Renting Your Property- Let URHome Help! There is a lot that goes into renting a property, our team at URHome want to make it as easy of a process as we possibly can for you. Below is a list of a few things you need to keep in mind when you are looking to rent your property. Knowing these will help assist you as you go through the process with us!
In order to ensure you will be paid rent on time and avoid damages to your home, make sure you find a good tenant. In order to do this, URHome will properly screen each potential Tennent by checking their credit reports, criminal history, and checking their references on their application. You can never be too careful when it comes to choosing the person that will be living in your rental property. You will need to determine how much you will ask for rent per month. The best idea here is to be realistic. URHome will help you understand the prices that make sense for the size of the home and the area it is located. Knowing the market will help draw in possible tenants. Always have a lease when having your property rented. A lease is there to protect you in case anything happens. Having written parameters to rights and obligations is never a bad idea for either side of the renting process. URHome can assist you in the writing of the lease, but here are a few examples a lease should include:
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Todd and Cindy Vollertsen's 10 Aspects to Keep In Mind When Looking To Rent Know your credit score
Why looking to rent, your credit score will be a topic of discussion. In order to make the conversation smooth, have documentation of your credit score before touring houses you want to rent. If your score is a 550 or below, your chances of renting are slim. Your credit score proves to the landlord your ability to make punctual and complete payments. Make sure you keep tabs on your credit score if you are hoping to rent one day. Budget Know and understand how much it will cost to live in the homes you are looking to rent. That includes all of your utilities and any other extra costs. Make sure you can afford it before you sign any lease! Being responsible can take stress of of you and your potential landlord. Surrounding area and Neighbors When you are touring the homes you are looking to rent, be mindful of your surroundings. Living in a neighborhood that is safe and comfortable for you is of upright importance. Along with the area, you might want to consider neighbors. Sometimes the houses around you may have tenets with loud, barking dogs, or something similar. Often times, this is uncontrollable by your landlord. Family Friendly A quick google search of the neighborhood and surround town will tell you what kind of business are around. If you have a family it may be a good idea to check how family friendly the surrounding establishments are. Type of home Size is important when you are considering a home to rent. If you are the sole renter, a smaller home would suit you more so than a four room establishment. If you are married and have children, you may want a backyard for them to play in. There are many different homes to make sure you find your perfect fit. Understand your lease Make sure you read over all the information on your lease. This will help you stay confident through the signing. Renting is a big decision. Know the rules so you won’t run into any trouble down the line. Inspect the home Always make sure you have an inspector look over your home and appliances. You never know what could be hiding in the small details. An inspector can give you a list of things that need fixing in your potential home. Rusted vents, clogged sinks, and missing stoppers could all be details you need to be aware of. Location. Location. Location Schools for your children or future children, and distance to and from work. Both are important when looking to rent a home. You want to make sure it makes sense to live there in regulated to gas and transportation services. Is there a park close for your kids in case you don’t have a backyard? Is there a shopping center? All these questions can be answered by our team! Know your rights Know and understand your rights as a renter. Keep in mind what you can and cannot do, and never make a deal base on word alone. Always get everything in writing to protect yourself. Get Insurance Never skimp on renters insurance. You never know what the future has in store for you and your home. Todd and Cindy Vollertsen want to make sure you rent the best home for your needs. Don’t be shy to give URHome a call for any information you need!  