Conquest Sac was a bust for us. Michael went. Vendors were scarce and the dealer's room got ghettoized; wished into the corn field. That will be our last one of those. The convention itself sounded like it was hopping, but I don't think Sacramento can support a dealer's room. It's a Sac thing. It sure won't be my thing again.
Surprise Bill. Because I love to talk about how much money I'm saving, let me share my utter disgust with my property management company that sprung a giant maintenance bill costing thousands of dollars. Along with it came a big rent increase, all due immediately, all given without any notice. This is not the annual rent increase that happens later in the year.
Property managers have a great deal of discretion according to most leases. They can charge fees for themselves, for maintenance of any sort they feel is necessary (using a company they own in my case) and for general repairs. Unfortunately, 100% of their expenses are passed through to the tenant, so while the stores that rent from them are cutting expenses, the property managers have no incentive to do so. We're contractually obligated to pay, so why cut costs?
I shouldn't act too surprised. I did my research into this company and I knew they acted this way. Expenses practically doubled each year during the first half of the decade and have only recently slowed to "exorbitant." The offset is in rent, which is fairly low. To me this means they're doing the actual owner of the property a disservice, taking too much for themselves and short changing their client. Shameful, pathetic and a slap in the face every time of their lackey's walks by with a paint brush to "touch up" the building or sweep the sidewalk.
Property managers love to hit tenants up with all sorts of fees. It's a trend I've noticed in the last 3-4 years. My old apartment complex started passing off every expense it could think of. Sewage, trash, etc. We were told it was no biggie, because it was so small. It crept from about $30 / month to $70 / month over time. I received a note on my door saying some kind of license fee went up, and the expense could be passed on to me per my rent contract. It's a back door rent increase. My contract was supposed to lock in a rate for 1 year, but the landlord had complete discretion to pass on "expnses" to me at will without notice.
ReplyDeleteA new abomination came to light in the past few years: "pet rent." That's right, extra rent if you have a kitty. That's IN ADDITION to the $500 pet damage deposition, IN ADDITION to the $500 normal damage depositt. Many complexes now have pet rent at anywhere from $20-$40 / month. Guess it's time for kitty to get a job. When I moved, I chose to rent from a small property owner so I could avoid pet rent. You could offer me a mansion at $100 / month, but I would turn it down if there was pet rent. The concept is THAT odious to me.
All this really adds up. $100 / month x 12 is $1,200 / year, which can amount to $1,500 or so in pre-tax dollars. Your whole annual raise can go down the crapper just for extra fees!
With me, it came down to pet rent or no pets. No way could we give up the cats.
ReplyDeleteWell, fortunately, I was able to find a small property owner that didn't charge pet rent. Seems like the big complexes are the ones pushing the pet rent, so I avoided them. As a matter of fact, I told some complexes "you just lost a customer because of overreaching. You just killed the golden goose."
ReplyDeletePet rent is sick. There's no real economic reason behind it, given you've probably already paid an exhorbitant pet damage deposit anyways. It's simply: "pay me, or I'll take your cat from you." It's taking the animal hostage. It's not that pet rent costs the renter a lot of money, it's just that the companies pushing it are disingenuous, greedy and grasping. I'm kind of bleeding heart for critters, so any mindless fee that makes it less affordable to take care of an animal gets me riled.
It also ticked me off that, in a time of growing unemployment and increasing health costs, such a silly fee would be devised. Every dollar counts.
I'd be less ticked about pet rent if they also charged child rent. Any parent can confirn that children can cause serious property damage. I know I did when I was a kid. In comparison, my two cats are wonderfully safe...
ReplyDeleteThey know if they charged "kid rent" that the politicians will get involved. Helping pet owners doesn't get nearly the press or votes that helping parents gets.
ReplyDeleteOne of the major spurs to get us to leave California was the increasing rent, both through the indirect method of fees and expenses passed on to the renters and directly through increased rents.
Hey Everyone,
ReplyDeleteYou guys need to move to Montana! I am a fellow retailer (Gary's ideas about retailing help me out a lot) and I love the laid back atmosphere here. I started having employees last year but didn't know I needed to pay unemployment insurance. When I found out and told the state six months later they just said, "No, problem, just pay what you currently owe, no fees or interest charged." In addition, my business landlord refunded us $1000 last month for overpaying on our NNN last year. Anyway, if you want to check out another retailers blog (shameless plug)check out blog.rookscomicsandgames.com
Lincoln
Rook's Comics and Games
Hey Everyone,
ReplyDeleteYou guys need to move to Montana! I am a fellow retailer (Gary's ideas about retailing help me out a lot) and I love the laid back atmosphere here. I started having employees last year but didn't know I needed to pay unemployment insurance. When I found out and told the state six months later they just said, "No, problem, just pay what you currently owe, no fees or interest charged." In addition, my business landlord refunded us $1000 last month for overpaying on our NNN last year. Anyway, if you want to check out another retailers blog (shameless plug)check out blog.rookscomicsandgames.com
Lincoln
Rook's Comics and Games
Our bill was $2500 plus another $150/month. All due immediately. I'll check out your blog. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI am usually a very responsible pet owner - I pick up after my dog, etc.
ReplyDeleteWhen I lived in a complex where I was paying "pet rent" in addition to my regular rent, I let my dog crap on any of the lawns, and when a neighbor complained about her barking one day, I told the property managers "That's what she pays her rent for, so you can deal with it. I want you to evict those people downstairs whose kid cries all the time - which is what causes my dog to bark."*
Oddly, that was one of the few rental situations I've been in where they gave me back the entire security deposit (although the pet deposit was non-refundable - just another expansion of "pet rent").
*I later found out that my downstairs neighbors were among the "section 8" government subsidized renters that the facility had in some apartments. Policy was for people with dogs and section 8 renters to be placed in the buildings located at the greatest distance from the pools and tennis courts.