Posts Tagged landlord
Landlords and Tenants; How to Market for a Tenant Successfully
Posted by Top Home Loans in Landlord Guide, Mortgage Advice, Property Management on April 11th, 2009
Hiring a Property Management Company
If you are looking to have a unit filled and looked after with no effort at all because you are too busy with other things in your life, then this is the way to go. They will do all the marketing of the unit, they will respond to any request for repairs, they will deal with all legal requirements in terms of the property, they will show the property, and they will maintain regular upkeep. They will do all this for a fraction of the rent price.
This method is extremely effective if you live a long range from the property, or if you are too busy in life to take care of the property on your own and need a helping hand. Most property management firms are quite reasonable in what they charge, and what you get back in return is extremely important. If you valuye your time over looking after the rental property, then this is the way to go.
Marketing the Property Yourself
Many apartment seekers use online apartment postings to find a dream unit to rent. This is because it takes the least amount of time to search a lot of units to find the perfect one to rent. Someone can search by criteria to find a dream unit in a limited amount of time. This is extremely important for a tenant because it takes a lot of time searching units for a tenant to find a dream unit. This way it is effective to post using popular internet websites like: Craigslist or Kijiji.
These popular websites have been even merged with other sites, like Google Maps, to make the search even easier. Padmapper has mashed up Craigslist with Google Maps to make find a property easy for a perspective tenant.
When posting a listing make sure that it includes the following information and is presented in such a way that it attracts the tenants that you are looking for:
- Price of the listing
- Exact property address of the listing
- Number of bedrooms
- Square footage of the rental unit
- State of upkeep of the rental unit
- Details on other tenants at the location
- Details on the type of tenant that you are looking for
- Details about the surrounding amenities
- Many pictures showing the unit in full
With these details all provided upfront, then you will have less people calling about the unit and not ending up renting. Make sure that you provide potential tenants up front full disclosure on the property, and you will complete the transaction much more efficiently.
By either hiring or successfully marketing your property, you can save yourself a lot of time and money. The revenue that you will earn of marketing a rental unit yourself is great, so it would be a good idea to learn the skills to be able to market your property successfully.
The stronger you are able to market your rental units, then the quicker you will be able to achieve full rental income for longer amounts of time. You will also be able to find the tenants that you are looking for and maximize on your rental income. The better your postings, then the more rental income that you can expect to receive for your unit. A strong online posting and presence, will give you much larger results in terms of dollars at the end of the day.
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Landlord’s Guide – A Guide to Finding the Optimal Tenants
Posted by Top Home Loans in Landlord Guide, Mortgage Advice, Property Management, Real Estate on April 8th, 2009
If you are a new or seasoned landlord, it is always a good idea to update your skills for tenant selection. The tools that become available to help you choose the optimal tenant become larger and larger as technology advances. Only limited tools were available years ago; however, the tools available have grown so much that it is a chore to keep track of all the upgrades.
Initial Applications and Pre-Approving
When someone first puts in the offer to lease your property, the first step is to collect some basic information. Some of this basic information is does the tenant have pets, do they smoke, the current employer of the tenant, previous addresses, and other basic information. There are plenty of free applications available off of the internet for download.
The following is an example of a lease application.
Once you have received a series of applications, then it is best to review the applications to see if there are any applicants that can be easily removed. Once you have reduced the amount of potential tenants, then it is best to start checking initial references. It is also a good idea to check the references of the references. For example, if someone claims to work for a particular company, then for most company’s, you can contact the HR department and confirm that the person actually works there.
Once you have successfully spoke with enough references, then it is time to investigate with even more in depth tools.
Amazing Tools to get Background Checks on Tenants
With the advent of the digital age, it is almost scary how much information can be found on the internet. The first thing that you should check is a persons credit report; unfortunately, you will not be able to see there credit score; however, you will get some information that can only be found on the credit report. The first thing is the potential tenants current address. Make sure that this matches the tenants current address and the reference that you spoke to is the landlord for that address.
The second thing to review is the ratings. All the rating should be R1 or I1 rating. If they are anything less, then the potential tenant may have some financial difficulties. Also, make sure that the balances on their accounts are low. If they have high balances, then it could indicate that live off of credit. Also, make sure that they have no outstanding collections.
Google and Social Networks
Google, Facebook, and other social networking sites are a great way to get even more background information on someone. By googling someones name, most of the time it will provide you with some very important details about the person you are allowing to live under your roof. Many times when you google someones name, you find out details that you should know, or that the person has never told you. Also, by reviewing a persons Facebook profile, this can tell you a lot about the individual.
If all these items check out and the tenant still seems like a great person, then you may have just found the perfect tenant. Someone who is clean, quiet, pays there rent on time, and is a hard working individual is the characteristics that you are looking for. Using these tools, it should allow you to find the perfect tenant that much easier.
Landlords and Tenants; What you need to know About Eviction
Posted by Top Home Loans in Landlord Guide, Mortgage Advice, Property Management on April 7th, 2009
When operating or living in a rental unit, it may be possible that you run into a situation where you are either receiving or giving an eviction notice. Before proceeding with this form of action, it is best to know about all the legal requirements surrounding eviction. In each state and province the rules and regulations are most likely different, so it is best to contact a legal representative to help to find out your rights. Also, a lot of myths surround eviction. For example, in most cases, you can be evicted in the middle of winter.
Grounds that a Landlord can Evict a Tenant
The following examples are occasions when a landlord can evict the tenants of a property:
- If the payment of rent is not received on the day that it is due, then the landlord can give a Notice of Termination; however it does not take effect until the 14th day after the notice is given, this is only 7 days if the rent is paid daily or weekly. The termination notice must provide the details that eviction can be avoided if rent is paid before the date the notice takes effect.
- If the tenant or if the tenant allows someone to do illegal acts on the grounds or anywhere on the property. The person must be found guilty in a criminal court and must be to the satisfaction of an adjudicator of the Landlord and Tenant Board.
- If the tenant of if the tenant allows someone to cause willful or negligent damage to the rental unit, property, or building, then the tenant can be evicted. The tenant must be provided with a way to remedy the situation before being evicted.
- If the tenant, guests of the tenant, or other users of the rental unit substantially interfere with the reasonable enjoyment of the building for other tenants within the building, or if the building has 3 units or less and the landlord resides there.
- If the tenant, other residents of the unit, or a guest of the tenant impairs the safety of anyone in the residential complex.
- If the am0unt of people occupying the rental unit on a consistent basis has an effect on the health, safety, or housing standards as required by law.
- If the tenant lives in subsidized or public housing and provides false information about there income or the income of those living in the household.
- Animals can cause a tenant to be evicted if the Landlord and Tenant Board is convinced that the tenant is keeping the animal and the animal is interfering with the reasonable enjoyment of the premise for other tenants in the building.
There are, also, other reasons why a tenant could be evicted. For example, if the landlord needs the apartment to live in, if the building is being destroyed, if the building is being converted, if the building is having major renovations completed that they need the unit vacated.
A landlord may use one of these reasons to evict a tenant for unjust reasons. If you feel you are becoming the victim of an unfair eviction, then it is best to study your local laws, contact a real estate lawyer, or speak with your local tenancy board and explain the situation to see if you have a case.