When it comes to rental property ownership, most legislation, unfortunately, holds the property owner responsible, not the tenant. The property owner is always the bottom line regarding problems that arise at the property.

Some cities and states, however, do attempt to hold tenants responsible for maintenance to the units they occupy, and generally tend to make it the tenant’s responsibility to keep the unit in a habitable condition. Here’s a list of unit conditions that may be considered the tenant’s responsibility in your state:

• Tenants should keep the unit clean and safe. A tenant should be expected to have some cleaning capabilities such as keeping kitchens and bathrooms cleaned, and removing all garbage they generate to the appropriate receptacles or designated location for city pickup. The idea is to make the tenant responsible to maintain clean living conditions in and around his or her rental property unit both, for cleanliness sake and to prevent infestations.
• Tenants must use fixtures and appliances in the unit properly. Tenants are not permitted to abuse fixtures and appliances in the rental unit, must exercise reasonable care not to overload electrical outlets, and should not flush large objects down a toilet in the unit.
• Tenants are responsible to fix or pay for damage they cause. As the controlling factor living in the rental unit, if the tenant creates a situation that affects the habitability of the rental unit, he or she can be held responsible. If a tenant puts a hole in a wall, severely stains the carpets, or breaks fixtures and appliances, for instance, he or she must arrange to either fix or pay to repair the damages.

This is not a long list, to be sure, but that’s about the extent of the tenant’s legal responsibilities. You can, of course, list more detailed tenant responsibilities in your lease or rental agreement, understand, however, that efforts to hold a tenant responsible for certain things doesn’t mean that it will hold up in court. As a rental property owner it’s always best to familiarize yourself with legislation in your area, and understand what responsibilities you can, and cannot shift to tenants.

If you haven’t yet explored ProAPOD’s real estate investing software for new investors, please do. It won’t help you with tenant issues, but it will enable you to do a rental property analysis to determine cash flow, rates of return, and profitability in minutes. It is truly real estate investor software developed especially for beginner investors. Preview it at www.proapod.com by following the Real Estate Investor Software link in the menu.

by Jack Sternberg

To be honest, for most of my career as a private investor, I considered real estate agents an obstacle to success. Now, here I am advocating that you make them partners in your investment team. Why the change of heart? Well, one day I woke up. I realized that Real Estate Agents are not only a fact of life, but they’re best way to achieve investment success simply because of their knowledge and important place in the real estate community.

Of course, an absolute requirement for investment success is to work with real estate agents who know what they’re doing; otherwise, you’re wasting your time as an investor (not to mention that of the buyers and sellers).

In this article, I’ll give you seven guidelines for choosing the best real estate agents to work with in any investment situation.

Guideline #1: Choose a Full-Time Professional Real Estate Agent Avoid part-time real estate agents out there wanting commissions. Most are either mediocrities or amateurs who check in when the market is hot and check out when it slows. A good way to weed these individuals out is by asking for their experience, qualifications, sales, etc. Then, go with the real estate agents who have a demonstrated record of excellence over time.

Guideline #2: Choose a Specialist Ideally, you want a real estate agent who specializes in your particular area of investment. So, if you specialize in the single-family home market, look for an agent who has considerable experience and expertise in that area. Do the same for any market–multi-unit, commercial, retail, and/or the industrial sectors. By the way, don’t just accept a real estate agent’s word that he or she is an expert in a particular market. Ask for proof in terms of sales within your target market!

Guideline #3: Verify Real Estate Agent Credentials You can check with your state online database and other sources to make sure the agent is fully licensed and has no citations, disciplinary actions, etc. on his or her record. If a Real Estate Agent has ethics problems, you definitely don’t want them staining your reputation, even if it’s only by association.

