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Student Accomodation, Homes For Rent, Rental Home Apartments, Rental Homes for Western University (UWO) and Fanshawe College Students in London, Ontario

How To Avoid the “Headache” That Comes Along With Students In Your Rental Property

12/10/2013

 
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The reason why many Fanshawe College Landlords and Western University Landlords burn out and get out of the industry is because of what is known as the “headache.” It is not very difficult for owners to maintain the property, to upgrade their property when needed, and maintain the exterior of the home.  Core Property Management and Rentals deals with the “headache” for our property management clients in London, Ontario. If you are new to this business, or you want to avoid “the headache” from your student rental tenants, than you must consider the following:

1.       Be Upfront With Your Student Tenants at Fanshawe and Western

If you are from out of town, let them know that. That way they will not expect you within 10 minutes if there is no hot water running. When sitting the tenants down to sign the lease, go through each line out loud and give examples of you operate. For example, if all the light bulbs work and the lease states if any bulbs go out they have to replace them, then they call you for more bulbs you need to remind them of this conversation. Being upfront and transparent goes a long way

2.       Try To Have You Student Tenants Pay Their Own Utilities

If the student rental tenants are paying their own utilities, you have three less things to worry about: London Hydro bill, Union Gas bill, and probably a hot water rental. With the tenants paying the utilities, they will be much more responsible with the bills and with your property in general taking care of it because they are obligated to care more than the “all you can eat buffet” which is renting all inclusive.

3.       Sign Joint Leases With Groups of Tenants

Signing groups of tenants to rent your entire property is the best way to go about renting your property because you will get the London, ON Landlord License, you will sign on a group of friends who know each other, and the tenants will be jointly liable to pay the full amount of rent. When tenants are jointly liable and obligated to pay the rent, there is a much greater chance of none of your student rental cheques bouncing.

4.       Buy a Townhouse to Rent

When purchasing a student rental property, some of the “headache” comes from cutting the grass, cutting branches, raking leaves, cleaning snow, changing windows/doors, replacing the roof, etc. which can all be taken care of if you pay a monthly condo fee and buy a townhouse to rent to students to Fanshawe and Western University students.

5.       Hire a Property Management Company That Has Experience in Managing Western University and Fanshawe College Properties

To make most of your headaches going away, sometimes the only way is to outsource it to a local, London Ontario based company that has a rich history in providing Landlords when a great service. Some Landlords of student rental properties don’t appreciate text messages at 9 PM on a Sunday evening asking “what is the postal code of the house?” from their tenants. The little things definitely add up, and if you haven’t utilized a combination of the above recommendations to minimize your headaches, you are better off hiring a company to manage and rent your property to local Western and Fanshawe students.



When to Purchase a Student Rental Property at Western University or Fanshawe College in London, Ontario

11/28/2013

 
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There are several times per year where there are family homes and student homes that go up for sale around the campuses of Fanshawe and Western. In our history, we see many of these properties go up for sale October-December and May-July. This is not a coincidence: many times these properties are not rented out for the upcoming year (usually Sep. 1 or May 1 lease) so current owners are losing money onto their asset and would rather sell then keep losing money. This is where several real estate, property management, small businessmen, and even numbered corporations come in and buy up properties in the area. But when should you buy?

Finding a property for a good value is difficult at Fanshawe College, and especially at Western University. The best investments that we see from local landlords and businesses are those that are buying houses on the “low end.” There are several reasons why houses still sell in these areas for under market value: they are not fully rented, they are empty and need a lot of work, and if a new owner would step in there would be several months of carrying costs prior to renting the house out to a new group of students.  Since the new owners (who are usually savvy Landlords with a good realtor who know what the real price of some of these properties are) understand the market and cycle of renting, they know that they need a maximum of 90 days before May 1 or September 1 to buy, renovate, and rent a house comfortably while minimizing carrying costs. Therefore, the best time for a prospective Landlord to close the purchase of a house on the low end of the market is around February 1 and July 1.

This advice is not for all Landlords. Buying and selling happens on a weekly basis around Fanshawe and Western in London, Ontario. However, if you are looking in to investing in these areas outside of the time frames outlined previously you will be buying a turnkey investment: a property that is renovated, rented, and hassle free. There are Landlords who definitely want this (usually Landlords from out of town) but there are others who have a different philosophy: buy low, spend some money, rent it out, and either hold onto the equity or cash out.  

How and When Do I Find the Best Student Tenants AT FANSHAWE COLLEGE AND WESTERN UNIVERSITY IN LONDON, ON?

