Here are seven tips we found at Rentals Online. They will help you get off to the right start with a home rental. Experienced landlords and beginners can benefit from these home rental practices.
1. Offer something special – Renting a home can be a challenge. As a landlord, you need to set your home rental apart from the other properties that may be available in your area. Consider some of the features that renters in your area may want such as a washer or dryer, cable, air conditioning and more. Adding special features that tenants want will help rent your home faster.
2. Research the rental market – Spend some time researching what other rentals in the area rent for. What is their location compared to your rental? What other features does that rental have? Set your rental price accordingly.
3. Find tenants early – One of the biggest mistakes landlords make is waiting too long before they put their rental home on the market. Getting results from a rental listing is a lot easier when you start early. Begin looking for tenants as soon as you know the property will be available. This could be three to four months before. Use extra time to screen tenants and prepare the home for rent.
4. Get the right tenants – Take some time to check out your tenant before you let them in. Once a tenant is in your home, it can be difficult to get them to leave. Check their references, do a credit check & collect a reasonable deposit. Also, talk with the tenant and find out as much as you can about their habits so there are no surprises later. A few subtle questions could tell you a lot about a potential tenant.
5. Sign a rental agreement – No matter how secure you are as a landlord, a written rental agreement is necessary to protect you. A simple document that states the terms of your agreement with a renter, will help save you a lot of money, aggravation, and countless hours if an issue does arise. You can find a sample rental agreement on the rental forms page.
6. Treat tenants right – Once you have good tenants, try to keep them as long as you can. Avoid having to find new tenants, bear the cost of search and preparation work if the house is vacant. Reach out to your existing tenants and find out how they feel about living in your home rental. Then try to address any concerns they may have before they become issues.
7. Inspect the rental often – Let the tenant know you care about the property and about them as tenants. If something breaks, fix it right away. If the tenant is out of line, correct them early so they don’t think their behavior is ok. Make sure the tenant knows you will checking in for routine inspections and keep them updated on whatever you find.
One of the most common soundproofing questions I hear most is “How do I soundproof my condo or apartment from those noisy neighbors who live above?” Generally the most annoying noise is what is known as “foot fall” or “impact noise” Impact noise is noise that is caused by heavy walking on the floor of the neighbor above. It can also be caused by chairs dragging across a hardwood floor above or simply the impact of a fork or plate that is dropped on the floor above.
Impact noise is transmitted through the structural members of the floor/ceiling assembly and generally travels down through the floor joists and into the ceiling below at lightening speed. Impact noise is the most annoying noise you will ever have to deal in your condo or apartment. Sometimes it can actually feel like you neighbor is living in your unit. Sound familiar? Continue Reading »
On Sunday January 20, 2008, at approximately 1:40 am, Port Colborne Fire Department along with Niagara Regional Police attended 818 King St, Port Colborne for a Carbon Dioxide alarm. Port Colborne Fire Department took Carbon Dioxide readings, which were extremely high. Niagara Regional Police then evacuated the apartment complex. 10 people, along with a few pets, were evacuated and were housed with friends and relatives. No one in the complex complained of any symptoms of Carbon Dioxide poisoning. Enbridge Gas attended and attributed the Carbon Dioxide gas to a faulty boiler and shut off the gas. Technical Safety Standards Authority (TSSA) will be attending in the morning to assess the situation.
This tenant notices his money has been going missing so he sets up a camera. He catches his live-in landlord coming into his room on several different occasions. The landlord uses his hair brush, snoops around, steals money and discovers the camera.
Bianca Jagger has been evicted from her rent-stabilized Park Avenue apartment after several years of quarrelling with her landlord over claims of toxic mould and questions about her residency, her lawyer said.
After a recent appeals court ruling against her, Jagger knew the eviction was coming. She found out from a neighbour that a sheriff had arrived Wednesday to move her possessions to storage, lawyer Daniel Bryson said. “This is an absolute travesty.”
A lawyer for landlord Katz Park Avenue Corp. didn’t immediately return a telephone call.
Lawyers for the 62-year-old Jagger, who was married to rocker Mick Jagger, have maintained that Katz evicted her as payback. She sued the landlord in 2003, claiming mould had made her sick and the apartment unlivable.
But Katz argued that the 18th-floor apartment couldn’t be Jagger’s primary residence - a requirement for occupying a rent-stabilized unit - since she was in the U.S. on a tourist visa that required her to show that she intended to leave after a temporary stay.
The actress-turned-activist has been a tenant in the Upper East Side apartment for 20 years.