Real Estate Management and Maintenance Tips

Instant Possession May Attract Some Tenants

by Marvin Levin

In the early 1980s, there were six freestanding schools of psychology in the San Francisco Bay Area that awarded PhDs. These were all non-profit colleges that were not connected with major universities. Upon graduation, the graduate would engage in an internship program for one or two years, and then sit for the California State psychologist examination. The school to which I will refer had the highest passing ratio on the state exams of any other California school, including U.C. Berkeley and Stanford.

In the early 1980s, the school relocated to new quarters on the San Francisco Peninsula and, after allocation of space to classrooms and administrative offices, it had eight vacant offices that were ideally suited to rent to independent psychologists or psychiatrists. The school had extra parking for these spaces, and the practitioner would have access to an excellent library without the need to personally incur library and journal costs. The school’s CFO said it would be a “no brainer” to rent the vacant spaces.

Six months later, not a single space had been rented, and the CFO was puzzled. So, I asked if I might inspect some of the vacant offices. I found that, without exception, they were somewhat dirty and had been used as temporary storage for surplus furniture, records, and miscellaneous items.

The CFO said that there had been a number of prospective tenants who had visited the site, declared that they seemed interested, but there was no follow through and no deals were made. However, within a few months, the spaces were 100% rented and I thought it best for purpose of this article to simply articulate what we did.

• We first made four of the eight offices ready for immediate occupancy. By immediately, I mean that we could then say to the prospect: “You can start seeing clients in 30 seconds.”
  
  
• We installed two desks in two of the units and a couch and chair in two of the other units.
  
  
• We installed a working telephone, with the understanding that the number would be changed to accommodate the new tenant.
  
  
• We changed the locks.
  
  
• We contacted a local sign company and arranged to have the prospective tenant’s name installed on the exterior of the office for his/her first visit.

In other words, we treated the offices for rent as if they were “motel units” ready for immediate occupancy!

If you know of a troubled income property, please contact me.