Guideline #4: Ask For and Check References As with any business, the best proof of success lies in satisfied customers. So, ask the real estate agent for references from customers within your target market and geographical area. Contact those references to get a rounded picture of the real estate agent’s reputation and business practices. Naturally, you’ll want to develop a relationship with real estate agents with good to excellent reputations for honesty, fair dealing and patience. It’ll make the entire investment process a much smoother and more profitable one since you’ll be dealing with satisfied customers, not irate ones.

Guideline #5: Demand Good Communication Skills In any investment transaction, clear communication is the key to success. Seek out real estate agents who listen well to you and everyone else and who keep you informed and up-to-date on all transactions. And, don’t forget that clear communication is your responsibility as well. Make sure the real estate agents you choose fully understand your investment goals so they don’t waste time bringing properties to you that have little or nothing to do with those goals.

Guideline #6: Look For Real Estate Agents with Strong People and Negotiating Skills A Real Estate Agent can have all the experience in the world, but if they don’t relate well to people, they’re of no help to you and your investment deals. Make it a point to locate agents who are great at making everyone happy while moving people toward a deal with good negotiating skills. To find out about a Real Estate Agent’s negotiating skills, talk to former clients about how effectively the agent conducted bargaining sessions.

Guideline #7: Remember Your Responsibilities Once you form a relationship with a great Real Estate Agent, do your bit to keep them on your team. Bring them good deals, not “ghost” deals that never materialize. Remember, your reputation is on the line too, and you want it be a good one because it can help you build a long-term investing career. A Real Estate Agent who considers you a reliable and honest investor will bring you deals that never show up on the MLS listings or in the newspapers!

Key Point: Find the best Real Estate Agents for your area of investment and cultivate great relationships with them. You’ll both profit!

About the Author

Jack Sternberg is the creator of the renowned “Buyers First Program”. As the “gurus’ guru”, he is well known by the professional creative real estate community as “Obi-Won Kenobi”. Having been a full time investor since 1977, Mr. Sternberg has been “at” the closing table more than 1,500 times. Mr. Sternberg has the depth of experience that lend value to his associations. Contact Mr. Sternberg at www.askjacksternberg.com

Note: ProAPOD would also suggest that all real estate agents consider real estate software to help investors run the numbers and analyze rental income property. Real estate investment software makes it easy to create and present investors with quality reports. You can preview ProAPOD real estate investing software solutions at www.proapod.com. 

A rental application is a form rental property owners require prospective tenants to fill out during the rental process, and is part of a landlord’s screening technique that helps select tenants capable of paying rent on a timely basis and keeping the unit in good condition.

The information gathered in the rental application such as full name, current address, and monthly income are all essential for the rental property owner to determine whether the individual suits the landlord’s expectations of a good tenant and will qualify for renting the unit.

The idea, of course, is that the rental property owner is typically looking for tenant longevity: a good person who will pay the rent on time as well as stay in the unit for a long period and thereby minimize tenant turnover.

Rental applications should gather the following pertinent information from the prospective tenant.

1. Rental-housing history (including evictions) and any criminal history
2. How many people will be living in the unit
3. Who is the closest relative that can be contacted in case of an emergency
4. Social security and driver’s license numbers
5. Source of income

Moreover, it is important that the prospective tenant agree to supply the following additional information.

1. Two forms of identification you can copy and file
2. Credit checks – many credit agencies also perform checks on the prospective tenant’s criminal history. You may have to join a credit-reporting agency in your area and pay an initial membership fee, but this is usually charged to the prospective tenant.
3. Present and previous addresses where they have lived – it is always smart to contact their previous landlords
4. Work references – call the employer listed on the application to make sure the prospective tenant does work there.

In the event that you are using a rental agency to handle tenant applications, make sure to ask for a copy of their rental application. You want to satisfy yourself that the rental agency holds to the same standards for tenant selection as you do.

This real estate investing tip is provided as a free service by ProAPOD Real Estate Investment Software. If you are currently considering an investment in real estate you might want to think about using one of our real estate software solutions for your rental property analysis and marketing presentation.  Please visit www.proapod.com to preview our investment reports and features.