While today’s rental property owners are facing challenges and pressures they have never seen before, there are alternative investment strategies that should be considered.

By Dwight Kay, Founder and CEO of Kay Properties & Investments

Historically speaking, independent real estate investors, who held for the long-term, walked a relatively straightforward (although bumpy and slow at times) path toward achieving asset appreciation and long-term wealth. This path would often look something like this: an investor would purchase a piece of property that would potentially generate enough cash flow to cover the expenses, including principal and interest on the mortgage, insurance, property taxes, and maintenance costs. Over time, the property would (hopefully) increase in value, income (rents) would rise, and certain tax advantages like the ability to deduct operating and depreciation expenses could be utilized to improve cash flow.

By Daniel Yukelson, Executive Director

Most property owners are unfamiliar with the Mills Act.  The Mills Act (California Government Code, Article 12, Sections 50280-50290) is a California state law that allows cities to enter into contracts with the owners of qualified historic structures. These Mills Act contracts require property owners to make improvements to and take steps to preserve their historical properties and in exchange, they are entitled to a reduction in their property tax bill to help offset the costs of continued preservation of the property.  The Mills Act is recognized by the State of California as the “single most important economic development incentive program in California for the restoration and preservation of qualified historic buildings by private property owners.

Contributed by the Team at LIVABLE

Rent control refers to legislation restricting rental rates in a city or state. The maximum rent that can be charged for a unit and the amount that the rent can be increased per year varies per municipality. Cities use rent control laws to regulate the housing market.

In the United States, rent control is not often used. According to a 2019 Urban Institute report, 182 towns in the United States have rent control laws, all of them located in New York, New Jersey, California, Maryland, or Washington, DC.  In fact, 31 states prohibit municipal governments from passing rent control legislation. However, in recent years, the subject of rent regulation has resurfaced, particularly in cities and states where rising living costs combined with stagnating earnings have produced a housing affordability crisis for middle- and low-income individuals, as well as for seniors living on fixed incomes.  Oregon was the first state to enact a statewide rent control law. The rule, which was passed in March 2019, limits annual rent increases to 7% plus the consumer price index increase.

By passing Assembly Bill 2179 (AB 2179), lawmakers have given rental housing providers a sense of finality to what has been a deluge of regulations to comply with.

Early on in the pandemic, it was newsworthy when an eviction moratorium was extended. But after they were prolonged over and over again, we became resigned to them. On the eve of an extension, our clients could just automatically assume that it would be pushed further into the future.

All indications are that AB 2179 is the last and final extension of COVID-related protections

By Kari Negri, Chief Executive Officer, Sky Properties, Inc.

Dear Kari, I recently purchased my first rental property, a 6-unit apartment building.  What are some helpful tips you can give me?  Dad always told me that “small mistakes can become catastrophic” and I want to avoid any sort of trouble down the road.

Becoming a rental housing provider is an extremely complicated endeavor. You must be aware of and keep up to date on landlord-tenant laws to avoid any unexpected problems. A minor incident in your rental property that occurs due to negligence can escalate into a catastrophic situation. Making even the smallest mistakes can wreak havoc if you do not take them seriously.

Here are some helpful suggestions that you should follow:

Rae Parker

In today’s busy world, it can be challenging to keep up with changing regulations, managing employee relations, and meeting residents’ expectations. Even though it may feel like you’re juggling multiple hats, one of your biggest responsibilities is to abide by and follow fair housing laws on a federal, state, and local level. As a property manager, you should familiarize yourself with applicable laws to avoid any violations or liability, and to ensure your business stays compliant. 

A fair housing trend report from 2020 indicates that there were 28,880 reported complaints of housing discrimination in the U.S. in 2019. Even though this is a 7.5% reduction from 2018’s total (31,202), it shows that there remains an issue within the housing market that needs to be addressed. Considering that housing is the foundation for so many other crucial life factors, it’s important to not only do the right thing, but also to use it as an opportunity to break away from these statistics and be an example for others when it comes to being fair in the process for prospective renters. Here’s some best practices around fair housing that can help you protect yourself and your business.

Market-Based Rents Will Increase Housing Supply, Improving Quality, Expanding Choice, and Lowering Costs

By Roger Valdez, The Center for Housing Economics

Executive Summary.  COVID-19 related job loss—and the resulting loss of income for many people—has spurred state and local governments bring back an old policy solution: the imposition of eviction bans and rent controls.  From a political standpoint, it’s not surprising. Price controls can be both popular and widely accepted in a crisis. However, what starts as a short-term intervention can become a medium-term expectation—and then a permanent, ossified mandate—with entrenched special-interest constituencies. Now, more than ever, we need to carefully consider how to make housing more affordable.

By Nicole Seidner

The internet loves to cancel people. It’s incredibly easy to look up a person’s entire history on their Twitter, find something controversial they posted in 2012, write #Cancelled and suddenly they’re the most hated person around.  The debate about if “cancel culture” is ethical is muddy with public-facing figures, but what about the average joe? You shouldn’t do this with your applicants as it will cause you to muddy the waters while screening and increase the chances of lawsuits as you see information regarding protected classes. Social media can lead landlords into searching for information that taps into implicit biases and is based solely on subjective information.

Some of the Dirty Tricks

There are many ways to provide a safe community: better doors, extra locks, lots of lighting around the property, security guards, a gated entry, etc. Our goal is to list a few safety tips that you might not have thought of yet. These safety tips will help give your tenants peace of mind.

1. Don’t let prospects enter units unattended

One of the most important rules in real estate is to know who is supposed to be in each unit. If strangers are walking around your properties, your residents might get uncomfortable.

Some property managers leave keys in a lockbox and give prospects the code. This isn’t a great way to show a property because you don’t know these prospects and can’t be there to answer their questions. If something were to happen to the property or a resident, you could be held responsible.

Bonus safety tip: Unless you’re using advanced self-guided tour technology, it’s safer and smarter for you or someone on your staff to be there.

President Biden signed the federal omnibus legislation into law on March 15 that will allocate funding to various parts of the government. Each time a government spending bill is brought up, NMHC remains highly engaged because its passage – or lack thereof – determines the funding for several key Departments, Agencies and programs critical to our industry.

This year’s spending package includes 12 different bills that set forth $1.5 trillion in discretionary resources. Key highlights for our industry include: