Hi! We are Stacie & Kevin of Your Landlord Resource!
Check out this sample of our newsletter! Each week you will receive a landlord tips, early access to our new blogs, links to our podcast episodes, landlord specific articles written by other industry leaders, special products and promotions for your rental property business.
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How to Deal with Rising Landlord Insurance Costs
Published 1 day ago • 7 min read
What's New
Spring has sprung landlords! If you have not already done so, it is time to plan for your rental properties' spring maintenance and inspections. Download our FREE Spring Maintenance checklist here. We are working with our contractor and HVAC tech on potential inspection dates in May.
Kid 2 successfully closed on his first rental property, a duplex! Since that close, Kevin and I have been working closely with him on his property renovation and improvement plans. I’ll tell you, we are quite impressed with his desire to make his rental “a nice place for his tenants to live” and how he has made decisions on what upgrades he would like to do.
He has quickly discovered what he can take on himself and what is best to let the professionals handle. Not because he doesn’t know how to do the work, he just simply does not have the time required to do it well. Time is of the essence if he wants to get those units rented so, it was best to sub out some of the more involved work like removing the popcorn ceilings that contain asbestos, installing LVP flooring, and making the deck and railings structurally sound and safe for tenants to use.
Kevin and I have been really busy with our own properties as well. At the Sacramento 6-plex we placed a tenant into the midterm unit. It worked out great that the Athletics baseball team is now playing in Sacramento. We had several inquiries from their employees and housing placement team and was able to place an employee who travels with the team. Win-Win because this person will only be there half of the time so wear and tear "should be" kept to a minimum. We also have a tenant who has been with us for 5 years who is moving out, so we performed his pre-exit walkthrough this week. Kevin and I are sad to see him go, and we wish him well on his new job in Washington DC.
We have a 2-bedroom unit that was on the market and had a potential tenant, but their move fell through. So, given our trip to Hawaii, we pulled this unit off the market and kept it off for an additional week so that the ad could reset its days on market back to zero. You see, if you re-list a property (on Zillow) and put it back on the market before 31 days of that original postdate, the system keeps your original postdate of your ad and continues with it showing like it’s been on the market for a month with no takers. That can cause applicants to wonder what is wrong with the property… by resetting the days on market, this makes our ad look brand new and creates urgency to those searching and applying. Also, by waiting, the available rentals pool has decreased, and with the current comps, we were able to increase our asking rent by $50 a month.
We also are moving forward with our plans to install fiber optic internet and broadband service for our tenants. We will keep you updated as that progresses.
I could go on forever, but I’ll cut it off here.
Take care and don’t forget, You’ve Got This Landlords!
✅ Why using a licensed general contractor is crucial for safety and compliance
✅ Where to find reputable contractors and get multiple estimates
✅ The difference between being an additional insured vs. an interested party
✅ How to handle tenant communication during renovations
✅ Why detailed contracts and written agreements are essential
✅ Tips for working around tenant schedules and minimizing disruptions
✅ How routine inspections help prevent costly repairs
✅ Key maintenance tips learned from years of working with contractors
Rental Property Tips from Our Contractor
We are lucky enough to have a general contractor who has been a part of our team for over 15 years.
This week on the podcast, we will be discussing all of the tips our contractor, Jim, has shared that have helped us stay on top of inspections, preventative maintenance, and what to know about hiring general contractors.
We share real-life experiences from our rental properties and offer practical tips to help self-managing landlords find reliable, skilled contractors for their maintenance and renovation projects. From hiring a licensed general contractor to ensuring they hold proper insurance coverage; this episode covers everything you need to know to protect your investment and maintain tenant satisfaction.
Click HERE to view show notes with links to special offers and promotions.
Products we use to make our rental property business more efficient and safe. They make our life easier so we are sharing them with our readers to help you too!
Mohawk Fil-Stik
Engage your inner child and play with these Fil-Stik "crayons"! They come in a HUGE variety of colors.
We keep them on hand to do a quick fill on trim, cabinets, and flooring. If you don't want to have to come back after waiting for putty to dry, then sand and touch-up with paint, give theses a try!
Recently we had a tenant who left his unit clean but there were some deep scratches in the laminate flooring. We deducted from his security deposit to repair the floor because we anticipated having to replace that one board but found this stick worked PERFECTLY to cover the white scuff and make the markings barely noticeable to us or to the prospective tenants touring the unit.
Not bad for a $7 product we can use over and over again! We also have one in white to fill in chips or dents that occur in doors and trim.
