Howdy folks,
As a Houston property management company, Stagecoach Management helps landlords and real estate investors across Houston, TX maximize their rental property returns. This guide is especially relevant for property owners in the Houston area.
Today I figured I would share what’s going on locally in Houston. The city is in a pinch like the rest of the US. Here are things I’m following locally.
Oil Prices Fall to Floor
Crude oil price dropped to $20 a barrel which is the lowest since the early 2000s. Demand for jet fuel, gasoline, and other oil based products are way down. This is further exacerbated by the fact that Russia and Saudi Arabia are fighting over market dominance and have actually increased production during this time.
Oil and gas companies are attempting to cut expenditures by as much as 30% along with production. ConocoPhillips for example is cutting their budget $700M and 20K barrels in production per day.
Many oil and gas companies are already furloughing (forced unpaid time off) workers. Experts are predicting around 8k jobs lost. Oil and gas is the second largest sector after medical.
SBA Loans an Option for Small Businesses
It’s expected that the SBA will claim Harris county as a disaster area for Coronavirus. Other counties in Texas have already been named. Every day the SBA is releasing more states and counties while trying to limit server overload with applications. If you are a small business impacted you can follow the approved areas here.
Evictions Slowed Through April
Due to Federal regulations evictions have been stopped through the month of March in Houston and most likely April as well. This is scaring many landlords as mortgage payments must continue to be made. We are working with tenants and owners to keep everyone informed. We’ve considered allowing residents to use their security deposit to pay rent and create a payment plan to refill it over the lease term.
Short Term Rentals Down Substantially
AirBnb and other short term rentals are feeling a lot of pressure as travel has fallen off a cliff. Bookings for our properties are down about 50%. We wrote a quick guide yesterday on some tricks and tips. You can find that here. My guess is that through at least April we will see a material impact to bookings. If it goes much further than many AirBnb landlords will need to look for alternatives to fill their housing.
Several Industries Are Thriving
Medical is in high demand right now. The medical center and other local area hospitals have a flood of visitors due to coronavirus. Numbers are not out yet on the economic impact, but it will be substantial. Grocers as well are hiring extra workers and benefitting from the excess buying of consumers. Many supply chain providers are also benefiting from the increased demand. Amazon has announced 6,000 new jobs for the state of Texas as a result of excess demand.
Low Income Earners May Be Allocated Funds
Folks earning less than $100k may be entitled to a household payout of approximately $100. The worry is that the execution of
Conclusion
This too shall pass. It’s going to be a painful 2 or 3 months for a lot of folks. If people are anything they are resilient and adaptive. I am hopeful that as a country we are able to start the rebound sooner rather than later.
Whether you’re managing a single-family rental or a small apartment complex, Stagecoach Management provides full-service rental property management in Houston, TX. From tenant screening and rent collection to maintenance coordination and lease management — we handle it all. Contact us today for a free Houston rental property analysis.