‘What Renters Want’ with Jessica Fiur: The Suite Life

"What Renters Want" with Jessica Fiur No Responses »
Feb 282012

It seems like recently a lot of fancy hotels, such as The Plaza in NYC, are converting some of their rooms into apartments. And why not? Who wouldn’t want to be given the opportunity to live like Eloise, or, to a lesser extent, like a Kardashian. Hotels can be glamorous. They’re located in convenient areas. And, when they’re converted to apartments, one of the amenities usually offered is maid service.

Can you imagine? It’s like living back at mom’s, except without the judgment. (Plus, you’d get no, “What do you think I am, your maid?” because, well, they are.)

No wonder property managers are clamoring to make these conversions, and people are interested in buying or renting. After all, residents usually get to take advantage of all the hotel goodies, such as the aforementioned maid service, a concierge, valet and any entertainment the hotel offers its guests, such as a pool or restaurants.

Of course, there are some disadvantages to living in a hotel. For one thing, it’s probably noisier, and, if it’s a popular hotel, the lobby might get crowded. And the main elevators will always be full of people—and their luggage. However, some hotels do have separate entrances for residents, so this might be easy to get around. But there’s also the (admittedly slim) possibility that the hotel is haunted, ala the Overlook in The Shining. It’s pretty difficult getting lipstick “redrum” off your mirrors, although I guess that’s where the maid service comes in again.

However, if you own or rent an apartment in a hotel, you won’t have access to the minibar. Why even bother?

What do you think about living in a hotel?

-Jessica Fiur, News Editor

Posted by JFiur at 9:36 am Tagged with: ,

‘The Accidental Economist’ with Jack Kern: Rent Gains Signal a Storm?

"The Accidental Economist" with Jack Kern No Responses »
Feb 272012

“You, my friend, are a victim of disorganized thinking.” —L. Frank Baum, Author, Wizard of Oz, (c) MGM 1939

Rent gains have become the darling of the economy. Executives and investors are showing up at cocktail parties, clinking glasses in joyous abandon as talk turns to happy days are here again as pricing gains are now heralding renter nation. If I’ve learned anything it’s that once just about everyone agrees on a trend in the multifamily industry, they get it wrong. I’ve been forecasting rent results for a lot of years now, but this is the first time I’ve seen the public get completely carried away with the concept that the United States is turning into a culture of renters. While it’s true that the economy is substantially better than it was before, renters now have choices that make me really worry.

A recent press report from the Federal Housing Finance Authority opened the way for investment groups to buy single-family homes in bulk. The FHFA will be seeking qualification statements and will accept bids on roughly 2,500 properties in Atlanta, Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Phoenix and Florida. Now, on the surface of it, it represents a small number of equivalent units, but in reality, this is just the beginning.

There is hardly a county anywhere in the nation that isn’t affected in some way by unsold homes listed on the FHFA website, and that doesn’t even include the huge number of foreclosures being added to the rolls every day. If this trend continues, it will develop into meaningful competition for professionally managed apartment properties with one notable exception. When someone rents an apartment, frequently they move to a different unit, a different location or accept a job transfer that sends them to a different metropolitan area entirely. The renter in effect gets recycled. Those renting REO properties are most typically families with children and are wishing to stay in the same neighborhood or area. The increase in REO activity on the rental side generates a greater number of available units, including foreclosures that will ultimately attract apartment residents with the appurtenant impact of less pricing power.

I’m happy about the rent increases we’ve seen in most markets because it really is justified based on increased taxes, carrying costs and site expenses. I haven’t seen any instances where owners push rents beyond reasoned limits, and even in high value markets like San Francisco and New York, rent increases haven’t strayed even close to some high peak averages. What worries me is that this fanatical coverage by the mainstream broadcast media is making a normal rental revert to the mean cycle look like property owners are taking advantage of an unsuspecting public.

Years ago I wrote about the real reason Dorothy left the land of Oz (high rents), and from what I understand the Munchkins are at it again, raising taxes and pushing the Emerald City to annex Munchkinland and build more condos. When you think about it for a while, all this really does sound eerily familiar. Yellow Brick Road or not, the path to increased rental competition is out there and pretty soon the renters are going to figure it out.

Jack Kern is the research editor for Commercial Property Executive and Multi-Housing News and an occasional lecturer at Oz University, where the latest controversy is whether or not houses falling out of the sky can be considered condemnation proceedings for the act of taking or simply urban renewal with a greater purpose. He can be reached at jkern@multi-housingnews.com or 301.601.1900.

