Austin, Texas Leasing Market Update
The real estate market is still stabilizing in Austin after interest rate adjustments over the last several months. There is still significant demand and the rental market is seeing more competition as many apartments are completing construction and coming online. Here is a recent article discussing the current market.
Extreme Heat
If you’re in Texas you know that we’re experiencing a series of days over 100 degrees with no end in sight, and it’s only June! It’s going to be hot for the foreseeable future, and we’re breaking temperature and electrical usage records. Over Father’s Day weekend, we had heat indexes over 115 degrees in some places, and east of the Austin metro areas some places like Fayette County saw heat indexes over 120 degrees!
When we have heat like this it puts stress on mechanical systems including everything from the electrical grid to small components of each home’s HVAC. The most common repair we see during this type of heat is capacitors blowing out from overheating. We try to educate tenants about what they can expect from an HVAC system during high temps as well as requesting they do things to mitigate stress on the system like clean filters, adjusting the thermostat, using fans, etc. If an HVAC system goes out during extreme temperatures we may offer to provide tenants with a portable system, when repairs cannot be done on the same day, to keep one room cool in the home while we work with our clients to fix the system as quickly as possible.
Home Warranties - They Aren't Worth It
We’ve talked about Home Warranties on this blog many times (Post 1, Post 2), and they always seem to become front and center in the issues we deal with when they’re expected to do the most. All of these companies include HVAC systems in their contract coverage, but they all have fine print that keeps them from paying for anything but the most basic repairs. If they determine the unit wasn’t “maintained” they immediately decline the claim when it comes to larger fixes, or they require payment from the homeowner for a large portion of the repair with some exception to the policy for upgrades that aren’t covered. This portion of the repair can sometimes be as much or more than it would cost to have it done without the home warranty’s involvement. Further, they lack reliable vendors and can take days to locate one in their network who can respond to an AC call, which isn’t acceptable for a homeowner or a tenant when the temps outside are well over 100 degrees. These situations require us to circumvent the warranty due to health and safety concerns, so if you have a home warranty or are considering one this may apply to you. We strongly recommend everyone to stay away from these companies.
Preferred Vendors
With the discussion about Home Warranties, we want to touch on working with preferred vendors. A preferred vendor is any vendor that has been vetted to meet our standards and one we have a good working relationship with that we trust to deliver good, quality work that they stand behind. When working with a Home Warranty company we will get a third-party vendor. By that we simply mean vendors that we have not vetted, have no relationship with, and have no quality control measures or accountability in place.
While home warranties have their own requirements for vendors, we do not allow owners, tenants, or anyone else to permit unvetted vendors to visit or work at a property we manage. Further, we, unfortunately, cannot allow clients to hire or become directly involved with a vendor on a managed property as it always results in miscommunication or other issues since they are hearing two voices overseeing a job rather than one.
Maintaining your property is one of our many responsibilities, to ensure we are doing that to the best of our abilities, we properly vet vendors that are tasked to work at your property on your behalf. Trust that we only want vendors working on your investment that will do the job right the first time, that we can hold accountable, and will do this at a competitive price. We stand behind our goal, which is never to find the cheapest price, rather we want to find the best vendor to do the best work. We want to ensure the job is done right the first time with accountability.
We live in a very litigious society so it is critical that our vendors be properly qualified and provide a Certificate of Insurance before they are ever allowed on your property. This is for the protection of all parties and to ensure you are protected in a worst-case scenario.
We understand that many owners may already have their own preferred vendors, and that is something we can work with. If you have a preferred, trusted vendor, we will work with them to gather the needed documents to get them set up to work on your property. While we do make every effort to be accommodating, know that at times vendors will balk when asked to provide insurance documentation, as many tradesmen do not carry the proper insurance. That is a red flag that we will avoid in your best interest. At times this may result in you having to pay a little more for an insured contractor, but it is money well spent to avoid any issues in the future. Ultimately, something that may cost less and seem harmless today, could be viewed as extreme negligence in a legal dispute down the road.
Trust that the vendors we work with are held accountable for the work they do for us at your property. Should there ever be a problem with the work, when working with preferred vendors, we have the type of relationship with them that allows us to call them back out at no cost to you to make it right if the circumstances justify such action. These requirements are one of the many benefits we can only impose on vendors we have a history with. If we have an issue with work done by a vendor that is not in our preferred vendor network, or one who did the job as cheaply as possible, then it would be nearly impossible to hold third-party vendors accountable and they likely will not strive to do the work correctly the first time.
Thank you for understanding and allowing us to protect your investment in the best possible way!
Holiday Hours
We have updated our company holiday calendar in an effort to give everyone here at Stone Oak more time off with their families and friends. You can find our updated holiday closing schedule on our site.
In observance of the Fourth of July holiday, Stone Oak's offices will be closed on Tuesday, July 4th. We hope you have an amazing holiday weekend!
