Important News and Techniques for Today's Real Estate Market

Here are some tips if you are going to rent your house without the assistance of a property management company. 

1.)Get a Home Warranty (First American Home Warranty, 2-10 Home Warranty, Old Republic Home Warranty, and American Home Shield are the companies we work with the most—they all have websites and you can order online or by calling their 800 numbers)

2.)Do a Move In Move Out Inspection that both you and the tenant signs. Don’t just write down what’s wrong---PHOTOGRAPH any issues so that you won’t have any question about what was pre-existing.  This protects both you and the tenant and helps to avoid possible "finger pointing" when it's time for the tenant to move out.

3.)Offer a rebate of $100 per month on the rent if they decide to buy it next year. That may give them the incentive to take care of the property more--after all, it may one day be their property!

4.)Don’t have “late fees” in your lease. Instead, set the rent at a higher amount and give a discount if the rent is paid by the 2^nd of the month. It’s a WHOLE lot easier to give a discount than to collect a “penalty”.

5.)Limit the number of pets you’ll allow and require a pet deposit for the ones you do allow.

6.)Set expectations on maintenance. The tenants need to cut the grass regularly, keep the driveway swept at least once a month, don’t allow newspapers or other trash to collect in the yard, etc.

7.)Plan on having the shrubs cut and other “large yard /exterior maintenance” like gutter cleaning done TWICE PER YEAR. Once in the Spring, Once in the Fall. There just aren’t many tenants out there who will take care of this kind of stuff for you.