October 7, 2024 • 20 mins
October 6-12, 2024, is Fire Prevention Week. Since we have many firefighters in our family who are constantly reminding us of what we need to be on top of regarding fire safety in our rental properties, we thought we would do a shorty episode to go over fire safety tips.
In this episode, we are focusing on who is responsible for what tasks. So, we are discussing all the fire safety responsibilities that the landlord must take care of and then jumping over to the other side and discussing what the tenants must handle.
And newsflash, even if the tenant has some responsibility in making sure your rentals remain safe, it is up to you to manage that they are following through and doing those tasks. We are also including what landlords need to do to mitigate the risks of tenants not following through.
As this episode runs much shorter than our usual episodes, I hope you can make the time check this important episode out.
LINKS
👉 Episode 29: Rental Property Fire Safety Essentials, Pt 1
👉Episode 24: Rental Property Fire Safety Essentials, Pt 2
👉 Second Story+ Kidde Fire Escape Ladder
👉 First Alert Rechargeable Standard Home Fire Extinguisher, recommended one on each level of your property.
👉 Kidde Smoke Detector, Battery Powered with LED Lights, Interconnects with Other Kidde Smoke Alarms
👉 “Pet’s in the Home” Safety Stickers for Fire & Police
👉 Your Landlord Resource: Single Family Home Complete Inspection Checklist $9.99
Connect with Us:
🌎 Visit our website
📧 Subscribe to our newsletter.
👆Click HERE for our FREE Landlord Forms and Doc’s
🤳Text Us: 650-489-4447. We love questions and love letters!
📩Email us at: Stacie@YourLandlordResource.com, Kevin@YourLandlordResource.com
➡️ Review the Podcast on Apple or on Spotify or YouTube
✔️Course Waitlist: From Marketing to Move In, Place Your Ideal Tenant
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Stacie (00:00):
Now, I know it seems like we harp on you guys about
(00:02):
inspections, but there's areason.
Inspections are your opportunityto get into your unit and make
sure there are no leaseviolations.
Like evidence of smoking,blocked fire exits, overloaded
electrical outlets, and to checkon the smoke and carbon monoxide
detectors to make sure they'rein place and working properly.
(00:22):
And you guys, we cannot tell youhow many times we have gone into
our units and found the smokedetectors removed and the
batteries not in them.
Welcome to your landlordresource podcast many moons ago.
When I started as a landlord, Iwas as green as it gets.
(00:44):
I may have had my real estatelicense, but I lack confidence
in the hands on experienceneeded when it came to dealing
with tenants, leases,maintenance, and bookkeeping.
After many failed attempts, fastforward to today.
Kevin and I have doubled ourdoors and created an organized,
professionally operated rentalproperty business.
Want to go from overwhelmed toconfident?
(01:05):
If you're an ambitious landlordor maybe one in the making, join
us as we provide strategies andteach actionable steps to help
you reach your goals and thelifestyle you desire.
All while building a streamlinedand profitable rental property
business.
This is Your Landlord Resourcepodcast.
(01:26):
Well, hello there, landlords, and thank you for
joining us today.
You are listening to the YourLandlord Resource Podcast, where
we take time each week todiscuss tips around owning and
operating residential rentalproperties.
From how to episodes toinspirational ones, we want you
to know that we're here to helpyou on your journey as a
(01:47):
landlord.
And I know some people don'tlike to refer to themselves as a
quote unquote landlord, like I'mthe lord of the land, but that
connotation is very old schooland for the most part, it is the
primary way an owner of aproperty who rents it out to
tenants is referred to as.
I know a lot of people don'tlike to use the term tenants
(02:10):
either, and some will refer tothem as residents, and that's a
very nice way to refer tosomeone living in your unit.
We kind of feel like that's aword to describe someone living
in a community where they'recared for, almost like a senior
citizen.
So we still use the termtenants.
You can call yourselves andthose who live in units,
whatever you want, but forsimplicity purposes, we are
(02:31):
landlords and we have tenantsliving in our rental properties.
And oh, by the way, my name isStacie.
I'm your host and I'm here withmy co host, Kevin.
Kevin (02:41):
I thought you forgot about me for a while.
Stacie (02:43):
I'm kind of going off on a tangent there.
Sorry.
Kevin (02:48):
Hey there, landlords.
And yeah, what Stacie justmentioned, I mean, bottom line,
Stacie and I have owned andmanaged rentals for 19 years.
We're investors who manage ourown rentals.
