It’s ironic that I so often blog about proper security at properties, when I can’t even follow my own advice. Last Thursday at 5:30pm I had to rush out of the office for a quick appointment. Normally, I close my laptop when I head out as it can easily be seen through the window from the street, but I was in a rush. Upon my return about 20 minutes later, I was shocked to find my office door kicked in and my laptop gone. Along with a good many of unbacked-up files.

I have since purchased a new computer and managed to recover some of what I lost and, in reality, I was lucky they only touched my computer. Other than getting a good reminder that you need to backup your computer a lot, the biggest fact I am faced with is that a traditional door is no match for a determined thief. From the looks of the door, it only took one or two good kicks to bust through. When you get down to it, even with the deadbolt thrown, there is only about an inch of pinewood stopping a would-be intruder from getting inside.

To truly protect your properties, you need to either have a metal door jamb or reinforce the jamb with aftermarket strike plates. The flimsy wood jambs found in today’s doors are clearly not tough enough to take a beating. When reinforcing jambs with new strike plates, there are variety of options out there. Some models are as long as the door itself, while others are just thicker versions of the standard size with longer screws. Regardless of what additional measures you put in place, any added effort should help. Just remember, there is really nothing stopping someone from entering your property anytime they want, if you are using traditional methods.

When I began rehabbing the apartment above my office, I promised myself I was not going to cut corners. I was going to make the place all it could be, no matter the cost or time it took. One of the things I was always unhappy about was the handles and back plates on the original doors. Most of the door hardware for my mortise locksets had been damaged or replaced through the years and the result was hideous hodgepodge of handle types and finishes. I scoped out the replacement opportunities at the local hardware stores and the big boxes (Lowes and Home Depot), but all they had was cheapo polished brass and fake glass sets. Luckily, the internet provides.

The number of sites out there selling antique door hardware is somewhat daunting. But after a couple of weeks of sifting through them all, I finally found a couple of options that had a good variety of styles and finishes, along with reasonable prices. My favorite is the House of Antique Hardware. I ended up buying all my ceramic white handles and nickel back plates from them. Their inventory is extremely diverse, with choices for a budget and some truly amazing high-end pieces. They have a lot of supplies for old mortise lock doors, but they also have setups for modern doors too.no

As great as House of Antique Hardware was, there were a couple items I could not find there. Or at least, not for the price I wanted. Specifically, the uniquely sized knob spindles and two replacement mortise locks I was looking for. In my renewed search for these items, I came across another site called Rejuvenation. They offer a similar product lineup to the House of Antique Hardware, but have a slightly different inventory and pricing. I was able to find the rest of what I needed there. Between the two of these sites, anyone should be able to find what they need.

It wouldn’t be hard to drop well over $500 replacing knobs in your property, but I can tell you first hand that the finished product really stands out. I love my new handles (set the pic above) and plan on giving a similar treatment to my next rehab. The quality of setup is obviously going to depend on the quality of the home, but no matter the budget, it is worth it stepping, up you rehab quality. Sometimes, it’s the little things that stand out in a building and with careful planning, antique knobs could make the difference.

Shotgun-style units are a dime a dozen in South St. Louis. I don’t understand how anyone ever thought they were functional, regardless of the era they were built. Perhaps we can point to the invention of air conditioning and the fact that we take privacy for granted these days, for the changes in layouts. Regardless of why they were built that way, the question of what to do with these “less than ideal” layouts is always tough for property owners.

You can rent them as is, of course, but not having a private bedroom can be a major drag on your rent potential. Shotgun units also tend to take longer to rent, taking a further bite out of income. Seeing as this business is all about profits, that’s an important concern. One solution that a surprising amount of owners seem to fail to consider is reorienting the layout of the unit. If people no longer find a product compelling, simply change it. Since most shotgun units run bedroom-living-kitchen, the switch is pretty simple. And not really that hard.

The best option is usually to move the kitchen from the rear of the building to the middle. Depending on where the bathroom is, this switch can usually be done without changing how the toilet connections work very much.  By moving the kitchen to the center room, you will be altering the design to a much more functional living-kitchen-bedroom layout. Best of all, since the rear room is usually somewhat separated from the rest of the unit by the bathroom, the bedroom will likely have more privacy from noise in the unit. The bedroom will also be more removed from exterior noises since it is farther from the street.

The ideal time to do this switch is when you are already planning on redoing your kitchen and/or replace your drainage stacks in the building. Since you will be replacing a lot of the affected components of the change anyway, you can cut out the biggest expenses of changing the layout by doing it at this time. At that point its simply a matter of moving the sink attachment to the drain stack from the far end of the building to the middle, and moving kitchen components into the middle room. Even if you aren’t replacing the kitchen cabinets, moving them can often be easily accomplished without damage.

