Thomas Martin-BROKER, PROPERTY MANAGER Property Manager in Sacramento, Folsom

Ok, you've found a good tenant with the credit, income and history requirements all met. Now its time to sit down and enter into a lease agreement. As Sacramento area property managers, a common question we get from both tenants and landlords is regarding the utilities. Who pays for what?

In the greater Sacramento area, is it customary for tenants to pay for gas electricity and phone. However, most landlords pay for the water, sewer and garbage. This custom can very from county to county. In some areas, utility companies for water will acknowledge a tenant as a responsible party, but most utility companies for water, sewer and garbage will only recognize the owner of the property. Even if a tenant signs a lease stating that they will pay these costs, if there ever arose a problem concerning non-payment of a utility bill, the owner could face a lien against his/her property.

At ICPM, we recommend getting to know the local trends in your rental area. Use free resources at your disposal to find out what your competitors are charging on their rental units. Craigslist can be a great tool for landlords to stay in the loop on current market rents, etc.

It also helps to know if your rental property has or will soon have metered water. If your water is metered, you can at least protect yourself by having the lease contain a water "cap", stating that owner will pay for water up to a certain monthly amount, but that any amount exceeding this cap would require the tenant to reimburse the landlord for the difference.

A final note on utilities- Disclosure is key. Nothing sours an initial tenancy quite like sitting down to sign paperwork and finding out for the first time that there will be extra charges for water, sewer and/or garbage due. Any additional charges or deposits due (utilities, additional deposits for keys, animals, etc.) should be clearly outlined in advance of accepting any good faith funds from the tenant. This is an area where quality property management can help, as we are accustomed to negotiating contracts on a daily basis.

Having all parties understand what is expected up front will go a long way towards insuring a solid foundation to what will hopefully be a long term quality landlord/tenant relationship.

Investors Choice Property Management (ICPM) manages 100 single-family units with the care and diligence our Landlord clients deserve, in a manner that has them referring their friends, co-workers and family members. With over 16 years professional property management experience, our business is 95% word-of-mouth referral, we do NO Sales, and pay among the highest referral fees in the industry for management accounts. Visit our website at www.investorschoicepm.com today for more details, and find out what we mean when we say:

“Experience Property Management the Way it Should Be.”

It seems crazy to me, as a Sacramento Property Manager over the past 16+years, to hear that people are still making verbal agreements with their tenants.

We were hired by a Landlord last week to step in and take over a delinquency problem with an existing tenancy. When asked to produce documentation, we were provided with a handwritten piece of stained notebook paper with some scribble on it.

Basically, this tenant had befriended the Landlord and convinced her to let them rent the home on a month to month basis for $1000/month in the Rosemont area. Now, they were over 1 month behind on the rent.

When I approached the tenant, the story changed significantly. The tenant was claiming that the rental unit had habitability problems that were discussed repeatedly with the Landlord.

Neither the Landlord nor the Tenant had supporting documentation to back their claims. This is where property management can really make the difference.

A solid rental agreement sets the ground rules. Ours makes a point of laying out maintenance procedures, insisting on written requests for maintenance so that we have a complete record of all work done.

Verbal agreements, while technically binding, are difficult to defend if challenged in court. As it stands with the current client used in our example, her tenant could show up in court and claim anything they wanted- that the rent was less, that maintenance requests went unanswered, etc. A clear written record would have saved this Landlord a significant amount of legal hassle. Fortunately, she retained the services of a seasoned professional capable of handling this type of situation.

Investors Choice Property Management (ICPM) manages 100 single-family units with the care and diligence our Landlord clients deserve, in a manner that has them referring their friends, co-workers and family members. With over 16 years professional property management experience, our business is 95% word-of-mouth referral, we do NO Sales, and pay among the highest referral fees in the industry for management accounts. Visit our website at www.investorschoicepm.com today for more details, and find out what we mean when we say:

“Experience Property Management the Way it Should Be.”

We signed up a new client this weekend, a very nice woman with a problem tenant in her unit. When I asked her to describe the situation, I was not very surprised, having heard the story a hundred times before over the past 16 years as a Sacramento property manager.

The tenant said they'd pay last week, but they did not. The story keeps changing, and now they were 1.5 months behind on the rent. This was the reason she was signing up for property management. She was hoping that we could get her tenant back on track. I hated to be the bearer of bad news, but I believe in being perfectly honest.

We cannot make bad tenants into good tenants, I explained. The best we can do is to remove them from your property as soon as possible. However, if there was a chance that the tenant might pay the past due rent, it was because the Landlord had finally resorted to hiring a professional property manager.

