Rental properties always need maintenance here is a list of To Do’s to get ready for the season and to prevent you getting that call on Christmas Eve when you have a house full of guests and aren’t in the mood to deal with a maintenance emergency on your rental.

1. Check heater and install new filter.  Have heater cleaned annually by heating company.
2. Check stove and oven to make sure it works correctly.
3. Clean gutters so water drains away from the property
4. Check sump pumps if the property has one
5. Clean the fireplace so no fires in the flue
6. Install weather stripping around doors and windows.
7. Clean roof of debris that can catch fire (embers from fireplace) or create leaks in home because water can’t drain away properly. Have roof inspected every 5 years to make sure it is still sound.
8. Have trees on property trimmed annually and checked for safety by an arborist. 
9. Make sure outside lighting on property is working. 
10. Install new batteries in smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors 
11. Ensure walk ways are safe – repair cracks to sidewalks.
12.  Make sure tenants have a fire extinguisher in the kitchen area and flash lights in case of power outage – candles can be dangerous in an emergency.
13.  Lastly, check with tenants regarding plumbing – is everything draining properly?  If not, get plumber to clean lines before all the guests show up and the toilet backs up.

Keep in mind tenants often are afraid to mention small fix it items and live with it because they don’t want their rent increased.  They don’t call you until there is an emergency so be proactive.

Please check out my website at www.PortolaRentals.com if you are interested in properties in Santa Cruz or have rentals in Santa Cruz, CA.

Kathleen Richards, M.S. MPM, RMP

It isn’t ideal to have a vacancy in the Fall or Winter months but it does happen. Here are some tips to help you rent that property quickly.

1. Make the outside look warm and cozy – decorate the front for the holidays
2. Get to property early -  turn on the heat in the house
3. Burn cinnamon candles or Xmas smelling candles
4. Turn on all lights, open curtains to get more light into property
5. Have photos online that look warm and inviting
6. Return all calls immediately
7. Lower rent below fair market level
8. Offer a lease or rental contract that expires in May so you are back to high season – the summer.
9. Be willing to negotiate with prospect if they are a strong candidate
10. Waive the credit check – processing fee

Please check out my website at www.PortolaRentals.com if you are interested in properties in Santa Cruz or have rentals in Santa Cruz, CA.

Kathleen Richards, M.S. MPM, RMP

Annually I send my tenants at Thanksgiving time a card (I don’t do Xmas – everyone gets cards so I don’t stand out) thanking them for being good care takers of the property and I include a gift card.  Some years it is a gas card, other years it is a Marie Calendar card for a pie for the holiday.

It builds loyalty and long term residency.  And, I truly am thankful that they take good care of the property.

Please check out my website at www.PortolaRentals.com if you are interested in properties in Santa Cruz or have rentals in Santa Cruz, CA.

Kathleen Richards, M.S. MPM, RMP

Client Contact – all business coaches or marketing guru’s have tons of ideas for connecting with clients – Owners, Vendors, Tenants, anyone you consider your client.  What I have learned over the years is to pick one or two things and do them consistently.  I don’t do birthday cards – wouldn’t remember them all.  I don’t do Christmas Cards – everyone does them and mine will get lost with all the others.

This is what I do and have done for years.  I schedule it on my calendar so I don’t forget.

I do a quarterly news letter to all my owners with legal updates, what’s new in rental housing in Santa Cruz, a did you know section and a bit about what I am up to these day – more of a professional development section.  My end of year newsletter has info about new services, and ways I have saved my clients money over the past year.

I do a post card to tenants 2 times a year with seasonal reminders such as:  test your oven (before Thanksgiving Day), change batteries in smoke detectors etc.

Tenant’s who pay rent on time – meaning before or on the 1st of the month are entered into a raffle and one tenant receives a $20 gas card.  We do this monthly and post the winner on the home page of our website.

Owner clients – get an annual gift – a small token of my appreciation for their continued business.  I do this just before Thanksgiving and send a Thanksgiving Thank You Card with gift.  Past years have included:  Marie Calendar Pie gift certificates (I have out of state owners), Gas cards, home made bottled wine etc.