We are also Realtors and we areproperty managers, so we do know
a thing or two about rentalproperties and how to legally
operate them.
I mean, certainly noteverything, you know, we do know
(03:10):
quite a bit.
And there are a lot of changesin the verbiage surrounding real
estate and property management,especially here in California.
But thankfully we can stillrefer to ourselves as landlords
and those who live in our unitsas tenants.
But, we will adapt if we haveto.
I mean, like when we refer tothe biggest bedroom of a
(03:31):
property that might have its ownbathroom, primary bedroom now
just rolls off our tongue, andwe're not doing the old master
or I, I mean, primary bedroom orbath jumble, like we did a
couple of years ago.
Stacie (03:44):
Right.
I mean, change is not fun unlessit really benefits us, right?
Like I'll take the change inlowering interest rates or the
change of increasing rents forsure.
And some change is for thebetter, like changing your
procedures or how you handlesomething.
And this week on the podcast, wewant to talk about your
operational procedures onproactive prevention and fire
(04:06):
safety tips for your rentalproperties.
Now, each year, sometime duringthe first week of October, it is
National Fire Prevention Week.
So, we thought that this wouldbe a good time for us to go over
what you, as a landlord, areresponsible for, as well as what
the tenant is responsible forwhen it comes to fire safety.
(04:26):
And we hope that many of youalready have implemented these
practices, but just in case youneed a little encouragement,
just keep on listening.
And just so you know, this willbe a rather short episode where
we are going to reiterate tipsthat we have already discussed
in detailed during previousepisodes.
(04:47):
So let's get to it.
Now, the bad news is that everyyear there are fires that cause
injuries, property damage, andtenant displacement in rental
properties.
The good news is that much ofthose fires are preventable.
We just need to get all thelandlords and the tenants to
work together and communicate toreduce the risk of a fire
(05:09):
happening in their rental units.
Let's start with the obvious.
Landlords it is yourresponsibility to ensure basic
fire safety standards of yourrentals.
You must install working smokedetectors on every level with
one in every bedroom.
Carbon monoxide detectors needto be in all rooms where there
(05:30):
is a gas or a fuel burningappliance like a stove or a
heater.
You must make sure that thesmoke and carbon monoxide
detectors are working at move inand then every single time that
you set foot in that unit.
Just give it a quick beep andthat way you'll know it still
works.
And do yourself a favor notethat date in your files, because
(05:52):
if there is a fire the insurancecompany is going to ask when you
check the device last.
Next landlords are responsiblefor making sure that there are
clean and unobstructed escaperoutes.
Egress windows have to be ableto open.
Fire ladders should be placed inbedrooms located on the second
(06:12):
story and above.
Like, uh, we have these onesthat we use and we'll link them
in the show notes for you.
Secondary doors need to openeasily and have a clear exit out
of the building in case theprimary entrance is not
accessible.
You're also responsible for firesafety education and disclosure.
And this means that in yourlease, and in a perfect world
(06:37):
your unit binder, you have asuggested escape route.
Your lease should include yourpolicies or quote unquote rules
regarding fire prone issues,such as smoking on the property.
And you want to make sure thatyou are noting inside and
outside rules.
Overloading electrical outletsand using plug strips, blocking
(06:59):
exits with such things as bikesor boxes.
Grilling rules are another bigone.
Fireworks, burning candles, andstorage of flammable items like
propane tanks.
And now those micro mobiledevices that need to be charged,
is a new issue that we landlordshave to address.
So those would include thingslike e bikes and scooters that
(07:22):
have to be charged, skateboards,things like that.
Because those devices need to becharged using a higher amperage
plug and if it's not, that cancause your plug to overheat and
catch fire.
Fire extinguishers are anotherone.
Now, for most single familyhomes, extinguishers are not
required by law.
(07:43):
I believe the suggested rentalunit or home size for a regular
size extinguisher is 3, 000square feet.
However, you can pick those upat any hardware store or any big
box store.
You can get them online.
They're available everywhere andeasily store at your rental in
case of a fire.
I mean you should ask yourself,why would you not do this?
(08:05):
They are mandatory for fiveunits and above with one on each
level.
We did discuss fire blankets inour previous fire safety
episode, so go and give those alisten if you want to know more
about using those.
Small under the counterextinguishers in the kitchen or
a nearby storage closet are areally good idea as well.
We will go ahead and link theextinguishers that we recommend
(08:27):
as well as those other podcastepisodes and show notes for you.
