Category: News

Berkeley Rent Board Fees Due July 3rd

Renting a home in Berkeley, California comes with certain regulations and requirements that both tenants and landlords must adhere to. One of these important obligations is the registration of rental units with the Berkeley Rent Board. The Rent Board has specific guidelines and fees for different types of rental units. In this blog post, we will explore the registration process and fees for partially-covered and fully-covered rental units in Berkeley.

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Fiscal Year 2023-24 Registration Deadline: It’s essential for landlords to be aware of the upcoming deadline for rent board registration fees. For the fiscal year 2023-24, these fees must be paid by Monday, July 3, 2023. Failure to comply with this deadline may result in penalties or other legal consequences. Make sure to mark your calendars and fulfill your responsibilities promptly.

Partially Covered Unit Registration (Measure MM): The Rent Ordinance in Berkeley provides certain protections to partially covered units. These units are not subject to rent control but fall under the jurisdiction of the good cause for eviction and security deposit interest sections of the ordinance. The following rental units must be registered:

  1. New construction units: Units with a certificate of occupancy issued after 1980.
  2. Most single-family homes: Single-family homes fall under the partially covered category unless exempted.
  3. Most condominiums: Condos are also considered partially covered units unless exempted.

To learn more about exemptions, fees, and additional information regarding Measure MM registration, visit the Measure MM Registration page on the Berkeley Rent Board’s website. Alternatively, you can directly access the Rent Board’s online rent registry.

Fully Covered Unit Registration: Fully covered units are subject to rent control and additional regulations specified by the Rent Ordinance. After setting the initial rent for a new tenancy, landlords must comply with the Annual General Adjustment (AGA) set by the Rent Board for rent increases.

The following types of rental units fall under the fully covered category:

  1. Most units on multi-family properties built before June 1980.
  2. Single-family homes with current tenancies that began before 1996.
  3. Single-family homes with five or more rooms rented out individually with separate leases (each room is considered a unit).

For more information on exemptions, fees, and additional details regarding fully covered unit registration, visit the Fully Covered Unit Registration page on the Berkeley Rent Board’s website. The Rent Board’s online rent registry is also available for your convenience.

Conclusion: As a landlord in Berkeley, it is crucial to understand and comply with the Rent Board’s registration requirements and deadlines. By familiarizing yourself with the different categories of rental units and their corresponding fees, you can ensure that you fulfill your obligations and maintain a transparent and lawful rental process. Take the necessary steps to register your units and submit the required fees before the deadline to avoid any unnecessary penalties. For further information and clarification, refer to the Rent Board’s official website or contact them directly.

Welcome back to San Francisco? Strategies to excel in today’s competitive rental market.

As the city starts to reopen, we get a glimpse of a post-pandemic life in San Francisco. The excitement of how things used to be can’t be ignored. It’s been 16 months now, and the quality of life that city residents once were accustomed to, seems almost foreign. Bars are now opening, restaurants extending capacity, and soon, an undetermined number of employees will be moving back to continue the life that we all cherished so much. Throughout this article, we will take a look at where we are in the market and the strategies needed to succeed over today’s competition.

The year is 2019 and you’re looking for an apartment in San Francisco, the median rent is for a one-bedroom around $3700. It’s expensive, but accepted as the cost of entry to live in one of the world’s hottest cities and your salary can afford it. After your move, a Giant’s game at Oracle Park with a slice of Tony’s pizza help you get settled and feel at home.

Fast forward to November, 2020, the beginning of winter in the pandemic. Residents have been leaving the city since spring and rents are down 30%. You’re searching for an apartment, but unsure of what kind of commitment you want to make given the current environment. Vaccines have yet to be distributed, and the majority of tech companies are having their employees working from home until Fall of 2021. The urban lifestyle has changed dramatically and with all forms of entertainment and nightlife completely shut down, San Franciscans find themselves asking “What will this city look like in the distant and not so distant future?”

Now we are living in the present, May 2021. You and most of everyone you know have been fully vaccinated and detailed debates are taking place on exactly how and when employees will be back in their offices. It feels like the city’s energy and excitement are returning which is amplified as new safety tiers are met and restrictions are lifted. As the masks come off and shuttles start commuting, we can’t help but ask ourselves; “Is San Francisco returning to where it left off?”

The median rent for a one bedroom is now $2850, and we are still about 20% away from our 2019 rental rates. Prospective tenants have gone from “seeing what’s on the market” to “ready to make a commitment” and future plans are being made to return to San Francisco. Still, some questions remain and the city’s future landscape is dependent on a number of undetermined factors.

Is this the blossoming market we’ve been waiting for? How do landlords take advantage?

