Magazine Articles

Good Morning Pattie and Dan: My name is Dyanne.  My father has been a property owner his entire adult life. He has worked for many years with Dale Alberstone, so when I needed help with my REAP case, I called Dale. Thank goodness I did!

Question One: I have a Section 8 tenant who paid her rent with a postdated check. I received it on the first of the month but I did not realize that the tenant had dated it for the 3rd.  The check did go through, as the tenant had overdraft protection. She was charged a $35…

After being overthrown last year by Houston, Austin regains the number one spot as the fastest-growing city in the U.S., according to a new analysis by Forbes. Adding to its allure, Austin boasts booming technology, pharmaceutical and biotech industries as well as low-cost of living.

Q: I just remodeled my unit and am going to rent it out this month. I know everything in the unit is new; do I still have to do a pre-move in walk through with my new tenant?

Question One: My property is located in a rent control area.  I have the front unit available and wanted to know if a lease can be drawn where no rent control rules apply. In other words, the tenant understands and accepts that the property is under rent control, but that either party may cancel the…

The job of a leasing associate is quite unique. Their primary responsibility is to sell successfully, yet they must be able to do so in an environment where they also maintain a service-oriented mindset. On a day-to-day basis, they’ve got a very predictable routine, yet they must be able to quickly adjust, as every interaction…

The key word in “Estate Planning for Apartment Owners” is PLANNING.   When owners do not plan, or plan poorly, their heirs suffer financially from unnecessary taxes, wasted inheritances or losses to creditors and predators. [I use the latter term to refer to ex-spouses who may want to get their hands on the inheritance you meant…

A decade after homeowners used a soaring real estate market to go on a borrowing binge against their own home equity; many across the country are now falling behind on their payments. This looming crisis threatens to leave banks on the hook for hundreds of billions of dollars.

Hello everybody.  AOA members may recall my discussion of age discrimination in the February 2015 issue of this magazine entitled “Discrimination Against Children: Traps and Pitfalls.”  As I explained in that article, there are two types of age discrimination under California law:  those acts that intentionally discriminate and those which have an adverse disparate impact…

Having a vacant rental can sometimes be stressful.  Many rental property owners want to minimize the time the property is vacant and would like to find a tenant before the last tenant has even moved.  After all, having a vacancy means lost rent and hidden costs such as utilities and turnover costs.