Strawberry property management

My Tenant Wants to Break the Lease: Termination Advice from a Las Vegas Property Manager

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My Tenant Wants to Break the Lease: Termination Advice From a Las Vegas Property Manager - Article Banner

The whole point of signing a lease agreement with your tenant is to establish how long the residency will last. You expect your tenants to stay in place and continue paying rent for the entire lease term. When they don’t, and they move out early, it’s considered a lease break. 

No Las Vegas landlord ever wants to hear that a tenant wants or needs to break the lease and leave the property before the end of the contractual term. It’s disruptive to your cash flow, it requires a lot of extra work on your end, and it leaves you feeling like it’s difficult to trust even well-screened tenants. 

But, things happen. Even with good tenants who are otherwise excellent to work with. You need to be prepared for how you’ll handle a lease break. In Nevada, there are some reasons in which a tenant can lawfully break a lease and leave the property early. But even if your tenant is breaking the lease without legal cause, you don’t want to end the relationship with arguments and disputes. 

A lease break can be handled professionally and with minimal loss to both landlords and tenants. 

Let’s talk about how to hold tenants accountable for the consequences that come with a lease break and what you can do to make the situation a bit better for everyone involved. 

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How to Limit Liabilities on Your Las Vegas Rental Home

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Liability isn’t always fun to talk about. No one likes to think about worst-case scenarios and what-ifs. But, it deserves your consideration as a real estate investor. Protecting yourself from potential liability requires preparation and planning.

While renting out a Las Vegas home provides a lot of potential for earnings and wealth, it also comes with risk. Every investment does. 

When we talk about the liability that’s inherent with real estate investing, there’s a lot of liability involved with your property. Not only do you have to worry about that, you also have to think about your tenants and the risk they bring into your home. Having other people living in your property is always risky – no matter how well they’re screened and how prepared you might feel. 

At Strawberry Property Management, we happen to do an excellent job of protecting our clients from liability and risk. We defend our owners against potential disputes and conflicts, and we work extra hard to protect their investments and their interests. 

We’re digging into that area of expertise today, as we discuss some of the best ways to limit liabilities on your Las Vegas rental home. 

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Building Strong Tenant Relationships to Minimize Turnover

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Real estate investing is a relationship business. Renting out a home requires you to develop strong, professional relationships with all of the professionals who contribute to your success. You need to work well with maintenance vendors, Las Vegas property managers, attorneys, insurance agents, and accountants. 

Most importantly, you need to have a good relationship with your tenants. 

Depending on the type of tenant you have in place, dealing with those residents isn’t always easy. Maybe you have a complainer or someone who is always escalating conflicts. That’s hard, and you want to screen carefully before you place tenants in your Las Vegas property. Look for people who are well-qualified and easy to work with. 

Whatever your current tenant relationship, improving it will only help you. In fact, when you have a good tenant relationship in place, you earn more money.  

Establishing and maintaining good relationships with your tenants impacts what you can earn. You’ll find that tenants stay in place longer when they’re happy with how their rental experience is going. Lower turnover means lower vacancy. Higher retention means better and more consistent rents. It means stability. 

For some property owners, tenant relationships come naturally. This is likely when you communicate well, respond to the needs of your tenants, and you’re committed to enforcing the rules and providing a consistent, fair rental experience. 

But if you find your tenant relationships aren’t what they should be, we have some ideas for how to improve them towards the goal of retaining more tenants for longer periods of time.   

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7 Things to Check Before Renting Your Las Vegas Home

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7 Things to Check Before Renting Your Las Vegas Home - Article Banner

Are you planning to rent out a Las Vegas home? Whether you’ve purchased your first investment property or you’re renting out a home that you once lived in yourself, this is perhaps one of the best financial decisions you’ve ever made. You can expect to earn some consistent rental income (and rents are going up in Las Vegas), and you can also expect some great long term appreciation on your asset. 

But, you have to do things right in order to have a successful rental experience. 

