Student Tenant Trauma

[richz]

Dear REIN Members.

My name is Rich Szasz and I am the owner of Szasz Construction. I’m putting up this post because a lot of the people I deal with are Student Property owners and belong to this site. To be completely honest, I am not currently a member and I do not yet even own my own property although I plan to be a homeowner in the next 8 months.

What I do know is this. Since I was 17 years old I have been working on Student Properties in the City of Waterloo. I have done everything from unlocking doors for students with no keys to re-dry walling an entire unit after a “tenant” lost his mind….and anything in between.

New Student property owners I deal with are always shocked by the amount of small mainentance that is required on these buildings and so I want to you all to know from somebody that’s in the middle of it every day what our situation is so here it is:



The 5 Things you need to know about Student Property Management:

1) Students lock themselves out all the time and constitute 70% of all calls. This is an unknown burden and must be dealt with.

2) The majority of problems go unreported until it’s an actual problem. Most students do this because they’re afraid of getting in trouble from you the landlord or their parents.

3) Students have PARTIES! I don’t care if it’s the nerdiest girl or the geekiest guy. They have parties and items are damaged.

4)!--/sizec--> The building you bought was poorly built. I’m sorry to be the one to tell you but if you live where I live(Waterloo Region near Laurier and UofW) then somebody had to buy 2 to 3 houses at $300k each plus the cost of the build. In order to make things make financial sense I’m certain some corners have been cut and they will need to be dealt with.

5) I have been told that the majority of landlords budget $600 per bedroom for their maintenance budget here in Waterloo. I want to say that you need to budget at least $900 per bedroom per month just to keep up with costs.



I welcome any questions and I apologize for bursting anyones bubble but I really needed to get this off my chest.



Regards,

Rich Szasz

Szasz Construction

519-497-0625

 

[Nir]

Thanks Rick, I don`t own any students property but good to know! thanks for sharing from your valuable experience. I think 1-2 points were not mentioned in the forum before like "Students lock themselves out all the time .. 70% of all calls". Interesting. 70%! probably more preventable by being proactive about it - sending letters, explaining procedure, implication of not following them, etc.. Regards, Neil

 

[richz]

Hi Neil,
Some newer buildings have converted to keypad coded lock systems. As for prevention, the best approach is to charge them $20 for every time they lock themselves out.
Rich

QUOTE (investmart @ Oct 7 2009, 10:19 PM) Thanks Rick, I don`t own any students property but good to know! thanks for sharing from your valuable experience. I think 1-2 points were not mentioned in the forum before like "Students lock themselves out all the time .. 70% of all calls". Interesting. 70%! probably more preventable by being proactive about it - sending letters, explaining procedure, implication of not following them, etc.. Regards, Neil

 

[JimWhitelaw]

QUOTE (richz @ Oct 7 2009, 04:28 PM) 5) I have been told that the majority of landlords budget $600 per bedroom for their maintenance budget here in Waterloo. I want to say that you need to budget at least $900 per bedroom per month just to keep up with costs.
$900 per bedroom per month in maintenance expenses? How is that possible? Did you mean annually?

 

[housingrental]

Please note - The key of the letter etween A and C on my keyoard doesn`t work as of the last hour
Rich should e ashamed of himself
A very disappointing post
The inaccuracies and prejudice against student housing , and new construction in Waterloo, displayed in Rich`s post are what keep many people away from this sector.
The world would e a much etter place if the truth on student housing was known. A more stale revenue stream and higher returns for many investors. Student renters would have greater choice and more affordale options.

 

[housingrental]

Please note - The key of the letter etween A and C on my keyoard doesn`t work as of the last hour
For ease of readaility please see my response in red eside the original poster

QUOTE (richz @ Oct 7 2009, 06:28 PM) Dear REIN Members.

My name is Rich Szasz and I am the owner of Szasz Construction. I`m putting up this post because a lot of the people I deal with are Student Property owners and belong to this site. To be completely honest, I am not currently a member and I do not yet even own my own property although I plan to be a homeowner in the next 8 months. What are you uying?

What I do know is this. Since I was 17 years old I have been working on Student Properties in the City of Waterloo. I have done everything from unlocking doors for students with no keys to re-dry walling an entire unit after a "tenant" lost his mind….and anything in between.

New Student property owners I deal with are always shocked by the amount of small mainentance that is required on these buildings
Agreed if they don`t properly plan the purchase
and so I want to you all to know from somebody that`s in the middle of it every day what our situation is so here it is:



The 5 Things you need to know about Student Property Management:

1) Students lock themselves out all the time and constitute 70% of all calls. Not really. Less than 1% of my calls and emails are on lockouts from lost keys.
This is an unknown burden and must be dealt with. Or if you have a multi-unit uilding you can spend the extra $200 initially and have keyless entry. You can also minimize lockouts y having edroom key locks with deadolts instead of pasage locks. Most importantly you can have tenants e responsile for the cost of re-entry often.

nt-family:Times New Roman">2) The majority of problems go unreported until it`s an actual problem. This is just not true. Some do, ut more often than not the issue is reporting of non-existent prolems or things that fall under aesthetics or inherent house features.
Most students do this because they`re afraid of getting in trouble from you the landlord or their parents.This is not correct and indicates a poor level of customer service from the landlord.

3) Students have PARTIES! I don`t care if it`s the nerdiest girl or the geekiest guy. They have parties and items are damaged. This is also not correct. Some do have parties. Most have parties and don`t damage anything. There is also the possiility of damage ut the igger issue is excess wear.

4) The building you bought was poorly built. I`m sorry to be the one to tell you but if you live where I live(Waterloo Region near Laurier and UofW) then somebody had to buy 2 to 3 houses at $300k each plus the cost of the build. In order to make things make financial sense I`m certain some corners have been cut and they will need to be dealt with.This is also not correct. There are many poorly uilt uildings and many well uilt ones. Does this post reflect the uilder youve worked for in construction ? Also the numers work fantastic for uilders of student housing in Waterloo if purchasing a few lots at 300k... or often if purchasing lots at doule that...

5) I have been told that the majority of landlords budget $600 per bedroom for their maintenance budget here in Waterloo. I want to say that you need to budget at least $900 per bedroom per month just to keep up with costs. This will vary significantly y property type. For a standard 5 edroom newer apartment in a multi-unit uilding $3500 / year (I`m assuming you meant per year not per month) is very high - likely more than doule actual cost for most owners.


-->I welcome any questions and I apologize for bursting anyones bubble but I really needed to get this off my chest. It sounds like the tenants at ricker have caused some itterness in you... With any luck it`ll e sold soon and you`ll e put out of your misery

and can focus on your renovation usiness



Regards,

Rich Szasz

Szasz Construction

519-497-0625