Though this change will cost money, the costs can be kept to a minimum if planned properly. When you’re done, the private bedroom will bring in higher rents and lower vacancies by making your units easier to rent and retain tenants. When considering the thousands of additional dollars provided through the change in the first few years following the work, the up-front costs are more than worth it. So the next time you do any work to the plumbing or kitchen in a shotgun apartment, make sure you take advantage of this great opportunity.

Since the market began to slip in the mid-2000′s, it has become harder and harder to get favorable appraisals. Especially on investment oriented properties, such as multi-families and rental homes, with so much of the local market dominated by foreclosures and cash investors.  When there are no comparables to be found, most appraisers are going to look at things from an income approach. They are going to look at property conditions, cash flow and cap rates. So the more profitable your building, the more it is worth. In order to achieve the most favorable appraisals on these properties, they must be run as efficiently as possible.

Complacency is your biggest enemy as a landlord. It is an easy trap to fall into when the rents coming in on a building are enough to keep you content. However, when you begin to lose your edge, the loses can pile up. For every lease renewal without a rent increase and every vacancy without improving the unoccupied unit, the quality of the property will slowly degrade. If you are not careful, this trend can be hard to recover from. You must avoid this trap.

You cannot be afraid to raise rents. When your expenses go up at the property, in cases such as the recently imposed trash collection fee in the City of St. Louis, you should not hesitate to raise rents at your next lease renewal. Even for long-term tenants, who you might be used to letting slide. One word of caution though: Keeping in touch with what rents are going for near a property is crucial. If you raise rents to far, you might start losing tenants to your competitors. It’s a fine line.

Of course, in order to raise rents as high as you can, your property also needs to be kept in tip-top shape. That is not to say you have to update all your kitchens with granite countertops and stainless appliances; just make sure things are clean and in fine working order.  By running a tight ship, you can more easily justify rent increases and higher asking prices on your vacancies. Clean units also rent more quickly, which should help keep the income stream steady. This will also benefit you on the appraisal, if you can provide documentation to back you up.

So what does all this mean? In short, when a property is bringing in the rents, it is worth more. Even if the property will not be sold anytime soon, this increased equity position will enhance yourability to refinance your mortgage. The additional rent collected each month won’t hurt your cash flow either. No matter your situation, don’t become lazy and complacent. If you do, you might wake up one day to find your building on life support. And in this increasingly difficult sellers market, you simply can’t afford that.

The historic mixed-use property at 3300 Lemp in Benton Park traded hands numerous times in recent years until it was finally foreclosed on in 2009. Luckily, someone with good intentions and deep enough pockets to act on those intentions, was finally able to get a hold of it. Construction is now fully underway at the site, which is  now owned by Anchor Development LLC.

Located at the southeast corner of Lemp and Utah, this 6,213 square foot property will retain the original storefront for commercial purposes upon completion. The native layout of the property features six residential units in addition to the commercial space, but it appears that will be changing. With exterior work, including tuck pointing, windows and the roof coming to a close, two banners have now been placed on the sides of the building.

According to those, the final development will include one 2 bed, 2 bath condo above the storefront, which will also feature a rooftop deck. On the southern end of the building along Lemp, the former four apartments will be turned into two 2-3 bed townhomes. I have not yet been able to confirm whether these will be fee-simple or truly condos. All units are being advertised as in the $180′s with gated parking.

With construction crews now shifting to interior work, it will be interesting to see how this pans out in the coming months. No matter how the place turns out, there is a good chance that it will have a domino-effect of further rehabbing on the block. There are more than a few other large buildings on that block of Lemp needing some attention and hopefully this will push the owners of those properties to get off their butts and get to work.  I’ll try to arrange an inside visit and another update in the near future. In the meantime, you can see emaples of the exterior progress int he picture gallery below.

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If you frequent the area around Tower Grove Park  in the Tower Grove South Neighborhood of St. Louis, there is a good chance you have seen this property. With its prominent location at the SW corner of Arsenal and Bent, facing Tower Grove Park, its hard to miss. Especially since it was boarded up begging to be rehabbed for almost ten years. As the neighborhood has improved, this property became one of the biggest eyesores in an otherwise excellent area. Thankfully, that is in the process of changing.The property changed hands in May 2010 and new owner and developer, Rainier LLC, is currently in the middle of rehabbing the property. The 4,200 square foot building will be made into four 2-bed, 1 bath apartments when complete. Exterior work is nearing completion with the new windows, tuck-pointing, paint and doors all in place. The interior still has quite a ways to go, but the exterior improvements have already made the curb appeal leaps-and-bounds over where it was before.