Before you start advertising for tenants and collecting those rent checks, you need to make sure your property is adequately prepared for the rental market. It’s easy to rush when you know your home has a lot of potential on the rental market. Slow down and make sure you’ve checked out everything that needs checking. 

We’re helping today, with a list of 7 things that you absolutely must check before you rent out your Las Vegas home. 

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4 Reasons Why Homeowners Switch Las Vegas Property Management Companies

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4 Reasons Why Homeowners Switch Las Vegas Property Management Companies - Article Banner

Do you love change or do you not love change? 

Everyone handles it differently, and even if you’re somebody who feels energized by change, switching property management companies can seem a little scary. These people have access to your financial information. They’re responsible for some of your most valuable assets. 

Won’t they be mad at you if you leave them? 

It doesn’t matter. When you’re not getting the service or the results you expect, you need to look elsewhere. Las Vegas property management is about helping you reach your investment goals. You don’t have time to chase down your property manager or beg them to keep their promises. 

Don’t be afraid of change if your property management partner isn’t working for you. When things aren’t going well, you should absolutely look for a company. Your investment success depends on the support, structure, and advice you get from your management team. You should be leveraging their experience, resources, and advice. If you can’t count on them to even collect rent on time, you’re not getting a good return on the money you’ve invested in management and leasing fees.

When owners and investors come to us from other companies, it’s usually for one of the reasons we’ve listed below.  

Here are four excellent reasons you might want to switch Las Vegas property management companies. 

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How Annual Home Inspections Will Save You Money

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Completing annual home inspections on your property will save you money on emergency repairs, deferred maintenance, and unreported issues that may seem small now but can easily grow into larger and more expensive disasters. 

Home inspections allow you to ensure everything in your home is functioning the way it should, whether we’re talking about the air conditioning or the water heater. You’ll know if your roof is going to need to be replaced or if your landscaping could use an upgrade. 

Home inspections will require an investment. You’ll need to pay the inspector for their time and expertise. But, it’s money well-spent because you’re potentially saving yourself thousands of dollars in repairs that you didn’t have the opportunity to catch early enough. 

If you’re renting out a Las Vegas property, home inspections every year are especially important. It’s an opportunity to track the wear and tear that tenants are having on your investment. It allows you to ensure you’re renting out a safe and habitable home, and it also gives you an idea of upgrades and updates that may be helpful. When you make some minor renovations based on your home inspection, you’ll be able to increase the rent you earn. You’re also more likely to attract and place high-quality, long-term tenants. 

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Why Financial Reporting is Crucial for Your Las Vegas Investment Property

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Why Financial Reporting is Crucial for Your Las Vegas Investment Property - Article Banner

Financial reporting tells you about the health of your Las Vegas investment property. You should be able to look at your income and expense statements and know exactly what you’re earning and losing. With the right reporting, you’ll know how well your rental property is doing or whether a shift in course is necessary. 

As a rental property investor or landlord, you need to keep track of your finances for a lot of different reasons. You’ll be required to report your earnings and losses at tax time, for one thing. You’ll also need a clear idea of where you stand so you can make changes and budget for the future. You need to know what’s working and what isn’t. 

With the right management of your rental property finances, you’ll increase what you earn and have a far better investment experience. 

You’ll need two important tools to effectively manage the financial reporting of your investments:

  • Good technology
  • Experts in accounting and bookkeeping 

Technology will help you organize, streamline, and automate many of your accounting practices and financial reports. You’ll get more transparency, better accuracy, and a lot of detail when you use the right software and technology platforms. 

Expert help is essential, unless you’re an experienced CPA or accountant yourself. We recommend working with a financial professional unless you already have a Las Vegas property management partner. Your property manager should be able to generate all the financial reports and accounting statements you need. 

Here’s a look at what you need and why you need it.

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Landlord vs. Tenant Responsibilities in Las Vegas – Who Pays for What?

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Landlord vs. Tenant Responsibilities in Las Vegas – Who Pays for What? - Article Banner

You own the home but your tenant is living in it. 

