Scheduling Maintenance for Rental Properties
Maintenance by Season
Lacey Hofman - Monday, July 20, 2020
When looking at routine maintenance, proper planning can save time and energy. There are different projects a property manager or Landlord can focus on, depending on the time of year. Planning and setting the expectations with the vendors prior to the work starting will help ensure there are less last-minute issues and changes. Investors with properties in areas like Boise, who have four seasons, should be planning their routine maintenance and improvements a year in advance. There is a lot of maintenance that should avoid wet and cold weather, so you plan those in the summer.
Spring is when irrigation sprinklers are scheduled to be turned on. Spring’s cool temperatures with a fair amount of rain makes it a great time for landscaping projects and planting trees and bushes. Spring is also the time to have your HVAC serviced before the heat hits.
Some of the best projects to plan for Summer are exterior projects, such as: exterior building painting, sealing and restriping parking lots and fire lanes, power washing sidewalks and buildings, or cleaning gutters and flat top roofs. Since most of these projects require warmer temperatures to complete, having everything ready for the vendors to start will be important. Most won’t have time to sit down to plan, execute, and follow-up on any routine maintenance once the busy summer time hits.
Fall is a good time to do work on exterior projects that were not able to be finished during the summer months. Sprinklers are blown out in the fall. Landscape planting and tree and shrub trimming are best to be performed in the Fall or Spring. In fall, consider inspecting your properties and making a list of improvements and repairs for next year. Fall is also the time to have the HVAC serviced to make sure the furnace works for the cold temperatures to come.
Winter is slow, so this is a good time to make interior improvements. It’s also a good time to sit down and create your plan for next year’s routine maintenance for each of the seasons.
By planning ahead seasonally, Landlords will be able to better balance and handle their workload, which in return will allow them to properly care for their properties. Plus you won’t have to defer maintenance needs, which as you know is often a pitfall in property management!
June 2020 Four Plex Prices and More
There are currently two active 4-plex investment listings in Boise. Both Boise 4 plex listings are over 30 years old and priced at an average of about $540,000. Eagle has eleven 4 plexes to-be-built and listed at $675,000 each. Meridian has four 4 plexes that are all one-year old 4 plexes listed at $725,000 each.
In looking at performance for Ada County (Boise, Meridian, Eagle, Kuna, and Star) residential income 4 plexes, the trailing 6-month average for Capitalization Rate and Gross Rent Multiplier are 4.85% and 152.75 respectively. To receive a full report with graphs, please contact.
Stacy McBain at inflowpr@gmail.com or
Tony A Drost at Tony@BoiseInvestmentProperties.net
Ada County 4 plex Metrics - May 2020
Inventory of duplexes and four plexes reduced greatly in May. Ada County, which includes Boise, Meridian, Kuna, and Star, only had 12 four plexes listed, which include 10 yet to be built.
Pending deals are down across the board. Ada County only had 1 four plex and Canyon county had none. Sales in May dropped to 13, down by 7.
Low inventory likely had an affect on prices and overall performance. Below are the numbers for Ada County four plexes:
Price per rental unit: $150,000
Price per Square ft: $160
Monthly Gross Rent Multiplier:150
Cap rate: 4.8%
Days on Market: 7.2
Boise Apartment Construction Leads the Nation
According to Multi-Housing News, Boise, Idaho leads the nation in top-performing multifamily metrols for units underway as a percentage of existing stock. https://www.multihousingnews.com/post/top-5-markets-for-construction-activity/?fbclid=iwar09h4si8_mn6xyaqehdlbhuvpglpdwdjqliwpgge9jif7kscjza1irnnvs
Thanks to the population and employment growth and a low cost of living, the Boise rental market is within the top metros for rent growth. The Boise metro’s population has increased by 21.5 percent since the 2010 Census. As a result, multifamily demand spiked, with 1,604 apartments completed last year, the highest level over the past decade. Developers were working on almost 3,100 units at the end of April, representing 8.3 percent of inventory.
Real Estate Investors Flock to Boise...but why?
Low Property Tax:
Property Taxes in Boise range from 1.1% to 1.8% of assessed home value, depending on location. Meridian is about 1.3% and Eagle is 1.1%. Investors looking at Canyon County can expect to pay about 2% of the assessed property value.
Low Cost Housing:
Boise housing is still considered affordable, especially when considering where the cities migration is coming from. However, with the double digit appreciation year over year, it's creating a bit of a housing crisis for locals. Demand is high, supply has been an issue, and locals are often beat out by cash buyers from coastal states.
Employment Growth:
Boise continues to be a national leader in both population and employment growth, which trips the national average. In the last couple of years, the population has increased, meaning jobs have been created to sustain the growing city. Boise is no longer being overlooked and has a lot to offer in regards to work and recreation. People looking to work in either education or health services might find great opportunities in the Boise area.
Boise's Strong Rental Market:
The employment and population growth as described above has created a shortage of rental housing. Also mentioned above, Boise median home prices are increasing. In fact, they are increasing far greater than wages. All these factors have caused rents to continually increase with record low vacancy. According the the SW Idaho Chapter of the National Association of Residential Property Managers, Ada County vacancy for the 2020 Q1 was 2.7%.
Even with the steep increases in rents, Boise doesn't boast the nations highest cap rates. It simply has the growth and overall desirability that many investors crave.
Idaho's capital city is also the home of the largest student market in the state of Idaho. Boise State University is the largest, with satellite campus contributions from the University of Idaho and Idaho State University.
Idaho Lifestyle:
The quality of life in Boise is said to be one of the best, but there are other contributors to Boise’s growth. When California suffered a wave of wildfires that burned homes to the ground, the slow response and regulatory red tape caused many folks to cash in their insurance check and move to other locations, like Boise. Many new Boise residents moved to escape the high regulatory metros. When cities like Portland, Seattle, and the Bay Area create new rent control laws and more regulation, the investors seem to flock to Boise which has reasonable landlord/tenant laws. Even COVID has created a demand to move to more rural Idaho.
Boise is considered a great place to retire. With the low cost of housing, those moving from the big metro areas can buy the home of their dreams. Boise’s access to the outdoors is one of the best, while the true four seasons offer a host of recreation. The winter brings snow sports and the summer is great for water sports and golfing Which leaves plenty of time to bike, hike, rock climb, and hunt.
For now, Boise seems to be hitting all the marks for real estate investors:
Low taxes, strong employment growth, continued population growth, double digit appreciation, relativity low housing, and a strong rental market with low rental regulation.