And lastly, you know we have totalk about it, inspections.
Now, I know it seems like weharp on you guys about
inspections, but there's areason.
Inspections are your opportunityto get into your unit and make
sure there are no leaseviolations.
(08:48):
Like evidence of smoking,blocked fire exits, overloaded
electrical outlets, and to checkon the smoke and carbon monoxide
detectors to make sure they'rein place and working properly.
And you guys, we cannot tell youhow many times we have gone into
our units and found the smokedetectors removed and the
batteries not in them.
Kevin (09:10):
Yeah, seriously.
And we still have a hard timewhen we see that.
Now I will say our property inSacramento, they are placed in
the hall right around the cornerfrom the kitchen.
So, they are prone to go off ifsomebody burns something while
cooking.
But still, this is no excuse.
For us, that's a big red flagthat the tenant doesn't
(09:33):
understand their role in keepingthe unit safe.
The last thing I want to sayabout inspections is that where
you should be going in at leastevery six months, if you have
gas appliances, those should bechecked as well.
We have found a couple of timessmall gas leaks.
So, we have our contractor inSacramento as well as our
(09:53):
contractor in Idaho walk throughthe units with us while we're
doing our inspections.
They are there to check theappliances as well as look for
water leaks under all the sinksand behind the toilets and the
windows as well.
Just like we suggest that youchange your water supply lines
every five years or so to avoidthem failing and flooding your
unit.
(10:14):
Every five years, have yourcontractor, or if you have to
hire an electrician, evaluateand do electrical inspections.
Now, let me talk about what thetenants are responsible for.
And, even though they areresponsible for these items, it
is your responsibility to makesure they know that it is their
responsibility to handle them.
(10:36):
And how you control this is bywhat you disclose in your lease
and make them sign off anagreement to.
Now in our lease it says theyare responsible for checking the
smoke and carbon detectors oncea month.
Now, we don't have a system inplace to remind them or have
them log when they checked it,if there are any landlord
software companies out therelistening, hey, this would be a
(10:58):
very cool thing to add forlandlords and tenants that would
benefit both of us.
But if you were in there everysix months, it's better than
nothing, which more than likelyis what your tenants are doing
to check those detectors.
We also address electricalsafety.
So we tell them they areresponsible for not overloading
the outlets.
And this can be by using plugstrips and having six to ten
(11:22):
items plugged into one outlet.
And yeah, it does happen,especially when someone has a
home office space and needs toplug in a desk lamp, mobile
device chargers, laptopchargers, printers, monitors,
TVs, you know, it goes on andon.
Kitchen countertop appliancesare another big worry.
You have crockpots, toasterovens, portable dishwashers all
(11:44):
pull high amperage and if leftrunning for long periods of time
can be a big fire hazard aswell.
As our space heaters and theportable AC units.
Pets who chew on cords thatexpose wires is another issue.
Cooking safety is addressed inour leases as well.
Tenants are responsible forkeeping the kitchen area safe.
(12:06):
So that could include thingslike dish towels too close to a
burner, deep frying foods, notcleaning grease buildup, and
leaving food cooking unattendedare all concerns we address and
have tenants sign off that theywill not do.
Same goes with burning candles.
I mean, it's getting to be thetime of year when people start
(12:27):
getting into the fall or wintermoods by burning candles.
And hey, that's great.
They smell nice, create a goodambiance, but when they are left
unattended, and then the tenantforgets and leaves them burning,
that's when fires can happen.
And the last thing tenants areresponsible for is making sure
they have an escape route thatis clean and clear.
(12:48):
A couple times we have doneinspections to find bags of
recycling piled against the backdoor or bikes or outdoor stuff
like coolers and chairs that areblocking a secondary exit.
You guys, tenants don't thinkabout this stuff, so it's up to
you to bring it to theirattention and give them a
warning.
All of this should bedocumented, of course.
Stacie (13:09):
Oh, yeah, for sure.
Each and every time you enter aunit and find any lease
violations, you need tophotograph it and send an email
to the tenant along with a threeday notice to cure, explaining
what you found and what theyneed to do to remedy the issue
and when it needs to be done by.
You want to document, document,document, because if there is a
(13:32):
fire and you find that the exitthat they had to use blocked and
you only gave them a verbalwarning, and had nothing in
writing, you'd feel awful aboutthat person if they got injured
trying to escape.
Kevin (13:44):
Or something worse, right?
