COVID – What’s a Landlord To Do?

We have tenants that aren’t paying rent. We have tenants on payment plans. We have tenants who are giving notice. What do you do? DON’T start offering FREE RENT. It’s a disastrous cycle that we have seen time and time again during every soft market. It’s not the answer‐ ever. What you should be doing is opening your office seven days a week for the longest hours possible. Best hours are nine to seven Monday through Thursday, and ten to five Friday through Sunday. That way you’re making yourself available to every single prospect in what is going to be a soft, summer market.

Show your tenants that you’re disinfecting units before every single move-in. Leave a brochure letting them know what’s been done.
Leave Welcome Baskets/Bags (which we provide at a very nominal cost) for all new move‐ins complete with all the things they’re looking for on moving day and can’t find. Focus on things like Lysol wipes, masks, gloves, etc.
Let your residents move in early with ‘no early fees’ in an effort to give people more space during the moving period avoiding back to back move‐ins, congestion in the elevators,etc.
Although the virtual tour is a nice tool don’t rely on it completely. There are a lot of people that still want to see exactly what they’re getting.
Make sure the unit smells fresh and clean when showing to prospects as well as when they move in. It appeals to the sense of smell and everybody wants clean.
When touring apartments make sure your staff continue to wear gloves and that they carry a disinfectant wipe to clean handles etc. as they leave each apartment.
There is nothing wrong with leasing staff wearing masks. In fact, we encourage it.
Move to an on‐line application and payment program wherever possible. The days of even touching bank drafts is over. People just don’t want to be handling the paper anymore. Resident portals such as those created by Yardi and PropertyVista should be used at every building.

All in all, we could talk about the subject of leasing for days. If you’re struggling with vacancy don’t hesitate to call us for some advice. Lots of it; we’re happy to give it ‘free of charge’. In turn, I’m going to acknowledge that the best performing website for South Western Ontario right now is Rentseeker. I don’t care how many leads a website generates. I only care how many rentals it produces. Chaim Rivlin has done an exceptional job with this site and it’s producing lots of viable and successful candidates for my clients. Don’t’ pay attention to the people who are just trying to snow you. Just test and determine who and what works best for you. We have rented one entire building (are‐branding) during the Covid crisis and we currently are staffing another 40 buildings. Many of you may not be aware,but we started staffing the nursing and retirement home industry in November 2019. We support a highly respected third party nursing and retirement home management company with all of their temporary and some of the permanent staffing needs. I share this because I can assure you that I know Covid interms that many will never understand. We had homes with as many as twenty patients with the virus. In all of this time not one of my staff got the virus because we took the necessary measures to protect ourselves,and yet we cared for those patients everyday with every ounce of courage and strength we had. It’s important during these times that we make our work environments safe to protect our residents and our staff. Many companies have taken measures,some are great but many need work. We’re a phone call away for all of our clients. Keep in mind that many are expecting a second wave in the Fall. I remain hopeful that it doesn’t happen. We must do our part to ensure the safety of our communities. Please stay safe and healthy both personally and professionally during these uncertain times

