A.D. Cantelmo Property Management
Our Business is Property Management in Orange County California
Making a Rental property eatable
In my business of Property Management, I am constantly
trying to make a property more desirable for renters without costing my client
a lot of money. It is not always an easy task, so I look for little things that
are easy and very cost effective. I often go back to when I was just selling
properties and what little things made people buy a home. I have two
experiences that stick in my mind the most.
Falling for a stove
I was trying to sell clients a home in Huntington Beach and
was not having much luck. They were just not being moved by anything that we
were looking at. One day we walked into a very average home, but the area was
right and the price was in range so I met them at the property and at first I
could tell they were not really impressed with the property, but when we walked
into the den, everything switched and at that point the house was sold. In the
far corner of the room was a beautiful silver plated wood burning stove.
They fell in love with that stove and we closed escrow 35 days later. The funny
thing was just before we closed the seller wanted to take the stove with him,
but that was handled and all was well.
Making Guacamole
The second experience I had was also in Huntington Beach.
The property was a strange property and in the back yard it had an extra area
that was an easement to a rail road that was not active but it gave the property
a very large area that the owners could use, but it really did not belong to
them. In the other part of the yard was what really sold the home. When you walked into the back yard there was a
huge avocado tree that was filled with avocado’s and just like the wood burning
stove, my clients were sold on the home at that point.
Incentive to buy
Now the wood burning stove and the avocado tree were not the
reason the homes were sold, they were the linchpins that made the clients
decisions easier. If the homes themselves did not fit, no sale would have been
made.
When I think about those two stories, the avocado tree gave
me an Idea when I talk to my Landlord clients on how to make their properties
more marketable. Why not give the Tenants a property that you can eat or better
a property that feeds them? Why no plant a few fruit trees? Lemon, Orange,
Avocado’s or anything that people may want to pick and eat. Also, if the yard is large enough, why not
have an area that Tenants can grow their own garden if they want to. Giving
people an area to plant what they want, gives them a feeling that the property
is a part of them and they will have an incentive to stay longer. A garden is
also a great incentive for parents who want to teach their children about how
things grow. Every time I have a property for rent and it has a fruit tree, you
can see the children gravitate towards the tree with interest.
Cost effective
The cost of planting a few trees is minimal, although there
is some maintenance, but again the benefits outweigh the costs. Planting fruit
trees is a low cost way to make your rental property more interesting and may
persuade a Tenant to rent if they are on the fence. I can’t really make the
case that I have ever rented a home due to fruit trees, like I could when I
sold the house with the avocado tree, but I am very confident that fruit trees
did not stop someone from renting, so why not make a property eatable.
A.D. Cantelmo Property
Management Specializes in Property Management in Orange County
Ca.