You see, once a Landlord has established a precedent of being flexible, or "soft" on the tenant, it can be very difficult to adjust that tenant's behavior. The Landlord loses some control, as the tenant does not take the rental due date as seriously as they should. Furthermore, if the Landlord makes a habit of not enforcing the rental due date, it can make it more difficult in court, as the tenant can claim a precedent had been set (they always let me pay on the 15th before, and now they are evicting me).

As property managers, we form relationships with our tenants based on professional courtesy, respect, and fair dealing. In return, we hold the tenant to the terms of the lease agreement. This means enforcing the lease on a monthly basis, charging a late fee if the rent is a day late, or serving notice on a tenant that is not caring for the lawn as agreed.

A bad tenant (or one close to going bad) will work every angle possible with a kind hearted Landlord, but they realize very quickly that such tactics are futile against a seasoned property manager. Many would say that we are paid to be "the bad guy", but we do not see it that way. We are here to have the hard conversations that must be had to maintain a solid landlord/tenant relationship. Once a tenant knows exactly where they stand and just how we enforce the rental agreement, we learn exactly what kind of tenant we are dealing with.

Unfortunately, the odds of collecting back rent for more than a month are not good, which is why we recommend legal action on any unpaid balance older than 20 days. In our experience, Landlords have the best chance of recouping all or a portion of their lost rent when action is started swiftly, within the month that is unpaid.

A firm but fair approach will keep your good tenants good, and your bad tenants packing.

Investors Choice Property Management (ICPM) manages 100 single-family units with the care and diligence our Landlord clients deserve, in a manner that has them referring their friends, co-workers and family members. With over 16 years professional property management experience, our business is 95% word-of-mouth referral, we do NO Sales, and pay among the highest referral fees in the industry for management accounts. Visit our website at www.investorschoicepm.com today for more details, and find out what we mean when we say:

“Experience Property Management the Way it Should Be.”

It is a gray, wet morning here in Northern CA. After a night of handing our candy to ghouls, ghosts and goblins, I settled in for some cheesy horror movies and a well deserved rest.

November 1, 2008. I turned 41 today. It doesn't feel all that different from 40. My wife and I had our coffee, charged our digital camera, prepared our documentation, and got ready to go to Elk Grove for an 11:00 am move-in appointment.

You see, we work when there is work, sometimes 14-21 days in a row if duties call for it. We are a small property management company in Sacramento, and this is what we are best at- working around people's schedules rather than forcing them to work around ours.

I suppose I could have shoved off my move-in appointment to Monday, as most property managers would. After all, the weather is bad, and it is my birthday. But then, I could not be here on my blog bragging about how we treat our tenants with the consideration and respect that a future Landlord deserves.

We received what we consider a great compliment this month- A former tenant of ours went on to purchase a home and is now turning that home into a rental. Guess who our ex-tenant chose to manage their Sacramento area property? Investors Choice Property Management.

I would brag more, but I have to get to work. After all, it's Saturday, and we have business to take care of.

Investors Choice Property Management (ICPM) manages 100 single-family units with the care and diligence our Landlord clients deserve, in a manner that has them referring their friends, co-workers and family members. Our business is 95% word-of-mouth referral, we do NO Sales, and pay among the highest referral fees in the industry for management accounts. Visit our website at www.investorschoicepm.com today for more details, and find out what we mean when we say:

“Experience Property Management the Way it Should Be.”

Landlords- Remember to check up on your vacant rentals, or hire a good property manager to do it for you.

We will be visiting each of our vacancies tomorrow to make sure no ghosts or goblins (or vandalizing youth) did any harm over All Hallows Eve.

Does Your Property Manager Conduct Exterior Inspections at Regular Intervals?

Most companies do not, or they choose their words carefully, offering "periodic" check-ups. In our industry, "periodic" means "hardly ever". Others charge a fee for driving by, but aren't the Landlords already paying a management fee for that?

ICPM conducts quarterly exterior checkups throughout the year to insure our properties are being kept in a condition that is consistent with the lease terms. Well-maintained rental units are a pleasure to own, and are far easier to manage. To this end, we charge NOTHING extra for this valuable service. In fact, ICPM charges NO MARKUP on any repair. Our philosophy is simple- Do one thing, do it very well, and don't compromise on service.

Investors Choice Property Management (ICPM) manages 100 single-family units with the care and diligence our Landlord clients deserve, in a manner that has them referring their friends, co-workers and family members. Our business is 95% word-of-mouth referral, we do NO Sales, and pay among the highest referral fees in the industry for management accounts. Visit our website at www.investorschoicepm.com today for more details, and find out what we mean when we say:

“Experience Property Management the Way it Should Be.”