Management Mondays Blog

Can I Cancel a Property Management Contract?

A Property Management Agreement (PMA) indicates the length of an agreed upon term for which the management company and landlord are legally contracted. Typically, this term is one year. Lawfully, you may not cancel or back out of this contract unless the management company has committed some sort of malfeasance or was in breach of contract in some other way. Long story short, the management company has a right to collect funds for as long as specified and you are obligated to pay.
 
 If you are so unhappy with the company that you want to get out, you should first talk to the management company and express your displeasure and see if they will amicably part ways. If that doesn’t work, you may try to negotiate a reduced amount. For example, if you are still on the hook for seven more months of management, you could offer to pay three months of management fees upfront to let you out. You could also consult an attorney if needed.
 
 At 24 Hour Property Management, we are confident that you’ll be pleased with our services; and, for whatever reason you are not, we will do what it takes to make it right. In the event that our professional relationship is irreparable, and it turns out we are not the management company for you, we have no problem letting you out of your contract. Fortunately, for us and our clients, this has yet to occur.

Contact 24 Hour Property Management, Inc.

If you any questions about 24 Hour Property Management, our services, and our excellent customer satisfaction, please contact us so that we can answer your questions and advise you. You can reach us seven days a week at 949-409-8585 or you can check us out on the web at 24hourpm.com.

What Income Multiplier Signals a Good Applicant?

When vetting an applicant or group of applicants for your rental property, there are many factors to consider, such as credit, character, and rental history. But the most important consideration in our estimation is the tenants’ ability to pay, i.e., their income. Honestly, even parsing their income is a bit complicated if you truly examine the numbers, but as a rule of thumb, we recommend that the combined monthly gross income of the applicants is equal to or greater than three times the monthly rent. For example, if you expect monthly market rent to be $2000, you should expect the combined monthly gross income of the applicant(s) to equal or exceed $6000 ($72,000 annual).

A few caveats to consider if you want to take a deeper dive:

• Source of income – does all the income come from a reliable source, i.e., verifiable employment with longevity, as opposed to student loans or irregular contract work.
• Monthly obligations – if the applicants have little to know obligations (car payment, high credit card payment, student loans) then you may be OK accepting a 2.5 multiplier. Conversely, if the applicants have a large amount of obligations, you may need to increase the multiplier to 3.5.

Contact 24 Hour Property Management, Inc.

If you any questions about how we dig into applicant’s income, or any other question related to property management, please contact us so that we can answer your questions and advise you. You can reach us seven days a week at 949-409-8585 or you can check us out on the web at 24hourpm.com.

Minimum Requirements for Property Condition

In California, landlords must meet the following basic dwelling livability requirements (summarized):

• effective waterproofing and weather protection of roof and exterior walls, including unbroken windows and doors;
• functioning plumbing, heating, and electrical facilities, including hot and cold running water and a working toilet and kitchen sink;
• clean and sanitary building and grounds (that is, free of debris, filth, rubbish, garbage, rodents, and vermin), with adequate trash receptacles;
• well-maintained floors, stairways, and railings;
• deadbolt locks on certain doors and windows;
• no lead paint hazards; and,
• no nuisances

Outside of the above, it is also required that the home has smoke alarms in each bedroom, in the hall leading to any bedroom, and at least one on each floor. Furthermore, each floor must have a CO2 detector and the water heater must be strapped properly. Required in some cities but recommended in the strongest terms possible no matter where the property is located, a pool safety fence should be erected when the property has a pool.

Beyond that, our property managers will walk-through the property and make recommendations for improvements based on potential hazards and rentability.

Contact 24 Hour Property Management, Inc.

If you any questions about mitigating liability or if an item should be repaired, or any other question related to property management, please contact us so that we can answer your questions and advise you. You can reach us seven days a week at 949-409-8585 or you can check us out on the web at 24hourpm.com.

How Many People Do I Have to Interact with at 24 Hour?