I represented Rainier on this closing and have had the chance to see the inside the transformation process first hand. Although the outside was clearly in need of work, the state of the interior was even worse. It is totally uninhabitable. The amount of work needed is quite significant, but with a few tweaks in the layout, new systems and a lot of plaster-patch and drywall, the place will really look great. Hopefully be back with a look at the interior in the early fall. In the meantime, you can see before and after pictures of the exterior in the gallery below.

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Working with a lot of real estate investors, I have seen a lot of apartments. And while there are a lot landlords doing quality finishes on their properties, the exterior always seems to get less treatment. That’s why I took note when I drove by the newly painted exteriors of the 4-families at 3336-38 and 3340-42 S Grand in the St. Louis neighborhood of Tower Grove East.

Purchased by Sommer Property Investments LLC in 2008, the properties have both undergone major rehabs in the past couple of years. While the interior of the buildings were obviously finished first, Sommer did not skimp on the outside. They did everything from a two-tone paint job, to attractive fencing, to quality door hardware. These apartments look even better than most single-family rehabs. And since the properties are both prominently featured on the far end of the Grand South Grand area, just south of McKean, they are catching plenty of eyes.

I’d just like to say kudos to Sommers Property Investments LLC. If more landlords followed their lead our neighborhoods would be a better place. Hopefully we’ll see more buildings from them, getting similar treatment, in the the near future.  For an idea of what property’s metamorphosis, you can see a few “before” and plenty of “after” pictures below.

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Among the many noteworthy projects unveiled in the City of St. Louis that have yet to see the light of day, the Hydraulic Brick Lofts is certainly a standout. Located at 3109 S Jefferson in the Benton Park West neighborhood, the mixed-use project was cover half of the block on the SW corner of Jefferson and Arsenal. The scale of the design was revised numerous times, but the original design would have brought 30+ luxury condos and a significant amount of street retail. It would have changed the neighborhood. Unfortunately, the project now seems all but dead.

The project was originally marketed under the name Fleur de Lis when developer Millenium Restoration & Development announced the project in 2003. By early 2008, after five years of inactivity, the development came to a complete standstill when the lots set for construction went up for sale. But after a few months of hiatus, in July of 2008, revised plans for the site were unveiled under the Hydraulic Brick Lofts banner.

The revised project looked much like the old Fleur de Lis plans and still involved developer Millenium Restoration & Development and architect Killeen Studio Architects.   There was also to be heavy involvement in the project by the City of St. Louis and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in terms of financing.

Sadly, the sign that was placed in the lot to market the new plans was the last news of progress. In the 2+ years since, the housing market has continued to erode and the condo market has virtually vanished. Couple that with the dried up credit market and it seem likely impossible to get this infill project built, let alone sold. Although this location has great long-term potential, it seems safe to say that it will be a number of years before anything serious happens there. Nonetheless, even though this project now seems to be in the Scrap Heap, hopefully it is just a matter of time before a similar vision becomes reality.  This time for real.

For a glimpse of what the vacant site currently looks like, check out the pics below.

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When it comes to city living, housing types can vary greatly. On one end of the spectrum, you have historic homes. Properties that have either been carefully maintain or painstakingly refurbished. These red-brick or stone structures are often a window into the past and feature materials and design techniques nearly lost today.

On the other hand, some developers are increasing adopting contemporary designs when they are building in turban area. Modern finishes, modern layouts: everything new and fresh. I’m not talking cheap Lowes carpet and trim, but high-grade cosmopolitan finishes.

Although many people probably fall somewhere in between, I am curious which you would choose given the option. Please vote and share your thoughts in the comments section below:

If you like polls, voice your opinions on these previous questions: Gas or electric appliances?, Ceiling fans or no ceiling fans?, and First or second floor apartment?

Keeping your properties safe and secure is one of the most important responsibilities of a property owner. Failure to maintain proper security can lead to expensive vandalism and property theft or even leave occupants open to potential violence. One of the most efficient and cost-effective ways  to ensure proper security is to have proper security lighting.

All front and rear entrances at any property should have proper lighting. Whenever possible, use compact florescent bulbs since they will last longer.  The use of light timers to protect the home when tenants are not home can also be a major benefit. At any parking area and for other dark areas such as gangways, installing motion-sensor security lights is advisable as well.

The key is to make sure that there is no blind spots on your property for potential vandals to hide. Installing these fixtures if they are not already in place will obviously cost money, but the financial benefits are many.  The property will be more secure because any potential burglar or robber is going to think twice before camping out behind a property that is well lit.