I mail a Thank You card to everyone I know that is a Veteran on Veteran’s Day - I have been doing this since high school.  Want to see a grown man cry?  It is very touching and something I will continue to do. On my tenant and owner information sheet there is a box that asks if they are a veteran.

My vendors are invited to a Vendor Appreciation event  annually – hosted at a  local restaurant for snacks and drinks.  I give awards, gift certificates – gas cards are big winners with this group – certificates of appreciation, and most of all it is a public forum for me to thank my vendors for their excellent service to me and my clients and that they are a direct extension of my business.  It is also a time for me to continue to build my relationship with my vendors.  Think Sunday night 11:00pm on a holiday weekend – my vendors come through for me and my clients!

So decide how you want to recognize, thank and build your relationship with your clients.  Pick one or two things and do it consistently.

Please check out my website at www.PortolaRentals.com if you are interested in properties in Santa Cruz or have rentals in Santa Cruz, CA.

Kathleen Richards

I recently rented a cottage in Santa Cruz and was surprised to see the tenants had a chicken coop with 2 hens and they collected the eggs daily.  When I would show the cottage the hens would scurry around the yard – no bugs at this property was my first thought.

As a property manager it is hard enough to find owners willing to rent to tenants with cats, dogs, birds (in cages) or even fish.  Now, we have chickens.  I was wondering what the city code said about chickens.  It is the rooster that people have problems with but apparently hens are a wonderful pet and very eco-friendly. The roosters are banned in urban areas but hens don’t require a permit of any kind.

The Santa Cruz Sentinel, Home & Garden section, Saturday, June 12, 2010, written by Laura Copeland, lcopeland@santacruzsentinel.com and www.santacruzsentinel.com had a 2 page article on chickens and how they have taken off in Santa Cruz County.  Scotts Valley Feed sold 3,000 chickens in 2009 up from 150-300 just four years earlier. 300 were sold out in 45 minutes.

If you want more info about raising hens there are workshops, of course, this is Santa Cruz County. Contact 831-466-3444, www.diggardensnursery.com To read the entire article you can find it online or click the links above.

I wonder how soon I will see hens listed on my rental apps under pets?

Please check out my website at www.PortolaRentals.com if you are interested in properties in Santa Cruz or have rentals in Santa Cruz, CA.

Kathleen Richards

In the June 9, 2010 Santa Cruz Sentinel Newspaper, www.santacruzsentinel.com page B3, there is an article by Shanna McCord about the crack down on party homes in Santa Cruz.  The City Council passed an emergency ordinance not allowing repeat offending property owners from making renovations to their properties that would increase the number of bedrooms or the capacity to house more people.

As a local Property Manager, I agree with the City Council.  I think property owners should be forced to follow the same laws that we do.  I think property owners (and I am one myself) need to be responsible owners not just to their tenants but to their neighbors.

I have lived next to a party house and I can tell you it is hell on the neighborhood.  I complained but what can you do with an owner that lives out of the area or just doesn’t care.  I took the route to be friendly to the tenants and let them know when the noise was too much.  It helped until the next round of students moved in and it started all over again.

As a professional property manager, I do not allow my residents to disturb their neighbors.  If I get a complaint I check it out and then the tenants get a 3 day notice to perform or quit.  If it happens again they are given notice to move.  I make it very clear to tenants prior to moving in what is acceptable and what isn’t acceptable.

If you communicate clearly what is expected of people and what they can expect of you 99% of the time they do the right thing.

In my experience when I get calls from property owners who want me to rent their property on the west side of santa cruz I ask how much rent they get and when they tell me $5,000 for a 3 bedroom I know that I am not the property manager for them.  I don’t want to work with this type of owner.  They want to get as much money as they can, they rent rooms, they don’t maintain the property and the kids have parties and ruin the property further because their rationale is that I am paying all this money for this crappy place…

I work very hard to have an excellent reputation in the community and I realize students need a place to live and this type of owner only makes things harder on everyone, me the professional, the students who are responsible, the neighbors who want to live in a quiet area and get along with their neighbors and the city council.

