I’m Tired of My Noisy Tenant!
Elaine is a responsible, no-nonsense landlord. Her leases are clear and thorough, and her tenants generally live by her rules. Every now and then, however, Elaine signs a lease with a tenant who unexpectedly starts causing trouble—despite her checking the tenant’s rental history, criminal background, and credit. This time it’s a young woman who is [...]
Categories: Evicting tenants, Eviction, Landlord and Tenant Issues, Problem Tenants, Rental Property Management, Renting and Leasing, Tenant Screening & Background Checks, Three Day Notice to Perform Covenant or Quit, Three Day Notice to Quit Tags:
A List of Landlord “Don’ts”
Take a look at these true landlord stories—and avoid repeating their mistakes. These are definite landlord don’ts! George informed his landlord that he lost his job and can’t afford the apartment any longer, so he needed to break the lease and move. The landlord told George he’d be responsible for the rest of the rent [...]
Categories: Landlord and Tenant FAQs, Landlord and Tenant Issues, Landlord Don’ts, Landlord Don’ts Renting and Leasing, Landlord Tenant Lawsuits, Landlord Tips, Rental Property Management, Renting and Leasing Tags:
A Landlord’s Guide to Subleasing
Leases begin and end; tenants come and go. Often, life interferes with details like legal documents (leases) and a tenant comes to you with an announcement: “I’m moving, but don’t worry—I found someone to take over my lease!” For some landlords, this is when the worrying begins. For others, it’s not a big deal—having a [...]
Categories: Landlord and Tenant FAQs, Landlord and Tenant Issues, Landlord Paperwork and Forms, Rental Property Management, Renting and Leasing, Tenant Screening & Background Checks, Tenant Sublease, Who’s Responsible for Sublease? Tags:
Landlord Basics: Showing Your Rental Property to Potential Tenants
You’ve advertised your vacant rental property, had some calls of interest, and pre-screened the callers to weed out those that aren’t best-fit tenants for you. Now, you’re ready to show the property in person. Here are a few tips for a successful showing of your rental property: If you can, schedule an open house to [...]
Categories: Landlord Tips, Potential Tenants, Rental Property Management, Renting and Leasing, Showing a Rental Property, Tenant Background Checks, Tenant Screening & Background Checks Tags:
How to Deal with Cosigners on a Residential Rental Lease
Every landlord has his or her way of dealing with potential tenants who have less than stellar credit histories, or whose income is lower than the required minimum for a rental property. Many just outright reject the tenant applicant and move on until they find a better fit. Others take into consideration the tenant applicant’s [...]
Categories: Co-Signers on Rental Property Leases, Landlord Tips, Managing Lease Co-Signers, Rental Property Management, Renting and Leasing, Require Co-Signer on Lease, Tenant Screening & Background Checks Tags:
How to Collect Rent on Time, Every Month
Every landlord we know would agree with this understatement: rent is important. Actually, it’s more than just important—rent is like a fertilizer that keeps your rental business growing and healthy. Rent is as necessary to your rental property business as rain is to plants. If only collecting rent was as easy as collecting the rain [...]
Categories: Collecting Rent, How to Collect Rent on Time, Landlord Tips, Managing Tenant Rent Payment, Online Rent Collection, Rental Property Management, Renting and Leasing, Rents and Deposits Tags:
Easy Tips for Managing a Property Manager
There are just as many rental property owners who wouldn’t dream of personally managing their rentals as there are landlords who would never allow a property manager to do it. As your rental property business grows, you may find it becoming too much to handle by yourself. If you’ve made the decision to turn over [...]
Categories: General, Hiring a Property Manager, managing rental property, Rental Property Management, Rental Property Mangers, Renting and Leasing Tags:
Hiring a Maintenance Company? 5 Things Landlords Should Look For
Whether hiring an outside contractor for regular maintenance, emergency repairs, or both, landlords need to know a few things first—especially if they’ve never hired a contractor before. It’s important to keep your rental properties in good working order and safe for your tenants—so having a great repair person can bring you peace for mind. Besides, [...]
Categories: Background Screening Checks, General, Hiring a Contractor, Rental Property Maintenance, Rental Property Management, Renting and Leasing Tags:
Secrets of Successful Landlords
Like most articles about secrets, you’ll find that the ones we’re about to share with you are mostly common sense reminders—but every one needs easy-to-remember hints now and then. Landlording is about people, as well as the buildings they live in. If you’re a landlord, you probably spend much more time dealing with people than you [...]
Categories: Landlord Tips, Landlord/Tenant Issues, Rental Property Management, Renting and Leasing, Successful Landlords Tags:
Tenants: How Many is Too Many?
Mark O. is a landlord who just purchased a single family rental house on foreclosure. The neighbors have informed Mark that although the home has only 3 bedrooms and 1 bathroom, there are several cars parked at the house all the time, and seemingly a dozen adults living there. Mark is concerned about the wear and [...]
Categories: Landlord Tips, Limit on Number of Tenants, Rental Property Management, Renting and Leasing, tenant screening, Tenant Screening & Background Checks, Too Many Tenants in Single Unit Tags: background, best, check, complete, landlord, property, rental, tenant