Service Animals and Companion Animals In Your Rental In Colorado Springs

Brought to you by Muldoon Associates, Inc. - Exceptional Property Management in Colorado Springs, Fountain, and Pueblo Areas!

Let's begin by distinguishing the difference between a service animal and a companion animal.  According to Jorgette Krsulic with Colorado Casa REALTORS in Colorado Springs, CO there are differences between a service animal and companion animal.  A service animal has specific training in order to assist the person for various tasks.  For example a dog that is trained to retrieve items for a person who can't walk.  A companion animal is not necessarily trained and is used primarily for emotional support.  If you aren't aware, persons with disabilities are a protected class under fair housing and reasonable accommodations must be made.

Like many things in this world there is lots of gray in the term "reasonable accommodations".  What I do know is service/companion animals ARE NOT CONSIDERED PETS!!!!  Your "no pet" policy does not apply to either of the animals.  The Office of Fair Housing compares services animals to wheel chairs.  They are a tool for the mentally or physically challenged person and ARE NOT CONSIDERED PETS!!  I cannot stress this enough.  If a person has a service or companion animal you CANNOT charge an additional deposit.  The type of service animal is not restricted to dogs or cats, people have all types of pets as companion and service pets.  There are no breed restrictions for service/companion animals.  There is not mandatory documentation for a person to have a service or companion animal and if a disability is visible (i.e. a limp) you cannot ask the person for any information regarding the disability.


I'm going to keep this short and sweet but I'll make sure to post another blog shortly that goes more in depth with reasonable accommodations.  If you have any questions regarding property management of your home in Colorado Springs or Pueblo West please don't hesitate to contact Muldoon Associates, Inc.!

Pilot Series -How To Procure Quality and Qualified Tenants - Property Management Colorado Springs #1

Pilot Series

Hello All,

I have dubbed this the "Pilot Series" for obvious reasons.  This is the first series of how to articles I will be posting.  We will start with "How To Procure a Quality and Qualified Tenant".  This is very important for property managers in Colorado Springs and landlords of all types!  Having a good quality qualified tenant in your rental property will help keep your property in tip top shape, your rent paid on time, and a happy lease cycle!

In my experience there are a few things that should be done right from the beginning to attract qualified and quality tenants to your property.  You will want to make sure the property you are planning to rent does not show signs of disrepair or abuse.  The property should be well maintained to show the tenants you are a responsible landlord.  A quality and qualified tenant will not be interested in a property that's not well maintained this is very important!

Once the property is in rent ready condition you will need to create advertisements that attract the tenant's you are looking for.  Make sure all online advertisements have numerous high quality photo's and video if possible.  There should be a detailed description of the property and make sure to highlight any unique and desirable features of your property.  Stay away from dramatic descriptive words and try to focus on the facts of the property.  Your description should be reinforced by the pictures and vice versa.  This will help prospective tenants to get a good feel for the property and will save you time when it comes to showings.

Ok as of now you have a rent ready property and it's advertised in as many places as possible!  What's the next step?  THE PHONE STARTS RINGING!  Tenant's can't wait to see your property!  Don't get too excited, you need a way to avoid the folks who are not quality or qualified.  You should have a list of minimum qualifications for the prospective tenant's to review prior to viewing or applying for the property!  Be careful when creating this list of qualifications.  You do not want to unknowingly volunteer yourself for HUD violations.

Your objective with this step is to eliminate the bad eggs right off the bat and to give each interested party an opportunity to know what you will be looking for to approve them.  This process will result in more productive showings and less wasted time.  Again, we are only interested in working with qualified and quality tenants so we are doing what we can right from the beginning to ensure this is the case!

Feel free to email me at Daniel@muldoonassociates.com and I will send you my list of qualifications  FREE.  I also have other leasing documents and lease packages available.

I'm going to end here and we will continue this process in "Procuring Quality and Qualified Tenants #2". 

