When it comes to ending a tenancy, you need to be as clear about your move-out terms as you are about move-in ones. Doing so will help you avoid expensive, time-consuming complications that could jeopardize your rental business.

1. Giving notice

Make it clear from the day your tenants sign their lease that they must give you written notice when they decide to move out. Following are some basic guidelines for the most common lease types:

• fixed-term: tenant occupancy ends after a pre-arranged period of time
• month-to-month: tenants should give 30 days’ notice
• year-to-year: tenants should give 60 to 90 days’ notice

2. Rental unit viewings

You should always give current tenants a courtesy notice of at least 24 hours that you plan to show the rental to others interested in taking over the unit. The only time when this does not apply is if the lease specifies that no notice is required, especially in the last month of occupancy.

3. Move-out specifications

Make sure your tenants know that they need to clean the rental and all provided items – especially stoves, refrigerators and dishwashers – to get their full security deposit back. You should also tell them to repair any damages to the apartment that go beyond normal wear and tear and take all belongings when they leave.

4. Final inspection

On move out day, both you and your tenants should do a final inspection of the rental unit. Use the inspection report that the tenants filled out on move in day to determine if anything has been damaged. Make careful note of any damage and then sign the report together.

5. Returning the security deposit

If your tenants have damaged the rental, left it unclean or neglected to pay rent or utilities, then you have a legal right to deduct whatever money is owed from the security deposit. Be sure to specify how much you are taking out (and for what) to the tenant.

Busy landlords like you often don’t have the time to deal with all the issues that come with ending a tenancy. That’s where the experts at Herman Boswell come in. Our team of real estate professionals can help you take care of your business so that your business takes care of you. Contact us today and let us show you a better way to manage your property investments.

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Being a landlord isn’t just about managing tenants and collecting rent. It’s also about being a good salesperson who  knows what tenants need and want and has the necessary interpersonal skills to make potential clients feel like they’ve finally come home.  There is a right way of showing and selling properties, so that it yields the high quality, high retention clients that we seek for our clients investment portfolios.

Before you can even consider listing a property for rent, you have to inspect your apartment, condominium or home carefully to make sure everything is neat and clean. That means painting the walls, vacuuming the rugs and floors, washing the windows, scrubbing down the bathroom and kitchen, getting rid of insect infestations and sprucing up the exterior.

It also means checking that everything in the unit is in working order. Appliances, water heaters and furnaces should be in good condition or replaced if they can’t be fixed. Leaky faucets and broken hardware on kitchen cabinets and doors should be replaced. And if there’s any frayed wiring, that needs to be repaired as well.

You also need to call your local fire department to check that you have installed the proper smoke detectors in your rental units. Some local ordinances don’t require that landlords provide these devices. Nevertheless, you still do so because you know that by providing a safer environment for your tenants, you’re more likely to get a break on your property insurance.

It’s all a lot of work. But if your rental unit isn’t properly prepared, any potential tenant who looks at it will likely not want to rent it and may also be left with a bad impression about you and/or your property.  With everything else that you need to do, both as a landlord and person with a life, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed.

That’s why you should contact the property management team at Herman Boswell. We know just what do to give your property sales appeal and simplify your life as an investment property owner. When you need the helping hand of real estate experts who know the DFW area like no one else in the business, we’re there.

Photo credit: luigi diamanti

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If your property is within two miles of a suburban community, in what FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) calls the “Wildland Urban Interface” (WUI), there is an increasing danger of being subject to wildfires that continue to occur due to the continuing drought conditions in Texas which are predicted to carry on into next year. Unfortunately, it has been found that more than 80 percent of wildfires in Texas now occur within this WUI area as many Texans have left urban areas, seeking the beauty and peace of nature, only to find they are now exposed to dry brush and grassland bordering or near their properties.

In fact, April 9th through 13th is Wildfire Awareness Week in Texas and FEMA is taking the opportunity to inform Texas property owners about how to safeguard their properties from the danger of wildfire incursion.

“Whether you own your home or rent, it’s important to have a plan in place to protect your personal property, family and pets from the devastation of a wildfire,” said Kevin Hannes, FEMA’s federal coordinating officer for the 2011 Texas wildfire recovery missions. “Make a plan, build a disaster supply kit and stay informed. Those are the three key components to staying safe under any hazardous conditions.”

There are a number of precautions and safeguards that FEMA recommends for property owners to take to minimize the risk to wildfires.

Make your property defensible:

• Create a fire-safe landscape zone ranging from 30 to 100 feet around the home.
• Plant only fire-resistant shrubs and trees. For example, hardwood trees are less flammable than pine, evergreen, eucalyptus or fir trees. Carefully space tree plantings to avoid creating pockets of fuel.
• Create “fuel breaks,” such as driveways and gravel walkways.
• Remove ground fuels like grass, leaves, pine needles, dead limbs and twigs within 30 feet of the home. Clear all flammable vegetation and other materials. Remove branches that extend over the roof or power lines. Mow grass regularly.
• Trim all dead branches from trees in the yard and prune low hanging limbs to prevent fire from climbing to the crowns of the trees.

Within the home:

• Use fire-resistant roofing material, such as ceramic or slate tile, or standing-seam metal roofing.
• Protect the home’s eaves with stucco or plaster to prevent flying embers from starting a fire. Consider designing the home without overhangs or use fire-resistant soffits to protect it from embers and hot gases.
• Ensure that exterior wall coverings are fire-resistant and not susceptible to melting. Concrete, fiber-cement panels or siding, stucco, masonry and metal are some recommended materials.
• Use metal mesh screens to keep fast-flying embers out of vents and chimneys. Vents should also be made of metal.

“Living in the Wildland Urban Interface is much like living in a floodplain,” said Kevin L. Hannes, FEMA’s federal coordinating officer for two wildfire recovery missions in Texas. “Texans should know what risks exist related to their location and they should adopt safety measures to protect their families and their homes.”

Property management is a key action you can take to protecting your property and your investment.  The experts at Herman Boswell Property Management  can help you with the many aspects of your property to keep it from harm’s way.  Give them a call.

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