Jul 21

The Downsides of Month-to-Month Leases for Landlords

By Neda Navidnia Property Management

Intro

In Texas, residential leases have a unique provision where they automatically convert to a month-to-month arrangement if neither party provides proper notice before the lease term expires. This means that if the tenant or landlord fails to give notice of their intention to terminate the lease or renew it for another fixed term, the lease will continue on a month-to-month basis.

At Your Dream Real Estate property Management Company, our extensive experience in the Houston’s real estate market has shown that implementing a 30-day notice period for lease expiration notices yields the best results for both landlords and tenants. This timeframe strikes a balance between providing tenants with sufficient time to plan their next move while affording landlords the opportunity to efficiently prepare for the turnover process.

Additionally, this notice period allows property managers to promptly begin marketing the rental unit and conducting necessary repairs or renovations to ensure a smooth transition between tenancies.

While month-to-month leases can offer flexibility for tenants, they may not be the best option for landlords. In this blog, we will explore the reasons why landlords should carefully consider the disadvantages of month-to-month leases. From potential income instability to increased turnover rates, landlords might find that long-term leases are a more favorable choice for both their financial security and overall peace of mind.

Here are the 5 top reasons that you should not let the lease continue on a month-to-month basis.

1. Income Instability

One of the significant drawbacks of month-to-month leases for landlords is the potential for income instability. Unlike long-term leases, which guarantee a fixed rental income for a set period, month-to-month agreements leave landlords vulnerable to unpredictable fluctuations in rental revenue. If a tenant decides to move out with short notice, the landlord could face an immediate vacancy, leading to a financial gap until a new tenant is found.

2. Property Condition

At Your Dream Real Estate property Management Company, we prioritize proactive measures to ensure the satisfaction of both landlords and tenants. Before finalizing any lease extension, we conduct a thorough property tour to assess its condition. This practice allows us to identify and address any maintenance or repair issues upfront, preventing costly repairs in the future. By inspecting key aspects of the unit, we maintain the property’s value and enhance the tenant’s living experience. Our commitment to proactive property management fosters positive landlord-tenant relationships and minimizes potential repair expenses, providing our clients with peace of mind and a well-cared-for investment.

3. Higher chances of vacancy in slow seasons

Month-to-month leases can be particularly disadvantageous for landlords during slow rental seasons. In regions where there are predictable periods of decreased demand for rental properties, such as during holiday seasons or when local educational institutions are on summer break, landlords may face higher chances of vacancies.

During these slower periods, tenants on month-to-month leases might be more inclined to move out without giving much notice, especially if they find better deals or more attractive housing options elsewhere. As a result, landlords may struggle to secure new tenants quickly, leading to prolonged vacancies and potential loss of rental income.

4. Lower profitability for the landlord

Another notable drawback of month-to-month leases for landlords is the potential difficulty in adjusting rental rates to keep up with market conditions and inflation. Unlike long-term leases, which typically lock in rental rates for an extended period, month-to-month agreements provide tenants with more flexibility to negotiate or terminate the lease if they are dissatisfied with rent increases. As a result, landlords may hesitate to raise the rent, fearing that it could prompt tenants to seek alternative housing options, leading to higher vacancy rates and reduced profitability.

Over time, failing to adjust rental rates in line with market trends and inflation can have a compounding effect, resulting in lower profitability for the landlord. Long-term leases, on the other hand, often include provisions for gradual rent increases or adjustments at specific intervals, allowing landlords to maintain a fair market value for their rental property without sacrificing their financial interests.

5. Legal Challenges

Month-to-month leases can bring potential legal challenges for landlords. Local rental laws may vary, and some jurisdictions offer increased protection to tenants on month-to-month agreements. For instance, landlords might face difficulties in evicting tenants without a legally accepted reason, which could lead to prolonged vacancy periods and lost income.

At Your Dream Real Estate Property Management Company, we believe that open communication and well-planned lease expiration notices contribute to building positive landlord-tenant relationships and optimizing the overall success of the rental property.

Dec 09

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Not Renewing lease

By Neda Navidnia Property Management

What Is a Lease Non-Renewal?