How To Deal With Water Damage In Your Colorado Springs Rental Property PART 2

How To Deal With Water Damage In Your Rental Property PART 2

Brought to you by Muldoon Associates, Inc. - Exceptional Property Management in Colorado Springs, Fountain, and Pueblo Areas!

Black Water

The second part of this two part series is going to go into detail about "black water" or water that is contaminated by sewage, asbestos, or any other harmful substances.  Black water is a major health hazard if not extracted properly and in a timely manner.  Extraction of black water by a person not certified should never be considered.  Special suits, breathing equipment, and disinfectants must be used!  Make sure you hire an IICRC certified company, I can't stress this enough!

Although black water is commonly caused by a main sewer line back up, fresh water that has sat too long without drying typically transforms into black water.  Since water absorbs dirt, debris, and contaminants if it's not cleaned up quickly the extent of the job will increase and the damage will worsen.  If the water is allowed to sit long enough mold will begin to grow and this creates another problem and a larger extraction job.  The point of this article and the previous water damage article is to keep you from having any additional problems arise should you have a backup or fresh water issue.  Act quickly, hire the right company, document condition and repairs and keep all this information available for future sale of the home!!!

Thanks for reading and please stop by our website at www.muldoonassociates.com, our property management specific website, www.muldoonassociatespm.com or contact me if you have any questions or comments on this blog or property management in Colorado Springs, property management in Pueblo, or property management in Fountain!

Property Management In Colorado Springs, CO- Advertising a Rental Property - Ad Placement and Content

Our last post discussed photographing a rental property so the next logical step in the series is where to post the ads with your fantastic photos!  There are a couple of "ad giants" that are a must when advertising rentals.  Truila.com and Zillow.com are key components in renting out your property.  These websites are free to post and they drive a lot of traffic to your property.  There are some paid rental sites that may be worth the investment also.  Rentals.com and their family of sites is a great place to get more interest in your property.  There are also rental hubs where a property can be posted once and it will be syndicated to numerous sites with one click.  Many management software companies include this feature in the software but individual home owners can get similar experiences without the need for a complete management program.

As important as the places you post your ad is the content included in your ad.  Make sure you address your pet policy, move in date, lease terms, address of the property and any other pertinent information about the home.  Be careful to avoid terms that could be construed as fair housing violations!!!!!  I suggest a clear list of qualifications that each prospective can review prior to viewing or applying for the home.  If you are a property manager you will want this on your website.  If you are an individual home owner you could save it as a PDF to email or read through with prospective tenants or you could include it in the body of the ad.  I cannot stress enough the importance of applying your criteria equally to anybody who is interested in your home!  Be familiar with protected classes and draft your qualifications to be in compliance.

Be sure to keep your ads accurate to the property.  Avoid terms that could potentially turn away tenants but be sure to include enough information that they can easily get a feel for the home to decide if they want to progress to a showing.  The goal for the ads are to help attract the quality tenants you are looking for while avoiding the folks who aren't qualified. When creating the verbiage of the ad be sure to include things like a written walk through of the property.  Example "The main level includes a master bedroom with 5 piece bath, an upgraded kitchen with stainless appliances and a formal dining room".  Pictures are worth a thousand words but sometimes the photos can be difficult to decipher which room is being photographed and on which level the room is located.  If you have the ability to change the title of the photos be sure to make sure it coincides with the correct rooms.  Sometimes you can change the file name of the photos to the correct rooms and when the photo is uploaded the file name will reflect the room info.

Once you have posted the ads you will need to make sure you have methods of receiving inquiries from quality tenants. The more methods you have the better but you have to make sure to monitor these closely to prospective tenants are responded to quickly and effectively.  Usually a phone number, an email address, text messaging are minimums.  Some folks also include Skype information, Instant messaging, or other forms of digital communication.

Next week we will touch on showing your property to prospective tenants!  Thanks for reading and please check back often!

Property Management In Colorado Springs, CO - Advertising A Rental Property- Photos

Some people think all you have to do is put a sign in the front yard, post and ad in the American Classifieds, and sit back while all the prospective tenants beat down your door to rent your home.  Unfortunately its not quite that easy.  The internet has taken place of print advertising.  A sign is a great idea and attracts a lot of attention for a small price but when you use a sign make it look nice or you could scare off potential tenants who think it's a scam.

