Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
Page 4
Page 5
Page 6
Navigating the Rental Market By Diane Ayres Janet Zamecnik and Alexandria Rhodes No part of this publication may be reproduced stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic mechanical photocopying recording scanning or otherwise except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act without the prior written permission. While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. For general information about our other products and services please contact Diane Ayres at 440 306-0082 ext 101 toll free 888 622-4325 or fax 440 856-2084 or visit our website at www.porchlightrental.com for further information. 2015 PorchLight Rental and Destination Services. All right reserved. Published by PorchLight Apartment Rental Service LLC A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE TO RENTING ISBN Printed in the United States of America 3 CHAPTER 1 NOT FINDING THE LOCAL ASSISTANCE YOU EXPECTED...................................... 5 Why arent landlords or rental agencies calling you back...........................................................5 About PorchLight.............................................................................................................................................5 CHAPTER 2 FINDING THE RIGHT NEIGHBORHOODS.........................................................................6 Community Demographics......................................................................................................................... 7 School Statistics................................................................................................................................................ 7 Using Google Maps......................................................................................................................................... 8 Searching for Schools...................................................................................................................................10 CHAPTER 3 SEARCHING FOR RENTALS..................................................................................................12 Apartment Search Websites.....................................................................................................................13 Private Rental Websites...............................................................................................................................13 Roommate Websites Agreements.....................................................................................................14 Finding a Roommate....................................................................................................................................14 Finding a Furnished Apartment..............................................................................................................15 CHAPTER 4 DOCUMENTS TO BRING..........................................................................................................18 CHAPTER 5 TOURING TIPS..............................................................................................................................19 CHAPTER 6 NEGOTIATING..............................................................................................................................20 CHAPTER 7 ESTABLISHING CREDIT............................................................................................................21 Tips for Credit Concerns..............................................................................................................................24 Create a Letter of Explanation..................................................................................................................25 CHAPTER 8 BEFORE YOU RENT....................................................................................................................26 Utility Averages Comparisons..............................................................................................................26 Avoiding Scams and Foreclosures......................................................................................................... 27 Things to Keep in Mind...............................................................................................................................28 Renters Insurance......................................................................................................................................... 29 Pet Insurance....................................................................................................................................................29 Lease Termination................................................................................................................... ......................29 Positioning the Lease Termination with the Landlord................................................................. 30 Sample Lease Transfer Addendum........................................................................................................31 CHAPTER 9 MOVING WITH PETS.................................................................................................................32 Preparing your pet for the move............................................................................................................32 Making a Pet Resume...................................................................................................................................32 CHAPTER 10 MOVING IN OUT OF YOUR RENTAL............................................................................36 Before moving into your rental...............................................................................................................36 Moving out of your rental..........................................................................................................................36 CONCLUSION.........................................................................................................................................................37 CONTENTS RToolkit OURCES Renter411 from PORCHLIGHT from PORCHLIGHT Rental RESOURCESfrom PORCHLIGHT GHT FONT QuaySans-Book NATIONAL RENTAL SERVICE 4 Why arent landlords or rental agencies calling you back As you begin this process you may find that you have a hard time getting return calls and emails. This is common in markets where the rental occupancy is high and landlords are receiving many calls of interest regarding their rental. The first thing you can do to increase the return is to position yourself. Having a landlord or agent know that your company is relocating you immediately adds credibility. Also knowing when youll be in town lends urgency for response. About PorchLight There is a misconception amongst the general public that real estate agents receive commissions on rentals too. If they do the rental commissions may equal up to one months rent but in most U.S. cities rental commissions are less than half a months rent or non-existent. After the agent provides a portion of a commission to their broker usually 50 the agent is not compensated much. This is one major factor in why they may quickly show you some rentals that are easily accessible to them through their real estate database but beyond that the workload increases and their compensation doesnt. This is why companies and clients hire PorchLight. We charge for our services and we have pre-qualified agents who understand rentals. They are compensated by us to provide professional rental finding and to coordinate productive successful rental tours for our clients. Youll have the attention of an agent who will work to find you rentals meeting your needs. The fee is in lieu of commission because we want to encourage the agent to find you the perfect home regardless of the commission percentage. Guaranteeing them a payment to work on your behalf is a much greater incentive and a more professional way to compensate a person whom you expect to provide you professional services. For more information on finding a qualified agent see Renter Valet. In a 2013 case study of 1214 renters PorchLight Rental discovered that renters using their services recognized that there was potential for significant savings. 