A lease non-renewal is notice from one of the parties in a lease to the other that they do not intend to extend the lease for another term. If for any reason the landlord and tenant decided not to renew the lease, per the lease agreement we have the right to list the property on the market to find new tenants.

Pre listing tour:

We will need to tour the home before listing it on the market, take pictures, leave the lockbox and sign at the property so the prospects can tour the home with their agents.

Safety of tenants:

All showings are accompanied by licensed realtors and the keys are not accessible by unlicensed individuals

During the showing

We encourage tenants to:

Leave during showings on the other hand we do our best to group the showings for tenant’s convenience.
Not let anyone without an agent or notification to enter the home
direct all the enquiries to us.
Not leave valuable items and any medication or important documents accessible
Lease has the option of not listing the home at a cost if tenant accepts to pay the fee stated in the lease
The tenants will receive notifications ahead of time and the landlords will also get notified
In some cases the landlord might decide to wait until the tenant moves out and then list the home on the market.

Dec 09

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Renewing the lease

By Neda Navidnia Property Management, ProTalk, Tenant

What is Lease Renewal?

Lease renewals refer to the process when a tenant would decide to extend their lease and continue living on your property.

The standard Texas lease automatically renews if no one takes any action.

Usually the lease gives each party 30/60 days to notify the other party of their decision. Landlord or tenant can decide if they want to extend the lease or not.

When to Renew:

It can be common question for any landlord when they get close to the end of the lease: Should I renew the lease with the tenant?

At your Dream Real Estate we recommend keeping good tenants, if the tenant meets all the following requirements:

Has been paying rent on time
Look after the property as if it were their own.
Knows how to communicate and be responsive
If they haven’t had issues or any other breaches of the contract

we recommend renewing.

Other Conditions:

We need to check the condition of the property.

To add another level of safety we take the following steps:

We schedule a time with the tenant and tour the property
We make sure that everything is in good working order
Check and make sure no evidence of upcoming major repairs is seen
Check what tenants might not see like mold, roof, gutters, fence, etc.

Processes:

Step 1: Checking the market rent, then we discuss it with the landlord and get their approval for the new rent amount.

Step 2: Review the tenants history of communication, payments and notes to see if we should decide to extend the lease or not. If not we will send them the required notice per the lease requirement time frame. (Check Not renewing lease)

Step 3: We offer the new rent and terms to the tenant and if they accept it we schedule a time with them to tour the property and take pictures. This is just to make sure that everything is in good condition.

Step 4: We’ll check the report and see if any repair is needed. If everything is in an acceptable condition we’ll send the documents to the tenant and get their signature.

Once the tenant signs the documents, we share the report and documents with the landlord.

The tenants will also receive a copy for their records.

Oct 06

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What a Houston landlord need to know about having a pet in their rental property

By Neda Navidnia Energy Corridor, Fulshear, Houston, Landlord, Memorial, Pasadena, Pearland, Property Management, ProTalk, Richmond, Spring, Sugar Land, Tenant, Westchase

Hello landlords I have a scenario for you, let’s say you are managing your own rental property and after a few weeks of vacancy you find the perfect tenants. You feel confident about renting your home to them but they say hey, by the way, I have a pet which is a german shepherd. You can meet my dog and you’ll see how well trained and smart the adult german shepherd is.

Would you still rent the property to the tenants?

If you know about dogs you’ll know this dog most probably won’t cause any damages. You also can charge a pet fee, pet deposit and monthly pet rent that seems to be a good deal right?

Here lies the problem. Did you know that your home owner’s insurance can cancel your policy because this dog lives on the property?

So are you going to deny the qualified applicants just because of their dog?

If your answer was yes. Hold on!! We have a solution for that.

Contact me and let’s discuss these situations in further detail.

Here at Your Dream Real Estate we take the screening process to the next level by qualifying the clients and their animals (service animals included).

Jun 20

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Property Management Houston – Application – Your Assurance

By Neda Navidnia Property Management

Property Management Houston Tenant Application Screening Process

As a reliable property management firm for the Houston area, Your Dream Real Estate’s innovative tools and strategic marketing is designed to 1) showcase your property and 2) attract the most desirable tenants.

