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Onboarding Requirements

01.

Address of the Rental Property

Please provide the physical location of the rental property, including street address, city, and zip code.

02.

Title Holder’s Name

Indicate the legal entity or individual who holds the title to the property. It’s important to ensure this information matches official tax records.

03.

Utility Service Providers

List the companies responsible for providing essential utilities like electricity, water and gas to the rental property.

04.

Bank Account Details

This information will be requested in order for Good Life to process your Monthly Owner payment.

05.

Social Security Number or EIN

Provide either your Social Security Number or Employer Identification Number, depending on your legal status, for tax and identification purposes.

06.

HOA Management info

If the property is part of a homeowners’ association (HOA), include details about the management company and any pertinent contact information.

07.

Details for Home Warranty

If there is a home warranty in place for the property, provide the warranty details, including coverage information and contact numbers.

08.

Maintenance Service Providers

Include the names and contact information for service providers responsible for landscaping, pest control, and pool maintenance, if these services are applicable to the property.

09.

What if I do not know one of the answers?

If you are unsure or do not know an answer, please put “Unknown” in the answer field and our Team will piece together any missing information on your behalf

10.

How should I fill out the W9?

  1. Line 1: Name: This should be your full name. It should match the name on your individual tax return.
  2. Line 2: Business name
    If you have a business name, trade name, DBA name or disregarded entity name, fill it in here. If you do not have a business, you can leave this line blank.
  3. Line 3: Federal tax classification: This section defines how you, the independent contractor, is classified when it comes to federal taxes. You will check the first box if you are filing as an individual, sole proprietor or single-member limited liability company (LLC) owned by an individual and disregarded for U.S. federal tax purposes. A sole proprietor business operates under the owner’s Social Security number and hasn’t been registered as another type of business. Taxes apply to single-member LLCs in the same way. The other boxes correspond to C corporation, S corporation, Partnership and Trust/estate businesses. The Limited liability company box is for a Partnership or LLC businesses with multiple members. You can check this box if you own an LLC treated as a partnership for federal taxes (fill in “P” in the adjacent space), an LLC that has filed Form 8832 or 2553 and is taxed as a corporation (fill in “C” or “S” in the adjacent space depending on the type) or an LLC whose owner is another LLC not disregarded for federal tax purposes (fill in the appropriate letter in the adjacent space). If your LLC has not filed a request to be taxed as a C or S corporation, it is taxed as a Partnership. The “Note” on the form clarifies the LLC-specific rules. You can always seek your attorney’s or tax advisor’s help to ensure you complete your form(s) correctly.
  • Part 1: Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN)
    You have two options in this section. You can enter either your Social Security number (SSN) or your employer identification number (EIN). Typically, you provide your SSN if you file as an individual or single-member LLC. Use your EIN if you file as a multi-member LLC classified as a corporation or partnership. If you are a sole proprietor, you could use either number, but your SSN is preferable.

If you are a resident alien and you are not eligible for a SSN, you should use your IRS individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN).

Again, you may want to check with your tax advisor or contact the IRS directly to double check your information. Providing an incorrect TIN can cause issues with your payments or tax return. It can also lead to future backup withholding.

Having difficulty filling out the form? Don’t fret! Reach out to our team for help.

Getting Started

Within 1-2 business days, you’ll be assigned and contacted by one of our property managers.

If your property is vacant or you are in the process of moving out, a Leasing Manager will be reaching out to review the specifics of your property, arrange to get the keys, and follow up on any needed items. Once they have visited the property, they’ll provide you a report of items needing to be addressed to get the property move-in ready.

If your property is occupied by a tenant, a Property Management Executive will be reaching out to review property details and arrange to get the keys, tenant information, and security deposits. Once all of the necessary items have been received, we’ll schedule our initial walkthrough with the tenant and provide you a copy of the report.

Within 30 days, or before the property is put on the market, we will need to receive your proof of insurance. Our contract requires you to maintain insurance on the dwelling, as well as liability coverage with a minimum of $500,000. Also, we require Good Life Property Management be listed on your policy as an Additional Insured.

Please note, having Good Life listed only as an Additional Interest does not meet our requirements as it affords no additional coverage to us. We recommend contacting your insurance agent or broker to let them know the property will no longer be your primary residence and will be used as a rental property. Often, a new policy will be needed. Your agent or broker can also assist you with our Additional Insured requirement.

