$8.00 per month charge for extermination in the rent charge. What are your thoughts about this?

So, I lived all my life here in Chicago, past 40 years in property management and have worked all over the United States; speaking, training, workshops and seminars, to name a few.
Question, we shopped comps this weekend and leasing professionals included in there script a $8.00 per month charge for extermination breakdown in the rent charge.
What are your thoughts about this?
What is the potential the prospect is thinking?
Should we be talking about it?
Could this potentially kill a leasing deal.
Pros/Cons ?
Thoughts ?

That screams dumb,..........

You can charge for monthly service. The potential tenant should be thinking. Great preventative maintenance

We think that way because we are in the business, would a prospect really think that ?

Companies started doing it in the Phoenix market several years ago. It hasn’t been an issue with leasing or renewals. $8 is a bit steep but it depends on the area as their PC services may cost more. Here we are anywhere from $1-$5.

Our prospects often ask about pest control. living in the gulf coast of Texas, roaches, spiders, ants, etc its absolutely part of the scriptt. ours is $3

We will tell them the 1 bedroom is $1375 And that includes the water, sewer, trash and pest control.
So our water, trash sewer, pest control is bundled with your rent. It tells you that breakdown on the pricing sheet.

I wonder, thinking out loud; does this set up the physiology “do they have problems with roaches, bed bugs, etc.? Or will they be looking for problems after moving I ?”
Is it better to talk about this t the move in orientation , after renting?
Thoughts ?

We add it too. $6. And we mention it on tour. Totally normal in Austin market.

People hate line item fees. Just raise the rent by $10 and call it good/say it’s included.

My thought process is it sets them up to think there is a pest control issue. We charge line item of $3/mo for pest control and the only time we touch on it is during the lease signing and we sell it as the benefit it is. On the down side, I have residents that just because they pay the $3 fee they expect to be treated every single month; that’s not how this works, LOL!

If it is something you are charging for, disclose it upfront. Nobody likes hidden fees. I have had it in my breakdown forever, along with any other flat fees charged monthly. It shows transparency and gives agents another benefit talking point while on a tour.

Has not been an issue for us at all.

I think someone’s reaction may depend on the area you’re in. I’m in Florida and our pest control is included, we do not add that as a line item when discussing charges. The weather in Florida allows for bugs to survive pretty much year round and get fairly large - coming from Michigan where things pretty much died off in the winter months. If someone mentioned pest control in Michigan I may worry what I’m getting into. When it’s mentioned in Florida I see it more as a preventative.

Ours is 5.00 per month.
Pest control comes once a week and residents can request service anytime before Wednesday Monday to be on the schedule for that week.
I’ve never worked for a company who didn’t charge for pest control.
But we have had prospects and residents wonder why we charge 5 even tho they never use the service. ????????. Good question and I have no way to answer lol.
We don’t use it has preventive unless the resident asks for it. So it’s kind of confusing.
If no one is on the list for that week I have him spray the club house/ office/ model/ and vacants.
A company I use to work for is actually currently being sued for pest control fees because we are charging for a service they don’t use. They have roaches (so they say) but they only requested pest control once and never said anything again. They also changed their lock and never provided a key. ????????‍♀️
????????????
I’ll come back and update how it works out.

You could say that regardless they treat the grounds weekly (that’s the charge) and if you need anything done in your unit that’s included? I’m in Alabama/Florida and it’s pretty much standard to charge 5 a month.

I can see why one might try this; much like a “heat included doesn’t mean free” explanation to the guy with his windows open in January, but certainly to a prospect it screams pest control crisis which required creativity to finance. There are better ways to control expenses in my opinion. What is the ratio of pest control to marketing spend? Are you cutting off your nose to spite your face?

You can charge back all pest control related services in Texas and recoup your expense but it is illegal to make a profit. In Texas that is.

Unless the tenant caused an issue, PM should be the owners responsibility. Just my thoughts. Seems like residential is turning into a retail center with the billbacks.

My previous company we paid for preventative maintenance around the property. However if a resident wanted pest control in their apartment, they would be charged.
My current property residents are billed back. We charge $3 per month. We disclose utilities during tours, and also let them know if you have ants or spiders etc - submit a work order and when our pest control is here we’ll send them your unit. We’ve haven’t had any complaints.

Been back charging pest control to residents for many years. Trash too no one complains. Because they pay for it, more people request service. in houston, we have lots of bugs. They love all our heat and humidity!

We charge $1/mo per apartment. There is a rotating schedule of exterior and interior treatment. That $1 also includes extra service requests if a resident notices any issues between routine treatments.

We also charge $2 for pest control. We spray occupied units when requested but don't get many requests.
Our contract is for 6 units a week and once a month the outside of 2 buildings.
We worked out a deal with our pest control that for every 2 units we don't spray they will spray around the outside of a building.
When asked about the charge I tell them it is pest control around common areas such as pool, mail, & trash dumpsters. Since resident use of those areas causes bug issues, they share in the cost to keep clean. Residents don't argue that.

Does the resident get a choice, or it’s automatically added in?

This is apart of preventive maintenance. Owners responsibility. We do not charge for pest control. Can come across as nickel and diming residents. Not worth it.

We charge a monthly pest control fee of $3 and will be increasing to $5 in 2021 due to increasing cost.

This is becoming more common in FL, but I find it so strange since the FL NAA lease says we will treat for pests.

I agree, it’s stupid. I’m old school and each new charge we add is taking away from the “ convenience of apartment living”.

I have charged it for several years. Ours is $3 per month. We sell it as a utility bundle lumped with the water, sewer, trash and pest control. People never complain about it. In fact many times, just the opposite. They are glad to have it due to a previous apartment experience. I believe it is all in how you communicate it.

We have charged it for a long time in Texas. I am seeing it in other states as well.

Here in Charlotte we began charging in 2016. The rate began at 2 to 3.00. Most are now 5.00, and no this has never created a leasing issue. They are all being charged and this is a new “ Nickel and dime technique. I’d rather raise the rent 5.00 bucks then break down all these charges.

We charge $5 per month at our Georgia and South Carolina communities for routine pest service. It includes a quarterly exterior service with interior treatment available weekly. Specialty treatment for services such as bed bugs is charged to the resident account.

We charge $4 and it is a common fee most communities are charging in Florida.

$8 x a 12 mth lease is $96 a year. I think it's just the management finding ways to profit more. I spend $30 twice a year (if needed) on pest control. I live in an HOA so I pay for the interior and HOA pays for exterior. You have to think if monthly or semi monthly etc is best for your property. It should be an owners expense for the service not the tenant.

Remember when the airlines started charging for blankets, luggage fees, everything they could find? It reeked of gouging. I fully expected a charge for using the bathroom and toilet paper by the square.
I have begged for years to stop nickel and dime charges...fireplace fee, view fee, 'upgrade' fee, trash fee and more.
It sounds petty, nickel and dime. Just set the rent and say all these niceties are included. For those of you who say you are doing it and it's working, congrats.
As for me, it sounds like "it's an extra dollar with cheese on it."

$8 per month seems a little pricey - most properties in my area charge anywhere from $2-$5 for pest control. Whatever your total monthly cost for pest control, I would calculate the per unit cost of that and round up to the nearest dollar. For example, we pay $800 per month and have 340 units = $2.35 per unit, our residents pay $2 per month for pest control.

I would think there is a rodent problem and would not rent there. This is the landlords responsibility as the property owner/manager, not the residents.

A charge that will be perfect for people with bedbugs only.