Tenants will be happy because the proper lighting will allow them to feel comfortable when they or anyone else enters the premises. And happy tenants stay longer and complain less.

Looks like the South St. Louis neighborhood of Tower Grove South is getting yet another new addition to it’s commercial lineup. According to the Hip Hops blog on STLtoday.com, the former owner of 33 Wine Shop and Tasting Bar in Lafayette Square, Jake Hafner, will be opening a microbrewery in early 2011. One of the most interesting things about the development is that rather than being along the more widely known South Grand or Morganford corridors, the brewery will actually be located on the southern end of the neighborhood at 3714 Holt Avenue.

The company, to be known as Civil Life Brewing Co. will initially produce six different beers, to be distributed in bottles and kegs. In his interview with Hip Hops, Hafner indicated that he plans to have a tasting room in the front of the brewery for sampling. Considering the off-the-beaten-trail location and the industrial surroundings of the building, the likelihood of anything resembling a true brew-pub is small. The facility is just north of Chippewa, nearby the Bleeding Deacon and the new storage facility at the old railroad bridge near Morganford and Chippewa, so it doesn’t get a lot of drive-by traffic. It’s great to see further investment on the southern end of the neighborhood though. Especially something other than food or retail.

For more on Civil Life Brewing Co. check out the pics and original article below.

Via Hip Hops

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When it comes time to purchase a home, most homebuyers fail to consider the path of purchasing a multi-family. Whether this is due to the belief  that they can’t afford it, that they can’t compete with seasoned investors, or something else altogether, most people don’t give the matter much thought. By doing so, they are missing out on a unique and profitable opportunity.  With current FHA 203k lending standards and recent changes in rules for Fannie Mae foreclosure sales, the time for owner-occupants to get into real estate investment has never been better.

Friendly Sales Rules

Under new Fannie Mae rules, any foreclosure that hits the market from Fannie’s books will be held for owner-occupant bids only for the first 15 days of the listing. That means owner-occupants have exclusive reign over these properties for over two weeks. While professional investors have found this change frustrating, there is no doubt that it has opened up a new market for first-time investors. Since most investors cannot purchase these properties during the initial period of the listing, as an owner-occupant you can cherry-pick the property of your choice without having to fight off investors with their deep pockets. With careful purchasing, it is not unheard of to find a duplex or 4-family that will actually cash flow even when the owner occupies one of the units. So not only can you live for free, you can pocket money each money.

Friendly Lending Rules

For most investors, securing financing for any fix-up work at a property has become tantamount to impossible. If they don’t have cash, or a great relationship with their banker, there is simply no way to pay for repairs. And in the world of foreclosures, its rare to find a property that doesn’t need at least some work. For an owner-occupant, the situation is different though. Through the FHA 203k program, owner-occupants can not only finance the purchase price of their home, they can finance the repairs as well. With downpayments as low as 3.5% no less. While most lenders will only offer this for single-families, there are some that are able to offer this program for multi-families up to 4 units.

Income potential

The single greatest reason many people looking for a home dismiss purchasing a multi-family is that they simply don’t want to have to deal with sharing their home with someone else. However, a little bit pain today can help you reach financial independence far more quickly than saving your pennies from your day-job while paying a big mortgage payment. By owner-occupying a multi-family building, someone else will be paying most if not all of your mortgage payment. The money saved can then be put towards paying down the mortgage principal, purchasing other properties or whatever you want. The point is that it frees up capital so that you can live your life the way you want to.

Additionally, under 203k, after you have lived in a property for a year or more, you can move out. Should you choose to move on to a house or another multi-family at that point, you can then rent out the newly vacated unit. This would allow you to increase your revenue stream even further. Purchasing one of these properties as your home can be a relatively short-term venture. There is no need to tie yourself down for years if you don’t want to. With current interest rates and building prices so low, the cash flow potential is tremendous. You might have to sacrifice a little bit of space and privacy for a while, but the long term benefits to your financial future are well worth it.

Part 2 in the Owner Occupant Investor series will dive more into FHA 203k financing

Nothing hurts a landlord’s pocketbook or pride like being the victim of theft or vandalism. Prior to PEX plumbing the main security issue facing landlords and homeowners in St. Louis and around the country is copper theft, but there are many other temping targets at any property. One particularly expensive and “easy to steal” component are AC condensers.

With thousands of dollars of materials and labor tied up in every condenser, the impact of their theft can be tremendous. Especially when they are stolen during the middle of the summer when high temperatures make living without AC more than just an inconvenience.  Thankfully, there are two very simple ways to protect yourself. One is to put your condensers on the roof of the property. What thieves can’t easily reach, they are unlikely to steal. Unfortunately this method is not very cost effective if you have an existing HVAC system and takes forethought and more expensive installation.