Here is verbiage you can copy/paste to your insurance agent:

“We have retained a new property manager to manage our rental property. We need to make sure that we have $500,000 in liability coverage and our property manager is listed as an Additional Insured party (for liability coverage). You can list them as follows:

Good Life Property Management, Inc.
5252 Balboa Ave Suite 704
San Diego, CA 92117″

Please note that if you are having a hard time finding insurance, please reach out for help! We have insurance brokers who we can recommend you to.

Our general liability policy requires we be listed on the policy of all properties under management. Being listed as an Additional Insured affords coverage to us for events that take place at the property, or in connection with renting the property, that both the homeowner and Good Life may be liable for. Such events can include injury to tenants or their guests, alleged Fair Housing violations, or damage to tenant’s or neighbor’s property due to maintenance issues.

If your property is vacant, the Leasing Manager may request funds up front to cover expenses such as repairs, painting, cleaning, and rekeying the locks. You can transfer funds to Good Life via our owner portal or by sending a check to our office.

Copy of your ID: If water service is provided to the rental property by the City of San Diego, we will need a copy of your ID in order to establish service or make changes to the billing address while the property is vacant. If water is provided or billed by a utility provider other than the City of San Diego, a copy of your ID is not needed.

Our average days on market is less than 2 weeks.
Once per year we do a walkthrough of the property and prepare a report.
We provide peace of mind to our clients through what is called our Good Pet Guarantee. At no additional cost to the owner, Good Life will reimburse the cost of damages to the home (above normal wear and tear) resulting from pets approved to live at the home by Good Life that exceed the tenants’ security deposit, up to $3,500 total! This eliminates having to ask for a pet deposit, thus lowering tenants’ move-in costs and typically leasing your home faster in San Diego’s pet-friendly rental market. Tenants with pets also generally tend to stay longer in rental properties, so your chances of a costly vacancy are decreased by allowing pets. To implement the program, Good Life charges and retains a pet rent from the tenants. California law dictates service animals are legally inclined to stay with a tenant licensed to have such an animal so Good Life cannot prevent them from living at the home. The Good Pet Guarantee does not apply to damages caused by such service animals. To implement this program, the manager will charge and retain a pet rent from the tenant.

Maintenance

Vacant Properties

We create an inspection report and share it with you.
You approve all maintenance costs over $500.
Work under $500 we get underway ASAP so we can get your property on the market.
We have relationships with professional 3rd party vendors who handle all maintenance work.

Occupied Properties

The tenant submits a maintenance request and you get notified.
We troubleshoot common issues with the tenant
If needed, we dispatch a preferred vendor who schedules a visit with tenant
If the work is over $500 we contact you for approval. If under $500, we make the decision for you so it’s fixed fast.

It depends on the scope of the repairs needed. Often our team is able to give you an estimated range of cost for common repair items. If not, we can typically obtain a free estimate from our vendors within a couple of days.
We will utilize the funds that we have on hand for your property to pay vendors for any work performed. In the event we need additional funds, our clients will have access to a portal where they can deposit funds if needed.
If the property is vacant, yes. If the property is occupied, we only use our preferred vendor network in order to protect the tenant and ensure repairs are done right.
  • Plumbing blockages they cause
  • Damage they cause above normal wear and tear
  • Cleaning and carpet cleaning once they move out
We use a professional after hours maintenance service who is available 24/7/365. This company takes the call, troubleshoots, and dispatches emergency repairs based on our instructions. If warranted, they contact the property manager after hours to help manage the situation. The next business day, you will receive an update regarding what happened and the actions we took. It’s important to note, after-hours emergency maintenance is handled without prior notification so that your property and the tenant are protected (and so you can sleep:).

Accounting

Our Property Accountant is Grace Snow, who can be reached by email at: grace@goodlifemgmt.com

At Good Life Property Management we do Full Month Accounting. This means we hit send on your owner distribution on the last business day of the month and you will receive the funds in your bank account in one to three business days. For example, the rent collected on October 1st will be distributed on October 31st. You should see the funds in your account in 1-3 business days. If you do not see the funds in your bank account by the 5th of the month or do not receive an owner statement by 5 pm on the first business day of the month please contact our Property Accountant, Grace, at grace@goodlifemgmt.com

We post the monthly owner statements to your owner portal on the first business day of the month. Meaning on November 1st you will get the October statement which runs from October 1st-31st. You will receive an email when the statement is available.

Tenant credits may result from events like property maintenance, leading to a rent credit. For example, if a tenant receives a $300 rent credit and pays $1,200 in rent instead of the usual $1,500, your owner statement will reflect $1,200 as income for that month. Approving a rent credit will affect future monthly rents, and the credited amount won’t be recorded as income or expense on the owner statement but will be on the Cash Flow statement at the end of the year.