Real Estate Scams on the Rise
We just want to remind you that we will never call you to ask for your bank info, social security number, or other personal information on the phone or by email. We will also never ask you to pay for anything with gift cards, cryptocurrency, etc. All of our emails will come from our domain, www.stoneoakmgmt.com, or through our software as a long string of letters/numbers from the domain @stoneoak.mailer.appfolio.us. Our property management software includes a texting service that will not match our office number, but if you try to call that number it will go directly to our main office phone line.
Here is some helpful information about Caller ID Spoofing, and other common scams.
Please stay vigilant, maintain a healthy amount of skepticism, and contact us directly with the number on our website or our direct emails if anything looks questionable.
HOA Compliance Notices
Did you know your HOA can send important notices and compliance letters directly to Stone Oak to enforce? Yes! We can take care of that for you! Please be sure to provide your HOA with Stone Oak's direct contact information so we can ensure the timely delivery of notices.
Please contact your property manager for more information.
Vacant Properties Common Practices
First impressions make a huge difference as we all know. When a property is vacant a potential renter should always see a property at its best.
Lawn | Growing season is upon us and with your property being vacant, that means the lawn will need recurring lawn service. We will begin recurring lawn service during periods of vacancy to ensure your lawn gets the care and attention it needs. Vacant properties will be put on an automatic rotation for lawn maintenance to ensure your property is fresh and ready for the market.
Touch-Up Clean | Ensuring your property is Move-In Ready - When we find your property has been on the market and has had a good amount of foot traffic, the floors are bound to get dirty! Bugs, leaves, dirt and other small debris love finding their way into vacant homes. To ensure newly leased properties are move-in ready, we will order a touch-up clean to be completed to ensure new residents have the best move-in experience possible.
Believe it or not, when a new tenant walks into the home for the first time on their move-in date that first impression actually happens again. This time they’re seeing it from a different perspective, and the condition of the home makes a huge impact on their first few weeks in the property. If the home is well kept it is usually smooth sailing, but if the home is not clean, there are hidden maintenance issues, etc. then they will start to notice every perceived flaw they can find and report it. This not only starts the tenant off on the wrong foot but also results in a more expensive turnover for the property owner. By doing simple things like maintaining the lawn and providing a touch-up cleaning the tenants are sure to have a better experience.
Nature Is Bringing Two Spectacular Shows to Central Texas
In October 2023 and April 2024, there will be two solar events that aren’t to be missed. If you’ve never witnessed a solar eclipse then you should certainly make it a point to try to catch one, if not both of these.
In October there will be an annular solar eclipse, which is where the moon is slightly smaller than the sun thus creating a “ring of fire” at the peak of the event. This link provides more info about the October event along with a map of the path. In April 2024 there will be a full solar eclipse, and here is a link to the event info and path. If you’re going to try to watch one or both of these we strongly suggest going to a location as close to the center of the path as possible to enjoy the best, and longest view. Make sure to track the weather around that time to see where the best place to go will be for clear skies. Here is another link to some info about these events, and there is a lot of info out there as Central Texas gears up for these.
Both of these events will have peak viewing near Austin as long as the weather cooperates but the path is very long for both of them if you’re in a different part of the US. Over the next several months we’ll be providing solar eclipse viewing glasses to all new tenants as part of their move-in welcome gift, and we’re making them available for pickup to our current tenants and clients. If you’re interested in getting some glasses please check in with your property manager so we can arrange for you to pick some up.
Reminders:
Maintenance Approval Process Changes
In addition to the info below about funding repairs, we want to notify all owners that we are modifying our escalation process when we can’t reach our clients in order to make sure we are complying with property code requirements. In bonafide emergencies, we are acting within our authority to mitigate damages, however after it has been contained or in non-emergency situations we reach out to our clients for work authorization that is required above the limit set in the management agreement. In those cases, we now have a strict process going into effect that will have a time-based escalation if we cannot reach you. The time frame will be that if we can’t reach you by the 3rd day from when we first reached out we will then reach out to your emergency contact who can aid us in getting authorization or contacting you. If you’d like to update the emergency contact we have on file please contact your property manager. Keep in mind that this contact should be someone outside of your immediate household who you trust to make decisions on your behalf if you cannot be reached by them or us.
Funding Make-Readies & Maintenance for Your Property
Please note that it is Stone Oak's policy that the owner has reserve funding on hand with Stone Oak to help us commence work faster when it comes to make-readies and maintenance on your property. Stone Oak cannot perform maintenance without first receiving authorization and funding, which can slow down the turn-around times of our vendors and their availability in this market. This can also potentially create a negative experience that tenants will remember when it comes time to renew, and we always want to avoid turning over the tenants. Any time we request authorization for work on your property, the best practice is to immediately fund your account when you provide written authorization to move forward. This is as simple as going into your owner portal and using ACH for a free transfer, or if you prefer a credit card the processor charges a fee as part of the transaction.
Keep in mind that tenant charges on your account are not considered an offset to this amount as we keep a strict accounting system for both our and our client's benefits. Any tenant chargeable items will be posted to their account, and once they are paid it is immediately credited to your account. If you have any questions about this reserve amount held with Stone Oak please contact your property manager.
Thank you for being a client of Stone Oak Property Management. Please don't hesitate to contact your property manager should you need anything at this time.