Another tactic, which is more adaptable, is to enclose your condensers in a cast-iron cage to deter theft. Not the most beautiful method of protection, but effective nonetheless. There is no 100% surefire way to stop a determine thief, but the more difficult it is to target you condensers, the less likely you are to be victimized. If you employ this added security, as well as traditional security methods such as property security lighting, you should be able to rest more easily.

If you are interested in installing one of these cages at your property, it will set you back about $250 for each condenser (installed). I’ve heard good things about Superior Security Iron (314-382-3081), but just about any iron shop or HVAC contractor should be able to point you in the right direction. As with anything, you will likely find bulk discounts if you shop around. Might be a worthy investment for a little peace of mind.

Whether you are talking about your own home or a rental property, nothing is quite so fun as replacing light bulbs. No matter how quickly and easily the change can be done, it’s amazing how long we all tend to put off such menial tasks. One of the best ways to cut down on this hassle is by using compact fluorescent (CFL) light bulbs instead of the traditional incandescent.

The average CFL bulb has a lifespan of around 10,000 hours. Compared to the average incandescent bulb, which has a lifespan of 1,500 hours,  you can expect over 6 times the amount of usable time. That is a lot of bulb switches and time saved. Yes, CFL bulbs are more expensive, but the costs keep coming down and are now very affordable. Consider the amount of time saved not having to change bulbs multiple times a year, and the costs are well worth it.

The benefits are especially useful in areas with tall ceilings, which require lugging  a ladder around the house. For landlords, CFL bulbs on all exterior, basement and other communal areas is also a good idea. Less lighting outages mean less time at the property and also less security risks from dark areas.  So if you have already,  the next time you buy light bulbs, grab a few CFLs. They are well worth the extra money.

If you’ve ever been curious about where and when crimes have been taking place in the City of St. Louis, there is a great tool courtesy of CrimeReports.com and the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. This free service allows you to map crimes by type, date and area.

Taking a quite look at recent homicides and assaults in the map, it is obvious that there are some pretty significant trends.  No neighborhood is without it’s occasional issue, but the low number of recent incidents in near southside neighborhoods like Shaw, Southwest Garden, Benton Park, Soulard, Fox Park, Tower Grove East and Tower Grove South (north of Utah at least) is encouraging.  On the other hand, the number of incidents in Dutchtown, Gravois Park, and the southeast tip of Tower Grove South, at the intersection of Grand and Gravois, continues to be a concern.

The current map setup goes back only to the last six months, but it is still informative. I have found that the site tends to bog down quite a bit when you go back too far and cover too large an area. I would try to keep it simple, for now at least. Version 2.0 of the site is set to be coming out soon so hopefully there will be improvements. In the meantime, it’s still interesting. But don’t take my word for it; check out the map for yourself.

CrimeReports.com

Wired Magazine had an interesting article last month about the bureaucratic nightmare of getting waterless urinals into buildings around the country. Seems like the debate comes down more to plumbers losing business and janitors not wanting to clean them than if they work properly. Its an interesting read for both the technology and the familiar issues of special interests getting in the way of common sense.

Pissing Match: Is the World Ready for the Waterless Urinal?

I don’t normally post a lot of news on restaurants, but when word got out that Pappy’s Smokehouse would be spinning off a second location in Soulard, I was just so happy I had to share. If you are unfamiliar, Pappy’s original location is 3106 Olive Street in Midtown St. Louis. It is some of the best barbecue in town, and by the long lines seen daily at the restaurant, I am not alone in that feeling.

This spin off location, at 1629 S 9th St in the former location of Fat Toney’s, will likely not be called Pappy’s, but will be run by the same people. Located just behind the Soulard Farmer’s Market, they should be open for business by the end of summer. Prepare your taste-buds.

Via STLToday.com

The Chouteau Crossing project at the NE corner of Chouteau and South Jefferson is getting pretty far along in the demo process.  The long-neglected warehouse, located on the southern border of Downtown, just north of Lafayette Square, broke ground in April and should be seeing new construction soon. Clayton-based Green Street Properties LLC is handling the project, which will see reuse of the former warehouse on the site as a $22 million green facility. Here are a few details from their site:

Chouteau Crossing is a $22 million redevelopment of a former industrial building at the northeast corner of Jefferson and Chouteau. Dynalabs will occupy 23,696 square feet of the 33,445 square foot Building #1 and Sheet Metal Workers Local 36 will occupy the full 96,023 square feet of Building #2. Dynalabs space is LEED Registered, tracking for Certified while the Sheet Metal Workers Local 36 building is LEED Registered, tracking for Platinum.

