Vacancy Rate for Excalibur’s Homes Lower Than Market

Our company specializes in leasing single family rental houses. Through our membership in Rental Home Professionals and NARPM we have data to show us what is happening in the single family rental market. We recently checked to see what vacancy rates are for these rental houses within a 50 mile radius of Atlanta and noticed something very encouraging. We found that the vacancy rate for rental houses in all of Metro Atlanta is at 8% in September but the vacancy rate for Excalibur’s accounts is only 6%!

September Vacancy for Single Family Rental Homes

The numbers continue to prove that Atlanta is in a soft rental market with respect to single family rental homes. Vacancy is still running about 12%. As the weather cools off, so will traffic. Adjust your prices now so you can get a qualified tenant more quickly.

2009 Vacancy For Single Family Rental Homes

It’s Time to Service your HVAC System

Servicing your HVAC system is like changing the oil in your car. Regular maintenance will help it last longer with fewer problems. Now that fall is upon us it’s time to get a contractor out to service your unit and change the filters. If Excalibur manages your rental home, and you would like us to send someone out to service your units just contact us at maintenance@excalhomes.com.

Georgia Law Requires Disclosure of Landlord

O.C.G.A. 44-7-3 requires that a residential lease disclosure the name of the Landlord or their Agent for Services. The tenant needs to know who is liable (who to sue) should any issue develop during the tenancy. There are many issues that might come up causing legal action from the tenant such as the landlord’s failure to make a repair which leads to an injury, mold issues, or (much more common recently) the landlord’s default on the lease by letting the property go into foreclosure. In 2008 a DeKalb County judge granted a tenant a $4000 judgement against a landlord who let the property go into foreclosure.

Vacancy down for houses, Up for condos

The vacancy rate for houses dropped from 12.18% in July to 10.96% in August. However vacancy for condominiums climbed during the same time frame from 25.1% to 29.7%. The condo rental market is very soft in Atlanta these days. This data is pulled from RentalHomePros.com and reflects the data from over 5000 rental homes in the Metro Atlanta market.

2009 Vacancy in Atlanta

The vacancy rate for single family rentals in Metro Atlanta during July 2009 has dropped to about 13% from a high of 17% at the beginning of this year.  This is still much higher than the national average for single family vacancy which was 8.12% in July.  Obviously Atlanta’s rental market is softer than in other cities around the country and landlords are going to need to make adjustments in order to get their houses rented.         2009 Vacancy Rates for Metro Atlanta.

Who needs to pay a professional to manage their property?

Seems a gentleman in the Navy was transferred out of town. He decided
he could manage most of the rental himself and have a friend oversee
the rental collection, deposits, and any repairs. So he had the
friend complete the rental agreement that he had found with a tenant
he had found. Rent was established, and he agreed to pay her a normal
percentage of the rent as she collected it. And everything seemed to
go as it should. A year goes by, and gradually the payments got
later and later. So he called his friend and was told that her new
job was making it difficult for her to get the money into the bank.
Oh by the way, she had to have the tenant make the check payable to
her, so that she could collect the agreed upon percentage. He said
that was ok. By the end of the year, the tenant was nearly $1400
behind on a $900.00 rental. So he decided to come for a visit at his
next vacation. Upon arriving in town he scheduled to meet the tenant
and his friend later in the same day. The tenants said they were
current on the rent. Puzzled he made a comment about partial rent
being paid to account for the $1400 deficit. They said that they
stopped making payments by money order or check a year ago at the
request of his friend. They also said the rent was raised by the
friend to $1,000. So now the owner was really confused. He asked the
tenant if they had a receipt for any of the rent. They said no. When
he met with his friend to find out what happened, he was told that yes
she had raised the rent, had she forgot to tell him? The amount
deposited to his account had not changed. What about the $1400
deficit? Oh she had deposited part of the rent money, retained the
rest of it to pay for some repairs, and on the way home her purse was
stolen! Sorry about that, but what could she do?

This owner decided he needed a professional to manage his property.

Courtesy of John Parker, Willow Properties Inc.

Rents Lower in Suburbs, But Not Much

Some articles are describing market conditions which have brought rents down as much as 30% for apartments and rental homes in different parts of the country. However the suburbs north of Atlanta seem to be doing much better than those markets. In 2008 the average rent for a 3 BR rental house in Lawrenceville (30045) was $1117.14. In 2009 the average rent for the same properties has dropped to $967.86, a 15.42% reduction. In Roswell, GA rents have dropped 12.96% for 3 BR houses from an average of $1161.67 to an average of $1028.33. In other markets in the northern suburbs rents have stayed the same. In Marietta (30066) and Cumming (30041) rents for 3 BR rental homes are at the same levels now as they were in 2008. Across the board 4 and 5 BR rental home rents are still at roughly the levels as they were in 2008. So, if you have to be a landlord, the Metro Atlanta suburbs are a great place to own rental homes. With property values down as much as 30% in some markets compared to 2007 prices, becoming a landlord is often a more attractive option today than trying to sell.

Vacancy Rate for Single Family Rentals is up – rates drop.

As of 7/13/09 the vacancy rate for single family rental houses in Metro Atlanta is approximately 19% causing many landlords to reduce rental rates.  Of 126 two bedroom rental houses surveyed, 24 are vacant (19.05%); of 1204 three bedroom rental houses surveyed, 243 are vacant (20.18%); of 1028 four bedroom rental houses surveyed, 196 are vacant (19.07%); of 282 five bedroom rental houses surveyed, 51 are vacant (18.09%).  If you are trying to rent a house today, look at the market data and price it to move.  It won’t be summer forever.

Now is a great time to become a Landlord!

“Buy low, sell high!”  You have heard it for years.  Well, this is “low”.  Now is a great time to buy a house to rent out.  We assume the market will recover.  It always has before. When it does your rental will become a much more valuable asset and can really help enhance your retirement.  I hope you don’t expect social security to meet all your needs when you retire.  Worried about the headaches related to managing a rental home?  That’s where we come in.  We can help you find a good deal, then lease it and manage it for you.  Give us a call.  678-825-1400.