No matter what business you are in, one thing has become clear through the pandemic, your ability to display and present your product online has become imperative to your success. People are more willing than ever to do business remotely. Whether it’s buying a car or renting an apartment, there are new ways to display your product accurately.

Renting apartments sight unseen is nothing new in San Francisco or any other major city, but the level of competition has made the video tour and virtual tour an essential introduction for any new listing. High-quality tenants are not drawn to poor marketing media and they are not willing to take a chance on a property that is not meeting their standard.

Strategies to help your property excel in today’s competitive rental market…

Professional marketing with both photos and video will help you get in the door, but what other strategies have been successful to secure high quality tenants through pandemic? With new safety guidelines in place for showings, how can we be sure your listing is getting the most exposure online?

There will always be multiple ways to find tenants in a city as prestigious as San Francisco, but now, finding the city’s strongest applicants requires a professional storefront and digital techniques which are trusted by the online community. Internet listing services are now charging fees for every listing and online apartment scammers are at an all-time high, so landlords are disadvantaged when trying to compete with traditional tenant search methods.

As San Francisco reopens safely and continues to have the highest vaccine rate in the country, more prospective tenants will be looking to relocate back to our beautiful city by the Bay. At this time, it’s important for landlords to be prepared and have a plan in place that ensures their success. These effective online strategies can be applied to any listing, but the experience is required when monitoring online traffic so listings can get the most exposure. If these steps seem overwhelming, there is help available for property owners looking to excel. A local leasing service should have the tools and experience needed to get your listing to the top of internet searches.

ReLISTO Leasing and Management is a leader in the industry and has spent the past year bolstering an already prominent online rental service. We’ve had success throughout the pandemic with both finding great tenants and managing San Francisco properties. We pride ourselves in helping landlords and tenants through both good times and bad. Contact us to assist you with a leasing and marketing plan that ensures you excel in today’s competitive rental market!

Joseph Johnston is a leasing consultant with ReLISTO and can be contacted at joseph@relisto.com for questions or comments.

ReLISTO’s Automated Showing Schedule Serves SF Renters Amidst New Health Orders

Along with many other local rental agencies, ReLISTO is celebrating San Francisco’s transition from Orange Tier to Yellow Tier in the revised health orders issued by the San Francisco Department of Public Health on May 4, 2021. 

Health order tiers in relation to Bay Area rentals and open houses
Diagram of California’s color-coded tier system by San Francisco Chronicle

 

Yellow Tier is Great News for Rental Agencies and Landlords! 

Orange Tier required Bay Area rental agencies to limit open houses to virtual tours or scheduled private tours to individuals. As a result, we accommodated these health & safety restrictions by recording virtual tours for our listed properties and scheduling multiple 15-minute private tours for prospective tenants every day. 

In Yellow Tier, tours can now be conducted in groups (by appointment only) under the conditions outlined by the San Francisco Department of Public Health in Order No. C19-07w – Appendix C-1: Additional Businesses Permitted to Operate [Revised May 6, 2021].

ReLISTO’s Commitment to Landlords

The most effective way to find a qualified tenant while securing solid rent is to provide a personalized tour of your rental property. With over 11 years of experience, we understand the value this connection brings to our owners.

With this in mind, we have created an automated open house scheduling system to streamline the scheduling process of showings for prospective tenants. In other words, our unique, proprietary software gets your property to the renters’ eyes much faster and allows our agents more time to focus on customer service.

How to Access Our Automated Showing Schedule:

Use the quick step-by-step guide as shown below:

  1. Visit our Showing Schedule and choose which listing you’d like to RSVP to.
  2. Click the green “I’d like to RSVP” button on the right of the listing. 
  3. You will see a pop-up form where you can RSVP, ask questions, and provide your contact information (Name, Email, Phone Number). 
  4. Once the fields are filled out, click the button on the bottom of the pop-up, “Send Message to ReLISTO Agent.”
  5. The ReLISTO agent assigned to the requested property will contact you to confirm the scheduled showing.

Why Work with Us?

Today, the numbers are clear; people are moving back to the city. Offices are setting dates for employees to return, and former residents are yearning for a taste of the city as it once was.

ReLISTO is seeing an incredible amount of interest for every single one of our listed properties. Our unmatched technological capabilities and responsiveness bring our website over 30,000 views every month.

With San Francisco in Yellow Tier, we are excited to level up our commitment to our landlords while continuing to stay vigilant in keeping prospective tenants safe.

Landlords:

We would love to rent your property. Contact us and we will reach out to set up a 1-on-1 with one of our licensed agents.

Prospective Tenants:

Visit our Showing Schedule  to RSVP to our many properties available to you now!