While many investors choose to manage their properties, themselves, this can be incredibly challenging, especially if you work another job or own too many properties. As such, hiring a property manager is the right choice for many investors in every market.Our guest today is Celeste Robertson. Celeste is Portfolio Manager with Mynd in Las Vegas, Nevada, and she is here to give us her perspective on why hiring a property manager is a great choice for so many investors, especially in the Las Vegas market.Steve Rozenberg: Hey, everyone. This is Steve Rozenberg with Mynd Property Management and I am here today with Celeste Robertson, who is the Portfolio Manager for the Las Vegas division of Mynd Property Management. Celeste, thanks for joining me today.Celeste Robertson: Thank you.Steve Rozenberg: What I want to talk about today is, let's talk about the basic needs of property management in Las Vegas. So, from your perspective, let's just, kind of, boil it down. Do people even really need a property manager if you're owning properties in Las Vegas? And, just from your perspective, why or why not, would you say, is it vital to have a property manager on your team?
Celeste Robertson: I think it's vital due to the stringent laws and statutes that we have here in Las Vegas. You want to make sure you follow those correctly, keeping yourself and your residents and the owners in the safest aspect as possible with the property.Steve Rozenberg: Let me ask you this. Are a lot of out-of-state, out-of-town owners in Vegas or are they more local in nature? What is the general makeup of most investors?Celeste Robertson: We're pretty much about even. We do have out-of-state. We have out-of-country. We have a very wide range. Especially with out-of-state and out-of-country, it is super important to have someone managing. It's always important because, with us being licensed, we're aware of what needs to be done, can be done and can't be done.Steve Rozenberg: Well and, as you know as well as I do, the laws change all the time. You don't know when the laws change until you find out that you broke the law. And, for me, having that property manager is just something that needs to be on your team to help elevate you so that you can go do whatever it is you want to do in life and not have to worry about the trials and tribulations that go on with sometimes owning a property.And, I know for a fact that, sometimes, property management actually can make you money by saving you on costly expenses that maybe you don't know are coming down the road, like a leaky pipe could turn into mold, if you don’t attend to it.Celeste Robertson: Absolutely.Steve Rozenberg: And look, we know in California they just recently passed the rent control law, which make things more complicated, which more tenant rights which, not saying it's a good or bad thing, but it's definitely something that makes the law change. And, unless you're a professional and you know that, you're not going to be able to know what has changed. Would you agree?Celeste Robertson: I agree, 100%, yeah. I mean, even here in Nevada. We recently had a law change in July of this year for the late fees and the amounts that you can and cannot charge.Steve Rozenberg: Yeah, that's a perfect example that if I'm living in Texas, let's say, and the laws changed, I would not know that there were new laws in Nevada with my rental property. And I think the key that a lot of people need to take away from this video is the fact that, when you buy a property, it's not a singular sport. It's a team sport. And part of the team, a very vital part of the team, is the property management company to help you deal with the day-to-day operation.You may be able to do it for three months, six months, a year, but if you want to hold this for 20, 30 years, it's going to get harder and harder if you want to grow and scale your company owning properties over the long term.
Celeste Robertson: Right. And then, as well as us having contracted vendors that we work with, where you're keeping everything within licensed and insured vendors that are working on a property, versus a personal friend of yours that came and did it. And now we would, like you say, we may have a mold issue or a habitability issue with a heater or AC.Steve Rozenberg: Yeah, absolutely. And, one of the things I always think about when it comes to managing properties and scale is, you're getting that volume. So, for example, if I have one property and that property becomes vacant for lease, it is going to take me a long time to make the phone start ringing to get that property leased where you may have five or ten properties in that subdivision.And it's already generating inquiries and calls where you could just put that new property in the mix, and you've got relationships with realtors and, like you say, contractors and vendors. So, I think, to me, it's just part of being on the team. And I think it's one of those things that, if you think you're saving money, you’re paying for it somewhere, right? I mean, would you agree? I mean, you're paying with time. You're paying with stress. You're going to pay for it. It may not be out of your pocket. Sometimes it may be out of your pocket if you do something wrong. But, you’re going to pay, right? I mean, you've been doing this a long time. I've been this a long time. I've seen many people that may not pay financially, but will pay other ways.Celeste Robertson: Right. In the long run, it's going to save you, in all aspects, to have a portfolio manager with the team that we have with us and the knowledge that we have, as well.Steve Rozenberg: I agree. I agree. So, Celeste, if somebody wants to, kind of, find out more about Las Vegas and how to, maybe, talk to you guys about property management here at Mynd, how would they get ahold of you?Celeste Robertson: The best way to get a hold of us at 833-MYND. So, they will be able to get there and have somebody that's knowledgeable to be asking and answering any questions that they have.Steve Rozenberg: Great. And if you want to check out our website, you can go to mynd.co—dot C-O, not .com—and you can go there to the website. You can find out all the information.We also have a Facebook group. The MasterMynd Real Estate Investment Club on Facebook that we like people to join. It's got investors on there just like you and me trying to be better.And we also have the Myndful Investor podcast show on iTunes and Spotify. So you can look it up. We have industry-leading people on that show.And so, Celeste, thank you so much for being on the show today and we'll talk to everyone later. Bye-bye.Celeste Robertson: Thank you.For many investors, hiring is the easiest decision they make. For others, it is a last resort. While hiring a property manager means choosing to be somewhat hands-off, as a property owner, it also means having a team of professionals to act as a buffer between the investor and the many challenges owning a rental property can present.