Rent-Safe Decor: Safe, Inexpensive, CreativeIt is important to take care of the home you rent. Being aware of what you put on the walls, and making sure not to drill any holes. In the financial long run, it is in your best interest to keep the decor rent safe because, as a renter, you will be fined for damages. Here are a few fun, and creative, ways to decorate your rental home without worry! Have a Pop of Color! You have chosen your rental home, now it is time for the fun part! While decorating, consider an accent color. Depending on the color of your walls, a nice blue or even a yellow will bring that pep into your decor! Infiltrate your home with your chosen color with throw pillows, paintings, or even curtains! Hang using Command Strips. The LAST thing you want to do, as a renter, is drill holes in the walls. You will not get your security deposit back that way! Instead, investigate the varieties of hanging tools such as; command strips, sticky tack, and command hooks. While these are just a few options, there are many other useful tools to help you hang that painting in a non destructive manner! Curtains Cover! Those dreary blinds should not be settled for! While it is safer to cover than remove them completely, curtains should do the trick! This may be an item you want to splurge on. Sturdy curtains will show to be a better investment than cheap or thin ones. Pick a pattern that displays your accent color to tie the whole room together! Wire shelves BE GONE! One of the most off-putting situations when looking to rent is opening the pantry and seeing wire shelves! To the eye of a decorator, they are atrocious. That is where foam board and contact paper come into play. Since you cannot remove the shelves, you will need to cover them. The beautiful part of contact paper is the style variety! Measure the length and width of the wire shelves as well as the front layover. With those measurements, cut a foam board (or whatever sturdy material you choose) with the guided measurements. Cover the top with your chosen contact paper and tape the two pieces together! Slip your new shelf cover over the wired shelves and tell those wires to be gone! Lay Down a Rug. Sometimes flooring can be a bit boring. A great way to put a little spunk back into your rental home is to buy an area rug! While these will be expensive, they can breathe life into the space you are wanting to create. Make sure you know the measurements of the space you want to fill before buying! Your space should be an extension of yourself. Renting should not put a damper on your creativity. At URHome, we want our clients to feel at home in their rental properties while maintaining respect for their landlords.  The hot months of summer are upon us and with that comes higher energy bills. Here are some ways to lower that bill at the end of this month! Air Filters: Keeping clean air filters in your heating and air conditioning system is by far the biggest way to cut your energy cost. Ideally, you want to change your air filters every month, but at a minimum every 90 days. As dust, dirt, and pet hair gets pulled into the air filter, the harder it its to pull air through and the harder the air conditioning unit has to work to cool. The harder it works, the more energy it uses. As well, dirt that gets through the filter because it is full or if you’re using the cheapest filters the greater the efficiency of the unit will get reduced. So, replacing your air filter with a mid-level filter is one of the best things you can do to keep your electric bill down. Journey outside: the least amount of time you are inside, the lower your energy costs. Take a trip this summer with your family to the beach, or the mountains, and remember to unplug your appliances before you leave. Use a Fan: taking the time and energy to use a fan to cool your house can lower the AC bill. Fans circulate the air around you take advantage of this in the mornings or evenings to circulate that cool air into your home! Be Efficient: Be mindful of the thermostat. Make sure that your thermostat is not below the margin of 68-78. Understand that the gap between the outside temperature and your internal temperature will determine the increase or decrease of your bill. This means that if it is 75° outside the lower you have your thermostat set, the higher your bill will cost. These are just a few small things you can do to lower your energy bill. Implement a couple of these this summer to get the most out of your energy and say goodbye to that high energy bill!  For 17 days each year Charleston turns into a national hub for performing arts. Spoleto events including opera, theater, dance, and many different types of music are hosted all over beautiful Downtown Charleston. Spoleto was founded in 1977 and was meant to bring the same passion for the arts that was found in Spoleto, Italy. Charleston’s setting is intimate enough to have that small city charm and still large enough to sell out performances, thus was the perfect fit for Spoleto. Whether you have been wanting to plan a trip to Charleston or are already here, Spoleto is a perfect opportunity to see what Charleston has to offer.
During Spoleto the town truly comes alive. Since there is such a large influx of people coming to enjoy the festival, the streets are never empty. The schedule is jam-packed, but there are down times between scheduled performances. You will not be able to see everything that they have planned on the schedule. Make a plan beforehand of what you don’t want to miss. Then between performances, you are free to explore Charleston. Downtown is best when walking around. Plan on parking the car and walking all day. Parking is hard to come by so if you wish to go further than you want to walk Uber is a good option as they will drop you off at the door. Otherwise, you’ll have to hop around from parking garage to parking garage. We love Spoleto every year and think it is a great reason to come to Charleston and experience the vibrant culture here! The housing market in Charleston has been on the rise now for quite some time recently breaking previous records.
