by Barker Realty, Inc. | Jan 19, 2019 | Property Management Blog, Raleigh Property Management, Tenant Management, Tips for Landlords
Even if your rental property doesn’t allow pets, service animals are not considered pets, and therefore do not fall under any lease’s jurisdictions. But since service animals aren’t legally required to wear identification vests, upholding and enforcing accommodation laws can be a bit tricky. Here’s what you need to know when it comes to having service and companion animals on your property.
What is a disability? What is a service dog?
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) classifies a “disability” as a condition in which a physical or mental impairment affects the quality of an individual’s life. According to the ADA, a service animal is a dog (not any other animal) that is trained to perform tasks for a disabled person. Importantly, the dog must be trained to take a specific action to assist its owner; for example, alerting a diabetic that his or her blood sugar levels are too low. People with disabilities have the right to train their animal themselves and are not required to use a professional service dog training program.
Service dog or emotional support animal?
The key to identifying a service animal is noting whether or not it takes any specific actions to help its handler. If a dog has been trained to sense an anxiety attack and takes a specific action to help its handler avoid or lessen its impact, that would qualify it as a service animal. However, if the dog provides comfort due to its mere presence, it is considered a therapy or emotional support animal and is not protected by the ADA.
Rules and regulations for service dogs
Again, a service dog is not required to wear an identifying vest. However, it is required to have a harness or leash. If the handler is physically unable to hold a tether, or if a tether would interfere with the animal’s tasks, the animal must be under the handler’s control through voice commands or hand signals.
More landlord questions? Call Barker Realty
When complying with state and federal regulations regarding service animals, landlords have the right to ask questions and enforce their “no pet” policies. Hopefully, these tips will help you be fully ADA compliant. If you have other property management questions, contact Barker Realty or our sister company, Barker Property Maintenance.
by Barker Realty, Inc. | Jan 5, 2019 | Property Management Blog, Tenant Acquisition, Tenant Management, Tips for Landlords
Even though you’re excited to rent out a freshly renovated apartment building or single-family residence, don’t let your enthusiasm cloud your vision. Even though you undoubtedly want to rent to the first bidders, it’s important to find the right people who will bolster positive tenant relations (and treat your property with respect!) Here are some real estate screening tips that will help you find quality tenants.
Always request an application
Having a potential tenant fill out an application lets them know that they will be thoroughly screened. Many prospective renters with troubled rental histories will bow out gracefully upon seeing your intent to investigate their past. An ideal candidate will have no issue with both credit and background checks.
Run a credit check
In some cases, consumers have figured out the credit reporting system and know that activity is reported every 30 days. They could be using this time to apply for residence because they know that their credibility will drop soon. The best way to gain insight into a potential renter’s payment habits is to review their credit activity over the past seven years. Even if a prospective tenant has a strong credit score, they may still have missed payments or a significant income-to-debt ratio.
Run a background check
It is important to run both a background check and criminal records check on every prospective tenant. An applicant who has made a mistake or two in the past may have just fallen on hard times, but someone who is consistent with his offenses may be bad news for your property.
Need property management in Raleigh? Call Barker Realty
Finding and managing tenants isn’t easy. Signing a bad tenant can easily cost a real estate investor thousands of dollars if the deal goes south, or damage existing tenant relations at the very least. Hiring a Raleigh property management company like Barker Realty is an excellent way to save time and reduce frustration with the whole process. For just a small monthly fee, we can quickly find and screen tenants and protect your investment property. If you have more questions or have more property management questions, just give us a call!
by Barker Realty, Inc. | Sep 3, 2018 | Local Property Management, Property Management Blog, Tenant Management, Tips for Landlords
Educating Tenants at Move-In to Avoid Unnecessary Work Orders
Real estate is a significant investment that can potentially yield high profits. As a property owner, you need to educate yourself with the necessary information about your rental property, the housing market and the region in which you have your rental(s) in order to build a better, more healthy relationship with your tenants. Building these relationships gains their trust and your credibility to ultimately reduce and avoid unnecessary work orders.
The best way of educating a tenant and maintaining them for longer periods of time is by hiring the services of a local real estate management company, like Barker Realty, who have experienced rental property managers on staff with years of experience.
Companies like Barker Realty should be in a position to handle any tenant need and make sure that your investment property is kept up efficiently and in your best interests.
Let us share some basic tips in dealing with tenants to ensure a healthy, balanced relationship:
1. Provide Utility & Home Service Information
As a rental property manager, tenants should be provided information about important local service providers, such as utility companies, phone, TV, internet and city/town contacts before they move in. Providing these details to your tenants shows value and benefits in proving you care about their smooth transition. Your tenants should have enough time to make the calls to get tech’s scheduled and services activated at their new home (your rental).
