All Forum Posts by: Nahal Beckam

I am using the standard California lease agreement created by Eform. But that does not let me apply modifications. Is there any other online form that I can use?

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Originally posted by @Kyle J.:

I wouldn’t do a two year lease either. That just locks you (the landlord) in. Tenants will leave whenever they want anyway.

What I do is an initial one year lease, then I let the tenancy go month-to-month. That way I can raise the rent whenever I want after the first year. Not sure why you’re opposed to that (especially if you’re considering selling after the first year). It works great for me, and most of my tenants have been with me for at least 5-6 years.

Another option though, if you really don’t want to do month-to-month, is do an initial one year lease. Then, when that lease is up, decide if you want to resign them for another one year lease, and - if you do - raise the rent at that time (in the new lease).

The reason that I don't want month to month is that, renting in fall and winter is not so easy in this area as far as I know. If they leave in October without any penalty or responsibility, then I am left with an empty house for a few months.

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Hello, I have a prospective tenant that has been qualified to rent my house. They want to stay for two years minimum. I don't want a 2 years contract with them since I'd like to increase the rent after one year and I want to have the option if I want to sell next year. I don't like the month-to-month after first year either. Can I change a standard california lease agreement to be a year to year agreement? How can I phrase it to incorporate possible rate increase? Thanks

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Originally posted by @Patrick M.:

@Nahal Beckam if you lose a months rent then you will have just paid for a very expensive learning experience.

Be very pro-active going forward, send out a new lease at least 60 days out with a time frame for your tenant to sign. If you don't get it back then you inform them the unit is on the market and you will contact them to schedule showings.

Don't speculate as to what they may or may not do. Contact them and tell them what they are going to do. If they can't vacate and do a walkthrough by 12 noon on the last day then you cannot refund their deposit until 21 days after you receive the keys from them. And if they are there a moment after 12 midnight then they just signed on for a month to month. You are not renting a flop house room, it is not prorated.

You cannot be a spectator in this game. A months rent is a lot of money to me and I make it a point not to lose one after I put a unit into service. For a SFR that may be the difference between being in the red and being in the black.

The guy told me yesterday that they are moving out on June 30th and that we can show the house over the weekend. That's a good sign to me.

So we should do a walk through at noon on the last day? And if everything looks alright return their deposit the same day? Or wait a few days to make sure nothing was hiding from us.

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Thanks to all for valuable input. It was our first year of landlordship and tenant stayed for 11 months. Everything was new and they should be in a good shape right now. We are viewing the house on Saturday with prospective tenants. Then I will have a better idea if renting for July 1st is feasible. If not there is a good chance that we lose the July rent since most people are looking to move on the 1st in this area.

And yes, our lease agreement has several shortcomings due to lack of experience. Hopefully next time we fix our mistakes.

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Originally posted by @Austin Mountain:

Do you already have a new tenant ready to move in on the first? You should be already advertising and showing the property if you expect to have someone in there the day after the current tenant moves out.

If they don't have the keys to you by start of business on the first then they are responsible for that month's rent. If you are able to fill the property with a new tenant, say on the 7th, then the new tenant would pay a pro rated rent for the month and you should cut back a portion of the rent to the previous tenant. You cannot double collect rent for the property from two different parties.

I have a few pre-screened tenants who want to see the house. I am going to send notice of visit to my tenant for next week. If one of them rents for July first and the previous one do not move out what happens?

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But what can I legally do if they dont move out on time? There is a good chance that they wont. One of them has graduation party on the last day (june 30th). They want to start a career on August 1st. So they were thinking to extend for one more month but decided not to do that and leave on June 30th. Then they said can we stay 2 or 3 days more? We said NO. But they have been extremely selfish and one of them knows all the rules and will take advantage of us if he can. is there any legal way to avoid it?

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Originally posted by @John Underwood:

I would say yes midnight if not specified otherwise.

thank you, and we did not mention any "hold over" penalty in the lease either. If they do not leave on time and want to stay a few days longer, what should we do? Time is very critical for us, since in our area most of the vacancies start on the 1st day and end on the last day. If we do not rent it on the first, there is a good chance it will be vacant for a whole month, which means 4000 dollar out. The house was very well maintained by us during their stay and should not have any problem when they leave.

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Hello, we did not specify any move out time in our lease agreement. I was wondering if my tenant has right to stay till midnight on the last day. The house is in California. thanks

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Originally posted by @Amit M.:

@Nahal Beckam about how much did you pay for the home that you rent out? If you have equity in it, and it’s close to breaking even, I suggest you keep it. It’s a decent location, that will only go up in value, is probably easy to manage, and is a lot safer than buying something out of state/area that you know little about.

Furthermore, look at all your up front expenses if you sell:

1- about 6% of stela’s price goes to realtors and to pay transfer tax

2- capital gains taxes...if you have mucho equity, you will pay mucho in taxes

3- You have your property taxes locked in to your purchase price, so that savings goes out the window

Timing the market is hard, and usually the Bay Area only drops a few % anyways...not like you’ll be picking up homes here at 50% off. So no, I don’t think you should sell. In 10 years from now you’ll have a lot of equity, and you be glad you kept it.

Just ask yourself this: how many people that sold an investment home in the Bay Area 10-15 years ago wouldn’t change that decision today, if they could?

As for RE market research reports, have at it!

https://www.bayareamarketreports.com/

Thank you Amit. We purchased the house in 2015 and paid 920k. We occupied the house for 3 years then rented last year. We bought a townhouse in San Jose to be closer to my husband's job. I am just worried if the housing market goes down and my husband loses job at the same time, we will be out with no option other than selling our hard-earned house at a low price.

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All Forum Posts by: Nahal Beckam

Nahal Beckam has started 14 posts and replied 76 times.

Post: Yearly lease agreement instead of month to month

Post: Yearly lease agreement instead of month to month

Post: Yearly lease agreement instead of month to month

Post: Move out time on the last day

Post: Move out time on the last day

Post: Move out time on the last day

Post: Move out time on the last day

Post: Move out time on the last day

Post: Move out time on the last day

Post: housing market in Bay Area!