Who are your fellow Hapco Philadelphia members? Our first membership survey reveals some interesting findings.
Hapco Philadelphia is into its seventh decade of existence; promoted in the 1960’s as a “mom and pop” landlord organization. So … are we still “mom and pop”? Today, in these challenging times, we’re more committed than ever to representing mom, pop, and everyone else who invests or manages rental property in the City of Philadelphia. But good representation, of course, mandates that we know who we’re representing. That’s why we asked our members (and even non-member landlords) to complete the first in a series of non-scientific surveys to learn more about Philadelphia investment property owners and managers. This first survey was completed by 253 people, and all but four identified themselves as Hapco Philadelphia members. In fact, 57% say they’ve been a member for at least seven years.
Two hundred fifty-three responses isn’t a majority of our membership, of course. But it still offers us some insights that may interest you about your peers.
For starters, about 59% of the respondents were men, 41% women, and more than half (53%) are 61 years old or older. Like most organizations, we want to attract more young people, and we’ve got some work to do: only 2% are age 35 or younger! Know of younger Philadelphia landlords? Tell them to join us. As one member wrote on the survey, “HAPCO has really stepped up its game. Love it!” Thanks for your kind words. Now, back to the survey:
98% of those who responded own rental property, and 85% own single family or duplex units. About a third own triplex properties. Nearly 7% own multi-family properties that house twenty-one or more units.
So how many units do our members own or manage? About 42% of respondents told us they have one to four units. 23% own five to ten, and more than 12% own 51 or more units.
As for rent, half say they charge between $1,001 – $1,400 per month. 25% charge $750 or less, and 16% charge $2,001 or more.
About 49% of those surveyed have annual revenues from their properties of $50,000 or less. About 36% have annual revenues between $50,001 and $250,000, and about 15% have revenues of at least $250,001 per year.
Ninety-four percent classify all or some of their properties as market-rate, and 28% offer Section 8/Voucher Assistance housing.
As to where members own, we should first acknowledge a mistake that many of you caught. Yes, we inadvertently forgot to include Northwest Philadelphia. (Crazy, right?, considering some of our board members have property there!) In any case, we found that our members own pretty evenly across West Philly (35%) North Philadelphia (34%), the Northeast (32%) South Philly (23%) and Center City (21%). And about 28% also own property outside the city. Finally, about 45% of those responding say they live in the city themselves.
Are tenants paying their monthly rent? Respondents say, on average, they successfully collect about 87% from occupied units.
These are some of the highlights from our first membership survey. Over the next several months, we’re planning additional surveys focused on issues and concerns our members may have. We encourage you to participate, because your input matters!