Robert Machado's (jsafonov) Blog

"Look good, feel good.  Feel good, play good."  Famous words from hall of fame receiver Jerry Rice of the San Francisco Forty-Niners.  In various interviews spanning his career Jerry Rice often made this famous statement about his tireless approach to be the best.  Jerry took nothing for granted ...

Every Penny counts to you and your tenant--deposit funds are no different.  When tenants prepare to vacate they are opting more and more for the tandem move out inspection prior to the actual final move out date.  The owner or agent must walk the property with the tenant at an agreed upon time an...

When processing security deposit dispositions you must keep in mind what the law allows the deposit to be used for.  Damages and unpaid rent are all you may use the funds for.  Damages are the gray area when handling deposit refunds.  Some items are obvious such as holes in walls, broken doors an...

The best thing a landlord can do to ensure a smooth start and end to a tenancy is to provide a rent ready property.  Rent ready does not have to be all new.  Rent ready means clean and functional.  Too many times we have to mitigate deposit refund discrepancies after we inherit an occupied proper...

When taking security deposits from approved applicants you must include language limiting the landlord's liability.  If the propertycannot be delivered as promised or the owner changes direction with the property--the owner must only be responsible for the amount deposited and the rental applicat...

There is a sequence of events leading up to a placed tenant for each property.  The events in the sequence can be controlled and made much more easy by the manager being proactive, confident and consistent.  Starting with the initial meeting, the manager must have a proven strategy to rent the pr...

Often tenants will want to make a home reflect their own tastes and preferences.  This is a good thing for landlords as the more they invest in the property the longer they are typically going to stay.  Hanging pictures, planting flowers are all relatively common.  The question is where is the li...

Sadly this is a recurring issue with rental property--should fully functional but very dirty mini blinds be cleaned after a tenant vacates or just replaced?  I have several cleaning vendors who nearly all say the same thing:  "we will clean the blinds for you but it will cost you more to clean th...

All our vacant properties are shown over the weekend, every weekend, including this wonderful Fathers Day weekend.  What better gift for dad than being able to secure a new property for the family to rent?!  Please take time to review our website and daily showing schedule--follow us on a propert...

When picking up new accounts it always a good idea to instruct your new clients on how to handle the transition.  Some utilities are to be paid by the owner, others by the tenant.  The management company may also pay some of the utility bills on behalf of the owner out of rental income.  When det...