A few of the key features of the Local 36 building will include the following:

• Low flow urinals, dual flush toilets, faucet sensors
• Water efficient landscaping (No potable water use)
• Roof rain water collection/irrigation cistern system
• Stormwater quantity control (green roof & Roof rain water collection/irrigation cistern system)
• Stormwater quality control (parking pavers)
• Light colored paving material (> or = .29 SRI, more than 50% site hardscape)
• Light colored metal roofing (> or = .29 SRI) and green roof
• Cutoff light fixtures to minimize light pollution
• 30% Reduction energy (Whole building energy simulation per ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-2004)
• On-site renewable energy (Solar voltaic panels, wind turbines, and geo thermal system, solar domestic hot water systems)

Most people don’t even realize that the section of property between Interstate-64 and Chouteau is part of Downtown, but it is nice to see the area receive some significant attention. Other than pipe-dream projects like Chouteau’s Lake, this is the first significant project even discussed for the area in some time. For more information, check out Green Street Properties or the recent Post Dispatch article on the topic. You can also get a glimpse of projects progress in photo gallery below.

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The long planned streetscape project on Cherokee Street, between Jefferson and Nebraska, is finally underway in South St. Louis. It  began in  jarring fashion to those unprepared. All the trees were cut down. There was a hodgepodge of species, and many of the trees had not been well maintained, but it sure makes the street look different. At the very least, it helps to highlight the quality of the remaining building stock.

As for the exact improvements coming to Cherokee along the borders of the Benton Park West and Gravois Park neighborhoods, improvements will include:

New pedestrian lighting, new trees, ADA compliant curb cuts at all intersections, and removal/replacement of the brick pavers between the sidewalk and the street with concrete.

The sidewalks will not be replaced, but they are really not in too bad of shape. The main thing this project will add is a little more consistency along this Cherokee Street business district. For a more detailed look at the lighting and the specifics of the project, check out Cherokee Street News. Pictures of the now tree-free Cherokee Street can be seen below. Expect updates as progress continues.

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One of the biggest maintenance issues landlords and homeowners face at their properties is with their heating and cooling systems. With the extreme heat of St. Louis summers and extreme cold of St. Louis winters, our environment can certainly put a strain on these systems. Annual maintenance by your HVAC technician is always a good idea, but there is one simple thing you can, and should, be doing ever month: cleaning the filter in your furnace.

This maintenance is so quick and simple that there is no reason not to do it every month. But for some reason, it seems like many property owners can’t find five minutes in their schedule to take care of this each month. It is easy to fall into the trap of simply being reactionary to maintenance issues  and only pay attention to your HVAC system when it is giving you troubles, but changing filters is more than just a ploy by the air filter lobby to sell more units. Consider your clothes dryer. If you neglect to clean out the lint collector you can very quickly notice a drop in efficiency. Obviously, lint from the dryer collects faster than with your furnace, but you get the idea.

In general, you should check out the filter in all your furnaces once a month. Depending on the season and other factors, the amount of dust collected in any given month will vary. In general, the dead of winter and summer will be the worst times. Sometimes you can get away with simply vacuuming the dust from the existing filter, other times you need to replace it. Either way, you should check it out  each month to be sure.

If you are a landlord, cleaning the furnace filters at your properties has a beneficial side-effect as well. It gives you a good excuse to check up on your tenants and how they are treating your unit. Keeping up on routine maintenance will make good tenants feel better knowing that you actually care about running a good building, as well as let you spot trouble tenants. Get those vacuums ready.

For those that thought new infill construction in the City of St. Louis was currently dead, Blue Brick Construction has an answer for you: 4268 Hartford. They are currently in the middle of construction at this LEED Platinum (certification level goal) 4 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom house in the Tower Grove South neighborhood. For reference, it is just a few houses to the east of Morganford. The project is now under roof and upon my visit yesterday, they were at the point of putting in windows. The property is being built for a private owner who will be occupying the home themselves upon completion in the coming months.

For more information, pictures, and plans check out Blue Brick’s project website.

One of the most awkward situations a landlord can face is informing a tenant that they will not be renewing their lease. Whether the tenant has been in the apartment for one year or ten, it can be a delicate matter. Proper management of the situation will help to avoid lack of final rental payment and property damage. Following these tips will help to make the situation easier:

• Send the tenant a letter explaining that their lease expires soon. Sending out such a letter 45 to 60 days prior to lease expiration and following up with a phone call will generally lead to the most satisfying results. Remember that most leases specifically require notice at least 30 days prior to the next rental due date.

• If the tenant was a good one, offer to provide them with a letter of reference for procuring a new residence. Many tenants feel a bit insulted by not being allowed to renew their lease. This action can help to soften the blow.