Emotional support animals and service animals are two very different concepts. For investors, knowing the difference can either cost or save a lot of time and money. Our guest today is Celeste Robertson, Portfolio Manager for Las Vegas with Mynd Property Management. Celeste is here to help explain what it means, from an investor’s perspective, to have a tenant with an emotional support animal and how investors and property managers should approach such a scenario.Steve Rozenberg: Hey, everyone. This is Steve with Mynd Property Management and I am here today with my good friend, Celeste Robertson, who is the Portfolio Manager of the Las Vegas division of Mynd. Celeste, thanks for joining me today. I appreciate it.Celeste Robertson: Thank you for having me.Steve Rozenberg: So, what I want to talk about today is something that's obviously becoming a bigger challenge in the landlord industry when you own a property, and that is an emotional support animal, which is obviously a little bit different than a therapy animal or service animal. They've all got their own categories.What is your experience on what you should know about an ESA, an emotional support animal, and if I'm an investor and somebody has one, what are some things that I need to know about?
Celeste Robertson: The most important thing with an emotional support animal is you cannot look at them as an animal or a pet. Your simplest way to protect yourself is, that's an occupant with a collar.Steve Rozenberg: Absolutely, yeah. Now, what type of things would you say like, because there is certain documentation, now there are certain things you cannot ask someone when it comes to emotional support animals, but there's certain things that you can get information-wise to verify that it actually is a legal emotional support animal. What are some things that you can't ask—and I don't know if you know this—and what are some things that you should be asking about as far as documentation?Celeste Robertson: Well, first of all, you can't ask them “what is it for?” Like, “why do you have it?” That's a privacy issue. You can't go there. But what you can do is get a letter of verification from their caretaker. Now, that does not mean that has to be a medical doctor or psychiatrist. This is somebody that is their caretaker, that is going to support the fact that they need this.
Steve Rozenberg: And is there a size or type of animal limitation on what is considered an emotional support animal in Las Vegas?Celeste Robertson: Well, you're going to get into something where you're going to have, let's say someone comes in and goes, “I’ve got a little Shetland pony that’s mine,” you're going to have to go with the regulations of the county and the city that they're going to be in, if you can have it or cannot have it.Steve Rozenberg: So if the city says, “hey, you cannot have a horse in this subdivision,” does that come back on you as the owner or is that more of the city now is taking on that challenge?Celeste Robertson: That would be more of the city that's going to be taking on that challenge.Steve Rozenberg: But you would direct them and say, “hey, we’ll take you. This is a city challenge, now, that you have.”Celeste Robertson: I have not, myself, come across that. You're still seeing here, in Las Vegas, cats and dogs. I haven't had anything actually super weird yet.Steve Rozenberg: Not a ferret or a lizard or something along those lines, huh?Celeste Robertson: Not yet. But you've seen situations where you’ve got peacocks walking through airports and things like that. But, we haven't seen anything too spectacular here in Vegas in the properties.Steve Rozenberg: Which, with Vegas, I'm shocked because Vegas is all about show. I would have thought it'd be the biggest, baddest ESA that exists is what they would want to have.
