L.A. Landlord Advice
If you are an L.A. landlord and looking for advice, you have visited the right place. In this article, we have gathered a list of important tips for landlords. These tips will help you become an efficient landlord.
More often than not, when you are a new investor, there are several challenges you are likely to experience when you want to build your wealth. We appreciate that when you become a landlord, you must meet a lot of demands such as screening tenants, evicting poor tenants, marketing tenants, and creating lease agreements.
Do not rent to friends or family
When you invest in a property business, do not mix it with friends and family. It might be wonderful in the beginning, but it may be tragic. This is because they expect more for less when you rent from them. And when they skip one month because they cannot afford, it will affect your cash flows. Moreover, it is going to place you in an awkward situation with friends and family.
You should realize that rent is the main source of income for your property renting business. Therefore, you must be aggressive in pursuing late charges and rent. Therefore, when your renters start ignoring your texts or class since they have stopped paying rent you must be ready to begin eviction proceedings.
Implement an electronic rent payment system
Today, most tenants are preferring paying rent online. This is because it is more convenient and faster. With technology, there is no excuse why you should collect rent through a check in your mail. It is time consuming. You have to go keep visiting your mailbox, collect the checks then deposit them. Moreover, checks are riskier. They can bounce and hence you will be forced to pay for the no-sufficient funds fee. With an electronic payment system, the risk of you losing money because of bad checks is minimal.
Screen, Screen, Screen!
One of the things that most landlord overlook most often is screening their tenants. This is especially when their property has a high tenant turnover. However, what they fail to realize is the fact that the cost of tenant turnover may eventually be higher. When you receive a lease termination notice from you current tenants do not panic. When you panic, you will more often rush to have any tenant occupy your property. Instead, look for a qualified tenant.
If you invest in a property and you are a landlord, you must be ready to screen all potential tenants. As a landlord, you need to check the background as well as credit rating of the potential renters. However, remember that the potential client’s credit score is not the only reason why you should reject or accept them. Take sufficient time to do confirm the background of the tenant with colleagues and past landlords.
Remember that screening potential tenants is worth your time. Normally, landlords should conduct an interview with potential clients to understand them better. When screening the background of a potential renter, do not forget that there are federal laws that make it illegal for landlords to discriminate against potential tenants based on their race, ethnicity, or religion.
Know Applicable Laws
As a landlord, you must learn the relevant landlord-tenant laws. Typically, there are both state and federal laws which are related to anti-discrimination and habitability. If you are not familiar with them, find how you can learn them. When you are a landlord, you should never discriminate against tenants based on their color, race, national origin, sex, familial status, religion. Or children. On the other hand, there are state provisions that deal with such issues as notice that need before you refund deposit, security deposits, and levels of access to the apartment.
Inspect the apartments regularly
You must schedule for regular property inspection. Regular inspections help keep an eye on your apartment. When you inspect your property regularly, it helps identify issues that need to be addressed right away. As a result, you will save a lot of money in the long run. However, when you are doing the inspection, ensuring it is calm so that it does not raise an alarm to the tenants. Be careful not to invade their privacy when you doing inspection. It is recommended that you issue tenants with a written notice 24 hours prior to conducting inspection on the property.
Develop written agreements
If you want to become a successful landlord, you must remember that there is nothing like verbal agreements. You need written enforceable agreements to protect your interests as well as those of your tenants. Everything need to be writing. In addition, you need property lawyers to have a look at your agreements for advice.
Choose the right property management partner
Different property managers have different roles. While some select tenants, others can maintain your property, collect rent, and market your rental property. When you consider a property manager, identify what you need them to do and document it. Know their professional skills and how much it will cost you.
Our company provides professional property management services in Los Angeles Area. Contact Los Angeles Property Management Group, an award winning company providing residential property management services for 20 years.