Like a teen who is living thereand is counting on their adult
to keep the unit safe.
I mean, cover your butts, youguys, for legal purposes, but
also for your own conscience.
Stacie (13:56):
Yeah, exactly.
Now, we know that many of youown single family home rentals,
and likely not as many of youhave multifamily units.
Multifamily rental propertiesusually do have more stringent
regulations that owners need tofollow, especially when it comes
to fire safety.
And a lot of the tips that we'regiving, cover both these
(14:18):
property types.
But the biggest thing to know isthat just because you have a
single family home rental, itdoes not mean that you should
not be as detailed with yourlease or the rules of your
property.
You should treat your singlefamily home with the same
regulations as multifamilyproperties for a couple of
reasons.
One, often regulations thatapply to commercial properties
(14:40):
will eventually also include noncommercial properties, which
would be rental properties thatrange in one to four units.
We have seen this with smoking,lead based paint, mold, and of
course smoke detectors.
Most all of those rules startoff by only applying to rentals
with five or more units and thenof course something bad happens
(15:01):
and then they open it up toinclude small properties.
And the second reason is thatyou may scale and grow your
portfolio to include theselarger multifamily properties at
some point.
So we suggest you get yourselfin the groove and include all
the regulations that are healthand safety related now, so that
when you get to that point, allyour documents, your standard
(15:24):
operating procedures, and yourmindset is all ready to go and
you don't have to take a bunchof time to learn all the new
regulations.
Just remember that running foursingle family homes is much
different than running one fourunit building.
You have four times thedevastation should a fire hit
the multifamily versus onesingle family home.
(15:47):
So being proactive with yourinspections and keeping your
lease up to date is a huge partof owning multifamily rental
properties.
Kevin (15:56):
Yeah.
That's right.
And the funny thing is that westarted off with multifamily
properties first, and to behonest, we actually prefer them
much more over single familyrentals any day.
It forces us to be professionaland consistent when managing our
properties.
Alright, one last thing I wantto address, and this is
(16:16):
regardless of where yourproperties are located or what
size they are, and it's talkingabout a defensible space
barrier.
If you have any sort of trees orbushes on your rental property,
it is of utmost importance tomake sure you keep them trimmed
and cleaned up.
Now, obviously, this was more ofan issue during summer and fall,
(16:38):
but there are now zones that youshould work to maintain so that
your rental property remainssafe in the event of a
neighboring structural fire or awildfire that happens.
For Zone 1, the basic issue isthat you should remove any dead
vegetation, dry leaves, pineneedles, etc.
(16:58):
from the ground that are within30 feet of your property, as
well as clean the roof andgutters.
You're going to want to mow downany tall grass as well.
Trim back branches and treesthat hang over the roof and keep
branches 10 feet away from othertrees.
You also want to be mindful ifyou have decks where leaves can
get blown under and weeds cangrow.
(17:20):
Wood piles are another hazard tobe careful of.
So check with your city aboutany ordinances regarding
vegetation and wood piles.
For one of our mountain homes,we had to either remove the wood
pile from the porch, or drape itwith one of those fire retardant
covers so embers that come fromfireplaces or a fire cannot fall
(17:40):
down and then cause our deck andthen the home to catch fire.
Zone 2 has the same issues butgoes out as far as 100 feet from
the structure.
Now, for this zone, there ismore horizontal spacing that is
an issue where you need tocreate vertical space between
shrubs and trees.
Or the foliage can create aquote unquote ladder for a fire
(18:02):
to move from the ground to thebrush up to the treetops.
For a rental we had that has nowbeen sold, it sat on several
acres of land and that land wascovered mostly with tall grass
and trees.
It was our responsibility twicea year to get out there and mow
that grass down and keep up withthe tree trimming so that if a
(18:22):
fire did happen, the home wouldbe in less danger than if we
didn't do it.
Essentially, the goal is toremove the fuel that can lead up
to the rental and catch it onfire.
Stacie (18:33):
Yeah, and those rules are more for rural areas, but
you do need to make sure any ofyour properties have the
landscaping maintained.
Fireworks are a big issue toconsider as are grills.
And hey, I think it's like 75percent of fires begin inside
the home, so have that be yourmain focus, but just don't sleep
(18:53):
on the exterior perimetereither.
Okay, that is it for the quickrecap on fire safety.
As we mentioned earlier, we willlink the previous fire safety
episodes in the show notes aswell as all the fire safety
products that we recommend andwhy we recommend them.