11/28/2013

 
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Students at Western University or Fanshawe College in London, Ontario are primarily on 12 month leases that either begins in May (Western University) or September (Fanshawe College). There is some overlap, and there are such things at 4 or 8 month leases, but usually it’s 12 months and these leases are joint leases if living with others or single leases if living by themselves. The real question for current student landlords in London is how and when is one supposed to find the best tenants?

The “when to find the best student tenants” is complex. The golden rule here is that you must respect the rights of your current tenants. If you are a good landlord, and your tenants are happy with your product and your service, and have more years of education in front of them, then they will not want to leave from their current accommodation. The golden rule is you must ask your tenants (very early) whether or not they are leaning towards staying or leaving beyond their lease. If you have a good relationship with your tenants, they will understand and respect you for coming to them first and specifically asking about everyone’s needs, wants and if they want to stay on with their accommodation.  In London, this conversation is beginning informally sooner and sooner every year. We suggest that researching out to the students at the beginning of December is a very good idea. This may be an email, a knock at the door, and maybe delivering a gift certificate to all of the tenants as well. At this point, they won’t have an exact answer for you (and that’s usually not what a Landlord wants, they usually want to feel out the tenants). At that point, when they go back home to speak with their parents and friends, they usually come back (and school is much less busy) and are ready to give you an answer. If everything goes to plan, everyone will either sign on or let’s say 3/5 want to stay on but they are willing to sign and bring on two more students that are friends to fill up the house for the next year of leasing. Obviously, if the tenants want to leave and give you the notice that they will be leaving, and allow you to show the house because of that good relationship that you have with them, then you start advertising in December and start showing/advertising in January until it is rented. 

How to find the best students to rent out your property in London Ontario?That’s simple. As stated earlier, your current tenants are your best resource in regards to keeping your property fully rented for the next academic year. A property owner who is experienced understands that by late December, or early January advertisements and showings are a must around Fanshawe College and Western University. The best way to find brand new tenants (singles or groups) is by hiring a professional to do the job. There are several rental and management companies in London (Exclusive, Horizon, JDN, Paige, EZStudentRentals, etc.) and most Landlords in the city have hired several of these companies to rent out their properties. Our business is focused on finding responsive Landlords, with a quality product, that give us the tools to rent out (and manage) their properties. We hand pick the Landlords that we work with and do not take on any and all properties. Every year, 100% of our Landlords continue to use our service with renting out their rental unit, which is a testament to our hard work and effort making a small group of Landlords in London rent to the best quality students, at top of the market rent rates, with the lease amount of headaches and bounced cheques. 

FANSHAWE AND WESTERN School NOW IN SESSION and Your  STUDENT Rental PROPERTY is Empty. What Do You Do?

11/28/2013

 
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Around Western University and Fanshawe College campuses, there are several student rental homes. The supplies of these homes are increasing year over year, and it is getting more difficult for Landlords to successfully rent out there houses. Sometimes, Landlords (like yourself) are not so lucky and cannot find tenants on a full year lease for May 1 or September 1 (depending when your cycle of renting begins). So, what are your choices at this point?

1.       Double down on marketing efforts – minimal clean up (cheap option)

2.       Start renovating property and cross your fingers (expensive option – long term value)

3.       Sell property (property will be undervalued due to the house not being rented)

A.      Double Down on Marketing Efforts and Minimal Clean Up

This option is what most Landlords prefer. They usually think they can rent out their houses on their own. Sometimes this doesn’t work out, and they scramble at the last minute to contact a student property rental service company in London, ON like us. Unfortunately, we usually end up going into these properties and realizing they are in poor condition, need a lot of cleaning and also to be marketed properly. If Landlords oblige to make the necessary repairs, cleaning, and other small upgrades the Landlord may have luck with a rental service company who can promote a good product that prospective tenants will sign a lease on right before school begins.

B.      Start Renovating Your Property and Crossing Your Fingers

There are several reasons why student rental properties in London do not rent out (bad location, price too high, house is in disrepair, no marketing, etc.) but the #1 reason we have found is that the house needs to be upgraded. Routinely, many of the student rental properties need regular maintenance (service furnace, AC, upgrade roof, etc.) alongsidecosmetic upgrades. The largest improvements you can make in your rental property are paint and flooring, and next are kitchens and bathrooms in regards to renting out your house. The landlord may lose money in the short term (i.e. September) but if they take a few weeks to renovate there unit, and have enough burn through funds to pay the bills until January or May, the house is sure to rent out if it is marketed properly.

