Improving your rental business

Of course, there are thousands of ways to improve your rental business from Allowing pets to charging Zero for the first month's rent. Many of these attempts at promotion are a mistake, however, and should be replaced by the ever so reliable, keep your buildings nice and your tenants happy.

Most amateur landlords have a problem putting these two principles in practice, and can relate many horror stories about being taken. That's where a library can help. We have books to help you redecorate, to mediate disputes, and to make friends and influence people.

Every landlord's guide to finding great tenants by Portman, Janet.
Berkeley, CA : Nolo, 2006.
Call #: 346.7304 P
ISBN: 1413304133 (alk. paper) 9781413304138 (alk. paper)
Description: 470 p. ; 23 cm. + 1 CD-ROM

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We can also direct you to a consumer rating site for tenants so you can keep tabs on amenities and how your building compares with others in the same market or a free online classifieds service so you can save your money for improved building maintenance.

Keeping in touch with water

If you have a question about how much water Esconididans used last year or what the average rainfall is in Hemet, call the Library at 760-839-4839. However, if you haven't formed your question yet; if you just have an uncomfortable feeling about how little you know about the drought, the best way to get a lot of information these days is to search a variety of websites; better even than asking a meteorologist.

When it comes to water ecology/conservation information, there are hundreds of websites with potentially valuable information, many of which are updated on a regular basis. Certainly, good sites for Escondido residents would be the City's Water Conservation website and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California bewaterwise.com.

For timely water news, you should visit three additional sites: Steve Betheil's Water Secrets Blog which covers world water shortage/water pollution news. Anonymous posts water stories that the Natural Resources Defense Council won't on his Western Water Blog. Aqua Blog Maven's water blog, Aquafornia, produced by the Water Education Foundation, is very frequently updated. There are hundreds if not thousands of articles just on San Diego, and there's also the Weird and Wacky section which goes to show that not all water stories are depressing during a drought.