Monday, August 16, 2010

What is OPD?

I was just reminded over the weekend (my wife and I were cleaning one of our properties) of the concept of OPD. I first coined this phrase early on in my property management career and having a good understanding of this concept is key to starting out a new residency on a good footing.

OPD - Other Peoples Dirt. It goes like this: No one is more picky about cleanliness than someone moving into a new home. At first I was puzzled after experiencing extra picky tenants at move in who I later discovered were not the greatest house keepers themselves. It comes down to who's dirt it is. At first I thought they were just hypocritical and difficult people. However, the more I thought about it, I think this is a natural characteristic of all of us. If its other peoples dirt we don't know what it is and our minds go to the worst extreme. We are often repulsed. Even people who are immaculate housekeepers have an even higher disdain for OPD.

That helps explain why one speaker I heard who's topic was "The Top 10 Rules of Property Management" stated that one of the worst things you can do is turn over a property to a tenant at move in which is not well cleaned (professionally). The reason for this is we now have an angry new tenant. Not a good way to start out a relationship. Worse yet, we have now established in the mind of the resident that we do not have very high standards and our credibility is shot. Now try to lecture them on anything having to do with the maintenance of the property and it will always get thrown back in your face.

Many homes can look clean at first glance, but once a dirty corner in the floor is discovered by a new resident (or a potential new resident), now the white gloves and magnifying glass come out and you are busted. On the contrary, if someone views a property and it smells clean and genuinely is clean you have earned their respect and often times this will be the main reason why you have just found a good clean renter.

This may seem obvious to a landlord from afar, but in practice it brings up a few challenges: If we turn over a property to a tenant which is professionally clean, do we have a right to the same expectation of cleanliness when they move out? Of course landlords do not want to pay to have a property cleaned if the tenant is responsible. Also, if a property was clean, but has sat for 3 weeks waiting for a move in (enough time for some bugs to accumulate, or have workers in and out), should they expect to pay for a second cleaning?

Our lease requires residents to surrender the property in "Good, clean condition. Normal wear and tear excepted." In all likelihood it will not be clean enough. We frequently make claims against security deposit for cleaning. This can cause arguments if the tenant felt it was cleaned, and often they will feel insulted that we would consider their level of cleanliness sub par. Angry tenants mean potential legal challenges. (At this point we had better hope it was clean when they moved in). If in the rare chance it is left in professionally clean condition, then it will probably need at least a wipe down prior to the next move in.

The point of all this: As a landlord, you can expect to pay for at least some minor cleaning between tenants even if you have the best property manager in town (like us).

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