For many people, purchasing a home warranty for the house they live in makes a lot of financial sense. The protection that’s provided is worth the investment you make. However, when it comes to your rental property, there are different considerations that need your attention when it comes to deciding whether or not you need a warranty.

Each home warranty company is different, and they all have their own procedures and requirements. If you decide that you want a warranty, talk to a property manager or a Realtor so you can get a referral to a reputable company.

Your decision to purchase a home warranty really depends on your ability to respond to maintenance issues at the property. If you have a good network of contractors and vendors who are reliable and provide excellent work for affordable prices, a home warranty may not help you much. Some warranty companies will not be as fast as your own vendors when it comes to fixing a problem. That can be difficult for your tenants, who will want the problem taken care of as soon as possible.

Many professional property managers advise their clients to avoid home warranties. We prefer trained maintenance professionals who can get to the property right away and handle the problem quickly and efficiently. Not all home warranty companies understand the urgency of a maintenance situation, and they will schedule the work several days or even weeks after it could be completed. There’s also the problem of the vendors they use. Many warranty companies have a specific list of contractors that do the work, and your favorite contractors may not be on the list. That means you’ll be getting someone you’ve never worked with before; someone who doesn’t know your property.

If you would like to talk about the pros and cons of purchasing a home warranty for your rental home, please contact us at Your Dream Real Estate. We’d be happy to share more information.

When you own a property that happens to be part of a Homeowner’s Association or an HOA, there are a few extra things you often have to do as a landlord or a property manager. Not only do you need to make sure your tenant pays attention to your own rules and regulations, you also have to make sure your tenant understands the requirements of the HOA.

Lease Information

Your lease agreement needs to address and include everything that’s required and prohibited by the HOA. In most cases, tenants violate rules simply because they don’t know them. When you are able to provide all the rules and regulations of the HOA, the tenant will know what is expected. Be clear about what the violations might include and make sure your lease states how any violations will be handled.

Communication

Communicating with both the HOA and the tenants is critical. You’ll want to hear both sides whenever there’s a dispute, and find out if a mistake has been made or if your tenant really is in violation of something. Don’t jump to any conclusions and make sure you maintain a positive, respectful attitude when you’re dealing with all parties.

Stay Involved

It will help if you aren’t a stranger to your HOA. Make sure you know who is on the board, and even though you aren’t living at the property yourself, you still want to keep yourself in the loop. Follow any updates and communications put out by the HOA and make it a habit to read the board meeting minutes. If you don’t have time to stay on top of these things, work with a property manager who can handle the relationship on your behalf.

The relationship between you, your tenant and your HOA does not have to be combative. Make sure everyone understands what is expected, and you won’t have many problems.

If you have any questions about HOA violations, contact us at Your Dream Real Estate.

A successful landlord wants tenants who pay rent on time, take care of the property and stay for a long time. When you’re able to retain great tenants, you have lower turnover and vacancy costs, and your investment is able to grow in value. If you’re wondering how to renew a lease with your tenant, there are a few specific steps you need to follow.

Raising the Rent

Before you discuss lease renewal with your tenant, do a little research and decide whether or not you should raise the rent. If the rents in your market are climbing, you’re probably entitled to raise it a little bit. Just be careful, and keep the amount reasonable. If you have a great tenant who pays on time and causes little trouble, you don’t want to go chasing that tenant out of your property with an unrealistic rent increase. Don’t give good tenants a reason to leave your property.

Proposing Renewal

At least 30 days before the end of the lease, you’ll need to contact the tenants and find out if there is any interest in renewing. If you want your tenant to stay, make sure you say that. Showing tenants that you appreciate them is important. It’s also a good idea to offer an incentive, especially if a tenant seems undecided. Perhaps you can offer carpet cleaning or fresh paint or even a gift card to their favorite restaurant or store.

Inspect and Document

Once you and your tenant decide to renew the lease, conduct a thorough inspection of the property. This will help you and the tenant to determine what needs to be done and it also gives you the opportunity to make sure there isn’t any maintenance that needs to be done. Put any repair requests in writing, and make sure your lease is also renewed in writing.

Renewing a lease should be fairly straightforward, especially if you’re pleased with your tenants and your tenants are happy living in your property. If you have any questions about the process or what you need to do, please contact us at Your Dream Real Estate, and we’d be happy to provide more information.

As a landlord, it’s important that you’re familiar with the fair housing laws. They are meant to protect people from discrimination when it comes to housing.

Protected Classes

There are seven protected classes of people, and none of your marketing materials, screening techniques or criteria for accepting or declining tenants can violate their rights. Those protected classes are;

• Race
• Color
• National Origin
• Religion
• Sex
• Disability
• Familial Status

Disabilities are wide-ranging and they can be mental as well as physical. It might include someone who alcoholism or PTSD. Some tenants and applicants will require service animals, and you need to know how those differ from pets.

Tenant Qualification Criteria

Many landlords make mistakes with fair housing laws unintentionally. You can protect yourself from these potential errors by establishing a tenant qualification criteria and then applying it consistently to all applicants. You also need a written privacy policy that explains what you do with an applicant’s personal information. Remember to treat every applicant the same way – don’t make exceptions for one person and not another. That’s how you can get in trouble.

Accepting Applications

Document the date and time that you receive each application. That way, if you have several tenants who are qualified, you can offer the home to the first person who applied. When you deny an applicant, send an adverse action letter so they understand why they were denied. Finally, never share an applicant’s personal information with other people. You need to protect their credit report and other materials.

Fair housing is an important part of owning and managing rental property. In addition to treating everyone fairly, you need to keep all tenant areas clean and in safe condition so people with disabilities don’t have trouble. If you have any questions about this topic, please contact us at Your Dream Real Estate.