POCONON MOUNTIANS - Throughout the years, persons for New York and
New Jersey have bought a home in the Poconos with the intention of either using
it as a vacation home and eventually retiring in that home, bought it as a
primary home but felt that they were better served by moving back to New York
or New Jersey and left them with an empty house and a mortgage payment.
Those who bought a vacation home
with the kids now grown and in most cases both Mom and Dad working, have found
that the tradition of going to the vacation home in such development as Lake
Naomi, Penn Estates, Saw Creek, The Hideout, or others, have also left those
people with an empty house or one that is just not utilized as much as the family
had envisioned.
Renting your home is an ideal way
to keep the cash flowing while you as a family make adjustments to your
lifestyle. "It's an intelligent
choice when your personal circumstances change." said Thomas R. Wilkins,
CEO of Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Wilkins & Associates and owner
of Wilkins & Associates--PROPERTY MANAGEMENT, formerly NEPA Management Associates, one of the largest
property management companies in Northeast Pennsylvania. "It can be a positive use of your home
and a steady source of income if you do some planning beforehand and have help
from a property manager or management company such as ours." said Wilkins.
"There are a number of items
that must be considered when you are renting your home." Wilkins
said. The most basic involves a drafting
of a lease which is that contract which lays out the terms in writing as to
what the Landlord and what the tenant are responsible for. That will lay the ground work as to how, why
and what the obligations are of both the landlord and tenant in this agreement.
Then there are the details:
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Do you want to market your home yourself?
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Do you want to have a real estate broker show
and rent your home?
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Do you want to have a professional manage your
property which takes a portion of the income received every month?
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Do you have enough time in your busy schedule to
make sure that all of the above are done correctly to maximize the amount of
money that you receive while maintaining the integrity of your home?
The most important and basic documents
include the Lease--the binding contract which states what each party will or
will not do.
In the past, before the internet,
homeowners or landlords would place a classified ad in the real estate section
of the local newspaper, doing "hand shake" screening of the tenant,
make any repairs that the tenant may request at the time of viewing the
property and then simply stop by every month to pick up the rent from the
tenant. Those days are long, long gone.
Today, sometimes you are living 1 ½
to 2 hours from your vacation home or for that matter; your primary home and
you don't have the time to pick up your rent every month; not to mention your
cost for gas, tolls and other necessities when you have to pick up the
rent. Not to mention different ways the
tenant may be able to pay the rent. That
would include certified funds, postal money orders, check, credit cards or
through an ACH direct draw from their checking account.
Said Wilkins, "The days of
simply doing a hand shake agreement with someone who occupies property you own
are over."
"The most common mistake that landlords
or owners make is not doing background checks." said Wilkins. While the credit report does add value to the
streaming, in my professional opinion, the two questions of (1) where do you
work and how long have you been at your job?; and (2) where have you lived and
how long have you lived there? are much more important than reviewing a credit
report."
The reason for that is that
employment is much more important in today's economy and what industry you are
employed in. If it is an industry that
is highly susceptible to lay-offs, down sizing and such, then it may not be a
good idea to rent to that tenant depending on where they are in the corporate
flow chart.
The second important item is the
residency verification. If the tenant
has lived in the property for less than one year, Better Homes and Gardens Real
Estate Wilkins & Associates and WA PM will not consider the tenant because
they do not have a long enough history with one particular owner for us to make
a decision as to whether or not to accept them.
Our minimum requirement is one year.
"Along with the residency
verification, if a tenant has been with a landlord for two years, or longer,
that would supersede anything that in the credit report. What that means to us is that the landlord
accepts this tenant, they understand the value of keeping a roof above their
heads…….continued….
Many owners in the Poconos do in
fact rent their homes. In fact, the
Wilkins organization handles a number of management accounts in and around the
Pocono area which includes communities located throughout the Pocono
Mountains, apartment complexes to the north and the south of the
Poconos, single family homes, high end rentals including executive communites
and apartments throughout the urban districts of the Poconos.
Patricia
Blank-Toombs, Vice President with WA PM and NEPA Management Assoc states that the key to being a
good landlord is screening the tenants as much as possible. "We've always tried to take every
precaution to ensure the tenant is financially qualified to occupy that home, condo
or townhome (in the most indiscriminate manner) but we do a total screening of
the potential tenant for the owners. All
owners sign a landlord authorization form which lets them make the final
decision--our office does not.
"For those parties whose homes
we manage (meaning we collect the rent and do all of the repairs), we as the
property managers make the decision whether to accept or not accept the
tenant. We feel that a necessity because
we are going to be dealing with that tenant day in and day out." Blank Toombs also stated, "the most
important part of a landlord/tenant relationship is the tenant. Those are the parties who are paying the rent
and making sure the mortgage gets paid.
In the event the property is vacant, then you need to appreciate that
the owner will have to make the mortgage payment. Secondly, most of our tenants have been with
us a number of years and without having turnovers, that's a win/win scenario
for any landlord."
