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The Threat of Rental Scams and What You Should Know About It

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The threat of rental scams is a major source of worry for both the landlords and the tenants in the recent times. Scammers posing as landlords have become a very real challenge for renters looking for a home. When asked for personal or financial information, renters/tenants readily provide it to scammers without suspecting a thing. And today, where technology has eased up the process by taking it online, it’s very easy for intelligent fraudsters to fool unassuming tenants. To combat this problem, it is essential to recognize the indicators that lead to scams and take measures against them.

Rental Scam Red Flags:
• Offers of an impossible deal; a beautiful and expensive property at an unbelievable price, well below market standards.

• The landlord will ideally stay at his property during the course of an agreement, but if he is supposedly overseas, consider this as a warning.

• The scammers are after money. So, if you are asked for an upfront amount before even meeting the landlord at his property, it’s definitely a red flag.

• Scammers cannot meet potential tenants at the property as they do not own it. Naturally they will provide excuses as to why they can’t. This is a bad sign and must be treated with caution.

• Text within images in a rental listing is unnecessary and unprofessional. Naturally, treat any such listings with suspicion.

• The language used in the listing is an important criterion for determining the authenticity of the ad. If the language is grammatically incorrect and sounds inappropriate, it indicates a machine generated content. Steer clear of such content.

• Scour the internet for repetition of the listing content. Naturally, scammers have a lot of listings on their scanners and it’s highly probable that they duplicate their language in these. If you find duplicate content, move on to the next listing.

A property manager is a professional who can take care of all the formalities of a rental process and ensure smooth business transactions and processes between the landlord and the tenant. Hiring a reputed manager ensures that there is a minimum risk of scammers impersonating as landlords and robbing tenants. Although it is perfectly possible for a bad tenant to be kicked out of your property, it is always preferable not to have a bad tenant in the first place. Property managers ensure that there is a screening process in place to identify the good from the bad. The criteria for an ideal tenant are:

• Timely payment
• The intention of the tenants to rent the property for a long time
• The tenants should take good care of the premises and inflict minimum damage during their stay
• The tenants shouldn’t bring personal problems or otherwise to the landlord and his interests

A seasoned property manager will see hundreds of tenant applications and know exactly how to differentiate between genuine tenants and fraudsters. A property manager will not only protect landlords from scammers but also ensure a smooth transition process between landlords and tenants.

To conclude, no system is absolutely fool-proof. However, keeping a keen lookout and hiring a responsible property manager minimizes the chances of getting scammed. The indications mentioned here cover the situations where chances of a scam are maximum. So, it’s important to pay heed to these indications before taking a decision.

At Rincon Ventures, we ensure the safety of the information of our clients. We employ the best measures and techniques to keep all the data safe and make sure that a seamless business agreement is formed between client and landlord, free from any scam.

How to Successfully Review and Clarify Lease Agreements with New Tenants

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Leasing out a property to tenants is a business agreement.  This means you are allowing others to lease your property for a determined price and length of time. The lease conditions are extremely important and equivalent to a business arrangement and must be taken as such. There are many who rent out properties, but few who understand the importance of personally going over the lease, slowly and carefully, with the would be tenant(s). Let’s assume that your lease may allow for only two tenants. But your tenants overlook it and in about a couple of months, invite additional friends or relatives over to live at your property. This will mean a higher use of your property resources which may not have been agree upon.

A perfect way to avoid a similar situation is to go through every line of the lease document thoroughly and make sure that there is complete transparency between lessor and lessee.

Let us now go through the things to keep in mind while reviewing a lease with a new tenant:

1. Allow ample time for the new tenant to read and understand the lease terms on their own. This will allow them to relax during the meeting and to not feel rushed. Accordingly, they will be more involved and invested in the meeting with you, making it a pleasant experience for both parties.

2. Bring the lease agreement with you to the meeting, as without it, the discussion holds no value whatsoever. Your tenants don’t know you and there is no reason why they should take you at face value. Besides, if you miss an important clause, which you are bound to, you could end up with an angry tenant down the line.