Steve Rozenberg: So, let me ask you this. When it comes to people having one, as far as the lease goes, can you enlighten us a little bit on what you can and cannot charge—deposit, no deposit, damage to the property. How do you factor that in?Celeste Robertson: Again, you have to say, “this is an occupant when a collar.” So, you cannot charge pet rent. You cannot charge a pet deposit, pet fees, anything like that as long as it has been verified. But they are still responsible for the damage, just like an occupant would be responsible for the damage that's done to the property.Steve Rozenberg: Okay. Yeah. And, from my past experience, we tell an owner just like you said, this is treated just like a human being. From the legalese perspective, this is a human. You can't charge a pet fee or pet deposit or anything like that. If there's damage, it’s just like anything else.But we've had several owners say, “well, I'm not taking the pet.” And we tell them, “I hate to tell you this, but you're going to have a very big legal challenge on your hands if you go down this path,” because this is, in the eyes of the law, an emotional support animal. This is not considered just a regular dog or regular cat. And you really don't have a choice, unless you're willing to go to court and do a very big battle, which you probably won't win because it's a protected class, essentially. Is that the same in Las Vegas?Celeste Robertson: Yes, yes it is. Owners or investors will say, “hey, no pets.” So, we could put no pets, but if you're going to come across an ESA or service animal, there is going to be no approval or non-approval. So, it's going to have to be accepted. And that's as long as the applicant meets all the application criteria.Steve Rozenberg: Great. Well, Celeste, if somebody wanted to talk to you more about managing in Las Vegas over at Mynd, how would they do that?Celeste Robertson: I think reach out via the telephone at 833-MYND.Steve Rozenberg: Okay, great. And if you want to find us on the internet, you can go to mynd.co. So, it's M-Y-N-D.co. We also have a podcast show, The Myndful Investor podcast show on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, wherever else shows are played nowadays. And, also, you can go on our Facebook group, the MasterMynd Real Estate Investor Club on Facebook. A lot of investors on there talking, chatting, and conversing.And feel free to join in and see what we have. And we will talk to you later. This is Steve and Celeste. We'll talk to you then. Bye-bye.Having an emotional support animal is quite different from having a pet. This is especially true from an investor or property manager’s perspective. Tenants with emotional support animals are, in many cities or jurisdictions, offered certain rights to which investors or property managers must abide. Therefore, it is very important for anyone acting as a landlord to remain mindful of any changing laws or ordinances.For example, it may seem obvious that, as the tenant has an animal, the tenant can be charged a pet fee. This is not necessarily the case. As such, it is always best to keep up-to-date on any laws or ordinances that may govern the tenant-landlord relationship. Likewise, with any tenant or property, the lease agreement should dictate what is and what is not allowed. Knowing what rights you have, as an investor, is paramount. While a tenant may be allowed to have an emotional support animal, there are certain responsibilities and liabilities that can ultimately be spelled out in the lease agreement. This can save any investor or manager a tremendous amount of time and money, in the long run.
With a global reputation as a world-class destination for entertainment, it is obvious to anyone why Las Vegas is a great market in which to invest. Even so, there are many reasons, even beyond reputation, why Las Vegas is and will continue to be the perfect market for investors, both now and in the future.Today, we are speaking with Celeste Robertson, Portfolio Manager for Las Vegas with Mynd Property Management. Celeste is here to give us the main reasons why, in her mind, Las Vegas continues to be such a lucrative market for investors.Steve Rozenberg: Hey, everyone. This is Steve Rozenberg with Mynd Property Management and I'm joined here with my good friend, Celeste Robertson, from Las Vegas. She's a Portfolio Manager in Las Vegas. Celeste, thanks so much for joining me today.Celeste Robertson: Hi, thank you.Steve Rozenberg: So, what I want to talk about today is investing in Las Vegas. So, you've been in Las Vegas for a while. You deal with a lot of investors. Why is Las Vegas, in your opinion, why is it a good place to invest and buy real estate, right now?Celeste Robertson: You have a lot of people migrating here. As you know, Las Vegas is a transient town. There's a lot of people here and that's not going to stop.Steve Rozenberg: Do you see a lot of people—now, there's a lot of people coming and going. But a lot of people, do they place their money there? I mean, I remember back in 2007, for those of us that remember, it took a big hit, right? And then, some people got out but a lot of people jumped in at that time and bought a lot of real estate, knowing that it was going to go up. And, I’m almost positive that it is at or above where it was in those days. Is that correct?Celeste Robertson: Right. It’s there and it's still climbing and there is always going to be things here that are going to keep the people coming to Las Vegas.
Steve Rozenberg: What are some drivers of the City of Las Vegas? Obviously tourism, we know that, but what are some other drivers that maybe some people don't know or don't realize about Las Vegas that bring a lot of people in?Celeste Robertson: We're getting a lot of people from other states where our cost of living is lower. The rents are lower. You can get so much more here for the same buck than you can in other states.Steve Rozenberg: And there's no state income tax. That obviously helps as well. And then, are there any other industries that are starting to kind of flourish? I know you'd mentioned and we had talked before that Amazon is there. So, there's obviously other industries starting to kick up. There's the military there.So, it's not just casinos. And I think that's the important thing. It's not just casinos that are bringing people there. There are other economic drivers for the City of Las Vegas.Celeste Robertson: Our latest one that's going to be coming is we're getting the Raiders here.Steve Rozenberg: Getting the Raiders. Yes, exactly.Celeste Robertson: You know that they're going to have a big following and you've got a lot of diehard fans that are going to come out here that have already actually been reaching out, getting ready to move out here.Steve Rozenberg: Really? I can even imagine the Airbnb side would, If I own properties, probably be kicking up. Because I'm sure a lot of people from Oakland and LA and all the West Coast will probably be coming in for the weekend or just having rentals there during the season, and I could definitely see that. And I understand you guys are getting a baseball team, too, is that correct?Celeste Robertson: Yes, yes, you're correct.Steve Rozenberg: But you guys will have everything. Hockey. I mean, again I think that these are all indicators that it is a strong economy there and it's not relying upon one type of industry and it's just starting to flourish more and more and more.