When placing online rental ads for your property there are many things to consider.  Most importantly you need accurate information about the home, pet policy, restrictions on smoking, and your qualifications.  You need high resolution wide angle photos that are recent and accurately depict the home.  Many tenants rent sight unseen so it's important to portray the property as accurately as possible to limit any surprises when a tenant sees the home for the first time.

You can access a few of our ads here http://www.muldoonassociatespm.com/rental_listings we are constantly updating the property photos to high res wide angle photos.  You can see the difference in some of the ads between the standard angle and wide angle photos.  If you are trying to advertise the property on your own and you don't have a property manager you can hire a photographer for about 75 dollars to do this for you.  If you are a property manager you should purchase a digital SLR camera and an adjustable 10mm wide angle lens.  You will need a high quality flash to go with this.  Plan on spending around 1000 dollars for a decent set up.  I don't recommend fish eye style lenses because they distort the rooms too much and make the photos look odd.

When taking photos make sure your lighting is sufficient, close all the doors in each room and turn on all the light fixtures.  Make sure all light bulbs are in working order and open or close the blinds as needed to create the proper lighting.  Take photos from different angles and use the flash in different ways to produce the best photographs for your home.  Make sure you include a front photo and interior photos of all rooms.  I prefer sunny photos for the exterior so if it's a snowy day when you take the initial photos make sure to update the photo with a sunny pic when the weather permits.  Try to include as much of each room as possible when taking photos so prospective tenants get a good feel for the home.

Staging your home for photos can be useful.  I like when properties are vacant because it helps me visualize the size and layout but some people prefer some type of staging.  This is up to you.  Just make sure to have photos without a lot of clutter or distasteful images or furniture.

Since this post is running longer than expected I'm going to stop here and start again next week on where to place your ads and more specifics on what should be included in the ad.  See you next week!!

Property Management In Colorado Springs, CO

If you own a home or are looking at investing in real estate you may need a property manager to look over your asset.  Property managers provide excellent service for a relatively small monthly fee or commission.  This series of property management in Colorado Springs is going to cover all the things a property manager will provide for you.  The benefits of using a property manager for your home in Colorado Springs, and many things you can use on your own if you prefer not to use a property manager.

This first post is an overview of why a person or investor may want to own a property in Colorado Springs.  Read on to learn more about places to purchase, rents to expect in your area, and statistics on the local economy.

Colorado Springs is a large sprawling town.  If you are from the east coast you may be used to small (geographically not in population) towns and states.  The western portion of the United States has a lot of land and therefore tends to grow outwards instead of upwards.  El Paso county, where Colorado Springs is located is 2130 sq. miles and has a population of 655,000 people.  The unemployment rate is 5.1 percent and over 40% of the economy is driven by Fort Carson Army Installation, Peterson Air Force Base, Schriever Air Force Base and military defense contractors.  We are home to the Air Force Academy and the United States Olympic Committee.

Many rental properties are purchased by military service members and when they get permanent change of station orders or deployments they rent out their homes.  Some folks love the beautiful views of Pikes Peak and the close access to open spaces like Garden of the Gods.  Whatever the reason is that brings you to Colorado Springs let this series help you in renting out your home, deciding on whether to hire a property manager or try it on your own!

Homes range from the low 100's up into the millions so there is sure to be a home that fits your needs.  Next week we will be discussing advertising your rental home in Colorado Springs.  If you don't have the proper advertising you will miss out on dozens of potential tenants which could net a lower rent or longer days on market.  Learn our secrets on where to advertise, how to create attractive ads, and things to include or omit from your ad in order to stay compliant with fair housing laws.

In the meantime if you have questions about property management for your home in Colorado Springs please don't hesitate to contact Muldoon Associates, Inc. by visiting www.muldoonassociatespm.com/contact_us