Posts Tagged Property Management
Landlords and Tenants; How to Market for a Tenant Successfully
Posted by Top Home Loans in Landlord Guide, Mortgage Advice, Property Management on April 11, 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 8, 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.
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How to Handle the Abandonement of Personal Property in a Rental Unit
Posted by Top Home Loans in Mortgage Advice on January 6, 2009
As a landlord, sometimes you will have to deal with tenants deciding to move out in the middle of the night. Usually, they will take all their belongings with them; however, sometimes they will leave things behind. Unfortunately, you cannot throw out the left over items in the unit. Different legislation will require you to store the items for a certain duration of time. In some locations, when the landlord removes the goods from the rental unit, the landlord must the store the items in a safe place for a minimum of 60 days following the date that a written inventory of the unit was completed and archived. The landlord must also keep particulars for 2 years of the disposition of the property and for 2 years following the date of disposition. If a representative of the tenant requests information on the property that was stored in the unit, then the landlord is required to tell the inquiry about the disposition of the inventory.
If the property has a total market value of $5000 or less, then the cost of storing, removing, and selling the goods would actually cost more than the goods are worth or if the property is unsafe or unsanitary to store, then the landlord may dispose of the goods in a reasonable manor.
If a tenant returns to claim the personal property before the time that the items are disposed of the locations legislation, then the landlord may request reimbursement for reasonable costs associated with the storing, removing, and transporting of the goods. The landlord may also request that the tenant make good on any amounts payable by the tenant to the landlord under the Residential Tenancy Act or a tenancy agreement.
If a tenant makes a request to regain possession of the goods; however, the tenant refuses to pay the amounts outstanding, then the landlord may dispose of the personal property through following the regulations of the location.
Make sure to review any and all details of the legislation in your location before proceeding with the disposal of any personal property abandoned on one of your rental units, and do not hesitate on requesting reimbursement if the tenant returns.