3. A lease agreement may be easy to comprehend for you and you may have gone through a number of them. But for your new tenant, who may have only seen your lease once or twice, this can become a complicated situation. You need to be patient and go through every line with them and allow them to question you on the terms and conditions. However, here the customer/tenant might not even be interested in reviewing terms and conditions. In that case, you should proactively ask them to question you on the lease. This will not only give your tenant(s) a confidence in you but also make sure that every single condition of the agreement is crystal clear to them.

4. Concentrate and emphasize on the most critical points of the agreement. Make it perfectly evident to your client that you mean business and want them to be on the same page as you. Things like the length of the agreement are important and should be communicated thoroughly and clearly. A tenant is also a customer, paying you for the services rendered in your property. Therefore, if he or she looks bewildered or unhappy, probe them further for clarification. Make sure not to leave any stone unturned while discussing the agreement.

5. The creation of the agreement that you create for your lease is solely up to you. Consequently, the responsibility to clarify the same to a potential tenant is on your shoulders as well. There may very well be a number of unusual terms/clauses on your lease agreement which may be confusing or strange to the tenant. Here, you must understand the necessity and thoroughly explain why a particular clause was necessary to be included.

6. It is important for you to maintain an air of friendliness mixed with professionalism when you are dealing with tenants. This will keep the discussion concise and comprehensive without your tenant feeling uncomfortable or rushed. Friendliness ensures that your tenant(s) can feel relaxed and take their time to ask questions and clarify any doubts. Professionalism ensures that you don’t speak out of context, or say anything inappropriate or slang. Your tenant(s) should respect and trust you as it will lead to a working business relationship between you and them.

Any lease agreement is full of regulations and conditions, and for any tenant, these are new. As their future landlord, they need to see you as someone responsible and trustworthy. It needs to be established that the agreement is entirely legal and justified; the terms perfectly clear to them. After all, we all look for honesty and transparency when signing any contract.

Security Deposit Management

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Security deposits are important to ensure a profitable return from renting a property, especially to make sure that both the property owner and the tenant respect the clauses of the tenancy.

We shall delve deeper into the topic and discuss the best ways to manage your deposit money. It is reasonable to expect the best returns and profit when renting out your property to others and we shall point out the important factors in this regard.

Landlords need to keep up with a lot of information when renting out and taking security deposits. As legal matters go, these must be treated with caution and followed religiously. You don’t want to wind up unprepared in front of a judge on a security deposit issue.

Here Are What You Need to Remember:

1. Create a video of your property that reflects its condition before renting out and after the tenants move out of your property. A video is the ultimate tool to have in your hands. It provides an indisputable evidence of the situation and nobody will argue with what they see with their own eyes. You could send copies to your tenants and even present it in the court of law, should a case be raised.

2. Discrimination is a major offense while asking for a security deposit. In Arizona, as per law, the maximum deposit you may ask for is a month and a half’s rent. You may be penalized if you discriminate between tenants having children and those without while asking for a security deposit. The security deposit amount will, under no circumstance, be increased beyond what is stipulated.

3. Determination of damage can be a difficult task while deciding what actually qualifies as damage in your property. If a tenant moves out and you find the general look of the house old and used, it’s not a good idea to expect compensation. Arizona law states that while living at your property, a tenant may cause a little amount of wear and tear to the property.

4. Establishing trust accounts for security deposits is important in the event of any legal issue where your funds may be forfeited otherwise. Always keep a separate security deposit trust fund to ensure you don’t mistakenly spend the deposit amount.

5. There are very stringent rules/guidelines about returning the security deposit to your tenant. Make sure you know about the timeframe and act on it. There are serious legal ramifications in case you do not refund the money on time to your tenant. Should you choose to keep a part or all of the security deposit, make sure that not only is there a valid reason for it but also solid evidence. Presentation of evidence during court proceedings is vital in a case of a dispute.