Steve Rozenberg: And are you seeing investors—and to me this is the key right here—are you seeing current investors buy more properties are they just buying one and done.Celeste Robertson: Yeah, no, I actually have several of my investors that actually constantly have me on the lookout to keep continuing to buy. I have most of my investors with three to ten properties each that they own. So, and they're continuing to buy.Steve Rozenberg: That to me is the indicator right there. If you're seeing local investors buy, or not local, local or non-local, if you're just seeing people reinvest their money back into where it is, it's obviously, for whatever their numbers and their goals are, it's obviously hitting that strategy and it's working. So to me, that's a great indicator. We know Las Vegas is solid to begin with, butthe fact that it's growing and it's going to just keep pushing up is all the indicators. And all the stuff that they're doing, by adding these other venues and other stabilizers, to me, is a key to show you that it's definitely worth going into.Celeste Robertson: Right. And they're continuing to add those, and I'm sure more and more to come.Steve Rozenberg: So, Celeste, if somebody wants to get ahold of you and talk about management of their properties or learn more about Las Vegas, how would they do that?Celeste Robertson: That would be contacting us through 833-MYND.Steve Rozenberg: And if you just want to go to a website, you can do that. MYND.CO. So it’s M-Y-N-D.co. Also, we have a podcast show, the Myndful Investor podcast show. It's on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play. It's on YouTube, as well.Or you can just join our Facebook group. The MasterMynd Real Estate Investment Club is on Facebook. It's a great group. A lot of investors on there talking about things just like this.So again, there's multiple ways you can get ahold of us. You can learn about us. You can do all those things. More importantly, you can just do something. So this is Steve and Celeste. Thank you for watching. We'll talk to you guys later. Bye-bye.Celeste Robertson: Bye.While most people recognize the Las Vegas Strip and are well-aware of the city’s world-class nightlife, there are many less-obvious reasons why every investor should consider Las Vegas.Las Vegas has experienced a growing population in recent years, propelled, in part, by companies like Amazon having built offices in the entertainment capital. Likewise, the city’s acquisition of the Raiders NFL franchise, as well as a baseball team, show that Las Vegas’ economy is only growing.Furthermore, rising rents in states like California and no state income tax means that Las Vegas can likely expect their population to continue to rise in the coming years. With such great prospects, buying property in Las Vegas is a potentially lucrative investment, both now and into the future.
Choosing a tenant can be a truly daunting task, especially when self-managing a rental property. Today we are speaking with Celeste Robertson, Portfolio Manager with Mynd Property Management in Las Vegas. Celeste is here to give us her top three things every investor or property manager should look for when seeking a tenant for their property.
Steve Rozenberg: Hey, everyone. This is Steve Rozenberg with Mynd Property Management and I'm joined here today with Celeste Robertson from the Las Vegas division of Mynd Property Management. Celeste, thanks for joining me today. I appreciate it.Celeste Robertson: Hi, thank you.Steve Rozenberg: So, this is something that a lot of investors get very nervous about, and everyone is afraid of what not to do and what to do, and that's picking a resident.So, let me ask you this. What would you say are the top three things that you need to look for when selecting a resident to make sure that you pick the right one or don't pick the wrong one, basically?
Celeste Robertson: First of all, rental verification. You do want to be able to see how they handled their previous lease, if they had HOA violations, if they pay on time. Were eviction proceeding started? Did they break their lease? How was their security deposit process? Did they take care of the property? There's a lot that's done and taken care of when you do a rental verification.Steve Rozenberg: You know, it's funny. I used to always say, “if you look at their past, you'll see their future.” So, if you look at somebody, if you look at what they've done up until now, just because you have a nice place does not mean they're going to change how they are and who they are just because you have a nice place to rent. And if you think that they will, it's kind of your fault for assuming that because they clearly have shown you their track record in their past. And, you can expect the same to hold true once they move in.
Steve Rozenberg: So, I completely agree with that. I think if you see their history, you will see how they're going to be moving forward. What's number two?Celeste Robertson: And then, you would want to make sure you verify their income. I like to see 3x the rent. There's things that come up. People have other bills to pay, but you want to make sure that they're able to pay that rent comfortably. And you want to make sure that it's verifiable—pay stubs, not just what they’ve written on their application because anybody can write anything.Steve Rozenberg: Now, do you verify that by calling the employer or what do you suggest if somebody wants to? What is the best way for someone to verify, these days, what they actually make?Celeste Robertson: Generally, it's going to be pay stubs. You're going to see that it is from a verifiable company. Also, if they want to do their transcripts from irs.gov, which is free, then you're able to see what they've made for the year and it's very verifiable with the IRS that way.Steve Rozenberg: Do you know—and I know we can't discriminate, obviously—but do you have a preference of two income families—one income family, government assistance—do you weigh them differently at all?Celeste Robertson: No, not at all. Just, whatever that, collectively, they make that is verifiable, as long as it's verifiable as an income, then it works.Steve Rozenberg: Now let me ask you this. And this is something that I know, depending on the city, a lot of people move to Las Vegas to start new jobs, right? So, if somebody's coming to Las Vegas to start a new career, how do you gauge that when they don't really have a job yet? How do you handle that?Celeste Robertson: Generally, what they're going to have is an offer letter. If they've come out here, someone has offered them a position—we get Amazon medical things like that—but there is an offer letter that says you're going to be working here this many hours with this rate of pay and so forth. So then we ask for an offer letter at that point.Steve Rozenberg: Well, that makes sense. And then, you've got that, at least—some kind of substance to, at least, back it up, not just their word, obviously, right?We used to always say, “trust but verify,” right?Celeste Robertson: Right.
