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What do you have written in your Lease?

What do you have written in your Lease?

  • Posted: Aug 03, 2016
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What is written in your Lease? 

Even if you did not inherit someone else’s lease agreement, if your standard lease is extensive, or if you have used multiple leases, it’s possible you will find that what you thought was there, isn’t.

Before you know it, you are threatening to evict a tenant for behavior that isn’t prohibited in your lease, or for failing to pay rent on the first of the month, when the lease provides a seven day grace period.

Don’t be caught by surprise while dealing with problem tenants. Make sure your leasing forms give you the power you need to run a profitable rental business.

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Getting Back Your Security Deposit

Getting Back Your Security Deposit

  • Posted: Aug 01, 2016
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Moving up, moving out. You’ve been living in this dump since your second year of college, and now it’s time to go. The thing is, it’s not quite the same apartment as when you moved in. There are nail holes from where you hung all the Pink Floyd, Barbarella, and Saw movie posters. (And didn’t your landlord specificallysay “no holes in the wall”?) The carpet and floor are mottled with stains of various colors.

Oh, and one night you got really mad and punched a hole in the drywall. You covered it up with a poster, but the hole is still there. Although you don’t remember why you were so upset, the wall remembers your wrath. You could really use your deposit to help get you started in your new place. So, before you call your landlord, we bring you

Getting Back Your Security Deposit

That’s right, secrets. Secrets are exciting, intriguing. They make a boring subject like security deposits seem fun and interesting. Try to remember this as you read.

There’s a saying that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of The Cure”. I’m not sure what prevention has to do with Robert Smith, but the first two secrets I have for you fall into this category. Knowing or doing these when you move in will help you when you move out. The last three secrets fall into the Cure category — fixing stuff.

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What to Do Before Your First Tenants Move In

What to Do Before Your First Tenants Move In

  • Posted: Jun 24, 2016
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What to Do Before Your First Tenants Move In

You just closed on your first residential rental property. What now? Here’s a quick checklist to make sure your property is ready to rent.

Buy property and liability insurance.

You should have contacted an insurance broker before closing on the property, but if not, do it now. A comprehensive landlord insurance policy will protect you from many kinds of losses, including damage to the property caused by fire or vandalism. Make sure you are covered for “general liability,” covering injuries or losses suffered by tenants or visitors at the rental property.

Switch over utility bills.

Put the utilities into your name and make sure they are active even before the property is occupied. It will be hard to rent your place if the electricity is off! Once you’ve chosen someone to rent out the property, you can switch all or some of the utilities to the tenant’s name.

Call the tax collector.

Contact your city manager’s office and find out what department handles tax and water bills. You want to make sure these bills are sent to your mailing address, not the rental property (unless the address is the same). If the bills aren’t sent to the correct address, you could miss a payment and get hit with interest charges, or worse, a lien on your property, before you are even aware of it.

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How to Handle Security Deposits Properly

How to Handle Security Deposits Properly

  • Posted: May 13, 2016
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What’s a Deposit?

Since the dawn of time, landlords have been taking “security” or damage deposits from tenants to insure against potential property damages.

Centuries ago, a tenant could offer a promissory note against crops, livestock, or even children as a damage deposit. (Imagine that!)

Now, however, landlords require tenants to provide the money up front, usually one or two month’s worth of rent. This money is then held by the landlord until the end of the lease, and returned if there are no damages.

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