A positive rental experience starts with two things: a qualified tenant and a strong lease. A good lease will protect you and your property, and set forth the expectations and responsibilities of you and your tenant during the lease period.
A security deposit is paid by the tenant to the landlord at the beginning of a lease period. California law allows you to charge a security deposit that’s the equivalent of two months’ rent on an unfurnished rental home. The limit for a furnished home is three times the monthly rent. While the landlord or the property manager holds this deposit during the lease period, it’s still the tenant’s money, and it cannot be spent until the tenant has moved out and the accounting completed.
Inspecting your rental property is important because it documents the condition of your investment and ensures your tenants are following the terms of their lease. While you should inspect your property regularly, you also want to respect your tenant’s right to peaceful enjoyment of the property. You don’t want to violate their privacy, either.
There isn’t a landlord or a property manager in South Bay, Chula Vista or Bonita who enjoys evicting tenants. It’s time-consuming, it’s expensive, and it leaves you recovering financially and emotionally for several weeks or even months. The best way to deal with evictions is to avoid them. A thorough screening process and excellent communication will help you develop and maintain positive relationships with your tenants, and hopefully ensure they pay rent on time and follow the terms of your lease.
People become landlords in a number of different ways. Whether you’ve moved out of a home you once lived in, you’ve inherited a property that you’ll turn into a rental, or you’ve intentionally invested in residential real estate in order to earn some hot returns, you need to decide how you’re going to manage that property.
Prospective tenants are likely going to look at your property’s pictures before they read the description or do anything else. Most people looking at online ads are visual people, and they’ll want to get an idea of what your property looks like. Appeal to those senses by providing high quality, professional photographs. While hiring a professional photographer is a great idea, you can probably take good pictures on your own if you pay attention to a few details. For example:
