Rent
For Landlords
Advice from my 20 Years of Being a Landlord in Charleston
Landlords
THERE’S A LOT OF COMPETITION FOR TENANTS
Landlords, you’ve had it easy for the last ten years, now everywhere you look in Charleston there are cranes and they’re building apartments, which are your competition.
What this means is that you have be smarter, you have to be realistic in what you are asking for rent, you have to market your property early, often and everywhere, you might even have a few weeks of vacancy.
PREPARE YOUR HOME FOR SHOWINGS
Make your house look appealing, clean your home, touch up paint, clean the carpets, pressure wash the siding and porches, take care of the landscaping. All of these are inexpensive to do.
If your home needs updating, this might be the time to do it. All these new condos being built are gorgeous, they are like something you’d see in a designer magazine and it’s what tenants are demanding these days.
To get the most money when you sell your investment property, you’ll need to renovate it anyway, so do things that don’t wear out, like add new countertops , updated lighting is inexpensive. The nicer your place is, the more prospective tenants it will attract and you can pick & choose who you want living in your home.
HOW TO MARKET YOUR HOUSE
Take professional photos. They cost $200 and you can reuse them every year. It’s the best $200 you can spend as a landlord, plus it’s tax deductible.
I would even suggest set up a website for your home. This website is built on Squarespace, requires no technical skills and costs $15/month (and it’s our favorite term “tax deductible”). Spend a day building the site or hire a college kid to do it, including photos, FAQs, move in and move out expectations and it will save you doing it every year. If you have more than one rental property, this is a no brainer. You’ll stand out among your competition. You can put the website on a sign outside your property and you’ll get lots of people inquiring.
Don’t just put the data on your ads i.e. “3 bed, 2 bath, 1500sqft home”, that’s boring and every other ad will have that. You want to stand out and give your home some personality, sell the lifestyle that renters could live in your home
“Remodeled, maintenance free home five minutes walk from MUSC, two minutes walk from Charleston’s hottest new restaurant. Yoga studio/gym/dog park close by”
I will guarantee that will get more interest than pure facts.
Put together an FAQ for tenants, anticipate their questions “are dogs allowed, how much is the average electric bill, where can I park, what day is trash day, what are the schools etc”.
This will not only save you answering the same questions repeatedly, but it’ll show that you are a good landlord and tenants factor that in too when deciding where to live.
It’s another reason to put together a website, build it up with all that information and you’re doing something 99.99% of other landlords are not doing.
WHERE TO MARKET YOUR HOME
Craigslist is the most popular site - It's Craigslist though, so use common sense and don't fall for any scams https://charleston.craigslist.org/search/apa
With Craigslist, I suggest doing three separate ads, all completely different, this will allow you to post one every third day. So Day 1, post ad 1, day 2, post ad 2, day 3, post ad 3. Day 4, renew Ad 1, Day 5, renew ad 6.
Craigslist is smart and will spot if your ads are identical, so change up the wording, the title and the photos.
Neighborhood Facebook Pages : Most neighborhoods have FB groups, it’s free advertising and the people on the page already live there, so they clearly like your neighborhood and will spread the word for you.
Zillow https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_rent/
Hotpads https://hotpads.com
USE A PROPERTY MANAGEMENT COMPANY
I’m a huge believer in letting experts do what they are good at and you do what you are good at.
So you have one or two rentals and a day job. Property management companies have 500 properties and do this every day. Who is going to do a better job at finding tenants, screening them, moving them in, getting repairs done, negotiating their move out ? You, who might do it once a year, or property managers who do it every day of their lives ?
If you self manage, you have to do all of this :
Do all of the marketing above that I mentioned including posting and reposting on Craigslist, then go meet prospective tenants at the house (25% of whom won’t show up), then take applications, then screen them (do you know how?), then do a pre-move in walk through with them, then chase them down for payments each month, be on call 24/7 for broken AC/toilets etc. When something breaks, you have to find a contractor, be there when they come, wait for them to do the repairs. Now when the tenant moves out, you have to do a move out walk through with them, inevitably argue over the return of the security deposit and once they finally move out, you repeat the whole cycle again.
OR…….
You could hire a property management company who will charge about 7% to do it and you just get a check each month. Remember, that 7% is our favorite term “tax-deductible”, so it’s really more like 4% in hard cash. Do you want to do all the work above to save 4% ? How much time is involved in all of that ? You’ll probably be doing all that work for a McDonalds hourly pay by the time it’s all done. Plus the property management companies have relationships with all the contractors and can get a lower price that you can, so you’ll save money there.
Contact me and I can give the names of some property management companies who I have used in the past.
