Dallas Property Management Blog

How National Rent Rates Affect Dallas Property Management

Why buy a single-family home when you can rent one? Since the recession of 2008, more people are choosing to rent instead of own a home. At Specialized Property Management Dallas, we are the #1 Dallas property management company dedicated to rental property owners. If you want to invest in a single-family home and rent it out to tenants, now is a great time to do so. Dr. Randy Bell, a Dallas real estate agent with Dallas Realty Resources, spoke with the Dallas Observer about why more people are choosing this lifestyle,“Millennials want to be in close proximity to all the fun,” he says. “Also, a lot of these apartments have state-of-the-art amenities and are low maintenance.” 

Many renters are committing to their properties long-term—even up to 5 years or longer—rather than standard 12-18-month rental terms. Part of the reason millennials don’t want to buy is because they want the flexibility to go after the latest and greatest when it crosses their doorstep.

“It’s a fascinating trend to watch,” says Mike Jeppson COO of Specialized Property Management in Dallas. “This is great news for property managers and investors as well. It means that they get high quality tenants who are willing to commit for a few years and when the house does turn over, there is a fresh pool of similar tenants waiting to take over. Quite honestly, I’ve not seen anything like it.”

As a leader in the Dallas property management industry, we want to share the latest trends with rental rates nationwide, as well as here in the Lone Star State.

Nationwide Rental Rates

All over the nation, there are thousands of apartments and homes available to rent. RentCafe looked at over 133 markets across the U.S.: major cities, middle-sized cities, and smaller cities and compared rental rates and trends among them. RentCafe found that rent rates continue to rise nationally every year. 

“The national average rent went up by 3.2% in the past year and 0.1% month-over-month” -from RentCafe

Because a lot of people want to live in big cities, large metropolises can usually get away with charging the most rent. Manhattan, NY, lives up to its reputation as the most expensive place to live. But San Francisco, CA, and Boston, MA, were not far behind:

Top 3 Most Expensive Apartment Rental Rates Per Month:

  1. Manhattan, NY – $4,245
  2. San Francisco, CA – $3,733
  3. Boston, MA – $3,429

Looking for somewhere with the cheapest rent? 

The 3 least expensive places to rent an apartment were:

  1. Tulsa, OK – $708
  2. Wichita, KS – $658
  3. Toledo, OH – $733

California rental property owners looking to invest in areas where the rent is remaining steady or continually increasing should look at mid-size cities such as Long Beach, Santa Ana, and Anaheim. In these three cities, rent continually increased by 0.4%-0.5% from month-to-month.

Dallas Property Management: Where Texas Stands

The Texas cities of Amarillo, Brownsville, and Killeen all made the list for the top 5 lowest rents among small cities. You may be surprised to know that, “The average rent in Texas cities is generally lower than the national average rent,” according to the Texas Rent Report from RentCafe. In the greater DFW area, the average amount charged for rent during the month of October 2019 was $1,240, compared to the nationwide average of $1,476 in October.

“An affordable $1,240 average and a subdued m-o-m increase of 0.5% is what still places Dallas, TX among the most sought-after renter cities in the country. Doug Ressler, Manager of Business Intelligence at Yardi Matrix believes that these are the cities that have benefitted from a combination of tech-driven growth and booming populations.” -from RentCafe

The following corporations call Dallas, TX home: Bank of America, Texas Health Resources, Inc., Baylor Health Care System, AMR Corporation, Southwest Airlines, ExxonMobil, Kronos, AT&T, J.C. Penney, Lockheed Martin, JP Morgan Chase and Texas Instruments. So if you’re moving to Dallas without a job, you’ve got lots of options for employment. Many corporations are opening glistening new facilities, attracting transplants from all over the world and appealing to new college grads who are looking to boost their resumes. Dallas property management finds that those who relocate from more expensive areas like California or the East Coast to Dallas, TX enjoy a lower cost of living and milder winters. 

