Many installers or those in home repair don’t think to mention items that need to take into consideration when remodeling or updating your home or rental property. These items can save you thousands of dollars in repair and or replacement costs. Ask your property manger to check for the following items making sure your rental property is safe and maintained correctly.
When having an appliance installed, be sure it can be removed easily for service. Flexible hook-ups for dishwashers and gas ranges can make repair jobs less labor intensive. Also, leave extra electric cable when installing electric wall ovens and cook tops. This will minimize the time the technician spends on the job and reduce the cost to you.
Dishwashers
If your kitchen floor is being installed or replaced, make sure that the floor beneath the dishwasher is the same height as the open area of flooring. Once installed, there may not be enough clearance to remove the dishwasher for servicing. The only alternative will be to lift the whole countertop off of the cupboards to remove the dishwasher, a needless expense.
Wall Ovens
When installing a wall oven below countertop level; be aware that small children could be exposed to a burn hazard. Wall ovens do not have to conform to the same temperature standards that regular ranges do. This is because they are designed to be installed above counter height.
Washing Machines
When installing a washing machine, be sure water shut-offs can be reached easily. Also ensure the water hoses are anti burst and are long enough to remove the appliance when necessary. A floor drain may also be necessary should the water pump or motor fail.
For safety, never leave an appliance operating when you are not home.
For additional information on this and other renting articles, please visit our web site at http://www.mrpmrentals.com/
Your Boise Property Management Rental Resource
Friday, February 19, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
A Lending Decision
Having properties for rent and the market a bit soft makes it important to locate a new tenant as fast as possible. With properties in top condition and lowered rents in place we were ready to go. With thoughts of filling some vacancies we advertised in several local hot spots and soon received a call to show a property to a woman and her child. She wandered through the first apartment then the second, returning to the first. She was quiet at first, but then began discussing the home with a friend that came along as support. They discussed where to place furniture and how wonderful the yard would be for the child to be able to go outside and safely play and for her to do some gardening.
She decided to apply for the property. After an hour we had a prospective tenant with a completed application and well on our way to filling a vacancy. This was exciting.
Returning to the office the screening process began. The first thing was to obtain a credit report. It’s on our website and spelled out on the rental application we do tenant screening on every adult applicant. We require a through screening be done and charge a fee to the tenant for that service. Tenant screening is very important and every landlord or property manager should either do it themselves or hire a company to verify a prospective tenant’s credit worthiness, rental history, criminal background and general character of the applicant. It’s a bad idea to lease to anyone with too much debt or bad debt or has any negative findings in other areas of the process. Those are a landlord or property managers golden rule or at least should be.
In all the years of working in property management and conducting tenant screening, a credit report has always included information whether it is a minor or major item of credit or comment there has always been something on a credit report. This applicant was 30 years old with a child; it’s assumed some type of credit would appear on this report. To our amazement and disbelief she had no credit. She was nonexistent in the world of credit. What should be done when accepting or denying a prospective tenant and their ability to rent this property?
This is what was determined. Our policy is to have a minimum credit rating and to demonstrate the ability to pay rent with any and all utilities or fees during occupancy. Also, they must come with a good record in all other areas. But, the credit report has always been a major area to weed out the keepers and rejects so to speak. Where does this applicant land with this issue?
We determined without a credit history we had no way to determine her ability to pay. Even obtaining raving reviews from the current landlord, friends and family the problem remained as to her credit worthiness. It doesn’t mean she would be a bad or good tenant, it means we cannot verify her credit worthiness. Also, if we indeed rented to her and later went into default for rental payments, we would not be able to locate her to collect past due payments. In order for us to offer tenancy, she would need to apply for credit. It may be necessary for her to have someone cosign on her behalf, of which we don’t accept, or be added to a joint account for a period of time. In a short time she will have a credit history upon which to base her credit worthiness and be a great candidate for a new rental.
For additional information on this and other renting articles, please visit our web site at http://www.mrpmrentals.com/
Your Boise Property Management Rental Resource
She decided to apply for the property. After an hour we had a prospective tenant with a completed application and well on our way to filling a vacancy. This was exciting.
Returning to the office the screening process began. The first thing was to obtain a credit report. It’s on our website and spelled out on the rental application we do tenant screening on every adult applicant. We require a through screening be done and charge a fee to the tenant for that service. Tenant screening is very important and every landlord or property manager should either do it themselves or hire a company to verify a prospective tenant’s credit worthiness, rental history, criminal background and general character of the applicant. It’s a bad idea to lease to anyone with too much debt or bad debt or has any negative findings in other areas of the process. Those are a landlord or property managers golden rule or at least should be.
In all the years of working in property management and conducting tenant screening, a credit report has always included information whether it is a minor or major item of credit or comment there has always been something on a credit report. This applicant was 30 years old with a child; it’s assumed some type of credit would appear on this report. To our amazement and disbelief she had no credit. She was nonexistent in the world of credit. What should be done when accepting or denying a prospective tenant and their ability to rent this property?
This is what was determined. Our policy is to have a minimum credit rating and to demonstrate the ability to pay rent with any and all utilities or fees during occupancy. Also, they must come with a good record in all other areas. But, the credit report has always been a major area to weed out the keepers and rejects so to speak. Where does this applicant land with this issue?
We determined without a credit history we had no way to determine her ability to pay. Even obtaining raving reviews from the current landlord, friends and family the problem remained as to her credit worthiness. It doesn’t mean she would be a bad or good tenant, it means we cannot verify her credit worthiness. Also, if we indeed rented to her and later went into default for rental payments, we would not be able to locate her to collect past due payments. In order for us to offer tenancy, she would need to apply for credit. It may be necessary for her to have someone cosign on her behalf, of which we don’t accept, or be added to a joint account for a period of time. In a short time she will have a credit history upon which to base her credit worthiness and be a great candidate for a new rental.
For additional information on this and other renting articles, please visit our web site at http://www.mrpmrentals.com/
Your Boise Property Management Rental Resource
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