Houston Best Property Management Tenant Screening

With Your Dream Real Estate, a property management firm in Houston, our screening process includes:

Conducting background checks
Pulling credit reports
Investigating criminal backgrounds
Determining a history of eviction, broken leases or foreclosures
Checking employment and income

Integrity Property Management Assures Best Tenant Placement for Houston Properties

Integrity in our Houston property management practice means that our property managers will communicate with the property owner regularly, so that they are up to date on every detail of their property.

Since our professional property management services include conducting periodic inspections of the Houston properties that we manage, there are two specific instances in which we tell potential tenants not to apply:

If a tenant is not okay with us periodically stopping by and taking interior pictures.
If they are not okay with us placing a key box on the property during the last 30 days of the property lease agreement to show the home. Your Dream Real Estate’s lease agreement is very specific that we will be marketing and showing the home prior to the current lease termination.

Houston Professional Property Management Business Relationships

As Texas licensed real estate agents in the state of Texas, our Houston property management services represent the property owner first and foremost. As property managers, we are the landlord. The tenant and landlord relationship is a business relationship.

Our reliable property management communication is open 24/7 for tenants and a businesslike and courteous attitude is expected. Anyone who is disrespectful, or in general, displays an attitude during the showing, or application process, may mean that we deny the application. See our complete application process and screening criteria at (https://yourdreamre.com/candidpm/agents/)

Houston’s Best Property Management is FFHA and FCRA Compliance

Your Dream Real Estate Property Management is in full compliance with FFHA, Federal Fair Housing Act, and FCRA, Fair Credit Reporting Act. Your Dream Real Estate, a property management company in Houston, is also in full compliance with all state and local fair housing laws.

Full Houston Property Management Application Criteria

Please download and read carefully our full property management application process. We also highly encourage applicants to view the property prior to applying. Click here for our Houston Property Management application.

Your Dream Real Estate Houston Property Management looks forward to a professional business relationship with both tenants and owners for Katy, Houston, Energy Corridor, Spring, Westchase, Memorial, Richmond, Sugar Land, Pearland, Pasadena, Fulshear, and beyond! Contact us for all your owner or tenant needs.

May 31

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What happens when tenant stops paying the rent?

By Neda Navidnia Energy Corridor, Fulshear, Houston, Katy, Landlord, Memorial, Pasadena, Pearland, Property Management, Richmond, Spring, Sugar Land, Westchase

What happens when tenant stops paying the rent? Advise from Houston Property Manager

You have two options, Number one, be the nice guy and let the tenants enjoy your property for free. But what about the expenses that still need to be paid.

Option number 2, make the right decision, get your property back in the shortest amount of time and put a stop to your losses.

It is important to take action right away. Even if the tenant is asking for more time, you need to send the right notices on time.

A professional property management company, knows when and how to deliver the right notices to save you time and money.

Here at Your Dream Real Estate, we send the notices at no additional charge, just this simple action, will save you time as well as money. Because an attorney will charge for each notice they send.

May 22

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How to Hire Property Management Services in Houston

By Neda Navidnia Property Management

A local, Houston professional property management company can be one of your greatest assets, next to the actual properties that are managed on your behalf. To select a reliable property management service, you need to research professional property management companies. Preferably, property management services should be local to your Katy, Houston, Energy Corridor, Spring, Westchase, Memorial, Richmond, Sugar Land, Pearland, Pasadena, Fulshear, or other Texas community.

The following questions are designed to help guide your process and to help you make a wise decision in your choice of reliable property management services. There’s nothing worse than bad property management. But a great rental management company will result in more money, less risk and much less stress.

Are their property management services local to Katy, Houston, Energy Corridor, Spring, Westchase, Memorial, Richmond, Sugar Land, Pearland, Pasadena, Fulshear, or your specific Texas community.

It’s important that property managers are local to your community. It provides a connection and offers a sense of community pride and the type of tenants best suited for your real estate.

Does the company leadership own rental properties themselves?

A professional property management team will be active investors themselves. If not, they will not have a clear understanding to know what is needed to excel in your rental market area. They should be able to feel your pain and know everything a landlord needs to deal with to provide reliable property management service.
Are they members of the National Association of Residential Property Managers (NARPM)?

Being a member of a large rental property association such as NARPM means the property management company takes their business seriously. NARPM sets a high standard of excellence in rental property services of professionalism, fair housing practices, and business ethics.

