When people call us at Portola Property Management to ask about the property management services we provide in the Santa Cruz area, we hear a lot of questions that start with “what if…” What if my tenant doesn’t pay rent? What if my tenant breaks the lease? What if my tenant has a pet? What if my tenant’s boyfriend or girlfriend moves in?
The list goes on and on and if you’re a new landlord, it’s understandable that you might do a lot of worrying and wondering. These what-ifs are often driven by the property owner’s fear of the unknown. There’s no need to have any fear or ask any what-ifs when you have a strong lease.
The best way to overcome these unknown scenarios and these nagging questions is by having a solid rental contract in place. When you have a good contract in place, the next thing you have to do is to enforce it. When you’re able to do this, you’re able to ignore many of those what-if scenarios that plague you.
Get a good rental agreement written, and then make sure you know it. Read it until you know exactly what the answer will be to any what-if question. When you know your agreement and you’re willing to discuss it with your tenant, you’re in a very strong position. If your tenant does something to violate the rental agreement, you’ll know what the consequences are because that information is in the agreement as well.
At Portola Property Management, our rental agreements are 40 pages long. This is usually a huge surprise to some people, but there is a reason we are so detailed. Our strong rental agreements are in place to protect tenants and owners.
If you want to stay away from the dreadful what-if scenarios, have a good lease in place and then don’t be shy about enforcing it.
Please contact us at Portola Property Management if you have any questions, or need help putting together a rental agreement.