New Building Lease-Ups

There’s nothing more appealing to tenants than to have the opportunity to move into a brand new building. They are the best and most desirable rentals on the market in Ontario today. Just like a new car (if you can afford one), everyone wants a pristine apartment. So leasing a brand new building should be a breeze. Unfortunately, there are lots of mistakes made when starting a new lease‐up and they can have long‐term effects.
The number one problem with new lease‐ups is under‐valuing the product. Many companies play a guessing game where they do a little market research and then introduce blanket pricing. All one bedrooms of this type are this price and that type this amount. The reality is there is value to the location of the suite, the view, the proximity to amenities, parking, etc. Other factors such as corner units which eliminate some of your neighbours have premium value. Suites should be priced on a suite by suite basis and those prices should automatically adjust every time three units are rented. If one suite type tends to rent quicker than others that price should be modified immediately as it means it wasn’t priced in relative comparison to the other apartment types. It’s perceived to be a bargain. A few years ago I witnessed a landlord rent almost an entire riser before they caught the error. Many of those tenants stayed long‐term
(over five years) which made the loss of potential revenue for the landlord extensive.
The second aspect that landlords should consider for new development leasing is blocking the lease‐up. Open a building in phases. Those who lease an entire building at once often end up in a situation where suites aren’t ready on time, people end up living on a floor that feels like a ghost town for months and there’s no sense of community. It’s also harder for construction to maintain their teams and ensure suites are rent ready before move‐in.
And finally, timing is everything. We strongly recommend against opening a new rental office in December or the first of January of any year. It’s hard to create the hype needed to get momentum going in a new build. It’s always a tough start when you open during these time periods. We recommend opening an office at least ninety days ahead of the first occupancy for buildings over two hundred suites with the best openings always being in the early Spring or Fall. The objective is to lease the entire phase one of the project for the first date occupancy is available. Keep in mind though, that being approved for occupancy is often a problem. More often than not, we’ve had to adjust move‐in dates because the inspector hasn’t approved the building. For initial move‐in days, bring in extra staff to handle the elevators. You need to have as many available as possible and we always recommend two hour timeslots for best results. It doesn’t matter if you book over morning or evening rush hour on those days since building residents are still at a minimum. On occasion, we’ve started move‐ins as early as six am.

If you want to get off to a great start with your new tenants make sure you have some kind of welcome gift for them on move‐in. With that many building occupancies In a day there’s always going to be mistakes made. That welcome gift often smoothes a potential conflict.

Market conditions show that this is a very good time to be building but leasing smart is the only way to protect your investment. Hiring a dedicated, professional leasing team is often the route to best results. They understand the market and they are motivated to lease because they’re working on commission.

For The Tenant: Renting During COVID

I’m getting lots of calls, from both landlords and tenants. This article is for the tenant who wants to know what to do and when to do it. Here’s what to consider:
The rental market throughout the country will be the softest it’s been in a long time. Most landlords have vacancy or vacate notices! So if you’re looking for that dream home, that perfect apartment, the place you want to live in for the rest of your life start looking now. By the time you read this article tenants will also be giving notice because they’ve been staring at the same four walls for months and
feel they need a change too. Yes, for the first time in years it’s going to be a renters market.
Part of the reason that is going to happen is that the condo market is also going to go through some changes. People will be thinking twice before they book an Airbnb. Owners have lost revenues on Airbnb’s. Some will want to sell as a result. As such, the market is soon going to be flooded with condos for sale, especially in the large urban centres.
So pick a neighbourhood, the very best neighbourhood that you can afford – a place where you can call home for three to five years. Unless you’re planning a short term rental situation steer away from renting condo units from independent owners. Many are going to need to sell In the near future and we all know they can ask you to move if retaining the asset is going to put them in financial distress.
‘Financial distress’ are key words right now and they’re key indicators that the market is changing.
A very recent survey of Mississauga shows almost every landlord has both vacancy and availability. Are landlords reducing rents? Not really but what they are doing is offering incentives to those that qualify and some of the incentives for those with solid landlord references and the propensity to pay the rent are pretty good.
So how do you improve your situation during a major global crisis? Make sure your source of income is stable (ie. Employer). Find a place to live within thirty minutes of work so that you can get to work no matter what happens. It also provides for a better quality of life. Then choose a place that will give you room to grow. Remember, Amazon was booming during the isolation period. Canadian’s are great accumulators and even though you make think you’re a minimalist we all collect. Remember every time you move your rent is going to start at market rent again in several provinces. As such, be selective from the start. Pay attention to your body and your inner spirit. If you are drawn to the sun like I am try to find an apartment with a South exposure. That direction provides the most natural light during the day. If you’re an early riser you might want to choose East.
If there is one thing we all learned from these last months is that we all need fresh air. We all finally see the value of a balcony more then ever. Start your own potted garden (ie. Tomatoes). It gives you a reason to step outside your doors and think about your pets. For many of us it gave us a reason to leave our homes.
Many of the experts say this Covid virus will most likely have another wave. Change your life so you’re prepared if it happens again. You know that they say insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. Change it up if it needs to be changed because this is the time to do it.

Things are looking up!