6. To prevent any future troubles, it’s prudent to be wary of the number of pets a tenant may possess and act accordingly. It important to determine whether a deposit should be refundable or a non-refundable. The latter is more appropriate should you lease the property to a tenant with many pets as it’s almost a certainty that pets will damage your property to an extent. It’s best to retain one or two pets to keep the security monies viable for the tenants and to prevent your property from excessive damage.

Some Things to Remember about Hiring or Firing Property Managers:

1. Keep an eye out for how much your property manager is charging you for his work. There are certain tasks like registration etc. that may be inexpensive but you may be overcharged for. This a good indication that you need to look for a new property manager.

2. Make sure that you understand their accounting statements. Complex software and user interface can be really frustrating as you won’t know where your money is being channeled to. After all, everyone wants to keep perfect track of their money and so do you.

3. In case of your house being vacant for a long time, you need to find out what’s not right. Inquire about the property manager’s marketing methods and how much time they are giving to your cause. Also, you need to make sure if the price is too high or how many leads you are getting on the advertisement. Just make sure that all the bases are covered and your manager is efficient.

4. Observe whether your property manager is a good communicator. They need to follow up with the advertisement results and with any offers they might have received. If the follow ups are few and far between, then that’s a cue to look for a better property manager.

A Few Final Words On the Matter:

Renting comes with stipulations and State Laws that need to be adhered to. Any non-compliance can lead to unnecessary trouble. A number of pointers as mentioned above are crucial to a successful landlord-tenant relationship and a good property manager will complete that deal for you with minimal hassle. So, keep to the laws of your state and be sure to hire a reputable property manager who would handle your property issues.

College Town Rental Investments: Advantages and Disadvantages

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Investment in rented properties can be highly profitable if you have steady income flow from the tenants. But, in cases of rented houses, getting a good tenant and keeping them for a specified period of time can be problematic. Therefore, investors keep an eye on tenants who occupy the property for a particular period of time because it opens up the avenues of getting new prospects with higher rental rates.

Investors have also paid very close attention to renting their properties to college students in the recent days. There are three major reasons for this change:

  1. There are many college students who look for rented houses so that they can move out of the noisy dorm of their hostels and continue their studies in peace and enjoy the comforts of a home.
  2. Higher rents can be charged to college students who generally move in with other students and share the monthly rent.
  3. The investors find it easy to buy a property close to educational institutions, such as colleges and universities, with very affordable prices and receive considerably higher rents from the investment.

Despite such changes, there are a number of investors who think that taking the decision of buying properties in college towns is a difficult one. Therefore, if you are planning to rent your property to college students, you need to know the advantages and problems associated with it.

The Advantages of Buying a Property in College Towns:

1. No Property Advertisement is Required:

College students get to know about the surrounding place from their friends. Therefore, if you have managed to pull in one college tenant for your property, you can be sure that there would others queuing up to move in without any promotion or advertisement.

2. Good Flow of College Tenants:

Owning a property in college town also means that you will have many college students who are interested to reside in your rented house for a lucrative rental charge. Moreover, when their educational course is over, you would soon get new group of students as tenants which would ensure a stabilized flow of income for you.

3. Lesser Property Damages:

Quite contrary to the popular belief, the students nowadays do not find the time to party in their rented apartments. Moreover, they often get involved in part-time jobs so that they can sponsor their studies. The tendency of students to stay away from the rented properties for a long period of time means that you would have lesser depreciation of asset and higher returns.

If you are not sure about the nature of the college tenants, you can ask for their Curriculum Vitae and check the activities they are engaged with. Thus, you can choose the college tenants of your choice.

4. Proper Lease Agreements:

Unlike other tenants, college tenants come up with their guardians or parents. Therefore, you can ask for the signatures of both the college tenants and their parents on the lease agreement. This makes the parents responsible for the rented property which ensures that no agreement clause is broken. Moreover, you receive a direct point of contact for future convenience.