 

Posted by JFiur at 12:51 pm Tagged with: ,

‘What Renters Want’ with Jessica Fiur: Would You Want Kramer as a Neighbor?

"What Renters Want" with Jessica Fiur 1 Response »
Feb 232012

Are you friendly with your neighbors?

New Yorkers, for better or worse, are stereotyped as being very un-neighborly—most would be categorized as not being able to pick out their next-door neighbor in a lineup. (Actually, for me this is pretty true. I know my neighbors as “Woman who takes her kid to school the same time I’m leaving for work,” ”Guy who yelled at my husband for building our Ikea furniture too loudly” and several variations of “Person who looks vaguely familiar so I assume lives here and isn’t some murderer I just held the front door open for.”) But what if apartment living was more like it was on TV, with a crazy neighbor bursting in to your apartment at all hours?

This question was recently posted on Reddit. The writer likened the experience to being Jerry on Seinfeld and having Kramer as a neighbor.

So, what do you think? Would you like to live in a building with an “open door” policy, or encourage your residents to have one?

Personally, I would not. It’s too much pressure to always have a clean apartment in case a neighbor happens to drop by. (And don’t mother-in-laws already inspire this fear enough?) Of course, I wouldn’t mind people knocking to ask to borrow a cup of sugar every now and then (wait, do people even still do that?), but I wouldn’t want them barging in to help themselves. First of all, I would just get a little nervous of property accidentally being broken, things getting stolen, or (especially if I was alone in the apartment) the threat of physical harm. Second, and maybe it’s because I’m the oldest child in my family, but I have trouble sharing. And third, what if I had a long day at work—or was in the bathroom—and didn’t feel like making small talk at that moment.

Though maybe that’s just me being a cynical New Yorker. On the other hand, it would certainly allow for the possibility of more friendships to be forged, and it would build more of a “community” feel in the building. Plus you’d apparently have access to a lot more sugar, for whatever that’s worth.

Have you ever experienced this type of interaction with your neighbors (or neighborinos, if you prefer your neighbors to be more of the Ned Flanders variety than Cosmo Kramer) or your residents? If not, what do you think of it?

-Jessica Fiur, News Editor

Posted by JFiur at 11:58 am Tagged with: , ,

‘What Renters Want’ with Jessica Fiur: Apartments with Secrets

"What Renters Want" with Jessica Fiur No Responses »
Feb 212012

When I was younger—probably due to the influence of too many Nancy Drew mysteries—I was convinced there was a secret  passage in my bedroom. Of course, I was living in a relatively new raised ranch-style house, and my room was on the second floor, sharing one wall with my little brother’s room and another with my parents’ master bedroom (I can’t even begin to tell you how much I enjoyed that when I was a teenager). Obviously, there was not even a possibility of a secret passage. But that didn’t stop me from knocking on all the walls to hear if any area sounded hollow, indicating a secret room, or looking to see if there were any rectangular-shaped indents on the floor, indicating a trap door.

Maybe I should have just played outside more.

Anyway, I’ve long since given up on finding a secret passage. I haven’t even tried pulling on the light fixtures in my current apartment to see if a hidden door would swing open. That would just be stupid, right?

Well apparently, not necessarily. According to a recent article in The New York Times, there are several apartments in New York City with secret compartments, passageways and closets. They’re relics of Prohibition—where people needed secret places to stash their booze—or the result of a quirky developer, or left over from when some murderer killed an old man and buried him under the floorboards and was ultimately driven insane by the beating of that infernal heart!

Right. Well, anyway, while not a “must have” of renters, how cool would it be if one of your apartments had something like that? It would certainly stand out in a sea of stainless steel, breakfast bars and on-site parking.

Does your apartment feature any “mysteries” or quirky aspects, or have you ever come across any? Would you be more inclined to rent an apartment if it featured something different like a hidden compartment? And did you ever look for—or find—secret rooms when you were little?

-Jessica Fiur, News Editor

Posted by JFiur at 9:51 am Tagged with: , ,

‘Gimme Shelter’ with Daniel Gehman: Reading the Tea Leaves on Rent Increase Rates

"Gimme Shelter" with Daniel Gehman, Harley Ellis Devereaux 1 Response »
Feb 172012

No, I’m not an official analyst, of course—just someone who’s been in the business for a while and tries to stay in tune with trends and understand them as much as possible. I was intrigued by news in my local paper (Orange County Register), I’ve now seen for a couple weeks running, about how much apartment rents have been increasing, and for what types of units.

The data I saw showed that two bedroom apartments were increasing at the fastest pace, followed by studio units at a close second. Lagging the pack by a 2 percent delta were one-bedroom dwellings. (Three bedrooms were tucked in there behind studios, but there are really so few of them that I consider them to be an outlier and not really part of this argument. Besides, it’s a data point that messes with my theory!) All this is good news for landlords, of course, but what might it tell us culturally?

Here’s my spin: As the economy has managed to hang on through our last summer of discontent and a reasonable year-end, the general confidence level has begun to creep up, especially as unemployment has begun to inch downward. With more folks feeling better about the reliability of their jobs, they have mustered the will to “un-couple” from whomever they teamed up with to distribute living expenses. In short, of those who can now dump their roommate, many are choosing to do so. Seeing the early manifestation of this trend, landlords have encouraged the move by gently boosting the rents on the two-bedroom units first, encouraging the early un-couplers to get over the hump and move out already—preferably to another apartment in the same community. What’s it worth to lose a roommate after two or three years? Fifty bucks? A hundred? Anyway, I believe this is why two-bedroom rents have been rising the fastest.

To where do these newly independent souls move? Well, to studios in many cases, because the rent there is still less than a one-bedroom. Consequently, the rents on studios have been notched up in response to this increased demand. The one bedroom rents have increased as their boat is lifted by the rising tide.

So there you have it—my two cents’ worth on what I see happening in local apartment communities. All of this is very, very good for the multi-family rental business, for which I am very grateful.

Posted by JFiur at 9:12 am Tagged with:

Guest Blog: Insights from a Young and Leery New York Renter, Part 1 On Unit Maintenance

Guest Blog No Responses »
Feb 152012

Part 1 – On Unit Maintenance

Due to less than fortunate experiences, I have dealt with almost every aspect of a real estate company that a renter can expect to encounter in the last two months. My issues began when the bedroom wall in our 100-plus-year-old building slowly began to rot from a leaking steam riser. (Don’t worry; this is not your standard ‘gripping renter’ blog post. The end outcome was positive, and I think I learned some tips that can help companies avoid the dreaded one star Yelp review.)

I worked from home one day while the maintenance crew decided what should be done, eventually opening two holes in the wall, and ‘fixing’ the pipe. The inside of the wall was covered in a thick coat of mold, and I requested that it be sealed immediately. I was planning to move in July, and did not want to deal with an invasive wall replacement. This repair would have been fine, but the fixed pipe hissed even louder when the heat turned back on, and the crew never returned to paint my wall. Important point number one.

  • Leave no trace. When work is done, I want my home to look the same as it did when you arrived. This includes smells as well. Cigarettes linger for quite some time even if you step outside.

Two weeks went by and I receive a call at 5:30pm on a weekday informing me that the unit below me had a bad leak, and that management needed immediate access to the apartment. I rushed home with the vision of my cat in a pirate hat floating on the ottoman. There was nothing out of the ordinary, just a hissing steam pipe in the wall as usual.

I let management in to inspect for the cause of the leak. I was told it was coming from a spot in my shower that was missing a half inch of grout. I said that I thought it was unlikely unless there was a crack in the shower pan, but I like fresh grout and caulk so whatever floats your boat. I told the super about the leaking steam pipe. I was told that it is normal for radiators to hiss. (There is no radiator on or near the wall where the pipe is, and the wall is warm to the touch.) This brings up another important point.

  • Listen to the renter. She/he is living in the apartment, dealing with the issue every day. We can probably offer some insight into what is going on.

A few days later another letter appeared tucked into my door requesting access because the renter downstairs was having a leak. I decide to knock on her door. She let me in, and I ask to see where her leak is. The entire ceiling of her kitchen (under my bedroom wall where the steam riser is located) was damp, moldy, sunk, split open and leaking. At this point I realized that she was going through the worst of our shared problem. I apologized, took some photos, and informed her that this was a major problem that was going to require a major repair.

The head super told me that the bedroom wall and steam riser needed to be replaced. I informed them that my fiancé and I refused to inhabit an apartment during the process of removing the innards of a mold covered wall, and would like to break out lease and move. I was told this would not be possible, and I could temporarily move my things into another unit.

I then informed then that the repair would violate my warranty of habitability as defined by New York Real Property Article 7 – § 235-B, which was grounds for breaking the lease. This brings up another point.

  • Young renters are web-savvy, and can quickly learn their rights without much legal experience.