THE BAD NEWS IS THAT I CANNOT HELP YOU
Our company does not allow us to handle, market or have anything to do with the leasing of rentals. We are not insured to do it and I can lose my real estate license over it, so apologies in advance. I’m happy to answer general questions and I’ve given a lot of advice on this page, but that’s all I can do.
Since buying my first investment property in Mt Pleasant at age 23, I've been a landlord in Charleston nearly 20 years now. I am very proud to say that I have never had a single day of vacancy in any of my properties. Really, not a single day and I've owned up to eight properties at one time, so I consider myself an expert in that side of the real estate world.
It's one of the things that gives me an edge over my competitors in this ultra competitive real estate world where there are more agents than houses for sale. I've been there and done it myself, with my own money on the line. I've learned a lot of lessons in that time. I always share those lessons with my investor clients so they don't have to make some of the expensive mistakes that I made while I was learning.
Here is my advice on how to keep the highest occupancy rate on your rental and make the most money from it.
MY PROPERTIES LOOK LIKE MODEL HOMES
Up until recently, Charleston has been a landlord's dream town. Landlords could find a tenant who'll pay their asking rent regardless of the condition of the property. Landlords had no incentive to put money into updating their properties. The result was lots of rentals with old carpet, laminate counters, old appliances, touched up paint and just a worn out look.
My rentals always look like model homes. I am OCD about the properties that I own. I simply cannot own an ugly place. My properties are always been in fabulous condition. You don't find nasty carpet or laminate counters or gold plated door knobs in my rentals. Instead it's always fresh paint, shiny hardwood flooring, quartz counters, updated fixtures & stainless appliances. Once a tenant moves out, I get everything professionally cleaned, replace anything that old or outdated and make it look like it was just built.
Now, I hear you say that sounds expensive to update a property. It is, but you're going to update it at some point, either when you buy it or just before you sell it.
If you renovate it when you buy it, then you can charge more rent, get better tenants and higher occupancy. OR, you can have a crappy rental with low rental rates, vacancies, less than ideal tenants and then renovate right before you sell it.
I always do the renovation up front, so I can get the higher rent that offsets the cost of the renovation. You'll recoup a lot of the cost of the renovation over the time of your ownership.
MODEL HOMES ATTRACT MODEL TENANTS
When you have a beautiful looking home for rent, you'll attract a ton of interested people. Remember, the average landlord doesn't update their property so those 10% who do, stand out among the competition. I've ALWAYS had multiple applicants on my properties.
Then you get to pick and choose your ideal tenant, rather than desperately renting to anyone who will rent your place that's been vacant for a month. I do an in depth interview to make sure they are a good fit for my property.
Tenants are going to be taking care of one of your biggest assets so you want the best possible tenant in your home.
INVEST IN MARKETING YOUR PROPERTY
How am I able to get some many applicants on my properties ? Because I spend the money to market to them.
I spend $200 on getting professional photos & $100 to set up a simple SquareSpace website for my property.
Now I can post those enticing photos of my beautiful home, and write a blurb about how amazing my house is, the lifestyle you can lead there, my favorite local restaurants.
I can add a floor plan, I can include some FAQs to be proactive about the questions tenants always ask anyway.
If you're a tenant looking to rent a place and you see a two line ad on Craigslist with some dark iPhone photos, then you see my ad which has gorgeous photos and a link to a website with all your questions already answered, which one are going to want to see ?
Think about it, if I rent my house out for $2000 per month, that's $24,000 I'm going to get in rent in a year. The photos and website will cost less than 1% of the income that I’ll generate from the property and it will put my rental in the top 99.9% of rentals being advertised.
45 DAY RULE
I advertise my property for rent 45 days before the move in date. The reason I do this earlier than most landlords is because I want organized people who have their life in order renting from me. These people are looking this early, they want to know where they are living in 30-45 days.
You do not want someone who needs to move in next week. If you don't have a place to live next week and you're scrambling last minute, then you're a mess and I don't want to be relying on you to pay me rent.
Trust me on this, organized people who plan ahead make excellent tenants.
OPEN HOUSE, NOT DEDICATED SHOWINGS
The week after I start advertising my rental, I do an open house on a Saturday for one hour. That's it, I don't do individual showings at prospective tenant's request. I tell everyone interested that I'll be there from 1 until 2pm on Saturday afternoon and they can come see it then.
Here are the reasons that I do it this way :
1. Remember, I've generated a lot of interest in my property, so by having all the people come at once, they see there's other people viewing it who are their competition and it increases their urgency. Urgency is the key to everything in real estate. I've seen people half interested in a property become obsessed by it because they see someone else wants it. It's true for selling as well as renting. You want urgency !
Before they even get to the house, they are intrigued when I respond to their showing request by saying "I've had so much interest in it that I'm just going to have an open house, I don't have time to show it individually to everyone who wants to see it". It's already standing out among the properties they are going to look at.