Many property management companies have multiple points of contact for their clients. You may have to talk to one person when you’re on-boarded, another about the ongoing management, a third about maintenance issues, and still a fourth for accounting/financial questions.

That may be a fine model for them, but at 24 Hour Property Management we believe in giving you a single point of contact, one property manager that answers all your questions and provides all your updates. If you have a question about your monthly statement or about the progress of a certain repair, or about the quality of an applicant, you can ask your property manager. Similarly, when we must notify you about late rent or send an invoice for unclogging a drain, it will come from this very same person.

Contact 24 Hour Property Management, Inc.

We have an extremely customer-service oriented approach to property management and put our clients’ needs above all else. If you any questions about what we can do for you, or any other question related to property management, please contact us so that we can answer your questions and advise you. You can reach us seven days a week at 949-409-8585 or you can check us out on the web at 24hourpm.com.

Can a Tenant Make Improvements Without Landlord Permission?

The typical course of action is that a tenant will ask permission to do X, Y, or Z to your rental property at their own expense. This could be as mundane as painting the walls a different color to reflooring the entire unit. As the property owner, you have every right to consider the proposal and approve or deny it. Though, we generally recommend accepting improvements that add or maintain value or are easily reverted.

But what if the tenant makes improvements or repairs without your permission… what are your obligations? Save for a very few specific caveats, the tenant may not make alterations or repairs without your explicit permission. And, if they do, they are not entitled to reimbursement through any means. 

The California Association of Realtors lease we utilize plainly states, “…without Landlord's prior written consent, (i) Tenant shall not make any repairs, alterations or improvements in or about the Premises […]; (ii) Landlord shall not be responsible for the costs of alterations or repairs made by Tenant; (iii) Tenant shall not deduct from Rent the costs of any repairs, alterations or improvements; and (iv) any deduction made by Tenant shall be considered unpaid Rent.”

Contact 24 Hour Property Management, Inc.

If you any questions about your obligations to your tenant, legal or moral, or any other question related to property management, please contact us so that we can answer your questions and advise you. You can reach us seven days a week at 949-409-8585 or you can check us out on the web at 24hourpm.com.

How long does it take 24 Hour to find a tenant?

In over 1000 rental transactions spanning a decade, we have found that properties that rent up to $3000 per month take an average of 17 days to locate a tenant. For properties that rent for over $3000 per month, the average time it takes to find a tenant is 31 days. However, for the first 8 months of 2019, our average days on the market is 14 and 20 for properties listed under and over $3000, respectively.  

To clarify, this time refers to the amount of time to find a qualified tenant, sign a lease, and collect the deposit. There usually can be days or weeks before the tenant moves in and starts paying rent.

There are many factors that can affect these averages for an individual property. For example, if you allow pets, you’ll likely speed up the chances of finding a qualified tenant. Your definition of a qualified tenant can affect the time frame as well. For example, do you require applicants to have 800+ credit and a gross monthly income of four times the rent? And biggest of all: seasonality. From mid-November through the end of February is the slowest time of year. So, if you list during this time, expect your rental take some extra time to become occupied. Conversely, May through August is extremely active. You may be able to rent your property even faster than the average times if listed during this time of the year.

Contact 24 Hour Property Management, Inc.

We’ve refined our systematic approach over the years through hundreds of rental listings and we have the data. If you any questions about marketing your property, or any other question related to property management, please contact us so that we can answer your questions and advise you. You can reach us seven days a week at 949-409-8585 or you can check us out on the web at 24hourpm.com.

What We Do

At 24 Hour Property Management, we are investors ourselves and collectively manage 20+ of our own properties and we have had experiences with various property management firms over the years. We've modeled our business based on these experiences and strive to bridge the service gaps of other property managers. We provide a high level of service and place our client requests and needs above all else.

As far as our services go, we divide our services into two major categories: Lease-up Services and Property Management Services. 