We're also going to link ourinspection checklist, which is
one product that we sell.
(19:14):
It's like 10 bucks.
You can buy it once and use itover and over again for all your
rental properties.
We hope you enjoyed this episodeand got at least one good tidbit
of information out of it.
If so would you do us a favorand leave us a kind review of
the podcast so that otherlandlords can find us too?
If you want to hear more, followor subscribe to the podcast so
(19:37):
that each week the episodes aredownloaded right to your
favorite podcast platform.
And we'd love to stay in contactwith you.
In the show notes you can findlinks to all the free downloads
that we offer, ways to sign upfor our free weekly newsletter,
and the wait list for ourupcoming course on tenant
screening.
There's also links to our socialmedia accounts on Instagram,
(19:59):
Facebook, and YouTube, where weshare very informative and
detailed tips and tricks forlandlords, so check those out.
I think that's about it.
Thanks again, and until nexttime, you've got this,
landlords.
Now, I know it seems like we harp on you guys about
(00:02):
inspections, but there's areason.
Inspections are your opportunityto get into your unit and make
sure there are no leaseviolations.
Like evidence of smoking,blocked fire exits, overloaded
electrical outlets, and to checkon the smoke and carbon monoxide
detectors to make sure they'rein place and working properly.
(00:22):
And you guys, we cannot tell youhow many times we have gone into
our units and found the smokedetectors removed and the
batteries not in them.
Welcome to your landlordresource podcast many moons ago.
When I started as a landlord, Iwas as green as it gets.
(00:44):
I may have had my real estatelicense, but I lack confidence
in the hands on experienceneeded when it came to dealing
with tenants, leases,maintenance, and bookkeeping.
After many failed attempts, fastforward to today.
Kevin and I have doubled ourdoors and created an organized,
professionally operated rentalproperty business.
Want to go from overwhelmed toconfident?
(01:05):
If you're an ambitious landlordor maybe one in the making, join
us as we provide strategies andteach actionable steps to help
you reach your goals and thelifestyle you desire.
All while building a streamlinedand profitable rental property
business.
This is Your Landlord Resourcepodcast.
(01:26):
Well, hello there, landlords, and thank you for
joining us today.
You are listening to the YourLandlord Resource Podcast, where
we take time each week todiscuss tips around owning and
operating residential rentalproperties.
From how to episodes toinspirational ones, we want you
to know that we're here to helpyou on your journey as a
(01:47):
landlord.
And I know some people don'tlike to refer to themselves as a
quote unquote landlord, like I'mthe lord of the land, but that
connotation is very old schooland for the most part, it is the
primary way an owner of aproperty who rents it out to
tenants is referred to as.
I know a lot of people don'tlike to use the term tenants
(02:10):
either, and some will refer tothem as residents, and that's a
very nice way to refer tosomeone living in your unit.
We kind of feel like that's aword to describe someone living
in a community where they'recared for, almost like a senior
citizen.
So we still use the termtenants.
You can call yourselves andthose who live in units,
whatever you want, but forsimplicity purposes, we are
(02:31):
landlords and we have tenantsliving in our rental properties.
And oh, by the way, my name isStacie.
I'm your host and I'm here withmy co host, Kevin.
Kevin (02:41):
I thought you forgot about me for a while.
Stacie (02:43):
I'm kind of going off on a tangent there.
Sorry.
Kevin (02:48):
Hey there, landlords.
And yeah, what Stacie justmentioned, I mean, bottom line,
Stacie and I have owned andmanaged rentals for 19 years.
We're investors who manage ourown rentals.
We are also Realtors and we areproperty managers, so we do know
a thing or two about rentalproperties and how to legally
operate them.
I mean, certainly noteverything, you know, we do know
(03:10):
quite a bit.
And there are a lot of changesin the verbiage surrounding real
estate and property management,especially here in California.
But thankfully we can stillrefer to ourselves as landlords
and those who live in our unitsas tenants.
But, we will adapt if we haveto.
I mean, like when we refer tothe biggest bedroom of a
(03:31):
property that might have its ownbathroom, primary bedroom now
just rolls off our tongue, andwe're not doing the old master
or I, I mean, primary bedroom orbath jumble, like we did a
couple of years ago.
Stacie (03:44):
Right.
I mean, change is not fun unlessit really benefits us, right?
Like I'll take the change inlowering interest rates or the
change of increasing rents forsure.
And some change is for thebetter, like changing your
procedures or how you handlesomething.
