Screening Potential Tenants

While it might not be fun to say no to a potential tenant, it may be necessary. As a Property Manager we know that no landlord wants to deal with late payments or destructive tenants. In an effort to prevent future issues you should carefully screen each potential tenant. This is a simple process that you can do yourself, or it you opt to hire a professional Phoenix Property Manager they can help with this process. A simple background check including criminal history is always a good place to start. It is important to know what the laws are in your state regarding your rights as a landlord. The next step should be income verification and employment history. It is important to look for stable employment and check references. Don’t just look to see if references are included on the application, take the time to call them and confirm the numbers are valid. A final check of previous rental history is extremely important. You can also improve your chances of getting a good tenant by always checking to see how many rent payments were late or missed. With this application you should ask about damages and unauthorized occupants. As a landlord, you want to be sure than anyone you rent to is going to be easy to deal with, pays there rent on time and take good care of your investment. By properly screening your renters you may have just won half the battle!  

The Importance of the Legal Class of your property!

What you don’t know CAN hurt you!  There are many laws and requirements associated with renting a property.  Each state, county, and even city is unique.  And unfortunately, saying “well, I didn’t know” does not exempt you from the sometimes harsh consequences.  For example, if you have a residential rental in Maricopa County, you are required to register it with the Maricopa County Assessor’s office.  Here is their website: http://www.maricopa.gov/assessor/residential_property_form.aspx 
It’s easy and the fee is just $10.  The form can be filled out and payment made online, or you can print the form and mail it in with a check.  If you fail to register your residential rental property with the Maricopa County Assessor’s office, “the city or town may impose a civil penalty in the amount of $150 per day for each day of violation” (http://www.maricopa.gov/assessor/pdf/residentialrentalform2.pdf). In addition to hefty fines, the tenant at your property can legally terminate the lease at any time if your property is not listed as a residential rental property!  In addition to breaking the lease with just 10 day’s notice to you, you would be required to return all pre-paid rent to the tenant.
With so many rules and regulations surrounding property rentals, it’s nice to know that there is a professional Phoenix Property Manager can help you navigate your way through these tricky situations.

 

Should I Manage My Own Property?

Most rental housing investors consider self-managing their properties at some point. For some investors, self-management works, but for many, the hassle and time commitment isn't worth it. If you are considering managing your own property, take some tips from the phoenix property management leader. Here’s what you need to know. 

Make time. Arizona Property management is much more than collecting a rent check each month. And remember, if you only spend time on the properties when they demand your attention, you are likely missing opportunities to save time and money. Allow for time to proactively attend to the property and prevent future problems. Recognize that property management is at least a part-time job, and you are on call 24/7. Schedule accordingly.

Prepare for everything. Property management can be a rough industry, and even with your best efforts to place good tenants, you are in for some surprises. Accidental and intentional damage, drug and crime activity, fire and natural disasters, family crises, tenant excuses, collections, and evictions—the seasoned property manager knows all of these are part of owning rental property and isn't ruffled. Accurate expectations and a professional attitude help, but are just the beginning. Learning how to handle each of these events comes with time.

Study up. Successful property management is a combination of several different disciplines, including marketing, leasing, maintenance, collections, evictions, accounting, inspections, and legal compliance. Professional property management companies have spent several decades and millions of dollars developing best practices in each of these areas. If you choose to manage your own rental property, dedicate time to study and make a plan for each of these aspects of property management.

Get connected. In addition to being your own “jack-of-all-trades,” you will likely find yourself in need of a small army of partners as you work to prepare, clean, maintain, repair, landscape, and buy parts and equipment for the rental unit. It can be difficult to get volume discounts if you don’t manage a large number of properties, so do your best to hunt for deals and participate in loyalty programs that can help you make your dollar go a little further and avoid paying full price.

Reconsider. If you really don’t enjoy the extensive demands on your time and energy that property management requires, you likely are trying to save money by doing it yourself but you should definitely calculate how much each of your hour is worth versus how much property management services are per day.  You may be surprised to learn that many property management services are less than a cup of coffee a day!

5 Reasons to Outsource Arizona Rental Property Maintenance Hassles

As an Arizona rental property owner, have you experienced the following situations?

1. You have just been served a fine meal at the restaurant you have been looking forward to going to for days. This is when your tenant starts to blow up your phone with rapid fire calls. You finally give in and go outside to see what kind of an emergency they are having. They let you know that “direly urgent situation” is a just a toilet running. They inform you that this is entirely unacceptable and it they want it fixed in the next hour.

With a Phoenix Property Manager, this situation simply will never happen to you. The tenant will be able to vent through the maintenance manager. The problem will be reviewed and classified as far as importance and solved without any effort or involvement from you. 

2. You have a tenant that requests work done every time they note the slightest trivial problem. You either fix it simply to shut them up or partake in a two day argument on why you won’t fix it since it is so minor. This wastes your time as well as your pulse.

With a Property Manager, we know exactly what items are the owner's responsibility to fix and what items are simply trivial pursuits of the tenants.  The lease is structured so that minor imperfections of no significant importance need not be addressed and other more vital maintenance items are emphasized.

3. You have good tenants who have a legitimate maintenance issue that requires attention. However, you don’t know what vendor to use and the ones you try off the internet won't return your call. The longer it takes for you to respond to the repair, the more frustrated your tenant becomes.

With a Property Manager we have built long term relationships with various skilled professionals across the key repair categories needed to address tenant maintenance issues. We have been doing this for several years so you will be comfortable knowing that every person that touches a repair job at your Arizona rental property is qualified. We also warranty our work for a reasonable period of time and will be able to discuss items if an owner should ever have a concern.

4. You don’t know what you should fix and what you should left "as is"

Knowing what needs to be fixed and how it should be done could be tricky. Property Managers have made several thousands of rental property repairs in Arizona. We have seen just about everything that could happen to your Arizona rental property. We know how maintenance repairs relate to AZ tenant landlord law. We know how to fix problems efficiently and what is best for the owner.

5.  Unless you are a General Contractor, your knowledge of potential repair problems is limited.

With a Property Manager we watch out for minor repairs needed which if unattended can lead to larger issues. We have specific knowledge about common Arizona maintenance issues such as A/C issues and plumbing problems from hard water.