Raising Rent in SoCal

[Jen H.]

Hello everyone! I am looking into raising rent for our single family rentals in Southern California. I have not raised rent in 2 years. I have never raised rent before so want to make sure I send the appropriate paperwork etc. From my understanding I need to send a 60 day notice before I can raise rent? Is that still the case? I'm thinking of increasing it by $50/month. A realtor mentor told me to do only $25. They are great tenants but the current rental rate is grossly below market rates. Thank you!

[David Faulkner]

I would look at rent-o-meter, rent zestimate, craigslist, etc. and pull some rental comps to assess the fair market rent and raise to that amount. Depending on neighborhood, you are likely WAY below market rent if you have not raised rent in 2 years and may still be well below market if you only raise $50/month ... so please do yourself a favor and pull some rental comps to validate market rent before deciding on an increase as I suspect you may be in for a larger raise than you may think. Do not be afraid of loosing tenants for raising rents to market rate, either ... I have never once lost a tenant doing this and if I ever did the rental market is so hot that I/you could easily find replacement tenants in short order.

Yes, you will likely need to give 60 day notice prior to lease renewal at the new higher rent for tenants living there more than a year or if you are month-to-month with the current tenants (which I am with all my tenants).