Lease-up Services 

Lease-up services, or rental services, cover all the steps it takes to find and qualify a tenant, and get them legally moved in. This includes the following among others:

• Professional photos of your home. 
• Marketing your property on over 850 websites.
• Showing of the property to prospective tenants.
• Complete screening process of a prospective tenant, including full credit report, income verification, eviction history, and criminal background check.
• Supplying and reviewing all legal documentation from an application through the lease contract.

Property Management

Property management begins once the unit is occupied and includes:

• Taking all the tenants calls, questions, and repair requests.
• Facilitating with vendors to fix any and all issues within a reasonable time and expense.
• Tracking all expenses and books for your tax purposes.
• Rent collection and direct deposit of net proceeds.
• Withholding and remitting taxes for out-of-state and out-of-country investors.

Contact 24 Hour Property Management, Inc.

If you any questions about marketing your property or about property management, please contact us so that we can answer your questions and advise you. You can reach us seven days a week at 949-409-8585 or you can check us out on the web at 24hourpm.com.

At 24 Hour Property Management, we take three steps to market your property: (1) publish to the Multiple Listing Service (MLS); (2) create a single property website; and, (3) send an email blast to our local renter database. This system generally produces hundreds of leads within the first week. At the time of this publishing, our average days on the market (from posting to the MLS to signing a lease) is 14 for properties listed under $3000 and 20 for properties over that threshold. 

When we publish a rental listing to the MLS, not only does it become available to all the Southern California Realtors, it gets syndicated to over 800 other rental sites such as Zillow and Apartment Guide. By doing this, we efficiently and effectively cast the widest net.

Second, we create a single property website. Here is a sample of the website, which we create for every property to utilize on social media and Craigslist ads.

Lastly, we send out a notification to our renter database, which is comprised of former clients and other individuals that have contacted us about rental assistance.

Contact 24 Hour Property Management, Inc.

We’ve had the opportunity to refine this system over the years during the hundreds of rental listings we have handled. If you any questions about marketing your property, or any other question related to property management, please contact us so that we can answer your questions and advise you. You can reach us seven days a week at 949-409-8585 or you can check us out on the web at 24hourpm.com.

What are Tenant Placement Services?

Imagine that you are a homebuyer looking for home to purchase. Typically, you would work with a real estate agent to help you find and show you properties; make offers and negotiate on your behalf; and, finally, help with all the contracts and documentation. We at 24 Hour Property Management have taken this model and have adapted it to assist tenants looking for their next home. We perform each of the steps listed above at absolutely no cost to you.

Why should I use your Tenant Placement Services?

There are a few significant benefits in using our services. First, all the properties that we have access to are from the Multiple Listing Service (MLS), which means that they are 100% legitimate rental properties and not phony scammers. Secondly, instead of you trying to make appointments with multiple different landlords on their timetable, we can take you to each property when convenient for you. In fact, when possible, we try to take you to see three or four in a row. Lastly, and perhaps best of all, this service is completely free to the tenants we serve. The landlord pays us a finder’s fee for bringing them qualified tenants.

Contact 24 Hour Property Management, Inc.

We’ve helped hundreds of tenants locate privately owned condos and single-family homes. If you any questions about tenant placement services, please contact us so that we can answer your questions and advise you. You can reach us seven days a week at 949-409-8585 or you can check us out on the web at 24hourpm.com.

How Do We Collect Rent?

At 24 Hour Property Management we encourage our tenants to submit rent payments electronically through their online tenant portal. First, an Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) is more efficient and easier to track and trace than mailing a check, which can get lost or delayed in the mail. Additionally, the portal gives tenants the option to set up autopay if they so choose. Furthermore, in roommate situations, each roommate can pay their designated portion of the rent through the portal as well.

And though we do prefer EFT as it really takes all tenant excuses out of the picture, should circumstances dictate, we will accept more traditional forms of payment like a personal check or money order. 

Contact 24 Hour Property Management, Inc.

If you any questions about how we collect or distribute rents, or if you have any other questions about property management or investment property, please contact us so that we can answer your questions and advise you. You can reach us seven days a week at 949-409-8585 or you can check us out on the web at 24hourpm.com.