Making your rental safe is especially important as a landlord for San Diego single-family rental property. Multi-family buildings and complexes have built-in protection provided by the presence of others, but single-family dwellings lack that kind of security. Your San Diego rental property investment is a major one, so you’ll want to protect it as much as possible, and part of that involves making your tenants feel safe and secure. Here are some ways you can go about that.
Install Exterior Lighting
Having an abundance of exterior lighting helps to discourage criminal activity on your premises. It’s well-known that criminals prefer darkness to cover their actions, and the presence of lighting would expose them. Areas that should be covered are the driveway, and walkways leading to the building, and porches since these are access points. San Diego tenants tend to feel safe in San Diego when the premises are well illuminated at night to dissuade potential criminals from targeting the residence.
Appropriate Landscaping
Landscaping can play a major role in either helping or hindering criminal activity. If you have trees or shrubs planted close to the rental building, it might well provide great cover for a burglar intent on penetrating the security of the residence. These plants should also not be blocking windows, because that will obscure the tenant’s view of what’s happening outside. Apart from criminal actions, make sure that the sidewalks and driveway around your premises are even and not broken, as this may present a hazard for your tenants and any visitors they may have.
Inspect for Safety and Health Hazards
Before a tenant even moves into your rental, you should conduct a thorough inspection, focusing first on safety and health hazards. Make sure smoke detectors are working properly, check all handrails, and ensure that appliances are all in good order. San Diego rental property laws require you to provide a safe environment for your tenants, so these things are mandatory. Make sure all windows and doors are locked and that the locks are working correctly. If your property has a garage, it may be worthwhile to upgrade to an automatic door opener to keep tenants safer. A safe San Diego rental property will have all these things in place.
Emergency Contacts
Your tenants will feel much safer if you provide them with a list of emergency contacts. For instance, you should include contact info for your property manager, the nearest hospital or emergency center, poison control center, fire department, and police station. This will give them San Diego rental property help that they need in case of emergencies. While no one wants or expects these kinds of emergencies to happen, it can provide considerable peace of mind to your tenants to know whom to call in such a case. Of course, this is not among the San Diego rental rules, but it is certainly one of the good things you can do for your rental property tenants.