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Question 1: I have a resident that is requesting permission to have a dog. She submitted a note from a doctor written on a doctor’s prescription slip. The note states “please allow my patient to have a small dog.” The building is a ‘no pet’ building, but the tenant is insisting she has the right…

Most of the apartment owners we have had the privilege to meet and work with are pretty frugal with their money.  They rarely live in the most expensive homes, drive the most expensive cars or buy the most expensive designer clothes. They are the “millionaires next door,” who built a solid financial foundation on sound…

Today I want to address the soaring costs of healthcare, which are rising far more than the Obama administration and the Department of Health and Human Services will admit. While I personally don’t consider healthcare costs to be a political issue, many argue that it is indeed a political issue with regard to “Obamacare.”

QUESTION: I have a policy of charging new tenants a security deposit equal to one month’s rent.  If a tenant has children, I add $50 extra per child to the security deposit since kids usually cause more damage than normal.  Is this legal?

The point of the Uncle Sally series has been to introduce the interested novice to some of the elements of income property investing. The hope is that misunderstandings might be avoided by opening a dialogue on at least a few of the elements a newish investor might face. One of these points is when to…

Hello everybody.  Long time readers of this column may remember the article I wrote for the June 2011 issue of AOA Magazine entitled “Genital Herpes and Apartment Buildings – You Better Disclose!”  The point of that discussion was that sellers of apartment buildings who know of hidden defects inherent in their property must disclose those…

Q. My tenant paid a security deposit of $2,120 for their one-year lease. At the end of the lease I deducted $650 for cleaning and damages. I sent the Security Deposit Itemization by certified mail to make sure my tenants received it and included a check for the remaining sum. My tenant is suing me…

The best way to look forward to 2016 is to look back at 2015. In January 2015, these important charts were flashing “price boom” signals in the single-family residential market. Foreclosures steadily declined, returning to a small percentage of all properties sold. In the past, this ratio of foreclosures to sales enabled sellers to establish…

When is a “repair” a repair and when is it a capital improvement for federal and state income tax purposes? This is a question that every small property owner contends with at tax time.

All apartment communities use various means to attract new renters.  Many forms of advertising have minimal costs in dollars (i.e. online ads, signs, banners, word of mouth referrals, etc.).  Yet the time and money it takes to create and design some of these ads and make sure they are well placed to capture attention is…