• If the tenant was a bad one, make sure you avoid threats and insults during the process. Even if they are deserving. If you leave them with a hope that they might get some or all of their security deposit back, they will be more likely to play along. If you start the process the wrong way, they might simply write the money off and do who knows what to the apartment. Proper handling can lessen the chances that the tenant will intentionally do damage to the unit or not pay their last month’s rent.

• If the tenant directly asks why they are not being allowed to renew, one response that is generally well accepted is to say that the apartment needs improvement, which can only be addressed if it is vacated. Most people will understand that.

• Be sure to keep in touch with the vacating tenant after giving notice. If you tell them to move out in 45 days and never bother to check up on their move-out progress, you might run into an unpleasant surprise at the end of the lease term. People are often lazy and forgetful, so make do your part to make sure they stay on course.

• If the tenant directly asks why they are not being allowed to renew, one response that is generally well accepted is to say that the apartment needs improvement, which can only be addressed if it is vacated. Most people will understand that.

• As a preventative measure in the future, make sure your lease contains detailed language on the move-out process and what is expected of both you and the tenant. Performing a walkthrough inspection with the tenant before and after occupancy is also a good proactive measure. If everything is spelled out ahead of time, there will typically be less surprises and less room for argument.

If you follow these tips, your chances of a smooth transition will be much higher. Many of these tips also would apply to situations where the tenant is the one terminating lease renewal. No matter who starts the process, just make sure you do all you can to make the process smooth for everyone possible. That way you can move on to the next tenant as soon as possible, which will maximize your profits. And isn’t that was real estate investing is all about?

The infamous 4-family at 3155 Gustine will soon be an eyesore no more. This 4,394 square foot property in the Tower Grove South Neighborhood of St. Louis, located just across form Gustine Market,  has been vacant for years now and is on the demo-list in the City of St. Louis. The property has been bought and sold (and over-leveraged) so times in recent years, that it began to look like nothing good was ever going to happen to the place. Meanwhile, the property was being stripped of all it’s copper and useful materials. This trend continued to the point that neighbors began calling for the building to be torn down. Thankfully they did not get their wish.

Yesterday,  one of my clients closed on this property. Under this new ownership, by the end of the summer, construction will be fully underway on a gut rehab of the building. The layouts are already pretty good and with a little tweaking will feature a spacious two-bedroom, one-bath layout for each of the four apartments. This is one of the very last truly derelict properties in the Tower Grove South north of Utah (4200 Arsenal was bad too, but it is already under construction). With fewer and fewer properties in the area needing work, expect development to continue spreading southward in the neighborhood and eastward into the Tower Grove East Neighborhood.

For a better idea of the current state o 3155 Gustine, check out these pics.

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In a last minute move by Congress, the $8,000 Homebuyer Tax Credit program has been extended yet again. This extension will drag the program out until September 30, 2010. There is a catch though. It only applies to people who had buildings under contract on April 30, 2010.

Originally set to expire June 30, 2010, this extension is for those people that have not yet been able to close on contracts after two months. Other than uncompleted new construction or properties contingent upon the sale of another property, this change is unlikely to affect many people.

Own real estate in the City of St. Louis? If you do, you probably hate paying that annoying 1% earning tax on your income too. But at least that helps to cover trash collection fees for you right? Sadly, not anymore. The St. Louis Board of Alderman just passed a new trash/recycling bill (22 to 7 vote) that will go into affect immediately.

This bill includes language which will return trash pickups to two times a week and to add single-stream recycling bins in alleys. Despite the fact the the recycling bins will just end up getting filled with trash like so many yard waste containers already do, these changes are welcome. What is not welcome is the $11 a month ($132 a year) fee that will be due to pay for this change. And whats worse, this fee is going to be charged on a per unit basis. That means, if you own a 4-family property, you now have to pay an additional annual fee of $528. That is going to be a tough pill to swallow in terms of cash flow.

This bill is going to hurt a lot of owner-occupants and investors. Especially those already on a tight budget. Trash pickup has never been “free” in the City as many claim, it has just been paid for out of other tax sources. Now they are  taking even more money while in the midst of a recession. Expect to see this fee starting with your next water bill. It would be nice to say that this is only temporary, but when was the last time any level of government gave up tax revenue once they have it? Tighten your belts.

Come July 1st, this long vacant apartment complex in the Shaw Neighborhood of South St. Louis will be abuzz with construction activity. Developer T & E Development, LLC closed on the building just last week with plans to do a historic gut rehab of this property at 3800 Shenandoah. Currently, the layout features 24 apartments. Due to the small size of some of these, the layout will be adjusted to 18 units in the completed product. Federal and Missouri State historic tax credits will be used for the project.

