Austin Lease Extensions Depend on Timing and Season

austin lease renewalAs we head into the Spring/Summer leasing season in Austin, and I just mailed my first batch of renewal letters, I’m already fielding inquiries from tenants who have lease-end dates that don’t coincide with their future plans.  The inevitable question is “can we have a move-out date of x instead of y?

For one tenant, planning to get married, extending the lease from a March 31 end date to a May 31 end date (two months) is not a problem. The home is owned by a long-term investor, and the new May lease end date benefits both the owner and the tenant. This is a win/win. It places the home dead center of the summer leasing season cycle.

In these win/win scenarios, I have flexibility because the adjustment benefits my client, the owner. I work for the owner and must only make decisions that are in the owner/client’s best interest. Thus, if that same tenant, in that same house, asked for the same 2 month extension for a lease that ended July 31st instead of March 31st, the answer would be “no”. Timing is everything.

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Why Online Repair Request Forms Are Best

Austin Property Management Repair RequestMost Austin Property Managers, in fact all that I know, require tenant repair requests to be submitted in writing. This is required by Texas Property Code as well as the commonly used TAR (Texas Association of Realtors) and TAA (Texas Apartment Association) lease forms. It’s good practice for tenants to follow, even if the landlord or property manager doesn’t strictly enforce it. As a tenant, you want all of your important communication regarding your lease to be documented in case the worst case scenario ever comes about and you end up in court over a dispute.

At Crossland Property Management, we provide an online repair request form for the convenience of our tenants. 99% of our repair requests originate here, albeit sometimes after I direct a tenant there from a phone call or email. Occassionally tenants fuss about this. “Why can’t you just take the info over the phone?” is a common gripe. “Because we already agreed in the lease agreement that repair requests are submitted in writing or online” is my response. “And we make that super easy for you by providing an online form”.

The operational efficiencies of having all repair requests originate online through a repair request form are phenomenal.

1) The online request form is interactive.
This is very important. All property managers should be programming your online repair requests with this functionality. It’s simple to do even for non-programmers if you’re using the right web tools. Sorry, but none of the “out of the box” pre-fab websites that many property managers use provide for this, which is another good reason to develop, host and manage your own website with WordPress, then you can use a simple Forms Plugin.

For example, on my repair request form, once the checkbox under “Problem” is checked “Air Conditioner” or “Furnace”, an informational blurb automatically appears above the Submit button. It reads:

“Many of our service calls for A/C and/or furnace result in “user error” as the cause, especially when seasons change from hot/cold and thermostats are not properly set. Please double-check your thermostat and also make sure you have clean filters properly installed. If you feel confident that the thermostat and filter(s) are in order, proceed with your request so we can get out to have a look.”

Likewise, if the tenant checks “Electrical” as the problem, the following blurb automatically appears:

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What Happens with Early Termination of the Texas Lease?

Moving Girl with boxes

Most leases in Texas are written for initial fixed terms, usually 12 months. Renewal periods are also usually written for a fixed number of months. During these fixed terms, the tenant has agreed to remain in the property and pay rent through a certain date, and the landlord is obligated and required to allow the tenant to remain for that period of time. The only exception is a month-to-month lease which can be terminated with a 30 day notice by either party.

So what happens if it’s October, your lease doesn’t end until the following May 31st, but life circumstances are forcing an early departure from your Austin rental home?

Perhaps you’ve lost your old job and already found a new one, but the new job requires relocation to another city? Sometimes tenants divorce and neither can afford the rent alone, so both have to move. Sometimes tenants are under no financial duress but elect to buy a new home and terminate early, and simply include the early termination costs in the overall financial decision to buy the new home.

There are a number of life circumstances that can cause a tenant to contact us and ask “what happens if I can’t finish my lease term”?

This is called Early Termination and is covered by paragraphs 27 and 28 of the Texas Association of Realtors Residential Lease Agreement.

Paragraph 27 covers Default, whereby a tenant simply moves out and stops paying rent. We call this a “skip” and it results in legal action, damage to the tenant’s credit report, and ultimately the account being placed for collection. In the event the tenant buys a house, our attorney will sue, then after obtaining a judgment, we place a lien on the property. In other words, the worst financial and credit consequences possible are realized, and the price is paid for years to come.

Paragraph 28 provides a graceful exit from the lease. Most tenants want to avoid damaged credit, ruined rental history and collection, a judgment and a lien on their new home, so we more commonly operate under Paragraph 28, which involves locating a replacement tenant to take over the occupancy of the home and allows the tenant to depart on good terms. Below, I’ll outline how this works.

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Austin Rental Market Update – Aug 2010

The Austin rental market remains strong, and rent values continue to rise overall. Let’s start with a look at the historic rental value graph. Going back to 1999, the YTD 2010 average and median rental rates still remain below the peaks of 2000/2001.

Austin Rental Market graph 1999-2010 Aug

The big dip in rental rates in Austin following the peak in 2000/2001 was a result of the tech bubble (does anyone even remember that) followed by 9/11. Around the tail end of 2005 our real estate sales market started picking up after remaining flat for 4 years, and rental values started to rise as well. We’re almost back to where we were at the start of the decade.

Next, the chart below shows August year-over-year rental market stats for Austin.

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