Use Several Websites When Advertising Rental Property

For a long time landlords had but a few options for advertising a rental property. You could take out a classified ad in the newspaper, put up flyers around town, and stick a “For Rent” sign out front. These days, though, landlords have the Internet — an invaluable tool for finding qualified tenants and getting the word out about your property and/or your property management business.

While many landlords now use the Web to find tenant applicants, they typically use just a couple websites to do so, unaware that there are several quality websites out there that are either dedicated to rental properties or include rental properties as part of their listings. After you list your property on Craigslist and the local newspaper’s online classifieds, you should cover all your bases by making sure your listing is being cross-referenced and picked up on other reputable websites dedicated to rental properties. A few to check out are: Rent.com, HotPads.com, and Cazoodle.com.

The next time you’re in the market for a pool of qualified tenants who are searching for a property to rent just like the one you have, try one (or all!) of these services in addition to your tried-and-true internet outlets. (But don’t disregard the power of that age-old “For Rent” sign.)

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Up in Smoke: When a Tenant Smokes, the Damage Can Be Devastating

If you asked, some landlords would say they wish there was one more detail a tenant screening service could tell them about a prospective tenant — whether or not the person smokes.

Many landlords don’t like to accept tenants who smoke because of the damage that cigarette smoke does to walls, carpeting and furniture (let alone the potential for burn marks on the floors and complaints by nonsmoking neighbors who live close by and prefer to breathe smoke-free air.) But many applicants are good at hiding the fact that they are smokers.

If you ask an applicant whether he smokes and he says “only outside” or “only occasionally,” consider that answer to be “yes.” Someone might usually smoke outside, but during those long cold winter months, you can’t be sure your tenant isn’t staying curled up in his living room for a smoke instead of shivering on his porch.

When you advertise your property, be sure to include that you’re looking for nonsmoking tenants only; that should help weed out many regular smokers. And even if the tenant you find says he or she doesn’t smoke, include the rule in the rental agreement that there will be no smoking on the premises, and make sure they initial it. You might even want to stipulate that if smoke damage is found on the premises, the needed cleaning and repairs will come out of the tenant’s security deposit. 

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Taking on Rental Property Isn’t an Easy Paycheck

On TV it seems simple, right? Buy a house, make a few improvements, find a tenant and start reaping in the cash. In reality, though, the business of property management is not quite so easy. Sure, there are rewards, but there are risks too, and the wise investor considers both before making an investment.

The first step is, of course, to buy the right property in the right location at the right price. This is no small feat, though with the plethora of properties on the market these days it’s easier than it has been in quite some time. The second step is to really think about whether you want to be a landlord. Becoming a landlord is not a magical way to get a check in the mail every month. Landlords work for that money, even when there’s a good tenant in place and no maintenance concerns lurking.

Ask yourself if you enjoy working with people, meeting new people and getting to know and trust them (to some extent, anyway) with your investment. Are you a good judge of character who is also astute enough to not go on emotions but to use an impartial service to screen tenants? Are you comfortable with fielding maintenance requests and hiring professionals when necessary? Do you have enough in savings or other investments to cover the considerable financial risks associated with property management? Are you a shrewd businessperson who can keep accurate and thorough records of all transactions and correspondences with tenants and service professionals?

Be honest with yourself about what kinds of skills are needed to be a good landlord; that honesty will either save you tons of money and hassle, or feed your dreams of becoming a property manager. 

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Know Fair Housing Laws

When landlords are new to the business, there are two things they need to learn right away. One is the value of using a professional tenant screening service to screen their applicants and give them crucial information on an applicant’s credit, employment, criminal record and rental history. The other is the importance of familiarizing themselves with the Fair Housing laws in their area and their state.

Fair Housing laws are in place to protect both tenant and landlord, but in order to be protected by the law, you have to know what that law is. Landlords can’t plead ignorance when it comes to Fair Housing issues, because it is their duty to learn and uphold the law when doing business.

In essence, fair housing laws are put in place to ensure there will be equal access to housing for all people. There can’t be any discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, age, familial status, children, marital status, veteran status or membership in the armed services, the receiving of public assistance, or physical or mental disability.

To learn more about the law, landlords should visit the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) website. Also check your state’s Housing Department for state regulations and possible training classes on the law. You can also check with your county’s government seat for any local laws regarding Fair Housing issues. Remember that ignorance on this subject will not get you off the hook if you’re ever faced with a complaint or lawsuit accusing you of violating Fair Housing law.

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Rental Applications Can Have Pre-screening Warning Signs

Tenant screening is hands down the best way to tell whether a prospective tenant is qualified to rent your property or not. That way you will get detailed information on the person’s criminal record and employment history, obtain a credit report on the person, see if they have any previous evictions on their record, check their name against sex offender registries … the list goes on.

While the screening itself is invaluable and necessary in today’s world, there are some red flags on an actual rental application that could signal a problem tenant before the formal screening process begins.

First of all, check for incomplete information. If the tenant can’t think of three people they know who aren’t related to them and would give them a positive recommendation, chances are you might not find them to be recommendable either. Also look for mistakes on the application – phone numbers that don’t work when you try them, address numbers missing or inaccurate. Mistakes like that could be an intentional attempt to hide their past, could be a sign of identity theft or a troubled rental history.

Be wary of a tenant who doesn’t have a bank account. Nobody these days deals only with cash and money orders. Just about any responsible adult will have a checking account. Similarly, if they can’t verify a current address with a utility bill or phone bill, they might be hiding something. They might have a bad rental history and don’t want to disclose the name of their current landlord.

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Springtime Is the Right Time for Assessing Rental Property Grounds

The harshness of winter can wreak havoc on a home, and rental properties often fall into disrepair simply because nobody keeps up on regular annual outdoor maintenance. When both the tenants and the landlord think “It’s not my job to clean the gutters,” the result can be a flooded basement — a potentially much more expensive nuisance than cleaning leaves out of the gutters would have been in the first place.

Landlords should stop by their rental properties every spring to make a note of anything damaged on the building that needs to be repaired or replaced — gutters, siding, shutters, even lamp post light bulbs — and take a close look at the grounds for any hazards that should be dealt with immediately. A dead or diseased tree poses a risk, as do large branches and limbs that look like they could fall with the help of a stiff breeze. Look for holes in the ground from animals that may have burrowed in during the winter, and whether there are significant cracks in the sidewalk or driveway that should be fixed.

Check the gutters and downspouts for leaves and other debris that can clog the flow of water off the roof, and reattach gutters that have pulled away from the house. It’s also a good idea to clean siding with a pressure washer to keep mold from growing. Also check wood surfaces for signs of weathering, and repair, re-paint and re-stain when necessary.

A thorough inspection could also include checking the caulking, weather stripping around windowsills and doors, and cleaning and patching window screens. And even if it’s the tenant’s job to do yard work, the landlord should ensure the removal of any vegetation that’s touching the house.

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Make the Move-Out Process Smooth for Tenants — And You

Most tenants have good intentions when they give their landlord a move-out date. After all, they want as much of their security deposit as possible. But often tenants, especially ones who’ve lived in the same rental property for multiple years, grossly underestimate the amount of time, money and effort it takes to effectively move all of one’s belongings from one place to another. When time gets tight and energy runs low, the first thing to go is the tenant’s attention to the rental unit he’s leaving behind. Unwanted items are left piled in empty rooms, the kitchen and bathrooms are not cleaned properly, sometimes even the refrigerator isn’t totally emptied.

This leaves the landlord with a mess and a hassle – and if you’ve already got new tenants slated to move in right away, you could be left scrambling for a professional cleaning service to come at a moment’s notice and undo the damage done by the previous tenant.

The good news is there’s a simple way to help avoid all that. When a tenant gives his 30-day notice that he’ll be leaving the property, an effective landlord should be proactive and immediately give the tenant three things:

1. A copy of his signed rental agreement with any requirements for move-out and the return of the security deposit highlighted, as a memory refresher.
2. A copy of the move-in sheet that should have been filled out and signed by both tenant and landlord upon the tenant’s arrival. This should list, room by room, any damage or issues that were present when the tenant moved in. That will give the tenant a good guide when he’s getting ready to leave about what, if any, repairs he needs to make in order to leave the rental unit in the same shape he found it.
3. A move-out guide that gives a basic cleaning checklist for a tenant. Some tenants won’t remember to clean the oven or defrost and clean the freezer unless it’s written on a handy to-do list. 

Arm your tenant with all the information he needs to make a smooth exit and ensure he receives all, or at least most, of his security deposit.

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