The real estate market in Fort Lauderdale is heating up. Each year, Fort Lauderdale home values are increasing, proving that it is a great city to live in and premier property to own in South Florida. Fort Lauderdale home values have gone up 6.7% over the past year and are projected to rise another 5.5% by 2019, according to Zillow.
However, it is not just the home values that are trending up, the average rent for an apartment in Fort Lauderdale has increased 4% over the past year. Great new construction of trendy lofts is happening across the city as more and more people call this hot spot their home.
If you are a property owner and renting out your space, a property management company will help with and handle the marketing of your property, tenant screening, rent collection, maintenance, financial reporting, and more. In the Fort Lauderdale area, Mayfair Property Management, LLC will ensure your success in the rental process from start to finish with every tenant. Mayfair will help you maximize your rental’s investment potential.
In the vibrant city and hot market of Fort Lauderdale, tenants are constantly moving in and out of properties. When it comes to turning over an apartment from one tenant to another, a property owner has two choices. The first choice is to wait until the unit is vacant to begin showing it. This would mean waiting until the current tenant has completely moved out. The second choice is to show the unit to potential new residents while the current tenant is still living there.
There are pros and cons to both waiting until the apartment is vacant to show it and showing it while the current tenant still occupies it. In this article, we will be discussing the pros and cons of waiting until the tenant vacates a unit to show it and the pros and cons of showing an occupied unit. Thus, you can decide which of these options is the best for your property.
Perhaps the biggest pro to waiting until a tenant vacates your rental before showing it is that it is easier this way. It is much less stressful and a whole lot less chaotic when showing to wait it out and show a vacant unit. You can take your time and make sure everything is exactly how you would want to future residents to see it for the first time.
This brings us to the next upside of waiting until the previous tenant vacates before showing a unit, it will show better. When the current tenant is officially moved out, you are able to enter the unit and evaluate it. Whatever you find needs to be repaired, you are able to fix before showing the unit to the next residents.
Florida Tenant Law has rights given to tenants and restrictions placed upon landlords for how and when they must notify a current tenant that they are showing their rental. These laws can get in the way of landlords when dealing with future renters who need their new place to live fast.
Waiting until the tenant vacates before showing the rental unit, means that landlords have no legal restrictions about how and when they can hold showings. Landlords are able to hold their showings and make whatever necessary repairs there are without having to notify anyone.
Now, for the drawbacks of waiting until the unit is vacant. The biggest drawback and by far the most significant deterrent is that waiting until the current tenant leaves means that the landlord loses money. A landlord will lose at least a month’s rent and maybe even more, depending on how long it takes for a new tenant to rent the property.
In addition to losing at least one month’s rent, you will need to pay for all the utilities of the unit out of your own expenses. You do not want to show a unit with no electricity, running water, or air conditioner on. Therefore, you will have to pay out of pocket to turn on all the electricity and run the utilities.
When it comes to showing a unit that is occupied, you will not lose any rent money. You will continue to have a steady stream of uninterrupted rent flow. Furthermore, you will only need to transfer the utilities once. When the new tenant moves in, the utility bill will be under their name, so you are not responsible for paying it.
In showing occupied units, there is zero vacancy for a landlord to worry about or pay for. Once the old tenant moves out, the new tenant can move right in. These are the major upsides to showing a rental while the current tenant is still there.
The downsides to showing an occupied unit are significant and should be seriously considered. The first consideration is the risk you take as a landlord in showing a currently inhabited rental. You cannot ensure that the unit is going to be clean. Walking into a messy unit with dirty pots and pans in the kitchen, unfolded laundry on the bed, and a weird smell can make a prospective tenant walk right out the door of your building.
Also, the present tenant might not be out of the unit when you show it. They may hang around and completely derail your showing. Worse, they could have forgotten you are showing the unit and be in the shower when you unlock the door for a perspective.
Another risk you run with showing an occupied unit is that you could be faced with some unexpected delays. The current tenant could run into a snag with their move-out that prevents the new tenant from moving in on time.
As a landlord, hiring a property management company takes the stress and hassle of having to make these decisions and move tenants in and out off of your shoulders. In Fort Lauderdale and South Florida, Mayfair Property Management, LLC was founded by investors for investors. Real estate is our passion, and we work hard to care for your investment so you can do the things you love.