Steve Rozenberg: Okay. So, number three. What is the number three thing that you would suggest when picking a tenant?Celeste Robertson: You're going to want to run their credit. When we run their credit reports, we're also checking for evictions and criminal background. You just need to know everything there is to know about that person and that is one way of doing it.You can also check and see, on their credit report, a lot of companies will put on there whether or not they've been short on rent or utilities. It just kind of gives you a pattern. And then, just checking their criminal background, as well, is super important.Steve Rozenberg: And do you have some no-goes like a felony or an eviction or something like that? Some things that you just say, “you know what, that's a definite no-go on this.”Celeste Robertson: Usually, a definite no-go is if they have an eviction on-file. It is a definite no-go.Steve Rozenberg: Right, because obviously they're kind of habitual at that point to do that.Celeste Robertson: Because I have not come across any eviction that has been pretty.Steve Rozenberg: They're normally not pretty, yeah. And, the one thing that I've always learned is, a lot of times when you have a vacant property, people get nervous because you own a property and that property sitting there empty and now you're starting to get emotional; you're starting to make emotional decisions in a business matter. And a lot of times you're starting to maybe allow some people that you wouldn't normally allow because you're getting nervous. And maybe it's been a month longer, two months longer.The only reason I would caution, when people want to do that, is for two reasons. Number one, there is fair housing and discrimination. So, you can't just all of a sudden change the qualifications because you're nervous. Because it's a business, right? And now someone can come back to you that applied earlier and say, “wait a second. I had those qualifications on day one. You did not accept me.” And that can become a very slippery slope with a discrimination suit or fair housing, possibly. So I'd caution you on that.The other thing I would caution you on is, just because you put someone in your property, does not mean that you have a paying tenant in your property. And so, a lot of times we think, “I'll just put someone in because he's better than nothing.” Now, you have a property with someone in there maybe doing some damage and you're not getting any money.And more importantly, I think the one thing that I would like to stress to investors out there is the mental stress that you go through when you have someone in your property and you don't know how long they're going to be in. And you, kind of, did it yourself because you didn't stick to your rules and regulations, because you made an emotional decision. So, I don't know what your thoughts are, if you agree or not, Celeste, on that. But that's, kind of, my standard. And I've learned that from lessons—my own—that I've actually done in the past, that I know you don't do. And that's just something that I stick to all the time.Celeste Robertson: Right, it's your investment and you want to protect it 100% and keep everything straight across the board. Don't deter from what your guidelines are set for, because they're set there for a reason. And that's to protect your investment.Steve Rozenberg: Absolutely, absolutely. So, just to wrap it up, number one, we've got rental history. Correct? Next we've got job history. And then we've got credit, criminal background check.So, if you do those three things and, again, you stick to your policies and you don't deviate, you're going to be doing much better than if you just went off your gut feeling or your emotions on that.Celeste, if somebody wants to get ahold of you in Las Vegas, how would they do so?Celeste Robertson: That would be 833-MYND.Steve Rozenberg: And if you want to go to our website, you can go to mynd.co. That’s M-Y-N-D.co. Or, if you want to go on Facebook, you can find we have an investment group there—the MasterMynd Real Estate Investment Club, as well as our podcast show, The Myndful Investor. It's on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play.And again, we just want to help fellow investors just like you, just like me, just like all of us try to get a little bit better. So, this is Steve and Celeste, and we'll talk to you guys later. Bye-bye.While choosing a tenant can be a stressful task, there are many resources to help investors and property managers assess the history of potential tenants and narrow the search down to the best possible candidates.Foremost, checking a potential tenant’s rental history is key. An individual’s rental history can give a manager or landlord an immediate indication of what sort of tenant they will be dealing with. As they say, a person’s past is often an indication of their future.Likewise, a potential tenant’s job history is also important. While anyone could lose their job or endure some other major challenge at any time, a job history gives the property manager a clear indication of whether the individual has the ability to pay their rent, or whether they can even afford to live in the property, at all.Lastly, a credit and criminal background check are obviously important. Having an indication of your potential tenant’s credit and criminal history can not only help protect your property, but keep other tenants or neighbors happy, as well.And while none of these resources are fool-proof and anything can happen, the combination of a potential tenant’s rental history, job history and credit and criminal background checks can give you the best indicator of which tenants meet the standards set in your lease agreement, but which tenants will be best for your property, overall.
