Scott Taylor's (scvleasingscott) Blog

I was reading some Tweets the other day on the landlord forum.  One Tweet in particular stood out.  Essentially, the individual, who was a tenant,  had just found out that the landlord was charging him for the cost of heat.  His Tweet asked, among other superlatives, “Do you know how expensive h...

Three important considerations for your next rental property are location, condition, and upgrades.  Rental property is not immune to the location, location, location mantra of real estate.  In fact, it may be more important with your rental.  For example, you may want to avoid buying a rental o...

Just got finished with our team meeting.  I noticed one of our rental properties, which has been listed for a little over seven days, received very little interest over the last week.  When I enquired further, I found out that the price set on the property was $200 over market.  “How did that ha...

I sat down with my investment advisor the other day. He was trying to convince me to put more money into my 401K.  “After all,” he insisted, “the market returns, on average, 10% a year.”   I will capitulate, for argument’s sake, that the market does return 10% per year.  But then inflation, even ...

The ability to quickly rent out a home is part price, part condition, and part marketing.  Today, I want to focus on marketing.  Specifically, I want to focus on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS).   In most of the country the MLS is the go to source for marketing a property for rent.  However, ...

A professional property manager will bring you quality tenants; and attracting good qualified tenants is the name of the game!  Moreover, a good tenant is more likely to become a long term tenant.  Having a long term tenant reduces the vacancy rate.  And reducing the vacancy rate increases your p...

We had an owner that had a large, lovely, home.  The problem was, they had the house stuffed full of their possessions.  The "office" was piled literally to the ceiling with paper.  The dining room, which normally seated eight, was occupied by a huge table and set for sixteen.  The master bedroom...

Our normal lease term is 1-year.  Sometimes we are approached and asked if the owner would consider a multi-year lease at a reduced rate.  I'm not against a multi-year deal; but what assurance do you have that the tenant is going to stay in the home for the entire term.  I would advise that if yo...

If you have ever considered managing your own property, please take with you the following list of pitfalls that many self-managed landlords fall into.  If you need advice on any of them, please call us.  We will always be glad to consult with you at no cost. Not running their rentals like a busi...

I have three scenarios for you to consider today.  And they aren't farfetched; they actually happened to real property owners. Its 2:00 a.m. in the morning and your phone rings.  It's your tenant.  He was awakened by a dripping faucet and he wanted to let you know right away.  He was up, so why s...