How does the rental management company handle their property maintenance? Do they have local property maintenance team?

It is important to know up front, how they handle their property maintenance. If maintenance for the property is needed, how do they address maintenance issues. And if property maintenance occurs, do they charge anything on top of the actual repair?

Ask about all the fees and expenses for their property management services, including repairs.

Some rental management companies charge a percentage of the rent, some charge a flat fee. Time and effort that a property manager spends on each property, doesn’t change with the rent amount, so why charge more when doing the same thing?

Additional questions to ask as you research a rental management company:

When you contact the property management services, who answers the call? Is it the sales person or someone who is involved in day to day tasks? Does the company use the best property management services software, technology, social media and other strategic advertising and marketing?

Communication is indispensable between owners, tenants, and the property manager. Having great software for communication, tenant screening, streamlining applications and approvals, record keeping, and accounting, is vital for a professional property management company.

Your Dream Home Real Estate Property Management Services in Houston, Katy, Houston, Energy Corridor, Spring, Westchase, Memorial, Richmond, Sugar Land, Pearland, Pasadena, Fulshear and beyond

With Your Dream Home Real Estate property management services, you, and your tenants, can expect superior, first rate rental management. Through the years, we have learned from our successes and failures in property management services. Through these experiences, we have built a successful professional property management business model helping owners with rental management, whether it is one property or 50 properties.

Your Dream Home Real Estate management services offers you peace of mind for your rental property management needs. We are active and local in both the Houston and surrounding areas and Austin communities as investors as well as managing rental residential properties.
Your Dream Home Real Estate stays on top of your property maintenance needs. By conducting regular property inspections, we will be able to make recommendations on preventative property maintenance which will cut down on the risk of expensive emergency property maintenance repairs.
Your Dream Home Real Estate has a flat fee property management model for our real estate management services. Whether the property rents for $800 or $2,000 monthly, there are no complicated percentages to calculate.
Your Dream Home Real Estate property management team communicates regularly with you through monthly reports that are emailed as well as available through our owner website portal. Part of our property management services include a web portal for both owners and tenants, so we can be reached 24/7.

Your Dream Real Estate is a family-owned, professional property management and realty company based in Houston, Texas. Contact any member of our team directly by email or phone. We’ll be happy to meet with you.

Apr 16

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Flood Insurance Misconceptions in Texas

By Neda Navidnia Buyers, Landlord, Property Management, Sellers

Today’s Pro Talk is about flood insurance misconceptions.

Since 1978, the NFIP( National Flood Insurance Program) has paid nearly $50 billion for flood insurance claims and related costs. Don’t be a victim.
Here are some misconceptions about flood insurance you need to know:

your homeowners’s policy does not cover flood related issues. They are two different policies.
Flood insurance is an affordable investment. Imagine a few dollars you spend now to protect your home against all flood related cost which could add up to thousands of dollars, not to mention your irreplaceable belongings, something to think about.
No need for flood insurance with history of no flooding. This does not hold true anymore. In fact, 25% of all claims paid are loses due to homes locate in the neighborhoods effected by flood in the low-to-moderate risk which probably never flooded before.
Is the flood insurance required by mortgage companies? While that is true at times, most companies only demand homeowner to carry a flood policy if they live in a special flood hazard area. You can not afford not to be covered.

Apr 08

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How to Qualify Applicants – Finding the Right Tenant For Your Rental Property

By Neda Navidnia Landlord, Property Management

There are 3 main areas for qualifying the applicants for your rental property.

First, as a landlord, you should be familiar & practice Fair Housing Laws. You can not discriminate against protected classes. You should also deliver to the applicant the Qualification Criteria form before they apply.

Second, You must run a back ground check including criminal, rental, eviction, and credit. Using the right tools are essential in this process & you must rely on a very comprehensive system that covers a nationwide data base.

Third. A through examination of income& employment will determine the persons ability to make the monthly payment. Make sure the employment is contiguous & not a temporary job and the W-2s & pay stubs are verified as well.

Jan 20

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Do I Need a Home Warranty for My Houston Rental? Advice from a Property Management Expert

By Neda Navidnia Property Management

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.