Enough complaining – here are some steps to take if you do live next to a party home.

1. get to know the students
2. take pictures of problems
3. call the police, again and again if you have to
4. contact the property owner and try to work with them
5. contact the property management company if there is one
6. complain to the city council, the university
7. if all else fails, have an attorney write up something on behalf of the neighborhood and have letter sent to students, university, and owner.

Sometimes making yourself the squeeky wheel does work but I do find if you take the steps to be friendly with the students they will often respond better when you knock on the door asking for the music to be turned down.

Please check out my website at www.PortolaRentals.com if you are interested in properties in Santa Cruz or have rentals in Santa Cruz, CA.

Kathleen Richards

It is summer time and that means scams.  In the June 4th, issue of the Santa Cruz Sentinel Newspaper, www.santacruzsentinel.com there was a short article about Vacation Homes Should Be Watched and the article referenced a couple homes where people were squatting in them.

I don’t do vacation rentals as part of my business but it got me thinking about scams in general.  When does a property manager decide to put a For Rent sign out front?  Does this alert people to the possibility of the property being vacant?  What about CraigsList and the scams you find there?

The most common scam in my industry being someone takes the photos and the property description and advertises the property for way below rental market rates.  We have gotten angry prospects who come in to apply for the $1000 ocean front house – if it sounds too good to be real then it is.  Also, please check the email addresses on the ad.  Sometimes it is very obvious it is a scam.  I post all my properties in protected fliers so I haven’t had this happen recently.

So do you put up For Rent signs or not?  I do put them up if tenant occupied, and on a busy street.  If on a quiet street no point, no one will see the sign.

Use care this summer when renting your property for vacation or long term.

Please check out my website at www.PortolaRentals.com if you are interested in properties in Santa Cruz or have rentals in Santa Cruz, CA.

Kathleen Richards

As we enter the summer months I thought I would give a quick assessment of the local rental market as of end of May 2010.  Well, things have really picked up. In the last week we rented everything but 2 properties and as of today we only have 4 properties available to rent. 

There are strong applicants out there.  I have more qualified applicants than I have properties to rent to them.  My stats are I am able to rent most properties within 15 days.  I have one or two that are up to a month and that is because the client refuses to drop the rent.

Where are rents these days?  They have stabilized from last summer.  Last summer rents dropped 10-20% depending upon property and location.  This summer they are level and renting quickly.

For those owners that are realistic and understand that time is money and if you lose 1 full months rent you aren’t going to make it up we are able to get their places rented quickly and to well qualified people.

Who are the typical renters these days?  Families, professionals, retirees.  Yes, Santa Cruz is a college town but I don’t have students in my portfolio of properties.

I am also noticing that owners are putting money into their investments and fixing them up. I think the rational is that the property is something physical that can be passed to the kids someday.  The “market” goes up and down daily and isn’t predictable.

I am looking forward to this summer – it is always busy – and before you know it I am writing my year-end newsletter.

Please check out my website at www.PortolaRentals.com if you are interested in properties in Santa Cruz or have rentals in Santa Cruz, CA.

Kathleen Richards

I keep things that are of interest to my business and this posting is from the Santa Cruz Sentinel July 17, 2008.  I thought I would share with you some of the tips and tricks for stain removal.

• Grease – use cornstarch, cornmeal and talcum powder to soak up
• Dried blood, juice, felt-tip pen or urine – Ammonia – purchase nonsudsy unscented household version
• Stubborn stains – Hydrogen Peroxide 3% solution
• Pencil, Mascara, Color Candle Wax – denatured or isopropyl rubbing alcohol
• Old Perspiration, Pet Stains – White Vinegar is very effective on removing odors for carpets and upholstery.
• Removal of bumper stickers, crayon on wood floors – use Mayonnaise let sit and wipe
• Pool Hair – shampoo with Ketchup, leave for 15 minutes, rinse out with baby shampoo.
• Hardwater stains – vinegar works wonders.

Please check out my website at www.PortolaRentals.com if you are interested in properties in Santa Cruz or have rentals in Santa Cruz, CA.

Kathleen Richards