Seattle Bubble Forum Archive

Hi,

Can you please advise me about pros and cons of renting from an apartment complex vs renting from individual investors/landlords?

STABILITY:

I feel that renting from an apartment complex gives more stability - in my opinion an individual investor/landlord can be more likely to decide to sell the property and refuse to renew a lease. I guess that in some cases the landlord might even break the lease agreement earlier (after giving an advance notice). What is your opinion on the subject of lease renewal? Anything I can do to protect myself against this issue?

MAINTENANCE:

I guess it very much depends on the apartment complex / owner - I don't expect to see much difference in responsiveness between apartment complexes and individual landlords.

PRICE:

I hope I could have more choice and room to negotiate when dealing with an individual landlord. I currently rent a townhome in Avignon Townhomes in Redmond (the lease expires on Feb 08) and I am trying to find out more information about the rental market before I have to make a decision about the potential rent renewal.

CHOICE:

I guess there are much more SFHs for rent by individual landlords. Hopefully townhomes selection is also better.

LEGAL AGREEMENTS:

My company benefits give me a free real estate attorney consultation when moving, so I guess I should be safe from the legal side.


Thanks,

Lukasz

You didn't mention renting a SFH via a property management firm, which is not uncommon for out-of-the-area investors/owners.

My neighbor just moved a block away and is renting his old house out. I can't imagine what the tenants will do when something breaks, as the owner is not at all handy and will have to hire somebody else to do the work. That's one thing to consider when renting from an individual owner--you could get very good maintenance support, or not.

I currently rent from an individual. He's the best landlord I have ever known or have heard of. He's responsive if there is a problem and he hasn't raised my rent since I've lived here. I'm in a unique situation, though.

In my experience, complexes and property management firms are more likely to be aggressive at raising rents. They are also more likely to go cheap on repairs or maintenance as compared to an individual landlord.

My suggestion is to do a marathon weekend of viewing places for rent. Figure out what you like and compare the prices to other areas. Doing that allows you to better know the going rates and to sniff out who will be a cool landlord to work with. I think we looked at close to 30 places before we ended up where we are at.

In terms of stability, maintenance and price, I think an individual landlord will provide you with the best balance of those.

I spent two months watching craigslist for rentals before I found my current one:

$1150 for 1100sqft 2 bed, 2 bath, 2 miles from work.

I had to pay double rent for a month to get it, but it is the best deal I've seen period and the extra money was worth it.

When you see a good deal, act fast!

So has anyone had problems renewing a lease/rent agreement with an individual landlord/owner? Or have they usually been willing to keep on renting (with possibly a reasonable rent increase [reasonable = <5%]?

Thanks,

Lukasz

I have rented from property mangers, individual owners, and apartments and there are no guarantees, especially in the current rental market. I was just condo-converted out of an apartment I lived in for 7 years, and the rent was raised a total of $20 in that time. Of course, the last year was likely due to keeping the building full to make it look good to prospective buyers.

When you are a good tenant, a smart landlord/property manager will want to keep you and the steady cash flow, and will generally limit rent increases to no more than the CPI. Again there is no predictability for the greed in this market, so it seems more of a crap-shoot in the end. You can get a feel for what to expect by the lease terms, and their general attitude.

Property managers can also be more of a wild card, since their fees are usually based upon a annual percentage of the rent. I also spent all summer looking for a reasonable in-city rental, North End or Central, and it was very, very tough. Dog eat Dog, and even then, they are rarely allowed. I ended up with a 2BD, 1BA in an older Triplex with a garage and utility room. Owned by a couple living in Northern CA--probably their nest egg, and bought 10 years ago. One year lease, then month-to-month. The rent was $995. There was a trade-off: I had to deep-clean, paint, and replace some fixtures myself, with only the materials being reimbursed. The basic systems are sound, but the windows are circa 1940's, and everything needs caulking... One thing I found rather interesting, is this property manager kept asking me "you plan to stay for awhile, right?" Well, if they don't raise the rent, and the first-time buyer prices remain completely out-of-wack, probably.

So, as others mentioned, there are advantages/disadvantages to each situation. Looking up the property history in the public records never hurts to get a feel for the likelyhood of major changes in the near term.