There are two different types of rental inspections that property managers and landlords do. A vacant inspection is typically a move in and a move out inspection, when a tenant is not in the home. This is entirely different from the second type of inspection, which we call an occupied inspection. An occupied inspection is often done to check on how well a tenant is taking care of your property.

Today, we’re going to talk about vacant inspections. Five years ago, we began doing vacant inspections with video at Hoffman Realty. It has really changed our process as well as our results. These might be the world’s most boring videos, but they are working well for us an...

If you are a new landlord in Tampa, Florida, you might be wondering what to do with the security deposit or advance rent that a tenant gives you when the lease is signed and move-in date established. This money is required to go into escrow. Escrow is a term that defines what happens when anything of value is held by one party for another party until a specific transaction is complete. You and the tenant are the parties, and the security deposit is the thing of value that you are holding for your renter until he or she moves out of your property.

The Florida Landlord and Tenant laws require you to pay attention to these four important rules when it comes to managing th...

One of Donald Trump’s guiding principles in business is, “To know your market,” and if you know your market, you can price your Tampa rental home accordingly. Any home will rent if it’s priced correctly. If it’s not renting, however, then it’s most likely priced above market rent.  When pricing your Tampa rental, here are four mistakes you don’t want to make:

It’s understandable everyone wants their property to cash flow, but the market doesn’t care about the size of your mortgage. For instance, if there were two identical properties on the same street and one property had a bigger mortgage than the o...

Successful landlords know, if you plan on renting your Tampa Bay property, you will need landlord insurance. This insurance helps protect you from any financial losses associated with your rental property. If you’re going to be renting your personal residence, you most likely already have homeowner’s insurance. When you rent your personal residence, you will need to convert your homeowner’s policy to a landlord policy.

A landlord policy for your single family home or townhouse is called a “dwelling policy”,  for your condominium you usually need a “Rented to Others” rider attached to your your condo-owner’s policy.

Keep in mind though that landlord’s insurance diffe...

According to Smart Money, whatever your reason is for moving, it’s important to have a healthy grasp of the financial issues at play when weighing this decision. Here’s what you need to consider when in the position to either sell or rent your Tampa home.

C...

When it comes to managing a rental property, a poor tenant can prove to be more costly in the long run than an empty home. Finding a qualified tenant in Tampa is not an easy venture and you can’t leave it to chance to decide whether a person will be a reliable tenant.

According to Landlord.com, the art of tenant screening consist of the systematic accumulation of information about a prospect, verification of the information, analysis of the information, and the comparison of the resulting profile to a predetermined standard to determine if the prospect meets the minimum standard.

Having a set of predetermined screening standards will help you weed out the good renters from the bad. ...

Its tax time and if you are new to Tampa rental management you likely have questions about tax deductions on your Tampa rental property. The tax treatment of your Tampa property while under property management is quite different to your primary residence. The good news is that a lot of your expenses as a landlord can be deducted to offset your rental income. Generally you will be able to deduct the following rental expenses:

Property Management Service Fees:

Your property management expenses such as management fees and leasing fees are deductible.

Mortgage Interest:

If you have a mortgage, the interest you pay each year (that is reported to you on a 1098) is deductible.

Taxes:

Your ...

We often receive enquiries from property owners asking what we charge for property management services in Tampa. This is a legitimate question so we publish our property management rates on our website, but if it is the first or only question we are asked, we usually respond by asking the property owner some questions in return. We will ask them about their property, their situation and their expectations to see if our work quality and work scope are a good match for their needs. It is difficult to discuss price without knowing the property owner's needs and expectations.

A good analogy would be selecting a painting contractor to have the exterior of your property painted. Just like prop...

If you currently rent from Hoffman Realty Tampa Property Management, do you know we offer the you a free service that allows you to pay your rent online? If you are not currently using this service, here are some reasons to sign-up for online rent payment:

You can save money. You don't have to pay gas to drive to our office or pay for postage to mail us a check. You can pay your rent online through your Renters Portal for free.
You receive confirmation of received rent payment. You know we have received your rent when you pay online as your payment shows on your ledger and your receive a confirmation email.
You can pay rent from anywhere. You don't have to be in Tampa FL to pay rent. Pay f...