42.5 of the renters using PorchLights service reduced the number of days needed for temporary housing or hotel stays. The savings nets to 1493 per renter. While these numbers are beyond impressive they arent the only benefits to using our services. The amount of stress to renters and their families significantly decreases and the time required from the transferee in the rental search is lowered. These figures are based on an average lodging rate of 131 as reported by the Corporate Housing Providers Association CHPA 2013 survey. to encourage the agent to find you the perfect home regardless of the commission percentage. Guaranteeing them a payment to work on your behalf is a much greater incentive and a more professional way to compensate a person whom you expect to provide you professional services. For more information on finding a qualified agent In a 2013 case study of 1214 renters PorchLight Rental discovered that renters using their services recognized that there was 42.5 of the renters using PorchLights service reduced the number of days needed for temporary housing or hotel stays. The savings nets to 1493 per renter. While these numbers are beyond impressive they arent the only benefits to using our services. The amount of stress to renters and significantly decreases and the time required from the transferee in the rental search is lowered. These figures are based on an average lodging rate of 131 as reported by the Corporate Housing NOT FINDING THE LOCAL ACCESS YOU EXPECTED CHAPTER 1 5 FINDING THE RIGHT NEIGHBORHOODS Youre moving to a new area and dont know anything about it. Where do you start when you have to quickly find what areas best meet your current lifestyle and requirements This guide will help you break it down easily. Whether or not you have children school systems are always a good indicator of a neighborhood where the residents are involved and invested. Demographics can also help to understand who lives in the area. The first three areas to look at are crime statistics the average home value and percentage of homes owned vs. rented. Other information that is available is average income. This is extremely helpful especially if you need to stick to a budget. You wouldnt want to be looking in an area where income is far higher or lower as the housing will not be representative of what you can afford. If you want a downtown neighborhood crime statistics wont help a lot because the rates downtown are always higher due to the population density. Walkscore indexes will be helpful as well as income and home value. Commute how far are you willing to drive to work This will narrow the neighborhoods significantly. FONT QuaySans-Book NATIONAL RENTAL SERVICE 6 CHAPTER 2 COMMUNITY DEMOGRAPHICS Below are some excellent demographic and school web sites.We also provide a quick guide on how to use Google maps which is an excellent tool in determining commute time as it providesin trafficestimated travel. CHAPTER 2 www.homefair.com and clickCity Reportson the left margin. A PorchLight favorite. It provides average income for the zip code crime statistics average home price number of homes owned vs. rented education and more. www.bestplaces.net compares cities climates crime rates and cost of living. In addition bestplaces.net providesbestsof the city interesting facts and parent comments on schools. www.familywatchdog.us a national sex offender registry. Apartment rental rates and vacancy trends. www.padzing.com www.rentbits.comrbtrental-rates www.rentometer.com School Statistics www.greatschools.org a PorchLight favorite it shows highest ranking school districts as well as highest ranking schools within the district allowing drilldown by grade for test scores etc. Rankings are based on test scores. A tip on using this site Go to the district first to find the top districts then drilldown. Enter the city and state and click Search. At the top left it will either saySchools in City xx orSchools in District xx.Select the district if available andView District Information. If not scroll down and click on a public school. Next to the rating will be a paragraph with a hyperlink to the district. Click on that hyperlink. Scroll down and youll see other nearby districts and their ratings. Ratings of 10 are the highest and 1 is the lowest. www.schooldigger.com has rankings based on test scores offering drilldown from district to school and comparison reports. www.homefair.comreal-estateschool-reports is a free report including studentteacher ratio educational climate expense per student special education classes before-and-after school programs. www.nces.ed.govccdschoolsearch provides not only general school information but in-depth district stats including budget number of aides teachers administrative staff as well as number of students with IEPs. 7 FONT QuaySans-Book NATIONAL RENTAL SERVICE COMMENTS FROM CLIENTS I work with Porchlight on a daily basis for several different clients and have had positive feedback from all the transferees that take advantage of their service I have had several clients ask me to only use Porchlight as they are consistent This has been a super smooth process. I appreciate everything the team has done to help make this move happen I had a wonderful and seamless experience in finding a home. It was the kind of service that I expected to receive. The realtor that we were set up with was great and organized a tour of many homes in the surrounding area that met our criteria over our house hunting weekend She the agent understood my considerable stress levels and the requirements that I had so that I would be safe and comfortable. I certainly could not have been at this stage of the game without her help I really appreciate your teams help and efforts for my relocation. You have made me very comfortable to decide our future residence Excellent service extremely helpful information. Nonetheless it would have made our relocation a lot easier if we had contacted the relocation service before actually moving Im very pleased with the service you provided me and my family to be able to find our new home. You are great in understanding your customers needs and dedicated to make their plans achieved. I want to personally thank you for all the support and help made in this very important step in our family Its a great comfort to know that Im not dealing with what is a very stressful time alone. I wouldnt recommend that anyone move out of state start a new job AND relocate an elderly parent all at the same time without such great help 2