Categories
Flipping Landlords

How to Target Metro Detroit Landlords with your Flip (Part 2)

Last week, we looked at how to plan your flip to target an owner-occupier buyer in Metro Detroit. This week, we’ll take it a step further and consider how to market flipped properties to another kind of buyer, and one which most flippers wouldn’t necessarily consider right off the bat: landlords.

Landlords are probably not going to pay as much as an owner-occupier would, but they could be a consistent buyer for your properties, so building relationships with local buy and hold investors could be a great back-up strategy for marketing your flips.

Especially in the current economic environment, having a consistent buyer for multiple properties could be a serious boon for flippers. More people are choosing to rent long-term rather than buy, and this trend is likely going to continue as we slowly recover from the financial strain caused by coronavirus. But, while first-time buyers could be shying away from buying now, investors are always on the look out for a good deal.

So, here are some points to consider when targeting Metro Detroit landlords as buyers:

  • Landlords are Investors, Just Like You: This means they won’t be sold purely on light, airy spaces and nice kitchen counters – they want to see the hard numbers when making their decision. Highlight the financial benefits of the property when marketing to them, like whether the area has low vacancy rates, the rent-to-price ratio, and CapEx projections for any maintenance that will be required in the coming years.
  • Lower Margins: Buy and hold investors will be looking for a deal, and in Metro Detroit they’re unlikely to be looking for a single family home that costs several hundred thousand dollars, meaning your margins on each sale will be lower. However, you may be able to compensate for this in the volume of sales you do, since a landlord could become a guaranteed buyer for multiple flips. If you build relationships with local landlords, you can also do off-market deals with them, saving both of you time and money spent on marketing and agents’ commissions.
  • Out-of-State Buyers: When you consider the fact that the rental market in Metro Detroit attracts tons of investors from out of state – and even overseas – to the area in search of high rent-to-price ratios, you can see how marketing to this group can significantly widen your pool of buyers. Most of these out-of-area investors look for properties that are fullyrehabbed and ready to rent out, meaning a fresh flip could be the perfect choice for them.

Many of them also look for ‘turnkey’ rental opportunities, meaning properties which have a tenant and property management company in place, so you can find a tenant and then sell your flip as an active rental investment. You can also partner with a local PMC to show landlords that your property comes with the whole package, turning it into a mostly hands-off investment for them.

  • Invest in Different Markets: Selling to landlords can also widen the pool of areas you can invest in, since a strong rental neighborhood and a strong seller’s market are two different things. This gives you the chance to flip properties in lower-price areas, with less upfront capital. You also won’t need to shell out as much for high-end fixtures and fittings, since these won’t matter to a landlord like they would to an owner-occupier.

Landlords may not be your primary market, but they can account for a healthy secondary market when it comes to finding buyers for your flips. Keep these points in mind when targeting local buy and hold investors with your flip, and you could end up with a lifetime customer for your business.

Image Courtesy of Lisa Fotios

Categories
Landlords

How to Target Metro Detroit Owner-Occupiers with your Flip (Part 1)

Home values in Metro Detroit were on the rise at the beginning of 2020, and are expected to continue to increase in the aftermath of coronavirus, making it an attractive market for flippers looking to add value to distressed properties. In this 2-part series, we’re looking at how flippers in the Metro Detroit area can tailor their properties to appeal to different types of local buyers in today’s economy.

The ideal buyer for a flipper is an owner-occupier, since they buy emotionally and thus will usually pay the most for your property. In a perfect world, you’ll even have multiple owner-occupiers vying for your house, leading to a bidding war that drives up the price. The key to generating this kind of demand for your property is to make sure your flip is targeted to appeal to buyers in your area.

So what do owner-occupiers in Metro Detroit look for when purchasing a house?

  1. Location, Location, Location: If you’re just getting started in flipping properties in this area, the most important thing to do is pinpoint the neighborhoods with the strongest demand from buyers. Completing an attractive flip will mean nothing, if it’s not in an area that owner-occupiers actually want to purchase in. In Metro Detroit, the areas with the strongest appeal are cities with vibrant downtown areas, like Ferndale, Royal Oak, Rochester, Plymouth, etc. The cities near these areas are also good places to focus your search. Do as much due-diligence as possible to familiarize yourself with an area before deciding to invest there, since even a few streets over in one direction can make a big difference in terms of desirability.
  2. Floorplans We’ve seen several flippers lose their shirt on a flip they did a great job of renovating, but the property had floorplan issues they didn’t or couldn’t address. Low ceilings in a basement or the upstairs of a bungalow, pass-thru bedrooms, nowhere to dine, inaccessible garages and more. Stay away from these types of projects unless you are really good at calculating an ARV that takes them into account, or your budget includes addressing them.
  3. Amenities: More than ever, homebuyers expect everything to not only be done and done well, but they want all the amenities included. Study what the market wants and include as many as you can in your budget.
  4. Security: People want to feel safe in their homes, but bars on the windows aren’t the most aesthetically pleasing design feature. Consider adding smart security features, like digital keypads and mobile-controlled alarm systems, to give your property a leg up over the competition.
  5. Social Distancing: In the era of the new normal, homeowners are starting to look at properties in a different light. Houses which have large outside spaces, home entertainment features, or are located in less population-dense areas might have a higher appeal than ever before. The same goes for layouts which are conducive to a whole family living and working from home, so think about including a dedicated office space and segmented living areas.