The Disadvantages of Having College Tenants:

1. No Permanent Income or Rental History:

Most of the college tenants do not have any steady income flow. Some of them work for part-time jobs but they are not interested to spend it for paying the house rent.

Therefore, the best option for you is to have a guarantor in the lease agreement so that the rental responsibility becomes shared.

2. Lack of Responsibility:

College students do not cause damage to the rental property intentionally but they might refuse to assume its charges in pressing circumstances.

Therefore, the most viable option for you is to seek renters insurance from the college tenants so that you can receive some compensation in case of property damages. You can also provide them with good tenancy tips so that they feel interested in taking care of your property during the term of the lease agreement.

3. Roommate Problems:

College tenants can develop problems with their roommates which disrupt the peace of your house. Moreover, this can also damage the reputation of your rented property.

Therefore, you need to make a strong lease agreement which addresses such roommate issues with stringency.

Make the Best College Town Investment with Us:

Here, at Rincon Ventures, we understand your investment goals and requirements. Consult our Real Estate experts to know about the best college town plans and find out how it can be profitable to you. We would also assist you in making a solid lease agreement and safeguard it with necessary actions and measures. Visit us today!

How Much Is Renters Insurance and Is It Worth It?

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When it comes to buying insurances, most of the Americans show utter negligence. According to the Insurance Information Institute, as many as 95% of the homeowners buy home insurances for the safety and security of their newly bought homes. But, such awareness is not present in mortgage lenders. As per one recent survey, almost 60% of the renters do not care about getting their assets insured. But, there are a few facts which you must consider about renters insurance policies before you take a final decision on it.

What is the Cost of Renters Insurance?

As per the National Association of Insurance commissioners, most of the renter’s insurance policies would cost only $15 per month. For example, if you lose a costly belonging, such as a car or a laptop, you are very likely to be charged more than $15. Therefore, renters insurance is very cost-effective yet highly ignored.

Let’s look at the reasons for which mortgage lenders, especially the young ones, avoid getting their rented properties insured.

What Are the Reasons for not Buying Renters Insurance?

1. Most of the Renters in Tucson and Phoenix feel that getting rented properties insured holds no importance and is rather a waste of money. But, quite to the contrary, any devastating disasters, such as fire or flood, can break out in the United States in less than 1 hour. Therefore, such thinking only reflects the misconception that nothing bad can happen to the rented properties.

2. As much as 16% of the renters feel that they do not need any insurance for their assets. They probably do not understand what such an insurance policy covers. They also think that the coverage of the insurance bought by the landlord is enough. But, when any accident happens, the insurance of the landlord only provides coverage to the building damages and no protection for the belongings of the renters.

3. Many of the renters also nurture a wrong notion in their minds that they cannot afford any renters insurance policy. But, according to Accounting Principles, the monthly charge of the insurance of the renters is similar to the cost of two movie tickets with $7.9 per ticket.

Therefore, you need to know the coverage scope of the renters insurance which would help you to take a positive decision towards better insurance protection.

Your Possessions Are Completely Covered

If a robbery happens in your rented house and you lose valuable items, such as jewelry, electronics, computers and other costly items, you cannot ask your landlord to give those back to you until you accuse him/her of any negligence which caused the robbery, such as the absence of the door lock, and prove it to the court. And, if you fail to prove it, you might end up incurring debts.

But, a renter’s insurance policy would ensure that your belongings are covered and protected. Moreover, you would also receive coverage if your possessions are damaged by any natural disaster, such as fire, vandalism, lightening etc. It is your duty to read the insurance policy manual very carefully to know what disasters are covered by your insurance planning.

Your Personal Belongings Would Be Safe Outside Your Home

Most of the renters insurance would pay you the same price if your belongings are damaged inside the house or are stolen from outside. But, your policy guidelines would determine whether you would be paid the actual cash value or replacement cost only in case of damages.

