The Art of Real Estate » Landlord

Learning to be a Good Tenant: 5

Heather — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 01:40:47 +0000

When you want to be a good tenant, it is highly important that you follow all of the rules outlined in your lease. If you can only have a certain number of people living in your apartment, comply with that. Do not sneak in pets if there is a no pet clause in your lease. If you are not permitted to put up wallpaper, do not do it.

If you need to move out for any reason, then talk to your landlord about it and make sure you give adequate notice.

Even if you are just moving out when your lease is up, you need to leave the house or apartment in good condition. Make sure things look nice, if you have made changes — such as painting the walls — and promised to change them back, do so before you leave.

Learning to be a Good Tenant: 4

Heather — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 01:37:31 +0000

Naturally, when you are renting a house or an apartment, you want things to work the way they are supposed to work. And, ideally, you want your landlord to take care of any repairs as quickly as possible.

Well, you have to take some responsibility for that yourself. For starters, your landlord cannot read your mind. You need to tell him or her about any necessary repairs. Do not think that you are being a nuisance, do not think you will be bothering your landlord. In these cases, the landlord not only needs to be bothered, but most likely wants to be — that is, he or she wants to know about your problem.

Besides, if you neglect to mention repairs when they are first needed, you can make things more expensive for your landlord by letting them go.

Learning to be a Good Tenant: 3

Heather — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 23:56:21 +0000

The first thing you need to do to be a good tenant involves your rent. It should go without saying that you always need to pay your rent when it is due. You can even pay it before it is officially due. Your landlord will appreciate this, because he or she likely has some bills to pay from your rent.

Remember, just because someone is renting out a property, be it an apartment building, a house, or an apartment in their own home, it does not automatically mean your landlord is well off. Landlords are just like renters, in that they have bills and mortgages and the like.

As well, you need to make sure both your home and your yard is as clean as you can keep it. Not taking care of your home causes everything to get worn out faster, and that could cost your landlord later — and it could cost you your security deposit.

Learning to be a Good Tenant: 2

Heather — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 21:56:00 +0000

There are more benefits than you might imagine to being a great tenant. For one thing — and this is especially important if you like where you live — it will make your landlord more likely to want to renew your lease, often without a surprise increase in the rent you currently pay. Your landlord will be far more likely to fulfill your requests in a timely manner. Believe it or not, when you are a good tenant, it is possible that it will result in an improvement on your credit score, because your landlord will provide a great reference.

So, these are — of course — a number of the reasons why you should be the best tenant you can possibly be. Sometimes that is easier said than done, however, so keep checking back for surprisingly easy tips on how you can pull off this endeavor.

Learning to be a Good Tenant: 1

Heather — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 04:21:28 +0000

When you move into a rental, whether it is a house or an apartment, it can be a new and sometimes difficult situation. You have to get used to your landlords. And, of course, your landlords have to get used to you.

If you have ever rented before, then you know a simple fact: there are good landlords and bad landlords. Sometimes you do not discover that your landlord leaves a lot to be desired until after you have moved into your new place. Depending on how much you like your space, this is something you either have to deal with for the long term or until your lease is up, it all depends.

Regardless of how your landlord behaves, however, sometimes the best thing you can do is be a good tenant yourself. In this series of posts, we will talk about how to accomplish that.

The Lease — Broken Down: 5

Heather — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 00:00:58 +0000

We touched just a little on what happens when a tenant is not ready to end their lease, but let’s go ahead and dive right into there. We all know that if you have a tenant that is a little bit tricky and they are not the greatest tenant in the world, it can be difficult for them to leave the residence you are renting.

Well, I can tell you for sure that you, as a landlord have the right to evict anyone that you want, you just have to make sure that it is legal and that the tenant is violating the terms of the lease. This is where you need to have a lawyer on your side.

You always want to give them a warning before the eviction, just to prove that you did try to get the tenant to correct their actions.

The Lease — Broken Down: 4

Heather — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 00:00:54 +0000

Now that you understand everything that needs to go into a lease and you understand exactly what a lease is and why it is important, it is now time for us to talk about ending a lease. Now, if you are a landlord, you can actually end a rental lease early, you just have to have a mutual agreement.

This is where it can get really, really tricky, because if you have a very hard-to-live with tenant, they are obviously not going to agree that they should leave and that they should end the rental agreement. This is where you may need to draw upon your lawyer for legal action.

However, if you do have a tenant that is willing to end the lease, it must be done in writing and you always want to make sure that you give at least thirty days in order to the tenant to get out of the property.

The Lease — Broken Down: 3

Heather — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 00:00:52 +0000

Now that you know what you are responsible for as a landlord, let’s dive right into exactly what should be in the lease. Well, you always want to make sure that you include the rental fee, how long the lease is going to last, how the tenant can renew the lease and you should make sure that you include things like pets – if you allow them or if you ban them, a clause about visitors. If you are renting an upstairs apartment of your home, how many visitors can the tenant have at one time?

These are all things that are very, very important and things that you will need to make sure that you address. One of the most popular forms of leases are fixed term leases. What this means is that the lease will usually last for one year and it details from start to end.

The lease of course can be renewed but you want to make sure that it can be renewed on an annual basis.

The Lease — Broken Down: 2

Heather — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 00:00:12 +0000

Whenever you are dealing with a lease agreement, you always want to make sure that if you do not have a real estate agent involved that you have a lawyer involved. That way, the lease is actually binding and if you enter into an agreement with your tenant, nothing will come back to bite you.

There are a few things that you, as a landlord should know. For one, you never have to think that you have to redecorate the residence that your tenant is renting. You just have to make sure that they can actually live in it and that everything is usable, but as far as painting, you do not have to do that.

Next, you do not have to provide yard maintenance if the place that you are renting is a house. That is the responsibility of the tenant.

The Lease — Broken Down: 1

Heather — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 00:00:37 +0000

In this particular blog we have talked a heck of a lot about leases and what you, as a landlord need to do in order to find the ideal tenant. Well, in the next few blogs, we are going to talk about leases in detail and why you need them … as well as exactly what you need to have in the lease, especially if you are going to be the person that is drawing it up.

One of the main reasons that a lease needs to be drawn up is to protect the property, the landlord and of course the tenants. Most of the time, it is drawn up by a real estate agent, but if you are the type of person that is looking to draw up their own lease, there are a few things you want to have in it.

That is what we are going to go into in the next blog, so make sure that you stay tuned, you are not going to want to miss this one!