Operating rental properties and dealing with your tenants are not separate jobs. They are inseparable parts of landlording. I owe a great deal of my real estate success to my landlording abilities. Some folks argue that professional property managers are paid a decent percentage of the gross rental income to relieve owners of this thankless…
Dear AOA: Today I received my 2020 RSO bill. On the top is reads: “New in 2020: The RSO Fees Per Unit Have Been Increased.” My building is under rent control. This year, I was allowed to raise my rents 4%. My RSO unit fees were INCREASED 18%!! That is crazy. The RSO fee…
California apartment owners should have cheered the Tax Cut and Jobs Act (“TCJA”) provisions that doubled Estate and Gift Tax Exclusions beginning in 2018. For many apartment owners, these provisions increased the Exclusion to $11.58 million for a single person, and $23.26 million for a married couple in 2020. Unfortunately, the doubling was only temporary,…
Managing Expectations “Mr. Unrealistic Hopes, meet Ms. Unmet Goals.” Somewhere there’s a survey showing that Millennials (b: 1981-1996) who have never experienced a stock market correction (a decline of 10% or more), let alone a bear market (decline of 20% or more) have convinced themselves that the average growth of a diversified basket of large…
A Beaverton, Oregon man who threatened to kill his landlords and used mercury to deter people from entering his apartment has been sentenced to 40 years in prison, a sentence “commensurate to the danger he posed to his neighbors in the community,” according to the U.S. Attorney for Oregon. Jason Paul Schaefer, 28, of Beaverton,…
New Requirements under Statewide Rent Control As you might be aware, certain residential income property is exempt under AB 1482. This includes properties which received a Certificate of Occupancy within the last 15 years. In addition, Single Family Residences, Townhomes and Condominiums are exempt unless title is held in a corporation or a real estate…
Ten rental property owners share what they believe is the single best piece of landlording advice that they have ever received. Here are their school of hard knocks words of wisdom:
Hopefully, if you own apartments in the City of Los Angeles and are under the L.A. Rent Stabilization Ordinance, you have already paid your building’s registration fee which was due by February 29, 2020. The city raised the fee per unit from 24.50 to 38.75 per unit for 2020. They have also changed how you…
Under SB 329 and SB 222, all landlords in California will be required to accept Section 8 and VASH vouchers and other forms of rental assistance and to consider them as part of an applicant’s income. Both went into effect on January 1, 2020.
Q: I have tenants who have not paid rent and are claiming they have bed bugs. Can I give them a three-day notice to pay rent or quit before I inspect the unit? A: No, you should not give a three-day notice to pay rent or quit until the bed bug inspection is completed and…