2. To keep the current tenant happy. If you've passed the test to be a tenant of mine, you're a good person and I want to keep you happy, so I'm not going to inconvenience you with a lot of showings. I want to keep you happy.
3. Renters are frustratingly flaky. If they are just coming to look at a rental, they're looking at 10 others too and they've no skin in the game, they don't care about you or your time, so 20% of them simply don't show up to a scheduled viewing. I've learned this the hard way........
BE SELECTIVE
Don't just take the first bozo who wants your place. You're going into a relationship with your tenants (hopefully not romantic, don't do that for a million reasons), but you're going to talk occasionally, you're going to have move in and move out walk throughs, bad tenants can make you wish you'd never become an investor, but good tenants can become good friends.
I am always super selective, I take my time and find a good tenant. By starting to find a tenant 45 days out, I've got time to be fussy if that first open house doesn't get me an excellent tenant.
LONG TERM TENANT ARE THE BEST
Find the tenant who is going to stay long term. I've had tenants stay for 6 years, they are the people you want. Despite all my good advice on finding a tenant above, it's still a pain to have to rent out your place, so when you're sorting through your multiple applications, see if you can figure out who may stay for a few years. There's no clear advice for how to figure this out, but be clever and use your common sense.
I very rarely sign a lease longer than one year. Too many things can happen in a year, both with the house, the tenant, you, the economy. Sign a one year lease and if they are good tenants, contact them 60 days out from the expiration date and see if they want to extend by another year.
HAPPY TENANTS = HAPPY LANDLORD
I am the best landlord in Charleston. Yes, it's official, I am and I tell my tenants that. No matter what goes wrong, no matter how minor it is, once they contact me, it get fixed immediately. I don't do patch repair jobs, if something needs replacing, it gets replaced.
It’s my investment, I want to keep it in the best possible condition and patch jobs just end up costing you more money in the long term and annoy your tenants.
EXCELLENT TENANTS ARE WORTH THEIR WEIGHT IN GOLD
I don't raise rents on excellent tenants who stay for a few years. It costs me money to find a tenant, so if they stay, pay their rent on time and take good care of my house, I don't raise the rent. It's not worth the extra $50 month.
For Renters
Where to find a rental. How to Protect Yourself. How to reduce stress with your landlord.
GOOD NEWS FOR RENTERS
For the last five years, rental supply was very limited and we've had a huge influx of people to Charleston so landlords could set their own prices while still have their choice of many applicants. It was tough finding a rental property in Charleston.
Now things have turned around and there is a plenty of supply. Just look around Charleston and you'll see construction everywhere, much of which is rental apartments so for the first time in a long time, my clients who are landlords are saying it's getting tough to find tenants.
This article confirms it
WHERE TO FIND RENTAL LISTINGS
Craigslist is the most popular site - It's Craigslist though, so use common sense and don't fall for any scams https://charleston.craigslist.org/search/apa
Zillow https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_rent/
Hotpads https://hotpads.com
University Sites
MUSC, you need a login to access, so hit up your favorite MUSC person https://www.musc.edu/housing
Their resources page has great information https://www.mymuschousing.com/resource
College of Charleston https://cofc.uloop.com/housing/
Charleston School of Law http://charlestonlaw.edu/student-housing-list/
Neighborhood Facebook Pages
If you decide you like a particular area, there's a good chance they have a neighborhood facebook page.
"I live in Wagener Terrace" has one of the largest (and most entertaining) pages if you're looking in that part of the upper more locals area of downtown https://www.facebook.com/groups/17531693074/
The Cannonborough-Elliotborough page is smaller but if you want to be closer to the heart of downtown, it's a good page and it's where I live, so you know it's cool https://www.facebook.com/groups/142427312471261/
It can take some effort to track neighborhood FB pages but they are a great source of information.
Property Management Companies
Here are some of the bigger property management companies in Charleston, you can search their sites for rentals. If you're having a hard time finding what you want, it's worth calling them to see what they have coming up that they haven't started advertising yet.
https://www.leasingandmanagement.com/available-rentals/
https://www.behappyrenting.com/renters/
http://www.charlestonpc.com/charleston-homes-for-rent
Apartment Complex Websites
Many of the large corporate run complexes have their own website. Charleston has seen some very high end developments recently which have resort like amenities, but with the prices to match it. A lot of these will show up on sites like Hotpads.com, but you get more information on their own websites.
With the oversupply of apartments at the moment, there can be specials available and it's always worth asking for a reduction or a free month's rent.
Here are some of the large scale modern complexes.