Plan your flip to include these features, and you’ll be in the best position possible to produce a quick sale, so you can get started on your next investment property ASAP!

Keep an eye out for Part 2 of this series, where we’ll be looking at how you can target a different kind of buyer with your Metro Detroit flip: buy and hold investors.

Image Courtesy of Lisa Fotios

Categories
DIY

Landlords: Tenant-Proofing your Rental Properties

Tenant-proofing your rental properties is kind of like baby-proofing your house–it saves both of you from unnecessary headaches. The key when tenant-proofing is to identify the things that get abused the most, and think about how you can minimize damage to these areas, or eliminate them altogether. This is especially true for properties in low demographic neighborhoods, whereas problems like these rarely occur in higher-demographic areas.

Here are some other things you should avoid if you want to minimize the risk of extra damage costs:

  1. Avoid Garbage Disposal – Have you ever watched a movie, and the characters threaten to drop something meaningful into the garbage disposal by the sink? Yes, it’s true, people love to put all types of things down that drain. It’s handy–but also very easily clogged. It’s a piece of high-failure, time-consuming equipment to fix.
  1. Avoid Air-Conditioning Units – This may seem necessary, especially during the sweltering summers in Michigan, but AC units are not a requirement. Repairs are pricey and window-mounted models often disappear in the hands of thieves. Leave it to your tenants to buy one for themselves!
  1. Forbid Wall-Mounting – People like putting up decorations on their walls, but strictly avoid any nails or screws that put ugly holes in the walls. There are plenty of adhesive hooks in stores that tenants can use as an alternative, and walls with adhesive residue are easier to repair than those with holes. If you do allow nails, plan on deducting repair costs from the security deposit, because most tenants won’t repair the holes themselves (even if it says so in the lease).

Instead, install features that can help keep your rental properties clean and easy to maintain:

  1. Install Durable Flooring – Vinyl flooring is your best bet here, as it’s affordable, durable, simple to install, and it’s easy to remove any stains that a renter would leave. Although having carpet is a preference for some, it gets old and stained easily, with some stains refusing to come out at all, and absorbs odors from pets and smoke. Similarly, hardware floors – while a great feature to have when selling a house – can easily get scratched or damaged, and cost thousands to replace. With vinyl floors, all you need is a mop and bucket of soapy water, and you’re pretty much good to go. 
  1. Install Door Stoppers – Doors swing open and close multiple times a day, and many people (especially kids) won’t care if the doorknob puts an indent in the wall. Installing door stoppers is a must-have in rental properties, as it will save both your walls and your doors from unnecessary damage.

There are a surprising variety of door stoppers on the market, from baseboard stoppers and ones affixed to the back of the door itself, to wall-mounted handle stoppers and magnetic stoppers. One of the best options is the hinge pin stopper, since it has less chance of getting overworn through constant use (or played with by children).

  1. Install Window Coverings – Blinds, drapes, or curtains might seem like an added expense (and another thing to replace if damaged by a tenant), but it’s a good idea to install some kind of window covering to avoid giving thieves or squatters a clear view inside the property. Cheap coverings will do the trick, and if they’re damaged when the tenant moves out, you can deduct the replacement cost from their deposit.
  1. Opt for Durable Fittings – Some things, like faucets, can be bought as cheap plastic pieces, costing in the region of $40. While this may seem like a good cost savings in a lower-demographic rental, these cheaper fittings usually break down quickly and will need to be replaced every 2 years, on average. Investing in a more expensive, more durable option, like a $120 metal faucet, will mean that fittings can last for up to a decade before wearing out, saving you more money in the long run.
  1. Keep Pests Out – When doing property turnovers, consider conducting routine checks for pests and take preventative action, if necessary. Pests and insects hide well, and pest control services can add up to a fortune if the problem is left to worsen. So better to discover any potential infestations early, and fight back with rodent traps, chemical-free solutions, and an exhaustive scrub-down between rentals.

Follow these tips, and you should have a property that’s as tenant-proof as it’s possible to be. Of course, there will always be repairs and maintenance that need to be carried out at the end of every lease, but by planning properly, you can minimize the chance of incurring additional expenses for damages that could have been easily avoided.

Image Courtesy of: Ksenia Chernaya

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