“Everything is bigger in Texas, and that’s certainly true when it comes to Dallas’s population, growth and size. In fact, the DFW area has recently gained more new residents than any metropolitan area in the country, and in terms of population, it trails only Chicago, Los Angeles and New York.” -from lifestorage.com

Renter Preferences

When it comes to apartments, most people want to rent 2-bedroom units. In fact, more than 40% of searches on RENTCafé.com were specifically for 2-bedroom places. Apartments with only 1 bedroom, 3-bedrooms, or studios were nowhere near as popular. The Dallas Morning News reports that, “Construction of multi-family apartment units in Dallas is far outpacing single-family building. . . almost 44,000 rental units are under construction in the D-FW area.”

Still, single-family homes are also becoming a top choice for renters. Buying a home can be intimidating, especially after the mortgage crisis of 2008. The process can seem scary or too involved and many shy away from it. But, these same people are tired of living in tiny apartments, sharing their space with loud neighbors and weird smells. Renting single-family homes can provide them with that private familial lifestyle they’re looking for without a long-term commitment.

Amenities like their own backyard, a nice neighborhood, more privacy, and more space overall are all reasons families choose a single-family home to rent. At SPM Dallas, we have more experience operating single-family rental homes than any other Dallas property management company. As more people choose to rent single-family homes, rent prices go up, putting more money directly into the hands of property owners. Dallas Culture Map states:

“In the Dallas-Plano-Irving area, rents for single-family homes rose 2.5 percent from April 2018 to April 2019. . .  the median rent for a three-bedroom, single-family home was $1,622 in March 2019. . .”

Welcome to Suburbia

The many suburban areas around Dallas allow people who work in the city to rent out a single-family home for significantly less per month than those homes closer to downtown. Rental homes in suburbs also tend to be in quieter neighborhoods with better schools than you would find in the middle of the city.

According to RentCafe

“Zooming out to the metro level, suburban areas are where we typically see the most single-family rental homes. On average, about 70% of SFR are located outside the boundaries of the largest principal city of a metropolitan area.”

Suburban areas also tend to have less crime and more family-friendly activities available. For example, Dallas property management owners should know that the Dallas suburb of Coppell was rated the #1 best suburb to live in the DFW area on niche.com due to its A+ public schools and low crime rate. In this particular suburb, 28% of homes are rentals and 72% are owned. 

A Dallas Property Management Company You Can Trust

Looking to invest in rental homes inside and outside of Dallas? You don’t have to limit yourself to just one area, but Dallas is a great place to get started! Let your team at Specialized Property Management Dallas help you locate the best investment homes. There’s no better time than now for investors to snap up a few rental properties to call their own. As prices begin to rise, both to buy and to rent, locking in those rates now will ensure a profitable long term investment for you as the property owner. 

At Specialized Property Management Dallas, we make owning and operating a rental home easier for you with our comprehensive property management services. We have a 98% customer satisfaction rating, and 95% of our vacancies are leased in less than 29 days. We promise each and every property owner:

  • LOCAL EXPERIENCE
  • DECREASED VACANCY RATES
  • STRICT TENANT SCREENING METHODS
  • STREAMLINED RENT COLLECTIONS
  • COST-EFFECTIVE, RELIABLE MAINTENANCE
  • ONLINE REPORTING
  • CENTRALIZED ACCOUNTING
  • REGULAR PROPERTY INSPECTIONS
  • MANAGEMENT OF TENANT EMERGENCIES AND REQUESTS
  • A RIGOROUSLY-TRAINED STAFF
  • IN HOUSE LEGAL COUNSEL AND REGULATION EXPERTISE

“We moved our two rental properties over from another real estate agency and found the whole experience easy and fluid. SPM dealt with issues and repairs in a sensible manner; rather than caulk up a problem and look for temporary fixes, they went to the core of the issue and identified permanent solutions which were more cost effective in the long run. I also found the costs to be about 70% of the previous agent – possibly through better sourced contractors. When it came to selling the properties Sylvia Cantu was brilliant. She was available every single time we called, including on weekends, early in the morning (we live in a different time zone). I only wish we have found SPM earlier.” -Facebook review from Shelley W. 

Make Dallas property management easier for you. Put our team, experience, and ethics to work for you.  Contact your Specialized Property Management Dallas team today at 214-233-7572! 

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