· Fix nicks and scratches on furniture, photo frames, and so much more with one Mohawk Finishing Products Fil-Stik.
· Refresh Your Furniture! Mohawk Fil-Stik wood putty filler crayon helps to repair scratches, gouges and other imperfections in wood furniture, cabinets, trim and more
· Easy to Use! Mohawk putty stick has a simple application process; just rub the wax stick over the imperfection and watch it disappear like magic, then scrape off any excess wax with a credit card
· No Heat or Special Tools Required! This semi-hard filler putty stick works well on most wooden surfaces in low-traffic areas; it also can be used for filling nail holes
· Mohawk Fil-Stik crayon and wood filler is available in a wide variety of colors to repair and help hide scars, scratches and abrasions on furniture, picture frames, leather, plastics and paneling
SCUFFS BEFORE USING MOHAWK FIL-STIK
AFTER USING MOHAWK FIL-STIK
This post contains an affiliate link. We may earn a very small commission (at no additional cost to you) if you purchase from here. These small commissions are to benefit our business so thank you for your support.
Good Landlord Reads
Top 3 Ways to Protect Rental Income When Renting to Freelancers, Recent Graduates, and More
As the rental landscape shifts, landlords are encountering a growing number of non-traditional tenants, including freelancers, recent graduates, and international students. According to Statista, the U.S. workforce is projected to include 86.5 million freelancers by 2027, accounting for 50.9% of all workers.
Landlord insurance costs have risen significantly over the last decade. In just the last four years, the average cost of property insurance has increased by 25 to 45%.
Rising insurance costs directly cut into investors’ returns and can impact investing strategies. To ensure their properties stay profitable, Landlords need to be aware of changing insurance costs and have a plan for dealing with them.
What Is Accelerated Depreciation & How Can Landlords Use It to Their Advantage
Depreciation is a key tax benefit for rental property owners, and accelerated depreciation can help you maximize your deductions during the first years of ownership. Depreciation allows real estate investors to deduct the wear and tear of a property annually. The accelerated depreciation method lets landlords front-load deductions for eligible assets, such as fixtures and movable assets, to reduce taxable income in those years.
Upcoming Course: Place Your Ideal Tenant, A Comprehensive Guide from Marketing to Move In
This is a detailed course on the best practices for
Marketing your vacancy to attract the best tenants
The process of unit showings and accepting applications
Vetting the applicant and background checks
Accepting/denying applications
A Lease & Addendum Blueprint
Onboarding your new tenant and the move in walkthrough
Have you ever worried that you could be doing more to ensure the tenants you place are ideal for your rental property?
There are specific steps landlords must take to feel confident they have done everything possible to prevent a nightmare tenant from living in their unit. We are sharing our tenant screening strategy, giving you those steps and more to help you build a professional, organized, and communicative landlord tenant relationship that hopefully, will last for many renewals.
Your Landlord Resource: Blogs You Might Have Missed
5 Spring Maintenance Items To Do for Your Rental Property
The month of April and the Spring season is right around the corner! But for rental property owners, this time of year means being proactive and performing inspections and maintenance tasks. To assist with this task, we have compiled 5 Spring maintenance items landlords should do to their rental property.
We perform inspections on our properties (both inside and out) twice a year. For more information on exactly what we look for on those inspections, read Why Landlord Inspections Are Essential. The following items are above and beyond those semi-annual inspections.
Rather listen to our Podcast about Spring Maintenance? Click Here!
What's The Best Time of The Year To Market Your Rental Property?
We were surprised to find how landlords varied on this opinion! The season you lease your rental property can make a big difference on your bottom line. Below we discuss the different schools of thought on the best time of year to market your rental property.
Looking for a community of DIY landlords you can ask questions and bounce ideas off? Join the Your Landlord Resource Facebook Group, a discussion group for support, tips, and guidance to help create successful landlord-tenant relationships.
Hi! We are Stacie & Kevin of Your Landlord Resource!
Check out this sample of our newsletter! Each week you will receive a landlord tips, early access to our new blogs, links to our podcast episodes, landlord specific articles written by other industry leaders, special products and promotions for your rental property business.
Read more from Hi! We are Stacie & Kevin of Your Landlord Resource!
Tip of the Week Start the landlord - tenant relationship off on the right foot. When tenants move in, there is stress, chaos, and it's hard for them to find basic necessities. Our small token of appreciation is left on the kitchen counter to greet them and let them know we appreciate them as a tenant. While we include snacks, we also include items we want them to use in the unit. Our welcome basket includes: a blue sponge with a note asking them not to use the green abrasive ones, touch up...
