portola rentals

2013 Rental Outlook in Santa Cruz, CA

January 28, 2013

2013 is looking to be an excellent year for rentals.  Rents are tightening up and inventory is tightening as well.  What property is coming on the market is renting quickly and we are finding that tenants are asking to extend their leases another year so as to lock in their rents. A word of caution [...]

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When Things Go Wrong – Rebuilding Trust

September 26, 2012

I recently had a new property where the owner lived in the house and moved out of state and wanted us to rent the home.  From the start the property is at a negative monthly even with us getting them top dollar. Knowing this I always try to be extremely sensitive to costs when getting [...]

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Fair Housing – What’s the fuss

September 6, 2012

Fair Housing is something you MUST and NEED to know if you are going to be a property owner.  The basis is not to discriminate against basically everyone and anyone. So let me ask you if you a few questions. Can you say no to a therapy animal if your property is no pets? Can [...]

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Think Like an Appraiser

August 22, 2012

I found a recent article in CNN Money Magazine for August 2012 and thought I would share the advice. Appraisers say that homeowners misjudge the worth of their home so this is what an appraiser sees. 1. Overgrown plants and chipped paint on the outside of house. That takes as much as 3% off the [...]

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The Lease is Expiring – What next?

July 13, 2012

It is summer time and most of my leases start and expire in the summer months.  I get questions from tenants and owners alike asking about what happens when their lease expires. First, read the lease to refresh yourself with the content.  The leases we use have a statement that the lease will automatically roll [...]

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Leap Year – Will You Marry Me – Or Not

February 29, 2012

Today is the 29th of February – Leap Year.  I always heard it was the one day where a woman could ask a man to marry her.  In the past women got married because the man had something to offer – good job, income, a home, stability, would be a good father etc.  Well, did [...]

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Electronic Signature – Is it for you?

January 25, 2012

We finally made the move to signing all leases and management contracts electronically.  I was worried that something would be lost by not sitting down with the tenant and going over the lease with them. What I realized is that they are so preoccupied with their move that they don’t really read the lease.  We [...]

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True Story – My Tenant is Taking Me To Small Claims

January 19, 2012

As many of you know I am the State of California rep for the blog: www.CaliforniaLandlordSolutions.com and I often get calls from people who found out website and want advice on how to handle a situation. Last week I was called by a lady who was shocked that her former tenant was taking her to [...]

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