Gone are the days when a prudent landlord/owner can entrust a fix-it man to be their property manager. Discrimination, trip and falls, mold, code enforcement, smoke detectors, etc. can make any landlord toss and turn at night. Lawyers and the government are after Landlords. Landlords must be relentless in actively learning new laws and landlord issues or defend their investment with PROFESSIONAL management. MacFarlane Real Estate, Inc. is owned and operated by me, Mark MacFarlane, a California licensed attorney and real estate broker.
Effective management requires low vacancy rates. How do we make sure our vacancies are minimal? Thorough market rent survey, aggressive marketing, fast vacancy preparation (usually 7 day turn-around), proper tenant screening and most importantly…. We show vacant units to prospective tenants when they want to see the units!
How do you get rid of a trouble tenant? How much can I raise rent? My tenant abandoned the unit, can I go inside the unit? As an attorney, I am constantly studying developing California landlord tenant law. By being up to date on the law, I can act swiftly on behalf of my clients without fear of illegality. However, I have been hired as an attorney to help a Landlord that acted without the proper knowledge and now they have been sued for wrongful eviction. At that point, the Landlord’s best option is to settle which is far more expensive than hiring competent management!
For a reasonable monthly fee, a property owner can hand over all the headaches of self-managing their investment property to a property management company. However, unless you do your homework, you may end up creating more headaches (and losing money) if the wrong property management company is hired. Below I have provided a general list of responsibilities a competent property management company should handle. Of course, make sure to inquire whether all tasks will be covered under one monthly fee or if additional fees will be incurred per task.
1. Advertise/Show/Lease Vacancies
2. Perform Tenant Screening (credit checks, eviction history, etc.)
3. Collect/Deposit Rents Monthly
4. Communicate with Tenants Exclusively and Directly
5. Serve Notices (i.e. 24 hour notices to enter, 3-day notices to pay rent or quit, 30-day change of terms)
6. Commence and Assist with Evictions/Unlawful Detainer Proceedings
7. Maintain and Repair Property
8. Maintain and Monitor Property Account
9. Maintain and Pay Property Bills, Mortgages, Taxes, etc.
10. Provide Monthly Financial Statements Detailing all Income/Expense
11. 24-Hour Emergency Line for TenantsRecently, a strong demand for property management of single-family homes developed. MacFarlane Real Estate, Inc. responded by opening a single-family home division. The single family homes are often vacant and cannot be sold in todays market. So, we rent them up… and FAST. Many potential clients express a desire to “ride out the bad real estate market.” However, once the house is rented and covering the mortgage… the client seems happy to keep the investment!
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