And this week on the podcast, wewant to talk about your
operational procedures onproactive prevention and fire
(04:06):
safety tips for your rentalproperties.
Now, each year, sometime duringthe first week of October, it is
National Fire Prevention Week.
So, we thought that this wouldbe a good time for us to go over
what you, as a landlord, areresponsible for, as well as what
the tenant is responsible forwhen it comes to fire safety.
(04:26):
And we hope that many of youalready have implemented these
practices, but just in case youneed a little encouragement,
just keep on listening.
And just so you know, this willbe a rather short episode where
we are going to reiterate tipsthat we have already discussed
in detailed during previousepisodes.
(04:47):
So let's get to it.
Now, the bad news is that everyyear there are fires that cause
injuries, property damage, andtenant displacement in rental
properties.
The good news is that much ofthose fires are preventable.
We just need to get all thelandlords and the tenants to
work together and communicate toreduce the risk of a fire
(05:09):
happening in their rental units.
Let's start with the obvious.
Landlords it is yourresponsibility to ensure basic
fire safety standards of yourrentals.
You must install working smokedetectors on every level with
one in every bedroom.
Carbon monoxide detectors needto be in all rooms where there
(05:30):
is a gas or a fuel burningappliance like a stove or a
heater.
You must make sure that thesmoke and carbon monoxide
detectors are working at move inand then every single time that
you set foot in that unit.
Just give it a quick beep andthat way you'll know it still
works.
And do yourself a favor notethat date in your files, because
(05:52):
if there is a fire the insurancecompany is going to ask when you
check the device last.
Next landlords are responsiblefor making sure that there are
clean and unobstructed escaperoutes.
Egress windows have to be ableto open.
Fire ladders should be placed inbedrooms located on the second
(06:12):
story and above.
Like, uh, we have these onesthat we use and we'll link them
in the show notes for you.
Secondary doors need to openeasily and have a clear exit out
of the building in case theprimary entrance is not
accessible.
You're also responsible for firesafety education and disclosure.
And this means that in yourlease, and in a perfect world
(06:37):
your unit binder, you have asuggested escape route.
Your lease should include yourpolicies or quote unquote rules
regarding fire prone issues,such as smoking on the property.
And you want to make sure thatyou are noting inside and
outside rules.
Overloading electrical outletsand using plug strips, blocking
(06:59):
exits with such things as bikesor boxes.
Grilling rules are another bigone.
Fireworks, burning candles, andstorage of flammable items like
propane tanks.
And now those micro mobiledevices that need to be charged,
is a new issue that we landlordshave to address.
So those would include thingslike e bikes and scooters that
(07:22):
have to be charged, skateboards,things like that.
Because those devices need to becharged using a higher amperage
plug and if it's not, that cancause your plug to overheat and
catch fire.
Fire extinguishers are anotherone.
Now, for most single familyhomes, extinguishers are not
required by law.
(07:43):
I believe the suggested rentalunit or home size for a regular
size extinguisher is 3, 000square feet.
However, you can pick those upat any hardware store or any big
box store.
You can get them online.
They're available everywhere andeasily store at your rental in
case of a fire.
I mean you should ask yourself,why would you not do this?
(08:05):
They are mandatory for fiveunits and above with one on each
level.
We did discuss fire blankets inour previous fire safety
episode, so go and give those alisten if you want to know more
about using those.
Small under the counterextinguishers in the kitchen or
a nearby storage closet are areally good idea as well.
We will go ahead and link theextinguishers that we recommend
(08:27):
as well as those other podcastepisodes and show notes for you.
And lastly, you know we have totalk about it, inspections.
Now, I know it seems like weharp on you guys about
inspections, but there's areason.
Inspections are your opportunityto get into your unit and make
sure there are no leaseviolations.
(08:48):
Like evidence of smoking,blocked fire exits, overloaded
electrical outlets, and to checkon the smoke and carbon monoxide
detectors to make sure they'rein place and working properly.
And you guys, we cannot tell youhow many times we have gone into
our units and found the smokedetectors removed and the
batteries not in them.
Kevin (09:10):
Yeah, seriously.
And we still have a hard timewhen we see that.
Now I will say our property inSacramento, they are placed in
the hall right around the cornerfrom the kitchen.
So, they are prone to go off ifsomebody burns something while
cooking.
But still, this is no excuse.
For us, that's a big red flagthat the tenant doesn't
(09:33):
understand their role in keepingthe unit safe.