The property had been gutted for conversion to condos a few years ago, but with the shift in climate for the housing market, the project was put on hiatus. With their acquisition of the property, T & E Development plans on scaling back some of the more elaborate upgrades in the original plans, but the apartments will be new from top to bottom. The final project will feature six smaller 1 bed, 1 bath units; six oversized 1 bed, 1 bath units; and six large 2 bed, 2 bath units. The oversized lot will also allow for generous parking at the site for tenants.

This project is really going to do a lot of good for this section of Shaw. It is the single largest idle property within many blocks and it’s revival could have a lot of spillover affect. Construction is scheduled to be complete in March 2011. Matt Kastner of Threshold Investment Properties will be handling leasing of the units upon completion. Expect plenty of updates on this project in the coming months.

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An often overlooked side of owning investment property, is how to manage the property in the most efficient way. Simply throwing in any tenant and letting the property sit idle could eventually lead to major troubles. Although, some things take time to employ, in the long run they can make your life a lot easier. The following are a few tips to help your investment run a smoothly as possible:

1. Screen tenants – Don’t rent to anyone before checking their credit history, references, background and previous landlords. Haphazard screening and tenant selection too often results in problems — a tenant who pays the rent late or not at all, trashes your place, or lets undesirable friends move in can cause you some major headaches.
2. Get it in writing - Get all the important terms of the tenancy in writing. Beginning with the rental application and lease or rental agreement, be sure to document important facts of your relationship with your tenants — including when and how you handle tenant complaints and repair problems, notice you must give to enter a tenant’s apartment, and the like. Written leases enhance resale value, allow and help to make the property run more smoothly. Make sure tenants are aware of special clauses such as getting access to the unit for releasing prior to vacancy.
3. Handle deposits properly – Establish a system of setting, collecting, holding, and returning security deposits. Inspect and document the condition of the rental unit before the tenant moves in, to avoid disputes over security deposits when the tenant moves out. Documenting the condition and taking pictures of each room and existing damage in the unit ensures legal justification for withholding the security deposit when the tenant vacates.
4. Make repairs - Stay on top of maintenance and repair needs and make repairs when requested. If the property is not kept in good repair, you’ll alienate good tenants, and tenants may gain the right to withhold rent, repair the problem and deduct the cost from the rent, sue for injuries caused by defective conditions, and/or move out without needing to give notice.

This 2,944 square foot 4-family at 1115 Tower Grove has been boarded up for almost ten years. As you can see, it is a bit of an eyesore. Considering it’s prominent location just southeast of the intersection of Manchester Avenue and Tower Grove Avenues in the Grove Neighborhood (Forest Park Southeast) of St. Louis, this neglect has been pretty high-profile. Thankfully, the property is now undergoing full restoration.

The developer, Alley Grove LLC, is converting the current cramped 4-family layout to a more spacious 2-family orientation, with 2 bed and 1.5 bath in each unit. Guy Slay of Alley Grove LLC was recently awarded a Landmarks Association “2010 Most Enhanced Award” for the work he did restoring 4260 Manchester, so one would assume that 1115 Tower Grove is in good hands. Design and general contracting are being handled by Urban Improvement Construction (UIC), who are located nearby at 4301 McRee, at the intersection of McRee and Tower Grove.

Completion date and other details are unknown at this point, but expect updates as work progresses

The gut rehab project we have been following in Marine Villa is now officially complete. For a refresher on this project at 3500 Illinois, check out these stories before and during construction. The final product really did turn out pretty wonderful. With 4 bedrooms, 3 bath and white-boxed loft are on the third floor (including an extra bath), this 4,932 sq ft monster is a sight to behold. And that that they were able to make it all work at a final sales price of $200,000 is all that much more impressive. Looking forward to seeing Tiger Lily Development and Clover Leaf General Contracting’s next project. Check out this pics of the finished product:

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The mixed-use property at 3144 Morganford in the South St. Louis neighborhood of Tower Grove South will soon be getting a bit of a face-lift. Located across the street from 3 Monkeys and two doors down from Local Harvest Grocery, the building  is one of the few commercial buildings along that stretch of Morganford that has yet to see significant rehab.

The new owners of the property will be rehabbing the one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments upstairs and plan on white-boxing (or build-to-suit in the right circumstance) the commercial area on the first floor. I’ll be sure to post an update when a tenant is found, but if you are looking for between 500 and 1132 square feet of street-level commercial space along Morganford, you might want to take a look for yourself. If you are interested, call (636) 405-7184 and ask for Jeanette.