Property manager for my home while I'm overseas
I'm looking to rent my 3 bd / 1 ba 2 story home in North Berkeley Hills for a minimum of 1 year. This has been my private home for over 20 years and I will be away overseas. In search of your *BEST* recommendations for Property Managers able to handle everything from start to finish:
Advice on how to prepare home.
Place property on market/place qualified tenants.
Handle contract, ongoing maintenance, and financial transactions promptly and with integrity.
Excellent communication.
Able to deliver property in condition it was rented upon my return.
Anything else?
Please no direct commercial responses. First hand personal recommendations only.
May 8, 2018
Parent Replies
Before you rent out your home, you should really do your research. Depending on the laws in Berkeley, you may have to pay your renters relocation fee to reclaim your home. In Richmond and San Francisco, these can be into the 5 digits and it may take many months or even a full year to do an "owner move-in eviction" It is much more difficult to relocate someone who is elderly or disabled - more time and more money. Right now, Berkeley is rent controlled. While rent control itself, does not apply to single family homes, eviction laws do. It is not enough to have a lease and then simply not renew it. Find out exactly how and under what circumstances you will be able to legally ask your renters to leave.
Also the state law that exempts single family homes from rent control will likely be challenged in the fall election in a measure being touted as "state wide rent control" - totally inaccurate BTW. However, exemptions (like single family homes) in rent controlled areas (like Berkeley) are definitely at risk of coming under these incredibly punitive laws.
Additionally, since rent control involves an expensive bureaucracy, the Berkeley Rent Program will charge you for renting. I don't know how they do it in Berkeley but in Richmond we pay an inspection fee, a rent program fee, a business license fee all are annual. The Berkeley Rent program is one place for answers, Berkeley Property Owners Association is another.
Good luck
A suggestion from a renter, not a homeowner, for what it’s worth: We rent a house in North Berkeley managed by Bay Cities Property Management, and from the renter’s side of things, they’ve been very reliable, responsible, and professional. We pay rent each month automatically through on online portal, which works well for both us and, I imagine, the house owners.