Preparation of the home is
extremely critical. "In the past,
people showed a house and then let the tenant fix it, taking that money off the
rent. Now, the owner should be prepared
for the unit to be rented, you need to make the appearance better. The more quality you show in the upkeep of
your home, the better quality tenant you going to get. When a tenant sees that the owner does not
take care of the property, neither will they.
On the other hand, if the tenant does see that the landlord does take
care of his or her home, the better they will keep it.
The final key to a good
landlord/tenant relationship is service.
"After the screening process, and the necessary paperwork has been
completed, you have to then fulfill the expectations of that tenant for the
time that they stay with you which will encourage them to stay even
longer. And what that's customer
service." Wilkins said. "If
the tenant complains about a problem, or needs a repair at the home, the
landlord must not only respond to that call but respond with a smile on your
face!" At Wilkins &
Associates--PROPERTY MANAGEMENT or NEPA
Management Associates, we maintain a full-time, full service maintenance
department which does nothing but take care of the rental units and the
tenant's concerns, problems and repairs.
The lease has been signed by all parties which clearly defines who pay
for those services at the end of the day and if it’s the owner, the owner pays
Wilkins or if it’s the tenant, the tenant pays Wilkins. It's as simple as that.
"One of the biggest problems
for owners who live out of the area is the amount of time it takes to maintain
the home and to hire the purveyor." said Patricia Blank-Toombs, V.P. A company like NEPA
Management Associates or WA PM does so much business with a number of preferred
purveyors in the Poconos that when they call a plumber, an electrician, a
maintenance man, or such, they can either do it in house, or that purveyor (for
services above Wilkins's expertise) will still ensure that the repair is done
promptly for the tenant.
"It's very important to make
sure that the tenant is happy during their stay." said Blank-Toombs. "and providing the tenant with customer
service is no cost to the owner, and it's something that's expected of a
management company such as ours."
The Wilkins organization has their
office open 7 days a week. After hour
call are automatically transferred to one of two supervisors who monitor those
calls and immediately respond to the tenant to ensure that their comfortable in
their home. If it's an item that can
wait until the next morning, then the tenant is explained that and 9 out of 10
times that's accepted by the tenant.
The last part of property
management is what happens if the tenant does not pay. A landlord who rents his or her home on their
own typically will not act as quickly as a property management company will
because the property management company typically will have computer programs
that will automatically spit out to them on a daily basis who is delinquent in
their rent, by how many days, and what are the terms of the lease. If the terms of the lease call for the tenant
being taken to magisterial court within 10 days, then the management company
will begin that process on the 8th day to ensure prompt response to
non-payment of rent. "What a tenant
doesn't understand sometime is that even though we start an eviction
proceeding, as long as they become current in their rent, they will not have to
vacate the property. In this industry,
it's called 'pay and stay'." said Wilkins.
The most common mistake that a
homeowner makes is letting the situation continue. The tenant then never catches up and he or
she give a series of excuses which the homeowner accepts with either a partial
payment or gets nothing in writing which does not protect their position.
Said Wilkins, "The eviction
procedure involves knowledge of the law, paperwork, and a trip to the
magistrate's office. Our Management
company specializes in doing that kind of work."
Wilkins success rate in the
magisterial offices is close to 100%.
Said Wilkins, "As long as you follow the letter of the law, point
by point and give the magistrate judge the ability to feel comfortable in the action
that has been taken, the courtesies that have been extended to the tenant, and
the lease calls for such action, then the judge should and, in our case, does present
those findings back to us by winning the judgment.
Better Homes and Gardens Real
Estate Wilkins & Associates, who rents homes, town homes and condos and
apartments throughout the Poconos always welcome new clients to present in the
renting of their property. Management
service is an option that the owner of the home can make after the tenant is
found. NEPA
Management Associates, along with Wilkins & Associates--PROPERTY
MANAGEMENT, in addition to the other services that they offer, do in fact rent
individual homes, town-homes, condos and apartments for owners and then will
collect the rent for the period of the lease term. After which there are typically discounts in
the even the tenant does not stay for either the full term of the lease or
decides that they do not want to renew.
Often those contracts are negotiated based on a percentage of the rental
income that you receive. By setting the
fee that way, the only way the property manager is paid is if the tenant
pays. Therefore, you'll Wilkins is
aggressive in collecting rent, and in addition to collect rent at the price
that is contracted for.
Thomas R. Wilkins, CEO or Patricia
Blank-Toombs, V.P., Rental Manager can be reached any business day at (570)
421-5409 or at (570) 421-8950 and by email at twilkins@wilkins1.com and
patriciab@wilkins1.com. All offices are
open 7 days a week.
Thomas Wilkins, CEO of
Wilkins & Associates Property Management, Wilkins & Associates
Commercial Brokers, WACB Property Management (formerly NEPA Management) based
in Stroudsburg, said this basic recipe has built long-term relationships with
clients, as well as forged new territory when a client needs change.
LONG-TERM RELATIONSHIPS