After thirty four years in this industry, I’ve come to realize that nothing’s changed and then again, a lot has changed. The municipal, provincial and federal governments are still taking swipes at our industry at every turn. Sometimes I feel that they’re often tripping over themselves to see who can get at landlords first. On the other hand, some of our people and companies are getting positive press which never really happened before the start of the Spring H.O.P.E. Food Drive. Even then, it took five years to get recognition for that effort.

It’s important that among the bad news stories, we note the good ones as well. Just last week I received a notice that Wyse Meters is now the 16th fastest growing company in Canada. That means jobs and potential energy savings as residents monitor their usage. It means that this business is servicing our industry and receiving national recognition as well. Its executives and founders are significant sponsors, supporters, and members of our industry. They have made a difference in the lives and energy usage across this country which is no small feat. I’m thrilled they’re getting the recognition they deserve and
we as an industry need to applaud Peter Mills, Ian Stewart and their respective team. They’re getting noticed.

CAPREIT has now reached platinum level and has been recognized yet again as being one of Canada’s 50 top employers in 2017. They are now the largest landlord in Canada and their employees like where they work. I believe their residents are just as happy because happy employees make for happy residents. When I started in this business, these kinds of announcements were never seen. In fact, many time I would go into social offices and see posters denouncing landlords, apartments, and
anything related to our industry. When I hear things like this, it gives me hope that our industry is finally earning respect on some level.

Yesterday, I watched Gloria Salomon give her speech after winning the Sam Grossman lifetime achievement award for the Greater Toronto Apartment Association and I if you heard her, you couldn’t help but admire Gloria for her candidness and her spirit. With true political gusto she took on the Liberal government and their policies in an impassioned speech that had everyone in the room listening intently. She spoke the truth. She has now committed nineteen years of her life to this association and I
couldn’t help but think that her father (who was a pioneer in this industry) would have been very proud of her had he been there to hear her speech.

In this time of turmoil let’s not forget the shining stars in our industry and acknowledge that not everyone is against us. There are lots of good new stories. There are lots of remarkable people in our industry. Most importantly, we are making headway. We may still be attacked politically but the power is always in the people and it’s clear that they’re starting to see the truth. We have to keep pushing forward, sharing the good news, and spreading the word. We impact this city, this province and this country in a profound way. Lets make sure everybody knows it.

Finding New Employees In A Competitive Market

Everybody wants the best employees but many employers are looking in all the wrong places to find them. Retail, restaurants and referrals are the three places we would start for front line positions. Every day we receive calls from employers wanting to find that perfect employee. In today’s marketplace, it’s just as important to become the perfect employer. We’re always looking for the best.
Today, the employee is as well and what they want is pretty simple.
I live in Campbellville and to be in Toronto for 9:00 am, I have to leave the house at 7:00 am. Under normal circumstances, I am 42 minutes away from Yonge and the 401. It takes almost three times as long to get to an office than it should. Guess what? Flex‐time can work in this business. If it’s taking me that long to get to work, I’m sure there are millions of others with the same problem. As an industry we need to look at our hours and modify them to satisfy a broader spectrum of the population. Why do head offices have to close at 5:00 pm? Why can’t we open earlier or stay later? Our world is changing. Millennial’s don’t like to get up until 10:00 am and today, they make up the largest percentage of renters. Maybe we need to conform to customer needs and help ourselves at the same time. Today I try hard not to even send people on an interview if they live more than one hour from the place of employment because the ideal for a daily commute is one hour or less.
Summer hours are a huge motivator for millennials particularly since they’re more interested in working to support their lifestyle. Summer hours, closing at noon on the Friday of a long weekend and closing the week between Christmas and New Years are all great benefits for new hires. Many will take a cut in pay if the time off package is attractive. Companies that support summer hours have a higher level of satisfaction within the industry. These companies also have the lowest turnover. When we call people about an interview and mention summer hours, we have people immediately fighting for an interview. Presenting bling or gift bags with the company logo to new employees on their first day makes a great impression – T‐shirts, earphones, mouse pads, pens, etc. just enrich a new employee’s first day and create a great sense of welcome. Think of a new employee the same way you would a new tenant. If a tenant moves in and there are issues or things aren’t organized properly on their first day, they’ll never be happy as long as they live in your building. Today, young professionals are apt to change employment if they feel they have a poor start or poor work experiences. Gone are the days when an employee will continue with the same company throughout their entire career.
Finally, if you want good employees start looking at the way you’re treating the ones you have. Sometimes a misunderstanding can have someone looking for a new job and you don’t even know why. We often hear the following: someone went “above and beyond the call of duty” and no one even said thank you; or, a company didn’t even send a card when their parent died; or, they were called continually while on vacation; or, no one ever wished them a happy birthday. Your employees are people and people have feeling that are easily hurt. If you want good employees you may already have them. Maybe they’re just not performing because you’re not treating them well. Then again, they may just be “rotten to the core” and if there’s one thing we’ve learned in this business ‐ if you have a bad
apple you’d better do something because it doesn’t take long to ruin or bruise all of the other apples.
For a second opinion or to discuss our comments please reach out to Bonnie Hoy at bonnie@bonniehoy.com or 416‐821‐9425.

