Hiring a Contractor Adequate property management can be labor intensive, with significant demands on resources. Some tasks require specialized skills, licensure, and compliance to regulatory standards. The landlord/property manager must understand the nature of the work, the best resources to accomplish the task, and regulatory requirements. Even the smallest of jobs requires the landlord/property manager […]

Deciding If Refinancing Is Beneficial – Part 1 So, your current loan has an interest rate of 7.5 percent and you think that you can now refinance your property at 6.25 percent. Should you refinance now? How does one decide when it’s time to consider refinancing, knowing one must take into account the points and other […]

Question I did my quarterly safety inspection on a unit last week, the first for this tenant, and found that the tenant has an unusual amount of junk throughout the unit – my newest tenant appears to be a “hoarder.” I couldn’t see the floor in many areas of the unit. What if anything can […]

Lease Agreements – Part 11 Some Miscellaneous Issues                          This final part of our Lease Agreements series will provide brief discussions regarding several miscellaneous issues. Rent Control Only a small number of jurisdictions (usually cities) have any form of rent control and rent control laws vary significantly among those jurisdictions. Rent control was arguably established […]

Regular Inspections Are Important The upkeep of rental property is vital to its continuing economic viability. Property that is inadequately maintained is not able to compete effectively for new tenants except with discounted rents. Taken to an extreme, a practice of deferring maintenance and the resulting need to lower rents and/or accept less qualified tenants, […]

Question I recently purchased a duplex in LA. It is my first purchase of rental real estate. I live in the top unit and rent out the lower. The units have two separate street addresses. I understand the basics of the 1031 exchange, but since this property is my home, is it still under the […]

Lease Agreements Between Landlords and Tenants – Part 10 Part 10 of our Lease Agreements series will provide discussions regarding two specialized types of agreements that have the word “Lease” in the document titles. Lease Option – An “option” is a right given a person to buy, sell, or lease property at a specific price […]

Rent Payment Options For Landlords and Tenants  – Part 1 Rent payment options can encourage timely rent payment and help in reducing late rent or no rent. Landlords should eliminate any obstacles to or excuses for tenants failing to pay the rent on time by making it easy for tenants to pay rent.  However, making […]

Question I had a tenant evicted recently and the judgment was made for the outstanding rent plus expenses. I am still holding the tenant’s deposit. The tenant is demanding the deposit back. Can I hold back the deposit until the back rent is paid? Answer For most (perhaps all) states, unpaid rent and damages (not […]

Lease Agreements Between Landlords and Tenants – Part 9 In Part 8 of this series we discussed some aspects of and issues related to commercial property lease agreements. In this Part 9 we’ll discuss some issues regarding termination of lease agreements. Termination                                                Termination procedures vary somewhat, depending on whether a month-to-month (or other periodic) tenancy […]