Long summer season has finally come to an end and fall has formally begun on September 22. Most people are already planning for the long holiday season ahead. As a landlord, it is time to reflect upon your experiences during this long summer season. Many landlords have had frustrating experiences with a few of their tenants while there are also some who have experienced a smooth sailing as a landlord during this summer. Hopefully, you have experienced more ups than downs during these months as it is time to leave behind your disappointments and plan for the fall and the long winter season ahead.
Tenant staying longer than their lease period
This is a problem encountered by some of the landlords. Tenants come and go, and their moving is a common event for a landlord. One issue with a tenant moving out is that of vacancy. Rent stops, reducing your cash flow while you continue to spend on repairs, taxes, and insurance. As a landlord, the ideal scenario for you is to see a tenant moving out and another one moving in within a day or two. But what if the lease has expired by the tenant cannot move out because of one or the other problem? Movers haven’t arrived, or his car has broken down. What if your new tenant has arrived with all his belongings? New tenant looks up to you for answers. The best way to deal with such a scenario is to add a clause in your lease agreement where a tenant must pay $100 per day for any length of time they overstay in your property after the expiry of the lease term.
Tenant running business on your property
This is another problem experienced by some landlords. You should not wait in acting after learning about a business going on in your property. Find out the nature of activity after you learn about it through other tenants. Whether his business activity is creating nuisance for other tenants or not, you must set rules regarding any business activity inside your property. Always have a clause saying a tenant cannot run a business activity inside your property. This clause in the agreement gives you the power to ask questions and get the business stopped altogether. Irrespective of the kind of business your tenant is carrying out, you must act to protect your interests. Business in your property can become a problem later with the authorities. It is better to nip the bud in time.
Are you within your right to increase the rent?
With prices of properties increasing all over the country, rent increases are a very common phenomenon. Increase in rent helps in increasing your positive cash flow and therefore your profits. However, you must be followed certain rules to make sure that your rent increase is legal and does not create any problems for you as a landlord. First, you cannot increase rent during the term of a lease that clearly stipulates rent for this period. Unless you have added some clause that allows you to increase rent midway during a lease, your rent increase will not be considered as legal. You are free to increase rent when lease has expired, and it is time to sign up a new lease. However, be cautious unless you are in a very hot housing market as many of your tenants may decide to leave your property.
If you’d like to talk more about property management, or you need help with Everest Property Management, please contact us at Everest Realty.
Property Management Service Areas
As a top producing Realtor and Property Manager; Terry specializes in sales, extensive construction homes, rentals, REO’s, short sales, and all aspects of Real Estate. After graduating the University of Michigan with a master in MBA, Terry continued his endeavor and now has over 15+ years of experience in the Real Estate world. If there is anything that has to do with Real Estate and sales, you can always be sure of Terry to provide important, specialized knowledge.
