunter Boucher

Fill Your Vacancies

Vacancy rates have gone up in many communities across the province, and landlords have had to deal with this in interesting ways. The easiest way to fill your empty units - with little effort - is to have your existing tenants refer their friends and colleagues. If you have a great building in a fantastic location, your vacancy should rent itself and your tenants should want to refer people they know.

But no matter how amazing your building is, in this market a little incentive can certainly help. Some landlords have incentive referral programs where the person who makes the referral receives something small like a gift card to a nearby coffee shop. Most buildings that have this kind of program have simple rules about what qualifies as a referral; for example, the referred applicant has to actually be accepted and move into the building.

A referral incentive program is not just a great way to fill your vacancies; it is a way to make your apartment building a community that people want to live in and stay in - further reducing your vacancies. Remember to make it fun!

 -- Carly Ludwar and Hunter Boucher

Rent Increase

The cost of living keeps going up and a big factor in that is the cost of maintaining rental units. The cost of the services required to maintain your rental unit are subject to change with very little notice and there is no way of passing your increased cost of doing business to your existing tenants, the only exception being an annual rent increase.

As a landlord you are able to raise your tenants' rent once a year (12 months from the last increase or the date the tenancy began), but as BC has government imposed rent controls, the maximum amount of increase is limited.  The limit is tied in part to the consumer price index, resulting in a maximum increase of 4.3% for any rent increase effective in 2012.  In early September, the government will announce the limit for 2013.

Despite your cost increases, you need to consider the market in your area when deciding whether to increase rents for existing tenants.  Higher vacancy rates give tenants more flexibility to move if they think their rent is too high. 

-- Al Kemp and Hunter Boucher