Downtown
https://www.liveatskygarden.com
Mt Pleasant
MtP is where everyone wants to be
https://www.centralsquareatwatermark.com
https://www.maac.com/south-carolina/charleston/1201-midtown
https://www.maac.com/south-carolina/charleston/rivers-walk
James Island
Be Close to downtown and the beach
https://thestandardjamesisland.com
https://www.spyglassseaside.com
https://www.charthouseapts.com
West Ashley
Close to downtown & Avondale in West Ashley is a destination of its own
https://www.experiencetheashley.com
Park Circle in North Charleston
Prices are more reasonable in Park Circle and it's still on 15 minutes from downtown.
https://www.linkapartmentsmixson.com
BEFORE YOU SIGN A LEASE,
ARE YOU MAKING A $54,000 MISTAKE ?
Did you know homeowners have a net worth 36 times that of renters ?
That’s just one of many reasons why it’s better to own than rent
HOMEOWNERS
- Pay down their mortgage
- Mortgage is less than rent for the same house
- Have tax write offs
- Have an investment
- Will have no mortgage once the loan is paid off
- Mortgage repayments are fixed. They don’t increase
- House values go up 3%/yr
- Can do home improvements
- Are part of their community
RENTERS
- Pay their landlords mortgage
- The rent check you write is more than the mortgage would be
- Have no tax write offs
- Have no skin in the game
- Will have to pay rent every month forever
- Rent keeps going up year after year
- Watch their landlord get richer
- Maybe landlord will let you paint the walls (on your dime)
- Don’t put down roots, live lease to lease
KNOW YOUR LANDLORD
Before you even start looking for a rental, take time to think what type of place you want to rent, who your landlord is going to be and who manages your property. They'll all have a big impact on your happiness in your new home.
There are usually 3 types of situations
1. Private Landlord Who Manage Their Own Properties
This is someone like me. An individual who has bought 1-10 rental properties as investments and manages them themselves.
Pros
+ Can be very flexible. It's one person making their own decision, not an employee who has to follow company rule book
+ They care, their rentals are their retirement fund so keeping a well maintained property is in their best interest
+ You get their phone number, if something goes wrong, you call the owner, not an office that is only staffed 8 hours a day
+ They can be flexible with move in/move out dates or length of leases or if you need to break a lease (sometimes!)
+ If you treat my property well, I keep your rent reasonable and don't do an automatic annual increase.
+ They can charge lower rent because they are not paying for property management or head office
Cons
- These are individuals, not always trained on how to deal with tenants and may not know all the rules
- Again, these are individuals, people can be cool or crazy. Use your common sense when meeting them
- At move out time, they use their opinion, not company standards on what is reasonable wear & tear v damage.
2. Property Management Company
These are local companies who manage properties for private landlords
Pros
+ They have a large inventory to choose from
+ They have move in and move out standard checklists to protect you and them
+ You can call and ask what they have coming up for rent in 3/6/9 months ( private landlords generally only advertise 30 days out)
Cons
- They charge you for everything. Application fee, pet fee, every scratch on a wall
- They manage hundreds or thousands of properties. You're a number to them
- They can be hard to get a hold of for everything from trying to view the property to getting repairs done.
- They need approval from the owner for anything. Things can take longer to get fixed/approved
- They are inflexible. If you sign a lease and want to get out early, be prepared to pay for it.
3. Corporate Owned Large Apartment Complexes
Pros
+ Usually brand new and in excellent condition
+ On site representative who you can go see if you need anything
+ Lots of amenities
+ They can run specials with free/reduced rent
+ Some do shorter term rentals (3-6 months)
Cons
- They are expensive. Those amenities and fancy apartments cost money
- They charge for everything
- They can be inflexible
ADVICE FROM 20 YEARS OF BEING A LANDLORD
I've always managed my own properties and have never had more than a few days vacancy in 20 years. I keep my properties in excellent condition, my tenant know they can call day or night and I'll have a repair person out that same day. I treat my tenants with respect and don't just take the first application I get. Hopefully you get a similar landlord.
When you first contact the landlord, note how long it takes them to respond. If they are slow to respond when they have the incentive of trying to get your business, they won't be any quicker when you want something fixed.
Take lots of photos and videos the day you move in to record the move in condition.
Notify your landlord at the first sign of any issues. Things don't fix themselves and will cost the landlord more, the longer you leave it.
Pay on time ! If something comes up, communicate with the landlord and explain why.
Those gorgeous old homes downtown are stunning, but they're old and with that often comes high utilities bill, maintenance issues and small closets !
Do you want the space of a house ? Don't forget you have to maintain the yard.
Prefer the maintenance free lifestyle of an apartment ? You'll have people living above/below/next to you. You'll have to bring your trash to the dumpster.
Take lots of photos and videos the day you move in to record the move in condition.
Document your communication with your landlord