So, who is responsible for things like maintenance, utilities, pest control, and air filters?

That will depend on your Las Vegas lease agreement, which should stipulate in detail who is responsible for what. 

There are certain obvious standards. Most tenants understand they’re responsible for paying the rent. Landlords in Las Vegas know it’s their job to provide a safe, habitable, well-maintained home. 

The uncertainty usually rests in minor maintenance, cleaning, and repairs. Maintaining a rental property requires a transparent and trusting partnership between owners, tenants, and vendors. You need to be clear about what’s expected from your tenants and there has to be some documented division of responsibilities. 

If you’re working with a Las Vegas property management company, there’s not much for you to worry about. Your property managers will take care of anything that you as an owner would normally be responsible for. You’ll have to pay the bills, but you won’t be the one searching for plumbers and holding tenants accountable. 

However, if you’re an independent landlord wondering how to approach the maintenance and repairs needed at your property, you’ll need to know what your responsibilities are and what you can reasonably expect from your tenants. 

Let’s go back to the importance of a strong lease agreement. You need to have one that’s legally enforceable and clear. You also need a reliable network of licensed and insured vendor and contractors. Finally, you’ll really need a willingness to talk openly and transparently to your tenants so they’re clear on their own responsibilities and your expectations.

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Renovations to Maximize Your Rental Income in Las Vegas

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Renovations don’t have to be scary and expensive. When you think about renovating a Las Vegas property, you might immediately think about gutting a kitchen, adding a new story, or completely remodeling a bedroom. 

But, it doesn’t have to be all that. 

Renovations can be cost-effective, and when we’re talking about renovating a Las Vegas rental property, they can help you earn more in rent. They can also help you attract high quality tenants quickly, which also affects your earnings. 

Attractive and well-maintained homes earn the highest rents. You have to make sure your property can compete. 

When it comes to setting your rental price, there are many things over which you have no control. You cannot control the strength of the Las Vegas rental market. You cannot control the amount of competition that happens to exist when you’re looking for tenants and setting rents. Unless you’re about to buy a new investment property, you cannot control the location of your property and whether it’s in a desirable neighborhood. 

One thing you can control, however, is property condition. 

Making rental property renovations will maximize what you earn. But, you have to make the right renovations and you have to use reliable vendors who aren’t going to go over-budget or delay the project.  

Let’s talk about why these renovations matter. Then, we’ll share some of our favorite upgrades and updates that are sure to bring in more rent and better residents.

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Should You Sell or Rent the Las Vegas Rental Property You Inherited?

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Should You Sell or Rent the Las Vegas Rental Property You Inherited? - Article Banner

Inheriting a property in Las Vegas is one of the easiest ways to set yourself up as a real estate investor. You can begin earning money on that home without making much of an investment yourself. 

Or, you can sell the home and make some money. The Las Vegas real estate market is hot, and if you have no interest in holding onto the asset for the long term, it may seem like a more attractive option to sell the home and move on. 

There are a few immediate details you’ll need to take care of while you weigh your options. 

For example, did you inherit this property on your own or do you own it with other people? If you’re not the only decision-maker, you’ll have to pull everyone together and decide what to do. 

If you’re on your own, though, you basically have three options. You can live in the property yourself. You can sell it. Or, you can rent it out. 

You likely already have a home of your own and no immediate plans to move. So, you’ll have to decide if it’s better to rent or sell. Ultimately, the decisions will come down to a few things:

  • Your current financial status
  • Your future financial goals
  • The condition of the property
  • The strength of the local sales and rental market
  • Whether you want to be a landlord

Maybe you’re emotionally connected to the property. It could be a house you once lived in yourself. Those emotions are going to influence your decision, too. 

As Las Vegas property managers and real estate experts, we’re always advising people who aren’t sure what to do with a property that they have no intention of living in. 

Here are some of the things to think through as you decide whether it’s better to sell the property or rent it out.

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