Video: Considerations for an Investment Property

SAN JOSE — Host, Sarah Rutan: When it comes to managing a rental property, there are a few important things that you’ll need know. Today we are in San Jose with Diamond Certified Expert Contributor Sam LaPlaca, of CM Property Management, to learn more.

Diamond Certified Expert Contributor, Sam LaPlaca: Preventative maintenance is very important on any investment property. There’s the physical preventative maintenance, things like keeping your rain gutters clean so they don’t back up and cause damage to the roof. Keeping trees trimmed, off the building or off the roof so that doesn’t advance the deterioration of any of the roof or the property.

I’m going to talk today about the non-physical aspects, such as pre-qualifying a tenant and the lease agreement. So, one thing if you’re going to offer your house to rent to somebody and they’re going to take, you know, possessory right and move in, you want to make sure that they’re qualified. So, look at the fact that they have at least three times the amount of rent as income, good credit history, and good rental history background. And verify all those with documentation.

And also have a very comprehensive rental agreement that’s going to cover all aspects of their tenancy, not only who’s living there and how much rent they’re going to pay, but also the things they need to do to be a good tenant, such as report any maintenance issues right away. If there’s any other concerns about cleanliness or things that could cause problems on the property, you got to make sure that those are all taken care of.

So, you need to go over the lease in great detail with the tenant when they move in so all those expectations are laid out in a very clear fashion.

Host, Sarah Rutan: To learn more from local top-rated companies, visit our Diamond Certified Expert Reports at experts.diamondcertified.org