The last thing I want to sayabout inspections is that where
you should be going in at leastevery six months, if you have
gas appliances, those should bechecked as well.
We have found a couple of timessmall gas leaks.
So, we have our contractor inSacramento as well as our
(09:53):
contractor in Idaho walk throughthe units with us while we're
doing our inspections.
They are there to check theappliances as well as look for
water leaks under all the sinksand behind the toilets and the
windows as well.
Just like we suggest that youchange your water supply lines
every five years or so to avoidthem failing and flooding your
unit.
(10:14):
Every five years, have yourcontractor, or if you have to
hire an electrician, evaluateand do electrical inspections.
Now, let me talk about what thetenants are responsible for.
And, even though they areresponsible for these items, it
is your responsibility to makesure they know that it is their
responsibility to handle them.
(10:36):
And how you control this is bywhat you disclose in your lease
and make them sign off anagreement to.
Now in our lease it says theyare responsible for checking the
smoke and carbon detectors oncea month.
Now, we don't have a system inplace to remind them or have
them log when they checked it,if there are any landlord
software companies out therelistening, hey, this would be a
(10:58):
very cool thing to add forlandlords and tenants that would
benefit both of us.
But if you were in there everysix months, it's better than
nothing, which more than likelyis what your tenants are doing
to check those detectors.
We also address electricalsafety.
So we tell them they areresponsible for not overloading
the outlets.
And this can be by using plugstrips and having six to ten
(11:22):
items plugged into one outlet.
And yeah, it does happen,especially when someone has a
home office space and needs toplug in a desk lamp, mobile
device chargers, laptopchargers, printers, monitors,
TVs, you know, it goes on andon.
Kitchen countertop appliancesare another big worry.
You have crockpots, toasterovens, portable dishwashers all
(11:44):
pull high amperage and if leftrunning for long periods of time
can be a big fire hazard aswell.
As our space heaters and theportable AC units.
Pets who chew on cords thatexpose wires is another issue.
Cooking safety is addressed inour leases as well.
Tenants are responsible forkeeping the kitchen area safe.
(12:06):
So that could include thingslike dish towels too close to a
burner, deep frying foods, notcleaning grease buildup, and
leaving food cooking unattendedare all concerns we address and
have tenants sign off that theywill not do.
Same goes with burning candles.
I mean, it's getting to be thetime of year when people start
(12:27):
getting into the fall or wintermoods by burning candles.
And hey, that's great.
They smell nice, create a goodambiance, but when they are left
unattended, and then the tenantforgets and leaves them burning,
that's when fires can happen.
And the last thing tenants areresponsible for is making sure
they have an escape route thatis clean and clear.
(12:48):
A couple times we have doneinspections to find bags of
recycling piled against the backdoor or bikes or outdoor stuff
like coolers and chairs that areblocking a secondary exit.
You guys, tenants don't thinkabout this stuff, so it's up to
you to bring it to theirattention and give them a
warning.
All of this should bedocumented, of course.
Stacie (13:09):
Oh, yeah, for sure.
Each and every time you enter aunit and find any lease
violations, you need tophotograph it and send an email
to the tenant along with a threeday notice to cure, explaining
what you found and what theyneed to do to remedy the issue
and when it needs to be done by.
You want to document, document,document, because if there is a
(13:32):
fire and you find that the exitthat they had to use blocked and
you only gave them a verbalwarning, and had nothing in
writing, you'd feel awful aboutthat person if they got injured
trying to escape.
Kevin (13:44):
Or something worse, right?
Like a teen who is living thereand is counting on their adult
to keep the unit safe.
I mean, cover your butts, youguys, for legal purposes, but
also for your own conscience.
Stacie (13:56):
Yeah, exactly.
Now, we know that many of youown single family home rentals,
and likely not as many of youhave multifamily units.
Multifamily rental propertiesusually do have more stringent
regulations that owners need tofollow, especially when it comes
to fire safety.
And a lot of the tips that we'regiving, cover both these
(14:18):
property types.
But the biggest thing to know isthat just because you have a
single family home rental, itdoes not mean that you should
not be as detailed with yourlease or the rules of your
property.
You should treat your singlefamily home with the same
regulations as multifamilyproperties for a couple of
reasons.
One, often regulations thatapply to commercial properties
(14:40):
will eventually also include noncommercial properties, which
would be rental properties thatrange in one to four units.
We have seen this with smoking,lead based paint, mold, and of
course smoke detectors.