Homeowners are responsible for all property expenses. If an expense is deemed tenant-caused (e.g., clogged sink), it will be paid to the owner initially. The charge will then be added to the tenant ledger for reimbursement. When the tenant pays the charge on their ledger, reimbursing the owner, it will be recorded on the owner statement as income.

Generally $25 less than one month’s rent. This is so the tenant does not confuse the deposit as last month’s rent. We are legally required to return the deposit within 21 days of getting possession back of the home. During that time period, we will conduct a move out walkthrough and coordinate any repairs needed. We will collect the receipts from the vendors and provide the departed tenant with the deposit, minus any deductions, as well as any invoices for deductions made.

We always collect a full month of rent at move in and prorate the second month if the move in date is any day other than the first.

For example;

The tenant moves in October 20th and the monthly rent is $2,100. For November we collected the prorated rent for October.
The calculation is: $2,100/30 days to get the per diem amount (we always divide by 30 even if the month has 31 or 28 days)
$2,100/ 30 = $70 per day
$70 x 12 days = $840 *12 days is for the 20th-31st based on a month with 31 days*

In this example you would collect the full $2,100, minus expenses, in the month the tenant moves in and $840, minus expenses, the following month. For this reason the owner distribution may be lower the second month after the tenant has moved in. The management fee is also prorated based on the prorated rent collected for that month.

No, we do not. However, if you would like us to take care of certain bills, then we would need a cash reserve.
If you are not a resident of California, the California Franchise Tax Board (FTB) requires property managers withhold 7% of the gross rent and submit it to them. If you are a California resident, you simply complete a Form 590 which we’ll send you with the management agreement. If you are not a California resident you can apply through the FTB for a Waiver or Reduction from the 7% withholding, more information will be provided in your management agreement. Additional information can be found here.
No, we do not charge a fee when the unit is vacant. We only collect a leasing fee once the home is rented and a commission each month that it stays rented.
If you would like us to take care of certain bills, then we will require a cash reserve. We can pay anything except for mortgage and insurance bills.

Some utility companies require the bill to stay in the owner’s name. Good Life manages these bills, pays them, and adds the charge to the tenant’s ledger for reimbursement. This approach helps prevent the owner’s account from becoming delinquent. When the tenant pays the charge on their ledger, reimbursing the owner, it will be recorded on the owner statement as income.

Yes, two important tax documents will be sent in January for the previous year. You will receive your 1099 MISC electronically via Track1099.com, allowing you to view/download/print it. Additionally, you’ll receive your Cash Flow statement in January, showing all income and expenses for the previous year. This report, emailed around January 15th, is valuable for tax preparation and can be accessed indefinitely on your owner portal.

General Questions

A visit to the property for an initial walkthrough will occur once keys are obtained. Within one business day after the visit, you will receive an inspection report detailing the turnover services required to make the property rent-ready. Note: Large make-ready projects may incur supervisory fees.

Once a qualified tenant is found, Good Life will sign the lease on your behalf and share a copy on your owner portal.
The property will be rekeyed to our key inventory by our locksmith between each occupancy for safety and liability purposes.

Encourage previous occupants to forward mail to their new address through USPS. Update mailing addresses on other accounts (e.g., Amazon).
Good Life cannot collect or forward mail & packages after the new tenant has moved in.

Leave all utilities on and active, including trash service (if not provided by the City of San Diego).


If a tenant has moved out, contact water and trash providers to keep services active in your name during the vacancy.

Contact your HOA to update the point of contact to HOA@goodlifemgmt.com, send over the Rules & Regulations for our review to avoid violation  and provide our office address 


Good Life Prop Mgmt
5252 Balboa Avenue Suite 704
San Diego, CA 92117

To build trust and give you flexibility, our agreements are month-month and canceled at any time with 30 days notice.
Yes. Approximately 3-4 months prior to the lease expiration, we will contact you about renewing the lease. We generally recommend increases of 5-7% annually depending on the market.
It’s usually best to wait until the home is vacant to sell it. However, if a client needs to sell while it’s occupied, we will work with the tenant to make sure things go smoothly.
You can only visit the property when it is vacant. When it’s occupied, we ask owners not to visit the property. It breaks the buffer between you and the tenant and hurts our ability to effectively manage the property. To make owners feel confident the home is being cared for, we do an annual inspection and take photos of the property.

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We make owning rental property easy

Renting your property shouldn’t be a hassle. It should give you a greater abundance of time, money, and energy. We’ve developed a team of A-Players who have made this a reality for over 1,000 San Diego property owners.
We can do the same for you.
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