Get Any Extra Expenses Paid

The renter’s insurance policy provides you the money for any extra expenses as well. For example, if your rented house and personal belongings are damaged by any disaster which prompted you to shift to a hotel along with your family, your expenses are likely to be covered by the renters insurance. Any disruption in the flow of getting the daily utilities, such as water and gas, would be taken care of by these insurances under loss-of-use coverage.

Get Additional Financial Protection for Others

If your friend hurts himself inside your rented house, it makes you liable to bear the medical costs. And, if they file any lawsuit against you, you become more financially vulnerable. But a renters insurance would cover up these liability costs and would also pay you for the damages in the building.

Get Covered for The Damages Done by You

We are all prone to accidents. For example, you might accidentally damage the electrical unit of your neighbour while watering your plants or drive your car right into their fences. But, renters insurance would not let you pay these expenses from your pocket. But, if your window is broken by your neighbour who does not have a renters insurance, you are likely to pay the cost all by yourself.

Visit Us: Get the Best Renters Insurance Coverage

We, at Rincon Ventures, care for your finances and liabilities and understand that you cannot afford to stay without a renters insurance. When you decide to buy an insurance policy for your rented property, the most crucial decision for you would be to determine the coverage limits for your liability and personal property. Our property management experts would assist you in understanding your property needs so that you get the best renters insurance policy for future. Let us help you in protecting more than just your rented property. Contact us today!

Are Property Management Firms Worth the Money They Charge?

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If you own a piece of property, it is generally considered to be a sign of good fortune. Your decision to rent out your property to the tenants would provide you with a fixed and continuous monthly income. But finding tenants who pays rent timely and protects your asset can be difficult. Therefore, you have two options to manage your landlord duties: do it yourself, or enlist the services of a property management company.

Before you finalize on which alternative is the most suitable for you, you need to know the pros and cons of paying property management fees. Property management fees take a portion of your rental income, but the services that a property management company provide can prove to be invaluable. Find out below what a property management firm would do for you to share the burden of your landlord duties:

Bring New Tenants and Retain Existing Tenants:

Finding a tenant is not a very tough job. But, do you always have the time and the resources to go through the past records of your tenants before renting to them? Do you even think that it is necessary?

A property management firm understands that checking the background and past history of the tenants is a vital which verifies and evaluates their goodwill and trustworthiness. A good tenant is least likely to cause property related hassles. Therefore, you would feel content and satisfied with the service of the property management firms when you are able to enjoy a transparent long-term relationship with your tenants.

These firms would also shorten the vacancy cycles of your property so that you have a consistent cash flow from your rental investments. They also aid you in charging the right rent amount for your property to retain good tenants for a long periods of time.

Legal and Financial Duties:

Management of legal aspects in case of property maintenance is very important. While you are busy with your other daily duties, the property management companies take care of the filing of property taxes and help you to manage other expenses on time. Moreover, in case of any problematic tenant-landlord issues, they would address the issue while maintaining compliance with state laws. These companies, in exchange for a fee, would tackle all problems such as collecting the rents on time, warning the tenants if they cause any property damage and take necessary steps in case any lease norms are violated. They are entirely responsible for all the paperwork that happen between you and your tenants which provides you peace of mind.

You should always claim the right amount of deductions of taxes as a landlord, and any failure could lead to significant penalty charges. Property management experts make decisions so that you continue to have a rewarding property investment.

Property Maintenance is Their Problem, Not Yours:

Performing a periodic maintenance on your asset is an integral part of your property investment. When you hire experts from a property management company, they would determine how much you should spend for maintenance and what are the priority jobs that need to be done first. Moreover, they also reduce the time of this maintenance process so that you have a steady financial outcome.

Manage Your Property Efficiently: Team Up with Us:

Here at Rincon Ventures, we provide highly regulated and systematic property management services to you at very affordable charges. Our property experts would set the best rental plan for you, help you reach potential tenants by advertising your property and provide timely property inspections so that you are always at an advantageous position as a landlord. Visit us today to plan a great property investment or call us at 520.881.2258 for prompt assistance.