Most all of those rules startoff by only applying to rentals
with five or more units and thenof course something bad happens
(15:01):
and then they open it up toinclude small properties.
And the second reason is thatyou may scale and grow your
portfolio to include theselarger multifamily properties at
some point.
So we suggest you get yourselfin the groove and include all
the regulations that are healthand safety related now, so that
when you get to that point, allyour documents, your standard
(15:24):
operating procedures, and yourmindset is all ready to go and
you don't have to take a bunchof time to learn all the new
regulations.
Just remember that running foursingle family homes is much
different than running one fourunit building.
You have four times thedevastation should a fire hit
the multifamily versus onesingle family home.
(15:47):
So being proactive with yourinspections and keeping your
lease up to date is a huge partof owning multifamily rental
properties.
Kevin (15:56):
Yeah.
That's right.
And the funny thing is that westarted off with multifamily
properties first, and to behonest, we actually prefer them
much more over single familyrentals any day.
It forces us to be professionaland consistent when managing our
properties.
Alright, one last thing I wantto address, and this is
(16:16):
regardless of where yourproperties are located or what
size they are, and it's talkingabout a defensible space
barrier.
If you have any sort of trees orbushes on your rental property,
it is of utmost importance tomake sure you keep them trimmed
and cleaned up.
Now, obviously, this was more ofan issue during summer and fall,
(16:38):
but there are now zones that youshould work to maintain so that
your rental property remainssafe in the event of a
neighboring structural fire or awildfire that happens.
For Zone 1, the basic issue isthat you should remove any dead
vegetation, dry leaves, pineneedles, etc.
(16:58):
from the ground that are within30 feet of your property, as
well as clean the roof andgutters.
You're going to want to mow downany tall grass as well.
Trim back branches and treesthat hang over the roof and keep
branches 10 feet away from othertrees.
You also want to be mindful ifyou have decks where leaves can
get blown under and weeds cangrow.
(17:20):
Wood piles are another hazard tobe careful of.
So check with your city aboutany ordinances regarding
vegetation and wood piles.
For one of our mountain homes,we had to either remove the wood
pile from the porch, or drape itwith one of those fire retardant
covers so embers that come fromfireplaces or a fire cannot fall
(17:40):
down and then cause our deck andthen the home to catch fire.
Zone 2 has the same issues butgoes out as far as 100 feet from
the structure.
Now, for this zone, there ismore horizontal spacing that is
an issue where you need tocreate vertical space between
shrubs and trees.
Or the foliage can create aquote unquote ladder for a fire
(18:02):
to move from the ground to thebrush up to the treetops.
For a rental we had that has nowbeen sold, it sat on several
acres of land and that land wascovered mostly with tall grass
and trees.
It was our responsibility twicea year to get out there and mow
that grass down and keep up withthe tree trimming so that if a
(18:22):
fire did happen, the home wouldbe in less danger than if we
didn't do it.
Essentially, the goal is toremove the fuel that can lead up
to the rental and catch it onfire.
Stacie (18:33):
Yeah, and those rules are more for rural areas, but
you do need to make sure any ofyour properties have the
landscaping maintained.
Fireworks are a big issue toconsider as are grills.
And hey, I think it's like 75percent of fires begin inside
the home, so have that be yourmain focus, but just don't sleep
(18:53):
on the exterior perimetereither.
Okay, that is it for the quickrecap on fire safety.
As we mentioned earlier, we willlink the previous fire safety
episodes in the show notes aswell as all the fire safety
products that we recommend andwhy we recommend them.
We're also going to link ourinspection checklist, which is
one product that we sell.
(19:14):
It's like 10 bucks.
You can buy it once and use itover and over again for all your
rental properties.
We hope you enjoyed this episodeand got at least one good tidbit
of information out of it.
If so would you do us a favorand leave us a kind review of
the podcast so that otherlandlords can find us too?
If you want to hear more, followor subscribe to the podcast so
(19:37):
that each week the episodes aredownloaded right to your
favorite podcast platform.
And we'd love to stay in contactwith you.
In the show notes you can findlinks to all the free downloads
that we offer, ways to sign upfor our free weekly newsletter,
and the wait list for ourupcoming course on tenant
screening.
There's also links to our socialmedia accounts on Instagram,
(19:59):
Facebook, and YouTube, where weshare very informative and
detailed tips and tricks forlandlords, so check those out.
I think that's about it.
Thanks again, and until nexttime, you've got this,
landlords.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!