I was listening to a CD this morning and it asked a good question. What makes you or your rentals different than your competitors?

I offer rent to own structures on the house and if you are living in one of my apartment, I offer RTO appliances.

We offer Pet Friendly places that are CLEAN and cute.

I have pride in my rentals. As a long term owner, investor and licensed contractor I keep my properties in good repair and always try to upgrade them with the latest improvements. When my tenants had issues, all they need to do is send me 1 text'ed message and things get taken care of as soon as possible.

Ray,

Great question!

We're

-easy website with TONS of photos and video walkthrus

-easy to apply right there online 24/7

-self-tour

-cleaner and fresher colors than our competitors

-carpet free (half the world has allergies and young prospects HATE carpet)

-love animals

-all price ranges

-Rent to Own

-PayDayPlanRent, they come to us for that while other LLs can't be bothered with extra bookkeeping (to make a 13th month of rent each year!)

BRAD

I have C- to C+ properties.

We offer clean houses and everything works!

Very few rental properties in our neighborhoods are as nice as what we offer.

I'm different than 99.9% of the people who read and post.

EXCEPT: I'm exactly like the people who took the time to post an answer to YOUR question here.

I have my ideas of what I think sets me apart but I always look for confirmation so I'm not deceiving myself which is pretty easy to do, isn't it Brad Pitt ;)

I get comments from applicants and tenants that confirm that:

My places are finished on the inside nicer

My curb appeal and outside spaces are nicer

I get things fixed quicker

I have good, pleasant, and available communications when needed

Ok, maybe not Brad Pitt, but maybe somewhere between him and Brad 20,000? :)

Point of this question is to ID to your customers - what you do that separates you from the rest of the pack.

I am happy to see that price isn't the only answer showing up - anyone can drop the price. If you are offering something different that no one else offers, you can use that as your Unique Selling Point (USP). Terms and special features will close transactions. Trans-actional leadership works great until someone else offers a better (cheaper) deal - then the person whom you spent the time training - jumps ship for the next landlord.

MYOB,

You are definitely 99.9% different than most people who post here. You are the only one here that does not want long term tenants! Your approach to LLing is radical. Do you really boot your tenants out that stay more than 5 years?

Interesting question, Ray.

Real estate by definition makes each provider "different". There is only one 123 Anywhere Ave in Anytown USA at longitude X and latitude Y.... We're not in the same business as my employers where they sell the same widget as competitor #1 across the street or down the road. In other words, real estate is not a 'commodity' business.

But that's not the answer you're looking for, I get it.

I offer CLEAN, SAFE, and FUNCTIONAL units for a very competitive price. That puts me ahead of 80% of Ma and Pa Kettle operators who are slip shod and figure "good enough" is a substitute for any or all of those three.

I also offer:

1) self-tour on their schedule vs. making them wait on me

2) 20+ photos for each property

3) adding more video walk thrus to my YouTube page & embedding them into our website

4) Pay day rent plans (bi-weekly, bi-monthly)

5) Pet friendly (registration fee and added rent apply)

6) 3 days or less response time on MOST maintenance issues

7) Occasional 'upgrades' (new Allure flooring, fresh paint, etc)

8) Easy, online application process.

[[[[[[......... You are definitely 99.9% different than most people who post here. You are the only one here that does not want long term tenants!......]]]]]]]

Not the only one. I also don't like for tenants to stay longer than 5 years.

Sid,

You are spot on with what this question is all about.

Too often I see people on this site bragging about the class of place they have, but they forget to talk about the benefits that the unit provides.

I had finally gotten all of my rentals converted to hard flooring in Oregon. Then I moved and I bought places with carpet. Now, as the carpet needs to be replaced, I will be converting to hard flooring again.

A big difference in my lower rent places is that I put in pine plank flooring. About $1 a square foot plus a lot of labor.

Lower rent level tenants were not accustomed to getting wood floors in that area and they would fall in love with the floors.

Of course, competition was fierce for lower rent places, so the floor probably made no actual difference. They would have applied anyway.

[[[[[[[...... I am happy to see that price isn't the only answer showing up......]]]]]

I aim for the highest possible rent that I can get. Then I don't raise rent for the first 2 years or so. Unless the market goes crazy, I will still be in the ballpark for rent amount.

Roy someday we'll get together. Roy I think there are others who do what we do. I just saw Oregon ID post and I've read others who turn their tenants.

I don't do 5 years. As I posted before I have a calendar that mixes new tenant with 2 and 3 years tenants that have the same lease expiration month. So the upcoming month of July I have 6 leases that expire. One is a month to month at 150 over normal rent-- since she's month to month nothing I can do. Two are 2 year and 3 are going on 3 year. June I have no lease expire since I vacation that month. August I have 2 leases that expire. If 2 of the July leases don't renew-- the new tenants lease will bled into Aug.

In my time of renting out I've had maybe 2 leases that i don't offer renewals -- in 35+ years. So when M2M is selected-- at such a high price -- I grin and bear it. So fact is we do have a few long term-- but thats with M2M pricing.

This year it seems like skys the limit on rents. 150 to 200 because we've switched over to SQ footage when calculating rent amount.

I'm sad you only want to meet me to see if i'm real---! Trust me I'm for real. I live by the words of another RE investor-- I can't remember who it was that said-- you want deals-- you gotta fish in the ponds no one else is in. That RE investor was talking about buying property but i use it for turning property's.

It's my niche and I love it.

Ray, 100% agree that "warm, dry, and clean" are expected by the LAW, but you and I both know there are many operators who do not care what the law says. These are the true "slummies" that we've discussed before.

There are 3-4 notorious individuals in my town who rent to whoever shows up with a handful of cash...and those tenants think it's great that there's no screening, no references required...UNTIL it comes time to get something fixed. What are they going to do? Most C and D class tenants don't know the first thing about following the legal process to withhold rent, and unless they want to pay to hire an attorney it's going nowhere. They eventually get stick of it, withhold rent without following the process or consulting an attorney, and they get evicted.

Is that right? No. But it's what I see happen. You can look this one guy's name up on our free online court records and he has anywhere from 300 - 400 eviction filing PER YEAR as the plaintiff. There are NONE where he is the defendant where a tenant is suing him for providing uninhabitable housing.

The city does nothing. He provides a roof--crappy though it is--to people who would otherwise be homeless. These are people with 400 credit scores, criminal backgrounds, evictions on record. No one like me will rent to them, and for good reason. It is what it is.

So when I come on the market all these people flock to me seeing what I offer...and clean, safe and functional does make me stand out above 80% of my Class C competitors.

Hehehehehe

Sid,

Ray, Is this one of the cd's from the convention? I have the best looking house on the block not that that is saying much. When people were viewing my property they always commented on how much nicer and cleaner and maintained mine was inside and out. I also have ceiling fans and dishwasher and HVAC in a c area. Hard wood floors too.

myob, " I'm different than 99.9% of the people who read and post." AGREED. LOL. Just kidding. I am glad you post here and appreciate the advice you give. I would also like to meet you one day, not to find out if you are real because I am sure you are, but to just talk and learn more from you on land lording, mechanics or just life.