Moving

Let’s start by asking a simple question: Why are you moving? We recommend that unless it’s a job transfer – think twice before you move, especially if you’re moving to another apartment. There are many things to consider before you incur the standard $2,000 moving expense.

Every time you move it costs money. We typically advise people that when you move, you choose a place where you can live comfortably for three years. If you have to look for additional storage space, then you clearly should have rented a bigger apartment. It’s amazing how people will cheap out on rent but pay two or three hundred a month in storage fees. It makes no sense. If you aren’t using it, lose it or better yet just throw it out.

When looking at an apartment, you should always consider storage or closet space available. Keep in mind that the average Canadian accumulates an average of 10 per cent in possessions on an annual basis. Just think about the clothes, sports equipment and furnishings you acquire every year. There has to be somewhere to put those new things. If it’s sports equipment, you need storage. If it’s clothes you need closets. If it’s furniture you need the space for it.

If you absolutely need to move, the first thing you should do and something most people forget is to change your address at the post office. You have no idea who is moving into your space when you leave. Do you really want people reading your mail, going through your bills, or just throwing important items like cheques in the garbage? Most people never think about it, but that’s what really happens when someone else gets your mail. Yes, it’s against the law to open another person’s mail but it’s one of those things that if you didn’t see it – it didn’t happen. A far more important consideration in this regard relates to identity theft. With all of the sensitive information, from bank and credit car account numbers to tax documents with your social insurance number and drivers license with your date of birth, if your mail isn’t rerouted right away and this information falls into the wrong hands it would be very easy to victimize her.

The last and most important thing you need to consider is that almost all rental terms in this country end on the last day of the month. Don’t ever assume you can move on the first of the month. Always check with your landlord. They might enlighten you and if they have the apartment rented because your lease term ends on the last day of the month then they could hold you responsible for the rent for that month, especially if they lose a good prospect because you still haven’t moved out. Rule of thumb, don’t assume anything!

The day you move out, always remember to turn in your keys. We also recommend that you ask for a suite inspection at the same time. This gives your landlord an opportunity to ensure there’s no damage to your unit. Nobody wants to receive a bill after they’ve move out. It also gives you a chance to thank the superintendent for their hard work. In some provinces damage deposits aren’t taken but that doesn’t mean the landlord won’t bill for damages and cleaning if a resident hasn’t left their unit in a reasonable condition. It’s a mistake a lot of people make and they’re often shocked when they get the bill. Keep in mind that it doesn’t matter where you live in Canada, if you destroy a unit or leave it in a bad state of repair you’re going to pay because every landlord will hold you accountable.
Happy renting!

We’ve Been Asked to Help

I’ve been involved with Housing Connections for the last couple of years. I personally find that they have an important role to play and that they have a dynamic team of individuals and supporters in their organization. Recently, at their annual general meeting I had an opportunity to hear their wish list for the future.

They’ve made some notable improvements with respect to affordable housing in Toronto, the most important of which concerns homelessness. With the recent programs they’ve initiated, Toronto has been able to reduce its homeless numbers by over fifty percent. We’ve even beaten cities like New York where their efforts have only effected a 30%

Who’s Winning The Race For The Residents?