Every investor should ultimately expect to spend money, especially if they plan to make any. And while many expenses may seem obvious, some expenses are dictated by the location of the property, itself. Today we are speaking with Celeste Robertson, Portfolio Manager for Mynd Property Management in Las Vegas, about the top expenses almost every investor should consider when renting a property in Las Vegas.Steve Rozenberg: Hey, everyone. This is Steve Rozenberg with Mynd Property Management and I'm joined today by Celeste Robertson with Mynd Property Management. She’s the Portfolio Manager in Las Vegas. Celeste, thanks for joining me today.Celeste Robertson: Hi, thanks for having me.Steve Rozenberg: So, what I want to talk about today is, if I am looking at buying a rental property in Las Vegas and I kind of want to know some expenses and some maintenance costs, what would you say are some of the top things that, normally, I can expect for them to wear out and damage and break in a rental property in Las Vegas?
Celeste Robertson: Well, we are the desert so you’re going to want to—and being in the desert doesn't necessarily just mean we’re hot because, for as hot as we are, we get as cold, as well.So, you want to do your HVAC, which is your heater and the the AC. And, most importantly, you want to keep them maintained. You don't want to just wait until we're in our triple digits for you have a habitability issue and then it's broken down.So, we like to tell our investors, “prior to, make sure.” And our AC vendor does give us really good deals where they do a maintenance check to make sure everything's up and running in good shape prior to our severe colds and severe heat.
Steve Rozenberg: Now, this may be a dumb question, since I don’t live in the desert, but do the filters need to be changed more often because you're in the desert or is that not a factor?Celeste Robertson: No, it's a big factor. And the fact that we have a lot of wind here. So, even if you're not running your AC or not running your heat, the winds and the desert dust is constantly running around, which is blowing it into the filters. So, our leases are built to where the resident is responsible to change out those filters every 30 days.Steve Rozenberg: Wow, okay. And so, the AC or HVAC—it's either blowing hot or blowing cold everyday, essentially, in Las Vegas.Celeste Robertson: Yeah.
Steve Rozenberg: What are some other things? Because it's so dry, are there foundation issues because of the sediment that it's on, or is that not normally a challenge?Celeste Robertson: No, I haven't had many foundation issues. You want to make sure—water mains, the plumbing. We here in Las Vegas, and I know that, in a lot of other places, maybe like in California where they don't have refrigerators, but it's important because the people here in Las Vegas are expecting their units to have refrigerator, washer and dryers.Steve Rozenberg: Okay, so those are high-useful load appliances. So I'm guessing those probably would tend to break obviously more than something that's not used as much.
Steve Rozenberg: And then what about now there’s no—well, I shouldn’t say there’s no—but there's not a lot of grass in the houses and so use a lot of gravel, is that right?Celeste Robertson: Gravel and desert landscape where we have drippers. So, that's another thing. We want to make sure that those are kept underground. Because of the heat and the cold, they do begin to crack. So, you want to make sure that the drippers are kept well-maintained, as well, too.Steve Rozenberg: I think it's, again, everyone equates Las Vegas with being super hot, but it does get cold and in the winter time, are cracked pipes, is that a challenge with anything or does it not get that cold where they would do that?Celeste Robertson: It does, we have to also tell the residents that they need to wrap—and it's important for the owners to do it, as well, and investors. And again, it's always, they want to protect their investment. So, make sure that those hose bibs and things on the outside are actually wrapped so that they don't freeze up and crack.Steve Rozenberg: So basically, the main thing is the plumbing, obviously, the air conditioning and heating, the drip lines. Those are the main things that sounds like that are the, as far as the desert goes, and obviously, I'm guessing, maybe a broom to clean out the dust that goes on, floating around in the backyard and stuff. But other than that, not too much. That sounds like they build them pretty much desert-ready to do the remedies of what happens, is that right?Celeste Robertson: Correct. And, you know, with their investment, they want to just make sure that they keep their appliances and everything maintained rather than waiting for an issue to happen.Steve Rozenberg: And what about the windows? Is there anything with the windows? Because, I mean, you're getting heat, you're getting cold. You're getting a lot of wind blowing on them. Is there a certain double-pane or a certain type of windows that people should have out there?Celeste Robertson: Generally, almost every house that we come across are all double-pane windows. The one thing that they will probably invest in maybe once or twice a year, or even depending on where the house is located in the direction of the sun, is the blinds. The blinds do get beat up here with the heat.Steve Rozenberg: Alright. Well, great. Well, if somebody wants to talk to you more about managing a property and taking care of it or just some questions, how would they get ahold of you?Celeste Robertson: They reach out at 833-MYND. That's M-Y-N-D.Steve Rozenberg: And if you want to find us online, you can go to mynd.co. So it's M-Y-N-D.co. And you can look us up on the internet. You can go to Facebook. We have a great Facebook group. It's called the MasterMynd Real Estate Investor Club.We also have a podcast show, The Myndful Investor podcast show. It's on iTunes, Spotify, Google, YouTube. And again, it's just here to help fellow investors learn how to be better at what they're doing and learn and educate.So, I'm Steve Rozenberg. This is Celeste Robertson and we want to thank you guys for watching. Bye-bye.Every property has its own distinct set of challenges that every investor should consider when looking to buy. This is especially true when buying property in a desert city such as Las Vegas. While many people know of the extreme heat residents of Las Vegas endure, it can also be tremendously cold, especially in the winter. Such extremes can wreak havoc on a property. So, too, does dust and sand, which can slowly creep into a property, over time. Being mindful of the climate of Las Vegas and how a desert location can affect a home or property is necessary when looking to invest in the city. And while these challenges may not seem obvious, ignoring them or letting them go for too long will certainly, in time, wind up costing a lot of money.
While many landlords forbid smoking within their properties, changing laws and technology make enforcing these rules more difficult. Our guest today is Celeste Robertson. Celeste is Portfolio Manager with Mynd Property Management in Las Vegas, Nevada, and she is here to help explain what investors and property managers can do to prevent vaping or smoking within their properties, and what can be done if you suspect a tenant is breaking these rules.Steve Rozenberg: Hey, everyone. This is Steve Rozenberg with Mynd Property Management and I am joined here today with Celeste Robertson, who is the Portfolio Manager for Mynd in Las Vegas. Celeste, thanks for joining me today. I appreciate it.Celeste Robertson: Thank you. Thanks for having me.Steve Rozenberg: So what I want to talk about today is, this is something obviously that goes on and it's something new, obviously, to the state of Nevada, and it's something that, I think, as properties become vacant and be released is people smoking marijuana or vaping inside of the rental property.
Steve Rozenberg: So, I guess, the first question is, can you prevent it? And can you enforce it? And how do you deal with it there? Because this is obviously semi-new now that, at least, it’s legal to do it, how do we deal with that on a management level? If I was an investor, how would I handle it?Celeste Robertson: Well, we do have it in the leases that it is no smoking of any substance inside the property. Your second protection is your CC&R’s within the communities. They have also updated their rules and regulations for residents to not have any smoking. And if they do, say even if it’s a cigarette or vaping or marijuana of any sort and they go in the backyard, if it does get a complaint from a neighbor, it's considered a nuisance, and then they're issued a violation from the community. So it's pretty much double protected.
Steve Rozenberg: Is that something that would actually be a lease violation if it comes from the CC&R? Can you, just for people that don't know, explain what CC&R is, as well?Celeste Robertson: Yeah, it's the rules and regulations of the community. So yes, you could actually serve them a legal notice for a lease violation that they would have to correct. If they get a violation fine, and if they continue to do it, then the resident is also responsible for that fine.
Steve Rozenberg: Now let me ask you this. How hard is it in Las Vegas to evict someone on that? If they're smoking and vaping in the house, from a practical standpoint, how hard is it to evict a tenant and is that something—do you recommend evicting a tenant based on them violating that lease?Celeste Robertson:Evicting on a lease violation of any sort is difficult because you really have to prove it. So, you would serve them a notice and give them a time of correction. If you do get enough of those you can move to eviction. If you happen to be standing in front of a judge, you would be able to have those notices that you served, the violations, to show that the residents chose not to stay in compliance.Steve Rozenberg: So there's a protocol to doing this. You have to serve them. Are these certified or how do you handle the notifications that you give them?Celeste Robertson: We use a professional service where they will professionally serve it and have a notice of serving it legally, so that it's done by a third party so there's no conflict of interests that come from the resident saying, “Oh, I never got it.”
Steve Rozenberg: So let me ask you this. When you're dealing with that, and let's just talk about vaping, because I've heard people say, “well, vaping is not smoking.” But it is a substance that is exhaled and it goes on to—there's residue on the walls and stuff like this. When you go into a house, can you tell if somebody has been vaping inside of the house or is it not really that easy to tell?Celeste Robertson: It's not as easy as when you see the nicotine that's on the walls. But nowadays, with this vaping, there's all these flavors. And so, that is going to get into the smell of curtains, carpets, things like that. So you would eventually be able to tell, yes.Steve Rozenberg: Now, and just to be clear, somebody smoking marijuana is different than somebody actually having a grow house, right? These are different things with a grow house situation. And I understand that obviously gets a little bit more exponentially serious when somebody has that. Do you have any advice? Have you ever dealt with a grow house in Vegas?Celeste Robertson: I have. I personally have had one, but it was after the fact, where we found it after the resident had moved out, where they had it in their closet. And so it was a pretty big mess but that’s the only one I've had. Not very many grow houses, especially now since it's been legalized. Nobody has to really do their own grow houses anymore.Steve Rozenberg: Right, they can go to the local store and get it.Celeste Robertson: Right.Steve Rozenberg: Let me ask you this, when it is a grow house and someone's doing that, is it considered hazmat or is that only for like methamphetamines and stuff like that?Celeste Robertson: Right. That would be more of a chemical. This would just be a grow since it’s growing from something naturally. It's just, the resident would be responsible for putting the unit back into its original condition.
Steve Rozenberg: So if I was an investor and I had a rental property. What would you suggest—what kind of language should I put in my lease agreement that would help protect me? You know, should I go down this path, and I find out someone's vaping and smoking and all that, is there some type of verbiage that you recommend?Celeste Robertson: Well, if they're going to use property managers—our service—we already have it in our lease. But you want to make sure you cover all bases by saying any substance that could that smoked, vaped, e-cigarette, and be causing a nuisance and damage to the property.Steve Rozenberg: And are there any tester kits that you can do to actually—if you say they're smoking, they may say they're not? And I don't even know; I'm just curious. Do test kits exist where you can actually certify that, yes, somebody was actually smoking, or is it more of a perspective when you go into the property?Celeste Robertson: It's pretty much more of perspective, because it's not actually a chemical. It's more than perspective by seeing the damage. And again, it just reiterates that it's best to have a property manager that you're going to walk in, you're going to do an inspection and photos prior to move in where you would have comparisons to say, well, now look at the walls or look at the damage, as well as we have licensed vendors that go in on a move out or we have our inspectors and do inspections periodically at the property that would be able to make the notation, professionally.Steve Rozenberg: And that's the determination of wear and tear versus damage and knowledge of the law and all that stuff. So that's good.Celeste Robertson: Which is super important because it's a very fine line.Steve Rozenberg: It is a very fine line and it can be subject to your documentation that you have or don't have that can actually determine whether or not you are able to hold someone liable. So that's good.Well, Celeste, thank you so much. If somebody wanted to get ahold of you at Mynd and talk about Las Vegas and property management, how would they do that?Celeste Robertson: The best route of contact would be 833-MYND. That’s M-Y-N-D.Steve Rozenberg: And if you wanted to find us on the web, you can go to MY-N-D.co, mynd.co. Also, we've got a great Facebook group. The MasterMynd Real Estate Investment Club. You can go ahead and look us up there, as well as our podcast show, the Myndful Investor podcast show on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, all those things.And again, just investors trying to help fellow investors, trying to figure out how to kind of get through the grind sometimes when you own real estate. So, thank you very much. We'll talk to you guys next time. Bye-bye.Vaping and growing marijuana use are two developing challenges that property managers and landlords have had to face in recent years. With changing marijuana laws and developing vaping technology, rules around smoking that are typically found in lease agreements have become far more difficult to enforce.With this said, the lease agreement is any owner or investor’s first and best defense against a tenant’s abuse of these rules. Clearly outlining the rules within the lease agreement is key for prevention, especially if the tenant is observed breaking such a rule. Likewise, the lease agreement can outline exactly what damages the tenant will be responsible for if it is discovered that they are vaping within the property.While many tenants may not know that what they are doing is wrong or against the rules, it is up to every owner, investor or property manager to outline these rules. Doing so will make them far easier to enforce, and will absolutely save you money, should your tenant not comply with the regulations spelled out in the lease agreement.
https://youtu.be/VcKw3_liTH8
Mynd's regional director in Las Vegas, Chris Meranto, joined Steve and Alex to let them know how Las Vegas is doing during the coronavirus. Many are having to deal with the shelter-in -place order, all the while the casinos have been shut down. One of America's most famous cities is a lot quieter.
https://youtu.be/maubc3XSS6s
Mynd's regional director in Las Vegas, Chris Meranto, joined Steve and Alex to provide another update on how Las Vegas is doing during the coronavirus.
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Las Vegas is the largest city in the US state of Nevada. The weather being a nice constituent has occasional extremes, and most of the year is beautiful. The city has giant mega casino hotels embellished with lavish care and attention to detail to create a revering ambience. According to US news and world report, the city's transportation infrastructure is ranked number 1 in the country. Las Vegas has satisfactory public transportation options, reliable roads and well-built bridges.
Las Vegas businesses and expansion of activities in international markets are accommodated by global commerce and investment programs. The cities key industries include aerospace and defense, manufacturing and logistics, information technology which also plays a major role in national security.
There are a number of factors to consider, including:
Location is one of the key factors of investment as it creates profitability and desirability. The neighborhood should also provide basic public facilities, and satiate all other factors making it convenient to stay in. Pioneer Park is a highly economical place to live in. The finest neighborhoods to invest in Las Vegas rental real estate as per the acknowledging rates are The Lakes, Peccole Ranch, Sovana, Canyon Gate and Winchester.
For more information refer to our Knowledge Center and visit our Las Vegas, NV Property Management page for local landlord tips and information. Our team has vast knowledge and experience in local Las Vegas property management and can help you to have a better investment experience. We educate on topics in the Nevada area ranging from investment opportunities, repairs and maintenance, leasing, and how to handle resident issues! We look forward to furthering your rental property education.