I was promptly allowed to break my lease with a pro-rated rent for the month of February with guaranteed return on my deposit. The girl downstairs was also allowed to break her lease. There are now two vacant apartments and extensive repairs required—I like to think this could have been avoided if they just listened a bit better.

This leads us into the second escapade on my tale—finding a new apartment in a market with a 2.4 percent vacancy in a week and a half.

-Mike Ratliff, Associate Editor

Posted by JFiur at 8:31 am Tagged with:

‘What Renters Want’ with Jessica Fiur: Spreading the Love to Your Residents on Valentine’s Day

"What Renters Want" with Jessica Fiur No Responses »
Feb 132012

It’s Valentine’s Day again. And—like Halloween—whether you look forward to it every year, or not, at least you get candy, am I right? Anyway, there are many things you can do to show your residents some love on this day (and, no, I’m not sorry for the pun. If ever there was a day to be cheesy, it’s Valentine’s Day).

Have candy at the front desk. Cheap way to buy your residents’ affection? Sure. Effective? Definitely. Just don’t put out a bowl of those “classic” conversation hearts—not only is it a little “germy” to reach into a bowl for unwrapped candy that other people’s hands have touched, no one likes those. Seriously, they taste like chalk. Get fun-sized, wrapped chocolate bars, and see how quickly they disappear.

Put Valentine’s Day cards in their mailboxes or under their doors. It might seem like a pain, but you don’t have to write a personalized message or anything. Just have cards that say you choo-choo-choose them, and sign your name, or stamp the name of the management company. You already do it at the end of the year anyway (and, trust me, all residents know you’re doing it for a holiday tip. You’re not fooling anyone), and it’ll make people happy.

Have a building mixer. A great chance to get your residents to mix and mingle. Plus, maybe you’ll pull out your inner Yenta and make a match. (Practice saying with me, “Have you met Michael in 3B? He’s a doctor!”)

Host a movie night in a lounge. Sure, you can host a romantic comedy-athon (though, really, how much Katherine Heigl can one person stand?). But you can also go the opposite way and host a slasher movie fest. After all, not everyone is feeling romantic on Valentine’s day, and who wouldn’t want to see Jason terrorize a group of canoodling teens?

Offer a list of local babysitters, or arrange for a daycare room for the night. The adults will thank you.

Any other Valentine’s Day suggestions?

-Jessica Fiur, News Editor

Posted by JFiur at 2:36 pm Tagged with:

‘What Renters Want’ with Jessica Fiur: The 9 Best Apartments on TV

"What Renters Want" with Jessica Fiur 1 Response »
Feb 082012

Finding a new apartment is stressful. And you always have to make concessions—maybe you give up space for convenience, or you take a walk-up for because it’s less money. But you know what isn’t stressful? Watching TV. And television is filled with awesome—though, admittedly, not always realistic—apartments.

Let’s take a look at the 9 best apartments on TV.

Monica and Rachel’s apartment on Friends. This beautiful Manhattan apartment was above the coffee shop where Rachel worked and all their friends hung out, and was across the hall from some of their best friends. And it was a two bedroom. Bonus, the walls were purple! Of course, this apartment was not without controversy. After all, how could two 20 somethings, one a struggling chef, the other a waitress, afford such prime real estate? (Actually, the show answered this at one point. It was Monica’s grandmother’s apartment, and it was rent controlled.)

Jerry’s apartment on Seinfeld. Again, a beautiful, big, apartment in Manhattan. (Apparently TV writers in the ’90s had some major misconceptions about living in New York.) A pretty nice space, with a decent (for New York) size kitchen. Though neighbors like that certainly make the case for having a good chain lock, yadda, yadda, yadda.

Lucy and Ricky’s apartment on I Love Lucy. It had a dine-in kitchen (how is that even possible in New York City?). The landlords—who were also close, personal friends—lived in the building. And it was big enough for plenty of zany hijinks. Plus, the bedroom was large enough for two twin beds. What more could a married couple want?

Carrie’s apartment on Sex and the City. Though her apartment with Big in the movie was much more impressive (that closet is quite possibly the second best closet in all of pop-culture history, second only to Cher’s closet in Clueless), the TV show apartment definitely left an impression, and was a pretty realistic interpretation of a New York apartment—mice, landlord disputes and all (and, yes, as with the Friends apartment, some people also argued that a newspaper columnist could not afford that apartment, but she was also a best-selling author, so I think that’s fair).

Lily and Marshall’s apartment on How I Met Your Mother. They spent all their money buying a New York apartment in Dowisetrepla (down wind of the sewage treatment plant—don’t you know everything is abbreviated in NYC?), and then the floors were slanted. It’s nice to see characters on TV move in to an apartment that isn’t ideal, and it also shows how important doing your homework is before signing that lease.

