Tellus Realty
Dupre + Scott (www.duprescott.com) has released their latest apartment update for the Puget Sound market. Check it out and let us know what you think. This week’s article is on expenses
Check out the article that goes with the video at the Dupre + Scott blog http://www.duprescott.com/productsservices/articleinfo.cfm?ArticleId=602
Dupre + Scott (www.duprescott.com) has released their latest apartment update for the Puget Sound market. Check it out and let us know what you think. This is a great article on prices, especially for new apartment buildings.
Check out the article that goes with the video at the Dupre + Scott blog http://www.duprescott.com/productsservices/articleinfo.cfm?ArticleId=597
We’ve created this simple spreadsheet, that we use ourselves, to track our rental income and expenses, and to report information to our accountant. With it, you can create reports, including a Profit and Loss Statement (P&L) for each property or unit. You can also see how much you are spending by category. The spreadsheet is designed to do a lot of the basic work for you, while being customizable. You can add your own properties, expense categories, and income categories for use in tracking and reporting.
You can find a full description, and simple instructions here….
Check out the latest apartment update for the Puget Sound market from the great folks at Dupre+Scott (www.duprescott.com)
Check out the article that goes with the video at the Dupre + Scott blog http://www.duprescott.com/productsservices/articleinfo.cfm?ArticleId=596
Most of the emphasis in classes for new or prospective landlords, including our own Landlord 101, is on the responsibilities of the landlord. Most of the Washington State Residential Landlord Tenant Act is aimed at telling the landlord what their responsibilities are, and what the rights of tenants are.
But, the law does say what some of the tenants responsibilities are. Its not a lot and its mostly common sense. Here are a few of the items:
Keep the premises he or she occupies clean and sanitary
Properly use and operate appliances used by landlord
Don’t engage in activities on the premises that are illegal or hazardous to others
Restore the unit to its original condition less wear and tear.
There are a few more and we review them, and a few of the landlord’s responsibilities in this video. It was recorded during our last Landlord 101 class.
Landlord 101 – Landlord and tenant responsibilities
Good luck and good landlording!
Its amazing how many times I’ve heard this from a potential landlord “I don’t want to unclog toilets at midnight!” Its a common myth that landlords have to deal with emergencies such as these in the middle of the night.
It is true that you might have to deal with some emergency in the middle of the night. But, thankfully, unclogging toilets is not one of them. Washington State has some pretty clear requirements for how long landlords have to respond to tenant’s when they have a problem. The minimum response time is 24 hours, and that is for emergencies such as loss of water or heat. Clogged toilets don’t count as one of these emergencies. In fact, clogged toilets may be just the kind of maintenance issue you tell tenants is their responsibility to take care of.
This is just one of the issues we cover in our Landlord 101 class. Check out this video recorded in our last class. We go over the subject of ongoing relationship with tenants, including the landlord’s responsibilities for dealing with clogged toilets and other maintenance issues.
Several times a year we teach a live Landlord 101 class. In the class, we introduce the students to basic concepts that will help them be successful landlords. We recorded the fall class and are posting it to our site as a series of short videos. The first five videos are now posted. Each one ranges from 5 – 15 minutes long. Here is the list:
First steps – What to do immediately upon acquiring an a new rental property
Marketing your property – How to market your property to prospective tenants
Screening and choosing tenants – How to screen and choose tenants
Basic leases – Basic lease provisions
Deposits and Move-in – Handling deposits and the move-in process
This page includes class notes and slides from our “Landlord 101 class. Also, we have some notes and comments from during the class. First, here are the slides from the class
Next, here are some links and additional info from the class. Some of these will become links of their own:
Links:
www.rha-ps.com – Rental housing association
Trexglobal.com – Free property management software
http://www.hbslegal.com/benis.html – Chris Benis, Attorney
Fair housing training (from HUD website) – http://www.nationalfairhousing.org/FairLendingTraining/tabid/4135/Default.aspx
ADA guidelines – http://www.access-board.gov/adaag/html/adaag.htm
Rent Right decision model for rental screening:
Remember: New state law says you must give your tenants your rental criteria up front, before they apply.
Sample copy of Crime Free addendum http://sdrv.ms/LxWR3q
You can find it and all the handouts in this public Skydrive folder:
I spent the day with an investor looking at single-family homes for sale in the Central District. As we were looking at what was for sale, we were also keeping our eyes open for “For Rent” signs, so she could call and check what was available and what other landlords were charging. Amazingly, we didn’t see any.
Well, so much for my recommendation to new landlords about how to find rental rates! This made me wonder… why no signs? Does it mean there are no rentals available in the area, or does it mean landlords don’t like posting signs for some reason? Perhaps they don’t want vandals to know they have an empty unit? Are they afraid the Occupy people will occupy their property? Perhaps they simply have better ways to find tenants.
My experience is that “For Rent” signs are a great way to find potential tenants. But, Craigslist.com has quickly taken over that role, so perhaps there is no need for signs anymore. What do you think? got any ideas?
And, here are the slides for our Landlord 101 class, where we cover finding tenants and keeping tenants. Included in the handouts our sample lease forms and a great handout from our friends at LT Services, a great eviction service company.
Here are the slides from the class.
And, here are the handouts on my SkyDrive