For the fifth year in a row, I’ve had the privilege of attending the National Apartment Association Conference. This year the venue was New Orleans and I must say besides one of the best cities for meals in the US, it was also one of the best conferences I’ve attended.

The emphasis this year was definitely on social networking and Internet advertising. There are companies out there now that do nothing but load you up on free rental websites on a regular basis for a small monthly fee. Given the prices they were offering, I’m not sure how they could even do it effectively. Do you realize that there are now over 40 free rental websites that you could be using to list your Toronto properties? Yes, that’s right – the whole realm of advertising in changing. In the future, I can see companies spending advertising dollars just having in-house administrators loading up ads on all of these free websites on a daily basis. Yes, for some companies it could already be a full-time job.

Is it worth it you say to follow the American marketing philosophy to rent apartments? Well, it’s true that there are some profound differences between Canadian and American rentals and one eloquent speaker put it into perspective in thirty seconds. She told a room of 500 people that Americans are very self absorbed as consumers, having a tendency to only know what’s going on in their own little world. Of course, she was challenged right away, but she asked a simple question. Her question was whether or not any American in the room could tell her the name of the current Prime Minister of Canada. I was shocked. Not one person responded. She asked if one Canadian could tell her the name of the President of the United States. Of course, a dozen hands went up and it represented every Canadian in the room.

In turn, Americans have learned to market to their own masses and given that some of these landlords can reach an audience of over 230 million people indicates that they’re doing something right. I would even go so far as to say that some companies have become a household word when it comes to branding, which is more then we can say for almost every landlord in Canada. Is the use of Internet a way to brand your company? I would say if we look to the South we can say a resounding YES. But they’re looking at angles we haven’t even thought of yet.

I would be hard pressed to find a company that doesn’t have a video presentation of their rental community. It becomes a given. Every company mystery shops their staff on some level and on a regular basis. Every community is now focusing on creating cell-phone-friendly websites where their information is formatted to be user-friendly on a cell phone. Companies from coast-to-coast are now conducting resident satisfaction surveys on an annual basis under the premise that the customer is king, and they want those kings living at their properties. This year alone, we’ve sent out over 20,000 resident satisfaction surveys for clients ourselves so this is an area where I think we’re also making progress. And finally, it seems a lot of companies are finding that a way to a person’s heart is to feed them. Rental offices everywhere are being stocked with snack foods, coffee corners, and juice bars. Prospective residents are staying longer during the visit and it’s resulting in better sales.

All in all, you can see when you attend any one of these conferences that it’s war out there. Getting good residents is tough; getting the best residents is all-out warfare. From what I’m seeing, the Internet is drawing them in but it’s the food, the gadgets, and the takeaways that are attracting residents to their new homes. May the best man, or should i say landlord, win!

What’s In A Name?

After 25 years working in this industry, I think I’ve learned enough about our business to be able to make the statement – “You’re only as good as your name.” Every year we see companies spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on advertising, signage and common area improvements. However, our residents only know us as the Landlord. It seems that’s a moniker no one wants to assume.

Recently, I noticed that several applications forwarded to us for various clients were incomplete. The landlord’s name and phone number were often missing, which can be a sore point because in today’s rental climate every landlord wants current landlord references. The reality is that many people don’t even know the name of their landlord. They wrote the cheques out to the building name or the numbered company, but have no idea who owns the building or who manages it.

Seems absurd doesn’t it? What it tells us is that residents don’t know (and frankly in many cases) don’t even care who we are. What’s scary is that if people don’t care, it usually means that they’re indifferent to the service too. In a market where we’re all fighting for product differentiation that doesn’t speak well for our marketing efforts. In fairness, who can blame a resident for being confused when the municipal address of a building is 1 Church Street, but the name of the property is Rideau Tower. Then to top it off, the rent cheque is made payable to Stephen’s Company. This is hardly uncommon, but it’s certainly counter-productive from a resident-relations and marketing perspective.