Jack, Janet and Chrissy’s apartment on Three’s Company. How could you not love a place where the residents implore you to “come and knock on [their] door,” because “[they've] been waiting for you”? And this California apartment was right by the beach! Of course, there was the slight problem of the intruding landlord who was just a little too concerned with who one of the residents was dating. Isn’t that just always the case?

Dexter’s apartment on Dexter. It’s in a great location—right by the harbor in Miami. It’s big enough for his son to have his own room (because he also bought the apartment next door), and for his sister to stay over when she’s in between apartments. And the neighbors mind their own business. Plus there are plenty of air conditioner vents—perfect for a balmy Florida night, or for hiding slides of blood from people he’s ritualistically murdered.

Max and Caroline’s apartment on 2 Broke Girls. Probably the most realistic of the lot of them—two waitresses share a one-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn. The quarters are cramped, and Caroline has to sleep on a Murphy Bed. But, it’s not without its charms. The place is conveniently located near their work. And the backyard is apparently big enough to fit a horse. Yup, realistic.

Pee-wee’s playhouse on Pee-wee’s Playhouse. I know, I know, it’s not technically an apartment. But it had a Chair. That. Talked. How could it not be included in this blog? (“Blog”? That’s the secret word! Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!)

Did I miss any of your favorite TV apartments? List them below!

-Jessica Fiur

Posted by JFiur at 10:35 am Tagged with: , , ,

‘What Renters Want’ with Jessica Fiur: Top 10 Things You’ll Never Hear a Renter Say

"What Renters Want" with Jessica Fiur 1 Response »
Feb 022012

In honor of David Letterman’s 30 years in late night, here is a Top 10 list of things you’ll never hear a renter say:

10. “I’d love an avocado refrigerator.” Today’s renters want a modern kitchen with stainless steel appliances. No one wants to live in an apartment that hasn’t been updated since the ’70s.

9. “No rush changing my lightbulb; I know you have more pressing matters to attend to.” No matter how minor a resident’s request is to you, to him it’s the most important thing in the world. Don’t be vague about when something will be fixed; give a specific time so that he can be around if necessary, and if that time has to be changed, tell the resident beforehand, not an hour after the time you quoted.

8. “The broken tile in the lobby makes for a fun obstacle course!” Not only could this scare away potential new renters, but it presents a real safety issue for your current residents. Always make sure your lobby and common areas are well maintained.

7. “My upstairs neighbor’s tapping is helping me learn Morse Code.” A noisy neighbor can make even the mildest Bruce Banner turn into the Hulk. Don’t just ignore the problem. If you’re planning a new building, aim for apartments to be as sound-proof as possible. If you require carpeting over a certain percentage of an apartment to muffle noise, give residents warnings if they don’t. And if you get a lot of complaints about certain people, talk to them about it. 

6. “Cold showers build character, and are a refreshing way to start the day.” Something as simple as a broken water heater can cause you to lose residents faster than, say, someone jumping out of a cold shower. Keep an eye on this, and the first sign of a complaint, fix it.

5. “It’s cool that there’s a line for the treadmill. I just came down to watch, anyway.” It’s all well and good if you want to add “luxury” elements, such as a gym, to your building to enhance the appeal. But one treadmill and a set of weights does not a gym make (actually, that’s more like a prison yard). Take into consideration the projected demand before you add something like a gym and figure out how much equipment to buy. If there’s a gym already but always a crowd, implement rules such as “only 30 minutes to a machine during peak hours.”

4. “Paying by check is easy—and fun!” OK, paying rent will never be fun, but it can be made easier for people. Let people pay their rent online. It’s greener, anyway, plus then you literally can never hear someone say, “the check’s in the mail.”

3. ”It wasn’t until that fifth Chinese food menu under my door that I realized I was craving beef lo mein.” Make sure your building is secure, of course for safety reasons, but also so solicitors won’t bother your residents.

2. “I named that one Mickey.” Rodents and cockroaches are never, never welcome. Spray often, and take care of this quickly. Not just because it’s disgusting, but once one apartment has them, it can easily spread to the next.

1. “I know you’re a business, so it’s cool that you’re raising my rent.” Sorry, you’re on your own for that one.

-Jessica Fiur, News Editor

 

Posted by JFiur at 1:22 pm Tagged with: , ,
© 2012 MHN Blog Suffusion theme by Sayontan Sinha