2. Provide Parking Information
Parking can be a pain anywhere, but it shouldn’t be at your tenant’s new home. Some tenants may have cars and others not, but those who do should know where they can and cannot park and if there are restrictions on time of day or night as well. Allowing your tenants time to check out the area to find parking or use a lot or a driveway is key and will also cut down on possible neighbor or neighborhood complaints.
As a property management company, our team at Barker Realty knows to ask tenants how many cars they have as well to help identify a potential issue before it arises or give the green light that everything will be fine.
3. Provide Important Details About Payments, Maintenance Requests, and Any Deadlines
When it comes to rental payments, many landlords face challenges from tenants who may be late or delinquent or provide false excuses on why they can’t pay on time. Same applies to maintenance requests or needs from tenants over the days, weeks, months, years. Property owners don’t want to be hassled with this each month, so that is where hiring a property management company becomes of great value.
Your rental management provider, like Barker Realty, will be able to give clear guidelines to your tenants regarding the date of payment, and consequences of delaying the payment. Also, in case of property damages by a tenant, tenants need to understand they are liable. Alternatively, if an issue arises with the property that is not caused by the tenant, then you the landlord are responsible to fix in a timely manner to uphold your end of the lease agreement. Tenants have rights too, and abiding by these situations to help each other out makes for a long lasting relationship.
Supplying your tenants with the above three pieces of quick, useful and helpful information may reduce unnecessary work orders and tension between you and those occupying your rental property.
Contact our Raleigh property management company today to speak with us about your rental management needs or to discuss any of our services. It’s our goal to provide each and every one of our clients the best service!
by Barker Realty, Inc. | Aug 4, 2018 | Property Management Blog, Repair & Upgrades, Tenant Management, Tips for Landlords
Owning an investment property in Cary could be a great long-term investment option. While there are benefits that come with owning investment real estate, it can also be a challenge at times. Even when following the best tenant retention tips and choose qualified tenants, there issues that arise things that need to be dealt with. Fortunately, there are tips that you can follow that could help you to better manage even the most challenging situations.
Consistent Approach
One of the most important things to do is follow a consistent approach. You should have policies and procedures set up to follow if a tenant falls behind on rent. Our Cary based property managers are experienced in these processes.
Keep Records and Documentation
When struggling with a tenant that consistently falls behind on rent, or threatens lawsuits, our experienced Cary property managers make sure to keep proper records at all times. It is very important that you document interaction with emails, letters, and other forms of correspondence. This could be valuable in the event the case goes to trial.
Deposits and Insurance
Another headache for landlords is rental property damage. Accidents do happen. Make sure that you are covered in the event of rental property damage by contacting your insurance agent to discuss options to protect you and your home. Require your tenants to carry a renter’s insurance policy. Require a security deposit up front in certified funds to cover damages at move-out.
If you are a property owner in Cary, contact us today to learn more about the services Barker Realty can provide you on managing your investment property the right way.
by Barker Realty, Inc. | Jul 20, 2018 | Property Management Blog, Raleigh Investment Property, Taxes & Financing, Tips for Property Investors
It is important for rental property owners to know and understand how to manage cash flow. Cash flow is an important item in your budget that allows you to project income over the year. As an investment property owner you may find out your profit is 8% after expenses when it should be, say 10%. As an investor, you may come to a conclusion that a particular property will not be profitable, and it may be better to invest money elsewhere. Your cash flow creates opportunities as well as explained below.
Investors who are looking to refinance or sell a property also need to have a consistent stream of income. Properties that have a strong cash flow are more attractive to investors. Buyers may ask to see a rent roll in order to confirm that the rent has been consistently paid showing properties are in good standing and helps build investor confidence.
If you have a larger property, then a dip in cash flow may not hurt you much. They usually have enough income coming into to deal with dips. However, it can be difficult to manage cash flow at a single rental property versus a portfolio with multiple properties as dips are harder to take and overcome.
Our team at Barker Realty helps our property managers and also our clients who invest in properties work to understand and maximize cash flow for each and every property.
Reduce the Impact of Vacancies
You will likely have vacancies at some point. You can reduce the impact of vacancies by including a marginal vacancy rate in your budget. If you do not have a vacancy, then you will be able to offset unexpected costs.
Stagger Lease Expirations
Many property managers are tempted to have all of their leases on the same schedule. However, this may cause a cash flow problem if people move out, and their unit is not re-rented. Change the dates so that you are not hit with multiple vacancies at one time.
Review Your Contracts
If it has been a long time since you reviewed your property management contracts, then now is the time to do so. Have your insurance premiums increased? Is it time to refinance? Is your mortgage interest rate competitive with other rates? Are you getting the best rate for your service? Those are some of the key questions you need to ask yourself.
All recurring expenses you have should be evaluated in order to determine if you are getting the best rates. You will be able to increase your cash flow by reducing your monthly costs and our team of investment property managers in Apex is ready to help. Contact us today for more information or to schedule a meeting!
