Renting Out Your Home in Sacramento: Everything You Should Consider

There are certain terms that a landlord should include to make a foolproof lease agreement. For example:

• The rent price, when rent becomes late, and where the money is payable
• The security deposit amount
• Whether pets are allowed
• Who is responsible for certain maintenance requests for your rentals
• The limits of occupancy
• Requirements before breaking a lease
• The landlord’s right of entry
• Behaviors that will warrant the eviction of the tenants

It’s crucial that the lease agreement is legally binding. Once you’ve drafted the lease agreement, have a professional go through it to ensure it abides by all local laws. Alternatively, just hire a qualified management company to draft the lease for you.

4. Have a Management Plan in Place

Being a landlord comes with a lot of responsibilities. Tenants might call at 2 A.M. about a pressing maintenance issue, for example. You also need to know what your responsibilities are regarding providing habitable living and knowing you rent our your home to a high maintenance tenant. If these responsibilities seem daunting, then consider hiring a professional to do them for you. An experienced management company can help you meet all your responsibilities under the lease agreement.

5. Know What the Law Says About the Landlord-Tenant Relationship

Just like other states across the country, California has a landlord-tenant law in place. As a landlord, you must abide by it. As a landlord, you have an obligation to respect your tenant’s privacy and fully understand and the landlord tenant laws.

Before entry, you must always notify your tenant beforehand. Specifically, California law requires landlords to give “reasonable notice” prior to entry. 24 hours is presumed by law to be reasonable.  What’s more, the reason for the entry must be reasonable as well. The following are legitimate reasons why a landlord in California may want to enter the tenant's unit. 

• To show the unit to a potential tenant, someone interested to purchase the property or lenders
• To show the rental house to workers or contractors
• In an emergency
• To conduct the necessary or agreed upon repairs
• During walk-through the rental property inspections to evaluate any damage done to the unit

No notice is required to enter during an emergency, under court orders or in the case of any rental property abandonment by the tenant.  Besides the law on landlord entry, there are a lot of other laws that you also have to abide by. They include the Fair Housing Act, the Warranty of Habitability, landlord tenant law, Security Deposit, and the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

6. Ensure the Property Is in a Good State of Repairs

You’ll want to make sure that all your rental properties are attractive to potential tenants. If it’s in a dire state of disrepair, you’ll have a hard time convincing anyone to rent it. And the longer the unit remains vacant, the more money you’ll lose and the larger the chance that squatters may try to occupy the unit.