C.      Sell Property

This option is for those Landlords who no longer want to be in this business anymore, who do not have the capital to invest money in the house, nor the funds to pay the bills for an extended period of time for the rent to kick in again. These landlords usually lose money on the sale price of their house because if it didn’t rent out before school started, as stated early, it probably needs money for cosmetic upgrades. If a student rental property goes up for sale right after the school year has started, needs money to bring it back up to par with other rentals, and is currently vacant, this will drive the price down. An opportunistic investor can apply the tip above (start renovating your property and cross your fingers) to buy a house, fix it up, hold onto it, and hire a company to get a lease that provides great value and top dollar out of your house. 

If you are a Landlord who needs advice on purchasing a student rental, renting a student rental in London, Ontario or wants to know how much rent you can get out of your current rental, contact us. 

UWO – WESTERN UNIVERSITY RENTAL MARKET 2013

11/28/2013

 
Landlords have emerged from London, Ontario and from larger cities such as Toronto to invest in student rental housing at Western University. For some local Landlord’s, it’s a buy and hold strategy: hold on to the property, make sure it’s updated frequently, always rented, and one day the house will be paid off. Out of town Landlords usually get involved via their child who attends UWO, and buys a house for their friends to live in for a few years and then turns around and sells it after a few years for a profit. 

                 Traction at UWO Western University Rental Market

The single bedroom, apartments, 3 bedroom, 4 and even 6 bedroom units have been renting very quickly and easily at Western this year. The five bedroom student rental properties at Western have seen a dip this year in renting. They are more difficult to rent, and they are not fetching the prices they were in 2008-2009. Landlords and investors should be aware of this when buying and renting properties. The reason for this has been less movement among current students living in 5 bedroom properties, the location of these properties, and since they have been rented for 3 or 4 years, these units need to be updated on the inside. These factors have led to the decline in these units renting out, and not necessarily the new development found around the University. 

        How Do I Make Sure My Student Rental is Always Rented?

Landlords need to continuously update, upgrade, and add services to their student rental properties that create a great property, achieves top dollar rent from prospective student tenants, and attracts good tenants to avoid such things as damage in your UWO Western student rental property. Using arental service that specializes and student rental properties at Western University will also help you to achieve your goal. 

STUDENT RENTALS: BITING OFF MORE THAN YOU CAN CHEW

11/28/2013

 
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Roughly six months ago, we received an email from a distressed Landlord in London, Ontario. They owned several properties at Fanshawe College and Western University. However, they had two large problems:

1. The tenants were not respecting the property. The units were damaged, garbage was left inside and outside of the property, smoke alarms were detached, tenants were smoking in the homes, etc. There was a general disregard for the units students were living in, and the Landlord could not keep up monitoring their units. This affected the rental ability and resale value of the units.

2. The Landlord was not able to fill their five units (30+ tenants) with tenants who were signing 12 month leases. The Landlord was usually filled at an 80% occupancy rate during September – April at Fanshawe College and Western University. In the summer time, the occupancy rate decreased to roughly 40% between May to August. 

The Landlord wanted to hire an experience property manager and rental agent in London, Ontario to help them with their Western University and Fanshawe College rental properties. First, we had several conversations about the needs of the Landlord in regards to their rental properties. Secondly, we toured the properties to assess the rental situation and damage in regards to their units.

The plan that we developed here at Core  Property Management and Rentals was simple:

1. Fill in the units with qualified and quality tenants to bring the occupancy rate above 90%.

2. Manage the properties effectively. The leases that are signed include several provisions. Also, move in and out reports, pictures, smoke inspection, and regular inspections of the units were necessary. Keep a dialogue open with the tenants minimized the damage and risk that the Landlord was facing.

3.The Landlord, who was living outside of the city and had a full time career, was not able to effectively maintain their properties. We decided to fill the units quickly and use the profits to maintain properties that were neglected in the past.

4.To bring it full circle, Core Property Rentals and Management was able to lease all five units out to groups of tenants who signed individual twelve month leases. This ensured a 100% occupancy rate, obtaining a 10% average monthly rental income per student, and the units were turned over to a new group less than once a year.

The Landlord was very satisfied with using our service to manage and rent their units. They were able to outsource the work, headaches, and maintenance to a professional company who has experience solving the multitude of issues that arise in student housing in London, Ontario. The cost of outsourcing the rental and management of the properties was a small price to pay considering the added value of the homes and the fact that the Landlord did not have to worry about their properties or tenants anymore.

If you are a Landlord in London, Ontario that owns Fanshawe College and Western University (UWO) student rental properties and are facing the same issues, please email chris@corerentals.ca for more information.


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    Core Property Rentals and Management's Advice on Student Rental Properties at Fanshawe College and Western University in London, Ontario, Canada.

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