 Renting to good tenants can make a big difference both in your state of sanity and your cost. The issue is that the more time you put into the screening process the better result you will get. We know just how much time it can take, finding a good tenant through a screening process is extremely time-consuming. Not to mention that whole time your property is vacant, but if you rush and rent to a nightmare tenant the eviction process takes an eternity. Here are some ways to effectively screen your potential tenants.
Applications Everyone knows to request an application, but how do we know what is indicative of a good tenant? Or what to ask on an application? Even a potential tenant who isn’t struggling financially can still be late on rent or cause you other unneeded grievances. Ask for their rental history with some references, their income level, and current/previous employment. Look for gaps in rental history and if they switch jobs often their income could be unstable. Credit Check A credit check on a potential tenant seems self-explanatory. A credit score can be a decent indicator of whether they will pay rent every month. This is by no means a 100% guarantee that a potential tenant will or will not be late on rent. Rejecting a potential tenant because of low credit may not always be the right choice. Using this in conjunction with other information to form a complete picture is your best bet. Background Check This goes hand in hand with a credit check. These can be easily ordered with the potential tenant’s social security number. You are looking for the obvious on the background check. Evictions, criminal record, and anything else that might indicate non-payment. Contact Previous Landlord and Employer Contacting the previous landlord gives you a sense of the potential tenant’s lifestyle. These are the things that another landlord would know to tell you that the tenant might not think was relevant. The employer can tell you that they have a steady and reliable job and answer other questions you might have. Conduct Your Own Interview This is what will give you the best idea of a potential tenant. You can get all your questions that you can think of answered. Do they have a pet? Do they smoke? Do they plan on having roommates or subleasing? And everything else can be answered by your potential tenant. A simple and quick phone interview can be a powerful tool to discover exactly the person you are going to rent your property to. Eviction is a pain. Try and avoid this by spending the time needed to effectively screen potential tenants. Use your instincts. Doing this whole process for every person who is interested would not be economical. Before embarking armed with your newfound knowledge, give the Landlord and Tenant Act a good look to understand the laws involved. Our mission statement is to “Provide Quality Homes for Quality Renters”. It’s short and to the point and the essence of our business model.
A quality home isn’t necessarily a large, ornate, and expensive one. It’s a home that is clean and well maintained. The size or location doesn’t make it a quality home. And, when you hear “Quality Renters, are you envisioning someone with a lot of money? That’s the definition of a wealthy renter – not necessarily quality. To us, a quality renter is someone who pays their rent on time, respects our client’s homes, and respects the rules put forth in the lease. We screen both home owners and tenants to ensure that we are bringing the people together that make a good match. What quality renters and owners of quality homes want are not that unreasonable and should not be a shock to anyone.
We think it’s a simple formula and one to follow. This means that we will not bring on every tenant that applies or manage every home or homeowner that wants us to manage their property. If you’re a quality tenant looking for a quality home or the owner of a quality home and are looking for quality tenants, give us a call and let’s talk. We know handing over your property to a management company can be a big step. Lots of property owners may not see the value in property management companies, after all you have managed your property up to this point. We believe that we can improve the quality of life for you and your tenants.  What Is A Property Manager?Everyone knows that property managers exist but the technicalities of what they do are probably lost to most. A property manager is essentially a third party person who is hired to handle daily, weekly, monthly, and even yearly operations of a real estate investment. We can manage all kinds of properties, from single family homes to large apartment complexes.
Our responsibilities vary based on contracts, of course, but can include any of the following:
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AuthorUR Home SC Archives
July 2018
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