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If you have ever rented a home, you know first hand how stressful the process can be. Not only are you consumed with finding the perfect home, but the contract process can be overwhelming once you do. With so much information to digest, it is common to overlook important questions that you should be asking. Below are three important inquiries that should be confirmed before entering into a lease agreement:

QUESTION #1:

When is rent due and how can payment be remitted? If you have rented a home in the past, you may have been fortunate enough to be provided with a grace period. However, it is becoming more and more common that property management companies are requiring rent to be paid by the 1st of the month and the late fee can be significant if it is not received on time.

It is also important to inquire how rent can be paid. Most property managers and landlords now have the capability to accept online payments. This can make paying rent extremely convenient and help to avoid any late fees, especially if automatic payments can be setup.

QUESTION #2:

How are maintenance requests submitted and how long does it take to address the issue? One of the primary benefits of renting from a property management company is that maintenance requests are usually taken extremely seriously. Before signing the lease agreement, it is important to clarify how maintenance requests are to be submitted and what phone number should be used for emergency situations. Most property managers will want the issue to be submitted in writing and have the capability to accept the maintenance request online. It is also very important to ask how long it typically takes to respond to these requests and the timeline to resolve most issues.

QUESTION #3:

How can the lease agreement be terminated? When entering into the contract, the last thing you are probably thinking about is canceling your lease agreement; however, the fact of the matter is your situation may change and it is important to outline the process for early termination. Most property management companies do have policies for this situation and will offer an early termination option. Before entering into a lease agreement, it is extremely important to confirm this policy and how much is charged for breaking the agreement early.

I hope that you never are in a situation where you enter into a lease agreement before receiving all of the important information. Always remember that it is better to ask a lot of questions and be comfortable with the decision than sign a contract and regret it later.

If you have never rented a home from JJR Holdings before, you can expect a totally different experience than renting directly from an owner. There are definitely pros and cons when renting from each, but the benefits from renting from JJR Holdings will far outweigh the drawbacks. One of the key differences between each is the cost associated with leasing the property. Although each property manager will charge different amounts, below is a list of the some of the typical fees that are associated with renting a home from a Salt Lake City property management company:

Application Fee– This is charged to a tenant when applying for a property. This fee typically covers the cost of the background and credit report when screening a prospective tenant. JJR Holdings currently does not charge this fee.

Lease Origination Fee – This is charged to a tenant when a new lease agreement is created. This fee typically covers the work associated with underwriting a new lease agreement. JJR Holdings does not charge a lease origination fee.

Late Fee– This is charged to a tenant when rent is not received on time. This fee is a flat $50. It is assessed when rent is not paid by the end of the courtesy grace period, after the due date.

Service of Notice Fee – This is charged to a tenant that has not complied with the terms of the lease agreement. This fee is associated with the process of JJR Holdings property manager posting a notice for the tenant to correct the lease violation or risk eviction.

There can be other fees associated with renting. I always recommend inquiring about all of the applicable costs before entering into a lease agreement.

If you are a tenant that is interested in renting a home in Houma or Thibodaux, please consider renting from JJR Holdings. You can preview a list of our available properties here. For additional advice, check out this article from Time.com

Avoid Home Rental Scammers

Moving to a new city can be a life changing moment for most people. It is important to know how to avoid scams when looking for a new apartment, in an area that you are unfamiliar with. Here are something’s to be aware of in order to help you avoid those scams.

There are a lot of scammers that take and use a real listing from, a real home rental or real estates and claim it as their own, they will take these already written listings and make a few modification, by changing the email address or other contact information to include their own information. They might even use the same name as the original poster and only change the picture and contact information, just to confuse you.

The best sign that the listing is a scam is if they request you to wire money over. There is no reason for you to wire money over, not matter what the reason may be. Some reasons could be paying a security deposit, vacation rental, or application fee, there is never a good enough reason to wire money, because once the money is wired there is no way for you to get that back. So beware if a listing for a rental home is asking you to wire some money for a security deposit, or application fee it is most likely a scam.

Another thing to always remember is, if the deal is too good to be true then it probably is. Most scammers will take all of the real information for a home rental listing, but list the price below the average rental rate in the market, that is an easy sign tell whether or not the listing could be a possible scam.

These are some of the basic things that you must look out for when looking for to a home rental, the best way to avoid these kinds of mishap is to hire a real estate agent, and discuss your concerns with them. If you choose to continue the search by your self always be aware that if they ask you to wire money, that is a safe assumption that the listing is a scam, and remember that if they deal is too good to be true, then it probably is.

You might be asking yourself – what is renters insurance and why should I pay for it? Unfortunately, there is a common misconception for renters that they don’t really need to carry this insurance and that it has no value. Unless you have ever been in the unfortunate situation of having to make a claim, you might not fully appreciate this as a necessity.

Below are three reasons why every tenant should have a renters insurance policy:

Reason #1: Renters insurance covers your personal property – If you stop and think about everything you own and assign a dollar value to all of your possessions, it will probably surprise you how much you own. A renters insurance policy will help replace your items in the event of theft or destruction by a fire.

Reason #2: Renters insurance covers liability from negligence – Consider this scenario…it is a windy day and you don’t have the time to sweep the driveway. An individual slips and falls and breaks a bone. Since your negligence caused the injury, you are liable for all of costs associated. Another situation where renters insurance would be critical is if a fire was caused by the tenant’s negligence. This would also result in the tenant being responsible for the cost of replacement of the home, which many individuals would not be able to cover without renters insurance.

Reason #3: Renters insurance covers additional living expenses – Have you ever thought about what you would do if a fire or natural disaster made your current rental home un-livable? Renters insurance will help pay for your living expenses under this scenario. As a tenant, this peace of mind can be priceless.

If renters insurance is something that you may be interested in, I would recommend contacting your local insurance agent for more information.

If you are tenant that is interested in renting a home in Morgan City or Thibodaux, please consider renting from JJR Holdings. Search available rental properties in Morgan City and Thibodaux by clicking here.