So here are some tips to make your company memorable:

Consistency – Wherever possible, keep the rent cheques for all your properties payable to one source – the name of the company managing the building.
Stop Using Meaningless Names – The name of your building should be the address. Thompson Towers, Rivergate Apartments, Cordon Suites means nothing to our consumer. The only exception is if you have a central leasing office and a standout community. Perfect example would be the Gates of Bayview by Sterling Karamar – three buildings, one rental office and it’s actually a gated rental community – thus the name.
Street Signage – Street signage without the physical address, phone number, name of the company and website are somewhat useless – so tear them down. Besides your own signage there should only be one other – the Certified Building signage as approved by our industry. Is there any point in advertising all of the local websites? Do you really believe people can read the text on those signs driving by at 50 km per hour? Check it out. I’ve got great eyesight and I can’t see it fast enough. My motto is: Promote your own website. Why advertise for someone else on your property?
Special Signage – Does every single sign have to be plain or ordinary? Look at Park Willow’s backlit signage. It’s three years old and still performs well. They seldom have to use any other form of advertising to keep their buildings full.

I think it’s a shame that a resident may have lived in a building for years and not know their landlord or management company. You’ll often find that when asked for the management’s name and phone number on new applications. It’s time that this industry stood up and was counted. If you want to keep your customers it starts with a relationship where both parties know the identity of the other. We’ve been around way too long not to be known – we own this city and it’s time your residents know it as well.

It’s hard to believe but I’ll finish off by sharing this one story. A new applicant comes to rent an apartment in a building. She uses her current address in the appropriate place on her application. We asked her about references and she blew us off. We asked her if there were any problems with her current landlord and she said ‘no’ – she just wanted a change. We said ‘great’ because the new building belonged to the same owner. She took the application right out of our hands and ripped it up. Turns out that there were lots of problems and we wouldn’t want her as a resident at either building. So you see – everyone could have been saved a lot of wasted time and effort if she had known the name of the landlord for both buildings.

‘Free’ The Buzz Word For 2010

In a recession-type market there is one work that everyone wants to hear and that’s the ‘F’ word. The word that motivates all of us is ‘Free’. In our current business environment, we are dealing with a fiercely competitive print media that operates on the premise of ‘survival of the fittest’. A couple of weeks ago a friend showed me a Caribbean newspaper that has a sizable distribution in the Scarborough and Pickering area. It serves its community well and even featured an article by Michael Ignatieff. While his article was interesting, what was even more remarkable was the reality of his article in this publication. This newspaper is obviously outside Ignatieff’s normal constituency, but for a man with greater ambitions seeking a future leadership bid, he is reaching out to people that can help achieve his goal. Ignatieff is a man that knows where to go for support. As an industry – do we?

When I reviewed this publication and several others that focus on particular demographics, I found a notable absence of advertising from our industry. When I called some of these papers, I found that they were so excited at having an opportunity to advertise my clients’ services, and many offered to do so for free in the hopes of obtaining a future long-term commitment. In some cases, the cost translated to less than $50 for the insertion, which in our world is as good as ‘free’. And better yet, some of the ads are effective. While they may not translate to immediate applications, for the cost involved, we can certainly afford to keep trying. Some of these venues offered ads for an entire year at a cost that is still less than a single full page glossy ad in another publication.

In our search for ‘free’ we also found that there are dozens of websites where you can post an apartment ad for free. Not every rental office has a computer, and not every agent is capable of uploading an ad to these sites, but we’re beginning to realize that it’s time to invest in the people and the equipment for best results.

Leasing agents can no longer sit idly by and complain that it’s not busy, or that the phone isn’t ringing. With the technology that’s now available, they only have themselves to blame for poor results. The Internet is a great visual advertising medium and our customers like to see what they’re getting before taking the next step and visiting the rental office. Free websites require a bit of effort to learn how to create appropriate text and upload photos, but the effort ultimately pays off.

It’s a tough market out there. As a landlord, are you doing everything you can to attract customers? If you aren’t taking advantage of the multicultural newspapers and the Internet as free or modestly priced vehicles, you’re missing some terrific opportunities. If you want a full house – spend a little time investing in new mediums. Then sit back and reap the rewards!